It's About Us

It’s About Us

As the leadership of our local, state, and national government changes with the elections of this past week, I hope that those who are new, or feel renewed in re-election, to public office will keep one thing in mind:  The job to which you have been elected is about us.  

In an election which saw tens of millions of dollars spent by special interest groups in an effort to ensure their interests would find representation, I call on you to remember that ours is a government for the people.  The people you have been elected to represent do not all agree on issues of policy, personal beliefs, or even expression of personal rights. But we are the foundation of this society and it will fall to you, our elected, to insure that this democracy will continue to acknowledge and represent every member in a manner that respects all, protects all, and insures the future for our young despite our many, sometimes passionate, disagreements.  It will fall to you to move us forward in a time when polarizing politics threaten to paralyze.  It will fall to you to move us forward in spite of the imposing presence of the many special interests which may feel entitled to your every effort.  No matter what a person’s gender, beliefs, occupation, party, or tax bracket, this society will only remain strong if every member can be acknowledged and given heartfelt consideration by his or her elected representative.  

No one will convince every citizen to lock philosophical arms in the diverse population that is the United States of America.  But it will be incumbent on this leadership to form a cohesive whole out of the many parts.  Healthcare, education, employment, hunger, shelter, protection, and fiscal responsibility—these are some of the most cumbersome and crucial issues ever faced by our nation and they require your attention.  As you do so just, please, remember: it’s about us:  Young and old, Democrats, Republicans, Green, and Independents, working and unemployed.  We may not all have been able to write the big checks, but at the end of the day, it’s us, not them.