BEHIND THE MIKE

Everyone has a conscience. Some folks have a moral compass on which they will not veer; others… not so much. That is called consciousness.

Having a conscience does not constitute having the consciousness to use it to guide you along the path of life.

I have always felt that everyone has a price. I do not know anyone who would consciously commit a homicide. Threaten my grandbabies and I would blow your brains out in a heartbeat if I owned a gun. Short of that, I do own a baseball bat and will gladly call my shot and go Babe Ruth on you.

I think we all have a price and if tested we would do the “unthinkable.” A conscience is like that dog that cannot bite, but will not stop barking. It is our moral compass. Pushed to the wall on emotional issues, we might respond differently.

Einstein once observed “Never do anything against your conscience even if the state demands it.” I get that, especially if the state demands it. Perhaps that explains all the political discourse we seem to be having in America today. Compromise is no longer a word in the Congressional vernacular.

Out of 325 million Americans, you think you could round up 535 who could agree on something. I have been a registered Democrat all of my life, but never have I been more ashamed to admit that.

Today, the Democrats are a party of resistance, not out of conscience, but because they choose to consciously oppose everything. This is despite the damage it does to the legal and illegal aliens they pretend to be defending. I just don’t get it, which is perhaps one more reason why I got my clock cleaned when I ran for political office in 1980 as a Democrat.

Of late, it appears the party of my youth is busy creating its own storms… and then it quickly complains about the weather outside. How can they ever have a clear conscience? Mark Twain suggested “The only way to have good conscience is to have a bad memory.”

Another politician, Thomas Jefferson, coined a different expression: “All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.” Isn’t apathy and indifference a form of silence? One could argue that resistance is another version.

I have often written over the years that the single best thing that ever happened in my life was getting the hell beat out of me when I ran for political office.

I am not proud that I feel that way, especially in recent times when I see pictures of a tiny little girl with eyes full of tears and a heart absent of any hope as she clings to a chain linked fence.

Democrats want this picture to be the backdrop of the next election. That angers me more than anything else. They have the ability and authority to free that precious child but instead intend to use her for their own ends. Shame on us all!

Where are my so-called fellow Democrats? At a time when they are needed the most, they have abandoned their conscience. They have sold their souls to party higher-ups who care less about their country and more about themselves.

Shame on all of us… the politicians for doing it and us for allowing them to get away with demagoguery. In my book “It’s the Customer, Stupid!” (John Wiley & Sons) I make the observation that who is right and who is wrong is academic… it’s about fixing the problem. That is all the customer (the voter) wants.

All the American people want is for Congress to fix the immigration problem once and for all.

Michael Aun CSP®,  CPAE Speaker Hall of Fame® is the author of “Eagles or Buzzards, Which Are You?”