I was born during FDR’s reign. By the time I was old enough to vote I realized he had started a trend of less individual freedom and more government control over our lives that continues to this day.

Unfortunately the votes of freedom-loving Americans usually get overwhelmed by the big talkers who convince naïve voters that those things they cannot afford individually, they somehow can through the magic of government – the Constitution be damned – and the country has been going downhill ever since. As usual, this election is about how rapidly we become a socialist nation.

I’ve often wondered how quickly the country will “go under” once we reach the point where more voters are benefiting (or think they are) from higher taxes and government handouts than there are that know better. When that happens, all that is left is for some future historian in a wiser society to document how we did it to ourselves in “The Rise and Fall of the American Republic.”

Gary T. McGavran

Bellevue