Republicans and amateur hour

“I’d rather be ruled by a competent Turk than an incompetent Christian.” Martin Luther, Protestant reformer

In a recent survey, a huge majority of Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson’s supporters said one of the attributes they like best about him is that he’s inexperienced as a politician. His knowledge of history is also quite sketchy.

Now, if I were going to have brain surgery, I would want the most experienced surgeon I could find, someone like Dr. Carson. As much as I admire President Obama, I wouldn’t want him performing brain surgery on me. But for Republicans, ignorance and inexperience in politicians have become virtues. They think that running the country is something anyone can do, as long as they have the “correct” political views.

In the above quote, Martin Luther, the great Protestant reformer of the early 1500s, understood that ruling a country requires competence and experience. Then, as now, Turks were Muslim, and Luther was emphasizing that it’s far more important to have competent leaders than to choose leaders based on their beliefs. Personal beliefs are significant, but they alone don’t equip someone to run a state or country.

Michael Reagan, President Ronald Reagan’s son, recently wrote, “To be a successful president, even a conservative one, in the real world you have to work with members of Congress, not call them names.” (LVN, Oct. 28, 2015) He was commenting on how Republican frontrunners declare they will fix everything while clearly having no concept of how the Constitution and the three branches of government work.

In 1776, our brand new country needed a governing document, both to unify the thirteen colonies into one nation and to give us legal status among the other nations of the world. The Articles of Confederation were written; ratification began in 1777.

The Articles provided for a weak central government with a weak president and no power to tax. They also included term limits for members of Congress. Such a weak framework made it impossible to govern our country. Term limits resulted in inexperienced amateurs governing the country, and they were a disaster. Because of these features, the Articles were a failure. Sadly, today’s right-wingers, with their ignorance of history, want to return to those days.

In 1787, a Constitutional Convention was convened to try to fix the Articles. They were unfixable, so a whole new constitution was written by the end of 1787. The Constitution was ratified in 1788 and became official in 1789. Under the new governing document, George Washington was elected president and inaugurated on March 4, 1789.

He and those who followed him were educated men with experience in local and colonial government. They had studied political philosophers such as John Locke. They weren’t amateurs; many of them were “career politicians.”

The new Constitution provided for three equal branches of government. It provided for a strong executive and gave Congress the power to tax. Those who think the Constitution was written to restrain the powers of the federal government have got it backwards. That’s what the Articles of Confederation did; the Constitution was written to rectify that mistake.

Republican Ron Knecht, Nevada’s state controller, demonstrated his hatred of government when he wrote, “Similarly, every cent taken in taxes is an act of absolute destruction of human wellbeing.” (LVN, Oct. 9, 2015) He compares taxation to theft. Knecht’s salary of $102,898 is paid with taxpayer dollars. Does that make him a receiver of stolen goods? Does he consider police, firefighters, soldiers, etc., to be thieves? If conservatives think the founders were criminals and the Constitution is an instrument of tyranny, they should be honest about it.

The United States isn’t a business or a family household. It’s a country. That’s why the founders didn’t leave a business plan or a “to-do” list. They left a governing document, the Constitution. We need leaders who understand the difference and who are dedicated to governing, not turning a profit. Leaders should work for all the people, regardless of economic status or political affiliation.

The founders were willing to compromise, even though they disagreed strenuously on many issues. They understood they were serving the whole country, not just their own political factions. We need leaders today who feel the same way, who are willing to compromise and work with others, who understand the difference between a personal agenda and the good of everyone. We need competent, experienced people, not amateurs. Amateur shows are fun to watch, but they’re no way to run a country.

Jeanette Strong, whose column appears every other week, is a Nevada Press Association award-winning columnist. She may be reached at news@lahontanvalleynews.com.