Believe what I tell you, not what you see
By: Steve Trubilla
The Party System of government in part is designed to be the citizen’s voice on differing philosophical views and events of the day; representative government elected by the people. This synergy is for the people to not only to be heard, but listed to. Elected officials are not intended to be politicians. They are servants of the people, not kings or lords.
A principled based approach to government cannot endure if the trust of the people is betrayed by their elected officials. Literally all things based on principal fail when those involved lack principal.
My view, today’s political arena is now the art of distraction rather than the art of compromise. If those that are serving their self-interest can have you and I focused on a distraction while they pursue their hidden agenda they prosper. Nothing serves this better than to pit one group against another. No party holds a patent on this; they all do it. Why, because it works.
The Republicans blame the Democrats, the Democrats blame the Republicans, and the Libertarians along with others blame them both. Most are not a true representative of the party they purport to represent.
Interest groups that feel they are “special” have high jacked the intent of the Party system. It has become the art of distraction rather than the art of compromise. Individual greed, ambition, and the lust for power have metastasized with the will of the people.
Transparent government is in our best interest. With rare exception that which cannot be done in the light of day has at its core the intent of deception. I offer if the best one can do to express how they can improve something is to point out the failing of another then they are no more qualified or capable than the person that has failed. If you accept their sales pitch the end result is predictable. Their personal agenda and fortune will be advanced at the expense of those they have taken an oath to represent.
I remember a story I was told of a man trying to the defend himself when caught in the act of cheating on his wife. He said to his wife, “What are you going to believe, what I tell you, or what you see with your own lying eyes”?
The power to right the course is vested in our duty to vote, and to do so responsibly. The very best currency a “politician” has to rob you of your liberty is to distract you from what is important. Their tool box includes confidence in our continued reliance upon sound bites. A well read, engaged, and informed citizen is dangerous to them.