The Stairwell

We can’t seem to go a day without new allegations of sexual assault being leveled against celebrities or power brokers.  Some of the victims were pre-teen and teenaged children at the time of the alleged offenses.  And some of these victims are now celebrities in their own right some twenty to thirty years after the fact.

Everyone has an opinion.  While some are quick to condemn the alleged perpetrator others waste little time questioning the motivation of their accusers.

I’m here to assure you there are no easy answers.

I knew from the time I was in Kindergarten that I was different.  I didn’t have a name for it; I simply “knew.”  Over time, I heard and learned the words that described people like me.  Queer.  Faggot.  Poof.  Gay.  Sadly, growing up when I did, I also had to accept that being gay was “not normal.”  

Of course I was wrong but you also have to imagine the torment I felt traversing the gauntlet of my teenage years believing, at a minimum, I wasn’t “like everyone else.” I didn’t want to face that society felt I didn’t meet even the minimal acceptable standard of “normal” at a time when my peers and I were all hoping for “exceptional.”  It sucked.

It is said that testosterone levels multiply some 800 times as a boy hits puberty.  It comes to many in the blink of an eye; it can prove chaotic.  I doubt anyone understands all that comes at them; it is heady; it is confusing.  And it can also prove frightening.  At least it was for me.

I became even more frightened as I slowly realized some of the obstacles and challenges that not being “normal” were going to place in my way.  I hadn’t asked for this; as far as I was concerned, I had always been “this way.” So, as it had certainly not been my choice, it definitely was my reality.

My solution at that time, unfortunately, was to run as far and fast as I could from that truth for better than ten years - at least so far as family and friends were concerned.  It was an act of denial cloaked in a misguided attempt of self-preservation.

But running and hiding didn’t keep the truth from following me.

I was seventeen when I made the decision to pursue a career in medicine.  That decision wasn’t exactly well conceived; I had enjoyed dissecting a cat in Mrs Whipple’s biology class and didn’t seem to have any problem memorizing the minutiae.  I figured, “what the hell!”

Wanting a job over a summer, I managed to secure a position at a local hospital as a phlebotomist.  I put on my first white coat that summer collecting blood; I loved the job so much that it cemented my determination to go into medicine.

I was walking down a stairwell one day followed by a 30 year old co-worker.  This man had a fantastic personality and had effectively taken me under his wing.  I thought he was fantastic; even though he was “old,” I’m pretty sure I had a crush on him - whatever that meant at the time.

As we came to the bottom of a stairwell that afternoon, he suddenly grabbed my shoulders from behind, spun me around, pushed me against a wall, and then kissed me full on the mouth.

I was 17.  Even in the state of Texas, I had no technical right to consent to anything.

He was 30.  There are no two ways around it.  He was guilty of assaulting a minor.

But here is the rub, at least for me.

At 17, I did KNOW what he was doing.  And, I sure as shit didn’t care.  No, I hadn’t asked for it but once it happened I knew there was no turning back.  

This was the moment I realized that “not normal” was the right place for me in this world even if I was years away from admitting to any of it.

Did he abuse me?  I suppose, technically.  Was I a victim of abuse?  No.  Give it any label you choose, but that experience in the stairwell opened my 17-year old eyes to the hope for a “normal” life I had never thought possible.

There are no easy answers.

The Mondale Trap

Anticipating the upcoming presidential debates, I'm wondering which candidate might fall headlong into the same trap set AND sprung by candidate Walter Mondale in 1984 when speaking honestly about the need for "increased taxes" in the face of a faltering economy and recession.

Since the days of Nixon's unapologetic mendacity, Carter's sanctimonious piety and Mondale's politically ill-advised but decent relationship with the truth,
politicians have apparently taken up the mantra that "honesty and politics do not make for successful campaigns."  A flagrantly casual relationship with the truth has certainly been on display throughout this presidential campaign season with demagoguery, instead, taking a more prominent role.

Sadly, the American voter just doesn't seem to give a damn.

Take Medicare.

The reality of Medicare is bleak. In its current state, the entitlement program is simply unsustainable. Anyone with half a brain and rudimentary math skills sees the writing on the wall ~ this might also (perhaps generously) apply to most politicians currently kissing the collective American ass for votes.  Yes, some politicos are willing to occasionally dispense modest lip service to the reality of Medicare when questioned but one will also notice how most of these uncomfortable conversations are quickly put to rest with pithy, tired charges as to the "unworthiness" of their opponents.

