Government of the politicians, by the politicians and for the politicians
by sonya hammond
Now let's see if I've got this straight: We the People of the United States hold elections. By voting, we perform our civic duty, thereby sending off to Washington those we consider worthy to represent our will.
The act of 'representing', we have misguidedly assumed, was the raison d'ętre for the existence of these highly-paid messengers who otherwise might have to find employment that required them to actually exercise brain cells.
Since We the People pay them to perform these services on our behalf, it did not seem farfetched to assume they would at least keep us in mind. During the silly season of election campaign oratory, solemn candidate vows were taken of their intent, should we empower them with our approval, to spend every waking hour of their tenures in office ensuring that our deepest concerns were addressed and resolved.
Our mail boxes sagged with candidate literature enumerating heartfelt resolves to carry our instructions to the hallowed halls of the government which was, they never failed to point out, ours.
Our wishes were, they persistently reminded us, their commands.
OK, I personally wouldn't vote for a senator who announced his intent to abolish all abortions except in cases where the woman has 7 toes. And I certainly wouldn't cheer the election of any Representative whose campaign was headquartered in a meeting hall for guys whose idea of a fashion statement featured white sheets.
Somewhat unwillingly, I concede that such electees may represent the sentiments of some segment of the country's population, intellectually challenged though it may be. We are, their proponents are bound to remind us, a democracy, by definition a form of government ruled by the people, and the majority decisions will prevail.
Theoretically, this means that if enough people want our national anthem changed to 'Let it Be', we'll all be emulating the Beatles next baseball season.
Even purists who argue with some justification that we are not actually a democracy, but technically a republic, will concede that by that definition, the power of the government still rests with the People who vote, and that those elected by the People are responsible to them.
The point is that Congress's mandate is to take care of the nation's business in such a way as to reflect the majority of the People it represents.
Anyhow, that's how We the People thought it was supposed to work.
So naturally, when our elected representatives started ignoring us [probably somewhere around 1777], we really didn't pay much attention at first. I mean, these guys promised that they had our best interests at heart. Who knew that before long those interests could only be addressed in 84,273-page legislative bills that no one, including the president who signed them into law, had time to actually read?
The advantage of this verbosity, from a political point of view, is that since We the People are unlikely to plow through these tomes, it would be entirely possible to pass a bill purportedly designed to ban cyanide from our water supplies, but which also contained cleverly buried provisions ranging from an $973 Million grant to study the effects of rabbit pellets on lawn growth in Paducah, Kentucky, to a $8 Trillion Pentagon contract to build a prototype model of a plane fueled entirely by Energizer Bunny batteries.
Let's face it, the People have effectively been cut out of the loop.
All of which became painfully apparent this past year when the voice of the People ... daringly bypassing partisan lines, explicitly expressing the will of the majority, and loudly mandating its representatives to do its will ... was heard crying "Do not impeach!" throughout the land.
Where, of course, it was utterly ignored. Willfully, blatantly disdaining apology or explanation, without so much as acknowledging arrogant betrayal of our trust, our representatives stopped representing us.
In the name of 'listening to their own consciences', they stripped us of ours. In their determination to rid themselves of a man they have hated since the day he dared to step out of Arkansas, they are deaf to the wishes of those who ostensibly 'rule' this country. Seeking revenge, Congress has simply turned its collective back on us.
Let us not be confused here. We the People may thoroughly deplore how our President has behaved, we may find his private life reprehensible, but the majority of us apparently do not equate any of this with impeachable actions as defined by our Constitution.
Even if, for the sake of argument, we are absolutely wrong in our opinions that his behavior does not constitute either treason or high crimes and misdemeanors, the fact remains that we have spoken loudly and clearly. We have, in essence, made 'Let it Be' our unofficial anthem and asked Congress to quit its political posturing and return to the business of [gasp] representing us.
Hey, remember us? We're the People with no viable national healthcare, a floundering Social Security, a shaky educational system, an escalating homeless population, and all those other tiresome little problems you guys keep pussyfooting around.
We can't see the point in your wasting time punishing a man for whom the entire remainder of his life will be unremitting punishment. We cannot see how spending weeks, possibly months, dragging us again through the explicit mud of juvenile sexual behavior descriptions can possibly contribute to the welfare of the country.
We are somewhat mystified as to the benefits of our entire Senate sitting in silent attendance at a ludicrous trial, while our business, which they are paid to address, is put on hold.
We look in vain for some logic to proceedings engaged in with the solemnity of a religious rite, and which, if carried to their most drastic conclusion, will result in ridding a bitter, vengeful clique of politicians of their enemy at the cost of domestic crisis and international instability, and depriving we the people of one of the most intelligent [albeit mildly flawed] presidents this country had ever had.
While the media wallows, the House, having washed its sinless hands of responsibility, gloats, and the Republican House Managers pontificate in self-righteous indignation, the leader of the free world attempts to do as much of his job as tied hands will allow. They all play their self-appointed [or inflicted] roles.
This leaves only one role for We the People to play ... but it's one we've played before to rave reviews.
All we have to do is round up a few symbolic cases of tea and march on Boston Harbor. After all, if ever there were a case of taxation without representation, this is it.
It may be just a gesture, but our recalcitrant representatives might want to keep in mind that the last time the People raised their collective middle fingers, they started a revolution.
©sonya hammond, 1999