R. Blake Farenthold: Leadership, Representation and Guts

Congressman R. Blake Farenthold (Republican, 27^th District, Texas) is an example of what I like about the Republican Party.  He states passionately that the government is not supposed to be our ultimate source of earthly satisfaction.  We, the people, are supposed to look out for, and be responsible for, ourselves.  We are supposed to work for a living; educate ourselves and our children; succeed through our own effort.  If we do well, we deserve the reward for our efforts.  That will make us confident.  If we do poorly we deserve the punishment that comes with failure.  That should make us cautious.  A confident, cautious citizenry sounds like a good idea to me.

 If we can not provide for ourselves due to ill fortune, diminished capacity, or even willful neglect, our families, communities and governmental bodies closest to the problem should provide minimal assistance.  We do these things out of compassion and dedication to the greater good—not because we are obligated to.   The government is the framework of laws that surround and protect our right to be the best person we can.  

The government was designed to do those things which the individual can not best do for himself.  An army, capable of defending a country that spans a continent is not a realistic job for one family, but it is for a federal government.  A university system capable of providing cutting edge education and research for the brightest of its citizens is not a realistic job for one family, but it is for a state government.  A fire department capable of safe-guarding the lives and property of a community is not a realistic job for a family, but it is for a city or county.  You get my point.      

            When the government chose to insert its influence in areas not delineated in even a liberal reading of the Constitution it started down the road to socialism, but it will probably arrive at bankruptcy first.  Unfortunately, there are a large number of Congressmen who made an insidious inference from that irritating phrase, “…there ought to be a law…”  These Congressmen, mostly but not exclusively Democrats, realized that if they made certain blocs of voters dependent on governmental succor that they would indenture those voters to their party.  If you are the fourth generation of people in your family receiving welfare checks as your sole source of income, you have come to believe those checks are your right and due.  But you are also condemned to a life of serfdom by the people who give with one hand and hold you down with the other.  The last thing the nanny state wants is people standing on their own two feet and saying, “No, I will make it on my own.”  Anyone who says that is no longer the property of the state.

            Rep. Farenthold has a good grasp of both the glory and the complexity of being part of a Republican representative government.  In the difficult position of being a freshman Congressman, needing to work both for his district, and the greater good of the nation, he is walking a smart but principled tightrope.  He also has the guts to speak a very important truth about his job.   He has stated that as a representative he must be both a listener and a leader.  He admits that those two tasks do not always lie comfortably together.  Yet he has shown the strength of character to do both.  I don’t live in Farenthold’s district, but I wish I did. 

            Pay attention to your congressional representative and keep the faith.