“YOUR AMERICAN FREEDOMS:

           PROTECT THEM OR LOSE THEM.”

BE SMART

v    Avoid knee-jerk reactions to statements made by political pundits.

Judge an idea based on its merits, not on your feelings about the person

who said it.

v    Demand evidence to support bold claims made by politicians.

v    Be cautious about everything you hear, see and read in the news media.

Ignore sensationalism. Recognize their obvious political agendas.

v    Beware of bloggers. Few are trained journalists. Read bloggers on

both sides of an issue.

v        Don’t be fooled by million dollar political commercials.

They don’t educate you. They give you only one side of an issue

or biased arguments for only one political candidate.

v        Continue learning about important issues in your community.

GET INVOLVED

v    Be a participant, not just a spectator.

v    Register to vote when you turn 18.

v    Vote in every election to erode the power of special interests.

v    Know your elected representatives. Attend meetings with them.

Write to them. Your ideas matter to them.

v    Be proud to serve on a jury.

v    Use your skills, your areas of expertise, and participate in your school,

your neighborhood or city government as a helper, a volunteer,

a motivator, an organizer.

BE PASSIONATE

v        Appreciate how lucky we are to be Americans, to be free to govern

ourselves without a dictator ruling us.

v        Be an active, responsible citizen, knowing that self-gratification is only

half of our American freedom to pursue happiness. The other half

is our responsibility to be patriotic, to participate in our government,

and to help our fellow citizens.

v        Ignite your passion to protect our American freedoms so that you,

your children and their children don’t lose them.

Remember, our American government works to protect our rights

and to prevent tyranny, not perfectly, but better than any government in history.

Fred LaCosse, www.lacosse.net, 2014