THE BEACONS CREED (A Promise for Civic Integrity)

I believe democracy is not sustained by institutions alone,

but by the character of the people who participate in it.

I believe the right to vote is sacred,

not because it is granted by law,

but because it is earned by responsibility.

I believe my voice matters,

and so does the voice of every other citizen,

especially those with whom I disagree.

I will seek truth before opinion.

I will verify before I share.

I will think before I react.

I understand that freedom without responsibility

leads to chaos,

and responsibility without freedom

leads to oppression.

Democracy requires both.

I will listen before I judge.

I will listen to understand, not to defeat.

I will respect differences without surrendering principles.

I recognize that elections are not battles to be won,

but moments of collective decision

that shape the future of our nation.

I will honor the privacy of the ballot,

because secrecy protects courage

and preserves independence of thought.

I acknowledge that money, media, and influence

must never outweigh honesty,

and I will remain vigilant against distortion and manipulation.

I will treat voting not as a transaction,

but as an act of public service.

I will resist cynicism,

for cynicism weakens democracy more than disagreement ever could.

I will protect the dignity of citizenship,

in myself and in others.

I accept that democracy is imperfect,

not because it fails,

but because humans are imperfect.

Its strength lies in our willingness to improve it.

I choose to be a Beacon.

A Beacon of clarity in confusion.

A Beacon of honesty in noise.

A Beacon of responsibility in freedom.

A Beacon of listening in division.

A Beacon of courage in silence.

I will stand for truth without cruelty,

for justice without arrogance,

for participation without fear.

My vote is my voice.

My conduct is my legacy.

My integrity is my contribution.

This is my Creed.

This is my responsibility.

This is my light.

By David W. Wygant 

NOTE:  This "CREED" captures the content and spirit of the Voting Alert Beacons I started this blog in 2012, and it has spanned four Presidential elections and three midterm elections. Please give it and its contents serious time and reflection.

IT'S TIME

These are difficult times, but we can take heart in our strength.  Many among us daily risk everything to help the few.  They work on our streets, in our hospitals, and generally our communities.  Some have sworn to serve and protect us from foreign aggressors.  They are all heroes.  Now, especially in this "voting season," all of us must rise up.  It’s our turn now, and our duty now.  There are changes that “WE THE PEOPLE,” must make. 

  

”We the People" (you and me) hunger for leadership, honesty, and the re-emergence of public service.  We don’t need more politicians who accumulate power and enrich themselves.  We have too many of those, and many are corrupt.  We need public servants to lead us.  We need public servants to work together, and to inspire us.  Elective office must be about people and public service, not power and politics.  The currency of our actions needs to be honesty, not influence or money.  Only then can WE focus on what we can become, and what we can achieve.  

In all of this, WE have a part to play too.  We need to stop peering outside ourselves.  Stop pointing our fingers.  We should spend more time looking at the person in the mirror, because what WE become as a nation begins with each of us individually.  Each of us, and all of us as a country, in support of our freedoms and liberties, need to focus on our individual responsibilities, and our individual actions.  

Indeed, it’s time to get back to basics.  It’s time to remember a few simple things.  Let’s begin by resurrecting two old, but important and timeless virtues. THEY are the virtues of HONESTY AND PUBLIC SERVICE.  

Let's all vote on November 5th!

David W. Wygant

THE TALE OF TWO WOLVES (A Guide for Voting)

At all levels of government, a lot is said.  There’s a lot of talk.  Especially, during campaigns candidates make many promises (how many are kept?). 

With this in mind, it’s best to watch what is done, and what is accomplished.  Promises are always kept through actions!  This is key to how we vote. Look at what has been done, and what has been accomplished. 

Also, ask questions.  Because of policies and decisions made by the government, is your life better than it was?  If so, then vote for that to continue.  If not, then vote for something else, or someone else.  All of this is like feeding the wolves.

How do voters feed the wolves?

• With our time
• By ignoring one or the other way.  Thereby implicitly making the other stronger.
• With our money.
• With our attention.

Demonstrate the power of your vote.  Vote for vision and positive actions.  Ignore the words.

VOTE FOR THE WOLF YOU WANT TO FEED!

. . .  remember that America’s best days aren’t behind her.   America’s best days are ahead of her.  They always have been and always will be.

Dave

Copyright © [2020] by David William Wygant. All rights reserved.  

