"There's nothing in the streets, looks any different to me
And the slogans are replaced, by-the-bye
And the parting on the left is now parting on the right
And the beards have all grown longer overnight..,
Meet the new boss
Same as the old boss."
From "Won't Get Fooled Again" by The Who
Politics in the United States of America has degraded into nothing more than a circus. It has become a cancer on our society that will not stop growing until we cut it out by its roots. This is partially a result of the two party duopoly that has been established by the rich elite who continue to pay for it, and partially a result of decades of popular apathy, ignorance and indoctrination that has led to acceptance of that system. It has become obvious that, with a few, but a growing number of exceptions, the worst possible humans are the ones that have decided to run for political office. That is because, I believe, positions of power attract control freaks who wish to exercise force over people and all their dealings.
The Republicans have managed to reach a new level when it comes to insulting my intelligence. They have drug out an old political has-been named Newt Gingrich in an attempt to placate the politically astute and herd those embracing the changing views on politics back into the two party, big government Republican versus big government Democrat box. In order to do this, he and his fellow Republicrats have come up with a not so original "Pledge to America" where they offer a similitude of so called solutions to the problems they believe are creating anger in America. They are merely trying to tap that anger to levy more power for themselves and implement their own big government agenda as opposed to actually shrinking government, lessening the burden and allowing free markets to once again bring prosperity to our nation.
Does Mr. Gingrich think we've forgotten his "Contract With America?" Does he think we've forgotten what a dismal failure that was? Does he believe we'd forgot how they managed to break that contract? Does he believe we'd forget that while the Republicans were in charge they still managed to grow government? Has he forgotten that it was the Republican policies of undeclared war and empire building that led us to this moment? That is what they are pledging, more of the same like we had back then, not more liberty, or less government, or even more autonomy at the more accountable state and local levels. Well, apparently, he thinks we've forgotten and that they can just pull the wool over our eyes and do as they want once they get in power.
Just look at the pledge, it doesn't even say much. They will try to repeal parts of Obama's healthcare bill. Parts of it. A step in the right direction? Maybe. But the whole bill is unconstitutional. It all needs to go, including the parts the Republicans say they like. Let the free market decide what services insurance companies want to offer, not bureaucrats. The federal government has no business mandating any kind of health care perestroika, period. I don't care what loopholes they find or legalese they use to argue otherwise. Those kind of decisions were to be left to the states to handle, or to the individuals, at least according to the tenth amendment to the Constitution.
They pledge to implement sanctions against Iran. Huh? What happened to no nation building? What happened to no empire building? There's a reason George Washington believed we should have commerce with all nations but entangling alliances with none. Sanctions are an act of war. It has been estimated that the sanctions imposed against Iraq caused millions of deaths, mostly children. Wars are expensive. They have nearly bankrupted this country both morally and financially. Can we really afford another war?
They pledge no more TARP funds. Ok, fine. How about pledging to arrest those who perpetrated that fraud on the United States in the first place? How about pledging to prosecute those who threatened our congressmen with images of martial law, economic collapse and rioting in the streets? I'm certain they could find something in all their RICO and terrorism laws to charge them with. Hey, better yet, how about getting all that money back? How about allowing those big companies to fail as they should have, get back the taxpayer money that was used to prop them up, and allowing smaller, more agile, more financially savvy companies to succeed where the large, cumbersome, bureaucratic, inept companies couldn't?
Does Newt Gingrich and his political cronies really think they can fool us again? Sadly, many will likely fall into that trap as they continue to hope that principle will trump money and power. This simply won't happen unless and until the outcry is so great that the political elite quake at the thought of being caught in a compromising position. It won't happen until there is some teeth put into the laws governing how the federal government is run. It won't happen until there is a real danger of politicians who stray from the principles set down in the Bill of Rights being held accountable for their actions.
Don't get me wrong, I don't like Barack Obama or his administration. I don't like what he's trying to turn our country into. But I didn't like George W. Bush either. I didn't like the direction he was taking America. I also didn't like being lied to back in the 90s when Newt Gingrich and his ilk introduced their "Contract With America." Perhaps if they had kept their word back then I might look differently upon them now, but that's not what happened. I can't trust them anymore. Perhaps Republican socialism is slightly better than Democrat socialism, but it is long past time for these types of comparisons to stop and for issues to be looked at separately instead of grouped together in party platforms. It is time to frame them in terms of freedom versus tyranny rather than in terms of big government Democrat versus big government Republican.
I can't tell you how angry it makes me that Newt Gingrich and the Republican establishment think I'm so stupid that I'll fall for their lies again. I can't tell you how angered I am that they have usurped a popular movement like the tea party, a movement that promised to bring freedom back to our nation and reinstate the power of the individual, a movement that wanted to once again make America a place where one's rights are respected and they are expected to take responsibility for their own lives and the decisions they make.
The tea party movement shouldn't be about Republican or Democrat, it should be about principle and honor. Both the Republicans and the Democrats have been a plague upon our nation. Both parties are, for the most part, without honor and without principle. Both parties have sold out the common folk for the thirty pieces of silver the corporate establishment has thrown at them.
I have an idea, Newt. How about you make a simple pledge. How about you pledge to stick to the Constitution? How about you pledge to limit government power to the powers enumerated in it? How about you repeal all unconstitutional laws, not just those passed by the Obama administration? How about repealing the Patriot Act, The Military Commissions Act, and other such unconstitutional, intrusive, freedom killing legislation brought on by the Bush administration?
How about pledging to audit the Federal Reserve? Oh, did you think your little ruse would make us forget about that little bit of legislation? Did you think that by focusing on the most recent bit of criminal activity and pledging to reverse those injustices we'd forget about that issue? Did you think we'd get angry enough to turn our heads away and just let them continue their unaccountable ways as they march us to economic ruin? How about we see if our gold is still where it's supposed to be? Let's not forget that those who control the supply of money control everything.
Of course, even if you made such a pledge, how could I trust you? How could anyone? You have deceived us before. You will continue to try to deceive. It's just in your nature. It's in the nature of almost every politician, almost everyone who seeks to exercise power over people. The problem is in the system. The system needs to be made more accountable. It needs to be made more voluntary. Until we can decide to stop paying for it, until we have the ability to withhold our taxes with impunity, it will remain unaccountable and inhabited by the worst, the most corruptible and the most power grubbing that humanity has to offer.
It seems to me that all that needs to be done is for government to get off the backs of the common folk. It seems that if it just lets the common folk be that we will all prosper. That is how our nation operated a hundred years ago when we were more prosperous than any of the socialist countries in the world. In fact, we were so prosperous that it held us together to this very day despite the anti free market sentiment of the power elite. We can no longer expect that prosperity to grow if we stay on the socialistic track we adopted in the thirties. Get the government off our backs and we will do well, as we have in the past.
My archived articles are available at szandorblestman.com. Please visit there to help support me and my efforts. I also have an ebook available entitled "The Ouijiers" by Matthew Wayne.
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