A colleague of mine wrote an article about the letter the Starbucks CEO sent out recently, asking that the two major parties in Washington get together. It’s entitled “Ask not what Starbucks can brew for you; but what you can do for your country.”
Here was my response:
Like you, I don’t know if it’ll work, but especially as an Independent, I’m glad they’re trying. It may not work, but even if it doesn’t, if it sparks or continues a conversation that in 100 years will help change the way our political system works for the better, it’s a good thing. Like anyone else, I have instant gratification issues, and would like to see something change right now, today.
But it might take 8 years, or 25 or 70 years to fix what is wrong in DC on any permanent basis. We didn’t get here in 3 months, and we can’t expect it to change that fast. However, every little step in the right direction adds up, as long as we the people are behind it.
We assume that we’re powerless, but if the system didn’t still need the people, we’d simply become a monarchy again, but one that passes through whoever has the most money rather than who was born into power. As recently as 2007, we all thought having a black president was a pipe dream. As we did the belief in a centrist president, and we’re coming pretty close right now – many of his policies are very close versions to what the republican party asked for as recently as the Clinton administration. There was an op-ed in the Post about this just a few months ago.
So, if some of the things democrats want, and some of the things republican wants, are being done under a democratic president with a republican majority congress, well, what’s the problem? Why *can’t* they work together, when on paper, much of the compromise has a foundation?
It’s BS, really. We all need each other to serve our own purposes, and at some point, we’ll have to realize that and get some progress underway. And for the love of all things good, stop bitching when we don’t get 100% of what we asked for – that’s what compromise IS.
Here are the two articles examining the fact that some of President Obama’s conduct in office is like that of a moderate republican: