My impassioned 72-year-old Twitter pal, who goes by the name 42bkdodgr, would like to share his feelings about why it’s so important for Democrats to vote in November, despite your frustration with the candidates and Congress itself. I am more than happy to oblige, especially because I was one of the people who reminded 42bkdodgr that giving up is not an option when he first expressed his discouragement.

Walking away from fights as important as the ones before us is unacceptable. Throwing up our hands in disgust won’t change the status quo. Allowing the Tea Bagger loons and GOP obstructionists to take over and return to the ways of BushCo is not an option. I’m relieved to see my dear friend has come around. With that, here are his thoughts.

But first, a personal note from 42bkdodgr:

Many of you may wonder why I chose to use the “ 72 year old friend” as the introduction to my Special Comments. I selected the moniker so readers could see that from my age and life experiences I give a different perspective to the issues of today.

Now for his Special Comment:

Why You Should Vote

During the last several weeks we have heard from the Main Stream Media about the lack of enthusiasm among Moderates and Progressives about voting in the November mid-term elections.

Many Moderates and Progressives are disappointed that the passage of the Health Care Reform and Financial Reform bills didn’t go far enough, while others believe that Obama hasn’t followed through on several of his 2008 campaign promises.

I must admit, I was beginning to have the same lack of enthusiasm for the November election after I recently read that the Democrats were shying away from passing, or possibly delaying, a vote on a bill that would end the Bush’s tax cuts for the rich.

After giving a lot of thought about the issue of voting, I came to the conclusion that there was a very important reason why I and others  should vote in November, no matter how one felt about the outcome of the Reform Bills or that Obama’s hasn’t followed through.

One of our country’s basic principles, one that is incorporated in the U.S. Constitution, has been under attack for some time by the Christian Conservatives (Religious Right); that being the First Amendment.

The First Amendment reads in part “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise there of”. The amendment language, clearly established the principle of the “separation of church and state”.

I have been concerned about this issue for sometime after seeing the results of this years primaries, remarks made during Glenn Beck’s 8/28 rally, and at the Values Voters Summit this past weekend.

Here are some of the views on that have been expressed by the Far Right on this issue over the years:

* Sharron Angle believes “the tenant of the separation of church and state is an unconstitutional doctrine“ (1995).

* Sarah Palin stated on April 9, 2010 “Lest anyone try to convince you that God should be separated from the state, our founding fathers, they were believers, and George Washington, he saw faith in God as basic to life”.

* Christine O’Donnell in August 1998 -“We took the bible and prayer out of public schools now we are having weekly shootings practically”.

* Michele Bachmann, in May 2010, introduced an  amendment to the 2011 National Defense Authorization Act that would allow chaplains to close a prayer at a non-religious event“, according to the dictates of the chaplains’ conscience. 

* At the Glenn Beck rally, one of the speakers was David Barton, a Texas Religious Right activist who is also a Professor at Beck University, who over the years has insisted that church-state separation is a myth.

So I ask those of you who are thinking about not voting in November, please consider what may happen on the issue of  the separation of church and state should Sharron Angle, Christine O’Donnell, Michele Bachmann, Rand Paul and others with similar viewpoints get elected.

Their election wouldl only increase the pressure on breaking down the wall between church and state and it will encourage those with similar view points to run in 2012.

So I ask, all of you who were considering not voting in November, to reconsider if you want to preserve a basic principle of our Constitution, because religion has no place in government.

Many thanks again for another thorough, relevant piece, 42bkdodgr. You often say what many of us are thinking and feeling, and we thank you for your unique perspective.