I know that it is very easy to get discouraged with the system and give up the fight

I know that it is very easy to get discouraged with the system and give up the fight. I know sometimes it makes

sense to consider attempts to bring about transparency and accountability futile. I know many of us believe

that by voting once every few years, paying our taxes in a timely manner, and abiding by the law, we more than

fulfill our obligations as citizens of this great democratic nation. I myself used to sincerely believe that.

There have been times when I came so very close to giving up, knowing that all those available channels I had

pursued, from the Congress to the Courts, from the IG’s office to the 9/11 Commission, became rock-solid walls

and ears deafened to the voice of public concern. Giving up would have been the easiest way to stop the time,

energy, and financial resources being consumed in my fruitless battle to bring about truth, transparency, and

accountability. For me, there were times it would have been very easy to stop, to get disgusted and give up; if

it weren’t for those words of wisdom from our founding Fathers who said: "The price of liberty, is eternal

vigilance." If it weren’t for the fact that I have lived in countries where the words freedom, liberty,

transparency, and accountability represented fantasy, surrealism, and impossibility; which gave me more reasons

to treasure what this great country and its Constitution offered me as its citizen.

I was told so many times by so many people that "these issues are so troubling, but this is the mbt sport and

we can’t do anything about it. We can’t rock the boat." But stop for a second and think about it: We elect the

captains of this boat, we maintain and sustain this boat through our taxes, and we, the people, suffer the

consequences when this boat malfunctions, as we did on September 11. If we don’t have the right to rock this

boat, when this boat or part of it is badly in need of being rocked and repaired, then who does?