After listening to the inspiring words contained within this video I began to seriously ponder some of the issues that are facing us today. There was a time when there was honor and selflessness roaming the halls of our institutions of government. There was a time when the American people had spoken up, and voted in those who would do best for and by America.
My dear friends what has happened; how have we allowed the degradation of our freedoms, our liberties, and our conscience?
What have we done? When was it that we accepted the rule of those who would remove our freedoms for the pursuit of an agenda? When was it that we accepted the diminishing of America on the world stage? When was it that we, you and I, allow this thing called American exceptionalism to fade away into the darkness as if it were something not worth keeping in the light? When was it that the might of America became something less than the greatest beacon of justice, liberty, and freedom in the world? When did we place our own self-interest and our own desires above the need for liberty and freedom?
POLL: Is the United States headed toward a Civil War?
My good friends there was a time when American exceptionalism meant something. Brave men and women who suffered more, possibly, than you or I could ever imagine for freedom, did so without a guarantee of success. They knew that the legacy they left behind would be what their children and their children's children must endure. That legacy would not be one of slavery, oppression, or fear of government, but rather that legacy would be one of patriotism, love of freedom, states that were united, and the continued pursuit of happiness. From the beginning of this independent nation each generation has fought, bled, sacrificed, and died so that the next generation could remain free from oppression. The prayer that has left the lips of unnumbered soldiers; "dear God if there be trouble, let it be in my time, so that my children may know peace", is a prayer that echoes still. If you have ever stood and looked out across the Gardens of Stone or stood at the base of a black wall engraved with countless names or walked among the many monuments to freedom, then you have felt the sacrifice of countless families and men and women who have fought for liberty and freedom. And although President Reagan’s address was about Easter it was also about the continuing fight for freedom, not only freedom of religion but also freedom from oppression of any government that would steal the liberties of the citizens who grant that government power.
On this day we must send out a call to all Americans to remember the sacrifice that past generations have made so that future generations need not make those same sacrifices. On this day I call out to all Americans to remember that thing called American exceptionalism, and to know that it is not about being grandiose or thinking that we are better than others. No, American exceptionalism is what has forged this country into the greatest nation that has ever graced God’s creation, and is a force which has an identity - it is you, it is all of us. You, the great Americans that are the backbone of this amazing country are what embody American exceptionalism - we simply need to bring it back into the light.
American exceptionalism, patriotism, liberty, freedom and all of the things that were envisioned by the founding fathers and all those who came before us - these ideas have but one enemy, oppression.
During this election season we must stand united, we must send a message to those who think that they can take away our freedoms and civil liberties. We must elect leaders who love America, who are patriots, who are freedom loving individuals, we must elect those who will not stand for tyranny nor stand for the removal of civil liberties. It is upon us to ensure that our future, and for those who will inherit that future, is a future that maintains freedom, maintains civil liberty, and maintains a pursuit of happiness, without the fear of government. We must bring back America to Americans, we must bring back power to the states that are united under the stars and stripes. It is time for the citizens of this country to vote for leaders who will maintain a constitutional mindset. I call for the citizenry of this nation to vote for those, from among us, who will move the power that the federal government has taken from the states and give it back to the states. I call upon the voting public to send a message saying that we will stand on the Constitution.
The next elections will be the most pivotal and important for this nation of ours in determining the course of America. We can continue down the path we’re going and allow those who think that they are our betters, who continue to usurp our freedoms and liberties, to maintain power, or gain more power. We can allow our elected officials, to whom we give the power, to keep a bloated federal government and an unsustainable debt. We can vote for those who would call American citizens “terrorists” while at the same time disarming Americans. We can continue to vote for those who would spend our future, tax us in the present, and dishonor the memory of the past. We can exercise our right to vote and vote for those who believe that they know better than you how to educate your children, who believe they know better than you how to raise your children, who believe they know better than you how to spend your money, believe they know better than you how you should get your healthcare, who believe they know better than you how you should live virtually every aspect of your life. We can remain complacent and uncaring and vote for those who would defile our freedoms and our privacies. We can vote for those who would weaken America’s military. My friends we can continue down the path we’re going and vote for those who are more concerned with self-aggrandizing and party affiliation than they are with the very constituents who put them in office.
Or…
We can vote for those who are patriots, those who would stand on and for the Constitution, those who would give the people and the states the power that they are entitled to constitutionally. We can vote in those who would shrink the federal government, lower taxes, strengthen our military, and bring America back to being what so many people have sacrificed to ensure she became.
It is inherent upon us to vote for those who would ensure that government of the people, by the people, for the people, indeed does not perish from the earth.
Ken, the non-politician politician.
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