Mere Pawns

Websters defines a pawn as, "a chess piece of the lowest value" or "a person used to advance another's purposes."  What do you think is your role in the political chess match for party dominance.  

In the political game of chess we are mere pawns.  The pawn has the most limited mobility of all the chess pieces.  It can only move in two directions, forward and diagonally.  We are limited in our mobility by our entrenched two-party system.  We realistically only have two choices: you can choose either a Democrat or a Republican.  Also, we are used and manipulated to advance the interests of the parties' leadership.  Being the majority party means being the party in power.  Being in power is the most important thing for the parties' leadership.

Now let's enter the POLITIZONE and see what is really going with the current debt ceiling debate. 
    
Political propaganda has built the debt ceiling issue into a crisis.  The messaging from both parties has ensured the issue has become fraught with peril and doom not only for the Nation, but also for the entire world!  The sky is falling, the sky is falling!  Remember, politicians love a crisis.  

It is politically easy and safe to play the blame game. Accuse the other guy of not acting in good faith and you deflect attention away from your own responsibility. In the debt ceiling debate both sides blame each other for the impasse on finding a solution. Neither side is accepting responsibility.  Accepting responsibility means assuming greater political risk.  It's interesting that each side accuses the other of not acting in the spirit of bipartisanship. Just a note here, bipartisanship is a political scam the parties foist upon us. On important party line votes, like raising the debt ceiling, bipartisanship is really a non-starter.  But it serves a political purpose to place the blame.


Politicians love to play on our emotions so they can manipulate us and maintain their power over us.  CNN reported that President Obama said Social Security checks might not go out if the debt limit is not raised.  What was his intent in making that statement?  Scare the old folks!  And, of course, he blames the Republican Party leadership for the impasse.  What is the emotional response to Obama's claim?  It might go something like, "President Obama please don't let those sorry Republicans stop my Social Security check.  You can't let them get away with it!"  Not surprisingly the Republican leadership blames the President for the impasse on debt limit "negotiations" claiming he was not taking enough of a leadership role.  This evokes an emotional response in Republicans.  What is their response?  It might go something like, "That sorry Obama!  We can let him get away with it!" 

What is the effect of this dysfunctional governing process?  We are made to worry and fuss and fret and squirm and feel uneasy.  "What's going to happen!?"  "How will I keep a roof over my head and food on my table?"   

And how about our career politicians?  How about them?  Do you think they suffer from the same anxiety and stresses they cause for us?  Will their paychecks stop like your Social Security check might stop?  The only thing they have to worry about is completing the calculus to ensure they maximize political gain or minimize political risk from the crisis. After all, they have to win their next election.  And isn't that what matters most? 

So, how do you feel?  Do you think our political system empowers you or does it reduce your status to a mere pawn to be manipulated by career politicians so they can fulfill their self-serving interests?