Time for D.C. to get back to work for us

Recently I have been spending a considerable amount of time at the Boston Public Library’s main branch at Copley Square, looking up material for a few major interviews in the national and international media that I have been invited to deliver in the near future, as well as one I am scheduled to make in Louisiana next week. The first interview will be broadcast on National Public Radio and WGBH Television this week on the anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, which took place on July 20, 1969. I was joined by two informed Bostonians, author Bill Martin and University of Massachusetts professor Charlie Titus.

The topic was: What we were all doing on the day of the historic moon landing, and how people felt. The other, equally fascinating story that I had fun preparing for was the 30th anniversary of Tiananmen Square memorial in Boston’s Chinatown. The events at Tiananmen Square were broadcast throughout the world on Voice of America.

But with all the other breaking news happening across the world that I faithfully follow — from the incredible threat to world peace and stability from China, both economically and militarily, as well as Iran’s nuclear threat, and other important global events, I have to acknowledge that I am totally dismayed and upset with all the theatrics by our politicians in Washington, D.C., from the White House to Congress, including the national media.

Our country is being ridiculed throughout the world and our leaders can’t think about anything else but “petty gotcha politics,” by partisan amateurs who don’t understand the importance of their job. With reliable information known about American high-tech companies sharing incredible defense technology with Communist China, Washington politicians are spending most of their time degrading and ridiculing each other.

My strongest advice is that the American people get actively involved, like loyal and patriotic citizens did before them, and demand that our political leaders stop fighting each other and focus on the real enemies and concerns of all Americans — national security, illegal drugs and our children’s education.

These are the issues I hear my neighbors and people on the T and walking the streets of Boston talking about every day.

Raymond L. Flynn is a former mayor of Boston and U.S. ambassador to the Vatican.