As I wrote last month, I’m convinced the case against incumbents is clear and the time is both ripe and right to clean house. I’m sure many aspiring candidates also smell blood in the water and see the 2010 election as their best shot at unseating entrenched political power mongers. I agree, 2010 must be viewed as our moral imperative to help such “unseating campaigns” succeed—but those aspiring candidates must first have the right philosophical foundation before they can hope to earn our support. What is the right philosophical foundation? Part of our responsibility is to clearly define it and let them know exactly what we expect and what we will insist upon. The following letter is how I define that philosophical foundation.
Dear Aspiring Candidate,
You say you want to
serve the people of the
Pledge to return
If elected, you will be entrusted with a divine responsibility, a fact that was lost on most of your recent predecessors. John Adams described it this way, “Politics are the divine science, after all. How is it possible that any man should ever think of making it subservient to his own little passions and mean private interests?” I therefore appeal to your sense of American honor and pride that was personified in the spirit of our Founders. If you want to see a successful future, look to the past for guidance—you can learn from both good and bad examples and I implore you to learn quickly—the recent past for the bad and the more distant past of our nation’s birth for the good.
Remember that
government is but a necessary encumbrance on the freedom of societal man and
Americans have lived the lessons of how beneficial it can be when limited and
how destructive it surely is when unlimited.
James Madison addressed this, “If
men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men,
neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary.”
What should you look to for those controlling limits on government?
Thomas Jefferson made it very clear and very simple, “Let
no more be said of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the
chains of the Constitution.” Respect
and abide by our Constitution and always be cognizant of your sacred oath to
support and defend it. Your loyalty is clearly to
Extreme pressure will be placed on you to “go along to get along.” Be ready for it but never surrender to it. Exert your independence on a solid foundation of honor and virtue having no fear of how history might treat you. As John Adams advised, “What is to become of an independent statesman, one who will bow the knee to no idol, who will worship nothing as a divinity but truth, virtue, and his country? I will tell you; he will be regarded more by posterity than those who worship hounds and horses; and although he will not make his own fortune, he will make the fortune of his country." And is it not your stated goal to serve our country’s fortune rather than your own?
After serving a
single term of office with honor and virtue while others may have held multiple
terms for personal enrichment, how should you look back on your service?
If you sincerely
share this philosophy, I say go forth and do well for
Sincerely, An American Patriot
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It’s now our
responsibility to put deserving candidates in office. Our Constitution or the
law cannot do this for us. As Sam
Adams admonished, “…
neither the wisest constitution nor the wisest laws will secure the liberty and
happiness of a people whose manners are universally corrupt. He therefore is the
truest friend of the liberty of his country who tries most to promote its
virtue, and who, so far as his power and influence extend, will not suffer a man
to be chosen into any office of power and trust who is not a wise and virtuous
man.''
Just
the view from my saddle…
Contact Colonel Dan: coloneldan@bellsouth.net