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Lessons from California

The people of the United States gave George W. Bush four years to run this country. The “Impeach Bush” signs made before the Iraq war have no place here. Learn from California, that patience of the people for our leaders is a virtue, and necessary for stability.

The threat of impeachment or recall on the minds of our leaders is catastrophic. If our leaders are making decisions that cop out and go the easy way to gain public approval through the media, instead of following their conscience and doing what they feel is right, then they are destroying the integrity of our country.

During an interview on MSNBC Oct. 4, Democratic California Governor Gray Davis said, “The beauty of the democratic system, unlike the parliamentary system, is we give you a fixed term. At the end of it, we decide whether or not you’ve done a good job, and if you haven’t, we throw you out. The advantage of a fixed term is there is some stability. Investors and other people who want to make decisions know that it’s a predictable political climate. If you can recall people every 90 days, you know, it’s a total, wild-hatter’s ride, and nobody knows what kind of political climate you’ll have.”

The Democrats who opposed the California recall yet viciously attack President Bush are hypocrites. Granted, over 50 percent of Americans did not vote for Bush in 2000. Those people did not support him then and they don’t support him now. Americans want stability, but they want it done their own way. It is almost as if they would rather die for a party’s cause than have a decent result come from the opposing party.

Also, people are obsessed with titles like Republican, Democrat and Independent. For people to instantly dislike someone because of their party is as adolescent as disliking someone because they are a Cougar or Husky. I know many people like this. When people hear someone is a Democrat or Republican, if they are the opposite of themselves, they close their mind to what they have to say and speak so loud about their opinions that they can’t hear anything else.

Just about all politicians are guilty of this; watch 10 minutes of a cable news show with a few guests via satellite debating an issue, and see if anything gets accomplished. The best politician is one who is patient enough to be able to listen to all sides and patiently explain his/her opinion. Watch these people on television, and it will be the true test of character how they handle people who disagree with them. If they can’t contain their tempers or volume in a 10-minute interview, does anyone really want them negotiating with the United Nations and presidents of other countries?

Gray Davis, although through some personal bias against the recall, made a very valid point in his statement: “The advantage of a fixed term is there is some stability. Investors and other people who want to make decisions know that it’s a predictable political climate.” Yet, how can we have a “stable political climate” when half of America is attacking every action of President Bush? Howard Dean has verbally attacked President Bush by saying he has “brought Enron economics to Washington.” Democratic propaganda needs to wait for election time and meanwhile needs to support the elected leader of the country. Elections have to be about supporting yourself and not attacking someone else. Whoever can come up with new solutions to real problems is a worthy candidate. Some of these new presidential candidates, whose “political genius” comes from recognizing someone else’s problems, need to leave President Bush alone and focus on promoting themselves.

If a new president is elected in 2004 or President Bush continues in office, then for the duration of his term, the president needs to be supported by the entire political spectrum and all of the American people. The economic crisis in California and the actions taken to address it show the madness that goes on when a state or country is divided. If we want to see some stability come from the current administration, then don’t pull a “California” by giving up at the first sign of trouble; support whatever current administration until the end of its duration.