On the day that our U.S. Constitution was signed, 17 September 1787, a Philadelphia socialite named Mrs. Powell approached Benjamin Franklin outside Independence/Constitution Hall. She asked Franklin a very pertinent, and relevant, question that resonates to today. She said, “Well, Doctor, what is it that we have, a monarchy or a Republic?”

Franklin, in a most astute and prescient fashion, replied, “It is a Republic, if you can keep it.”

The founders of this great Nation had reformed the Articles of Confederation, a very weak document, and structured—based upon the principles of Charles Montesquieu’s Spirit of the Laws—the document which would create the longest-running Constitutional Republic the world has known… it ain’t a democracy.

But what is imperative for the sustaining of this Republic? Simple—an engaged, informed, and educated electorate… and I mean one of legal citizens.

Here recently we discovered that there are some 2,500 non-citizens on the State of Texas voter registration rolls. Remember, Texas started out as a Republic itself.

Some would say, “Hey, Col., so what, it is just 2,500.” Well, my response is that it should not be one. And illegal immigrants should certainly not be counted in our census which determines the democratic electorate representation in this Republic and its States.

If we are to keep this Republic, that means an informed and educated electorate must engage in the electoral process and not turn it into an insidious popularity contest based upon personalities.

Too often there are those of us who get the call or text message, sometimes on election day itself, from friends who ask… “Hey, I just remembered today is election day—who should I vote for?”

That is the recipe for how you lose our Republic.

Then there are those who blanket vote because they seem too lazy to do any due diligence on candidates or issues. There are also those who will go into a voting station and select that one top-of-the-ticket person, and depart—failing to give any electoral support for “down ballot” candidates or measures.

Living in a Republic requires a high level of individual responsibility. Of course, the alternative is a Marxist leftist rule where you do not have to think—you are told, and everything is done for you, based upon the ideals of socialism, communism, and the equality of outcomes.

As Rush Limbaugh would say, it is hard to run against Santa Claus.

Tytler gave us an idea of how a Republic can crumble; it was written in the 17th century. He stated:

“Democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship.
The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations has been 200 years. Great nations rise and fall. The people go from bondage to spiritual truth, to great courage, from courage to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to selfishness, from selfishness to complacency, from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependence, from dependence back again to bondage…”

Ask yourself—where is America today in this cycle?

We certainly know that we have political candidates who are out there promising the world: free transportation, free housing, free healthcare (even to those here illegally), free education, government-run grocery stores, and redistribution of wealth.

And what is the end result? Exploding debt and deficits that place the fiscal health of the Nation at risk—or, as Tytler stated, “loose fiscal policy.”

Here in Texas right now we have seventeen (17) constitutional amendment proposals up for a vote. I can tell you that last week when I went in to vote, as early voting began on 20 October, I was all alone in my polling location.

How does one lose a Republic? Don’t show up to vote for—or even care to understand—amendments to the rule of law that are being proposed.

As well, there are elections in Virginia, New Jersey, and New York City for state and mayoral positions respectively. So many folks ask me, how does a guy like Zohran Mamdani find himself in a position to become Mayor of one of our Nation’s greatest cities?

Refer back to Tytler’s quote and find the word complacency.

In the Democratic mayoral primary in New York City, they adopted the most undemocratic voting process called “rank choice voting.”

Now, if you were part of an engaged and informed electorate, you would know of which I speak. However, rank choice voting forces a voter to rank each candidate, not just select one—and a computer algorithm does the rest by way of selective elimination… it is voter disenfranchisement.

As well, if memory serves me correctly, there were only some 450,000 who voted in that primary election—a mere 7%.

It is time that here in Texas, and all over America, we stop voting based upon talking points and soundbites.

Oh, by the way, once again, let me remind you that unauthorized entry into the United States of America is a federal offense—Title 18 U.S.C. §1325.

So stop supporting imbeciles who wish to give “sanctuary” to those in our Country illegally who have disregarded our most basic law and the principle of national sovereignty.

Politicians are different from Statesmen, of which we need more of the latter and less of the former. Politicians will tell you what they feel you want to hear; Statesmen will tell you what you need to hear based upon principles and the rule of law.

Politicians do not want an informed, educated, and engaged electorate—they prefer mindless lemmings and useful idiots who will vote their own largesse from the public treasury and regurgitate idiotic talking points.

If you have watched any of the debates from Virginia, New Jersey, and New York City, you know of which I speak.

And just as a closing point, kings, authoritarians, and dictators do not allow individuals to take to the streets, threaten law enforcement, and protest.

I tend to recall that it was the Biden administration that was shutting down free speech and tossing people into the D.C. gulag, oftentimes in violation of their individual rights.

Just more evidence establishing on which side the useful idiots and mindless lemmings reside.

Vote, and be an informed citizen… not a lemming, not a subject.

Steadfast and Loyal,