By Oregon Senator, Dennis Linthicum
August 16, 2024
Our constitutionally federated Republic is facing difficult days. It seems there is a lack of faith in government and the very people involved in representing us, as their so-called constituencies. This is understandable.
The reason this is occurring with such a rampant fury in our day is due to two distinct and separate phenomena.
The first has happened within the soul of our nation – a complacency and indolence with regard to our individual abilities, freedom, and independence which in turn has led to a unique and nearly universal reliance on other people and other authorities.
The second circumstance is a word that is rarely used today unless one is quoting from the founding era – usurpation. The usurpation of power, control, and the willful steering of our ship of state is happening with lightning speed and is something to behold.
Over time, what was once innocent and good, even benevolent, has been subtly overhauled, or maneuvered toward consensus building rather than truth telling. As everyone should be quick to realize, this is dangerous territory. It is a risky and precarious position because consensus means nothing if the object of that consensus is objectively fictitious, pre-fabricated, faulty, distorted or untrue.
Our formerly revered institutions for news, media reporting and journalism have been the first concerns to be captured, twisty and nearly destroyed. Given social media, today’s modern internet news sources, and the Google search engine monopoly trying to ferret out fact from fiction is a chore. It is difficult for anyone to discern which story might be opinion, errant reporting, clear discernment or absolute bunk.
This is more than an inconvenience because the confusion sown feeds fear and uncertainty in the public mind. This is quite palpable today and this confusion is getting fanned by the political elites in steering ‘consensus’ towards their projects, goals and/or proposals regardless of any flaws.
I mention this today because state legislators are hosting a 12-stop statewide roadshow regarding major transportation issues. The upcoming legislative session is seeking new funding sources as well as an exorbitant increase in the gas tax. Part of the problem is due to the inflationary forces that are biting all statewide agency budgets. We each face this problem in our own personal budgets and financial constraints.
The real questions are, will taxes and fees be enough; will these financial resources be spent frugally; how, when and where will these monies be spent?
Will the monies go toward PERS, backlogged projects, bike-only paths, snow-removal, road maintenance, seismic upgrades or electrification? What is the cost? What are the benefits? Compared to what, and for whom?
To preserve Liberty, our understanding must be grounded in the principles of justice and informed by the precepts of moral responsibility combined with an accurate assessment of verifiable facts. Our preservation of freedom ultimately depends on us, as citizens, in the exercise of our personal and political responsibilities.
Our constitutional and institutional safeguards for liberty will be lost if we fail in our responsibility to Truth.
Please get involved and attend the roadshow closest to your home or work. Sign up to provide public testimony or you can submit written comments to the Joint Transportation Committee. Voicing our opinions regarding the use of our tax-payer monies for transportation improvements and solutions as well as for costly and inefficient ideas. Do you want to lose driving lanes to add bike lanes? Are you willing to bear increases in the gas tax in order to subsidize EV vehicles?
Let your thoughts be heard because as the ancients told us, “There is nothing new under the sun.” The battle we face is over individual liberty and freedom vs. centralized power and control.
This is why it is imperative that we have a strong showing of common-sense ideas and solutions to our transportation needs during the upcoming legislative roadshow.
Your voice will make a difference!
Also, District 28 Senator-elect, Diane Linthicum and I will be attending the upcoming Medford location (Jackson County Expo Center) on Thursday, August 8th. Stop by, share your thoughts and together we can help SOS – Save Our State.
As always, I can’t resist repeating the contemplations of our nation’s founders. They saw in their day the same circumstances we experience today. John Adams, penned this thought in his Novanglus Letters (1774):
“Nip the shoots of arbitrary power in the bud, is the only maxim which can ever preserve the liberties of any people. When the people give way, their deceivers, betrayers, and destroyers press upon them so fast, that there is no resisting afterwards. The nature of the encroachment upon the American constitution is such, as to grow every day more and more encroaching. Like a cancer, it eats faster and faster every hour. The revenue creates pensioners, and the pensioners urge for more revenue.
The people grow less steady, spirited, and virtuous, the seekers more numerous and more corrupt, and every day increases the circles of their dependents and expectants, until virtue, integrity, public spirit, simplicity, and frugality, become the objects of ridicule and scorn, and vanity, luxury, foppery, selfishness, meanness, and downright venality swallow up the whole society.“
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For more information about me and my candidacy:
Video with Oregonian Editorial staff
The Gateway Pundit – Joe Hoft Show
A series of newsletters on election integrity
Election Website
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E-Mail Dennis Linthicum: sen.DennisLinthicum@gmail.com
