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Was the reaction to the 2006 election a ‘Network’ moment?

by Open-Publishing - Tuesday 14 November 2006
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Parties Elections-Elected Mary MacElveen

Was the reaction to the 2006 election a ‘Network’ moment?
By Mary MacElveen
November 14, 2006

In thinking back to America’s reaction to the 2006 mid term elections, the only term that I can come up with that best describes the results of these elections is that America had a ‘Network’ moment. We all remember that movie Network in which the producer opened up the window and angrily shouted out, “I am mad as hell and I am not going to take it anymore!”

For years the electorate was bombarded with a war in Iraq that has turned into a bloody quagmire in which we saw the death count of our soldiers rise to astounding levels and continues to do so. We have seen the astronomical numbers of those wounded and we have all witnessed innocent civilians in Iraq killed as a result. As we all know, this war did not have to be fought in the first place. The news that Americans heard each night was as depressing as it was unbelievable. It weighed heavy on our shoulders and it still does.

While the Dow climbs and this administration tries to tell us that the economy is strong, our way of life has been crumbling. The Dow should never be used as an indicator of how well the economy is doing since it is a speculators game that most Americans are not invited to play in. Some Americans are waking up today whether or not they will have a job by the end of the day.

Americans saw a corrupt government led by the GOP and that too weighed heavily on us all, especially when they held us all to a higher moral standard. But, fact be told, we did not see the same morals being applied to them. What was the moral affect on our children? It used to be that children aspired to greatness and perhaps it would have led them to believe that they could make a difference in our nation’s capitol. With the corruption that unfolded before all of our eyes, one wonders if a child will look someplace else in which to make a difference in the world.

So, on election night of 2006 as the results came in America was saying to Washington, D.C. “We are mad as hell and we are not going to take it anymore!” and as a result, they decided to give power over to the Democrats. What they were saying was we want solutions and not only problems.

A few days ago I read that Democrats are going after big oil. As you will read in this article incoming Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi stated “oil companies have unfairly earned record profits by gouging consumers at the gasoline pump.” It also goes onto say of Pelosi’s first 100 hours as speaker that she is planning on “taking away the financial relief given to Big Oil in last year’s Republican-written energy law will be among the six major tasks Democrats plan to tackle in the first 100 hours after she slams the gavel to convene the new House.”

This is finding a solution to the problems that face all Americans and not just those within red states or blue states but the country as a whole.

As I was thinking of solutions to this problem, what came to my mind was a community in which two local elected officials here in the Town of Brookhaven have wish to implement. In order to cut down our need for gasoline consumption, both Councilwoman Connie Kepert (D) and Councilwoman Kathleen Walsh (R), joined by Supervisor Brian Foley, announced at a news conference the passage of a comprehensive land use plan for Middle Country Road which they said will return a feeling of small-town life to the five-mile stretch of Route 25 between Coram and Ridge. Councilwoman Kepert stated: “This signifies the beginning of the end of suburban sprawl in the Town of Brookhaven," I wrote of this land use project back in May of this year.

In neighborhoods such as this, it is a mix of residential living spaces as well as commercial properties. It will enable folks to leave their cars home, walk to their local store or park and get to know their neighbors. Now, isn’t that a neat idea? This way those that live within these communities can see how each other are fairing and if there is a problem an entire community can come together to help solve it.

If incoming Speaker Pelosi is successful in going after big oil and we all must encourage her to do so. The way I see it, much of this recouped money could go to help developers build these types of communities instead of building communities in which homes are far away from any store. It could go to a first time home buyer to purchase a home within this sort of community. In building these types of communities, it can help bring back the ‘mom and pop’ stores that have disappeared from small town America in lieu of the big box stores such as Wal-Mart. Think of the diversity of products that could be sold at these stores that have an individual imprint in the way they sell them.

One issue that electrified the voters was illegal immigration. Either a voter was in favor of tighter border controls or allowing illegal immigrants to become tax paying citizens or residents of this country. Personally, I am in favor of the latter.

Upon opening up my local news paper Newsday this article, ’Looking to heal wounds’ the only emotion one can come away feeling is uplifting. This article speaks to solutions and not problems. It tells of the story of Dave Garutti whose all-terrain vehicle became stuck in the snow and the people who came to his aid were Hispanics.

