Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Taking Over the Tea Party Movement

This morning, I heard a radio political advertisement for one of our local candidates who claimed he was endorsed by the Tea Party. When I heard that, I wondered who he was talking about. The advertisement included a gentleman that stated that he was the President of a Local Tea Party. That surprised me even more, but at the same time I thought it was also predictable.

When Americans first came out in force across the country to express their frustration with politicians in general, you can be sure that some politicians are going to want to jump on that bandwagon. The Tea Party movement was never a political party, but rather an outpouring of expression from citizens of many persuasions. They were simply trying to be heard in Washington and make a tone deaf Congress and Administration sit up and take notice. This was a rebellion against government intrusion and self serving politicians. This was the people's movement, not the politicians.

Now we see individuals gathering to take advantage of that public emotion and frustration. They are meeting together, forming small groups that call themselves the Tea Party, electing leaders, and now endorsing candidates as though they represented the sentiments of all of those that came out to the Tea Party movement gatherings. It is almost the same thing that many citizens were rebelling against in the first place.

In my view, the last thing we need in this country is another political party with a new agenda of their own. We have difficulty trying to sort out the politics of a two party system. The greatest problem with multiple parties is the same one with which Europe constantly struggles. Multi party systems split the vote of the citizens so that a majority is seldom ever achieved. Because of that, the majority never feels that they are represented and thet don't' agree on most policies.

While it is possible that the Tea Party movement could evolve into a political party, it is highly doubtful that it would ever become a major party. As soon as it becomes a party, much of its support will disappear from those who were protesting that very idea of it. However, strange things happen in the world of politics. Creating a new party would only undermine the ability to unseat the power structure that they are fighting against. There is not enough support in the nation to elect a majority of 3rd Party candidates that would be required in order to control the committees and chair positions. It would only take some seats from both Democrats and Republicans, but the control would remain where it is today. That is to the advantage of the Democrats and they are not oblivious to that fact. I suggest that those who support the Tea Party movement should focus on changing control of Congress and the Administration first, before deciding whether we need additional political parties.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Incompetence Reigns in Washington

While I have pointed out many times over the last couple of years the importance of credentials, experience, and competence in the people we elect, the importance of those qualities has never been clearer than the last 18 months. I have run out of adjectives to properly describe the moronic level of incompetence we have sunk to in this country. This lack of professional ability has resulted in the appointment of even lower levels of incompetence in every key position in the federal government. Repeatedly, we see people whose primary purpose in life is to promote the transformation of America into a socialist government. They have no personal executive skills, no functional expertise in the positions they have been asked to manage, no seeming knowledge of the facts as they exist in the world. Most of these bureaucrats seem oblivious and uncaring about the Constitution and the limits it places on their power and are far more interested in advancing their own personal agendas and control over our thinking and personal choices.

Just in the last few days, we hear Eric Holder, the US Attorney General criticize severely the immigration control law passed in Arizona and then admit before the entire country that he had never even read it. Even more unbelievably, the Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano did not take a lesson from that enormous flub and told reporters the exact same thing. She was highly critical of the law and days after Holder is mocked by the media, she tells reporters she has not read it either. She had to know this would be asked, yet she still couldn't take a few minutes to read a 10 page bill. This is followed again yesterday by Assistant Secretary of State, Michael Posner's comments that he agreed with China's criticism of US for human rights violations and cited the Arizona law. It is simply crazy to listen to China of all countries criticizing us, and over a law none have read. As it happens, I have read the Arizona bill and see none of the points contained in it that are being charged by these members of the Obama administration. The President himself has criticized the bill for things that are not in the law and has intentionally distorted the truth, that in fact it is the same as current federal law, only giving direct authority to local police to enforce it. That authority is also available under federal statute, but has not been enforced or requested by our federal government. It was because federal authorities have ignored enforcement that state authorities felt compelled to protect themselves. That is the right and responsibility of every government.

When will this stop? It stops only when the American have had enough of this outrageous out of control government who like Cass Sunstein, the White House's Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, says government often knows best and should act to correct the behaviors of citizens when they don't believe what the bureaucrats believe. That is why he wants to control internet content and ensure that you and I view what he wants us to see. He would require us to place links to opposing views on everything we write. That is insane nonsense and tyrannical thinking. However, that is captured on video and I have seen him say it in that exact context. This is the same Cass Sunstein, who was a constitutional law professor at the University of Chicago and Harvard, that the next candidate for the Supreme Court, Elena Kagan calls the preeminent constitutional law expert of our time. This is truly frightening. America must wake up to this onslaught on the Constitution and our freedoms. It is encouraging to see the results of recent elections but we must inform all Americans of the truth of what is happening. Only through the truth and all of the facts can people make the right choice.