One Bright Spot

I think most Americans are appalled at what unfolded the last couple of weeks as members of Congress squabbled and squared off over the debt ceiling issue. Our elected officials, in my opinion, were a disgrace to our country and forgot what compromise is. I’m so sick of partisan politics and now we have a third destructive element added to the mix.  What seemed to be a positive, citizen driven option called the “Tea Party” turns out to be a “take hostages at any cost” choice in the whole mix. Draw a line in the sand and no matter what it does to our country…hold to their objectives. No compromise…just crash and burn.

I thought several years ago when this idealistic notion of the Tea Party came about that perhaps this would break the gridlock in Washington and offer a third alternative to the political system. After watching them at work, during this debt ceiling mess, there is no way I would ever back a candidate who says they belong to this party. Many of them felt that we didn’t need to do anything to avoid sending our country over a cliff and that is scary. Even when independent agencies told about the potential impact to our rating system and economy, they said it was all made up and just hype. I was boiling mad watching all of this unfold and hearing the Republicans say that we should not do anything to the wealthy at all. Once again, change comes at the expense of the middle class and the poor.

Last night, when the votes were being cast for the plan that would pull us back from the abyss, we finally got to see true humanity and compassion in some of these otherwise barbaric Congressmen. The outpouring of love and concern for Gabby Gifford, when she was on the floor of the Senate was truly felt. For a few minutes they all came together to honor their comrade and it did not revolve around what party affiliation she belonged to. Decency prevailed for a few precious minutes. Why can’t these same Congressman remember to exercise this same compassion, same civility when dealing with our wounded country as they did in honoring their wounded co-worker ? Our country is broken, wounded and wobbly and in need of compassion to restore her stamina and endurance. There are some tough times ahead but I fear that the din of discourse will prevail over the voice of reason. When you consider that the Declaration of Independence was drafted in 17 days and now it takes us months and years to work on things. A very sad commentary on our country. Gabby…you gave us reason to hope. Your presence, at the vote, was one of selfless duty…aimed at doing what you were elected to do. You set aside your own personal health issues and chose to be a part of something that needed to be done for our country. We can only hope that more potential candidates choose to run for office that have the stuff that Gabby is made of.