Anyone who thinks I’m too “negative” or too critical of Republicans should buy and read Glenn Beck’s book “Common Sense.” Beck is the New York Times bestselling author and the host of a TV and nationally syndicated radio show.
The book is short – always a good thing for busy people who are not as much in the habit of reading as they’d like to be. Beck’s words run for only about 110 pages, and then what follows is the text of Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense,” published in January 1776. Paine’s words only run about 52 pages.
There is debate about how much impact Paine’s work had during that historic year, and there is even disagreement among the founders regarding parts of Paine’s approach. But as one source notes –
“Paine’s great contribution was in initiating a public debate about independence, which had previously been rather muted.”
Two hundred and thirty-three years later you can no longer say the public debate in America is muted. The “TEA (Taxed Enough Already) Parties” and now the August congressional town halls regarding proposed changes to our health care system have shown an awakened electorate.
Both political parties are the target of those citizens entering the political fray – and rightfully so. The George Bush/Dennis Hastert years were spent in such a way as to ignore deficits and their own party’s platform. Despite having plenty of time, they failed to enact the right kind of health care reform.
The Democrats have now stepped on the accelerator heading in exactly the wrong direct on taxes, spending, and with their proposed federal take-over of the world’s best health care system.
Like the TEA Party protesters and the attendees of August town halls, Glenn Beck has also been bipartisan in his criticism of our political leadership. Long time readers will remember that my colleagues and I spear-headed the “None of the Above” campaign during the 2006 Illinois governor’s race which posed Rod Blagojevich v. Judy Baar Topinka.
You can search our archives to learn more about why we saw Topinka’s potential governorship as the death-knell of a genuine Republican Party in Illinois. She is a social liberal and was the candidate in the race which would have raised the income tax. Democrat Blagojevich was against an income tax increase – but we all knew he had a boatload of other problems.
As I said – Glenn Beck is rightfully hard hitting on the failures of both political parties. Here are a few examples of what he writes in “Common Sense” about those we’ve been electing:
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“For too long we have ignored, enabled, or embraced the flawed character of those we’ve selected to protect and defend our Constitution.”
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“Both parties have betrayed our founding principles and we have lost sight of the fact that the only side that matters is the one in step with the principles of the Republic.”
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“Today [our political leaders] purchase votes and campaign cash by boasting about the pork they’ve secured for their pet projects of the billions they’ve passed along to their powerful political allies.
With a few notable exceptions, our political leaders have become nothing more that parasites who feed off our sweat and blood.”
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You need to buy and read the book. It’s not expensive. As I write this, Amazon.com lists it for $6.59. It’s a paperback that runs less that 180 pages complete.
Glenn Beck don’t hold back. He says our leaders have looted the national treasury and pillaged our paychecks. And he even writes something that might sound familiar to JohnBiver.com readers when he refers to their behavior as “borderline treasonous.”
Three times in the past year – last September, last November and last January – I said the very same thing about our political leaders (here, here and here).
I’ll continue on this topic tomorrow.
