Who Has Control?
Have you ever wondered who really has control of our country?
In theory, WE, the voters, have control. WE determine who will represent us. Since ours is a representative republic, however, what we are really doing is GIVING our control to those we designate (elect). THEY then have actual control. If they campaign on a certain platform and deliver on their promises, then our votes we valid… our elected representative votes as the majority of us would have. They faithfully represent OUR wishes.
If an elected representative is NOT honest, however, there is a problem. If they promise one thing in order to get elected… and we vote for them based on that… and then they vote in some way contrary to how they campaigned, then they are DISHONEST and our wishes are NOT being portrayed as expected in the execution of their duties.
Obviously, if WE are unhappy about that circumstance, we can vote that person out of office in the next election cycle… but they have gotten away with their deceit in the meantime!
How often have our representatives done anything, said anything, just to get elected and then simply did what THEY wanted without regard to the wishes of the majority of their constituents? I think it happens more often than not. And it is the nature of things that the incumbent has an advantage in elections. Perhaps it just has to do with name recognition, perhaps it’s due to laziness on the part of voters who do not connect the dots between old promises and actual behavior. Either way, it’s harder for a fresh face to get elected than for an older one to get re-elected.
It seems things have to get very bad… or a representative has to clearly commit truly terrible acts… for the public to kick them out. Indeed, some of the activities of our elected officials have been shameful… but, SOMEHOW, they manage to stay in office!
So, we relinquish our control to those we elect. We place our trust in them. Sometimes they prove to be unworthy of that trust. The ONLY remedy is to remove them from office OR we are condoning their abuse of our trust… and it is OUR fault if we do not. Sadly, many of the politicians guilty of this behavior pander to our selfish interests in order to remain in office… and, rather than casting our votes for those who DESERVE to be our representative, many of us cast votes based on greed… “buying” again the false promises and lies of the politician.
It is time to hold all representatives ACCOUNTABLE. They are sworn to serve the best interests of our country. Instead, many are not only failing to do that, they fail to serve their true constituency… and serve only THEIR personal interests. These are the people we can do without. Vote them out!
WE must assert OUR control!
