Long-simmered comments on the state of things

I'm terribly disappointed in the political landscape, the obvious cronyism and seamy behavior of the SCOTUS, and the whole damned shebang of it. It's pretty clear that the golden ideal of people holding office to work on behalf of the people is a jaded and facile textbook blurb we were brainwashed with in school when I was growing up. 

The shining moments in President Kennedy's inaugural address, the earnest speeches of RFK, even the impassioned diatribes by contemporary folks like Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders are all tarnished. Yes, they are all human beings, but the ideals, folks, the ideals are there. Those are the things I was raised believing in, the tenet by which I've tried to live my adult life: to whom much is given, much is expected. Noblesse oblige went out the door when this squadron of self-serving, money-grubbing, spotlight-sucking sycophants and nincompoops took over. 

Yes, I'm angry. Public service means just that: serving the public. Listening to their needs, not dictating. Not serving oneself and telling everyone else to get over it, deal with it, figure it out on your own. 

I'm tired of figuring it out on my own, and I'm pretty sure the majority of people living in this country are as well. It seems to me that the only reason TFG got elected to the presidency is that people are tired, damned tired, of slogging along and they'll believe any huckster that promises them retribution. Snake-oil salesmen are nothing new, but given the advent of social media, more people are hoodwinked. It used to be that if I wanted something, I could work for it. Then, the people who are in power moved the goalposts, over and over again, and in the meantime blamed me (us) for our own material and social failures. Why are these parasites lionized? Money? Bloviating idiots.

Can you tell I just read about Justice Alito's corrupt behavior on the Supreme Court? And most of the other "conservative" justices, including even Chief Justice Roberts? The Supreme Court should be squeaky clean, but boy o boy, they sure are not. 

Every day, the news cycle is full of "impeach this guy" and "investigate that event"-- I've pretty much given up hope that the idea of working for the people is ever even on their minds in Congress; at least, not on enough minds to make an actual difference. Now, I know there are some elected people who are working quietly, honestly, steadfastly on behalf of the working folks who put them there. I'd rather not tar them with the same brush I'm wielding for the ones who continually grab the microphones. Maybe they ought to help corral the fools they sit with.

We used to laugh and scoff at other countries' dysfunctional governments, ones where there was rampant corruption and the average guy was hungry in the streets. Hubris hits hard.

And when we are told that change can only come when we get involved, I shake my head. Most adults don't actually give a damn, the majority don't vote, and of the minority who do, it is split in more than two ways. Thus, the majority of the minority (follow the math?) is making selfish, hellish decisions that affect all of us. 

I used to crusade for people to get involved, to listen, to actually get informed. And to vote. I've worked phone banks. Now, we aren't allowed to discuss these issues in schools, to help educate the neophyte voters. People vote for a "strongman" because they feel powerless to make a difference. There is a deep confusion that exists: shouting does not make one wise. Just loud and obnoxious. Bullies are not brave, they are just big and noisy. If only the common, everyday person would bother to get informed instead of voting as a result of manipulated sound bites, maybe we could recapture some of the glow from Kennedy's speech, or MLK Jr.'s, or RFK's, or even John Lewis' final op-ed essay. 

If you don't know those bits of history, they are online. 

I'm spoiling for a fight, I guess. I will choose to get into "good trouble," as Lewis said. 

Have a good day,

C