I am mostly pleased by the nationwide outcome of the midterm elections. What I now hope and pray for is that the new makeup of Congress will focus more on doing the job they are supposed to do and not succumb to the enticing perils of the pendulum.
The pendulum of a grandfather clock swings from right to left and back again, the mainspring providing just enough impetus to insure the length of the arc never varies. And so it is with the liberal and conservative ideologies. Each is a terminus of the political arc of the pendulum of national sentiment with the happenings of this world as the mainspring which pushes us to and fro.
And the current to (or fro, depending upon your viewpoint) is toward the left and away from the conservative (maybe neo?) viewpoint which has dominated the Congress in recent years. I believe this can be good, IF, and this is a really big IF, those now in control of Congress use their newfound power to provide a check and balance to an executive branch which has, in my opinion, operated unchecked ( and perhaps unbalanced) for years. If this happens, I believe a coherent plan for Iraq can be achieved as well as a reasonable resolution to other national hot topics like immigration reform… but there is always the peril of the pendulum.
When you sit on that pendulum, and its starts to swing your way, it is very easy to be seduced into believing that it will always swing your way and that your point of view is the ONLY point of view. And as the pendulum begins to pick up speed, as it always does, as it approaches the bottom of its arc, a sense of entitlement (divine right?) can lead leaders to want to secure their position by destroying the opposition.
Within my lifetime, every major shift in the composition of Congress has led to some level of witch hunt against the former dominant party. Democrats tried to impeach Nixon. Republicans tried to impeach Clinton. And while both men behaved badly, did either of these proceedings really advance the interests of our nation as a whole? Probably not.
Our nation has desperately needed a change…and change is coming. I pray that the new congressional leaders will resist the peril of the pendulum and will look to furthering the needs of our nation as a whole. It would be a refreshing change, indeed.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Sometimes reprimanding a child (President) doesn't make the family (Washington) a happy place. But you still have to do it so the child and his siblings (future presidents) learns about accountability. Holding government officials accountable for their actions strengthens our democracy. Letting lawlessness stand weakens it. Impeachment is horribly UNDERUSED. Which is part of why there's so much corruption at the top. They must learn to fear it.
Impeachment is a nonpartisan issue. It's not about Clinton, Lincoln, or any other president. Some previous impeachment attempts were considered a waste of time because they were pursued for things that didn't rise to the level of a Constitutional crisis (Which is what the Impeachment tool is mean to be used for). The argument that we can't impeach Bush because there are previous presidents who also did bad things is the same as the argument from your child that you shouldn't punish him because the neighbor's kid did the same thing and didn't get punished. We don't want a presidential rush to the lowest common denominator. We have a duty to hold THIS president to the Constitution.
From the beginning I have believed that Cheney was President, Don Rumsfield Vice President and George W. only issued Carl Rove's proclamations which were based on Cheney (and what's best for Halliburton) and Rumsfield and finally, the rest of the country has showed they figured it out too.
So where do we go from here. Solving Iraq which is actually a Mid East family argument over 3000 years old is not going to be easy. This war could end up being known as the "desert Vietnam". It also could end the same way as Vietnam.
What we need now are both houses of government learning to compromise on what's best for the American people and not the lobbies or members of Congress. Our Seniors should not be chosing between food or medicine and our children should not have to worry if they will be able to afford schooling.
George W has called on his father today to help solve our problems. Wise decision which should have been made 4 years ago. Bring in one of the people who understands what it means to be President and who cares about his son and the people more than getting more oil. Maybe now, we can get back on track.
Post a Comment