May 4, 2010 -- "I deny the power of the government to make paper money or anything else as legal tender." -- Thomas Jefferson.

The power and tyranny of government is blamed as the cause of many of our problems. But, in the end, we (the voters) must take the blame for what happens to us. Democracy depends on the intelligence of the people. There is nothing as powerful for the preservation of freedom as an informed electorate.

Now the newspaper industry is in deep trouble (the San Diego Union has just been sold). Fewer and fewer Americans read newspapers. And many newspapers across America are dying. This is depressing, but all is not lost. Electronic communication is taking the place of newspapers -- I think. Today we have cell phones, search engines, TV, the Internet, all new and exciting sources of information.

When dictators attempt to take over and brainwash a nation, they concentrate on three areas.

(1) They close the newspapers and take over the radio and TV stations and ban all sources of free information (China has in effect, banned Google).

(2) They outlaw all weapons, so the population cannot rise and overthrow the dictators.

(3) They ban gold, so that those who want to cross the borders and escape cannot do so.

Electronic information brought down the Soviet Union and Communism. Cell phones are now the enemy of the dictatorial government of North Korea.

But in the end, it's up to the people to bring about the kind of government they want. "We give you a republic," challenged Benjamin Franklin -- if you can keep it." Every voting American should post those words on his wall, as a wake-up call and as a warning.

The best guarantor of freedom is an educated populace. The greatest enemy of every dictator is an informed and armed populace.