Archive for June, 2009

Yesterday I was talking to a friend and we are talking about the usual stuff that people talk about these days. You know, it goes like this:

Friend: “How you doing? Cool…[no pause for an answer] well make sure you check out my Twitter, checkout my facebook, check out my this, check out my that. Also, don’t forget to check my website, I have some cool updates coming soon…”

Me: “Cool, I just got a Twitter account and a blog. It’s tulsaPolitico.com, and….[cut off by friend]“

Friend: “uhhh…yeah, I’m not really in politics. But that’s cool if it’s your thing, though. I just don’t like being lied to. I gotta go so I’ll see you later, don’t forget to check out my 10 billion updates. Nice talking to you by the way.”

Me: “grrrr…”

This is the type of conversation that produces a hint of, let’s say, disquitedness in me. It does so because I believe the person that says, “I’m not interested in politics or politicians,” is saying, “I really don’t care that I’m supposed to help govern the US by electing good people that I want in office.” I do understand that we don’t always have the options we want, or that we may feel it is better we don’t vote because we don’t know enough about the candidates. To those people, I understand you and have no qualm with you. It’s the ones that “don’t care,” but always complain. I will use Governor Sanford as an example.

Mark Sanford was one of those guys I was rooting for. I didn’t care that he was a Republican, and I wouldn’t have cared if he were a Democrat. I was rooting for him because he was rejecting stimulus money he felt his state didn’t need. I could remember thinking to myself, “now there is a good one.” There was a person who is using practical judgement and seeing that if we keep spending what we don’t have trouble will come. I don’t think this is a Republican or Democratic issue, I think it’s a common sense issue.

I, like many others, felt a bit of unhapiness about his scandal. Usually, the same variation of one thought/reflection will come to my mind when I find out a politician is proven to be a liar, a cheater, or thief. The thought that I reflect on is similar to the conversation I had with the friend above, “I guess all politicians are liars with smoke and mirrors.” I don’t, however, let that stop me from being a part of the whole, which is our democratic-republic. I wish more people would realize that all citizens govern by selecting a few to govern all. And, when the all doesn’t like the few, the all should remove the few and select a different few to govern the all.

That is the process given to us by our constitution. As a famous person has said, “we surround them.” I believe our “founding fathers” understood that it is about us, and not about the them that we elect. The politicians we elect are from us and should govern for us, and when they don’t we elect new ones. But, for many good reasons good citizens have forfeited their great rights by abdicating their minds from politics because of all the “lies and mirrors.” I say to you who do this, stop. Be apart of what is happening and share your concerns and suggestions. If you feel no one is listening to you, move on until you find others that will listen to you. Join them, embrace them, and work with them so that everyone can benefit by your ideas.

I’ve titled this post “Mark Sanford-why I won’t give up,” because I believe I have been let down by a person who was elected to office. I did not directly elect him, but  in this moment of time he stand as a poster child for politicians who have been hypocritical. I hope the best for him and his family as they go through this difficult time, but life goes on. I will go on, we must go on.
Below you can view the full version of his press conference. I haven’t seen it in many places, so I thought I would post it here. I have seen the way it has been edited on TV, and it has led to some people saying things that aren’t necessarily true. Feel free to watch and enjoy.