Unfortunately, too many of our citizens have lost faith that our biggest institutions—our corporations, our media, and, yes, our government—still reflect these same values. Each of these institutions are full of honorable men and women doing important work that helps our country prosper. But each time a CEO rewards himself for failure, or a banker puts the rest of us at risk for his own selfish gain, people's doubts grow. Each time lobbyists game the system or politicians tear each other down instead of lifting this country up, we lose faith. The more that TV pundits reduce serious debates to silly arguments, big issues into sound bites, our citizens turn away.
No wonder there's so much cynicism out there. No wonder there's so much disappointment.
I campaigned on the promise of change—change we can believe in, the slogan went. And right now, I know there are many Americans who aren't sure if they still believe we can change—or that I can deliver it.
But remember this—I never suggested that change would be easy, or that I could do it alone. Democracy in a nation of 300 million people can be noisy and messy and complicated. And when you try to do big things and make big changes, it stirs passions and controversy. That's just how it is.
Those of us in public office can respond to this reality by playing it safe and avoid telling hard truths and pointing fingers. We can do what's necessary to keep our poll numbers high, and get through the next election instead of doing what's best for the next generation.
This is a call to action if I've ever heard one. This is a time when democrats in both houses are calling retreat, a time when democrats are sacrificing everything they believe in the sake of reelection. A time when we as constituents need to call into question what our elected leaders believe in and a time to actually call and write our elected leaders. We need to tell them what we want and to get involved in the process or this next decade will be another lost decade.
I no longer give credit for calls to action or great speeches. I've spent the past year functioning as a constant citizen activist. I've made weekly and sometimes daily calls to Congress. I've organized and attended house parties. I phone banked. I canvassed. I literally fought in the streets at town hall meetings. I heard the call. I "grabbed a mop." Then I watched elected Dems laugh and blow smoke in our faces. The American people don't need a pep talk. The base doesn't need a pep talk. The Democratic leadership needs a pep talk. If they exerted 1/2 as much energy as the base did during the past year, then I think a good health care bill would have already passed and Obama would be talking about his historic achievements right now instead of acting like he's still on the campaign trail.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with Joey. I think that the base was every energized and willing to do a lot. In fact, I think many people outside of the base were, but the momentum Obama had going into the Presidency was squandered. I lost a lot of faith that the Democratic leadership in Congresss could get anything done long before the 2008 election, but I bought into the hope of the movement.
ReplyDeleteThe Democratic leadership needs to get it's collective head out of its ass and grow a spine or all the speeches in the world won't help. The people need to feel as though their hard work is paying off and that they are being listened to by their representatives. Apathy sets in when people begin to see that it really doesn't matter who wins.
Here here I totally agree but we have to give it one more push
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