Many of us were exposed to Shakespearian literature, however briefly, at some point during our education years. Even if we understood the dialogue most of us "pigeonholed" the experience in the useless information drawer along with algebraic formulas, and compound chemical chains.
It is my great fortune to have discovered a practical use for quotations from the "Bard of Avon" in the contemporary political arena.
Macbeth provides a rich vein of quotations, for instance: from the three witches we have, "Fair is foul, and foul is fair; hover through the fog and filthy air." This brings to mind the air in Washington D.C. and the current administration's shenanigans with attempts to persuade candidates to drop out of congressional races, and the claim that it's all fair game, nothing foul here?
Lady Macbeth provides the following while plotting a foul deed with a reticent Lord Macbeth when she says, "Screw your courage to the sticking place and we'll not fail!" What better advice could be given to the American people and their elected representatives for securing our borders and dealing with illegal immigration? Success will require courage and determination.
Again, the three witches are prophetic as they stir their boiling pot of witches brew and say, "Double, double toil and trouble; fire burn and cauldron bubble." An apt description of the tensions in the world related to troubled world economies and tensions in the Middle East and the Far East that threaten to bubble over.
Finally, Lady Macbeth's words that betray her obsession with cleaning her hands of blood, are prophetic in describing our country's woes in cleaning up the Gulf oil disaster, she says "yet here's a spot! ... Out damned spot."
Maybe we can learn from Shakespeare. For sure we need to change how we look at some of our challenges such as border security. We need a president who can provide real leadership instead of one who adds fuel to the fire by making false and misleading public statements about Arizona's attempts to solve a problem that affects the whole country.
We need one who understands the concerns of the American people not one who empathizes with the people of other countries.
We need leaders who can help us "screw up our courage" by screwing their courage to the sticking place.
We also can use real change in the way Congress does business. The antiquated "seniority system" needs an overhaul that reflects selecting committee members for their expertise not the number of years in office.
There is hope that the next two election cycles will bring a preponderance of new faces with new ideas and will necessitate abandoning the outdated, ineffective "business as usual" mode.
The established Congressional power structure will fight this change "tooth and nail" out of fear that a new, more effective way of meeting the obligation to represent the people will succeed. We'll need a powerful "brew" to overcome the "witches spell" cast over our country by opportunistic politicians and a (until recently) disengaged electorate.
Reynolds lives in Pleasant View.
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