Soapbox Sunday-The Post Political Landscape

Let me start by saying that my mind and my spirit haven’t had the chance to process what the world experienced Tuesday night, nor have I had a chance to process what ALBC witnessed in the Windy City on November 4th. Nonetheless, I feel compelled to search my mental hard drive and hope that the emotional high of the moment will spark questions and deductions that we’ll explore and discover the answers to over time. Here goes nothing.

Lets start by stating the obvious. First, the ruling issued by the People, as evidenced by the Electoral College and popular vote, tells that ideologically, America has shifted from the far right to just left of center. Next, while the Senate majority was increased, it likely won’t reach the filibuster proof 60, which is actually a good thing. Hence, the minority check on the majority is preserved, as is the majority’s mandate to draft and ratify the Change legislation. Further, with over 250 seats, House Democrats have the greatest majority held by a party in 15 years; but House Speaker Pelosi has declared that the administration should govern from the middle...

Now we won’t pretend like partisanship won’t rear its ugly head. It’s inevitable. However, the people have declared that our commonalities are more important than our differences; the issues most critical to the future of the country can only be addressed by resolving the mutual detriments they pose. The success of the first 100 days of the Obama administration will be determined, not by partisan preferences, but rather by how effectively the 535 members of Congress can translate the desires of the people into well funded, practical and executable policy.

All this leads to the question, “What happens next in the Post-Political world?” By Post-Political we mean the civic environment once we’ve transitioned from electing to administering. As the Obama Administration begins the transition process, the Citizens must transition into advocates for common man issues capable of neutralizing special interest and corporate lobbyist. We’d like to place emphasis on the fact that, “We the People” should be as enthusiastically, if not more fervidly, involved in how our government is administered as we were in electing those who will represent us. In doing so, we fulfill the President-elect’s proclamation that this is our “chance to make that change”; we mustn’t do the unoriginal and do nothing. We must be informed. We must be active. We must do our part to bring about a lil bit of change.