10 years later, Questions remain

I know, that's a vague title. But I promise, it's quite simple. This is a follow up to my last post. Yes, it's four years later, but there's a reason for that too.

Though I do enjoy time jumps, I'm going to start at the beginning on this one. I've described in short form, my time in the Army. This time I'll go a bit more in depth. My active duty career began(and ended) at Fort Carson in Colorado Springs. As I've mentioned before, upon being assigned to 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, I was placed in the rear detachment. I was scheduled to deploy to Iraq with the next group of soldiers, but ultimately I was held back to let an injury sustained in training heal.

Now equipped with a walking cast, I was placed into the S2 office(Security). The NCOIC of the office was also the unit's acting Public Affairs Officer and I was to work in coordination with him. Meanwhile, I was cross trained as a security manager and felt like I found a place to fit in with my unit. I was of use. I learned the basics of security management and was receiving training on public speaking, among other things.

Less than a week into my time in the office, began the worst part(or what I thought was the worst part) of my service. I say this with the caveat that it was also probably the most important part of my service. I was to report to the chapel to serve as a media liaison for my first memorial service. The first, of many. 82. Over an 18 month deployment, I was a media contact for 82 memorial services. 82 of my brothers and sisters that never made it home. 82 men and women who knew what they signed up for. But knowing what you sign up for doesn't mean you expect it to end that way. This was the beginning of my years of questioning my own service. Did I do enough? I know the answer, whether anyone else agrees or not. I sat at home, in an office. I sat there under orders while 82 soldiers died. Want to feel useless? Answer the same questions from the same people week after week while a picture of another one of your family members is all that remains. A picture, a rifle, and a pair of boots.

In December of 2007, the unit started to return. My hell was placed on hold for a brief time. At the time I didn't really know what the mounting losses were doing to me. I was doing my job. I was doing what I could to be of service. It's amazing how the brain tells you what you need to know in order to go on.

By the summer of 2008, my injuries had caught up to me. Months of non-treatment created a domino effect that ended with a spinal fusion and an order. Retire. Retire? After not even three years? After I finally got to work in a PA shop? After I finally thought I would begin training with the unit to leave for Afghanistan?

The simple answer...yes. Forced into a surgery i didn't need. Then forced into a retirement I didn't want all because the doctor they chose did a piss poor job and they didn't want to wait for me to recover. This is where the hell returns.

I watched as my unit trained for the next deployment. A deployment, once again, I would not be allowed to join them on. In the months that followed, I watched them leave, and then, one by one, I watched as more were killed. More of my brothers and sisters I wasn't able to protect. I wasn't even give the opportunity. No matter what anyone said, I kept asking the question, "Why wasn't it me?" I should have been there with them. I should have been next to them. Instead, I left. But I didn't actually leave. I watched from afar as more and more of my soldiers were added to the list. I became obsessive. I would go everyday to the department of defense website to look at the press releases and count the names I knew. It took years. 4 years before there were finally more promotion announcements than death announcements. 5 years before I finally stopped seeing names I knew. FIVE YEARS.

As to why I never continued after my last post, well it's simple. I thought there were only two options. Turns out, there was a third. I was told, basically, that I was no longer injured, but I was still too injured to be in the Army. I wasn't fully retired. Instead, I was separated. Lost my health insurance. Lost my retirement. Left out into the world as a civilian. Something I hadn't truly been in years.

Now, 9 years and 6 months later, I'm fighting a different battle than I ever figured I would. After I got out, I went to doctors for a while. I explained what I did with my time during the day, just waiting for the next name to appear. Survivor's Remorse they called it. With every death of a person I knew, I died a little bit too. That's how it felt. That's how it still feels. I lost a lot during that time. I lost jobs. I lost my family. I lost my friends. I pushed them away. I pushed them away because I was ashamed. I never even left my base and here I was feeling sorry for myself. But it was more than that. Because the doctors were right. I died a little bit every time. And that never comes back.

