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My prayer

rainey BARRETT
RAINEY

 
Second
Thoughts

A few days ago, a friend’s entry popped up on the old Facebook page, taking me by surprise, because it said precisely what’s been in my head for lo, these many months.

“Dear Lord. Please tell someone who isn’t crazy to run for president.”

There it was! Someone who felt exactly the same way about our national political follies and said it – said it out loud for all to see. Er, read.

Sometime ago, Barbara Bush came close to reading my mind when she opined “Certainly there are other, well-qualified people to run for president besides a Bush or a Clinton.” Yes! Aside from the obvious reference to Americans who might also have the abilities to perform the duties of commander-in-chief other than members of just two families, what appealed to me most was her use of the worlds “well-qualified.” Then, responding to obvious pressure from inside the Bush family after her quote, Barbara later did a little sidestep and voiced support for son Jeb. But – inside – I’ll bet she still feels the same.

I’ll grant my Democrat friends, Hillary Clinton seems to have better credentials with which to seek the job than any woman – and many men, too – who’ve tried in the past. Not all the ones I’d like to see – but good. And, if your rather simplistic goal is just to have a woman finally make it to the Oval Office, she’s more qualified than any others who’ve made the run in my lifetime. But another Clinton? Really?

Then there are the 20 or so occupants of the “clown bus.” Commander-in-chief? Qualified? Really? REALLY?

Just take this one example. Just this one. For the last several months, the Obama-Kerry-et al team has been negotiating with Iran – the major player in the Middle East – to keep that country from getting into the nuclear bomb business. Negotiating. Tough dealing. Lots of sweat. Lots and lots of nerves. Talk or fight. Trying to avoid what so many ignorant political hacks seem to want: an “end-of-the-world” holocaust because of some phony political ego or testosterone-filled sword-waving. Or should we talk? Keep talking. Work through the seemingly insurmountable problems. Negotiating. Give-and-take. Compromise.

Is there anyone on the clown bus – ANY ONE – who’s been saying negotiating is the right thing to do – offered support for peaceful efforts – offered backing for the team that’s already achieved a “handshake” deal that seemed impossible and is working on the nits of final editing? Any one?

No. Not one. What we’ve heard from them is a cacophony of complaints, criticisms, finger-pointing and B.S.. None has added a voice to what poll after poll after poll of the nation’s citizenry have shown we want. We overwhelmingly want peace. We don’t want more unwinnable foreign wars. We want the troops home. We want the killing to stop. We want to tend to our own business for a change. We want to use our formidable resources to solve some of our many societal and infrastructure problems.

From the clown bus, we either get silence or we get shrill cries to “Bomb. Bomb. Bomb. Bomb, bomb Iran.” We get cheap shots about “America backing down” and “Obama hasn’t got the guts for war” and “We’ve lost our will to fight.” We get non-issue blather like needing new federal anti-abortion laws, support for states making it tougher for Americans to vote, promises to cut taxes for the rich, cut Social Security and Medicare, bowing and scraping before the altars of billionaires and on and on and on. B.S.

We’re getting criticism and complaining about “what is” – or what they think “is” – without any discussion of how they’d solve some of our national ills. No one has explained how he/she would deal with a Congress so mired in deliberate self-destructiveness that it’s become an impediment to our national welfare. No one has proposed new ideas, new thoughts for how to use our vast technological resources to make government a more productive servant instead of an unresponsive and unproductive swamp. No one is talking about – or listening to – military proposals for modernizing our defenses instead of forcing production of more outdated weapons systems because they’re built in someone’s congressional district. How about climate change? No one is offering proposals to do a proper – and totally bi-partisan – redrafting of our national tax code. These are the issues. And they’re being ignored.

All the current crop of candidates – regardless of party – continues to play to one “base” or another without regard to the nation as a whole. It’s all about raising another million dollars or saying just the right thing so as not to make somebody mad or appeasing some loud voice that might hurt the candidacy. The torrent of words rolls on like some sort of verbal sludge.

Both national parties have people in them who should be in the running but aren’t. Both have names and faces who’re sick of what politics has become and who would not be afraid to negotiate or compromise with each other or do whatever it takes to get things back on track. They pop up on political talk shows from time to time. You listen to them and think “Why doesn’t he/she get into the race – why aren’t they on the campaign trail presenting fresh faces – and fresh ideas – to an electorate looking for new blood?”

What we need – what we REALLY need – is an answer to the prayer: “Dear Lord. Please tell someone who isn’t crazy to run for president.”

I’m told God doesn’t need to be reminded of a prayer – that it’s not forgotten. Well, maybe. But I’m going to keep at it. Just to be certain.

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