Herman

Cain

Read Herman's bio and previous columns

March 16, 2009

With America at a Crossroads, Duty Falls to the Defending Fathers

In memory of my dad, Luther Cain, Jr. (March 16, 1925 – March 29, 1982)

Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are the ideals to which our Founding Fathers mutually pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor. Thus, the United States of America was conceived and born.

It was not an easy birth with the Revolutionary War and then the Civil War. And it has not had a conflict-free social history with slavery, segregation and institutional discrimination. But America’s ability to change, along with its resiliency, has allowed it to prosper. And many of its citizens, like my dad, the grandson of slaves, have been able to achieve their American dreams. 

This nation is at a critical crossroad in its history with new and different challenges to those founding ideals – an economic recession, creeping socialism, heightened class warfare and national security threats at home and abroad.

This has not come about overnight, but over decades of excessive legislation, regulation and taxation. We are now threatened not by a single abusive foreign power, but by an abusive federal government, which would cause the founding fathers to roll over in their graves.

The Declaration of Independence by our Founding Fathers also says:

“. . . that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government . . .”

We may not need to institute a whole new form of government, but some things in Washington, D.C. need to be abolished, and we need to drastically alter the career path of many of those who have been elected to govern.

Where are the defending fathers who will make these changes?

Congress has shown for decades that its main concern is getting re-elected, sending pork spending home and delaying real solutions to big problems. There are a few exceptions, but way too few.

When new government programs are consistently added to the federal budget, while old dysfunctional programs are never significantly modified or fixed, the people running our government are clearly not the defending fathers.

When laws are proposed with the distinct purpose of limiting and controlling free speech, or to eliminate the use of secret ballots in union elections in the workplace, the current lawmakers are clearly not the defending fathers.

When a popular new president won the presidency on promises of hope, change and a new way of doing business in Washington, D.C., but the first 100 days of the new administration with an increased majority of his political party in Congress has shown nothing but business as usual, they are not the defending fathers.

The defending fathers are not the president, the Democrats in Congress, K-Street lobbyists, the labor unions, the Wall Street CEOs, the career federal agency bureaucrats and, most certainly, not the mainstream media.

The defending fathers are the workers on Main Street, stock holders in publicly traded companies, business owners and risk-takers who invest their own money to create jobs, new products and services. They are the life blood of a thriving economy and nation.

The defending fathers are no longer silent. They are organizing, mobilizing and vocalizing their frustrations and dissatisfaction with the status quo. They are citizens becoming active in many organizations, participating in public rallies, petitions and starting to pummel Congress with phone calls, e-mails, faxes, post cards and office visits on key issues on a regular basis.

The defending fathers are getting louder and louder. The new president and Congress are not listening yet, but they will.

We the People have to be the Defending Fathers United. Get connected! We are at a crossroad with our lives, our fortunes, and our honor.

© 2009 North Star Writers Group. May not be republished without permission.

Click here to talk to our writers and editors about this column and others in our discussion forum.

To e-mail feedback about this column, click here. If you enjoy this writer's work, please contact your local newspapers editors and ask them to carry it.