They are all nice fairy tales we teach our kids. Kind of like the School House Rock version of "I'm a Bill" or the Constitution. The problem is that some of us expected that our government actually worked like that. You know, a country of laws, not people. Representatives that actually, um, "represent" the people?
But instead we have a "majority party" in Congress that won't use their influence to get the things done that we elected them to do. Bring the troops home? Universal healthcare? Impeachment? Habeus Corpus?
I once had a political science teacher in college that showed us a documentary about the career of a freshman congressman. He had been elected by grassroots support to promote progressive causes. He found that once in office, he was virtually powerless. The only way to get anything done was to compromise his values, play to the powerful by voting for bills he did not support, and spend a lot of time fundraising. At the end of his term, out of frustration, he decided not ot run again. From Michael Kinsley:
It used to be said that the moral arc of a Washington career could be divided into four parts: idealism, pragmatism, ambition and corruption. You arrive with a passion for a cause, determined to challenge the system. Then you learn to work for your cause within the system. Then rising in the system becomes your cause. Then, finally, you exploit the system -- your connections in it, and your understanding of it -- for personal profit.
The bottom line priorities seem to be party above country, representatives above constituents, leadership above rank-and-file, and the few maintaining power over all. To hell with the issues that got them elected. Now that they are elected, holding and consolidating power is the singular directive.
Now I should stop and acknowledge those who are fighting against this power structure: Dodd, Feingold, Kucinich, and others. But they are fighting an uphill battle.
I guess the point of this post is to vent my disgust with those who claim to be our "leaders". Those who claim to live to higher standard and have pledged to uphold and defend the Constitution. As John Edwards keeps telling us, the system is rigged. I would add that the leaders, regardless of party, are corrupt.
I really want to believe that our government rises to the standards our founding fathers intended, but I think I'll see reindeer on my roof before that happens.