Where, Oh Where?
by Greg Petty
March 2010
Ihave been thinking for some time about writing an article about the various dysfunctions of our federal government and the seeming unlikelihood that the country’s issues are being seriously addressed, let alone solved. Our founding fathers were wise to give us three branches of government, but the balance of power intended is no longer propelling our republic forward. It seems to me that they have ceased to counterbalance each other and to act in the true interests of the greater good. As Lincoln reminded us, “Of the People, By the People and For the People.”
Everyone from the Tea Party to the Progressives on the left feel that the partisanship has made it increasingly difficult to work together, and very little legislation of any substance makes it through Congress; the Senate’s cloture rule (filibuster) of having to have 60 votes to break it is clearly being abused; the Supreme Court’s recent decision (overthrowing nearly a century of previous precedents), allowing corporations the same free speech (1st Amendment) rights as an individual and thus throwing the money in campaigns spigot wide open. Think the campaign commercials have been untruthful and malicious in the past? Just wait to see what special interests with loads of cash can do in the 2010 election. A president who campaigned and was elected with a mandate to change Washington failed to deal proactively with Congress and gave away much of the power of the bully pulpit by allowing Congress to spearhead his initiatives. He also did not intervene soon enough when things went awry. And to our dismay he appointed some of the same Wall Street talking-heads who caused or allowed the financial crisis to his economic council and regulatory circles. Remember the old cautionary phrase, “Don’t let the fox guard the hen house.” Well we know where health care reform went… right out the partisan window. As of this writing, we have yet to see any financial reform completed, because the Senate has stalled the previously passed House bill. We are all sitting here watching the stupendous Wall Street bonuses being handed out as if nothing had ever happened.
So with that preface, I hope you enjoy the humor with which I intend this and we all can have a little fun with the song below. Sing the words to the tune of “Where, oh where could my baby be?” first performed by Eddie Cochran in 1961.
Where, oh where can my country be? The lobbyists and politicians have taken her away from me,
It’s gone to Hades and I can’t be fooled. Hope to find my country before I leave this world.
We elected them to Congress and gave them the keys to the car, but they have not driven very far,
There in the road straight ahead, the Congress was stalled and it’s nearly dead.
We couldn’t fathom it, so some swerved left and some to the right, we’ll never forget the sound bites,
The screamin’ town halls, the media clash, the painful gridlock that we saw last.
Where, oh where can my country be? Wall Street and politicians have taken her away from me,
It’s gone to Hades and I can’t be fooled. Hope to find my country before I leave this world.
When I woke up the federal debt was rainin down, there were Supreme Court Justices all around,
Tears warm were flowing through my eyes… but somehow they were no longer in sight.
I lifted my head and wondered how could they say “Appoint me please, just one life term,
I told them no, this is your last miss, I can’t see the justice I knew I had missed.
Well now is she gone? Even though we hold her ideals tight, I hope we can recover our love and life some night.
Where, oh where can my country be? The lobbyists and politicians have taken her away from me,
It’s gone to Hades and I can’t be fooled. Hope to find my country before I leave this world.