YOU KNOW IT'S AN ELECTION YEAR

By Toney Atkins

    You know it's election year when all the issues facing Americans suddenly start to get the attention of election officials -- whoop-de-damn-do -- whether or not anything will actually be done to benefit the citizens. But I have to admit that there's some almost award-winning pretense of concern on the part of some perspiring politicos who are very aware that voters will be going to the polls in November 2006.

    Nearly five years after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, politicians finally have noticed that the security of our borders -- particularly with Mexico -- is lousy. Illegal is illegal -- unlawful, yet some of our lawmakers would go along with giving amnesty and citizenship to those Hispanics, illegally here or not, while immigrants from other countries who want legitimate citizenship work for years to achieve it. Except for CNN's "Lou Dobbs Tonight," nothing much was being said about this problem until political incumbents woke up one morning, gasped and said, "Something needs to be done about this!" But what to do? They want Latino votes, but they also need the votes of angry American citizens who are tired of job outsourcing and illegals who are taking jobs that can't even support a decent standard of living. (When's the last time you actually heard an American, English-speaking voice on the other end of the line when you called for Internet support or to inquire about a cable TV outage or cell phone problems? But I digress.)

    Also suddenly, the public reaction to the rapid rise of gasoline prices at the pump has tapped our lawmakers on the shoulder. Where were they more than a year ago when we knew there were problems between the pumps and our pocketbooks and discovered that as fuel costs rose, the price of nearly everything else did, too. Our nation's leadership has two oil men at the top, so at least a few people have to worry about their financial situation.

    Everybody is talking about the rising costs of health care, but nobody seems to do anything about it. We keep hearing all kinds of rhetoric, but no one does anything. Why? Fingers are pointed at the drug companies, just as many point at the profit-making oil companies for what some see as price gouging at the pumps.

    And look at the billions of dollars that are still going into the Iraq War three years after "mission accomplished" was declared. If the mission was accomplished, why are our brave troops still there, with the death count still rising? Is one soldier's death worth the cost of a war that was based on information that was not credible?

    These issues and others are causing incumbent lawmakers to scurry around, acting as though they're truly concerned about and working for their constituents.

    When I was working at a Daytona Beach newspaper, blacks seemed to be more vocal about their distaste of politicians. One quote I recently dug from some notes from a year or so ago echoed the feelings of many blacks: "Politicians don't come into the black community and visit our churches or attend our social events unless it's an election year and they want our votes. After the voting is done, they're like snakes. They look at us with a grin and beady eyes and end up biting us in the (rump). I vote, but I don't trust any of them because they don't care about anybody but themselves."

    A friend in Daytona used to disturb me with his tirades against politicians and about how the media never seems to ask the essential, heavy-duty questions about the issues that need answers. However, even as a member of the news media, I reluctantly (at first) had to agree with him. Truth has become so twisted in city, state and federal governments that it has become unclear as to what is reality and what is not.

    I do know that changes need to be made somewhere. When I can't afford to go to neighborhood stores or restaurants to shop or eat, when I find myself restricted to bologna sandwiches and a bowl of oatmeal because I've had to pay a chunk of change for medications to treat high blood pressure and other ailments, I get mad -- and even madder when I think of the poor folks who in worse shape than I am.

    Personally, I will not vote for any incumbent politician. Instead, I'll pick the best of the worst who has some grasp on the problems and preferably that rare politician who be willing to show his or her devotion to the job and to the common man by being willing to work for minimum wage. I'll vote for the person who seems to be telling the fewest lies to his or her constituents.

    We're at a time in our history that our future literally depends on it, so I urge everyone to register and vote and see if we can't change the course of that future and make it better.

(c) 2006

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