Once again, our election cycle has amply demonstrated that our political system has been corrupted and populated by those who desperately cling to their power. Both party's systems are archaic, clunky, inefficient and inconsistent. It's enough to make you want to pick up a two-by-four and hit someone in the head. Why not go ahead and do that? Grab that board and hit yourself over the head a couple of times, because it is YOUR fault.
You, who sit around and bellyache every Presidential Election cycle about how bad the system is and think the only thing you have to do is fill out a ballot, hit yourself with that board. You, who can't be bothered to set aside some of your time every two years to actually get involved with the process--whether it be a caucus or a convention or whatever your state does, clock yourself a good one. You, who have raised a generation of numbskulls who think that socialism (even with a "Democratic" label in front of it) is compatible with our Constitutional government in any way, shape or form--take a swing at your noggin. You, who foolishly think that we live in a democracy, please go find a brick wall and knock your forehead against it a couple of times. Did it knock any sense into you? If only it were that easy.
Lesson #1: We do not live in a Democracy. The Founding Fathers were just as appalled by the thought of living in a pure democracy as they were at living under the tyranny of a king. Why? Because the minority has no rights in a pure democracy. The majority rules completely and are the only ones with guaranteed rights. If you have brain one in your head, surely you can see why that would be problematic. We live in a representative Republic. In other words, we don't all have time to be engaged in every aspect of our government, every minute of our lives, so we are supposed to vet the candidates, at every level, and elect people we trust to represent our views. That involvement begins at the precinct level. (Not every state is the same, perhaps you should find out how it works in yours.) In Washington, we have a local caucus where we elect delegates to go to our county convention. From that group, delegates are elected to go to the state convention. They then elect those who will become the delegates to the national convention. At the national convention, it is the delegates who actually cast the votes that will determine who is honored with the Presidential nomination for their party.
Lesson #2: Representative republics require the time of the voters. Unfortunately, the apathy, laziness and ignorance of the American voter has left us with the clunky process we now have. Political parties are private groups. They have the absolute right to establish their own rules and by-laws both for participation and leadership. The ONLY way to change those rules is to get involved in the process from the inside. You must become a delegate, learn the process and campaign to be part of the rules committee and make changes from the inside. The establishment will resist of course--that does not automatically imply corruption, it means that true to human nature, most people who have power are going to be reluctant to give it up. If the changes you want are popular and you can garner the necessary support, the rules can be changed, but it is not done at the ballot box.
Lesson #3: We have the government we deserve and have asked for. I am done listening to people bellyache and moan about how awful our government is when they refuse to get involved. Thanks to the wisdom of our Founding Fathers, the People still are the great sovereign power in this country, but we have ceded our authority to the political ruling class. Until we are angry enough to do what is necessary to take it back, then this is what we have asked for. If you hate the way we choose a President and you hate your state's process and rules, then the time to change it for the 2020 election is now. It will require your time and effort between now and the next election to make that happen.
Do you know why this election cycle is such a joke? Because we don't take our jobs as voters seriously. We are electing someone to fill the most powerful office in the world and we can't be bothered to learn about the process, understand how our government works or even consider whether the candidates are qualified to hold this office! Electing the President of the United States has descended to the level of electing a high school class president. It's nothing more than a popularity contest. He who promises the most freebies; she who tells the most lies; she who curries the most favor with the big money; he who can get the most free sensationalistic air time--only they seem to be able to garner our attention long enough for us to learn their names. A fraction of the citizenry of this nation will actually take the time to investigate the candidate, learn about who they really are and what they stand for and ascertain their compatibility with our established form of governance.
There is a hue and cry on the Democrat side because Bernie Sanders is now winning. But since the Democrat Party establishment instituted the Super Delegates, they have assured their ability to decided who the nominee is. I hate to be the one to tell all you Bernie lovers this, but Hillary will be the nominee. How do I know? She has bought and paid for the Super Delegates long before she ever announced she was running. The system is corrupt and you let it happen. You never cared or complained until this election cycle and now it's too late.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump who has admittedly been exploiting our political system for his personal enrichment, can't seem to figure out our election process. He is going to be GREAT, I know, but are you a little concerned that he's so mystified by our current political process that his campaign is dysfunctional ? If he can't manage this, how will he do in Washington DC? And then, instead of recognizing that Cruz won Colorado partly because Trump's campaign is a mess, the mighty Trump calls "Foul!" He whines about the process and cries "Wolf...er corruption!" while decrying that Democracy isn't being allowed to work (see Lesson #1) Who can he sue now? Who will he sue when he becomes President and realizes that both Democrats and Republicans will stymie his every move? You cannot be serious.
