“We the People” Must Vet Every Candidate for Public Office

“ETERNAL VIGILANCE”

by Sharon Rondeau

(May 4, 2016) — With the suspension of Ted Cruz’s presidential campaign on Tuesday night following his loss in the Indiana primary, it has become clear that the American people can and will take responsibility for investigating the background, citizenship, and integrity of every potential public servant.

Although an inordinate amount of time, energy, money and rhetoric are expended on presidential contests, the importance of sole allegiance to the United States, the American way of life, and keeping one’s promises is equally important for the First Selectman or Mayor of the smallest New England village, the local DPW manager, state legislators, attorneys general and governors; and every person elected to the U.S. Congress.

Since Cruz made his announcement, presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump has called for unification of not only the political party he represents, but also of all Americans.

One way to begin that process is for “We the People” to become engaged in local, state and federal elections by scrutinizing every candidate for office.  Those already engaged can educate those who are not.

Just over the last two days, Americans have seen that politicians, even and especially those seeking the nation’s highest office, can be confronted on their campaign rhetoric, their plans and direction for the country, and their constitutional eligibility for the position they seek.  On Monday, a West Virginia coal miner asked Democrat presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton, “I just want to know how you can say you’re going to put a lot of coal miners out of, out of jobs, and then come in here and tell us how you’re going to be our friend…,” after which Clinton attempted to characterize her previously-expressed sentiments on coal production as “a misstatement.”

On her campaign website, Clinton claims she intends to “revitalize coal communities.”

Also on Monday, an Indiana man who happened to be a Trump supporter looked Cruz in the eye and said, “Are you from Canada?” when Cruz paused while presenting a hypothetical question.  Cruz did not answer the question.

We can and should confront those seeking public office.  We need to look into their citizenship, prior voting record if applicable, and whether or not their foundation is the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights.

The American people have decided that they do not want a former dual U.S.-Canadian citizen to be the Republican presidential nominee.  The Democrats are still deciding how much socialism they want to continue the “fundamental transformation” of the country begun and largely accomplished by Barack Obama, whose eligibility and allegiance no one was permitted to question in 2008 and 2012.

Obama has since been accused multiple times of treason against the United States, but a feckless Congress has chosen to do nothing.  Does any member of that body politic deserve to be re-elected in November?

We do not need to accept convenient catch-phrases and mantras as a substitute for complete allegiance to this nation.  The “first black president” or “first woman president” is no substitute for a selfless love of the tenets of freedom and exceptionalism which have made the United States of America the greatest nation on earth.

Do we want dual citizens in Congress?  Do we vet candidates for county commissioner and town councils?  Are there illegal aliens serving in public office in the place of American citizens?

If a person was born in a foreign country, should he or she be allowed to seek the presidency?  With a foreign-citizen parent who never became a U.S. citizen, does the person qualify as a “natural born Citizen?”

We the People are now charged with educating our friends, neighbors, and yes, even relatives, as to why the highest office in the land must be protected from “cabal, intrigue, and corruption” as stated by Alexander Hamilton in Federalist 68.

Another founding father, Thomas Jefferson, said that “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.”  That vigilance includes preventing ineligible candidates from usurping constitutional offices.

If candidates will not release their records, they are not worthy of the public trust.  If they release forgeries, they deserve to be investigated, charged with a crime if probable cause exists, and tried in a court under a judge who knows his duties and limitations under the U.S. Constitution.

If county grand juries are corrupt, the people need to vote out state legislators who have allowed their own constituents to be incarcerated without the due process guaranteed under the Fifth Amendment.

If the Congress is found to contain nothing but cowards and dissemblers, they need to be replaced, and We the People have the power to do it.  We have always had the ability, but it has been obscured or forgotten in the midst of “distractions” perpetrated by special-interest groups which care nothing for the unity for which Trump and others have been calling.

We need to take care of America first by electing those who will vote to protect its best interests, which begins with citizens with undivided allegiance.

In his Farewell Address, George Washington warned the American people:

Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (I conjure you to believe me, fellow-citizens) the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake, since history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican government. But that jealousy to be useful must be impartial; else it becomes the instrument of the very influence to be avoided, instead of a defense against it. Excessive partiality for one foreign nation and excessive dislike of another cause those whom they actuate to see danger only on one side, and serve to veil and even second the arts of influence on the other. Real patriots who may resist the intrigues of the favorite are liable to become suspected and odious, while its tools and dupes usurp the applause and confidence of the people, to surrender their interests.

He also cautioned about the dangers of Americans’ dividing themselves by political party:

I have already intimated to you the danger of parties in the State, with particular reference to the founding of them on geographical discriminations. Let me now take a more comprehensive view, and warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party generally.

This spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable from our nature, having its root in the strongest passions of the human mind. It exists under different shapes in all governments, more or less stifled, controlled, or repressed; but, in those of the popular form, it is seen in its greatest rankness, and is truly their worst enemy.

We the People have the ability to relight the flame of liberty which the Founding Fathers and so many others have fought and died for, with every day providing a new opportunity to resist the tyranny of ever-expanding government.

“Every citizen should be a soldier. This was the case with the Greeks and Romans, and must be that of every free state.” — Thomas Jefferson