Power to the People…

When I hear that phrase I think of the 60’s song that has the line, “power to the people right on!” It is funny how history repeats itself. Back then it was the young people speaking out against the “establishment”, which in general was a push back on deceitful government. We had McCarthy, Watergate, and numerous scandals that undermined the people’s trust in their government. I believe we have never rebuilt the “trust factor”, and there are many reasons for that. Without trust nothing moves forward. One major reason is we have had such little turnover of politicians over the years, and they have continued to use government for their personal gain. They have no interest in fixing a system that works in their favor.

Today the phrase “Power to the People” is the title of a new book by Laura Ingraham, radio talk personality, and a great American. I have not read the book yet (I am reading her first book first, “Shut Up And Sing” right after I finish the “Reagan Diaries”) but I know from listening to her that it will document the lack of trust the people have in their government, and how the people are now rising back up, with the power of the new media, to take back the direction of our government from these entrenched politicians. Laura does not share my view that we have to leave the party to reform the party; she believes the change will come from within. Time will tell who is right.

The most recent issue to prove the “Power to the people” theory is the illegal immigration debate. The people were informed through the new media of the content of the bill and rejected it, flat out. The politicians were caught flat footed and thought they could just push right past the will of the people, but what they found was they were wrong. They under estimated the “Power of the People”.

We as a nation are fed up with the status quo and we want unity on the issues that are important to this nation. We want honest debate and honest leadership. We want to know what our politicians really mean on key issues like National Security, Immigration, Healthcare, and Social Security. We want to trust our government representatives on these issues. Is that too much to ask? I don’t think so. Do you?