Spending billions to be a servant?

In my previous post, I honored the life of Uncle Bob Barr. His was a life given to serving. Today, I mourn the loss of that ethic in the public life in America. The lessons of history are not just ignored, but scorned. News services are now touting that the 2008 presidential election expenses will top a billion dollars. That's right. Billion with a "b". There is no way that anyone can convince me that a person, or group of people, are willing to spend that kind of other people's money to serve their constituents.

On the local level--in Corpus Christi, Texas--most candidates run for City Council, not to serve their community, but to reach their first stepping stone to higher office. I won't speak for anyone else, but the idea of getting down on all fours so that some political aspirant can use my back to climb to higher office is, well, an anathema.

There is another side to that coin, and that is American voter beliefs. And what are some of those current convictions?

1. There are no moral absolutes (convictions), just political opinions.

2. Government owes me. I am entitled to whatever anyone else has that I can't get or earn on my own.

3. Only lawyers, celebrity athletes, and retired military are qualified to run for public office.

4. If you can't explain your position of (name the issue) in 30 seconds of less, then I will not listen to you, nor vote for you.

5. If it is on TV then it must be true.

6. Being a citizen of the United States of America carries with that title no responsibility.

7. What Matt Damon, Pamela Sue Anderson, Lindsay Lohan, Susan Sarandon, and George Clooney have to say is actually relevant and authoritative?

8. Facts just muddy the waters.

9. Worried statements from distant elected officials (or officials who want to be elected) actually reduce the devastating force of hurricanes.

10. Having health insurance is fundamental to good health. (See #8)

11. If the government doesn't educate my child, he/she will be stupid. (See #8)

12. A college education will guarantee wisdom and success. (See # 8)

13. Although it does not advocate murdering those who disagree, but in fact promotes love for your neighbor, Christianity is a danger to society.

14. Abraham Lincoln found slavery to be abhorrent. (See #8)

15. Abortion is simply a woman's right to choose.

16. 40 million abortions has no connection with the insolvency of Social Security even though it needs current wage earners paying into the system.

17. The difference between abortion and murder is geography.

18. Murder, rape, prostitution, fraud, theft, adultery, and pedophilia are tolerated, if not accepted practices for elected officials who are Democrat liberals. A simple apology will wipe the slate clean.

19. Capital punishment does not deter violent crime. (They are right, but that's not the point for this level of punishment. The point is that the perpetrator does not repeat.)

20. Congress is full of lying, cheating, self-serving, power-mongers, but my guy/gal is not one of them.

Freedom prospers and prevails where the individual is self-governing. This is not an original thought. Our Founding Fathers believed and said this. With those self-controls in place, America did not need a professional ruling elite, as is practiced today. The citizen legislator was the norm, not the exception. This is part of what makes Sarah Palin's candidacy so compelling. She is "one of us". We need elected officials who lead by serving the people and defending the law. May God have mercy on us.