What amazes me when chatting with people who support Trump is that they seem to proudly proclaim that they do not like politics, economics, or international affairs, and seldom pay any attention to such things day to day, but in the next breath claim that they like Trump because he has done so much for the country. Which begs the question, how the hell would they know?

They may claim to love the Constitution but few can even recite 50% of its preamble which contains our national goals and of course they have never taken the time to even read the balance. Actually many can not tell whether a quotation is from the Constitution or the Declaration of Independence. So when they are told that some activity of an official is a violation of the Emoluments clause, it is like speaking Swahili to a Chinese person but they are sure that there was no violation by that certain official.
(I may be assuming that there are few Chinese well versed in Swahili and probably even fewer Swahili speakers who ever heard of Wade-Giles romanization. If I am wrong, I apologize. ” …. Binadamu wote wamezaliwa huru na sawa kwa hadhi na haki ….”).

Somewhat annoying is that many of these disinterested voters seem to think ignorance of what is going on in the country is a badge of honor and certifies their political purity. It does neither.

They should be ashamed to admit their lack of knowledge in the affairs of government, Federal, State, or Local, unless they have some valid reason, such as having been vacationing of the far side of the moon where newspapers are only delivered three times a year.

While I am at the written press, no democracy can long exist without a vibrant press and the ability of its citizens to communicate freely. Anyone who promotes that our independent press corps, printed, or broadcast are the enemy of the people is challenging the ability of its citizens to acquire the knowledge needed to cast an informed, free ballot. By independent press, I am specifically meaning, both sources that cater to one’s personal ideas and biases as well as sources that are diametrically opposed to those firmly held ideas and biases.

It is up to each citizen reader or broadcast viewer (listener) to hear different views and to determine which seems to make the most sense as well as be the most likely to be true. And you cannot exercise that freedom unless the press is free to report, not just all the news ‘fit to print,’ but even what that citizen disagrees with so strongly that they would rather not see it presented. Censorship is the enemy of Democracy.

Democracy also depends for its lifeblood the willing attention to the rule of law, not just laws that are convenient, but laws that put your patriotism, your honesty, your willingness to the test.

Growing up in America I could not imagine this nation coming apart at its seams, but today I see it happening as people with little or no sense of truth and decent behavior seem to have acquired power far in excess of any control, men and women who have no respect for either written laws or long held customs. I see the country approaching a point of no return and I marvel at the foresight of the man who wrote “We have met the enemy and it is us.”

I am very afraid that by allowing the voting power to be exercised by, at times, about one third of the potential voters, and the reins of government to be grasped by a demented incompetent poseur we, this America, are going over a precipice from which there will be no return.

On the slim possibility that there is yet one chance I hope that the populace awakens and begins to take back what was rightfully theirs.

Charlie Jensen

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