My memory is still good enough to remember when I was learning how our democratic form of government worked. We were told that all the eligible citizens voted for the best people who were like us.

I remember the people we elected to office did what the voters told them to do. They worked together for the good of the country. The two legislative parts worked with the Executive Branch so few vetoes were used.

I remember the Supreme Court was composed of experts on the Constitution. They kept the other two branches on track with the ideals of the founding fathers.

Oh yes, those founding fathers who courageously broke with that mean King of England, who taxed without representation. These men (women were to be kept barefoot, pregnant and ignorant of politics.) made decisions based solely on what was good for the people and the fledgling country.

Well, that was what was in my civics book and what my teacher told me. Fifty years later I know the truth. The veil of idealism has been lifted, wadded up and dumped into the garbage can!

The famous Boston Tea Party was actually a bunch of drunks from a local tavern egged on by some of those Founding Fathers. What was their motive? They were tea smugglers whose tea was higher priced than the East India Company’s tea. Don’t forget the Boston Massacre that Paul Revere (a smuggler) made famous for his silverware, was a minor incident and the only person killed being black. Since the death of a freed black man wouldn’t excite people in the South, he became white.

Does anyone think we elect people that really have the voter’s interest in mind? Recently a politician, in a moment of honesty, reminded me of an old saying, “Do you know of any politician that was poorer when he got out of office than when he went in?” Laws are passed with loopholes that were paid for by lobbyists. Connect the dots.

A Lebanonese businessman once told me, “The Middle East Conflict is business. The guy with the gun is told its religion so he will fight.” Isn’t that similar to what we believe today? Somebody is paying a lot of money to con you into believing what they want you to believe.