jenny eriksonJust over a year ago, the United States Department of Homeland Security issued a report that warned citizens to be mindful of the violent, racist right-wing extremists that would soon be emerging from the woodwork. That's Janet Napolitano for you. "The system worked" when a terrorist attempted to set off a bomb in his panties, but by George, watch out for those veterans -- they know how to use guns!

Perhaps it would have been more prudent to issue requests that anyone with a conservative point of view kindly keep their mouth shut. Last week, an SEIU (Service Employees International Union) member attacked a man at a Tea Party protest for having the audacity to try and protect his wife, as the lunatic was about to push her. I can guarantee you that that guy wasn't a Republican. SEIU doesn't accept them redneck Republicans.

On Monday a video went viral, thanks to Mike Flynn at Big Government, who posted the anonymous video on the site. About a minute in length, the video shows North Carolina Representative Bob Etheridge assaulting some young men who approached the Congressman to ask him if he supported the Obama agenda.

Representative Etheridge apologized for his violent behavior this morning, saying, "No matter how intrusive and partisan our politics can become, this does not justify a poor response." Translated: "I only acted the way I did because those partisan yahoos were too intrusive."

The national Democratic Party is defending Etheridge, blaming Republicans for the "partisan hit job designed to incite a reaction for political reasons." 

Isn't the whole point of a representative government to, oh um, I don't know, maybe represent the public? Don't we have elections so that we the people can vote for the best man (or woman, lest anyone accuse me of being sexist) for the job? In order to determine who that person is, shouldn't we be able to ask the candidates what they believe in?

I know it's somewhat of a lost concept, but our government officials work for us. They weren't born in a throne room, deities didn't anoint them, and we are what gives them the power to control our lives through restrictions and regulations.

We have a right to know what those in our representative government believe. We have a right to ask them questions, and we have a right to expect an answer. By condoning violence, the Democratic Party is eroding that right by making us scared to ask questions. A society in which the people are afraid of the government is a tyrannical one.

It is imperative that we keep our government accountable to us, not the other way around.

Here's a tip to all elected officials: If you didn't want to be asked constantly about your political ideology, you didn't have to run for office. It is still a free country.