Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Vote For Me" (Chicago)

Good Tuesday to ya friend and welcome to the final political edition of The Notes, Tuesday's Musical Notes Votes!!

    It is election day!!!   Some states allow some form of early voting or absentee voting. Click here to see the map:

States That Allow Early Voting

But for most Americans, today will be the day that they will go to their respective polling places and decide who they will elect as President of the United States.  Senators and Representatives, as well as many ballot initiatives, will be decided upon today as well.  After today we should be finished hearing from our computers, radios, and televisions......"Vote For Me."

Chicago "Vote For Me"

     The Notes admits to bias when it comes to certain rock bands.  Any band that features a horn section is near and dear to the heart of this particular blog.  The best, by Notes standards, is the band Chicago.  One of the most successful bands in history,  Chicago has seen 18 of their 34 albums go to platinum status.  They have 21 top 10 singles and 5 albums reach #1 on the charts.  They have released 63 singles from their albums.  The remainder of songs on Chicago albums are good songs, yet have rarely been given a listen by anyone other than Chicago enthusiasts.  One such song is entitled "Vote For Me", from 1977's Chicago XI.   It was a song about obtaining the nomination for President.  The candidate in the song makes many promises that would probably be difficult to achieve.  It seems not much has changed in 35 years.  "Vote For Me" was not released as a single, nor did it chart, but it joined a number of politically charged songs by Chicago, including "The Whole World Is Watching", "Harry Truman", "State Of The Union", and "A Song For Richard And His Friends". 

     Today our country will either reelect President Barack Obama or elect Mitt Romney as our President.  As we have seen over the last couple of years, many surrogates and the candidates themselves have attempted to describe the role of President of the United States.  I think the best way is always through the eyes of a child......cue flashback music:

Schoolhouse Rock "The Preamble"

The President will take the oath of office on Inauguration Day next January.  This is a two part oath of office with the first portion being:

"I, (President's Name), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God."

This same oath is given to Senators and Representatives as they are sworn into their new roles in the representative government of our Republic.  The President however reaffirms his oath in the 2nd portion of his oath of office that is given at 12pm on the day of the Inaugural:

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States."

You may notice that the Constitution of the United States is the document that the President is sworn to uphold.  It includes the Preamble, The Bill Of Rights, and The Amendments and is one of the most revered documents in our nation.  In fact, you could say that is a National Treasure:

National Treasure "A Line That's At The Heart Of All The Others"
Let's look at the Preamble to the Constitution to see if it sheds light on what the President as well as each of us as citizens are prescribed by the founders to accomplish......together.

"We the people, in order to form a more perfect union

1) establish justice, 2) insure domestic tranquility, 3) provide for the common defense, 4) promote the general welfare, 5)secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity

Do ordain and establish this constitution for the United States of America."

Our challenge on this very special day, is to determine which candidate has the ability to do those 5 things.  We will certainly disagree on the way those things are accomplished, but we must never compromise any one of them.  We also have a responsibility as Christians to do the best that we can for the eternal kingdom, regardless who wins the Presidential campaign.  A great article that details our reaction to the results of the election is at the next link.  It is written by Glenn Packiam, a newly naturalized citizen and writer of the song "Your Name".   

5 Reasons why voting matters to me


In this article Packiam references the wonderful teaching of Jesus called the Beautitudes.  These are also some very high standards in which to hold all of our elected officials accountable.  From The Message paraphrase:


Matthew 5-7 The Message

Today is an important day.  Edward Everett Hale, the author of The Man Without a Country wrote something that applies well today:

I am only one,
But still I am one.
I cannot do everything,
But still I can do something.
And because I cannot do everything,
I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.”
Time is over to research the issues and candidates.   If you haven't voted, please do.  To not vote, IS to vote.  Then as Christ followers let us commit together to pray for the leaders we have elected.  As we come to the close of this election cycle we can be thankful that the day has arrived where, at least for 6 months or so, we won't hear the phrase...."Vote For Me."
'Til Tuesday,
Loving HIM by loving you,
Randy

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