Memorial Day 2012

Please take a few moments this Memorial Day holiday to consider that instead of being the ‘official’ start to the summer season, and forgetting about the holiday sales event at the mall, Monday is the day we should remember the ultimate sacrifice made by our fellow citizens to insure we as a people and a nation would endure and that we would forever remain free.

We will return next week.

The Madison Conservative Platform - part 1

The primary act required of a citizen in a democracy is to vote, to have their voice heard; to partcipate. The Greeks, who had a particular affinity for democratic self rule, had a term for someone who voluntarily excused themselves from their primary civil duty, who kept themselves separate and apart from the responsibilities of citizenship: ’idios’.

The English term ‘idiot’ is derived from this word.

One who does not vote, therefore, could easily and fairly be called an idiot.

The issue today, however, is that the entrenched  incumbent holders of temporary political power, with the conspiratorial help and often at the behest of their financial backers,  have so warped the sanctity of the vote that many may be forgiven for opting out of electoral politics, the potential for conscious idiocy notwithstanding. There seems today to be little, if any, recognition or outrage that democracy must never be for sale to the highest bidder, as if it were just another commodity to be bought, sold and traded. The lesson needs to be learned by the body politic that the American people will not tolerate such conduct at the price of their freedom and the freedom for her  posterity.

Therefore, the first plank of the Madison Conservative platform will address the current absurdities and corruption of the electoral process on the federal level by the infusion of unregulated and unnamed sources of campaign financing.

The recent Supreme Court decision in what is being called the “Citizens United” case in essence  gave voter status to all entities to promote whatever political candidate or cause they chose without falling under the current, albeit shameful, guidelines in place for specific campaigns. This has allowed the creation of amorphous entities and of so-called ‘super-pacs’ that allow candidates full deniability on the substance of any super-pac ads.  The sheer stupidity of this process should outrage the electorate.

To address this particular issue, we propose a constitutional amendment. This process is not taken lightly, but given the Supreme Court’s decision, it must me done and done by a majority of the state houses; Congress will clearly bury this even before the proposal is fully written. The constitution allows that the states may amend our governing document on their own, given a three-fourths majority approve of the amendment.

The proposed amendment would be written, in its entirety, as follows:

“Any person who by law cannot cast a vote for any federal elective office may not provide any financial support for any federal elective campaign.  Any person who by law can cast a vote for any federal elective office may contribute whatever financial resources they deem appropriate for any federal campaign. All monies donated to any elective campaign must be disclosed as per the laws Congress shall mandate.”

These specific sixty-eight words would restore true electoral democracy to the American people. This amendment would remove nebulous ‘super-pacs’, unions, corporations and all non human influences from the political landscape.

It addresses the fact that the Supreme Court has ruled that money is equivalent to speech but would remove the ability for any organization to corrupt the process without definitive accountability.

A Change in Purpose

Throughout its short existence, The Madison Conservative has endeavored to bring a clarifying voice to the public discourse by attempting to provide a more constitutionally based perspective on issues of consequence to the long term prospects for America. We have avoided delving deep into the minutiae of what could be best described as passing fads of the body politic.

The depth of ignorance and outright stupidity exemplified by the full spectrum of our elected officials and their accompanying media flacks has been particularly outrageous this week, and so The Madison Conservative has opted to now use this blog, through the presidential election in November, to present a platform of policies we believe will address the fundamental issues facing this nation and her posterity. This decision was not arrived at easily, but the lack of intelligent discourse mandates that a constitutional voice be heard.

We will avoid those issues that fall under the generic umbrella of ‘social issues’.

The reasons are two-fold.

First, such social issues are best debated and resolved at a more local level and as such should never fall under the auspices of the federal government. The founders and the framers limited the power of the federal government for a reason; please note the tenth amendment to the United States Constitution.

Second, most of the ‘social issues’ more often than not are associated with the aforementioned ‘political fads’ and do not need any manner of intelligent clarification. Participants of all political stripes will raise a hue and cry on such issues, hoping to do little more than deflect attention from the true national concerns.

To wit:

The road show carnival that was the obsession of the media this week is a perfect example of a ‘political fad’ that should return the discourse back to within each given state.

