“Respect” and “responsibility” can be stricken from our dictionaries, as we no longer exhibit either.Respect: A feeling of deep admiration for someone or something elicited by their abilities, qualities, or achievements. Most Americans have lost respect for our country, our way of life, the value of our currency and each other. Today, earning respect is done in sound bytes, campaign slogans and opponent bashing all paid for by big business and special interest group lobbyists, who have little, or no, respect for the whole of our society. Who do you have respect for? Our elected officials who we've entrusted to keep us financially sound? Our government has lost respect for the working class, who drag themselves out of bed to go to work each day, and given it to CEOs who've run their businesses into the ground. We then bail out these billionaires, only to watch them repeat their mistakes. Responsibility: A moral obligation to behave correctly toward or in respect of; individuals have a responsibility to control personal behavior.Today's weapon of mass destruction is the irresponsible spending of our government. Shipping billions of tax dollars to a war zone with no clear picture of how it's being spent. More than $15 billion of taxpayer money has gone unaccounted for and no one is being held responsible. Social programs have turned into insatiable, ever-expanding, nonsustaining bureaucracies. Education, the only hope for our nation's future, is being cut to the bone. America spends more per child than any industrialized country and our children get less education for it. Money goes toward administrators and their staff, while teaching positions, programs and lunches are cut.   Responsibility is now argued in court. When an elected official is caught with their hand in the till or posts their privates on twitter, they plead ignorance, being misinformed, hacked or misquoted. Rarely does someone take responsibility after getting caught. Deny everything is what any “good” attorney advises.  How many of our presidents' cabinet appointees have misappropriated campaign funds, used government aircraft for personal use, or owe back taxes? Citizens who don't pay taxes are held responsible and prosecuted, so why should elected officials be exempt? They've put themselves above the law, absolving them of responsibilities that each American has. They voted themselves the best health-care coverage; retirement plans, housing benefits and pay raises — unattainable to most Americans. “Respect” and “responsibility” had meaning to past generations and to the working class Americans. We'll find use again for these words when we as a nation hold our elected officials to the same responsibilities that we all face. Only then will we regain respect for our way of government, elected officials and ourselves as Americans. 

John J. MenaBoone