ask me if I care

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When it comes to American politics, I think that one of the hardest questions to ask is, "Ask me if I care." Don't tell me that I should care, ask me if I care.

Ask me if I care about Barack Obama's speech on jobs or the predictable knee-jerk Republican "no" that is sure to follow. Ask me if I care about the Republican candidates' debate. Ask me if I care about the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, demolition of the World Trade Towers. Ask me if I care about the Israeli attack on Gaza-aid ships in international waters. Ask me if I care about the fact that the same bankers and brokers who engineered the economic collapse of 2008 are now advising the latest congressional committees addressing banking reform.

Ask me if I care.

And of course there are things that I care about, but the fact is that in shuddering economic times, the trust that had informed an earlier caring has been eroded and I am tired of unkept promises heaped high with the same promises newly-packaged. It is tiring to be uncertain and I imagine I am not alone.

Ask me if I care and I find myself thrown back on my own devices: The only thing that can be learned from the mistakes of others is this: Don't YOU do that.

And I care about that.
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