It was only after I lost everything that I began to try to fix myself. But how do you fix death? I buried myself in work. I did everything I could to get back to where I was in the Army. Back to being able to tell the stories of those people that deserved to be acknowledged. Two and half years ago I finally got back to that place. It was glorious. I felt true pride in being able to tell stories again. Bringing those stories to life and getting a reaction. But there's one time of year that really puts me back in that place. Memorial day is one thing. We remember those we lost. I do that every day, so a day when everyone does it is just one day they get to see how I live. But Veterans day(which has become Veterans week now). I sit there and watch as fellow veterans remember what they did. Remember what they won. And remember what they lost. I envy them. I don't feel the connection to them that I used to feel with my unit. I feel like an outsider looking in. I respect the hell out of those men and women. But this week. These stories. I find myself wishing I could skip it. It's not that they don't deserve to be told. They do. It's that I can't bring myself to tell them knowing that I didn't do all I could do be there for them. It's a pain I can't heal. And one I can't complain about. Those men and women have scars I'll never know. So who am I to complain?


I know I've rambled on for quite a while here, so I'll wrap this up by saying this. Every man and woman who stands tall, raises their hand, and swears an oath to service deserves all the respect and admiration they can get. I will always love those men and women. But I don't know that I will always be able to tell their stories. Sometimes, it takes a better mind than mine to do it justice. And they deserve justice.

That Rare Opportunity...

Well...here I am again.
It seems every time I get the notion to start this blog back up, something else comes along that derails the plan... But then again, it seems like no plan ever turns out exactly the way you want it to. And it's not very often that one gets the chance to go back and try again. Usually, once something comes to pass, it can never be again. This is the real world...we don't get do overs. Or do we?

So what am I talking about? Well, to know where I'm going, first you have to understand where I've been(which many of you do on some level). But for those who don't, and who have chosen not to read my previous blogs before reading this one(I strongly urge you to, it really helps develop this story)... So lets start at the beginning...or at least one of them.

I joined the Army in July of 2006...almost exactly 4 months before my daughter was born. Most people in my life at the time didn't understand my reasons for joining...come to think of it, maybe I really didn't fully understand either, but I knew it was something I had to do. Upon completing training and knowing that I had accomplished something most people don't, I felt a sense of pride that I had never felt before in my life. A pride that has never died.

Upon joining my unit in Colorado, I was placed in a rear detachment unit while the rest were deployed in Iraq. Through a series of minor injuries, I sustained one major injury that led me to a crossroads(very early in my military career). I was told that I needed back surgery, and if I didn't get it, I had to get out of the army. The latter didn't appeal to me. I said to myself, "I didn't join the Army just to get out without ever having done anything." And just like that, I opted for the surgery. Turns out, that choice I thought I had, well it was a lose/lose situation. After the surgery, I was given a recovery time of 6 months-2 years. My unit felt like the 6 months was the best time frame, so when I was not even close to healed, I was medically retired from the Army less than a year after the surgery.

There is certainly a lot more in this story...but in order to keep it as short as possible...i'm going to fast forward through my time in Pennsylvania(though it does have bearing on the story, an author is sometimes forced to cut necessary items).

In 2009, I moved with my family to Mississippi in hopes of finding a job and leave behind all of those demons that we had up north. But here's the secret, those demons are never gone...they follow you wherever you go, because...especially in my case...I was my own demon. Now I'm not going to speak for anyone else here, but I made quite a few mistakes myself to get where we ended up next.

3 months after moving to Mississippi, I was separated from my wife, a year later, living on my own, and now 2 1/2 years later... I am well set in a career that I love and slowly but surely rebuilding my life... But that leads me to the present...and a unique opportunity.

I have failed at many things in my life. I have left many things unfinished. But the one thing that has always haunted me, is the way I left the army. It always left a bad taste in my mouth, later finding out that it didn't have to end that way, had I only been better informed. So then imagine my surprise when, I received a phone call from my Retirement case manager who told me, my retirement was coming to an end and I would have to report for a med review. This med review will have one of two outcomes. Permanent retirement(which I know some would prefer for me) or I will be found fit for duty, and given the option to re-enlist. Now, no matter what the outcome, I will always consider myself a soldier. I am a patriot. No matter how bad things get, I will always love my country, and fight for it. That being said, I have begun doing my best at getting my body back in shape. My back, is far better than it was when I was released from duty. And I have a drive now, that I never had before. I see the chance to right the ship. To revive my military career and become the soldier I always wanted to be. Like I said, the first time through... I may not have truly known why I joined...but now, I have no question. Aside from my daughter... being a soldier is the single greatest thing I've ever done with my life. It is where I belong. And now... I see a dim light at the end of a 5 year tunnel that could... be my second chance.

The Purpose for it all...

