Do you know, or care, who represents you?
By: Steve Trubilla
Looking on, it is clear the majority of people in our country have lost faith in what is called the political establishment.
By squandering "We the People's" confidence in their rectitude, my opinion is the so-called establishment has rendered itself irrelevant. Clear evidence of this is the populous support of Bernard Sanders and Donald Trump, neither of which would be my first choice for President of the United States.
The fastest growing political constituency is that of the non-affiliated voter. The establishment would have everyone pick a Party, and only choose from two, Democrat or Republican. Those choosing another are quickly marginalized, and by design. Dissent within the parties is not tolerated. Examples include the Liberty and taxed enough already Tea Party movements. Many agenda driven Democrats effectively label those in the Tea Party as racist, and Republicans label those within the Liberty movement as extreme right wing zealots.
Well-funded sound bites are used to manipulate uninformed voters. To me, this is yet another face of voter fraud. It is not political discourse, it is propaganda.
One could make the argument this operates to make the uninformed voter a blind victim, duped by dishonesty. It is a false argument, because most of them are willfully uniformed.
Propaganda is ideas or statements that are often false or exaggerated. They are spread in order to help a cause, political leader, and or movement, etc. A common idea advanced is that of disenfranchisement. Tell this or that group they are not being represented, convince them of it, and then call them to your agenda.
Take voter ID for instance. People are being told that because they are required to present identification when they vote, they are being victimized. The propaganda of voter ID serves establishment political special interest agenda and not that of those manipulated to believe otherwise.
Being a victim in our society today is in vogue. If one is a victim then they are entitled to compensation, and have an excuse for why they cannot do something. Often, being a victim is a choice made by others for you, as they falsely espouse your representation. How abhorrent it is of those that say, "I speak for those that cannot speak for themselves." Could it be more a case of them taking advantage of those most easily exploited?
Politically, who really represents you in anything? Are you for higher property taxes, another mismanaged building renovation project / the Franklin County Detention Center, or incentives for private business not bringing jobs to Franklin County?
Failing to understand is why people continue to re-elect the same people that do not act in our best interest. I did a little survey across the county asking people the question: who represents you? Not only did most people I spoke with not know who their local elected officials were, they did not even know many of the offices I mentioned existed. The result of my unscientific survey, while disappointing, explains a great deal.
Voters and non-voting citizens are the boss of elected officials. If they do not even know who they are, why should they expect they will represent any interest other than their own?
The effort in the survey took considerable time, and did have merit. I was able to share information and bring attention to issues people were not aware of. Many had questions, good questions I hope they will pursue.
The following is an excerpt of contact with a resident living in Alert, one of my favorite places in Franklin County. If you have not visited there please go, you will be glad you did.
"Can you please tell me who represents the Sandy Creek township?
I got so put out with politics a few years ago that I shy away from it now. Guess that I should get back into the swing of things. Franklin County is going to the dogs! I looked at a map the other day and it seems that we are "at-large;" sorry to admit that I don't know what that means!"
"I live in Alert. The little neighborhood that time forgot. We have nothing here. Not even cable, high-speed Internet, which kids almost have to have these days! My daughter had to leave home and drive 15 miles to a friend's house to do her homework. Thank God she is through all that!"
"Yes, we do pay our fair share of taxes, etc., but what do we see for it? Absolutely nothing!"
I shared with her that Alert is in the Third District, and her County Commissioner's name is John May.
I will be following up with John to share the woman's comments.
Who represents you, do you know their names? Do they know yours?
If the answer to either question is no, then in fact no one is representing you.
**Note: In addition to this column I write for other venues. Due to time constraints for required research, in the foreseeable future, this column will only appear in The Franklin Times one or two times per month.
As always, I am most interested in writing on Franklin County topics and issues"you" are interested in. Please feel free to continue contacting me with those topics and issues. You can email me at [email protected]
By: Steve Trubilla
Looking on, it is clear the majority of people in our country have lost faith in what is called the political establishment.
By squandering "We the People's" confidence in their rectitude, my opinion is the so-called establishment has rendered itself irrelevant. Clear evidence of this is the populous support of Bernard Sanders and Donald Trump, neither of which would be my first choice for President of the United States.
The fastest growing political constituency is that of the non-affiliated voter. The establishment would have everyone pick a Party, and only choose from two, Democrat or Republican. Those choosing another are quickly marginalized, and by design. Dissent within the parties is not tolerated. Examples include the Liberty and taxed enough already Tea Party movements. Many agenda driven Democrats effectively label those in the Tea Party as racist, and Republicans label those within the Liberty movement as extreme right wing zealots.
Well-funded sound bites are used to manipulate uninformed voters. To me, this is yet another face of voter fraud. It is not political discourse, it is propaganda.
One could make the argument this operates to make the uninformed voter a blind victim, duped by dishonesty. It is a false argument, because most of them are willfully uniformed.
Propaganda is ideas or statements that are often false or exaggerated. They are spread in order to help a cause, political leader, and or movement, etc. A common idea advanced is that of disenfranchisement. Tell this or that group they are not being represented, convince them of it, and then call them to your agenda.
Take voter ID for instance. People are being told that because they are required to present identification when they vote, they are being victimized. The propaganda of voter ID serves establishment political special interest agenda and not that of those manipulated to believe otherwise.
Being a victim in our society today is in vogue. If one is a victim then they are entitled to compensation, and have an excuse for why they cannot do something. Often, being a victim is a choice made by others for you, as they falsely espouse your representation. How abhorrent it is of those that say, "I speak for those that cannot speak for themselves." Could it be more a case of them taking advantage of those most easily exploited?
Politically, who really represents you in anything? Are you for higher property taxes, another mismanaged building renovation project / the Franklin County Detention Center, or incentives for private business not bringing jobs to Franklin County?
Failing to understand is why people continue to re-elect the same people that do not act in our best interest. I did a little survey across the county asking people the question: who represents you? Not only did most people I spoke with not know who their local elected officials were, they did not even know many of the offices I mentioned existed. The result of my unscientific survey, while disappointing, explains a great deal.
Voters and non-voting citizens are the boss of elected officials. If they do not even know who they are, why should they expect they will represent any interest other than their own?
The effort in the survey took considerable time, and did have merit. I was able to share information and bring attention to issues people were not aware of. Many had questions, good questions I hope they will pursue.
The following is an excerpt of contact with a resident living in Alert, one of my favorite places in Franklin County. If you have not visited there please go, you will be glad you did.
"Can you please tell me who represents the Sandy Creek township?
I got so put out with politics a few years ago that I shy away from it now. Guess that I should get back into the swing of things. Franklin County is going to the dogs! I looked at a map the other day and it seems that we are "at-large;" sorry to admit that I don't know what that means!"
"I live in Alert. The little neighborhood that time forgot. We have nothing here. Not even cable, high-speed Internet, which kids almost have to have these days! My daughter had to leave home and drive 15 miles to a friend's house to do her homework. Thank God she is through all that!"
"Yes, we do pay our fair share of taxes, etc., but what do we see for it? Absolutely nothing!"
I shared with her that Alert is in the Third District, and her County Commissioner's name is John May.
I will be following up with John to share the woman's comments.
Who represents you, do you know their names? Do they know yours?
If the answer to either question is no, then in fact no one is representing you.
**Note: In addition to this column I write for other venues. Due to time constraints for required research, in the foreseeable future, this column will only appear in The Franklin Times one or two times per month.
As always, I am most interested in writing on Franklin County topics and issues"you" are interested in. Please feel free to continue contacting me with those topics and issues. You can email me at [email protected]
RSS Feed