I also fully understand that it's been a while since I allowed my politics to show, not because I am ashamed of them by any means, but because I am beginning to realize that it is next to impossible to have any sort of a civil discourse when it comes to what's going on in our nations capital. Whatever side of the aisle you sit on there is really no way to actually get much done.
I look at what is happening not just in the White House but in the house, the senate and the judiciary and I am truly concerned for the road we seem to be careening down.
It goes without saying that bipartisanship is very near, if not completely impossible any more. Evidence does not seem to matter, patience is a virtue that no one seems to want to exercise, as for the system of checks and balances, set up in September of 1787 that seems to have been tossed out the window. It should give every person pause when the Senate Majority leader refuses to take up any legislation that he fears, and yes I said fears, the president will veto. Again going back to that system set up way back in 1787 the president can veto a law but if congress has the majority of votes that veto is able to be overturned by the group of elected officials that we the people have sent to capitol hill. Telling the American people that you won't even debate legislation that could be vetoed by the president sends a message both to my house and the 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. It tells me that as a governing body the Senate has decided they would rather have a king than a president, watching the republican's jump through hoops would be comical if it wasn't so terrifying. Some of these individual's just four years ago decried the President as unfit to serve, and yet today they bend over backwards to keep him happy and to do his bidding. As a voter I am left with one of two conclusions, they are weak, or they are power hungry. The more I watch the more I realize it's both, that is also terrifying.
Don't get me wrong, we didn't get here over night. As much as feel the Affordable Care Act was needed, as much as I support it, the Democrats, of which I am one, started this ball rolling when they decided to change long standing rules to get it passed, and this is where, to me, the problem sits.
Government is like a pendulum, it swings back and forth, when one party is in control they would all do well to realize that the things that they do can and will be used when the other party is in control. The issue is not just party it's governance and as of now what we have is two parties held hostage by someone that would be king.
This thing has been happening for years, and it's growing worse. The real problem is that many of these individuals in power are easily caught in their web of self preservation and need to maintain power.
No one better epitomizes a willingness to bend over backwards to stay in power than Lindsey Graham. Lets look back at his own words for a moment.
“If Donald Trump is the nominee, that’s the end of the Republican Party.”
“He’s shallow. He’s ill-prepared to be commander in chief."
“He’s a complete idiot when it comes to Mideast policy.”
That's just a small sample there are more but Graham has lost his willingness to be a voice of anything more than what the president wants him to say. I find it hard to understand how he will win re-election and yet I don't hold out hope that he won't.
Democrats have just as many issues though. Yes they need to work to hold the executive branch accountable, but they also need to stop acting like children that got their ball taken away. There is a reason that they lost the election, there is a reason that people decided to vote the way they did, to act like that is not the case, is dangerous. Watching Pelosi rip up the speech she was given made me think she needed a time out. I think they all need a time out to be honest, at the very least they all need a refresher course in the Constitution and what they are supposed to be doing. They need to be reminded of the system of checks and balances, of the fact that they are there to represent THE PEOPLE, not their own self interests, and yet that seems to be what they are all, and I mean all are keen on doing.
I can and do get frustrated with my Republican friends and family members that seem so willing to just turn a blind eye to the obvious lies, abuse of power, misogyny and bigotry the comes out of our president's mouth.
I get equally frustrated at my fellow Democrats that are also friends, when they cry and whine and moan the fact that things are as they are, that the electoral college is a broken system, that this is not my president, that, that, that.
Each side sees the government as broken, each side sees themselves as the people that can fix it, but the more I look at things the more I realize, it's not our system of government that's broken. The principles and documents that frame our foundation as a country are still there, they are not broken, their principles are not broken at their core. Yes they need to be interpreted in light of an ever changing world but the foundation principles are not what gets changed, on the contrary those principles are what enables us to reinterpret through the eyes of a changing world even as we hold to the tenants that they espouse.
We don't need to "fix" the government, we do need the officials that we elect to all take a refresher course though.
It is incumbent on congress to hold the executive branch accountable. It is their job to make and pass laws regardless of what the person sitting at 1600 Pennsylvania avenue says about those laws. If he or she uses the power of the pen to veto then there is an impetus to over ride that veto.
When Obama began the use of executive order to make an end run around Congress, I was worried, it gave me pause even though I understood why. Now all these years later Democrats want to cry foul when Trump uses executive orders. Is it a different scenario, in my view yes, do I understand why Obama did it, yes did I even agree that he had little choice? Yes but still it gave me pause because any time you remove a branch of the government from the equation you set a precedent that will be used again.
When one party changes the rules the other will inhabit that space when the pendulum swings and will push the changes further, and when the inevitable happens and the pendulum swings back those powers given away or taken will be at the disposal of people that look and see things differently, and so the eroding away of compromise and bi partisan governance evaporates, and in each instance the other side cries foul when the party now in charge just does what they were shown not a few months before they came to power.
Which brings us to where we are. We the people need to hold our officials accountable, all of them accountable, not to make sure they do things the way we would do them, but we need them to represent their constituents first, they need to serve the people by upholding the ideals that were laid out when our nation was founded. That's what we have a constitution for, that's what we have amendments for, that's what bills are for and yes that's what Checks and Balances are for. Give away your right to check any one branch of government you are giving away one of the cores of our founding.
