We will never forget, we will never give up the fight.

I wanted to comment on some things that were said in Iggy's blog, but felt it would be too long of a comment, so thought my own post might be better. Pardon the soapbox, once I get started, it's hard to climb down, but I'll do my best.

First, I remember having to memorize the Preamble to the Constitution when I was in school. I don't know if I could repeat it verbatim, but I still remember most of it. Many things I don't remember, but that Preamble, I do.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion about things, and I agree with most of what you said, Iggy...however, one thing I learned while reading about Alexander Hamilton, was that from the beginning, with George Washington and John Adams, U.S. Presidents spent a LOT of time out of "office" at some retreat or summer home. For Tori's understanding, George and John were our first two presidents, and Alexander Hamilton was very involved during both of their terms, as he was one of the men who helped form our Government.

Regarding voting for our elected officials, that is a right (not an obligation)bestowed upon us by our Republic and Constitution. I feel it's an honor for us to be able to elect our Government officials. However, I also feel that most of them have abused their positions and wholly deserve to not be part of our governmental process any longer. How to get rid of them? The First Amendment allows us to "petition the Government for a redress of grivances." Obviously, with 300 million people living in this country, it would take a lot of petitioning to get anything done that way.

I believe the best way to change things is to elect better officials. How to do that? I personally think more people need to be involved in local and national elections. I'm not saying all of you (and myself) should run out and get involved in local election drives. Volunteering for a candidate you believe in is a way to help change things. We can all help change things by being more aware of the issues, staying informed, knowing how your senator and representative vote on the issues that are important to you and vote accordingly. Unfortunately for the U.S., many of our high school students and even many college students don't know the Constitution, don't know the Bill of Rights, or can name any important amendment to said Constitution. Civics class is no longer a graduation requirement, and our country is the poorer for it. I HAD to take a Goverment class, where we studied the Constitution, took tests on it, in order to graduate. I have a pocketbook sized copy of the Constitution here at my desk that I pull out periodically and look through.
I'm a firm believer that any Senator or Representative should not be allowed to serve more than 2 terms. Once a member of Congress gets dug in deep with the lobbyists and the special interests, they stop governing for the PEOPLE, and govern for themselves and their own little district or state.

I too have struggled in the past with who to vote for. Who hasn't? I've also thought...who's the lesser of two evils? But this year, the first presidential election after making an effort to be more informed and understanding of what's going on in Congress, and what the problems are, for the first time in my life, I actually feel good about who I'm voting for.

Another thing to remember about our first members of Congress. They were lawyers, doctors, professors, that had regular jobs, they got paid piddly sums by today's standards, they lost businesses, went broke, but they felt it was an honor to serve in our Government. Maybe if we go back to not paying members of Congress six digit salaries, they might actually do something worthwhile during their time in Washington D.C.

Ok, I think I've said all I wanted to say. I apologize if I offended anyone, but these are my opinions and I'll stand by them.