As I am wont to do from time to time, I put something on Facebook to stir the pot. I do this because I firmly believe Facebook offers the best reflection of the steaming cesspool that is American opinion. It’s also quite unabashed when it comes to those opinions because while it’s not anonymous, it separates the commentator far enough away from the comments so as to receive some accurate, if not off-the-wall funny and insane commentary.

And because I have a fairly diverse following under my public profile as publisher of this paper, my comments tend to draw commentary from a lot of people I recognize. The funny thing about this comment was all of the attacks I took from so-called conservatives. Which goes to prove my point that NO ONE thinks like you or I do — and that should be celebrated, like it was by our founders. And that’s why government is at best a necessary evil and public service should be a one-time, part-time position. Any time served beyond one term should be in a jail.

Here’s my post:

“Here’s an idea …. vote for whoever in the hell you want to … or don’t vote at all. Flip a coin. Take your pet and pull the lever it sniffs. Better yet, write in someone for the heck of it and make them count a bunch of single votes. Seriously, could we be represented worse if you used darts? And if you believe that every amendment to the Colorado constitution is nothing but a special interest trying to use the government to get its way (HINT: THEY ARE) just vote NO. After all, it’s YOUR vote …”

My God, you would have thought I burned a copy of the Constitution right in front of people! But it was the “don’t vote at all” comment that got the goat of most folks. I was called everything from un-American to un-patriotic to being told that voting is my civic duty (tell me that one isn’t created by the folks who desperately need your vote) to hearing that “not voting isn’t rebellion, it’s surrender” to finally being told my favorite: If you don’t vote, you cannot complain. Really?

The fact is, these people know their arguments have little, if any merit. Because they know what they’re saying isn’t that I must vote, but rather, I must vote they way they want me to vote. Here are two examples as to why I believe that is true. 1. What do you think these same people would say if I stated I was voting a straight Democrat ticket? 2. I have friends upset with me because I don’t support their choice of candidate or because I am on the other side of an amendment they support or oppose. It shouldn’t be that way, but it is.What can I say? I think for myself.

While the Constitution gives us the right to vote, nowhere does it say we must vote. After all, representative government came about only because it’s the best protector of what was most important to our founders: individual rights. And to me, my greatest individual right should be the ability to not participate in the downfall of this country — or anything else I choose not to. This is all because freedom has also created the thing our founders feared the most: politicians.

I agree with General George S. Patton, Jr. who said, “Politicians are the lowest form of life on earth. Liberal Democrats are the lowest form of politician.” And before you go all “liberals are the worst” on me, it’s the first sentence I really agree with.

Here are a few reasons why I think many Americans today take the option of not voting. I think of what kind of person it takes to overspend by over $1TRILLION every year from money they confiscate, only to tell us it is our responsibility to pay the debt, which some estimate to be over 100 times more than that, at a cost of over $1 million per working taxpayer. I then think about the kind of person it takes to say they will protect you after allowing a 9-11 to occur, while your 7-year old daughter and grandmother are molested at the airport with security measures that are all reactionary. I wonder in amazement how someone can tell us they’ll regulate the bankers while monetizing their debt (making the bankers rich) on our kids’ and grandkids’ backs? I think about how they’ve sold the American dream of home ownership, while charging you property taxes and will take your home if you don’t pay them. And recently, I ask just how everything is under control for Ebola when, in fact, nothing has been in place for a pandemic, in spite of creating an “Outbreak Czar” 10 years and $6 billion ago. I have news for my friends: We’ve already surrendered. But we did it through our votes. We’ve elected bad, unethical people on both sides of the aisle.

George Carlin once said that politicians let the voters have their illusion of meaningless choices. Which is why I believe many think not voting is about as American as it gets. It also might be the only option many have when it comes to actually having a voice in our electoral process. It’s a pretty bold statement in telling someone they aren’t worthy of serving.