[ 2011-07-06 ]

What I Want for My Birthday: Grown-Up Politicians
I am 44 today. Yes, the fireworks are really just
for me, and the nation is only celebrating my
birthday. At least that's what mom always told
me.

Birthdays always put me in a reflective mood and
this one is no different. I live in one of the
richest countries in the world. I have all the
food I need and then some, hence the club
membership. My loving family and I, including my
three year-old doppelganger who storms through
life with joyful abandon, live in a solid brick
house with window treatments. My friends, whose
sense of humor makes my stomach ache with
laughter, show up when it really counts. I own a
pair of Manolo Blahniks. And yet, there is a giant
hole in my life.

At this point, many of you are rolling your eyes.
What can this self-centered, unbelievably spoiled
woman still need? Doesn't she know there are
people dying of malaria living in mud huts in
Cambodia because they don't have clean water? How
about people right here in the U.S. who haven't
worked in 14 months, wondering how they are going
to feed their kids?

Please stay with me.

What I want for my birthday is something that will
undoubtedly help all of those struggling families
here and abroad. And I bet it's what many of you
long for, too: Politicians who make decisions
together for the common good of the country. A
government that does so without name calling,
arbitrary partisan line-drawing, and with a
nobless oblige that elevates men and women capable
of guiding our country through its rough patches.
I'm not just looking for the anti-Weiner. I'm
talking about statesmen.

For most of my adult life, I have kept my opinions
of politicians and politics to myself. That was
what I was taught at journalism school. And I
followed it to a "T." As a TV reporter and anchor,
I never hinted at my political affiliation,
donated to a candidate or attended partisan
rallies. I never wore a cross on-air so as not to
alienate viewers or my employer, and I tried to
the best of my ability to report the facts. A
report should say that "President Obama and the
Republican House battled over the debt limit
today." Not "the president was a dick."

It wasn't until after I spent years getting "the
grieving widow on the set," reporting on location
at natural disasters, crying on national
television during 9/11, interviewing presidents,
Congressmen and celebrities that I realized that
putting on the pundit hat, along with a cape and a
tiara, could be a powerful thing. Maybe my
opinion, not just reporting, could change the way
our elected officials act for the greater good.

Now the rhetoric rolls off of my tongue.
Politicians need to pledge today to clean up their
acts, take responsibility to put the needs of the
needy before their own drive to be reelected, stop
pointing fingers and acting like kindergarteners
who don't know how to compromise. Put your nose to
the grindstone and keep us the superpower our
blood, sweat and tears have made us. Why? Not only
because you need to do it, but because I've earned
the right to say so.

As not just a pundit, but a media executive and
CEO of a woman-owned business, I implore you: Get
the unemployed back to work; pay those Minnesotans
who work hard for our country; and stop taking so
many recesses. Goodbye crotch shots, goodbye
government shutdowns, goodbye selling Senate seats
for personal gain.

A Facebook friend who follows my musings wrote on
my wall, "Happy birthday, you lib." It set me back
a bit. I do not describe myself as a Liberal. I
don't think, reading this, that you would say my
ideas are particularly partisan, because I'm not.
I am adopted and pro-life. Those two facts are
inextricably linked in my soul. I am willing to
pay more taxes to help the poor. As you learned, I
have more than enough. I am a proud, practicing
Catholic, despite the prominent pedophilia
scandals and the paucity of female priests. I want
women to earn as much as men. I vote Independent,
which means that because I live in Democrat
dominated DC-land, my vote never counts.

We all have opinions derived from life
experiences. You may despise mine. Hey, I may
despise yours. It doesn't matter. What matters is
that we put our personal differences and vitriol
aside. Help make this country we are celebrating
today stronger, more educated and globally
responsible.

I bet you know that I know the fireworks aren't
really for me. On the Fourth, all Americans --
from purple mountains to fruited plains -- no
matter what their beliefs, celebrate this great
nation. It's time we join together, harness our
pride and encourage our leaders, many of whom are
falling down on the job, to fight for those who
don't have a voice.

God shed His grace on Thee.


Follow Lauren Ashburn on Twitter:
www.twitter.com/laurenashburn

Source - By Lauren Ashburn

... go Back