Well, we can breathe a sigh of relief- the liberal-leaning 9th Circuit Court ruled with the 2nd Amendment in a case where the state was hoping to make it harder for people to buy and sell guns in California. Of course we should be happy about this, but now is not the time to rest. Keep one thing in mind people- politicians are drunk on power and (our) money, and the one way they can ensure their grasp on this is to someday come for our guns.
OK, some of you will roll your eyes at this, but I can take it. Look- our Founders knew what politicians with absolute power could and would do to the masses, and it is one of the reasons our Declaration of Independence focused on God-given rights, not those imparted by the men in power. They knew that as the Federal Leviathan inevitably grew, there would be an increasingly larger number of “career politicians” for whom absolute power became the goal, and the 2nd Amendment was crafted as a way for us to protect ourselves from that.
Case in point- enter Scott Brown in 2010. An ardent supporter of what would become the STOCK act, he, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Joe Lieberman introduced, based in part on Brown’s writings and other earlier drafts. Though it did not go far enough, at least it made an attempt to discourage insider trading by members of congress, and executive staff from trading and profiting on insider information- something that has always been illegal for you and me. The law passed, but mysteriously exempted all family members of Congress and the White House staffers. Then, poof, within a year, the requirement for all political staff members to report any of these trades online disappeared as well. That didn’t take long! Call me a cynic, but if I have info and can’t make money from it, but ALL of my family members and staff members can, don’t you think there might be a way we can ALL earn a little dough with my info and a little back-scratching here and there?
Then there’s the life-time salaries of politicians; the life-time benefits; the private health care they enjoy (what, you thought they had to accept Obamacare? Silly you- they still get the same preferential- and FREE- treatment they have always had- for the rest of their lives! Paid for by us suckers); the dipping into elections funds (no Senator Reid, those funds are NOT supposed to be used to buy jewelry for your family members. And by the way, where DID all of those millions come from on a $70,000 per year salary?); the corporate gifts from lobbyists (probably best to just fly American Airlines on that next trip to the Dominican Republic, Senator Menendez), and the list goes on and on.
So how did we get here? Because power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. It has been known for years, and the Founders knew it and did their best to protect from it, but we the People… well, we have jobs and families and we get busy so it’s just easier to keep voting for the same people because Hey- they don’t seem that bad! As good as they once may have been, they are all human, and the power and money they have access to as politicians are hard temptations to deny. (And look what happens to those who do stand up for the right thing- Ted Cruz is the most hated Politian by both parties, and only because he didn’t go along to get along. But, that’s another story for another day)
Harken back to Animal Farm. Those animals were hard-working, busy, and after a while, just not as educated as they once were, and, after a while (say, a couple hundred years?), the phrase on the side of the barn changed from “All animals are equal” to “all animals are equal, but some are more equal than others”. Sound familiar? Why are politicians suddenly more equal than the rest of us? And what happens when they decide they want ultimate power?
We’ve seen it many times throughout history- they come for the weapons of the opposition. Thank God for our win this time and for a Court that actually did the right thing. But, we can’t stop the fight now. These power-drunk, money-high politicians will be back, and we need to stand ready. Maybe it is a Convention of States we need. Maybe an outright revolution, or maybe we just wise up enough to vote smart for a generation to get us out of this mess, but we need to stand guard or else we will be just another story about just another failed government on the trash heap of history.
We’re better than that America. Let’s truly believe that and act like it again. God bless you and God Bless America!
Tags: corruption featured government money Politicians
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