It's been a long time since I've posted a blog. A lot is changed in my life. My ambitions have changed, my goals have changed. I still believe in everything that I've written. My blog is gone on many different levels... sports, politics, human interest. But they're all things that I believe. I've never told you lies, and I've never sold my soul as something that I am not. What I am is an American, a soldier, a father...
I never pictured my life going this way, but this is where it was supposed to go. I stand on the precipice of greatness. I've finally started my career, after many attempts, and I've got great things to look forward to in my future.
But this blog isn't about me, this blog is about the world we live in...
I see it every day, people living their lives and not even looking at what's right in front of them. I see people taking for granted things that should be happy for. I see people going through the motions, and I realize I used to be there. I never took the time to put my life into perspective. I didn't have a hard childhood, I didn't grow up wanting. I had anything a child could ask for and I took it for granted. I expected things to get done for me and it cost me nothing but heartache in the end. It took me losing everything to realize what I was missing in my life. I was missing a sense of purpose, a sense of being. Like I said I've talk to you on many different issues. But I don't know that I've ever truly revealed myself to anyone who has read my blog. Just like anyone, I have thoughts, and goals, and wishes, and dreams. I have beliefs.
I find myself now, starting over.
I find myself now, with a new beginning.
I find myself now, with a new purpose in life.
It's taken me almost 30 years but I found my place...my purpose... I found what I can give the world.
I wake up every day knowing that my job affects thousands. I know that the things that I do have meaning to more than just myself. I know that in the end... the things that I do may help a person, save a life, or just make someone feel better about themselves.
Information is a currency.
It is my job to give that information to anyone who may seek it.
I love my job. They say "love your job and You'll never work a day in your life."
I worked hard to get where I am...and I love my job.
I saw a video today that posed the question "what would you do if money wasn't an issue?"
I watched it, I thought about it, and the answer to the question is... exactly what I am doing.
This has been my goal for years, it's been a long road, but I'm here.
I know this blog isn't my usual, but maybe that's a good thing.
Maybe it's time for me to focus on what I can do to help this world, what my legacy will be. We don't last forever, and what we do today, will have an impact years after we're gone.
I want to leave a world for my kids where people don't have to question their rights, their leaders, the choices that they make.
I want to leave a world for my kids that they can be proud of.
We all have our roles, our places. We all have a purpose in this world. I finally found mine, what's yours?
I leave you with this thought... Don't get out of bed in the morning, with a negative attitude... Life is too short to waste it on regret. And besides... This could be the best day of your life.

Lets take a look at this Debate

We are a year away from the next Presidential election. You know what that means, time for people to start choosing sides again. Tonight, the second Republican Debate took place, this one at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. This was a debate that I think could actually be taken for face value because of the addition of Rick Perry into the mix. So I want to take a look at the candidates and their performance in tonight's festivities. There were 8 candidates on stage tonight: Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, Michelle Bachmann, Mitt Romney, Rick Perry, Ron Paul, Herman Cain, and John Huntsman. It was billed as a debate between front runners Perry and Romney, with the others there to field questions as well...really I think it was the beginning of the end for Hunstman, Santorum, Cain, and Gingrich. In the end, there just aren't enough votes to go around, and if Republicans want to retake the White House next year, they are going to have to pull their votes together.

I'll get the superlatives out of the way first. Winner of the least questions fielded/least responses goes to Herman Cain. I think he has some good ideas, but he just doesn't have enough of a following to warrant the time for the questions. Best quote of the night is a tie.

Newt Gingrich: "I for one, and I hope all of my friends up here, are going to repudiate every effort of the news media to get Republicans to fight each other, to protect Barack Obama, who deserves to be defeated. And all of us are committed as a team, whoever the nominee is, we are all for defeating Barack Obama." (Newt is trying to form "Team Evict Obama") It didn't work very well because Herman Cain jumped out in the very next response and called out anyone who came to mind.

Mitt Romney: "We have some differences between us, but we all agree this President's gotta go.The President is a nice guy, but he doesn't have a clue how to get this country working again."

Worst quote of the night has to also go to Romney: "First, we need to put up a fence..." Think we've seen that Mexican immigrants might know how to climb over a fence Mitt...

The winner of "Mr. Popularity" has to go to Rick Perry, who lead the way fielding 11 total questions and 5 rebuttals for a total response time of 15 minutes, 10 seconds. And surprisingly enough, he also had the lowest average response time, meaning that he was the only one who really followed the rules of the debate. He was also the only candidate to be featured in every multiple shot of the debate with 4 2-shots (Romney/Perry), 1 split screen(Perry/Santorum), 1 split screen(Perry/Gingrich), and 1 3-shot(Perry/Romney/Bachmann).