President Obama this week stated it was his PERSONAL opinion that gay folks should be allowed to marry. Given that this is not a dictatorship, the personal opinions of a president upon public policy amount to nothing. There was absolutely no change in regards to same sex marriage anywhere in this nation given the presidents’ remarks.

The media labeled his comments as ‘historic’ and ‘enlightened’, given that he had ‘evolved’ on the subject.

This is not a serious dialogue. There was not one explanation of what exactly ‘evolved’ meant. The use and acceptance by the public at large of insipid language is an ever increasing threat to the body politic.

The media, of all political persuasions, heralded that the polling showed that an overwhelming majority of the American people, more than 60% we were told, agreed with the President’s opinion.

The fact, however, is that thirty two of the fifty states have had ballot initiatives offering their populace the right to vote on the issue of same-sex marriage. Simple math shows then that 64 percent of the nation has voted AGAINST same sex marriage.

{ N.B. – the issue of same-sex marriage is of great concern for public policy, but it must be debated at the state level – for that reason we will not discuss it here, save for the instance it becomes a national question}

Or in clearer terms, every time the issue has been put on a ballot for the electorate to decide the issue for their respective states, it has met with defeat.

So when the American people have had a voice on the subject, ONE HUNDRED percent of the time the issue has been refuted by the ‘unenlightened’ and apparently ‘un- evolved’ electorate.

The reality that these facts have not been clearly presented is the true impetus for the Madison Conservative to decide to present its platform, with firm constitutional rationale and reasoning behind the decisions made for the construct of the platform.

This nation has always worked best when there has been a chorus of intelligent dialogue, and the Madison Conservative will strive to be a strong voice within that choir.

The Forgotten Issue In Foreign Policy

The 2012 presidential campaign has now begun in earnest and the accompanying nonsensical charges have begun flying between the two principle candidates and their respective media flacks and political cronies.

The recent events surrounding the so called “blind dissident” in China should give all Americans pause and concern as the 2012 political theater traveling carnival show winds its way through America towards November.

It should be of concern to the American electorate, however, that the Republican Party seems to be ignoring what was once a fundamental political tenet.

To wit:

The criticisms of an incumbent administration stop at our shores; politicians used to stress that as a nation we spoke with a unified voice to the rest of the world.

It was akin to the popular commentary that ‘I can call him a bum, but don’t you dare try”.

The present day belief that it is more important to score nonsensical political points at the expense of the national good can be tracked back to the post 9/11 criticisms of President George W. Bush. In a cynical attempt to deflect the obvious cowardice of the Clinton administration in the aftermath of the al Qaeda attack on the active duty U.S.S.Cole, the despicable attacks began in earnest against President Bush, attempting to foist responsibility for missing the potential of the 9/11 attacks on the basis of of a briefing given the month prior.

Put aside the fact, again, that if one attacks and murders active duty military personnel serving aboard an active duty military vessel such action is as clear an act of war as is possible, the attempt to capitalize upon such actions for political advantage borders past the obscene and come dangerously close to treason.

The President of the United States is President of all the people and has access to information that those not in the office of the president  do not, and to attempt to comment on particular acts of foreign policy is an ignorant act. The Republican Party should and must explain their belief on the construct of a foreign policy, but that debate must end at criticizing that for which they by need and definition, do not have access.

The debate must be engendered, but must be done so intelligently. Those abroad who wish to do us harm to not see our political discourse as only the political theater it actually is, but rather is perceived as a nation in disarray, a nation weak, and ripe for terror.

There must be checks and balances in democratic self-rule, and our elected officials must be made to explain their policies and decisions made in our name, but it must be done with proper respect for both the office and the man.

Consider this theoretical option should the Madison Conservative find itself in a presidential debate and a question of foreign policy was proffered:

“A Madison Conservative administration would not engage in any military action that would result in American forces being utilized for nation building of any sort; such actions should be the realm of the United Nations. The Madison Conservative would focus our primary financial resources to retiring all foreign held debt so that we would, as a nation, be unencumbered by having our foreign policies managed by foreign purse strings”. It addresses the issues without devolving into absurd ad hominum attacks that do nothing but embolden our enemies.

America must never find itself in the position of accepting cheap political theatrics as harmless.