Plenty of outrage over the past week concerning the outcome of the Supreme Court ruling concerning our former Governor. You remember, the one who got the free Rolex, trips and cash from a guy who had business before the state? Turns out that such activity isn't illegal….pretty much the entire political establishment pitched in to ensure this outcome. They were scared to death that the gravy train might end. And then we have Hillary and her email server. Despite a forever inquiry and Hillary clearly having lied about the entire thing, the FBI announced that they found plenty of evidence of wrong-doing but no intent – so they elected not to prosecute. My lawyer friends might argue the particulars but that's the end result. She setup and used her own email server to conduct government business….and lied about it. Oh, but there were no classified emails…oh, wait. But we turned over all of the emails….well, not so much. Even a local-yokel Councilperson knows better.
And yet there are those that are shocked that some large number of Americans support Trump. "How can these people support Trump?" many of my friends out there in the world moan. As I read the papers and watch the talkers I start to wonder why *more* Americans don't support him. That's right. Read that again. The American people are smart and, as a group, make pretty good decisions. However, look at the options on offer from the two political parties. Americans know when they are getting taken for a ride and, as a result of that awareness they may well hand the ball to Donald Trump who really is a "Republican in name only".
Now, many of you that read this will wonder if I've lost my mind. Ask yourself this: what part of our governing institutions are worthy of acclaim? The General Assembly hasn't had the fortitude to govern for some time now. If you doubt that, fire up your ride and drive to Washington at 7:00am on any weekday. Get back to me when you get there. They only passed ethics legislation when the "gifts" got to be so outrageous that they were – at long last – embarrassed. Congress has achieved exactly zero for the past 10 years. Not a single budget. Hell, they can't even fund a defense against the Zeka virus that kills babies!!!!! The American people might be willing to tolerate a bozo-laden institution that provides meaningful outcomes – "yeah, they're idiots but they do good work" – but not one from which they feel increasingly disconnected.
They start to feel like they're being taken for a ride. As my friend Mr. Stokley put it: it doesn't pass the smell test. When things stop passing the smell test the people go shopping for new things. Enter DTrump.
July 11, 2016 at 11:12 am
Our ENTIRE political system is breaking down. It's taken 220+ years but in my mind it boils down to a fundamental flaw, lack of legislator term limits. Our founders were not clairvoyant so of course could not foresee the future and could not even conceive of anyone wanting to "serve" as a legislator "for life", but that's what our system at the national, state, and yes even local level has become. The "system" and so much of what the DTrump supporters rail against I lay solely at the feet of legislators whose almost sole objective once getting elected is to then get re-elected. I don't know what "limit" I would impose, we have them on our Executives to some extent even down to the level of our City Manager and County Executive. Yet our local/state/national legislators once elected can just keep getting re-elected regardless of performance in office because we've evolved a system that heavily favors an incumbent being re-elected. In my view until there are legislative term limits at all levels our "politics" will continue to degrade and less and less will get done "for the people".
July 11, 2016 at 1:35 pm
It's not just the electeds…it's the bureaucracy. Take a look at the list of Federal and State agencies Pass a law…create an agency to regulate it. The BATF(E) is a great example. The then ATF was a "jobs program", as it was created AFTER the repeal of prohibition, and was originally intended to ensure that "tax revenues" were collected, once alcohol (properly licensed) manufacture and tobacco use increased as cigarrettes became more popular. The Feds wanted to keep all of those prohibition-era employees on the payroll, so they created a "new" agency that claimed jurisdiction over these areas. in 1934, the passage of the firearms act gave them the vehicle to claim jurisdiction over this area as well.
Look at any area of your life, and there's an agency claiming the authority to regulate that area. What exactly does the Department of Education do, besides redistibute tax money? Look at the recent threats over "transgender bathrooms". The President, by unconstitutional edict, orders schools to implement these transgender bathroom and locker-room policies, or risk losing their federal education funding. Nevermind that what they are threatening to do is to withhold taxes collected the citizens within these states. Do as we say, or we won't give you back your money.
How about all the bogus grants and studies, funded by the Feds. Why we need to know about the mating habits of Eastern Woodchucks differ from those of the Western Marmot doesn't do anything to protect the liberties of the average citizen.
The electeds create the bureaucracy, and the bureaucracy runs amok. We expect the electeds to restrain the bureaucracy, but the electeds can't even restrain themselves. Even "reformers" can only manage to slow the growth of government.
It seems to me the only part of government that ever gets shrunk is the military, and only between wars.