Roots in Ripon - Just do the Job

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Chuck Roots

31 October 2016

www.chuckroots.com

There is no way a Hollywood screenwriter would have been able to come up with the crazy shenanigans “We the People” have been subjected to during this presidential election season. Seriously, have you ever seen the like? 

 

My wife and I are finding that we are experiencing “newscycle fatigue”. I don’t know if this is an actual term or not, but it certainly describes the way the two of us are feeling at this point with eight days yet remaining before election day. If I see one more “Breaking” news banner announcing another woman has come forth accusing Donald Trump of unwanted sexual advances, or a new batch of emails uncovered concerning Hillary Clinton, I may just have to seclude myself in a quiet room with copious amounts of comfort food until November 9.

 

The Scottish bard, Sir Walter Scott, famously wrote this insightful ditty that most of us have heard at one time or another: “O, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive!” Such practiced deception seems to be standard operating procedure throughout our government.

From my private pristine perch in the Central Valley of California I am able to critique the political blathering nabobs who inhabit the far country known as Washington DC. Someone might point out that all the politicians are not bad. And I would agree. However, they have all been infected. The political game is seriously flawed. It is virtually impossible for a right-hearted person to be a genuine re-creation of Mr. Smith from the movie, “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” played by the one-and-only Jimmy Stewart. In one scene, Stewart, as Senator Jefferson Smith, says, “You see, boys forget what their country means by just reading ‘The Land of the Free’ in history books. Then they get to be men they forget even more. Liberty’s too precious a thing to be buried in books, Miss Saunders. Men should hold it up in front of them every single day of their lives and say: I’m free to think and to speak. My ancestors couldn’t. I can, and my children will. Boys ought to grow up remembering that.”

The infection the politicians of every party and stripe experience is known as Power. Because the money collected from Americans flows into the coffers of our nation’s capital, the idea that these taxes can be used for whatever the political establishment desires is heady stuff. The Republicans want this power, and so do the Democrats. Political groups and special interest groups all want to sit at the table with the powerful heads of government. Several phrases come to mind that highlight this condition evidenced inside the DC Beltway. “Live by the Golden Rule! Because he who has the gold, makes the rules.” Then there’s this one, “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” You get the idea.

Many a well-intentioned, aspiring politician from small-town USA has been sent to our capital by their constituents with high hopes of making a difference by shaking up the entrenched establishment, and poking a finger in the eye of the good-old-boy system that has been, and continues to be, a cancer within the hallowed halls of the three branches of government: the executive (president), the legislative (Congress), and the judicial (Supreme Court). 

 

The political power brokers will quickly explain the rules of the game to any new freshman senators and representatives. It is very simple. It goes something like this: “If you want to get anything done in this town, you will go along with the way we do things. If you fight us, you will find yourself unable to get any legislation passed through Congress that would otherwise benefit your constituents. You will find yourself being a one-term Congressman.”

This corrupt system of running the world’s most powerful and financially muscular nation needs a good housecleaning. And this is yet another reason why I wholly reject Hillary. She is bought and paid for many times over, contributing to this wretched system currently in place. The depth of her corruption is staggering and, according to the FBI, is still under investigation, possibly extending well into the next presidential term. “The Donald”, on the other hand, is a total outsider who, as a businessman has learned how to work within this system, as well as outside of it, in order to build a most impressive real estate empire. However, he fully recognizes the rottenness that is at the core of this DC good-old-boy game. And Trump is not beholding to anyone. In other words, he’s not a politician. 

 

Of all the presidential candidates that I have watched march across the stage of life in their quest to become the President of the United States, Trump is the only one who has the toughness of character and desire to get into DC where he can begin to rock the city to its very core. He has already made a list of conservative constitutionalists who he would select for the Supreme Court of the United States. The Court would once again do its job which is to interpret the law. Congress would do its job by creating law. And the president would do the job of protecting and defending the law. 

 

This is why I want to see Donald Trump become our next president. He understands the job of the president as outlined in the Constitution: “The President is both the head of state and head of government of the United States of America, and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. Under Article II of the Constitution, the President is responsible for the execution and enforcement of the laws created by Congress.”

 

All of the foolishness of this election aside, I believe Donald Trump is the candidate for president who will change Washington DC by first simply fulfilling the duties of the job. Now that would be refreshing!