(REPEAT POST) BEACONS OF COMMON SENSE-The Middle of the Road

Below is a post from 2018 about "the middle of the road."  I had posted it "a few short months" before the fall election.  Now we are close to the 2020 election.  Not much has changed, and I still think the message hits the bulls-eye.  What you think?
--------------------------

In a few short months, another election will be here.  We the People will have another chance to “speak,” and tell our leaders what we want them to do.  

When we elect representatives in our American Democracy, we ask them to represent us because they come from us, and are like us.  They should do their work on behalf of us.  They should serve, not rule.  They should serve briefly and then make room for others.  They shouldn’t have perks, literally, they should have what we have, and live as we do.  They should be honest so we can respect them. 

It’s time to begin a new era!  Elective office is a public service opportunity, not a career.  (REPEAT).  Elective office is a public service opportunity, not a career.

So now, please join me in the middle of the American road with a new focus on possibility and potential.  Let’s not drive on the left or right shoulders, but travel down the middle of the road, where the language spoken is common sense supported by HONESTY AND PUBLIC SERVICE.  While the shoulders certainly define the outer limits or extremes of the road, and every road has its shoulders, they aren’t where we should be traveling down, and certainly not governing from.  

Just as the speed bumps on the shoulders can shake a car apart, literally shake a car apart, in some kind of grand intramural tug of war, the left and right are shaking our country apart.  IT’S DISGUSTING AND JUST PLAIN WRONG!  IT NEEDS TO STOP!

If we can find balance in the middle of the road, a destiny of continued blessings for each of us, and for America, will be assured.  Yes!  Let’s meet in the middle of the road where common sense lives.  Let’s use our right to free speech responsibly.   However, with the right comes the responsibility to listen.  Even more, listening must mean we are willing to change.  We must be willing to let the other person, or the other argument, or the other viewpoint change us.  If we all come with that commitment, we will indeed meet in “the middle of the road,” and continue building an incredibly strong Common Sense for America.

. . .  remember that America’s best days aren’t behind her.   America’s best days are ahead of her.  They always have been and always will be.

Dave

Copyright © 2019 by David William Wygant. All rights reserved.

RAW POWER and Politics (Not Immigration)

A good place to start on the issue of immigration is with how each of us think about our own homes.  America is no different. It is our national home. Basic principles about how we want to do immigration in America are identical with the common sense rules we apply to where we live.

Our homes are sovereign just like America.  We control the door and lock it sometimes.  Do we let people jump through windows to enter?  Or, break down a wall to invade?  Rarely, do we allow entrance to a stranger.  If they are with a trusted friend, perhaps (think Green Card).  When someone enters without permission, and they refuse to leave, we call the police (ICE).  In America, when the government wants to enter, they can do so only for narrow and good reasons.  There are strict procedures.  An order must be signed by a judge.  We wouldn’t dream of losing or given away control over who can enter our homes, would we?

Ironically, there are compelling reasons that we allow strangers into our American home.  Immigration has been critical to the growth and development of America through history.  This is still true.  However, those who come should want to melt into our “melting pot” and work hard to realize what America offers, and their own personal potential.  Immigrants should come for the American Way, not to create a fresh version of what they left behind.  They should come for what America is, not what they want to make it.

So far, this is common sense, isn’t it?  So why is there so much noise on the issue?  Well, the immigration issue as we read about it in the media really has nothing to do with immigrants.  It is about power and politics, not people.  The currency of the discussion (argument) is lie and deception, not truth and sound judgment.  Even voters who are in their 20’s, have lived long enough to see political leaders flip-flop on their positions.  It’s hard not to notice that they shift to the position which they believe will earn them more power.  At the same, as if on cue, the media seems incapable of helping to sustain a calm and reasonable national discussion.  Rather, the media seems to inflame and divide instead of reporting the facts, which we voters need to make a choice.  Perhaps, the politicians and the media have forgotten who chooses in America.  It’s time to remind them.

Also, before we vote, we voters should recall the difference between legal and illegal immigrants.  Legal immigrants enter through valid points of entry.  Depending on their individual situations, there are numerous visas they can apply for.  Because America is generous and sympathetic, we offer asylum to some who come from terrible places and terrible conditions.  In all cases, a legal immigrant is properly taking their first steps to becoming American citizens and realizing personal dreams through one of these processes.  

Illegal immigrants also want to enter America, but they choose to break our laws as their first step.  They don’t use legal points of entry.  They sneak across the wilderness.  If they are lucky enough to make it to America, there’s a good chance they’ll be deported.  Or, if they fall into the right category of illegal immigrant, they may receive more benefits than the legal immigrants, and in some cases then American citizens.

