“That’s not the proper function of government!” I find myself saying too often.
Our Constitutional Republic, our form of government, supposedly limits the amount of power any one person has over “We the People.” You remember from high school or college classes: Three branches of government, checks and balances, individual liberty. So why are we being locked down, locked out of peaceful gatherings, masked, unemployed, businesses shuttered, church congregations unable to meet due to a Governor’s Executive Order? Can one man write law? Are doctors and scientists suddenly empowered to rule the people due to a disease? Are our Texas and U.S. Constitution suspendable in a pandemic? How much freedom are we willing to abandon because people are protesting, some violently? Why are the non-protesters being asked to stay home or avoid areas instead of limiting the spread and destruction of the protests? Are you willing to give up the small gains we have made on gun rights in Texas? Do you want the government to hire tech companies to trace your every move through contact tracing? How secure will that be? How much privacy are you willing to waive? Should the government – or you and your doctor – determine how and with what medicine you can be treated if you get sick?
Henry David Thoreau wrote, “There will never be a really free and enlightened State until the State comes to recognize the individual as a higher and independent power, from which all its own power and authority are derived, and treats him accordingly.”
I lie awake at night wondering if I have ever seen our freedom so imperiled in my life. But I am only one voice. One email. One phone call. As a member of a group, the Republican Liberty Caucus, my one voice can become more, stronger, united for our rights. Are you willing to join your voice to ours? Join us – the Republican Liberty Caucus – to be part of the organized defense of Liberty. There is so much to do and not enough hands willing to work. Together we can mount verbal offenses against the forces that want to ignore that each of us has independent power and authority over our own lives.
Teresa Cleghorn
Bexar County Regional Representative – Republican Liberty Caucus of Texas