An open letter

To Whom It May Concern;

For many years now, I have watched in dismay as the level of civility has steadily declined in political speech. I have watched from the sidelines as the political debate became less and less about substantive issues and more and more about getting sound bites onto the evening news. We have reached a point where the party that lost the last election spends all of it’s time re-fighting that failed campaign instead of coming up with new ideas.

I watched in dismay a party once known for great ideas and leadership fell into mindless screeching hatred and non-stop attempts to create scandals. Even stooping so low as to embrace liars and forged documentation. Anything to gain power, right?

I watched in dismay as a party once known for steadiness and consistency slipped into the worst forms of pork-barrel vote-buying and egregious behavior with a sleazy lobbyist. Anything to keep power, right?

I see politicians who should know better make statements that are taken up by and repeated by the very people who would destroy this country. Making statements that encourage our nation’s enemies and present a portrait of a country in disarray, giving us an appearance of weakness, these are not good things for our nation.

I see employees of government agencies actively leaking secrets to an increasingly irresponsible media. These people are violating their oaths and our trust to further their own agendas at the expense of our nation’s international reputation. Media that is increasingly willing to twist, distort and outright fabricate evidence and even knowingly print classified information if that is what it takes to reach their goals.

Consider for a moment how we look to the rest of the world.

Nations that are at least nominally friendly with us see the party out of power screaming that the party in power stole high office. They see candidates for high office accusing the President of high crimes without presenting a shred of credible evidence. They see charges and counter charges flying back and forth while an out of control media paints a bleak picture of America. In other words, our friends see a nation in disarray.

Our enemies see politicians calling for a cut-and-run strategy after readily voting to go to war, like so many times in the past. They get sound bites from our own people that they can read back to the world. Our media seems to take enormous, almost gloating pleasure in transmitting those sound bites as rapidly as they can. In other words, they see a weak nation in disarray.

I, for one, am fed up with all of this. I ask you all, have you no shame? If you cannot put aside the worst forms of partisan bickering for the sake of our nation, YOU DO NOT deserve to hold national office. If you knowingly leak classified information, YOU DO NOT deserve a position of trust in our government. If you cannot act responsibly and report news honestly, YOU DO NOT deserve respect or an audience. Ask yourselves; are you on the list of the undeserving? If you are, you should be ashamed. You know who you are and you need to correct your behavior before you kill us all.

Sincerely,

Gaius