Politics As Usual

“Politics as usual.”
-Jay-Z

Greetings folks. Hopefully this post finds you doing well. As I was preparing to write today’s post, there were a myriad of ideas floating in my head. It was actually pretty difficult to nail it down. However, after watching the President’s State of the Union Address last night I was inspired.

Last night President Obama gave his third State of the Union Address and as much as all of these addresses sound the same, this one was different. It was the same in the sense that he touted his accomplishments and laid out his goals and plan for this country. It was different in the sense that he appeared to be fed up with the establishment, the status quo, and proclaimed to be really ready to stand up and fight.

I’m not going to go into a diatribe about my party affiliation or who I support. What I will say is that regardless of your party affiliation you need to support someone and something. If your issue is the economy, speak on it. If your issue is the rising cost of tuition, student loan debt, and the decline in jobs, speak on it. If your issue is income disparity among the wealthiest 2% and the other 98%, speak on it. If your issues are social security, Medicaid, medicare, or welfare, speak on it. The first step to solving a problem is acknowledging that there is a problem. “Houston we have a problem.”

Our elected leaders are so accustomed to “politics as usual” that they openly and publicly acknowledge being opposed to the “Washington Machine”, yet behind closed doors are doing everything possible to make sure it’s well oiled, well financed, and continuously running. They publicly debase the “Washington Insiders” and the bureaucracy, while privately going to bed with them. They do it because they feel like they can and because we let them. They voted “no” on the American Jobs Bill, which at the time an overwhelming majority of Americans supported. They fought over whether or not we should pay the country’s debt, all the while not helping you relieve your debt that they help create. They cry “class warfare” and an assault on the rich when we talk about income disparity and not renewing tax breaks for the wealthiest 2% so that the other 98% don’t have to continue to bear the weight of a fragile and struggling economy.

They do what they want to do and we let them; Republicans, Democrats and Independents alike. Now is the time to speak up and speak out. And while we’re screaming at the top of our lungs about all that’s wrong with Congress and politics, we should do so on the way to a rally, on the way to a sit-in, on the way to a forum, on the way to the voting booth. Screaming without action is just a crazy person yelling. Don’t be a crazy person yelling at the TV about all the ills of politics. Get off the couch and do something about it. Be a crazy person they have to acknowledge.

The President’s State of the Union Address was more than just a statement of where we are, where we’ve been, and where he’d like us to go. It’s a declaration of independence from “politics as usual” and a rallying cry for all those who are tired of it as well. If you’re sick and tired of being sick and tired, get up, get out and do something about it. Where do you stand? What will you do? How will you help? Will you “be the change you want to see in the world” as Ghandi believes we should? Or will you be the armchair quarterback criticizing every decision the players make, while never ever making an attempt to get into the game? The choice is yours. Until next time, Stay Up and Be Blessed!