Change Never As Easy As Just Voting

Contemporary American vernacular requires we read between the lines whenever the concept of change is bandied about.

 For example; when the Minnesota Vikings assured us that Percy Harvin wasn’t going anywhere, we all knew his days were numbered.  Sure enough, a few weeks later he was a Seattle Seahawk.

Or when a large corporation buys a smaller concern and everyone is assured that nothing will change, we know big changes are on the horizon. 

Then there are all those politicians and political pundits who are forever speculating that changes are forthcoming that never materialize.  Such will be the end result of our most recent midterm elections.

We will, of course, hear from the Republican faithful.  They’ll be boasting that the outcome is a clear and overwhelming mandate for change and the rebuke of President Obama’s policies almost none of which have been enacted during the last six years.

Democrats will be scurrying about scaring their flock into believing the end is near and they had better marshal their forces to avoid cataclysmic destruction in 2016.

Yes – The same old rhetoric.  No change there.   

How about the fact that the 2014 midterm elections found voter turnout to be dramatically down from general election turnouts?  History has shown that midterm voter turnout has steadily decreased since 1840.  Further study also reveals this almost always bodes well for Republicans.  So, no change there.

Certainly, it is huge that Republicans now have total control of the legislative branch of our government?  But wait…Voting trends since 1948 clearly reveal that Americans love divided government.  Every President from Harry Truman to now Barack Obama has had to govern with the opposition party in control of the legislative branch during a portion of their time in office.  Okay – So nothing changes there.

Certainly, future Republican control of the senate will allow those rascals to easily pass whatever legislation suits their fancy.  Gone – ALL GONE - is The Affordable Care Act, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the minimum wage, unemployment insurance…unless or more accurately until…the Democrats, under Harry Reid’s tutelage, take a page from the Republican’s play book and implement the silent filibuster to block any and all Republican initiatives.  THIS REPUGNANT legislative maneuver could have met its demise on January 24, 2013.  It survived because Democratic senate majority leader Harry Reid refused to support its extinction thus securing its continuance by a 78 to 16 vote.  This was after Reid stated the practice had become abusive and should be suspended.  Could it be that ole Harry knew his party would be in the minority by 2015 and therefore didn’t want to lose this dagger in the heart of democracy as a future weapon?  Wonder how he would have known that?

And let’s not forget that the president has the veto pen.  Anything that does not meet with his satisfaction he can veto and send back to the senate.  Unlike the silent filibuster that now requires 60 senate votes to suspend, a veto override still requires a two-thirds majority vote of 66 senators.  The Republicans will have 53 or 54 such votes leaving them far short of the necessary punch needed to mandate their will.  And hence intransigence lives on.

If change is what we truly seek, it can only come about through the following:

 ·        The bigoted and obstructionist John Bircher Society devotees of congress that now hold their seats under the banner of The Tea Party must be expunged.  That means ending the gerrymandering of congressional districts.

 ·        The election of a strong decisive leader to the Oval Office who has the ability to gain and hold unquestionable public support.

 ·        Following the six-point program outlined by former Oklahoma Republican Congressman Mickey Edwards in his treatise on “How to Turn Republicans and Democrats into Americans.”  

 ·        A massive uprising by the American people in the form of committed and unrelenting activism.

 Change cannot occur without the combination of a large voting contingency dedicated to electing well-intentioned public servants and activism.  It will never occur in the hands of those whose primary ambition is the feathering of their own political nests rather than a commitment to the betterment of America.   A consensus in conjunction with a strong voter turnout will always result in change…but, that is entirely in the hands of “we the people”.

Voting The Common Good

Elections can be troubling.

The motivations of the electorate in their decision-making process can be based on factors that are void of the general welfare and common good of the nation.  

Some make their decision based on fear of the opposition, sometimes outright hatred of the opposition. 

Others base their decision solely on political party indoctrination.  

Then there are those one issue voters who are seemingly unaware of any possible negative ramifications to our country from what will benefit them the most.  

 How do we avoid the entrapment of all this clutter to cast a truly civic minded vote?  The answer was provided by a wise high school civics teacher.  Brother (Christian Brother) Michael Brian emphasized there is no substitute for the truth and the truth may not always be in your own self-interest.   

You must be stubbornly diligent in creating a thirst for only the truth.  The truth you seek must be based on irrefutable factual information.  You must guard against as Rudyard Kipling wrote; “the truth…twisted by knaves to set a trap for fools.”  Today’s media are riddled with spin which is nothing more than deceit cloaked as the truth. 

The astute teacher further added that we must all be equally committed to exposing ALL lies and deceit as well as ALL forms of fear and hatred promulgated on both sides of the political spectrum. 

Brother Michael concluded by saying this is hard work which, unfortunately, way too few are willing to perform.  Then the words that still resonate to this day; “No one ever said democracy was easy.  Nothing worthwhile ever is.” 

Polarization and tribalism have reached epic levels in America.  This intransigence has resulted in our turning away from political considerations and an along with it an aggressive search for the truth.  This in turn has resulted in an abandonment of our civic responsibility to the collective general welfare of the nation.  If we continue to foster this mindset, we will get ever closer to the day when the Rod Blagojevichs of this country will occupy the oval office.   

Vision a Bit Shortsighted

The Hotel experience was once a very regal affair.

Sometime in the late twentieth century the Minneapolis city fathers determined the beautiful construction and ornate lavish style of its older hotels no longer fit with the city’s vision of the future.  

Gone is the Nicollet Hotel which opened in 1924 and was torn down in 1991.  Gone is the Curtis Hotel built in 1903 and razed in 1984. And most sadly of all, gone is the Leamington Hotel built in 1912 and destroyed in 1990.  

The Leamington sat at Third Avenue and Tenth Street across from the Curtis.  It was once the proud temporary home of the greatest entertainers of day, such as Duke Ellington, along with former Presidents Dwight Eisenhower, John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson and Ronald Reagan, as well as former Vice President, Minnesota U.S. Senator and Minneapolis Mayor Hubert Humphrey.  It has been replaced with a parking ramp.

 A visit to Rice Park in the downtown St. Paul is always a special treat during the holiday season.   After experiencing the beautiful lights, the exquisite Christmas tree and the special featured highlights of this glorious season, walk across the street and visit the St. Paul Hotel. 

Stop in; even if it is just for an adult beverage or club soda.  Look around and admire the splendor of the architecture, the incredible vision and conception in its planning and the lost art of the workmanship and genius in its construction.  While you are basking in the majesty of this grand old hotel, you might also offer a prayer that this stately structure is never introduced to the wrecking ball.  For it is almost all we left to admire from that very special bygone era.