The Bully Pulpit

Theodore Roosevelt coined the term "bully pulpit" to describe the great platform that the White House was for advocating an agenda. His meaning was that he had a national stage on which to speak, unencumbered for the most part. Many presidents have used this platform very effectively to communicate ideas and proposals to the American people. Ronald Reagan did this often, with amazing results in many cases.

Today, word "bully" means something entirely different. It has a completely negative meaning, "harasser of the weak". Bullying is almost universally frowned upon by society. The only people that seem accepting of the practice are themselves, bullies. We have recently seen a tidal wave of backlash against bullying. Government has addressed it on local, state and even federal levels. The medical and psychological professions have joined the cause. Celebrities have spoken out against it. It can do great harm and is rightly being addressed more so than ever.

When I was young, the only recourse one had against a bully was to stand up to them. Generally speaking, if you did that, even if you got your block knocked off, the bullying would stop. The bully was either put in his place or he gained enough respect that someone would stand up to him that he focused his energy on someone else.

The bully pulpit has changed as well. It no longer seems to be a platform to take your case to the people in order to gain their support. The White House is still a platform where that can be accomplished, no doubt. Although it has really been "fundamentally transformed" into something entirely different. It is much more imbued by the current definition. In that sense, our current president is using the bully pulpit to present himself as the bully in chief.

This administration has taken bullying to a new level. It is not an isolated incident. It is not an isolated agency. It is certainly not isolated to the president himself. He has cultivated a culture of bullying that has no equal. From the top down, we are being pushed around. The intent is no different than that of the playground bully in 1974. Power. The only difference is that in 1974, the power could  only be used to determine which swing could be used or in what order you could enjoy the slide. In 2013, that power is being used as a form of tyranny, increasingly to tear down our fundamental and constitutionally protected rights as citizens of the United States of America.

The examples are too numerous to include them all. Most are probably yet unknown, new examples are exposed every day. Some of the highlights include the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act(Obamacare). The number of Americans, including representatives and health care industry experts that are against this monstrosity is overwhelming. That doesn't matter, it was pushed through anyway.

The administrative state that we live in has bullied us for years. It is so out of control that a solution seems completely out of reach at this point. They tell us everything we are allowed to do and how to do it. The cost of enforcement of regulations alone is well over $1 Trillion per year. That doesn't include all of the costs to devise, implement, litigate and staff the people in order to push us around this way. They dictate about toilets, light bulbs, gas, water usage, cars, diapers, cribs, milk, cleaners, medicines, restaurants and a practically endless list of other things.

That is bad enough. Regulatory and legislative bullying have completely changed the way we are allowed to live our lives. In the last few years, though, the bully pulpit has taken on an entirely more sinister feel. The bully in chief and his culture of corruption have taken it upon themselves to get far more tyrannical in their actions. Some examples of this are the current IRS situation, the Associated Press situation, the FOX news situation, and the HHS situation. These, while not at this point resolved, appear on the surface to include broken laws and conspiracies that could reach all the way to the bully himself. If it doesn't reach him in direct involvement, it seems almost certain to me that his influence in all of this is deep and meaningful.

There was a witness in front of the Way & Means committee today named Becky Gerritson. She gave very impassioned testimony about her involvement in the IRS scandal that I think everyone should see. Becky Gerritson She spoke what, I believe and overwhelming number of Americans think. I believe we have a responsibility to do exactly what she is doing, standing up to the bully. This is an entirely different kind of bully than we faced on the playground as children. It will take an entirely different kind of standing up than it took back then.

Our Founding Fathers knew this. We are given so many examples of their thinking. The United States was founded on several noble principles, one of the main ones being the standing up to a bully, King George III. This country has a history of standing up to bullies, and winning! We have no less of a responsibility right now to do just that. Stand up now, or sit down forever. It is your choice.