PATRIOT OR POLITICIAN ??

See these guys? They are the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Farmers, lawyers, doctors, newspaper men, inventors, architects, teachers, blacksmiths, business owners and clergymen. Everyday people from every walk of life. Normal colonial folks (men and women) and with a few of their peers not pictured here. They became what the history books call our forefathers, and what my father called patriots. What makes them so special? So worthy of historical accolades? Nothing really! They were human just like you and me. Some didn't really want to be part of such a historical event(not at first anyway). Others could barely stop bickering long enough to sign the most important document in the history of the free world! What set them apart was their love of freedom , democracy, and the country they were about to create !! So great was their patriotism that they took on the strongest empire in the world to achieve that freedom!! They were the patriots and then the politicians that gave birth to the country we call home!! Like most politicians they didn't get along any better with members of opposing parties than our politicians do!! Unlike politicians of today they remained patriots even if they were extremely partisan. Because they were Americans first politicians second! When it came to doing what was right for the country they dropped the partisan bickering and did what was best for the people of the new United States. Party mantras, personal goals , & objectives came second to the will of the people!! Can we honestly say that about our politicians today? Will history call them patriots? Better still what would our forefathers think of these men that inhabit the government that they designed. Would they say "job well done" or shake their heads in sad disappointment? I tend to think it would be the latter.

This is a government of the people, for the people ,and by the people and we need to remind our so called "statesmen "of that!! Holding them to standard set by our forefathers. Standing up when we know things are going wrong!! Voting, campaigning, and petitioning for those things we know are right. Remember the guys on Capitol Hill work for us. We tell that man or woman in the Oval Office how it should be , not the other way around. We need to bust their little "beltway bubble" and remind them they have a real job to do. Not just to ride the gravy train, look good in a sound bite, and fatten their own pockets in the process. There is a whole country that exists outside of Washington D.C. and its high time they were reminded of it.

   So the next time your government tries to do something you know is wrong. Something that cuts to the core of the beliefs that you know are right! Just don't sit in the lazyboy hollering at the t.v. !! Get up and do something about it!! You don't have to be on Capitol Hill to be a patriot. Our founding fathers, the first American patriots, barely had a capitol much less one that was on a hill!! What they did have was a love for freedom and for this country! Just like you and me !! So unleash your patriotism !! Put these politicians in check!! Let 'em know they better love this country as much as you do, drop all the self serving partisanship, and get to the business of the people !! Make them put this country back on the right track by doing what our forefathers did 232 years ago!! Stand up, speak out, be an American, and become a Patriot !!