Over Thanksgiving weekend, one of our daughters rescued a cat from a busy roundabout. It was dark. The cat was cold, hungry and terrified of the steady stream of cars going past. Within minutes of being rescued, the cat was in our home being fed, sheltered and loved. She wasn’t wearing a collar. We knew we would be unable to identify her owner, if there was one, until Monday at the earliest.

She was one of the most beautiful cats we’ve ever seen. After a bit of research, we learned she was a Bengal cat. The markings on her were similar to a tiger’s on her legs, and spots similar to a leopard across her body.

Still, we weren’t keen on the idea of rescuing another animal. We already have one cat, and two young dogs, ages 15 months and 9 months. Though many days we feel like we are zoo keepers, we aren’t heartless either, and knew the likelihood of a cat surviving an animal shelter wasn’t good.

After two days of taking care of the lost cat, we took her to our veterinarian on Monday. It was our hope that she was “chipped” so that her owner could be identified. After swiping her twice, it was evident the cat had never been chipped. Without a collar or chip, it was impossible to identify the owner. The veterinarian staff was shocked that such a beautiful and valuable cat wasn’t chipped. They said this breed of cat sells for $1,500 to $3,000 on average.

On our way home from the veterinarian, we stopped by a pet store to buy cat food, kitty litter and a kitty litter box. We felt that, despite the inconvenience, we were about to become the owners of a second cat.

As we’ve thought about this experience, we couldn’t help but draw parallels to the irresponsibility of this cat’s owner to the current state of affairs in Washington, D.C.. The past week has highlighted, yet again, story after story, of members of Congress behaving badly. The theatrics in Washington seem never ending, and they have nothing to do with the passing of legislation or the betterment of our country. Instead, it’s a constant stream of insults, bigoted comments, and behavior on par with school children. Our personal tolerance for it has reached a breaking point.

Who is to blame?

Ultimately, we are. There’s an expression, “you get what you deserve.” Perhaps that’s the case with elections and those who comprise our elected representatives.

Good people do run for office, but unfortunately, many good candidates are eliminated in the primary phase of elections. Granted, vetting candidates before a primary can be difficult, but it is not impossible. Candidates hold numerous meet and greets, events, and disseminate information on social media. Are you paying attention? Are you getting to know candidates before you cast your primary ballot? Have you vetted their backgrounds? How about a simple credit check? Far too many spend more time looking for the “best buy” on simple household products than on those running for elected office.

Congress is a mess. It’s a mess because we are not electing the best from among us.

Congress is a mess because like this irresponsible cat owner, we have become an irresponsible electorate.

Until we, the people, act more responsibly as the owners of our country, the composition of those whom we elect will not improve. And when that doesn’t improve, nothing improves.