By Dale Moore |
By Dale Moore |
|
We are nearing then first anniversary of that tragic disaster, the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. The terrorist masterminds in their caves in Afghanistan seemed to have believed that by targeting the symbolic center of world trade they could cripple and so terrorize this nation that we would disintegrate. Like the Japanese warlords who attacked Pearl Harbor 60 year earlier with the same goal in mind, the Al Queda made a terrible miscalculation. We have not fallen apart! Their dastardly attack on us served to remind us again that we are “One from Many” and with one accord we have joined hands and pocketbooks to rebuild, to repel and to retaliate. Like the Japanese of that time long ago, they forced us into a war that we did not seek to defend a way of life that we will not surrender. We are nearing another anniversary, that of our Constitution and the first election of federal, state and local officials. The campaign is already raging for the upcoming election in November. Now is the time for each of us to arm ourselves with knowledge as to the views and the proposals of those who seek to lead us. We need to be as relentless in seeking out our candidates’ views on the issues facing our nation, as we, as a nation, are in seeking out those foreign forces that would destroy us. If this election follows the pattern of recent years less than 30% of those eligible to vote will do so. That means less than 16% of the people will determine who sits in the Congress and who governs our cities and states. 16%! Less than one quarter! There are those who have said, “Well, my one vote doesn’t matter”. After the Presidential election of 2000, where 560 people in Florida, or in Ohio about one vote per precinct, determined who won, that claim no longer has any legitimacy…if it ever did. We are a nation at war! I am afraid, however, we are being much more successful in our war against terrorism than we are our war against apathy. Talk about homeland security! Those citizens inside our country who do not exercise their right to vote, may, in the long run, be a greater danger to our freedom, than those from outside our country who attack our nation. What a tragedy it would be if we gave away the freedoms which we have vowed others could never take away! And
that’s my two cents worth |
