Five Stages

Political reality seems like an oxymoron. If you think about it, though, it is not such a strange construct. Politicians create their own reality….far from what the rest of us must live. For years I have been an outlier regarding the political class of our nation, states and locales. It’s true that I served in the state legislature back in the ‘80’s, and my experience then plus my observations since have transformed me into a harsh critic of government, elected officials and the bureaucracy.

Despite my frustration and discontent, I did not begin to express my despair with others until 2009. The loosely formed reformists known as the “Tea Party movement” provided an outlet for me to share my perceptions. As a long-time partisan activist, I believed that I had much to share with many who were becoming politically active for the first time in their lives. The challenge is somewhat of a balancing act between sharing cynical political tips that would cause the new people to parrot the career politicians, and giving enough strategic, tactical and communication help to assist their becoming an effective electoral force.

There are five stages in current political involvement that I have identified. There may be more, but I’m rather simplistic and insensitive, thus I tend to overlook subtlety. Just as sobriety may include Twelve Steps and grief has its recognizable stages so does political activism. The Charlie Earl taxonomy for political development begins with Hope, then Surprise, followed by Disbelief, succeeded by Dismay and concluding with either Withdrawal or Frothing Anger.

“Hope springs eternal in the human breast” wrote Alexander Pope, and his observation was general but has direct application to the person who launches into political activity. Our individual egos cause us to believe that our investments of time, talent and funds will make a difference. Some little voice deep within us convinces us that our personal involvement may trigger the tipping point. As we gather together with others who share our dreams for re-establishing the Republic as the Framers designed it, we enjoy palpable energy and power as we unite to reach our goals. After meeting several candidates who tell us that they are totally committed to our viewpoints, we trudge the streets, make the phone calls and campaign furiously for their success.

Once our victorious anointed candidate assumes office we relish the feeling of satisfaction we have because we have done our part to elect a true reformer. Until….that first vote that supports a clearly unconstitutional position. True, it was a vote that the leadership lobbied for, but we believed that OUR committed candidate would hold fast. Our shock became surprise that he had so quickly and so cavalierly discarded those principles that he claimed to share with us. We rationalize it by giving him a pass because he’s a “rookie” in that particular office while deep within we know that he has held other offices before. He is no rookie. He is a career politician.

A short time later our golden boy casts another vote that contradicts the Constitution and declares that he did so “for the good of the country.” That gnawing feeling in the pit of our stomachs following the first vote has exploded into heartburn as we watch in stunned disbelief. OUR candidate does not represent us….except for a few minor votes of no importance. OUR candidate is a big-government statist with an “I-know-best” elitist attitude. He’s the same nice fellow that appeared at our meeting. He has the same smile and friendly attitude he had when out leaders endorsed him. He apparently does NOT have a clear vision of constitutional principles. He is a career politician.

As the legislative session moves on, our “representative” casts several critical votes that increase the size of government, adds additional spending or causes taxes to be higher. Our disbelief morphs into dismay as OUR representative rationalizes each and every irresponsible vote and implies that ‘we the people” do not have the necessary information for such critical decisions. We do know, however, what insolvency is. We do know, however, what large over regulating government is. We do know, however, what business-killing taxation is. We now know what a career politician is.

Now we arrive at the critical junction for a new political activist. One path is strewn with frustration and disillusionment. The newly aware political activist stops attending meetings and rallies. She no longer volunteers for membership drives, issue education forums or candidate assistance. The news from the internet and the television sickens her, and she chooses not to engage in political discussions. The other path is adorned with flaming bushes and cacti. Her anger fuels her energy as she dives into the fray with greater and more forceful resolve than before. She becomes “Wonder Woman for Liberty” and battles every incremental advance of the statist agenda. The wise person joins her, and the fool resists her. In her hands, in her heart lies the future of the Republic. She may not succeed, but she will be a determined advocate for freedom. Clearly the deck is stacked against freedom. The time has come for new cards.

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The Oath of Faith

·         The Oath of Allegiance:

"I hereby declare, on oath,

that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen;

that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same;

that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law;

that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law;

that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God."

