I just heard a term I haven’t encountered before: Obstructionism.
Apparently the competition between the two major political parties has reached the point that when one party wins, the losers do their damnedest to make sure the winning party accomplishes nothing. In other words, our government is brought to a screeching halt. Never mind the voters who wanted the changes that the winning party promised.
When a sports team loses a game, the players shake hands with the winner and go on to another game.
The Republicans won this election.
The Democrats didn’t.
In a couple of years, the game will be played again.
Maybe the two major political parties need to examine their agendas. If you recall, we had Republican congressmen practicing obstructionism by sitting on their hands and doing nothing for the good of the country during much of President Obama’s time in office. Now we have the Democrats practicing obstructionism and behaving like disappointed children who would rather go eat worms than get with the program and do the jobs the voters hired them to do.
That mind set of obstructionism seems to me to be a major flaw in our political system. What good is a government that can’t function?
I understand that we need checks and balances to keep our government honest. I understand there are a million different opinions on the continuum between rabid conservatives and flaming liberals. I support the Constitutional freedom to fight for one’s beliefs. But we don’t need obstructionism that brings our government to a dead stop. Or incites harm to our people like the attack on the congressmen in Washington, DC. Whatever happened to simple courtesy and concern for our neighbors, never mind the political orientation?
Maybe both parties need to be sure their goals support the needs of the voters instead of the needs of the two organizations. In Oklahoma and in Colorado both, there is the saying, “If you don’t like the weather, wait ten minutes. It will change.” If you don’t like the current political situation, wait until the next election, educate yourself about the issues and vote.
But once the dust settles, let’s put our government back to work. Let’s see if there is not common ground for both parties.
I can’t give the photographer of the above photo credit even though I’d love to. I found the image during an earlier internet search and neglected to note the source. When I went back to find the source, I couldn’t find the photo. So whoever you are out there, it is a great photo and it captures what I wanted for my post. Thank you.