Jon Stewart got it right

politics & the Roman Circus

I enjoy sports,
and I can love sports,

I enjoy politics,
and I can love politics,

and hate either, or both, for a time,

yet they are not the same,
sports only truly matters to the little one that is my ego,
he can cheer and sob,
and like a dessert, or its absence,
it feels good, or not,
and we can then move on, none the worse for the wear,
except for the weight we can carry as a penance,

in politics, the fate of individuals, groups, the country itself, matters
when one wins a contest, or loses,
it can still be the little one who is heartened, or disheartened,
but behind the symbol there are real people with real lives,
and what we do with rights, with war, with bills and taxes,
are us at our best, or us becoming our worst,

we lose the war for the soul of the country
when all we care about is the battle,
when we think that if we win the game
who we’re playing for definitely benefits,
and we lose sight of who and what we’re fighting for
at our, and their, peril,

I fear the U.S. now treats politics like the Roman Circus, like gladiators,
something to distract us from what’s real,

like sports, the contest grabs us and we can forget what really matters.

by Henry Walker
November 13, ’10