Tell Me If This Makes Sense

In 1974, when I was eight years old, I watched a movie on television called The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman. The movie, based on a novel of the same name, chronicled the life of a woman born into slavery, who battled segregation and racism and eventually became active in the Civil Rights movement.

I remember being so upset about what I saw in that movie, and my little girl image of our country and what was fair and how people should be treated was incredibly incensed. I asked my mother what I could do and she told me if I was that upset about it and wanted to do something, then I could write a letter to the President.

So I did. I poured my heart out to the President. In my mind, I really thought that he would read my letter and believed that he was all-powerful (like other mythological characters) and could fix the problems of racism and hatred. I did get a very nice letter back from President Ford (lol, some lackey in the Department of Little Kid's Letters to the President), who thanked me for writing and for expressing my concerns. (I have that letter in my scrapbook somewhere. I'll have to look for it.)

I remember reading that long-awaited reply and being disappointed and realizing that the President actually was not going to help me with issues I felt very strongly about. Does this sound familiar?

***

I mention this story because in reading recent posts and "news" items (I refuse to call it actual news until the journalists in this country grow a freaking pair--yes, I'm quoting Saturday Night Live--and do their jobs) and other bloggers' comments on the incredible drama and furor over lies and lipstick and sexism and racism and creationism and books and war and the economy, I think we are all letting this insanity turn us into those innocent eight-year olds who think that this time, this candidate, this party can fix things. Every four years we go through the same damn thing.

When the truth is, they can't. I don't think either party really knows how or even where to start. Let's face it. If your life has improved dramatically over the past eight years, then I wonder what income bracket you reside in because it's got to be helluva lot different than the one I'm in, and I'm going to guess that you're in the minority.

That being said, I think the Democrats totally wasted their mandate from the elections in 2006. They blew it completely. They didn't change or do a blessed thing in Washington for the past two years. They wussed out in every possible way.

This doesn't mean that we shouldn't vote. It means that voting is more important than ever. Not because we think that the next President of the United States can fix things for us, but so that that person who gets elected knows that ALL of us care. We care a very great deal. That once and for all, we might have the strength as constituents and citizens to hold them responsible and accountable. That we will not hear blame being passed around like dinner rolls at the table.

***

It would be very nice in our little communal escape from reality to think that a candidate really is just like me or you. Just like in the movies. Like Jimmy Stewart's character in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, he's just a small-town guy who wants to build a boy's camp and learns the hard truth about the corruption in Washington, and his heart is broken, even though he triumphs in the end. But the naivete of that character is the same as our own, and it is what all politicians play into (and I mean all): our little fantasy that they are one of us, that they care about us because they are us.

People, let's wake up. None of these politicians are us. Let's take of the rose-colored glasses already. None of them are us. But it doesn't mean they can't work for us. (Please understand, this doesn't mean I have an idea of exactly how we do that.) What I do know is that this country is full of good, hard-working people who are all tired of getting the fuzzy end of the stick.

And that brings me back to US. Not the US as in USA, but the us as in me and you. I don't care if you are a Democrat, Republican or the myriad of other parties in this country that don't have a voice, but listen up: When we allow them to divide and conquer through slander and name-calling and non-issues (I guess now I'm considered an elitist, by the way that half of the propaganda rolls right now), and then they can divert us from the issues that affect our futures, they weaken all of US, as in us, as in me and you. The Blame Game just cannot fly anymore. Wall Street is crumbling before our eyes today, as I write this post. Who's gonna bail out the fat cats? Us.

And that means the Blame Game cannot fly with us anymore. If we don't like the way things are, then WE have to become US and do something about it. But we need to educate ourselves about the issues, on what the facts are and not the hype they're handing out like milk and cookies after recess. This is not a reality tv show or a beauty contest or Platoon or another episode of the West Wing.

***

I'd like to think that the little 8-year olds in all of us can rise up together, and say ENOUGH. I'll meet you on the playground. Let's show these other kids we mean business.

Resources for smart kids like us:

http://www.factcheck.org/
http://www.publicagenda.org/
http://www.votesmart.org/index.htm

And if any of you have resources to share, please let us all know. We are all in this together.