Because the current political climate has dictated that our generation have a newfound focus on voting, it seems more than necessary for us to examine who we’re voting for.

It seems even more prevalent now, given that U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo came to Manhattan last week.

Although he hasn’t said so yet, it seems safe to assume that Pompeo — the top pick for Senate majority leader Mitch McConnel — will announce his run for the Senate and as a Kansan, he will become the new voice of our state in Congress. That can’t happen.

In Pompeo’s speech last week, he claimed that “Kansas is the heartland of America.” In a sense, that’s true.

However, Kansas is not the heartland of unoriginal politics and ignorant ideas.

When Pompeo said that our politicians have avoided “normal political process” in an effort to push “pet causes,” it became abundantly clear that not only has Pompeo never understood what it means to be an American leader but he also has never understood anything about American history. 

To say that we’ve “blurred the distinction between fundamental, universal rights and mere political or personal preferences” is disgusting. Political preferences are in deciding what party a person belongs to. Political preferences are in choosing which person to vote for. Political preferences are in exercising the rights we are guaranteed as Americans — rights that are not blurred are misguided. 

Human rights in this day and age have evolved beyond what Pompeo can comprehend. He has managed to stare in the face of the oppressed and tell them that oppression is in the eye of the beholder. It’s not. 

Minority groups are not fighting for “political preferences” just as the majority is not recognizing that is exactly what they’re doing themselves. Instead of telling his constituents to ignore an obvious reality for millions of people, Pompeo needs to acknowledge that he works for the people, because of the people instead of the conservative agenda. 

Saying that “history shouldn’t be revised” is just as foolish. Without revisions to what he defines as history, such as unalienable rights rooted in our nature, slaves, women and impoverished men would still be in the same positions they were forced into on June 21, 1788.

In addition to his politics, Pompeo is also completely unaware of the current society we live in. Saying that unalienable rights are our responsibility to preserve and protect is true in some ways, but it most definitely is not our responsibility to protect what discriminates. His belief that the Constitution should be upheld and enforced as it originated is not only unintelligent but it’s destructive to the entire growth of the democracy we’ve built and attempted to perfect over centuries.

Politicians like Pompeo only hold their positions of power because they thrive on the fact that their voters are blind to the hypocrisy behind their words. They disrespect the election process by openly misleading those who unknowingly support it. 

Rather than being the misguided voter, know who your options are. Have a well-informed decision on election day. Recognize when words are just empty promises and unfulfilled policies. Our national and state offices will become — have become–  the consequences and we’ll continue to be plagued by people like Pompeo for years to come.