I got the opportunity, for the first time in my life, to see Mount Rushmore.
Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Roosevelt.
It's definitely worth experiencing.
Actually, any national monuments are impressive.
We've recently been over to Washington DC. We took the Capital tour.
American monuments almost universally have one theme: Freedom.
It is the core ingredient of what it means to be an American.
At the Mount Rushmore lighting ceremony they talked about freedom. At the end they asked, "What does freedom mean to you?"
I loved that question because no one had ever asked that of me before.
I kind of always thought of it as something that mattered more to the early Americans:
Those are totally cool. But they don't really speak to my everyday life.
I would be upset if they were taken away. But at the moment I'm not overly concerned about losing those.
The Constitution is meant to be a living document. It's meant to be relevant to the daily lives of all Americans as long as there is America.
So what does freedom mean to me today?
How can I stretch my wings of freedom in a way that those four men on Mount Rushmore would be proud?
This run for Mayor of Akron is me expressing the freedom we all have been given in America (and not in most other countries).
By the people. For the people.
We are a country that was not supposed to succeed because of this one freedom.
The people were not thought to be smart enough and capable enough to govern themselves.
That pessimistic view is wrong.
Americans govern themselves quite well, thank you very much.
An Independent running for the office of mayor should never be mocked, laughed at or chastised for thinking he legitimately can run for and become mayor (or governor or president).
I'm sad to say all those things have happened to me by my fellow Americans.
This campaign is bigger than me.
This campaign is a fresh symbol to remind you that you are an American born or naturalized into the most amazing governmental experiment to ever grace this planet.
You are free to be whoever you want.
You are free to express yourself in any way you want.
You are free to live and move freely among every single state.
You are free to do ANYTHING you want to be, do or say as long as it doesn't hurt someone else.
That is freedom.
What does freedom mean to you?
Paid For By The People for Sage Lewis