Recently I helped my freshman son with part of his homework. Strangely enough he got law as an elective. Poor kid had to write a 5 paragraph "thesis" on the the differences between our Declaration of Independence and the french version known as The Declaration of the Rights of Man. I can't say I recall ever having this type of homework so early in the school year and as an early elective. He tried explaining his take on it and ended up looking like a deer caught in the headlights. I can put words together pretty good so I told him that he needed to study for his math test and other missed assignments and I would handle his "thesis" What an education I received while studying briefly the two documents! I really hope he gets high marks on that thing! The one thing that stood out the most was that they both stated that all men are born into certain rights and that those rights can not be taken by any person or group of people. I remembered that I listened to President Obama speak this morning at the U.N.
In this speech he said that during his time in office, he's heard many people call him quite a few names. He said he may not like what people say about him but he will defend their right to say them! This year marks an election year. The boundaries of party lines are clearly drawn in the sand. One side would have us believe that half the country is nothing more than victims who want to live off the success of others. The other side would have us believe that the way to a stronger country is to build from the middle out and that everyone should pay his/her fair share. One side blunders with such gems as legitimate rape, comments about 47% and "you people". The other side blunders with "bump in the road" comments in regards to the angst in the middle east. One side seems to encourage hate rallies and personal attacks. The other side appears to slither away from chaos and hope that things will get better. One side make mid stride changes to voter identification laws to apparently keep Latino, elderly, and first time voters from getting to the polls in time.
No matter what your party affiliation, it's clear that some aspects of all government have gotten too big for their britches. They have forgotten what makes this country great and that is it's people. Our forefathers drafted our Independence as a means to break away from the tyranny of the King and form a new country and new laws. They adopted the concept that all men are, in fact, created equal and thus born into freedoms such as life liberty and the ability to protect those freedoms. I believe that they intended government to act merely as a referee for those times when peace between "thy neighbor" needed an intervention of sorts. They did not intend for the government of today to ever exist and, this is my opinion, it is a government riddled with takers, liars, cheaters and people who just don't give a rats ass about the people that put him or her in office. This means ALL forms of government. And while there is a mass exodus within the GOP due to their candidate Mitt Romney and his blatant disregard for most of humanity, there are still equal numbers of people, people with money and then means, that will go to the nth degree to ensure that you and I remain minorities---with no voice.
In a perfect world we would need no government. We would coexist with each other and take only what we need being careful to leave enough for someone else. In a perfect world we would have medical care once reserved for only the wealthy available to everyone. In a perfect world we might need nothing more than a "sheriff" to settle disputes and the disputes would be few and far between. The reality is that we do not live in a perfect world. So when it comes down to who we want for this elected official or that, who we want for the most important office of all: The President of The United States, we must take time to weigh each side without getting lost in the lame he said he did BS that has become commonplace. The fact is that we made history by electing President Obama to the White House four years ago. The time has come again, four years later, to decide whether we're happy with our current President and any or all of his efforts. If the answer is no then we are obligated to do one of two things: re elect him and give him more time OR elect someone else and give them a shot. Frankly, I don't believe that Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are the next greatest. The GOP has made some arrogant and alarmingly dysfunctional statements as of late and I do not believe that any Republican is suited for any place of power.
I leave you with this......
We need to search our minds and hearts, we need to read between the lines. We need to do our homework. I would suggest becoming familiar with the French and American versions of the Rights of Man and only then voting your conscious. It's true that we have the right to remain silent, but in doing so we give ourselves over to those who potentially mean us personal harm and mean to endanger our God given and inalienable rights.
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