Not so long ago, in a Galaxy not so far away, there was a young man named Little Marco., who impressed everyone who ever met him, from those who sat imperiously in the Halls of Power in the Kingdom known as Capitol Hill, to the Commoners, toiling the fields in the fiefdom known as the Heartland.
Being the son of legal immigrants to this sovereign land, Little Marco was hailed as being someone special, an individual who could reach out to those who had walked a similar path, and yet, by view of his Conservative Credentials, having the ability to reach out to those who families had been here for several generations.
Little Marco’s affability, enthusiasm, and panache made his a popular speaker. Especially at the meetings in which the “common people” gathered in protest of ongoing “Taxation Without Representation”, a practice by which those who sat in the Halls of Power, burdened those who toiled the fields, in order to finance their own profitable schemes, through wich their own power increased.
Little Marco’s own power increased, as, thanks to those “credentials”, which I alluded to earlier, he was able to achieve a victory by convincing both Commoners and Lords alike, to elect him to a position to the very Halls of Power, which he had spoken so eloquently against, for such a long period of time.
The joy of the his supporters soon turned to dismay, when it became apparent that Little Marco slowly began to seemingly value the opinion of his fellow inhabitants of the Halls of Power, more than he did the Conservative “Commoners” who sent him there.
He soon joined a “council”, which became known as “The Gang of Eight”.
The purpose of this “Council”, was to provide a “Path to Citizenship”, for those, who unlike Little Marco’s parents, had broken the law of the Sovereign Land, by entering illegally.
In other words, this “Gang of Eight” sought to reward criminal behavior.
When that happened, whether he ever truly realized it or not, Little Marco had changed from being a part of “the solution” to the Sovereign Land’s woes…to being a part of the problem.
And, all those who had valued and supported him, as a leader in their fight against “Taxation Without Representation”, started to doubt whether he was ever the White Knight, the champion, that they believed him to be…at all.
And, their resentment grew.
As time went on, a stifling darkness continued to grow across the Sovereign Land, as the rights held by Commoners and Lords alike, which were promised to them in the Sacred Documents, written by their Fathers, began to be usurped, marginalized, and completely ignored by the Ruling Class, as decreed by their despotic King, Barack the First.
The growth of the stifling darkness continued unabated for seven long years, while those in the Halls of Power, sent there by the people of the Sovereign Land to represent them, turned a deaf ear to the cries of the Commoners and the Lords, preferring instead to make empty promises and play Parliamentary Games, several of which Little Marco missed through absences from the Halls of Power, due to “more pressing matters”.
The people of the land were dismayed by this, as they had spent their hard-earned money and gave their unflinching support, in their efforts to send these “Leaders” into the Halls of Power and after sending them there, received nothing but their disdain in return.
The stifling darkness grew…and, so did the people’s resentment, which by then…HAD TURNED TO ANGER.
As the seventh year of the darkness approached, a cadre of those who walked the Halls of Power, accompanied by a few Citizen Statesmen, decided to seek the people’s support to be next King to be ensconced in the Halls of Power.
Among those who decided to seek to be the Ruler of the Sovereign Land was Little Marco.
Now, the way that this Tournament was held was in rounds, held simultaneously among two different factions in the Halls of Power. Unlike the “Old Country”, where those factions are, actually, known as Commoners and Lords, the factions in this Sovereign Land, were actually two sides of the same coin, who often extended aid to one another, in order to increase their own power, at the expense of those living in the Sovereign Land.
The Tournament began with Preliminary Competitions among the factions themselves, which were held to determine which two champions would battle for the right to ascend to the throne.
Heading into the Tournament, one faction had already decided whom their champion would be, and put precautionary obstacles in the way of her opponent, in order to secure the inevitability of their plans.
The other faction also had predetermined which competitor would be their champion.
However, their own hubris caused them to overlook a weapon which the common people were about to wield on their own behalf, in order to choose their own champion:
The Mantle of Anger.
As the Tournament got underway, it was clear why Little Marco thought that he had an opportunity to become the King.
His affability, enthusiasm, and panache were still potent weapons, which served him well, and eventually, moved him into contention, as one of the top three potential champions in his faction.
However, those weapons could not stand up to The Mantle of Anger, which the leading champions in his faction, Sir Donald and Sir Ted, both used to their advantage, making Little Marco’s weapons tarnished and ineffectual.
Finally, Little Marco had no choice but to admit defeat.
Little Marco addressed his followers, saying:
So, from a political standpoint, the easiest thing to have done in this campaign is to jump on all those anxieties I just talked about, to make people angrier, make people more frustrated. But I chose a different route and I’m proud of that.
That would have been — in a year like this, that would have been the easiest way to win. But that is not what’s best for [the Sovereign Land].
…The politics of resentment against other people will not just leave us a fractured party, they are going to leave us a fractured nation.
Little Marco, while still a very good man, had allowed his weapons to be tarnished through his affiliation with those whom the “common people” had sent him to the Halls of Power to fight. Little Marco’s other problem was his support of some of the things which had caused the resentment and anger of the “common people” to grow in the first place.
The moral of this cautionary tale is:
In order to be a Champion of the People, you must recognize their concerns, and provide solutions which they will approve of, not just solutions that help you politically.
Until He Comes,
KJ
Kingsjester's Blog 