One of the biggest problems I see in politics today is that the men who occupy positions of authority are their own favorite constituent, beneficent and beneficiary. They are willing to trade everything that is good about this society for a little temporary and personally elevating electoral success. They travel around the country working their own legacy, telling half truths and whole lies, demagoguing, to get better conditions for themselves at your expense and on your back.
America hungers for men of principle. When he made his tour of America in the 19th Century, Alexis de Tocqueville said that "America is great because she is good, and if she ever ceases to be good she will cease to be great." There are good men among us. They don't run for reasons already discussed. I'm not saying that they are perfect, but the better the man the lower the propensity that he will be subverted by power. Men, jealous of others for what they lack, are prone to abuse their power to equilibrate their state with their neighbors or to take what they lack by force. That's really what "redistribution of wealth" is about, throwing cash around as if it were theirs to toss.
Your laws ignore our deepest needs,
Your words are empty air,
You've stripped away our heritage,
You've outlawed simple prayer,
Now gunshots fill our classrooms,
and precious children die,
You seek for answers everywhere,
And ask the question,"Why?"
You regulate restrictive laws,
through legislative creed,
and yet you fail to understand,
that God is what we need!
Your words are empty air,
You've stripped away our heritage,
You've outlawed simple prayer,
Now gunshots fill our classrooms,
and precious children die,
You seek for answers everywhere,
And ask the question,"Why?"
You regulate restrictive laws,
through legislative creed,
and yet you fail to understand,
that God is what we need!
America is great because she is good. Her strength is not in her glistening towers or stately skylines, in its majestic landscapes or sophisticated weaponry. America's strength is not in the barbecues and ribbons that adorn our holidays but in the ascending chorus of patriotic songs that pay homage to God and Country and the smiles on the faces of children and families together at play. America isn't in the boats or the cabins to which we retreat from the rigors or work but in the conversation and joy that attends a quiet Sunday afternoon spent sipping lemonade with neighbors or dear family members. As Detoqueville wrote, America's strength was in her churches, in the morality or at least the attempts to be moral and religious of her people. James Madison tells us that the Constitution was written to govern a moral and religious people and is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.
God is what we need. America has enjoyed the protections of the Almighty since its first days of infancy. Washington called the preservation of his army "little short of a standing miracle". The promise has been written to us that as long as we keep the Commandments of God (not even the higher law- just keeping the basic commandments might be enough!), we will prosper, be kept from all other nations, and be safe forever. It is something on which we must unite.
Just as a bundle of sticks are more difficult to break than a single one, unified purpose and principles made America strong. While we may focus on singular events, ideas, or men, in general there has been a homogeneity of basic values and value in this nation since the time of its founding. Without a Quaker sensibility and a Puritan ideology, America would have been a very different place. It would have been Europe. Said Benjamin Franklin after the signing of the Declaration of Independence: "We must hang together, gentlemen...else, we shall most assuredly hang separately."
There are no angels to govern mortals, and there will never be. There are no paragons on the ballot, and there never will be. If you are better than the candidates as presently constituted, get on the ballot. If not, elect the best person of principle you can get. The people crave a leader of principle, as much an angel among men as any man is capable in this day. You can be an angel to other people if you will be true to yourself and your values. If you would be truly free, govern yourselves and elect those who do likewise.
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