Without Law There Can Be No Freedom

To start this blog, I am going to post a link to a fascinating video regarding historical and modern forms of government and a basic description of each..............


http://www.wimp.com/thegovernment/



After seeing the video, calling myself a Constitutional Moderate will now make more sense. I have always registered Independent, as I did not want to pin myself to any one political party, believing that a chosen delegate from either side may be the best choice at the time of a particular election. I truly believe that what started as a way to provide further checks and balances within the political structure has now become a system of chokes and blocks. With few exceptions, the true concept of bi-partisanship does not exist, as it is almost always deemed a betrayal of one's party to support a person or a policy of someone from the other side. Ultimately, what we have become is a nation divided, with two sides vying for complete control at any given time. Essentially, you could argue that we have become a Dual Oligarchy. How can we correct this political paralyzation that has left us void of a moral or ethical compass? I'm glad you asked.



Step 1 in the renewal process - EDUCATE



To renew our government and our nation, we must first understand how far we have strayed from the Republic that was founded by our Founding Fathers. The government was formed to serve the people, to enforce and uphold the Law, as set forth by our Constitution. But whose job is it to ensure that our elected leaders are doing exactly that? The answer is simple, it is you and I. From local and state officials all the way to the president, we have a responsibility, not simply a right, to participate in monitoring the decisions that are made "on our behalf". This has not always been easy, as local papers and other media outlets almost never cover votes taking place by our elected leaders, bills and laws being proposed, and the actual performance of each of "our representatives". Today, however, the only excuse for not following what your local, state, or federal officials are voting on (or if they even show up for votes) is apathy. Each state and municipality has a website and information about legislation and voting records. It always amazes me when elections come around, and positions like superior court judges or corporation commissioners, and people either make random picks, partisan picks, or no picks at all. There are websites that score judges based on various criteria, and sites that highlight activities of all government agencies. In this country, more thought is put into who is voted for on American Idol than who leads our country. There is something inherently wrong with that.



Step 2 in the renewal process - EMPOWER



Now that we have learned what our leaders are up to, we have to decide if they should keep their jobs or if we need new leaders. To do this, we must vote. This link shows you the percentage of "eligible voters" who participated in major elections since 1960.........

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0781453.html

You can see that the biggest voter turnouts occur in presidential elections. And by "bigger", you can see we mean somewhere right around 55% of eligible voters. In 2008, this means almost 100,000,000 people did not vote in a year that had the largest percentage of voters going to the polls since 1968. In fact, in 2006, only 62% of "eligible voters" were even registered to vote, and only 60% of those who were registered voted. This meant 37% of all eligible voters chose the people who led our nation into one of the worst economic situations since the late 1930's. With the ease of early ballots, absentee ballots and better access to polling places, voting takes less time than filling your tank with gas in many cases. We can do better, and we must.



Step 3 in the renewal process - ENGAGE



Finally, once we have a nation that is following the issues, voting and letting our voices be heard in resounding fashion and keeping on top of our elected officials, we can begin to focus on returning our government to the Republic it was designed to be. I believe the 2 party power system has to be broken, something that cannot be done without the first 2 steps. Right now, money controls who is elected far too often, mostly because of the absence of Education and Empowerment. He or she who runs the most ads, posts the most signs and is seen the most often wins, regardless of their ability, or, more importantly, their intentions. Once the people of this country become the largest political influence in this country, we can begin to promote people who share our vision of a return to a Republic, regardless of their party. Easy enough right? Probably not. It is going to take each of us influencing our own personal circle, helping to carry the mantra of EDUCATE, EMPOWER, and ENGAGE.