This year, I’m really lucky. My two daughters and two of my grandchildren are visiting for the holiday.
July Fourth is a good time to celebrate the founding of our great country and the democracy we enjoy. This presidential election year, with so much anti-government rhetoric and hate speech from the presumptive Republican nominee, it’s especially important to recognize that government plays an important and positive role in the lives of its citizens.
Voting and being involved at all levels of government are important roles for American citizens. In addition, finding positive, effective candidates who are running for office and working on their campaigns benefits our government and democracy.
It’s so disappointing to me that President Ronald Reagan taught Americans to hate their government. Joined by conservative Rupert Murdoch, founder of Fox News, and a host of shock jocks, such as Rush Limbaugh, we now have millions of Americans who believe government is bad.
We are the government. We elect officials, and when they don’t do a good job, we throw them out of office. Unfortunately, conservatives are urging people to hate rather than to work together for solutions that will benefit everyone.
So, vote and participate in government. Government is what we make it. Right now, millions of Americans are turning their back on the positive and falling for messages of hate. It’s a sad situation that I never envisioned occurring.
