Hearts and Minds

Sometimes I get so frustrated that I could chew through my restraints. I attend events with people who express their anger about the current state of affairs in our government, and then worry about “wasting” their votes. My mental trampoline responds with”What? Waste your vote? Take a look around you, Buford! You’ve been wasting your vote for forty years or more.”


Then I listen to some folks who have the right principles to reset this country on a corrective course, and they don’t want to shake this bush by confronting the weak-minded types. Instead of the Irresistible Force versus the Immovable Object, we have weak-willed pseudo-patriots versus passionless principled pain-in-the-asses. Sometimes we have inarticulate screamers attempting to sway brain-dead purists. No wonder we’re screwed up. No wonder we are so absolutely screwed. We get what we deserve, and we deserve what we get.

Dear Reader, absolute purity and perfection are not available for us. That is why we have grace. On the other hand, political candidates who are on the outside looking in must do more than mildly reason with the voters…or screech at them. Voters must understand that the Founders willingly forfeited their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor because they believed in the principle of a smaller less intrusive government. If the Founders risked everything except their souls for the principle of freedom, why are you, the voters, so afraid to risk a vote…to “split the vote” for principle. You apparently are much too cowardly to have been a Founder. You must be a Tory.

Candidates who challenge the status quo by asking for citizens to vote for principled leadership must be worthy of assuming the role of leader. A clown with good ideas is still a clown, and people will not follow him. He lacks credibility. On the other hand, voters who claim to be weary of professional politicians, nevertheless, use that very professionalism as a standard when weighing their options. They seem to want candidates who aren’t professional to act as if they are, and conversely, they want their professional perpetual politicians to be more like them…the normal citizen. Guess what? Everybody loses.

James Madison was just less than 5 feet 4 inches tall and spoke with a high-pitched voice, but when he spoke…people listened. He is the individual most responsible for the development of the Constitution of the United States. He probably wouldn’t get a hearing today because he doesn’t conform to our image of a statesman and a leader. In this age of glitz and glamour, he would be dismissed because he doesn’t look the part. Before candidates start to feel sorry for themselves because they share some of the physical attributes that Madison, they should note that what he said was worthy of notice. He didn’t screech platitudes and slogans or become obsessed with jots and tittles. He spoke from the heart using a reasoned mind and a passionate love of liberty. Not bad for a pipsqueak, huh? Final note…our candidates need more reason and passion and our voters need more guts.

Comment or email: cnpearl@woh.rr.com