"Where a constitution, like ours, wears a mixed aspect of monarchy and republicanism, its citizens will naturally divide into two classes of sentiment, according as their tone of body or mind, their habits, connections and callings, induce them to wish to strengthen either the monarchical or the republican features of the constitution. Some will consider it as an elective monarchy, which had better be made hereditary, and therefore endeavor to lead towards that all the forms and principles of its administration. Others will view it as an energetic republic, turning in all its points on the pivot of free and frequent elections." -- Thomas Jefferson to James Sullivan, 1797. ME 9:377
The politicians are out of control. RINOs dominate the Republican Party, and the Democrats have gone so far to the left that we might as well just call them communists. With each passing day any difference between the two parties dwindles, and we are beginning to recognize that John Adams may have been right when he said that the two-party system would be the death of this nation.
The two-party system, unfortunately, is as natural to us as humans as breathing and eating. If we were hypothetically to get rid of the two parties, how long would it take before they would reform? An issue would come up, and groups that support and oppose the issue would emerge. The two groups would flock together, organize, choose leaders, and boom, we'd have two parties again.
Understanding that the two-party system is inevitable means that to grab control of our nation, and restore the republic, requires us to go beyond the parties, and beyond politics.
The goal is to learn how to control your horse. When the horse is wild, and won't listen to your commands, the way to solve the problem is not to shoot the horse, and then go find another wild horse and hope it listens to your commands. Not only do you wind up with no horse for a while, but when you go out to find a new horse, you are still surrounded by horses that won't listen. Therefore, the key is not to find a horse you hope will listen to you from the start, but to train and teach your horse to obey your commands.
For as long as I can remember, the Republican Party has been the horse that conservatives have. Our horse is temperamental, refuses to obey our commands, and keeps running in fear of the other animal that's in the race. The other animal, a jackass, is also temperamental, and stubborn, but the jockeys of that other animal have learned to keep theirs under control. . . for now.
The idea that there is no difference between the political parties is partially correct. They both are in the game for the power, and for control of a centralized government. There are some Republicans that actually believe the oxymoron that they ought to be the elite ruling class that controls the centralized government, but that they will do it in a conservative manner. The establishment is not interested in the Republican platform. When it comes to the political machinations of our American System, and trying to jockey for position as the controllers of that system, there is no difference between the parties. In the end, only the platforms differ. . . but what good is a platform if the GOP rejects it?
The way to break our horse is to teach it to abandon the establishment mindset, and listen to its constituents. The Constitution, after all, does not begin "We the Politicians," "We the Judges," or "We the Lawyers." It begins "We the People." The training of our horse must begin with that idea, that it is for the reason of "serving the people" that our horse is in the race for. However, trying to train a wild horse requires constant care, constant attention, and intense involvement.
But. . . what if the horse is not red, but blue? Here in California we are surrounded by herds of blue horses that bite us, kick us, and run wild.
Red and blue, in the end, doesn't really matter. Blue horses can be controlled, too, if only we take the steps to do the work.
As conservatives, we get hung up on using the courts, or voting only for Republicans, when the courts are filled with progressive judges that have vowed to stand against us, and the GOP is filled with progressives that simply refuse to admit that "progressive" is what they are. The courts are useless, and voting can only go so far. Even when we put someone in office after an election, after championing them as a conservative that believes in the principles of the United States Constitution, things seem to go wrong. Our thoroughbred goes to Washington, proud of his or her ideals, and then after the establishment threatens them with pulling their money for campaigns, and tells them to play ball or they will never accomplish anything in office, our star stallion kicks off its saddle, spits out its bridle, and runs with the rest of the wild horses, refusing to obey the commands of the people who put that horse into the ring.
In response to watching our filet mignon being ground into hamburger meat, we point fingers, and angrily threaten them saying that we will vote them out of office. We try to push them into shape, and they kick us, reject us, and run wild anyway.
It is time to quit pushing them, put the bridle back in their mouths, and grab the reins of the horse and lead them to where we want them to go.
To change the system, however, we can't do it at the national level. We must start locally. I am not saying ignore federal politics. We must continue to hang carrots on sticks in front of those horses, but what good is complaining about the cockroaches in Washington, when we are breeding cockroaches at the local level?
Since training your horse takes constant attention, how is it that many of us don't even know the names of our horses? Who are they? When was the last time you paid them a visit, not to hammer on them about how they tick you off, but to find out who they are, and how they are doing? Build relationships. . . working relationships, where the official knows you by name. Then, when they step out of line, don't just let them know, as a concerned citizen, but let the voters in their district know, too.
Is the best way to train a horse to viciously beat it down, or is the best way through a method that includes calm communication, a stroking of the mane, and offering a few carrots as a treat?
-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
Learn more about a group in Southern California using this style republic restoration: ConstitutionAssociation.com
Check out Books by Douglas V. Gibbs on the United States Constitution
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