One of the concepts this country was founded upon is the principle of representation. Our forefathers were concerned about tyranny and also an oligarchial form of government which would put a few making the political decisions for the many without giving heed to the wishes of the people. A representative form of government allows for the voice of all to be heard and the representatives accountable to those who elected them. They are to represent their constituents while dealing with matters which face our entire nation, state, community or the various levels of governemnt.
I was recently intrigued as I heard over a newscast a discussion about who was being represented in the health care debate. It was pointed out that lobbyists and special interests groups were spending extremely large amounts of money to get their interests served. Deals, of course, have been struck in an effort to gain passage of the bill to the uprorar of the states who are not getting those deals and even among those in the states who are receiving the special deals. People realize that what is going on is not right. But the question was posed - Who represents the people to the legislators?
What???? The legislators are to represent the people, not the special interests groups, not the agenda of a political party or the desires of the president. The Congress is not the employee of Obama, or Pelosi, or Reid who are basically calling the American people ignorant when it comes to many things, including health care. It is not the responsibility of the government to provide health care for us, or to protect us from the evil insurance companies because they want to make a profit. Why would any business exist if it were not to make a profit? Isn't that how we are really supposed to provide for our needs, not hold out our hands to big daddy government and expect him to provide for us? Do we not remember that government never gives to us unless it first takes from someone else?
Elitism in the sphere of government, or any other sphere has never been a good thing. President Obama, Speaker Pelosi and Senator Reid along with others are not superior to us and do not represent the American people. They have their own politcal agendas to change the character and values of America and they have the ability to bribe and manipulate those we have elected to get what they want.
Keep standing up Americans! Keep letting your voice be heard. Say no to abortion funding. Say no to public option. Say no to those who are receiving the special deals if they will vote Obama's way. Say yes to competition in the marketplace. Say yes to the loosening of government regualtions and control in the marketplace. Say yes to the tenets of capitalism and no to the marxist, socialist philosophies being promoted by the present leaders of our federal government. Say yes to a strong national defense. We are once again becoming the laughingstock of the world because of the weak president we have concerning international affairs. The day will come when elections occur again and then we can hold these people accountable by voting them out. Meanwhile, let's hope that they damage that they are incurring upon America will not be irreversible.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I’m struck here by the lack of a clear-eyed view of the development of the American system of government. It was by no means clear at the time of the writing of the Constitution that the resulting system of representation would be based on anything OTHER than an oligarchy. Indeed, a number of the representatives specifically wanted to limit voting rights to the educated, land-holding gentry. (And, in this day and age, I must say that I can’t blame them for wanting to keep the ignorant out of the mix of politics…There’s enough untruth on this blog alone to make a good case for it.) It should be abundantly clear to any right-thinking observer of history that two specific groups were specifically restricted from voting (and thus, from being adequately represented): women and those of color. This is famously recorded in the Constitution, in which a slave was counted as 3/5 a person. A provision for “one person, one vote” never existed. The vote was first ostensibly open to blacks with the passage of the 15th Amendment in 1870, but in truth, local laws (part of the “glory” of the federalist system) prevented blacks, minorities, the poor and anyone “else” from voting through the use of “poll taxes”, certificates of “good character” and tests of literacy. Women didn’t have the right to vote until the 19th Amendment in 1920. It wasn’t until the 24th Amendment (in 1964!!!) that such blatant forms of discrimination were officially outlawed. It should be clear to anyone reading that your reasoning is deeply flawed and based in some sort of alternative, myopic version of modern history that bears no resemblance to the facts.
ReplyDeleteLikewise, how any reasonable, ethical citizen of the U.S. could STILL be arguing for de-regulation following the recent economic collapse absolutely blows my mind. Unrestrained capitalism is as great an evil as any other pure economic or political theory that is unleashed on a country. It leads, with no doubt, to rapacious profit-seeking, as we have seen. Still, there exist people that can’t seem to learn their lessons from history and return like sows to their wallows. The glory of the American system is that it is not a “pure” system of any sort. It is an amalgam of historic political and economic systems that have been tried throughout the centuries. Thus, the call from any group, desiring any sort of a “pure” capitalistic system should be regarded much like the Israelites who called for the golden calf: folly, to be followed by destruction.
Further, this posting seems to be opining against those pesky “educated” people. You know, the people that have learned at some of our greatest institutions, have traveled the world and gained experience, have risen to prominence for their mental abilities, knowledge, striving and acuity. Suggesting, even for a moment, that we should entrust the powers of government to anyone BUT our most intelligent and capable citizens is disastrous thinking. I remind you that not all of the highly educated members of our society are liberals. The late Wm. Buckley is a good example of a highly intelligent and educated person who was also conservative. But, today, we see this populist hullaballoo around Sarah Palin, an uneducated, bemused, bewildered, ignorant, incapable, incontinent nut-job from the sticks. Is this seriously what the conservative movement wants to hold up as its idol? Seriously? This is truly scraping the bottom of the barrel, and it stinks.
My advice? Say “no” to the reactionary fundamentalists that seem to have a strangle-hold on the Republican party.
Additionally, as full of misinformation as this post is, I have to note this passage:
ReplyDelete"President Obama, Speaker Pelosi and Senator Reid along with others are not superior to us and do not represent the American people."
That's just plain wrong, and it proves that your post was written as knee-jerk reaction instead of being reasoned argument. Speaker Pelosi, Mr. Reid and Mr. Obama are ELECTED officials. Speaker Pelosi represents a majority of voters in the 8th Congressional District of California, Mr. Reid represents a majority of voters in his Senate district in the State of Nevada, and Mr. Obama represents a majority of voters in the United States of America. As ELECTED officials they represent their constituency, which ELECTED them. In a strict sense, Ms. Pelosi and Mr. Reid do not represent "us" as Americans, as they represent primarily the people of their districts. Mr. Obama DOES represent all of us, as our president. You may not feel that your values are represented by Mr. Obama, but that is because you are in the minority of voters. I would beg you to afford him the respect he deserves, both for his individual accomplishments as well as the Office he holds. It must be remembered the John Adams and Thos. Jefferson were bitter political rivals, but they held each other in great respect. That was the measure of their character, and it is sad to see that you are unable to follow their example.