Our politicians and so-called leaders are always bragging about how they are “not ideological” and care about “actions, not principles.” This is true of the current President as well as the last one, so it’s not a partisan issue. It’s also true of most of our other elected leaders, if not all of them. Politicians are supported the degree to which they can prove to voters that they are, in fact, devoid of ideology and principle. Yet think about it. To be devoid of ideology is to be devoid of ideas–that is, to be mindless. To be devoid of principle is to be a sociopath–who cares nothing for principle and integrity, by any definition. My question is this: Why are people so surprised by what they’re getting? Why are they surprised when politicians, with rare exception, exhibit mindlessness and amoralism? People are getting what they vote for. They’d probably never ask for it in their personal lives, but they nevertheless ask it of their politicians. If America is to be saved from its current downward spiral, it will first have to adopt rational principles and demand their leaders to do the same. Even before that, they must adopt the notion of principles.