Lisa Davis: Exercise voting power to support liberty and justice for all

To The Daily Sun,

On the Fourth of July, w​e​ celebrated​ our country's 250th anniversary. We observed it with parades, fireworks, backyard barbecues and all sorts of fun, but that is not what the Fourth of July is really about.

It celebrates the Declaration of Independence when brave Americans broke away from a government that was not meeting their needs and respecting their freedoms. The Declaration itself says it best: "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.​"

Sadly, we now have governments in both Washington and Concord which ignore many of our rights. The government in Washington suppresses our right to free speech, freedom of the press, and government according to the Constitution. It carries out unlawful search and seizure.

Our state government ​overrules local governments and destroys free public education. It gerrymanders to deny meaningful votes to those who oppose it.

Fortunately, we do not need to take up arms to overthrow unjust governments. We have the power of the vote and we have to use it. Our votes can send Democrats to Congress to deny the president a majority which just rubber stamps whatever he does. Our votes can send Democrats to Concord to protect​ public education and stop downshifting costs to local governments which raise our property taxes.

Let's celebrate America by using our voting power to support liberty and justice for all.

Lisa Davis

Meredith