We the People? More like we the dopes

People complain. It's inherent in our nature to seek out an equilibrium of perfection, and when it's not to be found gripe like an impotent jerk while most times making no effort to remedy our irritation. Heck, many times there's nothing that can be done, and even when there is an adjustment which can be made we generally feel more comfortable simply whining about it, collecting some empathy and moving on.

At one time or another each of us has helped ourselves to a nice buffet of frustration regarding the weather, traffic, the way we look, the way we feel, our jobs, kids, in-laws – and in recent years perhaps the most popular area of negative expression has been in reference to the leadership in this country, or lack thereof.

Unfortunately, however, one common theme that often lines the cloud of an adverse rant is the lack of initiative to remedy whatever situation it is that plagues us. Many times we do nothing out of pure apathy, while other times it's a simple equation of having no idea where to begin the process of making things different.

Take the weather, for instance. I live in Atlanta, Georgia, where it seemingly rains every day. I despise the rain and curse it often – but as a single human being, what am I to do except sit and complain like a grumpy old man who's upset at the neighborhood kids playing ball in his yard. My other pet peeve is traffic, which there again makes Atlanta the wrong place for me to live. I generally find myself any number of times during the course of a week staring at taillights, wondering aloud and quite angrily why the person in the front of the line won't just GO! Again, as a single individual facing a problem of such mass, what am I to do? I wouldn't even know where to start; so I just rant and wait for the line to start moving.

To many the problems of a political nature and the overall dissatisfaction with leadership in this country is as common an area to voice our displeasure as any. Unfortunately, most of us feel that fixing the problem for We the Individual would be about as likely as singlehandedly diffusing that impassible traffic jam caused by the four-car pileup; so, like many other scenarios of dissatisfaction, we simply complain and learn to deal with it.

It's no secret Americans are generally dissatisfied with government, particularly in Washington. The president's approval numbers are low, and to say that Congress' approval numbers are simply low would be an improvement. We all love to complain about what a bunch of bums they all are.

Here's a thought, though: Maybe Congress and the president aren't so much bad at leading as we are at electing. At the end of the day we live in a republic and have a responsibility to put competent forthright people at the head of our nation to do things we want and need them to do. If we think that those in leadership are idiots – and judging by most poles the majority of us do – well, we're the ones who put them there. When you put it that way, now who's the idiot?

Read Rocker's firsthand account of his public battle with the PC thought police: "Scars and Strikes," at the WND Superstore

I, like so many other commentary writers, spend much of my time talking about all that is wrong in our world, but very little time offering possible solutions. As I think back upon my writings of the past several years, I have to say that I'm no different – and in a critically friendly manner, someone actually called me out on it last week. To that person I would like to say, you're right; thank you. As it relates to the many yet rarely positive discussions with regard to the inefficiencies of our government and our country's leaders, I would like to offer what I think to be a simple suggestion.

As I stated, when it comes to our government institutions and the individuals that make it up, they are not the problem. Those who make up the collective body of We the People are the problem. Those dopes we send to Congress and the White House were simply appointed by a larger group of dopes. If we want better more competent men and women leading our great nation, we the electorate must first be better and more competent.

We must educate ourselves on the issues that face our nation as well as the stances and track records of those we seek to handle these issues on our behalf. And I'm not talking about the 30 minutes of CBS news two evenings a week. As I'm sure most of you know, or certainly should know by now, mainstream media are nothing more than commentary generally containing a less than subtle bias for one party or the other. To truly give yourself a foundation that is knowledgeable enough to competently elect individuals to lead on your behalf, you must take your civic duty of the vote very seriously and educate yourself from a broad range of sources to insure you have received the most accurate perspective and can choose our leaders wisely.

If you're not willing to do that or don't see the value in it, then maybe we should give you a 16 percent approval rating to mimic that of Congress. H.L. Mencken once said, "Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public." I guarantee that many of our elected officials live by and get re-elected off of that premise, and ultimately We the People are the only ones that have the power to change that, one individual at a time.

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