Whether or not you like it, politics is currently playing a very major role in your life.
It may be the social media posts you see on FaceBook or the annoying comment your friend makes about the outcome of the recent election. Regardless of where it’s coming from, your happiness is just one sentence away from being totally wrecked.
And the sad part is it most often comes compliments of someone we hardly even know and/or care about.
Don’t you just love social media???
If you’re lucky enough to be “up to speed” with what’s happening in our nation’s Capitol, you’re most likely scratching your head wondering what the true intentions of our elected representatives are.
And FYI….I was joking when I said “if you’re lucky enough.” Just a little humor before I get serious and say things you’re not going to like.
Now to lay the ground rules before I start, I’m all about the facts. Who you vote for means absolutely nothing to me. I don’t care about the letter after your name that tells me which party you’re affiliated with.
What I DO care about is who you are as a person.
Are you kind to others?
How are you as a parent?
Do you treat me with the same respect I treat you with?
These are the things that matter most to me.
That all said, I have a major problem with the people that are currently representing us in Congress and I think I’ve figured out what the issue is.
More on that in a moment….
Based on how they vote on potential bills, it’s not extremely difficult to get an idea of where our lawmakers stand.
I’m thoroughly convinced that the majority of them are so ensconced in their “political bubbles” that they’ve lost the ability to differentiate between what’s right and what’s wrong.
Are they unable to see how crazy things are, or are they just ignoring it?
Can they no longer acknowledge that some things are bigger and more important than partisanship?
Have they lost the ability to accept facts, and are now relying solely on narrative and emotion?
Do they only vote “for” or “against” things based on their deep rooted hate of their opponents?
For the sake of every single one of us, I sure hope not.
That said, here’s what I believe the issue is and it can be easily articulated by asking every member of congress to answer “yes” or “no” to four very simple questions.
I refer to this as The Love Test.
#1 – Do you love the United States of America?
#2 – Do you love the American Flag?
#3 – Do you love our law enforcement?
#4 – Do you love our military?
I think every single person that exercises their right to vote should be able to get the answers to these 4 questions directly from their representatives.
A “non-vote” answer will be counted as a no.
An answer that requires an explanation will be counted as a no.
This should be brought to the floor and all 535 members of congress should be required to cast their vote.
Do you want to know what’s scary?
There will be a very large group of OUR ELECTED officials that will not be able to answer yes to all of these questions.
If that doesn’t horrify you, then you are a major part of the problem.
As a matter of fact, answering these questions should be a prerequisite for anyone that wants to be considered as a candidate to run for office in future elections.
If you want to be elected to represent the people of the most incredible country in the world, you should at least be required to let those same people know where your heart is.
I think that’s fair.
Now to head off the “I have a problem for every solution” crowd reading this – yes, you can still love something while not being 100% happy with it.
Your spouse isn’t perfect but you still love them.
Your kids do things that upset you but you still love them.
Your dog/cat/pet monkey poops on the carpet but you still love them.
See where I’m going with this?
I’m not saying answering no to these questions should prevent you from running and/or being elected.
I’m also not saying current sitting members of congress should be expelled because of their answers.
(Insert comment about the first amendment here).
What I AM saying is the American people deserve to know where their representatives stand.
Once we have answers to these questions, we can then start to break it down into the “lovers” and the “non-lovers” instead of “Republicans” and “Democrats.”
Decisions on controversial bills will now start to make more sense.
How do you expect members that can’t say they love our military to vote on spending that strengthens our armed forces?
How do think members that can’t say they love law enforcement are going to vote on defunding the police?
How do you think members that can’t say they love our country are going to vote on our immigration policies?
Let’s break everything down to the VERY simplest level and let the American people know where their leaders stand.
And while we’re at it, maybe it’s time to pose these questions to our social media friends to see where their hearts are too. Spring is next week and there’s no better time to do some cleaning.