America, It Is Time to Wake Up!

It is time for American's to wake up and smell the proverbial roses, because, quite honestly, they stink to high heavens! It seems that we really don't care as a country anymore what direction we are going in. My friends, America is on the decline, and unless something is done about it, it will soon fall.

America has become a laughing stock to the world. No countries can take us seriously anymore. Our currency has become greatly devalued. Our morals and standards have become vastly degraded. And our politicians are just downright laughable. It does not seem that any of them can seriously stand up there and be a beacon of morality and virtue anymore. None of them have that ability. In the past week we have had two high ranking Republicans admit to affairs and resign the lofty stations they once held. We have seen men and women who have been nominated for high positions within the government have to decline the nomination because they have been delinquent on their taxes, some to the tune of over $100,000, a gross violation of the law. And that is just the tip of the ice berg.

The Constitution was put in place for more than building a government. There is so much more behind it that people don't see. If one were to pick up a copy of The Federalist and read what the men who wrote it said about the function of the Constitution and how government was to be run, you would also find a part which talked about the Constitution's higher purpose, one that goes beyond government structure. In Federalist 57, Publius, who is listed as James Madison, but could possibly have been Alexander Hamilton, writes this: "The aim of every political constitution is, or ought to be, first to obtain for rulers men who possess most wisdom to discern, and most virtue to pursue, the common good of the society; and in the next place, to take the most effectual precautions for keeping them virtuous whilst they continue to hold their public trust." The whole purpose of a document such as the Constitution is to hold the politicians accountable to the office that they hold. When a man or woman is elected to hold an office of public trust, whether it is on a local council or as a member of the federal government, they are now accountable for their actions, and when they do something that is wrong and not in keeping with the standards of virtue, how can they be trusted?

How can the public trust a governor, senator, congressman/woman who has an affair and cheats on their spouse? How can we trust a person who has been appointed over a certain government office, or committee in Congress, if they have cheated on their taxes when the rest of us hard working Americans have been shelling out hundreds of dollars of our pay checks every April 15? How can we trust a government official who takes bribes in order to line their pockets with money? The answer is quite simple: we cannot. They have betrayed the public's trust and are now no longer deserving at all of the office that they hold. It does not matter if they be Republican, Democrat, American Socialist, Green, or whatever party. The fact of the matter is that they should no longer hold that office. Now, impeachment is not necessary if no law is broken, but if they run again, do not elect them back into office. How can you trust them? The answer is, you cannot.

Virtue has got to make a comeback in American politics if this country is to get back on the right footing. I am not saying that it is the only thing that will bring this nation back from the brink, but it is one factor that desperately must be looked at. Americans no longer trust their politicians. As the old joke goes, the definition of politics comes for the Greek "poly," meaning many, and tics, blood sucking creatures. Americans don't trust politicians and hence, they don't go out and vote, because they know it will likely just lead to one more corrupt person in Washington DC who is in it only for the power and the glory. Politicians are truly seen as blood sucking party hacks that are in it only to pass an agenda, and not to do what is best for their country or their constituents back home. And there is only one way for virtue to make a comeback in politics, and that is if men and women run for office who promise to uphold the values they stand for, and who are accountable. And the only way they can get into office is if the people recognize that this is what the country needs most, and they vote for those candidates. It is time to say no to the money grubbing, corrupt, immoral, non-virtuous politicians and yes to those who will stand up for what is right and bring America back to where it once was.