Tonight Americans have an opportunity to listen to President Barack Obama as he directly states his case for a U.S. military attack on Syria. Wouldn’t it be nice if, for one day, instead of Americans listening to the president, the president had to listen to us?
Not just on Syria … on anything.
Well, Eureka!
The polls will be open in Colorado all day before the Big O’s big oration, from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm Rocky Mountain Time, enabling voters to do the talking in the first recall elections of state legislators in Colorado history.
This is no mere politician monologue, but a real democratic dialogue. And you can bet politicians will be listening — from state legislators to the gun-controller-in-chief.
The conversation started this past legislative session, when Senate President John Morse (D‑Colorado Springs) and Senator Angela Giron (D‑Pueblo) moved two laws through the Colorado Legislature. Anti-gun laws. This angered Second Amendment activists. The conversation continued when a group of citizens decided they weren’t willing to suffer silently; they drew up recall petitions and then gathered tens of thousands of voter signatures, triggering the recalls.
That’s a lot of hoops to jump through. The president can simply call up the networks and almost instantly communicate to millions. But citizens have to work harder for their talk time.
So, listen respectfully to the president tonight, by all means … but remember that, if you want politicians to listen, the initiative, referendum and recall constitute one heckuva megaphone.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.