A Shutdown: Government Of The People, For The People, By The People

President Abraham Lincoln's strong and poignant words delivered in the Gettysburg Address should be ringing across our country as it once again splinters apart. The war we face as Americans today is again an internal war, but this time the foot soldiers are those we elected to represent our country. We have a president and a Republican led Congress who seem to care not for the people as a whole, but choose to challenge our democracy as it was built by appealing only to the interests of a few.

As our government teeters on the edge of a shutdown, President Donald Trump, Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Republican Speaker of the House Paul Ryan look to lay blame everywhere but on themselves. They are the ones to be held responsible for leading the discord and divisions and the tragedy they have made of politics. The misguided are in control of our government, and we the people are paying the price.

While the world watches the dysfunction occurring in Washington, D.C., our country’s stability is questioned near and far. Let's be clear. Children are at the core of the battle in Washington. Families are at the core. Republicans appear unable to come together with Democrats on their behalf. A government shutdown is an excuse to cover all else.

The GOP cannot agree on the money needed to continue funding the Children's Health Insurance Program, CHIP, which provides care for nine million children in need. They cannot agree to continue support of the Dream Act for those immigrant children covered by DACA, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.

These acts have protected approximately one million young people who came to this country illegally as children. They have been protected from deportation because they came here through no fault of their own. Now the children and their families are living day to day with constant heart-wrenching uncertainty needlessly being continued by the president, Congress and its captains.

Will a child be able to have a critical medical procedure? Will a child be forcefully removed from the only country she or he has ever known? Children are being held hostage by the political idiocy taking place in the White House and on Capitol Hill. And so, it seems, are the rest of us.

The man elected president one year ago has turned to a mean and vengeful style of governing, and the Republican party has often followed suit. They are playing dangerous games of brinkmanship while showing little concern for humanity. It is the antithesis of the government that Lincoln worked so hard to reunite.

President Lincoln's words at Gettysburg remain striking in their reminders today:

“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”

The current leaders of our country have strayed too far. They have lost the ability walk in the shoes worn by all citizens, and those who came to our shores for a better life. 

Oprah's Passion Translates To The Political World

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Today, no matter your political persuasion, you cannot ignore Oprah Winfrey. Anyone who watched the Golden Globes saw a presidential candidate who was a tour de force. I hadn't plan to write about Oprah, but it is impossible not to do so. 

As a former broadcaster and political observer of many years, I respectfully say that the timing of Oprah’s entry onto the political stage is as near perfect as a potential candidate could want. The reason the speech she delivered at the Golden Globes is resonating so strongly with so many is because she had the ability to give a speech that's exactly what much of our country has been yearning to hear. Consciously or not.

If you missed it, read it.

Her passionate words spoke to women as well as men, young as well as old, black as well as white, and rich as well as poor. She inclusively pulled us in with heart and smarts. When you can do that, you've hit a political home run. Especially if you're a woman who happens to be black. Especially if you're thinking of running for President of the United States.

Oprah has been masterful in her ability to translate the past tragedies of abuse and poverty in her own life into extraordinary professional success. That couldn't have happened without enormous inner strength, and an instinctive understanding of what it takes to do more than survive. Her success has been based on relatability. No matter how wealthy she has become, or the media empire she has built, or her acting achievements, Oprah has perfected the ability to touch the humanity in people. It's a quality that only the best politicians possess. 

The current state of political affairs in our country is its own tragedy. Leadership is not a guiding light of hope, but rather something that’s creating epic proportions of divisiveness and anger. It speaks of a bleak future that is pulling too many down and lifting too few up.

Is it any wonder that a speech delivered at a Hollywood gathering, one that was able to address the good and the bad while aiming for a better tomorrow, has been received as it has? With the strength of great oratory, Oprah's closing words were met with resounding applause that rang from the entertainment capital to living rooms across the nation:

"In my career, what I've always tried my best to do, whether on television or through film, is to say something about how men and women really behave. To say how we experience shame, how we love and how we rage, how we fail, how we retreat, persevere and how we overcome. I've interviewed and portrayed people who've withstood some of the ugliest things life can throw at you, but the one quality all of them seem to share is an ability to maintain hope for a brighter morning, even during our darkest nights. So I want all the girls watching here, now, to know that a new day is on the horizon! And when that new day finally dawns, it will be because of a lot of magnificent women, many of whom are right here in this room tonight, and some pretty phenomenal men, fighting hard to make sure that they become the leaders who take us to the time when nobody ever has to say "Me too" again."

Oprah Winfrey became the first black woman to receive the Cecil B. DeMille Award bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press for outstanding contributions to the world of entertainment. This time it was an award that launched a political career for a woman whose star has risen yet again - if she wants it.