What would George, Honest Abe or Teddy think about today's leaders?

Are there any leaders out there? Can Congress get anything done anymore? Can it do the work it’s supposed to do? I’m tired of it and the American people grow increasingly weary of the non-stop partisanship that strangles the Democracy we so dearly treasure.

A self-proclaimed Islamic caliphate, led by the dregs of society, and as evil as your worst Nazi thug, has been lopping off heads - some of the American – and burning Jordanian fighter pilots alive. The Caliphate has announced that it is only a boat’s ride from Rome - and what does our Congress do while Rome is threatened? 

That’s right, blame the president for our immigration woes.

The Republican Congress, apparently led by 50 or so radicals, who think Climate Change is a hoax and continue their search for Obama’s Kenyan birth certificate, refuse to provide funding for the Department of Homeland Security unless the administration shelves its immigration policy. The Republican majority wants to roll back Obama’s immigration policies by lumping immigration in with the Homeland Security spending bill.

It’s a clearly partisan ploy to place undue pressure on the other party to capitulate, and unfortunately both parties employ these obviously divisive tactics.

On Meet the Press Sunday morning I listened patiently as Bakersfield Republican Congressman and House Republican Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, droned on once again how the Republicans are doing their jobs while the President sits idly by laughing all the way to the nearest golf course. “It’s his fault,” he declared proudly, sounding more like a sixth grade bully that a member of the House of Representatives.

One has a sneaking suspicion that McCarthy, who has at times proven to be somewhat of a pragmatic representative, not always agrees with the band of 50 Republicans who seem intent on making themselves a laughingstock. Yet, before the pundits of political discourse, McCarthy was following the Tea Party “talking points” as support for Homeland Security slowly slips away and the fight against the thugs of Islamic terrorism continues.

Actually, in the end, cooler heads will no doubt prevail. Congress will pass the Homeland Security funding bill and won’t touch immigration. But why does it always have to go to the brink?

Have you noticed politicians, when asked a tough question, never really answer? Rare is the congressman, senator, or governor who utters a simple yes or no, or gets directly to the point. It’s always someone else’s fault they say. “We’re just doing our job.”

It’s time our elected representatives start defining the meaning of leadership and practice it. One wonders what George Washington, Abraham Lincoln or Theodore Roosevelt would think of the men and women who walk the hallowed halls of Congress today. Not much I fear.