How to vote?  Vote as you would for your own house on this issue.  Don’t vote by party!  Vote for Congress people who will use and apply common sense.  Use your vote to affirm and renew the virtues of honesty and public service.  Who will do the best job?  If you are still hesitating, then vote for someone who sounds reasonable, isn’t filled will hate or disrespect for other people, and is new and fresh.  Someone who has never served before.

In writing calmly and reasonably about immigration I hope by example we can all respectfully use our 1st Amendment right of free expression to add positively to the discussion.  However, with the right comes the responsibility to listen.  Even more, listening must mean we are willing to change.  We must be willing to let the other person, or the other argument, or the other viewpoint change us.  If we all come with that commitment, we will indeed meet in “the middle of the road,” and continue building an incredibly strong Common Sense for America.

. . .  remember that America’s best days aren’t behind her.   America’s best days are ahead of her.  They always have been and always will be.

Dave

Copyright © 2018 by David William Wygant. All rights reserved.  

WHERE THEY LIVE AND WHO GAVE

Last week the special election in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District caused me to make changes to Voting Alert Beacons #3 and #5, Listen/Ignore and The Money respectively.  WHY?  

First, some facts.  The final round election was held on June 20th after a primary which included a slew of Democrats and Republicans.  However, in the April 18th primary, no one garnered more than 50% of the vote.  So, the run-off election ensued between Democrat Jon Ossoff and Republican Karen Handel.  It was a closely watched campaign with heated debate on the issues of our day.  However, two facts caught my eye.  Jon Ossoff doesn’t live in the district he proposed to represent, and more money was spent in this race then ever before in any Congressional District race.  There are several numbers floating around, but a common figure seems to be $50 million plus.  WHEW!  The alarming factor is that the lion’s share of this money came from outside the 6th District.  Many PACS and special interests contributed, along with vast sums from both New York and California.

This has happened before.  Sometimes people who don’t live in the State, Congressional districts, or state legislative districts run for office in those same areas, and are supported by money from the “outside.”  When this happens, the local elections are influenced by national special interests and power brokers.  So, specifically we’re left to conclude, and it’s not a reach to see, there is little difference between what happened in the 6th District and the apparent Russian interference in the 2016 national elections.  WHY WOULD ONE BE ACCEPTABLE AND THE OTHER NOT?

Here’s what I changed:

Beacon #3 Listen / Ignore:  Regardless of local laws, IGNORE candidates who don't live in your State, Congressional district, or state legislative district.

Beacon #5 The Money:  DON'T vote for candidates who accept money from outside your State, Congressional district, or state legislative district.

Simple and logical, right?  The power of each vote we cast and all of them together is immense.  Don't forget!

. . .  remember that America’s best days aren’t behind her.   America’s best days are ahead of her.  They always have been and always will be.

Dave

Copyright © 2017 by David William Wygant. All rights reserved.  

VISION

I wrote the first Voting Alert Beacons post on March 26, 2012.  A lot has happened in America and the World since I wrote that post.  To the point of voting and governing this great land, there have been two Presidential elections and a mid-term election, not to mention scores of local and state elections.  

Along the way, the Beacons have grown and matured.  I’ve added a couple Beacons and fine tuned several.  Through it all, my belief in the power of each individual vote, the wisdom of a voting America, and the increasing brilliance of America’s star has only grown stronger.  

Even now as all public talk seems filled with vitriol and petty differences, and the two major parties are entangled in some kind of grand intramural competition, we are all bearing witness to great American history in the making.  For the first time, someone not a career politician has been elected President.  It doesn’t matter that it was Donald J. Trump.  It matters that it happened at all.  It is a bugle cry to a core belief of mine.  A belief that drove me to create the Voting Alert Beacons in the first place.  

I believe that elected office is a public service opportunity, not a career.  That belief is embodied in the Voting Alert Beacons vision below:

• Work toward the day when, through high voter turnout in our elections, we realize once again the genius of our combined American intelligence.  
• Give rise to a new higher standard of civil service and servant leadership.  
• Turn the tide on negative campaigning, and the influence of money and polls, so that elections become events of national renewal.  
• Strike the bell beginning a new period of enlightenment in the American democracy that will ring for millennia to come. 
• Renew and fulfill the original American Dream, the right to vote, for all her citizens, so that America continues to shine as a beacon for the world.

