No. Not a vacuum cleaner. A vacuum – that place where there is no air. It’s important to understand how vacuum works. A vacuum is basically an absence of pressure. No air. No anything. When you have a vacuum on one side of an object and regular atmosphere on the other side, the object is basically ‘pushed’ toward the lower pressure. We always think of it as being sucked into the vacuum, but it’s pressure that does the work.
And so it is with the atmosphere in Washington. An individual gets elected on his or her energy, individuality and promises to change Washington. How many times have you heard that. I’m gonna change the way we do business in Washington! Then, that person with all their good intentions goes to Washington. They enter The Vacuum.
Let’s be honest. Good people go to Washington for good reasons. They have all the best intentions. They have the right heart. Whether they are liberal or conservative, they honestly hope and plan to make a difference. If that person tells you they are going to change things in Washington, however, one of two things is true. That person is either sorely naive or they are lying to your face. That’s not to say things can’t be changed in Washington, it’s just to say that you are not going to elect one person for Congress and send them on their way, then go back to work at your job and taking care of your family, and then really see any change that comes out of Washington.
You see, there is no accountability in Washington. Contrary to popular belief, you can’t “hold” someone accountable. All you can do is penalize them if they don’t hole themselves accountable. That’s what your boss means when he says he’ll hold you accountable. All he can do is threaten your job. Accountability, real accountability is a standard to which a person holds himself.
So your town has elected its white knight and sent him / her off to Washington, only to have that person run headlong into the vacuum that is Washington business; that vacuum that pulls a persons’ standard of accountability to its lowest. Even the ones who remain respectable are forced to compromise their standards just to do business. Watch “Charlie Wilson’s War”. It’s a really good show. It’s a feel good movie where we help the oppressed overcome the bad guys. Now watch again and listen when he talks about how he gets the job done. It’s really repulsive to know that all he did was call in votes that he’d been selling for years, building a ‘war chest’ of votes and favors to call in. Where were his standards? Sure, he beat the bad guys. Think about what the movie didn’t show you – all the dollars he spent and deals he made, simply because his constituents didn’t need much.
Change in Washington will only come when WE, remember the supervisors, when WE raise the bar of accountability by taking away their responsibility. Stay tuned.