I expect my government to cease conducting public life like citizens are children who will only make a mess if we take responsibility for our own place in the world.

It’s already a mess. We’re going to make it worse if you tell us the truth?

Just tell us.

How much does a policy cost? What are we trading off? Has the law been broken?

How many teenagers are getting pregnant, and what are the programs that work to reduce those pregnancies?

When can we get our serving soldiers home without leaving Iraq in sectarian mayhem? When can we give that country back to the only people who truly have it in their power to make it work? What’s the plan to take care of the military families who have made the real sacrifices?

Where is all this bailout money going, and who is accountable for the decisions that transfer a future generation’s treasure to the same staggering geniuses who rigged the economy to demolish the entire middle class?

Why aren’t the banks we saved loaning our money back to us so we can sell and buy houses, invest in equipment for our businesses, fix what is crumbling, or trade an SUV in for a hybrid?

How much is the water going to rise if we don’t get serious on climate change policy?

Get back to us with answers that don’t involve unicorns, Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny or the Great Pumpkin.

Just tell us the truth.

I am not hoping for a Knight in Shining Armor, or a Messiah, or FDR or Lincoln. I am not hoping for the wisdom and magic of Dumbledore.

I expect the human beings who hold temporary authority, granted by the citizenry, to step up to the problems, tell us what the options are, and work for something decent and sturdy to leave for the next shift.

If you just got elected to something, anything that involved a ballot and the public trust, stow the rhetoric about the Kingdom of God and the American Dream for a while. Take your oath. Find a desk. Look at the spreadsheets and get back to me with the facts.

This is not about hope. I am a citizen. You work for me, and this is what I expect.