I believe for every US soldier currently serving abroad, we should send TWO State Department Diplomats. No, make it THREE. President Kennedy said, “Ask not what your country can do for you,” and then he proceeded to ENGAGE with the world, through projects of prosperity and co-operation. Because he knew what WAR looked like.

Because he knew how war BEGINS… and he knew how to PREVENT it.

It’s foolish to believe that PEACE can be found at the point of a SWORD… when we know it’s so much easier to achieve when we simply extend our HAND.

What STOPS a WAR?

Compassion. Connection. Understanding.

I join in Prime Minister Trudeau’s call for Accountability and Justice, and we must accept the fact that our FREE and FAIR elections have given RISE to this toxic fog of war.

So now, let the call go forth from OUR generation. One tempered by the horrors of WAR, both on the battlefield and in the classroom; disciplined by a hard and bitter TRUTH, longing for a Restoration of Justice; and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of seventy-five years of established order, that has given rise to PEACE and PROSPERITY, the likes of which the world has never known.

The safety and security of the world is assured when the safety and security of the United States is assured. When the United States STANDS divided, and our citizens are targeting each other… the safety and security of our ENEMIES becomes REALITY. When the United States is no longer an active participant on the World Stage and seeks an isolationist position, we become subject to the agendas of other nations, who prefer to be in the LEAD.

When we judge OTHERS based NOT on the content of their character, we invite that inevitable fate that has befallen EVERY oppressive leader, of EVERY nation throughout history… upon OURSELVES.

Judge NOT, lest ye be Judged.

Do unto OTHERS, as you would have them do unto YOU.

All Mankind is created EQUAL.

Endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights… THESE are OUR COMMANDMENTS. THESE are the values we hold SACRED. When they are withheld from ONE, it should be seen as an outrage to us ALL. And they only continue to exist, because BRAVE men and women have given of themselves to ensure it remains so…

To be SILENT is to be COMPLICIT.

We’ve learned these lessons. We must not learn them AGAIN! When ANY nation rattles the Saber of WAR, every American gives PAUSE, and thinks back to where this all began… 20 YEARS AGO. The price we’ve now PAID can only be measured in lives. Let us CHANGE that outcome, and remember WHY…

So it may NEVER happen again.

The oppression of the MINORITY by the MAJORITY was feared by the Framers of our Constitution. And because of that, they sought to ensure that the VOICE of dissent would always be seen as patriotic and necessary to the health of our democracy. If you are so CONFIDENT in your ideas, they should be able to STAND UP to rigorous debate. Even IF they prove to be in-error, either in part or in total, they may STILL prove to be important by informing the NEXT decision… helping us to avoid causing real harm.

Should my ideas prove to be in-error, I welcome the chance to be EDUCATED. Should my position prove to be unacceptable to THE PEOPLE, then they will know better than I what they want in a leader. I’m STANDING UP and offering my OPINION. Offering my assistance… because I believe in the INSTITUTIONS that countless souls have fought and died for… simply for the CHANCE to create them.

Democracy DIES in Darkness… the only cure for that is SUNLIGHT. NO VOICE is so small that it should not be heard, and no opinions so outlandish that they should not STAND as our guardrails. That’s why we VOTE in the SUNLIGHT. To avoid causing harm to OTHERS, that are by LAW… our EQUALS.

Wrapped in the protection of the 1st Amendment, I STAND to fight for those without a VOICE. To ensure it is for EVERYONE. Because if we do not… it will be for NO ONE.

Let it be known, when it is written upon mine… that I STOOD UP and was not SILENT.

May it be so for 200 MORE, LONG LIVE THE CONSTITUTION!

End the Electoral College.

JC