Returning from a shopping trip over a year ago, our car was hit by a motorist coming from a side street. Within a few minutes of the accident, an emergency vehicle appeared. Fortunately, no one was seriously injured, but they did treat my husband’s bruised leg. The county police arrived to direct traffic, take testimony from witnesses, and write an accident report. The report became part of the public record. The police stayed until a friend came to take us home.

We live thirty miles from a U.S. naval base. It’s part of the nation’s defense system.

Further down Puget Sound is the Port of Seattle. Federal inspectors monitor the cargos of ships arriving from diverse countries. Do any contain contaminated food? Toys painted with toxic chemicals?

Over on the Olympic Peninsula a few years ago, a U.S. customs inspector noticed that an Algerian entering on a ferry from Canada appeared nervous. An investigation revealed that Ahmed Ressam’s car trunk contained explosives. Ressam said they were to be used to bomb the Los Angeles International Airport. The U.S. agent’s alertness prevented a terrorist tragedy.

Criticism is part of the democratic process. We complain and disagree about what our governments do and don’t do as well as what they should and should not do. Accountability must be part of any system if it is to do its job. After all, our services are paid for by our taxes. We have every right to require that they be spent wisely and honestly.

I temporarily mute my criticism, however, when I read of the toll that the Ebola virus is taking on underdeveloped health and medical systems in Liberia and other countries. The disease, though horrible, can be contained with proper public health measures. Unfortunately, the countries do not have a Centers for Disease Control as exists in the United States to monitor and cut the spread of Ebola.

We have every right to debate and examine our government programs. If we wish to continue the many good things our government does provide for us, however, we must pay for them with our taxes.