I recently wrote an essay asking “Is Government Broken?”  In the essay, I expressed my opinion that it is and, WE THE PEOPLE are to blame.

Today we will look at one of the reasons, I feel our Government has been broken and that is HISTORY.

While our democracy has been challenged throughout our nation’s life-span, my feeling is that the most glaring fall from grace happened with Watergate.  While Watergate was a crime and tragedy for our nation, the longterm effects have been much greater.

Since Watergate, the political parties have been at war with each other as a game of political ups-manship.  When Nixon was forced to resign, the Democrats took the position that they were “for” the American people and protecting them from the evil Republicans.  For years, the Democrats used this tactic to control the political agenda.  All the while the Republicans sulked and waited for their chance to “get even” on the presidential level, that chance came with Bill Clinton.

Although the Republicans weren’t able to go as far as the Dems did, the battle for Clinton ignited a war on Capital Hill that we may never recover from.

After the Republicans embarrassed Clinton the Dems had to go on the offensive and go after Bush and now the Republicans go after Obama, it is a vicious circle that waters down  the quality of our Presidential candidates and dumb down the political process in totality.

Honestly, does anyone believe that Obama and Romney are the best we as Americans have to offer?

HISTORY….

Sadly we got into this position with our votes.  A year or so ago, my brother ran for political office as a registered Republican, one of the people I respect most in the world told me she voted for him and it was the first time in her LIFE that she had voted for a Republican….. really????  This 70-something year old woman has given away her power each time she voted because her eyes could not be opened to another viewpoint.  History.

The same goes for Republicans, after the Reagan revolution, the power of the Republican party was unleashed.  Reagan brought many people to the party that had never been there before.

As a genius at marketing and advertising, Reagan was able to create a mystique that made an entire generation believe all Republicans were Reagan-esque, sadly they are not, but for this new generation they only voted Republican.  Ironically, in today’s Republican party, Reagan probably couldn’t even win the nomination.

For years, Republicans like Democrats before them voted for a candidate for one reason, there was an “R” after their name.  One of the men I respect most in the world has this mentality, we argue constantly.

We go to the polls at every election expecting a “NEW” America will be realized this time; and yet what do we do, we continue to send the same people back to Washington, Tallahassee and Lake Park to run our governments.  How do we express our Freedoms and Independence when we continue to be political lemmings and do what we are told by the party we support?  (I realize that Lake Park elections are non-partisan, the reference was included intentionally, to show that we have these issues on all levels.)

This history of political ups-manship and party wars will continue until WE THE PEOPLE step up and stop it.  In my opinion, the day we start replacing R’s and D’s with I’s is the day we will regain our American spirit and make our Declaration of Independence known for a new generation!

These changes need to be made not only on the Federal level, but on our State and Local levels as well.  It is our responsibility to find candidates who are looking to work for our best possible outcome, not to repay agendas that have been affecting us all for years.

It is always fun to watch political leaders as they gear up for reelection, watch whose demeanor changes, watch how some people become involved in the community when they have been MIA for the majority of their terms.   Watch out for the leader who criticizes staff and policies for years and then as they gear up for re-election begin praising the very people they have criticized.

Our history shows that the incumbent holds a huge advantage in elections, our history also shows that our Government is broken.  When leaders show you who they are, believe them….  how many times do you extend your hand and have it bit, before you decide to seek another option?  One word of warning is important here however, watch out for the wolf in sheep’s clothing, who runs to help an old agenda while talking a great game of providing a new way.

WE THE PEOPLE can continue to relive our history each time we go to the polls, or WE THE PEOPLE can step up, show our independence and find candidates on all levels of government who are more concerned with our futures than they are with the battles of the past.