Drain the Swamp

easier said, than done

Eric LaMont Gregory

There is more to draining the swamp, than merely redrawing it
with Ryan and the other congressional alligators removed from the picture,
although removing them from the picture is an important first step

 
While PTSD and veteran suicides continue to wreak havoc on American families, the same legislature that passed a bill to help veterans, but did not fund the initiative, sought as their first act to undue ethical oversight of their own members.  And, without a plan to insure some 30 million Americans, many of whom now insured for the first time, who have medical insurance under the Affordable Health Care Act, have voted to repeal that legislation. 

Undeniably, our relations with Russia are important, but that relationship pales into insignificance when weighed against our crumbling infrastructure, decades of a lack of urban renewal efforts, and an overbearing Chicago, among many other police departments and their poor (unconstitutional, cruel and unusual (fourth amendment violating)) relations with their ethnic American citizens and neighbors.

Against this backdrop the US Congress with an approval rating of some 14% labors on to prove itself not only out of touch, but also increasingly irrelevant.  And, as the most recent presidential election as shown, the electorate aware fully of the failings of a dysfunctional legislature have turn their sights and placed their trust in the executive branch to restore national pride and sense of America as a great country.

We are on the cusp of a fundamental change in direction in this country, some scholarly evaluations call it a major realignment, not only in Washington and our state capitols, but in communities large and small across the United States as well.
  
Our relations with our allies are uncertain, long standing bilateral and multilateral agreements are being called into question, without the kinds of in-depth analyses that usually accompany major policy shifts emanating from American administrations.  Unless ventured into with knowledge and care change as often as not, while creating opportunities along some pathways, has a way of closing the doors of opportunities to cross other bridges.  And, in a not too distant future, when we look back at the opportunities gained and lost during this period, those we have lost as we have witnessed so often in the past, will represent with an even higher price tag in terms of both human and material resources needed to address them.

There is more to draining the swamp, than merely redrawing it with the alligators removed from the picture, a lot more.