Home of Today's Common Sense

Published Brownsville Herald Decamber 30, 2007

2007 has come and is on its way out and will usher in what could be one of the most pivotal years in our history. Our nation is more deeply divided than it has been since the Civil War by some of the same things that were in dispute then. 

The issue of whether the people should have some control over their own lives or whether the government should decide the future for them is still very much alive. Both of the major political parties want to decide what folks make and how much income they can take home from their work. The government wants to dictate the social norms as well by advancing the “Religion of the State”. They have dictated that no Religious icons should be seen in “the public square” during festive times of the year, the concept of a “Higher Power” should not be discussed in educational institutions and on and on. Only the “Religion of the State” is to be discussed publically. 

Further, the elite’s want control of their minds and thoughts as well and have refused to discuss openly those of different views. Many of the conservative speakers are heckled on the rare instances they are selected to speak or those that support a successful end of the current War have been harassed, belittled and shouted down. I have heard of middle and high school students being disparaged by their teachers for advancing an idea deemed out of the conventional mainstream. Our “Rulers” have created a situation where further divisions have been created. The “if it feels good – do it era of the 60’s and 70’s” have left us with a culture that does not respect laws if they are inconvenient, many have lost regard for ideals like patriotism and honor declaring that those that do are suckers. 

An example is the immigration laws. Dissatisfaction with them was common even back in the 1930’s as can be seen from the Ginger Rogers Movie “Romance in Manhattan” in 1935. An Eastern European man jumped ship while being deported and became a well thought of and moderately successful cab driver in New York. When he wanted to marry the lady of his dreams he found that he needed proof of identification. While trying to secure legalization he was identified to the authorities. His neighbors and some Irish police officers all pitched in and helped him meet the requirements so that the story ended happily. At no time were their protests, or suggestions that the laws be circumvented no matter how ridiculous they seemed. The story described complying with the law because it was the law. It is also interesting that those laws are still inefficient and do not satisfy the purpose they are intended for. At the bottom of it all is that we all have lost focus on who is in charge in the United States, and mostly trudge on going with the flow – believing that you can’t beat city hall! 

The secret is in the first three words of the constitution; “We the people” We just take what the government gives and vote politicos in that bring home a pittance of “pork” from the government after they take theirs. Just think; Congressmen who are in effect the “Board of Directors” of U.S.A. Corp, for a period of only 2 years and in my mind not employees, have a grand retirement system and do not depend on Social Security. It is no wonder why it is not fixed, as it appears that the trust fund is used to pay for their overspending. When a solution was suggested that would take control of the purse strings from their fingers they disposed of it expeditiously, 

In this column I have railed on and on about the lack of interest in new folks running for office and more often the about the lack of interest at the polls. Issues like the recent State Bond Issue spending spree passed with only a few percent of those that could vote spending everyone else’s money. Currently, in our own neighborhood the government is planning to build a wall to “protect our sovereignty” and may well require that the government take away some folks land that have been in their families before the government was here. We already have roles that say you cannot do this or that with your property because a particular bird may move elsewhere or so many other things. This all seems to be a continuing loss of Liberty over our lives and property. 

While I don’t have an intellectual problem with a fence defining our nation from Mexico, or personal properties voluntarily tendered for the public good, I do have a problem with anything being done to interfere with personal choices or property. “We the people” have proven over and over to be much better custodians over our property and lives than the government. The record of success of socialist governments, which is what many politicos and interest groups are advocating, is pretty dismal. I really do not aspire to a place like Cuba or Russia to live in. I would like to ask why you think the Fed’s believe that they could get away with putting up a fence that would conceivably divide ranches and even parts of our community? 

The answer is that even though there are a lot of potential voters here, there are few actual voters. Hispanic citizens on average do not vote in large numbers. Recent elections where 30% of the electorate voted have been considered good. I suspect that the politicos do not believe that it will hurt them to be unloved by the electorate in South Texas because we don’t vote! In order to fulfill the promise of America we need new ideas and leaders in government, As we approach the deadline for candidates to file for election, I see mostly the same old suspects announcing for positions, even some with demonstrably shady performance. Some positions may well have no opposition and become a larger embarrassment by providing the folks no choice at all. The Libertarians have an interesting rule when it comes to in house elections. In addition to any choices there is also a choice for “none of the above”. We believe there should always be a choice – no one should have to vote to the “least worst” candidate. It should always be known what the real sense of the electorate is. As there are some places on the ballot for which there may be no active candidate we also encourage any interested parties to file for the position as a Libertarian seeking to grant a choice. Any one interested contact me at the e-mail below for more info. 

In the area of late breaking news, I want to congratulate  the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) in a success in rectifying an a long overdue injustice for the CBP officers.  Congress included