Five hundred and forty five individuals is the number of people who have the authority to pass legislation in this country that affects over 350 million people. This number includes Congress, Supreme Court Justices, and the POTUS. It goes without saying that a very small percentage of people control significant power. This should be somewhat unsettling to the average American especially in an increasingly partisan and polarized environment. I am often amazed at the discourse when I tune into shows like NBC Meet the Press as I witness surrogates from both sides fighting like the children in a sandbox. What is equally discontenting is the lack of accountability from reputable media outlets that fail to call out dishonest statements. Proponents in the political arena like to call it "politics", however whether a candidate tells a white lie or slightly distorts his record or purposely misleads a part of their base by misrepresenting his or her opponent it is a lie.
My intention in this blog is not to draw attention to one party or any particular candidate. I have listened to enough politicians to know that there are violators on both sides which may explain why so many Americans choose to tune out and not participate in the election process. However by not participating and showing indifference only makes this process worse.
I will paraphrase a statement in a book that I read by Andy Andrews who wrote "How do you Kill 11 Million People?" in which he stated that a nation can survive one foolish leader but a nation of foolish people is doomed to fail. I couldn’t agree more with this statement and history has proven that masses can easily be misled by leaders who lie, scapegoat, or utilize scare tactics to achieve power.
There is no question that Washington is dysfunctional. This is evident in the fact that Congress has only an eight percent approval rating. Despite that we continue to send people to Washington who appear to be more concerned with their own re-election than to actually serve the public. Have Americans given up on honesty? Possibly, however it is more plausible that citizens are more willing to accept lies from candidates who support their own platform or ideology. Others are low information voters and know little about the candidates outside of the 30 second commercials that bombard us
. Politicians are aware of this and that is why they continue to go on the stump or on TV and spread their propaganda. The worst possible outcome is for us to give up and just accept that this is how the process should go. America deserves better however for us to reverse course it is time for each registered voter to do his or her diligent research and fact checking and demand integrity from anyone seeking an elected office.
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