My Book of Common Days

Newt Gingrich? Honestly?

2012-01-24T15:49:00.000-08:00

George Washington, in his first inaugural address said:

“No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand, which conducts the Affairs of men more than the People of the United States. Every step, by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation, seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency.”

John Adams said:

“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

Providential agency is to be acknowledged in the Founding of this country and the government was made for, and is only serviceable to, a moral and a religious people.

Hmmm.

Thomas Jefferson:

“He who permits himself to tell a lie once, finds it much easier to do it a second and a third time, till at length it becomes habitual; he tells lies without attending to it, and truths without the world’s believing him. This falsehood of the tongue leads to that of the heart, and in time depraves all its good dispositions.”

And, lastly from Sam Adams:

“The public cannot be too curious concerning the character of public men.”

Newt Gingrich finished on top in South Carolina. WHAT are we thinking??

Aren’t we even concerned that a man who rivals Bill Clinton for moral depravity may once again grace the White House? I know Obama the Dictator is bad, but Newt as the replacement? Really?

If the Author and Finisher of our faith cared so much about us, and about Liberty to have a hand in founding this country, will we now say “no thanks”? Will we approve a man who is a serial adulterer over other good and decent men?

If our Heavenly Father took such great care to raise up wise men to Found this nation, can we now be ambivalent to the character of the men we choose?

What happened to Integrity? Character? Honesty? Honor?

The definition of insanity is doing the same things again and again, but expecting different results. Is ANYONE happy with the morals and character of our elected representatives these days?

How often do you hear “they’re just a bunch of crooks”? Well STOP electing crooks!

“They’re just a bunch of slimeballs”; STOP electing slimeballs!

I have not been a Mitt Romney fan; I was last election--come on, John McCain?? I was a supporter of Romney last election, but this time, I’m more conservative than I was then, and Romney hasn’t been my guy; until now.

I’ve been in an lengthy discussion on Facebook about forgiveness, and how I’m not being forgiving of Newt; well, *I* don’t have any reason to forgive Newt, he hasn’t done anything TO me. I don’t NOT forgive him either; he has to ask his Father in Heaven for that; I don’t however have to trust him one way or the other; here’s what I do know:

Doctrine and Covenants 82:3

“For of him unto whom much is given much is required; and he who sins against the greater light shall receive the greater condemnation.”

And that’s not about forgiving Newt Gingrich; it’s about US.

Could we say, as American’s with a divine document as our foundation, that much has been given? Can we honestly doubt the hand of God in our government? Our Founding Father’s believed it, are we so much more “enlightened” that we can safely shun that ideal?
Much HAS been given to us, and MUCH is expected of us in return; how we handle the reigns of liberty will be weighed against us just as readily as any other sin we might commit. Do not take lightly the trust your Heavenly Father has placed in you, and do not take lightly the responsibility to be “curious about our public men.”

If we can’t be too careful, as Sam Adams reminds us, how is it that someone who has cheated on two wives can be trusted to not be a liar and a cheat again?

Can we trust a person, man or woman, who has had a $300,000 ethics fine while serving in the public trust? I say no.

I don’t understand how Newt can be favored over two men of valiant character; how can Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney both be rejected for Newt the slimeball?

Heavenly Father IS mindful, and if we aren’t careful, if we don’t hold our elected representatives to a higher standard, one that we should hold ourselves to, then not only will he be our “elected representative”, but he will be a representation of how far American’s have sunk morally.

Proverbs 3:5-6:

“5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine ownunderstanding.

6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

Pray for guidance, and look to George Washington as a model for our public men and women; use the General as the example to measure the others against.

The “Indispensible Man” is needed once again. Now. Even yesterday.

What a Wonderful Book Year it Was

2012-01-11T12:08:00.000-08:00

Well, I’m a tad embarrassed. I exceeded my reading goal by a wide margin; not because I meant to, but because I got the numbers wrong.

You see, I thought I’d given myself the goal of 40 books, so to have read 43 was over, but nothing spectacular. I just went to check my booklist post from January, and found that I’d only committed to THIRTY books, not forty. Wow. How lame am I?

So, yes, I read 43 books this year; some new to me authors, some old favorites, and a couple “Several days of my life I will never get back” books.

I find I adore Gene Stratton-Porter; I’d read “Laddie: A True Blue Story” for the second time, and was asked if I’d ever read “The Girl of the Limberlost”; I said I hadn’t, and was encouraged to do so--thank you Anne! I devoured it, and moved on to four more GSP books in than six weeks. Wow.

Courage, compassion, honor, integrity, endurance, love, tenderness; all this and more are embodied in her novels, at least these six that I read.

I highly, highly recommend them.

This was my first experience reading any Kipling; I think I’d tried once before and was not impressed and put the book away. I decided this year, that I knew “The Jungle Book” (you know, because of Disney, we know the Jungle Book, right?), and decided to give it a try. Boy was I surprised. What Disney gave us was a FRACTION of the story, and there are several OTHER stories that I had no idea were from “The Jungle Book”. I loved it, and will not ever trust Disney again to give me the whole story.

That being said, I loved it enough to go on to read “Captains Courageous” also by Kipling; I can’t say that I LOVED this book, but I can say that I have a greater appreciation for Kipling and I love the WAY he writes; I will be adding “Kim” to my reading list soon, maybe not this year, but soon.One that didn’t make the list, because I can’t officially say I “finished” it is “The Last of the Mohicans” by Hawthorne; {gasp} what a boring book! If you loved it, I’m so sorry, but I hated it! We listened to it going cross country last summer, and I COULD NOT stay awake; boring and confusing ( I fully admit that the confusion may be because I kept falling asleep, but my husband was driving and HE was bored and confused too); never again. Done.

Another one I hated was “Redwall”; I know, I know, don’t throw rocks, but BAH! What a boring book. I did finish it, because it was the first book of the New Year that I was reading and I HAD to, but good grief, I’ll not read the rest of the series, no thanks.

I read several of the Narnia books, and that’s like a visit with an old friend-although we’ve only been acquainted for about 6 years, they go deep into my heart and will live there a good, long time.

As usual, I read plenty of non-fiction, which is my favorite place to be; there is great evil coming, but there is great strength and courage to draw from.
If I could recommend one, it would be “The Real Thomas Jefferson”; how I love this man. The picture that has been painted of this great man through years of Progressive led education is made up of lies and distortions; read this book.

I also recommend “The Coming Insurrection” by the Invisible Committee; this book details the evil that was coming and is now here; the occupy movement handbook if you will.

Another one I highly recommend is “How Evil Works” by David Kupelian; I was enlightened on how evil grabs us, and how to watch for the snares.

On to 2012.

I’m reading Glenn Beck’s “Being George Washington” right now, and so far I love it; I also have several holdovers that I didn’t get to in 2011, two of which I’m in the middle of, and while they are fabulous, I can’t go too fast, because there is SO much to take in; “An Enemy Hath Done This” by Ezra Taft Benson, and “Original Intent” by David Barton. Both highly recommended, thus far.

I also want to get to “Jesus the Christ” by James E. Talmadge this year as well as “George Washington’s Sacred Fire” by Peter Lillback.

I have a whole stack, I suppose I should get busy!

I think this year my goal WILL be forty, obviously I can make it. giggle.

All in all, it was a wonderful book year. How about you? What did you read?

Happy New Year, go get a book!!

Change is Our Only Hope

2012-01-04T22:58:00.000-08:00

You might think, from the title that I’m referring to Obama’s mantra of “Hope” and “Change”; in a sense I am. I had posted “‘Change’ is our only ‘Hope’” as my Facebook status the other day; at least that’s how it started.

I realized afterwards that it goes much, much deeper than just who gets elected as the next President.

The Thirteen Colonies were established because there is, deep within each of us, a yearning for Liberty; and religious liberty was a primary concern. With these liberties available here, religion flourished, and by the time the Declaration of Independence was signed, the colonies were a patchwork of religious sects; diversity wasn’t even a catchword then.

John Adams said “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

He meant it; most of our Founding Fathers also meant it.

Read the writings of Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Samuel Adams and others; they believed in “Divine Providence” and “the Invisible Hand” guiding the fortunes of America, and the need for us to be a moral people for the republic to flourish; the history we’ve all been taught in public schools is wrong.

2 Corinthians 3:17 tells us:
“Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”

Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is Liberty.

Look back over the ages past, and you’ll notice that the United States of America, the Republic we were blessed to be born in, has enjoyed the longest and most prosperous union of any other nation in the history of the WORLD. Why?

Because of the Judeo-Christian principles that permeated society for the first 100 years; this was the unquestioned standard until the middle of the last century; God was present and accepted and cherished.

Fast forward nearly 160 years after the signing of the Constitution; religion came under attack, and in doing so put the Republic in peril. Knowing what we know, these being the Last Days, this really isn’t a surprise.

The march of anti-religious sentiment has kept a steady pace with prayer being forbidden in most any public institution.

How did we get here? What can we do?

It started simply enough 1947, when the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) essentially “federalized” the First Amendment; it has been turned AGAINST the people and AGAINST the states since that time, completely turning the meaning on its head, despite the writings of the Framers of the Constitution and those we consider the Founding Fathers.

First Amendment
“Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

It’s very simple.

There are many cases, but one highlights the blatant disregard given to the Framers:

In the case “Lee vs. Weisman; 1992”, (prayer at school graduations), Justice Souter, in a most arrogant assessment, dismissing historical precedent, claimed that the Framers of the Constitution “simply did not share a common understanding of the ‘Establishment Clause’” and that they tended to “raise constitutional ideals one day and turn their back the next.”

Justice Souter claims to know more about the Constitution and the INTENT of the Framers than they themselves knew and meant and WROTE ABOUT. Incredible.

Thomas Jefferson was rightly concerned about a Federal judiciary; he said “The Constitution…is a mere thing of wax in the hands of the judiciary which they may twist and shape into any form they please.”
He was spot on.

We, as a populace got lazy; and by and large, we let this happen; we remained silent while this precious liberty has all but evaporated.

I found this in 1 Corinthians 8:9:
“But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumblingblock to them that are weak.”

We were weak; we let others handle the burdens of liberty and they had (and have still today) an agenda; in league with the Enemy of all mankind.

We were not diligent in our stewardship over the Constitution of the United States of America, and we got Justices like Souter as a reward-and he’s just the example of the day. I suggest you read “Original Intent” by David Barton; no revisionist history here; only original sources, quotes and examples. It’s quite enlightening.

Do you realize that at the start of 2012, FORTY THOUSAND new laws were put on the books across the country? FORTY THOUSAND new flaxen threads, to bind your liberties, all across these fruited plains.

How do we save our beloved Republic?

Here’s what Moroni did in Alma 46:

12 "And it came to pass that he rent his coat; and he took a piece thereof, and wrote upon it—In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children—and he fastened it upon the end of a pole.

13 And he fastened on his head-plate, and his breastplate, and his shields, and girded on his armor about his loins; and he took the pole, which had on the end thereof his rent coat, (and he called it the title of liberty) and he bowed himself to the earth, and he prayed mightily unto his God for the blessings of liberty to rest upon his brethren, so long as there should a band of Christians remain to possess the land"

I’m not asking that you rip your clothing and place it on a pole for your neighbors to see; I am asking that you behave like Christians. I’d love it if you found my brand of Christianity to your liking, but that’s not even what this is about. It’s about BEHAVING in a Christlike fashion. Help others to see that being good, and kind and honest and trustworthy is a worthy goal. Loving your fellowman regardless of the differences you may have between you. The best way to convert someone to your way of thinking is to be what you profess to be.

Insist on prayer in your home; when you have company over, have a family prayer with them before they leave; let them know that you value God, and that you value them.

We have to change OUR hearts, OUR minds, and OUR examples before we can hope to influence a nation.

I heard someone on Glenn Beck’s program today say that he didn’t believe that God cares much about elections. I vehemently disagree.

Doctrine and Covenants 101:
77 “According to the laws and constitution of the people, which I have suffered to be established, and should be maintained for the rights and protection of all flesh, according to just and holy principles.”

80 “And for this purpose have I established the Constitution of this land, by the hands of wise men whom I raised up unto this very purpose, and redeemed the land by the shedding of blood.

If our Heavenly Father isn’t interested in elections, he wouldn’t have given us a Divine document that needed preservation, and set up within that document the methods for election, nor would he have “raised up” wise men as an example to us. I believe God cares very much about elections, about the United States of American and about Liberty.

“Our God, our religion, our freedom, our peace, our wives and our children”’ these are the things that matter; notice that Moroni puts liberty as third on the list of things to fight for AFTER our God and our religion. Mighty important.Throughout history, when people leave God, God leaves them; change is our only hope, and it starts with us.

Just for Today

2012-01-01T00:00:00.000-08:00

It’s New Year’s Day again, and just for today, I’m going to pretend that everything is perfect.

I’m going to pretend that I’m a fabulous cook, that I’m back into my “real” clothes; I’m going to pretend that I’m a tidy housekeeper and I’m going to pretend that I’m a fabulous Constitutionalist and historian.

