I have some numbers I want you to consider on this Election Day:

25,000--That was the estimated number of Americans killed in the Revolutionary War.  The men and women who gave up their lives so that we could be free of Monarchy, to choose our own leaders and to live in a free-market society.

17,000--That was the estimated number of Americans killed in the War of 1812.  The men and women who died to cement the United States' independence and set forth our destiny to expand from sea to shining sea upon the American continent.

625,000--That was the estimated number of Americans killed in the Civil War.  The men and women who died to ensure that we would remain the UNITED STATES of America--and that all people would eventually be free and treated as equals.

405,399--That was the number of Americans killed in World War II.  The men and women who died to ensure than not just the United States but much of Europe and the Far East could be free of fascism, genocide, and occupation--and to have their own right to decide the fate and future of their nations.

3--That was the number of Council of Federated Organizations workers killed in Neshoba County, Mississippi in 1964.  The men who died trying to help Blacks in the Jim Crow South to exercise their Constitutional right to vote and to be part of their government in the face of institutional racism.

6,518--That is the number--to date--of Americans killed in the War On Terror.  The men and women who died on 9/11 and those who have died fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq to protect us from religious zealotry and fear,

I want you to think about those numbers when you consider NOT voting today.  When you think that the line is too long, or your vote doesn't matter, or you didn't pay attention to what races are on the ballot today or you are just "too busy" to get to the polls.  Think about the sacrifice those people made so that we can enjoy this incredible privilege to be able to craft our own government, our own society and our own freedoms.

Get out and vote.