Thursday, June 7, 2012

I Want A NEW Relationship With My Political Foes

Reclaim? What happened when you all voted him in two years ago? 





Spent the first part of this week in Wisconsin on business/pleasure and witnessed something that just pushed me over the edge and I came home wanting a new relationship with my political foes.

The language.

The tone.

Everything about the recent Recall Election in Wisconsin is indicative of the major problem we have in our country. We are not focused on what's important - what we all want.

Here's my list...

Safety for our families in our neighborhoods and the neighborhoods of others.


Access to quality education.

Ability to pursue our own American dream - work to sustain our families and desired lifestyle.

Affordable, quality healthcare that does not go up in price at 20 and 30 % clips every year.


Security and protection for our citizens within and outside our borders as well as freedom to move about the globe without fear of threat.

I'm gonna bet that my list does not look very different than the list of people I know who think very differently than I, politically. Of course, we have very different point of views on how we achieve the above list but can't we all start with agreeing on what it is we are working towards?

I am sick and tired of being sick and tired of listening to all the "issues" that do not pony up to my above list. Look around people, the stuff on the list above is the LAST thing we are talking about in the discussion.

We need to take the conversation back. We need to keep our eyes on the ball - the list of things most Americans - Republican or Democrat - want for ourselves and our kids.

We need to stop shouting. Stop name calling. Stop race baiting and playing to the lowest common denominator - fear. We need to wrestle the conversation BACK from the extremists on both sides and get America and Americans talking about what we really want. Once we do that - we can get about the business of working together to get there.

I want a new relationship with my political foes - Is anybody with me?

2 comments:

  1. Absolutely! Political discourse is broken. It is driven by media soundbites and language 'framing' that often muddies the issues, leading to fear and division among people. As citizens it is important to return to meaningful conversations. It is only then that we learn and grow.

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  2. Yes! Thanks Susan for your comment - we must do this and STAT!

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