The Assumption of Safety and Freedom

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So I went out walking the precinct again for my congressman in the 6th district. As I'm going from house to house and talking to people, I find myself struck with something that's sort of simple, but pretty amazing to me.

It's amazing to me just how many people are NOT aware of what's going on with their elected officials.

I mean, in almost any other situation, don't we care who is our leader?

When you get a new boss at your work, don't you want to know what he's like? Is he mean? Or is he nice? Will I be able to work with him? Or will he be a jerk? What about when you start a new semester at school? Isn't there always an intense chatter before the first day of school about the new professors? What's he like? Will he be easy? Does he assign essays, or just give multiple choice tests? Can I skip class, or will he be tight with the attendance?

We CARE about who's in charge. We want to know what they're like. We deeply and immediately feel the connection with us and how we'll be impacted.

Why, then, do more people not care and are totally uninformed about their elected officials? At some level, I can understand people not knowing who their representative is and what he's about. But shouldn't we care? Shouldn't we stay informed and keep tabs on what's going on? During my walk, there were even some people who were amazingly uninformed about the Presidential race.

What's going on here?

I think I have at least a partial answer. Many of these people were just totally engrossed in their own lives. They were so busy when I talked to them that they barely had time to talk to me. They were on the phone. They were getting their kids ready for a game. They were mowing their lawn or doing laundry. Those are all fine and good. But many of these people were also totally ignorant of the political issues.

Underneath all of these daily goings-on is a fundamental assumption of freedom and safety. I mean, we've always been free. Our neighborhoods have always been basically a safe place to be and we can just live our lives without worrying about anything. Why should we question that?

So, what happens is that our leaders get elected, but nobody pays attention to them. They can then basically get away with anything. Nobody's watching them. Well, there's some clever people out there who realize this and will use that to their advantage. They are not very scrupulous and are without the Moral Restraint and want to get into office for their own power. Okay. But take it a step further.

There's also those who, at heart, hate America. They hate what America stands for and they want to change it. In the past, they have tried to use direct actions (protests, bombings, etc.) to accomplish their goals, but people push back. Now, they are a lot smarter. These anti-American people are running for office as normal, moderate people and getting elected. Once elected, they know that the vast majority of people won't really pay attention and they can then get to work to enact their anti-American agenda. If that goes on long enough, judges will be able to legislate from the bench. (Oh, wait, they already can.) Pretty soon, you'll see unelected officials making bald power grabs (Oh, wait, the Treasury Secretary already did that). Maybe they'll try to socialize our banking systems (Oh, wait...). Maybe they'll try to nationalize our health care system...Maybe they'll try to appease our enemies...Maybe they'll allow a mass amnesty for illegal aliens...Maybe they'll try to...what's next???

People, WE'VE GOT TO WAKE UP! When are we, as a nation, going to wake up and realize that we, the people of the United States of American must each and every one of us do our part to protect our freedoms and our basic safety?!?! The time for assuming that they will always be there is past. We must stand up and take notice and hold our elected officials accountable. Just as a soldier's duty is to protect our nation, so is our duty.

If we fail in this duty, our elected officials will grab so much power our head will swim (if we're even paying attention) and this country will change and we won't even know what hit us.

I don't care (at this level at least) whether you're a Republican or a Democrat or an Independent. Get out there. Get involved. Get informed. Make a difference.

If we don't, our freedoms and basic safety we've always taken for granted may not be there anymore. And when that happens, God help us all.
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