The great critic and political writer, H.L. Menchen, once wrote, “The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed - and thus clamorous to be led to safety - by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.” (Can anyone say man-made Global Warming?) Nowadays, under our “entitlement mentality,” the other side of this coin is to tempt the populace with “good fairy” social programs in the name of the “greater good.” Most of these programs, too, are imaginary, their true purpose being to pay back campaign supporters and reelect politicians. But Snollygosters also know that if the whirlwind of federal dollars is big enough, some of those dollars will land in their laps.

But there is a much more sinister aspect of these “Big Brother” programs than just the narcissistic tendencies of political elites. The real danger is the systematic transfer of control of our natural resources: our land, our water and our sources of energy to unelected boards and commissions, thereby creating a governing body beyond the control of the voters or even the elected officials who created them. The guiding principles within these so-called “sustainable development” programs outline “governance” (as opposed to government) policies, which in reality establish rule by unelected bureaucrats through regulations and ordinances, and give them the force of law, up to and including fines and imprisonment. This is not constitutional government by the will of the people. In fact, it is a way to circumvent the Constitution and oppress American citizens.

To clarify what is happening - picture in your mind the typical Snollygoster - expensive suit, broad artificial smile, sitting on a pork barrel while whispering in your local official’s ear. “Now,” says he, “what we want to do is clearly unconstitutional” (because it violates those rights reserved to the states or to the individuals themselves), “but - I will give you local boys this bag of money (federal grants) if you will pass local regulations and ordinances doing what we want.”

Thus, what is clearly illegal, had the federal government done it directly, becomes legal through avarice and subversion.

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Case in point: recently I watched the live debate and vote on HR-1483, the “Omnibus National Heritage Site Bill,” in the House of Representatives. Representative Bishop of Utah led the debate against HR-1483. He listed countless flaws in the bill: its massive size, its lack of oversight, its absence of property rights protections for citizens trapped within heritage boundaries. He pointed out very ably that this bill was “pork barrel” at its worst. Representative Bishop earned my respect and admiration by his presentation of the facts and his understanding of his duty to his constituents.

Representative Bud Cramer of Alabama, on the other hand, who, to paraphrase Will Rogers, apparently “never met a pork barrel project he didn’t like,” spoke in favor of the omnibus bill. (Cramer was also the Sponsor of the original Muscle Shoals Heritage Bill.) And then Representative Nick J. Rahall (D-WV), who is Chairman of the Natural Resources Committee and who led the debate in favor of HB-1483, made the most amazing and revealing statement of the day, when he hung his head piteously and said, “Well, I guess I don’t have to tell anyone in this body about our low approval ratings these days. I feel that a bill like this would go a long way toward improving our image.”

What Chairman Rahall was referring to, of course, is the fact that for months now the approval rating of the Congress has held steady at about 11%. This 11% “approval rating” is a polite way of saying that 89%, that is, nine out of ten of the American people think that Congress is doing a lousy job of representing their wishes. Do our so-called representatives not realize that programs like this Heritage Bill, which only benefits a few special interest types and oppresses the vast majority of ordinary citizens, is the very reason for the distain with which our citizens view Congress?

Never in my lifetime and probably never in our history, has there been such a disconnect between the people and the government that supposedly represents them! What these “disapproval” ratings really mean is that 90% of the American voters are smarter than the Congress believes and that 90% do not believe the Congress. It also means that many Representatives and Senators don’t really care what the citizens want as long as they can buy enough good will (with your money and money borrowed against your children’s futures) to flim-flam the public into keeping them in office.

What we are witnessing among elected officials today is the vast difference between statesmen and politicians. One does what is good for his country. The other just tries to make it look good. One is a friend to patriots, the other cohort to Snollygosters. Ourcitizens recognize the difference even if our government does not.

I know that it is difficult to convince a politician that the best thing that they can do for their constituents is to NOT SEND federal dollars back home to be used as ammunition against them, but that is what we must do. With the exception of Robert Aderholt, our Representatives have failed us. The battle has now moved to the Senate. But the greater truth is that the outcome of this attack on your property and your rights lies completely in your own hands. If these politicians do not hear your voices calling them from back home, then they will surely hear the Snollygoster whispering in their ear. If you do not take back control of your government, then “governance” will take control of you.