I Won't Tell You How, I Won't Tell You Why

When people run for political office there seems to be a serious lack of respect for the power inherent in people keeping their word. It's as though at times the trust of the public is to elected officials something to be discarded like paper towels. Though most Americans feel the nation is heading in a bad direction the idea of legislating, which our process was designed for in order to accomplish moving forward, is unimportant to elected leaders. What matters is saying things they don't mean, then once in office they do what they want. We must change that.

There was a time it meant something to keep your word and elected officials were paragons of virtue. They fretted and stayed up nights wrestling with whether what they were doing was the right thing for everyday Americans. They were concerned about the direction of the nation they served and the consequences of their actions on the health of the nation with all the connotations therein.

It just suddenly seems so important to talk and have nice speeches to follow. It seems that what has become most important is a candidate's political parties getting in and the system staying as it is to maintain the balance which keeps that so. Politicians get all dressed up and shiny and once elected go for power, pleasing wealthy corporations, keeping their party in power and setting up an image they feel will help them in their post-public office career. Elected office? A nice thing to have on a resume.

If they play their position right and don't upset the wealthy and well connected while in public office, all kinds of things may be available. Seats on boards of wealthy corporations, well funded corporate backed political organizations or powerful well paying jobs in the private sector of one kind or another may await them. The drama of the tension and the seemingly scripted overblown fights often seem like the system's way of maintaining itself. This year one party holds back and the other goes full bore to get in. Next election the other holds back and we watch the opposite happen. So predictable and so seemingly rigged. So easy with a two party system. The status quo goes on.

Mass spectacles aimed at producing endorphin rushes and the portend of something new. But what actually happens? More work on behalf of wealthy corporations, more kicking the majority of us to the side as though we were detritus blocking the path to the city of gold and when it's time for re-election more talk of being the ones that will do the will of the majority. They want to make sure they have us corralled when we arrive at it.

It being the one place our power manifests itself. It's the one place we can win. It's the one place we get the things we want if we apply the appropriate pressure. Simply voting for your favorite party is not enough to change things anymore. In fact voting for people that say they will change things isn't either as the recent administration has demonstrated. Celebrities endorsing them is nice, but really their fame, fortune and access to power rely on the status quo also. We have a jobless rate still not recovering the way it should. We have troops in four countries dying on the taxpayer dime with nothing happening that may lend justification to blowing all that money or losing all those lives.

Our involvement in Libya was supposed to be just temporary assistance while they needed us. It's over, let them have their future. We can't afford anything else. Iraq was scheduled to be ending in 2011, then the current administration turned hope into heartbreak by announcing it was thinking of staying on. Recently the pressure from Occupy Wall Street has forced them to reverse that. However, we now find out they still plan to keep sending billions of dollars to train Iraqi police. (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-van-buren/obama-to-create-thousands_...) Though we did what the president said we were going to do and got Bin Laden, we are supposed to stay in Afghanistan until 2013 and perhaps longer. Guess the hope talked about is meant to be made good on at another date along with the Wall Street bailouts.

On October 16, 2011 as we were dedicating a memorial to our nation's greatest non-elected leader and father of non-violent social change in this nation, we began killing people in Uganda. In case anyone was wondering why, here is what is no doubt part of the reason we are there and not so many other similar places, “Uganda has substantial natural resources, including fertile soils, regular rainfall, and sizable mineral deposits of copper and cobalt. The country has largely untapped reserves of both crude oil and natural gas.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uganda#Economy) A man who was opposed to wars of opportunity, plunder and choice and fought hard for the middle and lower class of this country was honored in the shadow of violence and another war we don't have the money for. Would Dr. King be smiling or rolling in his grave?

So now we have four conflicts raging while our national unemployment rate is still above 9% with the hardest hit, African Americans, having an unemployment rate above 15%. When we rose to prominence and built our middle-class it was education that helped us to become world leaders in especially when it came to technology. Yet we are throwing it away and allow the future of America to decline while other nations rapidly move ahead of us in terms of education.

In 2008 politicians promised to hold those on Wall Street that broke rules, regulations and laws accountable. What happened? Where did that go? They were voted in on hope and so far delivered disappointment. Their only saving grace is they have the opportunity to bring that hope and change back, and with the appropriate pressure the majority of us hope they will do just that.

The current president came in saying “your last father beat you, took advantage of you and stole your money and trust.” He was right. He soothingly told us he would be different and bring a change. Days before Christmas to our great approval, he put shiny presents and under the tree. But Christmas day came and he failed to show up. We opened the boxes and all they had in them were receipts for i.o.u.'s.

The man we adored that put the gifts under the tree still has not returned and as yet has not fulfilled most of his promises – including the ones he broke and could have worked on without Congress. All we really wanted was the change he said he'd deliver. Yet, we still have a bad economy and a president that got us into two conflicts and continues two others whether through troops or money we don't have to spend. He still has a chance. Let's hope he doesn't blow it before the door is locked on him. America is tired of dysfunctionality. We can do better. We will do better. America is too strong for people that talk big but lead small.

Let’s hope for real change not a candidate saying they’ll keep their promises this time though they didn’t last time, and can’t admit they didn’t and won’t apologize for what’s theirs.

To read about my inspiration for this article go to www.lawsuitagainstuconn.com.