Dreadful Politicians

Very few politicians care about anything more than themselves. There are few exceptions and it seems as though it’s gotten worse over time. Today’s politicians spend most of their time shamelessly grandstanding, claiming to care about people, while in reality all they want is fame, money, and power. It’s just ego and it’s important to understand that both parties are infected. I realize this is a cynical observation, but here is the point: as tempting as it is to disengage, you can’t. Politicians may be phonies but public policy still matters – more than ever. Elected officials, whether we like it or not, have the power to make life better or worse for the majority of Americans.

I have no problem with people knowing where I stand politically. I have liberal views on immigration and almost all social issues, and I don’t believe in trickle down economics. That probably doesn’t surprise anyone. However, my Republican friends and I agree on more than 80% of the issues. How is that possible? According to certain media we should disagree on everything. It’s possible because all of my friends, regardless of party affiliation, care about people. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t be my friends. We may occasionally disagree on the method, but our values are fundamentally in alignment. Partisan politics are a lie. Here’s a test: If you believe that members of the opposing party are evil and secretly want to destroy the country, you’re getting your news from the wrong places.

Quite frankly, I don’t see how you can be a patriot today if you only support candidates or issues from one party. Patriots put country before party, get educated on the issues, vote for candidates who support the issues they care about most and hold them accountable – regardless of party. If more of us truly did that, our politicians would behave much differently than they do today and a lot more work would get done for the American people.