get INVOLVED attend a meeting

No one knows who coined the phrase “Don’t vote, it only encourages them,” but many Americans seem to have embraced the sentiment. What’s more, these same people pay scant attention to what our elected officials in Lansing and Washington, D.C., are up to. 

That’s regrettable because many politicians look for ways to deceive voters, which isn’t hard to do when we care more about fantasy baseball, video games, movies, TV and the Kardashians.

We the ordinary citizens of the United States ARE the United States. The politicians we elect are OUR representatives within the country and in the world and reflect the kind of people we are. I don’t like the look of that reflection.

Some of us DO pay attention to what’s going on in state and federal governments. But we’re a few bricks shy of the critical mass necessary to get our politicians in line. 

As Oklahoma Congressman Jim Bridenstine wrote in a piece for the Breitbart web site, “nobody comes to Washington and becomes more principled.”

Yes, the political power structure in Washington corrupts almost all elected officials who go there. We like to blame politicians for this, but the true culprit is us. We are the ones who put them there, and we are the ones who keep re-electing them.

Politicians have gotten very good at taking advantage of our tendency to take sides. People are social by nature, and those of us who DO pay attention tend to seek like-minded people. We then reinforce our shared beliefs… and our shared disdain for the other side.

That tends to polarize the grass roots political atmosphere. But in reality, ordinary folks who are liberals and conservatives have far more in common with each other than they like to believe. We all want a safe, stable environment in which to raise our children and a reasonable degree of prosperity.

We, as citizens of the United States, must get our politicians under control. And the way to do that is to pay attention and get involved.

If your sympathies lie with Republicans, you might enjoy attending meetings of the Gratiot County Republican Party.

We meet at 6:30 p.m. on the fourth Wednesday of each month, PINS (bowling alley) Ithaca Feel free to attend a meeting or two, we welcome all interested conservatives.