D”vu—1776…all over again……
If I recall my history correctly, it seems to me that our country rebelled against the English government due to their being taxed without being represented. The English government under King George III had gotten into the habit of treating the citizens of the colonies as bastard step children. Basically their concept was … ‘out of sight, out of mind.’
The people living in our thirteen colonies took umbrage as this attitude and decided to do something about it. We all (or all of us should) know what happened as a result. As I recall there seemed to be a pervasive attitude that the citizens of the colonies were considered second class citizens and the members of the English ruling class were superior and thus entitled to special treatment.
Pardon me, but isn’t that what we are seeing this very day’
I believe we have had at least three legislative bills presented to the congress totaling over 1,000 pages each. The congressmen and women have admitted they have not actually read these bills in their entirety and thus not certain of what they contain. Doesn’t this fall under the doctrine of .. ‘ignorance is no excuse’ concept’ If they haven’t read the bills, much less discussed them or considered viable options…then how can it be said they are representing those of us out here in the hinterlands’ I think we know the answer to that one, don’t we’They aren’t.
No, we have established a class of elites living within the confines of the Beltway who are routinely disregarding the wishes of their constituency and applying their personal preferences in making legislative decisions which affect all of us, but for which they are mainly exempt.
Excuse me, but don’t the words special treatments or entitlements come to mind with this kind of behavior’It seems to me that if I were to pass a law such as is being proposed with health care and I were exempt from any of the provisions of the law if and when it were passed, then I would be receiving special treatment. Congress has their own health care plan which we, as citizens, are not eligible to participate in. The Americans on social security will not receive a cost of living adjustment (COLA) this year. Does that stop the congress from obtaining such a raise’No indeed. The congress gets an automatic cost of living adjustment each year, no votes, no discussion, just business as usual.
Damn the torpedoes of the economy…full steam ahead. For them, not for us. Let’s pass a bill even if we don’t know what’s in it…we must pass something in order to justify our existence…hurry, hurry, hurry…no time to say hello, goodbye…we’re late, we’re late, we’re late. Alice In Wonderland is becoming the order of the day.
As far as I’m concerned, the national motto of the congress should be… do as I say, not as I do.”
A lot of us have sat on the sidelines and watched as the town hall meetings have evolved from a group of citizens asking their elected representatives for information to being accused of being subversives and having a ‘mob’ mentality. I always thought we were supposed to ask questions. I must have gotten that wrong.
What I see from a majority of these 535 voting members of our congress is a pervasive sense of arrogance that causes them to lose sight of what got them elected in the first place. Their overall distain for the voters is evident from their cynicism and sarcastic comments. One prime example was the comment made by Senator Barbara to General McChrystal this summer. When the four star general answered one of her questions with a … ‘Yes, Ma’am’…which is the proper military salutation for a female, Senator Boxer called the general to task and asked that he call her Senator. This is a four star general who has given his entire life to our country being called down like a schoolboy from an elected official. I’m sorry but I feel that General McChrystal is a little more dedicated to our country and deserves more respect than Senator Boxer.
In summation, we have recreated this class of elites who now feel they are impervious to anything the electorate is capable of doing. They feel they are smarter than us and don’t have to answer to us for any reason whatsoever and get furious whenever their decisions or opinions are questioned.
We can do better than this and deserve better than this. They think we will bury our heads in the sand and eventually get tired of ranting and raving and it will be business as usual.
Didn’t happen in 1776, shouldn’t happen in 2009.