Of Elephants and Donkeys - What Now!

Just a few words about politicians followed by a few words about we the people.
Lookie, lookie. The Dems take over Congress and guess what? Nothing changes. What do Democratic voters get? They get a T-Shirt that reads: I voted Democrat and all I got was this a) troop escalation b) a three week per month work week for Congress or c) a House Speaker with "jet envy".

The Democrats promised to "change the course" in Iraq and there are more troops in Iraq now than before November. (That said, I did not support the surge but I trust the President's decision and pray for success. That's why I didn't vote to send any Democrats to Congress: I don't think success is in their playbook.) The Democrats promised a "do-something Congress" and now them and their Republican clones are trying to work less. The Democrats whined about piggish Republicans and now they've got a Speaker who wants a 757 for weekend trips home. Democratic voters should ask for their money back--at least until their taxes increase and they give it away to the government again.

And don't even get me started on Republicans. We've got the deep dark mystery of a President who has mastered the philosophy of the War on Terror but does nothing about securing our borders. Republicans pay lip service to immigration problems that harm both Americans and illegals but still do nothing. Fiscal Conservatives elect them only to be betrayed by spending sprees and a ballooning government. Clean government advocates elected Republicans only to find the likes of DeLay and Foley. More recently Republicans, in what I believe is a backroom, deal with embarrassed Democrats-- have thwarted the foolish non-binding resolution vote. I don't know about you, but I've been dying to see how Republicans and Democrats would vote on such a shameful measure. So much for aiding public service.

All that said, in probably sound like an advocate for cynicism. On the contrary, I am an advocate for an American reality check that could change our country's course in 2008. Will a newly elected President render our modern day politicians to prehistory? Let's hope.The modern day politician is just that: A politician first and a citizen second. More often than not they are loyal to their party first, their donors second, and you and me third. Yes the party machines and money are to blame but so are we. Barely half of all registered voters in the U.S. bother to vote. That's not counting all the Americans who aren't even registered at all. If we included that figure we'd have a total American citizen voter turnout of maybe 30 percent. In the so called "Iraqi quagmire" voter turnout was around 80% and voters there were threatened with death.
If we don't call, why do we expect politicians to answer?

If we don't care, why do we expect politicians to care? Right now all they really have to do is make their Party and their donors happy and they have it made.
Changing the political culture will take a while. But the sooner we start exerting our power as voters the sooner we will cast out the politicians who don't listen and who consider elective office a meal ticket. Two cycles from now we may have even created a new breed of politician who doesn't suck up to NBC News, to special interests, and to his or her Party, and who instead realizes the thundering and diverse herd known as the "American citizen" is never far behind.