No, Americans won't hear politicians honestly discuss Medicare solvency until after the November 6th election.  I'm not altogether certain we would listen if that truth WERE told.

For example, most voters don't know that President Obama has met privately with House Speaker Boehner to discuss hundreds of billions in difficult cuts to Medicare as an opening salvo in the attempt to secure its solvency. While the cuts he proposed during this private meeting disproportionately affect suppliers, he also acknowledged the necessity of increasing the age of
eligibility which, in the end, would have a direct affect on beneficiaries.

Like it. Don't like it. It doesn't really matter. This is a fact … and it is important.

Despite any subsequent burden such negotiations might eventually place on current or future beneficiaries, fiscal reality is finally coming home to roost; the promise of Medicare will not be sustained absent tough, austere choices and change.

If one were to also take a good look at the sequestration legislation looming over the lame-duck session following the election, our Representatives in Washington all know, in addition to the much publicized extensive cuts to the DOD, there are billions in additional cuts to Medicare in the offing.

Again, it's all true.  Do your homework if you don't believe me. It's also necessary.

Medicare as our Grandparents knew it will soon be nothing more than a memory. And the irresponsible era when Congress somehow got away with forestalling difficult decisions in the name of political expediency may finally be forced to meet its end. At least, it should.

The American voter is owed an intelligent, honest conversation from both the right and left about the real future of Medicare and our country as a whole. But politicians remain loathe to communicate the truth because they understand, like Mondale, this path is fraught with peril.  Republican and Democratic politicians, alike, also seem to know the American voter better than we know ourselves.

In these ever more polarized, intellectually lazy political times we inhabit, most conversations I overhear revolve around regurgitated "facts" from "unbiased" talking heads, Op-Ed columnists and, worse yet, Comedy Central comedians. And it has become increasingly mind-numbing and painful to listen as most of these "intelligent discussions" invariably degenerate into sophmoric taunts of, "'my' guy is never wrong and 'your' guy is a blithering idiot who sits just right or left of Satan or Attila the Hun!"

Our two presidential candidates are much better than their campaigns.

The slothful enmity and healthy disrespect of our democratic political process emanating both from politicians and voters alike is palpable, unconscionable and, in the long run, destructive.

Walter Mondale's campaign for the White House was finished the day he dared utter the truth in 1984.

In my opinion, it has become painfully clear that Americans sadly "can't handle the truth," to borrow from one of Jack Nicholson's iconic movie personas.

Worse yet, I fear most of us simply choose not to.

Mr/Senator/President Obama's Truth

I seem to be in the minority of Americans when writing that I have yet to muster much excitement over President Obama's announcement Wednesday that his thoughts had finally evolved into an unprecedented, full-fledged presidential endorsement of same-sex marriage.

I have seen numerous clips from the ABC interview with Robin Roberts and, as best I could tell, the President seemed sincere when describing both the process he used to arrive at the decision as well as his fulsome support.

But when compared to the gushing hyperbole of the infotainment talking-head celebrities that followed the statement, my personal reaction was clearly left wanting. Blitzer, Matthews, Sawyer and Williams fell all over themselves exalting the President's courage in making "The Decision" amid metaphoric shouts of "Hallelujah!"

My empty reaction left me wondering, despite my great love of politics, if I had simply become too cynical or jaded when it comes to politicians.  Regardless, there remains a nagging sense that the events of this past week may have been more about politics than presidential evolution.

The week that began with an apparent gaffe by the Vice President admitting he was "absolutely supportive" of same-sex marriage eventually ended up making the White House look as if it was scrambling for a unified message; before Mr. Biden's interview was complete, the White House machinery was fast at work backing away from his remarks only to be followed in short order by yet another oddly-timed statement by Secretary of Education Duncan publicly pledging his support.

Before Wednesday's landmark interview, the White House had settled on the position that President Obama's opinion was in flux ~ that it was "evolving." But, in light of what would surely be seen as a defeat for the White House if the looming North Carolina Constitutional Amendment ballot initiative banning both same-sex marriages AND civil-unions were to be passed on Tuesday, it also seemed reasonable to posit that the collective "gaffes" and subsequent machinations might very well have resulted more from political orchestration than mere coincidence might have allowed.

