More Straight Talk

The Clock Starts Running On January 20th 

I can’t help but wonder at times whether this great nation has finally reached a crossroads regarding where we are headed. The more I read, the more news I listen to, and the more I absorb the words being spoken by our leaders causes me to be truly troubled at times. We have just come off an election in 2024 which voters fooled the political talking heads, and it is our responsibility to hold their feet to the fire regarding their promises. 

I’m not so naive as to believe that American politics has ever been made up of a harmonious group of individuals. Democrats do not always agree with other Democrats, any more than Republicans share the same beliefs on issues. However, today it is hard to find anyone looking at issues, but instead at pure political gamesmanship. 

I have always felt that it is through reasoned and educated compromise and a deep dive into the details of legislation that we are able to find an acceptable ground to move forward with respect to the many complicated issues of the day.  

Forging those alliances and understandings between men and women of good faith seems to be an art that is sorely missing in today’s world, whether it be on the local, state, or federal level. The process of finding compromise in today’s world seems dominated by speeches, tweets, and maneuvering that finds differing sides facing a wider separation of their beliefs and fewer and fewer chances to find those illusive words that could lead to the necessary compromises that would lead to successful negotiations. 

You can’t help but wonder where all this began. Some would speculate it started with the breakdown of the family unit. The desire to acquire more and more of those material things in life, while losing sight of how important the quality of our life is. 

Have we become a “Me Generation,” which many have warned us against over the last several decades? Have we forgotten about our responsibilities to each other and the need to show respect and deference to those we may differ with, even if we hold differing opinions? 

The Democrats lost their bid for re-election because they couldn’t understand that the voters lost their stomach for a government out of control regarding spending and meeting the needs of the citizens instead of special interests. 

I often think about how we were brought up regarding the respect we were taught to give to our parents and grandparents. It always seemed to come naturally to us, maybe that was because it was ingrained within our upbringing. What happened to that? That change didn’t come overnight, but we’d be lying to ourselves if we didn’t admit those changes did come. 

Have we created the entitlement society that we should all know is a no-win scenario?Do those programs guarantee votes in November elections? Unfortunately, that appears to be the case regarding some of these giveaway programs, and that is a shame. 

Every person who has sat in the Oval Office has come to realize the enormous responsibility that lies in protecting the citizens of our great nation. This next President has inherited a mess regarding the issue of illegal immigration and the flow of illicit materials such as drugs, human trafficking, and  

weapons. We would be foolish not to recognize the potential that lies with the infiltration of those wishing to do harm to our nation across that porous southern border. 

Both Republicans and Democrats have been remiss in their duties regarding this threat. To bury one’s head in the sand and ignore it while seeking to make cheap political points makes those politicians as bad as those who would come here and harm our citizens.  

Only time will allow us to fully evaluate the accomplishments of this next President or any of those that will come after him. History will be the best judge of that, as it is hard to assess their successes or failures immediately, but without an educated electorate, failure is almost guaranteed. 

We need to start putting our political affiliations away and remember we are Americans first. We need as a people to remember that our Founding Fathers did not see public service as a profession but as a responsibility. 

I do not bemoan our elected representatives of their salaries, but do not wish to allow them to feed at the public trough for 30 to 50 years. Congressman John Dingell served in Congress from 1955 to 2015, holding the record as the longest-serving member of Congress, retiring after 59 years of service. 

Term limits, election law reform, and stronger ethics rules are a necessity, and we as a people must demand it from those who work for us at all levels of government, otherwise we have only ourselves to blame. 

We as citizens must do a better job of holding those who sit in these seats both in Washington and even locally to higher standards. That responsibility lies first in making educated choices over who will hold those offices at the ballot box.