The election season highlights not our dedicated patriots vying to improve the country, but the greedy villains who are subtly but devastatingly destroying the democratic process like a creeping and relentless rust. In addition to hunting those home-grown terrorists sneaking over to Syria to join ISIS, we should also be rooting out the saboteurs amongst us who are doing greater damage. While the culprits are pointing and shouting, “Hey, look over there! We’re under attack by Ebola and ISIS,” they are brutally clubbing the baby seal of the democratic principle.
This is the democratic ideal we so love: an informed population weighs the positions of those running for political office, then selects, through majority, the person they think will best represent them in government. It’s so beautiful in its simplicity and sincerity that it’s no wonder those hungry for freedom worldwide would want to embrace it. But here in America that ideal is facing the same fate as an extra in The Walking Dead who says, “I’m going to go on night patrol alone. Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”
We can’t keep touting our political system as a model for the world while tolerating the worst kind of bad actors whose actions slowly grind away our system. We shouldn’t just shrug it off with cynical acceptance, “That’s politics.” It reminds me of that line from a Brenda Shaughnessy poem, “It’s like having a bad boyfriend in a good band.” The good band is the democratic system; the bad boyfriend is the abusive politician willing to compromise that system to satisfy his own lust for power.
The two most egregious examples of this betrayal are in misleading political ads and in partisan lawmaking that is meant to obstruct fair voting practices. The first attempts to misinform the public, inhibiting its ability to make an informed choice. The second attempts to obstruct eligible voters from casting their ballot because they might not vote the way those in power want them to vote.
This is where I thrust up my fist and yell "Right on" in my squeaky white guy voice.
Jabbar of course is dead right, we are indeed losing the essence of our democracy. And the said fact is that we are essentially selling it to the highest bidder.
Gee, kind of makes me wish Kareem would run for something.
Back in the 80s, I performed at half-time at a Mavericks game vs. the Lakers. We were entering the court where the Lakers exited for the locker room.
ReplyDeleteI come from a tall family; both my dad and brother are 6'4" tall, but I was blown away when Kareem Abdul-Jabbar walked by. I swear, his knees were at my hips. He. Is. Very. Tall. :D (And charming and well-spoken.)
I know what you mean. He kindly donated a pair of his sneakers to a silent auction for a charity I worked with. I still haven't got over how big they were!
DeleteLovely guy.
I had to laugh, LisaB. I once got into an elevator at a hotel where NBA players were staying. I walked into the elevator and found myself at eye level with their belt buckles!!
DeleteOh, and Go Lakers! (Just like Democrats, I 'm still loyal even when they're losing. )
For many people, god is dead and the religious mess/terror that depended from its delusional beliefs is rightly to be despised.
ReplyDeleteBut now Money is god. Henry Thoreau said, "If I walk in the woods for a day, I am called an idler; if I plot and plan to cut it down to sell, I am a successful and valued man."
Democracy is being clear cut.
We shouldn’t just shrug it off with cynical acceptance, “That’s politics.”
ReplyDelete--------------------------
YES! I am so tired of hearing that. When we accept that mentality, we are lost. The big problem I see with the general public, is they don't spend the ridiculous amount of time rooting out and investigating the facts that you need to do. And why should we have to? We have an abundance of media outlets, but they really are a hinderance to our democracy when they give us what is basically their opinion and false information.
The other big problem that contributes to the erosion of our system, it's repellant to intelligent people, like Jabbar. Too much money keeping out the people who want to make a change. Our government is starting to feel like a private mega corporation.
Mildred
Amen to that. Thank you, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Yesterday the White House press corps expected the president to appear with rent garments and a face streaked with tears. He did neither. He handled himself magnificently (as usual) and the reporters made fools of themselves (again, as usual). I am so proud of President Obama and I am so disappointed in the American people for being so stupid, so lazy and so indifferent.
ReplyDeleteBeaglemom
A good friend from Tucson, AZ posted this on his Facebook wall.
ReplyDelete“A young friend who was here watching election returns last night takes classes at both UA and Pima Community College. He said he asked fellow students and did not find A SINGLE ONE who voted or thought it was important.”
I hate to say it, but we are fucked.
I was running out to vote before heading to night class and my babysitter (about 21, applying for Medical School) told me that she wasn't even registered.
DeleteThing is - I didn't care when I was in college either. It's, like, "adult politics". You think your voice doesn't really matter, your vote doesn't *really* count, and what if you make the wrong choice? I didn't think I knew enough to make an informed decision. And when I finally DID vote - I voted like my REPUBLICAN (AUGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) parents b/c that was all I had heard!!
