How to "Fix" Bad Government

My friend John Vickrey, up in Norman, Oklahoma, recently sent an email decrying the firing of teachers in the Kansas City schools as scapegoats for bad government having ruined those schools long ago. John and I used to teach together at Bosqueville High, near Waco, Texas (a school nationally recognized for excellence for the third time). He is a sincere and dedicated teacher. This kind of thing really disturbs him. It should disturb us all.

The text below is my recommendation for how to fix bad-government problems. This actually has application to any issue you want, not just public education. For most of the ills in American public life, the root cause is greedy, self-serving politicians not doing the jobs we elected them to do.

The cure for it is easier and more certain than any new laws or grassroots-proposed Constitutional amendments. Why would the guilty lawmakers change the law of the land in a way that might send themselves to jail? Read on .....

Text of my reply to John:

As you and I both know, it does not require a lot of money to provide a good education. You just have to ignore all the fads and most of the bureaucrats, and just do what worked for the last couple of centuries. I'm speaking of Bosqueville, of course.

All the government-driven top-down interference is the fault of elected officials who value politics above public duty, at all levels from the local school board to DC. The way to fix it requires that we get rid of the perpetrators of this evil, and that in turn requires two changes on the part of voters, and fairly simple ones at that.

(1) Vote for no incumbent unless you can personally verify that he did more good than harm while in office. Few do. But it usually takes more than a term to put down deep roots into the corruption system. If you don't know, vote "no". Period. This isn't party, this means all of them. Throw the bastards out.

(2) Communicate with your representation in writing, and often. Tell them what you expect them to do, and what you will do if they don't: which is to vote them out. And then follow through and do it (item (1) again). Throw the bastards out.

Do these two simple things, and you will (eventually) have decent government again. Fail, and you will continue to fester in response to the idiocy perpetrated upon us by the cesspits that are our Congress, our Legislatures, our city councils, etc. Throw the bastards out.

It is either that, or armed revolution in the streets. I prefer to fix it at the ballot box; far less mess to clean up. Throw the bastards out.

Again, this is independent of party, or any specific issue. Do not class me as a "tea party" type. I do not agree with most of them on a lot of issues. I have been advocating this "fix" since long before there ever was a "tea party" movement at all. Throw the bastards out.

Now, is there clarity about what I advocate that everyone do? (Throw the bastards out.)