Join the Citizen Army!

I just returned from the Bound Brook Mayoral Candidates’ debate at St Joseph’s School gymnasium. Video of the debate to be post on http://www.08805.com/

Father Charlie, the host moderator of the debate, made a powerful and profound statement. He said that all of the candidates have demonstrated their dedication to the community and that he would be proud to serve as a citizen under anyone of them.

I never heard it put that way! As I thought about what he said it struck me that that is exactly what we must all do in order to survive as a nation and keep our traditions of self-government, independence and our precious four freedoms as depicted by Norman Rockwell’s famous paintings – Freedom from Fear, freedom from Want, Freedom of Speech, freedom to Worship.
Serving as a citizen means meeting the responsibilities of citizenship. There are six basic responsibilities of U.S. Citizenship – five mandatory and one voluntary. The voluntary one is voting.

The right to vote is a duty or responsibility as well as a privilege. It is important for all citizens to vote in every election to make sure that the democratic, representative system of government is maintained. Persons who do not vote lose their voice in the government. Before voting in an election, each citizen should be well informed about the issues and candidates.

I was in the company of almost 200 Bound Brookers who apparently take their citizenship seriously and are willing to “serve as citizens”. I salute them.

I also salute the candidates Phyllis Pounaras, Javier Vasquez, and Cary Pilato for being there and for their willingness to serve. I thought that they handled the questions posed to them well (although I did not believe some of the rhetoric). I was particularly impressed by Javier’s knowledge of the needs of Bound Brook and his ideas on how to meet them. I’m sorry to say that the performance and words of Cary Pilato were tarnished by his rude refusal to accept my congratulatory handshake. It underscored his propensity to say what sounds nice but not what he truly believes. He indicated during his discourse something to the effect that people had the right to disagree but that we were still all friends and neighbors. Apparently I am not considered a citizen who deserves the same respect that I pay him.

Both Javier and Phyllis graciously accepted my heartfelt congratulations.

The Latest From Late Night Comedians:

Conan O'Brien-10/31/07 -"Last night during the Democratic presidential debate, Senator Barack Obama accused Hillary Clinton of frequently changing positions. After hearing this, Bill Clinton said, 'I wish.'"

Until Next Time,

Ben