OK…I’m guilty of click bait but bear with me and read to the end. You may agree.
The United States of America has devolved into a less than 70 square mile bubble of corruption in Washington D.C. It’s filled with egos who think they are smarter and better suited to run the country than anybody else including our Founding Fathers.
So where did all those idiots and assholes* come from who now inhabit that bubble?
(*for those clutching their pearls…see franksiegler.com/Whylistentome.html)
The Founding Fathers created an elegant system with a Constitution that ran just 4400 words. The checks and balances woven throughout the document provides the means of correcting fault in the exercise of the Constitution that time and not more laws would alleviate.
Of special note is the fact that the Constitution created a Representative Republic…the word democracy does not appear anywhere in the Constitution.
Members of the House of Representatives are elected for just two years to prove competence in the office before reelection. The House of Representatives is based on the concept of “one person, one vote.” The number of House members each state gets is based on that state’s population. This short election span frequently resulted in laws hastily crafted by the larger states that could easily overpower the needs and wishes of the smaller states. The laws were sometimes crafted to gain attention of the media and promote the Representative’s name rather than solve a problem. Some laws were crafted by lobbyists who bribed politicians to pass them.
Before those laws would take effect, the six year term US senators (two per state) would pass judgement and be the deciding voice. These US senators were elected by the state legislatures who would be more familiar with the competence and character of the person selected as their US senators than the general public. With a limit of two per state, the smaller states would have equal voice with the larger states.
Where did this elegance of control go wrong?
It started with the collusion between politicians and the media. Specifically William Jennings Bryan and William Randolph Hearst of yellow journalism fame. Yes, over 100 years ago the progressives thought they knew better than the authors of the Constitution and pushed for passage of the 17th amendment that changed the election method for US senators. They would now be elected just like the house members. According to W.J. Bryan, too many US senators were being appointed by governors as a result of a bribe. Similar to Obama’s senate seat sold by Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich. Sure glad the 17th amendment prevented that from happening.
More important is the fact that the balance of power between federal and state was shifted. Without the inside knowledge of the US senator’s real character and honesty (which the state legislators all knew) the citizens were now asked to elect their US senators. Name recognition became more important than ability to do the job. Prime example of how this creates dubious credentialed senators such as Amy Klobuchar who benefitted from her father’s name recognition as a columnist and pseudo journalist.
And don’t get me started on the Kennedy name.
Take a close look at the 100 US senators now “in power” to run the government. Out of over 300 million citizens, this is the best we can find? We don’t get to chose them. It’s a political party option at the national level established by the 17th amendment. We can elect local politicians but the decision of who will run as US senator is a decision within that bubble of corruption and no longer by the local politicians we know and elect. The local politician bows to the wisdom of the national party…and continues to collect money from them in order to get reelected themselves. Another example of that power shift due to the 17th amendment.
The 17th amendment was such a burst of adrenalin for the progressives in early 1900’s that they continued on a streak to push what we call ”sin” laws. Yes…prohibition…the 18th and only amendment ever revoked, albeit two decades later.
We also doubled the size of the electoral base by giving women the right to vote in 1920. You’d think that would bring some level of sanity back to the political scene. Instead, they fought hard to become members of the political ruling class which has devolved to electing such female stars as Mad Maxine Waters and Nancy Pelosi. No…I’m not forgetting AOC as much as I would like to.
The Tea Party and now the MAGA mob caused a bit of worry for the bubble politicians. They were confident that any challenge to their power could be thwarted at the national level. What would really worry them would be anything that would reverse that shift of power back to state level. By taking turns at the helm, both parties have been able to maintain control of their mutually beneficial corruption bubble.
Control of the media is also key to maintaining power in that bubble of corruption. In the days of yellow journalism, William Randolph Hearst hired goons to destroy the newsstands that didn’t carry his news. I’m sure that couldn’t happen today given the freedom of the internet protected by Facebook, Twitter, Apple and Amazon as they literally destroy their competitors and even ban the voice of the President of the United States and anyone supporting him.
Recent example of how that mutually beneficial corruption works…Politicians took control of an assumed pandemic and prevented herd immunity in order to promote vaccines and therapeutics owned by medical people who sell their products to government agencies controlled by the politicians who then get campaign contributions from the medical people…makes you dizzy following the money.
The medical entrepreneurs insist that only politicians are wise enough to protect the nation and prove their conclusion by donating money to the politicians. Realizing that these medical entrepreneurs have achieved academic degrees well beyond the politician’s mental capacity, the politician’s ego echo Fredo’s assertion that “I’m smart and I want respect!”
I’m sure some lawyers came up with the rationale for state lockdowns and edicts based on “protecting” the governed. If it doesn’t work…the citizens are to blame. If it does (supposedly) work, the governors take full credit. Minnesota’s waltzing Walz is a prime example using this twisted logic.
Politicians create a herd mentality focused on destroying the credibility of opponent politicians outside that bubble. They create a vicious narrative designed to appeal to the lowest common denominator in the herd. Orange man bad…recent example.
Mustering every resource at their disposal, including the Lame Stream Media and social media censorship to block dissenting opinion, the narrative reached a crescendo just prior to the 2020 election.
Smug in their assumed success, they were shocked by the election results that showed maybe the orange man was not seen as bad by even the lowest common denominator in the herd.
As a last ditch effort, they constructed a not so smart ballot count fraud.
Lawyers aligned to both parties are now assuring the country who really won the election. The main objective is to protect the corruption bubble. Those few honest lawyers outside the bubble are vastly outnumbered.
When you realize that the only time you need a lawyer is to protect you from other lawyers…we just may really need to remember Shakespeare’s advice right now:
For those unfortunate students subjected to current academia:
“The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers” is a line from William Shakespeare’s Henry VI, Part 2, Act IV, Scene 2 and is one of Shakespeare’s most famous lines.
I hope I won’t have to explain who Shakespeare was.
Long term solution to the problem is going to start with the repeal of the 17th amendment and bring the US senate back under local control rather than the national corruption bubble. State legislators have been adversely affected by the corruption bubble as many jockey to rise in their respective political parties and join the corruption.
Our goal should not be to elect a Democrat Senator nor a Republican Senator. The goal is to elect US Senators who understand that the oath of office is an oath to protect and defend the Constitution and not a political party.
I’ve been in bipartisanship meetings in the local political arena. Instead of vicious attacks, there is friendly banter similar to that among military veterans from different branches of the service. They have at it but Lord help the non-vet who takes a shot at any vet from any branch.
A veteran is someone who, at one point in their life, signed a blank check made payable to The Government of the United States of America for an amount of up to and including their life.
There are millions of veterans who have survived and are still affirm this oath. Many of them lost Veteran brothers and sisters to combat in defense of our nation’s principles. I doubt if any politician could create a narrative that would fool this group.
What would happen if the various veteran’s organizations began a vetting process and loudly support or condemn those seeking to serve our nation as a politician?
What would happen if the Veteran groups were assigned to monitor elections?
What would happen if enough politicians were elected with the Veteran imprimatur and repeal the 17th amendment bringing balance back and destroying that corruption bubble?
Sounds like a plan…
fns
Vietnam Vet
Life Member VFW
1.14.2021