To Preserve, Protect, and Defend ...

Twelve months ago, Sherpa and more than 1,000 other Red Bull soldiers--plus other Iowa soldiers and airmen--were mobilized on state orders with about 3 days' notice. We assembled, conducted last-minute training and certification, and moved by air and ground to our nation's capital. There, the troops were deputized as District of Columbia Special Police, in order to assist in the security and traffic control efforts during the inauguration of Sen. Barrak Obama (D-Ill.) as the 44th President of the United States.

Like I've said before, I'm a pretty non-political kind of guy. Put another way, I'm not paid enough to have an opinion. Like a whole bunch of other middle-of-the-road, salt-of-the-earth Americans we know, however, times are kinda tough for me and the family. I'd like things to be better. I'd like healthcare and banking and taxes all fixed in favor of the little guy. (And, as a citizen-soldier and veteran who is sometimes eligible for what some people call "public-option healthcare" or "socialized medicine," I wonder what all the fuss is about.) I'd like my country's political system to work More and Better.

I don't care whether you're a member of the "Just Say No ... to Everything" Republicans, or a member of the "Gang that Couldn't Shoot Straight" Democrats--I think we'd all do well to take a deep breath sometimes, and remember what it feels like to stand on the National Mall, or on a Washington D.C. street corner, or in front of a television set in Iowa, to watch the simple and supreme act of our collective faith in the union: It all comes down to votes and words, and we peacefully transition power between governments.

Show me a country that does that better (and as often), while also--despite popular mobs and special interests--occasionally demonstrating a propensity toward progress.

In short, democracy rules ...

And Jefferson lives.

Let's roll.