A High Stakes Election
It matters not to which political party one belongs. It is a time of crisis. And that is not an over-exaggeration. It impacts everyone. Jobs are at stake. Housing is threatened for friends and family. Fuel prices change every day. And a food budget is an exercise in creative writing. The financial institutions face a similar problem.
It is a frightening time for many fellow citizens. Some are at war and are in Harm’s Way daily. And there is a crisis from within - the economy needs a bailout that places every American citizen in greater debt.
Amid this turmoil, there is talk about having political leaders to whom we can relate. It is the ‘I-can-have-a-beer’ with this person phenomena. That is utter nonsense.
To borrow a phrase from the late David Halberstam, what is needed is “the best and the brightest”. - The political leaders should be the bright, well read and gifted. This is not a time for empty rhetoric, grand impossible promises or ‘learn as we go forward’. There are external threats, as well as a national problems from within.
Hurricane Katrina happened in August of 2005. Still some citizens are trying to recover. - Veterans return home to inadequate medical services. Suicide rates climb. - Engineers warn of an infrastructure that needs repair. A bridge collapse should serve as a warning. Where are the funds for repair and maintenance? - The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is under-funded and under-staffed. It cannot fulfill its mandate to protect the food supply. The FDA decimated part of the tomato industry with a recall that proved to be erroneous.
The list could go on and on. This is not an election for just the next four years. It is recognizing that there are serious problems - and hoping that the best and brightest people are enough. The prime mandate of the next administration simply may be to prevent the situation from deteriorating worse.
Catherine Forsythe
Tags: crisis, David Halberstam, finances, government, politics
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