Mr/Senator/President Obama's official paper trail on the subject of same-sex marriage is rife with well-documented changes-of-heart:

1996 ~  while running for a State Senate seat in a liberal suburb of Chicago, Mr. Obama filled out a questionnaire stating, "I favor same-sex marriages, and would fight efforts to prohibit such marriages."

1998 ~  when asked about the subject again during his second run for the seat, Senator Obama backtracked a bit when he replied, "he'd have to look into it."

2004 ~ just as state Senator Obama was hoping to make the leap to national prominence with a run for the United States Senate, the candidate essentially re-affirmed his opposition to gay marriages by abandoning the word "marriage" while "embrac(ing) civil unions and full rights for gays and lesbians."

2010 ~ President Obama lobbied successfully for the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." To be certain, no one in official Washington believes absent successfully striking down DADT that the President would have ever come to support same-sex marriage; it was "a meaningful building block to get to a meaningful discussion about marriage."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I just had an "Ah-Ha!" moment; something has finally registered with me.

It's amazing what writing does for my mind; throwing down words sometimes allows me to eventually ferret out my true feelings and untangle lingering confusion; the little "light bulb" above my head has now stopped flickering.

I DO believe the earnestness of Mr. Obama, the man's, statement on the matter of same-sex marriage.

I also can't help but feel that he, the Senator and the President truly felt this way all along.

It leads me to suspect that once the mantle of high office is achieved, political expediency as well as a primal drive for survival takes hold of all politicians.  Democrats, Republicans and Independents surely understand that politics is not a game for the timid; it seems to demand a small Faustian-like bargain of at least a part of one's true self in order to continue "playing the game" successfully ~ a story not unfamiliar to the lives of many Americans.

I could personally not care less if Mr/Senator/President Obama or Mr/Governor Romney have waffled over time; authentic growth and change is an essential component of our lives.  But it can also not be denied that a legacy of political "waffling" lends itself to more confusion and division among the electorate especially when subjectively reported by the media.

Sadly, I honestly don't believe Jimmy Stewart's "Mr. Smith" would survive in the Washington of today; perhaps it was never realistic. But for whatever it's worth, I do wish we had a system in place that would allow decent men and women who serve as our representatives to merely speak the truth as they see fit without fear of the constraints of political maneuvering, party arm-twisting or blatant obfuscation. 

This is not about a solitary political wedge issue for me; naive or not, all of us should demand nothing less from our representatives.

I am satisfied that Mr. Obama, the man, finally had the strength of conviction to speak his truth this past Wednesday … and, for once, a President agreed.

I believe that alone warrants a little smile!

"Love A Goat, For All I Care!"

As everyone knows, Vice President Biden let loose with another (seemingly) unsanctioned comment this past weekend on NBC's Sunday morning talk show,"Meet the Press," when he replied that he was "absolutely comfortable" with the thorny topic of same-sex marriages as well as supporting parity with rights accorded to those in "traditional" marriages.

Within minutes, the offices of both the President and Vice President went into hyperdrive in an attempt to walk back his off-the-cuff comment by releasing statements hoping to assuage various potentially untenable voting blocks.

In the two days since the Biden interview, Press Secretary Carney has been inundated with question after question from the press hoping to elicit salacious information for columns purporting potential rifts within the administration.

His steadfast reply, despite the single-minded stream of consciousness of the reporters, is "the President's stance on same-sex marriage is evolving."

This is one of the facets of politics that drives me bonkers.

Vice President Biden, in my opinion, may have answered the question honestly ~ as average citizen Biden might have done if asked. But during a crucial election year, no White House can afford having one of the President's minions going off the reservation by making rogue, unsanctioned comments. Once the wheels of a Presidential campaign are in full motion, every syllable and turn of phrase is vetted and tested by pollsters before any candidate or spokesperson utters a word. Modern Presidential candidates don't enjoy the luxury of being spontaneous or brutally honest with the end result being that their true beliefs are often intentionally blurred so as not to offend an essential voting demographic.

Rest assured that President Obama and former Governor Romney, like Mr. Biden, each has a definitive view of same-sex marriage; I suspect the public will not be privy to an airing of the victor's unvarnished opinion until after the election in November ~ unless the comments by Biden quickly followed by those of Secretary Duncan (Education) were intentionally fed to the media as part of an overall strategy by the Obama campaign.

Being neither the President nor a candidate running for office, I am free to offer my view on the subject.

