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Let's resolve to fix a few things
© St. Petersburg Times Today, the calendars all change and we wipe clean the slate of 2002. So, hold your breath and dip your toes into 2003. The arrival of a new year typically means changes for people, from joining health clubs and throwing away cigarettes to rededicating efforts to communicate with teenagers, in-laws and neighbors. Nowhere is the desire to change stronger than in government. In Florida, new laws tend to kick in on Jan. 1, and this year is no different. Mercifully, however, the powers that be went easy on us this year, and there are only a few new wrinkles to consider. And most of those, especially the recently passed constitutional amendments dealing with education, won't kick in for months or years, if ever. That doesn't mean, though, that all is right with the world or that there is no room for improvement. Here are just a few changes that I believe will make life a bit easier for everyone. File them under: There oughta be a law . . . Accountability: It's shameful that we have to mandate this fundamental aspect of adult life, but as the events of the past year have shown, so many people in important positions just don't get it. We need a mechanism by which those of us affected by the greed-heads of corporate America can strike back effectively. We're the most powerful nation in the history of the planet, yet so often ordinary citizens act like sheep being led to the slaughter. That has to change. A good place to start is in the unrivaled disaster that masquerades as a health care system in the United States. Every American, except for the rich and powerful, is being crushed by this unjust, unhealthy and fraudulent patchwork quilt of greed. Until the rich and powerful are made to feel the pain the rest of us endure, until the decisionmakers from government and the medical, pharmaceutical and insurance industries are held accountable, this life-and-death system will never improve. Along those same lines, let's insist that lawmakers on all levels be citizen-legislators. That means they will not only have our health plans, but they will also have to find on-street parking, stand in line at the post office, fly coach and use coupons at the grocery store. Let them see how the real world works. Finally, anyone who is in a position to vote on whether to wage war must have a personal stake in it. Either they must be a combat veteran or have a loved one who is in uniform. We have too many armchair generals willing to send the anonymous sons and daughters of everyone else off to fight dubious battles. Let their kids be in the line of fire and we'll see how "just" these causes really are. Okay, I'm through with my rants. Let's move on to some less weighty matters. I believe that every TV evangelist who pleads for money should be made to take a vow of poverty. We'll set up a reality TV-style camera in his home to ensure compliance. And, please, get a decent haircut. I'm all in favor of giving those with physical limitations full access to employment opportunities, but it's time to admit that the National Football League's experiment with blind referees has been a bust. If the NFL is going to continue to put the vision-impaired on the field, at least allow them to bring their guide dogs with them. People who insist on driving slowly in the left lane of highways should have their cars confiscated and be given horses and mules to ride instead. The same goes for people who tailgate big rigs, who weave through traffic at 90 mph, who wait until you're just about to pass them before they pull out from a side street in front of you and go slow, who put on their makeup or read books while driving . . . Whew, sorry. Once you get started on foolish driving habits, it's hard to stop. We should all have the legal right to make a citizen's arrest of these nitwits. The fines alone could pay for the high-speed rail line that we'll never see in our lifetime. And, while we're at it, let's mandate that government and the motoring industry really develop alternate fuels for vehicles. At the moment, Big Oil rules the White House, so there will be no move to lessen our dependence on this fossil fuel. But imagine if this country took on this challenge, as it did the space race in the '60s. We can and must force this change. Lastly, we need language police. Not censors, but wordsmiths who will crack their rulers over the knuckles of anyone who uses the words "interface," "proactive," "dialogue" (as in, let's have a dialogue on this movie script) and phrases such as "at the end of the day" and "I'll be honest with you." Because I'll be honest with you, unless we as citizens get proactive and dialogue with our so-called leaders, at the end of the day we'll be be left interfacing with even more troubles. We can do better than that.
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