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ENLARGE
I WAS JUST THINKIN'
Glen McAdoo
It seems to me there are far too many folks who spend nearly every waking hour finding fault with our government. Nothing works perfectly, but they seem to think their government should. Well, of course, it should. It's just not realistic. I wonder if they hold themselves to the same standard.
Representatives in Washington, at least the ones I know, both Republican and Democrat, work from the early morning hours until midnight. When they come home, their schedule and demands on their time is unbelievable. It's a tough job, but somebody has to do it. They are not all a bunch of crooks — no more than everyone in this community is a crook.
We tend to find fault with the politicians representing some other blokes district or of a different party a lot quicker than we do our own. I guess that is kind of natural. It is, however, hypocritical. I'm guilty and so are most of the people I hear from regularly.
If you are a conservative, you tend to think that all liberals are crooks out to take your money and give it to the poor. If you are liberal, you tend to think that all conservatives are out to reward their rich friends at the expense of social justice. Of course, it is not that simple.
Please don't respond by telling me the problem is the way Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid operate. The victors do have certain rights. One is to control what legislation comes to a vote. The GOP operated more oppressively when they were in the majority. At least I thought so. But I am partisan.
Whether you like it or not, this is the system of government our founding fathers designed, although I don't imagine they ever counted on the influence lobbyists have on the system. It's the system most Americans proclaim as the best in the world. Then they badmouth it to death.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of media nut cases out there who represent to the American people that this is not the system our founding fathers had in mind. In order to defeat health care reform and make the phrase “government run” seem scary, they are waging a very nasty and negative campaign aimed at convincing people that our government can't do anything right. That's not true.
The campaign works with some because people want someone to blame. Heaven forbid they should take responsibility for their own misfortune. They all meet in the park and scream epithets at our elected officials. The shrillness of their hate filled message is alarming. They are so negative.
I've seen it before. “Hey, hey LBJ, how many kids did you kill today.” I was against that war, but I didn't approve of the actions of many protesters. I don't approve of the current crowd.
Certainly, the government is not above criticism. It is fine to suggest that the government can do some things better, and to make suggestions that would further that goal. It is American as apple pie to protest. I believe in protests.
The current crop of protesters seem to think that we can have public roads, schools, bridges, a national defense, policemen, fireman, teachers, public health officials, and on and on, without paying taxes, or very little taxes, or they seem to think we should do away with all government run programs — except their Medicare. Let's be honest. They just don't like government. Period. OK. However, they seldom offer or suggest a better form of government. Ronald Reagan was much too liberal for their taste. Holy cow!
These tea baggers aren't anything new. I saw protesters just like them during the Vietnam conflict. They are just more hypocritical than the critics who came before them. They were as silent as a church mouse when “GW” Bush was running up huge deficits. Now, they act as if deficit spending is the Armageddon of fiscal responsibility. They seem to me to be uglier and nastier than is necessary to make their point.
This government of the people, by the people, and for the people may seem tiresome at times as it grapples to function under the weight of partisan politics and deals with tremendous problems. However, it has taken us this far, and it will continue to work.
Lighten up folks. We have a great system and a lot of good people trying their best to do what they think is right. Criticize. Absolutely. But let's all try and be more civil and not so ugly, nasty, and negative. I am going to just that.
Glen McAdoo is a Fallon resident, who can be reached at glynn@phonewave.net
Representatives in Washington, at least the ones I know, both Republican and Democrat, work from the early morning hours until midnight. When they come home, their schedule and demands on their time is unbelievable. It's a tough job, but somebody has to do it. They are not all a bunch of crooks — no more than everyone in this community is a crook.
We tend to find fault with the politicians representing some other blokes district or of a different party a lot quicker than we do our own. I guess that is kind of natural. It is, however, hypocritical. I'm guilty and so are most of the people I hear from regularly.
If you are a conservative, you tend to think that all liberals are crooks out to take your money and give it to the poor. If you are liberal, you tend to think that all conservatives are out to reward their rich friends at the expense of social justice. Of course, it is not that simple.
Please don't respond by telling me the problem is the way Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid operate. The victors do have certain rights. One is to control what legislation comes to a vote. The GOP operated more oppressively when they were in the majority. At least I thought so. But I am partisan.
Whether you like it or not, this is the system of government our founding fathers designed, although I don't imagine they ever counted on the influence lobbyists have on the system. It's the system most Americans proclaim as the best in the world. Then they badmouth it to death.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of media nut cases out there who represent to the American people that this is not the system our founding fathers had in mind. In order to defeat health care reform and make the phrase “government run” seem scary, they are waging a very nasty and negative campaign aimed at convincing people that our government can't do anything right. That's not true.
The campaign works with some because people want someone to blame. Heaven forbid they should take responsibility for their own misfortune. They all meet in the park and scream epithets at our elected officials. The shrillness of their hate filled message is alarming. They are so negative.
I've seen it before. “Hey, hey LBJ, how many kids did you kill today.” I was against that war, but I didn't approve of the actions of many protesters. I don't approve of the current crowd.
Certainly, the government is not above criticism. It is fine to suggest that the government can do some things better, and to make suggestions that would further that goal. It is American as apple pie to protest. I believe in protests.
The current crop of protesters seem to think that we can have public roads, schools, bridges, a national defense, policemen, fireman, teachers, public health officials, and on and on, without paying taxes, or very little taxes, or they seem to think we should do away with all government run programs — except their Medicare. Let's be honest. They just don't like government. Period. OK. However, they seldom offer or suggest a better form of government. Ronald Reagan was much too liberal for their taste. Holy cow!
These tea baggers aren't anything new. I saw protesters just like them during the Vietnam conflict. They are just more hypocritical than the critics who came before them. They were as silent as a church mouse when “GW” Bush was running up huge deficits. Now, they act as if deficit spending is the Armageddon of fiscal responsibility. They seem to me to be uglier and nastier than is necessary to make their point.
This government of the people, by the people, and for the people may seem tiresome at times as it grapples to function under the weight of partisan politics and deals with tremendous problems. However, it has taken us this far, and it will continue to work.
Lighten up folks. We have a great system and a lot of good people trying their best to do what they think is right. Criticize. Absolutely. But let's all try and be more civil and not so ugly, nasty, and negative. I am going to just that.
Glen McAdoo is a Fallon resident, who can be reached at glynn@phonewave.net
