‘We the Ordinary People’

Published 6:00 am Sunday, July 10, 2016

Webster defines “ordinary” the following … “with no special or distinctive features; what is commonplace; uninteresting.” 

Does this sound like you or me? Listening to political pundit, Eugene Robinson, of Washington Post fame, recently he mentioned on national television that he had been talking to ‘ordinary people’ about this year’s presidential election.

The arrogance that this statement contained caused me to switch channels ever so quickly. This self-righteous and pious attitude of most of the national media is indicative why so many of us “ordinaries”are rebelling in this political cycle.

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What the Eugene Robinson’s of the world are attempting to downplay is the fact the American electorate is truly ‘fed up’ with public corruption; public incompetence; reckless spending; interference in our daily lives; self-serving politicians focused on getting rich while being a “public servant;” and last but not least, left wing (as well as right wing) talking heads talking down to us ordinary people.

This November election will be unlike any we’ve seen in many, many years. The status quo and business as usual approach is not going to to be reflected at the ballot box this time around. The latest political shockwave (or wakeup call) just occurred when our Attorney General met with a family member of an individual under FBI investigation. What happens when the absurd is true? And how much more can the American people stomach with this level of conduct from our highest elected and nonelected (appointed) officials?

Honestly, I never thought I would live to see the day when Washington D.C. got so out of touch with Main Street America. This has gone way beyond liberal versus conservative, north versus south or east versus west. All that we citizens expect and demand from our public brain trust are honesty; ethical behavior; competence; and obeying the laws of the land … the very same guidelines that we the ordinary people of the country are required to honor and respect!

If I ever have the pleasure to meet Mr. Robinson, the first thing I will ask him is to tell me if the viewpoints of “ordinary Americans” matter in his world or are we just pawns in a high stakes political game of the rich getting richer at the expense of the middle class and those below on the economic ladder.

The values that those brave Americans cherished on D Day, Midway and countless other battlefields should never be taken lightly or quickly set aside by the elitists of the media or politically privileged. I would imagine that the “Greatest Generation”contained millions of ‘ordinary people’ whose lives mattered more than Eugene Robinson could ever comprehend.

I, for one, will definitely express my ordinary opinion this fall and hope (and pray) it will be part of a national awakening to those in power that the will of the people is still paramount to political correctness and accepting mediocrity (or less) when our own circles of influence expect so much more from each of us in our daily “ordinary” lives.

Steve Vassallo is a contributing columnist and Oxford resident. He can be reached at sovassallo@gmail.com.