I included in an article I wrote about the Ukraine the following quotation:
"This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or exercise their revolutionary right to overthrow it."
(Abraham Lincoln.)
Now that the self-serving and despotic dictator President Viktor F. Yanukovych has been removed from power, those words were not only prophetic but the truth about the essence of a nation.
Like most cowards, he has apparently fled to Russia instead of facing trial for the murder of scores of his own country's citizens. For some reason during the last century, governments have assumed that they rule a country. The government of the United States seems to believe that today, as were the ruling bodies of Turkey and the Ukraine; they are all sorely mistaken.
Every day, ordinary people are the country. They may live in a physical boundary that has a label, but the people compose what actually represents a country. When governments become egotistical enough to believe that they control a country, they must be removed from power.
I have only one question. Will that happen in the United States? Watching what has happened in my six decades of living in America, I believe it will. I just hope I will still be alive when it happens.
I became a fan of politics when I was a pre-teen. I witnessed good and bad, but I admired those who mediated compromise for the good of the American people. There has always been disagreement across the aisle in Congress, but the intelligent and dedicated members of the House and Senate found ways to recognize mutual ground upon which mostly good decisions were made.
This situation is long gone in the 21st century. The vast majority of politicians are in government for only one reason; their personal self-advancement. Lobbyists control the votes of over 90 percent of our legislators. Over 70 percent of our Congressmen leave office during or after a single term to take a more lucrative job, and abandon those who elected them. Two fairly recent examples are Sarah Palin and Jim DeMint.
Saturday the people of the Ukraine were inside their former president's palatial estate in Kyiv. Then it was discovered that he had (among other treasures) a car collection worth millions. Journalists discovered a villa under construction in an area near Sevastopol which is four or five times the size of his residence. No doubts were left about his corruption and debauchery.
Is he so different from our elected officials in the United States? Not by much.
When our government was founded, Senators and Congressmen were volunteers. They generally served only one term, because they were businessmen who sacrificed time in their lives for the good of the new country.
Today we have 535 millionaires who are supposed to represent the people of our nation. Instead, they pass legislation that benefits their constituents--other millionaires and billionaires.
When you vote for a potential Senator or Congressman, you must be aware that you are assisting in the creation of another wealthy American.
All three parties; The Democrats, the Republicans, and the TEA Party, are paid for by wealthy donors. Many elections will require more money than a potential candidate will earn in half-a-dozen terms. Why? That's simple. The contributions to election campaigns by corporations and wealthy individuals are meant to accomplish one thing; those candidates will cast their votes in a manner that favors their benefactors.
The two major parties are pleased with the fact that they have divided America into red and blue states. If the people of our country ever cease to believe propaganda, they might realize that we are all being screwed.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
