It Occurs to Me
The Government We Deserve
By Michelle Anderson
Jun 23, 2006 - 8:54:00 PM

This morning, someone said to me, "We get the kind of government we deserve."

I used to believe that, but now I disagree entirely.

I think we get the kind of government that the majority deserves.

I don't deserve a government that denies my First Amendment rights, because I fight mightily for those rights, not just for me, but even for those who don't understand how important it is and whyl

I don't deserve a government that has voided the Fourth Amendment, because I have studied and try to pass on the knowledge of that right to those who do not understand it.

I don't deserve a town government which feels that it is a-okay to designate our newspaper a "threat to the community" and seek not only to shut us up, but to shut us down.

I don't deserve to have a town council, the majority of which will not return my phone calls or talk to me, as a citizen, on the street or in the town hall. (And one who said in a session and on TV, "not interested in responding to anything that Michelle Anderson has to ask," and then sitting silent.)

I don't deserve to be labeled a "kook," "malcontent," or "troublemaker" because I publicly and ardently insist upon my civil rights.

I don't deserve to get death threats because I stand up and loudly say, "No! You cannot do this. You are public servants, not dictators!"

• I have had "Do Not Accept Checks From" signs put up in stores in which I have NEVER shopped, either with or without a check;
• I have had death threats on my phone in the middle of the night;
• I can no longer get any local heating oil company to deliver oil to me or to even return a phone call;
• I cannot get a local plumber out here or to return a phone call;
• I have had a bar owner stand up in a council meeting and call my husband and I names because he said we are "Rush Limbaugh followers";
• I have had the same bar owner stand outside the same council meeting and hand out forged paperwork that connected me and my husband with vile mail sent anonymously from the west coast and say, "THIS is what the Andersons are up to";
• I have been physically threatened in a council chambers after the meeting, and when I took out a restraining order against this man, I had my 20-year old drug record put on the front page. (Note: I have been clean and sober for more than 18 years now, but that was not mentioned in that front page article.);
• I have had members of the Millinocket Town Council and MAGIC tell people not to enter my place of business, and to this day, I have 2 clients who have sworn me to secrecy about our work relationship because they fear for their jobs.

I could go on, but I don't want to be a complainer. I simply want to say that at every turn, I try to educate people about their rights and their government, and I do not deserve the government that the majority has earned.

So I wish that statement would be amended to "We get the kind of government the majority deserves and our public schools teach them to want."