An American Duty

Well, we are well into the party nomination battle season again. The pundits extol the differences between the Republicans and the Democrats, the differences between Hillary and Obama, between McCain and Huckabee, and on and on.

What never seems to get mentioned is what these candidates have in common. The one area in which they are all alike is their pursuit of position, pursuit of power. They are actively seeking power in their party, power in the nation, power for themselves. I admit, the pursuit of power is not the only motive, but it does factor in, to a greater or lesser degree, within the psyche of each candidate.

Was it always like this? In our lifetimes, yes, it has been. That's all we know, all we've ever seen. We, as Americans, are trained to accept the imposed limitations on our choices in the area of politics. Not since grade school have we so meekly accepted a limited multiple-choice, without opportunity for our own input. A-B-C or D? Why not F or Q? We meekly accept this limit, in this one area, and this one area only. We don't put up with these limits anywhere else, nor should we. By going along with it, we acquiesce to dereliction of our duty as Americans.

When we shop at the grocery store, we demand choice. If our grocer does not sell the proper tomato or can of beans, we'll either shop elsewhere or demand or favorite be placed on the shelves. And the grocer listens, too. He knows where the power is -- in our pocketbooks.

When we shop for a car, we have a list of demands. Engine specs, mileage, 0-60 performance, color, seats, sound system, safety, bling, accessories, and toys. And we demand the perception of a good deal, too. And the car dealers listen, because they know we'll shop elsewhere.

But in the area of choosing the one person who will wield supreme executive power for at least four years, the person who holds ultimate military command authority, the de jure leader of our entire nation and de facto leader of the free world, we meekly, sheepishly, dumbly, go along with being told we may choose only from these two or four. If an "outsider" should raise his ugly head, we are offended, for some reason. Ralph Nader, the Corsair Killer, is once again mumbling about running for president -- and the Democrats are up in arms. How dare he? Meanwhile, the Republicans are being smug, recalling Ross Perot's game spoiling activities of the past.


Folks, it is not our duty as Americans to blindly sit back and see who the Parties will try to shove down our throats. The Constitution does not recognize either the Democratic or Republican party as any kind of authority in the presidential selection process. Indeed, as each Party looks first to it's own self-preservation (and self-aggrandizement), before the welfare of the nation or adherence to the Constitution, they practice a mild form of sedition. We fought a war over sedition, remember.

The responsibility for choosing a President rests with all of us, the People. A long long time ago, we the People took that seriously. Rather than sitting back on our lazy arses, we met together, compared stellar citizens in our midst, and went to them, to encourage them to accept our nomination for office. We looked upon those who sought out such glory with suspicion, as if they were flawed, egotistical, or slightly nuts. And maybe they are.

Americans, if we are willing to be sheep, and go along with the fiction that we are only allowed to choose "one from column A or one from column B", and abdicate our responsibility as citizens of a free country... then we do not have the right to bitch about the stupidity of the political process. We give up that right. We also give up a lot of other rights, and give those rights over to the political parties, who do not have the welfare of the United States of America as their prime motivation.

If we willingly accept limited choices, then we deserve to live with a selection with limits. Our next president will not be the best person for the job, nor the person we really need to have. The person we really need isn't running. S/He isn't on a ballot, and doesn't want the job. But that person would probably do it if asked, out of a sense of duty to America. That's the person we need. That's the person we're not allowed to have. And that is our own fault.