During and following the World War II era, Greenville County public schools, at that time loosely governed by the state, but managed by the citizens of the local communities, offered classes in typing and bookkeeping. The classrooms were equipped with mechanical typewriters. Electric office machines had not yet arrived on the scene, and computers for students were only theoretical.

Students were taught facts of history and government and pride in our founding fathers and heroes who earned and preserved our God-given freedom through the generations.

Someone structured a sentence that was universally used in what is now known as keyboard training that used most of the letters in the alphabet. Students typed repetitions of the sentence for hours to improve their speed and accuracy. As a result, the sixteen-word sentence became permanently engraved on the mind of the student of that day. “Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country.”

During those days of the 1940s and 50s virtually every able-bodied young man gave two or more years of his young adult life to military service. Some gave their lives for their country and their fellow man. Although the draft was in effect, many chose to volunteer. Women did their part also and some, including those left on the home front, sacrificed as much or more than their husbands, fathers and sons.

That was before “political correctness” overshadowed patriotism, greed permeated politics, the United Nations began to systematically subvert the Constitution of the United States, and ACORN became a taxpayer-funded tool of the Obama Administration.

We now find ourselves at a critical juncture in the history of our republic. Many Americans were blind-sided by the seemingly sudden but actual gradual takeover of the legislative and executive branches of our government by people motivated by an ideology incompatible with their own. A sleeping giant is finally awakening. Well-meaning citizens who have been inactive politically and left civic duties to others are now asking what they can do to reverse the tide of socialism, immorality and destruction of American civilization as we have known it. It can be done, but it will not be easy.

First, those who have been inactive must become factually informed. Watching TV sound bites and reading newspaper and magazine headlines are woefully inadequate for a free people. We must be sufficiently equipped with facts to discern fact from fiction and friend from foe. To be effective, each citizen must understand the political process and how the government functions according to the Constitution, including the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence.

No longer can good people avoid getting involved because “politics is a dirty game and government is full of crooks.” In instances where the political process and people involved are undesirable, it is because we have allowed it to become so. To remain free, we must accept our responsibility to do whatever is necessary to preserve that freedom for not only our families, but for future generations. Never before has the statement, “Evil prevails when good people do noting,” been such a profound truth.

Right now Americans in uniform, following in the footsteps of their fathers and grandfathers who willingly took an oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, are risking their lives to carry out that mission. Those of us at home have no less responsibility than do they.

The Times Examiner for 15 years has been dedicated to the cause of informing citizens of the facts surrounding the important issues of the day without the filter of political correctness or the application of a deceptive slant.  We take some pride in knowing that the readers of this publication are among the most factually informed citizens in at least 37 states.

The employees, writers and volunteers that contribute to this publication each week seek your continued prayers and support as we strive to carry on our small part of “protecting and defending the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic.”