Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Throwin' my hat into the ring

Today, I did something I rarely do....I got into a political discussion with a co-worker. Many people know that I am somewhat of a cynic when it comes to our elected officials and their motivation for being elected to office. This is especially true for the office of President.

The presidential oath is as follows:

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

Pretty simple.
Yet, Article II http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html#Article2 of the constitution shows that the Executive Office is really policed by the people, and offers the ability to impeach for "treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors." It also states that the President's compensation cannot be increased during the term. WHY?

It is my belief that our founding fathers were absolute geniuses, who were certainly guided by divine powers. Because of this, they created a government in which the leader can horribly fail, or at best be completely ineffective, yet the country moves forward with little impact. This is due to the fact that the drafters of the constitution knew that ALL of us are flawed as individuals. Case in point, our country has been led by a few known alcoholics, prescription pain-killer addicts, liars, crooks [or not], and many more than just one philanderer. However, since July 4th, 1776 this has continued to be the greatest country to exist on the earth. WHY? It's because of our people, not due to any one of our leaders. Heck, maybe we thrive in SPITE of our country's leaders! In my opinion, only one man has ever been truly qualified to lead in the manner we'd expect. However, he lived under Roman rule, in Judaea, over 2000 years ago.

Our country has been at it's best when a common cause has been found....like defeating fascism in World War II, or overcoming the Great Depression. Even the immediate moments and days after 9/11 showed our strength as a country...the acts of ordinary citizens, doing extraordinary things, without the direction of our leaders. In contrast, the local, state, and federal agencies reaction to Hurricane Katrina showed what happens when we rely too heavily on our governmental leaders.

Therefore, I am throwing my hat into the ring, and I'm running on the platform that I plan to do nothing but ask for the involvement of the ordinary citizens of this country. Remember, the whole "ask not what your country can do for you" speech? Inspired...so, I'll just embellish it a little bit. Also, I'll promise that I will have little or no effect on whether our economy improves. I will not single-handedly bring peace to the middle east. However, I will ask that we be good to each other.... :)

click the link below:

http://www.news3online.com/index.php?code=36GH2Wel1hjk1T0I3564

5 comments:

Jessica said...

i love it!

Michelle said...

I have read this over and over again. I love it not only for it's humor/sarcasm but for it's fresh insite. Andrew and I have this same conversation all the time; whether our Nation's leader is really as powerful and important as we hope he/she would be. I called Grandpa and read this to him and he loved it also. I would vote for you, Ken, and maybe you would let me slide on my taxes :)

Unknown said...

Awesome! I loved this. I do have to say that the second I saw the video, it was a hoax. But it is SUPER clever!

You'd have my vote too!

into the mystic... said...

Hey Ken -

Heck - I'd even pay my taxes if you WERE president! This was great - gave Mike and Michael and I a good grin.

Love and miss ya tons - your lil sis.

Diane said...

yep...

Bo...the smartest person I know.