Quote of the day.

I can't take credit for this. I wish I could because the sentence is rich in meaning for all of us that live in a country dependent upon it's electorate to select it's leadership.

"A government big enough to give you anything you want, is strong enough to take everything from you." Thomas Jeferson.

Brilliant. And, considering that we are approaching an election year, topical.

I'm not going to tell you how to vote or who to vote for. That's a personal decision, one that shouldn't be taken lightly. The right to go, unmolested and unencumbered, to a poling place and place a ballot for the person you want to guide the nation (or any other political office) is a privelege that has been bought and paid for in blood and sacrifice. It's a gift given to us by those with the courage to do that which the majority are typically unwilling to do.

What the majority are typically willing to do is to ostrich themselves in the sands of their own version of reality. We humans have a tendency to hope for the best and by extension try and forget that the worst is also lurking. We all want good things to happen and because we don't believe that we "deserve" bad things to happen we don't prepare for them. We put on our blinders and continue to go about our days as if everything is fine.

What we also forget is that all of us have our bad sides. We can be selfish and often are, seeing our own needs and desires as paramount while the needs and desires of others are put on the backburner until they are more inline with our own. That is true of all of us and we all know it, we just don't often acknowledge it. If you don't believe me ask anyone victimized by a fellow human being. The criminal element are not some alien race from another planet, they are us. They made a decision to palce their wants and needs ahead of their victims. In an extreme manner to be sure but still that simple.

If that is true then it means that the people we place in political office are also capable of that and, as we have learned the hard way at times, do exactly that.

The Constitution sets up a blueprint for a government that is based on a "checks and balances" formula. We have three bodies of government that all have their place. The Legislative branch passes laws to do things, the Executive approve or disapprove of those laws and if needed implement them, and the Judicial challenges those laws or HOW they are implemented based on our Constitution so that those laws do not threaten our basic rights or unnecessarily interfere with our lives (that is, if anyone bitces about it). A lot of you are old enough to remember covering this material in school. Hopefully, you had parents who knew this and encouraged you to remember that.

Problem is, apparently there are a lot of people who don't realize any of this. Considering that only about 30% of us make it to a Presidential election (less than that during non-presidential elections) it appears that most would like a small group of us to make decisions for them.

I won't go into too much detail but there is a theoretical and very simplified way of looking at humanity as a whole that makes its rounds through the law enforcement and military communities. People can be broken down into three distinct groups: Sheep, Wolves and Dogs / Sheepdogs. Sheep describes the majority of the population who typically ostrich themselves, the Wolves are those who take advantage of the Sheep, and the Dogs are those of us who have chosen to try and protect the Sheep while they try to ignore the looming threat.

Most of the time when there is an immediate threat that the Sheep are aware of, the Sheep are happy as hell that the Dog has shown up to take care of the problem and scare the Wolf away (or kill it if need be). The problems arise when the Dog is barking and the Sheep don't see (or are unwilling to believe) the threat lurking in the shadows. The usual response is to tell the Dog to shut up and then go back to eating grass.

When a single person is being victimized it's easy for some to try ignore it and not do anything (they might use their cell phone but that's about it). So, when we are talking about legislation that seemingly effects only a small percentage of Americans, it's easy for the rest of us to think that it won't affect our own existence and try to tell those troubled by it to be quiet and not disturb the herd. Problem is that when one groups way of life is compromised  by legislation or by the implementation of it, it means so could the rest of us if only the pen used to write the legislation had kept writing.

We can't allow even one concept in the Bill of Rights or Constitution to be compromised because like pillars in a building, all are important to maintain the integrity of the whole.

No matter how polite, how well dressed, how well spoken, we cannot allow someone the power of office who as a platofrm would compromise any of those rights and freedoms.

Please, VOTE on November 4th. And when you vote, consider the importance of your actions and the powers that you are about to grant those chosen to lead.

More importantly, remember that there is a continuing responsibility of the population to keep careful eye on it's elected officials and to remove them if they perform counter to our freedoms or their duties. The Consitution provides the means for a persons removal from political office and THAT is the true power of the American electorate, not the election but the POWER we ALL possess to take someone out of their elected position.

Exercising that right on a National scale would be difficult in the extreme considering the shear numbers and background of the population but, politicians do not start off running for President. Politicians start off in local and regional government positions and work their way through higher and higher positions. If we were to implement our powers of impeachment at the local and State level more often we could condition into those who would seek to have power over us the we are paying attention and are willing to do what it takes to protect our freedoms.

Shots fired in revolution would not have to be taken if the will of the people were heard more loudly before it became necessary to rebel.

Of course, it's nice to have the right to speak those voices and mighty comforting to know that if they don't listen we would have the tools to make them listen.

Don't allow anyone to take away either.