General John J. Pershing

“Courageous leadership is the very lifeblood of a democracy. No matter how well conceived our plan of government may be, its success as the years go by, its very existence in the end, will depend upon the men selected to administer its affairs.

“In government we see politicians forsaking the ideal of representative government, which requires that they be leaders of the people, and instead, trying to cater to every whim of their constituents in order to cling to their jobs. We see legislators neglecting to cut outrageous expenses and waste of government for fear of antagonizing patronage. We see executives and candidates deliberately ignoring certain great issues because they are dangerous.

“As a people we seem to have abandoned the ideal that elective officers of our government should be leaders in the communities, districts, or states which they represent. Generally speaking, such officers no longer feel it their duty to exercise their own best judgment during their terms of office in handling public questions that come before them. They hesitate to express their own honest opinions. Instead, we find most of them with ‘an ear to the ground’ – a strange position for a leader. Their chief endeavor seems to be, not to determine what is right, or what is best for the welfare of the people in general; they seek to find the opinion of the majority of voters upon whom they depend for re-election. They make no serious attempt to influence the uninformed opinion of their constituents, or to change it. Such men are in no sense leaders, and unless we have abandoned our ideals they have no proper place in our scheme of government.”
American General John J. Pershing (1860-1948)

Would a great man like John Pershing be more likely to support President Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and the other liberal Democrats who pander to ever desire of their constituents or people like Michelle Bachmann, Ted Cruz and Sarah Palin who have been trying to bring fiscal sanity to Washington with the intent of preventing the bankruptcy of the federal government and the ultimate destruction of life, liberty and our ability to pursue happiness.