Public service about dedication, not power and greed

(UNEDITED) There is no greater responsibility for citizens of the United States than to be keepers of the Constitution. For some people it sounds like a daunting task. In reality it is not. It comes down to just a few words. Be informed and vote. America has been a beacon of hope for so many people around the world. Our country has been a symbol of all that is good and decent. In recent years that goodwill in the global community has been disgraced with reports of our government torturing prisoners at our secret bases around the world and at Guantamino. Our government's willingness to attack a country rather than negotiate for peace. Our founding fathers would want us to hold responsible those politicians and bankers who allowed our nation's economy to become such a mess; our great nation to become so divided and polarized over important issues that impact the daily lives of the American people and their ability earn and provide for their families, get an education and seek medical treatment. These basic needs of the American people have become tangled up in hateful, selfish, political language that does not serve the people. Public Service should be a work of dedication, of pride, honesty and integrity, not a position for life fueled by power, greed and ambition. Those people who risked so much for the Constitution; a document that offers so much promise and hope for all mankind, would find the actions of today's politicians inconsolable. Shame on Republicans and Democrats: how could you throw away so much of what this great nation has achieved?

If we the American voter could sit in a room today with Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin and the other great men that worked so hard to secure the most significant course for freedom in the world what would they say to us?

They would remind us that this great nation is founded on the ideal to "form a more perfect union." The fathers of the country would tell us that they provided us with all the values necessary to forge ahead as a nation. They would remind us that America as a country is but a mere 233 years old and we have survived tough times in the past and will in the future. Our fathers would teach us lessons from John Locke the English philosopher whose writings have such a profound influence on our founding fathers and in turn our Constitution.

"Thus the Law of Nature stands as an eternal rule to me, legislators as well as others. The rules that they make for other men's actions, must..be comfortable to the Law of Nature, i.e to the will of God..no human sanction can be good, or valid against it."

John Locke, the Second Treatise of Civil Government 1690.

Our founding fathers would bring the discussion back to us, the American people, and the voter. They would remind us that we are the keepers of the Constitution. That it is up to us to hold the politicians accountable. They would gently tell us that we are in this situation because we allowed the politicians to do whatever they wanted to do. Maybe we have been staying home on Election Day, or not paying attention to the kind of people we have been voting for. Maybe we have allowed party affiliation to become too important, maybe we have allowed the notion that being a Republican or Democrat can replace honesty and integrity. This is what it comes down to, and there is no way to get around it; It really is up to us the voters to fix the situation we are in, even if we have to replace every member of Congress and start with fresh new faces. Our founding fathers gave us the power and responsibility to do just that.

Bennion Spencer

Former 3rd District candidate

Riverton