Discernment And The Florida TEA Party
Discernment And The Florida TEA Party
By Grant Maloy
Scripture warns us to beware of “false prophets” and of those who would “tickle our ears”. It tells us that we are ultimately responsible for our own actions and decisions and not to blindly follow someone. It is up to us to determine what is true based on our own research. On judgment day you can’t blame anyone else for misleading you.
In politics there needs to be the same warnings. Beware of politicians that make false statements (lie) and will say anything to get elected. These upcoming elections are filled with such examples. If you are not discerning, you will be fooled.
Our founding fathers recognized the failures of man. If you read their writings you will see a common theme. It is a fear of tyranny. They knew that too much power in the hands of politicians would lead to an abuse of power.
They put in checks and balances on politicians and limits on what government could do. The Articles of Confederation that founded this country even had term limits. Three one year terms were enough for congress. The President served only one year.
Many elected officials are driven by an insane desire to be noticed. They act more like narcissistic movie stars than principled statesmen. Getting elected is all that matters. It fuels their egos.
You also can’t believe what they say. A local party chairman once explained to me that some campaign promises were “gimmicks”.
Recently, I received mail pieces from both incumbent Seminole County Commissioners who both claimed they are for lower taxes. That’s strange. I was at the meeting last September where they both voted to raise our property tax rate. I also recall them voting to raise our gas tax and they spent thousands of our tax dollars to devise a new drainage tax. They got cold feet to vote for it when 500 people showed up at the commission meeting to protest.
But that deception fails to match up to what the fake “TEA Party” party is doing. A political consultant who has made a living off deceiving voters has helped create the “Florida TEA Party”. By copying the popular grassroots movement Tea Party name, he plans to fool the voters. News reports show that Democrat Congressman Alan Grayson has helped fund the fake “TEA Party”. The plan is to fool enough conservative and independent voters who dislike Grayson into voting for the TEA Party candidate instead of the Republican. The anti-incumbent vote gets split and Grayson get re-elected.
If a politician wants to fool you, what does he think of you?
What can you do? Don’t be manipulated. Don’t be fooled.
Very few voters call the candidates and ask tough questions. Do it. Many politicians want to give you the answer that they think you want to hear. Play devil’s advocate with them. Ask the question backwards to test them.
Look at voting records and who supports their campaigns. Project Vote Smart is a great resource at www.votesmart.org.
If you find a candidate that you believe in give them $100 or spend 10 hours helping them.
If you don’t know about a race or question, skip it on the ballot and go to the next one.
Be discerning. This Election Day don’t be misled by politicians who are trying to ‘tickle your ears’. After Election Day you can’t blame anyone else for misleading you.
