A Stamp with a Powerful Reminder

Today, as I was preparing to send a baby card to congratulate my niece and her husband, I affixed a FOREVER stamp on the envelope featuring the American flag. Beneath the flag is the word "FREEDOM."

That single word reminded me of the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice to protect the freedoms we enjoy today—especially those guaranteed by our Bill of Rights, including the freedoms of speech, the press, religion, assembly, and petition under the First Amendment, as well as the right to keep and bear arms under the Second Amendment. These, along with many other rights, are protected by our Constitution.

Ronald Reagan is credited with saying:

“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”

I grew up during Ronald Reagan's presidency, and I remember his famous challenge to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in 1987 at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin:

"Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"

How times have changed since Reagan warned us that freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. Today, as a country, we are facing new threats of communism and socialism from within. Few could have imagined that we would now be debating the influence of organizations such as the Democratic Socialists of America and what that could mean for the future of our constitutional republic.

For me, the choice in this November's General Election for state senate is clear. A vote for Anthony Kathol is a vote for freedom, love of country, and free enterprise. A vote for my opponent is a vote for extreme socialism. The choice is yours.

May God continue to bless the United States of America and the great state of South Dakota.