Ed Rutledge for Lieutenant Governor

By Lex Green

Libertarian for Illinois Governor

www.ElectLex.com

07/06/2010

Is it true that anything goes in politics? Are we to think that anything that gets us a win is OK because the end justifies the means? There are certain people that think so. There are certain people in this state that right now are participating in unfair practices but think it is OK because the end justifies the means. They think that winning at the ballot box, and keeping me off the ballot, is so important that they will compromise their morals without any thought to what they are doing.

Ok, I am not a wide-eyed babe in the woods. I don't expect fairness out of a political system that has become the laughing stock of the nation. The terms "Illinois politics" and "Chicago-style politics" have always evoked images of gangsters and hoodlums. So why should we expect that operatives of the Republicans and Democrats have any regard for fairness or equal protection under the law. Since they have spawned the circus we have come to know and loathe, I don't expect that any of them will go home tonight and think about the ethics of their challenges as they sit with their families. Come to think of it, that lack of political conscience runs in some of their families.

So is it a requirement of this game that we must play hard and dirty? Is it time we accept that we are playing hard ball, quit crying and "man-up?" Of course it is. But playing dirty is not in my rule book. When I play golf I play a gentleman's game. It is a game where we call penalties on ourselves and abide by the rules. We pay the price for our own mistakes, even when no one is watching. But we've all met the hustler on the course that ignores the rules. And we have learned to avoid betting with him whenever possible. But in Illinois politics, there is no avoidance. This game is not for a couple of bucks and a beer at the end of the round. This game is for fiscal sanity, for re-establishing freedom and to save our state and country. We can't avoid the showdown and the stakes couldn't be more important.

And petition challenges are "playtime in the nursery" compared to the challenges to come. Already the smear ads are running between the Republicans and the Democrats, as if it really mattered who wins between them. They aren't playing around and they are playing to win. So we must fight this initial scrimmage and prepare for the bigger game. And we know from the outset that our opponents make up the rules as they go along. The only difference for Libertarians is that we try to make a level playing field for all players because the words "Free and Equal" mean something. It is what we are fighting for. And if we forget that, we are no better than those we fight. That is something I can never forget.

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