I recently received an email that I found echoed the sentiments I've heard in other recent diaries here, but clarified it in a way I hadn't seen before. I'll share it with you after the fold, but first a little bit about the author.
Charlie Reese is a syndicated columnist who worked for the Orlando Sentinel from 1971-2001. Politically, he is classified as a paleoconservative. What does that mean? More below the fold.
Wikipedia has this to say about paleoconservatism:
term for an anti-communist and anti-authoritarian right-wing movement in the United States that stresses tradition, civil society and classical federalism, along with familial, religious, regional, national and Western identity. Chilton Williamson, Jr. describes paleoconservatism as "the expression of rootedness: a sense of place and of history, a sense of self derived from forebears, kin, and culture — an identity that is both collective and personal." Paleoconservativism is not expressed as an ideology and its adherents do not necessarily subscribe to any one party line.
Paleoconservatives in the 21st century often focus on their points of disagreement with neoconservatives, especially on issues like immigration, affirmative action, U.S. funding of Israeli military actions, foreign wars, and welfare. They also criticize social democracy, which some refer to as the therapeutic managerial state, the welfare-warfare state or polite totalitarianism. They see themselves as the legitimate heir to the American conservative tradition.
While Reese's article may be trying to minimize the damage President Bush has done to our country as well as the positive impact that an Obama win might have, it served as a wake-up call to me that the presidential race isn't the only thing that counts. Think of the difference a 60-vote majority in the Senate would make for an Obama presidency. Just think about it.
I live in Washington State, and it's a pretty safe place for Obama. There's not much I feel I can do here other than contribute what I can and phone bank to battleground states.
But we have some races going on here that could make Obama's job a little easier once he gets into office. I'm thinking particularly of progressive Darcy Burner, who is battling an incumbent who has voted in lockstep with Bush every time. In addition, Washington is in danger of getting a scandal-ridden, extreme right-wing Republican governor who will set this wonderful progressive state back many years.
And so I have made the decision that my contributions and my time for the rest of the election season are going to be going to local races. I'm going to volunteer my time for the Gregoire gubernatorial campaign, and send my money to Darcy Burner. From where I sit, that's the best thing I can do to help Barack Obama bring this country back from the brink.
Here's the article that finally opened my eyes:
545 PEOPLE By Charlie Reese
Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.
Have you ever wondered why, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits?
Have you ever wondered why, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes?
You and I don't propose a federal budget. The President does.
You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does.
You and I don't write the tax code, Congress does.
You and I don't set fiscal policy, Congress does.
You and I don't control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does.
One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president, and nine Supreme Court justices 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.
I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central bank.
I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman, or a president to do one cotton-picking thing. I don't care if they offer a politician $1 mil lion dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator's responsibility to determine how he votes.
Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.
What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits. The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it.
The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes. Who is the speaker of the House? The leader of the majority party. He/She and fellow House members, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to.
It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million can not replace 545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts -- of incompetence and irresponsibility.. I can't think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.
If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair.
If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red.
If the Army & Marines are in IRAQ , it's because they want them in IRAQ.
If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it's because they want it that way.
There are no insoluble government problems. Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power. Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like 'the economy,' 'inflation,' or 'politics' that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.
Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible.
They, and they alone, have the power.
They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their
bosses.
Charlie Reese is a former columnist of the Orlando Sentinel Newspaper.