I can’t help but comment about our responsibilities as citizens of this state and our great nation following the mid-term elections. It was a great turnout, but it can’t end there. Whether your candidate won or lost it is our responsibility to stay engaged with the issues facing us. I remember a Montana Senator once told me a number of years ago that he had gotten a lot of letters concerning an issue and he decided he needed to research it to see what he could do to help. I was curious and I asked him, “How many letters did you receive?” He said, “Six!” Six letters changed the course of history. It is easy to criticize and comment among ourselves, but staying engaged with our public servants is our highest responsibilities as citizens. Writing this on Veterans day reminds me they served so we could govern. It is an incredible right!
Theodore Roosevelt once said, “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” I want to thank every candidate for running and showing us all that our democracy is still strong.
My friend, Doug Somke, said, “Our great state and nation is only as strong as those who elect its leaders. I encourage all to stay engaged and educated on the issues to help those elected to serve you.”
