Posted by
The Federalist on Tuesday, October 21, 2008 10:01:36 PM
The current state of the American Republic is one of a patient that has
been diagnosed with a cancer. The
government of our Republic is the body, while the two parties – Democrat and
Republican – are the cancer that has invaded it. Both parties have entrenched themselves within our
republic and they have infected our republic with greed, debt, corruption,
foreign entanglements, wasteful spending, earmarks, special interests,
lobbyists, etc. Thus, as the
surgeon must operate on the patient to remove the cancer, the American people
must act as the surgeon and rise up to remove these two parties from the body
politic that they have come to infect.
In considering the removal of these parties, we must hearken back to the
words of our founding fathers. For
it was Thomas Jefferson who so eloquently stated in our founding document – The
Declaration of Independence - “When in the course of human events it becomes
necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected
them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and
equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a
decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the
causes which impel them to the separation.”
The miserable state that our republic is in is the fault of both
parties, Republican and Democratic, for they have hijacked the government and
in the pursuit of their own interest they have betrayed the public
interest. Let us now pursue the
slights that impel us to separate ourselves from these parties:
They have made a mockery of the legislative process by adding “earmarks”
to bills in the dead of night, that cost the American tax payer billions of
dollars every year.
They have become so divided that even when gas prices toped $4.00 a
gallon they cannot come to together to pass an energy policy that is sensible
and reasonable.
They have become drunk off the taxpayer dollar and have allowed
government to become bloated and fat all the while claiming that each party is
the party of “fiscal responsibility.”
They have engaged in a foreign policy that has made a mockery of our
greatest leaders plea – George Washington – to not become engaged in foreign
entanglements; yet, at the time of this writing we find our Republic embroiled
in numerous such entanglements.
They would act rather in the “party” interest than in the Republic’s
interest.
They have betrayed their duty, specifically called for in the
constitution, to protect and defend the borders of this country.
They, in the biggest insult to the American tax payer, have passed a
$700 billion dollar bailout for the businesses on Wall Street that have caused
the current financial calamity that we are in.
They have invested so much power in the Secretary of the Treasury, that
he should now be called Czar Paulson, rather then Secretary Paulson.
They have become “career” politicians, rather then just politicians.
They have so gamed the system as to make it almost impossible for
another party to rise up and challenge them.
They have supped at the table of lobbyists, special interest groups, and
large corporations in such a disgusting manner that few can claim impartiality
in any matter that has a bearing on the government.
They have watched the public debt balloon to untold trillions and have
not done ONE THING to rein in spending or to reduce the public debt.
They have encouraged the American consumer to spend beyond his means,
and have encouraged the indebted society that we now live in.
They have become so embroiled in the corrupting culture of Washington
that they have lost touch with the common man.
They have usurped the idea of limited government, contained in our
constitution, as to make the federal government a behemoth that the states are
to succumb to.
They have concerned themselves with petty hearings and inquisitions,
such as steroids in baseball and all the while they have ignored the pressing
issues of our time.
They have so lost touch with the every day American, that according to
the latest realclearpolitics.com average the Congress enjoys an approval rating
of 17.8% and the President enjoys an approval rating of 28%, which means that
our combined three branches of government are viewed favorably by 45.8% of the
people, with 54.2% disapproving.
They have engaged in such a partisan rancor, that the stench of it oozes
into the pour of every citizen in this great republic.
They have watched the value of the dollar plummet, and the price of
other commodities rise and have not lifted one finger to reverse this
course.
They have forsaken the American ideals of hard work, self-determination,
and individualism, through the expansion of the well fare state, which has made
Americans prisoners to the federal government.
They have made a sham of the trust that the public has placed in them by
engaging in a culture of corruption, greed, and illegalities.
They, in the most grievous of complaints, have made a sham and mockery
of our constitution and by default our founding fathers. In addition, they have turned our
Republic into one that was by the people, and for the people; into one that is
now by the party and for the party; in doing so they have made a mockery of our
American Republic.
It is with great regret that I lay out these transgressions that both
parties have committed against our great Republic. It is with a heavy heart that I say that the current state
of American Republic is one in which power has been usurped by the few and
horded over the many. This
remorseful situation has left our Republic a shadow of what it once was.
We must now ask ourselves how did we go from the great founding of our
nation; through the miraculous winning of the American Revolution; to the
glorious ratification of our Constitution, only to find our beloved Republic in
the current situation that it now currently resides? We must ask ourselves, who is to blame for the state that we
now find ourselves in?