So, I don't think we're "fucked" b/c of the lack of the youth vote (of course it doesn't HELP),
but the Democrats in Charge FUCKED. THIS. UP. by not toting the ACCOMPLISHMENTS of President Obama. They totally let the GOP set the tone of the race and all the Dems did was apologize for living.
It makes me really angry. It's our apathetic and spineless "leaders" that failed us - NOT President Obama, of course. He's the only Leader among fools and sycophants.
Elizabeth Warren is the only Dem with an actual "fighting spirit" that I have seen in a long time. Hillary has a fighting spirit too, but I think it's coming from a different place than Elizabeth. I think Warren is still close enough to her former life to remember what it is like to be "normal".
Hillary lives in a place called "Whitehaven" for Chrissakes.
My parents made sure we were registered at 18 and that we knew the importance of voting. Once, in college, she asked me if I was going to vote in a midterm election and I begged off and she got really mad.
DeleteShe told us how much voting mattered to our grandparents and great grandparents who came to the US to escape oppression and to have a say in how they were governed.
We actually voted as a family, and we all wore our best clothes. It was an "event" not just a "duty". But it instilled in us the importance of our civil responsibilities living in a free democracy. When Pops felt we were responsible enough, he allowed us to help run the polls and dragged us out to every speech within driving distance. I remember my Mom not being able to speak after shaking hands with JFK, and just seeing Mrs Kennedy...... forget about it. She speaks of it to this day!!!!
DeleteGee, kind of makes me wish Kareem would run for something.
ReplyDelete~~~~
He would certainly be head and shoulders over any and all potential opponents......
*Rimshot!*
DeleteHe'd be a slam dunk!
ReplyDeleteI've been saying it since before I could vote because it is so blatantly obvious, if you want a Government that works for the people rather than for the moneyed and power interests, grow some balls and stop voting for both Republicans and Democrats, en masse.
ReplyDeleteI've been corresponding with my despondent first cousin. We're both in our mid-60s and he wrote me the other night, saying he's moving. Anywhere the politics are better. I wrote him the following:
ReplyDelete"I've been thinking a lot the last couple of days and what I've come up with is even worse than what I thought before. Democrats are real fond of saying, "oh, yes, it happens in every midterm (and actually it does, if you look at political history) BUT, just wait til 2016, when Hillary run!. And just look at 2020 when all those ol' white people who vote Republican are dead!"
Well, the problem is that we are putting all our eggs in one almost-70 year old basket, in terms of 2016. I really think that Hillary's support is wide...but essentially shallow. Who else do we have if Hillary dies and/or wises up to the absurdity of running for President? We have no one. And don't suggest Joe Biden. (Who I like a lot). He's even older. I have always had the feeling that Hillary either won't run or will be defeated if she does.
And we've been waiting for the old folks to die off fo-evah, and essentially it doesn't change much. Dems still can't get their people off their (fat) asses to vote in the mid-terms.
And what are we giving Dems to vote for? Our gubernatorial candidate - Gary King - who was chosen by the voters in a three-way primary - was a completely lame and inept candidate who ran a lame and inept race. I'll bet the only people who voted for him this week were either relatives or people who held-their-noses when they voted.
And that leads us to another essential truth about Democrats (God love us, because we are so awful I don't know who else would!) We do not support a president who accomplished so much his first two years - albeit with a strong Congress - because "Obamacare didn't go far enough", he "shoulda done this...and he didn't", "he disappointed me because he's not liberal enough", etc, etc. Now, I will be the first to admit - and to strongly admonish Obama and his administration - that their "messaging" was dreadful, from the very start. But we also display an astonishing ignorance when it comes to knowing how the government functions; that Obama couldn't right all the wrongs that have come before him. BUT, the economy is doing well, unemployment is down, and so are the deficits that the Republicans have been complaining about for years. Why doesn't EVERYBODY know that? Because the Obama administration hasn't done much to broadcast that fact.
Well, that's all I got at the moment. Let me know if you do move to (fill-in-the blank). Just make sure it has internet service..."
Thanks for posting this Gryphen - I would have missed it otherwise. It's articles like this that should make the headlines instead of the republican rants that we are so used to seeing. I will keep the thoughts of Kareem close in my head and heart - and spread his message. Thanks again :)
ReplyDeleteDid you read the whole essay by Kareem? He justly admonished both sides- dem and rep for the games they play.
DeleteFantastic! Thanks for sharing this!
ReplyDeleteOh, yes. The days when sports players had brains!
ReplyDelete