Once there were Americans who cared about civil liberties. Once people would protest in the streets against warrantless wiretaps, secret kill lists, indefinite detention and assassination of U.S. citizens. Yet many of the people who allegedly cared about such things earnestly cheered the perpetrator of these deeds in Charlotte.

I remember when Republicans could be taken seriously when they talked about financial responsibility. Yet Mitt Romney’s Etch A Sketch is already blank. All he has to offer in response to Barack Obama’s “security” excesses is an awkward fist bump.

We are borrowing more than $4,000 per citizen per year, and neither candidate has a non-fantasy plan to change that. We have far more to fear from that level of fiscal negligence than anything al-Qaida has to offer.

There is someone running who is serious about protecting our liberties, both civil and economic, and who had the experience to back it up: former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson.

Voting for the status quo, whether a Democrat or Republican and expecting change, is the biggest waste of a vote.

Investigate Johnson, and make an informed decision.

Tom Tapp

Cedar Rapids