My Principles are a Joke

The underlying idea of PBP was the P: Principles. Scouring the U.S. Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and the Holy Bible, I came up with lists of seven leadership principles and seven governing principles, on the basis of which our country should select our leaders, those leaders should campaign for office, and the election winners should run our country.

First, I opined repeatedly that honesty is the most important leadership principle. “Hahahaha,” was the reaction of the major political parties. As a result, the voting public clearly determined that its best option available was Donald J. Trump.

Integrity was another top demand I made in my call for principled leadership. “You are a funny guy,” they smirked. Instead of integrity, I saw claimed needs to eliminate the filibuster in the U.S. Senate and to expand the Supreme Court if given the political power to do so, but not so much if the other side had control.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T, I sang. “L-M-H-O,” was the chorus in reply.

Understanding is another of my principles. “Say what???” Service and peace as key principles: More knee slappers.

Treat others with dignity, at least? “IJBOL.” (IYKYK. Otherwise, you may need to Google some of these.) Instead, we got “Haitians eating pets,” loads of “garbage,” and “childless cat ladies.”

After setting forth these seven bold leadership principles, I next wrote about my seven principles for governance, such as transparency. “Hilarious!” The Democrats responded by denying Joe Biden’s decline for four years, then offering a replacement who seemed to reveal only two beliefs: (1) that abortion is good, and (2) that her opponent is bad.

Limited government may have been my foremost principle. “Funny! ROFL, in fact.” The parties promised governmental bans, new laws and executive orders, dramatic new taxes on some groups, mass deportation, more governmental programs and handouts, and absolutely nothing about balancing budgets, saving Social Security and Medicare, or lowering our national debt.

As for religious freedom and separation of church and state: “Ha!” These candidates seemed to care about religion only when seeking so-called “evangelical” or other faith-group votes.

Freedom and free enterprise? “I literally just laughed out loud,” they answered. One candidate promised price controls, another vowed tariffs. Meanwhile, neither talked much about building up our military to protect the free world. Equality? “Good one, Quentin.” Instead, they suggested that working people pay off student loans for grad school students, or giving tax cuts to billionaires.

I also think a principled government has a duty to protect the vulnerable – the “least of these” in biblical terms. “You crack me up!” Protection would be only for key voting blocks and members of a party’s base.

Last but not least was my insistence on the principle of law and justice. “Don’t be silly, Quentin.” As voters, our ballots offered, on one side, a convicted felon who vows to pardon people who stormed the U.S. Capitol. He was running against someone who many considered to be the Lawfare Party nominee.