Politician should not be a dirty word

As we’ve watched the political scenario unfold over the past few months, with a surprising conclusion last week, one thing has become apparent to me: Language matters.

When we use terms like marginalized, uneducated, liberal, conservative – terms matter, or more precisely, what someone is trying to say by using the term matters.

And there are terms that we have, to put it nicely, bastardized in ways that are harmful to our political process, and I think it’s time we started watching our language.

Today’s word of choice: politicians. It’s a dirty word in society, associated with self-serving and even crooked behavior. Politicians are lazy. Politicians are criminals (although to be fair, some are). Politicians are the butt of as many jokes as lawyers and used-car salesman.

This connotation sends a powerful message: Politicians are not to be respected. They are not to be trusted. It’s a career no one should aspire to, because it’s only for the crooked and corrupt.

I’m the first to argue that many politicians do engage in behavior worthy of censure. But we need to recognize the office, the ideal of a politician is a lofty one. These are the people who write our laws, make collective decisions. They should be skilled negotiators, listeners and planners. They should be people grounded in ideals but pragmatic enough to recognize that democracy works when we work together, make compromises, and do the best we can with what we have. That should be the standard we hold up, and we shouldn’t denigrate the profession because some are unprofessional.

If we start treating politicians as important public figures, instead of just running to “outsiders”, perhaps we could attract the type of people who belong in political offices in the first place. Maybe if we treat the political profession as respectable, we would help create a culture where politicians act in respectable ways. Because when we imply that politicians are a bunch of scumbags, we shouldn’t be surprised when that’s who we have on the ballot and in our positions of political power.

Wait a second…

I live in Kansas. You know, the state that was supposed to be the laboratory for Republican fiscal policy. The state where Brownback and the Republican legislature slashed business taxes to spur growth.

The state the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia recently touted as the worst state economy in the nation. The state where income projections are off millions. Every. Single. Month.

Yup. That state.

And now it appears we’re going to get the super-sized version of this obviously successful approach. Trump is going to slash business taxes. And slash taxes on the wealthy. Raise taxes on the poor. Lower the income tax deductions on anyone with at least five people in their family. Cut $6.2 trillion dollars in taxes over 10 years, with almost half of that going to the 1%.Lowering estate taxes.

Can’t wait to see how this works out…as if we all can’t see it coming.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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