A fascinating and foolproof strategy for political speechifying is to make mostly sweeping statements that are vague enough that listeners are forced to subconsciously fill in the blanks for themselves. Take this sweeping-but-vague statement: "We need to create good-paying jobs to bring this country back to its former greatness." To be truly meaningful for listeners, this statement needs more specific definitions of terms, such as an actual wage range in place of "good-paying." However, instead of providing specific details, politicians purposely allow each listener to mentally substitute his/her own version of "good-paying" with satisfactory wage ranges of their own.

What is meant by "former greatness" in the above statement? It doesn't matter because listeners will specify the meaning internally. Each of us will automatically plug in our own definitions, while simultaneously giving the politicians the credit for delivering speeches we can relate to, yet avoiding any accountability for their details.

For your own amazement, deconstruct politicians' campaign rhetoric by examining the prolific use of the above tactic. Perhaps this exercise will help illuminate how politicians from both sides of the aisle have no real political distinctions other than those of our own conjuring. It certainly explains why decades of vacuous, repetitive political rhetoric still persuades the majority of voters yet produces few results.

The glaring lack of accountability is testimony that a new political class has emerged. National security no longer refers to the protection and safety of the American people. Instead, national security concerns itself first and foremost with the protection and safeguarding of the "continuity of government."

Once Americans understand this systemic change, abusive agencies such as the Transportation Security Administration and unlawful legislation such as the National Defense Authorization Act come into much sharper focus as tools for dismantling the Bill of Rights. This is critical if continuity of government is to take priority over the protection of Americans' natural rights in a free society.

Politicians and bureaucrats must be released from their oaths of office to preserve and protect the U.S. Constitution. Administrative procedural law must trump common law so that rules can cross borders for global application.

The United Nations' Agenda 21 is the blueprint for this umbrella purpose. Type "United Nations Agenda 21" into a search engine for an exhaustive list of information on this topic. Agenda 21 openly promotes abolishing private property, relocating people based on population-density formulas, and creating mega-regions to allocate and control resources globally, for starters. Agenda 21 is currently underway in local jurisdictions (counties, cities, townships, etc.) using soft law (resolutions, ordinances, etc.) to coordinate preordained objectives within each state.

In Iowa, the Scott County Board of Supervisors is quietly working behind closed doors on yet another no-cap taxing authority for a mental-health region that includes surrounding counties. In other words, Scott County taxpayers will pay the lion's share of other counties' mental-health care, including another bureaucracy to administer the new "region." The no-cap tax will allow taxes to be raised as needed, with no limit, to support this new layer of government.

For this reason, local elections are more important than ever. Voters have a much harder time directly engaging federal politicians, but our local elected officials are our neighbors, friends, and relatives. These folks are accessible, and can be held accountable much more easily. In other words, residents can create change locally if we choose to.

The leverage voters have is politicians' rabid desire for re-election. Nothing matters more, and if voters are seen and heard civically engaging in their respective counties and cities, politicians will set special interests aside in favor of voter volume, or risk being ousted. The good news is that civic participation is doable, and can create enormous positive change using peaceful and civilized means. Attend council meetings or watch them on cable; attend county-board meetings; read the minutes from meetings; keep current with the information sheets on agenda items, most of which can be obtained online; join a meet-up group to discuss issues and delegate tasks; organize an online town hall to share information; consider running for an office. There are many activities that can inspire change, but it requires showing up.

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