With Congress on their summer break and Town Hall type meetings gearing up around the country, we can’t let the titles given us by the Left deter us.

The double standard is alive and well! The Left/Right battle is on and it’s obvious we, the right, have the upper hand. And how do I conclude this? Just think of all the rhetoric come from the Left. Let’s look at some of their “Catch” phrases - “Right Wing Extremists”, “Manufactured Rage”, “Right Wing Zealots” and “Mobs”. And now, the White House has set up an email address (flag@whitehouse.com)so that “Disinformation”, as they call it, about the Health Care Reform bill can be forwarded to them. (I encourage everyone to send off an email to this address with their concerns.) I am a huge believer that information is best gotten right from the horse’s mouth.

My concerns with some attendees of these Town Hall meetings and other rallies have agendas geared to devalue the importance of our participation. There are hundreds of video clips out there showing honest citizens voicing their opinions and asking some tough questions of their elected officials. However, we MUST refrain from violence. To resort to violence would be an enormous slap in the face to those who shed their blood to defend our Freedoms and Liberties.

We must be firm yet respectable. Yes, I do agree that we are shown little or no respect by the administration and many of our elected officials. Violence begets violence. Most of us are very passionate about our beliefs as we support the traditions and values of which this nation was built on. The Founding Documents are close to our hearts. But we must control our passion and conduct ourselves civilly. The 1^st Amendment protects our right to assembly and freedom of speech. However, it does not protect or condone violent acts committed upon another. We MUST be better than that, better than those who wish us harm, better than those how wish to control us.

As I noted above, we have been called “Mobs”. Webster’s dictionary defines Mob:  1. The lower classes of a community; the populace, or the lowest part of it. 2. Hence: A throng: a rabble: esp., an unlawful or riotous assembly; a disorderly crowd. This is what the Political Left is promoting by airing ads which portray us anti-government, anti health care. As one of my daughters regularly writes, “PFFFFTTTTT!

We are only anti-government when our government is anti-citizen. We are only anti health care when our government wants to take control of it, and our personal health and choices. We find it unlawful when OUR government violates the Rule of Law and The Constitution they are sworn to protect. And when we voice our opinions and concerns, we are ignored; we are ridiculed; we are labeled as “Extremists” and “Zealots”. We are accused of being funded by high power, Republican leaders.

WE ARE NONE OF THESE! As our Founding Fathers, we are Patriots, determined in the preservation of our great nation, diligent in our pursuit of a FAIR, REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT, dedicated to returning our country to the fundamental values of a republic. We fight for the good of the nation in whole and not just a few select groups, privileged groups. We are sick of entitlements, handouts and bailouts. We are sick of seeing our hard earned money – our property, our Liberty – go to those who sit at home, without cause, with their hands outstretched. We are sick of seeing OUR government moving into and taking control of private companies. And now, working towards making decisions about who among us live and die based on our individual value to society.

Now, more than ever, is the time to wake up our voices and be heard. Demand from your elected officials their ear; let them know just how important YOUR vote is.

Voice and Vote – Not Violence! Obama is bringing CHANGE. But the CHANGE he is bringing is the awakening of the silent majority, those of us who just wished to be left alone to raise our families in the greatest country on earth, to go about our daily business without our government interfering, dictating how, when and why. Obama has poked his stick, once too often, into the den of “The Sleeping Giant” as many have done before – The British in 1776, the Japanese during WWII, The Taliban, 9/11. He too will fall, as did the others, but by Voice and Vote – Not Violence.

WE ARE AMERICANS! PATRIOTS! We must remember the words as they were written by our Founding Fathers, also Patriots;

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”

Eric Lagesten

http://ericlagesten.com