Party Favors and the Government Stalemate

 

I was spending time with one of my grandsons the other evening and he began to tell me about the party favors he had been given at a birthday party for a friend. Initially, I thought he was telling me that the toothpaste on his brush had a 'farty flavor.' So I was a bit confused, because most toothpastes have been engineered to taste good. So, how could the toothpaste taste on his brush taste bad? Who wants to brush their teeth with something that is foul tasting?

 

 

No, that wasn't what he was talking about. He was actually talking about a handful of capsules on the counter that when soaked in water cause miniature sponge dinosaurs inside of them to expand, pop-out and appear to grow before your eyes. He was telling me he had received them as a birthday "party favor." The problem I was having at that moment with this 'farty flavor' business was that he doesn't pronounce his "p"s very well. In fact, his "p"s comes out sounding like "f"s. So as he was telling me about his party favors I am hearing him tell me about "farty favors." As he is explaining all this, I am cracking up inside. I wake up to his conversation at that point which is moving on with an intense discussion of all things “dinosaur.”

 

 

 

It hits me the next morning as I am reading the newspaper that my grandson is a genius. A letter to the editor was addressing the issue and non-sense of "party" politics.  The mere mention of "party" takes me back to my grandson's discussion of "farty flavors.” Yes I think, blatant party politics are simply "Farty Flavors." Irresponsible. Juvenile. Dis-ingenuous. And, oh yes, they don’t seem to mind making a nation of innocent by-standers victims. They would rather die on a hill than surrender. They would rather take no prisoners and revel in the glory of some victory. But after the battle, what becomes of the victims? A strong nation requires bringing people together. Let’s be responsible. Let’s build a stronger nation, not a weaker nation with disenfranchised citizens.

 

It seems to me that immovable party positions, espoused again and again are simply gaseous exchanges that serve no real purpose or general good except to make the source of the gas feel good for a short time. Nothing is accomplished and no real good appears to be coming from it, except paralysis.

I suspect most people simply want government (local, state and federal) to work. We pay good taxes for it. Most want statesmen who are real servants to step up, look at the issues that confront us and work to solve problems. Our representatives need to look at the issues from multiple perspectives and then solve those problems in ways that will resonate with most people. They need to be inclusive of others.  They need to consider the positions and needs of others, not just their own personal needs or the needs of those who shower them with money and praise. They need to propose solutions that will or may have the potential to the solve problems of people they do know and do not represent. There must be serious dialogue within and between political parties.

If we do not resolve the issues before us in a meaningful, long-term way our current self-destructive actions (and inactions) will lead to a weakened nation. Ultimately, that nation, if we continue on our course of “do-or-die” politics, may find itself irrelevant, or on the trash heap of historical empires. We must develop a process and precedents capable of leading to resolutions that do not imperil us. At present, we are on a course of political one-up-man-ships parallel to the run-up to the American Civil War. The process must be changed so that stalemates do not reoccur again and again. We need a process that automatically schedules new congressional elections in a timely manner (say within six months of a deadline to pass a budget). Previous year budgets should continue during the time it takes new elections to be held. We need a new way to redraw districts that do not wander all over a map in order to entrench people and political parties. And we need new rules established by law that moves legislation out of committees not according to a party or politics.

Our present course may not lead to a literal war, but it could lead to the collapse of this once great nation. We cannot allow an infection like the one we have had over the past decade become the gangrene that simply smothers us out of relevance.

“Farty” politics consists of impoverished people who consume only one thought. They have no new ideas. They only re-tell the same old stories and propose the same old solutions. They dare and then bully one another other. Our representatives need to look into a well of ideas, engage in dialogue and become statesmen, not political hammer-men.

There are games to be played, if you will, but everyone needs to be playing and that I mean we need fields to be grassy, lines drawn and rules established so the game of American life can be played. No one is having any fun standing on the sidelines.

We need to get past "farty flavors”.

Scripture:

Without vision the people perish. Proverbs 29.18

Those who walk in their own counsel go backward. Jeremiah 7.24

Conflict is not the solution. Psalms 33.17

The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but wise men listen to advice. Proverbs 12.15