Posted by
AuntieD on Sunday, June 01, 2008 9:22:09 PM
Two more primaries
to go and the season will be over but the Democratic race is still to close to
call. Everyone claims their candidate
has the edge but, no matter who comes out on the top of the ticket, the party
will come together and play nice. Oh,
for a crystal ball!
I must admit I am weary
of these contests but I can’t deny that during this election I have learned
more than I thought possible about the party process, the interplay between
state governments who pay for and hold the primary races and the political
parties who make up the rules, that Native Americans who have their own
sovereign nations within the United States can vote for the President of
another nation, while Puerto Ricans can vote in the primary but not in the
general election. I have observed the
media as it curries favor with one candidate or another, and have been
surprised at how little real mud slinging has occurred….. so far. It certainly is a time for change but it will
take more than a new President. It will
take a coalition of Congress people on both sides of the aisle working with an
Administration dedicated to reform. Or
will it?
One thing I’m
certain of is that government equals power and it’s naïve to think that any
politician is immune from that heady perfume.
How can we expect that change will come from the top down? How do we create change from the bottom
up? There are so many issues, so much
government, so many global influences, so much committed tax money, and so
great a debt. What can each of us do?
It takes a
significant emotional event to cause real change in behavior. We’ve been through that with September 11th
and our invasion of two sovereign nations.
Are we tired enough of the status quo to demand our government take
notice? Is our economy creating enough
pain that we will make changes ourselves?
Just by making the difficult choices of our daily lives, will we be able
to send a message that our country must fundamentally reform?
I don’t have the
answers to these questions, only the energy to muse. I have lived long enough to know that our
society swings like a pendulum from far left to far right to a more reasonable
moderate stance over time. Normally I’m
an optimist but this time I’m just not sure that time is on our side. Then again, maybe all we have for sure is
time.