Is there anyone who is not exhausted by the current deluge of political frenzy? The only thing that seems certain is that polarization is increasing and little, if any, progress is being made toward resolution. We are still two months away from the first primary and who can really be comfortable that our future will be bent by such a tiny fraction of the electorate sitting around caucus groups on a freezing winter night in Iowa?
If things go awry there then New Hampshire and South Carolina can get their oar in the water to guide the ship of state away from the shoals. As much as we love our sister states, those three may not be an adequate sample for the remaining 300+ million citizens.
Enough about despair of our crazy politics. Everyone must be weary of the constant barrage from each candidate shouting that they have the answers. No one has the answers. If it were so simple then the problems would have been solved decades ago.
Of the viable democratic hopefuls it would be comforting if they would recognize that it will take massive cooperation from everyone to begin to set a course for correction. Given how long it has taken us to arrive at this point of desperation we should realize that it will take equally as long to find solutions and that will require a willingness on the part of everyone to recognize that change is the only option and no one wants change.
The policy part may be insoluble so let’s turn our attention to an area that has received scant attention. Does character count? No one is flawless but there are some who seem to think that character (or the lack of it) can be ignored. Even a superficial reading of history of the last century should give a quick answer to that.
It’s astounding that the current default position on matters of character look the other way, to pretend it is not important. We have been taught to not be judgmental but falling into that trap can be tempered by the respect and careful listening to contrarian views even though we may find them abhorrent. The alternative of ranting and raving will never bring about meaningful dialogue; it will only solidify the position of an adversary.
We are on a slippery slope of moral decay. That sounds irritatingly preachy but we would be well served by stepping back from the foray and asking ourselves is this who we really? are. If the answer is yes, then we may be beyond help.
Hayden Hollingsworth