BY DON NELSON

Not to oversimplify it but when I think of government I have this image: at the top the federal government, then state government and, finally, municipal or city governments.

Again, not to oversimplify an otherwise convoluted issue – the people who have constructed and sold the Tea Party ideology use as one of their mantras the fact that the federal government is bloated and has a need to be placed on a diet.

They complain about government overreach at almost every turn of the page. Government has no need or right to require states’ compliance in matters that they – the Tea Party/Regressives deem the provenance of the state.

It is, so say the minds of the Tea Party, the right of the state to determine what is best for the state.

I’m not arguing the case for or against States’ Rights, though it does need to be debated. My point is, especially in Red States of the old Confederacy, an argument thrown out by those that oppose federalism and the democratic republic that is the United States of America.

Moving on to the next level of government. Particularly evident in most Red States is the inclination of governors and their lackeys to get together in committees, think tanks and various chambers of special interest to decide what is best for the state.

See any comparison to this and what they complain about at the federal level??

Once the ruminations have been completed pronouncements are sent via special envoys – read lobbyists and henchmen – to the many and diverse municipal offices in the state with “instructions” on how to do their business.

The state government is a mirror of the very type of overreach and intrusion that they screech and howl about on the stage of public lunacy. The cities of Oklahoma are subject to the same sort of “we know what’s best for you” governing that they claim the federal government is guilty of.

In reality there is no autonomy in government at the municipal level or the state level or the federal level. At the federal level our government is controlled by the whims and desires of the wealthiest corporation and individuals. That same sphere of influence is manifested at the state level and to a certain extent at the municipal level.

What is good for the people is deemed equivalent to what is good for big business and whichever large corporate entities are profiting from the individual states “business friendly” environment.

It seems to me that that we have in Oklahoma and Red States in general is something that early observers of our developing system pointed to. Benjamin Disraeli observed: “A conservative government is an organized hypocrisy.”

For anyone in state governance to criticize the federal government and then do precisely, on the state level, what they complain about is nothing but hypocrisy.

Alexis de Tocqueville, another observer of our development observed:

“The power of the periodical press is second only to that of the people.”

I encourage each and every citizen of Oklahoma to take that to heart.

Those who enjoy being told what is good for them by those that like to rule over them will more than likely pay no heed. Those that believe it time to turn this state around – the time is now – the time to speak out in opposition to the Regressive Media is now.

Power belongs to the people and we are the people. As Ann Richards said: “Power belongs to the people, we have the power – all that remains is to use it!”

– Don Nelson lives in Lawton, OK and is a frequent contributor to The Oklahoma Observer