Throw the bums out...but leave my ass alone!
When reading social media
posts it seems a lot of people agree that the current people in congress need
to be tossed out of office on their rears. As a whole, most Americans agree we
need to replace them with new, younger politicians that are… well…just new.
And while the idea of
electing new representatives is appealing it does have its downside. We seem to
forget that “new” translates to “inexperienced” when it comes to holding
national offices. When it comes to the people that represent our community most of us prefer someone
that knows what they’re doing. And that’s the reason why “throwing the bums
out” or “draining the swamp” will never happen.
While we all agree that
members of Congress from almost any other part of the country need to go, we
don’t think our local politicians need to suffer the same fate. The reason that
we, those of us that share a community,
have a problem voting out the people is obvious. The candidate that we elected
and sent to congress to represent us, our local politicians, you know… the ones
that are working for our communities and doing a good job… well we want to
leave them in office.
Because, no matter how evil,
corrupt, incompetent or just plain unqualified all the members in the House of
Representatives, the Senate or the White House are collectively, we usually
think that, individually, our local
politicians are doing just fine. Local politicians are the ones we get to meet
at the local supermarket or the town hall. They are the ones that return our
calls and stand at the local train or bus station greeting us in the morning on
the way to work.
They are the ones that fight
for the funds our community businesses or local schools need to improve… or
just keep functioning. All those other members in congress, those guys that we
don’t know, who never do anything for us, they’re the ones that need to go.
Every election year we all
cry out “Let’s throw the bums out!” We want to clean house and get rid of the
politicians that populate the “swamp.” Yet, despite the national resolve to
replace those politicians that have held office to the point where they are
national celebrities; politicians that are hated by voters everywhere, the
truth is, even though Americans across the nation hate them, the people that
actually vote for them, the people whose votes put them in office are the ones
that count on them.
Any politician with the
experience, clout and ability to deliver the things that a community, city or
state depends on is almost always going to be re-elected. When it comes to
judging any politician we, as a people, are better suited to do that on a local
level.
Mitch McConnell is one of
the most reviled politicians In the Senate. If everyone in America could vote
he wouldn’t just be kicked out of office he would be stripped of his
citizenship and deported to a country as far from America as possible.
The problem is that the only
people who get to vote when he’s running for office live in Kentucky. As long
as he services the needs of the voters in Kentucky he’s not going anywhere.
That scenario is played out all over the country in every election.
We all want to see fresh
faces with new ideas but when it comes to the face that represents our community
we feel comfortable with the face we know and are familiar with. We prefer a representative
that already knows how to do the job rather than one who is learning as he
goes.Once elected, a politician has to really screw-up before most people will
vote them out of office.
Sure, Washington may be a
swamp, but “we the people” are the ones that keep restocking it with the same
political parasites and predators that feed off all Americans.
We will never be able to
throw their bums out as long as we continue to leave our own ass alone.