I'M ASHAMED TO BE AN INDEPENDENT VOTER

if the new definition of being "AN INDEPENDENT VOTER" means sticking your ass--as opposed to using your mind--up in the air and shifting repeatedly with every gust of wind that comes along, then i don't wanna be called an independent any more.

if I'm to believe what the pundits are saying- the same people that voted for Brown in Massachusetts are also the same voters that voted for President Obama! in the span of a mere year, they have determined that they are going to send the congress and the President a message that they are unhappy. maybe I'm just too stupid to understand- but do these so-called independents not understand the complexity of the huge problems that the President inherited? are they so easily swayed by the talking heads, the pundits, the 24 hour entertainment channels such as CNN, MSNBC, and FOX?

if memory serves me correctly, then Senator Obama campaigned on health care for all and made it one of the cornerstones of his campaign, and now all of a sudden- every one's going around amazed that the President is actually trying to overhaul the health care system the way he said he would. The President said that taking the war to the enemy in Afghanistan would also be a priority and now people are going crazy because he is actually sending more troops to that country!! i don't necessarily agree with this strategy, but i do remember what he said and i did vote for him.

the real problem as i see it is that once elected, it becomes rather difficult to stay focused on the promises made, and instead the focus shifts to making damn sure that the President, the Senator, the Representative is RE ELECTED!!!!! IT IS AFTER ALL, NOT JUST HIS/HER JOB/FUTURE THAT IS AT STAKE. THE TRAIN LOAD OF HANGERS ON THAT EACH AND EVERY POLITICIAN BRINGS TO THE OFFICE IS DAUNTING. I am sure that there is probably a lot of good intentions, but we as Americans have to face the real world and understand that once elected, the office, the perks that come with the office are just too damn good to wanna give up and therefore, it becomes a battle of wanting to do the people's work and desperately wanting to keep the office come re election.

it would have been refreshing if then Senator Obama would have come out and said "if you send me to Washington, i give you my word that i will do the work that you have sent me to do and if i am not elected in four years because of it-so be it" well, as much as i like Obama and respect that he is trying to do what he said he would do, I am also not stupid enough to believe that he and his staff do not measure each and every move based on 2012.

the only remedy for this is quite simple and yet will never happen-for both good and bad reasons.

ONE TERM FOR EACH AND EVERY ELECTED POLITICIAN.