With the primary season in full gear on both the Democratic and Republic fronts, the state of the Union is relative and a matter of opinion. It is a well designed and skilled game, complete with the Conservative Right, Moderate Middle and Liberal Left. Polls have been known to be manipulated to say one thing, political pundits pontificate on other things, and yes as in years past, votes are known to be tampered with depending upon whose agenda needs the most. The things that remain constant in determining the actual state of the Union are the facts that can neither be manipulated nor ignored. Like any desperate captain and his crew, George W. Bush and his administration are still trying to salvage what they can of a continuously sinking ship.

The current administration will continue as they have in the last eight years to try and convince the American People that all is well in these United States. In his final days as president, he will continue the rhetoric of a kinder, gentler nation. The repetition of being uniters not dividers will be the status quo. The legacy of the Bush Administration, I think, will be one of the darkest ever recorded since the founding of our nation. The entire legacy can be summed up by the Walt Disney fairy tale of Chicken Little, who tried, I would argue with success, to convince the whole world, after being hit on the head with an acorn, that the sky was falling.

The actual state of the Union is that our men and women are fighting for a lost cause that never was, while scores of people are dying daily. The fact remains that while we are fighting for capitalism and not freedom, issues of hunger, inequality and humanity abound. I am reminded that the late Pope John Paul II, in an abundance of caution, warned us that war is a “defeat of humanity.”

The reality is that people have mortgages they cannot pay and cannot afford health care. Rhetorically, in a nation as wealthy as the United States, why do we not have minimum wage legislation that directly correlates to the cost of living? With an approval rating of 37%, a lost war, and a collapsing economy, Bush Junior’s successor will have the responsibility to do unprecedented damage control in our country and across the world.

The continuous chant in every corner of the country and that is echoing in every campaign speech is “we want change and it is time for change.” It is very clear that people are yearning for a breath of fresh air and I believe that every candidate in this national election has the responsibility to be the face of tomorrow. In the coming months , I hope that we resolve, individually and collectively, to let our sentiments prevail, ultimately through civic participation at the most basic level. We reside in a democracy of the people, for the people and by the people and thus, we determine the state of our Union.

The Reverend D. D. Prather, is a noted Civil/Social Justice Activist, and a native of Atlanta, GA . Click here to contact the Reverend Prather.