I’m even going to pretend that the world isn’t on fire.

Just for today.

May you have a Happy, Blessed and Prosperous New Year!

A Day of Publick Thanksgiving and Prayer

2011-11-23T16:03:00.000-08:00

It's time for George Washington's first Thanksgiving Proclamation again; I know I posted it last year, but my heart is so tender toward the General that I feel impressed to share it again.
People will tell you that Mr. Washington was not a man of God. I beg to differ. He was sincere in his devotion and his understanding of the role that Divine Providence played was deep.
Please read his words, take them into your heart and find the way to make yourself a better person by taking his advice.
His initial goal was to make the day one of service to our God. He wasn't telling us which God to serve, only that we must be filled with the idea that we owe EVERYTHING to Him who lends us breath, and on this, Thanksgiving Day, we should be in the attitude of continual prayer.

We are at a place in our country now, that prayers by all of us are needed to restore the Constitution and to steer us away from Communism. Please, I know it's evolved into a day of football and family, make time today to pray fervently to your Father in Heaven, not only in gratitude for the magificent blessings we have both personally and as a nation, but also in humble supplication for the restoration of our Republic.

I give you George Washington's First Thanksgiving Proclamation; it's not long, please read it.

God Bless you on this day of Thanksgiving.
WHEREAS it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favour; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me "to recommend to the people of the United States a DAY OF PUBLICK THANKSGIVING and PRAYER, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:
NOW THEREFORE, I do recommend and assign THURSDAY, the TWENTY-SIXTH DAY of NOVEMBER next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed;-- for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish Constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted;-- for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge;-- and, in general, for all the great and various favours which He has been pleased to confer upon us.
And also, that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions;-- to enable us all, whether in publick or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shewn kindness unto us); and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.
GIVEN under my hand, at the city of New-York, the third day of October, in the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine.

(signed) G. Washington

Source: The Massachusetts Centinel, Wednesday, October 14, 1789

Gettysburg Address

2011-11-19T11:42:00.000-08:00

On this day, in 1863, Abraham Lincoln gave a most moving speech; for us, today it is a touchstone for our time.

Many revile Lincoln, having suspended states rights and abolished slavery which stepped on "property rights"; I would like to posit that Lincoln was acting as God would have him do. He was a prayerful man, and it is my firm belief that he was acting according to the spirit. He restored states rights in the end and righted a terrible wrong as well. Until we meet God face to face, and the questions of the ages are answered, I will hold Lincoln in high regard, and bless his name for all the good that he did.

Lincoln's words resonate with us, because of the times in which we find ourselves. These are dark times, with evil growing around us. Communism is on the rise and we have "king-men" elected to high places. Many have died for the freedoms that these evil and designing men which to usurp; let us not forget their bravery, their sacrifice, but rise up and take back the government from those who would bind us into modern day slavery.

I have been to this battlefield, the spirit is strong there; those who have sacrificed are continuing participants still in the cause of freedom.

Gettysburg; November 19, 1863

“Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.”

Food Freedom and You

2011-09-26T12:31:00.000-07:00

Please read this article; it's frightening in it' scope. An activist judge has defined your rights.

Is Your Choice of Food a Fundamental Right?

Please, please, please, read this and pass it on. Make the power of the Social Network work for us.

The Loss of Liberties and Resources

2011-08-25T15:02:00.000-07:00

I've been pondering lately the loss of our Liberties around the country. Have you noticed it too?

By small and seemingly inconsequential methods, the government is encroaching further and further into our lives; taking more and more of our liberties and our resources, without our consent, "for the greater good".

Take today for example. I went to the local hardware big box store--it's called Jerry's; if you get over my way, check out Jerry's, they are fabulous!

Anyway, we bought a gallon of paint for a project we're engaged in. As of July 1, 2010 a seventy-five cent charge has been added to the purchase of a gallon of paint. The fees will be collected at the time of purchase by all companies who sell paint in the State of Oregon. These fees will be used by PaintCare.org to fund the recycling & disposal of architectural paint. There are various fees, for various amounts of paint.

I don't WANT to pay SEVENTY-FIVE cents a GALLON to fund this non-profit company; I don't want to pay for a program I will NOT BE USING! I don't recycle paint. I SAVE paint. I USE my paint. I won't BE PARTICIPATING, so why should I have to pay a SEVENTY-FIVE cents PER GALLON OF PAINT????

Because I live in Leftistville, I am FORCED to participate in a program that I'm not interested in using. This has taken away my liberties and my resources.

Let's say I plan to use 10 gallons of paint. The 1-5 gal fee is $1.60; I certainly HOPE that means $1.60 for the ENTIRE 5 gallons, but this is Leftistville in which I live, so there is really no telling from the way it's worded. So, I use 10 gallons and am forced to pay $3.20 ON TOP OF THE COST OF MY PAINT for some government worker to do WHAT with it? Hand it out??? Sell it??? It's MY MONEY!

This is what Frederic Bastiat called "Legalized Plunder" my friends. It's MY THREE DOLLARS AND TWENTY CENTS! I no longer have the FREEDOM to use that money in the marketplace for my own pursuit of happiness. My resources have been stolen from me against my will to go to a program that I WILL NOT BENEFIT FROM.

Our Founders recognized one of our basic rights was the pursuit of happiness; with additional readings from Leonard E. Read founder of The Foundation for Economic Education, I have come to understand that the pursuit of happiness means essentially, the right to the use of the fruits of my labor. Some legislator, some bureaucrat somewhere, pushed by the enviro-wacko lobbyists has stolen the fruits of my labors to the tune of SEVENTY-FIVE cents a gallon.

Even at the rate of $1.60 for five gallons, if I use two of those for a total of $3.20, that's at least a gallon of milk that my family would not be able to purchase.

This is how they get us folks. Make things so difficult, so cumbersome and expensive that eventually, the population will turn to the government to live. That's what they want.

Think of all the "fees" and "taxes" that seem small, but add up to a whopping number individually and as a family. They are slowly but surely squeezing the middle class.

Watch for other encroachments; watch carefully, you’ll be amazed at how much we’ve given up by those flaxen cords.

I urge you to contact this paint recovery program and complain. I wrote a letter asking how I could opt out and I hope you do too.

Contact Paintcare:

Alison Keane, Executive Director
1500 Rhode Island Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20005
202-719-3703

akeane@paint.org

Independence Day!

2011-07-04T01:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday in church we sang “America the Beautiful” for our opening hymn; I don’t think I’ve sung that fully since grade school. As you may have guessed, I have a few thoughts.

The first verse, we’ve all heard, I’m putting an asterisk at the beginning of the chorus:

“Oh, beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain, for purple mountain majesties, above the fruited plain! *America! America! God shed his grace on thee, and crown thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea.”

The second verse is where it gets interesting:
“Oh beautiful for pilgrim feet, whose stern impassioned stress a thoroughfare of freedom beat across the wilderness!

*America! America! God mend thine every flaw, confirm thy soul in self control, thy liberty in law.”

Do you see it? It’s almost a prayer! “God mend thine every flaw”

As if to say “We know we’re not perfect, but we implore God to make us better!”

Ok, let’s go on:

“Oh beautiful for heroes proved in liberating strife, who more than self their country loved, and mercy more than life! *America! America! May God thy gold refine, till all success be nobleness, and every gain divine.”

There it is again, this time, a hope that God will refine us and make us the best we can be!

Now the fourth verse:

“Oh beautiful for patriot dream that sees beyond the years, thine alabaster cities gleam, undimmed by human tears! *America! America! God shed his grace on thee, and crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea.”

The expectation of the future; we will grow and prosper in our freedom, and not even the grief we may experience will dim the light of our Republic.

Now I’m fully aware that you may see these verses differently; that you may not have the same message that I got today; but the spirit bore witness to me today of the greatness of this country, of the Divinity of our Constitution and the exceptionalisim that is the United States of America, and I needed to share that with you.

As a Latter-day Saint, I know that the Constitution of our Republic was inspired of God; that our Heavenly Father raised up wise men for the very purpose of forming this country.

Brigham Young said “The form of the government of the United States differs but little from that of the Kingdom of God.” (Thank you DoriAnn!)
When Isaiah prophesied about the Savior’s birth, and said the “government will be upon his shoulders”, most people look at that as meaning during the Millennial era; I think it means that, of course, but I believe it also means now, today. We have the document, a sacred document, to rule ourselves in a Godly fashion. We need to take more time, more care in defending and preserving and restoring that sacred document.

Let the words to the sacred patriotic hymns buoy you up, fill your soul with love for the Constitution and our Founding Fathers. They’ve left us a legacy that is hanging by a thread; let’s not let it break.

Memorial Day: A History

2011-05-30T05:00:00.000-07:00

I found these two excerpts in an old book that I have on my shelf; it’s my “go to” book for wonderful thoughts on Memorial Day.

As I ponder the great and ultimate sacrifice of so many, I feel the only thing I can do is pray for our beloved Republic, and say God Bless the United States of America. May she endure the assault from within, and remain the shining light on the hill.

Memorial Day is a creation growing out of the sentiment of the times in which it originated. It has been the custom in several countries of the Old World to decorate the graves of soldiers, but in no other country is it made a day of national observance as it is no known in the north and south of the United States. Its observance at first grew spontaneously from the tender rememberance of the relatives and others who survived the war for the Union. The practice of fixing a day for visiting the graves of the fallen soldiers and strewing them with flowers commenced in the early years of the Civil War of 1861-1865. But different days for some time were observed in different localities. It is a well ascertained fact that on April 13, 1862, just one year after the fall of Fort Sumter, Mrs. Sarah Nicholas Evans, with the wife and two daughters of Chaplain May of the Second Regiment, Michigan Volunteers, decorated the graves of a number of soldiers buried on Arlington Heights, VA. In May of the next year, these ladies again performed the same loving service. In May of the following year, they also rendered the same sadly pleasant attention to the graves of soldiers buried at Fredericksburg, Va. The custom gradually became more general…and at length President U.S. Grant and several Governors were led to unite in recommending the observance of the same day, and in 1874 by Congressional enactment, a ceremonial so significant of the nation’s obligation to the dead, they decided upon May 30^th as a legal holiday--now known as Decoration Day in nearly every State of the Union.

“Thoughts for the Occasion; Patriotic and Secular”

E.B. Treat; Chicago 1894

The Nobility of Patriotism

It is appropriate and just that we should commemorate the services of those who fought during this long struggle. All nations, ancient and modern, Christian and heathen, have religiously cherished the memories of those who have fallen in the military service of their country. The reason is obvious: to peril life in the national defense is the severest test of patriotism, and the spirit which prompts that sacrifice deserves enduring honor; while the homage which it receives educates and develops that noble sentiment which is the only security for the continuous life of nations. So long as its sons are willing to die for their motherland, so long will it endure to shelter and bless them and their children. At the hour when a people shall be unwilling to abide this test, they will find that they have no longer a country worth saving, and those lives they will have deemed more valuable than honor and freedom transmitted undimmed through centuries of glorious national life, may prove to be an intolerable burden of humiliation, misery and disgrace.

ibid pp. 119-120

February 22, 1732

2011-02-22T00:01:00.000-08:00

Nearly 280 years ago, George Washington, the Father of our country was born. He lived to the age of 67, passing away December 14, 1799.

This man was a man of character and responsibility; he was honest, humble and steadfast. He suffered with the Continental army through deprivation and even used some of his personal funds to pay the enlisted men.

It has been said that George Washington was a Deist. Let’s define that:

Deism-noun

1. belief in the existence of a god on the evidence of reason and nature only, with rejection of supernatural revelation ( distinguished from theism).

2. belief in a God who created the world but has since remained indifferent to it.

I want to let President Washington himself tell us what he believes, in his own words.

"It will ever be the first wish of my heart to aid your pious endeavors to inculcate a due sense of the dependence we ought to place in that all-wise and powerful Being on whom alone our success depends."

"We have...abundant reason to thank Providence for its many favorable interpositions in our behalf. It has at times been my only dependence, for all other resources seemed to have failed us."

"The Hand of providence has been so conspicuous in all this, that he must be worse than in infidel that lacks faith, and more than wicked, that has not gratitude enough to acknowledge his obligations."

"When I contemplate the interposition of Providence, as it was manifested in guiding us through the revolution, in preparing us for the reception of a general government, and in conciliating the good will of the people of America toward one another after its adoption, I feel myself...almost overwhelmed with a sense of the divine munificence."

"No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand which conducts the affairs of men, more than the people of the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency."

"I am sure there never was a people who had more reason to acknowledge a divine interposition in their affairs than those of the United States; and I should be pained to believe that they have forgotten that agency which was so often manifested during our revolution, or that they failed to consider the omnipotence of that God who is alone able to protect them."

“If such talents as I possess have been called into action by great events, and those events have terminated happily for our country, the glory should be ascribed to the manifest interposition of an overruling Providence.”

“I was but the humble agent of favoring Heaven, whose benign interference was so often manifested in our behalf, and to whom the praise of victory alone is due.”

