It is imperative that we elect a president who protects the Constitution rather than a Grand Marshall of a parade

Mission walk through real America tells us we need a master mechanic

Before you settle your support behind a candidate, please consider this from a missionary/political observer who has lived with ranchers, farmers, the disabled, unemployed and, yes, homeless for the last six years; worked with disadvantaged youth for more than 25 years and taught in schools and colleges for 30. Consider who, if any, of the candidates has taken a true stand for individual rights and autonomy regarding national security, healthcare, employment, property use and faith.

Anyone who spends time with the men and women who work the land know that they have to be equipped in many trades – livestock husbandry and medicine, chemical engineering, accounting, soil management, tool making and mechanics. Keep in mind that these are the producers who, living in what D.C.ites and big business refer to as “flyover country,” feed the nation – that’s you, me, the empire builders and government. So how is it that the folks in Washington have no clue about the real engine that runs America? And that includes those who make deals with Washington to expand their empires.

What must be fixed in order to put this nation back on the road, or track depending on your preferred metaphor, is the engine. That engine is individual rights, and a strong Constitution is the instrument used to keep it running well. A good example of a mechanic diagnosing and fixing a major problem is shared in this story at ChangingWind.Org.

The current leader in national polls has not only said virtually nothing about individual rights but has adroitly avoided the issue by broadly claiming that he is going to “make America great again.” But how? What mechanical expertise does he have?

Building a concrete border wall has been the major plank of Donald Trump’s campaign. A pledge that only a few other republican candidates have also espoused. However, he has not specifically addressed the other concerns beyond waving his hand and saying, for example, he will replace ObamaCare, improve foreign policy and create jobs. Again, in each situation there is a blanket statement that he will institute something better than what now exists but offers no plan, blueprint or implements by which to carry out the promise other than making deals.

With ObamaCare he has stated that, “I’m going to take care of everyone.” Does that not sound like what the president promised in pushing through the Affordable Care Act, an absolute misnomer that did not materialize? Trump has clearly supported universal healthcare in the recent past so it begs the question as to what he plans as a replacement.

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Why has government encroached on individual private property use
Trump is correct in vociferously standing for all veterans to receive full health care coverage and other benefits. They have sacrificed for our nation and it is a crime how the current administration has dishonored and disenfranchised them. All other individuals should have the option and responsibility of choosing their form of health care rather than being victims of a broken, inefficient government-run system. Health care is not the job of government and never has been, a concept that seems lost on Trump or Kasich, Bush and a few other republican contenders.

Focus must be placed on the most important issue in this election cycle – that of individual rights, particularly in regard to property usage, a point that Trump has only demonstrated an interest when it comes to building large enterprises under his ownership.

What has just occurred in eastern Oregon, the protest of BLM confiscating land and doling out grazing rights, has garnered absolutely no interest from the campaign trail.

Yet, this is the ultimate issue - why has government encroached on individual private property use, from pasture, timber and farm lands to whether we can install a wood stove, build a storage shed or choose our doctor?

When ranchers barred from accessing land that they have stewarded responsibly for generations, are prohibited from implementing grazing rights that had been purchased long before government agencies sidled in to appropriate ownership, individual rights have been violated and utterly annihilated. The very reason the Declaration of Independence was penned was to address individual rights in self and property.

Closing the border is part and parcel to halting the abrogation of individual rights. Allowing non-owners to usurp land, whether by illegal immigrants overrunning private property or invasive government regulation intimidating true owners, the same result is produced – loss of citizens’ right of self-determination.

Trump has given no indication that he has any interest in preserving individual rights. In fact, he has made it clear that he thinks he can simply take care of everyone’s needs via the same type of fiat that the current president has utilized. Do we really want to trade in one self-styled autocrat for another who happens to spout a few conservative sounding platitudes? Understand that running the kind of business empire Trump has amassed is done exactly by wielding an iron hand. He is indeed the boss. But this is government by the People, for the People, not to or over the people by a single person.

It is imperative that we elect a president who protects the Constitution rather than a Grand Marshall of a parade
It is imperative that we elect a president who protects the Constitution rather than a Grand Marshall of a parade. Is this about cult of personality again? Trump seems to think so by continually telling folks how much people hate Ted Cruz, which is a tale of his and establishment devising. Is this his best argument for voting Trump rather than Cruz, who has done precisely what he promised when coming into Congress – that he would always advocate for individual rights? The fact that most of Congress didn’t or still doesn’t have the spine to stand with him in defunding ObamaCare, Planned Parenthood, unvetted refugees and other administration boondoggles is all to Cruz’ favor, not the opposite.

Choose wisely among the many candidates. Climb on a Trump train over which you will have relinquished all control to an engineer who only keeps the engine on the same track. He doesn’t repair or maintain that engine. Or choose someone who believes in the individual rights protected by the Constitution that restricts government, not empowers it, as Trump appears to believe.

We need a mechanic to fix the engine. One who understands the tools and knows how to use them. The tool is the Constitution and there is only one candidate who has defended it to benefit the People whom he represents, Ted Cruz. Supply him the People’s strength to turn the wrench that will remove the defective bolt of D.C. autocracy and get the engine running again.

By A. Dru Kristenev