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Truck Safety, Anthony Weiner, and The Wisdom of James Madison
In what could be considered a laudable effort, the Department of Transportation is conducting a full court press on commercial vehicle traffic this week. Weigh stations will be open 24/7, and there will be citations, warnings, and jelly-filled doughnuts all around. Officers will be checking the thickness of brake pads, tire tread depth, hoses will be checked for cracks or leaks, and drivers will be checked for log violations, hazmat certification, health cards, and excessive body odor. I’m just kidding about that. Not all drivers are required to have hazmat certification. Although, since they raised the price of a shower to 11 bucks, I’ve noticed more drivers have a certain air about them if you get my drift (or theirs).
Which reminds me of the saga of the Tweeting Weiner, …no wait, that won’t do. I mean, the Congressman’s determination to stand firm has me thinking. Wouldn’t it be interesting if the feds were as interested in regulating themselves as they are the rest of us? The Weiner issue, salacious though it may be, exposes more than just a stray member’s member after all. You could call it a culture of corruption, but it is fast becoming an epidemic of hubris. Congressman Darrell Issa has called a hearing of the House Oversight Committee to look into the refusal of the Department of Justice to respond to congressional subpoenas and determine whether or not the DOJ is obstructing justice. Agree or disagree with the War Powers Act, the President has essentially put one finger in each ear and is saying “lalalalalalalala I can’t hear you lalalalalala.” The National Labor Relations Board presumes to tell a private employer where he may and may not open operations. Even the Washington Post, hardly a bastion of center-right analysis, describes the President’s speech to the auto industry last week as, “…one of the most misleading collections of assertions we have seen in a short presidential speech. Virtually every claim by the president regarding the auto industry needs an asterisk…”
So while professional drivers submit to an almost proctological examination at the hands of the Department of Transportation this week, I wonder who will regulate the regulators inside the Beltway? Who will check the federal log book and take appropriate action when the numbers don’t add up? Of course, that’s what the Constitution is for, but we citizens have the ultimate responsibility and it is here that I have to thank Congressman Weiner. As part of a political movement that holds in contempt the very concept of limited government and enumerated powers, he has proven by default the wisdom of the Founders. In Federalist #51, James Madison wrote, “If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary.” Since our leaders are not deities (Chris Matthews’ leg sensations notwithstanding), a constitution is necessary to reign them in. But Madison wasn’t letting the citizenry off the hook. Not by a long shot. He also wrote that:
No theoretical checks — no form of government can render us secure. To suppose that any form of government will secure liberty or happiness without any virtue in the people, is a chimerical idea. If there be sufficient virtue and intelligence in the community, it will be exercised in the selection of these men. So that we do not depend on their virtue, or put confidence in our rulers, but in the people who are to choose them.
And that’s really the key, it seems. We laugh at, and ridicule, the antics of those who fashion themselves as our betters, but we should be ridiculing ourselves. These people have highlighted yet again the fallen nature of man. That such tragically flawed characters presume to direct and manage our lives when they obviously can’t even manage their own is an outrage. That we continue to populate public offices with these reprobates is even more of an outrage. Who deserves more scorn? The scoundrel, or those that elected him? The 2012 election might possibly be the most important election in our lifetime. It’s time to clean house. It’s time to elevate men and women who are committed Constitutionalists to positions of responsibility. Those who go from one region to another pandering to this or that constituency are serving no one but themselves. Fidelity to the founding principles of the republic,…that is the standard against which we must measure candidates. To this end, the primary process is crucial. In the end, however, Obama and his radicals must be defeated at the polls.
So thank you, Congressman Weiner. You’ve shown us how low we can go. From there, we move in the right direction.
Published in General
Weiner’s pictures aren’t that big a deal, take that however you want. What is a big deal is our lawmakers, as you say, are not responsible for following the same rules they lay down for the rest of us. Until we start holding their feet to the fire, until we start requiring our rulers to follow the rules, things will only get worse.
Madison, like most of our founding fathers, was a genius. He was also wealthy and time to sit and ponder deep thoughts on man and government. Most Americans aren’t that rich, nor that smart, nor that concerned with the meaning of it all. We’d rather just make a living, make a family, and make a life doing the things we enjoy. Government is usually an intrusion on that process so is it any wonder people seem less than enthralled with the prospect of giving up time and energy for something they basically detest to begin with?
I think James Carville may be right. People are become so irritated by the criminal incompetence and contempt of our government for citizens that the civil unrest is a real possibility.
Dave, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the state of our body politic. Far too many people are living a life based completely on self-gratification, and many are doing so on the taxpayer’s dime. We have as a nation lost our civic virtue. We are suffering a crisis of moral poverty even as we enjoy great material abundance. I think we’re on the road to national suicide. The perfidy and rapaciousness of our political class is only a symptom, but not the cause. At some point we will reach a tipping point. Either we reclaim our civic virtue or we tumble over the edge into the abyss. The former, I believe, will require that our nation return to righteousness and faith in God. Atheism and hedonism will exact a heavy price if we continue on our current path.
Paules, I think you’re right, though I wonder. Would the impending loss of material wealth spark a return to civic virtue? Or must we repeat the cycle of dependence, servitude, spirituality, etc?
“Although, since they raised the price of a shower to 11 bucks, I’ve noticed more drivers have a certain air about them if you get my drift (or theirs).”
I get Yer drift. That’s why I quit “drafting.”
I don’t know how bad the crisis will be or what form it will take. If the Old Testament is any indication, a modern day Jeremiah will be ignored and then things will get very bad indeed. As before our only possible solution will be our faith in God. I don’t believe God punishes his children, but I do see the current crisis as a natural product of our national immorality. Put not your faith in statesmen or politicians, but in God.
Indeed. Which is why Weiner Must Not Resign. Sign the petition! (well, I don’t have one, but surely there is one). We want him to stand or fall by the verdict of the electorate. Plus, we pretty much used up all the mileage we’re gonna get out of Pelosi.
Then again, you’re always going to have big majorities for “there oughtta be a law” against whatever annoys them at present, or what they’re told is a safety issue, from smoking outdoors to freight-hauling shower standards. The nonviolent solution is to smack these people upside the head with whiffle bats until they decide to just stay home.
Effective commentary and comedy both are dependent on specificity. Working for a logistics company, I know from experience that the $11 shower reference was spot on. Some of our drivers have several on each trip sheet, and it always seemed like a very worthwhile expense. I wonder about the others, to be honest. :)
Which reminds me of the saga of the Tweeting Weiner, …no wait, that won’t do. I mean, the Congressman’s determination to stand firm has me thinking.
These two sentences side by side = comic genius.
As always, a pleasure to read.
True, but putting faith in God is not enough. James 2:26 states: “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” We must eliminate the cancers within our government politic. Whether from our party or any other. Character still should be the main prerequisite for holding public office. Belief in Constitutional limitations should be second.