"You're just saying that because you don't like Obama."
Not at all. This applies to all presidents. They spend tons of money on campaigns, and lie to our faces yet we still practically worship them the moment they get elected and sworn in. I don't know about you, but when someone lies to me, I lose a lot of respect for them that they have to EARN back. Yet presidents lie about their policies all the time and we still see them as some higher power. For once, why doesn't someone stand up and say "Hey, you lying, wasteful law school graduate (for that's all most of them are), do something PRODUCTIVE with my tax money instead of sitting on your ass and wasting it away in programs that don't work and approving bills more full of pork barrel projects (which totaled approximately $19.6 billion in 2009) than actual laws and reforms. THEN maybe I'll respect you."
And why don't we, as citizens, take things into our own hands once in a while? I do not promote violence as a method, but why don't we do something more than show our displeasure through polls that simply serve to show the president what points he needs to make in his speeches to make us temporarily happy (see: Obama's State of the Union, January 2010)? People need to stop being so lazy and apathetic about our government and write to their Senators and Representatives. That is, after all, what they are there for. They are elected to serve their constituents, aka you and me. The moment they stop doing that, they should be voted out of office. As John Adams said,
"Government is instituted for the common good; for the protection, safety, prosperity, and happiness of the people; and not for profit, honor, or private interest of any one man, family, or class of men; therefore, the people alone have an incontestable, unalienable, and indefeasible right to institute government; and to reform, alter, or totally change the same, when their protection, safety, prosperity, and happiness require it."
Everyone talks about reforms in the government, especially Congressional reforms, but who is going to start those? Surely you don't think that Congressmen and Congresswomen are going to put restraints on themselves? No, they need pressure and the only people who are not part of the huge scheme are you and me. The President can talk big, but he's not going to do anything to truly tick off Congress. The Supreme Court can only act AFTER the U.S. has gotten the shaft. And Congress...well, we've all seen how effective they are at doing things they don't like.
We can't push this off any longer. Too many of us young voters still think things are going to be fixed for us by the time we "grow up" to be 30 or 40 and the governmental rot will simply disappear. Guess what. Our parents and grandparents did the same thing. Sure, they protested occasionally but they did nothing to actively fix the problems. They just put a bigger band-aid on a growing, infected wound. We need to stop this deadly cycle and we need to do it by being active in the government and knowing the issues. We need to get out and vote EVERY election day, EVERY year. Reform is not going to come from the top and tumble downwards. It needs to start at the very bottom: in our cities, towns, and schools. It needs to grow up to the state positions in the State Legislatures and the Governors. And finally, it needs to hit Congress and the Presidency. The people who are inheriting this country need to become active in its preservation and healing.
To steal another quote from another former president, John F. Kennedy is famous for saying, "And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." Don't wait around for the government to give you what you want through there twisted method of lies, schemes, and waste. Become active. Find out what YOU can do to help our country.
That is, of course, unless you want to inherit a $50 trillion debt by the time any of us can become Senators or President. (Data is most recent found, based on the year 2030, http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=118239)
2/6/2010
© 2007-2010 Jacob Tauer
This information is not to be used in any form, online or off, without the express permission of the author
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