At This Point in Our Evolution...

As they stand, our political traditions do not serve the needs of our country. 

They provide for a two party system but, at this point in our evolution, the lure of a two party system encourages one party to align itself against the other.  The desired result is always to win… to prevail, to satisfy what one half of the country espouses.  The other half is left to struggle against the party in power with the hope of prevailing via the next election.

We have seen a stunning example of how this operates with the power wielded by the Senate majority leader who can prevent urgent and desperately needed proposed legislation from even reaching the floor of the Senate for consideration and discussion.  Sadly, this has become the common practice.

And there is an even more blatant illustration of why our political traditions are not serving our needs.  During the last few years our current president has been able to perpetrate many actions which have been damaging to our country, its honor,  the well-being of its citizens and have presented  grave danger to their lives.

Here, in her own words, is a list of some of these travesties compiled by Rachel Maddow of MSNBC:

“The worst coronavirus response of any industrialized country in the world killing 131,000 Americans in the process and heading into month seven with Americans still not reliably able to be tested for the virus.”

“Botching the response to hurricane Maria which killed 3,000 Americans in Puerto Rico and then blaming Puerto Rico and cutting off their funding and support in the aftermath of the hurricane.”

“Soliciting, accepting, and trying to leverage further help from the Russian government to help Trump’s election effort against Hillary Clinton then spending four years in office doing every single thing the Russian government wanted from him and then firing, demonizing, and trying to criminalize everybody in intelligence and law-enforcement who was involved in investigating what happened there.”

“The end of the independent justice department...its transformation into a tool that both hunts the president’s enemies and protects and rewards the president’s criminal allies.”

and, most egregiously...

“Over 700 children (babies, toddlers, and teenagers) separated by policy from their parents after crossing the southern border and sent to live in jail like conditions, sleeping on the floor under space blankets by order of the federal government in the name of the American people.  An early but unspeakably ugly chapter of this administration that will never be forgotten.”

Any ONE of these atrocities should have been enough to ensure the removal from office of the sitting president.  But this has not happened.  There has been voluminous reporting on the circumstances of these actions. There have been many leaders who have spoken out in their condemnation.  There has been  passion and unrest and disgust at these actions. And still they go on.  And we continue to endure them.

Why haven’t we been able to remove this president and those who support him in these despicable actions?

We are clearly shocked and horrified by this situation but unable to take action.

Our political traditions that have evolved over time give too much power to federal office holders who have not evolved enough to deal with their own fear and angst and now, through their actions, foist them upon our country.

To go even deeper into the issue… These office holders are able to be elected and hold office because we, the people,  have also not dealt with our fear.

What is the answer to this tragic situation?


Marie Helena



Image from  clipart.me