As we watch (and listen to), the tug of war going on in our nation’s capital, it is only fitting that we do some serious soul searching on our contribution to the dilemma. It is not easy to accept the responsibility for our actions over the last several years, but the “reality show” put on during political campaigns is designed to sell a candidate, not reveal his or her true thoughts and abilities.

Washington’s leaders in both the Senate and the House of Representatives are mostly professional politicians proven to provide governmental activities for the people who provided for their longevity in office with the expectation that maybe the nation will benefit as well.

If you look at the current situation of a former senator, former vice-presidential candidate, former presidential candidate, John Edwards, it brings out some of the harsh reality of a problem that probably exists in many instances.

Several people were apparently providing large sums of personal money to help him avoid publicity concerning the relationship with a member ofhis staff. According to the newspapers’ reporting, certain people were so interested in protecting him that they used their wealth to provide for the cover-up of this affair while he was being sold to the public as a devoted husband and father and a man suitable to lead this great nation as president. I can forgive human frailty and excuse his personal indiscretions, but where on earth were the motivations of these few supporters directed? Why were they not asking him to work on his personal problems rather than promoting an Elmer Gantry-type individual as presidential material?

As our nation struggles to keep its financial head above water and the Tea Party caucus pleads for sanity in Washington, I believe we need to take as much time as necessary to come to grips with reality and answer the question “What am I willing to do to preserve our country as I believe it was created to be?” That is a very tough, gut-wrenching question but as long as we have the freedom to call or write our leadership, we can dosomething. All is not lost until we no longer are able to vote for the candidate of our choice or we are restricted in our ability to voice our opinion. And, I do know that we are merely a number of a voting block - Republican, Democrat, Independent, Tea Party, whatever. However, if we can avoid getting caught up in the rhetoric designed to elect a pawn of another economic class than our own, maybe we can be heard. Once a person is elected, it takes a great deal of intestinal fortitude to go to Washington and defy your political party’s leaders and stand for the true principles that you promised when you ran for the office. The political pressure must be enormous at that level.

From the rumbling in Washington, it sounds a lot like they are going to want older Americans to give up part of their Social Security and Medicare benefits and will expect the younger generation to reduce their expectations of government programs. This is a reasonable expectation “IF” our leadership in all areas will make the same sacrifices. My fear is they will be the last to give up their lifestyle while our country faces dire times.

In my opinion, our nation needs new, really new, leadership at many levels and in many professions.

For us to survive as a super power and maintain our World Reserve Currency status, our political leaders, banking and other financial leaders and our industrial leaders must all come together with the single purpose of “saving America from itself.” Too long we have sought solutions to problems based on selfish goals. Industries have moved operations to foreign manufacturing sites at the expense of American jobs. Our tax structure might be a contributing factor, but a deeper search will expose a primarily bottom line objective. If we accept the fact that President Obama is expected to raise one billion dollars in campaign contributions, who do you think will provide the majority of that money? Big contributors are those who have expectations of favorable legislation such as pension funds, labor unions and financial institutions.

It takes a lot of little donations to be effective in county elections. It takes a lot of very large donations to run a presidential campaign.

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Editor’s note: Leo Lynch, a native of Benton County has deep roots in northwest Arkansas. He is a retired industrial engineer and former Justice of the Peace. He can be contacted at prtnews@ nwaonline.com.

Opinion, Pages 4 on 07/27/2011