We reap what we sow.

Elkhart County Indiana Sheriff Brad Rodgers recently said that if the federal government passes additional gun laws requiring weapons registration, he would simply ignore them. The left side of the gun control debate was incensed; after all, if the federal government passes a law it is the law of the land and a mere county sheriff cannot disobey a federal law.

The law after all is the law, right? Well not so fast; marijuana is illegal at the federal level, immigration laws are federal laws that must be obeyed, correct? Sanctuary cities are federally illegal.

The upset liberals have with the Elkhart County Sheriff appears to be perfectly logical to them. A law they agree with is sacred and must be followed; a law they disagree with has no legal standing. The problem the left has is that they have opened the door to federal laws being scoffed at and that door swings both to the left and right.

President Obama and the Department of Justice have ignored drug laws and immigration laws, voting laws, and indeed former Sectary of State Hillary Clinton’s self-confessed violations of the Secrets Act. Selectively enforcing laws is a slippery slope that currently is sliding down the left side of the hill. As our nation moves once again to the right, will it be acceptable for a conservative government to be blind to Progressive/Socialist laws they consider unsuitable?

A republic is a form of government that elects its representatives and is governed by law; a democracy is majority rule exercised by the people directly or through elected representatives. We are governed by law in both cases; no exception exists saying only the laws we agree with.

One of the main reasons we see folks on the left and right (but mostly left) scoffing at federal law is the vastness of our nation and the diversity of its citizens. It is very difficult to enact laws governing nudists in Key West, Florida, and members of a Native American tribe in Wevok, Alaska, north of the Arctic Circle. The federal government has over-reached, and it is apparent when we see large numbers of the general public committing felonies without a second thought or because they are completely unaware of the law.

The founding fathers, the authors of our governing document, the American Constitution, fully realized the difficulties of centralized control of this complex diverse nation, and empowered the states with a broad power to self-govern. Over the centuries we have centralized power in Washington and allowed the federal government, and especially the president, to become an advocate through executive orders — not for the nation as a whole, but for the power base of their particular political party. Today it is the most liberal among us, tomorrow it may be the most conservative among us. The problem is it is almost never the majority of us.

Senator Bernie Sanders has given voice to the most radical folks — radical in that they wish to completely change our form of governance. After the first Democrat debate, Senator Sanders’ supporters maintained that we need socialism because our form of government is not working.

Strange, isn’t it, that we have had going on seven years of the most liberal/socialist government in our history, and some people believe the problem with our nation is we are not liberal enough. That argument is counterintuitive; things should be on a road straight to nirvana and the left should be in a state of bliss shouting the praises of the current administration. The fact that many in the left maintain the government is not working should be a wake-up call for the left.

Senator Sanders and the advocates for democratic socialism rarely define what that means. The democratic portion is fine; we are a democracy after all, and it calls for the people or elected representatives of the people to govern. The socialist portion is an economic system in which the government controls all aspects of production and distribution of the economy. Things like price controls, wage controls and the control of production and distribution of most items we require for day to day life.

Did you know it is against federal law for anyone under 13 to even look a social media site? The number and absurdity of just plain dumb federal laws is mind-blowing. As time passes we compound the errors of an over-reaching federal government with more laws than anyone could ever be aware of.

It is past time for our nation to return to the founding principles of a federal government that is not our parents, that does not control our day to day lives, and represents the majority of us, not just the vocal politically powerful minority of us.