Newly-elected House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., escorted by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif., and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Calif., walks into the House Chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 29, 2015, following the resignation of John Boehner. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

This is an open letter to Democrats, Republicans, independents, liberals, conservatives and every other ilk of politician who is elected by the votes of Americans.

While I realize that there are two, three or sometimes more sides to a story, and understand the importance of representing the views of the electorate that put you in office, what I simply cannot understand is the partisan intransigence that would prevent grown, mature men and women from showing the molecule of reason it takes to reach decisions based on something other than that the opposing party supports it.

And in your self-righteous zeal to toe the party line, you have completely forgotten about we the people and the welfare of the nation you're supposed to be serving.

It's become a game with you people. You've all turned into tattletales, petulant pubescent third graders, all bent on becoming teacher’s pet and doing anything it takes to garner a few more votes.

You'd rather deprive the nation of a benefit than to let the other party get the credit for passing it. There is no loyalty among you, and you will run away from a colleague who does something unpopular before the ink on the defaming article has even dried.

You'd give citizenship to aardvarks if they could vote and say anything, accuracy and honesty be damned, and kiss a flatulent skunk’s posterior before you'd do or say anything that would make the other party look good.

I sometimes wonder how you see yourselves, as a knight on a white horse saving the nation, or as the rest of us see you, as a poorly-mounted, impotent Don Quixote charging dilapidated windmills in rusty armor.

And I wonder if any of you realize how very out of touch with what’s actually happening in the real world you are and how much that world has changed since you moved into your ivory tower, back when bell bottoms were in style.

I truly believe that when our forefathers designed our political system they never made allowances for career politicians. I believe the system was designed for a citizen politician to serve a term or two and then vacate the seat so somebody who actually knows what's happening in the streets now can come in with a fresh opinion and without 20 or 30 years of partisan political baggage and obligations.

Well, let me tell you something boys and girls, this ain't no game, and you’re treating it like one. Your acid pot shots at your opponents, your blind party loyalty, your seething opposition to anything the other party supports are but a few of the prime factors in the deep divisions we are experiencing and the almost universal distrust the public feels for you.

You play fast and hard with the truth when it suits your purposes; you become chameleons, changing shapes and even nationalities if it gives you any slight edge.

Some of you sink to telling blatant lies, even at the expense of whoever happens to be standing in your way.

You will even carry your folly so far as to shut down the government rather than sitting down like rational human beings and working out your differences.

We send you to office to work together, not to preen for the TV cameras or spend half your term trying to get elected to another term.

If any business in this nation handled their affairs in the way you people do, they would miserably fail, and that's exactly what you people are doing, miserably failing.

You work for we the people, not your political party and you'd d--- well better start acting like it.

America is bleeding, and we don't need you deepening the wound.

What do you think?

Pray for our troops, our police and the peace of Jerusalem

God Bless America

Charlie Daniels

Charlie Daniels is a legendary American singer, song writer, guitarist, and fiddler famous for his contributions to country and southern rock music. Daniels has been active as a singer since the early 1950s. He was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry on January 24, 2008.

DONATE