We Need to Elect Best Person; Regardless of Party

To The Editor:
Like the famous Boston Tea Party of 1773 which lead directly to our revolution against British rule in 1776, there are direct parallels in the January special election in Massachusetts in which an unusual coalition of political conservatives, tea partiers, moderates and independents banded together to fill the one senate seat that was thought to be safe, a seat that Ted Kennedy held for 47 years.
The victory was unusual because the concerns of those four disparate groups were considered to be so at odds with each other that they could never coalesce around a single issue or set of issues. Now that myth has been shattered and with it the inevitability of the Democrats’ plans to socialize three major parts of our society: health care, education and energy.
In their one year in office they have also managed to destroy our economy by passing legislation that, if left unchanged, will add trillions to our national debt.
As a candidate, Mr. Obama promised that he would make health care reform the top priority of his administration. Once elected, he moved quickly to capitalize on his majority in both houses of Congress. By a series of seldom used parliamentary rules and refusing to consider even the most moderate of Republican proposals, the Democratic leaders drafted an incomprehensible bill that would have made the government the manager and final arbiter of all aspects of our health care system from cradle to grave. All at a cost estimated to be in excess of $1 trillion.
It was just that arrogance that gave the coalition the single issue that mattered most to all of them. They decided that, like those Bostonians who threw the bales of tea in Boston Harbor, they would jettison all hopes for the Democrats’ overreaching, socialist agenda by supporting Republican candidate Scott Brown. His victory is even more remarkable when you consider that it was moderates and independents that helped elect Obama with a margin of 26 points in Massachusetts. Now, those groups have been lost.
When a politician squanders that kind of support in one year, something is definitely wrong with either the message or the messenger; in this case it was both. It was as though the voters put into practice Lyndon Johnson’s story of the Texas farmer who always carried a “2 x 4” when he plowed his field. When asked what purpose it served, the farmer replied, “Sometimes my mule just stops and refuses to go on. When he does, I hit him square in the head with it to get his attention.”
Now that we have the attention of all those politicians, I suggest that we use our power judiciously. One-third of the Senate and all 435 members of the House will be on the ballot in November. If you don’t think he or she represents your best interest, vote them out. Give someone else a chance.
When our Founding Fathers ratified the Constitution they never envisioned a political ruling class that stayed in office for years. By staggering the terms of office to two and six years, they assumed that there would be a healthy, steady turnover of citizens who were anxious to go to Washington and do their civic duty.
The people of Massachusetts have shown us the way to take back the country from politicians who have slowly but steadily put our economy and nation on a path to financial ruin. Now we need to elect the best person to the office regardless of party affiliation.
GERALD F. STAHLECKER
Seaville