Get Up, Get Out of Bed, Get your Clothes on!"

That's what I heard every morning from my Drill Sergeant when I was in basic training.

How can "We the People" of South Carolina take back OUR State Government?

For seventy-five years, I kept hoping that if I kept pulling that "R" lever on election day, eventually, common sense and integrity would begin to guide our government. I now understand that definition of insanity, you know, doing the same thing over and over expecting different results.

It's hard for a man to admit that he's wrong, but I WAS WRONG!

After seeing what happens inside that marble building in Columbia, I can tell you, the SYSTEM will not fix itself. I can expose the waste, the backroom deals, and the insiders who get rich off your hard-earned dollars, but exposure alone changes nothing unless "We the People" are willing to "Get up, get out of bed, and put our work clothes on."

As Winston Churchill said in Britain's darkest hour, "Never give up. Never give up. Never, never, never give up."

As President Trump said that day when he was shot, "Fight. Fight. Fight."

We don't need anger. We need courage. We need persistence. We need faith. Stop relying on news headlines and press releases.

Attend county council meetings, school board meetings, and candidate forums. Don't be afraid to hold your elected officials accountable for "the money." You are the most powerful watchdog!

Have conversations with friends. Use this as your topic:

"Representative White says we need men and women of character with the courage to stand against the 'good ole boy' system." He says every community has men and women who are honest, smart, and unbought, but who think politics is "too dirty." How do we convince them otherwise? How do we get them to run?

Once you identify those people, remind them that we get the government we tolerate. Help them run for office! Offer your time, your encouragement, your front yard for a yard sign, a $25 donation.

Once elected, stay engaged! Write them. Call them. If they betray your trust, don't forget it and don't support them for a second term. That's what I call term limits.

If you are not a part of a group in your community that is involved, then find one! If you can't find one, IM me. I will help you find one.

Within that group, always be trying to find men and women of character and courage to support as they run for any elected office. Remember, every day, we have to "Get up! Get out of Bed! and go to work."

If you have local independent media, SUPPORT IT! Independent journalists have the ability to expose corruption. TRUTH ultimately wins, always.

Finally, remember, stewardship, honesty, and love for our state are moral issues not political. This really isn't about "D's" versus "R's", even though I am a lifelong "R." It's about serving constituents with integrity. Our motto, "Dum Spiro Spero"--While I breathe, I hope" is still true.

Hope requires action. Action requires courage. Courage requires faith. Pray and persevere every day, not just occasionally.

Our fight is not an easy one. The insiders will laugh at us at their elitist high dollar wine events. The lobbyists will spend millions to coopt those we support and recruit. Career politicians will tell us that we are "dreaming the impossible dream" and that we can't win.

But "We the People Can” win! In fact, we must win! If we don't, our kids and grandkids will live to see the end of our "Sweet Land of Liberty."

We must never, never, never give up!