Accountability and Responsibility

Bill of Rights

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.


PJ O'Rourke has been credited with pointing out the United States Constitution, the rules that govern the greatest nation this earth has ever seen, is shorter than the owner's manual for a Toyota Camry. Which is a pretty witty and thought-provoking observation, if you think about it. It's very simple, very elegant, and a very wise solution to one of humanity's greatest conundrums: how do we hairless monkeys get along with each other, without killing each other, beating each other senseless, or stealing from each other.

The idea is pretty simple, severely restrict the powers and authorities of those we choose to implement this owner's manual over us. The separation of powers, where no single branch of government has absolute power, and each individual branch is policed by another. If the President gets out of line, Congress can force him to stand trial before the Supreme Court. If Congress exceeds it's authority, the Supreme Court can declare specific legislation as beyond the authority of Congress to issue. If the Supreme Court gets uppity, Congress can impeach specific Justices.

Other beautiful parts are the President's authority to veto legislation, which is counter balanced by the Congress' authority to over ride a veto. One of the most spectacular parts is the makeup of the Congress. Bicameral, two houses, one based on population, the other by state. I don't remember which Continental Congressman formally submitted that one, but credit for it's introduction into the conversation was given to Ben Franklin. At least by one of my history teachers in highschool. He used the metaphor of laying floorboards. If two won't fit, one can severely shorten one board or the other, or perhaps one can shave a little off both ends. What a guy! And he made 'coon skin caps a fashion trend in Paris. Take that Chirac!

But for all it's beauty and elegance, the US Constitution has its flaws. It must. It was created by men, and men are imperfect beings, so ergo, it is imperfect. For it to work properly requires the vigilance of not only the separate branches policing each other, but also American citizens policing their government. And for as long as I can remember, neither the government nor the people have been doing their job. Which brings us to today's topic: lobbying.

There is nothing inherently wrong with lobbying the government. Its a constitutionally guaranteed right "...to petition the government for a redress of grievances." That is, we can't make them vote the way we want, but they can't shut us up either. I don't have much sympathy for the current crop of anti-war protestors, they seem more interested in headlines and soundbytes than accomplishing anything, but I would never trade my right to petition my government for the image of Michael Moore drowning in a sea of Slim-Fast. It just ain't worth it.

So how did the right to petition my government turn into the current round of payoffs, bribes, and general sleaziness? That's simple. Follow the money. It's always about power, and in this country, money is power. Don't believe me? Ask OJ.

Amazingly, this entire sordid affair could be cleaned up completely and for all time, by a simple return to that priceless of all documents, the US Constitution. The founding father's knew all too well that power corrupts, which is why the primary goal of the US Constitution is to limit the powers of the Federal government. The less power they have over us, the less temptation to use and abuse it. The Constitution specifically spells out what the Federal government can do, then goes one more magnificent step and clearly states that is all they can do. Nothing more. Zero. Nada. Zilch. Null.

Amendment X

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.

So if the Federal government is strictly prohibited by the Constitution, why do they dabble in farm subsidies, welfare, social security, and just about every other aspect of our lives? Once again, money. We the people all believe our representatives aren't too bad, it's all the others that are the problem. We like our representatives, because they bring home the bacon. Having granted themselves the right to take, at will, anything they want from us, we insist they bring as much of it as possible back home.

We can scream, cry, holler, yell and throw all the tantrums we want about how the three branches are shirking their Constitutional duty to police each other, but that part of the deal is out of our hands. The other part of the deal, however, is. We the people holding our government accountable to us at the ballot box is our job. And we haven't been doing a very good job of it. We willingly court the Federal government like a cheap whore, as long as, at the end of the day, they bring home the bacon. But in the end, the crumbs we get from them in one hand, is all that's left of the loaves of bread they've taken with the other. We have no one to blame but ourselves for allowing this to occur. It's not only our right, it's our duty. Remember that next time you go to the ballot box.

It's our duty.

Tommy! BluePages QuickSearch

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