Stop romanticizing this election!

Get ready, this one’s going to sting, even so, please read all the way through.

There is no “Knight in shining armor” that is coming to rescue us!  Not Sir Newt, Sir Mitt, Sir Rick, Sir Barack, not even Sir Ron will “save us!”

It is time to grow up…it’s up to us, not some illusionary Knight who will swoop in on his horse and save the day. Mind you, the candidates want you to believe this is who they are.  But my response to that again is; grow up.  That’s not how it works and if you think back to 1776, the Founders didn’t search high and low for a Knight in Shining Armor;” they became the Knights!

We watch too many movies I think.  You know the ones where the drama builds throughout the flick and then someone appears in the movie or grows into that “Knightly” character and saves the day.  I believe Conservatives especially are vulnerable to these “epic battles” with great endings.  This makes conservatives very vulnerable to candidate speak, carefully tuned in to tap into your emotions.

Ever wonder why candidates are big on vision and short on specifics?  It’s designed that way; they want you to embrace a vision and blunt you from seeing how they intend to implement it.

Thus, reforming something is a clever word used to get you to support something they want to do.  After all, who doesn’t want to “reform” something that is obviously broken?

Take the entitlements for instance.  One President and 3 of the 4 republican candidates all want to “reform” them.  But what does “reform” really mean?  Have you ever asked that question of your favorite candidate?  Probably not…nowadays, the electorate buys just about any idea given by the candidates but rarely asks or thinks about the specifics.

How about the oath of office all elected officials take when sworn in.

Every elected official is required to raise their right hand, place the other on the Bible, stand in front of their fellow citizens and pledge an oath that they will support/defend the Constitution; yet very, very few actually do.  Instead, as soon as they drop their hand to their side, most get very busy proposing legislation that will govern our lives even though what they’re proposing has absolutely no Constitutional authority.

Does that even matter to conservatives any longer?  Wait, what’s that sound I’m hearing as people read this…crickets (chirp, chirp, chirp).

Nah, oath’s are just perfunctory acts we perform nowadays…we don’t really believe them!  After all, look at our divorce rate in this country.  If we can’t keep those oaths ourselves, how can we hold an elected official to keep theirs?

C’mon Mark you’re probably saying right now.  Get off my back and quite telling me to grow up and by the way Mark, get over the whole “oath” thing as if you’re mister perfect!

Like I started off…this one’s going to sting; let’s go on!

You see, the real problem is not the elected officials.  No, the real problem is us, We the People. That’s right, it’s you who is reading this…you’re the problem. Why?

1. Korean Conflict (can’t call it the Korean War because it was never declared by Congress as such);
2. Vietnam Police Action;
3. Grenada - “Operation Urgent Fury”
4. Panama - “Operation Just Cause”
5. Iraq - “Operation Desert Storm”
6. Somalia - “Operation Restore Hope;”
7. Haiti - “Operation Uphold Democracy;”
8. Bosnia - “Operation Deliberate Force;”
9. Iraq - “Operation Desert Fox;”
10. Afghanistan and Sudan - “Operation Infinite Reach;”
11. Afghanistan – “Operation Enduring Freedom
12. Iraq – “Operation Iraqi Freedom”
13. Libya – “Operation Odyssey Dawn”
14. Who knows what the next “Operation” will be

What do all of the “conflicts, actions and operations have in common?”  None of them were properly declared wars by the Congress. We appear to have grown quite comfortable exercising our military might without Constitutional Declarations of War. Ever stop and ask yourself why the Framers placed the authority to offensively go to war in the Congress and NOT the President? The answer really is quite simple; the Framers wanted this decision to rest not in a single executive such as the President, but instead, with the true sovereigns…We the People.  Why does the President act unilaterally nowadays (except for the perfunctory “consulting with Congressional Leaders”)?  Because We the People don’t seem to care…as long as it’s not our sons and daughters we’re sending off.

Finally, how do I know all that I’ve written is true?  Because it’s exactly how I used to think when I worked in Congress, in politics, and as a Conservative.  I no longer identify myself as a “conservative” for it has grown to become a term to identify people who care little about the Rule of Law (the Constitution) and are more interested in getting power so they can exercise it over the other half of their fellow citizens.  No, I’ll have no part of that any longer; my epiphany occurred years ago, there’s no turning back now.  I stand with the Founders like Jefferson, Mason, Henry; not with Sir Newt, Sir Mitt, Sir Rick, the current crop of Knights in shining armor coming to save the day.  For me, I no longer romanticize these elections; I looked in the mirror years ago and realized…I was the problem.

How about you?