Stephen Hunter wrote the novel. Jonathan Lemkin, the screenplay. Shooter was good box office, with a hero that killed scores of American troops in a variety of ways — troops who were unfortunate warriors that obeyed orders of high ranking (corrupt) military and political leaders. But Bobby Lee Swagger had no choice. Innocent or not, these GI’s were pawns, as millions of your fellow citizens are in real life. And like real life, Shooter has one small segment of dialogue that defines it. Ninety nine percent of the film is gratuitous violence — necessarily so. The film was made to rake in bucks. But the film does have a serious message. In it, Hunter and Lemkin expose the truth of systematic government venality that is not fiction. As you hear or read the pivotal dialogue, one name, one event, storms through your memory — Benghazi. You remember the atrocity you’ll never forget. No one in power took responsibility. A crime was committed. No one was indicted. People in high places got away with murder. This exchange explains it:

Michael Sandor ” . . .nothing, no matter how horrible, ever really happens without the approval of the government. Over there, and here. The problem isn’t the doing. It’s the people in power having to admit that they knew . . . only the underlings go to jail. Their bosses knew. We know their bosses knew. But you don’t say it.”

Bobby Lee Swagger  “What exactly happened in Africa?”

MS  “Somehow villagers didn’t think an oil pipeline was good enough reason to move their village . .”

BLS  “So they asked them all nicely to move and when they didn’t, they just killed them all?”

MS “No. They didn’t ask. They just killed them. So the next village won’t need to be asked. There is a mass grave with 400 bodies, men, women, children. . .”

BLS “Who (is responsible)?”

MS  “A senator. From Montana, I think. You don’t get it. There is no head to cut off. It’s a conglomerate. If one of them betrays the principles of the accrual of money and power, the others betray him. What it is, is human weakness. You can’t kill that with a gun.”

Worth repeating. “If one of them betrays the principles of the accrual of money and power, the others betray him. What it is, is human weakness. You can’t kill that with a gun.”

In that one sentence, you know all you have to know about Washington — about the Beltway Club, about Congress, about the Supreme Court and a massive, abusive bureaucracy. The Kavanaugh hearings provided all the evidence any fifth grader would need to understand the wreckage, the rot that comes with absolute power. And Washington — Trump included — is powerless to do anything about it. Newly elected lawmakers are powerless. If you think the GOP will vote to reduce Federal power, sign up now for the funny farm because you’re delusional. You are. You think The Constitution will protect your basic rights. Which Constitution? The one that established the Balance of Powers in 1789? Or the 2000-page one your vaunted Supreme Court has decided the Founders were too stupid to create in the beginning? As your country creeps methodically into socialism — regardless of who is president and what party has power — over 80% of the American people are fat, clueless and indifferent. Something like cattle. No, exactly like cattle. They chew their cuds and watch as the Federal Government mandates the education of their children, the regulation of business, the labor of people, the housing of people, the health of people, the marriage of people, the birth of people, the transportation of people and the energy and climate of a nation. These are responsibilities The Constitution gave to the States — in the beginning. Now States are irrelevant. Totally. Jumping when the Federal Government says, “Jump.” The result of absolute power is a $20+ trillion debt, a $140 trillion unfunded liability, inequality before the law, cheating, lying and stealing — all in the name of runaway greed.

So — you ask — why don’t the States exercise absolute power and convene the Convention of States and chop the Federal Government at its knees, restoring it to its Constitutional limits? It’s a fair question. You can only surmise an opinion. State Governments are smaller versions of the Federal Government — hostile to change. Their leaders? Terrified to rock the boat and risk their careers. And that’s the optimum word — careers. Not temporary public service. Careers. Cradle to the grave. Celebrity status. The accrual of money and power. You can’t kill that with a gun.

Even so, twelve courageous states think it’s time to act. You can only hope something will incite the cattle to stampede.

www.conventionofstates.com

Whatever your age, Death loiters just around the corner. You would be the first to concede that an unnecessarily grim reminder of life’s reality is better left unsaid in favor of a more cheerful outlook. But there is relevance to reality, considering that you and just about everyone else on the planet often prefers to escape from it. Brett Kavanaugh has experienced a peek at Death. One of life’s little deaths, to be more specific. One day not long ago his reality was resplendent, earned by decades of accomplishment. Today, in the eyes of millions who don’t know the man, he’s a scumbag and always will be. His wife will always be the wife of a scumbag. His children will always be the unfortunate offspring of a scumbag. Even his supporters in dark corners will whisper a nagging doubt. If he happens to win confirmation, the victory will always carry an asterisk. In every history book, he will be a SCOTUS Judge* (see scumbag). Kavanaugh’s big mistake was forging a squeaky clean image. Nothing’s more juicy than bringing down someone who sports an honorable reputation. Media loves skewering a good guy that may have a secret flaw — or alleged flaw. At the same time, Media loves a bad boy. Bill Clinton was (and is) a swashbuckling, serial scumbag and loves every minute of that reputation. The man was President — twice. Ted Kennedy was a playboy who made a deadly mistake, but, hey, he was a Kennedy and all the Kennedys were bad boys, even Papa Joe. Mafia kingpin John Gotti was a playboy murderer and the people loved him. Dozens of entertainment celebrities became more famous after taking a fall for some reckless, thoughtless, criminal behavior — confessing their sins and laughing all the way to the bank as their careers flourished. Unfortunately for him, Bill Cosby was a spokesman for family values. The lesson for wannabe leaders — if you want to be bad on the side, you gotta be cool bad, no excuses. Women especially like a bad boy, if he’s cool. While you can’t escape reality, your fantasy thinks Kavanaugh missed his chance at immortality. When he was asked about what happened — instead of tearfully showing his outrage — he should have made international headlines with something like this:

