Posted by
Steve on Wednesday, September 16, 2009 1:36:39 PM
Glenn Beck has been talking about corruption in Washington for some time. The past few days he has been talking about finding the “Refounders”. The Refounders are based on the fact that 56 men signed the Declaration of Independence and changed the world. We have strayed far from the ideal that those men envisioned for America. The Refounders would be 56 politicians that would work for the good of America without regard to party. They would identify and remove corruption within their own parties, first.
The idea is a good one. But, I do not see many politicians taking him up on his proposition. There are too many “goodies” for staying on the plantation and not enough for straying off. Many a good person has gone to Washington with the idea that they are going to be the Jimmy Stewart character in “Mr. Smith goes to Washington”. They usually end up being caught up in the corruption and never amount to anything important. The reason that happens is that there are entrenched special interests that like things as they are. They do not want to go back to the era of personal responsibility and small government. That would mean that they would have to compete on an even playing field. That is something most of them have not done for many decades.
There are some good politicians in Washington right now. My Congressman, Jeff Flake is one of them. He has been fighting against the special interests since he got to Washington. The special interests have effectively kept him from leadership positions that he truly deserves. He has done some things that have made me question whether he is being “turned”, but overall he is one of the very best. He is probably the most consistently good Congressman in the House of Representatives. If he is not the best, he is one of the half dozen best.
In looking at my two Senators, one is considered an excellent Senator, Jon Kyl and one is considered a tool of special interest, John McCain. Jon Kyl is an excellent Senator and would have to be in the top half dozen in the Senate. John McCain can be counted on to be with you when it is obvious you have won and not with you when the chips are down. McCain likes the title of Maverick. That would be a good title if it meant that you were always on the side of what is best for America. That has not been John McCain’s track record. His record is that he is always on the side that will give him the best press. He rarely takes an unpopular stand. He cannot be counted on to defend the ship to the last man, if that is what is needed to stop something that will harm America.
I wish Glenn Beck well in finding his 56 Refounders. Those he does find will go down in history like the 56 original Founders have gone down in history. Unfortunately, we do not seem to have enough men and women with backbones to stand up to tyranny and corruption. I hope that I am wrong on this one. I hope that Glenn gets 112 Refounders. If he gets even one Refounder, the character of Congress could drastically change. A little truth goes a long way. One person telling the truth and digging up skeletons would do wonders for the character of those that serve in Congress. If Glenn gets one Refounder from each party, heads will roll and we just might get our country back. If he only gets one, especially if that one is a Republican, then not that much will happen except the Republicans will be painted with the corruption brush. I think a minimum of two, one from each party, would be required to have any real impact on Congress.
I agree with Glenn Beck that Congress should not pass any laws until it cleans itself of the rampant institutional corruption. With Democrats in charge, that is unlikely to happen. Good thought, almost impossible to implement. The best we can hope for is that the conscience of a few Senators and Congressmen are pricked and decide to come clean on what is going on. Then, heads would roll and we would start to see real action. We need to keep up the pressure and get them to examine their own conscience to see if they want to stand up and be counted part of the solution or continue to be part of the problem.