Over the past few weeks, there has been a smoking hot debate over Hillary Clinton and her private email server utilized while she was Secretary of State.
R: What did she say in these emails? Did she turn all of them over last year?
D: Of course she did! You can trust Hillary!
R: No, she didn’t! She erased her server! Bill used it for target practice!
D: Posh! All of Hillary’s emails were about grandkids and yoga, nothing to do with being Secretary of State….she’s a grandma, for godssake!
R: Stuff and nonsense! She’s hiding something!
Before that, John Boehner, House Speaker, invited Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to speak to Congress.
D: How could he do this? Why didn’t he inform the White House? What kind of evil, twisted racist game is he playing?
R: We can invite anyone to speak to Congress! It’s a historical fact!
D: No! Never in our Nation’s history have we seen such egregious attack on the Executive branch!
And before that? After the Paris attacks at Charlie Hebdo, there was a meeting of world leaders to show solidarity with the French and the anti-terrorist sentiment in the West. Obama was absent!
R: Why didn’t he attend? An insult! Is he a Muslim terrorist sympathizer?
D: Of course not! You can’t organize these things without preparation!
R: Oh yeah? Well, Angela Merkel and dozens of other heads of state did.
D: But they aren’t the most powerful people on earth!
And now the next, a letter from the Republicans to Iran about a potential agreement on nuclear development in Iran.
D: How dare they! Traitors!
R: But you didn’t consult Congress on the treaty, and Congress has to ratify all treaties!
D: Yes, but Congress does not negotiate treaties!
……and on and on goes the rhetoric……
Give it a week and it will be the Democrats’ turn again, probably more Hillary stuff.
This is the game. Keep the voting populous off guard. Sleight of hand, wave the red flag in this hand while in reality, what we should be paying attention to is in the other.
What is it that we should be investigating?
The influence peddling that is taking place in the
Legislative & Executive branches of our government.
The two branches operate completely at the whim of the groups that put them into office. Can you write your congressman or the office of the President? Of course. Do you get a response? Of course. What is that response? A form letter that your issue has been noted and is of great concern to ‘them’ and will be looked into further. I have in fact done this and most recently, in response, received two emails from my Congressman instead of a letter. The first was an ‘Interim Response’ that was a generic paragraph saying they appreciate my concerns and will be responding soon. The second email, to discuss my issue, said they appreciate my concerns and are taking my views into account on this vital issue. They didn’t say what the issue was, did not acknowledge what I had written about, and did not supply my Congressman’s views on the issue. And most telling, the emails both had a ‘donotreply’ return address. Do you think that the Kohl brothers get that response when they get in touch with a Congressman? Do you think Rev Sharpton gets this response from the White House when he contacts the office of the President?
The average American, or even the non-average American, has no influence or say in these two branches of government any longer. You have no impact on what the Legislative and Executive branches are doing. Look at the executive actions taking place in the Executive Branch. Look at the hue and cry in the media when a state legislature passes a bill that is condemned by either the Left or the Right. Do they try to work through the state Congressmen, or the legal system with their concerns? No….they have Chris Cuomo on CNN vilify and interrogate innocent state lawmakers….they have Sean Hannity blow the issue out of proportion. Go the Populist route. Much more effective….. and it erodes our democratic heritage every time we allow this bunch of plug uglies think they have gotten away with it.
Even if you think you are getting say in your government, in fact, you are being led by your specific party down one or two set paths that have been derived by the staff in these offices, many of whom also work for the special interest groups that direct our government officials, whether Left or Right. CNN, Fox, MSNBC and most internet news sites are part of the diversion, either knowingly or not. What options then do average Americans have to combat this special interest intrusion into our democracy?
Running for Office
Maybe some of the honest, hard-working citizenry could run for office and replace the current non-performers in office? A problem arises with this. Some years ago, an acquaintance of mine was considering, very seriously, running for a state congressional seat. This person was well informed, motivated and though perhaps not wealthy, a strong community member who was well respected. He approached the state party headquarters about his wish to run and was told. “Don’t do it.” as they had already ‘anointed’ their candidate who had been sanctioned by the powers from above for his ongoing support of the party. In other words, the guy was loaded, he followed the ‘company’ line (i.e. was known to be controllable), and he gave lots in donations. My friend obeyed and has never attempted to enter political life since, though he is still a strong party supporter. We have entered an era where rising to government office is no longer a public service in many cases, but a political ‘payoff’ for financial support.
It makes one think….what is it that makes a good congressman? Is it towing the party line, or being a good community member and thoughtful, informed citizen? Is it having the dollars to donate to the party first, then have a conscience perhaps? Look at what we get. Thugs like Harry Reid. Who thinks that any Federal politician is actually looking out for the interest of America, instead of their party and the special interests running the party? Have they convinced themselves they actually are supporting us when they bow to the party, and specialty interests, they are involved with? So, what other options are there?
First of all, the mindless regurgitation of trite sayings such as ‘Don’t re-elect them’ is dribble. When it comes to election time, the parties have the power and will elect whomever they decide by throwing out the cash required to get it done. What is the remedy? Let’s remember our Constitution and our great democratic history. The Progressive Era citizenry, I believe, envisioned just such a pitfall when they allowed the population a few separate remedies to the exact situation we find ourselves in today. They are initiative, referendum and recall. These are methods for the general population to introduce legislature for popular vote, remove legislature and to recall politicians from office. This last is very important.
Don’t Wait to not Re-elect, Recall the b*stards!
(with my apologies to our Congresswomen)
Recall elected representatives who are NOT representing you. Let’s organize, as has been done throughout America’s history, and toss the bums out! Use referendum and initiative to propose or remove legislature that is aimed at special interest groups. Tell our congressmen we want to be notified and discuss legislature coming up for vote prior to his/her voting. We want his/her understanding of the legislature and why he/she either supports it or not.
How do we become knowledgeable on bills in Congress? Watch CSPAN. Go online to house.gov, senate.gov or congress.gov. All of the proposed legislation is available on these websites. If there isn’t time during the day (we all have to work), make it a family project. Get grandpa, grandma and the kids involved. Be knowledgeable on pending legislation, and demand our voices be heard and that our government listen to us. And if they don’t listen or if they send a form letter….RECALL! Once recalled, let’s work on getting the right people in there. If it is the governor’s decision for an interim replacement, let him/her know who should represent us. Remember, we still have the power in this country, though the politicians treat us like sheep.
And what is the last bastion?
The Judiciary
One branch of the government that doesn’t seem to be completely corrupt, as have been the Legislative and Executive branches, is the Judiciary. This isn’t completely true, but I believe there are still enough unsullied members of the judiciary that it is worthwhile to try to effect change through this branch. Send the message to the state and federal courts that unconstitutional activities should not be tolerated. Join groups that are already forming to file suit against the various entities bulldozing the constitution and our individual rights as American citizens.
As you can tell, I am pretty fed up by the Nancy Pelosis and the John Boehners of the country. Boot ‘em. The best way to fight the idiocy that has become our political reality in the USA is to become educated on political issues. Difficult, I know, as it is almost impossible to find an unbiased source of information today on most issues. Spend some time to dig into the issues as I have indicated instead of accepting the CNNFOXMSNBC pablum we are being dished. Once started, it actually is pretty simple to winnow down to the issues we hold as most important to us. We are much smarter than the media tries to make us out to be.
Be sure it makes sense….use logic to determine if what we are hearing is reasonable…..