The Simmering Frog Parable

Most of us have heard this observation through the years. Supposedly, if a frog is placed in a pan of simmering water, it will be lulled to its death over time. However, if the frog is thrown into a pot of boiling water, it will quickly leap to safety by natural reflex. A handy multi-purpose metaphor. It should be obvious that our multi-faceted simmer has come to a boil. How we respond is up to us…We The People.

Time To Leap…A Plethora of Opportunities/Possibilities/Responsibilities

Aren’t you tired of this? I am. Too many issues to deal with, all huge in scope. Covid, fires, floods, global warming, the lessons from Afghanistan, dysfunctional governance at many levels, cultural/social unrest, economic dislocation, etc., etc. And our politicos and screens loudly keep us distracted while we simmer. We each have different levels of pain tolerance…emotional, physical, psychic=our ability to simmer. However, I’d venture a guess that most of us have reached our limits. It’s time to leap! But, where and how?

The Well-Earned Humbling of The U.S. and Texas

Most of us were raised in a “we’re #1” mentality, and it’s hard to acknowledge and face our realtime comeuppance. We still enjoy the benefits of considerable achievement and privilege, but the past few years have provided a sobering realization that we’ve lost our competitive edge in many ways. Public education, healthcare, and economic opportunity…just to note a few. The main culprit is our governance, which reflects the expectations, knowledge and values of We The People. I’m an American, and a proud multi-generational Texan. But I’ve been increasingly ashamed, disappointed, angry and sad about whom we’ve become. Most of us know better, want better… but have been simmering and complaining, waiting for “them” to do something about it.

We’ve proven time again that we have the capacity to deal with tough challenges and rise to many occasions. We’ve simmered far too long, by fault or default. As was aptly stated by that great philosopher Pogo, “We have met the enemy, and he is us!” We’re better than this. Time to Leap…Together!

Tidbits To Ponder As We Consider “OUR” Governance

—Our politics are adversarial, not collaborative…and WE encourage/tolerate that fact. Fear, hate and blaming epithets are more fun for our short attention spans than collaborative handshakes and civil deliberation.

—Our journalists are too easily distracted by, and even encourage, the shiny-object photo ops and hot-button “issue” focus. We’re fortunate to have locally-based journalists like the Austin Statesman’s Tony Plohetski, and those at The Texas Tribune to model the best of investigative and informative journalism.

—Due to our partisan divide, elected reps are unable to govern effectively and deal with the issues that matter most (education, healthcare, social justice, infrastructure, electric grid, job training, economic opportunity, environment, immigration, etc.).

—Re: current issue examples…Eviction moratorium…OUR government has not yet distributed the previously authorized Covid-relief funds to help landlords and protect renters… Hurricane relief funds. As of recently, Texas had not distributed all of the emergency funds authorized to help Hurricane HARVEY victims. Yes, you read that right…Hurricane Harvey (2017!).

Putting the “Public” and “Service” back in Public Service

We are not being well served by either our bipartisan Congress or bipartisan Legislature…in Washington, Austin and elsewhere. And I carefully emphasize “bipartisan.” The Republicans could care less about governance. They want power, and have forced the gerrymandering, election manipulation legislation, policy stalemates and other shenanigans to thwart bipartisan cooperation. As for the Democrats, they can’t clone Stacey Abrams, have let the R’s run over them, and have few leaders who’ve shown the potential to lead us to better.

We can’t continue to accept this state of affairs. We The People must identify and tap the potential progressive leaders from either Party to bring us closer to a healthy center. Where we can support their efforts to honorably serve, and to shepherd those issues and policies that are truly critical to rebuilding America. Where leadership represents collaboration, civil deliberations and tough choices where necessary. Where We The People, when effectively led, are glad to make the necessary sacrifices for our communal best interests.

On Pres. Joe Biden— An imperfect man, an imperfect President…whom we’re so fortunate to have in office at this unique time in our history. We extricated ourselves from the most dangerous and incompetent Presidency in modern history, and elected Biden to “clean up the mess on Aisle America.” He’s an experienced politician, public servant and honorable family man…though no one is prepared to handle the likes of Covid, weather catastrophes and Afghanistan all at once. Especially with the expressed lack of cooperation from too many small-minded, self-serving political hacks across the aisle. (And I don’t mean that in a bad way.) An unfortunate set of circumstances. But, thank goodness for Joe Biden.

SO, WHAT DO WE DO NOW?

We thank our lucky stars that our home is not burning or flooded, or taken from us in war. That we haven’t lost loved ones to any of those tragedies. Where possible, we serve those who hurt, who suffer loss.

We pledge to expect better from our elected officials. To withhold financial support and votes unless they’re able to commit to make a difference with the issues that matter. To expect accountability and leadership in exchange for our support.

We’ve been humbled, but we still have so much for which to be grateful. We owe our communities, families and future generations our commitment to be better stewards of our many opportunities. Let’s rise to our occasion…TOGETHER.

IN CLOSING

There’s no such thing as “voter fraud.” But, there is VOTER FROG. Let’s do him and us proud…whenever we get the opportunity.