Jack Kennedy once said, "mothers all want their sons to grow up to be president, but they don't want them to become politicians in the process." Cute, huh?

Well, it's high time we thought about what we want politics in America to be. Through many travels and conversations with a variety of folks, one of the most commonly cited concerns with the business of government is that "it has become too corrupt." The average American citizen has come to believe that government is not meant for good, but for evil; not to give, but to take. Add to that the many pathetic criminals who have occupied (and may still be occupying) national, state, and local government, and one can sense the growing frustration with the supposed "keeper of the public welfare."

Another bother of modern politics is the seeming need to categorize everything. Whenever an opinion is spun out by anyone on any levelfrom a common citizen to an elected officialit is immediately classified, sub-classified, and earmarked dozens of different ways. You are conservative or you are liberal; you are Democrat or Republican; you are red or you're blue; you are an elitist or you are ignorant.

Now, name for me the greatest problems of our time--problems that you would like to see resolved sooner rather than later. The War on Terror? Social Security and Medicare? Education? Civil Rights? The Economy? Steroids in Baseball?

It's time for a new dialogue in our nation's government, and all parties need to hold each other accountable.

Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama has been fond of saying "there is not a liberal America or conservative America; there is the United States of America." When we categorize our problems, do they go away? No. We can classify something to death, but at the end of the day, we end up with the same problem. Our politicians, our media, and us commonfolk need to engage each other on equal footing--without resorting to name-calling or negative stereotyping to score points.

The second point is thisgovernment is no place for personal gain. If any public official neglects his constituents in favor of his own growth, he deserves neither wealth nor status. Congressmen are generally re-elected based on their ability to "bring home the bacon;" whether this means they actually contributed to solving the problems we listed above does not matter. Whether they made millions for themselves in the meantime also does not matter, apparently. This is wrong. If we need to enact term limits on every political office in the landincluding Congress--then we shouldn't think twice.

America has been shunning idealism lately like it's the plague. "Deal in reality," us idealists are told--yet that reality keeps getting less and less appealing every day. Idealism is no folly, and dreaming is certainly no vice.

We need actionable solutions to our problems, no matter which side of the aisle they come from. Come to think of it, the fact that there is an aisle to begin with is probably a problem.

I don't care whether a liberal or a conservative offers a solution to a problem. The importance lies in the solution, and how we make it work for America. This means swallowing ego and pride; it may mean conceding a few points to the other side--yes, it appears as though the road to effective governance is not easy!

Our time for change is now--not tomorrow. We may live in the present, but we dream in the present too. Although the path to a new political language may be long and arduous, the outcome is well worth the tribulation.