Them is us.

I heard a Washington Post columnist on NPR (yes, I listen from time to time, gnashing my teeth) talking about his latest book - an extended satirical essay on how our national political leaders in Washington D.C. are a kind of species unto themselves, with their own language, culture, and value systems completely distinct from those of the rest of the country. I know he's playing this for laughs, but this is the sort of fable that nourishes the very manner of political beast he parodies. I ask you - who runs for national office without attacking some aspect of Washington D.C.? Isn't that the horse that Dubya rode into town on, as well as nearly all of his predecessors for the past 30 years? They all embark on this mission to clean up the mess in our nation's capital. Even after seven years in the White House, junior is still reading from that same tired "outsider" script. The reason is simple - people don't see their desires or priorities reflected in federal policies, so Washington itself is painted as the problem... and a damned convenient one at that.

Well, there is a problem, but it's not just in Washington. Fact is, it's in us. We all drink the Kool-Aid that these folks serve up every two years. They tell us we can have roads, bridges, schools, retirement, and a bottomless military budget without paying higher taxes, and many of us believe. They tell us we invaded Iraq to help the Iraqi people (by giving them a one-way ticket to perdition, it turns out), and many of us believe. They tell us our nation can do practically anything it wants in the world and never be wrong, and that sounds good to us, too. We believe because we want to believe... we want to feel good about who and what we are, and not feel guilty about what we've done to other people around the world (to say nothing of our fellow citizens, including those unfortunate enough to be stuck in Iraq or Afghanistan). So we give politicians our votes. And if there's a problem, it's Washington's fault.

I know you already know this, but I'll say it anyway just to remind myself. Those people in Washington D.C. we so revile were sent there by us. They do what they do because they feel confident that between election days we'll be too busy, too distracted, and too disengaged to have anything to do with the actual process of national governance. They assume (based on experience) that we can be bought off with a few pleasing tales (or by slinging a guitar and talking folksy), while they almost unfailingly serve the interests of those centers of concentrated wealth that own this country. And to a large extent, they are correct. The only way we can stand against those powerful institutions is by building our own popular institutions, by organizing and acting in our own common interests. Corporate America has nothing but money, and we have nothing but numbers - we can prevail if we are willing to abandon the notion that progress comes in a glossy package.

The bought and paid-for politicians will try to convince you that Washington is the enemy. Don't buy it. Washington will change when we change ourselves and not before.

luv u,

jp