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As
parents we know that we cannot discipline children
without first explaining what the rule is and what
the consequences are for breaking it.
With
a national election one week behind us, and the
entire General Assembly up for reelection in
November of next year, now is the perfect time to
explain to our elected representatives what the
rules are and what the consequences will be for
inappropriate behavior.
First
principle – Never, Never Again
I
will never go to the polls again to vote for someone
who does not share, and who does not actively
advance, my principles and values.
I
will never go to the polls again to vote because this
candidate who is slightly more competent than that
candidate.
I
will never go to the polls again because, “Sure,
my candidate stinks, but he’s a [add the name of a
political party here].”
Let’s
get something straight. It is not our job to support
political candidates. It is their job to earn our
support. Period.
Challengers
and incumbents have to be evaluated differently.
With challengers the job is a little trickier
because you have to listen to see if they understand
what the big issues are, then determine if they have
a clue in terms of answers or solutions, then decide
if you can trust them.
With
incumbents, the question is simply, “What have you
accomplished? What have you accomplished
specifically?”
Election
day can be compared to gladiator day in the Roman
Coliseum. The politicians fight it out in the arena
and at the end of the General Assembly session or
congressional session, the Sovereigns – that’s
you and me – look down and pronounce our verdict,
up or down, political life or political death.
When
it comes to politicians, I suffer from the soft
bigotry of low expectations. But the time has come
when we can no longer afford the expectation that
the politicians in Richmond, or the politicians in
Washington, will do the right thing.
Ultimately,
we must take responsibility for what happens in this
country because in a democratic republic it is the
people who perform the role of Sovereign. Harry
Truman was wrong. The buck does not stop with the
President or any other politician or elected body,
because they work for us and at our pleasure. The
buck stops with us.
Now,
this is not widely acknowledged by people in public
office who oftentimes have perfected an attitude of
arrogance, if not contempt, for you and me –
particularly if they have been in office too long.
When that happens, you must be willing to look the
politician in the eye and say, “Drop the attitude
pal. Your performance and record simply
don’t merit any conceit.”
I
began by saying that we have to explain what the
rules are and what the consequences will be for not
obeying the rules.
Right
now is a perfect time to write John Warner, Jim
Webb, and your congressman and tell them what you
expect them to address in the next session of
Congress. Consider a few examples:
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It
was OK when the United Nations was just a joke,
but now it is a corrupt joke. I resent the fact
that my tax money is being used so that U.N.
“peacekeepers” can rape children before they
are given the food and medicine the American
taxpayers have supplied. The United Nations will
be reformed, or the United States will be out of
the United Nations.
Expect
to be told, “Now John, you’re not being
realistic.” Well then, how realistic is $80
trillion in unfunded liabilities for Social Security
and Medicare? How realistic is it for the federal
government to spend $125 million/hour on
entitlements?
At
the state level you need to write your senator and
delegate now and tell them that you expect them to
endorse the Freedom & Prosperity Agenda and to
vote for the individual pieces of legislation that
correspond to the planks in the Agenda.
Once
again, next November all 140 members of the General
Assembly are up for reelection.
I
know many of you vote Republican. Well, Republicans,
as the majority party in both the House and the
Senate, have one more bite at the apple with the
2007 General Assembly session.
Then
what? What will the campaign slogans and bumper
stickers say next year? “Vote for us, the budget
only went up 118 percent in the last 8 years.”
“Vote
for us, we passed the largest tax increase in the
history of the state while running a surplus.”
“Sure,
65 percent of the kids in our government schools
don’t perform at grade level, but just look at
Mississippi!”
“The
Tidewater and northern Virginia might be congested,
but we have beautiful, four-lane divided highways
all over the state in case those areas ever become
populated.”
Write
your delegate and senator now and give them your
expectations. By doing so you may just be saving
their hides.
Why?
Because there are incumbents who think they have
been so clever with the way district lines have been
drawn that they cannot be defeated. But there is a
flaw to their thinking. The lines were drawn on the
premise that conservatives vote Republican. But what
happens if conservatives don’t vote?
We
have let government get totally out of control, and
it will be a difficult and time-consuming process to
put that evil genie back in the bottle. But we will
never get back to what this country and this
commonwealth were meant to be if we continue to go
the polls every year to cast our vote for the evil
of two lessers.
We,
as Sovereign, have to become better managers. We
have to demand more from our employees, and when we
realize that General Assembly session after General
Assembly session we as a commonwealth are facing the
exact same problems, we need to terminate those
employees.
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November 20, 2006
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