In My Words… by Fred Neil

The trench that separates the current U.S. political divide is getting both deeper and wider. At a time when this country needs a uniting force and a uniting message, both parties are doing their part to put fear in the hearts and minds of American voters, as well as passing blame on the current administration. Granted, there is much the current administration has done wrong, driving us to unacceptable levels of national debt, poor economic performance and consumer confidence.

There was a time when the U.S. was the leader of the Free World in every measurable category. We were the land of opportunity, the land of the free and the home of the brave; one nation under God… The U.S. was the envy of the world and Ellis Island was a dream for most and a reality for many.

What has happened to us as a nation, what has happened to our political system, what has happened to our moral compass, what has happened to our value system, our education system, our willingness to lend a helping hand rather than having a hand out as a people.

The current obesity level of our nation has become symbolic for our nation and our political system as a whole. We have become fat, lazy, consumed with fast food or quick fixes - over spending and over consumption with unacceptable results. This fast food mentality has put our nation in a crisis. When do we stop the political rhetoric and get back to basics. We, as a nation, have created this mess and we must fix it together. It can no longer be the left blaming the right and visa versa. We, as citizens, have to get up off our lazy butts and take responsibility for our actions, the actions of our children and the actions of our neighbors. It is time to say no more, it is time to get healthy again, it is time to become a leader again and to set an example for the world. To do this, however, we must work inside out and not outside in. We have to fix our own problems before we can fix the worlds problems. Is a safe Iraq our primary concern or is it the safety and well being of those living within our borders. After all, one day we supply Saddam with arms and the next we want his head… (another post for another time).

We are a nation that innovates and we must focus on innovation our education system, giving our children the skills they need to compete in this global economy. What ever happened to tough love. As a teenager in an all boys Jesuit high school, I knew better than to misbehave. If we “goofed off” we did push ups or sit ups in front of our classmates or got detention; if we showed up to school unshaven, we were sent to the office to shave with a 5 year old rusty razor; if we did not do our homework, we stayed after school until it was done and a note was sent home to our parents to sign; if we cut class, we got detention. There were rules and we respected authority. Why are we so afraid to discipline our children in school today. What kind of message are we sending our children today. Why are teachers allowing this, why are our teachers so apathetic, why does anyone want to teach today, or do they… it seems to me, many teachers spend a lot of time doing anything but teaching and leading. What does all of this have to do with politics? It has less to do with politics and more to do with the social crisis we have ALL created and are feeding. Our apathy at the polls and our willingness to let this country get away from us is being evidences in all facets our our life and our country.

What of the environment, what of the future of our children and our grandchildren and the families of future generations. It is time to stop treating this nation and this planet as a garbage dump where we continue to destroy it through our words, our actions and our example. It is time we all stop the insanity and take responsibility for our actions. What our we leaving future generations to clean up.

I am calling out McCain, Obama, Clinton and all other politicians to worry less about crafting a message that will get votes and to focus on creating a platform that unifies our nation, that gives us something to to rally behind as a united nation, as a world leader. It is time for tough love again. Let’s end the litigious society we have created… you sue and you lose, you pay. We need real tort reform; get rid of the backlog in the legal system. Clean up the messes in our jails - no more Mr. Nice Guy; you do the crime you do HARD TIME and think twice about doing it again. While in jail, let’s force our inmates to learn a trade, to get their education, to work to pay for their stay. Jail is supposed to be a penalty and it is supposed to rehabilitate. Let’s make our politicians work as well, let’s expose the programs that our lining their pockets, let’s make them accountable for their performance, let’s put them on an MBO program, let’s demand bi-partisanship, let’s take the politics out of politics, let’s get rid of the entitlement programs, let’s demand the fat be cut in Washington. Why are so many people losing jobs in corporate america because corporations have no loyalty to co-workers and are only focused on returning shareholder value while our political system continues to become more bloated and they are not held accountable. Let’s run the lobbyists our of Washington, or at least be sure American’s are better informed about what they are really doing and expose the perks they are giving to our leaders on Capital Hill. Let’s clean up our health care system; we need insurance reform, drug reform and a simplified approach to the entire healthcare process that will drive costs out of the sytem and improve the quality of our healthcare. Let’s clean up our entitlement programs… why do we have illegal aliens doing legitimate blue collar jobs while we have lazy americans sitting on their butts eating chips, drinking beer and watching TV with the money they are getting from unemployment. If you can work, you should work, if you can’t work, we should require people to go back to school and get passing grades in order to collect unemployment checks.

We need to take the Hate out of politics and take the finger pointing out of all we do. We are all in this together, we live in the greatest nation on this planet. We have opened our borders to people from around the globe who have come here to prosper and build a better life for themselves. There are so many incredible american success stories that this country was built on. Let’s get that pride back and return our global status to that of best country on the planet. Let’s do it, however, with regard to future generations, let’s all vow to leave this planet a better place than when we got here; let’s clean up the messes that have been created before us and we have contributed to until now; let’s hold each other accountable; let’s end our debtor nation status; let’s get the dollar back to being a leading global currency; let’s set a goal of making our nations literacy rate the highest in the world; let’s unite our political parties, letting them each have their own idealogy, but stop the attach adds and unwillingness to unite in the halls of Congress; let’s stop our greed and self absorbed, reckless approach to how we live our lives (it is o.k. to celebrate our successes and enjoy our wealth, but let’s do it responsibly); let’s find a solution to our dependency on oil; let’s green up this planet; let’s continue to innovate and have fun doing it.

Let’s all just get along, from the top down and the bottom up, we are all in this together.