IN DEFENSE OF COMMON SENSE
By Hetty Gray
November 7, 2020
# 283 “Backward Glance, Forward Chance?”
I know readers note that I have not posted a column on my website in an inordinately long time. The last was July 4th, and a month from today will be December 7th. Both dates conjure up the role of the military and the importance of the mettle of which Americans have been known since its founding. Even more rare is the fact that I file a column on a Sunday. However, considering my continuing prayers over the last three weeks, it seems logical.
It’s been about thirty years since I taught government at the collegiate level. Even then I recognized a gross lack of civics education among my students, the majority of which were juniors. Now that meant that it had been six years since any one of them had been in an eighth grade social studies class.
My foundation in American history and government was honed early on by Ray Beck at Thomas A. Hendricks Elementary school. He introduced us to the mechanics of elections and tried to impart the critical nature of how votes matter. Moreover, he told us that voters should expect performance from elected officials much as fans and coaches expect it from athletes.
I did my best to bring my college students up to speed. They were all old enough to vote, and some had done so. Sadly, most had not. They simply didn’t see the value in it. Apart from ignoring the precious right that Americans have, their ignorance of their responsibility in the process was glaring indeed.
One day, years earlier when teaching a high school senior government class, I had all the students pull of billfolds and purses and write their names on painter’s tape before dropping them in to a barrel at the front of the classroom. I beheld befuddled expressions and — to a person — one could envision a balloon enclosing a question mark above each head, just as one would see in a cartoon.
I was teaching how Congress was apportioned in the House of Representatives. If you have ever seen the mathematical equation that goes into that, you might be taken aback. It’s long and complicated.
I wrote out the equation and how it related to Indiana. Then I made a statement that really lit a fire under those teenagers. I asked them what they would think if I took a good percentage of their money and did precisely as I pleased with it, leaving them no input at all in how I spent it.
You can imagine the reaction. My point was that when an American does not vote, then he or she has no right to complain how the government sees fit to spend their money. It was interesting to hear their comments. Some had heard taxes discussed at home, but they hadn’t put it in the context of spending without any oversight.
Back to the campus. My junior students were ill-equipped to understand the basics of how elections work and the responsibility of being an informed voter. If you know anything about sheep, then you understand that they will follow the leader even it if over a cliff to sudden death. Blind allegiance to any group is just as bad — and extremely dangerous when applied to political affiliation.
I never espoused either major party, but I gave one warning that should be familiar to you. I told them that elected officials could serve interminably short of losing an election. As you know members of the U. S. House of Representatives stand for election every two years. The Senate has a six-year term, but not all U. S. Senators stand for election at the same time. Some governors serve for however many terms their states allow. Presidents serve for four years but are limited to two terms. The exception was a third term for Franklin Delano Roosevelt who led America during World War II. Since then, the law has changed. Now two terms are the maximum for the highest office in the land.
After explaining the ruminations of the election process, I gave them a warning. If I were to guess, some of them witnessed my description since 2016. What did I tell them?
You have less to fear from elected officials, even up to and including the presidency, than from the undergirding bureaucracy. People who work in that realm often serve for decades. My bottom line was, and is, that bureaucrats consider all elected officials — including the president — “part time help.” You see, they come and go. The bureaucracy, on the other hand, equates to President Ronald Reagan’s description of eternal life. He said that the closest thing to eternal life in America is a government program. Well, who do you think runs those programs?
We have shortchanged at least two generations of our students by not teaching them the amazing story of America and her founding. I shudder to think what those hardy, battle-ready patriots would think if they could witness what we see in America today.
Free and fair elections should be the hallmark of our country. Voter ID is only common sense. (Oh, I forgot Common Sense died and her children, logic and reason, are in critical condition!) The franchise is envied worldwide.
Do we value it so little that we refuse to enforce even the bare minimum of standards? Do we turn aside after seeing poll workers expel observers to one party (with cheers, by the way) and cover windows to block anyone’s view?
If we can put a rover on Mars, I maintain that we can standardize the voting procedures for the nation and put an end to voter fraud. Ah, yes. It is out there, throwing a dark, menacing shadow across the specter of Alexander Hamilton with tears in his eyes. All he fought for, all many of his fellow patriots died for, is taken so lightly as to make a joke of it. This not a game. This is the life and death of an entire nation.
What has happened to our news agencies in this country is a travesty. The only time you can witness a “free press” is if your local dry cleaner offers it as a special or a bonus for patronage.
The investigative reporter is an endangered species. He or she exists in a number of smaller forums, but — overall — the fourth estate has abandoned its role as arbiter of truth and adopted loyalty to a single political party.
How can we expect our young people to value the franchise if they do not even understand how it was purchased with blood and treasure of countless Americans?
I lay the blame for this pitiful lack of knowledge to educators and teachers’ unions who teach a vacuous form of history — a recitation lacking the energy and enthusiasm that imparts love of country. Yes, not only have many Americans no love of country, but they also have no love for their fellow man.
Pity the nation that goes down the path that lies before us. We open abortion clinics, liquor stores and gambling halls and close down churches. We allow doctors and nurses to kill babies within the womb — innocent souls, innocent people — who cannot defend themselves.
There are those among us who push for sanctuary cities and states where felons are protected and the public is put at risk. And open borders? How long do you think any form of government social programs will last when buried under unbelievable numbers of illegals?
What is most distressing is that had Americans been taught to love their country, respect its traditions, encouraged to adopt a strong work ethic and take voting seriously, the results would not even been close. It would have been a landslide for freedom of the individual and as little government involvement as absolutely necessary!
Moreover, this election was more than a choice between two men and two parties. This election was a clear choice between good and evil. This is a good country. Nobody can convince me otherwise. My grandmother taught me a great deal. One of her lessons shines yet today. Totty told me that the devil never comes ugly. No, he is bedecked in ribbons and flowers, offering all manner of rewards if you follow him.
Who know what the ongoing legal actions will bring. I think many of us have witnessed a great deal of chicanery with no punishment. We need to see change. We need a “sea change” to expose wrongdoing, punish the offenders and reward putting the country first. With regard to punishment, it’s not the severity of the punishment that it paramount, it’s the certainty of it.
To my chagrin, and that of untold numbers of Americans, he continues to recruit. A friend sent me a quote today, and in addition to one of Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, it is very germane.
It in from a time gone by, a time when one civilization led the world in knowledge, power, and military might.
Take heed and then think about what is happening in America today.
“Do not blame Caesar, blame the people of Rome who have so enthusiastically acclaimed and adores him and rejoiced in his path and given him triumphal processions… Blame the people who hail him when he speaks in the Forum of the “wonderful new good society” which shall now be Rome’s — interpreted to mean ‘more money, more easy, more security, and more living fatly at the expense of the industrious.”
Cicero
Reflect on this election. 2020 is supposed to mean “vision.” Think about it.