Washington Journal, an early morning program of C-SPAN,
today asked listeners to call in with their opinions as to what should be the
top priority of the government of the United States of America to which the
many answers regarded a variety of problems and issues neither of which, in and
of themselves, is our top priority.
The top priority of the government of the United
States of America is and should be as specified in the Preamble to the United
States Constitution:
We
the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union,
establish
Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence,
promote
the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves
and our
Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States
of
American.
More specifically, this means to me that the top
priority of the government of the United States of America is the governance of
our nation and our people in the best long-term interests of all. To this end,
our government should be, as was said by President Abraham Lincoln at
Gettysburg in 1863, a “government of the people, by the people, for the people”—certainly
not a government of and by the Corporatocracy and Power Elite which has taken
over our country ever since. Whether we want to admit it or not, our nation and
our people are governed by the Corporatocracy and Power Elite, the biggest
threat to the Democracy and future of our nation today, which, it seems, no one
is willing to face. Our elected representatives are interested in the votes of
the people only until Election Day. Once Election Day has passed, the interests
of the people fade into the background and the profits of Mammon take the
forefront (Christians will recall what Jesus had to say about that). Is it any
wonder why nothing ever seems to get done?
As we read the Preamble to our Constitution, we can readily
see that our Union is far from perfect. Justice is badly in need of reform, and
“we the people” are anything but tranquil. In fact, we haven’t been more insecure
since the Civil War, i.e. the imminent threat of Nuclear War and our political
dissension; the general Welfare of our people and our Democracy is under attack
by the Corporatocracy and Power Elite as documented by an ever increasing difference
in the distribution of income and wealth between the rich and the poor. For the
past forty years, the rich have become richer, the poor, poorer; and our national debt has risen from $0.9
Trillion in 1980 to $21.5 Trillion in 2018 —our national deficit from a surplus
of $0.2 Trillion in 2000 to a deficit
of $1 Trillion in 2019 (President Obama inherited a national debt of $10
Trillion, deficit of $1.4 Trillion and a collapsed economy in 2009. By the time
he left office in 2017, he reduced the Deficit to $0.6 Trillion along with a
recovering economy).
Needless to say, as the facts of the matter are so
obvious to any thinking and open mind, our nation is now staggering under the
leadership of a mentally and intellectually challenged non-leader, who, from
the advent of his administration has contributed to an increased dissension of
our people, alienation of our allies, and impetus to our enemies. Our
government under current leadership nowhere nearly approaches attainment of the
top priority of our national government as indicated by the Preamble to our
United States Constitution, and this man, our chosen leader, is in no way
coming close to helping the matter.
In closing this, I am once again compelled to remind
the reader that a Democracy, i.e. a representative government “of the people,
by the people, for the people” will ultimately fail along with the freedom it
portends, without the participation of the people. With freedom goes
responsibility; and responsibility demands that “We the people” are thoroughly informed,
i.e. ”know what you are talking about”, know the facts, and don’t just form
opinions based on emotions. Responsibility also demands that we vote.
Ronald Miller
