Happy 4th of July, America!

Today we are reminded of how wonderful it is to be citizens of a land of liberties and guaranteed basic rights. We enjoy a voice in public elections for legislators by casting our ballots. We have the right to be represented in government decisions by these elected officials and make sure they hear our voice on the issues and make decisions accordingly.

But as of late, it is startlingly apparent how undemocratic we really are in our legislating process. The blatant disregard of our rights in this Republic is disturbing. Our legislators have become greedy, passing bills that allow their campaign funding to take precedence over healthcare funding. Passing resolutions in favor of the highest bidder instead of passing acts to lift up our poorest citizens. Letting a dollar sign determine the direction of this country instead of being influenced by the greater good of our people. All the while using alarmist headlines to justify what they are doing.

H.L. Mencken had once said that, "a good politician under democracy is quite as unthinkable as an honest burglar." Truer words have never been spoken like the gravity of that analogy. Our liberal democracy is currently undermining our republic as a whole. In fact, I would say it is slowly destroying it. Legislators have literally redefined what their scope of powers are by making decisions to benefit their personal ideologies without permitting direct scrutiny by their constituents.

I think the latest legislation against women's right to choose, defunding of sex education, and the countless wars our government has insisted on initiating is proof positive that these same legislating politicians do not understand what our country is all about. Americans, we are living in a time where it is preferred that objectors are ridiculed and not listened to. Facts are to be ignored and personal opinion rules the moment. Representation of the few takes precedence over importance of the actual issue. We have allowed our representatives in government to redefine what our legislative processes are, and what their roles are in those decisions to be made!

Yes, it is the 4th of July, and while I want to rally everyone here to remind our legislators to understand what they are doing with their power is wrong and that their ultimate goals are overly self-serving for public office, I also want to remind YOU, my brothers and sisters in America, what you have forgotten in your duty as a participant in this country. You cannot stand by and cry foul while being ignorant of what we, as a nation, represent.

I am not going to publish the entire Declaration of Independence here to be read, though, when you have time you need to read this document and truly take in its scope and message. Please, read through the next paragraph, and think hard on this. Understand we are a Republic with democratic elections and a failing liberal democratic process. We are not just simply a liberal democracy like our politicians claim, and never, EVER forget that fact. Understand what a republic is and what your role and purpose is within that type of system. Also understand that the word "liberal" does not mean the negative connotation you hear in the media everyday, but is the basic philosophy of our own Founding Fathers when justifying our freedom from tyrannical monarchy. Liberalism is a political philosophy or worldview founded on ideas of liberty and equality. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally they support ideas such as free and fair elections, civil rights, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, free trade, and private property.

The following small paragraph contains one of our most favorite quoted lines in our history books, but I ask you to take the time to digest the entire paragraph. If there is a concept in the text you do not understand, wonder why that is and educate yourself in order to digest it and learn it.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --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, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security."

We currently face a form of Despotism. In short, despotism is a form of government in which a single entity rules with absolute power. That entity may be an individual, as in an autocracy, or it may be a group, as in an oligarchy (which is what we have in our two party system majority right now). The word despotism means to "rule in the fashion of a despot" and does not necessarily require a singular "despot", an individual. And, specifically, an oligarchy is a form of power structure in which power effectively rests with a small number of people.

I never intended for this rally speech to be a history lesson in government structure, but I have really found it disturbing the encouraged dumbing down of our country's government definition. We are not a "democracy", we operate on the principles of "liberal democracy". We are a republic, and this republic is under attack and being ruined by overreaching oligarchic politicians. We are democratic in our elections for representatives and initiatives we are allowed to vote on by popular vote. We are democratic in process by the fact we have checks and balances, branches of government, and supposedly competitive elections. But we are a Republic first and foremost, and our forefathers did not want it any other way.

So let us remind our legislators they must at the very least listen to what our desires are for this country, and that they must not infringe upon our guaranteed rights under the Constitution. No where in the Constitution does it give the legislators the power to control our physical bodies. No where in the Constitution does it give them the right to obstruct us from our guaranteed right to an abortion. No where in the Constitution does it give them the right to disenfranchise our women and their families from choice of care due to difference in their personal ideology with the rest of the country. And most certainly, I have not seen a single iota of proof that our legislators have the right to pass laws to pick and choose what sources we choose to educate ourselves about our health with.

I ask you, my siblings in this beautiful U.S. of A, to please practice political atheism. You are guaranteed by the Constitution to not have to believe everything your government determines to be moral and just. It is not mandatory or your duty as a citizen to completely believe without question what our government and media puts out as truth or fact. You are not a terrorist because you have a mind of your own. You are doing exactly what your forefathers fought for - you are thinking for yourself! And just like the government and media, you have the right and duty to call out those who are manipulating the facts and truth in order to gain control.

Today, declare your freedom to think. Let your voice ring through the airwaves, internet pings, and written word! Contact your legislators and make it clear they have not been listening, nor performing their duties in a constitutional matter. Make it clear that they are the "mob rule" and we are a larger mob that is constitutionally guaranteed to not have to put up with this abuse!

Do not let these legislators defund women's health initiatives while on their holy crusade to control women's bodies! Do allow them the powers that they do not legally have! Regardless of what issue you are motivated about, PLEASE get out there and get heard today!

Love from your sister in the USA,

Kate

Vagina Strike event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/475167245902555/