One of my fondest memories surrounding a formal occasion is from the Naturalization Ceremony held at Monticello near Charlottesville, Virginia on July 4^th, 1976. President Gerald R. Ford administered the “Oath of Allegiance” to nearly two dozen people who wished to be citizens of the United States of America. It was a thrill to witness an event so inspiring on the Second Centennial Anniversary of the “Declaration of Independence” at Thomas Jefferson’s home. Later that afternoon my little family and I stood curbside on a street in Charlottesville watching a parade which featured Queen Elizabeth as the honoree. It has been more than 35 years since that memorable day. My two children are adults with children of their own, but I continue to recall many aspects of that day. Pomp and ceremonies however are not enough to preserve the essence of a nation. The country those new citizens pledged to support and defend no longer exists.

The new citizens lived in various lands around the globe, but they knew about America. Perhaps a family member had preceded them to our land, or they watched and read the news for their impressions of our country. Maybe the rumors and gossip that floated through their villages, town and cities filled them with hope and a dream for freedom and opportunity. They found a way to come here. After several years of laboring and studying they took the test and swore the oath to bear true faith and allegiance to the United States of America.....their NEW country that they chose.

When they left their native lands, they stepped out on faith. They chose to pursue freedom and opportunity. They tore up their roots and followed their dreams for liberty. A few years after that 1976 ceremony President Reagan described America as a “shining city on a hill.” He described a place where the glowing embers of liberty could be nourished to become the fires of freedom. It is so different now. The government that the Constitution of the United States brought forth has become a dangerous threat to our liberty and an enemy of our personal prosperity. The shining hill described by President Reagan has been perverted and converted to a new Mount Olympus for the political elites and their favored friends.

In theological circles when someone distorts the faith, we call it heresy. When self-serving career politicians, their corporatist sycophants, and statist fellow travelers twist their oaths of office and their constitutional obligations to their own benefit and power, we must call that treason and corruption. Neither God Almighty nor the Constitution of the United States invests them with the power or the authority to micro-manage my life....or yours.

The elitists who believe that they know more than we do about how our lives should be lived are corrupt and flat out wrong. Our liberty has been submerged beneath a tide of too-big government, and our freedom is drowning in a sea of regulation and legislation. Because of their oppressive meddling, our nation is at the brink of collapse. Because of their insistence that they know best, we are struggling to survive. Because of their cupidity and our stupidity, we may have squandered our chance for that shining city on the hill.

Thirty-five years ago a young man, his young wife, their six-year-old daughter and their infant son observed a monarch from a nation from which our country declared its independence two hundred years earlier. The majesty and power of her throne and her country has dwindled over the centuries to become little more than a memory. I pray that my children and grandchildren can someday stand on a curbside in an American city and witness the formerly powerful symbols of those who have stolen the dream. Maybe I should say....those who have mortgaged the dream. The faith and hope of those new citizens from 1976 must be restored again. The shining city on the hill must glow again. Liberty and freedom must rule again.

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Heads or Tails: redux

It’s time to pick a topic

For “Littlestuff” today

Too many to choose from

So much I want to say.

My favored two take a look

at attitudes and thought.

Just a little philosophical

‘bout answers that I’ve sought.

One way for me to carry on

is to view the growing mind.

The “seat of the pants” path

to knowing is another kind.

Knowledge and instinct

are vying for my attention.

Which one offers a better path

for catastrophe prevention?

So, shall it be mind or seat?

The answer cannot fail.

My mind and instinct have combined

To flip for head or tail.

Should I write a pithy piece

About our current bubble,

Or should I write of our history

And how we’re now in trouble?

Address the nation’s economy,

And how it’s gone to pot?

Or moan about the politicians

Who are such a sorry lot.

Our federal energy policy

Is based on stuff renewed.

It is not yet truly feasible

So  people are getting screwed.

The bureaucrats are stopping

The search for oil and gas.

Raising costs for consumers

while being a pain in the ____.

What is big government

But misery and grief.

The Tea Parties have united

To win us some relief.

If they should falter

While Big Brother grows bigger.

I’ll have to seek another route

For securing liberty, I figger.

I may fight for my freedom

‘till they put me in jail.

But even if they do it,

My faith will be my bail.

Government has grown too big.

It’s now much too large.

Keeps growing automatically,

With no one who’s in charge.

I’ve found a worthy topic

To write about today.

It’s our loss of liberty,

and our nation gone astray.

It truly saddens me

To ponder on this thought:

The people have failed themselves.

See what we have wrought.