Let us always remember that honesty and public service are the gears that drive our democracy, and we turn those gears with our RIGHT TO VOTE.   LET’S ALL VOTE!

. . .  remember that America’s best days aren’t behind her.   America’s best days are ahead of her.  They always have been and always will be.

Dave

Copyright © 2017 by David William Wygant. All rights reserved.  

CONTRIBUTION vs. COMMITMENT

When I was a young boy, I remember my father telling me a story about the difference between contribution and commitment.  I know many parents have told this story to their children.  Quite possibly yours told you too. 

I don’t recall if we were actually at breakfast when he told it, but growing up eggs and bacon were a standard breakfast.  He said something like the following:

“Dave, it’s important for you to know the difference between contributions and commitments.  I hope in your life you make many of both to our world.  Think of them this way.  When we have eggs and bacon at breakfast, look at your plate and know that the chicken made a contribution and a pig made a commitment.  Son, as your father, I hope you do both, but if you are ever called to making a commitment, I hope you will.”

That story has been with me all these many years.  Here’s what I think it means now.

We make a contribution when we: Pay taxes, do some public service, obey the law, support our democracy, if we protest something — we do it peacefully, and always look for a chance to help someone in need.

We make a commitment if we:  Serve or have served in the military, go daily to our duties as a police officer or fireman, make the ultimate sacrifice and give our life in the afore mentioned, or WHEN WE VOTE.

As with the pig, commitment sometimes rises to the level of sacrifice of one’s life.  Many Americans before us have paid this highest price.  

ARE YOU PREPARED TO PAY THE HIGHEST PRICE IF CALLED UPON?  IF NOT, WHY NOT?

Let us always remember that honesty and public service are the gears that drive our democracy, and we turn those gears with our RIGHT TO VOTE.   LET’S ALL VOTE!

. . .  remember that America’s best days aren’t behind her.   America’s best days are ahead of her.  They always have been and always will be.

Dave

Copyright © 2016 by David William Wygant. All rights reserved.  

Here’s How I Feel

I've been thinking about America all day. Like all of us, I feel shock and great sadness about recent events. Good lives have needlessly been lost and families torn apart. It's hard to find answers, isn't it? Nonetheless, we must move forward into the wind. Straight ahead, we need to continue building our American future. Can we not learn some lessons and build a better America still? In spite of everything that seems wrong, I see a bright future. I believe there is much to look forward to. Why?

Our freedoms and liberties are guaranteed for ALL. That's a fact! That some of us have suffered over the years because others among us would deny those two things must now become a point of focus. This can be corrected! IT MUST BE CORRECTED!

We ALL have another job to do. ALL of us must focus on our responsibilities as citizens. The amount of freedom and liberty any of us enjoy is directly connected to how well we do in fulfilling our responsibilities. We should never expect a fire to warm us if we refuse to give it the wood it needs to burn brightly. In the days ahead, our first responsibility should be to hold and comfort each other. At least in spirit, if not in fact. Let's use this as a time to extent kindness and civility. Let's look out for each other. In so doing, we'll find ourselves united, not divided. The American way!

Lastly, tonight, I also believe we can and will reach MLK's "promised land." He was one of our greatest leaders and I find comfort in his words spoken so long ago.

What do you think?

Let us always remember that honesty and public service are the gears that drive our democracy, and we turn those gears with our RIGHT TO VOTE.   LET’S ALL VOTE!

. . .  remember that America’s best days aren’t behind her.   America’s best days are ahead of her.  They always have been and always will be.

Dave

Copyright © 2016 by David William Wygant. All rights reserved.  

GOD BLESS THE USA

MY FELLOW AMERICANS, this day and this age calls us.    Everything we want and all that we need IS in front of us, but we must focus on its potential, and embrace it.  

So, it’s time for us, “WE THE PEOPLE”  to quiet our voices and become calm.  It’s time for “WE THE PEOPLE” to increase the volume of our VOTES.  Whether we are liberal or conservative, left or right, man or woman, young or old, no matter our color, no matter our language, no matter our religion, and no matter what divides us or makes us different from each other, it’s time for all of us to put aside these labels and just be Americans in the United States of America.  It’s time for each of us to awaken our sense of CIVIC responsibility and become “WE THE PEOPLE” again.

Please enjoy this Home Free a cappella arrangement of "God Bless the USA" by Lee Greenwood.

