How Do We Know If Our Government Is Corrupt And Incompetent?
Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart
“All governments are bad, some are just worse than others.” This
quote originated from Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional
Rights. But its content was first espoused when our country was born.
Thomas Paine (1776): In his foundational pamphlet Common
Sense, Paine famously laid the philosophical groundwork for this sentiment by
writing, "Society in every state is a blessing, but Government, even in
its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable
one..."
Unfortunately, America’s federal government proves both men’s
observations and allegations. Those who serve in Washington today are moving
our nation backwards into the times when racism, bigotry, hatred, anger, and
violence were acceptable and human rights and equality for all did not exist.
I believe that incompetent governments fail to solve serious
problems when the solutions are obvious, easily solved, and yet ignored because
they are of no value to those who have the ability to end these situations
quickly and without extraordinary effort. However, they what should be
non-issues have become unnecessarily controversial and affect the results of
elections. In America, corporate profits and political power outweigh the safety
and security of our nation’s men, women, and children.
ISSUES WHICH SHOULD NOT BE INCLUDED IN OUR ELECTIONS, AND WOULD
NOT BE IF OUR GOVERNMENT IGNORED THE LEADERS OF CHRISTIAN RELIGIONS AS GUARANTEED
BY THE FIRST AMENDMENT
Abortion is an issue which has been politicized, although
the Constitution clearly states that personal issues which have no effect on
the majority must remain private and personal. Attacks on all women, removing
their right to make decisions about their own physical and mental health, is unimaginable
and a clear violation of the First Amendment.
Complete equality for women must become a reality. I do not
understand why our mothers, sisters, daughters, and wives continue to fight for
something which is protected by the Constitution. There is no reference to
gender in any section of the Law of the Land. Men have received greater
consideration than women for 250 years.
Approximately 12 percent of our nation’s population identify
themselves as members of the LGBTQ community. Their rights, guaranteed by the
Constitution, have no effect on the majority of our nation’s people. The
ludicrous arguments against same-sex marriage are based solely on religious
persecution. The first line in the Bill of Rights guarantees both the right to
practice the religion of your choice and my right to remove the influence of
religion on my life. Why do our elected officials refuse to protect our right
of “freedom from religion?”
America is the only nation where gun violence, a major
component of domestic terrorism, is the greatest threat to human life in the 21st
century. Mass shootings, defined as four or more individuals injured or killed
in a single incident, continue to outnumber the days on a calendar. As I write
this in October of 2026, school shootings have resulted in 27 deaths, and 36 injuries.
Alternative tracking with broader inclusion criteria from Everytown Research
notes 78 incidents of gunfire on school grounds resulting in 27 deaths and 43
injuries earlier in the year. Why is our corrupt government reluctant to end or
at least lessen this problem? Will it take 20 more shootings like the one at
Sandy Hook Elementary on December 14, 2012 to force our corrupt government to
do the right thing. The solution is obvious and easily accomplished. To
Congress, I say, “get your heads out of your asses and serve the demands of the
people.”
GOVERNMENTS ARE COMPLICATED, BUT WORKING IN GOVERNMENT IS SIMPLE:
ALWAYS DO THE RIGHT THING
Every human being is born with a conscience. Knowing right
from wrong is inherent, although some choose to ignore what is right and commit
crime to gain personal wealth and advancement. We do not need religious leaders
or government officials to explain the differences between good and evil.
“He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as
he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against
it is really cooperating with it.” Martin Luther King Jr.
I believe that being a member of a single political party
results in criminal actions by men and women who would never take any action to
harm another person under any other circumstance. Their existence has
similarities to a cult,
Being a professional politician always results in actions
which oppose human rights while protecting the perpetrators of actions based on
anger, hatred
“Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
A United States Senator serves six years before facing reelection.
Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley is currently serving his 8th term.
Moscow Mitch McConnell is serving his 7th.
Thes two men, older than yours truly, have no interest in
the needs or wishes of the American people. Their party is priority number one,
and the money remaining in their bank accounts after their demise is second.
EERIE, PENNSYLVANIA IS THE LATEST CITY TO EXPERIENCE A MASS
MURDER: WHO’S NEXT?
Using the Second Amendment to protect the NRA gun lobby, and
the gun nuts who value their weapons of mass destruction more than the lives of
their families is a lie and a crime against humanity.
This amendment is poorly written, vague, and is unrealistic in
the 21st century. The men who signed the Constitution in 1789 could
never have foreseen the weapons which exist today. There was no possible way
that they could have imagined a single firearm capable of killing dozens of
human beings in a single minute.
Yesterday, eight people, were murdered, and the killer
committed suicide in Eerie, Pennsylvania. Just another day in the most violent
nation in the world.
Assault rifles, high output magazines, and bump stocks must
be banned from sale to non-military and non-law enforcement individuals. They
have a single purpose; to kill as many persons as possible in the shortest
period of time. They have no other reason to exist.
I have a suggestion: any elected official who refuses to
perform the job for which they were elected, including public safety, must
become a pariah and removed from their lives of luxury and privilege.
Do the right thing or suffer the consequences.
Op-ed by James Turnage
Follow my blog and be an informed American
My 10 novels are available on Amazon’s free Kindle App
Source: apnews.com: Shooting leaves 9 dead including suspect
in Erie, Pennsylvania, police say
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