The Simplicity of Governance

We have all been taught that governance is a “civic” duty performed by well-intentioned individuals that stand in place for the electorate. On a federal level, we codified the means of governance in our founding documents. The principles contained therein were debated over many days in Philadelphia during a very hot summer in 1787, with NO AIR CONDITIONING! Can you even imagine that?

Our elected leaders swear fealty to the principles contained in our founding documents. In addition to the U.S. Constitution, the Declaration of Independence forms a framework for federal governance.

What should be a simple template of principles has become a vast nightmare of abomination and obstruction. But there is one thing present to make all things right and that is a free election. We are free to choose whomever we wish to perform the governance that we ordain by our acceptance of the Constitution. But is that enough?

As an educated voter, we have a responsibility to make sure that those vying for our vote are true to the principles that we expect them to follow. The only way to determine that is through both word AND deed. Those two things cannot be separated. Our vote should never be based on word only, because human history has shown us that words alone can mislead. It is only when those words are compared to a candidate’s deeds that we can understand his or her true fealty to our principles of governance.

We are now seeing the results of voting on the basis of words and not deeds. Barack Obama has not exhibited an acceptance of our principles of governance in his deeds. He has exhibited quite the opposite by ignoring a number of basic principles laid out in our founding documents. The list of transgressions are numerous and I will not attempt to go into all of those in this post.

Suffice it to say that we must make sure that the next election is about both words AND deeds. Governance is not the same as legislating. Writing the US Constitution was one thing. Governing by its principles was another. We need someone that has shown the ability to govern with our agreed-to principles in mind. To date, I can only think of a handful of individuals that have governed in a way that is true to the principles of our Constitution. Amongst this handful of individuals stands Sarah Palin. She has already demonstrated the willingness to govern based on the principles of our founding.

As a litmus test, experience and deeds are HUGE in deciding who should be the next President of the United States. Never again should we base our vote on only words, because Barack Obama has shown us that his words do not translate into deeds that demonstrate fealty to our governing principles.

Cross-posted on Roderic Deane