As citizens who participate in and enjoy the benefits of the
democracy guaranteed by our government, we are as
philosophically oathbound as any president-elect to “preserve,
protect and defend the Constitution of the United States”. It is
to be hoped that each of the citizens in our society remain
intelligently informed as to the the intentions and behavior of
any of the elected officials we have entrusted with the safety of
our democratic rights and traditions. In this era of sound-bites,
twitter and opinion presented as news it is increasingly
challenging to remain so informed.

The responsibilities associated with citizenship in a
democracy can be subtle and often unstated. However, the right
and obligation to vote for what we believe to be ethically
necessary is obvious and readily to hand. Failure to exercise this
opportunity to demonstrate one’s moral u convictions is an insult to both citizenship and self-esteem.

As we approach November’s elections, it is useful to note that
despite the action of an outdated electoral college system, the
current Washington administration was not elected by a
majority of our fellow citizens and therefore holds no popular
mandate. The notion that currently emplaced policies represent
the will or intent of America is fundamentally false and ought be
repudiated at every opportunity.

With these thoughts in mind it is the more critical that each
of us who honor and respect the ethics and morality embedded
in our unique and humane constitution encourage all of our
friends and associates to get out the vote in November.
To paraphrase Benjamin Franklin, there are only two ways to

remove an unfit elected official – bullets or ballots. Since
violence is morally unconscionable we must place our faith and
hope in the voting booth as a remedy for the current ongoing
violations of the public trust.

Respectfully submitted for your consideration,

Mark Pelkey, Arizona registered voter

More at:  http://www.pelkeysponderings.com/