Now, do those sound like the words of someone who believes that God created everything and moved on? It certainly doesn't to me.

George Washington was a man of God and we sorely need another one today.

Happy Birthday Mr. President!

Muslim Brotherhood and Liberty

2011-02-16T16:31:00.000-08:00

Egypt has fallen; it’s fallen from a dictator into military rule. On the one hand, we say “hooray, the dictator is out!”; on the other hand, we say “good heavens, the military has taken control!”; the strong arm of a dictator or the strong arm of the military?

For the good people of Egypt, this is jumping from the frying pan, into the fire. Neither one a rosy picture.

Recently, the National Intelligence Director said that the “Muslim Brotherhood”, a group working to oust Mubarak, was a “largely secular group…”

Wait! What did he just say?? “secular”?? Are you kidding me?? Look again at the NAME of the group…MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD.

That’s like saying Al Capone only wanted to help little old ladies cross the street and was completely misunderstood.
This man, James Clapper, should be fired.

The Muslim Brotherhood was founded in 1928 to RESTORE Islamic supremacy and to work toward implementation of sharia law under a Khalifah, or Caliphate.
A Caliphate is rule under a Caliph, an Islamic leader who claims his succession from Muhammad. In other words, government by theocratic rule; under Islam.
Great.

Freedom of Religion? None. Freedom for women? None. Freedom to be gay? None. Freedom to protest your government? None.

Egypt is the only country in the Middle East, with a peace treaty with Israel; if it becomes a Caliphate, the treaty will fail, and Israel will be alone in the region; a very tiny alone, with gigantic powerhouses of hate for neighbors.
Great.

Today the military appointed a fundamentalist Islamic judge to help sort things out.
Great.

Have a read, Pamela Gellar at Atlas Shrugs spells it all out quite well.

Things are going to get ugly.

Great.

A Centennial Celebration

2011-02-04T23:40:00.000-08:00

Sunday is Ronald Reagan's 100th birthday. It's because of him that I became interested in politics.
His wit and his warmth, wove the welcome mat to the door of my political awakening.
I had registered to vote in High School; I think everyone did that spring, because we got extra credit for doing so. That was the end of it as far as I was concerned; I didn't pay any attention at all, for the next year or so.

There was a vague knowledge that Iran was holding some Americans hostage, but by then, I was 19; that was literally, a world away.
I don't even remember if I voted that November of 1980.
Something happened though; Ronald Reagan, our 44th president, was being sworn in and at the same time, the hostages were flying home.
It quickly became obvious the terrorists knew President Reagan was not of the same mold; not cut from the same cloth as the previous president, Jimmy Carter. No tip toeing around; no negotiating.
They were acutely aware that this new president was a man who meant what he said, and said what he meant. He would come after them; hunt them down and get our citizens back safe.
Mr. Reagan never backed down. I still get choked up when I hear a clip of him in West Berlin at the Brandenburg Gate: "Mr. Gorbachev, Tear down this wall”; his voice clear and strong.
The people in the East were inspired, and not long after, that wall did come down.

In 1980 Reagan said “If I could be elected president, I wanted to do what I could to bring about a spiritual revival in America."
Is ANYONE saying that today?
In my next post, I’ll explore that quote a little bit; the man was amazing.

Ronald Reagan is one of my hero's. In part, I am who I am today, because of him. His policies, his charm, his humor, his no nonsense political style; these things drew me in, and provided the catalyst for my ongoing interest in politics.
So, Happy Birthday Mr. President; I sure miss you. I wish you were here.

Hip Hip Hooray!...or...What Now?

2011-01-31T17:04:00.000-08:00

A Florida judge, today, ruled that Obamacare is unconstitutional; the cheers here were loud and clear!

Here is a link to the entire ruling:

Florida vs. the US Dept. of Health and Human Services et al

I have not read it all, but a friend highlighted this particular section and I thought it was an excellent analogy:

Pg. 42:

"It would be a radical departure from existing case law to hold that Congress can regulate inactivity under the Commerce Clause. It is difficult to imagine that a nation which began, at least in part, as the result of opposition to a British mandate giving the East India Company a monopoly and imposing a nominal tax on all tea sold in America would have set out to create a government with the power to force people to buy tea in the first place. If Congress can penalize a passive individual for failing to engage in commerce, the enumeration of powers in the Constitution would have been in vain for it would be “difficult to perceive any limitation on federal power”[Lopez, supra, 514 U.S. at 564], and we would have a Constitution in name only. Surely this is not what the Founding Fathers could have intended. See id. at 592(quoting Hamilton at the New York Convention that there would be just cause to reject the Constitution if it would allow the federal government to “penetrate the recesses of domestic life, and control, in all respects, the private conduct of individuals”) (Thomas, J., concurring)."

As it stands now, two for and two against; this will surely go to the Supremes now. If we are to save the Republic, prayer is in order. We are a nation in peril, we must raise our voices to our Heavenly Father; He alone has the power to sway the court for Liberty.

Agenda 21

2011-01-18T22:31:00.000-08:00

Please, please take time to watch this video and do some research on "Agenda 21". The U.N. has wrangled it's way into our lives more deeply that we had imagined, and our freedom is at stake.
This video is a compilation of speakers, expounding some of the points of the Agenda 21 manual. This is frightening stuff, and we must work diligently to remove the United States of America from the grasp of the One World Government bent on controlling our existence, indoctrinating our children and swallowing up our autonomy.
Please, get involved; write letters, attend a Town Hall, make calls to your government representatives; you can't afford to let someone else handle your Liberties.

2011 and Beyond

2010-12-31T21:29:00.000-08:00

The New Year is upon us once again. Last year I set a goal of reading 30 books.
Well, I didn't make it.

For those who have been around here a while, you know that we lost one of my younger brother's last January. I think I woke up sometime around April; I mean really woke up. I had been here posting, but there was not much thinking going on.
With that lovely bit of a beginning to 2010, I still read 22 books! Not bad if I do say so myself!

I think the one that touched me most--well two actually were "The Hiding Place" by Corrie Ten Boom, and "Night" by Elie Wiesel.
Corrie Ten Boom and her sister will stay with me always, as shining examples of Christlike Love; of what it can mean to truly follow the Savior and trust in Him; Elie Wiesel will also stay with me, but for an entirely different reason; he taught me what it means to my life if I were to ever give up hope; if I were to ever stop trusting God. It matters not that we worship a different God; God has a firm place in my life, my mind and my heart, through Mr. Wiesel's experience, I know I don't want to alter that.

My favorite history this year was "The Real George Washington" by Jay Parry. Wow! I learned so much about my favorite Founding Father, my love for him grew by leaps and bounds.
I also have high praise for "In Praise of Prejudice" by Theodore Dalrymple. This book is about the positive aspects of prejudice, and how we are born to BE prejudice; how there is obviously bad prejudice, but less obviously there is good prejudice, and how to embrace that. If you choose to read it, and I highly recommend that you do, have a dictionary handy!
Two that I had the most fun reading were "Inkheart" by Cornelia Funke and "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" by C.S. Lewis.

All in all, I think I did pretty good. Glenn Beck takes top honors as a double contributor, and I found I read more fiction this year than I thought I would, or had intended to for that matter.

I will once again set a goal of 30 books; care to join me?

In the realm of politics, I'm not hopeful; I know we had an excellent election result, and things look good, but pardon me if I don't hold my breath. The Tea Party had amazing success in determining the outcome, and I am grateful, excited even for the possibilities; yet I'm concerned, maybe overly so, that those who we elected to put us back on track, may fall victim to the evil that is Washington D.C.

There are bright lights, in some very strong conservatives, but we have some on the left calling the plan to read the Constitution in Congress a "gimmick"! Of all things! I was flabbergasted. The mentality of the Progressive Left is frightening at the very least.
This brings up a whole First Amendment issue that I'm hoping to talk about in the next little while.

So, I hope your 2010 was better than mine, I'm still healing, but my faith is strong; stronger even than before the accident; I know my Savior lives; I know that whatever happens, the Lord is on my side. I will continue to strive to be on His.

Happy New Year!

The Beginning of Hope

2010-12-31T14:14:00.000-08:00

Today is New Year's Eve. The very name implies excitement and merriment, yet as I've expressed before, it is, to me, the darkest day of the year.

The light from the current year is nearly extinguished; the spark of new light on the horizon.

The New Year dawns full of hope; fresh and clean. We have the chance to wipe the slate of procrastination and slothfulness clean; make amends and put our best foot forward…again.

We’ll make resolutions and goals, and we’ll try hard to make them stick. The light from the dawning year will shine brightly, like freshly polished silver.

What a gift! What blessing!

Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we can be forgiven and have our earthly slate wiped clean; the New Year is a yearly reminder of this gift; a yearly chance to make ourselves better than we are today; a step closer to accepting the gift of the Atonement, and letting it work in our lives.

As we work on these resolutions and goals, let us be reminded of the Ultimate Sacrifice on our behalf, and strive to draw closer to our Heavenly Father and to our Savior Jesus Christ; let that be one of our resolutions; one of our goals.

Let every day dawn bright; let every morning be the New Year; polish your silver daily and never forget that the Lord wants us to succeed; wants us to draw near unto Him. Let the light in you be a reflection of His light.

May your New Year be bright.

With Love.

True Meaning of Christmas

2010-12-28T19:40:00.001-08:00

Another reminder of the true meaning of Christmas. May we live the Spirit of Christ, now and in the coming New Year.

An Ineffable Light

2010-12-23T23:45:00.000-08:00

"...the virgin knelt down with great veneration in an attitude of prayer, and her back was turned to the manger....

And while she was standing thus in prayer, I saw the child in her womb move and suddenly in a moment she gave birth to her son, from whom radiated such an ineffable light and splendour, that the sun was not comparable to it, nor did the candle that St. Joseph had put there, give any light at all, the divine light totally annihilating the material light of the candle....

I saw the glorious infant lying on the ground naked and shining. His body was pure from any kind of soil and impurity. Then I heard also the singing of the angels, which was of miraculous sweetness and great beauty."
(Excerpt from a vision of Catholic "mystic"Saint Bridget of Sweden 1303-1373 (Wikipedia); painting by Geertgen tot Sint Jans, c. 1490 (Wikimedia) )

May the Ineffable Light of Christ light your days; this Christmas and always.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Mr. Handel

2010-12-09T21:56:00.000-08:00

A lot has been on my mind lately; to turn on the news is to make my blood boil. I haven't posted because there is SO much going on and going wrong; by the time I have an idea, the next thing is making me angry. I've tried to avoid that at this special time of year.
I have a few things brewing, but for the moment, I leave you with this incredible rendition of Handel's Messiah; one of my favorite pieces, this brought tears to my eyes; the spirit testified of the truthfulness of Handel's message.
Handel was a spiritual man, and claimed God's inspiration; I think you can feel that here.

Christmas Food Court Flash Mob

Now, on a similar note, a little less moving but quite enjoyable, I give you the Silent Monks; enjoy:

The Silent Monks

Thanksgiving Proclamation 1789

2010-11-25T05:00:00.000-08:00

We can put to rest any false notions that our Founding Fathers were not men of God; as you can see from this proclamation, they were men who felt openly and deeply grateful for the blessings of God for and in behalf of this great Republic.
Make no mistake, if he were alive today, he would chasten us for our lack of acknowlegement and sufficient gratitude to that Divine Being, for he said:

"I am sure that never was a people, who had more reason to acknowledge a Divine interposition in their affairs, than those of the United States; and I should be pained to believe that they have forgotten that agency, which was so often manifested during our Revolution, or that they failed to consider the omnipotence of that God who is alone able to protect them.”

George Washington's 1789 Thanksgiving Proclamation

Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me to "recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:"

Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shown kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand, at the city of New York, the 3d day of October, A.D. 1789.

G. Washington

Happy Thanksgiving!

Gettysburg

2010-11-19T05:00:00.000-08:00

I've made some comments at the end.

Lincoln's Gettysburg Address:

The Gettysburg Address

November 19, 1863

"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we cannot hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.

It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

What of their sacrifice? What of their spilled blood? Do we honor them with strength or complacency? What will we say to them, when we meet them on the other side of this life? All of us will have to answer for our deeds, and I feel that dishonoring the sacrifice of so many that died for our Republic will have to be answered for; particularly because we know that the Constitutional is a Divine document.

We have the opportunity before us to restore our Republic; to fight a different kind of battle; a battle we too must win.

Nancy Pelosi Will You Please Go Now

2010-11-10T22:16:00.000-08:00

In an effort to help Nancy Pelosi with her decison about wheather we want her to stay in a leadership position or not, I have taken the liberty of rephrasing one of my children's favorite Dr. Seuss books "Marvin K. Mooney".

My apologies to Dr. Seuss!

The time has come.
The time has come, the time is now!

Just go.
Go.
GO!
I don't care how!

You can go by car.
You can go by boat.
Just go, I'll get your coat.

You can go in the jet!
You can go by rail!
Just be glad you're not going to jail.

