"Many have imagined republics and principalities which have never been seen or known to exist in reality; for how we live is so far removed from how we ought to live, that he who abandons what is done for what ought to be done, will rather bring about his own ruin than his preservation." ~ Niccolo Machiavelli

Politics has become an emotional tug-of-war game with politicians espousing one set of principals while not practicing those same set of principals themselves. In general, their followers do the same thing; parrot or espouse one principal for others to live by, but do not live by those same principals themselves.

For example, some at the college campuses want to shut down the political speech of conservatives. Would they accept the reverse position? Would they accept liberal speech being banned by conservatives? Would they say the later is discrimination, but not the former. Free speech is free speech for all, not just some.

How about religion? There are those who don't want anything involving Christianity mentioned in schools or in public, including personal prayer, the wearing of a necklace with a Christian cross, or the uttering of the words, "Thank God." Would they accept the reverse position, if the same measures were instituted against other religions? In example, no breaks for prayers for Muslims, and banning phrases such as "Allah Akbar," and the banning of any clothing that suggests a certain religion. Or would they say the later is discrimination, but not the former?

How about transparency? Do some politicians scream for transparency involving their political enemies, but balk about transparency in the form of declassification when it involves them?

In the spirit of transparency, President Trump has authorized declassification of documents from the intelligence community regarding the 2016 election. The only way to stop the political spin on both sides of the aisle that has brought the functioning of government to a near halt is to declassify the documents. Let the chips fall where they may.

Some may cry that the problem is the declassification. Others will cry that the underlying data exposed by declassification is the problem. Political misdirection by whichever groups of persons are exposed will be the loudest. Their arguments will be persuasive. The politicians and media personalities have had decades to perfect political speech in front of televisions, knowing that most people won't look at or much less read the actual documents.

It is time for Americans to think for themselves. Stop being told what to think about the underlying data that is declassified. Read it. Think about it. Then ask yourself if you swapped out persons from one side of the political aisle with persons from the other side of the political aisle, would you would want the same thing to happen in reverse?

If members of the Obama administration did something possibly illegal to the Trump campaign or the American people, is that ok? How about if you reverse it. If members of the Trump campaign did something possibly illegal to the Obama administration or the American people, is that ok? The answer should be no in both cases.

It is important to focus on what actually happened during the 2016 election, not the fact that it was declassified, while the issue still matters, and not some 30-40 years in the future when it no longer matters.

The rules must be applied equally to all sides of the political arena or we will bring about the destruction of this great nation. Do not abandon what ought to be done.

Leslie Bronken

Deming