Leesburg Parade

First I would like to thank Sue Charlton for her dedication and service to our community for organizing the Leesburg Memorial Day parade. I would also like to sincerely thank all the participants including the Kosciusko County Silent NO More organization for participating as well.
Perhaps it is time for me to be Silent NO more. I would have liked to maintain a little decorum given the sanctity of this event but with the current ruckus, that cat has already been let out of the bag. Politicization of public events seems to be the order of the day. Fair Enough. I made a point to visit the KC Silent web site and read their mission statement. To me it seems a little if not intentionally vague. They go on to explain further that they simply wish to support competent governance by monitoring the voting records of existing legislators and the adherence to the 10th amendment. Upon research into the 10th amendment it seems to have been used more to interfere with individual rights, under the guise of protecting the interstate market.
But I digress, I would simply like to point out in a more general sense that while it is easy to call for smaller government at the federal level, we need to be aware of all the huge cuts some of these agencies have already endured.
These are agencies that affect or daily lives in a positive manner. Agencies like the Army Corp of engineers, ATF, Customs and Border Protection, NOAA, National Park Services, just to name a few actual agencies. (See http://www.usa.gov/Agencies). Let us also consider the ASCE report card on the USA’s crumbling infrastructure. Where do we propose to get the monies we need to fix the bridges and roads?
At times it seems that the movement has become a thinly veiled faction of the Republican Party to monopolize Christianity and demonize the Democratic Party. It is NOT a myth that at the end of the Clinton administration there was a balanced budget and a cash surplus that was immediately squandered by the Bush administration. (See Factcheck.org) Bush, a candidate who rode into office on an Evangelical, Anti-abortion, Anti-gay marriage fervor, and then went on to foment the largest increase in federal government and executive power ever by the institution of the Patriot Act. According to the SIPRI list of countries by military expenditures the United States is spending $663 Billion a year while China, our number one business partner, is running a close second at $98 Billion. It would seem we are in an arms race with ourselves. Perhaps the Tea Party (KC Silent…) should look there for savings. It would also seem they have no qualms about maintaining a military presence all over the entire world to protect our corporate interests in the name of democracy, but have no interest using some of these funds to improve the daily lives of US citizens, because that’s “Socialism”.
With that in mind, I would ask them to be aware of political candidates who like to wear GOD on their sleeves in order to garner votes. It’s too easy to use that as a smokescreen to cover up personal agendas and reprehensible behaviors. Have we already forgotten about Mark Souder?
So perhaps the Memorial Day parade wasn’t the best venue for a political statement as it is intended to honor the men and women who have fallen in the service of our country, but as a citizen of Leesburg, I welcome any participation that is ethically sound and tastefully presented.

Sincerely, Ted Carter