Trusted Leaders?

by 

This U.S. Citizen

Why is it that it seems our government has the all
knowing ability and right to oversee everything which
goes on in the United States but it is the only entity
rarely, if ever held accountable for mistakes? When so many are
affected by government decisions, what sense does this
make? Yes, we have the power to vote at election time
but it rarely is enough to persuade the entire group to
refocus on preserving the great aspects of our system.
At elections the focus tends to be oriented toward a few
high profile, polarizing, and always re-occurring issues
in the effort to turn out just enough of the right votes to
win. The focus is rarely if ever about giving us
something to vote for versus voting for the lesser of two
evils.

How can we, the citizens of the United States trust
people who will not let us know what a bill actually says
before they are passed? These so called legislators
openly admit they do not understand legislative language
and yet will pass a law like passing out lollipops without
even knowing what flavor they are. Bills are written and
influenced by lawyers, staffers, and lobbyists who could
likely do little more than summarize the contents of the
language let alone the potential consequences on the
average U.S. citizen which will arise if passed into law.

We have allowed people who have cheated on their own
taxes to control our money and create tax laws. Would
this have been tolerated one hundred years ago? Well,
since there was no income tax one hundred years ago I
guess that is a bad question but that is another topic in
and of itself.
These are our trusted leaders in government and are
allowed to set policy? Really, have we lost our minds to
continue to allow this to happen? Would we knowingly
put child molesters in charge of daycare centers? No!
Then how do we get to a point where we allow these
people to rule us like they do? This is what has changed:
our government officials have taken on the mentality of
rulers and ruling over the people instead of governing a
system created for the direct benefit of every individual
free citizen and their pursuit of happiness.

Once those who think they know better than us are
in charge of us, they become bloated with the power
they hold. The fact they truly believe we are below them
intellectually makes them a danger and a menace to us
and our freedoms. I fear we have reached that place and
may have very little time remaining to redirect the
government back to a system overseen by us instead of
ruling over us by a poorly chosen few. Now that we have
reached this point it is obvious our rulers do not
understand what they are doing meaning we are ruled by
very stupid and freedom ignorant people who think
Freedom is an outdated concept or even worse, just
another obstacle in their way. How many of our reps
now advocate Freedom with any frequency? Very few
unfortunately. It is time to change that!

Who do we put in government?
We must put only those in government who have the
ability to make sound judgment calls and not yield under
the pressure of those in government around them. We
need people with backbone who are firm in their beliefs
and not easily intimidated. We need people who do not
go with the flow, which is what most do because it is
easy. We need reps and senators who are different, who
will fight and be ok with being targets of the opposition.
We need those who will not compromise the
Constitution by making closed door deals with other
politicians whose idea of governing is supporting each
others’ ideas merely to get their own passed.
Our form of government created by the Constitution
cannot be left to be preserved by wishy washy and
indecisive people who will change their minds often and
go with whichever way the wind blows and is politically
expedient. The Constitution is not a living document in
my opinion but is the equivalent of bedrock for our
nation. It is the foundation with which everything
depends. We cannot build and grow a better United
States if the starting point is not firmly seated in said
bedrock. The notion of the Constitution as a living
document is simply a statement which pre sells to people
the idea that it is ok to make drastic changes to it as time
passes. It is certainly not.
Technology and industries have changed in two
hundred years but not to a point if there could ever be a
point which would justify a continuous usurping of the
basic tenets of the Constitution. The foundation is not
perfect but it is sound; the most sound of any society in
history. We must only send those people to government
who are also sound and of the ability to make good
judgments based on the Constitution as their oath of
office requires.
Unfortunately, upholding the Constitution today is at
most second on our government officials’ list of
importance. We should know we are in a bad state when
the former Speaker of the House is asked if she thinks a certain
piece of legislation is Constitutional and she responds
with “is that a serious question.” We are indeed reaching
the end of our rope. The fact this attitude exists at such a
high level in our government is appalling to me.
Re-election I fear is the number one focus for those
in our government now due in part to ignorance of their
role in government and having been taken over by
human nature when surrounded by those who also aspire
to maintain their power positions as long as possible and
at nearly any cost. If indeed re-election is the main goal
then our reps will not address an issue first and foremost
as to whether it is permissible under the Constitution
and/or detrimental to the freedoms of individual citizens.
Instead it is reviewed with consideration as to how the
public will perceive the legislation. What they worry
about is whether the public will like or dislike his
support of the issue and therefore how voters will act
come election time. This is downright cowardly
leadership in my book.

