Unreasonable Expectations

I agree with Laura's post below. Polarization is having disastrous effects on the American politic. As Laura points out, the current elections are a prime example. What we see in campaign ads is an example of intentional misinformation. For instance, a candidate may blame an incumbent for voting against a bill that would stop puppy mills (a goofy example, I know). So we may, as the citizenry, assume that the incumbent hates puppies, certainly he must for he voted to not save them...but perhaps we assume too much. Often times when we hear this blame game all we need to do is check loc.gov. We may find something very interesting...we may discover that the puppy legislation was attached as a rider to an appropriations bill (for example) which would fund another "bridge to nowhere". In this case, politicians must make choices which may be displeasing to SOME, but are also beneficial to MOST. Politicians are most often required to compromise on the legislation they choose to support, and they are also required to prioritize. Sure, we all want to save puppies, but we can't afford nonsense legislation to pass which wastes even more tax dollars. Sure, the candidate running the ad is correct - the incumbent voted against a measure, but we have a right and a responsibility to know all of the facts.

But the problem of polarization is not just the fault of our politicians, it is also the fault of the electorate. We have, as Americans, no sense of reality concerning how much time it takes to turn the cogs of our political machine. This certainly came into play in the midterms. We have become so dissatisfied, so antsy, so impatient toward our government that we do not allow them enough time to exact changes. Certainly we cannot expect our government to "fix" our economy in two years when we have created this problem over at least the past decade? This may bring another dilemma to light. The fast-paced infusion of information about our economy may have led to the expectation of an equally fast-paced solution. Certainly the news has been gracious enough to tell us how poor our economy is, but they have largely failed in suggesting realistic timelines for recovery. Our unreasonable expectations, coupled with misinformation-providing politicians, do no favors for us or themselves. Unfortunately, you will not find a solution in my rants either.