However, I was impressed a couple of years ago by one member of the Washington political class who seemed to actually be a good leader, a decent human being, and a good Senator. His name was Evan Bayh of Indiana and unfortunately, I only found about him AFTER he decided that he could no longer cope with the bitterness, gridlock, incompetence, and ineffectiveness of Washington D.C.
In an interview he gave to Business Week, he described why he was leaving a dysfunctional Washington and going home where he hoped to be able to provide more positive change than he could in the U.S. Senate. He took this step even though he may have been a prime Presidential or Vice Presidential candidate in the not too distant future. I respected his integrity in walking away from this personal opportunity to find a way to help others.
His words somehow reminded me of the Don McLean hit from long ago, "American Pie." It seems that we have allowed our political class to stray away from the very concepts of freedom, liberty and self sacrifice that are embodied in the "American Pie" lyrics, concepts that Bayh seemed to yearn for. As a result of this inspiration, a wrote a blog post back then which took Bayh's situation and embedded it into a song parody of "American Pie."
Today, like yesterday's "Eve Of (Financial) Destruction" challenge, I offer the parody words to anyone out there who as any kind of musical talent (talent that I sorely lack) who would like to put these words into a full blown song parody. I would be more than happy to feature the resultant parody in both this blog and in the Untied States of Purple Presidency drive (http://www.unitedstatesofpurple.com/). Have fun!
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American Pie - The New Lyrics From Washington D.C.
Yesterday we had some fun by rewriting the lyrics to the Barry McGuire 1960s protest song, "Eve Of Destruction," to reflect how the American political class is bringing the nation to the brink of financial destruction with its reckless deficit spending ways. Today, we have taken the classic "American Pie" from Don McLean and rewrote the lyrics to represent the feelings of retiring Indiana Senator Evan Bayh.
Senator Bayh announced few weeks ago that he was not going to run for re-election to the Senate. This decision was made despite the fact that he was apparently well thought of by his colleagues, politics ran in his family since his father was a long time U.S. Senator and Evan Bayh had been a two term governor of his home state, and his political future looked bright, having been mentioned as possible Vice Presidential and Presidential material. However, the Senator will be leaving Washington for a number of reasons, as outlined in a Charlie Rose interview he gave to Business Week in their March 1, 2010 edition:
•"The level of polarization and gridlock is just much higher than I've seen before, certainly higher than in my father's time."
•"The House (of Representatives) has been deeply damaged by gerrymandering. Out of 435 seats, about only 15 ones are competitive."
•"If you're in a majority Democratic district, you go farther to the left to avoid a challenge (in the primary), and the opposite occurs on the Republican side."
•"And you end up having more people on the far right and the far left and fewer in the middle where I think most Americans find themselves."
•"The pervasive need to fund raise is also a factor. Because of the vast sums of money that have to be raised, there's a perpetual campaign."
•"Other than on ceremonial occasions, I can recall only twice when all 100 Senators gathered to focus on a problem of national import. The first was when the President had been impeached. The second was three days after 9/11."
•"This (the current political climate) is - for lack of a better phrase - a Ross Perot moment...that could be the kind of thing that would really galvanizes public opinion against everyone in Washington regardless of party."
Very scary thoughts but probably accurate observations. A few comments on the Senator's views:
•If all one hundred Senators have only convened twice in the past nine years to work on an important national problem, impeachment and 9-11, then that means they have not gathered as one body to jointly work on failing public schools, the failing War on Drugs, skyrocketing debt and deficits, the approaching insolvency of Social Security and Medicare, the lack of a national energy policy and strategy, or any other pressing national need. Is it any wonder the country is in such sad shape?
•If the current members of the political class are so obsessed with raising money for their re-election campaign as the Senator claims ("pervasive"), is it any wonder that nothing gets done by those sitting in Congress, they are too busy raising money? Maybe Step 7 from "Love My Country, Loathe My Government" should be enacted. Step 7 would allow only individual citizens to contribute to campaigns; corporations, businesses, unions, PACs, etc. Step 39 would be even more effective since it calls for term limits for all members of Congress. If you cannot get elected to a second term, then the need to raise funds for re-election goes away, providing more time for you to legislate.
