Those Who Show Up

Famed author and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin who has given us so many great movie and television stories coined the phrase, "decisions are made by those who show up", in an episode of The West Wing. In a world with so many distractions and so many conflicting sources of information and misinformation the concept of showing up is critically important. Many of us I fear, have come to believe that just having a casual, passing familiarity with the events that touch our lives is enough. We tend to let the post on Facebook or the news alert on our cell phone be our touch-point in the hectic, over stimulating culture we live in. We find ourselves rushing from one place to another to drop off the kids, or attend that meeting, make it to that charity event, arrange to do that overtime, or squeeze in a few moments for ourselves for a workout or read a few pages for pleasure. In the rush to make it to those things we forget how vitally important it is to be there, not just get there. That experience makes Aaron Sorkin's prophetic and pragmatic line all the more important. So often, when important things are at stake- only those who show up decide.


Those words rang jarringly true very last week when this country held an election. Decisions were made by those who showed up. The problem with that election was that only about one in three voters showed up. Naturally the victors crowed that that they had won a great victory. They claimed the result of the election provided a clear message that their side was right. As I go though the rest of this essay I'm going to be discussing some  the issues and factors concerning that election. I'm going to be mentioning some FACTS and some OPINIONS. For emphasis I'm going clearly label them as one or the other by using capital letters. I do this because the confusion between FACTS and OPINIONS played a big role in the last election.


Let me start by saying that, in my OPINION, the Republicans did not win. If they won (as they now boast) I'm unable to find anything they won on. In FACT, there was no Republican national vision for the country. In FACT, there was no cohesive group putting forth an agenda for the future. In FACT, there was no Republican candidate with a clear plan for Health Care, the Economy, the VA problems, Wages, Immigration Policy, Trade Policy, Foreign Policy, Military Policy, Tax Policy, Farm Policy, Transportation Policy, or any other major area of government endeavor. If I've missed any of those facts, please enlighten me.What I saw, was in FACT, Republicans just saying that the President was a bad President- even when the FACTS don't support that position. In my OPINION, the real winners were apathy and discontent. If Republicans insist it was a victory, then it is surely a hallow victory devoid any promise for the country. It is true that Republicans will get their seats in the next Congress and control the House and the Senate- but let's not call it a huge mandate for them when two out of three voters decided to sit this one out.


The FACT that only one third of the electorate showed up ought to be a matter of great concern to all of us, regardless of the outcome. The rate of voter turnout  in the last mid-term was the lowest in the US since 1942. That is something to worry about- and something to investigate. I'm repeating some OPINIONS I've head elsewhere, but I have to agree that we have two electorates in this country. There is the electorate that comes out for Presidential year elections that is much broader, more diverse and actually more representative of the country; and, we have the mid-term electorate that is older, whiter, and wealthier than the Presidential year electorate. In FACT,  the mid-term electorate is not representative of the country as a whole, so it would be proper to be careful about drawing big conclusions from the results. That may explain why the Democrats have won five of the last six popular votes in Presidential contests. It certainly explains why the Republicans have won the last two mid-terms but can't win the Presidency. The mid-terms are notorious for failing to attract the attention of young people, single women, and racial minorities. Of course they are also notorious for costing the Party in charge of the White House seats in the Congress.

The question to think about is why we have two electorates. It would seem obvious to most that the general electorate ought to know that failing to support their choices in the mid-terms spells defeat or failure for the policies they supported in the general election- but it seems they don't. In my OPINION there are three major factors that contribute heavily to this disturbing and exasperating situation. The first factor is the a general lack of information about how government actually works in this country. My generation was the last generation to be taught civics in school- and mind you that was in the '60s. Our failure to insist on teaching children the basic rules that we use to govern this country is a major failing that has resulted in an uninformed electorate. The unprecedented rise in the power of the executive branch (and the media attention it garners) combined with real ignorance of our system of checks and balances in government has left far too many people without a basic understanding of the role of the Congress. Without that understanding, and an appreciation for its significance in our lives far too many people simply don't know why it is important to vote in the mid-terms.

