Why our republic failed.

I’ve been thinking about this for a long time, a long time, but I have been unable to write it because I lacked the truly cynical POV needed to do it. After this last weekend I think I found it so here goes.

O.K., O.K. first a joke

What do you call a liberal who believes it is better to save a death row inmate than an unborn child?

O.K. That’s not funny. . .

How about, what do you call a liberal who bows down to the God of Darwin, but won’t even speculate on God’s. . .

O.K. that’s not funny either.

Let’s see, how about what is the difference between a liberal and a dead kitten. . .

I just can’t do this.

It’s not funny.

I turned off the news about a week ago. I didn’t watch the Today show, the nightly news, or even HLN. I just stopped. I needed a break and so did my business. I needed to just stop.

And something happened. I started living the day to day things that I have to do to stay alive. And none of them involved the government. I planted a garden, went to church, played with my kids, ate home cooked meals, wished I had played Carcassonne over the weekend, but none of it, not one thing was attached to my being a citizen of the U.S.

Then it hit me. I knew it before, but it hit me in another way I never noticed. I do not live in a democracy. Neither do you.

If you lived in a democracy, you would play an active role in government every day. You would take part in government decisions every day. It is not an opinion it is a fact. And our founding fathers knew it. They didn’t set up a democracy; they set up a Federalist Republic. They set up a government where we elected officials to go to the federal or state governments and do the work in our behalf. We choose them to go and represent us. They set us a system where we are supposed to be paying attention to our elected representatives.

God help us, what have we done?

Do you know what congress did yesterday? Me neither. Do you know what they have done over the past three years? Nope, not a clue. Did they represent you, how about me? No idea. Do you know where to go to find out what they are voting on next week? Butkis, nada, does c-span have a schedule? I am not even sure I know how to get in touch with my representatives.

I don’t live in a democracy. I didn’t vote on anything yet this year. Instead I planted a garden, played with my kids, read the entire Twilight series, worked, looked at Facebook, created a new website and slept.

I haven’t checked to see if my representatives are representing me.

So my new goal now is to find out. My new goal is to become part of the republic and make sure my voice is heard.

Right after I check my garden.