A shorter version was originally written in April of 2003 (Quincy Valley Post-Register) Please see Epilogue below for some more recent thoughts in August 2024.

J. Reuben Clark, former US Undersecretary of State and former US Ambassador to Mexico once said, “America, multi-raced and multi-national is, by tradition, by geography, by citizenry, by natural sympathy, and by material interest, the great NEUTRAL nation of the earth.”  

Today America is experiencing the results of casting aside that tradition and has become embroiled in a War that has polarized our nation and the world.  

We have lost the spirit of Lady Liberty, who holds her lamp high to symbolize to the world that there is justice, peace, and mercy available to all who would choose to abide by the principles of the Constitution of the United States of America.  

We have lowered our standard of morality.

We have made citizenship a matter of financial gain rather than of honor.

We have squandered the blood of our young men and women warring in foreign nations, nations which often turn to bite the hands that feed them.  

My solution:

Let us return to our Great Tradition of independence and liberty, of economic freedom and prosperity, of justice and mercy.  

Let us return to the original intent of the Constitution.  Let us teach the principles upon which this nation was founded – that all mankind are created with the un-alienable rights to equality under the law, of economic opportunity, and the untouchable freedoms as enumerated in, but not limited by, the Bill of Rights.

Let us remember that these gifts were bestowed upon us by a benevolent Creator, not a government, that mankind cannot usurp nor deny those rights.  

We can regain our status as the torchbearer of representative government and liberty by remembering the above quote and working towards re-establishing that government through the political process, by voting our conscience, by electing moral and just persons to public office, and by educating ourselves about the issues placed before us each election. 

The End.

EPILOGUE: Whatever our position on the issues in this current election year, we face a critical decision which will affect all our futures — good or bad, easy or hard, war or peace. Rather than taking sides and playing an “I win/you lose” game, perhaps we should try the Principle approach and a “blind test”, that is judging candidates, issues, and national policy by the following standards:

• Does the (candidate, issue, policy) promote Liberty or Tyranny?
• What has been the history of each (candidate, issue, policy)? Have their historical and documented actions or results promoted Liberty or Tyranny?
• Governments do not create wealth, they redistribute the wealth of others, usually taken by threat of force through taxation. Does the (candidate, issue, policy) take more wealth or less wealth?
• Do the (candidates, issues, or policies) promote a free-market economy (Liberty) or do the regulations exceed that which is necessary to protect the lives and liberty of consumers (Tyranny)?
• Does the candidate represent the people he or she will serve, or do they represent their financial backers, or their own personal agenda or the agenda of their declared party?

May the candidate with the highest score get your vote and win, without regard for party affiliation or fear of the enemy. It’s the only way to start swinging the pendulum back towards the promise of American Liberty in its purest form.