Like a lot of Americans, I am torn between delving into all that is going on in government today and keeping my head down and going about everyday life. I vacillate between the two.
I find myself confused and frustrated when I put up my periscope and look around. It’s hard to make sense of it when the landscape is changing minute by minute. One of my favorite sayings is “it’s simple to make things complicated and complicated to make things simple.”
We elect people hoping they will represent us and unravel the complexities of government, people who will negotiate and bargain on our behalf. We trust them to do this on our behalf; the behalf for the greater good, not just good for me personally. We hope they behave in a statesman-like way and not just kowtow to one person or party. We pay out a tremendous amount of money so that our senators and representatives can do their jobs.
I’m not sure how many of these people really understand their job descriptions. They are answerable to everyone from the districts or states from which they come, answerable to all of the people, those who voted for them and those who did not.
About a year ago I was talking with a Knoxville state representative who will remain unnamed. We were talking about laws that had been passed that were not universally supported. He told me that we were not actually a democracy but rather a republic. I was amazed that he did not know we are a democratic republic. I posed a question to him. I asked if he won by 55% of the vote, did he still represent the other 45%. His response was that he wasn’t quite sure. We don’t speak anymore.
We are at a time when our national representatives don’t seem to have anything to do. All decisions about the function of government are made by a few joined-at-the-hip individuals who only have their own interests at heart. No person in the majority party dare crosses the line and voice any objection to these people. If they did, they would not survive.
These two bodies have been rendered obsolete and nonfunctional despite the fact that we continue to pay them. In a time when the cry is to eliminate waste, it is ironic that one of the biggest consumers of tax dollars is totally nonproductive, our Congress and Senate.
We are allowing them time to pursue the furtherance of their own personal goals and objectives. On the Tennessee front, Marsha Blackburn now has the time and money to work on her next career move, Tennessee Governor. Tim Burchett can scour the woods in search of Bigfoot and dive, looking for undersea alien stations, completely unchecked.
It’s all just too surreal to fathom. I have no answers.
Dan Arp is retired and lives in Heiskell with wife Cindy.
