First, my running. I gave it a shot last night. It’s been 6 1/2 weeks since I hurt my ankle, and nearly 3 weeks since my last attempt on the treadmill. My ankle is still swollen, but it’s clearly better, and doesn’t hurt other than if I try and push the range of motion, which is not quiet 100%. But, I figured it was time to try and see where things stand, so to speak. And I’ve been frustrated that it’s been a relatively mild winter and I haven’t been able to take advantage of it. So, with our impending major snowstorm / blizzard, I decided it was a good day to give it a test run.
I made it through 2.38 miles although very slowly. Even by my standards. Average pace of 12:31. But, in all honesty, I didn’t think I’d be able to do that much without walking, so I was happy. Got to start at the beginning again, but it’s a start. My ankle felt fine afterwards, although today it’s been a little sore, maybe. Not sure. I’m paying attention to it so maybe it’s nothing more than normal, but I keep checking it. I guess I’ll see over the next couple of days. I’ll try to do another couple of short runs and see how things go before I even start to worry about working on speed or increasing distance.
“Running” That would refer to all the politicians running for office. I really am concerned about the broken system my kids, and hopefully grandkids someday, will have to live with. Nobody actually stands for anything. The goal is to get elected. Which in today’s world means represent your party, not your constituents, and then do whatever it takes to keep your party happy. It’s a mess, nobody really stands for anything, they say whatever they are told to say, and the focus is always on the next election so nothing gets done. Nobody is focused on real issues, but they focus on issues that get people riled up. Is access to birth control really the biggest issue facing our country? Do we really need to take health insurance away from 10 million people to prove a political point? We’ve got a crumbling infrastructure, that seems important. We’ve got a society that is endangered due to climate change, but instead of trying to find some practical approach to deal with it it’s more politically advantageous to keep debating if it’s real. Politicians now say that they can’t speak on the topic because they aren’t scientists, but when it’s pointed out that something like 97% of all scientists are in agreement, they say you can’t trust the scientists because they have a self interest in claiming it’s a problem. So we can’t trust non-scientists because they don’t understand it, but the only thing they know is that we also can’t trust scientists. Huh?
Six years ago Republicans took over the majority of the House. On election night, before they were even inaugurated, Boehner was asked what their legislative agenda would be, and he responded that it would be to ensure Obama was a one term President. Or in other words, for two years every vote, every decision would be made based on it’s impact on the next Presidential election. Then when Obama won re-election, he stated that the legislative agenda would now be to make sure the Republicans would win the White House in 2016. Basically they’ve been willing to waste 6 years of our time and money doing nothing about real problems because solving them would not be politically beneficial.
And if we wind up with another Democratic President with the Republicans in control of Congress, will they spend the next four years focusing on making sure whoever is President is a one term President? Probably.
One huge problem is that there is so much data available today, politicians continuously tailor their message to whatever the polls indicate will increase their chance of getting elected. Instead of being willing to stand up and say “I believe in X, Y and Z, and if you don’t, then don’t vote for me” and campaign on their beliefs, they are relying more and more on polling data to decide what to believe in. Consequently, they all sound more and more alike. I have no idea what to do about this.
Other problems are fixable. It is clear that an overwhelming majority of people in the country are in favor of term limits for Representatives and Senators. People were supposed to go to Washington to represent their home district or state, and then return home and live their. Congress was never supposed to be a lifelong career. Would representatives be so willing to waste six years if they were going to have to leave office for term limits? I doubt it. If they knew they wouldn’t be there after the next election they are focused on, they might worry more about getting something done and not worrying about who gets credit. We put term limits on the President to ensure a turnover of power, we need to do it for Congress. We need a Constitutional Amendment.
Next problem is all the money. Ever since the Supreme Court overturned nearly 250 years of legal precedent and decided that corporations had the same rights as people (and conservatives complain about liberal judges creating legislation from the bench – didn’t see them get upset about 250 years of precedent wiped out) and that campaign contribution limits are a form of free speech, we’ve got huge amounts of money coming from these super PAC’s. Which is why it doesn’t matter if you represent your constituents. If you do what your constituents want but it goes against what the party wants, they will pour a ton of money into backing an opponent who will tow the line, and re-election becomes nearly impossible. So it’s more important for a candidate to represent the groups with the dollars, because it takes a lot of money to win an election. Again, polls show most of the country is in favor of campaign finance limits. Was there really a problem that corporations weren’t giving enough money to politicians? Don’t think so. Again, we need Constitutional Amendments. Corporations are not people, and don’t have the same rights as people. Corporations are concepts, organizations, ideas. They have no rights. They can be regulated. Next, we need an amendment allowing limits on campaign contributions. We need to acknowledge that when a group can provide such huge sums of money, it functions as a bribe. We will only fund candidates that vote the way we want, and if you don’t, we will fund your opponent. With money so important, these donations become the same as bribes. Donating money is not free speech, it can be regulated, and should be regulated, and we need an amendment to ensure it is done. And finally, all money donated to any race should be limited to coming from citizens who live in the voting area. That’s the congressional district for a representative, and the state for a Senator. If China donated a trillion dollars to a Presidential candidate, that would not be tolerated. It would be correctly seen as outside influence of our political system. So why is it OK for a billionaire in Wisconsin to donate several million dollars to a House race in Virginia? That needs to be treated the same way. Force politicians to raise money from their constituents, not from outside sources. Make them represent the people who vote for them. We need another amendment limiting all campaign donations to eligible voters in a given election. Not corporations, not PAC’s, not groups. People. Voters.
Politics has become a big business, and it was never supposed to be. It was supposed to be a way for people to be represented in the national government. Instead, we’ve gotten to the point where the system pretty much guarantees that nobody is represented. The system is broken. These fixes won’t fix everything, but it’s a big start, and it’s all things that have wide support in the country. By everyone except the politicians. Which proves the point that we aren’t being represented.
I’m worried about the world my kids will have, because I don’t see it getting better, but I see it getting worse. Candidates are no longer worried about even pretending they speak the truth. Honesty isn’t a virtue among candidates, it’s a handicap. In the 2012 election, Romney’s campaign manager came right out and said they wouldn’t let fact checkers influence their message. The basic campaign technique is to say whatever you want, and repeat it often enough so that people accept it as fact.
I hope that the next generation will have the courage to change things. I see some really brilliant and motivated young people. The question is whether the system will beat them down and wear them down, or can they change things? For their sake, I hope they can make some changes.
Running and Writing - cheaper than therapy 