America’s right to vote is one of our
greatest privileges. It’s that time again — elections for state and
national leaders. You have less than one week left to vet the candidates and plan
your vote. The time and effort you spend is your payment for liberty. If
you pay the debt, you deserve self-rule. If you don’t, you’re in the
entitlement class: those who take, but do not give.
Look for
candidates who are clear and direct about what they represent. Be
suspicious of those that do the Political Polka — that sound vaguely
good and only speak in generalities. They are likely to sell you a bill
of goods. They won’t enrich our legislative halls.
When we elect moral men and women, we increase the possibility that government will secure our rights and property. This is only one part of sound politics, but it is a key part. Samuel Adams explained it: He was the eye of the storm in leading the colonial break from Great Britain, which began in 1764. He said, “[Do] not suffer a man to be chosen into any office of power and trust who is not a wise and virtuous man.” The fruit does not fall far from the tree — a good man or woman gives good fruit; a dishonest one does so only by chance. It takes good, moral people to write good, moral laws.
Founding Fathers James Madison and Thomas Jefferson counseled us on selecting candidates wisely. They identified two kinds of political aristocracy. The first came naturally through virtue, talent and patriotism. The second, an artificial aristocracy rampant in European circles of their day, came through birth or family fortune. In America, we have no political elites unless we create them by leaving elected officials in office for so long they think they own the place. Both the nation and the state have politicians who have staked their claims and aren’t planning to leave. Politics was not an acceptable career path for our Founders. That inevitably self-serving agenda often undercuts the average Joe.
These men -- Jefferson,
Madison and the Adams cousins, Samuel and John — knew politics. They
believed political office should attract the finest people the nation
has to offer and they were the pattern. John Adams, our second
president, said of his service to the nation: “In every considerable
transaction of my public life, I have invariably acted according to my
best judgment, and I can look up to God for the sincerity of my
intentions.”
It isn’t enough, however, to simply select good people. Good people see things differently. We must select those who will do what we think should be done. This nation functions on majority rule — we are supposed to get the system most of us want. You go to the polls to put in place the system and people you choose, not those others choose.
Some parts of Utah County will have two elections this fall — the Nov. 4 election for all of us and the selection 11 days later of a replacement for Senator John Valentine, who now heads the Utah Tax Commission. This vacancy in Utah State Senate District 14, which includes Highland, Alpine, Cedar Hills and parts of American Fork, Pleasant Grove, Lindon and Orem, will be filled on Nov. 15 by a convention of the party's county delegates who live in this district, according to a Sept. 29 article in the Daily Herald.
This second race offers a pattern for selecting good people.
Al Jackson of Highland wants to fill Valentine’s seat. He’s been in the business and service sectors for decades, which means he won’t shoot free enterprise in the foot while he’s in office. Al leads in an easy, natural way — you follow because he’s going in the right direction and you want to go with him. He listens. He’s an approachable, people kind of guy who gets things done and can get people to work together. Al is new to public office so he’s free of excess baggage, but he’s been around legislative affairs so he isn't naive. He believes in government kept limited and close; he knows that the closer government stays to us the more freedom we have. Al’s tipping point, however, is that he knows our operating system. Unlike the majority of our legislators who have never read the Constitution, Al and his dynamic wife, Juleen, have studied it with their five children daily in their early morning family devotionals for years. We won’t have to teach him the rules of government or belly-ache about them being ignored; he knows them. You can’t get much more committed than that. Patriotism is the heart and soul of Al Jackson and his family. These are good people. Al’s the kind of guy we want in public office.
We have one week left before we ring liberty’s bell for freedom in the voting booth. Please proudly take your turn at the polls. Each of us must thoughtfully find our own political standards. It’s not what “everybody” is doing or blind allegiance to a political party, and certainly not apathy and disinterest. Our dedication is to truth and integrity in elected officials who hold to the basics — the constitutional principles that gave us the greatest prosperity and liberty in the modern world a hundred years ago. Those principles can do the same again.
