Editorial/Op
You Got Peanut Butter In My Politics!
By |
They run into each other at work and her chocolate candy bar ends up in his jar of peanut butter and he says “Hey, you got chocolate in my peanut butter!” and she says “You got peanut butter on my chocolate!” And thus, the “Peanut Butter Cup” candy is said to have been created. So, without any further setup, let me say. “Hey! You got Politics in my Government!”
Central has endured four important local elections in the past three years, and both City and School Board elections are coming up in 2014. All of these elections have been heavily political. On context, “Politics” is the term used for all of the overblown claims, favors done, tricky comparisons, and slickly worded catchphrases that people use to win elections….so that they can then govern. To an extent, I’m OK with that. We all expect it, many people know it when they see it, and it is just an unfortunate fact of our system of government operating in a free society, and I am thankful for our freedom and our form of government. Now comes the hard part, keeping the politics out of government.
Since Politics can be defined as the art of influencing people, I would like to define government as the art of doing what is best for the people, without any regard for the political consequences. Once the pure politicking of the campaign has ended, can our political candidates make the transition into governing without being political? The voters send a very bad message to our candidates. As a group, we seem to respond to the political catchphrases and exaggerated claims during the campaign, so once elected many don’t understand that the time for politics has ended and it is time for them to govern.
Voters in general are indeed a fickle lot, and Central is no exception. We seem to respond to all of the politics of the campaign, (although I wish we did not), but then after the election we change the rules. Now instead of responding to rhetoric and rallies, we demand research and results. Instead of wanting “our guy” to beat “your guy” we want “our” elected official to represent “us”. Now suddenly we don’t want politics, we want government.
Unfortunately, Central has developed a reputation for making darn sure that the more unseemly side of politics remains alive and well in the midst of our efforts to govern. Fortunately, our elected officials can put a halt to it by refusing to participate. If the elected officials seek to represent us all equally, listen to all sides of each issue, and promote all worthwhile efforts in this community without any regard for the politics of garnering support or getting re-elected, maybe we won’t have to say “Hey! You got Politics in my Government!”
0 comments