If there is one thing that consistently strikes fear into the hearts
of America’s gaggle of professional politicians, it is the possibility
that someday — in most of the country — there will be a mass awakening
of political awareness within the unwashed masses. The voter apathy
will be over, along with most of the careers of the elite in D.C.
Why? Because latter-day politicians know that to be an incumbent in
American politics today is to maintain an almost unbeatable advantage
against any challenger.
Incumbents already know that most elections are not cliffhangers for
Americans. They know most of us are too busy trying to make a living and
raise our families to take an interest in what Washington does, much
less cast a ballot in a national election for someone they feel is the
lesser of two evils.
While voters do gripe and grumble once in awhile, it’s all too rare
and usually all too quiet to cause much turbulence on high.
In fact, today’s entrenched politicians are not only aware of this
phenomenon called voter apathy, they count on it. They don’t want you
going to the polls because they know that statistically, when an unusual
influx of voters take the time and make the effort to vote, it’s almost
always because they’re fed up with something the incumbent has said or
done. And they know that when this happens, the incumbent almost always
is sent home, and few who are hooked on the aphrodisiac of power relish
the thought of losing their stuffed shirt status.
Groan and moan about the futility of voting if you will, but what is
the alternative? Civil war? And that’s better?
No, it isn’t. In fact, if the United States begins selecting leaders
based on which warlord is the most powerful, then we will lose any
stability we ever hoped to have and this country will split into so many
factions our various enemies across the globe will have trouble deciding
which fiefdom to invade first.
Fortunately we don’t have to resort to violence in this country to
make our point to our political leaders. As bad as it has gotten with
the federal bureaucracy, it is a far cry from the overly oppressive days
when King George still ruled this land.
The point is we have alternatives. One of them is to get off your
duff, learn about the issues because it’s your civic responsibility to
do so, and then go make your voice heard at the polls when the time
comes.
There is another alternative — civil disobedience. Like them or not,
those who protested the WTO and the World Bank — minus the destruction
they wrought — had the intestinal fortitude to make a trip to Seattle
and Washington, D.C., and let their voices be heard en masse. It was
enough to be heard; it was enough to be counted. It let
those in power know they weren’t just going to hand this country over to
a bunch of globalist goofballs to exploit like they have virtually every
other country on earth.
It may not have stopped the juggernaut yet, but those protests caused
it to slow down, pause and take notice. And in the beginning, that’s
good enough.
For all our problems here, folks, we’ve still got it pretty good in
this country. We have a Bill of Rights and a Constitution that is the
envy of freedom lovers the world over. We have a strong economy, a
superb military, a wonderful technology and industry sector, and just
about the highest standard of living per capita than any other country.
And while there is not one of these things that could not stand to be
improved, throwing them away because you just don’t give a damn about
“the system” anymore is about the dumbest thing anyone could do.
But first things first. It’s time to clean the filth out of D.C. and
start from scratch with new people who are dedicated to preserving the
rights and freedoms our founders fought for and our forefathers helped
maintain.
It’s time to clear out the incumbents and breathe new life into this
Republic of ours.
