Guest Commentary: The Politics of Corruption

I would like to preface this post with this disclaimer. The individual that submitted the following commentary requested to do so only as an anonymous source. As the leader of Iowa Defense Alliance I agreed. In my opinion the author of this commentary is infinitely trustworthy. This person is rather well connected and has witnessed many of the acts described firsthand. People may speculate as to who the author of this commentary is but I will not divulge the individuals name.

Al Bregar

I would like to discuss some of the recent events happening such as the bailout and Illinois politics of corruption. There is a direct correlation and if we continue to walk blindly through election cycles and believe a messiah will come. I have a question for you folks, when is the last time you voted for a politician because you believed in them? Better yet when is the last time you voted for someone because you knew how they would vote on a bill before the Y/N button was ever pressed?

Now unfortunately there are some who know how a politician will cast his vote beforehand for less preferable reasons. For instance when the parties go to their prospective caucuses many enter the room not to debate the merits of a bill but instead to hear how they will vote. Then you have those cases of votes being bought whether through previous/future kickbacks, campaign contributions/fundraising, or the honorable and ever popular earmark. I mean Senators vote is a darned valuable thing you don’t just vote for a bill because it’s good for our country. Such a vote merits compensation, maybe a Woodstock museum or possibly a nice new indoor rainforest. We complain and are in awe of such brazen acts as a Governor trying to sell a vacant Senate seat yet daily approve of legalized selling of votes in our legislative branch daily through earmark exchange. No one even bats an eye when a congressman or senator votes for a bill they don’t like just so one they do like will pass. If you don’t think this is a daily routine for many, then I’ll be selling you that nice little bridge in San Francisco. No, actually tell you what I’ll buy you a ticket to Chicago or for that matter anywhere else in the country just one catch you have to leave from the Dubuque Amtrak station. The ticket will be waiting and you just sit down and wait for the train to get you to that desired location.

Seriously I’m shocked not that this Governor would offer the senate seat for sale but that we would be surprised to hear this. Just go to any college campus and ask a student how much a politician would have to pay for their vote? Maybe an IPOD would do it actually it was right out in the open during primaries each campaign sending envoys to woo delegates buying dinner and offering all kinds of other perks to get their vote. Our society gets outraged when a corporation votes with their wallet/lobbying power for that government contract. But we sit idly by while candidates bribe the poor with social programs or Unions with special rights to hold a company hostage if demands aren’t met.

The fact is the only good reason to knowledgeably cast a vote is not by asking what this candidate will do for you but rather how will this candidate vote when freedom is on the line? If you think freedom can be maintained while government grows daily then once again our education system has failed to keep you informed or you simply wish to stay naive. Our nation is at a breaking point years of government expansion and erosion of checks and balances provided in the Constitution mixed with a serious lack of historical knowledge from the electorate.

“The ignorance of one voter in a democracy impairs the security of all.” John F. Kennedy

Now we can be attacked from outside but all that really amounts to is a scratch, a bruise, or worst case scenario maybe a broken bone but we will heal. Other super powers throughout history did not fall to outside forces before they were destroyed from within a history lesson Americans ought to take to heart if they were being taught.

“Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.”- Benjamin Franklin

This isn’t just referencing the state we were in after physical attacks but also the idea that but also the notion that one’s job or livelihood may need a government intervention or bailout. Each is an instance of individuals putting the façade of security over the freedom of our fellow Americans. It is the belief that somehow our own personal security is more important than any other individual which brings us to this state of mind.

Until we educate ourselves and hold politicians accountable to preserving the interests of freedom then we will continue to allow ourselves to break from within. The attacks from outside are superficial but the cancer growing inside is what will tear us asunder.