Time To Change

One of the things that has brought laughter and smiles to many is the comedy bit where two people are posturing as if they plan to fight, or do something, except for the people holding them back.  The efforts and noise they make, while making grand gestures to be set free, to attack the situation garners lots of attention.  This is usually accompanied by a loud “Hold Me Back” statement.  It would seem that the person held back truly wants to engage the challenge set before them.  What has made this so interesting is that at some point there is no longer anyone, or anything, that holds the person back and we discover the sincerity of their posturing.  When the obstacles are removed, we find out the true intent of the people.

Children often draw a line on the ground and dare someone to cross it.  Maybe you placed a stick or pencil on your shoulder to see who would try to knock it off.  Could it be, your game was chicken to see who would stop closest to the wall.  While the winner rejoiced, the loser often hid behind some type of explanation; we call those excuses.  There comes a time when there is no longer anything between doing what you should and doing what you have not.

We have politicians saying that they have too much red tape to move efficiently.  They quote that in order for them to act on an issue, it requires certain obstacles to get out of the way.  The city and county cite the state legislature as having authority to restrict or release the ordinances and codes that they can make.  The state legislature says that they are bound by the state constitution in making laws.  The state constitution is regulated by the Constitution of the United States.  This also implies that state law should be subject to federal law.  Federal law is regulated by agencies created in the executive branch, confirmed by the legislative branch and approved by the judicial branch.  

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson.  This supports the 14^th and 15^th Amendment protecting citizenship and the right to vote for all classes of people.  One of the ways used to work around this law is the gerrymandering of areas in order to manipulate the results of elections by legitimate government bodies.  This makes it necessary for there to be oversight.  The federal government provides oversight for the states, the states provide this for counties and cities.  There are other times when the people have to file a lawsuit as an expression of oversight. Corrections have to be made occasionally.  

Just like the line drawn on the ground or the need to be held back from a fight, we do not know the real intention until the barriers are removed.  Change for the better should not have to require oversight, but it often does. Change for the better should not have to require lawsuits, but it often does.  Change for the better should not require excuses, but it often hears them.