Tuesday, October 15, 2013

A Loss Too Great to Overcome?

As anyone who has ever read this blog will tell you,  I have a keen interest in politics. I am independent, but with a definitively conservative leaning. I even have a brief flirtation with elected office in my past. Yes, I once attempted to gain elected office. (I ran for governor of Boys State in 1977....finished 4th in my party primary. I ran on a platform of government owned by  and for the citizenry) My failure to advance out of that primary pretty much spelled the end of my political aspirations, but not my interest.

The current government shutdown is, in my opinion, a laughable example of what is wrong and broken in this country. I am sick and tired of the self-aggrandizement and outright lying that is fed the American people daily during this charade. The government shutdown and looming debt ceiling "crisis" reveals a system that is broken, a people who have lost their moral center, and leaders who are anything but. Perhaps I should speak plainly....Our country, once great, has become a shadow of its former self.

It is politics that I want to speak of today, or rather politicians. I am of the belief that politicians have become the scourge of our country. I have no use for politicians of either party. If I had my druthers every last one of them....Democrat, Republican and independent would be voted out of office tomorrow and not permitted to run for office again...ever, period. What this country needs, in my opinion, are statesmen.

A statesman is not obligated to any special interest group or particular block of voters. The statesman votes according to his belief in what is best for the country, whether it gains him or her any electoral advantage or not. The political process has become corrupted by special interests on both sides....rendering either side incapable of speaking honestly or governing effectively. A statesman does not think of advancing one's personal fortune or portfolio and returns home when their job is done.

In my opinion, not one of the current group of "leaders" in Washington meets the previously mentioned criteria. There is not a single man or woman in Washington who merits mention in the same sentence as giants such as Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln. The whole lot of them do not deserve the privilege of representing the people of this nation.

Many of you reading this will consider me angry, they are right. The current crop of disappointments in Washington have made me angry. They have mortgaged the future of this once great country and saddled my children with a debt that their children will never be able to pay, among other acts of unbelievable hubris. Someone needs to remind them of these words from the Declaration of Independence:

"Government of the people, by the people, and for the people..."

I want my country back.

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