TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Big Government hijacks message of '60s

ADVERTISEMENT

By RICK KLEPAL

Special to the Tribune

Published: August 16, 2009

Updated: 08/16/2009 12:22 am

Meet the new boss, just same as the old boss, as the song goes ("Won't Get Fooled Again," 1971, Pete Townsend), was one of many great songs written in what amounted to a musical renaissance that took place in the 1960s and '70s.

Music in those days spawned many aficionados; it was important to many of us and held deep meaning.

It strikes me as ironic (if not hypocritical) that many of the idealistic youth of the '60s who complained, "The Man is keeping me down," now are "The Man," and attempting to grow the power of the federal government to Orwellian proportions.

The same people who led us in a round of John Lennon's "Power to the People" are now attempting to take power from the people, relinquishing it to the hands of Big Brother Government.

Many who fearlessly stood for our First Amendment rights, including freedom of peaceful assembly, now ridicule, malign and intentionally falsely report the growing (grass-roots) Tea Party movement, a movement that, at its core, is for the return to smaller, decentralized government and an increase in individual freedoms and responsibilities - one with no political party affiliation.

Truth is, The Who's Townsend was ahead of his time when he penned "Won't Get Fooled Again" - "And now the parting on the left, is now the parting on the right."

Modern-day 'progressives'

Today, there is little difference between your garden-style Republican and your run-of-the mill Democratic politician. People are waking up to the fact that both parties are predominantly interested in expanding their power while they keep us arguing over Ds and Rs. They are both modern-day "progressives," an Orwellian term that sounds good. Who wouldn't want to be "progressive?" But the progressive's main focus is to move us incrementally away from the unique brilliance of our country's founding and toward a cradle-to-grave "nanny state" in which we depend upon (and relinquish our freedom to) Mother Government.

While this has been going on for decades, the process has been slow. In recent time, the Bush and Obama administrations have utilized current day crisis to dramatically accelerate the process.

When I consider the many ways our federal government has expanded its powers, limited its accountability and recklessly spent our nation's treasure, it is nothing short of heartbreaking, and I believe that reaction is a shared one for Democrats, independents and Republicans alike.

At our core, the majority of us are conservative - conservative Democrats, independents and Republicans - but a people who cherish the God-given freedom we have all inherited. We are a people who value the blood sacrifice so many Americans have given to keep us free.

There is much more that unites us than divides us, and we need to come together on those limited and basic common needs we entrust to our federal government. Federal power then should be further restricted by a balance between the three federal branches: legislative, executive and judicial.

When the president appoints dozens of czars who are neither elected nor vetted, this balance is threatened. Beyond that, the power remains with the states and ultimately the people. It is a key component of our system's original design, and we are moving away from it at breakneck speed, with many politicians showing contempt and arrogance for the people they should be serving, resulting in the current movement sweeping the nation to reverse this direction.

Times are a-changin'

People are demanding accountability from their representatives.

As Bob Dylan howled many years ago, "Come senators, congressmen, please heed the call; don't stand in the doorway, don't block up the hall. ... For the times, they are a-changin'"

The majority of us want to live free and believe in capitalism, just as our founding fathers did. The core beliefs that can unite us once again are the same as those that united Americans who stood up in the 1960s or in 1776 - a people and a system that above all else understand the wisdom and necessity of an accountable and limited federal government.

Americans today, by and large, understand that freedom, not big government, is the essential force behind our past greatness and at the core of what we need to restore the promise of a brighter tomorrow for all of our citizens.

Rick Klepal is a commercial investment officer in Tampa.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT