Today is election day in Tennessee and one of the most important primaries the state has had in decades. Voters will decide between Lamar Alexander and Joe Carr. Will this be the Cantorization of Tennessee or will it be another battle won for the establishment of the Republican Party whose main goal seems to be to crush the Tea Party?
I do not know the answer to this but I want to offers up some words of wisdom if this race turns out to be another Thad-41-years-in-Congress-is-just-not-enough-Cochran or Mitch-let's continue-the-republican-party-march-to-whigdom-McConnell.
Elections are important. That is not disputable but elections are not the be all that ends all in a country whose system of government was founded on the principles of self-governance. If you can picture a train as our system of governance, elections are the caboose of the self-governance train. If you are waiting on elections to fix things...it's too late. All of the damage that is done in the legislative branch happens during the legislative season when most citizens aren't paying attention to what their elected officials are doing. It is then when your attention and activism is needed most. You don't think you have any power? That's a cop out...have you ever tried? I had not until a few years ago when I started getting involved on the local and state level. I was AMAZED at what a few citizens can do when they organize and engage. My new motto is...Take Back Your County, Take Back your Country! The power is in the precinct. No, this is not some racial cry to take back our country from a black president. It's a battle cry to return the power back to the people instead of the ruling elites that have forgotten they are our public servants and work for the people, not the other way around.
If the election results don't turn out they you want, are you going to give up, be discouraged, resign yourself to the apathetic state that most in our country live in? Not me. My political engagement is not about one race, one party, or one man. It's about the rights, responsibilities, and the duty I have as a citizen to engage in the form of government that most people of the world are dying to get into.
“These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.” –The Crisis, Thomas Paine
Are you a summer soldier or a sunshine patriot? If so, you need to go back to your history books and read about the obstacles some of our American heroes faced. Compared to them, we know nothing of sacrifice. My point in all this is life will go on regardless of the winners or losers of these elections and your political engagement should not hinge on who wins or loses. We have abdicated our power to the elected class thinking we have done our duty by voting. It was never supposed to be this way. You should know as much about your elected officials as you do your favorite sports team but most people will not know anything about the names on the ballot today. Engage in local and state governance, and you will learn everything you wanted to know and some you didn't want to know and you will be more informed when making choices come election time.
For almost 100 years, we the people have left our elected to their own devices and like a Rottweiler who will obey the master who shows dominance over him or or be the master if you let him, our elected officials have become used to running the show. That is our fault, not theirs but we can fix it on election day AND in the legislative season.
Win, lose, or draw...the success of our country does not hinge on any one man, any one party or any one election. Put your faith in no man for you will surely be disappointed. Put not your trust in Princes, nor in the son of man, for there is no help in him. Psalms 146:3
Let me leave you with a quote from Martin Luther King Jr
Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can't ride you unless your back is bent.
I do not know the answer to this but I want to offers up some words of wisdom if this race turns out to be another Thad-41-years-in-Congress-is-just-not-enough-Cochran or Mitch-let's continue-the-republican-party-march-to-whigdom-McConnell.
Elections are important. That is not disputable but elections are not the be all that ends all in a country whose system of government was founded on the principles of self-governance. If you can picture a train as our system of governance, elections are the caboose of the self-governance train. If you are waiting on elections to fix things...it's too late. All of the damage that is done in the legislative branch happens during the legislative season when most citizens aren't paying attention to what their elected officials are doing. It is then when your attention and activism is needed most. You don't think you have any power? That's a cop out...have you ever tried? I had not until a few years ago when I started getting involved on the local and state level. I was AMAZED at what a few citizens can do when they organize and engage. My new motto is...Take Back Your County, Take Back your Country! The power is in the precinct. No, this is not some racial cry to take back our country from a black president. It's a battle cry to return the power back to the people instead of the ruling elites that have forgotten they are our public servants and work for the people, not the other way around.
If the election results don't turn out they you want, are you going to give up, be discouraged, resign yourself to the apathetic state that most in our country live in? Not me. My political engagement is not about one race, one party, or one man. It's about the rights, responsibilities, and the duty I have as a citizen to engage in the form of government that most people of the world are dying to get into.
“These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.” –The Crisis, Thomas Paine
Are you a summer soldier or a sunshine patriot? If so, you need to go back to your history books and read about the obstacles some of our American heroes faced. Compared to them, we know nothing of sacrifice. My point in all this is life will go on regardless of the winners or losers of these elections and your political engagement should not hinge on who wins or loses. We have abdicated our power to the elected class thinking we have done our duty by voting. It was never supposed to be this way. You should know as much about your elected officials as you do your favorite sports team but most people will not know anything about the names on the ballot today. Engage in local and state governance, and you will learn everything you wanted to know and some you didn't want to know and you will be more informed when making choices come election time.
For almost 100 years, we the people have left our elected to their own devices and like a Rottweiler who will obey the master who shows dominance over him or or be the master if you let him, our elected officials have become used to running the show. That is our fault, not theirs but we can fix it on election day AND in the legislative season.
Win, lose, or draw...the success of our country does not hinge on any one man, any one party or any one election. Put your faith in no man for you will surely be disappointed. Put not your trust in Princes, nor in the son of man, for there is no help in him. Psalms 146:3
Let me leave you with a quote from Martin Luther King Jr
Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can't ride you unless your back is bent.
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