I don’t normally post things that are political in nature, but I was browsing my Facebook feed when I came across a picture that had me stop and reflect on the political landscape that we deal with here in America. Here is the picture that I saw:
I’m sure that Democrats and people who agree with President Obama would see that picture, laugh, and share it with others. Republicans and people who disagree with President Obama probably see this picture, get mad, and make some comment about how President Obama blames everything on President Bush. And that’s the problem I see with politics here in America. We have these two parties that constantly battle back and forth positioning themselves as the better party while blaming all the problems on the other party. Meanwhile, problems continue to mount in the country. Depending on who you are and what side you agree with, those problems vary, but I think most people would agree that there are a lot of problems that could be fixed if those in politics spent more time working together rather than working against each other. Sadly, the reaction I get when I make these types of comments usually follows along the lines of “my side tries, but the other side refuses to work with us” and the cycle of blame continues.
It almost makes me wonder what type of country we would have if people stopped trying to blame each other and started working together. Going back to the above picture. I know the Republicans blame an awful lot on President Obama, but the Democrats do the exact same thing. I could probably find just as many references of President Obama blaming Republicans as I can find where Republicans blame President Obama. What I would love to see is someone stand up, take the blame, and then ask if we can just move on and quit fighting. There are things that our President has does that deserves some blame, and there are things that the Republicans have done that deserves blame as well. But until we put those things behind us and quit pointing fingers, we will never be able to put ourselves into a position to make things better. I don’t care about the “your party ruined this country” game because both Democrats and Republicans have done their fair share of ruining this country.
When I was a kid, I remember hearing the phrase “don’t point your finger at someone else because you have three fingers pointing back at you.” I think that applies to politics as well. Before you accuse the other side of screwing something up, maybe you should consider all the things your side has done first. I’m a strong believer in finding common ground. Frankly, I think that common ground is how much both parties have screwed things up. If both sides would just agree that they’ve made things worse over the years rather than better, maybe we could start making things right. Isn’t admission of a problem the first step in the healing process? It’s time we acknowledge that rather than just blame others. Sadly, I don’t think that will ever happen because it is much easier to blame others for our problems than it is to admit our own mistakes. The blame game is here to stay.
