Whoville

The special election in Massachusetts yesterday to fill the senatorial seat left open by Ted Kennedy's death had pundits, partisans and the president all sitting on the edge of their seats awaiting the outcome. When the results came in, it was not even nail-bitingly close. The republican swept the seat that had been held by a democrat for the past 45 years with 52 percent of the vote.

I woke up this morning with the thought that it is a good day not to be a democrat. Keep in mind that in this environment, I am frequently glad not to be somebody else. For instance, every time there is a hearing with legislators and the TxDOT, it is always a good time not be be TxDOT. Even when my opinions and beliefs differ, I can appreciate that what others are going through may be painful.

Reflecting on the news reports of the Massachusetts race made me wonder about how the win would be interpreted. For example, all things considered, it may not be a great day to be a republican, either. The independents and democrats in Massachusetts just elected a pro-choice republican to go to Washington. While that may be as good as we can get in Massachusetts, it is not as if the man is a strict conservative constitutionalist.

The good news about the outcome is that the people should now have the attention of the elected officials. But, can we agree on the message we are trying to send?

Many democrats believe that the failure to pass health care and carbon cap legislation is the reason they are vulnerable. They feel the democrats have the presidency and majorities in both the senate and the house. If they would just do what they were elected to do, then they would not be losing seats. Of course, the other side of the coin is that the people have realized exactly what the president means by "hope and change" and they are now hoping they can change their minds about who they elected.

Having watched the arena for the better part of 20 years, it seems to me that there is more of a disconnect between those elected to office and those who elect them than ever before. I have spent most of those years in the bowels of the Texas Capitol attempting to to get legislators to turn the tide of a large and intrusive government. While Texas has always had a strong core group of conservative legislators, we have only slowed the erosion of our constitutional rights, not stopped them.

The events going on around us today with the surge of the Tea Party movement remind me of the Dr. Seuss book Horton Hears a Who. Horton, an elephant, hears a speck of dust calling to him. It turns out that the speck of dust is actually a tiny planet, home to Who-ville. Horton clearly hears the Whos and wants to help protect them. However, the other animals in the jungle think that Horton is crazy. It finally takes every single Who in Who-ville, even the shirker known as JoJo shouting out in unison "We are here! We are here! We are here!" for all the animals to be able to hear and respond to the Whos.

There is no question that America's citizens have been shirking their responsibility to elect men and women of virtue for years. And the fault is one of both omission and commission. When given the opportunity to make the critically important decision of who will lead our country, a majority of citizens do not even make the effort to register a vote. Others, more interested in what a politician can for "for them" rather than in who will best protect their inalienable rights, have elected people who allow their constituents to become enslaved to the government for entitlement and special interest perks.

The bottom line is that everybody should check their spirit about their reaction to the Massachusetts win. Make sure you are not a shirker and add your voice to the others in Who-ville shouting out, "We are here!" to the elected officials who are trampling on the Constitution.

Rejoice not when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles or is overthrown lest the Lord see it and it be evil in His eyes and displease Him and He turn away His wrath from him. Proverbs 24:17-18