Don't expect change in D.C.

The oil spill which has captured the attention of our media, if not enough of our population, needs to be seen as a nod to the Obama administration and a reminder to us all. The spill occurred a week after the "environmentally conscious, green, time for change" President Obama decided to do away with all those silly concerns about offshore drilling and allow the oil companies to go at it wholesale. As he did with the financial crisis - continuing Bush administration policies, and the much-vaunted health care "reform" - avoiding any mention of the pharmaceutical industry which contributed millions to his campaign, President Obama has proved that professional politicians of both parties represent little more than the voice of corporate America.

For us, the latest coincidence - the timing of the oil spill in relation to Obama's decision to not show any strength of character or willingness to sprout a backbone for real change - needs to stand as a reminder that what has become essentially a two-party system is what really needs to change. And, no, I don't mean the Green Party or other efforts to grow a new crop of professional politicians with different rhetoric is an answer. Term limits and similar proposals in relation to many matters need to have the strength or real leadership and our participation behind them.

Do I have all the answers? Nope. But, I do know what one definition of insanity is - doing the same thing over and over, and expecting a different result. Whether you're a "Democrat" or "Republican," liberal or conservative, the question for all of us has to be the same: how long will it take before we realize that the system we have created, the professional politicians we all endorse, will only lead to the kind of change best exemplified by the adage that the more things change, the more they stay the same?

Edward J. Herdrich

Elgin