“Politicians Going Home”

 

June 18, 2018

 

Dear Mr. Mason,

Some might be wondering why I am writing to you someone who is not as well-known as the other Founding Fathers, even though your influence was immense. Today, some might consider you a cage rattler since you objected to the powers granted to the new government. Because of this, you were in favor of a Bill of Rights which was adopted due to your influence. Your model for Virginia’s constitution was soon adopted by most of the states and it was also later incorporated in part, and in a weaker form, into the U.S. Constitution. At the Constitutional Convention, you opposed the provision that allowed the slave trade to continue until 1808.

The upcoming 2018 mid-term elections got me thinking of something you said. You see Mr. Mason some incumbents have chosen not to run for office again and others may well be voted out of office. It was that quote from the Virginia Ratifying convention that piqued my interest.

“Nothing so strongly impels a man to regard the interest of his constituents, as the certainty of returning to the general mass of the people, from whence he was taken, where he must participate in their burdens.”

Well Mr. Mason, I guess you are warning politicians that one day they will be returning to the same district and face the same trials and tribulations that their constituents have endured. Therefore, they should take this into consideration when they make the decisions that they do while in office because that will affect them when his or her service is over. Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Madison and Monroe as well as many of your peers left public service poorer than when they started. These “Citizen Politicians” made sacrifices both personally and financially to make this country what it is today.

Unfortunately, Mr. Mason you might be interested to know that here in the future nothing can be further from the truth. There is no such thing as a “Citizen Politician.” They are professionals for hire and their only concern is to get re-elected. Few of them return to their other lives worse off for the wear. Many come back very wealthy and have book deals and high paying jobs waiting for them.

Because of this many people are in favor of term limits of which I am not an advocate. I advocate for a better educated electorate which can vote them out when they feel they are not living up to their expectations. Here is a crazy idea. When a politician has made $2 – $3 million dollars during his time in office it is time for him to move on and give someone else a chance. Talk about a redistribution of wealth and yes this is sarcasm! I look forward to hearing from you Mr. Mason on how together we might rattle some cages and combat this.

Sincerely,

Andrew J. DeMarco

 

 

 

 

Honoring the Less than 1%

 

Dear Founders, Signers and Framers:

Gentlemen, Monday May 28^th 2018 we celebrate Memorial Day, a holiday that did not exist back in your time so let me explain. Originally known as Decoration Day, it was a day in which the graves of soldiers who gave their lives were honored. Decoration Day gradually changed to Memorial Day and that term was first used in 1862, still Memorial Day did not become the more common name until after World War II and was not declared the official name by Federal law until 1967.  In June, 1968, Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act which moved four holidays, including Memorial Day, from their traditional dates to a specified Monday. The change moved Memorial Day from its traditional May 30^th  date to the last Monday in May. This law took effect at the federal level in 1971.

What this did was basically create a 3-day weekend and create for the consumers and retailers another sale day that diluted the true meaning of the holiday. So now we are bombarded with Memorial Day Sales where we can save 50% on this, 40% on that and an additional 20% on just about anything.

Gentlemen, here are some percentages which I am sure you would approve of and maybe bring us back to reality. It is estimated that since you founded our country over 240 years ago only 6-8% of our total population during all that time has served in the military. As of today, about .5% of the American population is active military.

Since Memorial Day honors those who gave their lives it got me thinking and I did some research and found the numbers I was looking for on the Veteran’s Administration web site. That’s right there is a whole department of government dedicated to caring for military veterans, well at least that is the goal of the VA.

I found that since 1775, when you men got this ball rolling through 1991, almost 42 million people have served in the U.S. Military.  Of these 42 million a little over 651,000 have lost there lives on battlefields here and around the world defending us. Now thanks to calculators, an invention that I am sure you Mr. Franklin would find fascinating, I determined that 0.154% of those who served are those we honor. There have been other wars which statistics were not available for, but this makes the point. So, on Memorial Day I am sure you gentlemen would agree that the only percentage that matters is that 0.154%, not how much we can save on socks!

As always, I look forward to hearing from you.

 

Sincerely,

Andrew DeMarco

 

P.S. The statistics mentioned above do not include those wounded or missing in action.  If anyone is interested in seeing the VA’s statistics where they list each conflict separately and all the statistics you can go to the following page:

https://www.va.gov/opa/publications/factsheets/fs_americas_wars.pdf

 

 

 

President James Madison & Mr. Benjamin Franklin

 

May 14, 2018

Dear President Madison and Mr. Benjamin Franklin:

During the Constitutional Convention, President Washington sat in a chair with the sun etched behind his back. On September 17, 1787, the Constitution was signed by forty-two remaining delegates to the convention in their last meeting. President Madison you reported at the conclusion of the convention that you overheard Mr. Franklin saying.

“I have often looked at that behind the president without being able to tell whether it was rising or setting. But now I… know that it is a rising…sun.”

This young country was about to set out on an adventure that the world had never seen or known, and the two of you figured prominently. President Madison, I am not sure you know, but you are considered the Father of the Constitution. Mr. Franklin, it is now widely known that your willingness to compromise and persuade others was a big factor in getting the Constitution completed. At that moment, I would have to agree with you Mr. Franklin it was indeed a rising sun.

Today I would have to say that over the 200 plus years that this country has been around, it has been both a rising and setting sun. You see we as a country have been through a lot, some good some bad, some bright shining moments and some dark ones. We have been through a Civil War, which nearly tore us apart and in some ways still rips at us today. We went through not one but two World Wars, terrorist attacks and several decades filled with political assassinations and social unrest. These times one might say that the sun was setting on us. But we weathered all the storms and came through.

