Politics Archives - Liz Esquirol

Thank Buddha It’s Friday…

Sorry, we’re closed (Photo credit: verbeeldingskr8)

It’s Friday folks – and time to Thank Buddha It’s Friday!

At the end of a long week at work, many of us thank the heavens for our temporary weekend liberation. Because we all need a break from the rat race…some “down time.”

And this has been a heck of a week in our country – with the government shutdown and all. Not going all political on you, to me it’s not about who is right or who is wrong…or which side of this debate you fall on. That ultimately doesn’t matter.

What matters is that we, as a country, as a people, can’t seem to get out of our own way. We can’t seem to get past our own agendas, egos and belief systems – which turn us into stone pillars incapable of flexibility. Life is not that way – we have to remain adaptable at every turn…we have to compromise and understand and step down once in a while. We can’t always get “our way.” Children want that – and when they throw their temper tantrums, we punish them, we give them a time-out in order to discourage the behavior. Unfortunately, we, the people, are getting the time-out instead of the lawmakers.

Two Cents Tuesday

To sleep: perchance to dream…

It’s Two Cents Tuesday.

I’ll make this short. (At least I’ll try.)

I watched the presidential debate last night. I went to sleep and had crazy dreams. As dreams are, they are hard to fully recover upon waking, but the prevailing memory was that I was part of a group of people, that I discovered was duping and stealing from their own members. In the dream, I found out the lead female had distracted me and stolen money from my purse. The lead male had stolen someone’s phone (or iPod) while folks weren’t looking (I guess there’s no escaping Apple’s presence.)

But the crux of the dream was that I confronted these two offenders. Letting them know, in no uncertain terms that I was on to them – that I knew of their manipulations and deceptions and that I was going to move heaven and earth and tell everyone I knew of their wrongdoings. I was mad.

Now what does all this mean? Who knows really. I’m sure there are lots of dream weavers out there who could explain the symbolism and such, but my immediate thought was the tie-in with the debate.

I think a lot of us are mad at where our country stands. We are feeling misled and misunderstood. We can’t discern who’s telling the truth and who isn’t. The political spin is making our heads spin.

My confrontation with the offenders in my dream was clear – it’s my inner voice wanting to tell those in “power” that I’m not happy with the way things are being handled – that I don’t trust their actions – and that they aren’t pulling the wool over my eyes. It’s this internal cause and battle I’m waging – wanting to protect myself and the world.

The truth is, I/we don’t know the candidates personally. I know they are human too…and that they feel all the same pressures and worries and fears the rest of us do. They have hearts – and despite my fears, I do believe at their core lies a good, decent person, just wanting to do better by our country. I don’t think malice has any place here.

I don’t have the answers. All I know is I feel the need, probably like so many of us, to speak up and state very clearly, we are tired of that gut feeling that something isn’t right. That someone, somehow, is taking advantage of us. We want that to go away…I know I do.

My fears are real but I have unending hope that things will get better. Either that or perhaps I just need a new pillow. – BB

Two Cents Tuesday

Not a fan of ‘cians

As the political season heats up, I would like to declare something this Two Cents Tuesday – and here goes – I’m not a big fan of Politicians.

Oh I know – discussions of politics is high on the list of what to avoid with friends, colleagues and family. And I understand why – it’s a polarizing subject – with strong emotion attached.

But if we are all honest, many of us would say we dislike politicians. I know why I do – because I view them as magicians without tricks. I can see up their sleeves. The outward appearance may be that they are in it to help you, me, the community. But are they really? I’m a skeptic. Think about it – they make promises they can NEVER keep, they say what they think the voters want to hear, they tout their abilities to get things done (but we all know it takes a governing “body” of folks to get things done and that no Lone Ranger can create true change.) They are well-dressed, well-rehearsed talking heads. And the worst thing is – that it’s so transparent.

I want to believe them so badly. I really do. I want to have faith that the next guy or gal in office will do better – that they will have the will of the people at the top of their agenda. Unfortunately, we are so often let down – through their actions, through the web of bureaucracy that ties our political system into knots.

I have a proposal – I suggest that if you’re running for office, don’t tell me anything. Shrug your shoulders and let your message be “I’ll give it a shot.” And if you don’t make good on what we expected of you, you give the taxpayers a refund – of your salary the entire time you were in office. That sounds like a bi-partisan policy I can back.

I will vote when it comes time as it’s my civic duty and a privilege. But it’s hard to pull the lever when I’m crossing my fingers. – BB