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ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS HERALD |
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LOYAL OPPOSITION I hereby declare myself a member of the President’s Loyal Opposition. There, I’ve said it. The concept of The Loyal Opposition goes back, as does much of our judicial and legislative system, to Great Britain. Online guide Wikipedia defines the Loyal Opposition as "the concept that one can be opposed to the actions of the government of the day without being opposed to the constitution of the political system." In the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries the leader of the largest minority party in Parliament is termed "The Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition". Their constitutional function is to scrutinize Government legislation and actions. After what can be generously called a contentious election season, we've heard a lot of talk about "putting aside our differences" and "working together" from the winning side of the Presidential table. I can't help but think that this sounds suspiciously like "sit down and shut up" to those of us who were passionate in our belief that the incumbent should not be returned to office. More than 56 million people in the US voted for change on November 2nd. The President was returned to office by the smallest margin of the popular vote since Herbert Hoover. The idea of 56 million Americans ready and willing to hold this administration's feet to the fire is a hopeful thing. Our next chance to gain what the President likes to call “political capital” will come in the mid-term Congressional elections. Spread the word. Let the conspiracy theorists do their thing (after all, even Woodward and Bernstein were considered a bit crazy and they wound up exposing the last big scandal of the Executive Branch); the rest of us can move forward, exercising our right to dissent without being branded as unpatriotic. One of my favorite sayings comes from Thomas Jefferson. He said, "Dissent is the highest form of Patriotism". We need to continue to speak truth to those in power, and demand the truth from them in return. Next week? Shoes, and the best mascara brushes. Gotta keep it all in perspective, you know…..
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