Actions To Match Our Rhetoric

Perhaps the most significant of the Bush administration's many failures is not the decision to invade Iraq, or to take no action on global warming, or make no move to get us out of our oil addiction. It is instead the consistent absence of any call for any action to match their rhetoric of urgency.

Bush has repeatedly said that Iraq is the central front of the war on terror, that it's the battle not only of our generation but of our children's generation, that civilization itself is at stake, and so he decided to...send 30,000 more troops to the region? If this battle is so crucial, so must-win, why has he not asked anything from us? He says we need to "support the troops," but what has he asked us to do to actually support them? Heck, he didn't even ask us to pay for them; this war is fought entirely on borrowed money. Supporting the troops isn't about putting a ribbon on your car where no one in Iraq will see it; it's opening up your wallet and saying "Here, buy some body armor already!"

In his 2006 State of the Union Address, Bush said that we're "addicted to oil." And then he asked us to do...nothing. He has said that global warming is real and a problem, and then asked us to do...nothing. But if we're not asked to do anything, what realistically can he--or we--expect to get done?

I'd like to say that Democrats have been better, but they haven't. The ongoing gas price debate is a prime example. As I wrote previously, economists have been saying for years that Americans will change their driving habits when the price of gas is high enough to matter. Now it is, and we are.

And what is the general pubic reaction? To ask for relief from high gas prices. But don't we also believe that reliance on foreign oil is a huge problem? That it hampers our foreign policy, puts our troops at risk, is bad for our economy, and bad for the environment?

Yet there is a bipartisan failure of leadership to ask us to face the contradictions in our desires. Some elected official should have the courage to ask: are we serious in ceasing the flow of our money to countries that dislike us, some of which may find its way to terror groups? Are we serious about improving our bargaining position with nations like Iran? Are we serious about not putting our troops in harms way to protect oil supplies? Are we serious about reducing emissions that degrade our air locally and add to greenhouse gases globally?

Because if we are serious, then we should be asked if we're willing to do something, such as make the choice to move to more fuel-efficient cars. If Social Security faces long-term problems and we think the program is important, we should be asked if we're willing to do something, such as waiting another year or two to receive benefits. If we think big money is a problem in politics, we should be asked if we're willing to do something, such as overwhelm it with public money. Things we say are important are things we should be willing to do something about. And if most of us are unwilling to act, then nothing will get done and we should stop pretending that the issues are as important as we say they are.

Perhaps most of us are unwilling to act on these issues. In that case, the consequences of inaction rest with us, not the government. In the end, our elected officials represent us, and we bear the ultimate responsibility, and the ultimate power to effect change. But some of us won't be aware of the necessity to act unless someone has the leadership to ask us if we're willing to do something on the issues we say are important. At the moment, we seem to be engaged in this shadow play where don't push our elected officials to force us to do things we find inconvenient, and they don't ask us to accept the consequences of our own inaction. Everyone is happy because no one accepts responsibility. It may make it easier for politicians to win elections, but it's not a sound foundation for governing.

But I believe we can do things differently. All it takes is some political leader to ask: are we serious? I think many of us are willing to rise to the occasion and take action commensurate to our rhetoric. I could be wrong. But we'll never know unless someone is willing to ask.