STARVE THE FEDS

Maybe you have heard about the mud of politics, how it’s all about “getting in the front lines” and “fighting” without actually going to war.

This is not a fight about strength, it is one of endurance. A political candidacy that starts as an open, pure debate between clashing intellectual minds with opposing views ends up deteriorating into mud slinging, intimidation, and constant defense against lies and manipulation. It’s being ambushed with facts and figures that need checked constantly after the fact in order to even provide an opposing view. It’s a game of name recognition and slinging blame to those who cannot defend themselves in order for the politicians to absolve their own skins.

I saw one of the best in the business engage in political trickery and machinery the other day. From orchestrating where his people sit after studying the acoustics of the forum in order to maximize the chances of applause becoming contagious, to talking 70% of the time (thereby leaving 30% for other candidates), to assigning someone to monopolize the time of the competing candidate after the forum so others are unable to conversate with the candidate.

It’s become a game. It’s something involving life vs. death, or job security vs. layoff, or corruption vs. honesty, or good-ole-boy network vs. wiping a dirty slate clean – it all gets tarnished by the desire to be re-elected. It makes one wonder what poison awaits the newly elected candidate that grabs ahold of them, takes over them, and tarnishes them in the eyes of the people afterward. What line is being crossed? In some ways, it’s almost similar to the line of thought that could occur when one ponders losing their virginity – sex can be one of the most beautiful acts of the world in the right situations, yet can cause utter pain at the worst of times. It’s responsibility vs. irresponsibility. It’s crossing a line that can’t be undone once the decision to crossing the line is made. Is getting elected that much like crossing over to some sort of a parallel universe, not unlike the one that was crossed in horror movie Silent Hill?

Corruption finds a home in politics because the ones who are willing to lie, cheat, and steal are the ones that get to go in, for the most part. The dishonesty puts the corrupt at an advantage over the honest, who are unwilling to go the extra dirty mile for the privilege of being the one selected to be deserving of the public trust. Is this much unlike a lions den for the honest and faithful?

An informed public is the only way to defeat this. At the national and state levels, organized Tea Parties using Facebook seems to be the most effective way of distributing information quickly to one another. It’s so effective that I stopped reading traditional news outlets, since all have been tarnished by political biases that credibility and trust have deteriorated over time, and make them not worth reading anymore. The only reason to read them online is to get a general idea of how people respond on the “Comments” portion of articles.

As for a local level, that remains to be seen. I think people are starting to utilize the tools that have been handed to them, and more are willing to try. For the intellectually honest, the new media is a great way to form your own opinions and have them challenged constantly. For the intellectually lazy, it’s just another way to be lazy and vote with their ignorance.

Since it’s easier for good men to do nothing, and let evil progress, does this mean that evil will always outvote the good, because the ignorant and lazy unintentionally align themselves with the evil? Does corruption win nearly every time since the corrupt know the tricks of the trade, instead of calmly demonstrating their record and daring others to challenge them? After being elected and re-elected repeatedly, why is there a need to play political tricks in the first place? Maybe this is why habitual incumbency is nothing short of a disease, and demonstrates why term limits are sorely needed.

We cannot sleep. The evil and corrupt are always moving.

If this doesn’t reek of some sinister slow moving conspiracy, then at what point do we start making the burden of proof be put on those who believe this isn’t an underground nationwide effort rather than putting the burden on us to prove that it is?

In Ohio, we have Ashtabula County, Richland County, and the City of Elyria to show as examples of a sheriff’s department or police department being absolutely gutted. Not just a layoff here and there, but departments almost eliminated entirely. That means no detective squad, minimal sex offender tracking, slow response times (if there’s ANY response). It’s more likely that a domestic violence beating will become a murder. It’s more likely that the inability of law enforcement to follow up will increase the likelihood of cases going unsolved, and increase the reliance on shady witness accounts.

We’re at an age where the idea of the peace being kept is now held in doubt. It’s no longer being taken for granted. Gun sales are still at historically high levels.

We can arm ourselves to the hilt all we want. The reality is that the County Sheriff is the only person that can legally stand between the force of federal government and the county’s citizens. Maricopa County (Arizona) Sheriff Joe Arpaio and Graham County (Arizona) Sheriff Richard Mack have gone a long way towards teaching Americans the true value and power of a county sheriff. It kind of makes me wonder about the timing of all these sheriffs’ deputies layoffs occuring throughout Ohio, if not nationwide.

Of course, this is all happening under the guise of “we’re simply just out of money” and “Ohio does not mandate that the sheriff maintain a road patrol”. Unfortunately, many people are expectedly seeing distorted reports linking sheriff’s departments to excessive spending, as if our law enforcement is fat that needs to be cut. With social services operating under huge surpluses, especially in my home area of Richland County, we’re supposed to be ok with the idea that we don’t need to fund our own protection?

Government is supposed to provide defense and infrastructure, at all levels. Yes, we can arm ourselves; and we can also get training as far as all the “how to’s” that come with that territory. However, there is a big difference between armed citizens and trained professionals. Even the most vigilant armed citizen will not have their guard up at all times; otherwise, we’d be unable to live our lives. Trained professional law enforcement agents make it part of their job, and part of their lives. They are paid to practice at this mindset, just like an accountant is accustomed to Microsoft Excel, and a lumberjack is to cutting wood. It’s the difference between recalling how to react at a moment’s notice, and split second instinctive reaction. There’s no contest.

An armed citizenry is still a good thing, but we need the Sheriff’s Department to lead us because they’ve been there time and time again, while we stand by never hoping to be in a position they’re in for fear of the possibility for traumatizing memories to set in our lives due to witnessing or being part of a tragic situation.

Apparently our county has had some beatings, break-ins, and a stabbing reported last night, the first full day of one car patrolling 500 square miles.

One more reason an armed citizenry is a good thing – there’s an organization called OathKeepers. We may need to lean on them during these interesting times. We shall see.