Rant over.
See you next week..I promise.
I look at what is happening not just in the White House but in the house, the senate and the judiciary and I am truly concerned for the road we seem to be careening down.
It goes without saying that bipartisanship is very near, if not completely impossible any more. Evidence does not seem to matter, patience is a virtue that no one seems to want to exercise, as for the system of checks and balances, set up in September of 1787 that seems to have been tossed out the window. It should give every person pause when the Senate Majority leader refuses to take up any legislation that he fears, and yes I said fears, the president will veto. Again going back to that system set up way back in 1787 the president can veto a law but if congress has the majority of votes that veto is able to be overturned by the group of elected officials that we the people have sent to capitol hill. Telling the American people that you won't even debate legislation that could be vetoed by the president sends a message both to my house and the 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. It tells me that as a governing body the Senate has decided they would rather have a king than a president, watching the republican's jump through hoops would be comical if it wasn't so terrifying. Some of these individual's just four years ago decried the President as unfit to serve, and yet today they bend over backwards to keep him happy and to do his bidding. As a voter I am left with one of two conclusions, they are weak, or they are power hungry. The more I watch the more I realize it's both, that is also terrifying.
Don't get me wrong, we didn't get here over night. As much as feel the Affordable Care Act was needed, as much as I support it, the Democrats, of which I am one, started this ball rolling when they decided to change long standing rules to get it passed, and this is where, to me, the problem sits.
Government is like a pendulum, it swings back and forth, when one party is in control they would all do well to realize that the things that they do can and will be used when the other party is in control. The issue is not just party it's governance and as of now what we have is two parties held hostage by someone that would be king.
This thing has been happening for years, and it's growing worse. The real problem is that many of these individuals in power are easily caught in their web of self preservation and need to maintain power.
No one better epitomizes a willingness to bend over backwards to stay in power than Lindsey Graham. Lets look back at his own words for a moment.
“If Donald Trump is the nominee, that’s the end of the Republican Party.”
“He’s shallow. He’s ill-prepared to be commander in chief."
“He’s a complete idiot when it comes to Mideast policy.”
That's just a small sample there are more but Graham has lost his willingness to be a voice of anything more than what the president wants him to say. I find it hard to understand how he will win re-election and yet I don't hold out hope that he won't.
Democrats have just as many issues though. Yes they need to work to hold the executive branch accountable, but they also need to stop acting like children that got their ball taken away. There is a reason that they lost the election, there is a reason that people decided to vote the way they did, to act like that is not the case, is dangerous. Watching Pelosi rip up the speech she was given made me think she needed a time out. I think they all need a time out to be honest, at the very least they all need a refresher course in the Constitution and what they are supposed to be doing. They need to be reminded of the system of checks and balances, of the fact that they are there to represent THE PEOPLE, not their own self interests, and yet that seems to be what they are all, and I mean all are keen on doing.
I can and do get frustrated with my Republican friends and family members that seem so willing to just turn a blind eye to the obvious lies, abuse of power, misogyny and bigotry the comes out of our president's mouth.
I get equally frustrated at my fellow Democrats that are also friends, when they cry and whine and moan the fact that things are as they are, that the electoral college is a broken system, that this is not my president, that, that, that.
Each side sees the government as broken, each side sees themselves as the people that can fix it, but the more I look at things the more I realize, it's not our system of government that's broken. The principles and documents that frame our foundation as a country are still there, they are not broken, their principles are not broken at their core. Yes they need to be interpreted in light of an ever changing world but the foundation principles are not what gets changed, on the contrary those principles are what enables us to reinterpret through the eyes of a changing world even as we hold to the tenants that they espouse.
We don't need to "fix" the government, we do need the officials that we elect to all take a refresher course though.
It is incumbent on congress to hold the executive branch accountable. It is their job to make and pass laws regardless of what the person sitting at 1600 Pennsylvania avenue says about those laws. If he or she uses the power of the pen to veto then there is an impetus to over ride that veto.
When Obama began the use of executive order to make an end run around Congress, I was worried, it gave me pause even though I understood why. Now all these years later Democrats want to cry foul when Trump uses executive orders. Is it a different scenario, in my view yes, do I understand why Obama did it, yes did I even agree that he had little choice? Yes but still it gave me pause because any time you remove a branch of the government from the equation you set a precedent that will be used again.
When one party changes the rules the other will inhabit that space when the pendulum swings and will push the changes further, and when the inevitable happens and the pendulum swings back those powers given away or taken will be at the disposal of people that look and see things differently, and so the eroding away of compromise and bi partisan governance evaporates, and in each instance the other side cries foul when the party now in charge just does what they were shown not a few months before they came to power.
Which brings us to where we are. We the people need to hold our officials accountable, all of them accountable, not to make sure they do things the way we would do them, but we need them to represent their constituents first, they need to serve the people by upholding the ideals that were laid out when our nation was founded. That's what we have a constitution for, that's what we have amendments for, that's what bills are for and yes that's what Checks and Balances are for. Give away your right to check any one branch of government you are giving away one of the cores of our founding.
Rant over.
See you next week..I promise.
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