I declined the opportunity to watch the
annual State of the Union message because it’s my belief that it has become a
political event that allows the President to strut and posture his ego before a
large and captive audience. As a report to the people and as a governmental policy
statement it has become a useless moment in time strictly because is neither
reports to the people (the owners of this Republic) or offers an accounting of
any governmental activity. Instead of watching the event I spent that evening in
amateur radio, listening to people connect and relate around the globe and
never once bringing politics into the conversation. It was a refreshing way to
spend an evening.
By design, people I work and relate with
occupy a wide range of political and social opinions and conversations with
them can be active and informative and I learn more by considering their
opinions than I do reading about and listening to political creatures and their
party positions. Lately even my liberal
friends are expressing doubtful thoughts about the direction politics and party
in power are taking the country. For the most part their concerns are that the
branches of government are no longer operating as the Founders wished and that
the President seems to feel that it is in his interest to run the country by
executive action rather than working with the Legislative Branch. In the past 4
years he has issued about 1,000 Presidential Orders that seriously impact on
each and every one of us. In contrast the most any previous President seems to
have issued is less than 90 such orders over an 8 year period.
I do know that the plethora of executive
orders is having a large impact on individual activity and the future direction
of the country and my present wish is that the next President starts his
administration by cancelling all executive orders issued by his predecessor. In
the meantime we should all be aware of the content and scope of the orders that
the President is so freely issuing. Interestingly enough the White House is
still required to list those orders and a simple Internet search can provide
you with reams of reading material. Material that the media seems to think we
are too dumb to comprehend or to disinterested to be concerned about.
In theory we are still a republic and as
such each of us has a vested interest in the conduct and future of our country…it
will make us better citizens if we individually kept an informed eye on the
antics of those we have elected.
