What A Future!

Recently the Nethercutt Foundation sent students from six colleges to Washington D.C. to visit everyone from lobbyists to think tanks to members of Congress to get a grasp of how it works and why the tone is such as it is.

What they came away with should give them pause for the task of "fixing" it will be in their hands. We're all aware that the approval rating of both the President and Congress is less than desirable. So what happens. The blame game. The blame game perpetuates partisanship. No one will budge.

What must are these young people think when a Democrat actually admits to them that the current stand off with the Republicans is no more than payback for when the Republicans held the power?

They had the opportunity to visit sources that are but dreams to the rest of us with an interest. They found how lacking they were in American history as well as current events. They found the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are not going to have a quick fix. They found how serious the threats are to security within our borders. They got a good idea of how ill prepared we are to respond. All one needs to do is look at how the oil spill is being handled and the Arizona immigration flap. The government will not be able to sue it's way out of a terrorist attack.

The times are interesting and the stakes are high. Should the Democrats hold both houses of Congress after the mid-terms they will own everything that comes to pass good, bad or indifferent. There will come the day the people will no longer accept that Bush is to blame for everything gone wrong.

Probably most sobering to these young people is the idea that not so far down the road the governance of the country will be in their hands. One would hope they've something positive to take away from their experience. I certainly hope it won't be the constant of "getting even"!