“Well, Senators, here’s the deal. All of us were almost blind drunk at this party. Yeah, there was a party and I was there. Everybody was talking trash. Chrissie was on her back wavin’ it around, if you get my meaning — and yeah, I pulled down her pants with the intent of gettin’ it on — but man, I physically couldn’t, no matter how drunk I was. I mean — have you seen pictures of her back then? After I sobered up, I went home, threw up and took a hot shower for at least an hour. I was very young then, but I look back at that as one of my most important life lessons — and am grateful for it. Nothing really happened, thank God; and I would hope, if she’s honest with herself and you, Chrissie would say she learned a thing or two about what mistakes to avoid when you’re a kid.”

The Kavanaugh circus was significant for only one reason. It further exposed the incompetence — and in fact, wickedness — of members of Congress. For the most part, these people are cheaters and thieves. They become rich for life doing nothing whatsoever of value. They have only one purpose — to do anything that will assure them a place at the public trough — to feed off the sweat, blood and tears of taxpayers. Honest lawmakers have your sympathy. Swimming in the Beltway swamp must take stamina and tolerance for foul odor.  And — everyday — a long, hot shower.

The most apt name you can come up with is “momentous” — signifying the election of one Donald Trump in 2016. In the aftermath of that event, there was (and still is) a frenzied fusillade — an outpouring of outrage and hysteria from the thunderstruck Media and Beltway ruling class. The cacophonous outcry itself became the news month after month, overshadowing perhaps the most significant political event in American history, barring the divine birth of the nation itself. That birth, and Trump’s election, shared one thing in common. Each happened against all odds. Each was American to the core. Each was audacious. And what has been lost in the sound and fury of Media pandemonium is this salient fact — each of those events, separated by 240 years, is inextricably linked to the other. The American idea — and its ideals — rested squarely on the principle of the people’s consent, literally called “the consent of the governed.” In fact, the founding documents were tediously written to avoid the tyranny of a coercive government. The Founders were so concerned that their work would gradually be undermined by the lust for absolute power, that they passed Article V of the Constitution which renders ultimate power to the States — and the people — not to the three branches of government. But when the story of Donald Trump’s election is written, one question will override all of the accomplishments, the controversies and the fallout.

Will his election have a sequel?

To ask the question another way — has Trump changed the game — has he opened the presidential door for other private sector persons of high accomplishment — to follow his footsteps — to take the risk — to forego a private life and undergo the sleaze merchants who live to dredge up every misstep, every indiscretion? Trump is America’s one and only true outsider. He shattered the ruling class dictum — that you have to be a member of the Club and earn your right to lead. Every organization in America follows that dictum. Rotary vice presidents become presidents. Kiwanis second vice presidents become first vice presidents. Ad nauseum. Put in the time and get your piece of the recognition pie. The Washington Beltway denizens, regardless of party, were frantic when Donald sashayed into the oval office, never so much as having served on a city council. They never stopped to consider, much less celebrate that he is living confirmation of the phenomenon that is America. That he is a validation of this nation’s fidelity to a government of the people, by the people, for the people. Because he was bureaucrat incarnate, and black to boot, that celebration was reserved for the slippery-tongued Obama. The intellectual crowd and fawning media drooled over him, emotions bordering on lust, if not idolatry. He was anomaly, not American.

Sad to say, Trump’s time in office — whether one or two terms — will not lift Washington out of the gutter. Perhaps with continuous economic strength and visible success, he can slow the drift to socialism. But his only real legacy rests on something more historic, something out of his control. If his candidacy, victory and restoration of America’s greatness can awaken more people to have faith in the historic principles that built this still young republic — then perhaps among these people will emerge other accomplished leaders to pick up the gauntlet. Perhaps a majority of people will begin to understand that the private sector is the real proving ground for true leadership — not the halls of government buildings. Career politicians created “the swamp.” They want the swamp. They love the swamp. Trump can’t drain it. Not in his time. He needs help. He opened the Beltway door. It remains to be seen how long it will stay open. And if his successor walks boldly through it.