Not my Father's Congress

For 12 years my late father served as an impassioned, loyal public servant as a member of The United States House of Representatives. He did so purely for the love of country and the constituents he had the chance to represent. Although not in ideological agreement with many of those he served with, Marvin Leath was able to forge relationships that transcended party affiliations. Leath's Law of Loyalty was based on finding common ground, rising above purely political differences to serve the greater good. He did this by developing political relationships that were not defined by campaign contributions from special interests or careless demagoguery from political opposition. There was no other possible way a small town conservative banker from Waco, Texas could have had the personal relationships he had with the likes of Chuck Schumer, Barney Frank, Charlie Rangel, Ron Dellums, Barbara Boxer, just to name a few. In his day, in his time, his philosophy was life is nothing but relationships. In fact, when he retired, political scholar Norman Ornstein called him,"A Bridge Between the Parties." He's the only politician in history I know of that retired with a 96% approval rating and name recognition of 98%. That's a fact.

The Congressman once said,"Well, relationships--I learned--I think I was about six years old that relationships--human relationships are what makes the world go round. It's not that youto get to know somebody or be nice to somebody just so you can get something out of them. It's just that if I don't know you or you don't know me, neither one of us can influence each other about anything, because we don't have the respect or the trust or the understanding." Further more he said,"I've spent my entire life making relationships, which means that if you've got those kind of relationships, your fortunate enough that you can pick up the telephone and do more in five minutes than some people can in six months because they dont 'have the relationships. They don't--and not only do people have to know you, they have to trust you."(From the Oral Memoirs of James Marvin Leath, Baylor Institute of Oral History, 2001)

Where has my father's vision for America gone I often wonder? Sure, I speak of him often, but that aside to this day he's the best, most effective politician I've ever known. Sadly, our governing bodies have seemingly turned into entities that care more about the fight than they do about what's best for our country. They rely more on high priced consultants to create their views rather than the people that elected them. Political talking points, often filled with half truths and innuendo have taken the place of remembering why they were elected in the first place. Walking the middle and political correctness have taken the place of creating policy based on what's just and right. As dad used to say, there's not one degree of political risk in being honest with those you serve. Well, today there's a lot of dishonesty and heck of a lot of political liability that goes along with it. There's no working together, no real bipartisanship. Today America has a government none of us should be too proud of. The road we're headed down cannot be navigated by the tools we're using. Today members of opposite parties are simply unable despite their disagreements, able to agree on how to govern. The ways in which our elected representatives are choosing to navigate our government is not working. Without change it is doomed to fail and that my friends benefits none of us.