Make your voice count next week and on Nov. 15 if you are a delegate. Ring freedom’s bell for liberty and good government.
Pamela's new Ebook, "Promises of the Constitution:" Go to:
http://smile.amazon.com/Promises-Constitution-Yesterday-Today-Tomorrow-ebook/dp/B00LEWCS4E/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1410824095&sr=1-1&keywords=promises+of+the+constitution
When we elect moral men and women, we increase the possibility that government will secure our rights and property. This is only one part of sound politics, but it is a key part. Samuel Adams explained it: He was the eye of the storm in leading the colonial break from Great Britain, which began in 1764. He said, “[Do] not suffer a man to be chosen into any office of power and trust who is not a wise and virtuous man.” The fruit does not fall far from the tree — a good man or woman gives good fruit; a dishonest one does so only by chance. It takes good, moral people to write good, moral laws.
Founding Fathers James Madison and Thomas Jefferson counseled us on selecting candidates wisely. They identified two kinds of political aristocracy. The first came naturally through virtue, talent and patriotism. The second, an artificial aristocracy rampant in European circles of their day, came through birth or family fortune. In America, we have no political elites unless we create them by leaving elected officials in office for so long they think they own the place. Both the nation and the state have politicians who have staked their claims and aren’t planning to leave. Politics was not an acceptable career path for our Founders. That inevitably self-serving agenda often undercuts the average Joe.
It isn’t enough, however, to simply select good people. Good people see things differently. We must select those who will do what we think should be done. This nation functions on majority rule — we are supposed to get the system most of us want. You go to the polls to put in place the system and people you choose, not those others choose.
Some parts of Utah County will have two elections this fall — the Nov. 4 election for all of us and the selection 11 days later of a replacement for Senator John Valentine, who now heads the Utah Tax Commission. This vacancy in Utah State Senate District 14, which includes Highland, Alpine, Cedar Hills and parts of American Fork, Pleasant Grove, Lindon and Orem, will be filled on Nov. 15 by a convention of the party's county delegates who live in this district, according to a Sept. 29 article in the Daily Herald.
This second race offers a pattern for selecting good people.
Al Jackson of Highland wants to fill Valentine’s seat. He’s been in the business and service sectors for decades, which means he won’t shoot free enterprise in the foot while he’s in office. Al leads in an easy, natural way — you follow because he’s going in the right direction and you want to go with him. He listens. He’s an approachable, people kind of guy who gets things done and can get people to work together. Al is new to public office so he’s free of excess baggage, but he’s been around legislative affairs so he isn't naive. He believes in government kept limited and close; he knows that the closer government stays to us the more freedom we have. Al’s tipping point, however, is that he knows our operating system. Unlike the majority of our legislators who have never read the Constitution, Al and his dynamic wife, Juleen, have studied it with their five children daily in their early morning family devotionals for years. We won’t have to teach him the rules of government or belly-ache about them being ignored; he knows them. You can’t get much more committed than that. Patriotism is the heart and soul of Al Jackson and his family. These are good people. Al’s the kind of guy we want in public office.
We have one week left before we ring liberty’s bell for freedom in the voting booth. Please proudly take your turn at the polls. Each of us must thoughtfully find our own political standards. It’s not what “everybody” is doing or blind allegiance to a political party, and certainly not apathy and disinterest. Our dedication is to truth and integrity in elected officials who hold to the basics — the constitutional principles that gave us the greatest prosperity and liberty in the modern world a hundred years ago. Those principles can do the same again.
Make your voice count next week and on Nov. 15 if you are a delegate. Ring freedom’s bell for liberty and good government.
Pamela's new Ebook, "Promises of the Constitution:" Go to:
http://smile.amazon.com/Promises-Constitution-Yesterday-Today-Tomorrow-ebook/dp/B00LEWCS4E/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1410824095&sr=1-1&keywords=promises+of+the+constitution
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