For those of you who have read any of my blog posts, you know I have an absolute, unequivocal disdain for politics. While people in office may start out with “good intentions”,  I firmly believe that all politicians eventually rule for their own benefit. And, money and power being the base for these beliefs. Just look at any politician’s net worth prior to getting into public office, then look at it a few years later. Insider trading (being just one such vehicle for this), is apparently so rampant in Washington, that an elected official initially making a few hundred thousand dollars a year, can and usually does turn it into millions during their tenure. Hmmm…wonder how THAT happens?

Politicians on both sides of the aisle coddle and pander to their respective bases with promises of delivering them to the land of milk and honey while easing their struggles with tax cuts, lower consumer prices, providing general all encompassing “wellbeing” and personal safety. This last being the one I struggle with the most. Then, once in office, none of their promises are not, if ever kept.

The saber rattling, conflicts and wars currently going on in most any country in the world tells us that at any time, the U.S. could again be embroiled in some other country’s affairs where we really have absolutely no business being. Again, follow the money…it’s not that hard to do. Just seeing who is greasing who’s palm. We’ve spent hundreds of billions of dollars in other countries, yet here in our own country have rampant homelessness, veteran and public servant mental health and suicide crises and open borders all the while the politicians constantly belly aching about needing more money. It’s just too obscene to even try to attach an explanation to it. Their mantra always being “we need to help those less fortunate!”. Really? Try getting out of your ivory tower chair and look out the window into your own backyard…you’ll see plenty. But, those needing the most help are usually not their voting base…they gotta’ keep their jobs ya’ know!

So, back to safety. Benjamin Franklin once said, “Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety”. There is a lot to that statement, but I’ll keep it in the realm of safety. Many people love the idea of big government and relying on that government to provide them personal safety. The problem is that the government doesn’t really care one iota about your safety. Theirs, yes…yours, no. Any catastrophic national emergency will send all those politicians quickly scrambling to the safety of their bunkers somewhere beneath the streets of Washington DC, or some other secret location in the country.

Would you like to know who deeply cares about your safety? It is your military, law enforcement and public safety men and women. They are the ones on the front lines every day, putting their lives on the line so you can rest easy at night.

I recently read a book called “Defend Us In Battle”. It is the story of Navy SEAL Michael Monsoor, who, died while serving in Ar Ramadi, Iraq in September 2006. He and several of his teammates were laying on a squalid, 110-degree rooftop, covering and protecting the patrols in the streets below, when an enemy grenade was lobbed over top of the roof, hitting Monsoor in the chest and landing on the floor. He immediately fell upon the grenade, shielding his teammates from taking the brunt of the explosion. He died 30 minutes later. It is truly an incredibly inspiring story and a book worthy of a read.

These are the true heroes who provide your safety. Just as the police officers who rush to the report of a domestic dispute or armed robbery and who are fired upon and shot as they arrive. Or, the firemen running into a burning building to rescue trapped occupants and die in the process when the building collapses. Or, the EMS personnel at the scene of any of the aforementioned situations, who take a stray bullet trying to save the lives of those they’re sworn to protect and provide medical attention to. THESE are the real heroes and these are the ones that provide you with safety. Believe me, it is not some talking head standing in front of a podium espousing how they’re going to “protect” you from the other political party who are trying to “take away” one of your freedoms. Or that they’re going to impeach this one or criminally charge that one or conduct an investigation into the personal lives of some innocent citizen to keep you safe. This is an insanity that knows no bounds.

There is a statement that was written many decades ago (the author of which is up for speculation), that reads, “People sleep peacefully in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf”. This could not be any truer in the descriptions of the few scenarios previously written about our beloved military service members, police, firemen and women and EMS personnel. Make no mistake, these are the “rough” men and women who are ready to do violence on your behalf while you sleep…it is NOT some empty suit on Capitol Hill.

So, the thought of choosing some babbling politician to protect you is hard. But being and/or choosing the men and women sworn to protect you in battle both here and abroad, in some people’s minds, may also be hard.

Choose your hard.