Countdown to Independence Day: #10 Vote Responsibly

Over the next several days leading up to Independence Day I will be posting the 10 steps that must be taken to preserve our great nation and the principles it was established on.  Each day will cover one of the steps as they appear in my book Liberty Inherited.  It is my hope that, in some small way, I can get Americans to start thinking of what they are on the verge of throwing away.  Today's posting covers the 10th and final step.  I recommend reading the previous posts for step #1 through 9.  Please note that any additional comments that I add to the original text will be in italics.

10.   Vote responsibly

As individuals in a representative democracy the biggest weapon we have is our right to vote. But this right does not guarantee preservation of our freedoms unless it is exercised wisely. Too often it is tempting to take the easy way and allow political parties or special interest groups to decide who we are going to vote for. At this point in time in our country's history we cannot afford to take the lazy approach to voting. It is also not enough to make sure you are voting for the correct political candidate. Nowadays with judges having so much power and ability to shape our country it is essential to understand who is asking for you to confirm or reconfirm him as a judge. 

Unfortunately, most of these people do not even have enough respect for the voter to supply a brief statement of why you should vote for them.  Therefore, it has been nearly impossible to determine whether they deserve your vote or not. Now with the Internet this is no longer the case and in most states you can at least get a bio of the person. This bio will often provide you information about a person’s experience on the bench, his career path to become a judge, and if he was appointed, by whom. You will be amazed how easy it is to discern a person’s political views from this information.

Since 2008 it has become painfully clear that relying on political parties has done nothing but jeopardized our liberties and freedoms.  It is no longer sufficient to vote for the candidate with the right initial (D or R as the case maybe).  It is also no longer sufficient to vote for who is going to be in the White House.  Now more than ever we must give equal consideration to all offices, including those at state and local levels.  As the recent Supreme Court ruling on ObamaCare illustrates, judges need to be properly vetted.  This should be the role of local news media but, like the national media, they are negligent of their responsibilities.  So it falls on the individual voter to discern who deserves his vote.  

The problem is, as I state in the book, many of those seeking judgeship and/or local office have so little respect for the voter that they do not even bother to provide any details for the voter guides.  In my opinion, this contempt for the voter should automatically disqualify anyone asking for your vote.  If, while trying to get your vote, he does not have enough respect for the voter to provide some basic information  how much respect will he have once in office?  

Unfortunately, voters cannot rely on the parties nor the media to assist us.  Therefore, we must do the work ourselves.  We can no longer put into office politicians whose idea of sacrifice is turning their backs on the people and undermining the nation while lining up funding and support for their next campaign.  The nation deserve better and we the people deserve better.  Voting is not only a right but also a weapon to be used by the people against an unresponsive government.  If we want to preserve our liberty and America's exceptionalism,  then being lazy and careless is not an option.