Now, don't get me wrong our new Congress seems to have a natural understanding of this idea but it is time to erase the word politician and call them what they are. Public Servants.
Dissect this with me please over the flip...
A public servant is someone who is there to serve the public, us. They are not called corporate servants, religious servants, special interest servants but PUBLIC servants.
We have allowed foxes to guard the henhouse of our democracy and country for too long, we have allowed them to give themselves unlimited perks, extra raises, have allowed them to court the almighty and powerful in the business world with no fear of being punished because after all, they write the laws. This last election was not just an accountability moment for the government, it was one for we, the people as well.
In this last election we realized that laws which have been purposefully written to obfuscate can be made clear, by the people, for the people. We realized that our government will only be as accountable as we force it to be. We informed the lobbyists that all their money is a pittance compared to what we the people can raise for the causes and candidates we believe in. So this is the time to seize on our momentum and remind politician that their position does not come with countless perks and luxuries. It comes with a responsibility and a sacred duty that they should discharge with dignity and respect.
Our firefighters, police and military find it an honor to serve the public. They do not request or require perks, extra "donations", high end lunches, free flights, free cars or anything else that our politicians, who also serve us, demand and legislate for themselves. It is our firefighters, police and military that DESERVE some perks, or even just a decent raise but they do their duty because to them it is HONORABLE.
If we start to reintroduce the phrase public servant define it as what it is, an honor not an opportunity to steal perhaps we can convince more "normal" people to serve and kick the lobbyist owned, corrupt and greedy legislators that are left out of office. Perhaps we can redirect some of the endless funds that stream into the halls of Congress to buy a vote to things worthy of millions of dollars, such as the Fire Depts, schools etc. If the politicians donated 1/2 of the money they get into perks and put it back into public funding it would be amazing to see the difference just that would make.
I think as a blog we should start referring to our Congress Critters as public servants. Perceptions do influence reality and perhaps if We the People started viewing our leaders as what they are, there to serve us as well as lead, perhaps even more people would get involved in watching and monitoring Congress.
Chaos