the game

Abstract: The political system in the United States has become a divisive tool that no longer works on behalf of, at the behest of, or with the best interests of the American people as the sole determining factor for the policies and decisions that are made at the federal, state, and local level. “The people’s representatives”- which was the intended role of elected officials envisioned by the Founding Fathers who put in place a representative democracy- have become beholden to political parties, monied special interests and corporations, and have succeeded in creating a dynamic whereby they now rule rather than represent the American people. There are three substantive reforms that, if enacted, would serve to eliminate the major causes of corruption, dysfunction, and oligarchical tendencies of the American political system that has replaced the United States Constitution: the elimination of “political parties” and affiliations, mandated term-limits, and external non-governmental ethics and oversight committees that have the authority to mandate removal from office, release of information, and ensure certain issues are made available to public consent.

Introduction:

Anyone who has an interest in the cult of personality political system that has taken over our country understands the problems and shortcomings of our current political climate. Unkept promises. Divisive rhetoric. Special interests and lobbyists. There was a saying when I was young (and I do paraphrase but the sentiment is intact)- “America is a country where anyone can grow up and become the President.” I don’t hear that anymore.  It isn’t true and everyone knows it. Another sentiment that people once believed in was the notion that our government is “of the people, by the people, and for the people.” Does anyone still buy that? I don’t think so.

I have begun calling myself a “political atheist”. I didn’t coin the term- it is a phrase I heard trends forecaster Gerald Celente use and decided it was appropriate for me. It doesn’t mean I don’t follow politics or care about them- it is just a personal recognition that this great sham that calls itself our political system, “our government”- is a dysfunctional cabal of merry men and women that are bought and paid for by globalists and corporations. “Politics” is nothing more or less than a scripted theatrical production designed to make money. That’s all.

Prove me wrong. 

Who profits from this system? The globalist corporations. The political candidates who go to Washington DC as humble (mostly) lawyers and return home as very wealthy well-connected players. Everyone knows this. Yet, hope springs eternal that the next schmuck we send up there is going to reform the system, make a difference, drain the swamp.

It’s not going to happen. It just keeps rolling along, becoming progressively more oppressive, oligarchical, and dangerous. No matter which party you vote for, the globalist agenda continues, just with different nomenclatures. Electing the “right people” is not the solution. It isn’t even a viable option anymore. The whole system has to be reformed. Then, electing the “right people” within that framework, is the only hope we have of having a voice in our government again. There are three concrete steps that can be taken to start returning the will of the people to the people:

Discussion:

Eliminate political parties

The notion of a viable “third party” has been a part of the discussion for a long time. I myself voted for Ross Perot way back in 1992. Another option to the “two sides of the same coin” Republican/Democrat” paradigm has always been a theorized alternative to the entrenched political duopoly. This sort of system exists in some form in many other democracies- often dubbed the “parliamentary system”- where a coalition must be formed for a governing majority.

As attractive as a third party is, I believe instead of creating a third option, it would just create a third side to the same coin. Who would be attracted to a third party? Would it reduce political problems or create more? I think it would cause 33% more division than currently exists. More need for campaigning. More need for “compromise”, another tier of political wrangling. Look at the countries that have third (and fourth and fifth) parties. I don’t see better choices or representation. I see more chaos. On an exponential level.

If we could eliminate the parties, we eliminate a layer of beholden- a “loyalty” people claim in order to receive the endorsement and money of an established political machine. Parties are a banner candidates hide behind. In spite of stated “platforms”, electing a “D” or an “R” is no guarantee that the supposed platform will be followed. Greg Abbott is the Republican governor of Texas and William Weld is the former Republican governor of Massachusetts. There is no similarity in the policies or ideologies of either.

Barack Obama and John F. Kennedy were both Democratic presidents- and there is no similarities or consistency between their policies while in office. President Kennedy was confronted with missiles in Cuba and told the Soviets you will take the missiles out of there. President Obama was confronted with the threats of nuclear weapons in Iran, and sent them billions of dollars- in cash- to allegedly halt that program. During Ronald Reagan’s presidency several Democrat Senators switched to the Republican party. Senator Arlen Specter switched from Democrat to Republican, and then several years later, back to Democrat again. They don’t have ideology or ideas they believe in- they follow the money and the best chance of getting re-elected.

We should elect people based upon their beliefs, standards, and principles. Without a party banner to hide behind, we remove assumptions, false ideologies, and a layer of “party loyalty” that is detrimental. Candidates should have to state what they believe- not what party they belong to. What they are going to do- not what their party is working to do. We don’t need meaningless empty rhetoric about “partisanship” and “bi-partisanship.”

