Said Nigel Farage recently: “I would not vote for Hillary Clinton if she paid me to.”

On June 23, 2016, the voters of Great Britain declared independence from the European Union. Rule Britannia! Nigel Farage helped voters to understand the issues. The Brits no longer wished to be under—yes, under– the rule of the EU. The Brits wanted to decide their own immigration policies. They wanted their own trade policies and better fishing rights. In short, they wanted their own representative government to govern with the consent of the British people, not by a tangle of rules from the EU. Similar themes are a part of American politics as American voters approach the November election. Which of the four candidates should we choose? With Clinton, we would have a centralized government with its EU style diktats. Elections would become a bare fig leaf of tiny window dressing as representative government shrinks. Donald Trump’s immigration policy begins with “good fences make good neighbors,” or at least a step in that direction. A good fence insists we respect each other. How can there be peace if we do not respect each other?  Two other candidates? Who knows? They do not seem to know how government can be a blessing and a curse.

Leonidas Miller, Mattoon resident