When it comes to matters of privacy, my general credo is this:

When the day comes that the affairs of my house are completely in order; when I have no pressing problems or indebtedness; when there remains no single task which demands my attention, then and only then will I allow myself the luxury of even considering if I should involve myself in the private lives of others.

I have often told friends that when it comes to matters of the heart, my personal opinion is that a person can "love a goat for all I care!" There is "an edge of truth to my jest." It has never been nor will it ever be my prerogative to involve myself in the matter of whom others should or should not love; the choices people make for the sake of their personal happiness and in the name of love is not for anyone to judge.

Can I say I have never harbored concerns about an individual a friend might be dating. Yes. Have I always agreed with the ultimate choice a friend or family member has made in a life partner. Absolutely not! However, when push comes shove, it has never been left to me to determine who is best suited for whom when choosing a spouse.  Thank God.

As for this business of same-sex marriages, people are entitled to their fundamental disagreements and concerns. One might be justifiably opposed to same-sex marriage on the basis of a strongly held religious belief or even a personal sense of morality. Or, one might simply be homophobic, bigoted or wholly ignorant about the actual world that ~ like it or not ~ exists outside of every closed mind and door; even these individuals, sadly, have the right to their opinion. I will never hold someone's opinion against them so long as their views are expressed respectfully and intelligently without vitriol or malice.

At this writing, some thirty states have enacted laws that prohibit same-sex marriages. And the state of North Carolina, just moments ago, passed a statewide ballot initiative which has resulted in ratification of a State Constitutional Amendment to protect a ban already in place from being usurped by the judgement of a lower court in the future.

Despite these significant efforts as well as hundreds of newspaper articles and op-ed pieces I have read over the years, for the life of me I have yet, to my satisfaction, been given one sound explanation as to how a private decision between two adults of the same sex who decide to marry one another somehow adversely affects society.

As best I can tell, there hasn't been a demonstrable uptick in petty or violent crimes committed by these couples in states which have sanctioned the marriages. And unless I am grossly misinformed, malevolents like Richard Nixon, Bernie Madoff and Osama bin laden were never married to men.

I would honestly welcome reading a well-articulated, reasoned social justification for banning same-sex marriages (that doesn't invoke the tired arguments of old).

In the meantime, each of us has enough on our private plates to last a lifetime; tend to your home, your loved ones, your problems … or even your goat if that makes you happy.

Everyone else, in my opinion, should just mind their own business! 

Pilgrim's Progress(ion)

This is Peregrine White's cradle.

Surely, everyone ~ at some time ~  has wondered what finally came of lil' Pere's tiny woven cradle; it's whereabouts has certainly kept my mind racing well into the wee hours of many a night. That, and a little too much caffeine. 

But, on Sunday, May 6, 2012, the cradle will take second billing to thoughts of its former occupant when our cousin, LouAnn, is awarded her official passport as a newly minted member of the General Society of Mayflower Descendants.

Founded in 1897 by a group of descendants of the Pilgrims who sailed aboard the Mayflower in 1620, the Society's mission was to memorialize the establishment of Plymouth colony.  Any person who can accurately document direct lineage from a Mayflower passenger, following stringent approval by a Historian General, qualifies to become a member of the society.

We had all heard the story over a lifetime; we were somehow related to Peregrine White who, of three children born aboard the Mayflower, alone managed to survive the harsh ordeal of their pilgrimage.

But, talk to anyone and they are ALL related either to Peregrine or another of the Mayflower's 102 passengers.  I always lazily assumed the oral tradition might have been true but never saw a clear path that would have allowed anyone to actually prove it ~ as if I would have bothered; like most other members of the family, it was simply a quasi-factoid stored in the dusty recesses of my brain. 

And, let's face it, talk of buckle-shoed, funky-hat wearing Puritanical Pilgrim relatives from four centuries ago wouldn't have exactly made for great party conversation.

The family link with the Mayflower was destined to remain a mere rumor passed along from generation to generation until our intrepid cousin decided the storied tradition of the tale would not suffice. Whether she would ultimately succeed or fail, LouAnn decided to put the story to the test and began the tedious process of researching our family tree.

Stubborn. Dogged. Tenacious.

Three adjectives that barely describe the zeal with which LouAnn first linked one limb of the family tree to the American Revolution, earning her membership to the Daughters of the American Revolution, but eventually ~ and successfully ~ to the Mayflower and the male child born of William and Susanna White on November 20, 1620.