I don't care how.
Nancy Pelosi, will you please go now!

You can go by bike.
You can go by shoe.
Just go Nancy! Please go; do!

You can go by limo.
You can go by parasail.
I know of a taxi you can hail!

You can go by balloon and fly to the moon.
You can go by mail!
Just heed what I say and be on your way!

Nancy Pelosi, I don't care how;
Nancy Pelosi, please go now!

You can go by broomstick, I don't give a lick.
You can go by horseback; follow me, I'll get your tack.

The bottom line is, I don't care how you go, just get!

©Jeannetta Stokes

Lexington and Concord

2010-11-09T18:31:00.000-08:00

As of November 2, 2010, we the American people of the 21st century have had our own "Lexington and Conocord" battle; we've won, but we must keep up the pressure on our elected representatives.
Please read this article from the The Tenth Amendment Center.
It's one of my web staples that I visit often, I recommend you do too.

Muddy Water

2010-10-28T16:08:00.000-07:00

On my grandparent's farm, we had a pond. Grandpa dug it with the "CAT", ran pipe from the spring, and we had a swimming hole; extremely appreciated on hot summer days.
If you've ever swum in a "homemade" pond, you know what happens when you get in. The soft mud on the bottom begins to cloud the water; happy feet churning up the silt until there is zero visibility underwater; muddy water.

How, you wonder, does this relate to politics?

Well, think of it this way; candidate A has a plan; candidate B also has a plan; it’s the right plan, but will cause some short term pain. Candidate A is more popular, because he has the more popular message which does not involve any pain; his party is in power. Candidate B miraculously gets elected, agreeing to work in a ‘non partisan fashion’.

Here is where the damage occurs; the clear message has been obstructed.
No longer is candidate B giving us a message that is clearly better for American’s; he’s giving us a compromise.

Now, don’t get me wrong, compromise is good sometimes, it does have a place; just not much of one in politics.
For example, it either IS or IS NOT a good idea to have laws that are Constitutional.
It either IS or IS NOT a good idea to be fiscally responsible.
It either IS or IS NOT a good idea to have limited government.

Do you see? The only thing we’ve gotten with “working across the aisle” is muddy water.
We need clear water, at least 90% visibility; we need to know where our candidates stand, and that they have the integrity and virtue to not compromise their beliefs.
Remember Bart Stupak? “No”, “No”, “No” to health care; a compromise was struck; Stupak voted yes and got burned along with the rest of the American public.

In five days we will cast our votes; please make sure that your choice is a man or woman of integrity and actually means what they say.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t like muddy water.

Pure Evil

2010-10-26T21:16:00.000-07:00

Woman have abortions because they CARE ABOUT MOTHERHOOD???????
Good Heavens!

The far left, the progressives have denigrated the Bible, the standard of humanity for so long, that they've forgotten something:

Exodus 20:13
"Thou shalt not kill;"
You know, part of the Decalogue or "The Ten Commandments". It's not ambiguous, the Lord is very clear.

Here is what Isaiah has to say:
Isaiah 5:20
"Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!"

Look at the Progressive agenda; it is evil, pure evil in its scope, with eugenics playing a major role.

Abortion is NOT about a woman's right to choose; if it were truly,about a woman's right to choose what happens to her body, prostitution would be legal; after all, it's her body.

No, it's about population control; it is about attempting to thwart God's plan.
The family is ordained of God "multiply and replenish the earth"; women are co-creators with our Heavenly Father.
Motherhood is a divine calling, yet this far left lunatic would have you and I believe that abortion is necessary for all, and that having an abortion shows just how much you care about motherhood and children.

This calling of evil good, must be Dr. Newhall's way of ensuring she can sleep at night; when I look at her, I see her literally dripping with blood; evil.
As a mother this makes me livid; outraged! How DARE she sully the divinity of motherhood with her evil, insidious words. I can't even express how very, very angry this makes me.

I think we need to pay close attention to Isaiah; weigh his words against the Progressive agenda, and choose our path accordingly.

Call Me Senator

2010-10-23T12:03:00.001-07:00

David Zucker has done it again; this is too funny, enjoy!

Calling All Christians and Anyone Who Values the First Amendment

2010-10-22T21:29:00.000-07:00

This is something that makes me very, very angry:

Michigan Woman Faces Civil Rights Complaint.

Here is the text to the First Amendment:
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."

Can you see ANY inconsistencies here???

The First Amendment doesn't tell you what youCAN do; it tells the GOVERNMENT what it CANNOT do, and the biggest thing it cannot do is infringe upon your natural rights; natural rights come from God, and cannot be taken away by anything short of force. They can be given away, but they cannot be taken without your consent.
Yet, the city of Grand Rapids, Michigan seems bent on violating the Constitution.

Here is my letter to the city of Grand Rapids; it will likely be tweaked some:

Grand Rapids City Hall
Mayor George Heartwell
300 Monroe Avenue NW
Grand Rapids, MI 49503-2206

Fair Housing Center of West Michigan
Director Nancy Haynes
20 Hall Street SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49507

To Whom it Concerns,

It has come to the attention of freedom loving Constitutionalist everywhere that you plan to violate the First Amendment rights of one of the residents of your beautiful city. I would like to remind you of the text of the First Amendment:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”

How do you suppose your case makes any legal sense? Any moral sense?
The resident in question has every, EVERY constitutional right to choose not only who she associates with, but also, what fashion she will practice her religion.

As an American, and as a Christian, I will do everything in my power, with the Internet at my disposal to pass the word, that your fair city is not only unfriendly to the Constitution, but also to Christians if you go forward with this unconstitutional stance. With the speed the Internet affords us, it’s quite possible you will see a drop in tourism numbers as soon as December 1.

Please reconsider the issue; as natural rights are at stake, it’s a losing proposition for the city of Grand Rapids, and for the state of Michigan.

Sincerely,

(my name)
(my city)

Here is the address to the Grand Rapids City Hall; Mayor George Heartwell:

Grand Rapids City Hall
300 Monroe Avenue NW
Grand Rapids, MI 49503-2206

And, the Fair Housing Center; Director Nancy Haynes:

Fair Housing Center of West Michigan
20 Hall Street SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49507

Feel free to use my letter as a template if you wish, but PLEASE, let's flood the Grand Rapids City Hall and the Fair Housing Center with letters.
It is this type of instance where our voices must be heard; the Progressive mindset,the destructive notion of political correctness must be stamped out and our Republic must be restored; one city hall at a time.

A Time for Choosing

2010-10-20T22:47:00.000-07:00

“The Founding Fathers knew a government can't control the economy without controlling people. And they knew when a government sets out to do that, it must use force and coercion to achieve its purpose. So we have come to a time for choosing.”
~Ronald Reagan; October 27, 1964

We face a great challenge in America, our Republic is on the brink of ruin, and much like Rome of old, and those in power are collecting power for nefarious purposes.

We've come to a crossroads of sorts, and the right path, while it looks scary and possibly difficult, is indeed the best path; the wisest path.

That path leads directly to the Tea Party.
I'm hearing murmurings that the "Tea Party" candidates aren't experienced, don't know what they are doing (has ANYONE looked at Obama's resumé?); that they will damage our Republic.

Nothing is further from the truth.

Aside from penning the Declaration of Independence, what experience did Thomas Jefferson have in political office?
George Washington was a farmer and a general; how did this qualify him to be president?
James Madison?
Benjamin Franklin?

Our country is SUPPOSED to be run by the common citizen; the very design is for average people to take the reins; do the job, and go home. “Next!” People who desire to do the right thing for their country, NOT always the best thing personally.
One of THE biggest problems we have is career politicians. Those who make themselves fat on the taxpayer dollar.
How many millionaires are there in the House and the Senate? Check how long they’ve been in office and you’ll see that what they are spending is OUR money! You have to work over three months of the year to pay your taxes; Americans will pay more taxes in 2010 than they will have spent on food, clothing and shelter combined for the year; part of those taxes go to pay the wages of the Congress and the Senate; take a hard look at those career politicians.

Will the inexperienced make a mistake? Probably, but that is nothing compared to what’s happening now, right now, in Washington D.C.

The candidates of the “Tea Party” as a whole are truly the best hope we have to break the stranglehold of career politicians.
We went to the Town hall meetings, they were a joke; we’ve had the rallies, the Left has denigrated our voice.
It’s time to stand up and vote for the BEST candidate you can; the candidate that will represent limited government as the Constitution requires, fiscal responsibility for the sake of our children and grandchildren and someone who has the integrity to do the right thing, to make the hard decisions that need to be made.

Our Founding Fathers had no Republican experience; they didn’t have a model for a Constitutional Republic to follow, and we’ve made it two centuries down the road; the Constitution is battered and bloodied, but if you look closely, you’ll see it’s not that way due to inexperience, but cold, calculated rejection.

It’s time to put new kids in the sandbox.

A Moral Republic

2010-10-12T23:35:00.000-07:00

From Charles Carroll; delegate to the Continental Congress:
"Without morals a republic cannot subsist any length of time; they therefore who are decrying the Christian religion, whose morality is so sublime and pure are undermining the solid foundation of morals, the best security for the duration of free governments."

And this from Sam Adams:
"The Public cannot be too curious concerning the characters of public men."

How about this from George Washington:
"Tis substantially true, that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government. The rule indeed extends with more or less force to every species of free government."

If you believe to your core that it is wrong to steal, murder, and destroy; that you are responsible to God to benefit those you are able to benefit, as you have opportunity (all Biblical precepts), then you are a lot more likely to follow those beliefs when you get into a position of government power. The problem is that a lot of the people in positions of government power today never really believed and/or practiced any of these precepts to start with.

John Adams said “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

Take a long hard look at Washington D.C., and you'll see in graphic color why these Founders said what they did; we have a morally bankrupt elected body, and in less than three weeks we can begin to remedy the situation.

But don't stop there. Change yourself; improve your relationship with your Heavenly Father; serve your fellow man; pray. We must end the moral shortcomings in our own lives, so that our children will see us as good and noble; so they'll want to emulate us and not the trollop of the week.

Democratic Socialists in our Government

2010-10-06T02:34:00.000-07:00

Do your homework; find out the voting records of these people, call them, fire them.

Originally posted by Jim Hoft on Friday, August 13, 2010, 4:16 PM

The Socialist Party of America announced in their October 2009 newsletter that 70 Congressional democrats currently belong to their caucus.

This admission was recently posted on Scribd.com:

American Socialist Voter–
Q: How many members of the U.S. Congress are also members of the DSA?
A: Seventy

Q: How many of the DSA members sit on the Judiciary Committee?
A: Eleven: John Conyers [Chairman of the Judiciary Committee], Tammy Baldwin, Jerrold Nadler, Luis Gutierrez,
Melvin Watt, Maxine Waters, Hank Johnson, Steve Cohen, Barbara Lee, Robert Wexler, Linda Sanchez [there are 23 Democrats on the Judiciary Committee of which eleven, almost half, are now members of the DSA].

Q: Who are these members of 111th Congress?
A: See the listing below

Co-Chairs
Hon. Raúl M. Grijalva (AZ-07)
Hon. Lynn Woolsey (CA-06)

Vice Chairs
Hon. Diane Watson (CA-33)
Hon. Sheila Jackson-Lee (TX-18)
Hon. Mazie Hirono (HI-02)
Hon. Dennis Kucinich (OH-10)

Senate Members
Hon. Bernie Sanders (VT)

House Members
Hon. Neil Abercrombie (HI-01)
Hon. Tammy Baldwin (WI-02)
Hon. Xavier Becerra (CA-31)
Hon. Madeleine Bordallo (GU-AL)
Hon. Robert Brady (PA-01)
Hon. Corrine Brown (FL-03)
Hon. Michael Capuano (MA-08)
Hon. André Carson (IN-07)
Hon. Donna Christensen (VI-AL)
Hon. Yvette Clarke (NY-11)
Hon. William “Lacy” Clay (MO-01)
Hon. Emanuel Cleaver (MO-05)
Hon. Steve Cohen (TN-09)
Hon. John Conyers (MI-14)
Hon. Elijah Cummings (MD-07)
Hon. Danny Davis (IL-07)
Hon. Peter DeFazio (OR-04)
Hon. Rosa DeLauro (CT-03)
Rep. Donna F. Edwards (MD-04)
Hon. Keith Ellison (MN-05)
Hon. Sam Farr (CA-17)
Hon. Chaka Fattah (PA-02)
Hon. Bob Filner (CA-51)
Hon. Barney Frank (MA-04)
Hon. Marcia L. Fudge (OH-11)
Hon. Alan Grayson (FL-08)
Hon. Luis Gutierrez (IL-04)
Hon. John Hall (NY-19)
Hon. Phil Hare (IL-17)
Hon. Maurice Hinchey (NY-22)
Hon. Michael Honda (CA-15)
Hon. Jesse Jackson, Jr. (IL-02)
Hon. Eddie Bernice Johnson (TX-30)
Hon. Hank Johnson (GA-04)
Hon. Marcy Kaptur (OH-09)
Hon. Carolyn Kilpatrick (MI-13)
Hon. Barbara Lee (CA-09)
Hon. John Lewis (GA-05)
Hon. David Loebsack (IA-02)
Hon. Ben R. Lujan (NM-3)
Hon. Carolyn Maloney (NY-14)
Hon. Ed Markey (MA-07)
Hon. Jim McDermott (WA-07)
Hon. James McGovern (MA-03)
Hon. George Miller (CA-07)
Hon. Gwen Moore (WI-04)
Hon. Jerrold Nadler (NY-08)
Hon. Eleanor Holmes-Norton (DC-AL)
Hon. John Olver (MA-01)
Hon. Ed Pastor (AZ-04)
Hon. Donald Payne (NJ-10)
Hon. Chellie Pingree (ME-01)
Hon. Charles Rangel (NY-15)
Hon. Laura Richardson (CA-37)
Hon. Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-34)
Hon. Bobby Rush (IL-01)
Hon. Linda Sánchez (CA-47)
Hon. Jan Schakowsky (IL-09)
Hon. José Serrano (NY-16)
Hon. Louise Slaughter (NY-28)
Hon. Pete Stark (CA-13)
Hon. Bennie Thompson (MS-02)
Hon. John Tierney (MA-06)
Hon. Nydia Velazquez (NY-12)
Hon. Maxine Waters (CA-35)
Hon. Mel Watt (NC-12)
Hon. Henry Waxman (CA-30)
Hon. Peter Welch (VT-AL)
Hon. Robert Wexler (FL-19)

