State Of The Union: Our Need To Be Right All The Time Is Paralyzing The USA

I just finished reading Stephen King's latest book 11/22/63. It's about a man that stumbles upon a portal in time that allows him to travel back and forth between 2011 and 1958. He decides to use this ability to prevent the assassination of President Kennedy. To be sure, like Obama and all other presidents, Kennedy had his supporters and his detractors.

In America these days, there doesn't seem to much of a team mentality. Sure, we all say we're proud to be Americans, but it looks a lot like we're proud individually, or proud as long as someone we disagree with isn't in a place of power.

We blame the politicians (because it's convenient and easy to do), but we might be a bigger part of the problem. We act in the same manner as they do, and we elect them. We can't point the finger any more. It starts with you and me.

Like it or not, Barack Obama is the President of the United States of America. Whether you voted for him or not, he is your president. (I can hear it now, "He's not my president." Yes he is, and that's exactly what I am talking about.) We vote it this country. That is how we have decided to choose a leader. When the voting is done, it becomes time to move on and get to work.

It's healthy to argue the points of what's best for our nation. The hitch comes when all we do is argue. There needs to be a jumping point where we can all agree that we've done enough arguing, and it's time to start doing.

The need to be right, (or have the other guy be wrong) is all that we have become about, and it is paralyzingly the good old' USA. A team has a leader, and eventually the rest of the team needs to get behind that leader to accomplish anything.

Having half of the team trying to accomplish something, while the other half watches and hopes they fail is unacceptable, and would get lots of people fired in any other 'professional' setting. We wonder why government is in a state of gridlock in this country.

Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama. Take your pick. Agree or disagree. Debate. Vote. Participate. Support. Take pride. Take ownership. Do.