The first surviving child born to the Pilgrims of the Mayflower in The New World.

Typing those words finally has the effect of cementing the significance of proving the oral family history passed along over centuries is undeniably true. And while I would like to believe the link to an historic past somehow makes our family special, the reality is that tens of millions of other Americans can be successfully tied to our Pilgrim heritage as well.

Twelve generations have followed 9th Great-Grandfather Peregrin's birth in Provincetown Harbor aboard the historic ship.

When I reflect on the determination exemplified by LouAnn's life and years-long struggle to resolve the many questions of this family lore, I think it is safe to say that the grit and spirit of our Pilgrim ancestors is alive and well today.

Congratulations, LouAnn!

Senator Obama meet President Obama

I am a political junkie.

I truly enjoy the biennial cycle of primaries culminating in the November elections. With cable twenty-four hour news cycles, and nearly 800 channels from which to choose, I am seldom at a loss to find a panel of biased pointy-headed politicos discussing the latest polls while trying to somehow convince the television public how all of it relates to an event that is still months away.

It is stupid and a colossal waste of time. But I am resolutely unmoved.

When I was a kid, I only knew the damned political ads and conventions interfered with many of my favorite programs; politics were nothing but a meddlesome inconvenience not to mention boring.

But, with 795 fewer channels from which to choose as well as parents who held dominion over the television "console," I eventually was left with no choice but to watch many a party convention as well  the frenzied circus that was election night coverage.

Hey, it was better than a book. 

Only coming to understand our Constitution and the established process for elections later while in high school, I did at least manage to grasp the big picture while watching the tedious, program-interrupting programs:

Someone wins. Someone loses.

While that basic tenet hasn't changed, it does seem our politics has changed dramatically from when I was a child. Despite my adult obsession with all things political, I am increasingly exasperated by the growing ugly influence of political strategists, polls, money bundlers, PACS, as well as infotainment personalities passing themselves off as "journalists" presuming to educate us "simple folk"as to how we should think and vote.

As I watched a beautifully produced political video today featuring a statesmanly former President Clinton extolling the success of President Obama in making the tough call to terminate Osama bin Laden, instead of feeling a patriotic sense of pride in that accomplishment of one year ago, I found myself disappointed and frustrated.

To be frank, like so many other political ads, this video just seemed inappropriate to me.

None of us will ever appreciate the true nature of the burdens that rest on the shoulders of any person who ascends to the office of the President; sending young women and men into harms way, to put their lives on the line in the duty of our country surely cannot be cavalierly carried out by any man. 

Love George Bush or loathe him, no one but he will ever truly know what it was like to sit in that chair behind the Resolute desk within the Oval Office following the events of our nation's day of horror in 2001.

And to be President Obama, sitting in the Situation Room, surrounded by his Cabinet Secretaries and the heads of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, all waiting for him to single-handedly make the decision to selectively assassinate another human being, even an Osama bin Laden, must surely have been extremely difficult on at least some level.

No one of us will ever truly understand.

And, every Presidency experiences highs and lows; one takes historic credit for the good and, unfortunately, must also suffer the hardships of the bad that comes on his watch.

President Obama will forever be rightfully credited for ridding the world of bin Laden; at least, he and a select few brave Navy Seals.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYykD6_OHO0&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Simply put, as regards the ad, what I personally found disappointing was the ultimate carry-away message, "What would Romney have done?" The clear implication, supported by a couple of random campaign quotes made previously by Romney, that he would not have supported the decision to take out bin Laden, to-wit:

"Mitt Romney criticized (candidate) Barack Obama for vowing to strike Al-Qaeda targets in Pakistan if necessary." Reuters August 7, 2007

"It's not worth moving heaven and earth spending billions of dollars just trying to catch one person." Associated Press April 26

This line of reasoning, while convenient, is also intentionally misleading, disingenuous not to mention hypocritical.  It also plays on an assumption of our collective ignorance or stupidity ~ take your pick.

No one ~ not candidates Clinton, Bush, Obama, or a Romney ~ can ever be held inviolately accountable for every word ~ quoted in context or not ~ made during the course of campaigns or even while in office.

Life is always in flux:

President Bush famously made the ultimate decision to exert Executive Privilege by making interim recess appointments which immediately set opponents declaring it an abuse of the powers of the Executive Branch; then-candidate Obama roundly rejected the use of such tactics.

