Senator Al Franken took Senator John Thule to task for misrepresenting the facts of the latest health care bill.
While this is being tossed all around by the blatently liberal media outlets, I can't help but wonder how they'd all feel if (and when?) someone like Franken takes someone in the Democratic party to task about the same sort of things.
Now, granted, the chances of that happening seem to be pretty slim. Not because the Democrats are always open and honest about things or because they always know what they're talking about, but because they seem summarily predisposed to not speaking the hell up about things in general.
At least not until they're screaming at Republicans.
Slowly, this is changing. With someone like Franken at the forefront of actual sensible political action--in this case telling it like it is--I can't help but think it's well past time we got all the current clowns out of the big white buildings and brought in more comedians.
I hope more of Congress gets fired up about the dishonesty and game playing that's become standard practice here in our nation's capital--and in most state and far too many local governments as well (I'm looking at my home state of NY and home county of Sullivan and being very sad right now). I hope the junior Senators and Representatives shout down their incorrect colleagues--no matter what side of the divide they're on. And shout them down with actual facts, not hyperbolic panic-inducing fear-mongering or ridiculously trite emotional appeals.
I hope all that, but I'm not holding my breath.
Honest outspoken voices are few and far between in the halls of government these days. Heck, it's been true since Frank Capra put it the fight between Truth and the institution up on the big screen in 1939 in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.
And it always seems to end the same way. Every time it gets played out.
We're the only ones who can change that.
Contact your representatives. Demand they read the bills they vote on. Demand they tell the truth and don't resort to crass manipulation and fantasies in place of facts. And if they refuse--if they continue to conduct business as usual--demand they step down until they're willing and able to serve the ideals of this nation as they were meant to be served.
We've all let this go on too long.
