Iowa's
Hope for 2012

by
Paul Deaton

The
tedium of politics is sapping the joy from Spring. April 2011 has
been reminiscent of the scene in F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel of
summer, The Great Gatsby, wherein Nick Carraway rides the train
between Long Island and New York City through the ash heaps of a
barren, industrial landscape. Why so? In a year of divided
government, we knew not much would get done. Living through the
actuality of it, the posturing, the pandering, the desultory speeches
and inaction has made us weary. The expectation become reality has
tarnished whatever shine may have existed in the imperfect world of
politics.

The
news from the governor's office on Wednesday was that he signed a
bill to enable a “physician assistant or an advanced registered
nurse practitioner to sign a death certificate.” It is hard to
engage when the news is that the government realized it doesn't take
a doctor to say the patient is dead.

If we had hoped there would be
new interest in the start of the 2012 presidential campaign, it has
been a fizzle. When President Obama filed papers with the Federal
Election Commission last Monday, we knew
his campaign staff organizing had begun before last Christmas. The
launch was low key and anti-climactic, and probably appropriate. With
Organizing for America, the 2008 presidential campaign never really
ended.

A swarm of drones has been unleashed from the
Republican hive to create a large field of presidential candidates.
If we don't know their names, it doesn't matter. Republican hopes
will be fueled by the Heritage Foundation, the American Future Fund
and the decisions of corporate board members around the world. A
candidate having a personality may get in the way. They could put up
Gumby without changing the election outcome and Gumby may have better
chances than the likes of Newt Gingrich or Mitt Romney.

A
gathering of military veterans discussed how we could make a
difference on Wednesday. We discussed ideas and made plans. No one
was interested in bird dogging Michelle Bachmann about the cost of
militarism during her visit to Iowa next week. No one gave a reason. Instead, we planned
outreach to high school students and ended the afternoon by standing
a drink for a soldier home on leave, returning to Afghanistan on
Sunday. Supporting each other is what veterans do best, and therein
may be a path out of Spring doldrums.

We are all in this
together, those who condemn the president, those who support him and
everyone in between. At the core of our veteran's gathering was
turning the question away from “what's in it for me?” towards “what's
in it for us?” Broader application of this idea may be what's
needed to awaken us from the white noise induced sleep caused by
partisan bickering.

Inspiration has been lacking from
partisan politics. The future of our movement lies not in backing
candidates, but in a hundred meet-ups where we gather with friends,
family and strangers to take the future of our country into our hands
once more. Politicians are transitory, but when we stand together,
something endures, and that is our hope for 2012.

~Paul
Deaton is a native Iowan living in rural Johnson County and weekend
editor of Blog for Iowa. E-mail
Paul Deaton