Mindless minions of misinformed mercenaries

IS IT JUST ME?
by Joe B. Lyman
So much has been said on all sides of this monument debate that there is nothing new to add.  I would like to express my sincere and heartfelt thanks to all those who have worked so hard for so long to make our tiny voice of opposition heard against an overwhelming outside force.
Support for this monument designation comes primarily from outside the area that will be the most severely impacted.  
There is no broad local support, which Sally Jewell promised would be a prerequisite to such an action.  
In fact, it is evident that there is a huge local majority who are opposed.  All too often, the media and the administration give ear instead to the well-funded mindless minions of misinformed mercenaries.  
When you bus people in from other states on some sort of mini paid vacation to express the ‘local’ opinion, as happened in Bluff, you are violating the principles of representative government, the very founding principles of this nation.  
And then to ignore the unanimous voice of every elected official representing the citizens of San Juan County is offensive to say the least.  
Every county official, every state official, both Senators and all Representatives are opposed.  President Obama stands alone on this, as though he is some sort of elected monarch.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, —
“That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government...”
I believe these principles are violated when a people are denied access to the land in order to exercise their liberty to sustain their life and livelihood in order to pursue happiness.  
I believe that rather than securing these rights, our government encroaches on them.  
This Monument certainly was not declared by any power derived from the governed who live here.  
I believe the most recent election, in concert with the previous one, are an expression of the people that they wish to alter a government that exercises power beyond constitutional constraints.  
That is certainly what has happened with this monument designation.

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