On the bright side, since the founding of this great country, it has grown in size and stature. We have become a leader in an ever-changing world. We are a leader in innovation, we have put a number of men on the moon, continue many advances in medicine and have also become a leader in technology. Technology is something I am sure that you Mr. Franklin would find fascinating.

Right now, many believe that it is a setting sun. This is mainly due to the fact that we have a huge partisan divide and a government that seems to constantly be at war with itself. Maybe today’s politicians should take a lesson from you Mr. Franklin and learn how to compromise and persuade which would then enable our leaders to get things done.  In addition, we live in a world were there seems to be a threat to peace just around every corner.

Call me an optimist but I prefer to look at history and know that even though we have gone through tough times the sun will always be rising on this country. The system that you two gentlemen helped establish would allow for nothing else. It is up to us to continue on this course which you set.

I am sure that you both feel the same way and I hope to hear from you soon.

 

Sincerely,

Andrew J. DeMarco

 

Political Parties

 

Dear President Washington:

Hello Mr. President, it is me again, Andrew DeMarco. I happened to be reading your “Farewell Address” from 1796 upon your leaving office and see that you were very thoughtful in what we should be looking for and planning going forward as a new nation. I also realized that I will be writing to you on other matters, since your thoughts were almost prophetic. There was one section where you warned us of the dangers of political parties and from the amount of time you dedicated to this I am sure that this will not be the last time this issue will come up. So, I will begin with just one quote in particular about the evils of political parties and look at it in today’s light.

“It serves always to distract the public councils and enfeeble the public administration. It agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms, kindles the animosity of one part against another, foments occasionally riot and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which find a facilitated access to the government itself through the channels of party passions. Thus, the policy and the will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of another.”

 Mr. President, if you were here today to see what is going on in this country I don’t think for a minute you would be surprised but I am sure that you would be disappointed in the fact that we did not heed your advice. The animosity and jealousies that exists today between the two major parties has indeed enfeebled the public administration in that nothing seems to be getting accomplished. One party blocks the efforts of the other and it is we the people who suffer. Here is something I thought I would never say but it has even fomented the occasional riot, as groups from the far sides of both parties and the political spectrum have battled. Finally let’s not even get started on foreign influence because that has been the norm even before this past presidential election.

Mr. President I can only hope that members of both parties take some time to read your words and take a step back and realize it is time to put all their differences aside and do the work for “We the People” as they are supposed to do.  Once again, we can learn from our past and your wisdom. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Mr. President it you would like to read and interesting take on why politics and political parties are failing us today read the document below.

http://www.hbs.edu/competitiveness/Documents/why-competition-in-the-politics-industry-is-failing-america.pdf

 

Sincerely,

Andrew J. DeMarco

 

P.S.   Don’t let the 80 pages scare you most of the paper is appendices, bibliography and graphs. You could also start to read it at page 8 and not miss a thing.

 

 

April 16, 2018

Dear Mr. Adams:

“Nothing is more essential to the establishment of manners in a State than that all persons employed in places of power and trust must be men of unexceptionable characters.”

Samuel Adams – in a letter to James Warren –  November 4, 1775

 I don’t know if you remember this letter to Mr. Warren or realize how relevant it is today, but it seems that in a country of more than 300 million people it is getting more difficult to find people of this exceptional character who deserve to represent us and this great country. Mr. Adams knowing that you were raised as a Puritan, I am sure that with what is going on today you would probably be downing many a pint of that fine lager which now bears your name.

You see a few months back a lot of accusations and charges were being made about politicians and members of what is referred to as the “Hollywood Elite” regarding their moral fiber. Actually, these accusations continue and probably will for some time. Just to keep you updated many believe Hollywood to be similar to the Washington swamp, but only on the west coast. That’s right Mr. Adams, our country now goes from one ocean to the other. Anyway, in all cases those being accused were in positions of power, trust and influence. Politicians, entertainers and business executives were being accused of sexual harassment and in some cases even rape.

It doesn’t matter where you stand on the political spectrum, right, left or center it has become hard to find that person or persons of the unexceptional character of which you speak. But is all this new or is it just more available due to the media?

Throughout our history the character of many of our leaders has come into question but here is an interesting question, does that make them a bad leader, it certainly makes them less human. One prime example Mr. Adams would be one of our foremost Founders and a friend of yours, Thomas Jefferson. I am sure the Hemmings family would have something to say about his character and that of his father-in-law. Many don’t know that Sally Hemmings was the daughter of his father-in-law’s relationship with one of his slaves.

If you look at the second half of the 20^th century most of our Presidents had questionable morals more proof that none of this is new. I am by no means condoning any of these actions but just trying to keep you informed that we are still looking for those good men and women.

Due to all this, trust in our government and its leaders is at an all-time low and voter turnout is on a downward turn with the electorate having a sense of hopelessness. This is nothing new it has been going on for years, but now it seems to come to light sooner perhaps due to partisanship and the press always looking for salacious stories. Maybe the focus should be on solving the problems we have, since it seems those people of character no longer exist. It worked back in your day so maybe it can again.

Mr. Adams, I look forward to your thoughts on this and on what really constitutes a person of “unexceptional character” and how can we get them to dedicate themselves to public service.

I hope to hear from you soon.

 

Sincerely,

 

Andrew J. DeMarco