monoblog

I found this insightful essay on the ABC News site. Their username is "westlv34".

I'm a United States Marine Veteran. My father is a retired United States Marine Lt. Colonel and I have family from both sides of my parents that have fought for this country, in most wars, dating back to the American Revolutionary War. Like many responsible Americans I have a full schedule any given day. I work between 50-60 hours, almost every week of the year. As you can see, I clearly have little time to be politically active, work and still enjoy the my free time to pursue other activities of my interest. Like so many similar people, I have blindly relied on our elected officials to uphold The United States Constitution and secure our Free Republic. No more. Because of building frustrations, of the apparent lack of progress in my States Government and in Washington. I recently began searching for information for a better understanding of where we are as a nation. I strongly urge you as an American to do your own search for the truth by truly educating yourself, not by just watching TV, about the issues we now face. I am shocked with how out of touch we truly are from where this country began. I am deeply concerned with our elected government, that is an understatement.

I am not free, when the money of special interest groups is more important than the voice of the people. For example, we are still in a War when clearly the people have said for the past year we wanted out. There are special interest groups with lots of money that want us to stay in this war and continue into Iran. The voice of the people has been lost.

I am not free, when I work so hard to help pay for a war, I found not to be in our best interest. I urge other Americans to search for the truth yourself. I was for the war with all my heart as an American and as a U.S. Marine. My search has brought me to the belief and understanding that this war is false and our interests as a people are not met nor justified with these actions we have taken.

I am not free when I work so hard, plan for my future with sound judgment and action, to then be forced to help pay for others who are given entitlements. Under our Constitution, we are entitled to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness, the rest is up to ourselves. The money I earn through my productive work ethic shouldn't benefit others unless I specifically choose to give. I don't need my Government to come in and take my hard earned money out of my pocket anymore. Let us remind ourselves, the main lesson learned from the forming of our republic was to have self-reliance. Being self-reliant is not being taught and the ideas we are working from have created an environment of dependence for many. This is mentally crippling massive amounts of people and putting the burden on too many working American people. Reality, absolutely nothing is free. The good intentions of the entitlement system that is being fostered is leading this country to a perpetual reliance on government and in turn significantly weakening our people as a whole.

I am not free when I balance my own budget, stay out of debt and my government continues to give me and the people of this country the added burden of a landfall of exponentially growing debt. Our government needs to make a correction on how it spends our money. We need to spend for what is needed not what is wanted, there is a huge difference.

I am not free when my family and I have sacrificed much for our freedom, and my government takes some of those freedoms away under a falsely named bill pretending to have qualities of patriotism. The Patriot Act is not patriotic, it is in fact unconstitutional and totally unpatriotic.

I am not free and we as a nation are not free. Our government is on a path of continual growth, with no end in sight. The love of power, for a few, has outweighed the love of our freedom as a people. These power struggles are seriously putting the future of the United States of America in jeopardy. Mere change is not the answer. We need a complete correction in how we govern. We must submit to the brilliance of the Constitution that set us free in the first place. The rights given to me by the forming of this country have been compromised and The United States Constitution has been violated repeatedly.

I believe Congressman Ron Paul is the only person at this time that can redirect this country back to the path from where it started from. I encourage all Americans, please take the time to visit his websites and learn about his message.

http://www.RonPaul2008.com/ and at http://youtube.com/profile?user=RonPaul2008dotcom