5/31/06
Nation needs to exercise its rights to preserve them
During this Memorial Week, communities with individual services, honor their veterans and those who gave their lives so that Americans might live in this sweet land of liberty.
Speakers dwelled on an America conceived in liberty and its rights as declared in the U. S. Constitution guaranteeing life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
They pronounced that the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights establishes Freedom of Religion, Freedom of the Press, Freedom of Speech, Freedom to peaceably assemble and Freedom to redress grievances.
The fourth amendment protects individual privacy.
Today this nation needs to exercise those rights to preserve them.
There is a crisis in leadership and the country is fearful that some day some where terrorists might attack. President Franklin Roosevelt rallied a nation when he said, ìThe only thing we have to fear is fear itself.î
This is a divided nation; it is not the 50 states united, and attempting to perfect a more perfect union. Rather this nation is battling one another in a verbal civil war ó red states against blue states, conservatives against liberals, Democrats against Republicans, Christians against non-Christians.
Elected representatives and followers have lost the art of compromising and the ability to shake hands at the end of vigorous discourse. Leaders must be found and elected who can put aside partisan differences, can dismiss the wedge issues and legislate and govern without rancor and become statesmen and women.
Osama Bin Laden must find it hard to believe that flying four airplanes into twin towers, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania could cause America to become so frightened and divided.
As a result Americans are willing to give up some of their liberties for the sake of their security, not realizing that paves the way to injustice and insecurity.
One of the hard-fought rights is the right to vote.
Americans are facing one of the most important elections in its history, one that could change the watershed of domestic politics, policies and actions as a community, state and a nation.
In November, Minnesota voters will have the privilege of voting for a U. S. Senator, eight Congressional seats, a Governor, all members of the Minnesota House and Senate, county commissioners, school boards and local offices.
During the last general election, half of the people in this country did not vote in a country that is supposed to be of the people, by the people and for the people, a country that, as written in the Declaration of Independence, has governments instituted by men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.
In Minnesota, 3,658,000 of the registered voters voted in the last general election. While that is commendable, 815,078 registered voters did not vote in the general election in 2004.
During this Memorial Week, Americans are full of gratitude to those men and women who died in defense of freedom, leaving us with the challenge of protecting those liberties for generations to come.
When Americans are united, bound with a common purpose and led by men and woman of strength and character, they can move mountains and defeat terrorism, without giving up any of their freedoms.
Abraham Lincoln laid down the gauntlet in his famous address dedicating a cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. He said ìthat from these honored dead, we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here gave the last full measure of devotion, that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation shall have a new birth of freedom and that this government of the people, by the people and for the people shall not perish from the earth.î ó Don Heinzman
HometownSource.com
ECM Publishers, Inc.
4095 Coon Rapids Blvd.
Coon Rapids, MN 55433
