What we have here is a failure to communicate

I love my liberal friends. Although I rarely agree with them, I am sure that the opposite is true. However, the reality is we probably agree about most of the important problems we all face. What don’t agree on is how to solve those problems.

The biggest challenge is we just don’t seem to be able to get past the semantics. Our political leaders keep us divided by stirring the controversy. And the national media are like the prison guards in in that old Cool Hand Luke movie where they stand around and watch us tear each other apart. The national media has failed us. News has become entertainment. It is no longer good enough to inform the national debate. It must provoke us with the most controversial and divisive rhetoric.

A couple examples will illustrate my point. 

Few of us want to see our fellow Americans living in poverty. Yet our war on poverty has done little to eliminate the number of those in our country that remain in poverty. The point has been made that for all of the money we have spent on welfare programs we could have given everyone in poverty a small fortune. I don’t know if that is true or if it would have made a difference in the long run but what is clear is what we are doing now has not fixed the problem. But we continue to argue about which side of the aisle is the most compassionate while the problem continues to remain.

Our economy has been floundering. Jobs have been migrating overseas where the cost of labor is lower. American wages have been languishing so we argue about legislating a higher minimum wage or increasing the taxes on the corporations and the wealthy. Attempts to change the current system are met with howls of protest about how the changes represent an unfair burden on the poor and the middle class.

Americans are a generous and caring people. While there are undoubtedly a few bad apples in the crowd, the great bulk of our people are not self-centered, racist or privileged. It’s a false narrative designed to continue to divide us.

And yes, many of us say things that are perceived by the other side of the discussion as hurtful, threatening, insensitive or otherwise dismissive. It is a failure of language and the human condition. It is far past time for all of us to start acting like adults and work to get past the rhetoric and find the common ground. It is time we got over being offended and started working to find real solutions.

Our tax policy is a disaster. Our national debt is out of control. Government meddling in energy, education and health care has not produced better results. For the last 50 years we have been attempting to create our own version of socialism in this country. It is not the American way. America was founded on a unique concept that limited government will give people the freedom to create better ways to meet societal needs. 

The liberal side of the debate will undoubtedly point out how unregulated private industry has been destroying our environment and enriching the powerful while ignoring the needs of the poor and disenfranchised. 

The problem here is there is just enough truth on both sides to create divisive inaction. Whatever we do to rock the boat will swamp us is the message most of us get. Truth is the boat is already swamped. It will not remain afloat much longer if we don’t address the serious issues that confront us. 

While the media is parsing every little tweet from the President and obsessing over some perceived insensitive remark. The country continues to flounder. 

Democrats have moved to their corner and Republicans have moved to theirs. Anyone who breaks rank is vilified. But they all need to be vilified. They were elected to get things done. They were elected to assess the mood of the country and make changes demanded by the American public. 

It is time for all of us to get over our political alliances and demand that Congress begin serious debate about substantive change in Washington DC. Let’s start by demanding a complete change in the political leadership in Congress. Let’s all demand that Ryan, McConnell, Pelosi, Hatch, Schumer all be replaced. They have not provided effective leadership. 

It is time for some new blood.

Bill Forhan can be reached at 509-548-5286 or publisher@leavenworthecho.com.