Leaders need to do the right thing
If you’re paying attention to politics these days, maybe you feel as disheartened as I do. No matter where I look—whether it’s state, local or national—it seems true public service is thwarted by power plays, personal allegiances, and partisan maneuverings where the common good is the victim in pursuit of another agenda. Perhaps it was always this way and I just wasn’t paying attention (most of us aren’t), but as someone who is intimately involved at the seemingly benign level of the school committee, it is discouraging when our leaders do not rise above human frailty and do the right thing.
At the state level, we have House Speaker Sal DiMasi locking horns with Governor Deval Patrick, and although I recognize these men may have a sincere difference of opinion regarding gambling, why have so many other pressing initiatives been blocked without even a hint of compromise? (Okay, so maybe DiMasi’s recent concession regarding closing corporate tax loopholes is a good step, albeit a baby one, but it should have happened last year.) There is so much more work to be done to revitalize the state’s economy, stabilize its revenue base, and stop the citizen drain: If we are to have any hope of progress, we must demand our leaders forgo their egos and work together to make it happen.
At the local level, we have counselors proposing nonsensical mandates, such as residency requirements, while opposing logical government oversight and accountability, such as the establishment of a central cultural office. Both efforts seem more about pay back and protecting old friends than what is actually best for the city. At the school committee, protecting one’s turf and the status quo at times seems to take precedence over doing what‘s best for kids. Last night’s motion at the high school subcommittee meeting (see post below) to push a local nonprofit agency doing good work regarding truancy out of the high school because of a communication issue is a perfect example—weekly narrative reports or you’re out? Yeah, that makes sense for kids.
Most disheartening of all because of its potential to wreak havoc nationally and globally is the steady abdication of a moral compass in presidential candidate John McCain—never someone I would support due to his war-centric, hawk-like approach to international relations and his social conservatism—but someone I used to believe had integrity. His recent vote opposing a law to bar the military from using waterboarding and other extreme measures to interrogate prisoners is evidence that he has gone to the dark side in his relentless pursuit of power.
Is this really the way it’s always been? If so, it is our own complacency and hopelessness that allows it. We must be informed, involved, active citizens, and we must vote in every election. I ask you, don’t we deserve better from our leaders, and shouldn’t we demand more? Let’s expect our leaders to do the right thing for our community and hold them accountable if they don’t.