My Two Cents

Do you understand that the people who do not vote have more power than those who do?

Most Americans are too stupid to actually go out and vote. Oh, we're quick enough to voice our opinions about this politician or that one. The fact is, very, VERY few of us take the time to let our voice be heard in the only way it counts: a single vote. That's how each President is elected with far less than even half of all voters participating: those who don't vote allow the minority of voters to decide.

Most people agree that a majority of politicians are corrupt, grubbers of power and money. When did you last hear of a Senator or President, Governor or even state senator going broke? It's no coincidence that the U.S. Senate is called "the most elite club in the world." Once elected, they entrench themselves much as a tic or other parasite does. The public teat they suckle from has billions and billions of dollars, each billion a separate group of one thousand individual piles of a million dollars each.

Roughly 80% of all elected incumbents who run for reelection win. You might relate it to the law of inertia, which tells us that a body in motion tends to stay in motion; a body at rest tends to stay at rest. An honest man or woman running for office has an uphill grind against the so-called "powers that be."

It is not the Special Prosecutors or Senate committees that will change this fact of life. It is only you who can dump the corrupt official for a better choice, with your vote. President Clinton's impeachment trial is an excellent lesson for us. Whatever you think of Mr. Clinton, three things are clear:

  1. At least 17 Presidents engaged in extramarital affairs in office; only one was held accountable.

  2. During Mr. Clinton's presidency, an average of 600,000 Americans became new millionaires …in each year of his eight years in office.

  3. Americans made it clear that they did not want the President impeached, yet congressional leaders who were themselves involved in horrid, hurtful affairs (i.e. Senator Henry Hyde, Rep. Dan Burton, and others) insisted on pursuing an expensive, useless investigation and impeachment.

It seems to me we could have avoided a seventy million dollar waste of time easily, and very simply. With a mere forty or fifty thousand Americans sending telegrams, faxes, emails or phone calls to these people instructing them to focus on more important issues or be voted out of office in the next election, you can be confident that the execrable Mr. Hyde would have ceased his witchhunt.

Please do not count me as a rabid Clinton fan. I'm not. I am, however, open-minded enough to acknowledge that under Clinton's leadership, we achieved the single greatest expansion of the American economy, enjoyed higher employment, lower military casualties, lower welfare participation, and so much more. I'd rather have the most powerful man on earth enjoying a bit of afternoon delight than to watch him setting off more lethal missiles around the globe.

If it bothers you that most of our politicians are scummy in their ethics and actions, remember that you can fix the blame, or fix the problem. Pick up the pen or phone; show that they're mightier than the sword. Why let other people choose your leaders? After all is said and done, your vote counts, even when you don't show up at the election booth. Complain about what's wrong, or take action to fix it. Everything else is mere gum-flapping, isn't it?

 

Ó Steve Rubin 2000