By Bill Werlin
Whatever your daily life and schedules have been the past few days or weeks or months, would you please step back and take a candid look at the ludicrous, disgusting and scarily dysfunctional state of affairs you’ve created?
Whether you’re a Republican or Democrat or Independent, in the minds of a very large number of American citizens, you are failing at your job.
You were each elected to provide individual and collaborative guidance for a vast country of people, the United States of America. On an individual basis, yes, each district and state has a wide variety of issues and needs unique to that area. But along with the specifics there is an equal responsibility for the common well being and preparation for the future.
The country, under your “leadership” is severely fractured. Cities, towns and villages are no longer described by anything other than being “red” or “blue”. Strangers are viewed first through lenses of MAGA or not.
Step back and look at the disrespect, disparagement and stupid name-calling you engage in on what comes across as an hourly basis. Reflect on the despicable childish behavior to pass critical bills underhandedly by not allowing enough time for all members to understand and evaluate the details. Look at the myopia and shortsightedness of excessive liberal focus rather than the rock-bottom concerns of your constituents and the country as a whole.
Issues and actions are not discussed or taken based on character and value. Statements and positions are made strictly by party affiliation and direction, not with individual thoughtfulness and judgment.
Fear and cowardice determines governance positioning rather than character, maturity, thought, and focus on the greater good.
People are turning off the news. Rather than smiles, shaking heads and angry sighs erupt whenever the conversation reverts to your efforts.
You’ve provided unimaginable fodder for late night comedians and conservative commentators. You’re sadly, individually and collectively, a far cry from the term “leader”!
Turn off the angst and attitudes toward the other side and get a grip on addressing the wounds in our national fabric. Your goal should be collective progress, not partisan division. Work to make things better for everyone and please try and understand you have a definitive and no-excuse responsibility for future generations as well.
Op-Ed’s are written by community members, not representatives of edhat. The views and opinions expressed in Op-Ed articles are those of the author’s.
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Sorry, Mr. Werlin, you gave away your position with this sentence:
“Look at the myopia and shortsightedness of excessive liberal focus rather than the rock-bottom concerns of your constituents and the country as a whole.”
I will counter your position with mine: I am concerned with conservatives’ and the president’s myopic, shortsighted, excessive focus on self-aggrandizement and the collecting and wielding of executive power to the detriment of the concerns of the country and its citizens as a whole.
Only 36% of Dems are proud to be American. It’s interesting.
Given the current troglodyte administration, there’s very little of what was America to be proud of.
Where’d you get that load of BS?
And remember, being proud to be an American is not the same as being proud of America right now.
Current Gallup poll. Look it up. It’s real. 1 second google search, news, online … you do have internet access…
You just can’t believe it?
And yeah, those things are completely different, and that’s why I said “interesting”. I think some folks are confused about that very difference, and they’re Dems who are mixing it up. So confused about what that very difference is. Why? Are they not smart enough to know the difference between your political side and your pride in your country? Sure looks that way.
BASIC – of course you didn’t understand and are making things up again.
“36% saying they are extremely or very proud” – https://news.gallup.com/poll/692150/american-pride-slips-new-low.aspx
Words matter. Work on learning nuances, conditional statements and qualifiers.
You can still be proud without saying you’re “extremely” or “very proud.”
In the future, stop being lazy and expect others to find your “a hah!” stats, especially when they don’t say what you think they do.
I have always been proud to be a citizen of the USofA, but I am deeply ashamed of the way our government and a giant swath of fellow Americans are behaving right now. The MAGA agenda is in full swing, meaning: 1) giving the wealthy more and more money and power, while robbing as many poor as possible, 2) hurting as many non-white people as possible under the cover of deporting “illegal” immigrants, and 3) establishing a virulently anti-democratic theocracy. That’s just the top 3 of a long list of stupid, short-sighted, and immoral things Donald Trump and his mind-bogglingly rabid and cowardly support base has/is trying to accomplish.
You say “interesting”. You’re lying. You don’t find it at all interesting, because you don’t care to understand it at all.
I’ll be a proud July 4th celebrant when MAGA dries up and blows away like the dog turd that it truly is (apologies to dogs).
Whoo boy, that’s one big beautiful bullsh*t statement, with zero basis in fact or reality. JFC.
I am definitely a PROUD American, and a Democrat who is NOT proud of my country at this moment in time.
I wouldn’t have been proud to be a German in 1933, either.
I find the whole concept if being “proud to be” a certain nationality or ethnicity or anything else that a person actually has no control over to be totally bizarre and such a loser mentality.
Like, wow, you’re proud to have been born. Amazing. What an accomplishment. You worked so hard for that. What?
Go out and DO SOMETHING that you can be proud of.
Beyond that, the majority of the USA is trash.
What the MAGA crowd calls patriotism is more correctly classed as jingoism.
There’s no better way to celebrate the 4th of July than after the passage of the OBBB. Great job Congress!
Sorry, it’s a tad early for Dark humor?
Idiots would heartily agree with you, as usual.
Yeah, if you don’t give even the tiniest F about anyone other than yourself right now at this point in time.
Thankfully, there are good people out there who aren’t completely self-centered and myopic.
It looks like the White House forgot to scrub this:
https://docs.house.gov/meetings/GO/GO00/20250205/117856/HHRG-119-GO00-20250205-SD008.pdf
This butt-ugly bill, loved by sociopaths, will add $3 trillion to the massive debt already incurred by Trump, as well has leaving millions without health insurance, shuttering hospitals, starving poor children, turning ICE into a massive military force, building concentration camps, etc. … while transferring trillions into the pockets of the uber rich.
There is zero indication in this misdirected letter of any knowledge of … well, anything.
“the myopia and shortsightedness of excessive liberal focus”
Are you even aware that the GOP controls both houses of Congress, the Presidency and executive branch, the Supreme Court, and the majority of state legislatures and governorships?
I didn’t find the letter very compelling. It reminded me of management training classes that were heavy on theory and short on context and practicality.
Regarding the myopia line … I parsed that as being a reference to the oft-cited criticism that the Harris campaign didn’t focus enough on bread & butter issues that workers cared about.
True or not, we’re well past that now.
That makes no sense since the “letter” is addressed to Congress … which, again, is controlled by Republicans … in fact ultra right wing MAGA Republicans.
The guy (a former president of The North Face, surprisingly enough) has no clue so there’s no point trying to make sense of it.
This “Op-Ed” is so pathetic.
This Op-Ed makes me think of a kid who’s been assigned by his teacher to write an essay on the War of 1812 … then turns in a paper that says:
“We had a war in 1812. But I don’t know exactly why. It was everybody’s fault but I can’t say exactly who. They should have done better. Don’t have wars. I wish my internet was working.”
Given the orange moron’s business acumen, Big Beautiful Bankruptcy says it all.