I've had a few days to process the primary results here in Illinois and it's left me depressed. Not about the knife-wielding hooker-beater we nominated for Lieutenant Governor, that kind of stupidity happens from time to time.
No, I'm talking about the sense that we're fooling ourselves. We worked our butts off to get a Democratic majority in Congress, and nothing happened. So we re-doubled our efforts, increased the majority to a supermajority and elected a Democratic president who espoused our ideals. The result? Nothing. Nothing, unless you count the frustration of progressives everywhere. The inaction by this government has been incredible, not counting the yeoman work that was done to help Wall Street.
Are we just as bad as the fundamentalists on the Right? Every election, they push for their Republican heroes, who don't whisper but rather shout sweet nothings at them. Telling adoring crowds of anti-abortion activists how Roe must be overturned. Telling Focus on the Family how the Constitution needs amendments banning Gay Marriage and allowing school prayer as the only way to save the Republic. Telling them exactly what they want to hear.
The result for Republicans? Again, yeoman work for the wealthy: tax cuts for the rich, continuing deregulation. The list goes on.
But the issues held dear by the faithful? Lip service is paid and intiatives are slow-walked until, before you know it, another election is upon us. And once again they make for great fundraising fodder.
We laughed at them; said they were being played for saps. But now look at us. Are we the flip-side of the same coin? Willfully blinding ourselves to reality? The reality that our Democratic heroes are also the flip-side of the same coin - with Republicans?
Listening to the Democratic victors on last Tuesday's primary election night, you'd think they didn't have the majority. There was all this talk about getting things done, as if we haven't had a majority in Congress for 4 years now. How many elections have they railed against free trade to no effect? Look at how DADT is now in the hands of a yearlong commission. President Obama reaches out to Republicans who kill whatever they can. Healthcare is watered down and delayed and delayed and delayed until we lose our 60th vote and then "uh-oh! Darn it! Maybe next time!" Again, a slow walk. Do they really even want to accomplish anything? Are both sides just concerned with staying in Washington? Staying on the gravy train? Is one hand simply washing the other?
This whole "we're the good guys, they're the bad guys" thing doesn't work for me anymore, if it ever did. We all know it's a lot more complicated than that. There's a lot of good people in public service, but not enough it seems.
Where do we go from here? It's not as simple as supporting a party. Again, we've always known that. But how do we find the right people? How do we educate voters who are now so frustrated they don't even care?
I was at a candidates forum the other day where one person quoted a remark Eisenhower made and compared it to our current political class. It stayed with me:
A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.
I fear they're going to take us with them.
Thanks for letting me vent.