The Blame Game

2010-10-06T02:15:00.000-07:00

Here is a video I'd like to share. I'd never heard of Sonja Schmidt before, and I fancy myself a PJTV fan too. What she has to say is important; it's important for every child in America:

The Princess and the Peon

2010-10-04T16:35:00.000-07:00

I'd like to introduce you to Vancouver,Washington city council member Jeanne Harris. Councilwoman Harris seems to believe that as an elected city council member, she has the right to bully and harass those who came to speak to the city council; even going so far as to tell the Mayor how to conduct the people's business.
Make no mistake, this kind of mentality is what's going on in the minds of those in the federal government as well; remember Barbara Boxer?

If indeed the topic was closed, as it seems it was, this is NOT how you handle the people who elected you.

You and I are no longer looked upon as the boss, but the peon.

I would challenge each of us, myself included, to attend these meetings, get a feel for what's going on; begin reminding those we've elected who's business it is that they are elected to do. If you encounter someone as rude and out of line as councilwoman Harris, do all you can to make it known; this kind of elitist attitude has got to stop.

Constitution Day Repost

2010-09-17T05:00:00.000-07:00

I've been incredibly busy this week, so I'm reposting last year's Constitution Day post.

Say a prayer for our Republic today, we're on the brink of ruin.

In 1787, a group of men came together, initially to revise the Articles of Confederation which were barely holding the newly independent nation together. When it became apparent that this would not be sufficient, they began the awesome task of hammering out a Constitution, establishing a fundamental system of government heretofore unknown in the world.

What they did was remarkable on many counts, not the least of which was the fact that they had vast disagreements on what exactly should be included. (Patrick Henry, remember him? Mr. "Give me Liberty or give me death"? He opposed the ratification because it gave the Federal government too much power-I wonder what he's thinking about it NOW?! He also refused to sign it.)*

These Founding Fathers as they are affectionately known, were diverse in their backgrounds, occupations and temprements. It proved to be an interesting mix.

Fifty-five men met together to establish this, our beloved Republic. The day, May 14th, that the Convention was to begin, only 8 delegates were present. It would be 11 more days before the Convention started in earnest; on the 25th of May, George Washington was elected president of the proceedings, and things got underway.

The debate raged for four long months, through the heat of a Philadelphia summer. Would we have a strong central government or would we have a limited government? Would the central government run the show, or would "we the people"?
Each article, each section was debated, and voted on; piece by piece the Constitution took shape.

In the end, 222 years ago today, the Constitution of the United States of America-a title not in use until this day, was ratified and signed by 39 of the delegates. A new nation was born, "concieved in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal" as Abraham Lincoln would later remind us.

As I ponder the incredible responsiblity we all have to uphold the Constitution, I am awed by what has transpired to bring freedom to this land. The intricate weaving of lives that were knit together by "divine Providence"
The Book of Mormon talks about this land as the Promised Land, and I know with all my heart that this is true.
In a prophecy to Joseph Smith, the Lord tells us that he raised up good men to establish this Constitution for us, His children.

These fifty-five men, raised up and inspired, created a nation that would change the political landscape forever. The question remains as to whether we can keep the gift they bequeathed to our care.

*Patrick Henry didn't actually attend the Convention, he was an ardent states rights fan, and, while asked to be a delegate, refused.

The Seventeenth Amendment

2010-09-09T01:16:00.000-07:00

Article I
Section 2:
“The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States…”
Section 3:
“The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each state, chosen by the Legislature thereof for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote.”

It seems rather simplistic in its scope, and maybe that’s why it was so easily overcome, but our Founding Fathers were genius in their ability to protect us from tyranny.
They weren’t however able to protect us from evil and designing men who do, and will have intentions to overthrow the Republic.

The way the Constitution is set up we have two houses of Congress, one house, the House of Representatives, was designed to represent the people as individuals; representation is based on population, so a census is taken each decade to establish the number of Representatives from each state; the bigger the state, the more representation.

The second house, the Senate was designed to represent each state as a whole; states were to be equal in the eyes of the Federal government, so two and only two Senators from each state. These Senators were to be chosen by the state legislatures, not by popular vote. They were representing the states as a whole, and the state was to choose who to send; the Founder’s even had the crazy idea that the Senators would be well respected men with varying backgrounds and varying expertise; in other words, people who would represent the State with dignity and knowledge.

James Madison, writing to Thomas Jefferson said “The Senate will represent the States in their political capacity, the other House will represent the people OF the states in their INDIVIDUAL capacity” (emphasis mine).
They didn’t want the rights of individuals and states to be subject to the whims of popular opinion.

Enter the Seventeenth Amendment, ratified February 3, 1913.

The United States Senate was NEVER intended to be a mini House of Representatives; there is good reason to have the state choose the Senators.

Think about all of the unfunded mandates that have been dumped on the States--take no Child Left Behind for example.
NCLB dictates, unconstitutionally I might add, that the state has to meet certain benchmarks and standards, but provides little to no funding to accomplish that goal.
Take Obamacare as another example.
With either of these mandates, if the Senators had been subject to recall, when their state objected to the mandate the Senator would vote how the STATE wanted him or her to vote, not along party lines, and not at the whim of special interests.
The Patriot Act
The Real ID (act)
I think you get the picture.
If our Senators had been subject to the STATE, it’s a VERY good chance none of these unconstitutional bills would have passed.

The Seventeenth Amendment took away the voice of the state; left the state to flounder at the whim of the Federal government.
Representative Louie Gohmert (R-TX) pointed out that “Ever since the safeguard of State legislatures electing U.S. Senators was removed by the 17th Amendment in 1913, there has been no check or balance on the Federal power grab for the last 97 years.”
He’s absolutely right!

In 1913 Woodrow Wilson, leader of what is known as the “Progressive Era” saw the Constitution as old and cumbersome, in need of reform. Using the term “Democracy” which is nothing more than mob rule, something deliberately shunned by our Founding Fathers, the Progressives pushed for “democratically elected Senators”; using the approved method of amending the Constitution, the Seventeenth was passed on April 8th 1913.

Wilson doesn’t get all the credit however; as early as 1826 efforts were afoot to undermine the Constitution, and by the early 1900’s, Oregon had begun electing Senators by direct election, in DIRECT opposition to the Constitution, followed by Nebraska.

William Randolph Hearst, another Progressive, used his magazine “Cosmopolitan”, a general interest magazine at the time, to push for direct elections, reaching around 100,000 readers.

The cry for “democracy” was heard and felt; when the Seventeenth was ratified our Constitutional Republic took a giant step backwards towards Democracy, removing one genius roadblock the Federal government had to go through to step on the rights of the states.
Money is always the root of evil, and the Seventeenth removed a final hurdle to the people being able to vote themselves more money from the treasury--Bastiat calls this “Legalized Plunder”, but that’s another post.

Repeal must be discussed; must become a bigger issue if we are to regain Constitutional integrity.
It won’t be easy, “democratic” is a term that is bandied about, wrong as it may be; we need to help people understand we don’t HAVE a Democracy, we have a Constitutional Republic; we must use the correct terms if we are to gain ground in the battle for the Restoration of the Constitution.
Let it start with us.

Bill Whittle: Ground Zero Mosque Reality Check

2010-08-24T23:26:00.000-07:00

I love Bill Whittle, PJTV, and the no nonsense, common sense that they use.
Well worth your time.

Not So Tolerant

2010-08-19T17:08:00.000-07:00

I was in a discussion on Facebook this morning; it concerned the Mosque that has been approved for Ground Zero; here is the article in Question:
For Strip Clubs Near Ground Zero its Business as Usual

I'll say upfront, that the Wall Street Journal has come down a notch in my book for even running an article based on what Stripper's think of a Mosque at Ground Zero; that said, the discussion was evenly divided, both sides claiming the other was bias-big surprise there.

What got me was the anger and hatred shown to ME, because I disagreed with one guy; an atheist. He was the only one who spoke meanly or rudely to me, and honestly, when I called him out on his "smarter than you" comment he had directed at another individual, I half expected it to turn negative.

What continues to amaze me, when those of us who use God in our "platform",is that the merest mention of God makes evil people MORE evil. This guy told me--knowing NOTHING about me that:

I was from a "Hickville Sh**hole"
I had brain damage from my alcoholic FATHER
I was a redneck
That my name equaled an "epic fail"
Accused me of being Texan, Republican and a Catholic(None of which are true)

There was more, but you get the idea; all because I disagreed with him on the Mosque; because I dared to say that life was black and white, and to live in the gray was to not be wholly anything; speaking up from a Christian perspective.
Don't get me wrong, they DO have a right to build a Mosque in this country; as long as local laws and ordinances are followed, the green light is given most often.

However, I believe it is the wrong thing to do. Muslims tend to build on conquered ground, and that is what Ground Zero represents to them. The Mosques already in operation are filling up and they need more space because, in my view, New York has been conquered, or at least the "transformation" has begun, and Muslims are flocking to the City.

We have been told for generations to be "sensitive" to other faiths, other people.
Why then, when WE ask for sensitivity, do we get a backlash of angry, vile rhetoric?
If we hold Ground Zero as "Sacred Ground" because of the loss of life, why is THAT not a Religious Freedom as well; Gettysburg is considered Sacred Ground, so too is Ground Zero.

A little Tolerance please; and a heavy dose of respect.

What Has America Become?

2010-08-17T13:53:00.000-07:00

I found this letter to the Editor on Facebook, but was unsure of it's origins; I Googled it, and found it to be real.
I've posted it in it's entirety, and want to thank Mr. Huber for articulating this so well.

What has America Become?

Has America become the land of the special interest and home of the double standard?

Let’s see: If we lie to the Congress it’s a felony and if the Congress lies to us it’s just politics. If we dislike a black person, we’re racist and if a black person dislikes whites it’s his First Amendment right. The government spends millions to rehabilitate criminals and does almost nothing for the victims. In public schools you can teach that homosexuality is OK but you’d better not use the word “God” in the process. You can kill an unborn child, but it’s wrong to execute a mass murderer.

We don’t burn books in America — we now rewrite them. We got rid of the communist and socialist threat by renaming adherents “progressives.” We are unable to close our border with Mexico, but have no problem protecting the 38th parallel in Korea. If you protest against President Obama’s policies you’re a terrorist, but if you burned an American flag or George Bush in effigy it was your First Amendment right.

You can have pornography on TV or the Internet, but you’d better not put a Nativity scene in a public park during Christmas. We have eliminated all criminals in America — they are now called sick people. We can use a human fetus for medical research, but it’s wrong to use an animal.

We take money from those who work hard for it and give it to those who don’t want to work. We all support the Constitution, but only when it supports our political ideology. We still have freedom of speech, but only if we are being politically correct. Parenting has been replaced with Ritalin and video games. The land of opportunity is now the land of handouts. The similarity between Hurricane Katrina and the gulf oil spill is that neither president did anything to help.

And how do we handle a major crisis today? The government appoints a committee to determine who’s at fault, then threatens them, passes a law, raises our taxes, and tells us the problem is solved so incumbents can get back to their reelection campaigns.

What has happened to the land of the free and the home of the brave?

© Ken Huber, all rights reserved.

Intolerant?

2010-08-17T00:36:00.000-07:00

I found this fabulous quote on Twitter tonight, and I had to share...

"Don’t tell me I’m intolerant. I’ve tolerated the most ignorant, arrogant, narcissistic, dangerous, and impudent president in history!"

