Why The Status-Quo Of American Politics Has Come Under Siege

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the last nine months, the indestructible, status-quo of American politics has come under attack. On the Republican side, it has been besieged by the billionaire, business person, Donald Trump. On the Democratic side, it has been invaded by socialist, and lone wolf, anti-Wall Street, reformer, Bernie Sanders.

“Feel The Bern” and “Make America Great Again” have become the rallying cries of millions of American voters, who for years have felt cheated, lied to and ignored by the very public servants they have so loyally indentured themselves to and entrusted the lives and futures of their children.

But now they have decided they have had enough, and they aren’t going to take it anymore.

Over 11-million of them for Donald Trump and 7-million for Bernie Sanders. For Republicans, that’s a turnout record in a primary – for the Democrats, that’s an alarming amount of votes for a relatively, unknown, socialist from Vermont.

Should politicians be afraid? Of course, they should, and that’s because it was their very own laziness, greed and conceited, mockery of the trust of the American people. Confidence and dependence granted upon them but discarded and pushed aside like an annoying task with no afterthought.

“How dare they,” establishment politicians on both sides are now saying. “This is nuts; this isn’t the way elections are supposed to be!”

One establishment Republican was even videotaped at a private, Washington dinner recently saying, “We’re Republicans, that means we step in line and do what we are told.”

And the voters have been hearing that for years, along with the broken promises and the scripted speeches that cater to the contented, the optimistic and the uninformed.

“Vote for me and I’ll set you free.”

Campaign rhetoric like that isn’t going to work anymore. American voters are becoming more educated and more demanding. They’re looking for more choices and searching for candidates who are more tailored to fit their specific, individual needs. They have Google and are proficient at researching candidates’ bold claims and promises.

Politicians can’t hide their track record anymore. The iCloud has become the modern day politician’s involuntary polygraph test.

One size fits all will not work in American politics anymore, Democrats, Republicans and Independents have no desire to walk around with their political party’s badge of honor patch sewed on their sleeves and go around echoing its profound rhetoric.

They want action; they want changes, and they want it now.

“They’re all liars and crooks and the whole system is rigged!” When Donald Trump screams those words at his campaign rallies, the people nod in agreement, understand and get angry.

“Yes, we’ve known that all along!”

When Bernie Sanders says, “The top one-tenth of the one percent today in America owns almost as much wealth as the bottom ninety percent,” people shake their heads and feel the hollowness of their wallets.

“Where’s my share?” They exclaim with conviction and steamed, emotion.

Political ideologies aside, people are fed up and angry at the callous and devious hypocrisy of the American politician. They’re weary of the self-proclaimed, standard-bearers of the Clinton and Bush-like legacies.

America is not a monarchy like Great Britain. No one politician in America is entitled to wear a crown or demand that it is owed to them.

A wise man I once knew used to say, “If you want the want, get the get but do the due.” That’s good advice that every politician should ingrain into their conscience.

It was Thomas Jefferson who once said, “Every now and then a revolution is a good thing.”

And now, millions of American voters are chanting, “Hail the revolution.”

 

Joseph E Rathjen is a freelance writer, book author pollster/opinion writer at “1World Online” and a member of the “National Society of Newspaper Columnists.”