AN UGLINESS HAS CREPT UP, SLITHERED IN,  INSINUATED ITSELF...

When Washington, D.C., was home to my family for awhile, I liked the people and the city. I had a fair number of friends representing both political parties high up in several branches of government, and they were by-and-large good honest folk who were intent on serving the country with integrity.  There have always been a few people of questionable integrity on both sides of the aisle in Congress and in state governments, but mostly in the past our nation has been blessed with good leaders whose first priority was protecting, preserving, and strengthening the American Nation. When I lived in Washington, I knew Senators and Members of the House from both parties who mingled at picnics and school functions, who listened to each other’s stories and laughed at each other’s jokes.  In those days Washington was becoming a world-class city, a destination for people from all over the world who wanted to feel the pulse of the future, to be sure the earth was alive and loved and well protected.  The people elected or appointed to serve in government lived well, but the majority of them were very much like most other middle class citizens.  A few had time to work their way up the ladders of state and federal governments because they had inherited wealth... they didn’t have to work for a living, and therefore had the time to work at getting elected.  They were civil, and they wanted to be civil servants.  They knew the significance of the combination of those two words: civil and servant. 

The civility of the nation’s capital has metamorphosed into a chaos of scandals and snarls. The goal of government as the basis for a safe civil environment where all citizens are served equally has slipped and been replaced by determination to wound leaders of the other party.  If Marco Rubio, for example, has a snow balls chance in hell of making it onto the list of candidates for the presidency in 2016, he must prove and validate his credentials as a true hater of the black President Barack Obama and the female former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.  He must be careful not to be seen fraternizing with anyone in “the other party.”  He must have the support of the Tea Party wing of the Republican Party or won’t be selected  to represent it in a national election.  He and others in Congress must not cooperate with “the enemy,” which is defined as the Party of Democrats. He certainly must not taint himself with any good word or nod to Nancy Pelosi or Barbara Boxer or to any legislation they propose. In the present political climate in America and with the Republican leadership he obviously believes he must actively find ways to discredit and weaken the President. Deliberately weakening the president of the United States weakens the Office of the President of the United States which weakens the United States.  Deliberately sapping the strength of the United States by subterfuge is close to treason. The gentlemen and ladies of Congress and in the Media who participate in the campaign to weaken the country should be called to account at least by citizens who vote, if not by the judiciary. Wearing the flag as a lapel pin is not an act of patriotism, and wrapping oneself in the flag does not excuse perfidy.