We the People....

There has been one thread that has intertwined through out this 2016 election for me.  From discussing politics with a friend on the other side of the world to the work emails about reacquainting ourselves with the Constitution to the actual outcome of the election, there has been one thing that kept repeating.

In Australia you must vote or you pay a fee.  You vote for a party and the party votes for a person.  This was brought home to me again when I sent a sample ballot to my friend.  The question sent back was "you get to vote for all these people?"  Here in the States We the People vote for Presidential candidates.  We the People vote for the actual President.  On Tuesday night each vote made came together to make one powerful statement.  I think we all were shock and stunned.  There was not just the 2 major candidates and independents, but the most important element was We the People.

Our country's two most important documents comes down to We the People.  When you look at the document of the Declaration of Independence, what is striking are the signatures at the bottom.  The 56 signers were not politicians but people first.  They paid a huge price for this pledge to set up a country that gave all men life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness and firmly relying on the protection of Divine Providence.  5 were arrested by the British as traitors, 12 had their homes looted and burned by the enemy, 17 lost their fortunes, 2 lost sons in the Continental Army and 9 fought and died during the Revolutionary War.  When it comes to the Constitution James Madison may have wrote the the initial draft called the Virginia Plan but it was 55 delegates presided by George Washington that made modifications to this document at the Constitutional Convention.  These delegates were not politicians but people first.  The Constitution opens up with We the People of the United States.

What was the one thread?  We the People.

Tuesday night We the People made a statement and it rocked the world.  We the People did not make a statement about a candidate rather we made a statement about ourselves.  I am afraid We the People have some problems.

Its:
religion vs religion vs no religion
race vs race
immigrant vs citizen
common man vs media vs Hollywood
morals vs doing what is right in our own eyes
progressive liberalism vs conservative restraint
rural vs city

We are a selfie generation out of control.  We demand our rights and forgets the rights of others.  We go about our lives splattering ourselves all over everyone else.  No one respects.  No one is respected.  There is much ado about political correctness but no self control.

The hot button word Mandate was thrown out there this past week.  The Mandate is not for the President-Elect.  The Mandate is for We the People.

What is that Mandate for We the People?

How about starting with the Constitution?  May I purpose this mandate for We the People?

"We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution of the United States of America" vowed to love one another from this day forward.  It is no longer about the selfie rather it is about respecting and uplifting my fellow man.

How do we go forward?  May I purpose to go to the lives of our Founding Fathers?  They were the first We the People.  Start with George Washington and James Madison.  Our Founding Fathers paid a very high price to give us Freedom and Liberty.  They put their beliefs to work and were willing to die for it.  Why?

I do not want to be the one generation that failed all the generations of We the People of these United States.