Idahoans are about to pick their horses, their candidates who will stand this November, asking to be handed the reins of collective power. I pray we all, Democrats and Republicans, put forward statesmen... and not politicians.
The difference is best summarized in an age-old proverb frequently misattributed to Mark Twain. It predates Twain by over a century and goes like this: “What is the difference between a politician and a statesman? A politician compromises principles to obtain power. A statesman compromises power to obtain principles.”
The “elected” are handed vast power, such as to levy tax and take wealth, to spend that wealth, to enact laws depriving freedom or extracting even more treasure unless you act a certain way. The grand bargain that makes America a free, self-governing nation means we have specific expectations in return for that granted power.
Those expectations are spelled out on the very first page of our master rulebook, a little document known as the U.S. Constitution.
We expect justice... that the playing table be level and fair for all. Those we elect will be sent into a pool of piranha: a courthouse, a statehouse, or a Capitol. There, dangled money and power, extortion and fabricated lies will be employed to tip and skew the table.
A statesman must distinguish between those seeking justice and those advocating a definite “tilt,” ensuring they win and others lose every time.
We expect domestic tranquility... to live our lives without fear. Laws and law enforcement should prevent threats to life, theft, disruption of commerce and property damage. Equally important, however, civil disobedience must never be given a “just cause.”
We expect common defense. Some among us will put their lives at risk to ensure safety and freedom for others. We must honor and care for those making that sacrifice.
We expect governments to support conditions where, collectively or individually, we improve our own general welfare. When we wrote these rules, America had just left a system where a King was responsible for the welfare of his subjects. We didn’t substitute a bureaucracy replacing the King.
Instead, we said, “The quality of my life is mine to pursue: government, as a general rule, should facilitate that pursuit, and not be its obstacle.”
And lastly, we expect governments to secure liberty for ourselves, and importantly, for future generations. The patriots who wrote these rules were well-versed in John 8: 32, where the formula is clear, “and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Ensuring a common diffusion of knowledge (i.e., “the truth”) was the way to safeguard liberty for future Americans. James Madison, an important crafter of the Constitution, said it this way, “A popular Government, without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy; or perhaps both.” The better we educate our kids, the more enduring their freedom will be.
On Tuesday, we do not line up a chorus, picking those who sing the best songs or mouth the most pleasing words. We, the people, are the coach, fielding a team with explicit goals and expectations. We need players with action plans and the will to see them through.
The American dream of owning a home is disappearing for many. The average diet is, after years of steady improvement, now getting worse. Is the playing field level? A world with trillionaires is not evil per se, but isn’t it reasonable to expect the same world to have fewer destitute poor?
The reasons “for which governments are instituted among men” have not all been marked “complete.” The principles for which we stand still need work. And in that task, we desperately need to elect statesmen... and not politicians.
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