Having My Say

Peeing On The Carpet….

CentristAt the end of the day, we are the ones who elect our government. And that means that we are responsible for what happens in Washington and the state capitals. That is the reality of democracy. It is not entirely unlike the old dog-training aphorism that there are no bad dogs, only bad owners. We “own” this government, and if Congress has been doing the equivalent of peeing on the carpet for a decade, then it is our fault.

Quote from Centrist Manifesto by Charles Wheelan

I love the reference to peeing on the carpet. Being a lifetime pet owner it definitely describes what is going on in Washington right now. I have high hopes that the newly forming Centrist Movement will have some positive effects on our nation’s politics. I dream that there are enough people like me who are fed up with all the wing-nuts currently in our national legislature.

As the quote above says the reality of a democracy is that we are responsible for what happens in Washington. We do that with our vote. It seems totally bizarre to me that congress has an approval rating in the mid-teens and yet so many people continue to vote the same people into office election after election! How idiotic is that…..

But I’m just a simple guy so what do I know.

3 thoughts on “Peeing On The Carpet….”

  1. RJ – I agree that we are where we’re at today because the government that we elected is doing what we sent them to Washington to do. Until more of us move towards accepting compromise as a good thing to do (I also hope the growing Centrist movement helps us on this front), I don’t know why we think our government will do it on their own. The other analogy is that you often learn by falling down and having to pick yourself back up. With the 10 year bond interest at below 3%, the international bond market is saying that they’re OK with our dysfunctional government. If and when the global bond market begins to tell us that they don’t “trust” us as much as a result of how our government is handling the business o government by pushing up our 10 year interest rates, we will then begin to reap the harvest of what we’ve sowed to date. So far, we have not had any real consequences for us as a country for behaving the way that we have chosen to. I don’t know when that day will begin to occur but when it does….we will only have to look at both of the extremists in our politicians (and ourselves??) to understand why. Mike

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    1. Some wise words Mike. As I have said many times here I think what drives too many people today is fear. Some just do not trust anyone and without trust there cannot be compromise…. Thanks for the added insight.

      The peeing on the carpet analogy here got my attention because when we returned home after a week away recently our dog was just so excited to see us that she accidentally peed on the carpet (something she has never done). Getting that smell out was a big chore but not as big as returning our government to any semblance of sanity.

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      1. RJ – the only problem with your analogy is that your dog was probably happy to see you (as our dog use to do the same when we were away for awhile). They get so excited out of happiness and joy that their “people” are back that they lose control. Somehow, I don’t think that either the Republicans or Democrats are all that happy to see each other these days! Oh well, we will just have to keep our observations of the world going and wait to see what new antics we will get entertained with tomorrow. Sometimes that is all we really have control over – right! Have a good day and thanks or continuing this dialog with all of us. Mike

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