Working Together...

I am not an extremely political person but...

At the President’s State of the Union Address on January 25, 2011 there was an effort made by our lawmakers to break the tradition of the Democrats and Republicans sitting on opposite sides of the room, divided by an aisle. I also understand that this was nothing more than for show, they were still divided but they were willing, for a short time, to ignore their differences and mix things up and break from long held traditions.


I also understand that the way business is done in Washington was not going to change because of this symbolic show, the ideals and beliefs of the individuals have not changed, at least by much. But, despite my understanding of the divide between different political parties and even between individuals within the parties; there was some hope that maybe this show of cooperation may lead to some actual cooperation and people would start to work together.

I was listening to Morning Edition on NPR this morning and they were talking with two of those who broke from the tradition and sat together, a Republican and a Democrat ignoring the divide for a few moments to sit together. During the interview one of the two made the statement “people should not expect this to occur next year, this was a onetime thing” or something along those lines. I am not sure if it was the Democrat or the Republican that said it but it was very disappointing and disheartening to me. That one statement summed up what I knew to be true; THIS COUNTRY IS DIVIDED!

I was hoping for those few moments, that “we, the people” could set aside our differences and beliefs for a moment and listen to what each other has to say, then work together to come to some understanding that will benefit all. I no longer have much confidence in our elected officials to be able to work together to get things done, it appears that they will continue to sit on separate sides of that isle and are not willing to make an effort to honestly work together to make changes that will make a difference in all of our lives.

I will continue to hope that in the future, hopefully not too distant, we will elect someone; democrat, republican, independent or whatever, who is willing to ignore the “this is the way it is always done” idea and sit on the opposite side of the isle not only for the few moments the President is speaking each year but throughout the year. One of the news people last night explained that there are no assigned seats; well it is time for someone to stand up and say “I will sit where I want” and “talk to who I want to.” Our elected officials will never truly be able to work together until they are willing to make the symbolic seating arrangement at this State of the Union Address permanent and not just something they do for show.

Milky Way in watercolor...

Watercolor painting of the summer Milky Way, completed on January 2, 2011. I am beginning the New Year with a new painting and am going to try and spend time this year painting some of the wonders of the night sky as well as try and complete more sketches of the Messier objects to work on completing the Messier Sketch Poster I decided to start last year.