On the opposite side of the spectrum, the Most Likely to have his face on the Side of a Milk Carton Award goes to, and this one was actually pretty close, Herman Cain, who spoke for just 5 minutes, 40 seconds while fielding only 5 questions and forcing himself into 1 30-second rebuttal.

The rest of the response count/time goes like this:
Mitt Romney- 9 questions fielded, 2 rebuttals totaling 11 minutes, 58 seconds
Michelle Bachmann- 8 questions fielded(although I am counting the Libya question twice) and 1 rebuttal totaling 9 minutes, 11 seconds
Ron Paul- 7 questions fielded, 1 rebuttal totaling 9 minutes, 27 seconds
John Hunstman- 7 questions fielded, 1 rebuttal totaling 9 minutes, 1 second
Newt Gingrich- 5 questions fielded, 1 rebuttal totaling 6 minutes, 54 seconds
Rick Santorum- 5 questions fielded, 0 rebuttals totaling 6 minutes, 12 seconds

The Late to the Party Award goes to Newt Gingrich, who we didn't hear from until 17 minutes, 44 seconds into the debate.

The actual meat of the debate does not really coincide with how much each person got to talk. While Governor Perry was defending his executive order to mandate HPV vaccinations for 12 year old girls, and Mitt Romney tip toed around his actual job numbers while he was Governor of Massachusetts, Newt Gingrich had his usual strong debate performance, at one point calling out the national media for protecting President Obama by trying to turn Republicans on each other.

Michelle Bachmann successfully shot herself in the foot by regurgitating the same old rhetoric about strong leaders and repealing Obama care. I would guess that she might know something about putting people to work with a total of 28 children having grown up in her house...I wonder how many of her congressional aides are Bachmanns...

Herman Cain stuck to his guns and would not be drawn into helping the other candidates promote their agendas. He would only answer questions by talking about his own plans, which would be a great strategy if his plans didn't rely on the retirement plan adopted by Chile 20 years ago...Not sure Chile is the economic model that is going to get us out of our problem. I guess it couldn't hurt us anymore though.

John Huntsman used his short time to prove that a President needs to have private, public, and international experience. Then made sure we knew that he in fact had successful experience in all three areas. If Huntsman had a little more money, he might actually be a threat in this race. I would not exclude him for the possibility of a VP candidacy though. He seems to be poising himself for a run.

Rick Santorum was just there to add a pink tie to the proceedings. He had a few comments, but mostly piggy backed on Newt's policies, at one point out right giving Newt the credit. I don't see him lasting past Thanksgiving.

Ron Paul is a very crazy man. But he doesn't care and he will tell you exactly what he thinks. Just because he's crazy, doesn't mean he doesn't have some good ideas. I just don't think you win a national election by telling people that you want to take away ALL government mandates immediately, and offering gas for 10 cents a gallon. He's got the money to take this thing to the end, I just don't know if he has the gumption to take it all the way.

Getting down to the two candidates that this debate was really highlighting, Rick Perry had a good start talking about his 4.9% job increase in Texas, but took a few blows when asked about the poverty rate/graduation rate in his state.

There was one part of Mitt Romney's responses that caught my ear...I think Mitt read my blog the other night because he quoted my "Localizing Energy Production" Plan almost verbatim. So, thanks for reading Mitt! But he did fail a bit when arguing his job growth rate while Governor of Mass. and really didn't add anything new to the table.

Perry says social security is a ponzi scheme. Romney says it isn't. That's a push.

The one thing that we can really agree on about last night's debate, is that everyone on the stage is committed to the fact that, though they may not agree on who SHOULD be the President, they ALL agree that Obama should NOT be the President. All in all, it was 98 minutes of a debate that had 70 minutes of 8 candidates trying to sell us on their policies, and 28 minutes of Brian Williams doing his best to push his own agenda. I guess the thought of an unbiased debate is just too much to ask for. I'd like to see a debate where Bob Johnson, American Citizen, is the moderator. And the participants actually get equal time to offer their responses to the same questions. Until this field gets reduced, the debates will continue to not show us a whole lot of poll movement.

 Well, I had more to say about this last night, but I simply did not have the energy or the time to do so. I just finished watching the President kick off his re-election campaign in front of a joint session of congress...so now I will redeem myself by watching the open of the 2011 NFL season.

