Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, July 23, 1995 TAG: 9507210083
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: G-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARSHALL TACKETT
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The reason given is diversity. We are divided by gender, race, religion, work ethic, income, IQ, cigarettes, abortion and homosexuality. We are all different from one another, so our needs are different. In America, the needs of the majority are met first; the needs of the minority come next, then other minorities pop up looking for a piece of the pie, get it, and opportunity becomes entitlement.
A democracy is a form of government that is instituted by the governed to secure certain rights that otherwise would be taken from you. There are many who would profit from taking your life, your liberty, and use what has been given you by God to pursue their own happiness, at your expense. The king of England was like that; so are political parties.
The Atlantic Ocean separated us from the king. Nothing separates us from the Democrats or the Republicans. We have no defense against them; they are everywhere, at each level of government; a government of our choice.
Wait a minute! Political parties are not a form of government. They are not the government of our choice. Instead of uniting security with energy, they unite anxiety with energy. They politicize every issue possible, from the least to the greatest. They make promises they cannot keep; plunge all of us into debt; steal our tomorrows, our liberty, our life; and it is their happiness that we are to pursue.
We have no protection from them, for they have even swiped our security by incurring a national debt impossible ever to pay off. That's like one of us baby boomers grounding our grandchildren because of a misdeed of our teen-age son or daughter.
During the 1996 presidential elections, there will be national conventions for both political parties. There will be posters dancing across your TV screens; plastic hats that look like straw hats; and buttons, banners and belly laughs all designed to get your vote.
There will be much talk about uniting this country and the people in it. Issues that divide will be avoided by both parties; mud will be slung instead. The personhood of a political party cannot be established except through its candidate; dirty up the other guy and you win!
Our precious liberty, independence and freedom acquiesce in such tribal chaos; millions of men and women have given their very lives that our God-given rights be preserved. This selection process needs to be a bit more serious for that very reason; yet, that will never happen. We are not a government of the people. We are a government of the party.
If the truth were ever known about why each of us votes the way we do, I think that we would find that all of us are a little bit Democratic and a little bit Republican.
I like the idea of helping others who are less fortunate. I would rather do it myself than rely on government to do it, but the Democrats took over that responsibility when they tried to build the Great Society. That notion seems to have flown out of the window like the caged parakeet it was, when Republicans started quoting Capt. John Smith: "If you don't work, you don't eat.'' So, I like the way Republicans speak out about issues that have the potential of helping each of us, by insisting that each of us help ourselves.
There is a danger associated with political parties that presents itself behind the ragged curtain of the voting booth. No one party can be all things to all people. No one party can deliver to all everything that is asked. One vote, namely yours, will make little difference. You are vesting your vote not in an individual, not in a way of thinking, not even in a democratic process. Your vote goes to whoever controls the political party. George Washington saw this danger and spoke of it in his 1796 Farewell Address.
The Democratic-Republican party had emerged during his day. Why then can we not have one party today; maybe even call it by the same hyphenated name? If we want a united America, perhaps we should start with the union of our political parties and put them under the direct control of the people who always have and always will hold all the true power of this nation.
We could keep them separated, divided, and ripping away at each other's throats, as they are now. But we also could pass laws that would keep them at arm's length, so they would not seriously injure one another, this country, or the people in it.
Until then, say farewell to George Washington, to America, and say hello to those among us who would govern this ruin.
Marshall Tackett, a self-described political inactivist, lives in Buchanan.
by CNB