Perhaps it shall come to pass when but one more citizen is denied the right to speak out at public forums or when those chosen merely to represent the will of the people through elective office continue to convene shamelessly and unlawfully into the dark recesses behind closed doors.

Maybe it shall come to pass when but one more citizen is publicly decried for attempting to defend the basic tenets of our innate freedoms of liberty and justice for all regardless of race, religion, gender, or origin of birth or when our judicial system designed to provide justice for all continues to shield the lawless from punitive measures because of status, position, or political ties.

Who really knows when the masses will finally take a collective and finite stand and rally against the thievery and the corruption and the desecration of our country’s civil liberties that have become commonplace within our towns, counties and states that indubitably herald the death knell of our democratic principles and way of life? For it will be only then through whatever measures it shall involve will we forcibly demand that our government be returned to the hands of the citizenry to which it inherently belongs.

In 1787, founding father Thomas Jefferson penned in part in a now renowned letter that: "God forbid we should ever be 20 years without a rebellion ... If they remain quiet under such misconceptions it is a lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty. There has been one rebellion. We have had 13 states independent 11 years. That comes to one rebellion in a century and a half for each state. What country ever existed a century and a half without rebellion? And what country can preserve it’s liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms ... The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is it’s natural manure."

It is time to heed the prophetic words of our third president before it is far too late and our empire falls as all those that have preceeded her. Right before our eyes our inherent freedoms and liberties are being eroded with each passing day. The necessary restoration and reformation of this republic is in our hands and it is up to the public -- not the elected -- to preserve her. Become involved and take a stand in your community and for your community. The very future of a nation conceived in liberty is at stake.

KATHY GAFFNEY

Pownal