The Saga Continues

As the ditch returns

Or was it ever gone? On Sunday June 13, 2010 a posting in this blog was titled "The Ditch". It was first written as a letter to one of our newspapers shortly after the election in 2006 and updated by adding these words "and the debacle of 2008" when it was posted in our blog. We thought, after the election of 2010, that there was a slim chance a change was coming to Washington. There was, but has it been the right kind of change? That letter - blog posting is re-printed below.

"The Ditch

There are some who think it all began in 1994, the mid point of President Clinton's first term in office, when the Republican Party won control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate. This majority continued through the remainder of the Clinton Presidency and the first six years of President Bush's tenure, being a total of twelve years.

Let's, at this time, go back in history (as if there was any other way) to the Maccabean period (135 to 105 BC), to the beginning of the Pharisee party as opposed to the Sadduces. The Pharasees, meaning "The seperated ones" could properly be spoken of as seperating themselves from the King, the Sadduces, all sorts of impurities and the people of the land. They believed in the Messiah, the Resurection, Angels, Demons and so forth. This, because of its affiliation with the much malined Religious Right, sounds somewhat like our modern day Republican Party.

Even after the loss, by the Republicans, in 2006 of both Houses of Congress and the debacle in 2008, there are many who seem to have no idea what the problem was or how to right it which brings to mind a verse in the Bible where the Disciples came to Jesus and said, "Know Thou that the Pharisees were offended by this saying" and Jesus answered and said, "Let them alone, they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall in the ditch".
Can anyone disagree with the premise that, at least, the National Republican Party has fallen into a very deep ditch. Too long in power, so it seems, had transformed very large egos into bright and shiny objects which appears to have blinded some to reality. Can it be overcome? For some, maybe, but for others who have been there for decades it is doubtful.

Lest anyone should foolishly believe that the Democrat Party has been immune to the allure of this malady, there is more than enough evidence to convict many of them of that same egotistical mind-set. The concept that we, as voters, can vote for and elect politicians solely on the promise of being rewarded from the public treasury is slowly but surely rearing its ugly head.

This monster, being a blight on civilization, must be exterminated down to and including its roots. How can we, as a civilized and orderly people, attack this growing malignancy which threatens the very heart and soul of our United States of America?
How can we get off this slippery slope which is surely taking us closer and closer to our own destruction? One way would be an attempt to impose term limits of no more than two terms for any member of the House of Representatives or the Senate, be it in Washington or our own State Catitols. But if we plan to wait for our elected officials to enact such laws then we had better not hold our breath.
Another way might be for the Electorate to refuse to vote for anyone running for a third term. Again, don't hold your breath. I'm sure you've heard it said, "you can vote out your rascal but I want to keep mine". That's exactly the kind of thinking that our elected officials are counting on.

Do you remember the story in the book of Daniel, where he read the handwriting on the wall? It was: Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin and this is the interpretation of the thing: Mene; God hath numbered thy kingdom and finished it, Tekel; Thou art weighed in the balance and found wanting. Peres; Thy kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians. In that night was Belshazzar the King of the Chaldeans slain".

Do you see the handwriting on the wall? More importantly, is there a Daniel in the house? Please think about it. Thanks, William"

That letter was written more than four years ago about what we, here on the hill, thought was a bad situation at that time. We don't believe things have changed for the better. Do you? Thanks for your time and input, stay tuned. - William