Our political system is the envy of the world and our republic the model for every nation on earth. Our problems are not generated by our system of government but rather by the people that we elect to make it work. When one sees the ineptness of Washington, one is forced to wonder if we wouldn’t be better off picking 535 names out of random telephone books.
The biggest single problem that one can observe with regard to politicians is the “peter principle” where every elected politician or bureaucrat is elected or appointed to a level of incompetence. For example, a fine young man or woman will seek election to a city or county commission. They live in the city or country and know the problems and might even have a solution of sorts which would be beneficial to their local citizens. Then smitten with the power of political office, they decide that they want to be a United States Representative and then they suddenly find themselves a part of a massive inept, power hungry group. The problems that they encounter on the national stage are protracted and inflicted on the nation by its lawmakers. Every debt that America owes, every bloated inefficient bureaucracy, every oppressive regulation, and every challenge which our nation faces was caused by our elected officials with their yeas and nays. Mechanics fix things —lawyers make laws – mostly those that we don’t want or need.
Another problem is nepotism, which must be a cousin of the “peter principle.” We had Bush 41, who by any measurable standard was a nice man —but then, so is my neighbor who allows me to hunt on his farm. Then we had Clinton I, who was intelligent and a competent politician but had the morals of a buck deer during rut. Next came Bush 43 who also seemed nice but was probably more suited to be the president of a large protestant denomination than the United States. Now we are blessed with Obama, whose only qualifications center on being partly black and having great teleprompter reading skills. Next in line for the throne is Clinton II, who does have her husband’s intelligence or personality.
If held in check by congress, the resident of the White House is inconsequential —when congress doesn’t have the cojones to perform their function, the presidency becomes a dictatorship. The president serves as a mental picture for the citizenry —they really don’t exist. Obama is kind of like a blended hologram created by dozens of pollsters, speech-writers, an ad agency, make-up artists, political strategists, and gesture coaches. The president’s handlers are like puppet masters and control all the strings, manipulating the image that we see. The image is all that we are allowed to see —the reality, along with the SAT scores and academic records are hidden from public view. The White House is stage-managed and only what the administration wants us to hear is offered for consumption. Press conferences are manipulated and responses are more like filibusters than actual answers to questions. America loves a talker —it provides a warm fuzzy feeling for those who are easily manipulated.
The press controls what we know, or more to the point, what we don’t know. There is a lot of coverage of very little of importance. When something easy appears on the Associate Press newswire, dozens of reporters write about the topic and when something challenging pops up, everyone takes a coffee break. Case in point: hundreds of articles have been written about the Obamacare rollout and its problems, but I have read nothing about the specifics of what created the problems or the specific fixes. The media covers itself and does that relatively well. When an anchor moves from one channel to another, it is a major story. And then there is the perfunctory stories from jealous quasi-journalist that decry Bill O’Reilly’s comments. Ok, everyone knows that he is self-important and pompous —do we need a monthly story to remind us?
There are publications which attempt to keep us informed —most of us don’t take the time to read them. The Drudge Report, Guardian, Rolling Stone, and a few others actually attempt to provide a picture of what is happening in the nation. I sometimes wonder if anyone actually cares.
Imperial Rome had nothing on Washington on the Potomac. The same level of corruption, ineptness, influence peddling, and political prostitution exists today as 2,000 years ago. And like the citizens of Rome, we care little as long as the goodies are handed out.
Have good week. Bill Shuey is a freelance writer from North Carolina.
I turned comments on. Good article. Now what is the solution? Or rather, when will we have the intestinal fortitude to regain our Liberty?