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Sympathy For The Devil

By Rep. Nathan Ballentine

HOW “POLITICS” HAS BECOME JAGGER’S LUCIFER

“Please allow me to introduce myself
I’m a man of wealth and taste
I’ve been around for a long, long year
Stole many a man’s soul and faith…”

                             -Politics

When I decided to offer myself as a public servant, my pastor told me “God doesn’t place this on many people’s hearts. You should do it.” He also added “Politics isn’t Sunday School though.”

How prophetic were those words.

In my four short years in office, nothing surprises me anymore in Politics. Sadly, I’m almost now numb to the many new ways that Politics can bring out the worst in some folks.

Initially, a Politician may vote for something out of his own self-interest as opposed to his beliefs, the merits of the bill or the qualifications of the judicial candidate.

Why? Maybe it’s a chance to gain favor with a powerful member, or perhaps it could lead to a campaign contribution or Political support down the road. Maybe this quid-pro-quo could yield a return “thank you” on one of this person’s own pieces of legislation, or support for one of their judicial candidates when the time comes?

Forget the merits of the bill or the qualifications of the candidate. Those things should matter; but sadly they aren’t the only things that matter in Politics.

I guess I was naïve when I heard about these stories before I was elected, but I can tell you that’s only the beginning.

Circle One, if you will.

This slippery slope starts “innocently” enough with simple comments like “this is how things get done” or “you’ve got to go along to get along”. It’s a little voice that whispers “It’s ok. Everyone does it.”

Circle Two begins when folks slide a little further and vote against what their constituents back home are asking of them - votes they wouldn’t otherwise make without pressure from within.

The people they represent may be overwhelmingly for or against a particular issue, yet Politicians find a way to vote the other way.

Their justification for this is that “Politicians know better.” Politicians have access to information that constituents do not. Had constituents been able to access that information, surely they would see their representative voted correctly, right?

Granted, Politicians should lead, and leading oftentimes means going against the grain.

If done for the right reasons, going against the grain is good. If done for the wrong reasons, though, it’s not leadership at all.

So do Politicians vote against what they know is right? And if so, why?

Of course they do, but when that happens it’s only a matter of time before Politicians are at a place they never thought they’d be - a place where they may have indeed sold their soul (or had it stolen).

The scenarios above (regardless how “shocking” they may be) are mild compared to the next level, one I’m sure exists in every state and in federal government as well.

This next level takes us to the bottom.

This column doesn’t allow for the laundry list of political vices that are rampant everywhere - the kind of vices that take Politicians to depths they never knew they’d visit. But we know them when we see them, and most times it’s not the greed, envy or any of the other deadly sins that gets the Politician, it’s what those things force him or her to start doing.

Much like the frog placed in water that gradually boils, Politicians are eventually so caught up in the system they don’t even know it. I call this the “mirror test” and when you fail that test; you’re done. Maybe not as a Politician; but certainly as a public servant.

Sadly, most Politicians don’t realize they’ve failed this test or either they continue to explain away their actions with the ultimate “ends justify the means” rationale.

Politicians want to have more “power” and “influence” to better enact the altruistic beliefs and goals that they had when they first ran.

But do they sell their soul to get it? That’s the irony of it all.

As with every dark cloud, though, there is a silver lining. Yes, Politics indeed isn’t like Sunday School but the players are the same: sinners, saints, and many in between. State and federal governments do have men and women with true motives who don’t sell their soul or have it stolen. These public servants remember who they are, why they were elected, and whom they answer to.

In the short run, it’s the voters. In the long run, it’s family, self, and God.

At least that’s how I see it …

“Pleased to meet you.
Hope you guess my name.
What’s puzzling you is the nature of my game.”

               -Politics

UPDATE - Be sure to check out Ballentine’s website, Nathan’s News, for more good stuff.

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