Obamacare Class Action

2010-08-01T16:53:00.000-07:00

I was minding my own business on Facebook today(for those of you who don't use Facebook, minding one's own business consists of minding everyone elses business who is your friend on the site), and came across this very exciting and interesting item:

Obamacare Class Action

A man named Van Irion, who is running for the Senate from the great state of Tennessee, has filed a Class Action lawsuit against Obamacare. I have NOT read the full site yet, so I am NOT asking you to add your name to the class action suit, but for your information, over 31,000 people have so far added their names to the suit.

They are asking not only for the repeal of Obamacare, but also to nullify the previous ruling concerning the Commerce Clause which has caused so very much trouble regarding our personal liberties.

So take some time, check out the site, and decide if adding your name to the list makes sense for you and for your family; we'll be doing the same thing here.

I Can See November from Here

2010-07-31T22:06:00.000-07:00

Ninety-four days.

In ninety-four days, we have the opportunity to make history. I know you’ve heard that before, but it’s really true. This is the most important mid-term election in my, and possibly your lifetime.

This election is not, and should not be about “party”; this election is for the Restoration of our Republic. Who will stand with the Constitution? Who will swear allegiance to the Republic and not to special interests and not to party agendas? Who will up hold their Constitutional oath?

I’m tired of RINO’s, and I imagine you are as well. Those who claim the Republican platform as their own, but have a decidedly Progressive agenda (Cap and Tax, Health Care “Reform”, “Financial “Reform”), are dangerous to our Liberties and have created a festering boil within our Republic.
The Constitution is about LIMITED government and maximum personal LIBERTIES; not about limited LIBERTIES and a very personal GOVERNMENT.

My challenge and yours, is to be alert and active; study your candidates, go to Town Hall meetings; write to them; get to KNOW them; call them on the phone even. Ask them the hard questions such as “Where do you find the Constitutional authority for the government to manage health care for every American?” or “Where does the Constitution say that the government should be involved in private enterprise?” “How do you justify your vote on “X”?” “How do you intend to uphold your Oath to protect the Constitution?”

Our government is so bloated and top heavy, and it doesn’t need to be this way; it SHOULD NOT be this way, and we have to work hard to change it.

That being said, almost more important than November 2nd will be November 3rd.
Will we stay active? Will we stay alert? Or will we go back to golf and scrapbooking until the next election?

The Republic rests squarely on OUR shoulders.

Full Speed Ahead

2010-07-25T02:19:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting at my computer tonight, reading the Congressional Record from January 10, 1963; found and posted by my friend Ann; Ann, you rock, thank you so very much for locating this! (Ann's notes are included at the bottom)
The record outlines 45 goals of Communism at work in America.

As I was reading, I heard through my open doors and windows, two loud trains, just a few minutes apart. This is usually not an issue; while the trains regularly pass nearby, I rarely hear them; tonight however, as I was reading this congressional record, the trains were unusually loud.
It was impressed upon my mind that Communism is that train, barreling toward the proverbial brick wall, poised to shatter the Constitution, our Republic and our lives, when it hits at full speed.
I am especially troubled by numbers 40 and 41; the family is a sacred unit in my worldview, and my children are my sacred duty; Communism seeks to destroy the family unit and the bonds of parental love and fidelity.

I leave you with the Congressional Record; take note of the assaults in progress on our lives and our Republic. I can also highly recommend Dr. Skousen's book "The Naked Communist"; very eye opening, and easy to read.

May God help us.

Communist Goals (1963) Documentation below
Congressional Record--Appendix, pp. A34-A35
January 10, 1963

Current Communist Goals

EXTENSION OF REMARKS OF HON. A. S. HERLONG, JR. OF FLORIDA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Thursday, January 10, 1963

Mr. HERLONG. Mr. Speaker, Mrs. Patricia Nordman of De Land, Fla., is an ardent and articulate opponent of communism, and until recently published the De Land Courier, which she dedicated to the purpose of alerting the public to the dangers of communism in America.

At Mrs. Nordman's request, I include in the RECORD, under unanimous consent, the following "Current Communist Goals," which she identifies as an excerpt from "The Naked Communist," by Cleon Skousen:

[From "The Naked Communist," by Cleon Skousen]

CURRENT COMMUNIST GOALS

1. U.S. acceptance of coexistence as the only alternative to atomic war.

2. U.S. willingness to capitulate in preference to engaging in atomic war.

3. Develop the illusion that total disarmament [by] the United States would be a demonstration of moral strength.

4. Permit free trade between all nations regardless of Communist affiliation and regardless of whether or not items could be used for war.

5. Extension of long-term loans to Russia and Soviet satellites.

6. Provide American aid to all nations regardless of Communist domination.

7. Grant recognition of Red China. Admission of Red China to the U.N.

8. Set up East and West Germany as separate states in spite of Khrushchev's promise in 1955 to settle the German question by free elections under supervision of the U.N.

9. Prolong the conferences to ban atomic tests because the United States has agreed to suspend tests as long as negotiations are in progress.

10. Allow all Soviet satellites individual representation in the U.N.

11. Promote the U.N. as the only hope for mankind. If its charter is rewritten, demand that it be set up as a one-world government with its own independent armed forces. (Some Communist leaders believe the world can be taken over as easily by the U.N. as by Moscow. Sometimes these two centers compete with each other as they are now doing in the Congo.)

12. Resist any attempt to outlaw the Communist Party.

13. Do away with all loyalty oaths.

14. Continue giving Russia access to the U.S. Patent Office.

15. Capture one or both of the political parties in the United States.

16. Use technical decisions of the courts to weaken basic American institutions by claiming their activities violate civil rights.

17. Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers' associations. Put the party line in textbooks.

18. Gain control of all student newspapers.

19. Use student riots to foment public protests against programs or organizations which are under Communist attack.

20. Infiltrate the press. Get control of book-review assignments, editorial writing, policymaking positions.

21. Gain control of key positions in radio, TV, and motion pictures.

22. Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all forms of artistic expression. An American Communist cell was told to "eliminate all good sculpture from parks and buildings, substitute shapeless, awkward and meaningless forms."

23. Control art critics and directors of art museums. "Our plan is to promote ugliness, repulsive, meaningless art."

24. Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them "censorship" and a violation of free speech and free press.

25. Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV.

26. Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as "normal, natural, healthy."

27. Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with "social" religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity which does not need a "religious crutch."

28. Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the ground that it violates the principle of "separation of church and state."

29. Discredit the American Constitution by calling it inadequate, old-fashioned, out of step with modern needs, a hindrance to cooperation between nations on a worldwide basis.

30. Discredit the American Founding Fathers. Present them as selfish aristocrats who had no concern for the "common man."

31. Belittle all forms of American culture and discourage the teaching of American history on the ground that it was only a minor part of the "big picture." Give more emphasis to Russian history since the Communists took over.

32. Support any socialist movement to give centralized control over any part of the culture--education, social agencies, welfare programs, mental health clinics, etc.

33. Eliminate all laws or procedures which interfere with the operation of the Communist apparatus.

34. Eliminate the House Committee on Un-American Activities.

35. Discredit and eventually dismantle the FBI.

36. Infiltrate and gain control of more unions.

37. Infiltrate and gain control of big business.

38. Transfer some of the powers of arrest from the police to social agencies. Treat all behavioral problems as psychiatric disorders which no one but psychiatrists can understand [or treat].

39. Dominate the psychiatric profession and use mental health laws as a means of gaining coercive control over those who oppose Communist goals.

40. Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce.

41. Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents. Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents.

42. Create the impression that violence and insurrection are legitimate aspects of the American tradition; that students and special-interest groups should rise up and use ["]united force["] to solve economic, political or social problems.

43. Overthrow all colonial governments before native populations are ready for self-government.

44. Internationalize the Panama Canal.

45. Repeal the Connally reservation so the United States cannot prevent the World Court from seizing jurisdiction [over domestic problems. Give the World Court jurisdiction] over nations and individuals alike.

Note by Webmaster: The Congressional Record back this far has not be digitized and posted on the Internet.

It will probably be available at your nearest library that is a federal repository. Call them and ask them.

Your college library is probably a repository. This is an excellent source of government records.

Another source are your Congress Critters. They should be more than happy to help you in this matter.

You will find the Ten Planks of the Communist Manifesto interesting at this point.

Click here to see them listed with brain-challenging comments.

Documentation

Webmaster Forest Glen Durland found the document in the library.
Sources are listed below.
The quote starts on page 259.

Microfilm:

California State University at San Jose
Clark Library, Government Floor
Phone (408)924-2770
Microfilm
Call Number:
J
11
.R5
Congressional Record, Vol. 109
88th Congress, 1st Session
Appendix Pages A1-A2842
Jan. 9-May 7, 1963
Reel 12

The book was found in the off campus stacks, was ordered and checked. The quote below was checked against the original and is correct. The few errors in the copy from the Congressional Record are shown in [ ] .

The quote starts on page 259.

California State University at San Jose, Clark Library stacks call number:
Naked Communist
HX
56
S55

Book title page:
Skousen, W. Cleon. Naked Communist
Salt Lake City, Utah: Ensign Publishing Co.
C. 1961 , 9th edition July 1961.

Then Conquer We Must

2010-07-04T09:59:00.000-07:00

Here is a stirring rendition of the Fourth Verse of The Star Spangled Banner; he says it's the second verse, but I can't find it in second position anywhere, so maybe when he was young it was sung as the second; I don't know, I don't care; these words must be emblazoned upon your soul.

The Most Memorable Epoch

2010-07-04T09:50:00.000-07:00

“[Independence Day] will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.”

– John Adams

Independence Day!

2010-07-03T23:35:00.000-07:00

Today we celebrate Independence Day; the day we declared our independence from tyranny.
What does that mean to you? What *should* that mean to you? To all of us?

I don't have anything great to expound tonight, I've been traveling and am weary; not just weary from travel, but weary of the great darkness that has come over our beloved Republic. The scales that cover the eyes of so many are hard to miss.

We are told that we, conservatives, must "open our eyes", we must alter our worldview; WE are the one's who are wrong.

I testify to you that we are not. We have truth on our side; we have Original Sources on our side; the Constitution is a divinely appointed document; the Lord instituted this law for our temporal well being during this, our probationary existence; it is also God's Law.
I also testify to you that the law has been twisted and manipulated to the point that many do not know the truth, we must teach them; there are many who choose NOT to know, choose not to understand; choosing darkness over light; because of them we must learn the truth.
We must reaffirm our stand with the Founding Father's, and continue to speak out when we see something that is unconstitutional.

In order to speak up, we must have the tools; I challenge you to read one of the following in order to be able to arm yourself against the darkness that's coming.
They aren't that hard, I promise; take your time.

The Declaration of Independence
The Preamble to the Constitution
The Constitution of the United States
The Bill of Rights
ONE Federalist Paper
The ENTIRE Star Spangled Banner, all four verses
Washington's First Inaugural Address
Washington's Farewell Address

I posted this excerpt recently on Facebook; it's from the Federalist Paper #48:

"An elective despotism was not the government we fought for; but one which should not only be founded on free principles, but in which the powers of government should be so divided and balanced among several bodies of magistracy, as that no one could transcend their legal limits, without being effectually checked and restrained by the others."

It is my belief that James Madison would be outraged to see what's happening to the Constitution; to the Legacy he left us; as would all of our Founding Father's.
I specifically cited "executive orders" as particularly abhorrent and worthy of Mr. Madison's contempt.
I was told there is no way I could know conclusively so I was wrong; not that the issue could use some research, I was just wrong and needed to change my outlook.
You can decide for yourself; the words and meaning are crystal clear to me.

We must once again, declare ourselves and break free of tyranny; take time to read and learn; the only way you can teach is to know.
These are known as "Original Sources", and are indisputable; no one can claim you are ignorant if you know what you are talking about.

May God bless you this Independence Day, have a happy and safe 4th, but never forget what it all means and why; be a Keeper of the Flame.

More Than Meets the Eye

2010-06-18T12:40:00.000-07:00

An article from the National Review Online; I have bolded my remarks at the end:
"The DISCLOSE Act and the NRA: Some Bad News [Hans A. von Spakovsky]

"Just as opposition was building in the House to the unconstitutional and burdensome DISCLOSE Act, which is intended to help Democrats in the November election by stifling the political speech of corporations and many non-profit advocacy organizations (but not unions), the NRA has apparently sold out.

"Politico and others are reporting that the NRA has reached a deal to withdraw its opposition to the bill in exchange for an exemption for the NRA from its disclosure provisions. The exemption would apply to “organizations which have qualified as having tax exempt status under section 501(c)(4) of the tax code for each of the 10 years prior to making a campaign-related disbursement, that had 1 million or more dues-paying members in the prior calendar year, that had members in each of the 50 states, that received no more than 15 percent of their total funding from corporations or labor organizations, and that do not use any corporate or union money to pay for their campaign-related expenditures.”

"There aren’t too many organizations that will fit within this exemption, but I understand the NRA thinks it is one of those that will. This exemption will not apply to small, less powerful 501(c)(4) organizations, which will be hit the hardest by the onerous, burdensome, and expensive disclosure requirements of the DISCLOSE Act, but it will apply to the large, well-funded and well-connected NRA.

