What Voters Really Said

There's been a lot of discussion by political pundits and talking heads concerning the message sent by the voters to their elected representatives on November 7. Here's my take. Put quite bluntly:

We, The People, do not like chicanery in elected office. We will not tolerate unwarranted intrusion into our personal affairs. We can see through the smoke you've been blowing up our backsides. Don't dress up a pig in red, white, and blue and try to sell it to us as the newest best hope to save our land. We're not buying it. To wit:

1. Scandals and perverts. Mark Foley wasn't the first, and he won't be the last, but that doesn't mean we, the voters, will turn a blind eye. We will not tolerate child predators in elected office to prey on our children and cloak themselves as wolves among the sheep.

2. Nonsense, crooks, and personal agendas. Senator Kyl, Senator Frist, Representative Leach, and others couldn't get an Internet gambling bill to pass on its own merits so they tacked it to the Port Security Bill at the last moment. Much of the Internet gaming industry seems excluded from its reach in one fashion or the other -- one can only speculate the reasons. The hypocrisy of what the Internet gambling provision covers and doesn't cover is obvious and smacks of Jack Abramoff-style maneuvers.  Politicians take note: This isn't really about Internet gambling; you know it, and so do the voters. It is about unwarranted intrusion into American homes. Prohibition already failed once. Your arguments don't hold water. This is an attempt to cloak a personal agenda in sanctimonious piety. Be careful you don't join Mr. Abramoff in infamy.

   The hypocrisy of what the Internet gambling provision covers and doesn't cover is obvious and smacks of Jack Abramoff-style maneuvers.

   X

3. Immigration, fear, and bigotry. Seven hundred miles of fence cannot protect a two thousand mile border. It cannot protect against tunnels. It cannot protect against aircraft. It cannot protect against boats. This is nothing more than an attempt to use bigotry and fear, combined with yet another spending boondoggle, to cast dust into taxpayer eyes and shield politicians from those same eyes.

   You cannot justify nullifying our Constitution and our Bill of Rights.

   X

4. Warrantless wiretaps are totally without merit. Plain and simple, this is yet another attempt by politicians and bureaucrats to extend their power-hungry reach into our personal lives. Checks and balances were put in place for just this reason. The Founding Fathers still had a vivid memory of the Boston Tea Party and the reason for the event. Administration take note: You can get a warrant for a wiretap in a matter of minutes or hours. You cannot justify nullifying our Constitution and our Bill of Rights. We need it to protect us from your good intentions.

In short, actions of some of our elected leaders at both state and federal levels have been an embarrassment of late -- and politicians, please take note: we, the voters, did not hand the Democrats a resounding victory nor did we hand the Republicans a resounding defeat. You are all on probation, and we do much better when politicians have one hand firmly tied behind their backs.

We hired you to do a job. DO IT.