So New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is under suspicion and it looks as if his hands are dirty. Is nobody to be trusted? I would expect this kind of thing from a Republican but this man is (was?) a shining star in the Democratic Party, son of a political giant, a fearless crusader against corruption, a viable future  candidate for President.
Now, it seems he’s just another dirty politician.
Sigh.
Is democracy inevitably dirty? If people are easily tempted, wouldn’t a government of, by and for the people reflect their imperfection?
I guess so.
So does that give us leave to abandon the effort, to shrug our shoulders and walk away from the process as so many young Americans are doing?
Of course not.
My generation would call it a cop out.
And speaking of cop outs, here’s a classic example – Joe Klein’s centrist party. Â Klein is sick of party politics and “ideology.” He wants the calm center to rule in America.
One step toward this Utopian dream would be switching to something like California’s new Jungle Primary system, which sends the two top vote getters to a runoff, regardless of party affiliation.
Yeah, I know. But they do some strange things in California.
I am a long-time admirer of Klein’s journalism in Time Magazine, but he’s lost me with this centrist party thing.
I would much rather battle the crazies in the Tea Party any day than a bunch of wishy-washy “moderates” playing a political version of “Father Knows Best.” At least with the Tea Party, I know what I’m up against. With the “centrists,” progressives like me would be left shadow boxing while the calm centrists preserve the status quo. Hope and change would be an impossible dream.
The system we have now is far from perfect. In many cases, the worst kind of human beings end up representing us. But it doesn’t have to be like that.
The bad eggs are often exposed. The good guys sometimes win.
But, remember, it’s up to us – the people – to make the system work. We have to fight for what we believe in. And, in a society, where money talks loud and clear, we have to reach into our pockets and help pay the piper. We don’t have the kind of loot the Koch Brothers have of course, but there are a lot more of us and, as they say in Jamaica, “one-one coco fill basket.”
So millennials – or whatever they call your generation – stop whining and shrugging your shoulders, join in the fray. You can’t win if you don’t fight.
Click for more on the centrist movement.
