Bill Cotterell: DOC has good reason to block Buss
Bill Cotterell: Forget the delegates, full speed ahead
A great friend of mine, a Democrat, recently turned me on to Bill Cotterell's column at tallahassee.com. He addresses all of the issues that thinking voters want to know about.
The two articles above are examples of his work.
The first article deals with Governor Scott's attempt to push through privatization of the Department of Corrections. Included in the push is the hope to shut up the man who could put the kibosh on making the deal attractive. Unfortunately, no one really cares who is housing our criminals.
The second article addresses the date of the Florida primaries. Great writing, again, but it fails to deal with the biggest disease facing our nation:
Apathy!
Who cares about privatization of the DOC? Once they are locked up, they are easily forgotten. Ask any of the inmates who were wrongly convicted, and spent twenty years trying to prove their innocence. My husband worked briefly for the Florida DOC. Have faith that those inmates will be treated poorly no matter who holds the keys. There will be some saints who work with the disenfranchised, but that work will largely go unnoticed. We like our criminals safely out of view, and we certainly don't want them in our back yard. Unfortunately, we failed most of them long before they were ever incarcerated. Ask any good teacher. He/She could pinpoint with a high degree of accuracy who is headed for trouble. Trust me, as a former teacher, you know! And if only 4% of the population is sociopathic in nature, it means...yikes...we might be able to get the other 96% of the prison population back on track. Heck, if you're in jail for selling drugs, or jacking car parts to sell on the street, you just might be smart enough to learn how to run a legitimate business. Learn how to screw THE MAN like the wealthy do--find tax loopholes and exploit them.
The second article addresses the date of the Florida primaries.
Again, who cares?
I have had many good friends (Democrats) apologize for casting a vote for Obama. I can't even say "I told you so!". Obama, like any good professor, spent years in a classroom talking about the way things oughta be. When you teach, you are often in a philosophical bubble. Students hang on your every word. You motivate them. You empower them. You teach them the way the world ought to be...they leave those halls ready to take on the world, and then they touch reality.
That's where we are now. And it's not just the college-educated holding the bag and disenchanted. It's the American public. We were lied to. We were told by our government that there were two types of good debt: mortgages and college education. Both are lies. They are just a form of enslavement that you can't shake off or get away from.
So after being lied to. After training our students from any early age that they must go to college for job security. After we have inculcated them for years that homeownership is THE American entitlement. We dare ponder their disillusionment.
But for a few, no one cares about the primaries. But for a few, no one cares about privatization of the DOC, the DOE, the DOT, heck, but for a few, no one cares about the privatization of our country's security. Easier to turn a blind eye.
And the truth is--save for a very few--they don't believe their vote matters. They don't believe that either party cares about them.
George Washington saw the handwriting on the wall regarding how our political parties endanger US citizens. He wrote the following in his farewell address:
24 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.
25 There is an opinion, that parties in free countries are useful checks upon the administration of the Government, and serve to keep alive the spirit of Liberty. This within certain limits is probably true; and in Governments of a Monarchical cast, Patriotism may look with indulgence, if not with favor, upon the spirit of party. But in those of the popular character, in Governments purely elective, it is a spirit not to be encouraged. From their natural tendency, it is certain there will always be enough of that spirit for every salutary purpose. And, there being constant danger of excess, the effort ought to be, by force of public opinion, to mitigate and assuage it. A fire not to be quenched, it demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into a flame, lest, instead of warming, it should consume.
So, President Washington, what do we do? Our country is tired. Our citizens are weary of both political parties. Our voices fall on deaf ears. And we bear the enormous burden of the nation's debt.
Looks like Alexander Hamilton won after all. The bank owns us. We don't own the bank.
The only cure, our only hope is not a rallying cry for patriotism. It is to teach our children self-reliance. To teach ourselves self-reliance. To teach our communities self-reliance. And without bloodshed or gunshot, we will starve out our greatest parasite and foe: our government. We can beat them at their own game. We have the tools at our disposal. We have always had them. We just have to think and in thinking we must make those thoughts actions. We must learn to dream again and use our own compass to find our way back to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And make no mistake, it is the pursuit that counts. Our own pursuit.
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