After my sister’s third divorce, my dear Irish mother said in her sweet charming way, “Face it kid you’re a shitty picker.”

Much the same can be said today about the American electorate.

Almost every poll, along with everyone I have spoken to, reports the same sentiment: Congress is doing a lousy job—9% approval rating. I assume that 9% are all family, friends, and employees of members of Congress.

Yet with all this dissatisfaction we routinely reelect our representative to the US Congress. Over 90% of Representatives get reelected. It seems we all believe that Congress is doing a crappy job but our Representative, and our Representative alone, is doing a first-rate job. There is no guilt-by-association.

We have all fallen into the classic trap of concentrating on the symptom rather than the problem, which is easy since symptoms often mask the real problem. Congress is not the problem. It is a symptom. The real issue is the electorate – We The People. Sure it is simple to blame Congress, but who are they? They are people that we have sent to Washington. The sad part is that our votes have been bought to send, and resend, these people to Congress, but we, the electorate, never see a dime of this money.

Here is how we can begin to address the actual problem. As a first step, I want you all to go into your bathrooms, point at the face in the mirror, and yell as loud as you can “Shitty Picker”. Do this every day until the problem is solved by electing representatives that represent what you stand for rather than Party association.

Once we all accept responsibility for the problem, the next step is to become knowledgeable about the choices. Learn who is running, what their backgrounds are, and their positions on issues that are meaningful to you. Don’t get caught up with sound-bites. Today’s politicians will say whatever it takes to be mentioned on TV, radio, or the internet. We owe it to ourselves and society to do the hard work. Learn everything you can about all the candidates, then make the correct choice for you.

Sadly, news shows are no longer about reporting the news. They are all part of the entertainment divisions of their respective networks. News is just the topic they utilize to entertain you. If the news is not entertaining you don’t get to see or hear it.

Ideally, you should meet the candidate personally at a forum, town hall meeting, or any other meet-and-greet. Use the internet to visit the candidate’s website. Then use the internet to verify their statements. The thing about incumbents is that they all have voting records from which they can’t hide. These voting records tell you how they have performed in the past and provide a good indication of how they will perform in the future. Voting records are much more concrete than campaign promises.

Finally, after accepting responsibility for the problem and doing the research, you need to VOTE!