At present, the most ridiculous thing I've heard from Trumpeters all over the country is how they were cheated in Colorado. (See Lessons #1-3) I agree that it's far from ideal. But this didn't happen yesterday. Colorado implemented their current rules last August. They did it in plain sight of anybody who BOTHERED to look. That was before Trump was even an issue. Most of the current primary rules in place were implemented after the Romney election cycle and no one even considered Donald Trump anything but the billionaire on TV with the weird hair. It was a reaction to the Ron Paul campaign efforts to hijack the delegate process and steal the nomination. How do I know that? I was there and I watched it happen at my county convention. To now make an indictment of the entire process because Trump lost is juvenile and dangerous. To accuse every citizen delegate of being a Republican party hack is unfair and insulting.
I am incredibly offended by the accusations being thrown around by the Trump lackeys and the Trumpster. I am an example of many citizens who are participating in the process because we are sick of watching the corruption. I found out when my caucus was and took away from my precious family time on a Saturday morning to participate. I was elected as a delegate to the county convention by the seven, yes, you read that right, seven people who were there. Later on, I spent an entire Saturday at my county convention so I could try and become a delegate to my state convention. I was elected by the 139 delegates who showed up to go to state. I am not a Republican Party hack, no campaign approached me, no campaign owns me. I stated clearly that I will vote for whomever I am bound to vote for at the national convention (if I am lucky enough to go), on the first ballot. After that, I will vote my conscious and the feelings of my district which was overwhelmingly for Ted Cruz. I am paying my own way, inconveniencing my entire family and using my precious time to do this because it matters. When it matters enough to you to change things, I invite you to join me. Perhaps I should re-title this post, "The System is Corrupt, Because That's How We Like It"...
You, who sit around and bellyache every Presidential Election cycle about how bad the system is and think the only thing you have to do is fill out a ballot, hit yourself with that board. You, who can't be bothered to set aside some of your time every two years to actually get involved with the process--whether it be a caucus or a convention or whatever your state does, clock yourself a good one. You, who have raised a generation of numbskulls who think that socialism (even with a "Democratic" label in front of it) is compatible with our Constitutional government in any way, shape or form--take a swing at your noggin. You, who foolishly think that we live in a democracy, please go find a brick wall and knock your forehead against it a couple of times. Did it knock any sense into you? If only it were that easy.
Lesson #1: We do not live in a Democracy. The Founding Fathers were just as appalled by the thought of living in a pure democracy as they were at living under the tyranny of a king. Why? Because the minority has no rights in a pure democracy. The majority rules completely and are the only ones with guaranteed rights. If you have brain one in your head, surely you can see why that would be problematic. We live in a representative Republic. In other words, we don't all have time to be engaged in every aspect of our government, every minute of our lives, so we are supposed to vet the candidates, at every level, and elect people we trust to represent our views. That involvement begins at the precinct level. (Not every state is the same, perhaps you should find out how it works in yours.) In Washington, we have a local caucus where we elect delegates to go to our county convention. From that group, delegates are elected to go to the state convention. They then elect those who will become the delegates to the national convention. At the national convention, it is the delegates who actually cast the votes that will determine who is honored with the Presidential nomination for their party.
Lesson #2: Representative republics require the time of the voters. Unfortunately, the apathy, laziness and ignorance of the American voter has left us with the clunky process we now have. Political parties are private groups. They have the absolute right to establish their own rules and by-laws both for participation and leadership. The ONLY way to change those rules is to get involved in the process from the inside. You must become a delegate, learn the process and campaign to be part of the rules committee and make changes from the inside. The establishment will resist of course--that does not automatically imply corruption, it means that true to human nature, most people who have power are going to be reluctant to give it up. If the changes you want are popular and you can garner the necessary support, the rules can be changed, but it is not done at the ballot box.
Lesson #3: We have the government we deserve and have asked for. I am done listening to people bellyache and moan about how awful our government is when they refuse to get involved. Thanks to the wisdom of our Founding Fathers, the People still are the great sovereign power in this country, but we have ceded our authority to the political ruling class. Until we are angry enough to do what is necessary to take it back, then this is what we have asked for. If you hate the way we choose a President and you hate your state's process and rules, then the time to change it for the 2020 election is now. It will require your time and effort between now and the next election to make that happen.
