Time to Focus

It is an unserious political state we live in today. North Korea, a Last of the Mohicans of Stalinist states, tested a nuclear weapon yesterday, and has been acting provocatively for weeks and months now, even years. This behavior, and the country’s possession of nuclear weapons in general, pointedly threatens the physical security of the Pacific republics, namely Japan and South Korea, as well as our own. In a focused national political discussion, we would be weighing our options and debating and discussing the appropriate response and strategies to elect as a consequence.

Instead, we spent the past week indecorously indulging in an obsessive and microscopic scrutiny of the inappropriate e-mails of a perverted congressman to his underage page.

This is but another example in an odious trend. As we have waged a war on terror, sought to establish a stable and republican nation in Iraq, and attempted to stymie Iran from developing a nuclear capacity of its own, we have been consumed and distracted by frivolous "outing" of CIA agent and "Maccaca" scandals. As opposed to rolling up our sleeves and developing a plan to prevent a nation that has vowed to wipe Israel off the map from acquiring the means to do so, we have worshiped at the feet of the narcissistic Joe Wilson and gloried at the thought of Karl Rove in a prison jumpsuit.

My question is why? Why do we waste so much time on that which matters so little? We live in a serious time in a dangerous world, a situation insistent upon leaders and representatives who are concentrated on developing strategies to steward our republic through them, and upon a citizenry that will demand this statesmanship from their leaders.

This is especially true in an election season. We are only a month away from choosing representatives who will be among the individuals vested with the responsibility of addressing these issues for the next two years. If there is ever a time for sober contemplation, debate, and discussion, now is that time.

The tabloid issues that we have concentrated upon aren’t worth even peripheral notice, let alone unadulterated attention. That stuff deserves the scrutiny of Hollywood and the entertainment industry, not of our national political class and leadership. The issues we face are simply too big for us to dwell on matters so small and, ultimately, so inconsequential.