My daughter Fiona drives just about every chance she gets. She's putting in her hours--preparing for her driver's test later in the year. But it's more than that. She's one of those kids who just loves to drive: practicing things she's learned on previous trips, showing me that she gets it, developing confidence with each trip home.
Driving home from a piano lesson today, we turned the radio to NPR and "All Things Considered." First up was a timely piece about Veterans' Day and the President's recognition of a remarkable 107-year-old World War Two vet. Fiona noted with delight that the fellow still drives a couple of neighborhood friends to church every Sunday. "Every Sunday!" she hooted. The President spoke of our collective gratitude for the service offered by veterans--the old ones and the younger ones now returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. And he insisted on our national obligation to care for them and make a place for them in every community to which they return. It was a sweet and moving piece, and a reminder of the ties that bind us in community and concern.
Then, NPR turned to a report on lobbying on Capitol Hill ("When Lobbyists Literally Write the Bill"). A reporter used a recent banking bill to show how well-funded lobbyists (most often on the payroll of well-healed industries) sometimes write the same bills they urge congress to pass. The particular bill in question, which not-so-surprisingly benefited big banks and their voracious appetites for public monies, included 75 of the 80 points laid out by lobbyists. And there were entire paragraphs lifted (just about word-for-word) from their own propaganda.
The NPR reporter noted that congressional staffers are often so overworked, so stretched-thin--that they rely on industry lobbyists to build coalitions of cosponsors and put together wording and sell the legislation to legislators and constituents.
What hit me hardest, as we pulled into the driveway this afternoon, was Fiona's reaction. "Of course," she said wryly with a little laugh. "The big fish eat the little fish every time." Another day on the American road. As if she'd heard it a thousand times before.
Is this really all there is to American democracy? Is this really all we expect of our politics, our public institutions? I'm thinking today of the 107-year-old veteran who served in the Pacific and returned home to the country he loved. I'm thinking too of the 90-year-old vets who come to my church every Sunday and do so with gratitude and generosity beyond measure. How in the world will my kids develop the love and allegiance to make comparable sacrifices--if what they know of American democracy is corruption, greed, big-fish-eating-little-fish-every-time? Who wants to pledge allegiance to the flag of THAT?
Questions. Questions on Veterans' Day. We owe these men and women so much more.
