August 23, 2007
by Cliff Carson
|
Sometime back, a few months ago, I stated in an Article "The Immorality of the Iraqi War", that our leaders in Washington need to employ four "Linchpins" of Governance to be worthy of our trust. They are 1. A return to our Constitution, 2. Guaranteed Public Redress, 3. Fidelity and Morality of Governance, and 4. A return to principles of Financial Viability for our people. I have written, "We must Return to Our Constitution" and "The Value of Financial Viability" to address Linchpins # 1 and # 4.
This article is written to address Linchpin # 3, the need for Morality and Fidelity of those we elect to represent our interests in Washington. When we elected our choices to Governance roles, we expected them to keep our faith in them. What we seem to have gotten instead is corruption, special interest legislation, a loss of civil rights, and involvement in an immoral war started by an out of control White House based on Lies and Deception. In general what we got in return from those we elected, was disregard of the principles of Governance called Fidelity and Morality.
- Fidelity is defined as "Faithfulness to obligations or duties", "Exact correspondence with fact, accuracy."
- Morality is defined as "A system of ideas of right and wrong conduct", "Virtuous Conduct".
How many of our elected officials have exhibited virtuous conduct and faithfulness to obligations and duties? Can you readily identify one or two? We the electorate keep on talking about getting those ideals of Fidelity and Morality into office, but so often we go to the polls and vote for the same ole incumbent. Did I ever mention that if we always do, what we always did, we always get, what we always got? So when we go to vote in 2008 - we need to vote to truly make a difference. Surely we deserve better than what we have been getting.
There are no victimless crimes in Governance. When corrupt lawmakers rake the public and line their pockets and pockets of friends or relatives, or give financial favors to Big Business, the cost of this corruption is passed on to you. When the government of the United States starts an ill fated and extremely expensive war, you are obligated to pick up the tab. When the citizen falls under the thumb of the powerful and privileged, it's the non-powerful and the non-privileged who get squashed. That would be you and me, the average citizen. It is we who are manipulated to support the very ones who oppress us. Why do we continue to allow this to happen? Yes we may be misled by spun media reporting and well planned propaganda, but even at that, I think it is thru our own acceptance of corruption and malfeasance, daily reported, but never corrected.
A case in point would be earmarks. One of the most corruptive actions occurring in our Government is this practice whereby a member of Congress attaches a rider to a bill going thru, that rewards that Congress member with some nefarious gain. And they most often attach it to a bill that most Americans agree needs to be passed, not necessarily in its present form, but nevertheless such a bill is needed for some critical funding or so. This is how we get our bridges to nowhere, pork barrel projects for friends and political hacks, and absolutely insane funding for worthless projects. You may have seen the recent report of the two lock washers that brought some friend of someone right at one million dollars! They're actual value? Less than 50 cents. Annual costs to the public from this type behavior are in the Billions.
Possibly an even worse practice is influence peddling, commonly called Lobbying. This legalized criminal activity costs you and me Billions every year and we are always carrying on about throwing the bastards out - but just don't ever get around to use our vote to do it. Yes I'm aware that Lobbyists don't run for election, but every bill that is passed due to Lobbyist influence or bribery is voted on by someone we did elect. These are just two of a myriad of monetary drains on money available to pay for things we really need. And we keep on allowing it to happen. Well, we even encourage it.
(Article Continues Below)
I would say our most egregious act is to vote for someone thru Party loyalty. It's not the first time it has happened and unfortunately it won't be the last. But if you want to break the habit of enabling those that don't live up to their obligations and duties, from those that don't communicate to the public with accuracy and fact, or those who don't act in a virtuous manner, you and I will have to reject Party Loyalty and make our choice for a candidate who meets the definitions of Morality and Fidelity irrespective of their party affiliation.
That is why I have gone from being a lifetime Republican since Goldwater, opting out only once for Kennedy, and this last time in 2004 for Kerry. My next vote will be for an Independent who I think meets my standards delineated in this article. I thoroughly believe that both the Democrat and Republican Parties have become too corrupted to meet the standards of Morality and Fidelity.
A corrupt Government makes efficient use of propaganda. Call it Fair and Balanced news. You've probably heard that phrase until it has become ingrained into your everyday life. But is there such a thing as "Fair and Balanced news?" Isn't news what it is, irregardless or what someone might think about its fairness? Isn't news simply the truth- a statement of what has occurred? If it is "Fair and Balanced" doesn't that mean that the truth has been compromised? And finally isn't "Fair and Balanced" news actually a definition for Spin?
The cumulative effect of constant spin is that the average citizen drifts out of touch with reality and this enables a corrupt Government to incrementally cause transference of power from the people to the Government. Hasn't this Administration accelerated transference of power from the people to an all-powerful government that seems to be increasingly spinning out of control? By the time We the People realize that we are being abused by those who are supposed to serve us, the return of power back to the We the People could become difficult.
It is my position that the American public is being spun down a road toward servitude to an all-powerful government, the result, at its worst, could become akin to a Dictatorship. The two exclusive parties, Republican and Democrat, have managed to make it almost legally impossible for a third party to have influence. They both have agendas that are convergent about Government power. Neither party has the well being of the individual American citizen as its primary purpose. A Government that doesn't practice Fidelity and Morality in Governance continuously moves to solidify its power over the individual liberties.
One way for this immoral body to solidify power is to spy on its subjects. A corrupt Government needs tight control over the freedoms of the public and I believe that every citizen of America can see their freedoms steadily being lost to improve Government control of the population.
The good news is that there are good Moral people out there who practice Fidelity and Morality in their everyday lives in our land, who would serve the people faithfully and in their interests. Some are running for President and for the Senate and some for the House. But it is difficult to identify them. Difficult as it may be, our task is to do just that, identify those people, spread the word, volunteer to help, whatever you can do to help clean up Washington, this is something We the People must do to reverse the trend of Government becoming all powerful. Because at the rate their power is growing, you may not have many elections left to force this critically needed change.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider the following:
1. Make a donation of $1 or more to help keep this website active.
click here
2. Click Here to Subscribe to the Free Populist Party Newsletter
3. Share this page or get the Populist Party RSS Feed
Cliff Carson [send him email] is a freelance writer and Populist Party contributor.
