Impossible Is Not the American Way

One key factor in today’s current American political climate is that the obstructionists who toil in the political arena universally state, with undyeable certainty, that to move forward is just, very simply, impossible. 

Nothing is more arduous in America than political change. It takes an inordinate amount of time requiring unparalleled endurance, persistence, emotional toughness, and persuasive, charismatic and intellectual expertise.

 

Leaders with these attributes have always been the foundation for change.  We wouldn’t have achieved a Civil Rights bill in 1964 without Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Without Franklin Delano Roosevelt we would not have Social Security.  Without Presidents Kennedy and Johnson both Medicare and Medicaid would have never has materialized.   

Through all the long dark days before the bright sunshine of success, we heard many say that while they may be good ideas they will never happen. 

David Durenberger is a Former Minnesota U.S. Senator.  Since leaving office he has established himself as a very credible authority on the American system of health care with particular focus on all its all its drawbacks.  In a Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) interview he was asked what we need to do to address the shortcomings and why we don’t have such a program?  Durenberger responded by saying we do have such a program.  It is the Veterans Administration (VA) health care program.  This was followed by the query as to why don’t simply adopt that model to overcome our health care shortcomings.  Durenberger responded by saying that would be politically impossible to achieve.  Nothing can be done – Status Quo maintained. 

One of the arguments surrounding solutions to end the American gun carnage is that it is so complex and so multi-faceted there is little or nothing that can be done.  With the exception of band-aid type proposals it is politically impossible to accomplish.  Nothing can be done – Status Quo maintained. 

For more than two decades the Pentagon has been unable to complete a financial audit.  The Pentagon remains the only government agency that has yet to pass an audit which is classified as a "Disclaimer of Opinion" (the auditor didn't get enough accounting records to form an assessment).  It has been stated time and again that because the pentagon budget is now so huge, complex and multi-layered that it is impossible to get an accurate accounting.  Nothing can be done – Status Quo maintained.  The Forever war crowd can continue dancing in the streets.  

Let’s be clear on one thing.  The concept of impossible has never led to achievement only failure.  And – Let’s be VERY clear that that runs contrary to the American experience and spirt. 

We didn’t win two world wars by believing it was impossible.

We didn’t find a polio vaccine by believing it was impossible.

We didn’t create labor unions by believing it was impossible.

We didn’t enact civil rights legislation by believing it was impossible.

We didn’t end the Vietnam war by believing it was impossible.

We didn’t land on the moon by believing it was impossible. 

This was an America where we believed nothing – ABSOLUTELY NOTHING - was impossible.  We still live in that country. 

Today we have a black president.  Gay Americans will finally have their grievances heard by the Supreme Court this year.  Both were once heralded as being impossible. 

It is time to start thinking only in terms of what must be accomplished, along with a fervent commitment to that success.  We can’t afford the destructive concept of impossible to find any room within our thought process – our collective wisdom. 

Those who use the argument that it will never be achieved are defeatists.  By their very nature they nurture a level of strength in determination for the success they oppose.  Embracing their logic relegates us to “Ground Hog Day” riddled with déjà vu.  For them the perfect appropriate and practical time to act will never materialize.  It will never materialize because they refuse to support those who are committed to progress and rational solutions – those who possess the skills, motivation. commitment and appeal necessary to sell their vision and know how to leverage a mandate in securing the necessary changes and legislation.  

We have ignored gun violence and done nothing for the last 18 years.  Every other industrialized nation on earth offers universal health care to its citizens.  The Pentagon is riddled with a massive amount of waste, fraud and financial mismanagement because we make it possible.  Impossible not only stifles our initiatives but even more damning, kills our propensity to dream that spawn creativity while blinding us to what we can and MUST achieve.