2.
Politics, Political Parties and Self-Preservation
First of all, my perspective regarding politics is most likely
different than yours. Since my earliest
memories I was fascinated by politics and the people who ran for elective
office.
In my home in the Midwest when people dedicated their time to
public service it was considered honorable, patriotic, and something everyone
should aspire to if they had an opportunity to help influence and improve the “people’s”
government.
The vast majority of elected office holders hold part time and
very low paying positions considering the magnitude of the impact on the
people. Yet some people had a
combination of the necessary knowledge, commitment, foresight, compassion,
common sense, and even a bit of ego to pursue this chance to help others.
My father was a typical World War II vet who, after returning
from the war, finished college on the GI bill, got into the family business,
and made time to seek political office.
His early campaigns for city council were my introduction to politics
when I was six years old.
To me the challenge in politics was harnessing the power of
government to actually shape the future, a better future, which required knowing
everything about how politics and government actually got things done. That power could generate constructive change
and better address the needs of our future.
Change is always difficult, much more so when you had to
achieve it through a massive bureaucracy like the federal government, and get
it approved by a very diverse group of elected politicians at the local, state
or federal government.
Since I began my political odyssey there have been twelve
presidents, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush,
Clinton, Bush, Obama and Trump. I
devoured every scrap of information I could find out about them. What were their priorities, influences,
philosophies, policies, the books they read, and on and on.
Unlike many people today, from Eisenhower to Trump I followed
them in real time, not from history books, newspaper archives or searches on
Yahoo, Google, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Wikipedia or other sources.
I lived the history most people of today never experienced,
and if they had few had the passion for politics. While living through the careers of twelve
presidents you see far more than a footnote in a history book. You see the good, the bad, the hopeful, the
tragic, the success, and the failures as they happened from beginning to
eventual consequences.
It is a sobering experience.
My focus was always “what do the people need from our
Constitutional government.” Of course,
there were often conflicting views between candidates and political parties, but
the underlying purpose of government was to protect the rights of all people, assure
equal opportunity for all, and defend our safety and security.
One must focus on the needs of the people, not the whims of
the politicians. Recognize the diversity
of cultures, religions, political philosophies and expectations within the
electorate. Insure that whatever actions
are taken, they can be financed by the government. Finally, do not waste valuable time fighting
for causes or candidates that will never succeed.
The dynamics of government change requires finding the Truth in
what is needed, justified and fair in the eyes of the people. Finding Truth means striking a balance in
meeting the interests of the people and finding the money to do it, while
knowing it s possible to succeed.
By nature, Constitution, experience and history we are a
nation of compromise, balancing all interests for the good of all people. Where does that leave us today?
Politicians
We are polarized, pigheaded, hateful, uncompromising, rigidly
aligned philosophically, and have our own ideas on what is good for the
people. Much of today’s electorate and
news media is clueless about what makes government work.
Many of our politicians are far more interested in their own
press coverage than focusing on the needs of the people. Money, big money drives action in Congress by
pouring millions, even billions of dollars into campaign war chests and
filtering it through the maze of special interest groups demanding that their
interest is right for America.
Younger politicians with little knowledge of the inner-working
of the legislative process or executive branch have no sense of history nor
experience, yet they already know everything.
They get exceptional press coverage and actually believe it is because
of their expertise.
As a member of the news media and former reporter, I can tell
you the Truth is a far different story.
News media and politicians alike are bought and sold by special
interests and the rich. If some media
outlet gives you coverage, it is because they can use you to further their
interests. Right now, the top interest
of the media is discrediting Trump.
Truth, honesty and integrity are all casualties of the media feeding
frenzy and politicians on TV are the puppets for the media cause, bringing down
Trump.
As a former congressional staffer, several times over, I once heard
legendary, brilliant and beloved by both political parties House Speaker Tip O’Neill
(Democrat) share with the newly elected congressmen of both parties some sage
advice he borrowed from President Abraham Lincoln. It was indicative of Tip’s genius and mastery
of the art of compromise. He said:
“Do
not be in a hurry to stand up and speak in the Halls of Congress and before the
press. It is better people not know what
you know, than know what you don’t know.”
Without the knowledge of history, and experience within the
system, which includes experience in matters of decorum like respecting people
regardless of their beliefs, and knowing the rules and protocols, you are a
voice in the wilderness and a puppet for the biased news media and special
interests.
Fueling dissent and animosity, embracing disrespect, and
spouting empty promises may give you temporary attention, but the empty
promises, boasts and threats will only get you on the scrap heap of failed
politicians in the long run.
Political
Parties
As for political parties, they only make governing more
difficult. In the early twentieth
century the Democrats and Republicans finally got a stranglehold on our
political system. While all kinds of
political parties and candidates may get on the ballots in some big cities and
states, only a Democrat or Republican can ever win in our broken-down political
system.
Ironically, neither party is mentioned in our
Constitution. Once upon a time the
majority party took a bi-partisan approach to legislating but that ended in the
Reagan-O’Neill era. From working
together our parties have devolved into radical opposition to compromise and often
irrational condemnation of each other’s policies because of ideological
ideology differences.
Even more ironic, in spite of the stark differences between
the party platforms, neither party, once in power, has ever come close to implementing
their sacred ideology through our system of government. Party platforms are dead upon arrival and are
never more than an empty campaign promise forgotten the day after the election.
Maybe the news media, political parties and politicians think
their platform is important, but you have not fooled the people. The vast majority of the people do not
believe political promises and know the platforms are window dressing for the
campaign. They know the same of news
media coverage.
The
Electorate
Over fifty percent of the eligible voters in America are so
disgusted or disinterested in our political system they refuse to register to vote. Long ago they realized Independent voters are
disenfranchised by discriminatory laws. The
two-party system has failed to energize the voter.
So, they sit out the election.
Yet even among the other fifty percent that do register to
vote, enthusiasm is struggling. Voter
participation in the past three presidential elections was 62.3 percent in
2008, 57.8 percent in 2012, and 61.4 percent in 2016. In other words, about 40 percent of our
registered voters did not even vote.
Of those that did vote, for the first time in modern history there
were more Independent voters than Democrat or Republican. Do not expect any action any time soon to fix
the discrimination against the new majority of Independents. Democrat and Republican parties both have
self-preservation before the good of the people.
Right now, the two parties are protected by restrictive state
laws regarding the rights of Independents.
It is a result of the state party affiliates taking orders from their
national parties.
However, the Silent Majority or registered and unregistered
Independents who sit back and watch the political circus will one day be silent
no more. Wen they have had enough, they
will register and fix the corrupt campaign finance laws, break the two-party
stranglehold on our election system, and they will hold the wayward news media
accountable for their lies, untruths and fake news.
For the record, the Truth tells us no presidential candidate in
modern times can declare their election represents a mandate to speak for the
people when only twenty-five percent of the eligible voters vote for the
winning presidential candidate.
Believe it or not, with fifty percent of the eligible voters
refusing to register, and forty percent of eligible voters choosing not to
vote, no recent president has been elected with anyway near a fifty percent
plurality. Obama and Trump both were
elected by twenty-five percent of the eligible vote, a substantial minority of
eligible voters no matter what kind of math you use.
The
People of our One Nation, under God, are watching.
Good people want discussion, not discord.
They want cooperation, not confrontation.
They want civility, not calamity.
They want compassion, not conspiracy.
They want compromise, not chaos.
They want progress, not promises.
They want results, not rhetoric.
Mostly they simply want the Truth.
And that is what God wants too.
