The country is rapidly catching on that the "fundamental change" that B. Hussein Obama promised really was a promise to socialize the country and they are upset. The promises to create a "transparent" administration was empty, as was the promise to get rid of a "culture of corruption." It turns out that the old practices of using our money to buy votes and increased power for politicians has accelerated rather than slowed.
Americans are rightly outraged at the Harry Reid taking diminishing tax dollars to buy the vote of Mary Landrieu on the Health Care debacle making its way through the Senate. We are likewise increasingly impatient with admonitions from Washington to tighten our belts while elected thieves continue to spend like there's no tomorrow while enjoying unbelievable luxury at our expense. The so-called "stimulus" combined with the TARP appropriations have ended up as a giant "slush fund" for the executive branch to pay off cronies and expand government. All these things and more have combined to unsettle the American people.
A November 30 Rasmussen poll indicates that 71% of voters are angry at present government policies, a number which includes 46% of Americans that are "very angry." Clearly the stage is set for genuine and desirable change beginning with the mid-term elections coming up in 2010. But as voters cast about for candidates to initiate and lead the needed return to Constitutional principles and governance, they face a very real problem. There is a similar problem for the would-be candidates who are considering stepping from the shadows of private life to lead this change.
The problem is the ingrained culture of corruption that does exist in Washington. On the voters' side, there is a palpable despair that anyone in politics will set aside their own quest for power and money and really represent the best interests of the nation. A justifiable cynicism permeates the nation. On the side of the potential new candidates, there must surely be an understandable tremulousness at the idea of stepping into this cynical arena where their character will immediately be questioned for no more than just stepping forward to serve. Their sincerity will be doubted, and that is healthy in our system. But they will also be targeted and smeared by those scumbags presently in office and determined to retain power and plush perks at our expense.
Finally, confusion and suspicion will be aggravated by well funded establishment politicians reading the present discontent and declaring themselves as constitutional conservatives with the sole intention of deceiving voters only to pursue progressive policies at the behest of special interests upon being elected. Certainly, anyone honorable who throws their hats into the ring in the upcoming elections will get some slime on them. But those courageous souls deserve our support and loyalty all the more for being willing to accept that cost to correct the course of the nation.
These realities likewise increase the burden that every voter must bear to become actively engaged in the process--to actively research and study both constitutional principles and history and present day issues where those principles must now be applied. Each of us has the obligation, the sacred duty to seek out and support those individuals who can serve with honor and distinction in elected positions. We desperately need people who will honor the oath of office and who will honor the Constitution of the United States and faithfully discharge the duties of their various offices.
This brings me to one final thought. I feel that this duty of engagement--to scrutinize and discern-- as voters is every bit as important, if not more so, in local elections as in national. Yet, we see a range of opinions among people who are familiar with candidates, issues and policies in various fields being openly expressed on the national scene but conspicuously absent in local politics.
Understandably, we are hesitant to be openly critical of friends and neighbors and we should be circumspect in our comments. But honest differences in policies and practices and certainly knowledge of character issues and competency are fair game in politics at any level. While we all have a desire to get along with those we know and encourage them to run for office when they wish to, our duty remains to scrutinize their character and honestly assess their competency in the position they seek. We must carefully guard against the impulse to simply vote for our neighbor or co-worker or friends simply on that basis alone, absent some demonstrated capacity to perform the functions of elected office with skill and honor.
It is certainly challenging to acquaint ourselves with the issues at hand in each election and to scrutinize the knowledge, skills and abilities of candidates. Yet this is the price of retaining our individual sovereignty and enduring liberty. When we fail to do our own "due dilligence" in exercising our right to be directly involved in the process, we abdicate our sovereignty proportional to that failure. In short, we arrive at the point we now face, where unworthy and unscrupulous liars and frauds hold the reigns of power and our system is rotted from within.
Simply showing up on election day and pulling a lever is clearly not enough. Picking a "team" and blindly voting for the person with an "R" or "D" by their name is clearly not enough. We must engage or else risk losing the freedoms purchased by the blood of patriots and martyrs of ages past.
Americans are rightly outraged at the Harry Reid taking diminishing tax dollars to buy the vote of Mary Landrieu on the Health Care debacle making its way through the Senate. We are likewise increasingly impatient with admonitions from Washington to tighten our belts while elected thieves continue to spend like there's no tomorrow while enjoying unbelievable luxury at our expense. The so-called "stimulus" combined with the TARP appropriations have ended up as a giant "slush fund" for the executive branch to pay off cronies and expand government. All these things and more have combined to unsettle the American people.
A November 30 Rasmussen poll indicates that 71% of voters are angry at present government policies, a number which includes 46% of Americans that are "very angry." Clearly the stage is set for genuine and desirable change beginning with the mid-term elections coming up in 2010. But as voters cast about for candidates to initiate and lead the needed return to Constitutional principles and governance, they face a very real problem. There is a similar problem for the would-be candidates who are considering stepping from the shadows of private life to lead this change.
