Or: The Experience Quotient
Or better yet: Who Are We?
I’ve fantasized too. Hillary Clinton will be President. She’ll be the Democrats answer to the Bush years. Republicans in this country will get a turn to be disenfranchised voters, and the streets of Washington will run red with Republican blood. It will be a great to be a democrat again, just like the 90’s; eight years of glory led by our anointed one.
Only, in eight years time, we’ll be exactly where we are now, except the division in our nation only deepened, and the frustration with our government only compounded.
This past week saw good political theatre between Hillary and Barack with a skirmish over foreign policy. Hillary played the experience card. Barack, expecting this, out flanked her from the left, making her middling look like she was to the right of an issue. Suddenly her policy looked like the Bush/Cheney foreign policy.
Obviously George Bush and Hillary Clinton approach everything from two totally different ideologies. But are they really that different?
A Hillary Presidency would be a continuation of the Federal Government as we know it under Bush. The President enters office with a long series of debts to repay to lobbyists, corporate donors, and special interests, AND let’s not forget, a long list of apposing and opposing lobbyists, corporate donors, and special interests to defeat.
And that’s what people mean when they say “Political Experience.” That’s the experience of playing the high stakes game of checkers, also known as “Life in Washington D.C.” And, it’s entertaining as hell sometimes. At least we Democrats know going in that both Hillary and Barack will be able to go toe-to-toe with whatever Republican challenger they encounter in the General Election. At least we know, this won’t be a repeat of John Kerry’s performance.
But I’m continually struck by the same question. Who are we? as a nation and as a society? What is the purpose of our Federal Government?
Lately it seems like the purpose of the Fed is to entertain us. Like sports, it’s a competition where Americans get to choose sides and root for their favorite team and players. At the end of the day it feels like we accomplished something too. In reality, they got paid a hell of a lot more than us and we simply turned the TV off and went to bed. Nothing got accomplished.
We’ve been lulled to sleep. In our elections, we’re just voting for candidates with long series of debts to Special Interests. That’s how our society works, money means influence, influence means power, and power means more money… and so on. Our Federal Government is just a Good Ol’ Boys Club in a Company Town. Meanwhile there are real issues NOT being solved out here in the real world, and they still wonder why their approval ratings are so low; maybe people are starting to catch on.
And they are serious issues. Mine for instance; How the hell am I ever going to start my own business? Show me how Government IS NOT working against me? How can I start a family? and feed them? and educate them? and keep them healthy? and keep them safe? Show me where Government has these same priorities.
Show me a politician I’d be proud to show my kid.
Really ask yourself, “Who are we?” Any nation as savvy, as creative, as brilliant, as great as ours should be able to figure this out.
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