Have a great and safe Fourth of July!

Let us always remember that honesty and public service are the gears that drive our democracy, and we turn those gears with our RIGHT TO VOTE.   LET’S ALL VOTE!

. . .  remember that America’s best days aren’t behind her.   America’s best days are ahead of her.  They always have been and always will be.

Dave

Copyright © 2016 by David William Wygant. All rights reserved.  

THE POWER OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

Ted Cruz is right when he says, 

“The power of the American people, when we rise up and stand for liberty, knows no bounds.”

However, what he and the rest of the candidates, both Republican and Democratic, right and left, liberal and conservative, man and woman, black and white, don’t understand is that we’re looking for a leader who will bring us together.   We are looking for an honest public servant who will serve only one special interest, OURS.  We are looking for a leader who can look to the brights stars that light our future, and take us to them.  We haven’t seen the next President of the United States yet, but surely we will in time.

Now, we should become calm and thoughtful.  We should lesson the volume of our voices and prepare to increase the volume of our votes.  This time, every eligible voter must vote.

When we raise our voices through our votes, on the same day, we vote together as a country.  Counted one at a time, our voices sound very different.  We are a country of many different points of view.  However, through voting we harmonize with each other in the song we sing.   The more people who vote, the more harmonic the melody becomes, and we become the greatest acapella choir of all time.  Our best decisions in voting result from our diversity as a country, and when we exert the personal independence and liberty we all enjoy as Americans.  

Our decisions shine brightest when we have faith, in both our diversity and independence, and we follow our faith. The act of voting turns our heads to the future causing us to imagine new possibilities, and energizing us with the hope they bring.

Let us always remember that honesty and public service are the gears that drive our democracy, and we turn those gears with our RIGHT TO VOTE.   LET’S ALL VOTE!

. . .  remember that America’s best days aren’t behind her.   America’s best days are ahead of her.  They always have been and always will be.

Dave

Copyright © 2016 by David William Wygant. All rights reserved.  

O’ AMERICA

Compared to the bond that we all share as Americans, compared to the history, both good and bad, that we all share, compared to the accomplishments we share, and can claim as personal because we are Americans, compared to the sea of limitless possibilities which is our destiny, if we will claim it, there is no religion, no language, no color of skin, no issue, no geography or no argument that can separate us, unless we let it.

All we need to do is follow the Voting Alert Beacons, and vote.  When we “raise our voices” through our votes on the same day, we vote together as a country.  Counted one at a time, our voices sound very different.  We are a country of many different points of view.  

However, through voting we harmonize with each other in the song we sing.   The more people who vote, the more harmonic the melody becomes, and we become the greatest acapella choir.  Our best decisions in voting result from our diversity as a country, and when we exert the personal independence and liberty we all enjoy as Americans.  

Our decisions shine brightest when we have faith, in both our diversity and independence, and we follow our faith. The act of voting itself turns our heads to the future causing us to imagine new possibilities, and energizing us with the hope they bring.

Honesty and public service are the gears that drive our democracy, and we turn those gears with our RIGHT TO VOTE.   LET’S ALL VOTE!

. . .  remember that America’s best days aren’t behind her.   America’s best days are ahead of her.  They always have been and always will be.

Dave

Copyright © 2016 by David William Wygant. All rights reserved.  

VOTING-Why Should We?

I believe in America, don’t you?  I am proud to be an American, you should be too.  I believe in public service, and don’t think politics was ever meant to be a career.  I believe in the potential each of us has within because we are human beings.  I also believe that what we can do and accomplish is personal, and that it’s up to each of us to shape our own destinies.  The person in the mirror is the responsible one, not someone else or the government.

More than anything else about America, I believe in liberty and the power we each have when we vote.  As I state in the title for the

Voting Alert Beacons blog, when we vote, each of us becomes a “Lighthouse To Keep Honesty, Public Service, and Democracy Safe.”

So, I’m only one and not famous.  If you have doubts, I understand.  However, others have been one, and even now they reach forward in time to us with the wisdom we starve for.  Believe them!

“Few will have the greatness to bend history itself, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events. It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.” ― Robert F. Kennedy

Honesty and public service are the gears that drive our democracy, and we turn those gears with our RIGHT TO VOTE.   LET’S ALL VOTE!

. . .  remember that America’s best days aren’t behind her.   America’s best days are ahead of her.  They always have been and always will be.

Dave

Copyright © 2016 by David William Wygant. All rights reserved.