Four years later, President Obama has now famously made the ultimate decision to exert his Executive Privilege by making similar recess appointments and pushing through facets of reform stalemated by a stubborn Congress.  Don't be shocked but his opponents on The Hill are now loudly decrying this abuse of his Executive privilege.

This is the reality of the Presidency; in this case,

Four years ago, Candidate Obama knew nothing about nor could he begin to understand the man who would eventually be President Obama; they are two vastly different people ~ out of necessity and as a matter of reality.

So it is that after watching this political video, I was truly disappointed President Obama allowed his personal stature as well as that of his office to be diminished by approving such derivative garbage.

I have great faith in our system but am growing increasingly tired, as I write ad nauseum, of the grossly contentious and fractious posturing of our political parties, as promulgated by their handlers.

Even Ariana Huffington, an ardent liberal supporter of President Obama, expressed her contempt for the ad when she wrote "any man ~ even Jimmy Carter ~ would have made the same decision!"

You can bet the inconvenienced and bored kid of my youth, if granted the vision of foresight, could have even told you this brand of politics as practiced by all parties doesn't elevate anyone; it diminishes each of us and our country in turn.

Political Theater

On April 25, the United States Supreme Court will take up the emotionally-charged topic of illegal immigration when the nine justices hear oral arguments in the matter of Arizona v United States; specifically, SB 1070, the Arizona Illegal Immigration Law enacted in 2010 that set out to "discourage and deter the unlawful entry and presence of illegal immigrants."

The expected decision this summer should determine if the law as enacted is, indeed, Constitutional or if it violates the purview of the Federal Government.

Arizona must convince the high court that by allowing millions of immigrants to live in this country illegally, the current Federal Immigration System has been derelict with regard to enforcement and that, ultimately, the States have "inherent policing powers" when it comes to undocumented immigrants.

Senator Obama, while campaigning in 2008, made assurances to the Latin community that he would seek passage of far reaching immigration reforms early in his administration that would include a "path" to legalization in addition to tightened enforcement. Unfortunately, all such efforts failed to materialize fully or were stalled.

The position of the Administration regarding SB 1070 is essentially that the law "legalizes discrimination" when police are forced to act on a "reasonable suspicion" when coming upon a person of "questionable" origin. Additionally, the Solicitor General will argue that the States do not have the inherent right to make decisions on matters of immigration.

I am no legal scholar and admit to having no specific solution ~ as if anyone cares ~ to tamping the tinderbox that is immigration.

My problem again rests with any number of esteemed Representatives and Senators of every political persuasion; today, my ire is directed at Senator Chuck (who's never met a camera or open mike he hasn't loved) Schumer, (D-NY).

Whether one accepts the arguments of the government regarding SB 1070 or not, Sen. Schumer affirmed, yet again, the belief that many duly elected representatives seem to hold the Federalist System, as established by our Founding Fathers, in utter disdain; Washington, Jefferson et al deigned that the "central government" would have a select set of enumerated powers extended by the Constitution while the individual States would retain all other powers for self-governance distinct from the Federal Government.

So it was that I was truly embarrassed as I watched Schumer make a fool of himself today when announcing that he will preemptively offer a Bill in the Senate that will proscribe States from enacting further immigration reforms with the cynical anticipation of the law being upheld by The Supremes. Schumer's plan is to offer the Bill before the case of Arizona v United States is even heard by the high court and months before a ruling is forthcoming.

Regardless of one's political persuasion or position on the matter of illegal immigration and SB 1070, I am of the belief that everyone should be at a breaking point when it comes to the continual parade of "silliness" that pervades official Washington.

This "action" on the part of Schumer is pure theatrics for the consumption of a "lazy and gullible electorate." Sen. Schumer knows damned well that the Bill stands no chance of passing muster in the Senate by members of either major parties. But he will proceed, as many have done before him, with this carnival sideshow, consuming valuable time and fortune, content in the arrogant self-assurance that the move will, most importantly, secure more Latino votes for "his team" come November.

As one solitary voter, I am sick of the posturing and games from both sides of the aisle. The times we are traveling together call for serious work and solutions forged by serious people.

My hope is that every qualified voter will assume the mantle of responsibility and vote his/her conscience this Fall. And regardless of where one lands politically, I pray we might finally send a message to The Hill, through our vote, that the "age of silliness" and apparent contempt for the American voter is finally put to rest.

I also pray that the American Electorate is more intelligent and engaged than many members of Congress would allow.