Bajaj, an intern with the Bridge Alliance, is a first-year student at the University of Southern California double majoring in international relations and psychology. The Bridge Alliance operates The Fulcrum.
"We are bound by ideals that teach us what it means to be citizens. Every child must be taught these ideals. Every citizen must uphold them. ... I ask you to be citizens. Citizens, not spectators. Citizens, not subjects. Responsible citizens building communities of service and a nation of character."
Said by George W. Bush in his 2001 inaugural address, this quote truly captures the urgency and importance to be a contributing citizen in today’s society. One may ask, what does it mean to be a good citizen? While the answers to that questions are endless, we believe proper citizens will always put community and nation before party, ideology and narrow interests. They realize that someone does not have to be shunned if they have a different opinion. Rather, they center on collaboration, seeking creative ways to reach others by speaking to their individual interests.
By a citizen simply placing themself in another citizen’s shoes, communities will ignite collective interest to prioritize working together, opening up the previous untapped energy and drive to make a change. That is what the 2022 Civic Collaborations Awards — the “Civvys” — will celebrate.
Presented by the Bridge Alliance, the Civvys are the first and only national award program celebrating best practices in civic collaboration and collective action. From the inception of the awards, we have emphasized the need to celebrate people and initiatives that leverage collaboration and creativity to strengthen communities, heal partisan divides, and invigorate American democracy. Our winners in previous years have exemplified what it means to embrace diverse perspectives and make a difference. That’s why we created the Civvys, and that’s why this year we will focus on work done in 2021 that speaks to the urgency of democracy.
We hope you will join us on this journey of honoring our democracy by nominating an individual or group that embodies what the Civvys advocates. Applications must be submitted by April 18, after which an esteemed panel of civic leaders will review the submissions to designate finalists and winners. The 2022 Civvy Awards will be announced during the Civic Season in Atlanta, Ga., on June 12.
Thank you for taking a step in caring for our democracy.
Americans across the political spectrum have continued to ask about the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s connections among the political elite. (Angela Weiss/AFP)
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner speaks to voters at a town hall at the Elks Lodge 188 on June 7, 2026, in Portland, Maine.
McConnell and Platner both feel entitled
The two men could not be more different. One, a Republican, octogenarian, seven-term Southern senator, the other a progressive, millennial Maine oysterman who’s never spent a day in elected office.
But Mitch McConnell, the senior senator from Kentucky who’s been MIA for the past few weeks and Graham Platner, the Maine Senate candidate who’s facing calls to drop out of his race against Sen. Susan Collins, apparently do have something in common: an outsized sense of entitlement.
McConnell, who is 84 and not running for reelection, has been hospitalized for three weeks, and yet we still don’t fully know what he was admitted for or what his condition is. Per CNN, “his office has not disclosed a medical reason for the hospitalization or provided specifics on his health status beyond saying last week that he ‘continues to improve’ and ‘is working closely with his staff on Kentucky and Senate matters.’ ”
While several legislators have said they’ve talked to him and insist he sounds strong, others have said they are completely in the dark. One MAGA influencer, Laura Loomer, posted ”High level source close to the White House tells me ‘Mitch McConnell is officially brain dead. He’s not coming back.’ ”
Meanwhile, up in Maine, Platner has been artfully dodging calls from his own party to drop out of his race after several allegations of misconduct from women, including a sexual assault allegation from a former girlfriend, came to light. While Platner, who has managed to survive a Nazi-tattoo scandal, a sexting scandal, and several old tweets scandals, denies the allegations, he has not quit.
High-profile Democrats including Sens. Bernie Sanders and Chuck Schumer, the latter of whom had unsuccessfully hand-selected Maine Gov. Janet Mills to face Collins instead of Platner, have urged Platner to drop out, while other Dems have accused him of trying to influence the picking of his replacement.
Maine Democratic Party Executive Director Devon Murphy-Anderson released a statement Tuesday, which said in part:
“Unfortunately, Graham Platner’s team has repeatedly reached out to us in an attempt to put their thumb on the scale of what this process looks like. We have repeatedly reiterated to Graham Platner’s team that they have no role in determining our next Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate nor in determining what this process looks like.”
Both incidents show a deep lack of accountability to voters, who in one case deserve to know whether their senator is capable of performing his duties, and in another deserve a candidate who isn’t being accused of crimes, bigotry and deception.
The offensive and odious entitlement of both McConnell and Platner stands out not because it is particularly unique among today’s political class. Tom Kean, the New Jersey GOP congressman, missed more than 100 votes, only sharing after a three-month mystery absence that he was dealing with depression.
Former President Joe Biden’s Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin failed to disclose a hospitalization for prostate cancer surgery, flouting the established rules for Cabinet members and senior U.S. officials.
From Biden’s insistence on running for reelection despite his obvious cognitive and political weaknesses to Trump’s brazen flouting of laws and norms, few politicians seem to appreciate that their public service job comes with responsibilities to constituents, including transparency and honesty.
But both parties increasingly justify the chicanery, because the stakes of winning elections and keeping power are simply too high. But that’s no excuse. If we’ve learned anything over the past decade, it’s that character and accountability do, in fact, matter. And when we, the voters, stop caring about it, well, so do they.
S.E. Cupp is the host of "S.E. Cupp Unfiltered" on CNN.