Monday Madness- Open Letter To Congress

Dear President Obama, Vice President Biden, Speaker Boehner, all the Democrats and Republicans, Lobbyists, Special Interest People, Majority Leaders, Minority Leaders, Party People, Non-Party People, and anyone else on Capitol Hill who is involved in running our country,

In case you haven't noticed lately, it seems that America is in a bit of a mess. I'm not sure what you're doing up there, but from here, where I can kinda see what I THINK is going on (or, whatever the media chooses to report), it looks like things are ready a good ole Spring Cleanin'. No matter the issue- economy, spending, debt ceiling, gun control, mental health, health care, foreign policy, foreign aid- you name it, it looks pretty messy.

Of course, running a country of nearly 312 million people is bound to get messy. Probably pretty ugly most days, actually. I mean, people are people, right? And while most of us want the good, decent, right thing,  when you are dealing with over 300 million people, there are going to be some real rotten apples. I get that. 

I've been doing a lot of thinking, especially since the Sandy Hook Tragedy. Words cannot define or describe that day. There were, and continue to be, a lot of heated reactions. A lot of emotional outpourings. And of course, what America does best, a lot of compassionate giving. We give when we hurt because somehow, we just want to make things better. 

And I think that's at the heart of every single issue we are facing as a country right now. We just want to make things better. 

You know, there are a lot of coaches, captains of industry, iconoclasts of creativity who have turned what looked like utter failures into gleaming examples that now inspire many on a daily basis. I've read a lot of their books, listened to a lot of their speeches, watched a lot of the documentaries. There seem to be two words that are an overriding theme:


1. Basics.

When a team does not work together, they do not function. So what does the coach do? HE MAKES THEM DO THE BASICS UNTIL THEY GET IT RIGHT.  I know, it's really not rocket science. But sometimes, even the smartest of us need to review. Even the best of us still have to do our exercises and warm-ups or we fail to carry things out with the best technique and performance. What if we went back to some fundamental, basic, sensible thinking? Common sense, keeping it simple? I know our founders didn't deal with a lot of the things we deal with today, but wow, they gave us a pretty good framework. What if we just said,"We don't have it? Then we can't spend it." I know. Super basic. But that's how so many people I know have gotten back on track. I mean, it's not like what we're doing right now is working. What's keeping us from giving this a try?

2. Balance.

There is a reason why our government was set up with a system of checks and balances- to keep us from going to far one way or the other. Again, not rocket science. Balance is a beautiful, beautiful thing. Entire cultures are built on the concept. I wonder what that would mean for American Society, instead of judging everything as "That ROCKS!" or,"That SUCKS!" we could find merit and worth in the middle. HECK- how about meeting in the middle, reaching across the aisle and getting something done for a change? Novel idea, but I still think it can be done. Then again, I have been called a dreamer.

I know everything I've written here is simplistic. Let me put it to you another way: THIS COUNTRY CANNOT TAKE FOUR MORE YEARS OF BICKERING, POLITICKING AND ASININE STALEMATING BY PEOPLE WHO WANT MORE MONEY AND WANT TO GET THEIR WAY WHILE THE REST OF US GO DOWN THE TUBES. 

BASICS. BALANCE.

There are 311 plus million people depending on you to get it done. Please don't let us down. 

Sincerely,

Melissa R. Bishop