Just Say No

During the 1980's, First Lady Nancy Reagan instituted her (in)famous "Just Say No" campaign, which was initially designed to reduce the use of illegal drugs by teens. Later on, the slogan also became associated with campaigns to fight premarital sex and violence.

Today, intentionally or unintentionally, this slogan has become the operating mantra of the Republican Party. The Republican response to any initiative or program proposed by President Obama is almost always the same uniform and unanimous response -- "Just Say No." I haven't seen anything like it since Russia was the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and virtually any UN Security Council resolution proposed by the West elicited the same reaction: Nyet!

It is one thing to encounter this response from your acknowledged Cold War adversary; it is quite another to receive this unchanging response from the opposing political party in your own country. This is not opposition based on principle, but instead a calculated strategy to undermine the president and thereby gain political power for themselves in the upcoming elections.

On one level, a dysfunctional government is created. On a deeper level, great distrust and cynicism are generated against our government, and our nation and its citizens sustain serious damage due to the government's inability to act. All of this is occurring at a time when the country is suffering and can ill afford gridlock and inaction.

There was a time when politics stopped at the water's edge. There was a time when everyone put politics aside in time of need and pulled together for the good of the country. That time appears to have passed. Nowadays it's obstruct, block, and oppose so nothing gets accomplished, then assert a change in leadership is needed because the party in power has accomplished nothing. It's really true these days in Washington,DC that half of the city hopes you fail if you are the president.

Meanwhile, millions of Americans suffer from lack of employment, inadequate medical care, declining educational standards for their kids, and a host of other problems. Still the Republican mantra remains firmly in place while America "burns"'-- Just Say No. Personally, I think their actions border on treason, and I can only hope that somehow we will return to a true concern for the general welfare of the country.