I am gravely concerned about the direction our government - particularly our federal government - has been heading in these past few years.
Our Constitution and our Founding Fathers installed a government that was intended to be for the people, of the people, by the people. And to ensure that the pursuit of liberty and happiness remained a core tenant of humanity, their government - the government that they designed - was created to have three equal branches: the judiciary (Supreme Court), the legislative (Congress), and the executive (President).
The intention, of course, was that these three were to act in concert, with an ebb and flow that permitted this country to grow and adapt over time. However, the Founding Fathers also understood full well that power is a dangerous thing.
So, they encoded checks and balances into the system. Some simple examples - the supreme court can overturn laws passed by congress. Congress can impeach and remove the president. The president can veto laws that are passed by Congress. One core axiom of those checks, from the standpoint of the Founding Fathers, seems to be that at no point would two branches ever conspire together. I am not convinced such an assumption is valid anymore.
However, there is a final check that exists. It is us. It is us and our ability to vote.
If you look at what is going on out there and think "this is not me. This is not us. This is not our values and our ideals." If you look at the last three years and you see or think that we've been walking a dark path. If you see people, instead of respecting the rule of law and procedures our government has adhered to for centuries, working instead to undermine that process. By failing to protect whistle blowers - people that are reporting things out of an ethical obligation. By failing to listen to witnesses and collect every facet of the truth before dispensing justice. By valuing a person or group's input based not on the merit of their ideas, but on the size of their checkbook. Then I encourage you all to vote.
Vote. Because that is the final check before something continues along the path that it is on right now. Less than 50% of people that are eligible to vote in this country usually vote - particularly for presidential elections. Please, if any of this concerns you, please get out and vote.
Help refine the foolishness
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