How Can it be Great if it Doesn't Work?

A really good friend of mine wrote me a sad note. It was part of a larger dialog but to isolate it does not remove any significant context:

He said:

"As for the Constitution corruption.....Bush's gang wins. I have grown to despise Bush and especially Cheney. Haven't researched this matter so can't comment on the Dems. Don't have enough time in the day as have to be out making a buck. I don't trust either side.

Can't stand the bullshit slung in DC, nothing ever gets done in a timely and thoroughly thought-out manner to benefit the majority of people slugging it out day-to-day.

So far there is no one I would vote for on either side."

I wrote the following in response:

If you can't trust either side; if all government is ineffectual and nothing ever gets done in a timely and thought out manner ... it would seem to me to stick in the throat to say this is a great place to live and that we have a great country. Those two ideas are diametrically opposed.

We've been told by the Right since Ronald Reagan that government doesn't work and that government is the problem. We look around and see things that do not satisfy us and think, the SOB was right and things here really suck. Then our knee jerk patriotism kicks in. We wave the flag, beat the drum and proclaim our greatness ... though fewer and fewer seem to be listening.

Our real problem is that so many of us have bought into the "government is broken and is the problem" argument and, rather than trying to get involved to help fix it, we elected those people who told us "government is broken and doesn't work". I'm not sure what we expected from people who believe government (of THE PEOPLE, FOR THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE) doesn't work, can't work.

Firm in their belief that government IS the problem, they've not lifted a finger to try to fix anything that might actually be broken. Their approach is to "starve the beast" ... spend like crazy, lower taxes and borrow from the Chinese in such a way that the tax-and-spend, pay as you go lefties sound down right rational ... AND give no-bid contracts to cronies ... because .... well, because GOVERNMENT is broken and GOVERNMENT doesn't work and beacuse GOVERNMENT IS THE PROBLEM.

But GOVERNMENT, in a democratic republic such as our nation, IS THE PEOPLE! WE are the government!

I suppose the old saw has some truth in it ... the ultimate test of intelligence is the ability to hold two conflicting thoughts in one's head simultaneously without going crazy. "This is a great country" on one hand and "our government doesn't work" on the other hand would certainly qualify. For our country to be great, we must have a government that works for us. If it doesn't work for us, it cannot be a great country. Third world countries have governments that don't work. Nations that are first rate world leaders are countries and governments that DO work.

Our country works because we have the ingenuity of the Constitution ... that body of rules by which we run our country - a series of checks and balances that distributes power in such a way that neither the executive branch, the legislative branch nor the judiciary can function without compromising with the other branches Remove those checks and balances and one branch becomes more powerful at the expense of the other branches .. and at the expense of the people ... US.. If someone is dismantling those rules that make us great ... not only are they the ones who are responsible for our government not working ... THEY are the ENEMY and we must fight them!

If you cannot find someone to vote for, does that mean you'll not vote? If you can't find a candidate to work for and you won't vote, does that mean you've given up? If you've given up ... how can you give up on a great country? You don't give up on winners. You give up on losers.

I have not given up. I believe this country has been great and can be great again. I believe our government is broken but that it can be fixed. I believe that our government and our form of government can work for us if we're willing to protect and defend it from all enemies both foreign ... and domestic.

Don't give up the ship. We have only begun to fight!

I wonder. Maybe I should polish that one up a little.

What'd'ya think?