by: Rusty Humphries
I am constantly hearing from people, “Rusty, what are we going to do about the Democrats?” I’ll be the first to admit that many of the problems we face as a country stem from Democratic leaders like Harry Reid, Dianne Feinstein, Nancy Pelosi and yes, Barack Obama.
But folks, I’ve got bad news- I don’t mean to cause alarm, but I think we need to start dealing with an even greater threat that extends beyond party lines; we need to start addressing the issue of political leaders who, regardless of identified political party, are governing based on the interests of those in government- not the people they have sworn to represent.
We can no longer trace the problems directly back to one Party or another. We now have two factions of legislators- we have those that stand on principle and look to lead to the best of their ability and we have those that are merely concerned with maintaining the political power they have accumulated.
Nothing, in my estimation, illustrated this divide better than the other night. While Rand Paul spoke of liberty and sought to squash the government’s stance that they can murder us without the due process of law, some Senators joined him. But just blocks away, others dined with the President and thus, Congressional leaders showed on what side of the dividing line they were going to stand.
Sens. John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Saxby Chambliss and nine other Senators dined with Obama. Others like Sens. Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and Oregon Democrat Ron Wyden joined Rand Paul in his defense of, well, the Constitution. These men joined together because they had a common cause; they wanted to work to make the power of the government to kill American citizens smaller. That’s it.
Oh my goodness! Those nasty Tea Partiers are back at it, spreading their oh-so-radical agenda: free markets, limited government and freedom from being annihilated by drone attacks at the behest of the government. It’s madness!
To be fair, it should be noted that two of the Republican Senators from the dinner, Ron Johnson and Pat Toomey, joined Paul for his filibuster after the dinner. They don’t quite get an “A” for solidarity and adherence to principle, but it’s certainly better late than never.
However, Lindsey Graham had the nerve to call Paul’s criticism of the drone program “ridiculous.” He actually uttered, “The drone program [the President] has utilized overseas, I think, has made us safer. This idea that we’re going to use a drone to attack an American citizen in a café in America is ridiculous and I think the American people need to understand the threat we face.”
It turns out that Lindsey Graham is the most traitorous and unprincipled legislator since Brutus stabbed Caesar.
What is so hard to understand about this position? It’s not that Rand Paul or anybody thought that the drones would be used starting tomorrow; it’s that we need to reject a stance by government that says, “We hold the right to take citizens out with drones if we feel it’s warranted; but don’t worry, we haven’t done it yet.” Call me a cynic if you would like, but I am not entirely comforted by that stance!
But hey, according to Lindsey Graham, my contempt for this position is “ridiculous.”
What’s dangerous about the state of politics in America is that we are seeing a fundamental shift in politics in America that extends beyond Party lines. What we have is the Obama-McCain-Graham group that is invested not in core American principles, but the maintaining of their entrenched political power. These are people who rather than stand up for principle, mock those who do.
In the Paul-Cruz-Wyden group, we see people who are devoted to upholding the Constitution and the rights of American citizens. What’s crazy is that I disagree with Wyden on nearly every issue! But in his stance against tyranny, he is absolutely correct and must be praised for doing so.
Both of these groups are bi-partisan, both groups consist of groups of people who might often disagree with one another, but as the Democrat and the Republican Parties decline, we can see the beginnings of two new political forces in America. We have a faction that believes in the power of the state and we have a faction that believes in the power of the people and that is the newest, most dangerous problem in America. It’s not only Democrats or Republicans; it’s statists versus the people.
That is why I’m getting involved. That’s why I write, that’s why I have been playing a more active role in the Tea Party leadership and when I’m in Washington next week, I will not just be kicking my heels up at CPAC; I will be meeting on the Hill with Washington leaders and reminding those in the Beltway of the duty of government to the people.
The new battle in Washington is not along Party lines but can be boiled down to a battle between those who believe in the power of government and those who believe in the power of the people.
I stand unequivocally for the power of the people.
Rusty Humphries is a nationally syndicated radio host heard across the USA on over 300 radio stations and is listed as the 6thlargest radio audience by Talkers Magazine. He is also a regular contributor to TPNN.com
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