It starts with Campaign Finance Reform
It is a rarity these days to find independent thinking politicians who do not demonstrate blind allegiance to their parties adopted institutions, bed buddies, and special interest's. It seems that the two parties have drawn their allegiances in the sand a long time ago creating a dysfunctional relationship between the political parent and the whining spoiled brats we have come to know as social causes, special interest's, and American institutions. The republicans are aligned with the NRA, the Christian right, insurance companies, and most corporate interests. The democrats have taken up with labor unions, teacher unions, most unions, lawyers, and of course, corporate interests, who seem to own both parties.
So who do we the people, the common man, the everyday worker that is not aligned with any special interest group, the taxpayer that empowers these prostitutes....who do we have on our side? Those of us that are concerned with boarder patrol, prescription costs, health care, maintaining our constitutional rights, keeping the price of gasoline affordable, keeping our taxes down, keeping the national debt down, keeping the politicians from stealing the American dream, keeping us out of unnecessary wars, etc.etc. and etc. I don't know anymore. I'm starting to feel like we are on our own without any real representation. I am feeling like the fox came in the middle of the night dressed in sheep's clothing and they are now in the process of liquidating all that America once stood for. I figure in about 20 more years the transformation or the liquidation will be complete, with nothing left of the American dream except for a 20 trillion dollar debt. We will have been raped, pillaged and plundered beyond repair.
Could it be that democracy comes with a built in self destruct mechanism? Maybe all forms of governments do. Take away any freedom and you are destined to fail. Freedom to express ideas or to speak out against the government, freedom to practice any religion, even freedom to achieve wealth. An over zealous military agenda, annihilation of the middle class, greedy leadership, economic bankruptcy, any of these things can destroy a country. And it seems that America is dangerously treading on most of these waters. Maybe 300 years is the life expectancy of any democracy.
Politicians have always screamed the same battle cry....We need true leadership! Once they are elected, in fact, even to get elected, they must play the game. And the game is all about money and corruption. There is one litmus test that will tell if we can survive this 300 year self destruct mode.... campaign finance reform. If true campaign finance reform happens, we have a chance. If not, damn.... it was nice while it lasted! And of course campaign finance reform is a catch 22. It's a gun that must be cocked and loaded by the same folks that it will be aimed at. We may be screwed....
Was there a way for the founders to form the constitution in a way that would insure that greed could never triumph over law and morality? Laws, Constitutions, Bills of rights, any written manifesto, they are all dualistic in nature. You have the letter of the law and the spirit of the law. When the letter of the law comes into question, we have the supreme court to make the final decision of what that letter means. The spirit of the law, however, is open to interpretation. And that's a good thing because we need that kind of flexibility as the pendulum of social consciousness is in constant motion. But now it seems the interpretation of the "spirit" of the law is being elevated into unknown regions, uncharted waters. The constitution is becoming more like the 10 commandments, sort of a document that exists as a reference point.
Greed, intelligence, and sociopathic behavior are a dangerous mix. When the majority of leaders can no longer be trusted to do what is right for the people they are being paid to represent, we have a problem. Mix in an apathetic population who have come to expect spin and lies from the prostitutes in charge and you have a recipe for the collapse of a democracy. To stop the bleeding, we must start with campaign finance reform and the catch 22 factor may never allow that to happen. Ultimately it's up to we the people to right the wrongs. How do we do that? I see only two ways....either all out revolution, or the power of the vote. I don't like the idea of revolution because there is never any guarantee you are going to end up with anything better than what you revolted against. Plus people die. We have too much invested in this country to throw it all out and start all over. So I digress to my last blog....vote em all out! And I'm talking about every level of government from city councils to congress and the white house. I would rather see a whole new congress of uncorrupted, eager to get things done, green behind the ears, patriotically intacted freshman politicians making decisions for our country than the established, experienced, and corrupted sly old foxes that have so cleverly adorned the sheep clothing, who have proven themselves incapable and unworthy of the public trust.