The Annoyed Army

It is time to correct some misconceptions....

Much of what I hear coming from the mouths of politicians in Washington D.C., and from their enablers in the leftist media (but I repeat myself) makes me want to puke. They have become so far divorced from what was intended to be their roles in American politics that they no longer truly govern. They rule.

In the (probably vain) hope that a politician would actually read my little screed, I would like to correct some of the misconceptions held by the political classes. And by the way, this is grammar school stuff that used to be taught to every school kid in the nation, and which they had to know and understand before they could graduate from high school. Thanks to the various teachers unions, and useful socialist tools in government, they no longer are taught.

1. This nation has a republican form of government. Says so right in the Pledge of Allegiance (with or without the “under God”). It is not a direct democracy. A republic is arepresentative democracy. This means that “one man, one vote” is used to elect a representative, who will in turn represent the “will” (not the “interests”, which is a critical distinction - see the bullet points below) of those who elected him or her to office.
   
   • The critical distinction between “will” and “interests” is this: if we elect you to represent our “will,” that means that we expect you to do exactly what we told you to do. If we elect you to represent our “interests,” then it means that we expect you to look after our interests as your conscience dictates. We are not absentee landlords.
     
     
   • If you think you were sent to Washington to “look after our interests as your conscience dictates,” then you may well be acting outside our will.
     
     
   • You work for us, not the other way around. You are not an independent contractor with whom we contract to look after our political “trust fund” as your knowledge and expertise guides you. You are literally hired by us to go to Washington for the express purpose of doing what we tell you to do, and nothing else.
     
     
   • We can fire you if you do not perform your jobs to our satisfaction. Never forget that. Furthermore, don’t fight it. If we fire you, then you were in the wrong, not us, for having violated your terms of employment.
2. We The People believe that the Constitution means what it says. The founders very deliberately framed it in language that was understandable to the average man of the day, so that it could be circulated by means of the press among the people, so that they might be literate as to its meaning. This is a historical fact, supported by the founders’ writings.
   
   • It means what they (the Founders) said it meant, within the context of the times and the common use of language at that time. Any other interpretation is inconsistent with the original intent of the Founders, and is therefore invalid.
     
     
   • The Founders, in their wisdom, included a vehicle within the text of the Constitution by means of which the Constitution may be amended - either for the purposes of expanding its scope, or the purposes of changing its scope. An example of this are the 18th and 21st Amendments: the first of which abolished the manufacture, sale, transportation, or importation of hard liquor; and the second of which repealed the 18th. Note that 14 years transpired between the two amendments, including the addition of the 19th (women’s suffrage) and the 20th (presidential, congressional terms) Amendments.
     
     
   • The process is deliberately difficult because this A) guarantees that the amendment will be fully considered with all the full gravity that it is due; and B) guarantees that the largest majority of The People be fully vested in its passage as a measure against tyrannical government.
     
     
   • The Founders had just liberated themselves from a tyrannical government, and they sought to ensure that future generations would not find it easy to tyrannize one another.
     
     
   • If you don’t like this, tough tittees. Deal with it. Also if you don’t like this, perhaps you are not suited to be a politician under our form of government. Deal with that too, because it says something about a lack of character and dishonest intentions on your part.
3. We The People believe that you politicians ought to be able to quote back to us, on demand, any and all parts of the Constitution - that very same Constitution which you swear to protect and uphold. If you can’t do that, then we expect you do be able to do the very next best thing, which is to have a copy of it in your shirt pocket which you can read from out loud, any time you are asked to. If you cannot do that, then you are not fit for office. We expect, no demand, that you be informed as to what it actually says, and then we demand that you act within its strictures. No more, and no less.
   
   
4. We The People believe that we are a nation of laws, hung upon the framework of the Constitution, and not a nation of men.
   
   • We believe the laws mean exactly what they say.
     
     
   • We believe in accountability. We don’t like it when you do things behind closed doors, and hide behind “executive privilege,” and pass laws you have not read - deliberately - without any expectation of being held accountable for such gross dereliction of your duties. We pay you very well. Earn your muggerpoopin' keep.
     
     
   • We believe that you have a moral responsibility to write the laws in such a manner that they can be clearly understood by anyone with a high school education.
     
     • We believe that all high school graduates must be literate in the content and meaning of the Constitution as a requirement for graduation. 
       
       
     • We believe that the failure of any school district to meet this standard is a dereliction of duty, subject to the recall and/or firing of all school board members, administrators, and teachers who fail to meet this standard in the classroom.
   • We believe that the laws apply to you as well as to us, without any kind of exception. Working in government does not grant you any special privileges above and beyond the law, which do not also apply to your constituencies.
5. The federal government exists for the following reasons only:
   
   1. To protect and preserve the natural rights of man,
      
      
   2. To provide for the common defense of the nation,
      
      
   3. To conduct diplomacy with foreign nations,
      
      
   4. To regulate conduct and mediate disputes between the various states.
6. All other government of, by, and for The People is to occur at the state and local level. This guarantees the most amount of freedom to the most amount of people. Anything else acts to restrict human freedom. The federal government should only involve itself in state and local affairs when it does so to 
   
   1. Protect the natural rights of man, 
      
      
   2. Provide for the common defense of the nation, 
      
      
   3. Regulate conduct and mediate disputes between the various states.
      
      (States and local governments may conduct such diplomatic initiatives as their local voters direct them to do so.)
7. You are not our “leaders.” You are our representatives. Leadership is for political parties. Representation is what is expected from elected officials. Nothing more. Nothing less. We tell you to do what we tell you to do. Do it. Do nothing more. Do nothing less. Do what you are paid to do. If you can’t do that without violating your own conscience, then have enough honor to quit, because we did not send you to Washington to exercise your conscience, but to carry out our will. Honor is a commodity in very short supply in DC. Do not perpetuate its lack. Your “deals” are between you and your voters, not between you and other politicians.
   
