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Of bloodsuckers and statesmen

As the presidential primaries heat up, the media is making its usual round of character inquiries into those men who hope to play politics in the White House. In the midst of these primaries, maybe it would be worthwhile to take a look at politics and its key players. I will begin by doing a word analysis inspired by the always off-color James Carville.

We can all remember back to our high school days, in English class, when we spent time analyzing words by way of their prefixes, roots and suffixes. In that spirit, let's analyze the word: politics.

We'll start with the prefix: poli (or poly). We know that this prefix means "many." Now let's take a look at the root word: tics (ticks). Most of us know these to be "blood sucking arachnids." So, if we put these two meanings together, we see that "politics" means "many bloodsucking arachnids."

This meaning of "politics" may not be new to many of you. In fact, many are probably thinking, "Yeah, I've always known this." This view of politics and our government officials as "blood sucking arachnids" has existed since the founding of this country, but it seems to have been exacerbated in the last couple of decades.

It is unfortunate when "We the People" have such a low view of our government officials. There may be many in our government who are bloodsucking arachnids, but what about those who are not? We tend to forget about those who are men and women of dignity, morals, ethics and grace. There are many who actually do care about our welfare more than their image at cocktail parties or in their elite circles.

It used to be that there were people who actually held politicians in high regard. People who used to view the jobs of our representatives as dignified, something to be proud of and very respectable. Unlike most people of today, I still do think that holding a government position is respectable and something to be very proud of.

I do think that there are still men and women in Washington who are worthy of our utmost respect and admiration. Who can we respect more than those who are willing to dedicate their lives to making ours better?

It is unfortunate that our country views the whole lot of our government officials as bloodsucking arachnids. If we do believe this, then what hope do we have of ever being a truly great country that we can all be proud of?

How can a truly great country be dominated and led by blood sucking arachnids?

In a time in America when the media only focuses on the vices and shortcomings of our politicians, it is easy to think that virtues such as morality, dignity, honesty and modesty are out of fashion. There is a timeless axiom that says when you only look for the bad, that is all you will find. This can be no truer than in the case of our government officials.

For the sake of patriotism, I would like to be one of the people in the media who draws attention to some of the great men and women who hold office in our government institutions.

Specifically, let me draw attention to Arizona senator, John McCain. This is truly a great man, when one measures greatness by dignity, honor and service. He was shot down over Hanoi in 1967, crashed, breaking both arms and a knee. He was captured by the enemy, beaten severely, ribs cracked, several teeth broken off at the gum line and a shoulder smashed. For 5 years he was held as a POW, everyday being bounced from wall to wall, knocked down, kicked, dragged to his feet and knocked back down. At one point, he was given the option to be released; he refused since there had been other POWs who had been there longer.

McCain was released and came home with no resentment towards his country. He came home and served his country again by becoming a U.S. Senator and has since shown the same honor and respect for his country by being a maverick in his own party, who has fought for the interests of Americans over personal gain and partisan politics.

This is just one example among many. There are many others in our government who have impeccable character and who truly care about the interests of America. We must not only focus on the "blood sucking arachnids," but the good ones too, like the Ronald Reagans, Bob Doles, Clarence Thomases and John McCains.