Frankly, that should be our national catchphrase.

Why? You ask. Do you even have to ask? Don’t you have a lifetime of examples?

If you don’t, let’s try it from the other end. Name five things government does well, or in the words of the president so many love to hate, does great or bigly? Well, it does everything bigly when it comes to spending, so let’s stick with great. Or well? Or good? Or most important, for YOUR own good that equally benefits everyone else’s good?

To help, the answer is literally nothing. Period. And I should end the column here, but alas I cannot, as some of you look to me to inform and educate. Which, also to me, should scare the pants off of every reader, especially since I’m not sure I’m allowed to scare the pants off of anyone anymore in Colorado, because our legislature may have passed a law against it among the thousands passed in the last decade since the democrats took over.

Then again, I could make this column all about how we should have laws against giving any decisions to “the people,” because what do we do with that in America any longer? That’s right, we give it to the government in the form of our extremely flawed elected betters who will say and promise anything to anyone who has a problem and the radical, self-absorbed, my-way-or-the-highway folks they put on our courts (although we occasionally elect people for judgeships we know nothing about until the insane rulings come in) or into the bureaucracy.

So maybe we shouldn’t put a lot of this into the hands of the people.

Sadly, I must go to Hollywood and a movie that romanticized (very well, actually) Washington, D.C., and the players in that bed of corruption to summarize how our federal government operates. Of course, you had to find romance among the projection and naivety of the characters, but that’s why Hollywood is screwed up. Warning: If you get your morality from Hollywood, please just leave the rest of us alone. Anyways, here you go with the summation from President Andrew Shepherd, and I’ll just focus on three lines, even though the character’s entire Randian speech is worth your time if you love irony as much as I do, because it describes every politician I’ve ever met to a tee:

“And whatever your particular problem is, I promise you Bob Rumson is not the least bit interested in solving it. He is interested in two things, and two things only: making you afraid of it and telling you who’s to blame for it. That, ladies and gentlemen, is how you win elections.”

More Hollywood is in how they always pronounced the antagonist’s name “RUMP-son,” and I’m not sure in 2026 they could have used the term “ladies and gentlemen,” because look how they’ve screwed up that problem the past decade. But that little speech in the movie is chock-full-plus on irony and hypocrisy. Come to think of it, those are two things government does very well, so I suppose I can start a list.

More important, reread that little ditty (or better yet, watch the entire movie clip) from the movie again and tell me it isn’t the perfect description of how our elected betters (I know, I always use that wording to describe them, so let me use another movie quote from White Goodman to help you as to why I do, “At Globo Gym, we’re better than you, and we know it”) go about “the business of the people.” Frankly, it could be summed up better in this way: They don’t give a flying fornication about any of us; just their money, power and reputation. And you can quote Craig Hall on that one.

How else can you describe the folks whose main job it is to protect the inalienable rights of the citizens of this country who will “shut down” government on a whim over political disputes while giving Andrew Shepherd speeches to get their mugs on TV and the Internet with the attitude of White Goodman toward “hard working” Americans? And don’t get me started on the “hard-working” lie; they only use that moniker when they want your vote. Otherwise, you’re just droppings of serfdom to scrape off their shoes before heading into their special club in the marbled hallowed halls of power.

Oh, you need an example? How’s this? In the battle over ICE and Homeland Security and their role in immigration enforcement and protecting the people, please explain how they’ve made it all about not paying the TSA? So, the way they fight their political battle on protecting the American people via immigration enforcement (a role specifically for the federal government) is to mess up the vacation and work travel for “hard-working Americans?” Come to think of it, every battle they “fight” or “government shutdown” is designed to hurt everyday Americans while blaming the other party.

They are nothing but a bunch of RUMPsons, heavy on the “rump.” Worse, they are all Andrew Shepherds and White Goodmans as well. So, Hollywood got it right, as it tends to when trying to tell us why we’re wrong. As many have said, “You can’t legislate morality,” all while letting their actions prove it. So why do we let them try?

Maybe it’s time we stopped giving them that power. Because they abuse it to the “nth degree” every time they disagree, which is, basically, all the time. Maybe it’s time we flip the script. Here’s two “scripts” I prefer to use: Galatians 5: 22-23 and Matthew 22: 36-40. Do yourself a favor and look them up.

Maybe our great state of Colorado could write, I don’t know, 600 to 1,000 fewer laws per year if it took these to heart? Perhaps our federal government would realize almost everything it does hurts and violates the rights of many for the benefit of the few if it referenced these the way our founders did? Maybe our elected betters in Grand Junction would realize their bougie vision for the town isn’t the vision of the people, who only wish their vision for their own families in peace as these promise? You’d do well to look up what the Book of Books says about vision as well.

All I know is we once had a document written in simple English based in Biblical principles to accomplish this for, and to protect, the people. Yet, politicians under the evils of fame, wealth and power have done little except to work around it since before the ink dried. Thank goodness they aren’t in charge of interpreting the words of the scrolls I referenced. If they ever do, there’ll be Hell to pay.

Doesn’t mean they won’t keep trying.

In Truth and freedom.

Craig Hall is owner and publisher of The Business Times. Reach him at 424-5133 or publisher@thebusinesstimes.com