I confess, I do still get all caught up in the zugzwang of right vs left in the Congress and the White House. I've been following it for decades now, and honestly caring about it, because even as a ten year old, I knew that it mattered. It was life and death during the Cold War and I spent several years going to school knowing that that day might be the day that President Reagan might decide he had to Push That Button. I knew that he was sufficiently committed to trigger a nuclear holocaust, I knew that I lived close enough to DC to be wiped in a flash, and I knew that my opinions on the topic didn't matter.
THAT'S HOW I WENT TO SCHOOL EVERY DAY! For years. I wrote Reagan a letter, asking "how do you think you can save the world by destroying it?". I knew then that my opinion didn't matter, because I was living in a world where the grownups had somehow decided that this was alright.
Well, now I'm a grownup. I work with kids who walk under similar Swords of Damocles, as I did then. And while I do work hard to blunt that blade, I know I'm not doing enough to make the child I was then feel safe and confident in the world I was growing in.
But that's just the preamble. Know what I hate right now? All these self-righteous pompous fucks in Congress and wherever else in government, and their lackies and minions and enablers, their PR fluffers, their corporate moneybag sociopaths, all the participants in the massive Death Machine of doing and non-doing, of distraction and poison-penning and ankle-biting and all their sophisticated arts of frothy nothingness. And their funding initiatives that kill people, or ignore or profit from the suffering of others.
And admittedly, I was happy when Congress was able to put the brakes on W. Incidents that were few and far between. I felt the same heartbreak when I heard of W's "Axis of Evil", as I had 20 years previous when I learned of the concept of "Mutual Assured Destruction". Sometimes not doing is the best you can do, and it's a brave and bold action.
But what I expect is Right Actions. That is the standard I hold myself to. And that's my standard for others. I respect those who act from conviction because they're doing, and because anyone who is acting genuinely can be engaged genuinely. Caring requires the ability to listen to others.
That's not what I see in Congress, more often than not. I see a commitment to suppressing and repressing, by those who aren't bold enough to stand for what they claim to care for. I see them fighting for things, or ignoring things, that their kids would wish they did otherwise, because they're pissing in the wind. When you're in the Capitol, top of the mountain, and people are throwing millions at you, I'm sure it feels nice to piss in the wind, specially if you're angling so not even your feet are getting wet.
That is the basic construct of aristocracy, plutocracy. And that's what we're dealing with. It's not going to change. Until we change it. We need to work with and for people we trust and respect, and take the paycheck hit as needed. We need to insist on the value of things we care about, like health, education, justice, and the environment. We're not going to change anything alone, but we can together.
And the metric I'd like to see Congress judged by is how constructive they are, minute by minute. Are they campaigning pointlessly for things that will earn them voters and funds without ever hope of passing? Useless. Are they frothing ridiculously about timewasteries that have no relevance to their responsibilities? Useless. Are they denying fact, and obfuscating to score political points, at the expense of our mutual wellbeing? Useless.
And the list goes on. They all make me sick. I have full respect for those who make stands on principle, and those who have waded through the muck and speak from experience. I respect those who are doing the best they can, with the data they have. But they are the minority...