Editor, Gazette-Journal:

When I was a child, many moons ago, I was taught that our freedoms were secure because of a system called checks and balances. Our wise forefathers in 1776 had carefully crafted and set in place in a constitution that guaranteed the balance of powers that ensured our continued liberty.

The three branches of our government would balance one another and guard against an abuse of power. It sounded fail proof to me. We had nothing to be concerned about. Our Constitution would always protect our American way of life.

Now, all these years later, I see that nothing created by man is fail proof. I see one freedom after another bite the dust. More and more of our day-to-day decisions are being controlled by regulations created by some unelected bureaucrats and our freedom to choose is slipping away from us.

We have become like the proverbial frog in the pot of water—the heat rising so slowly that we fail to realize it is coming to a boil until it may be too late to save ourselves.

If we truly want to remain the land of the free and the home of the brave, we must awaken and fight for our liberty. We cannot blindly trust that it cannot be lost.

We need to educate ourselves, read the Constitution and let those we have elected know that we know what it says and expect them to honor it. It is time to write letters and e-mails and call our senators and delegates. It is time to get up, little frogs, step away from the pot and demand that our representatives support and defend the Constitution as they swore to do, under oath, when they assumed office.

Jonnie Adams

Cardinal, Va.