R E S P E C T

I don’t usually use this venue to be political – well maybe once or twice – but not generally.  Today, however, I am making an exception.  I heard something last night that really boiled my blood, and that is a recount of a person who heard a Congresswoman talk about her experience in session.  She said that whenever President Obama starts to address Congress, certain members will start booing him and saying “Nay” even before he finishes speaking.  This is hearsay, but it is not the first time I have heard this kind of thing.  If it is true, I think that is the height of rudeness.  Acting in that matter, even if you disagree with the man’s policies, is just plain rude, and one major reason why nothing is getting done in government.

My belief is that if you are elected by the people, you are a representative of the people, and all the representatives need to work together for the benefit of the people.  I have been an elected official as a Councilmember both in a council that had a majority of the opposite party, and a council where my party was the majority.  Granted it was much easier in the later case to get things done, but even in the former case, I never simply disregarded another council member simply because they were of the opposite party.  I may not have agreed with what they had to say or their proposed legislation, but I would listen and then engage in a healthy discourse toward a mutually agreed upon solution to the situation.  Not to pat myself on the back, but that is the respectful, adult way to do things.

I am very troubled by the Conservative Right’s platform.  For all their rhetoric about family values, one would think that decency and respect would be part of that equation.   Isn’t that a Commandment anyway; love thy neighbor as yourself? Isn’t following the “Golden Rule” part of what is taught in church?  These people are making a mockery of the democratic process.  I can’t believe that a majority of voters put them there thinking that they would actually accomplish something beneficial when they stated their agenda was simply to make the current president a One-Term President.  I my humble opinion that mindset creates a hostile environment that does nothing to address those issues affecting millions of people. It is time to make a change, yes, but unlike the change I hear from certain sources, the change needs to be to elect people to office who are genuinely interested in making a difference and will treat each other, and their constituents, with respect and in a manner that they themselves would like to be treated. Keep that in mind when you head to the polls in November.