It’s a wonder of this modern world that so much of the hard work that used to go into keepin’ up with politics is no longer necessary. In the election that just passed, them soundbiters did a bangup job. Otherwise we might have had to talk to our friends and neighbors about the folks runnin’ for office and bone up on all the issues. We might even have gotten stuck goin’ to a precinct or county convention just like in the old days.

Yessir, these days livin’ in a Democracy is gettin’ mighty convenient. Way before you ever get to vote, those nice media folks have already figured out who’s goin’ to win. Why, in California, they are so up to date, almost all the national races are settled before they even close the polls. If you’re old-fashioned enough to want to vote anyways, you can come home from doin’ your duty, flip on the TV and some smart fellers will tell you not only how you voted but why you did it, what it means and how you’re probably goin’ to vote next time.

Sure saves a lot of worryin’ about who’s a crook and who’s not and who’s gonna bring up the price of beef at the auction and down at the supermarket. Keeps you from wastin’ time tryin’ to understand all the issues of the day.

Lordy mercy, but not havin’ to think sure does make Democracy a lot easier to deal with.

Lots of things people complain about don’t seem like much of a problem to me. I guess I’ve just got too easy goin’ in my old age. Like politics. People are always gripin’ and complainin’ about the federal government and how disorganized and wasteful it is. They say the whole thing is a favor-tradin,’ boondawglin,’ back-scratchin,’ good-ol-boy network that spends more time on buyin’ votes than on takin’ care of public business.

Myself, I think folks are lookin’ at this the wrong way. I admit that all those charges about the government are true. Sure, the federal government is broke and in a mess, but that don’t mean we should fix it.

Last thing we want is an efficient government. Think about this. In all the history of mankind, can you name one country that had to go through more steps to pass a law and make it stick? Sometimes it takes years for us to pass legislation here in the U.S. of A., and half the laws that make it out of the Congress are vetoed or struck down by the courts. It’s hard as the dickens for politicans to have any real impact on the people. Far as I’m concerned, that’s a sign of good government.

Governments that work are dangerous to the people. Guys like Hitler and Stalin had pretty efficient governments..., so efficient they could decide to kill you in the mornin’ and you were dead by the afternoon. There’s an old sayin’ that “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” I think there’s a lot of truth in it and so did them boys in Philadelphia who cooked up our constitution.

That’s why they created a form of government that’s disorganized and inefficient...a system where the power is all divided into pieces. The President has some, the Congress has some, the courts have some, the states have some, the cities and counties have some, business has some, the churches have some, and on down the line. Next thing you know the whole thing is a big snarled mess where all the people in power are so busy arguin’ and fussin’ and fightin’ with each other that they don’t have time to be messin’ with the rest of us. Ain’t that great!

The beauty of it all is that after all the power is divvied out, there’s still a pretty good hunk left for the people. Even if we don’t got no idea what to do with it, it’s still nice to have some. God bless America.

People got problems with politicians too. They say politicians are crooked self-serving liars who will say anything to get elected and that the whole government is nothing but a porkbarrel that the fat cats are using to buy votes so they can stay in office.

Of course this is also true, but that doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with it. Consider the advantages of our corrupt system....

It puts a large number of the cleverest crooks and conmen in society all in one place where we can keep our eyes on them. Would you want folks like that out somewhere where you might be fooled and think they were honest?

On the rare occasion that a truly public spirited man or woman actually gets elected to public office, one of three things happens. Either the system corrupts them, in which case they must not have been so honest in the first place; or they have to go through hell and high water to stay honest so their integrity is tempered and they become a “true” public servant; or they get chewed up and spit out and can go back to doin’ some kind of work that actually does somebody some good. Who says the system doesn’t work?

We may be payin’ a lot of money so a bunch of power mad scalawags and hustlers can live high on the hog while chasin’ call girls and payola, but if it’s good for America, I’m all for it.

If it takes 30 or 40 percent of our hard-earned income to keep the government busy, confused and tripping over their own feet, it’s cheap for the price. I admit the system seems expensive. It takes a lot of tax dollars to keep it fed, but what price is freedom?

Just like he made the wind to blow, the sun to shine and ducks to waddle, the Maker made politicians to squabble and bureacrats to boondoggle. It’s in their nature, and we should not try to turn them from it. Down through the long chain of human history, they have always been the same. I think the big Power Broker in the sky has his reasons for making them the way they are.

Government can never be any better than the people it governs. Mostly, it’s much worse. If our leaders were great it would not require us to be great...we, the people..., the ones who really have the power of choice in our lives.

We all like to blame politicians for our troubles, forgetting that we are the ones that put them in office in the first place. I read something that youngster Billy Graham said when he was asked when we would get better government.

He said, “...when people are better people.”

Makes sense to me.