SHELL GAME III

SHELL GAME III
THE PROBLEM AS I SEE IT.
-----As I look into government more, the less I like it. Lol. A constant thread in my posts refers to the threat posed by special interests. This is not the threat as we commonly think of it. We have always had special interests, in and of themselves they are not bad, even useful. They are a tool and like any tool the use determines the utility of it. The special interests provide needed information to our representatives to help them in the decision making process. All well and good.
-----What I think of when I hear the term “special interest” is what I’ve been conditioned to think. That is big companies paying out bribes for votes. That does happen and is well documented. Makes great fill for the evening news. That is our system at work, we already have a way to ferret out the bad apples. Still all well and good or at least easily fixable.
-----What I’m talking about here is the insidious corruption of the process of legislation by an effort to take the legislative process out of the hands of the elected representative (our only link to power), and putting it in the hands of the special interests.
-----In the constant ebb and flow of politics between the two “Visions” of our government one side then the other takes the lead. It is in this way that “we the people” tend to stay away from the extremes that have ruined other countries. We even seem to like to give the Legislature to one and the Presidency to the other more often than not. We seem to instinctively know that consolidating power is a bad thing. It seems to work. Let’s be honest, compared to a Stalin or a Hitler or a Pol Pot, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton are not in the same league as far as extremists go. The key that allows this is our form of constitutional government. The checks and balances which are there to stop one branch from taking control.
-----The Inmates Running The Asylum. What I tried to show through example in the previous two posts is the creep of bureaucracy (inmates) into the legislative process (asylum). Make no mistake the framers of the Constitution knew full well about big all controlling government. The idea that life long bureaucrats bring to the table is one of condescension and a disdain for the masses and the here today and gone tomorrow politician. They may not say it but it is there. Why shouldn’t they run their department? They have the experience, they have the #s. I get the distinct feeling that they feel they are the actual keepers of the secret flame. A lot of citizens feel that way also. For example why shouldn’t the leaders in education tell us what to do? Well as I tell my liberal friends what about letting the general of the Army tell us what war to fight? “We the People” together have the ability any bureaucracy lacks. The ability to see what is better for the country vs. what is better for the bureaucracy.
-----These bureaucrats are the people who actually run the mechanics of government. While each department is headed by a Cabinet Head, appointed by an elected official, they are transitory and unless given an overwhelming electoral mandate they are not able to change the bureaucracy they head. The government just keeps doing what they do regardless or in spite of who won the election. There are 20 million employees of government at all levels. I wonder how many of them think that smaller government is a good thing? Those individuals by themselves have common sense but their union reps and their reps and the leaders of the bureaucracy progressively lose theirs until what we have are the radical rants of the extremists. On both sides I may add. These leaders of Bureaucracies are the ones writing and putting the majority of the legislation in front of our Elected Legislators to sign. Without the “loud” backing of “We the People” those bills get signed. Without “We the People” picking tough hard common sense Legislators with the good of the Country in mind, those bills get signed.
-----This government has endured and will endure and yes even flourish if and only if the public gets more involved. But what can one person do? Again as before look at Ghandi, and all the other “greats” of history. For more current inspiration, look also at the person responsible for the pictures of children on milk cartons, the guy from the Most Wanted show, the list is long. The first thing I have done is to say to myself that I am an American and that I have rights under the constitution of this country. Unalienable rights that no government can take away unless I let them. As a "freedom person" I can then with all the authority God and the constitution have given me state my beliefs and try to persuade others. That is what I’m doing. Feel free to do the same.
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Regards, Live Dangerously Be A Conservative