Promise Me No More: No More Slogans, Guarantees or "Dreams"

....Because it simply isn't in your power to keep any promise,
when you alone can't control any outcomes. The U.S.
President, the House and the Senate must act in concert
to enact or repeal legislation, excepting Executive Orders.
I haven't checked yet, but bet limitations exist there too,
otherwise far more than 200 such orders in a president's four
year term would be common, and they are not.

Candidates, I implore you: Just tell me what concerns you,
inspires you, what areas you most want to work on, what
approach you'd like to take--and you better BE SPECIFIC,
as Illinois' Forrest Claypool said so memorably so many times
on the Cook County Board. Be done with high-flown phrases
reminiscent of the snake oil salesmen of yore. Even if you
believe, as I'm often tempted to, that the polity wants to
be gulled, don't do it! Betray an understanding of what ails
the nation, such as our collapsing infrastructure, beyond the
oft-quoted 8.+ % unemployment rate.

America, stop looking for a mother or a father figure--instead,
act in an adult, informed, and yes, even courageous fashion.
All of us over 18 have played a partial role in this sorry
spectacle. Try viewing political speeches from decades back,
they might surprise you. Accept that fixing the country, if it isn't
too late, will take a concerted, enormous effort.

Are you able do to all this, actually what's required? Anything
else is just the same old smoke, wishing or whining I've heard
for decades, can reproduce most of it verbatim....

So much for promises, broken or unspoken. Let's act our
age and get to work.