I'll be out in Arizona the week after next. Do you think I'll need my passport?
There are no Statesmen in leadership positions in our government anymore, only self-serving, power seeking, vote hungry politicians.
There have been people of that caliber in local, state and national politics since the founding of our country. I think the difference today is that there are so few who do not fit that description that they are not only ineffective but unnoticed.
Is the "Tea Party" the answer? Maybe it is the beginnings of one. It is a symptom but, likely not the cure. It is a symptom of the dissatisfaction of a large portion of the American public with politics as usual. It lacks cohesiveness.
It is time for a strong leader to step forward and energize not only the dissatisfied, but also the rational thinkers who would restore sanity to our government. I believe that people like Sarah
Palin and Jan Brewer will play a role in shaping the resistance to the drift toward failure of the Republic, but, it will take someone completely outside the system to provide the type of leadership needed.
Big government is not the answer. Individual, corporate, media and government accountability for their actions is what is needed. We require a properly informed public willing to throw the "bums" out. Therein lies a valid reason for limiting who can vote.
One step in establishing qualifications for voting would be to adhere to the requirements for obtaining citizenship. If voters were required to pass the test for citizenship as well as to endure the required waiting period provided by law for those aliens following the proper steps for naturalization, the number of voters would be significantly reduced. (You can see a
sample of study questions here.)
The road we as a Nation are traveling is similar in many ways to that traveled by the Romans. We have traveled it much faster than they did. I wonder if Charlie Daniels will still be around to "play the fiddle" while we burn.
As we examine the shaping battle over Immigration, let us not forget that we are all descendants of immigrants (that includes so-called Native Americans). Most of our ancestors came legally. They earned their citizenship.
The Southern border of our country has been in turmoil through much of our history. It has seen incursions from Mexicans and it has been crossed by U.S. troops (and Texas Rangers) in pursuit. It has a rather porous history. In those times when the violence of criminal elements became excessive, the citizens usually stepped up first and the military reluctantly followed much later. With the possible exception of the administration of George W. Bush, Washington has always lacked the political will to take preemptive, proactive steps. It has always been slow to act (with very few exceptions in history) until the people rose up in anger at their inactivity.
The border is part of "flyover" country. The rich and powerful (this includes the majority of national elected figures), living in the isolated luxury of the suburbs on the East Coast or certain sections of the West Coast see no urgency to our problems. Until they begin to feel the "sting" within their protected environs, they will not act. Money still drives political will in our national Capitol.
I suspect there are those among them who profit from the drug and human trafficking. It wouldn't be the first time in history that wealth was built on illegal trade (Rum Runners and Slavers). Globalization of such enterprises has followed a general globalization of big business. It also makes interdiction more difficult.
The way we vote is a beginning, but, political activism must go beyond voting. We need to sound a steady drumbeat of pressure on Washington to address the problems we face. Those problems go far beyond the issue of Immigration, but, perhaps it will be the catalyst for action.
