A Bad Marriage

While I want to stay away from political sour grapes, let me digress to another rumination for a moment:

In a marriage, if one partner gets his or her way all the time it is an unbalanced, unhealthy partnership. Eventually it descends into neglect and even abuse of the partner whose needs aren't met. And sadly, the partner who triumphs repeatedly is never satisfied. There is no such thing as 'enough' to be taken.

A report came out this week that said the Bush administration has figured out ways around having a minority in the Senate. There is a difference between a numerical majority -- fifty one percent -- and a voting majority -- sixty percent. The former they don't have. The latter they're taking advantage of. This Congress has used filibusters more than any previous Congress. And the president has used the veto, or just the threat of the veto, regularly since losing the numerical majority in the Senate, which he didn't have to employ when Republicans had the numerical majority. In sum, the White House and the Senate are still getting whatever they want without compromise.

If we call a marriage unhealthy when one partner takes from the other without giving, what should we say of a bicameral government that does the same thing?

John Powell, S.J., said, "If you do not love yourself you cannot love others; you can only use them." In an unhealthy marriage this is what is happening. Is this what has happened with the conservative element in American politics? Is it so full of people who very deep down doubt their own love that they are repeatedly using others for their own gain, not even recognizing that they are draining the goodness from others without refreshing their resources? And, even scarier, are there so many Americans supporting them because they have the same dynamic going on? How did we get to such a state?

This is a spiritual malady. When we take from others without regard for their well being (fitting the definition of 'aggression', which naturally descends into abuse) we are trying to fill a spiritual void by accumulating things that give the illusion of fulfillment, usually material things but most often symbols of power. But they never satisfy. It's like putting water in the gas tank, wondering why the engine won't run right, and putting more water in to make it go. It's useless.

Unhealthy marriages either go on being unhealthy, which gets passed down to successive generations, or break up. There is the occasional relationship that is stopped in its unhealthy course, the real issues identified and worked out, and it becomes healthy. Divorce isn't an option for our government unless we want the nation to fall into civil war and break apart. We don't want the spiritual illness in our national heart to persist into another generation. We, the people, need leaders who are healthy, will keep our focus on maladies and solutions, and guide us into national health. We, the people, have the power to do this at the voting booth. We, the people, have the responsibility and duty to see that it happens.

Be careful with your vote. Make it count.