Nathan Hail once said he regretted he had only one life to give for his country. The Washington politicians in office now must simply put their political lives on the line as well and make the hard choices that need to be done. The big question is do they have what Nathan Hale had.
For politicians it has come to the point that the hard choices need to be made to keep the US from financial and economic ruin. Study after study has verified this, and each study has reported a greater urgency than the last. The direction the US is heading is not sustainable, and the tipping point is perilously close. The high price of oil and the negative economic effects of climate change have for the most part shortened the time before it is do or die. Couple this with the weak economic recovery and even a layman can read the writing on the wall.
But politicians are very aware that making the hard choice for the most part will bring their political career to an abrupt end. So it comes down to putting country before self. They know they must do it but fear sacrificing themselves in vain. All the politicians must be on with this voting or the few that made the hard choice may meet their political end without seeing the fruits of their sacrifice materialize. If any hold out and put themselves first, that is what will happen.
But with anyone needing to take bad tasting medicine be it the public or politicians, it is avoided at all costs. The politicians that force the foul tasting medicine onto the people will be voted out of office, there is little doubt about that. Only politicians that have regularly displayed exceptional wisdom have some chance of surviving.
The choices politicians must make are no different than an American soldier under enemy fire. They must risk themselves by being in harms way. They must summon all their moral and ethical strength and commitment and put it all on the line. In this case it probably is a suicide mission.
Unfortunate as it is the sheep mentality that so many Americans have will come into play. The greedy will be unwilling to accept the needed restructures in how taxes are applied. They in turn will lead many others into not wanting to take the needed action. But as it is, they will not be able to do much until November 2012 when the next general elections are up. Because of that, now is the best time to make the changes being as far as possible from the elections hoping voter amnesia will set in by then.