The problem is the ingrained culture of corruption that does exist in Washington. On the voters' side, there is a palpable despair that anyone in politics will set aside their own quest for power and money and really represent the best interests of the nation. A justifiable cynicism permeates the nation. On the side of the potential new candidates, there must surely be an understandable tremulousness at the idea of stepping into this cynical arena where their character will immediately be questioned for no more than just stepping forward to serve. Their sincerity will be doubted, and that is healthy in our system. But they will also be targeted and smeared by those scumbags presently in office and determined to retain power and plush perks at our expense.
Finally, confusion and suspicion will be aggravated by well funded establishment politicians reading the present discontent and declaring themselves as constitutional conservatives with the sole intention of deceiving voters only to pursue progressive policies at the behest of special interests upon being elected. Certainly, anyone honorable who throws their hats into the ring in the upcoming elections will get some slime on them. But those courageous souls deserve our support and loyalty all the more for being willing to accept that cost to correct the course of the nation.
These realities likewise increase the burden that every voter must bear to become actively engaged in the process--to actively research and study both constitutional principles and history and present day issues where those principles must now be applied. Each of us has the obligation, the sacred duty to seek out and support those individuals who can serve with honor and distinction in elected positions. We desperately need people who will honor the oath of office and who will honor the Constitution of the United States and faithfully discharge the duties of their various offices.
This brings me to one final thought. I feel that this duty of engagement--to scrutinize and discern-- as voters is every bit as important, if not more so, in local elections as in national. Yet, we see a range of opinions among people who are familiar with candidates, issues and policies in various fields being openly expressed on the national scene but conspicuously absent in local politics.
Understandably, we are hesitant to be openly critical of friends and neighbors and we should be circumspect in our comments. But honest differences in policies and practices and certainly knowledge of character issues and competency are fair game in politics at any level. While we all have a desire to get along with those we know and encourage them to run for office when they wish to, our duty remains to scrutinize their character and honestly assess their competency in the position they seek. We must carefully guard against the impulse to simply vote for our neighbor or co-worker or friends simply on that basis alone, absent some demonstrated capacity to perform the functions of elected office with skill and honor.
It is certainly challenging to acquaint ourselves with the issues at hand in each election and to scrutinize the knowledge, skills and abilities of candidates. Yet this is the price of retaining our individual sovereignty and enduring liberty. When we fail to do our own "due dilligence" in exercising our right to be directly involved in the process, we abdicate our sovereignty proportional to that failure. In short, we arrive at the point we now face, where unworthy and unscrupulous liars and frauds hold the reigns of power and our system is rotted from within.
Simply showing up on election day and pulling a lever is clearly not enough. Picking a "team" and blindly voting for the person with an "R" or "D" by their name is clearly not enough. We must engage or else risk losing the freedoms purchased by the blood of patriots and martyrs of ages past.
Well said. You are correct, as we have seen in the past in national as well as local races, that people will cast their vote for a candidate without any thought what so ever. I appears to be that a number of voters have no idea who they will vote for until the curtain is closed behind them and the ballot is in front of them. We must attempt to educate and inform the public that just because a candidate "looks like he knows what he is doing" does not mean he does. Just the simple fact that someone can stand up and give a great speech does not mean he or she has our best interests at heart. Hitler gave a hell of speech. The "change" we need must start at home in our local precincts with the local elections of town councils, school boards, county commissioners, county sheriffs and the like. These are the elected positions that we must put good people in that will stand up and speak up when our beloved Constitution and the Bill of Rights are in danger of being trampled. The local officals must not be afraid to say no to "stimulus money" and not just take it with the attitude "if we don't take it, someone else will." I am not saying that all spending is bad, but to spend to just be spending is insane. The money we are spending today is not ours. It is our childrens and grandchildrens. They are the ones that will be given the past due notice someday. We must put peopel in office that will stand by their principals and beliefs no matter what the consequences, for once lost they are impossible to get back.
ReplyDeleteThese are all excellent points. Thank you for the comment. It's a sad fact that as a citizenry we've taken our eye off the ball, so to speak. We've become complacent in our duty to demand integrity from elected leaders.
ReplyDeleteWe've been content to focus on our work-a-day world and the vital business at hand of providing for our families and enjoying hard-won freedoms. And, while our attention has been thus diverted, politicians have been chipping away at our liberties to line their own pockets and to expand and prolong their power.
Sadly, those unscrupulous individuals exploit the ignorance their screens of lies create while at the same time, they sully and taint by association everyone who may seek office to reverse the damage!
You are likewise correct that it all starts at home. The notion of "free money" and the proclaimed virtue of securing the wealth of others for narrow, limited interests is wrong at all levels. But it starts and becomes particularly insidious at the local level.
Moreover, while a politician cannot please "all of the people all of the time," they can certainly promote the interests of all at once. And the only proven and best way to do that is to limit the stretch and power of government and adhere to the principle of equality of opportunity over the knee-jerk emotional impulses toward equalizing outcomes!
Wasteful spending of other people's money and the idea that one group should be preferred over another based on how well they campaign for a single candidate are obviously cut from the same cloth. Allowing politicians to buy the favor of the electorate--at any level--with the labor and wealth of others is at epidemic levels and is unconscionable.