In the words of Hope

August 14, 2003

In mid-July, America lost one of it's all-time greatest entertainers, Bob Hope. He, like Katherine Hepburn and Jimmy Stewart, were the last of a genre of performers the like of which will never be known in our society again.

Speaking of his lifetime of entertaining people, Bob Hope once said,

"Fifty years of my jokes is nothing compared to the jokes the American voters have sent to Washington, DC."

That quip not only applies to Washington, DC, but to the fifty states and their various subdivisions as well.

We no longer have "statesman" such as Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and George Washington were ... men of principle ... not perfect ... sinners one and all, just like the rest of us; but men who lived their principles and could not be bought.

Now we have "politicians;" men who have no qualms about selling themselves in pursuit of the money that brings power and position. On the seedy side of life, people who sell themselves for a price have a name ― it's often referred to as the "oldest profession on earth;" it's called prostitution.

What's the difference between a politician who sells himself for money and a prostitute who sells herself for money? Uh ... well ... none. Why is it, then, that the paddy wagon makes a routine excursion in the dead of night to round up the prostitutes but leaves the politicians unscathed?

If one wants to get right down to it, the prostitute is more honorable in her profession than the politician is. When the prostitute stands on the street corner, offering her services to prospective clients, those prospective clients have no illusions about what they are buying or the dangers in buying it.

Not so with the politician. What the politician says and what the politician does too often becomes an exercise in double-speak. Besides that, the politician is owned; only it isn't readily obvious to the electorate who the owners are ― big business, unions, lobbyists, philanthropists, foundations, environmental money, foreign interests ... big money that can buy the ear and the loyalty of the politician.

In a nation where elected representatives take an oath to uphold the Constitution and Bill of Rights, being owned means the loyalty of the elected representative is to other than the Constitution and Bill of Rights.

This has become apparent in the number of laws passed, in ever increasing volume with the passing of years, that violate the United States Constitution ― the loss of the gold standard, the establishment of the Federal Reserve, treaties that supersede the United States Constitution, the centralization of power to Washington, DC (such as has happened with education), the slow but sure erosion of the rights of the people via laws curtailing freedom in the name of security ... the list is endless.

In the early 1990s, people began to see the reality of the training elected representatives were being put through, both as a newly elected representative and on an ongoing basis as part of a group or body; that the training was not in the interests of upholding the Constitution and Bill of Rights; but that the training was intended to augment the implementation of systems governance ― the transformation of America from a constitutional republic finding basis in natural law with rule by law to a democracy with rule by man according to his own passions and opinions in which the rights of the people become arbitrary and capricious.

How many times have parents, bringing to the attention of their Congressman or Senator the fact that the US Department of Education violates the 10th Amendment of the Bill of Rights, heard words to the effect that unconstitutional or not, the US Department of Education is here to stay?

This is but one of a myriad of like instances in which Congressmen and Senators have overstepped their bounds, in so doing, undermining the Constitution and Bill of Rights and chipping away at the rights of the people..

One would think that elected representatives would realize that in becoming involved in that which undermines the Constitution and Bill of Rights, in that which chips away at the rights of the people, they are working toward, and contributing to, their own destruction.

But that reality only comes when our elected representatives understand the foundations of our nation, how our nation was established, and why our nation was established as it was. Like so many children exiting the unconstitutional government schools in this day and age, too many elected representatives haven't a clue the meaning or purpose of the Constitution and Bill of Rights, and furthermore, they don't understand that our elected representatives must be men of principle and integrity who not only understand our Christian foundations, but also adhere to our Christian principles without fail.

Such men are rugged individuals, unwilling to sell themselves for power or position; realizing their purpose in civil government is to serve the people by enlarging and preserving freedom, not diminishing freedom.

Bob Hope hit the nail on the head when he quipped that our elected representatives are jokes. And the joke is not only on our elected representatives as they bring about, and contribute to, their own destruction, but the joke is also on the American people who have failed to maintain the vigilance that freedom requires and thus will suffer the shackles of oppression that results when mankind turns away from and flouts natural law.