Fla. Secretary of State orders recounts
Republican strategist Alana Roethle, Democratic strategist Antjuan Seawright discuss their reactions to the recount demanded in Florida Senate and governor races.
On Sunday the American people celebrate the men and women who served or are serving our nation in our armed forces so that all citizens may enjoy life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, as our Declaration of Independence promises us.
Chief among these liberties is the right to vote, which underpins our democracy. Every soldier, sailor, airman, Marine, and Coast Guardsman who has served America oversees understands his or her role in protecting this most vital of interests.
The vote manipulation that is now happening in southeast Florida is a slap in the face to every veteran. The apparent gross incompetence, fraud and lack of transparency occurring at the hands of election officials in Broward County is unacceptable and undermines the hard-won battles American veterans have secured over the centuries.
Veterans have done their part. Election officials everywhere must do theirs. Nothing erodes the confidence members of our military more than knowing that the home front is indifferent to their sacrifice.
Attempting to manipulate the outcome of an election is the epitome of indifference.
The opening line of our Constitution states that one of the purposes of our government is to “secure the blessings of liberty.” Liberty depends upon free and fair elections so that our duly elected officials may then steer the nation in accordance with the will of the people.
Veterans provide for our common defense, whether on the border or overseas. They deserve our respect every day, all day, not just one day out of the year.
Likewise, our system accounts for James Madison’s “violence of factions,” providing channels for protest and assembly so that dissenters may be heard.
Nowhere is there a clause that gives unmitigated power and freedom to a bureaucrat to change the will of the people. Those that are unhappy with the outcome can peaceably protest or find a channel to vent their dissatisfaction.
The election manipulation occurring in Florida is just one symptom of the larger, emboldened “resistance” movement occurring throughout the nation.
Whether bands of Antifa radicals are terrorizing the home of a news program host; comedy writers are making fun of wounded veterans; or media personalities are abusive toward our president and his staff, the “resistance” long ago has crossed the line drawn by the framers of our founding documents.
And by extension, these radicals cross a line in respecting the role our veterans play in securing the tenets of those documents. Veterans provide for our common defense, whether on the border or overseas. They deserve our respect every day, all day, not just one day out of the year.
The left’s “dog whistle” (to use a term they prefer) is actually a fog horn, blaring loudly in the face of our veterans, saying: “Your sacrifice doesn’t matter. Our institutions don’t matter. Our military doesn’t matter. Our law enforcement doesn’t matter.”
Like spoiled children, the “resistance” attacks our founding principles, and by extension our military, because they aren’t getting their way.
In sharp contrast, President Trump is placing America First, rebuilding our military, fueling our economy, and re-establishing American prestige around the world.
Veterans are often the lever behind such efforts, fighting our wars, negotiating our peace, and securing our liberties. The “resistance” should take note. Undermining our election process and our founding institutions is the best way to tell veterans that you don’t care about them or their sacrifices.
All Americans should step back this weekend and reassess the gratitude we owe our veterans and act accordingly. Veterans serve a higher calling – a purpose beyond themselves.
It is time for Americans to follow the lead of our veterans and put down the shovel, stop the ballot sleight-of-hand and abuse of our institutions, come together as a nation, and take another step toward a more perfect union.
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