Across America it has begun, early voting for the 2018 midterm election cycle. I am not a big fan of early voting as it portends to lend itself towards electoral chicanery. I would prefer that we designate our national election day as a federal holiday, affording everyone the opportunity to do their civic duty and cast their vote. If they cannot participate at their designated polling station on election day, then submit an absentee ballot. Speaking of absentee ballots, I pray that each state in our republic has mailed out absentee ballots to those men and women in uniform deployed who stand upon freedom’s ramparts safeguarding this very special privilege – voting.
As we enter that personal space called the voting booth, we only have our conscience to guide us. I would hope that we honor those men and women who serve our nation by taking this responsibility serious. I would like to share with y’all what weighs upon my mind as I prepare to vote in this election cycle.
Just a few weeks ago there was a statement made by former First Lady, former U.S. Senator, former U.S. Secretary of State, and former Democratic Party presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. Mrs. Clinton asserted, “You cannot be civil with a political party that wants to destroy what you stand for, what you care about. That’s why I believe, if we are fortunate enough to win back the House and or the Senate, that’s when civility can start again. But until then, the only thing that the Republicans seem to recognize and respect is strength.”
This statement has weighed heavily upon my mind since it was spoken, and there has been no clarification, certainly no apology.
Have we come to a point in America that if you do not embrace a progressive, socialist ideological agenda, it is open season to threaten, coerce, intimidate, and enact violence against you? Have we found ourselves at a point in America where we cannot have intellectual discourse, debate, and reason together? If I do not believe in wealth redistribution and government nationalizing of economic production, am I to be shouted down instead of having an intelligent exchange about tax, regulatory, and fiscal policy?
Because I am someone that believes in the equality of opportunity, and not the left’s equality of outcomes where a few decide for the many, should I be prevented from having a peaceful dinner with my wife? I took an oath to the Constitution of the United States of America, meaning that I honor our rule of law and willingly support and defend it. Does that mean those who stand for the rejection of our rule of law, preferring lawlessness, and those who do not believe we are a sovereign nation with borders to protect and defend, are right in threatening me because I do?
Outside of my home flies an American “Thin Blue Line” flag to show my support for our law enforcement officers who protect us daily. Does Mrs. Clinton’s statement mean that someone who believes our law enforcement officers are “pigs in a blanket … fry them like bacon,” have the consent to come to my house and tear down my flag?
I want a strong military and a foreign policy built on that maxim of “peace through strength.” Can we not have a reasoned discussion about why giving billions of dollars to the number one state sponsor of Islamic terrorism is not a grand idea? Or that abandoning U.S. personnel in a faraway land to an Islamic terrorist attack, and then lying about it, is indeed offensive, disturbing, and evidences a lack of character?
No, I do not believe that murdering an unborn, innocent, vulnerable baby is an acceptable means of birth control. Does that make me sexist? I think it is the ultimate racism to support an organization founded by a white supremacist and racist, someone who referred to people that look like me as “weeds” and “undesirables.” An organization that does have blood on its hands, the blood of some 17 million black babies – the person, Margaret Sanger, and the organization, Planned Parenthood. I suppose, according to Mrs. Clinton, a recipient of the Margaret Sanger Award, someone who praised former KKK Grand Wizard, Senator Robert Byrd, I am the real racist. After all, I am a Board Member of the National Rifle Association. Yes, I support the Second Amendment. In Mrs. Clinton’s terms, I am not deserving of any “civility.”
See, I am a Christian, constitutional conservative, and Mrs. Clinton has placed a target on me. Yes, that is exactly what she has advocated, and endorsed. I do not believe in a progressive, socialist ideological agenda based upon facts, history, reason, and my own intellect by way of studying, research, and yes, Don Lemon, reading. However, as I prepare to enter the voting booth this election cycle, I am told that my principles are not to be respected or regarded, that I only understand strength.
It is not about being Republican, Democrat, Independent, or Libertarian. It is all about whether we still, in these United States of America, have a freedom of conscience, and the right to freely speak and express our varying thoughts, perspectives, views, and insights. Hillary Clinton and the progressive, socialist left do not believe that you, an individual American, have that right. They believe that if you take a position outside your respective leftist collective grouping, or contrary to their agenda, you have no rights.
The choice is clear: liberty or tyranny, ideological domination and totalitarianism. I will honor my oath, “to support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America against ALL enemies, foreign, and domestic, and bear true faith, and allegiance to the same … so help me God.”
This column was originally published at CNSNews
The views expressed in CCNS member articles are not necessarily the views or positions of the entire CCNS. They are the views of the authors, who are members of the CCNS.
