An Old Column by Charley Reese

Having spent my formative years in the Orlando-Metro region of Florida, and having been an avid Orlando Sentinel reader, I recall columnist Charley Reese with fondness. This article is neither pro nor con any particular political party, just expressive of that plain sense that seems to have evaporated from our political system. It's been making the rounds on facebook after a dormant period. It had quite an active streak as an email forward (remember those?) in the 2000s, with various incarnations and modifications that mentioned the politicians and wars of the day. I think it bears repeating, and is just as timely now, perhaps more so, as it was when it was originally published in 1984.

The 545 People Responsible For All Of U.S. Woes
BY Charley Reese
(Originally published in the Orlando Sentinel) exact date of publication unknown, circa 1984)

Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them. Have you ever wondered why, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, we have deficits? Have you ever wondered why, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, we have inflation and high taxes? You and I don’t propose a federal budget. The president does. You and I don’t have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does. You and I don’t write the tax code. Congress does. You and I don’t set fiscal policy. Congress does. You and I don’t control monetary policy. The Federal Reserve Bank does. One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president and nine Supreme Court justices – 545 human beings out of the 235 million – are directly, legally, morally and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country. I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered but private central bank. I excluded all but the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman or a president to do one cotton-picking thing. I don’t care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislation’s responsibility to determine how he votes. A CONFIDENCE CONSPIRACY Don’t you see how the con game that is played on the people by the politicians? Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party. What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of Tip O’Neill, who stood up and criticized Ronald Reagan for creating deficits. The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it. The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating appropriations and taxes. O’neill is the speaker of the House. He is the leader of the majority party. He and his fellow Democrats, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetos it, they can pass it over his veto. REPLACE SCOUNDRELS It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 235 million cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted — by present facts – of incompetence and irresponsibility. I can’t think of a single domestic problem, from an unfair tax code to defense overruns, that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist. If the tax code is unfair, it’s because they want it unfair. If the budget is in the red, it’s because they want it in the red. If the Marines are in Lebanon, it’s because they want them in Lebanon. There are no insoluble government problems. Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take it. Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exist disembodied mystical forces like “the economy,” “inflation” or “politics” that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do. Those 545 people and they alone are responsible. They and they alone have the power. They and they alone should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses – provided they have the gumption to manage their own employees.

Watch Night - New Year's Eve

I have been going to Watch Night Services since I became a Christian in the early 1990's. When Big Daddy was appointed to his first church and we were planning our first Watch Night service as a ministry couple, I found this article on the history of such services to be very interesting. After all, I grew up Roman Catholic, in the Northeast and then later moved to the West Coast, and I had never heard of this kind of service before. The article I linked is an essay by Charyn D. Sutton. The churches where I spent my early Christian years and discipleship were predominantly Caucasian, so I was particularly fascinated by the article. Watch Night Services are strongly rooted in the African-American church tradition, and are not unheard of within the Pentecostal Community overall.


We are within the Church of God (Cleveland, TN) denomination, and the practice seems common here in the Southeastern US. Our denomination was founded by several Methodists, among others. It seems that John Wesley had established this practice among the Methodists early on. Our sister denomination, The Assemblies of God, began with the Azuza Street Pentecostal Outpouring. That event was diverse, ethnically and socially, from the very beginning. I also add to those factors that Florida is near the Bahamas and Caribbean, with many immigrants from those areas. Some of those cultural influences have strong Christian practices and history. I was very interested to find that the The Moravian Church missionaries were the first to go in many parts of the world, including the Caribbean in the 1730's. The Moravian Church seems to be the first to hold Watch Night Services.

I also checked snopes.com, and they are skeptical about the portion of the first article I linked in regards African-American slaves being sold on New Years Day, as well as any other type of debt or financial transactions occurring on that day. Snopes had an email forward version of Sutton’s essay. However, the version they had was not completely the same and not even attributed to Sutton. So, you can do the research yourself if you like, and draw your own conclusions. It’s indisputable, though, that Watch Night became tied to the African-American community because of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863.


Wikipedia says this:

“Many religious communities have a tradition of New Year's Eve being known as "Watch Night". The faithful of the community congregate in worship services commencing New Year's Eve night and continuing past midnight into the New Year. The Watch Night is a time for giving thanks for the blessings of the outgoing year and praying for divine favor during the upcoming year. Though held by some to have begun in the African American community, watch night can actually be traced back to a sect of Christians known as the Moravians who held the first Watch night Service in Herrnhut, Saxony, in 1732. The practice was later adopted by John Wesley, the founder of Methodism. Watch Night did take on special significance to African Americans on New Year's Eve 1862, however, as slaves eagerly awaited the arrival of January 1, 1863—the effective date of the Emancipation Proclamation. This particular New Year's Eve became known as "Freedom's Eve."”

Along with the prayers of thanksgiving and reflection, we do some other things in our service. We celebrate by taking Communion, and following Jesus’ humble example and washing each other’s feet, see here.

I pray that whatever you do this New Year’s Eve, you will take a moment to reflect on the past and the future and on the One who holds your life in His hands. Just as the slaves gathered in churches to pray for and await the news of their freedom, realize God has given us all a freedom in Christ.

Be safe and enjoy yourself.
Happy New Year!



Edited to add this link to Michael Benjamin's blog and a good piece he wrote about Watch Night, which contains Charyn Sutton's article now that the link in the first paragraph is no longer available.

E-mail Frauds, Forwards and Inaccuracies

PreacherPen had a recent post on his blog regarding an e-mail he received about Barack O’Bama. There has been an abundance of incorrect information going about these days via e-mails, blogs, and the web. The political season we’re in here in the USA has seen much buzz all over the internet particularly pertaining to the candidates. Before you pass on any sort of email forward, please check it and verify if it is true. My two favorite forward fact checking sites are snopes.com and truthorfiction.com. PreacherPen also has a good one linked in his post.

We got our first internet hook-up around 2000 or 2001. When people sent me email forwards, as they inevitably did, they were part of this whole new world opening up for me. I was so amazed by it all, I did not think very deeply about the forwards. I just passed them on. Some were funny, inspirational, or sad. Some were little editorials supposedly by well known personalities and pundits like Andy Rooney, George Carlin, and Ben Stein. Some were prayer requests, and some were chain letters. Some were warnings, petitions and newsy. My wake up call came when I forwarded this one particularly horrible and tragic story to a friend. She had the wisdom to gently ask me not to send her and forwards or stories like that anymore. It was too painful and upsetting, she said. And you know what? She was right. Even now, I shudder at remembering such a sad, disturbing, and true story. For an instant I was embarrassed of myself and then had an epiphany: Why in the world was I sending such stuff? I began to do research and discovered snopes. I finally made a decision to not forward anymore. The straw that broke the camel’s back for me was another forward for a gut-wrenching prayer request with a photo of a little boy. According to the verification sites, no such person ever existed and it appeared to be a random story with a random picture, a complete fabrication. Then I discovered that the petitions are also a fluke and I said no more forwards! I don’t think this helped my popularity with some, for I don’t get many emails anymore from some of the people who used to forward me things. I would enjoy hearing from them about their life. Give me an update on you, as I’d love to hear about what is really going on with you. Brag about you kids, complain about your boss, tell me about your vacation, whatever! Email me anytime and tell me how you are! On the other hand, some people, like my honest friend were alienated or annoyed by my penchant to forward ghastly and gloomy stories or “witness” to them with the inspirational forwards. For that, and to those people, I do apologize.

Occasionally there are a few good forwards going around. I’m not adverse to the occasional one, so long as it’s true and/or really, really good.

“And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”