Thank you again for reading and please look to the right of the page and follow my blog to get e-mail updates about new posts. Also Like A Bit o' Truth on Facebook to stay up to date on all my blog related activity.

Beating a Dead Horse

Blah Blah Blah...that's pretty much how I feel about the state of things right now...in the government, in the nation, in the world. And no matter what people think, it is NOT all Obama's fault. It's not all the Democrat's fault. It's not Bush's fault, or his daddy's. This is the fault of every American who wanted to find the easy way to make a buck, and buy a house, and buy a car and basically live the American dream without working for it. It took decades. But it finally caught up with us. The constant borrowing, the constant spending, the constant begging others to bail us out of the situation that we got ourselves into.

We owe China over $1 trillion dollars(plus interest), Russia $115+ billion, and countless others almost as much... We have amassed what was once believed to be an impossible amount of money...upwards of $15 TRILLION. Maybe it really is time to step back, take a good long look at ourselves(collectively AND individually) in the mirror, and figure out how to start getting out of this mess. There IS NO quick fix to this one. It's a problem that's going to take many many years to dig ourselves out of. So how do we begin?

We need to start looking within our own boundaries. The answers are there. We have so many natural resources that can be utilized. Gas, oil, coal, wind, water, nuclear energy; We have enough natural resources in our own borders that could supply us with electricity, heat, and fuel to last us several hundred years. I think by the team we use it all up, we MIGHT be able to get ourselves out of the red. If we were to cut off imports of oil from the middle east and bring production in-country, not only would it be a big ole' middle finger to OPEC, it would create jobs, revenue, and product that would drive our economy for years. It would create self-sufficiency. It would create market stability. Yes, it would piss off all those hippies who are scared of eating processed foods and would rather pay 10x as much for organic products that nutritionally have no additional value. But if that is the worst thing that happens, looks like they might have to be the first of many people who will have to bite the bullet. Just like any mess, we got ourselves into it, and we are going to have to accept the consequences.

But localizing energy production is only going to be a start. In order to deliver jobs, we are going to have to start trusting people again. Now I realize that sometimes, when you trust everyone, you're going to get burned every now and then. But this whole practice of denying people jobs simply on the basis of their credit rating is simply bad for American business. Many people have poor credit ratings because they were uninformed when they signed mortgages, and car loans, and student loans, and credit cards. Some simply made mistakes. But who of us haven't made mistakes in our lives. It should not be a lifetime sentence of poverty because when you were 21, you decided to max out your credit cards, while you were in college, and now when you graduate, you can't find a job because of your poor credit rating, and so you can't repay your student loans, and so your credit rating will continue to suffer. It is a vicious cycle that creates poverty and crime. Stop worrying about peoples' past so much, and focus more on what they offer to the growth of your company, and in turn, our economy.

Next is something that no one really wants to hear, but it is unfortunately necessary to help us come out of this hole. Taxes. There are many ways to go about levying taxes. But we are currently doing it the wrong way. Taxes corporations only hurts the bottom line. It causes them to make cuts and hiring freezes that slow our economy to a crawl. Simply raising the federal income tax by a few percent would bring in billions more in available funds. In return for repealing the corporate tax, every corporation would be able to(and possibly required to) add substantially to their workforce. It's not really a means of making them money. It is a means of freeing up their money so that it can be spent in research and development(which creates jobs). It can be spent on production and sales(which creates jobs). It can be spent on marketing and other services that will also...that's right boys and girls...create jobs.

Stop bailing out people who don't deserve it. Stop sending money places where it does more harm than good. Instead, reinvest it into the people who earned it. The American people aren't lazy, or ignorant. They are simply lost. They need someone to show them the way. It is going to take a VERY long time, but it can be done. It takes patience, and willingness to fail. Failure does not equal the end. Failing is simply a finding one more way not to succeed. Eventually...you find the answer. At that time, all of that hard work will pay off.

I am an American. I was a soldier, and I am and always will be a patriot. I am NOT willing to watch the country that I love fail.

Worry for us?

