A Government of the People

Odd Stuffing
4 min readJun 27, 2022

A friend of mine, who sadly I have not seen for far too long, recently ran for a local precinct position during the primaries. Of the 14 seats available, only two names were listed, my friend’s name plus one more. The rest of the spaces on the ballot were blank for write-ins. THIS right here is why we have lost control of our government. Nobody is showing up to the table.

I’ve said it before. Every seat on every board in every community is important. If we are not showing up, we are ceding control of our communities, our states, and our nation to those who may not share our interests.

… and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” Excerpt from Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.

Nobody realized how important their local school board was until they found out they were indoctrinating our children with racist content, hate and age inappropriate sexually explicit material. Nobody realized the control they have given up until school boards began having parents arrested for speaking out about non-educational content, boards covering up sexual assaults and teachers sexually grooming students.

Nobody cared about planning commissions and zoning boards until they realized these were the people responsible for making sure no firearms or ammunition retailers could operate in their cities and towns. Nobody noticed they had rewritten the bureaucratic processes against the small business lifeblood of the community until they learned there is no way for them to fairly appeal a board decision. Nobody thought their local town or city council was important until they found out they were implementing their own nonsense gun control ordinances, while at the same time handcuffing and defunding local law enforcement.

While most people pay attention to the national political puppet show, they tend to ignore the state and local levels, not realizing the actions of these legislative bodies impact their day-to-day lives more than national level politics do.

An article I recently read tried to explain that because Republicans are more focused on families and religious activities, they tend to not get into political or civic offices as much as Democrats. The explanation seemed to backhandedly imply Democrats were godless, family haters as opposed Republicans. Not exactly what I’d call a logical political theory, but we definitely have a problem with conservative voices showing up.

I believe a more rational explanation is that more conservatives / Republicans share a Ron Swanson (Parks & Recreation) view of government. Government should be as small and as limited as possible. Period.

A Ron Swanson view of government: “My idea of a perfect government is one guy who sits in a small room at a desk, and the only thing he’s allowed to decide is who to nuke. The man is chosen based on some kind of IQ test, and maybe also a physical tournament, like a decathlon.”

The problem with this approach is without representation from all points of view, only the people who are actively trying to shred our Constitution and Bill of Rights and transform our country into their utopian socialist nation are in the government and making decisions for the rest of us.

To quote The West Wing; “Decisions are made by those who show up.”

The good news is conservative voices are now fighting their way back to the table. Responsible, concerned parents are reclaiming their school boards. Conservative members of the communities are recovering seats on local and county boards. But while there is success and momentum in the right direction, it is also a time to be cautious.

Lifelong Democrats are registering as Republicans for local, state and federal posts. Funded by the Democratic Party, they are put in as spoilers to siphon off votes for actual Republican candidates. If they do win, they vote as Democrats. In some areas, the Democrats are hand selecting their Republican opponents. The local liberal press then run stories about how they are “the only Republican who can beat X”. Of course, they are the candidates who have absolutely zero chance of beating anyone, but it keeps viable candidates out of the race. The lesson to learn here is to get to know who is running.

Who is the best candidate? It’s someone you already know. It’s your neighbor, your friend, your local business employee or owner, or maybe it’s that person you see in the mirror every single morning.

Not everyone has the time and inclination to serve, but I’d rather have someone who is willing to take on a position and serve their community for a short period of time than someone looking for the entrance ramp to the swamp.

Remember, the best way to stop unconstitutional laws is to prevent them from being enacted in the first place. It’s time to fill that ballot with people who will represent YOU.

Yes, it does matter who you vote for.

Bob

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Odd Stuffing

A weekly commentary on the issues, events and people impacting the Second Amendment community, the state, nation and world.