"So, the NRA may end up providing the lobbying grease that allows this noxious and partisan piece of legislation to slide through the House, something that I seriously doubt most of the individual members of the NRA (who are strong believers in the First Amendment as well as the Second) would agree with."

This is disturbing on several levels; I would encourage you to write to the NRA, even if you aren't a member, they need to understand that America is at stake, not JUST the voice of the NRA. It tells me that, contrary to what I have believed, the NRA is looking out for NRA members, not America at large. I understand that America at large doesn't pay dues, but we need to help them understand this has broader ramifications, and making a deal with the devil NEVER turns out well.

Old Glory

2010-06-14T14:55:00.000-07:00

Today is Flag Day; a day to honor the symbol of our freedom.
I love our flag and a get a catch in my throat during the Processional, whenever the flag is brought out.

I’ll not bore you with my heartfelt feelings for the flag; instead I thought I’d give you some quotes and thoughts from others through the generations. They’re in no particular order, but I’ve loved each.

Each piece is left with the original punctuation-you have no idea how I long to fix the punctuation!

“O Beautiful Banner”
Concord Song from "A Book of Songs," 1924
Homer H. Harbour and Birdsall Otis Edey

O beautiful banner all splendid with stars,
That in the breeze is flying,
Proud emblem of the free!
My heart and hand salute you,
Dear flag of liberty.
From ocean to ocean you brighten our land,
O'er prairie, forest, mountain,
Superb against the sky.
Oh flag for which men labor!
Oh flag for which men die!

“It was God Almighty w ho nailed our flat to the flagstaff, and I could not have lowered it if I had tried.”
Major Robert Anderson

“One flag, one land, one heart, one hand, one nation evermore.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes

“In all the world there is not such another flag, that carries within nit’s emanations of hope, as our dear old American flag, made by, and for liberty, nourished in its spirit and carried in its service; it’s priceless value cannot be estimated, wherever our flag has gone, it has been the herald of a better day; it has been the pledge of freedom, justice, order, civilization and of Christianity.”
J. C. J. Langbien

“Twine close around your hearts each thread of our country’s flag, that dear old flag which has so often led us to victory. Its stars and stripes have waved in triumph from the snow of Canada to the burning sands of the Gulf, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific shores. They have waved over the halls of Montezuma’s and over every portion of the great seas, leading the brave and the free to victory and glory. They waved over our cradles, and let us ever pray that they may wave over our graves.
“What lessons we may read in our country’s emblem. Its white teaches us of purity of purpose; its red typifies the blood which has so often and freely been shed in its defense; and its blue, with its constellation, reminds us of the starry canopy of heaven, behind which is the eternal camping ground, where the pure and good, when discharged from service here, are mustered into the mighty army of the saints which guards the throne of the Most High God.”
R.S. Robertson, Fort Wayne, IN

“Today the flag of our country floats over a land undivided, a Union saved, a government vindicated, a people free. As it waves above us in the calm atmosphere of peace, it seems transfigured by the mighty deeds that shed upon it unfading glory, and clothe it with an influence that shall one day loose the bands of despotism in other lands than ours, and open the gates of power throughout the world to the triumphant march of human freedom.
J.M. Craveth, Lansing, MI

I wasn’t going to include “The Star Spangled Banner”, because I believe you all know it; however I recently heard someone sing the fourth verse, and I was moved to more tears, and felt it needed to be shared.

The Star Spangled Banner
Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore dimly seen thro' the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner: O, long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wash'd out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O, thus be it ever when freemen shall stand,
Between their lov'd homes and the war's desolation;
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land
Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserv'd us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust"
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

I leave you with a piece by Johnny Cash that I love:

That Ragged Old Flag

May God continue to bless America.

A Reinvention of Journalism

2010-06-10T00:34:00.000-07:00

Please read this article, and make a point to contact the FTC as soon as possible. This "Reinvention of Journalism" is nothing more than a back door approach to the "Fairness Doctrine."

Business and Media

Here is the link to the FTC:
Federal Trade Commission

Read with Caution?

2010-06-09T19:44:00.000-07:00

Wilder Publications. Have you heard of them?
You have now. They put this warning...WARNING on their publication of the U.S. Constitution, The Declaration of Independence, The Federalist Papers and "other historical documents and records":

"This book is a product of its time and does not reflect the same values as it would if it were written today. Parents might wish to discuss with their children how views on race, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, and interpersonal relations have changed since this book was written before allowing them to read this classic work."

I can tell you that I am "spitting mad!" The fact that there is an assumption that our Founding Documents are OFFENSIVE literally makes me sick to my stomach.

The goal of the left is to minimize the importance of our Constitution; if they can get you to believe it's outdated and irrelevant for "today's lifestyle", they can "fundamentally transform the United State's of America."

If you feel the need to contact them, please do so respectfully, and make sure they know how you choose to spend your dollars will be affected by their response:

A & D Publishing
PO Box 3005
Radford,Va 24143-3005
I could not locate an email address, so flood their offices with respectful but firm criticism.

So please, read on; a most beloved document follows; an Inspired document.

U. S. CONSTITUTION

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union,
establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common
defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to
ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the
United States of America.

Article 1.

Section 1
All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.

Section 2
The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature.

No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.

Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons.

The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to choose three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five and Georgia three.

When vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, the Executive
Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such Vacancies.

The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment.

Section 3
The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof, for six Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote.

Immediately after they shall be assembled in Consequence of the first Election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three Classes. The Seats of the Senators of the first Class shall be vacated at the Expiration of the second Year, of the second Class at the Expiration of the fourth Year, and of the third Class at the Expiration of the sixth Year, so that one third may be chosen every second Year; and if Vacancies happen by Resignation, or otherwise, during the Recess of the Legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may make temporary Appointments until the next Meeting of the Legislature, which shall then fill such Vacancies.

No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.

The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided.

The Senate shall choose their other Officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the Office of President of the United States.

The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present.

Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States: but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law.

Section 4
The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and
Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Place of Choosing Senators.

The Congress shall assemble at least once in every Year, and such Meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by Law appoint a different Day.

Section 5
Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members, and a Majority of each shall constitute a Quorum to do Business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the Attendance of absent Members, in such Manner, and under such Penalties as each House may provide.

Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly Behavior, and, with the Concurrence of two-thirds, expel a Member.

Each House shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, and from time to time
publish the same, excepting such Parts as may in their Judgment require
Secrecy; and the Yeas and Nays of the Members of either House on any question shall, at the Desire of one fifth of those Present, be entered on the Journal.

Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, without the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other Place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.

Section 6
The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation for their
Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States. They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.

No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been increased during such time; and no Person holding any Office under the United States, shall be a Member of either House during his Continuance in Office.

Section 7
All bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills.

Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States; If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the Objections at large on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such Reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together with the Objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a Law. But in all such Cases the Votes of both Houses shall be
determined by Yeas and Nays, and the Names of the Persons voting for and
against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House respectively. If any Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be a Law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case it shall not be a Law.

Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a question of Adjournment)shall be presented to the President of the United States; and before the Same shall take Effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the Rules and Limitations prescribed in the Case of a Bill.

Section 8
The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

To borrow money on the credit of the United States;

To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;

To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States;

To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;

To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States;

To establish Post Offices and Post Roads;

To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;

To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court;

To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offenses against the Law of Nations;

To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;

To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;

To provide and maintain a Navy;

To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;

To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;

To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for
governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers,and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;

To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings;
And To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this
Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.

Section 9
The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a tax or duty may be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each Person.

The privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.

No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.

No capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in Proportion to the Census or Enumeration herein before directed to be taken.

No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State.

No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Commerce or Revenue to the Ports of one State over those of another: nor shall Vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay Duties in another.

No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time.

No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person
holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince or foreign State.

Section 10
No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility.

No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay any Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing its inspection Laws: and the net Produce of all Duties and Imposts, laid by any State on Imports or Exports, shall be for the Use of the Treasury of the United States; and all such Laws shall be subject to the Revision and Control of the Congress.

No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay.

Article 2.

Section 1
The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice-President chosen for the same Term, be elected, as follows:

Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct,
a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.

The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by Ballot for two persons, of whom one at least shall not lie an Inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall make a List of all the Persons voted for, and of the Number of Votes for each; which List they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the Seat of the Government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the Presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the Certificates, and the
Votes shall then be counted. The Person having the greatest Number of Votes shall be the President, if such Number be a Majority of the whole Number of Electors appointed; and if there be more than one who have such Majority, and have an equal Number of Votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately choose by Ballot one of them for President; and if no Person have a Majority, then from the five highest on the List the said House shall in like Manner choose the President. But in choosing the President, the Votes shall be taken by States, the Representation from each State having one Vote; a quorum for this Purpose shall consist of a Member or Members from two-thirds of the
States, and a Majority of all the States shall be necessary to a Choice. In every Case, after the Choice of the President, the Person having the greatest Number of Votes of the Electors shall be the Vice President. But if there should remain two or more who have equal Votes, the Senate shall choose from them by Ballot the Vice-President.

The Congress may determine the Time of choosing the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall be the same throughout the United States.

No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty-five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.

In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of his Death,
Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said
Office, the same shall devolve on the Vice President, and the Congress may by Law provide for the Case of Removal, Death, Resignation or Inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring what Officer shall then act as President, and such Officer shall act accordingly, until the Disability be removed, or a President shall be elected.

The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a Compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them.

Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

Section 2
The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to Grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.

He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.

The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.

Section 3
He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper; he shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of the United States.

Section 4
The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.

Article 3.

Section 1
The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behavior, and shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services a Compensation which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office.

Section 2
The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their Authority; to all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls; to all Cases of admiralty and maritime Jurisdiction; to Controversies to which the United States shall be a Party; to Controversies between two or more States; between a State and Citizens of another State; between Citizens of different States; between Citizens of the same State claiming Lands under Grants of different States, and between a State, or the Citizens thereof, and foreign States, Citizens or Subjects.

In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases before mentioned, the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make.

The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, shall be by Jury; and such Trial shall be held in the State where the said Crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State, the Trial shall be at such Place or Places as the Congress may by Law have directed.

Section 3
Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.

The Congress shall have power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted.

Article 4.

Section 1
Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other State. And the Congress may by general Laws prescribe the Manner in which such Acts, Records and Proceedings shall be proved, and the Effect thereof.

Section 2
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States.

A Person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or other Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another State, shall on demand of the executive Authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having Jurisdiction of the Crime.

No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under the Laws thereof,
escaping into another, shall, in Consequence of any Law or Regulation therein, be discharged from such Service or Labour, But shall be delivered up on Claim of the Party to whom such Service or Labour may be due.

Section 3
New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new States shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.

The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any Claims of the United States, or of any particular State.

Section 4
The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence.

Article 5.

The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One
thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and
fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate.

Article 6.

All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, before the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this Constitution, as under the Confederation.

This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.

The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the
several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.

Article 7.

The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the Same.

Done in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the States present the
Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Eighty seven and of the Independence of the United States of America the Twelfth. In Witness whereof We have hereunto subscribed our Names.

George Washington - President and deputy from Virginia

New Hampshire - John Langdon, Nicholas Gilman

Massachusetts - Nathaniel Gorham, Rufus King

Connecticut - William Samuel Johnson, Roger Sherman

New York - Alexander Hamilton

New Jersey - William Livingston, David Brearley, William Paterson, Jonathan
Dayton

Pennsylvania - Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Mifflin, Robert Morris, George Clymer,
Thomas Fitzsimons, Jared Ingersoll, James Wilson, Gouvernour Morris

Delaware - George Read, Gunning Bedford Jr., John Dickinson, Richard Bassett,
Jacob Broom

Maryland - James McHenry, Daniel of St Thomas Jenifer, Daniel Carroll

Virginia - John Blair, James Madison Jr.

North Carolina - William Blount, Richard Dobbs Spaight, Hugh Williamson

South Carolina - John Rutledge, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, Charles Pinckney,
Pierce Butler

Georgia - William Few, Abraham Baldwin

Attest: William Jackson, Secretary

Amendment 1
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition
he Government for a redress of grievances.

Amendment 2
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Amendment 3
No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the
consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

Amendment 4
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Amendment 5
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Amendment 6
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.

Amendment 7
In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

Amendment 8
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Amendment 9
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Amendment 10
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor
prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

Amendment 11
The Judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by Citizens of another State, or by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign State.

Amendment 12
The Electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-President and of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate;

The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted;

The person having the greatest Number of votes for President, shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice. And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next following, then
the Vice-President shall act as President, as in the case of the death or other constitutional disability of the President.

The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice-President, shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed, and if no person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice-President; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States.

Amendment 13
1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate
legislation.

Amendment 14
1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice-President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the
proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole
number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State.

3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.

4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.

5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

Amendment 15
1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate
legislation.

Amendment 16
The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from
whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.

Amendment 17
The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislatures.
When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, That the legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.

