"It profits me but little that a vigilant authority always protects the tranquillity of my pleasures and constantly averts all dangers from my path, without my care or concern, if this same authority is the absolute master of my liberty and my life."

--Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America

Monday, November 1, 2010

Ron Johnson and the Citizen-Legislator

Speaking before a Chamber of Commerce group in Wisconsin, Republican Senate candidate, Ron Johnson, said this:
“Maybe what we really need in this country are citizen-legislators. People who have led a normal life, an ordinary life, a full life. Who had a full career, raised a family, drove their kids to school, attended their events.”
Here's hoping Johnson wins on Tuesday -- unseating Russ Feingold, the sham "maverick" Democrat -- and that he truly will be a citizen-legislator, a Mr. Smith Goes to Washington reprise.   The problem, of course, is that, once citizen-legislators get to Washington, they get surrounded by staffers (whose careers are in Washington), lobbyists (ditto), media-types (ditto), government bureaucrats (ditto), etc.   We sometimes forget that there are only 535 Congressmen and Senators, but there are millions of people who are either employed directly by or indirectly connected to the federal government.  Those are the people you'll see in Washington when you go to your kids' school for an "event."  

Hard to stay ordinary.  But, for now, Godspeed to Ron Johnson.  

***

Rich Lowry has a good article on National Review Online about Johnson that quotes James Harris, a local Milwaukee talk show host whose kids play in our Little League.   Here's a link to James' website.   A really good guy who, much like me, married way over his head.  :)

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