And it will cause people to actually learn a little about these people they are voting for- rather than just what meaningless letter is behind their name. That would be the biggest benefit of all.

Term limits

I used to be very much against term limits. I thought that voters should be the determiner of term limits- at the voting booth. If you have a good representative- as we did in our district when we had Dr. Ron Paul- it would be a shame to force them out. But, unfortunately, the opposite is more common. You get these bad politicians and you can’t get them out. It’s easy to shrug and say “well they keep voting for Maxine Waters so they deserve it” but it’s just not that simple.

One, I don’t think a lot of these politicians are really winning these elections- at least not fairly. We are learning more and more about voter fraud, election rigging, and ballot manipulation all the time. Oftentimes, once you get them in there, you just can’t get them out. Like the old Soviet expression goes- “it’s not who votes that matters, it’s who counts the votes that matters.”

Two, referring back to topic one- elimination of political parties- it doesn’t matter if you win the election, it matters if the party LETS you win the election. Bernie Sanders supporters learned about this in 2016. The parties have a hundred tools at their disposal to ensure THEIR candidate is the winner.

Three, saying “well that is THEIR problem” (unless, of course it is your district affected) simply isn’t true. The entire country, not just Arizona, is affected by boneheads like John McCain, who cast the deciding vote to stop the repeal of Obamacare. And there wasn’t a damn thing anyone outside of Arizona could do about it.

Give them all six years. That’s all they need. If they know that going in- maybe we will get some people interested in making a difference instead of making a career.

Non-governmental ethics and oversight committee

Remember the #MeToo movement? It was a thinly-veiled attempt in the frenzied, panicked days following President Trumps election to set a precedent and justification for his disqualification. Although the “movement”- lacking credibility due to the duplicitous moral character of its’ mouthpieces- was unsuccessful in getting Trump, there were some politicians and public figures who were taken down by the attempt. One of those was Senator Al Franken, who was accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women. Under pressure to fall on his sword, Franken resigned. But he clearly wasn’t happy with being compelled to do so.

Franken said he believed an investigation by the ethics committee would have cleared his name.

And I believe he was correct.

We have a ‘fox guarding the hen house’ situation with our elected officials. One of the things that came out during that “scandal” was the revelation that Congress has a slush fund to pay off victims of sexual misconduct by members of Congress.

Many years ago, there was a House banking scandal- “Rubber-gate” which revealed that House members could basically write hot checks on their accounts without fear of penalty. I could list all the types of ethical violations those folks in DC are involved in, but it would take too long.

People also believe that there are no more secrets due to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). This too is a scam. Some people never get a response, one interviewee I saw on a show one day said he once got his information EIGHT YEARS after the request, and most often, what a requester receives is a highly redacted, worthless document. Generally, the requester is told that the information cannot be released due to “national security.”

We need an Oversight Committee that is completely independent of government. It would operate like a Grand Jury. People would be selected at random like jury duty, and serve on the committee for a year. They would be paid for their service, and their employers would be required to restore them at the end of this duty.

This committee would have the authority to review and fulfill FOIA requests, investigate ethics violations and have the authority to remove egregious violators from office. And, most importantly, this committee would have the authority to determine which issues are of such vital importance to the citizenry that they should be removed from the jurisdiction of representatives and put to a direct vote of the citizenry.

An example of this would be war. If the President or the Congress wants to go to war- they must get the approval of the ones that bear the burden of this action in terms of human lives and treasure- The PEOPLE.

Do we need a border wall for national security? Let the people vote on it. Should the members of Congress get a raise? Let their employers- the people- decide.

Conclusion:

The elitist notion that “We the people” are too stupid, uninformed, and lacking in sophistication to make important decisions is wrong, outdated, and dangerous. Perhaps we are too passive, trusting, and apathetic- but we are also being deceived and “played” by a well-funded group of professional politicos. They do what they do because they can.

They are successful largely because they have succeeded in dividing Americans into a false paradigm of two competing ideologies. These political parties are self-serving and exist to create the illusion of “choice”. They are archaic remnants of a true political competition, and should be eliminated.

The politicians and their political machine have perfected a deception that elections are valid and fair. Presently- except for “landslide” results- most elections can be manipulated and managed in a way that the desired candidate is “victorious.” The rare exception to this managed result will soon be a thing of the past with technological advances in propaganda and incontestable election results. The only antidote to this election fraud is term-limits.

Lastly, the political machine has been successful in removing itself from public accountability and consequences. It is a self-policing, hidden agenda organization, that has been able through deceit, prevarication, and delay/distract methods to avoid responsibility, disclosure, and oversight. A non-governmental, independent committee made up of a cross-section of unaffiliated citizens is the only way to bring accountability to, and deter future betrayals of the peoples’ trust.