From the Publisher Are We Subjects? … Or Sovereigns?

I just returned from another family reunion held at our family farm in Louisiana. If there were an overriding theme, which I heard expressed at the reunion, it was a visceral disgust with our national leadership.
I heard this same anger again the next day. As surface water is a growing issue in the region, a number of us are damming streams to build more ponds. My son, Benjamin, and I drove into a neighboring town to speak to a man whom we had heard had some different ideas on the subject. He was good enough to give us his time and we chatted for about 45 minutes as we looked over his beautiful ponds and landscape.
He was in every way a gentleman as he spoke about his family, their history, and the property we were admiring. But when he turned to national politics, he changed from Dr. Jekyll into Mr. Hyde; his countenance drew up and his speech became vulgar.
One seldom hears the “f” word from Southern gentlemen, especially when speaking to strangers…but out it came. After he had spoken his mind, he reverted to his original demeanor.
At the reunion I was surprised to hear that not only did people there know of Gov. Christie, but view him very favorably. This was in line with comments made to me by a friend from Pennsylvania.
What is it that is prompting such gut-level anger while at the same time growing awareness of and perhaps even an attraction to Christie? I think it is one and the same nerve, which is being touched with people: The government in D.C. does not represent us, and this guy does. Heaven knows it is not his good looks or his mild manner.
I believe the American people are looking to be represented, not led down a track, which they perceive to be not of their choosing, by a governing elite class who hold themselves separate from and higher than the people who elect them.
To a great extent, we have created our situation, such that we fail to understand and to own our role as citizens. When we took the king off the throne and became independent of England, we the citizens became the sovereigns.
We forget that, and oftentimes treat our elected public servants as though they were the replacements for the king our forefathers fought and died to depose.
Frequently at public gatherings, every elected public servant is acknowledged and applauded, irrespective of whether they had made any contribution to the task for which the group gathered. Doesn’t this send a message that the citizens view them as being in a special, higher class of their own? While we want to acknowledge their contribution when appropriate, don’t we have to be careful to avoid sending that message?
By telegraphing that message at the community level, is it any wonder many in D.C. seem to hold themselves well above us? If we are going to be sovereign, we have to think sovereign; we have to act sovereign.
It is imperative that we continually examine our attitude toward our governments at all levels and not be on our sofas spending too much time watching America Idol. Our democracy requires work on our part. When our attitudes are right and our involvement in our public affairs is present, we will again have the democracy to pass to our grandchildren, which our grandparents passed to us.
Art Hall, publisher