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The
Constitution of the United States is America’s founding
document. The principles embodied in it, conceived by our
Founders, are the heart and soul of our republic. The
Constitution is our eternal flame which each of us has pledged
to keep alive. Should the flame die, so do we as a people…
for what binds us together is our commitment to our principles
and our love for one another. That love is expressed by our
willingness even to die if necessary so that our neighbors,
friends and family might continue to live in freedom under a
just rule of law.
Every few years, we choose
among ourselves (which is to say, 300,000,000 of us), only 537
representatives who we deem worthy to be primary keepers of
the flame: a President, a Vice- President, 435 Members of the
House of Representatives, and 100 Senators. We don’t fill
every position every election cycle, but eventually all must
stand before the larger community in order that the People
might decide who will have the honor and burden of fulfilling
a sacred duty.
During an election year,
citizens who feel that they are able and willing to honorably
execute the responsibilities of public office… announce
their candidacy. It is common for candidates to make promises
and outline their views on a broad range of topics so that the
electorate might get a sense of who they are, how they think,
and how competent they might be to meet the challenges they
are likely to face if elected to office. Finally the
electorate chooses which of the available candidates they
think will best represent them.
Despite promises any candidate
might make, the Constitution itself asks that citizens
consider one qualification to be supreme among all others:
that he or she must first and foremost be capable of keeping
his or her word… to faithfully preserve, protect, and defend
the Constitution of the United States against degradation or
attack from any source, foreign or domestic. That’s why no
elected official is allowed to serve without first taking an
oath that they will faithfully preserve and protect the
Constitution.
We are a government of, by, and
for the People. We elect representatives, which is to say we
delegate authority to them, to carry out a sacred trust—
keeping our treasured document secure. If representatives
refuse or falter in carrying out that duty, it is our
obligation to take back that authority, and to once again
secure the nation’s treasure for ourselves and our posterity
as we see fit.
I say to you now… our
representatives have refused… they have faltered… they
have failed … to honor the oath of which I speak. But we
must not fail. We are the People—the last line of
defense—the true keepers of the Flame. We must stand up once
again to secure our nation’s treasure. It is up to us to do
it, for there is no one else left to do it but us.
My name is Mark A. Goldman. My web site is www.gpln.com.
I
am a candidate for Congress, seeking to represent the people in the 7th
District of Washington State in the U.S. House of
Representatives. Vote for me, so together we might keep the flame alive.
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