Observations©
By Donald S. Conkey
Recently, while watching the political process (democracy) play out in Wisconsin, my mind recalled the words of an ancient king who was in the process of turning his kingdom over to a government ruled ‘by the voice of the people.’
This king’s words pertinent to what is happening in Wisconsin, and to a lesser extent here in Georgia and even here in Cherokee County read: “Therefore, choose you, by the voice of the people, judges, that ye may be judged according to the laws which have been given you by our fathers, which are correct, and which were given them by the hand of the Lord. Now it is not common that the voice of the people desireth anything contrary to that which is right, but it is common for the lesser part of the people to desire that which is not right; therefore this shall ye observe and make it your law – to do your business by the voice of the people.”
These are words that should be pondered carefully by all Americans today because we see this counsel in action today – in Wisconsin and all across America. But this king wasn’t finished yet. He went on to declare what would happen if and when the people choose iniquity. This declaration reads: “And if the time comes that ‘the voice of the people’ doth choose iniquity, then is the time that the judgments of God will come upon you, then is the time he will visit you with great destruction even he has hitherto visited this land.”
It is as if these words were meant for America today – especially for Wisconsin. It was the Founding Fathers who gave America’s its foundational documents of freedom – the very laws that a “lesser part” of the people are attempting to destroy. The ‘voice of the people’ in Wisconsin last November turned Wisconsin’s politics upside down but rather than accept the ‘voice of the people’ the ‘lesser part’ of the people in Wisconsin cried foul – “that is not what we understood Walker would do – take away our ‘rights.’” These ‘lesser people,’ encouraged by their union leaders tried to defeat the ‘voice of the people’ by sending their elected senators to a neighboring state to prevent the ‘business’ of the people from being completed. I wonder if this could be considered a democratic melt-down or perhaps the beginning of America’s self-destruction – or is it the beginning of a restoration process to restore those principles here in America that has been, for 224 years, conducted ‘by the voice of the people.’
Most people accept the principle of peaceful assembly as guaranteed by the Constitution’s First Amendment – but often forget that choices have consequences when assemblies turn ugly? Maybe I see it wrong, but I didn’t see the events going on at the state capitol in Wisconsin as peaceful. And then I ponder the meaning of the words: “the judgments of God?” Ironically, while writing these words news came about the 9.0 earthquake that hit Japan, the largest quake in Japan’s recorded history, followed by a deadly tsunami sufficiently energized to hit America west coast. Is this earthquake and tsunami a sign? I wonder!
Meanwhile, as America waits to see how these political battles in Wisconsin play out, we in Georgia had an opportunity earlier this month to become involved as ‘the voice of the people.’ In February the Cherokee County Republican Party held its precinct meetings at the Praise and Fellowship Church on Bells Ferry Road. That church, large as it is, couldn’t hold the number that wanted to attend the county meeting so the meeting was moved to the county Convention Center to better accommodate those members who felt it is time for a change in the party direction and politicked to become ‘the voice of the people’ for the county Republican Party.
Joan and I attended this county convention. While long and tiring it was ‘democracy in action’ at the grass roots,’ it was where ‘the voice of the [Republican] people’ had their say in an open meeting governed by Party and Robert’s Rules. It was indeed a demonstration of how “a government of the people, by the people and for the people” was designed to be run – with ideas emanating from the bottom up, not from the top down. It was “the voice of the people” in action here in Cherokee County. This county convention will be followed by a district convention in April and by a state convention in May.