So the past few posts have had more of a political agenda I suppose...but this one is aimed at the media...specifically...the Northeast Media(New York, Philly, DC, etc...). So yesterday...there were a few earthquakes in the country. 2(I believe, but possibly 3) in Trinidad, CO, and Golden, CO, and 1 in Virginia. Now, before the one in Virginia happened, the two in Colorado were big news seeing as, any earthquakes NOT on the San Andreas are typically newsworthy. But the second the Northeast earthquake hit, Colorado became not only unimportant, but it was almost as if no one even knew they occurred. I mean hello? Yeah, it's crazy that there was a sizable earthquake in Virginia...but what about the fact that there were at least 3 sizable earthquakes in different parts of the country within an 8 hour period??? I think  THAT is the newsworthy story to follow. What does this say to us? Anything that happens in the NE is more important because that is where the main media hub is?

Lets take another example. There is currently a Category 3, possibly soon to be 4, hurricane headed up the east coast. So for the next week at least, 80% of the national news coverage is going to be, "Look at as evacuate" and "Worry for us, what are we going to do?" Now granted, I am from Pennsylvania, and so I will have some degree of worry for my family and friends...but do I think it is a bigger story and warranting more attention than any number of storms that hit the gulf coast EVERY year? No. When Katrina hit the coast, I had just started dating my wife. She told me she was from Mississippi and that a storm was headed that way. There was no big hoopla before the storm, why? Because it is something that people down here deal with on an annual basis. When the storm hit, there was about 3 days of coverage because of the size, but after that, you just about never heard anything about the devastation caused on the Mississippi coast. All you heard about was, poor New Orleans...I have my own thoughts about people who build a city below sea level, next to a large body of water...but I digress...What I'm saying is, when a storm hits down here...it's run of the mill and thus not deserving national coverage. But when a storm hits the East coast...every media outlet from South Beach to Quinnipiac is up in arms like it's the end of the world...It's a storm. It's not the first, and most certainly will NOT be the last. Board up, stock up, and get through it. But don't make me watch 2 weeks of wall to wall about every tree that gets uprooted and every dog that gets lost...because while you're all worried about the storm...don't look now, Obama is gonna talk and the market will drop another 2k points...I think that sums it up.

All I'm saying is, the media, however biased and consumer driven they may be...still has a responsibility to inform the public. That means that every earthquake and hurricane that hits, no matter where, deserves an equally quality coverage. That means that every hate crime, white on black, black on white, white/black on asian, etc...deserves equal footing. It's all news...but just because it doesn't fit into a specific demographic or a specific region, it doesn' get nearly as much coverage...and THAT is a travesty.

It Doesn't Pay to be Uninformed...

We are living in an historic time. Something most people thought they would never live to see, is probably going to end soon. Three years ago, the people spoke loud and clear..."We want change!" They said. And with that change, came the first African-American President. I wish I could say that is the only thing Barack Obama will be known for, but unfortunately, this is not the case. So then it got me to thinking, how does a man, a junior congressman, who hasn't even really cut his teeth in the political arena yet, become the leader of the free world? Well it's a simple answer. The majority of Americans who vote, are simply uninformed voters.

This is pretty much how it went. You had no clear front runner in the Presidential race, so it really was going to come down to voter turnout. Unfortunately, because of the circumstances of the election, we had more people voting for the mere purpose of making history and less for the purpose of electing the best man for the job. Add to that, many of the people who are now complaining about our President, are the same ones who blindly cast a ballot just to see him win.

So here is the problem. How do we inform people who don't care to be informed, but want to complain when their elected officials fail to accomplish anything? People who will vote for someone because they like the "Idea" of change, but have no idea the sacrifices it takes to make change happen? 

There is no real easy solution to this problem. We live in a time where everyone has some feeling of entitlement. And though certain things are defined by our constitution as inalienable rights, that does not mean that we get to coast. It is most definitely our right to vote. But it is our responsibility to gather every bit of information available, which living in the "information age" means there is a lot to learn. And only after gathering all of that information, studying it, analyzing it, and coming to an informed decision, should we be allowed to cast our vote for the best possible candidate. But even then, the job of the American citizen is not done. Because after we vote, it is then our job to hold our representatives accountable for the decisions they make in our names. This is the only way America works. If you let the politicians run wild, they will make decisions that benefit them and their contributors. When that happens, even the informed voters become null.

This is my country. I will be informed. I will be vigilant in my journey for knowledge. And I will most definitely, be watching. And when my leaders make mistakes. I will be there, to hold them accountable. There are tough times ahead. Times when hard choices will have to be made. And I want to be sure that the people I elect, are the people who are willing to make those choices, even if it means their political careers suffer for them. We all want change...but that change comes with a price. If we are not willing to pay that price, then we will simply continue on this same downward spiral. And THAT, I am not willing to do.