Vice President Joe Biden was exactly right when he said as he campaigned in Iowa on Oct. 27, "Folks, this election is even more important than the two elections you elected Barack and me." With President Obama's approval rating tanking to 38 percent in September, I can understand why Biden is shaking in his boots.
The fact is that this election can serve for the 6 in 10 voters who are disappointed with the administration as a mega-loudspeaker and overarching referendum. As a way of showing the potential power of that vote, I want to share what America's founders told us.
This is what eight Founding Fathers want you to remember as you go to the polls and draw the curtain on that voting booth. (A special thanks goes to David Barton from WallBuilders for providing this information at http://www.wallbuilders.com.)
Samuel Adams, organizer of the Boston Tea Party and signer of the Declaration of Independence, wrote: "Nothing is more essential to the establishment of manners in a State than that all persons employed in places of power and trust be men of unexceptionable characters. The public cannot be too curious concerning the character of public men."
John Adams, our second president, wrote: "We electors have an important constitutional power placed in our hands; we have a check upon two branches of the legislature, as each branch has upon the other two; the power I mean of electing, at stated periods, one branch, which branch has the power of electing another. It becomes necessary to every (citizen) then, to be in some degree a statesman, and to examine and judge for himself of the tendency of political principles and measures. Let us examine, then, with a sober, a manly ... and a Christian spirit; let us neglect all party virulence and advert to facts; let us believe no man to be infallible or impeccable in government, any more than in religion; take no man's word against evidence, nor implicitly adopt the sentiments of others, who may be deceived themselves, or may be interested in deceiving us."
Thomas Jefferson, principal author of the Declaration of Independence and our third president, said, "Should things go wrong at any time, the people will set them to rights by the peaceable exercise of their elective rights."
Alexander Hamilton — chief of staff to Gen. George Washington, one of the greatest advocates of the U.S. Constitution and founder of the first American political party and our nation's financial system — wrote, "A share in the sovereignty of the state, which is exercised by the citizens at large, in voting at elections is one of the most important rights of the subject, and in a republic ought to stand foremost in the estimation of the law."
John Jay, the first chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court and the second governor of New York, wrote, "Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers."
William Paterson — a signer of the U.S. Constitution, an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court and the second governor of New Jersey — wrote, "When the righteous rule, the people rejoice; when the wicked rule, the people groan."
William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania, noted: "Governments, like clocks, go from the motion men give them, and as governments are made and moved by men, so by them they are ruined too. Wherefore governments rather depend upon men than men upon governments. Let men be good, and the government cannot be bad. ... But if men be bad, let the government be ever so good, they will endeavor to warp and spoil it to their turn."
Noah Webster, a strong advocate of the Constitutional Convention and known as the "Father of American Scholarship and Education," advised: "In selecting men for office, let principle be your guide. Regard not the particular sect or denomination of the candidate — look to his character. ... When a citizen gives his suffrage to a man of known immorality he abuses his trust; he sacrifices not only his own interest, but that of his neighbor; he betrays the interest of his country."
Follow the above advice and we'll vote for the right candidates and issues, as well as reboot our county, state and federal governments upon those who are worthy of our respect.
Enough said. Now, go vote, and encourage others to do the same!
Follow Chuck Norris through his official social media sites, on Twitter @chucknorris and Facebook's "Official Chuck Norris Page." He blogs at http://chucknorrisnews.blogspot.com. To find out more about Chuck Norris and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.
