“….one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

– United States Pledge of Allegiance

The United States of America is a great nation.  We consistently celebrate a peaceful democracy, we are leaders in innovation, we have stood up to the face of world war, and we take pride in opportunity, freedom, and independence.

However, the current tone of We the People of the United States continues to be so angrily divisive. This divisiveness may be the biggest current threat to our United States. Our current crop of governmental leaders should be bringing us together, but instead they act as catalysts to divide society.  I do not see leaders in Washington DC, I see cowards.

I also see a solution to yield an more perfect union and a healthier democracy:

  1. Enact term limits for both the House of Representatives and the Senate.  To have a democratic government for the people and by the people means we must remove the extreme advantage of incumbency through term limits. Four terms (8 years maximum) for a Representative and 2 terms (12 years maximum) for a Senator is appropriate.  This will yield leadership over job-keepers.
  2. Re-districting every 10 years with the census is fine.  However, we must prohibit gerrymandering.  Elected representatives (and the party bosses behind them) are the wrong people to re-district.  If we can put a man on the moon, create iPhones, and transplant heart, we can certainly figure out fair and non-partisan statistical models for redistricting.  This will yield a much more representative government.
  3. Mandate all primaries be open primaries.  The Constitution makes no mention of political parties, yet they too often put suffocating bounds on the process. Open primaries will deteriorate the stranglehold that both the Republican and Democratic parties have on government, opening the door to better and the brighter leaders.

If we do these three things, we as a Nation will once again rapidly come together and our United States will be stronger and healthier.

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….And as extending the ground of public confidence in the Government…

– Preamble to the United States Bill of Rights

Our founding fathers had the foresight to leave our Constitution open for amendment through our Bill of Rights.  It is time to amend the Bill of Rights with Federal term limits and legislate unbiased redistricting and open primaries.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.“

 – United States Declaration of Independence

It will behoove government to remember the words in bold from our Declaration of Independence.

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I hope those in the United States and any ex-pats have a wonderful and reflective celebration of our national holiday.  As a gift, I leave you these thoughts and some key dates from our history.

July 2, 1776 – Thirteen United Colonies (from New Hampshire to Georgia) passed a resolution to declare independence from the British Empire.

July 4, 1776 – The Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence which explained why they voted as they did on July 2, 1776.

March 4, 1789 – The government began operating under the Constitution of the United States.

December 15, 1791 – The United States Bill of Rights became effective augmenting the Constitution of the United States.

April 12, 1861 – May 9, 1865 – The United States broke apart in a war among states (Civil War), as a people divided, as a house positioned to collapse, but then once war ended came together to heal.

August 18, 1920 – the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution granted American women the right to vote.

February 27, 1951 – the 22nd Amendment limits an elected president to two terms (8 years) in office and a maximum of 10 years (if a Vice President took over).

May 5, 1992 – Ratification of the most recent amendment (27th) to the Constitution (dictating when Congressional pay raises would take effect).

 

To my followers who are far more interested in food, cats, travel, or airplanes, as opposed to my random (yet serious) thoughts, don’t worry I will return to my regular subjects in my next post.

Coming soon: a visit to Franz Josef Glacier in New Zealand (travel), the reason why candy cigarettes make a terrible gift (food), and what happened when Billysky had her missing cat toy returned to her after 5 months (cats).