But Governing is Hard

Is it just me or does it seem that today many people seek elected office out of some ego-driven desire to be social media stars? From local to national levels, more and more elected officials act like they are competing on a reality show instead of doing the job of governing that they were elected to do (and that includes presidents). The saddest part of this is that we, the citizens of this country, are forced to watch as these posers fight for their 15 minutes in the spotlight while Rome burns.

With cable “news” constantly looking for content, internet sites pandering to all levels of (or lack of) intelligence, X and other social media platforms dumbing down our minds and cutting the average attention span to mere seconds, the environment is ripe for such blowhards. And as voters, we have no one to blame but ourselves for getting to this point. Worse yet, a scarily large portion of American voters are happy to have exactly this ilk in office; maybe because they can say and do what many Americans feel they can’t – or shouldn’t.

As I type this, there is no Speaker of the House because a handful of GOP members have succeeded in tearing down the protocols that kept us from this level of chaos for so long. It is shameful that these few elected officials are more concerned about strutting their “stuff” in the name of their constituents (seriously, are their voters that blind?!) than they are doing anything remotely like what they were sent to Washington to do – as we approach yet another self-created government shutdown. To make matters worse, the potential candidates for Speaker are part of the extreme right-wing movement that seeks to fundamentally re-structure our democratic republic form of government. To be fair, those on the far left want to do make changes too, much different changes, but drastic and negative, nonetheless.

Posing for the cameras and spewing rubbish is far easier than actually governing, and it provides immediate gratification, whereas working together to find the best solutions to today’s problems takes time, effort, and means splitting the credit. It takes a high level of maturity to take the latter route, and based on the tantrums coming from Congress, statehouses, and local municipal buildings, maturity is not a requirement for holding public office anymore. It seems that intelligence is no longer needed either.

Lest you forget that I am not a fan of either major political party, on the other side of the aisle, the Democrats can’t get out of their own way long enough to capitalize on the chaos, with several members of their party performing the same inane media stunts. Once again, a small minority of the party often succeeds in taking it hostage with its radical demands. I would call it an agenda, if either the radical right or radical left appeared to have one, but sadly the goal seems only to avoid the hard work of governing while performing for the cameras. My question is, where the hell are all the moderates on both sides? Very few show the courage to stand up to the extremists in the name of governing, and those who do are often shouted down (or worse) for trying to do their job!

As we approach election day on 11/7/2023 please think carefully about who you want running things in your town, state, and most importantly in Washington DC. In this age of media saturation, it’s easy to overlook those with substance in favor of those who perform well in front of the cameras. Remember, those who make the most noise are often those with the least substance. Vote on the issues and for the people you feel will address those issues in alignment with your values. That is the only way to get us back on track for the betterment of our country and our lives.

www.RetiredandInspiredat55.com 10-23-2023