Broken Beyond Repair?

I should be taking this Matthew-laden, rainy morning to finish sermonizing and working on Sunday School and our Monday Night Study Group.  Instead, I’ve been ruminating about our broken political systems and how that brokenness is made clear in the election process.

The ability to elect fellow citizens to represent us in government should be a sacred, joyful process.  Aside from the fact that we don’t elect fellow citizens, but rather mostly wealthy, self-exclusive, citizens who live in gated communities (literally or figuratively) far from their “fellow” citizens – aside from that reality, we have begun to make it more and more difficult to vote; we’ve filled the air waves, the papers, and social media with lies, insults, screaming heads, negative energy – a cacophony of vitriol that turns the stomach or feeds the most disillusioned parts of our souls.

In a true democracy where every vote counts – where every citizen counts – where fellow human beings are all afforded dignity and hope – Election Day should be a joyful celebration.  If we truly desired the fullest participation possible by all citizens every state would have early voting, and Election Day would be a National Holiday.  Good grief, if we can have a National Holiday for a person who “discovered” an already populated land.  We celebrate a person who violently mistreated the indigenous population, we can find a way to make Election Day a holiday that allows people to vote without fear of losing their minimum wage job because they had to stand in line for four hours when they were supposed to be at work.

Instead of Election Day being a joyful celebration of the democratic process it has become joyful because it’s the day the hateful tsunami of vicious, pounding, nauseating political ads stop.  But then again, by the second Wednesday in November it will all start again: How do we “take back” our state, our country from those persons our fellow citizens had the gall to elect?

Our political systems – and our whole election process – is disgustingly broken.  Do we as a nation have the guts – have the decency – to get it fixed?  I am afraid we do not.  But let's for a moment think it can be done.  What can we do to make it work?

Some thoughts: 

1.  Limit campaign spending.  Overturn Citizens United.  All public funds - no private funds.
2. Limit primary seasons to three months and hold all primaries on the same day
3. Limit the actual campaign season to three months.
4. Require TV and Radio to carry a set amount of air time for each candidate - the same amount.
5. Two weeks early voting in every state, including weekend hours
6. Election Day is a National Holiday with anyone required to work on that day guaranteed time off during the two weeks of early voting in order to vote.