A Kingdom of Conscience: Our Perpetual President

Insert Preferred Face Here

Here we are just eight months from the Inauguration, and we have the President we’ve always had. He's militarily assertive, immigration passive, pro pseudo-free trade, fiscally reckless, and totally unaccountable for anything he said prior to last November seventh. That's the President we've always had, at least as far back as I can remember.

How many times will the American voter fall for the same lame routine before they comprehend: This is a sham! It's a different President, different party, different Cabinet, and the same damn policies hidden behind a different face with a different style we love or hate so much we perceive it as “real change” for better or worse? Real hope or deep despair, and in our ecstasy or despondency we fail to notice nothing has changed except our brain chemistry.

It always takes a few months for the transformation to occur. Like a frog placed in slowly warming water, you can boil him without the frog panicking. Voters react the same. As long as the newly elected President slowly morphs from who he claimed to be into who the previous President was, all is well. The President’s primary responsibility is maintaining the status quo unless something which benefits the real Kingmakers of the nation is required. Then, the leader of the free world becomes the lead salesman with easy credit terms.

Currently, we're all worked up about our elections being hacked by the Russians. However, our elections were hacked long ago by perpetrators much closer to home. Take a look at the Constitution of the United States of America and find the words “Political Party”. The Framers never intended for two private, non-profit corporations to hold a duopoly on America’s republic. Yet, this is exactly what we have today. No wonder we have a Perpetual President. The game is rigged.

Since 1901, we've had an extra-Constitutional election system for the highest office in the land and no one seems to mind as long as the Russians aren't involved. The defunct USSR had one political party throughout its existence. We, in the free world deemed such a system “totalitarian”, which indeed it was. Today, in the United States we effectively have two political parties which we hold up as the world standard of freedom. Had the Soviets had the foresight to split the Communist party in two, say Bolsheviks and Mensheviks, then American tourists would have spent the Cold War years vacationing in the Crimea, strolling the streets of St. Petersburg, standing in line to see Lenin’s decaying corpse, and the lyrics of the Beatles’, Back in the USSR would make a lot more sense.

The de facto ruling duopoly die wasn't fully cast until the 1920’s . Alarmed by the growing popularity of the Socialist and Communist Parties, Republicans and Democrats colluded to restrict ballot access to “third parties” by requiring a certain percentage of registered voters sign a petition within a specific time period prior to ballot inclusion. Many of the requirements are so stringent as to provide an exhausting exercise, if not an impenetrable barrier, to each State ballot for all except Republican and Democratic candidates. It just screams, “Freedom!" like William Wallace. Doesn't it?

Yes, I’m rather disappointed, as well.

Imagine for a moment what such a lock on power shared between two ruling factions who melee with each other in public, but share an agenda behind closed doors could accomplish. Dare we call it totalitarianism?

One party calls for war, the other opposes conflict just not enough to prevent the war until the opposition holds the reigns of power and the “kinder gentler” war continues unabated or quietly escalates.

One party pushes through national health care, the other opposes it just not enough to prevent its passing into law until the opposition holds the reigns of power when they mount repeal and replace with something so ill constructed and poorly packaged that the original law stands firm,

One party pushes through sweeping legislation which strips the people of long cherished liberties, the other mounts a vigorous defense just not vigorous enough to prevent passage. When the opposition holds the reigns of power they overwhelmingly vote to extend the liberty stripping legislation year after year, into decades.

One party rams through annual authorization to bomb anyone anywhere at any opportunity and the opposition party vehemently acquiesces in the name of bi-partisanship.

The people torn into feuding factions are emotionally inflamed like adolescents by rhetoric and bluster. They remain ignorant of the strings upon which they dance, demonstrate, brawl, and bicker. The people endlessly bicker over some forgone conclusions made many years before they were aware there was a choice to be made.

Imagine for a moment what such power shared between two ruling parties could yield. Just for a moment… into decades. It doesn't take much imagination, does it?

Now, look away, close your eyes, and pretend you never read these words.