The 2024 election is over, while many may not like the results, anything is better than the politics we have dealt with for the last year or so. Now, just maybe we can go back to some civility. Maybe, just maybe we can open the newspaper, turn on the TV or open our computers and not have to listen to or see the campaign posts and political ads.

The votes are all counted and the winners have been declared. However, politics as we’ve known them in the past are still not the same. We must work together to achieve and accomplish results that benefit us as a nation. Working together is the key! It involves each and every party listening to each other’s facts and opinions, putting party affiliation aside and doing what’s best for their constituents.That’s the way it’s designed to work. In 1776, America’s Founders met and drafted the Declaration of Independence. The American Patriots won independence for us all on the battlefield. That means we were declared to be independent from Great Britain’s rule. We were declared a new nation free and independent. Not under dictatorship or the rule of any form of authoritarianism. Later the Constitution was ratified and our new form of government was established. The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are our founding documents, with the Constitution being the supreme law of the land. It’s our fundamental law.

According to our Declaration of Independence we justify our liberty through moral truths which include all men being declared equal. Equal as defined by our natural rights, our rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and no one has rights superior to those of anyone else. We are born with those rights, they do not come from anyone nor from the government. We have the right to live our lives as we wish, and to pursue happiness as we desire, provided we respect the equal rights of others to do the same. We are not to infringe upon others rights. The Founders outlined those rights as the moral foundations of a free society. The Government’s role is to secure our rights, and to do so by the power derived from our consent.

The office of the President should be a position of authority and respect with a desire and willingness to help the general populace. A place where we as citizens can rely on protection from foreign and domestic adversaries. Where the work of the government never ceases and the work is for the betterment of all Americans. Authority is given, but respect is earned. It is earned by making decisions that benefit the nation as a whole and us as individuals. It is earned by being truthful and honest. The Preamble states “We the People”, because all power comes from the people, but the power the people give to the government is strictly limited.

Democracies are characterized by the power of the people. Citizens vote to elect representatives to speak on their behalf. The system of government in the United States was carefully crafted by the Founding Fathers. America is considered a republic democracy or, more usually, a democratic republic. Elected officials serving as voices for the people is one of the main ways the government and citizens keep each other in check. The right of citizens to protest peacefully is one way of keeping the government in check.

Just as the people and government balance each other, the government has to keep itself in check. The legislative branch of government makes laws, the executive branch enforces them, and the judicial branch interprets them. On the federal level, someone could propose a law, but if Congress does not vote in favor of it, the law does not get passed. Congress even balances itself through its structure. In the Senate, the states get two senators each. In the House of Representatives, states’ representation depends on their respective populations. Both houses have to pass a law for it to take effect, but even when that happens, the Supreme Court could deem the law unconstitutional and revoke it because the constitution rules supreme. The Founding Fathers created the constitution to be the supreme law of the land.

The Founding Fathers designed the constitution to be an undying law, more powerful than any group of people. The nature of the constitution provides security and confidence in the United States of America, established for the people and built to last.

Government officials at all levels must respect and honor their oaths to uphold the Constitution and we must see that they do so. It is our duty as citizens of the United States to preserve and protect the Constitution for ourselves and generations to come.