Do you know why this election cycle is such a joke? Because we don't take our jobs as voters seriously. We are electing someone to fill the most powerful office in the world and we can't be bothered to learn about the process, understand how our government works or even consider whether the candidates are qualified to hold this office! Electing the President of the United States has descended to the level of electing a high school class president. It's nothing more than a popularity contest. He who promises the most freebies; she who tells the most lies; she who curries the most favor with the big money; he who can get the most free sensationalistic air time--only they seem to be able to garner our attention long enough for us to learn their names. A fraction of the citizenry of this nation will actually take the time to investigate the candidate, learn about who they really are and what they stand for and ascertain their compatibility with our established form of governance.
There is a hue and cry on the Democrat side because Bernie Sanders is now winning. But since the Democrat Party establishment instituted the Super Delegates, they have assured their ability to decided who the nominee is. I hate to be the one to tell all you Bernie lovers this, but Hillary will be the nominee. How do I know? She has bought and paid for the Super Delegates long before she ever announced she was running. The system is corrupt and you let it happen. You never cared or complained until this election cycle and now it's too late.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump who has admittedly been exploiting our political system for his personal enrichment, can't seem to figure out our election process. He is going to be GREAT, I know, but are you a little concerned that he's so mystified by our current political process that his campaign is dysfunctional ? If he can't manage this, how will he do in Washington DC? And then, instead of recognizing that Cruz won Colorado partly because Trump's campaign is a mess, the mighty Trump calls "Foul!" He whines about the process and cries "Wolf...er corruption!" while decrying that Democracy isn't being allowed to work (see Lesson #1) Who can he sue now? Who will he sue when he becomes President and realizes that both Democrats and Republicans will stymie his every move? You cannot be serious.
At present, the most ridiculous thing I've heard from Trumpeters all over the country is how they were cheated in Colorado. (See Lessons #1-3) I agree that it's far from ideal. But this didn't happen yesterday. Colorado implemented their current rules last August. They did it in plain sight of anybody who BOTHERED to look. That was before Trump was even an issue. Most of the current primary rules in place were implemented after the Romney election cycle and no one even considered Donald Trump anything but the billionaire on TV with the weird hair. It was a reaction to the Ron Paul campaign efforts to hijack the delegate process and steal the nomination. How do I know that? I was there and I watched it happen at my county convention. To now make an indictment of the entire process because Trump lost is juvenile and dangerous. To accuse every citizen delegate of being a Republican party hack is unfair and insulting.
I am incredibly offended by the accusations being thrown around by the Trump lackeys and the Trumpster. I am an example of many citizens who are participating in the process because we are sick of watching the corruption. I found out when my caucus was and took away from my precious family time on a Saturday morning to participate. I was elected as a delegate to the county convention by the seven, yes, you read that right, seven people who were there. Later on, I spent an entire Saturday at my county convention so I could try and become a delegate to my state convention. I was elected by the 139 delegates who showed up to go to state. I am not a Republican Party hack, no campaign approached me, no campaign owns me. I stated clearly that I will vote for whomever I am bound to vote for at the national convention (if I am lucky enough to go), on the first ballot. After that, I will vote my conscious and the feelings of my district which was overwhelmingly for Ted Cruz. I am paying my own way, inconveniencing my entire family and using my precious time to do this because it matters. When it matters enough to you to change things, I invite you to join me. Perhaps I should re-title this post, "The System is Corrupt, Because That's How We Like It"...
Ouch! Telling it how it is! Thank you for your time and efforts! I again attended my local caucus, and for the first time in forever had TONS of people there. It was refreshing to see! This was due to a push by prominent religious leaders to rise up and PARTICIPATE! This will really be the ONLY way to make a difference - just as you have stated! Oh, that we may have more "American fight for the right" inside us, to DO what it takes, to BE who we are supposed to be, so our nation can BECOME AGAIN what it was destined for! Thanks for choosing to lead out in your area! That is what we ALL MUST do in ours!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments. I appreciate you reading. :)
DeleteOuch! Telling it how it is! Thank you for your time and efforts! I again attended my local caucus, and for the first time in forever had TONS of people there. It was refreshing to see! This was due to a push by prominent religious leaders to rise up and PARTICIPATE! This will really be the ONLY way to make a difference - just as you have stated! Oh, that we may have more "American fight for the right" inside us, to DO what it takes, to BE who we are supposed to be, so our nation can BECOME AGAIN what it was destined for! Thanks for choosing to lead out in your area! That is what we ALL MUST do in ours!
ReplyDelete