The weekend is half over and we're grudgingly moving toward a solution to the "debt crisis." One thing we know for sure. We're disgusted. We, the people, feel played. We feel powerless to change the rhetoric, the posturing, the lack of empathy, and the degree to which our legislators seem removed from the lives of those they represent.
And while this fiasco plays out, thousands of teachers march on Washington in a planned demonstration that unfortunately coincided, or rather slammed into the debt crisis on the same day. No matter, the media is ignoring it like the paid off institution they often are. There was word that CNN would cover the "Save Our Schools" gathering. So far nothing. Just for information's sake, they want the end to bankrupt legislation like No Child Left Behind. They want to get rid of the corporate interests that would do the bidding of those who threaten democracy and critical thought the most. They want an ounce of respect for the job they do and a pound of don't criticize what you don't understand. We are not the enemy here.
I wonder who will feel relieved when this entire political impasse finally ends? Nothing to feel relieved about is there? Perhaps the best we can expect is for some accountability. That would involve looking at the 3 trillion dollars our government spent in Iraq and Afghanistan thus far. They seem to conveniently forget that sum when filling out the forms of budget creation.
An observation: Politicos of all stripes are fond of using the phrase "The American People." As if there is such an entity that thinks alike on anything. Just who are the American people? How do they think. Presidents and legislators always refer to them in order to remind us all that they are always thinking of them,. Of who? Of the cab driver in Brooklyn or the Vietnamese crabber in Louisiana? Of the organic farmer in Maine or the surfer in San Diego?
Are they trying to build an consensus between the racist, homophobic, fear mongers, and the drugged out politically apathetic meth heads? The American people are much more than all these stereotypes. They are a complex network of ideas, cultures, ethnicities, beliefs, and aspirations that defy any label. So, no legislators, you aren't doing anything for the "American people" as a whole. Only if...not yet.
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