Do You Trust The Government?

I was born in 1952 and grew up in a time when most things involving the government were noble and respected. It grieves me to say that today I no longer trust the government.

How about you? Do you have trust in your government? Do you believe that the government has your best interests at heart? Can you name one department of the government that has not become bloated, corrupted, and unaccountable to anyone other than some other agency of the government?

It has all become so danged political that actual “justice” is now a byword from a long gone era. Do you trust the government?

“Well. So is your old man!” If you are anywhere near my age you will remember that phrase as commonplace a fifty years ago. For those of you born in the 21^st Century, the phrase simply meant “it takes on to know one.” Hypocrisy is nothing new in America; it has simply become more commonplace.

I remember driving down the road a few years ago when I saw a political billboard that featured a candidate running for County Prosecutor. “I’ll put the criminals behind bars where they belong,” was the caption that overlaid the picture of some greasy looking candidate.

“Hey dude,” I screamed at the billboard as I drove by. “That’s not your stinkin’ job! “Your job is to provide justice not put criminals behind bars.” Our criminal justice system is nothing but a politicized “gotcha” game with the lives of the innocent being the ante on the poker game we call the courts. The purpose of justice is to protect the innocent…not create criminals.

Is there anything more frightful than a visit from a government agent? Too often, the criminal justice system is not interested in justice. How many lives do you know that have been destroyed by “legal” system intent on winning rather than upholding justice? The law is an ass and lawyers and judges love it that way.

I hate what has happened to our nation. I hate the division caused by those who use the government to divide and conquer us. I hate a criminal justice system where one side of the nation roots for the guilt of the president while the other side roots for his innocence. The justice system is not a football game where “fans” root for winners and losers. All of us should root for justice. As Dr King wrote from the Birmingham jail, “Injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere.” What has happened to us America?

I want America to be great. I want all Americans to be successful. I want all Americans to play by the same set of rules and I desire that all Americans be judged by those same set of rules.

But that is not happening in America anymore. I don’t care what your politics are or which dog you are pulling for in the hunt, our multi-tiered system of justice is not good for anyone. Do you really think the criminal justice system is blind? Do you really think that our justice system works when not everyone has access to the same thing…justice…regardless of their social standing in life? When it comes to right and wrong don’t you think that it is time that we all stopped rooting for “our” team?

Do you really think justice is blind? “What you talkin’ about Willis?”

Lying is no longer shameful. The end now justifies the means. That is the genesis of Fake News. People lie in order to make sure their team wins. Everyone lies…a half truth is still a lie. If Hillary is guilty then we should demand justice. If Trump is guilty then we should demand justice. “So is your old man” is a poor reason to root for the other guy to lose.

Our nation cannot survive where dishonesty, graft, and personal destruction masquerades as justice. We have become a sick, sick society.

Morality is not relative, no matter what they teach in our public schools. Some things are right and some things are wrong and from the founding of this nation over 242 years ago the standard of right and wrong was the Christian Bible. A nation cannot exist when the standards by which we all agree to treat each other has been reduced to grading on a curve. One set of rules for me and one set of rules for you just cannot work.

The witch hunt of President is not good for America. The investigative double standard is appalling. Neither side roots for justice.

God does not respect one man more than another. We are all equal in His eyes. That is where the idea of justice comes from. Any person who is treated unfairly by our government should have the support of every other citizen. But the scale by which behavior will be judged has been tampered with. There is only one Truth and we should all endeavor to find it…not alter it.

It matters not which side you are on nor which political party you swing the pom poms for we must all strive for justice which is nothing more than equal protection under the law. We were all CREATED EQUAL in the eyes of the law and that governing principle must remain paramount or we will continue the slide into decadence. Average Joe can’t get a fair shake from government when Lady Justice is peeking out from under her blindfold.

So let me repeat my question to you. Do you trust your government? From local to federal do you really believe that they endeavor to do what is right or are they nothing more than an arduous task master hell-bent on forcing compliance with unrighteous edicts?

It is time we stopped rooting for candidates and start once again to root for justice. Injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere. Grading on the curve has not worked.

Perhaps that’s why you don’t trust the government. Folks must think that God grades on a curve.

E-Mail Dave Daubenmire: ptsalt@gmail.com