Wednesday, April 6, 2011

The Hutch Doctrine

                                                                                                               
                                                                   [Authored by We The Peeps 1 . com / 4-2-2011]


PREAMBLE

   Over the past few months, I have really tried to be diligent in reading my e-mails. I get approximately fifty (+) a day, which in the big picture isn’t a whole lot, so I do indeed check them out. I have not been keeping an exact tally of these, but it seems I am constantly in receipt of e-mails that begin: “Here are the nineteen, or eleven, or top twenty, reasons that the United States of America is going down the tubes.”
They go on to place blame with:
1.     the Federal Reserve
2.     the Super Corporations
3.     the Super Rich
4.     our Financial System
5.     the Welfare System
6.     Abortion Rights
7.     Gun Laws
8.     Immigration Laws, ad infinitum…. 
I made a mental note to myself saying; “self, what exactly is going on here? Why are ordinary folks like you and me screaming like banshees at every entity that makes a profit, and the sum total of all our “entitlement” programs?”
   It seems that we, as a Country, have become very angry at the way life is treating us these days. Are we really the victims, or have we simply allowed things to get so far out of hand that we have a sense of no control, anymore?
I am tending toward the latter. I don’t believe we are the victims of other people’s greed and avarice. We may well be our own worst enemies; think about it!
a)    Financial Institutions failing and having to be bailed out;
b)    the Educational System in shambles and not knowing where to go;
c)     the Medical System on its way to bankrupting us;
d)    an Energy Policy that is neither energetic, nor a Policy;
e)     a Federal Tax Code that is fast putting all of us in an early grave;
f)      a National History of becoming embroiled in Wars and “Conflicts” since the day we declared Independence;
g)    a division of Church and State that isn’t;
h)    an Environmental Policy that keeps increasing our Carbon Footprint;
i)       and, especially, a Government that is no longer for the People, of the People, and by the People.
When you dissect and examine these, and other, sectors of our life, you soon draw the rational conclusion that “We The Peeps” are the root cause of all our woes. Why, you may ask?
   Well, let’s take a look at the “food chain”, here. A scant two hundred plus years ago we opted for a representative style government, and we went to war to achieve this lofty goal. So far, so good.
   We went about electing folks to represent the populace in a centralized body in our Capitol; The National Congress took shape as the one governing body that “We The Peeps” could rely on to do our bidding. Again, so far, so good.
   We had a few hurdles to get over; we smoothed things out; and, low and behold, along came the Industrial Revolution. We embraced that Era and all the promises of a brighter future. At the same time, we still had a little of the “rebel” in us, and we were able to quickly create a synergy between our proven ability to wage war and our new found prowess at manufacturing things. Here is where the games began!
   While we were sleeping, the Military-Industrial Complex was born. After honing these skills for half a century which included two World Wars, Dwight David Eisenhower, General and President, warned the Nation to beware of this Military-Industrial Complex. No one listened, did they? Do you find it just a little strange that, since President Eisenhower’s warning, the Congress of the United States has not formally declared war on anyone, anywhere, anyhow! I won’t get into the math on how many times our Armed Forces men and women have been placed in combat situations; let’s just say, “It’s a bigger number than any of us wants to realize.”
   This digression brings us back to the present, and begs us to look skeptically at the direction our Country is taking. The more I read, the more I am discovering that most of us are not very happy with this current direction. And, of course, there are some of us who simply bury their heads in the sand and don’t care. If you’ve read this far, you probably have surmised that I am not one with my head in the sand; okay, it may be somewhere else, but its definitely not in the sand! We still have the basic structure of a representative government; the same one our fore-daddies fought for and won.

BODY OF EVIDENCE
   The one, single most important event that has most folks worried is the overwhelming strangle-hold that big business has on our “elected officials”. No Bill makes it out of the Congress until big business Lobbyists have combed through and rewritten them in their favor. The argument is always that no one in Congress could possibly understand the private sector complexities when it comes to authoring legislation pertaining to those very same big businesses.

THE DOCTRINE
   As part of an overall strategy to cure the ills of our Socio-Political-Economical situation, the first step should be to clean up the current abuses of power in our Federal Legislative Branch. The co-dependency of Congress and the Business Lobbies must be drastically restructured. There are folks in this Country who are willing and able to represent us. These are the folks we need to vote for, regardless of Party affiliation.
    Secondly, after the Lobby conflict is cleaned up, all branches of the Government will need to undergo an outside Audit. This auditing can be done by creating total autonomy for the Inspector General’s Office. This was the intent of this office in the first place.
   Thirdly, implementation of the Audit findings will not be open to interpretation. Other than minor “tweaking” for expedience, there will be no further interference toward implementation. As in, “It will be done, now!”
   The final step to reclaiming our representative government is to act responsibly at the ballot box. We are all intelligent, fully functioning human beings who can decide what side of any issue we’re on. We all have the ability to converse and discuss these issues calmly, coherently, and rationally. If, and only if, we find these folks and elect them to represent us, will we regain our Government as one of the Peeps, by the Peeps, and for the Peeps.

POST OP
With some thought and perseverance, we should be able to come up with a “doable” National Wish List. The existence of a viable third political party will certainly help return power to the Peeps. With our National “head” screwed on properly, we can realize the future we all dream of.