It is a total disregard of their oath of office in my
opinion but it is what takes place. I would venture to say
if they held strictly to the Constitution, not only would a
lawmaker’s job be easier, so would their election. Is this
not a reasonable conclusion I ask? If not, then is it an
issue of the peoples’ understanding of our government
and the Constitution? The education of our peers is our
responsibility to correct this issue. This is part of our
duty as citizens to protect and defend our republic from
its destruction from within.
 
What is their job? (Our Leaders)

This U.S. Citizen gets the distinct impression our
representatives and senators do not see themselves as in
congress to represent the people in their district or state.
They are there to be fixers. They consider themselves to
have a mandate by election on solving problems they
think are important and work toward those goals once in
office. This disconnect is what I believe to be another
major reason why the Congress approval rates have been
so extremely low over the past years. When we continuously see our
officials on television talking about what they think is
important and blatantly ignoring the obvious will of the
people, it is personally insulting to me.

The superficial tactic they use when trying to rally
support for their goals is communicated with the simple
phrase: “The American people want this” or “The
American people need that.” These are cheap salesman
tactics which play on the individual and make them
think other Americans must want this so I must be out of
touch if I don’t support it as well. This then kicks in the
herd mentality to follow the reps statements and take
them as facts when they are not. The same applies when
they say “Americans deserve…” for example: good
medical care or good schools.

Americans do not deserve anything! We work for
what we have. You deserve what you work for, period!
When you buy into the notion of Americans deserving
anything because it is supposedly the right thing to do,
you buy into the reps definitions of what good medical
care is and what a good school is. The problem is they
get to define good. What is good for the rep or senator is
not necessarily good for the individual U.S. Citizen. A
good idea can stand on its own and is easily understood
as well as easily communicated. If they are good ideas,
bring them to the spotlight and explain why they are
necessary and what will be the likely results of such
ideas if implemented. If an idea cannot be explained in a
simple and straightforward manner with a reasonable
and logical argument, it is more likely to not be good for
the United States or its citizens. Is that too much to ask?
I think our officials do not feel they are obligated to
talk to us unless election time is near. I really believe
they think we are stupid. We must admit when it comes
to politics, civics, and safeguarding our country and
freedoms, we as citizens have some work to do. It is to their benefit
we stay that way because it allows them to do as they
please and keep their jobs to boot. Well I say no more. I
hope we have had enough of this attitude from our
government. The fact is, they are not good at what they
do and there are numerous examples to prove it.

They create policies with so called good intentions or in the
interest of fairness which eventually lead to horrendous problems. 
They want to keep us uninformed because a well informed and
educated electorate is a danger to them and their
government plans. They give more money to schools
where there is proof more money does not improve
results. Just look at the Washington DC schools! They
support teacher unions and vice versa where the interest
is in the growth of the unions and pay of the teachers,
not the education of children. They control the
curriculum and dumb it down where a student will not
feel bad due to his otherwise poor performance on a
normal curriculum. They advance failing students to the
next grade because they do not know how to educate
them where the students’ self esteem will be degraded
even further because the work is harder for them when
they could not even do last year’s work. This is the kind
of outcome which emerges from poorly done legislation
enacted by people who are rarely accountable and care
only about what an issue can do for their political career.
When our reps and senators have to disguise what
they are doing by saying it is too complicated and will
not allow legislative language to be reviewed by the
public and understood, we can rest assure they are up to
no good and are likely attempting to hijack our
freedoms.
This was ever present in the reform of our medical
system taking place in the fall of 2009 and early 2010.

When our reps do not represent the will of their
constituents and actually and blatantly ignore their
concerns and desires, this is no longer the representative
republic our founders created. So Benjamin Franklin’s
statement remains relevant today. Can we indeed keep
our Republic?
I heard a Fox News commentator in October, 2009
named Tammy Bruce and I think what she said is very
relevant and applies directly to our Congress and
representatives. She said, “Justice only occurs when
people are looking.” It is sad we live in a country where
this is true. We have to send people to government who
are trustworthy enough to do our business and not have
to constantly watch over them every minute of every
day. We may however have to do that very thing for the
next few years or few election cycles.

When it comes to sending people to Congress or any
form of government, we need to use the viewpoint I
learned from a management professor I know. She said
when it comes to hiring, hire people you do not have to
manage. I think there is a bit of genius in that
philosophy. We need to use this same philosophy in
choosing our government officials.

This U.S. Citizen