VOTE! ~ Renew Your Right to Gripe!

RENEW

YOUR

RIGHT

TO

GRIPE

VOTE!

My grandpa used to always begin any political discussion with, "Did you vote in the last election?" Since voter turn-out in this country is so low, more often than not, the answer would be "NO". Grandpa would smile and say, "Well, then, you forfeited your right to any opinion or criticism, didn't you." Grandpa always got his point across and eliminated a lot of silly discussions that way. But, his larger point was always the OBLIGATION OF CITIZENSHIP. He believed that since many great men had conceived, fought for and risked everything to create this country, that we had an obligation to VOTE. He also believed that if we all took that obligation seriously, politicians would get away with less dishonesty, fraud, corruption and general bad behavior. On my 21st birthday (OK, I'm old, but you used to have to be 21 to vote), he sent me a picture of Arlington Cemetery and a note that said, "If you don't vote, they gave their lives for nothing. Vote, always vote, and remember the greatness of your country when you do."

Please vote, and please ask your candidate, "Do You Want America to Win?" Vote as if your country depends upon it, because it does!

"The fact is that for some on the far left, their belief in America as a force fo evil and destruction in the world makes them believe that the American military is the agent of that evil and destruction. Their whole approach is to blame America and demean our fighting men and women, not the enemies who threaten us.

"The far left believe themselves to be the intelligent and cultured elite who possess the only opinions that matter. They become apoplectic when reality collides whith their misguided worldview. The fact is that the average young man and woman serving in Iraq today is better educated than the average civilian American their age and comes from a higher income level than the average civilian American their age. The fact is that our troops are exemplary young men and women serving our country for patriotic and decent reasons. But instead of accepting these facts about our troops, they call them stupid, desperate and worse." -Newt Gingrich

Please think about this when you VOTE!

I wrote this two years ago, but it is just as relevant now... you're in my thoughts Grandpa!