"...for the protection, safety, prosperity, and happiness of the people..."

"Government is instituted for the common good; for the protection, safety, prosperity, and happiness of the people; and not for profit, honor, or private interest of any one man, family, or class of men; therefore, the people alone have an incontestable, unalienable, and indefeasible right to institute government; and to reform, alter, or totally change the same, when their protection, safety, prosperity, and happiness require it." - John Adams, 1776.

Imagine a government that protected its people. Yeah, right. 

Let's talk about Jon Hammar. Jon Hammar is a 27-year-old veteran who enlisted at age 18 and served 2 tours and 4 years in Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2007, he was honorably discharged from the marines and sent home. In 2008 he was diagnosed with PTSD. He attended a PTSD treatment facility, the Pathway House, for 9 months and his family saw immediate improvements when he returned home in May of this year. In August, he and a friend that he met at the Pathway House decided to take a vacation in Costa Rica. To do this, they needed to pass through Mexico. Hammar intended to take his grandfather's antique gun with him. He clarified this with a U.S. customs agent in Texas, who advised him to fill out some paperwork to register the rifle with Mexican authorities. So when Hammar and his friend arrived in Mexico, he went to the authorities to hand in his paperwork. They ignored it and arrested him. 

Not only did they arrest him, the put him in possibly the most notorious prison in Mexico, known as CEDES, that's used to house violent drug traffickers and gangsters who literally run the institution. Since he arrived there on August 13, over four months ago, he's faced death threats and beatings from other inmates for being part of the American military, he's been in isolation, and he's been chained by the ankle to his bed. His friend, who was released after three days, says that after serving in Bukkah and Iraq he'd never seen anyone chained to a bed. And this man is just getting out of rehab for PTSD. 

Now, let's examine the arrest before anything else. Here's the problem with that: he did nothing illegal. He didn't sneak across the border and he didn't smuggle the gun in. He went to the Mexican authorities, like the U.S. authorities told him to, in order to properly register his firearm. Supposedly, the 'crime' that was committed was having a firearm that is used the Mexican military - and this is punishable by up to 15 years in prison. 

Here's the real crime: he's an American. Beginning the week he was arrested, his family began receiving phone calls from the prison demanding money in exchange, not for his release, but for his safety. The Mexican government is corrupt and believes they can use this American hero for their advantage.

The problem with that, of course, is that the American government doesn't care what happens to him. And apparently, as the December 18th, they didn't know what was happening to Hammar for the last 4 months. When asked what the White House was planning to do regarding the situation, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said, "I don't know the facts on that myself." 

Seriously? A former US marine is being held captive in Mexico and one of the most powerful people in D.C. doesn't know what's being done to help?

In all fairness to Carney, he probably doesn't know because there's nothing being done. The White House says they've been providing "consular services" since the arrest, claiming that they've been in frequent contact with Hammar and his family. The family says otherwise, saying that they've "repeatedly" been told that the U.S. State Department "can't do anything." 

Had the situation been reversed, I guarantee America wouldn't treat a Mexican traveler this way. If Hammar and his friend had entered the U.S. from Mexico, the U.S. wouldn't have cared if Hammar and his friend tried to do things the legal way because the government allows 6.1 million illegal Mexican immigrants - about 60% of total illegal immigrants -  into the country every year. Then, when Hammar had arrived, the U.S. government would've provided Spanish commercials during Spanish soap operas instructing him on how to most efficiently use the welfare system - a system that is already used by 71% of illegal immigrants. Then the government would have watched and seen whether Hammar joined the 80% of illegals who commit violent crimes. 

So had Hammar been an illegal Mexican sneaking into America, the White House couldn't helped him. But, as it is, he's an American trying to legally pass through Mexico and being tortured so the White House says, "Sorry, we've got other things to take care of - like the illegal immigrants in this country." When Abraham Lincoln was in the midst of the Civil War, he took a day each week to read letters sent from the general public and address their problems. Our President can't do that, though - he's too busy getting ready for his holiday in Hawaii. Our Secretary of State can't do that because she's too busy dealing with the Benghazi flu she's suddenly and conveniently contracted. So Jon Hammar gets to sit and wait in prison as the holidays pass by until his trial in January, when he faces 15 years in a Mexican gang prison because he tried to legally pass through the country.

Since our politicians won't do anything, we can. There are numerous online petitions right now circulating to bring Jon Hammar home. Here's one. #BringHammarHome is one way to bring attention to it on twitter and there's a facebook group too. If nothing is done, Bill O'Reilly wants a Mexico boycott and as far-fetched as that sounds, and although we know our government won't do it, it's a great idea. The U.S. government that spends $269,499,000 million to Mexico in foreign aid so that they can beat and chain our veterans. We boycotted France after they supported Osama Bin Laden a decade ago - this seems like a good enough cause to do the same to Mexico. Bring Hammar home.

God bless America.