
Remember when Obama made the comment, "Just words, just speeches", referring to his Republican opponent, insinuating that the man stood for nothing he publicly said when Obama himself was the most guilty of that at all? Well, that's where the idea for the headline for this column came from, for the Republican Party seems to think that the rules shouldn't be of concern to the average American because they are just the way business is done. America seems to be rising up against just such an answer.
And before going further, we must congratulate Ted Cruz for having a good game plan to maneuver through the various state primary rules since his campaign has used it to his advantage. The Trump campaign wasn't prepared for this aspect of the political process and it has hurt them, but even so the nominating process is far from over. But the real loser in all of this is the American people, for they have become engaged like not seen in generations and regardless of how legal the process is, it has created a very bad perception by millions of Americans. The old saying "perception is nine-tenths of the law" applies here, whether it should be or not and we need to be concerned.
To make the matter even worse, the Democrats are no better with super delegates and a growing realization that the deck is truly stacked for Hillary. No matter how many primary votes Bernie Sanders seems to be garnering, it looks like the process has picked Hillary to run against Trump or Cruz or whoever the Republicans ultimately nominate. That said, however, if the Republicans nominate anyone other than the top two, it is highly likely that the party will have hell to pay in the general election and we won't know for a while if a bridge to quell the animosity between supporters of the two will allow the two camps to come together in the general election. If it doesn't, we as a nation are in great peril since the opposition clearly wants an end to freedom as we know it.
Nobody can say the campaign is not interesting but the situation does show how the Washington Establishment and their state party cohorts have developed a system which is poorly understood and just as difficult to explain. Too much complexity and closed door processes is always the enemy of transparency. Therein lies a major part of the problem, for when people don't understand something, the rumor mill will always rear it's ugly head. Yet maybe if Americans paid attention to how American elections ran and the procedures they follow, at least in their own state, such nonsense as we see today could be changed and avoided. And that, my friends, requires involvement and education on the process. We'll leave it at that today since that brings up an entirely new problem.
Why do we have so many problems like this? Well, maybe, just maybe, our complacency and lack of civic responsibility has brought it on. Think about it and get involved, It's your country, too. An informed electorate is the key to an effective political system which is the key to a free and working society. If we lose it now, it's likely gone forever.