Sunny Days - A Political Melodrama Drama in Three Acts

Act 1 - A lovely fall day, a walk down a long driveway with a large crowd following behind a newly crowned young prince and his cortege .....fade to a group portrait of the prince's advisors - half of them are female because it is 2018. Over half of those who voted, in spite of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, believe that things can and will be done differently this time.

Act 2 - Two years later after that walk. No crowds are following the prince, or at least the crowds are no longer adoring. In fact, numerous groups are condemning him for not living up to his promises and certainly not doing nearly enough. Groups on diametrically opposite sides of any debate are saying that they are speaking on behalf of the majority of their constituents. The loyal opposition finds fault with every decision; regardless of when or how decisions are made - the prince is to blame.

Act 3 - The prince -now accused of participating in a scandal looks like a deer caught in a headlight. Not only is there no one following him - people are running in the other direction. Opponents are cheering in ecstatic visions of the upcoming elections.

Epilogue - the voting public is seen scratching their heads outside of the polling booth, trying to decide which lies are the most palatable or the least insulting. The election has been run on promises that can not be delivered on but will demonstrate within 24 months how incompetent the government is - again.

If we lived in a dictatorship, we would never know of the myriad of times that senior civil servants and politicians make less than ideal decisions. In a democracy, we get to see at least some of the bumps and warts on our politicians and political bureaucracy. It should not surprise us that sometimes life is complicated; there are times when some people end up in places where any decision they make will affect/hurt/offend someone.

If we are to have any hope of writing a new story, of creating a place where all people can thrive as individuals and as a collective, then we need stop expecting perfection from everyone else except for ourselves. We need to stop engaging in political dialogue filled with innuendos and inappropriate and inflammatory labels; we need to find solutions that support people in their efforts to figure out what is right and wrong - not condemn them for their errors.

We know that children learn best and develop into competent adults when they are assisted in learning how to make good decisions. We know that constantly criticizing a child for their errors ensures that they will continue to struggle with making good decisions. Maybe we should apply the same teaching logic to our politicians.