The Politician or the Egg

Which came first, the politician or the egg?  That is the existential question, right?  Why did the politician cross the road?  To blame it on the other side.  That’s the joke, right?  Here is a deep thought – maybe, just maybe mind you, it was never supposed to be about the politicians.  Maybe it is supposed to be about the issues.  Maybe the issues are supposed to be about how we care for our society.

Take the egg issue.  I heard the debates about whether it was Biden’s fault or Trump’s fault.  Maybe, just maybe mind you, farmers have been dealing with a strain of bird flu that continues to disrupt the egg supply. Maybe, there have been outbreaks of the virus across multiple states, massively and negatively impacting egg-laying hens. And maybe, when supply goes down, costs go up.  

Okay, enough of the maybes. 

This was never about the politicians.  This issue should be a wake-up call to remind us to focus on issues, not politicians.  Politicians are simple.  You have yours.  I have mine.  You know how many politicians it takes to change a light bulb?  Two.  One to change the bulb and one to change it back again.  It was never about the politicians.  It is about the bulb.  Let there be light.

Okay, enough metaphors and jokes.

How about philosophy?  Remember the ancient proverb that can be told two different ways, where the one version states, “The enemy of my friend is my enemy.”  Follow the logic.  If we attack a politician, oh, I don’t know, President Trump, for example.  Then everyone who likes him will simply see us as the enemy and disregard everything we say.  Why would anyone trust, and try to find logic, from the mouths of their enemy?  Our words are dead on arrival.

The alternate version of that is, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”  So, maybe (oops, that word again),  if there is a Republican and a Democrat, who both work for the federal government and believe that civil servants deserve to be treated with respect and dignity, they can align in friendship to face any enemy who attacks that.

Another example, if two different people, from different political affiliations, believe that COVID vaccines are important, maybe they should both advocate for an HHS run by someone who understands that.

So, here is an inconvenient truth.  There are, in fact, both Republicans and Democrats who believe that civil servants should be treated with dignity and respect.  There are both Republicans and Democrats who believe that the COVID vaccines are safe and necessary.

So why do we keep fighting?  We have lost our focus and lost our way. 

If you care about eggs. That’s your issue.  Same for the federal workforce and healthcare.  But there’s a catch.  You likely don’t have the bandwidth to fight for every issue and still retain your sanity and have time for food, sleep, and a healthy life.  My Dad always said, “choose your battles.”  That advice is truer now than ever before.  The shock and awe of the last ten days causes problems for both the administration and the citizenry.  

The Administration and many of their pundits and fans may think they are winning.  But if that were the case, they wouldn’t have to keep rescinding some of their own ideas.  We are seeing Executive Orders, policies, and ideas being set in motion so fast that they are not accompanied by strategic thought.  There is no foresight.  That does not benefit anyone.  The Administration ends up with egg on their face and the people end up not being able to afford an egg.  Ceasing grants, as one example, without understanding the consequences hurts everyone impacted; nobody is spared due to political ideology or affiliation.  It is just too much, too fast.

This approach also overwhelms any of us who care deeply about any particular issue.  If we try to fight every single one, we will fail at fighting all.  While everything is important, we need to choose our battles wisely.  I am not going to worry this week about the Kingdom of Denmark having to defend Greenland.  I am not going to worry about what anyone wants to name the Gulf of Mexico.  I trust that there will be others to cover those issues.

I will stand up on issues that protect individual rights and freedoms.  I will stand up to support a functional government.  I will stand up for the constitution, even and especially, when someone suggests that what the constitution says is unconstitutional (yep, that happened).  And I know that there are Republicans and Democrats alike who share my concerns on these issues.  Let’s stop ranting about people and unite on issues. 

And when a politician blames another politician or diversity for a plane crash and the tragic loss of life, without any expression of compassion for the lost souls, we all know in our hearts that political agendas have gone too far.  The issue is clearly that we need to improve air safety after a thorough non-political investigation.  And we need to grieve and respect the innocent loss of lives.

I went to the market this morning.  I can still afford my eggs. 

It is tomorrow that I am worried about.