To the editor:
I just got another one today -- that makes at least four fliers from the group Citizens Not Politicians assuring me that a "citizens commission" will end gerrymandering. These Citizens Not Politicians promise to ban current and former politicians (fellow citizens whom we elect to serve and can vote out of office if we wish) and to operate under an open and independent process. What they don't say is that I would have to give up my constitutional rights to hold them accountable if their process isn't quite as fair and open as they promise, and that I'll pay an extra tax for this open and independent process.
I must admit, in all my long decades of living, I'm not sure I have ever seen a slicker, more underhanded propaganda campaign to deprive ordinary citizens of multiple constitutional rights than this Citizens Not Politicians campaign. It absolutely terrifies me.
In 1830, the U.S. Education Committee issued a warning we would do well to reflect on: "In a republic, the people constitute the government; and by wielding its powers in accordance with the dictates, either of their intelligence or their ignorance, they are the makers and rulers of their own good or evil destiny. They frame the laws and they create the institutions that promote their happiness or produce their destruction. If they be wise and intelligent, they will form laws that are just and equal. If they are ignorant and capricious, they will be deceived by designing rules into supporting laws that are unequal and unjust."
My dad often told me that evil wears a pretty face. I urge all my fellow citizens to read the details of Issue 1 on the sample ballot before you vote, for the sake of our children and grandchildren.
Sharon Conklin
Steubenville