•If the Senator is right and only fifteen Congressional districts across the country are competitive, that implies that only 5% (15/435) of Americans are free when it comes to electing their Congressman or woman. A Republicans vote in a gerrymandered Democratic district is useless 95 % of the time as is a Democrat's vote in a gerrymandered Republican district, useless 95% of the time. This makes for a very undemocratic nation. Step 14 from "Love My Country, Loathe My Government" would minimize this problem by providing specific criteria so that gerrymandering would be minimized, e.g. the widest diameter of a Congressional district could not be more than three times the length of the most narrow diameter of a Congressional district.
•It is pretty obvious that the Senator is right when it comes to polarization, we see it everyday on the news. While the nation sinks further and further into debt and disrepair, the political class does nothing but posture or work on trivial issues. The iceberg is approaching but the deck chairs need to be arranged is where we are at right now from a political perspective.
So we say good bye to Senator Evan Bayh, he was at least smart enough and strong enough to identify and talk about the current political reality. I am not sure that the remaining Senate and House politicians even recognize how bad the problem is, as defined by Senator Bayh. To commemorate his parting words in Business Week, and hope and pray those words spur some changes in the country, we present the following tribute to the music of American Pie:
New Lyrics:
A long, long time ago, I can still remember
How the Senate used to make me smile
My Dad said I would get my chance
Lobbyists would make me dance
And then they’d make me rich with their guile.
But N. Pelosi made me shiver, Harry Reid did not deliver
Bad news on the doorstep, Kennedy’s seat just got swept
I can’t remember if I cried when the deficit got so wide
But something touched me deep inside the day compromise died.
So bye, bye Senator Evan Bayh
Going home to Indiana now please do not ask why
Let Obama and Biden stay to drink whiskey and lie
While partisanship takes a long good bye
Compromise takes a long good bye.
Did you write the book of No
And did you lose faith in going slow
If the bosses tell you so?
Now do you believe in give and take?
Or is Congress just one big fake?
And can you filibuster real, real slow?
Well I know that you love this bill
But the bosses say go for the kill
Makes the other side look too good
Even if it turns gold into wood.
You were a lively Hoosier with lots of pluck
But filibustering really does suck
Everyone ends up out of luck
The day that compromise died
So bye, bye Senator Evan Bayh
Going home to Indiana now please do not ask why
Let Obama and Biden stay to drink whiskey and lie
While partisanship takes a long good bye.
Compromise takes a long good bye.
For many years you’ve been on your own
But Harry says don’t pick up the phone
But that’s not how it used to be.
At one time it was nation that mattered
Give and take never got battered
A voice of reason for you and me.
While King Obama was looking down
The GOP stole his holy crown
The session was adjourned
No legislation was returned.
And while filibusters ran amuck
And Congress was really stuck
The nation remained out of luck
The day that compromise died.
We were singing bye, bye Senator Evan Bayh
Going home to Indiana now please do not ask why
Let Obama and Biden stay to drink whiskey and lie
While partisanship takes a long good bye.
Compromise takes a long good bye.
The Original Lyrics
A long, long time ago,I can still remember
How that music used to make me smile
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those people dance
And maybe they'd be happy for a while.
But February made me shiver, with every paper I'd deliver
Bad news on the doorstep, I couldn't take one more step
I can't remember if I cried, when I read about his widowed bride
But something touched me deep inside the day the music died.
So bye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
And them good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye
Singing this'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die.
Did you write the book of love
And do you have faith in God above
If the Bible tells you so?
Now do you believe in rock and roll?
Can music save your mortal soul?
And can you teach me how to dance real slow?
Well, I know that you're in love with him
'Cause I saw you dancing in the gym
You both kicked off your shoes
Man, I dig those rhythm and blues.
I was a lonely teenage broncin' buck
With a pink carnation and a pickup truck
But I knew I was out of luck
The day the music died.
I started singing bye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye
And singing this'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die.
Now, for ten years we've been on our own
And moss grows fat on a rolling stone
But that's not how it used to be.
When the jester sang for the king and queen
In a coat he borrowed from James Dean
And a voice that came from you and me
Oh, and while the king was looking down
The jester stole his thorny crown
The courtroom was adjourned
No verdict was returned.
And while Lenin read a book on Marx
he quartet practiced in the park
And we sang 'Dirges In The Dark'
The day the music died.
We were singing bye, bye
Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye
And singing this'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die.
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Lord help us if American Pie and all it stood for no longer exist and that is the reason why Evan Bayh has headed for the Indiana plains. Makes you wonder what he knows and we only suspect.
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