Politicians amplify the flaws of human nature – the bent of compromise in place of conviction, heeding the interests of the majority instead of the truth, whether the numbers add up to more votes or not. Recalling Lord Acton, power of any kind in the hands of one or the few, even for a limited time, tends to corrupt.
Yet in today’s political discourse, the winds of approval and opprobrium spin faster than one can engage or endure. A majority of Americans, daily consumers of news and political pundits, both left and right, are outraged, nay, shocked – shocked! – to witness their beloved pet politicians fail in one point. Now more than ever, men and women are expecting the world from their elected representatives.
Resistance Is Not New
The Framers of the Constitution never intended for anyone to advance such trust and confidence in the federal powers, or even their state governments. Before the turn of the 18th century, Virginia and Kentucky passed express resolutions to nullify the John Adams administration’s Alien and Sedition Acts. In 1815, the Hartford Convention and the New England states were planning another country of their own where no “damned embargo” would bar them from international trade, whether Napoleon or Louis XVIII led France, whether Wellington ruled the waves. In 1830, John C. Calhoun and the South Carolina stakeholders moved to reject any tariff that would hurt their cotton exports.
Statesmen of the past appraised the freedom of men more than the power of the state. This state of mind has been abandoned today when who advance the power of the state do so at the peril of those who elect them to power. Consider Rick Santorum, former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania. A Big Government conservative, he protected the unborn and pork projects without conflict. He lost his Senate seat by double-digits, only to climb back from outlier to challenging the frontrunner during the GOP Presidential primaries with a record as mixed as Mitt Romney’s.
The Christie Wars
Then there is New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. Lauded during his first year in office, he cut like a weed-whacker through the tax increase culture of his predecessor Jon Corzine. Yet while cutting taxes, killing pork projects, demanding every staffer place a “The Answer Is No!” sign on every door of his office, Gov. Christie grappled with a growing exodus to neighboring Pennsylvania and to the South. He toyed with climate change. He led a charge to toughen gun sanctions, in spite of empirical, historical and anecdotal evidence that disparaged any pretended benefits of gun control. What is Gov. Christie thinking? The voters in New Jersey want gun control, so he shoots in their direction, accommodating their ignorance. Now one month before his own general election, he has declared a special election the Senate seat vacated by last month’s death of Democrat Frank Lautenberg. Twenty-one million dollars more down the drain for an election that will shore up his Jersey Shore chances without shoring up support for his conservative credentials or his party in Washington.
Then there is Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH). She voted against the Toomey-Manchin gun background check compromise, heeding her core convictions, or the court of opinion in her home state. Now she is back-peddling on proclaimed opposition to the Gang of Eight’s present immigration proposal. The same conservatives who lauded her a few weeks ago for support for the 2nd Amendment now condemn her for flinching on the amnesty-on-delivery bill that would make President Reagan look like the border enforcer that he never was. (Before Iran-Contra, there was the Simpson-Mizzoli Compromise, legalization of illegal immigration with no border control.)
Looking beyond imperfect Sen. Ayotte, another freshman, Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) has moved away from social conservatism, recognizing that his bluer constituency rethink re-electing him in 2016. Fellow Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) has shifted with his party, not his state, in supporting ObamaCare, then expanded background checks. In the name of going along to get along, their respective constituents are not so happy to go along.
As former candidate Mia Love (R-UT) shared, Americans need to think less Democrat vs. Republican and more state vs. Washington. Within those taut dynamics, voters should worry less about voting for people whom they trust and learn to trust themselves as little as possible about the people they vote for. Any politician, however committed, will be calculating his re-election chances. Even U/S. Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), the crypto-anarcho-libertarian, was guilty of sending pork back to his home district.
Politicians are more flawed than regular human beings. These flaws will not vanish by electing the right people. To minimize the disappointing leadership in this country, We, the People should place minimal power in these flawed hands.
Arthur Christopher Schaper is a writer on issues eternal and unchanging, timeless and timely. A life-long SoCal resident, Arthur lives in Torrance.
Twitter – @ArthurCSchaper
arthurschaper@hotmail.com
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