When another young American falls in Iraq and another critic of the war jumps on that growing bandwagon, that veteran joins a long, long list of men and women who have made sacrifices unimaginable to most regular folks. And those veterans who have made sacrifices and survived to tell about it are justifiably proud of their part in defending an American way of life guaranteed by the creation of the U.S. Constitution and its first 10 amendments enumerating certain rights that cannot be taken away by government.
Even as children in elementary school, we all learn the virtues of a government in which the majority rules and people can take part in the process of selecting their own representatives who will help make government's most important decisions. Little kids know about heroes like George Washington and there's probably an FCAT question somewhere that mentions "government of, by and for the people."
But if there were a local Lincoln who wanted to remain Honest Abe, he'd look at the history of Clay County and pronounce it a "government of, by and for the people of government." Here, government ignores the sacrifices of the common folks and keeps asking for more. Here, government looks the other way at the needs of its constituency while deferring meekly to the desires of a tiny minority. Here in Clay County, government has not become an example of democracy, but a tool to make a few wealthy people much wealthier. And increasing, it has become the conduit to making a growing number of rich people much richer.
What's the difference? Chris Rock has the answer. Shaquille O'Neal is rich. The person who signs Shaq's paycheck is wealthy.
In the old days of Clay County government, there were a few wealthy and a few rich folks whose personal fortunes came at taxpayer expense. But the number of rich becoming richer has grown exponentially as government here at home continues its steady growth.
Within the next decade or so, local government will be spending more than half a billion dollars annually. Who is benefitting, you may ask, in this multi-million dollar operation called Clay County government? Well, except for that growing number growing wealthier and richer, folks are getting a school system that scores well on tests about not leaving children behind while ignoring the fact that ever other student is being slowed down in the process. Oh, yeah, and there's that billion dollar debt they anticipate for schools that are already needed.
Regular folks sacrificing to pay their shares of growing local government's attempt to increase the fortunes of a powerful minority also receive a police agency and justice system straining to keep up with its demands. A short-handed fire department's employees are treated with derision after being hosed during contract negotiations.
It might be the votes of regular votes that elect the representative, but it doesn't take long before they learn who they really represent. When Harold Rutledge was a newbie in government, just getting used to his seat on the Board of County Commission, he freely admitted that "The first thing they tell you is you have to go along if you want to accomplish anything." Apparently, Rutledge learned his lesson well, having risen to current chairman of the BCC while fixing his sights firmly on the Charter Amendment-mandated four-year chairmanship to be created in 2008.
And while the folks elected by regular citizens learn quickly their lesson in Clay County government reality, everyday people just did deeper and deeper into their pockets to pay for some convoluted visions of what real life outside the realm of government that have been dreamed up by someone seeking personal reward.
The gross inefficiency of government to serve the needs of the overwhelming majority of its citizens while demonstrating a high degree of efficiency in creating personal wealth for a few is proof that it is time for a revolution in Clay County politics. Local government history leaves no doubt that one is needed.
The evolution of Clay County's democratic form of government can be traced on a steady path that leads inexorably to need for a people's revolution. It's time to find a boat and toss tea into Doctors Lake. Time to exile the emperors getting wealthier while government imposes an unrealistic tax burden.
New ideas, new perspectives, new approaches, new goals, new people - but one old idea. It's the one in the elementary school books. It's the one uttered by Abraham Lincoln while looking over a former battlefield that had become a cemetery for thousands. Government of the people, by the people and for the people.