The second factor is a media that has failed to do its duty to rightly inform the public. Today's news media has given in to the same politics as the political parties they cover. They have succumbed to pandering politicians instead of  challenging them to provide the public with truth. This change began to take place some years ago when news organizations allowed themselves to be controlled by the advertising departments of their networks. Instead of fearlessly and independently pursuing truth, they ruthlessly pursued revenue. If you watch any of the Sunday morning shows you will undoubtedly see politicians appear and say the most outrageous things, only to have the host say thank you, and move on to the next question. A good example would be the issue of climate change. Naturally, some Republican will come on one of those shows and say the science isn't settled. Well, in FACT it is. There are about 1% of climate scientists who question man-made climate change, but that doesn't come close to the 99% who have the data to say we are heading for a disaster. But the dutiful moderator will just let them say it without questioning the assertion at all. The temptation is great to operate that way. If they don't, if they actually challenge a politician the odds of getting other guests on that program in the future goes down tremendously. The quest for ratings and revenue has created a generation of reporters who are little more that willing mouthpieces for politicians, no matter what they say. The result is an electorate without adequate information and an electorate that has no trust in media to provide real information- which contributes to voter apathy. How often have heard someone say, "I don't trust any of them- they all lie, might as well stay home". Our press is responsible for that.

The third factor is the general lack of confidence in government. Think again of the Presidential year electorate- the one that is more diverse, more representative of the country. You might refer to that group as the middle class and the lower income class. That group may have just given up on believing there is a reason to vote when it's about the system (Congress) and not about the leader (President). Our Congress has not done one thing to seriously deal with wealth inequality or fair wages since 1980 which explains why working Americans have not advanced in personal income in the last 30 years while the wealthiest have become incredibly wealthy. Our Congress has done nothing to solve the immigration problem leaving 12 million people in limbo while falsely blaming them for causing every problem we have in this country. The Congress has done nothing to create wage equality for women. This Congress has done nothing to generate new industries that hold a promise for young people. Instead we have seen a Supreme Court tell us that the almighty corporations with all their wealth, power, and influence are people with human rights; Republican led state legislators erode the right to vote, make draconian heath related decisions for women; and purposely refuse the engage in the ACA for political reasons resulting in more people  not  getting health care. If you are a young person, a racial minority, a single woman, a poor person, or anyone in the middle class- you had nothing to vote for in this last mid-term election.

I believe there was a great deal to vote for, but the money and the media conspired to convince the Democrats not to make that case- to their own detriment. In the process they left Americans with nothing to believe in either. I believe that in spite of the Republican claims, they have nothing to be proud of in gaining this victory. This mid-term election is symptom of a number of maladies plaguing the country. Unfortunately I only see more trouble ahead as a result of this election. In my OPINION the Republicans will undoubtedly get the wrong message and believe this victory means they are right and they have a mandate- instead of trying to learn something from the two thirds who didn't even show up.

The rest of us will learn some things. We will learn that gridlock is absolutely guaranteed for the next two years. The Republican "spirit of cooperation" only lasted one day following the election- then it was back to threatening the President. The Republicans will ask the President to respect the results of the mid-term and agree to their agenda, though I recall no such sentiment from the Republicans when Mr. Obama won his elections. I heard nothing from Republicans about respecting the vote of the people in 2008 or 2012- in FACT they took those elections as a call to arms against this President. The rest of us will also learn the importance of having one party in power in Congress when it comes to Committee chairmanships and how the Congressional agenda is managed. Because of this election the new Chairman of the Senate Environment Committee is a person who believes it is God's world and man shouldn't do anything about the global climate crisis, as just one example. We will learn about how Federal Judgeship's will be stalled. And we will learn that Congress will spend its time and our money doing nothing but investigating the White House while continuing to fail to provide needed legislation on any number of fronts. We may also learn that these Republicans will forget valuable lessons from the past and my even try to impeach President Obama, not because of "high crimes or misdemeanors"- but because our politics have sunken to that level. A civics lesson here or there might have been helpful for this electorate.

Finally we will learn that no matter what your political stripe, decisions are made by those who show up- so show up! All of us have a responsibility to cast an informed vote and to encourage others to vote- even shame them into it if necessary. It is critical that all of us who have the hard won right to vote, exercise that right because there are consequences if we don't. We have a responsibility to expect our schools to teach young people about our system of government so we have informed voters- not those who are taught by the corporate or social media. We have a responsibility to expect more from the press than just mouthing the talking points provided by the politicians and their corporate masters. In other words we must all be involved and be willing to show up for every election, big or small- because that allows all of us to decide how things are done.


Thanks for looking in.