Politics is dirty business. We all know this yet we all seem to just shrug our shoulders and accept it as, well inevitable. Why? Yeah, sure politics are a fact of life but does it have to be this way? If you listen to the politicians, they are all sure to say… “WELL HELL YES!”. Why wouldn’t they? This is their livelihood – their identity. If they didn’t politic they’d have to go find honest work.
Mind you, I am not talking about those who actually represent citizens. The problem is these people are few and far between. Even they are thrust into political circles – thrown to the wolves – so to speak. There they often must adapt or die… politically speaking that is. No, I’m talking about politics.
Are you a Republican, a Democrat, a Libertarian or something else? For anyone old enough to remember the 70’s – the question may invoke another one… “What’s your sign?” Nobody cares about this anymore. My hope is we can make political parties just as irrelevant.
Why is politics so dirty? Politics begins and ends with lust – lust for power. It matters what party one belongs to once someone is elected to office. The higher the office the more insignificant the stated goals of the party become. Once in office – once someone is “somebody” in a party the focus shifts to gaining power within the party itself. Thus the goal of any politician is to gain recondition, influence and, ultimately, power. There remains a massive problem with this:
It is not just “Democrats” that are the problem either. As a matter of fact if you study the history political parties in the United States you will find some startling concepts. Republicans like to point out Ol’ Abe Lincoln – was a Republican. The problem with this is, Lincoln is possibly the very worst president in US history. He was a power-hungry jerk who sacrificed hundreds of thousands of lives – over a million if you count the civilian toll – and physically destroyed much of the South… for power. Slavery was not the problem, it was a political football and he ran with it.
If you study the beginnings of the Republican party you’ll learn they were the original “Big Government” proponents. They were the tax and spend guys. Their goal was “internal improvements” – government programs that enriched themselves at the expense of taxpayers. Sound familiar? It should. Non other than Karl Marx congratulated Lincoln on his reelection. Ask yourself… why was Karl Marx a fanboy of Abraham Lincoln? Before the war, it was mostly the Democrats advocating limited government. That said, they weren’t so innocent either.
The bottom line is none of this matters in politics because they all want the 
same thing. More power. The only way to get more power is to expand the reach of government. The only way to expand the reach of government is to expand government itself. Poltics is was and always will be a power struggle. No matter which side wins – we, the citizens – lose.
This is why we must take back our power. You see, once you strip away the internal party politics – the struggle for power within one’s own party – all that is left is taking power away from citizens. How do they do this? Internal improvements. That is the old term. Today it is “programs”. A program is just another way to spend our money. And spending our money is their main source of power, influence… and wealth. Show me a poor politician and I’ll show you a basically honest one.
You DO know Harry Truman was a Democrat… right? Are you beginning to see how insignificant pne’s political party really is? I’m going to throw you another curve ball…
Hippies. Yes, hippies. Growing up I liked to call myself a “second-generation hippie”. I grew up in the 60’s but I came of age in the 70’s. That said, I was never a progressive. Never. Fiscally I was always conservative to the extreme. I hated Social Security even before I had my own SS number. It was exactly because I despised big government that I identified with hippies. I ignored their socialist ideas but when it came to the concept of freedom vs government control – this is where we connected.
As far as the Vietnam War was concerned, I supported it. In hindsight, I would have still supported the soldiers. Never, EVER would I spit or otherwise demean them as I would not, could not today. Our men and women in the military deserve the highest respect and admiration. For all that, I am not so sure I would have supported the war itself. This same tendency for reservation extends to military actions today. Certainly we need the ability to defend our nation, but need we police the planet? Who said it is our place to strong arm other nations or even lead them? If we must lead, would it not be better to lead by example?
So hippies, yeah, and others who believe in freedom. The line I draw is at the steps of our “friendly neighborhood government agency” – no matter where they set up shop. If we focus on limiting government instead of expanding it – we can gain ground. Who doesn’t want more freedom? The short answer is anyone who wants more government. There is no place for both. It is absolutely necessary to
As far as political parties are concerned, I doubt very much of them if we can rid ourselves of them entirely. At best they’ll call themselves something else and try to weasel their way back into power by some back door. Thus I am in no way proposing dismantling them any more than I would propose dismantling our monstrous government. Instead I think we’d be better off pruning rather than clear cutting. Where would we begin? I say we begin at home. Start right where we are in our own villages, towns and counties. Here in Virginia, we made our wishes know concerning our Second Amendment guarantees. The counties listened. They acted. This alone is a marvel. What else can we do?
As far as I am concerned, there is nothing we cannot do if we work together. We don’t need no stinkin’ politicians telling us how it is going to be. We need citizens – patriots – dedicated to the principles of restoring our birthright – our nation with the goal of once again limiting government – paring it down where it once again fits the original framework of our constitution.
God bless,
Andy
