May Contain Peanuts

Warning!

Political writing ahead. Turn away now unless you want to read some political opinion.

I am not sure if I would call this politcal opinion or observation. Anyways, today's musings are concerning the state of our politicians. Not so much their views, be that right, left or in the middle somewhere, but rather their interactions with each other and the nation as a whole.

What brought this up was an interview with Bob Schieffer this morning on my local news station. He commented that the latest immigration bill had once again failed and Congress was back to square one on the issue. He then continued on about Congress as a whole and the fact that since basically every one of these elected politicians are catering to some special interest or have financial ties to a certain stance, that there is no longer the room for compromise or deal making in order to get things done.

Normally, I could give two left nuts about our politics and the government, preferring the 'laissez-faire' attitude of citizenship toward my ruling body. They do what they gotta do and I continue to live my life. Up to this point, I haven't had any problems. I most likely will continue to not have any problems. I realized the reason for this is that there will not be any drastic change in our system anytime soon that will affect how I live my life.

Nowadays, (and I'm sure it's been this way for a while) politcal correctness and inoffensiveness are far too present in our culture. "Special interests" dominate our society. People who are offended by something spread their views into the mainstream and in turn, our politicians are catering to them. What really bothers me is that is all because of money. Getting elected nowadays cost so much money that politicians must search out for people to fund them and generally promise some sort of return to them. Soooo, when they eventually make it to that big white building in the center of DC, they already have their agendas set up, their minds made up on issues and must conform to them, lest they lose money, and don't get re-elected. They can't negotiate because it would mean they would lose their jobs.

Schieffer's comment of this inability to negotiate really bothers me, while at the same time relaxes me. It bothers me because nothing is getting done, but it also puts me at ease because nothing is going to change. The art of compromise and working together no longer seems to be the goal. Rather, it is a my-way-or-the-highway attitude that dominates, meaning that if one group doesn't like it, the entire thing is scrapped. This may be an exaggeration on my part, but I feel like it sums up the point to be made.

It seems like even on easier decisions such as the post 9/11 movement, there arose debates as to what was the correct move. It would be nice to hear on the 'news' for once something like, "Congress agrees to new bill, compromise deemed a success". Anything in that range of headline would do instead of "Bill defeated" or "Debate rages on" again.

For me, as someone who is content in his day to day dealings with the government and the law, this issue is reassuring that my life will not be impacted very much, if at all. However, it is eerie to know that if I did have an issue that I would like some action taken upon, there is very little hope that it will take place. I will just compromise by not taking issue...