As you will read “Today, he is a member of a new group that is reaching across the ethnic divide in a community whose often tense relationship with Latino day workers” While originally angry about this illegal immigration problem, he came to realize that anger gets you no where.

In AA they always teach one to put a ‘d’ in front of anger and that spells danger. There is a lesson to be told in that one simple motto.

In forming a new organization called Farmingville Residents Association it is to counter “bad publicity that peaked with the 2000 beating of two Mexican day laborers by two avowed white supremacists.”

While the group’s founder,” Louise Scarola, said it is intentionally not addressing issues of illegal immigration because that is a federal government responsibility and well beyond the group’s control.” She also said, “This has nothing to do with immigration," and then went on to add, "This has to do with neighbor to neighbor."

As many Americans are now looking to Nancy Pelosi to bring solutions, Councilwoman Connie Kepert (D) of the Town of Brookhaven, NY chose to involve herself in this solution in which she said that it is, “a good way to bring the community together and to heal some of the wounds of Farmingville," and she went onto say, “We are trying to make Farmingville one community again."

In trying to make one small community one again, should we not try that as a nation?

In the past as ethnic tensions have grown in our country, Councilwoman Kepert stated of this new program, “We are making great headway" on the housing enforcement, she said. "We also need to make progress in not demonizing any population." On a personal note, I know Councilwoman Kepert and when it comes to serving those that did elect her; she only has their interests at heart.

When I read ugly stories of the human condition in the papers, I think we are best served in reading how elected leaders such as Councilwoman Kepert is serving not only those that elected her but all of us.

The day before last weeks election, I stated to my daughter’s teacher, that this election was about taking a deep breath, and finding solutions instead of being beaten down by the many problems that still face this nation.

It is about putting self-interests and ideologies aside and finally putting the people first. We must remember that there are still people who go hungry tonight, are in danger of losing their homes or have lost their homes, are without health care and the list is endless of those who continue to this day to suffer. We all must remember that their needs must come first when the 110th congress is sworn in.

Let us all remember the words of President John F. Kennedy when he said “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country”

http://www.marymacelveen.com/blog/_archives/2006/11/14/2498036.html

*Please go to the link above to read view the hyperlinks included in the piece

Forum posts

  • what is supposed to show how are ecomeny is doing? There will always be people losing there jobs but the chances are if they worked hard they would not be losing there job to start with.

    nathan

    • That’s right, Nathan. We all know that God hates losers. People that God doesn’t love deserve to be poor. And hungry. And homeless. Just think how much God must love Bill Gates, Carl Pohlad and all the other biliionaires. They work HARD for their money.

    • Nathan,
      How hard do you think you can work to prevent the company from closing and moving off shore? You think that by working extra hard you can persuade the owners of the plant, somewhere else than where you work, to keep it open? Good luck! It had happened to me.

    • Nathan sounds like a 17 year old Eagle Scout who hasn’t experienced any of life’s many ironic twists of fate or who has failed to learn the obvious, that the vast majority of people who have made it in our country were just damned lucky in having a recognizable talent and being in the right place at the right time.

      Nathan, the successful didn’t make it because they worked harder than every body else, they made it because they worked SMARTER than everybody else, and, most importantly they were favored or protected by mentors with larger pockets than their own.

      Nathan, you really need to read the biographies of the most successful people in this world, people like Steve Jobs, Madonna, even Rodney Dangerfield to understand this truth.
      All of these people had recognizable talent, talent that would have been neglected entirely if it wasn’t for the fact that they filled a vacuum that no one else had filled at a key moment in time, i.e. they were the right people at the right time.

      Had they not seen their ’moment’, had they been unaware of the opportunity, some one else of equal talent would have filled that void.
      Yes, they all worked very hard, but working very hard did not seal the deal at all. It was the fact that they were aware of the opportunity and just as important had the confidence and wherewithal to take advantage of the opportunity that eventually led to their great success.
      In my long life I have seen too many talented and highly intelligent people who could not fill a void, could not take advantage of an enormous opportunity either because they did not have the funding to proceed or worse, were totally oblivious to the moment’ s potential.

      Watch how the ants in an ant colony work, Nathan. Don’t all of them work very hard? But how many of them will become Queens?

      People who believe that they will be successful merely by working very hard have yet to learn the harshest realities of life.