This Isn't Us!

I was watching The Bourne Ultimatum yesterday, and a line near the end of the film made me pause for a bit. Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) is asking CIA agent Pamela Landy (Joan Allen) why she was helping him. Her response was, "This isn't what I signed up for. This isn't us!"

Boy, Howdy, Amen! Also in real life, "this" hasn't been "us" for a very long time. When I was in high school during the middle 60s, we had a mandatory class called "Contemporary American Problems" or "CAP class," for short. This was in California, though there were similar classes throughout the country. We learned about how our government works, who was running it. We had to learn who the cabinet members were and their responsibilities, the line of succession to the Presidency, etc. It was a great class, and it helped give us "soon-to-be-adults-running-the-country" a perspective on just who we as a country were, how our country functioned and our place in the world. Today, I wonder how many high school students know who our Vice-President is, let alone who's third in line for the Presidency.

I looked at Washington, D.C. with respect. A powerful force in World Affairs, trying to be a fair and just participant in the global environment. I remember watching Mr. Smith Goes to Washington with awe, getting a view of how the Senate works, respecting Congress, and how a few bad apples can be tamed into submission through the fairy tale of filibustering. Silly me!

What the hell happened? Aren't we as a "democracy" supposed to be the reasonable voice in World Politics? Of course, the sad part is that those now in power are the very ones that took the same class that I did. That were exposed to the same domestic and global mind set. They were the successors to our government. They lived through the fraud and selling of the Vietnam War, the Peace Movement ("Make love, not war!") and Watergate. What exactly did they learn from all that? Obviously, not the same things I did.

Now I look at both houses of Congress as inept, sycophantic tools to the Executive Branch and its Corporate Partners. I have absolutely no respect for them. I see nothing in the future to change my viewpoint. Until Congress can stand up and exert its authority and be regarded as a viable third member of the checks and balances that our Framers of the Constitution intended, I will consider both houses as nothing but shills for the Executive Branch. We need to excise the mealy-mouthed Nancy Pelosis and Harry Reids and their Corporate Sponsors. Our country is dangerously close to losing our democracy brand and becoming a plutocracy, possibly an oligarchy. I'm sure some believe we already have lost the democracy brand.

So, what the hell did happen? My best guess is that my peers at the time fell into the trap of the "Mr. Smith..." character Senator Paine (Claude Rains). They came into the political world full of bright ideas and missions, but the lust for money and power at any cost corrupted them. Maybe acts such as pardoning Nixon taught certain soon-to-be powerful individuals that you can get away with "high crimes and misdemeanors." To hell with the "people" of the United States...All hail the mighty Multi-National Corporations of the United States! And, sadly, there will be no Hollywood Ending similar to Senator Paine breaking down to save the day for Jefferson Smith (or our country).

The good news is that we now have the Internet. Can anyone imagine what would be the current state of affairs if we did not have this wonderful tool to utilize as a real information source and as a community watchdog? We can use it to disseminate the real truth and not be solely subjected to Mainstream Media's "Ministry of Truth."

The bottom line is that it will never be up to one naive Jefferson Smith to come to the rescue, but to all of us who live in this country savvy enough to do what is needed to realize the full potential that the U.S.A. can be.