Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

The new buzz word in American politics is: Change. It seems that everyone is thoroughly convinced that the answer to America’s problems is change. I think this concept is correct, I also feel that while we need change, the change we need is not some new, untried, revelation, but rather a return to the principles that we once held sacred. Some of which are: a sense of duty, honor, country, family, and a belief that there truly are things that are right and wrong, not just relative concepts. In my opinion, the thing that really needs changing is the degree of participation of the people in all levels of government. We need to take back politics!

At this time in America, the people are thoroughly disgusted with those we have chosen to represent us in the governmental process with recent polls indicating that our satisfaction with congress is roughly 15%. However, we continue to return them to office. It is difficult to believe that 85% of us are dissatisfied with our elected officials, yet almost all of these people will be re-hired for another term and we are the people that will re-hire these people!! Why? Is it because we are insane? I don’t believe this is the case; we are the people that make this country function, so that can’t be it. So what is it, then?

I believe it’s due to the majority of the voters choosing to abdicate their responsibilities as citizens. How else can one explain the apathy that is demonstrated over and over by the fact corrupt and incompetent politicians return to office election after election? In 2006, congress met 102 days! Think about this for a moment…less than 2 days per week. They enacted no meaningful legislation, unless you think giving themselves another pay raise and honoring the Super Bowl winners qualifies as meaningful. Congress takes good care of congress, but the nation suffers from gross congressional neglect. Look around, read the papers, ask yourself if you feel secure in your future over the next 2-5 years…feel good? I rest my case.

It is time for a change; a change of leadership, a change of attitude, a change of priorities. It is time to make congress start looking, acting, and thinking more like the citizens that get up and go to work 5 and more days per week…not 2 or less! It’s time to take back the process, a return to: of the people, by the people, and for the people. However, this will not and can not happen until WE THE PEOPLE become engaged in the governing process again. We must know what is occurring with regard to government and why it affects us. We must stop special interests, big corporations, and political machines run amuck with our futures by being participants, not innocent bystanders. We should seek out those that truly have the country’s best interests at heart, not their own political or greedy aspirations as a first priority. In short, we must change the way we approach politics and politicians.

I suggest that we look for those individuals who desire to serve us and support these men and women. The emphasis should be on the concept of service. A start would be to rid ourselves of the professional politicians and select someone from among us, independent minded and committed individuals whose motivation is service, not longevity in office. If you will help me in my efforts to serve you, I will be that person, an INDEPENDENT who works for the people, not the party or system. Download a petition, have everyone you know sign it, and return it to me no later than May 31, 2008 and start using your voice in government! You do have a choice, but only if you chose to speak! Help me make a change for the better. IT’S UP TO YOU.

WHAT DO I NEED FROM YOU?
Stated in the simplest of terms, I want and need for you to care. I need for you to care about your country’s past, its future, and most importantly, I need for you to care about what kind of country you will pass on to the next generation. I love this country. I care about its future and I have heard the clarion call from a nation in distress. This nation was forged by men who were self-sacrificing and they were determined to live and prosper in a land of freedom. We, on the other hand, did not earn the freedoms that we enjoy. Instead, they were given to us but, they are not something that can be owned. Rather each generation is entrusted with the custodial care of this precious commodity; to insure it is passed on to the successive generation. If we do not act as good and faithful guardians of this nation’s freedoms, then they cannot be passed along to our children. In that vein, I am offering myself to work for you, the people of the 4th Congressional District of Alabama. I do not seek financial gain, prestige, or to fulfill a lifetime dream. This is simply a debt that I owe this country, an obligation to carry on the tradition our Founding Fathers bequeathed to all Americans.
I have contemplated this action for the past two years and, after much deliberation, I have reached the conclusion that someone needs to step forward and propose a change of leadership. I am proposing this change. I want our children and their children’s children to know and love the same nation that we have known and loved. A nation that will cease to exist if current trends continue. To paraphrase Edmund Burke, bad things can only happen if good people do nothing. You, the good people of the 4th district, must act to save our way of life.
There is no question that this will have to be a “grass roots" initiative endorsed and supported by you, the people. I, just as the Founding Fathers, have no party and no political machine to support or promote me. I have nothing to support me beyond the faith I have in the people that live and work here in the 4th district to have the good judgment to opt for a change in leadership. The same faith John Adams, our second president, espoused in Americans when he wrote: “If you give the people the information and let them make choices, they will make the right choice." We live in a time where current, accurate information is at our finger tips. It does require a great deal of research to discover that we keep sending the same people to address the same problems and are getting the same results, nothing. Do the research and ask yourself: Am I happy with the job congress is doing?
If you think that everything with our nation is fine, then you need not do anything else. However, if you, like myself, do not like what you see when you look around, then I need you to stand with me. I am running for Congress and I need your help. Find and sign a petition to add Tony Cook to the ballot in November. Petitions are available to be printed from this website. After you have signed, have all your neighbors, coworkers, friends and family sign. I must have 6,000 signatures by May 31, 2008. Once on the ballot, I will need your financial support and will need you to VOTE COOK FOR CONGRESS in November.
Together, we can make Alabama’s 4th district the model for the entire nation to follow: Independent minded citizens exercising their independent right to choose their future…From the bottom up!