Maybe there’s still hope,

A flicker or a glimmer,

But the longer time goes on,

It’s becoming oh so slimmer.

The fight cannot stop,

Freedom must prevail.

We must not drop the ball today.

We simply must not fail.

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Dreams

Before the apocryphal ham sandwich did her in, Mama Cass Elliot was best known as the lead singer of the Mama’s and the Papa’s. A number of their songs had a dreaming theme that seemed to translate well into chart success. One of my all time favorite tunes was one sung by the Everly Brothers called “All I have to do is Dream.” Dreeeeeam, Dream, dream, dream… dream, dreeeeeam. Perhaps I’m the only one who notices such things, but dreams and dreaming appear to be popular concepts in America. We have the greatest and most prosperous lifestyle in the history of the human race, yet we dream…and dream…and dream. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. electrified the nation with a speech while standing in front of the Lincoln Memorial. He spoke of the dreams of a people who yearned for freedom, who sought to shed the heavy yoke of oppression.


For people who came to America voluntarily, or were transported here in shackles, or were born to the promise of liberty and freedom, the dream has persisted. For some, the dream for freedom has been a consuming passion that defined their lives, and for others it has been a smoldering awareness that must be fanned and nourished. Does the dream still live? Has our understanding of the innate desire for freedom been suppressed by prosperity and indifference? Have our dreams been replaced by fears…will I have a job tomorrow, am I prepared for the inevitable economic chaos that is just over the horizon?
Dreaming glorious dreams is difficult when one struggles to survive, and whatever glimmer of dreams we possess are suppressed by day to day considerations and uncertainty.

If our nation is to achieve what the Founders hoped for…if we are to become the manifestation of their dreams and their sacrifices, then we must begin dreaming again. We must not; we can not allow the political class and the elites to steal our dreams. For the sake of our children, their children and generations unborn, and for our own self respect and dignity, we must recapture the momentum and begin to dream again. This is my dream for you, for us and for the United States of America.

Comment or email:  cnpearl@woh.rr.com

Wretched Masses.

They had a dream. Some of them sought to escape deadly persecution. Others left behind stagnant economies and failing nations. Many came to avoid famine and starvation. A few were seeking better educational opportunities, and once here, decided to stay. They came here for a variety of reasons, but they shared a common thread…freedom. Whether it was economic liberty, political freedom or just to experience the opportunity to make personal choices, they sought the fresh air of freedom. Ellis Island was a launching point for many. Their first steps in their new lives were on the sacred ground of that little patch of terra firma in the harbor. As they shuffled through the lines of others who were sharing their dreams, they basked in the shadow of Lady Liberty…a massive symbol of hope and new beginnings.


Although their eyes and their dreams were focused on the new land and their new lives, for many their hearts were still captive in the homes that they left behind. Communities, cousins, friends and perhaps siblings, parents or even spouses and children were there waiting, anticipating the letter from the new land that would change their lives too. The dreams of the travelers drove them forward, but their love and their hearts looked back. They continued to long for the land that they had abandoned, but cherished the hope and promise of their new location. Those who were the first of their families to arrive often had to take menial employment merely to survive. As their families joined or were born to them, they taught their offspring about the amazing opportunities available to them in this amazing nation.

The second generation of immigrants used the experience of their parents to vault forward into property ownership and small business success. They maintained the work ethic of their parents and added the benefit of being truly American in their attitudes and preferences. On occasion their thoughts would linger on the land of their parents, but they thought of themselves as Americans. They prospered and sent their children to college. After graduating, some of the third generation returned to the family enterprises while others scattered throughout the country. They married people who did not grow up in the old neighborhood, and the ties to the “old country” were weakened.

More than 17 million people trudged through the processing queues on the island. In many cases the generational changes in the family structure mirror those we have described here. Liberty and freedom…possess a magnetic attraction that draw people from the world, away from kith and kin, to a new land…a land where dreams can come true. Today, those dreams, the yearnings for freedom are endangered. The government that seems to grow exponentially is suffocating the dreamer’s hopes. In the old countries a serf remained a serf. A cobbler and his heirs would always be cobblers. Here and now the state becomes increasingly intrusive into our daily lives. What can we become? What have we become? What is to become of us? Will we see the vision and take the risk that those first generation immigrants did? Do we have the courage to help this nation return to its roots? Do we? Really, do you?

Comment or email: cnpearl@woh.rr.com