The voters of Massachusetts recently elected Senator Scott Brown and he has now been elevated by his supporters to the top of a beautiful, golden pedestal. The "people's pedestal".
Nice for a while, all the attention. Admiring faces smiling at him, clamoring for his autograph. All the media glare. Even an SNL skit. Nothing like an SNL skit to say you have made it and made it big.
And that is where the trouble begins. We are simply restless and fickle. We want change and we want it now. We have become a society that is used to instant this and instant that. And when we don't get it, we can turn ugly.
I remember sitting with a friend who was screaming at her computer because it took almost 30 seconds for it to boot up. Thirty seconds!! "This thing is a piece of crap", she said. This "piece of crap" was the top of the line Apple MacBook that she had been wanting forever. But now she had it and it just wasn't living up to her expectations. So now she hated it. It was, to her, crap.
Have we really become that impossible to please? When is the last time I heard someone say, "Let's just wait and see. Things take time. Give them a chance." I think the last person to say that to me was my own Mom, and she died in 1996.
No, we are an instant society now. We expect things to happen quickly. We are impatient with everything.
And so this brings me back to Scott Brown, our newly elected Senator from Massachusetts. Forty-one. The man who will set Washington straight. The "People's choice".
We have placed him high on that pedestal. But beware. Gloria Steinem once said, "A pedestal is as much a prison as any small, confined space."
He is, in fact, a prisoner to that pedestal as we speak. He is a prisoner to expectations that even he does not know exist. And we are watching him. If he is not careful, he will soon be knocked off of that pedestal. If he does not show us any real change, real soon, we will become restless again. And how do we define change? We don't really know. We just want it. And we want it now.
So, here is some advice to Mr. Brown. Keep driving your truck, no black cars with drivers for you. Keep wearing your barn jacket. Do not vote along with Republicans on everything. Do not ignore a call from a Massachusetts's voter, like your partner, Senator John Kerry does.
Try to step off that pedestal yourself by keeping yourself human and admitting to any mistakes you make. And for goodness sakes, do not use the excuse that you are new or that you need more time. No one will grant you that. No one.
Just be straightforward and tell us the plain truth. That Washington is a maze of madness and that common sense is in short supply. That each and every Senator and Congressman is looking out for his own state, his own district, so that they can be re-elected. That you are honestly shocked by what you see and will stay true to your ideals as long as you can. That you will not become part of the machine.
But be ready for it. The ocean is constantly restless and unpredictable. That same wave of change that placed you on that pedestal is already being reborn to try to knock you off. So, don't try to hold on to it. Just ride the wave, swim with the current and keep your head above water. You cannot bring real change if you are spending all of your time simply trying to stay afloat.
Did you make a call directly and expect a speciall direct call back from Senator Kerry? I am sure, if it was important he would have called you back. I know many people who work in his offices and I know him to be a caring and thoughtful man. But, lets be fair here, I make many calls to Senator's offices and I don't expect them to call me back personally.
ReplyDeleteTry calling your guy Brown, I bet he doesn't call you back. And, if you try to get him right now, he still has no phone installed or a website up. Boy, that is a great way to stay in touch with the people.
Yes, I do expect them to call back. They do serve the people and have a lot of staff that we pay for that can call us back.
ReplyDeleteThe least they can do is send an email.
I will have to say that Barney Frank's office is the most responsive office in MA! I don't call any of the offices with any frequency, but Barney Frank I have called and he calls back. And so does Scott Brown. And so did Ted Kennedy's office. (And, BTW, Scott Brown is not my "guy")
So, what is Kerry's excuse? He may have nice people who work with him. But Kerry is out of touch. Too far out of touch.
But thanks for writing, you are obviously a supporter of Mr. Kerrys and I would love to know why. In all seriousness...what do you like about him, how has he helped you? Is it a party thing? Do you know him personally? Please write more. That is what it should be all about. Learning from one another. Not fighting. We all just want to do the best thing for our Commonwealth. Plus, a healthy dialogue is a good thing. I am tired of all the angrt vitriol out there. That is why the Palin comments offended me. They were uncalled for and just plain nasty. I like candidates who run on their record and get it. I don't vote for them because they bashed their opponent. That strategy is bad.