Our nation is in dire straits due to the endemic low caliber of the individuals we choose to represent us. The problem is that politics is a self-selecting system. If you want to succeed in politics, you must be willing to compromise everything, including your principles and values. If you are an individual who refuses to compromise on your principles and values (even though you may be willing to compromise on public policy matters) you will be virtually unelectable, and even if you do manage to get elected, you will be virtually powerless in the legislature since the only way you can ever get things done is to "play ball".
The fault lies with we common people. While we "commoners" are the last remaining bastion of courage, we are also the source of the corruption. We have allowed ourselves to buy into the leftist lies that government can solve all our wants and that our fellow citizens are legally obligated to provide for our needs. We have become the plebeians of ancient Rome who have sold out the Republic that was our birthright in exchange for the bread of an overbearing welfare state, the circuses of professional sports and reality television, and the rule of an imperial president. We ape the values of the jaundiced elites who sneer at "archaic" concepts like courage, fortitude, sacrifice, honor, and integrity. From a purview of the nightly news, reality television, and shock radio, it would appear that there is now little, if anything, that is beneath our dignity. How is it possible for us to choose individuals of quality when our own standards of conduct have become so debased?
The truly sad part is that since the courage of the statesman has failed us, I believe that we are rapidly approaching the point where we will be forced to depend upon the courage of the warrior. The common man of courage and integrity lacks influence in the halls of power. His principled vote to preserve the Republic is derided as "mean spirited" and overwhelmed by the selfish votes of his peers who form the entitlement peasantry. His letters to his representatives in the legislature begging them to do their Constitutional duty are replied to with polite and subtle scorn or are ignored entirely. The common man of courage and principle is being placed in a perilous position. Thanks to the selfish ignorance and apathy of his fellow citizens, the ballot box has failed him. Thanks to a sycophantic media and an arrogant government, the soap box has failed him. Thanks to a peremptory judiciary (along with the sheep-like compliance of a jury of his "peers"), the jury box has failed him. He is approaching a Rubicon in history where the only alternatives will be submissive acquiescence to the descent into so-called "benevolent" totalitarianism or to exercise the final option of the cartridge box. And all the bloodshed that will ensue could have been avoided had we stuck to the "outdated" principles of courage and honor.
What can we do when many of our votes don't count?
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