Sadly, to ascertain how we got to this point we, including myself, must
only look in the mirror, for it is the American citizen who has allowed our
American Republic to degenerate into its current form. How, can you ask is this possible? The reason is right in front of our
very face. For we the people, have
been endowed – through our founding fathers– with the power to change the
government. We, the people, choose
our elected leaders and if the current state of congress and the presidency
were an indictment, we would all be guilty.
If we – the people – had not allowed these politicians to be in power
over and over again, then we could legitimately say that we are not to blame
for the current state of the American Republic. But that is not the case! We have abrogated our most fundamental duty to the American
Republic and that is to make sure that she is populated with leaders who will
look out for her; instead, we have re-elected the same charlatans who have
brought us lobbyists, special interests, foreign adventure, trillions in public
debt, greed, a culture of corruption, a large and ever expanding federal
government, and the list goes on and on.
Instead, we have re-elected the same people from the same parties that
have committed these transgressions against our Republic. Every election cycle we hear the same
promises for both parties: to shrink government, get spending under control,
reform entitlements, bring a new spirit of bipartisanship, change the system,
make the government work for the people and on and one the list of broken
promises go. Yet with each new
election cycle we get more of the same and yet – like sheep following the flock
– we rush to the polls to elect the same parties that have so ruined our great
Republic.
I say that our fellow citizens – myself included – have become lazy,
disinterested, and apolitical. We
have become so wrapped up in our every day lives that we have forgotten that it
is we the people who have the ultimate say in who our elected leaders are. The news
media is also culpable in the failure of our Republic. Instead of keeping an eye on both
parties, they have coddled favor with both parties – although some would argue
that they favor one over another – the point is that the media have absconded
from their fundamental responsibility to be a watchdog of the powerful and to be
the eyes of the people. What
happens when the eyes of the people become blinded? The result is the current state of our American
Republic.
However, we cannot completely lay blame to the American people and the
media. For it is the case with
every elected government, that there are some in this current mockery of an
establishment, that we now call the federal government, that have tried to
reform government. Yet, they are
few and far between; a few small voices calling out in a crescendo of voices
that would rather maintain the status quo and hoard political power then act in
the interest of our great Republic.
It is this crescendo of voices – from both parties – that we must lay
the remainder of the blame at for the stat that we now find our Republic in. They have gone to Washington and like
the kings in the Book of Revelation who suckled themselves on the whore of
Babylon; they have suckled on the federal government and grown drunk with
political power. Instead of
listening to the American people they would give more weight to Washington
insiders, political focus groups, think tanks, lobbyists, policy experts, and
the Washington media.
Having diagnosed the vile problem that now infects our American
Republic, we must ask ourselves what can I, the voter, do to fix this and where
do we go from here? In the next of
these series, we will explore the particular venue and vehicle that will be
needed to cure the inflection currently infecting the American Republic. The only way to take back our Republic
and restore her to her former glory is through the vehicle of a new and
independent party.
We already have the power to do this, for our founders have invested in
the people the ultimate power, which is the power to change government through
the electoral process. If you do not like the status quo of both parties – then
THROW THEM OUT! You may say
that “we have no other options, there are only two parties.” To this I say if you do not like your
options then create a new option.
To this you may say, “this is impossible, these political parties have
gamed the system and will not allow the creation of a party that will challenge
the status quo.” To this I say did
not the founders face this very same quandary? How were they – men from regular walks of life – supposed to
stand up to the greatest empire of the time? How were they, a rag tag army of farmers and militia
supposed to face down the most well funded, well equipped, well trained force
of the time? How were they, men
with no experience in creating government to meld thirteen independent colonies
into one functioning nation with a system of rules and laws? I say that the answer is right in front
of us, for all we have to do is look to the writings, documents, and
inspiration of our founding fathers and we can find the answer as to how to do
this.
The answer is simple – that we the people, through the electoral
process, must rise up and create our own party that will serve our interests
and not the party interest.
We can do this because at the very soul of our American Republic there
is a Jefferson, a Washington, a Madison, a Hamilton, and an Adams in all of us. We must tap into the soul of our
American Founding and we can retake this great American Republic and restore
her to all of her glory. For now
is the time of action, our Republic is calling out to her citizens to come to
her aide in this time of peril.
She is asking that we rescue her from the brutal state that both parties
have put her into. To my fellow
citizens I ask this – how will you answer the call of our Republic?
If upon reading this you would like to answer the call of our great
American Republic, please email me at federalist08@yahoo.com. Together we can take back our
government and put it back on the side of the people. I hope to start a website soon and once I have that up and
running, I will provide the web site to anyone who is interested. In the meantime I will be trying to get
my message out through the Internet at forums like Townhall.com,
conservatives.com, http://currentstateoftherepublic.today.com etc. As the forums grow I will keep everyone
updated.