The Plan for Echoes

Echoes is an experiment; a hesitant "toe-dip" into the cold and unknown waters of the blogging world. It is my intention to post one significant editorial comment, similar to "Political Season" in length, per week. The content of these "Thoughts" will certainly not be limited to politics; there scope will be as broad as the reach of my ponderings. In the meantime, I hope to post smaller notes on things that might strike me throughout the week. I apologize beforehand for the instances when these consist primarily of events from my life. If my life bores you, please feel free to read only my weekly Thought; no hard feelings.

Thanks for reading!
LifeEchoes

PS I begin a creative writing class today and look forward to utilizing what I learn there in both this blog and in the writing of fiction. I trust that improvement will be evident in the blog. As for the fiction...perhaps, some day, you can read one of my novels and know my real name!

"It is by sitting down to write every morning that one becomes a writer"
- Gerald Brenan

Political Season

In the last several years my attention to politics has greatly increased. Whatever the reasons for this, age and maturity surely among them, the time I spend watching the news has expanded as a result.
And the result has more often than not been frustration.
May I state the obvious? Is not the politician’s job to do what he or she thinks best for our great nation? Are they not to take strong personal stands on issues so that those who elect them to office know clearly how they will be represented?
Instead, it seems that those who “serve” us in Washington have several other primary goals: to be reelected and to support their political party. They take a stand on a position based not on conviction but on political expediency. I constantly hear comments like, “So and so is really trying to appeal to the religious right” or “So and so is attempting to appear more moderate in order to swing the independent voters to his side.”
The absurdity of such motivation strikes at the very heart of our representative democracy. If our leaders change their positions in order to win our votes, we are electing people who, at best, are subject to the opinions of the masses, and, at worst, do not truly support the things we hold dear. Moreover, their focus goes from making a logical defense of their views to softening their position in order not to offend any voter who may be on the fence.
And then there is the party spin. As a republican voter, I find myself despising (yes, despising) sound bites from both parties. No real information is given, no admission of weaknesses or wrongs, no real search for the best solution. Only “hold the party line.”
So I make an appeal to all politicians everywhere: tell us what you believe! Convince us to vote for you by the soundness of your argument, not by the smoke and mirrors of your defense. Come to the political arena with an attitude that begs NOT to be elected if the American people do not support your views. We want strong men and women who will stand on the principals of conviction and logic and truth, not upon the political correctness of the day and the official stance of their political party.
We want…dare I say it? Honesty.

NOTE: It should be noted that the land of Washington is not totally barren of politicians who stand firm no matter the political fallout. There are those who will oppose their own party leadership and even the wrath of the voters to stand by a position they feel to be right. But they seem to be few and far between.