   
8. Money belongs to The People, not to the government. 
   
   • When you spend it, your are spending our money, not the government’s money. 
     
     
   • We take it personally when you spend our money poorly, and without accountability.
     
     
   • When you bring home pork to your district, you are literally stealing from the voters of another district. 
     
     • STOP IT!! Get rid of the idea that you can bribe voters with their own money. It is a morally corrupt concept. 
       
       
     • And just because the voters of your district may be willing suckers, DO NOT TAKE ADVANTAGE of that!! Suckers don’t deserve to be fleeced just because they are suckers. That kind of behavior is the realm of the cheap con artist. If that describes you, then we are coming for you. You better quit before we catch you.
       
       
     • Ask yourself each and every day, “If I have to go before my Maker today, is this particular piece of sausage making something I want to have to explain to Him?”
9. You need to spend more time outside the beltway, among your constituents, than you do inside the oxygen-deprived beltway, wheeling and dealing.
   
   
10. If a lobbyist enters your office, show him/her the door - regardless of their cause. If a lobbyist tries to show you a piece of legislation they wrote, have them arrested by the Capitol police on the spot and thrown out. You do not represent their various causes. You ONLY represent the individual voters who sent you to Washington. If individual voters care enough about the issues, they will contact you themselves, and they are the ONLY voice to whom you should lend an ear. All others can go $%^& themselves.
    
    
11. WRITE YOUR OWN GODAMN LEGISLATION!!!! Staffers are for reading letters, answering the phones, tending to your mailings, and keeping track of your calendar. We The People, who pay their salaries, do not pay them for any other purpose than that. If you do not have the intellectual horsepower to write a bill, then you are not qualified for office. If you do not have the time to write your own legislation, then get your muggerpoopin' priorities in order so that you do have the time. If that means that you don’t have the time to shmooze, then that is better yet. We don’t pay you to shmooze.
    
    
12. Pay no attention to what the press says about you. They are vampires. They will cover you in glory as long as you tout their own biases, and burn you at the stake if you don’t. Contrary to your own misguided conception, your job is not to get reelected. Your job is to represent us. If we like the job you did, then we will reelect youregardless of what some commie reporter at the New York Times thinks about you. Look at Ron Paul. I personally think he’s a nut, and so does the New York Times, but his district has continually reelected him since 1977 because he doesn’t care what the New York Times (or I) think about him. He only cares about what his constituents thinks about him. Because of that, they like him, and they keep returning him to office. If you treat the will of your constituents the way Ron Paul treats the will of his, you’ll never have to worry about a job again.
    
    
13. This job of yours is not your right. It is not an entitlement. It is not permission for bad behavior. We hold you to a higher standard. Your indiscretions are public fodder. It’s not just that you’re being immoral. It is also that your indiscretions reflect poorly on us the voters who elected you to represent us. If you get caught in an affair,our reputation becomes tarnished as well, not just yours. You are given our reputations in trust when you represent us to the nation. Do not take that lightly. If you tarnish our reputations, we will make sure you never get elected even to pick up dog feces in the public parks again.
    
    
14. We don’t care “how it’s done” in other nations. We have no need for you to go off on “fact-finding” trips, unless it is to a war zone. That’s why we have a State department and ambassadors. If you want to know what is going on in Outer Slobovia, pick up the damn phone and call the American embassy or a consulate. That’s what they are for. If you go visit our soldiers, then their accommodations are good enough for you, and so is their food, as far as the tax-payers who foot the bill for all this are concerned. You want cushier? Pay for it out of your own damned wallet. High priced hotels and expensive restaurants are not your political right.
    
    
15. If we need to go to Washington to make sure you are doing your damned job, we have to fly commercial. If it is good enough for us, then it is good enough for you. Period. You have no special rights just because we voted for you. When you fly on our nickel, you are abusing our taxes. STOP IT.
    
    
16. NEVER FORGET: The Founders did not envision a political class. They had experienced that under the British monarchy, and it was never their intention that the word “politician” come to denote a profession in the new nation they built. Politics, and the exercise thereof, was the contribution that grateful men made as a service to the nation, because service is first and foremost a sacrificial virtue. Service is worth nothing if it costs you nothing. Most of them spent more than they were ever reimbursed, and quite a few spent everything they had in that service, asking nothing in return except that the nation would prosper due to their efforts. That is why we revere and honor them today - not because they grasped after money, power, and prestige.

I could double the number of ideas and words covered here, without ever departing from the general theme. If you are a politician, and every single one of these points doesn’tresonate with you, then you are not qualified for office. When George Washington was alive, some wanted to make him King. He resisted the temptation. He served honorably and sacrificially as President once. He very reluctantly agreed to a second term. And he refused a third term even though he could have had it if he wanted it. To the average voters today, many of you seem as though you would have accepted the offer to be King. It is unbecoming, and it insults the principles upon which we are founded as a nation.

We are tired of it. Reform yourselves, or suffer the same fate the Crown did when the Founders declared their independence from a grasping government that viewed itself the superior to the governed. We have been very, very patient, for far, far too long.

Patience is wearing thin. There is lots of available tar along the gulf coast right now, and we can get the feathers. When that patiences becomes threadbare and tears through, you will have nobody but yourselves to blame.