This week was one of the most unusual and newsworthy in some time. Let’s try to summarize what we learned.

We learned that people in power have no hesitation seeking favors or privileges for family and friends. The e-mails released this week prove that former Governor Easley had no reluctance to request a job for his wife at NC State University. Those in power appoint, hire, and reward those related to them, those who contribute to them or those who help them.

We learned that people in power have no problem granting favor to other people in power. Power recognizes and rewards power. The administrators at NC State didn’t have any problem granting the Governor this favor. It happens all the time, regardless of the field.

We learned that people in power will do anything, including lying and other nefarious acts, to remain in power. Once gained, holding onto power is the ultimate goal.

We learned that people in power rarely get in trouble for what they did but for what they do to cover up what they did. People in power frequently tell the truth as a last resort rather than as a first response. The web they weave when first they practice to deceive is often what snares them. What NC State officials did in giving Mary Easley a job was not illegal but it is sad when a federal Grand Jury subpoena forces officials to finally reveal the truth to us.

We learned that people in power are willing to scare, intimidate, and even threaten us in order to take the action they know they need to take in the first place. For weeks leadership in our state House has been scaring the beejesus out of parents, teachers, mental health advocates, the poor, the disabled and the rest of us, threatening draconian cuts of $4.6 billion from the state budget. The co-chair of the House Appropriations Committee was on TV bemoaning all the pain that was going to be caused by these cuts. Based on past experience it is hard to believe this was little more than a ploy designed to whip up support for raising taxes. We elected them to do the right thing not manipulate us into begging them to do the right thing.

Yes, we already knew most all these things but this week was a startling and disappointing reminder how people in power often behave.

What we have yet to learn is who really has the power. It is you and me. We hold the real and ultimate power, but either don’t realize it or are unwilling to exercise that power. The government we get is the government we permit, just as it is in business, religion, and every other aspect of our lives. When we get concerned enough to demand better we will get better. The one thing people in power are afraid of is us when we become riled enough to take action.

Let us awaken to that reality and rise up to demand better of our public figures.