How Dare American Citizens Get Involved in Local Governance?

Steve Bannon, who was chief strategist to former President Donald Trump, hosts an interview during the Conservative Political Action Conference at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas on Aug. 4, 2022. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

Commentary

In one of CNN’s recent apoplectic convulsions, a pitiful special came out and outed Stephen K. Bannon as the Sith lord of the movement of citizens who had the temerity to get involved in governance at their county or local level. The whole thesis of this CNN screed was absurd.

If big media is fearful of citizens getting involved, it begs the obvious, logical question: Well then, who has been involved and steering governance at the town, village, county, and state level all these years? Who are these people who are the only ones qualified and worthy to guide the ignorant, sloven masses of drones who are only allowed to huddle in their shanties?

Bannon is the chief Jedi of the America First movement to retake America. And, yes, Donald J. Trump is its leader—and the ultimate target of the legacy media street theater production, which was created to provide supporting fires to the unlawful street theater of the House Jan. 6 Committee. The only riot that occurred recently was that led by the FBI in its raid of Mar-a-Lago.

7 Common Centers of Governance in All Counties (or County Equivalents) in the US

The sophomoric theme pushed by elite society is to be rejected out of hand. The reality is that, yes, someone else has been providing leadership in our counties and county equivalents in the United States.

Approximately 40 counties or county equivalents are causing most of the problems in the United States, out of the roughly 3,300 counties or county equivalents. But the cancer is spreading to other counties. Therefore, all citizens in all towns, counties, cities, or states must man the ramparts to keep the cancer out, or remove it if it has already breached the walls.

To stop and reverse this cancer, all citizens need to be involved in governance. This is a solemn duty and requirement. The county or county equivalent (town, city, or some states use other names) is the foundation of American governance.

There are seven common centers of gravity in all counties and county equivalents in the United States: the registrar or equivalent; the county council or equivalent; the school board; the election board or equivalent; the sheriff; the county judges; and the prosecutor (in Virginia, this position is called the commonwealth attorney).

It’s important that citizens do a detailed analysis of each of these positions to understand their roles and missions and to find the state code for each position. Become a learned citizen. In my analysis, if there are election issues, 100 percent of the time the registrar is the issue. I would suggest that he or she is the most important of the seven to start with when it comes to addressing election integrity.

Start office calls and office visits with each of these key officials. Speak with authority and know the state code and the issues. Don’t make these engagements accusatory. Don’t be a screamer or a yeller, or immediately lambaste them on social media with accusations after an initial meeting. I’ve seen this happen, and this doesn’t turn out well.

These visits are initial fact-finding engagements to understand these officials better. These officials normally appreciate a visit from an informed citizen or citizen group. I’ve noticed one thing also; these officials start acting very differently when they know there are citizen groups watching them closely and the citizen groups know what they’re doing. Most people naturally act differently when they know their work is being checked and graded.

Pick Your Center of Gravity

I’ve seen two other phenomena. The normal reaction of many citizen activists is to say: “I can’t read the state code on these topics. I need a lawyer.” This is wrong. If you can read English, you can read the state codes in regard to these officials and their sworn duties. And guess what; many times, these officials (and lawyers) haven’t read these codes recently—or at all—and it’s apparent very quickly that they aren’t acting in accordance with the codes.

Other times, I’ve been told by mature lawyers who’ve declared themselves to be experts in citizen activism who say, this is bad guidance, they can’t engage or have meetings with these officials, they could have their law licenses pulled. That’s the beauty of the average citizen conducting these matters. If we aren’t lawyers, there’s no prohibition about engaging with these leaders.

Some may be overwhelmed by engaging all seven centers simultaneously, so I suggest picking one or two to start with and focusing on them. If you have some experience with law enforcement, start with the sheriff. If you have a passion for ensuring a trusted school system, start with the school board.

And when you pick your center of gravity, attend every open session, and immediately step to the microphone when an opportunity is given. Do it multiple times to refine your impactful, pithy presentation. You'll become a known, respected figure in your community, and other citizens will rally to you, I guarantee it.

Have the Temerity to Get Involved in Your County–Nothing Else Matters But Your County

American constitutional government starts at the local level. It isn’t for the timid or the wallflowers. If you’re mad or upset, get involved. Don’t waste time on social media getting angry and clamoring for someone else to do something. There’s no one else—it’s just us.

For years, we assumed someone else was taking care of local governance. And we were absolutely right—someone else was. On some occasions, that somebody else had very nefarious intent, maybe even George Soros-level nefarious intent. It’s no one else’s fault but our own.

We must carve time out of our busy schedule, among church, family, children, work, etc. This is our system—we own it. These officials work for us; let’s have the temerity to retake control of our local government.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.