I heard Jon Stewart say something and it got me thinking. Larry King asked who fascinated him most in the current administration. Stewart answered “the people”. Stewart credited their seemingly inexhaustible patience in spite of a seemingly totally indifferent government.

Now I must admit I think Jon Stewart is one of the more gifted political observers. But I’m not sure he’s right. I’m not totally sold that the American people are so patient. I fear they may be apathetic.

In my home state of Ohio we have a governor who has been convicted. Tom Noe, a prominent Republican fundraiser, has been indicted on 53 felony counts stemming from an investigation of his handling of 50 million of the Ohio Bureau of Worker’s Compensation money. An audit finds 13.5 million of that money missing. So are the people up in arms and ready to shoot anything closely resembling a Republican? I wish. Instead the reaction has been very blasé. Apathy reigns here. People seem to expect the worst from politicians.

That’s sad.

It’s really sad because it’s our fault. We expect so little from them and make our voices heard so infrequently that they don’t care. Without the constant pressure of high expectations and the oversight of the voters our government officials act like spoiled children. It’s all about winning and political capital. Unless of course they’re campaigning, then all the feel good warm and fuzzy “let’s help the poor” stuff comes out. Trust me, they don’t man a word of it.

I, like Jon Stewart, am fed up with both parties. I’ve said that before though so I won’t belabor the point. But I will belabor this it’s really not their fault we’re in the mess we’re in. It’s ours. Our condition will not improve until the rightful leaders of this nation, the American people, take their country back.