Exporting Democracy: Not

Why is it that the United States military can conquer a country in days but it just can't manage to govern? Since Vietnam, the military has been stunningly efficient at accomplishing its combat missions; however, once the objective is taken, the task of governing—or better yet, getting out of the way so the country can self-govern—seems to become herculean.

The U.S., without fail, attempts to install a democracy. One would expect as much, and probably not tolerate any less, but in order for democracy to govern over a free people, the "people" are required to accept certain responsibilities. John Adams knew that our government is sufficient for a moral people but inadequate for any other. As we see corruption on our government flourish at all levels, how could we not expect corruption to be pervasive in newborn democracies?

Think about it. The U.S. establishes free and fair elections. The U.N. monitors the entire process. Citizens risk life and limb to vote and much of the world looks on in approval. Then the winners find themselves on speaking terms with the executive branch. Congress begins to appropriate inconceivable amounts of money for infrastructure and the elected officials straddle the money trail. As the As the money gets siphoned off, government officials get rich while the people who elected them continue to wallow in their same old ways of life—nothing changes at street level. After a while, things become obvious; we know they're corrupt, but we also know they are "duly elected". We would like to replace them. Things would get better if they were replaced, but we can't do it without being accused of pulling the strings of our puppet government.

So we continue to send funds. Our troops, as a result, find themselves in increased danger, because they represent the source of the money which is not helping the people but rather enriching the leaders. Finally, Americans get frustrated because we can't seem to install our form of government in the countries we conquer. We begin to call for an end, mainly because the Americans recognize a shakedown, and we recognize when a program is broken (as all of the government programs in America are currently broken).

This is a very dangerous pattern, but it seems to be repeating itself. The call to export democracy is virtuous and altruistic. What most U.S. presidents forget about trade (perhaps if they knew a little more our balance wouldn't be in the red) is that exports typically area a desired commodity by the country doing the importing. When it comes to America exporting democracy, it would seem our partners want the foreign aid but not the product of our trade.

Modern-day taxation without representation.

"The original tea party was in response to taxation without representation." This was the argument Bill Clinton asserted when asked about the current tea party movement. While the current protesters are challenging taxation by their officials, he continued. Well, that was true; however, the founders weren't protesting for representation in the house of commons. In fact, some colonies passed resolutions which insisted that the colonies could not be bound by any tax not passed by the colonies themselves. That is, they wanted not only representation, but governing control.

Much the same is occurring today. We find out that in 2010, federal income tax payers are now less than fifty percent of the population. Taxpayer's are America's newest minority. Yet Congress is represented by the votes of all citizens. Even non-taxpayers. Even people who not only pay no taxes but actually recieve a refund. All are represented eqaully at the ballot box, one vote.

Once taxpayers are less than half of the voters, they become unrepresented in the same way the founders knew they would still be unrepresented by being given seats in Parliament.

I fouby that many tea parry members have come to this position yet, but they will. Currently they are protesting constitutional abuses by the current administration, but they are not Republicans. Yhey simply want the government to run the way it was intended, by staying out of their lives.

These abuses aren't going away however, and the tea party isn't likely to either. Once the majority of non-taxpayers begins to throw around its electoral weight, don't be surprised to see the tea partiers call for "no taxation without representation", And they will be right.

What is happening to our leaders?

"These are troubled times." These words have been uttered or written over and over and have referenced virtually every generation. And in each instance they're applied to a unique time and situation but the underlying problems are often quite similar.

Is that the way of the current times? Are the underlying problems similar? Maybe. But the people we are looking to and relying upon to address seem stunningly different.

The history of America is wrapped around a lone ideal. A desire for liberty. To be free from the government's oppressive weight and able to rise to one's own level of achievement.

Our leaders were committed to protecting our liberty. They disagreed, and loudly, with each other at every turn, but the ideal was always embraced. They were statesmen. They possessed a moral compass that they relied on to lead. When we voted for a candidate you knew where he or she stood.

It ain't necessarily so today. We saw Arlen Specter switch parties because he knew he couldn't get elected in Pennsylvania as a Republican. A four-term senator from the keystone state was always a liberal Republican but at one time had a solid base and was even mentioned among the party elite for nationwide office. What happened? What about the people in Pennsylvania who said "Arlen Specter is my man"? What happens when politicians have no ideals to embrace, no moral compass to guide them?

In Florida, Charlie Crist failed in his bid to win the Republican nomination to Senate, so he promptly became an independent, removed all pro-life reference from his website, bashed the Arizona immigration law, and laughed when asked whether he would return campaign contributions from Republican constituents. No ideals or moral compass will get in Crist's way, but is that good for Florida voters or for America.

Power can be more seducing than money or sex and because of this, more morally bankrupt politicians are finding their way to Washington.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is often disregarding the Constitution in deciding issues that come before it, referring instead to foreign law or their own political beliefs to rewrite U.S. law from the bench.

If we can't rely on our elected officials while they say or do anything to secure votes, and our highest court pays mere lip service to America's founding documents, what are we to do?

More and more people are copying the actions of their leaders. People are doing whatever it takes to get by. Nearly thirty percent of the commerce in Southern California is in the underground economy President Reagan warned about. People are seeing their government disregard law and they are following suit.

If society is waiting for its leaders to set the example before righting itself, America may be in for a long, dark period in its history.