This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the election or term of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the Constitution.

Amendment 18
1. After one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited.

2. The Congress and the several States shall have concurrent power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

3. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.

Amendment 19
The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or
abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.
Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

Amendment 20
1. The terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3d day of January, of the years in which such terms would have ended if this article had not been ratified; and the terms of their successors shall then begin.

2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall begin at noon on the 3d day of January, unless they shall by law appoint a different day.

3. If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of the President, the President elect shall have died, the Vice President elect shall become President. If a President shall not have been chosen before the time fixed for the beginning of his term, or if the President elect shall have failed to qualify, then the Vice President elect shall act as President until a President shall have qualified; and the Congress may by law provide for the case wherein neither a President elect nor a Vice President elect shall have qualified, declaring who shall then act as President, or the manner in which one who is to act shall be selected, and such person shall act accordingly until a President or Vice President shall have qualified.

4. The Congress may by law provide for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the House of Representatives may choose a President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them, and for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the Senate may choose a Vice President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them.

5. Sections 1 and 2 shall take effect on the 15th day of October following the ratification of this article.

6. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission.

Amendment 21
1. The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.

2. The transportation or importation into any State, Territory, or possession of the United States for delivery or use therein of intoxicating liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, is hereby prohibited.

3. The article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by conventions in the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.

Amendment 22
1. No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice,
and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once. But this Article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President, when this Article was proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this Article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term.

2. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission to the States by the Congress.

Amendment 23
1. The District constituting the seat of Government of the United States shall appoint in such manner as the Congress may direct: A number of electors of President and Vice President equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives in Congress to which the District would be entitled if it were a State, but in no event more than the least populous State; they shall be in addition to those appointed by the States, but they shall be considered, for the purposes of the election of President and Vice President, to be electors appointed by a State; and they shall meet in the District and perform such duties as provided by the twelfth article of amendment.

2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate
legislation.

Amendment 24
1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax.

2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate
legislation.

Amendment 25
1. In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or
resignation, the Vice President shall become President.

2. Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the
President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon
confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress.

3. Whenever the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, and until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice President as Acting President.

4. Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.

Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide,transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon
Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.

Amendment 26
1. The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age.

2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate
legislation.

Amendment 27
No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and
Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened.

Helen Thomas, Anti Semite

2010-06-04T10:39:00.000-07:00

I have never cared for Helen Thomas; I think she's rude and abrupt, but until now I've never beleived her to be an anti Semite. Here is evidence to the contrary.

How can this woman be trusted as a "journalist" as a "reporter"? Will she ever report without a slant?
Pay attention to what your'e reading and what you're hearing; watch for the little tip offs that will alert you to unbiased reporting, and shun it. We can't afford anything but the truth and the facts.
We wont' get it from people like Helen Thomas.

As with other posts regarding moronic comments from those in pulbic life, Blogger seems to be blocking the comments box. I don't care as much about what you have to say regarding this video, as much as I hope you share it, and share it again.

New Blog

2010-06-03T09:50:00.000-07:00

I've started a new blog this week, for those of you interested. I want to share my love of the Founding Father's, and I felt the best way to do that was introduce you to their own words.
I hope you'll join me!

Keeping Liberty's Flame

Stealing from the Best

2010-06-02T05:00:00.000-07:00

This is from a blog I follow Eugene Rant. He tells me its annonymous, so I'll just say, thanks Bob, this is fabulous!

Stealing from the best

"Once upon a time there was a very happy couple. Their names were Freedom and Capitalism. They married and had many wonderful children. Their names were Independence, Self-worth, Hard Work, Dignity, Charity, Faith and Hope. They all lived happily for many years and the children respected their parents and loved them both very much.

But Freedom and Capitalism later had several naughty children; very naughty. They weren't so respectful and never appreciated their parents. Their names were Wealth Envy, Environmentalism, Animal Rights Activism, Racism, Feminism,and Liberalism. These evil children blamed their parents for everything and hated their parents, Freedom and Capitalism.

In fact, these unappreciative children began to despise their parents since they didn't realize their parents gave them everything they had and didn't realize that they wouldn't even exist without their parents. They hated their parents so much, they began to plot with their neighbors to kill their parents and to keep their home.

Their neighbors' names were Socialism and Communism, who on the outside were a very lovely couple, but inside they were very, very ugly. They and their children, whose names were Despair, Poverty, Suffering, and Repression had been welcomed into every neighborhood they had lived in. But then thrown out after years of suffering and the loss of many lives.

So late one night in total darkness (because Socialism and Communism did everything in darkness and away from the light of the truth,) while everyone was asleep, Wealth Envy, Environmentalism, Feminism, and Animal Rights, with the help of their younger obnoxious brother, Hollywood, disguised Socialism and Communism and all went into the house of Freedom and Capitalism. It wasn't hard because the two parents, Freedom and Capitalism, always left their gates and their door open for everyone. Wealth led the way because he knew the house oh, so well. The evil children led Socialism and Communism throughout the house, one room at a time. And one at a time they killed Hard Work, then Dignity, then Independence, Self-worth, Charity and Faith.

They finally found the room of Freedom and Capitalism and killed them as well. It wasn't hard to do, since Freedom and Capitalism always left their door unlocked and open for everyone. Only Hope survived. Hope survived hiding in the closet. She ran out during the ensuing celebration. After Socialism and Communism moved in, things went well for a while but then they decided they didn't like Freedom and Capitalism's evil children, either. They wanted their own children to have the rooms in their new house. So late one night in total darkness (because Socialism and Communism did everything in darkness and away from the light of the truth,) they sent their children to kill Freedom and Capitalism's remaining evil children.

Poverty and Suffering killed Environmentalism and Animal Rights first, for they were so hungry, they had to kill all the animals for food and the trees for their wood. And besides, why should animals have rights if people don't? Hopelessness killed Liberalism. Then Poverty, Suffering, and Repression killed Feminism. And Hollywood, the young obnoxious son of Freedom and Capitalism, was also killed. Finally, Wealth Envy, who led the attack on his parents, died at the hands of Poverty since there was nothing left to envy.

So Socialism and Communism and their children, Poverty, Despair, Hopelessness, Suffering, and Repression lived in the once beautiful home of Freedom and Capitalism which was now in great disrepair and they all lived sadly ever after.

All that was left of the family of Freedom and Capitalism was Hope who was quietly hiding in the woods."

We’re Fighting them there…

2010-06-01T05:00:00.000-07:00

The question was posed:

“Doesn’t the statement, ‘We're fighting them there so we don't have to fight them here,’ implicitly demean and disrespect the value of other peoples and cultures? Fighting/war always result(s) in the killing of innocents and negative impacts on culture. So, isn’t the statement a fair bit unchristian and inhumane?”

My answer:

Doesn’t the fact that they are wanting to kill us because we are a free, capitalist country, implicitly demean US and disrespect the value of OUR culture?
To use the argument that it’s “unchristian” and “inhumane” is to ignore the generations of human rights issues in Iraq, Iran, North Korea, China, and everywhere else that common decency and dignity are cast aside or beaten down by cruel and inhuman monsters.

Moses fought a righteous war; Gideon fought a righteous war. Protection of home and family is far more important than valuing THEIR culture, whoever “they” may be. The Children of Israel were commanded to expel ALL the pagan cultures from the Promised Land; failure to do so had consequences, and after a time, war ensued.

I was told my answer was overly simplistic. As I review it again, I think the only thing simplistic about it would be that I used generalities instead of specifics.
Ok, so insert “RADICAL ISLAM HATES OUR GUTS AND THEY WANT TO KILL US” in place of the plain old “they are wanting to kill us” above; that should cover it.

John Stuart Mill, a 19th century English philosopher said:

"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."

When will it be OK to those on the left, to cherish our country and our culture? When will it be OK to be unashamed of American Exceptionalism? Multiculturalism has been a bane on our society long enough. I’m so very sick of the argument that we must put their feelings and their culture above our own!

We are AMERICAN’S first! This has nothing to do whatsoever with us being unchristian, and everything to do with protecting home and hearth! Why is that so hard to understand? These people have no desire to be our friends, they want to conquer the Infidel, and that means You and it means Me!
War should never be the first answer, but neither is it unacceptable to the Lord; if it were, Moses, Joshua, Gideon, and several from the Book of Mormon would not have been able to protect themselves.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,…”
Do those on the Left understand these words AT ALL?

Our rights come from God, and they include, among other things, our RIGHT to LIFE, our RIGHT to LIBERTY, and the RIGHT to pursue HAPPINESS. When someone, or a group of someone’s seeks to destroy these Fundamental, NATURAL rights, I have a serious problem with that! I also have a serious problem with those who think we don’t have a right to protect ourselves HERE, by going to where the nest of vipers is.

An analogy came to mind earlier; suppose you found a termite hill in your yard, what would you do?
Would you:

A. Leave it alone, they aren’t bothering you.

B. Leave it alone, but squish the little suckers that wander into your domain?

C. Go TO the nest; eradicate the problem before they literally eat you out of house and home?

I understand, again, this may be simplistic to some, but it makes perfect sense to me. Do you want your house, your home, to be usurped by something that is intent on its fundamental destruction?

It’s like the wasp nests that I spray at night; I do NOT want wasps in my house, around our patio dining table, or near my loved ones, therefore, I eradicate them as I find their nests; I don’t wait for them to come to us.

You may think, like my friend,that these are simplistic answers to a complex problem; so be it, I’m a simpleton then; even proud to be so in that case, because fighting them “over there” is much simpler than fighting them over here.

Memorial Day

2010-05-29T23:20:00.000-07:00

Taken from the book "Thoughts for the Occasion: Patriotic and Secular" published in 1894:

Heroic Devotion Merits Reward

“To say that they died a glorious death would be saying little, for the same is said of those who, following the lead of vain and greedy conquerors, found their graves among the enslaved nations, slaves themselves to the selfish and despotic will that ruled them.
"For our dead we have a higher praise. It was not enforced obedience to the command of a tyrant that dragged them from their homes; not the lust of conquest, nor the scarcely nobler thirst for glory. When the life of the nation was attempted, when the cause of liberty and human rights called for their aid, they rushed forth to rally under the banner they loved, with grand singleness of purpose and heroic devotion--leaving all behind them, to meet toil and danger,hunger,sickness, wounds, and death, for nothing but the sublime satisfaction of doing their duty to their country and to mankind.”
Gen. Carl Shurz, St. Louis, MO.

Capitalism: a Biblical Principle?

2010-05-23T21:47:00.000-07:00

Obama’s “spiritual adviser” Rev. Jim Wallis has charged that the gospel as laid out in the Bible is about the redistribution of wealth; socialism in other words. I have determined for myself that this is an absurd view of Scripture and an abomination of the teachings of Christ and I'd like to share what I've learned.

Let’s start with the Decalogue, and have a look first at the Eighth Commandment: “Thou shalt not steal.”

Now, if the Lord wanted us to be redistributing our wealth, why would this commandment exist? It can only matter, if what’s mine is mine, and what’s yours is yours; if there was a proprietary ownership of goods.

How about the Tenth Commandment? “Thou shalt not covet…”

Again, if all things were held in common, it would be impossible to covet what’s already yours.
I have learned that God is not a redundant God; He doesn’t say something just because it sounds good, nor does He contradict Himself.

You may be saying “OK, but that doesn’t prove a thing, we are supposed to take care of the poor”, and you’d be correct, let’s move on.

For this, I’m going to quote straight from Matthew Chapter 25, KJV; the verses are bolded:

14 ¶ For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.
15 And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.
16 Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents.
17 And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two.
18 But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord’s money.
19 After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them.
20 And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more.
21 His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
22 He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them.
23 His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
24 Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed:
25 And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.
26 His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed:
27 Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.
28 Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.
29 For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.

The master calls his servants together and entrusts them with "his property" (not property held in common; the capital used was in private hands). Then, the master distributes the capital "to each according to his ability"; there was no concern for equality, none whatsoever.

We move then, into full fledged meritocracy, with the master rewarding the servants according to their efforts. The accountability rests with the individual, not the state, not the Roman's, but with each man.

Now, the slothful servant buried the capital, and was called "wicked and slothful", but was NOT given a handout, a share of the capital produced by those who were productive, but the investor takes instead from the slothful and wicked servant and essentially invests with the servant who was the most productive.

The capital is in private hands, and the owner is free to invest.
This is not the basis for a Socialist program, but a very capitalistic one instead.

The next example comes from Acts 5; again, the verses are bolded:

1 But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession,
2 And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.
3 But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?
4 Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.
5 And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things.

It appears that Ananias agreed to give the entire sale price of his land to the Church (the church, not the state), yet Ananias became covetous and kept back part of the funds.

Peter tells Ananias in verse 4 that it was his own land; that he had the power over it. If the Church was practicing redistribution of wealth, why would Peter tell him this? Ananias’s only sin, and it’s a big one, was lying to God. The land was his to do with as he chose, and Peter understands this.

The last example that I’d like to use is from Act’s 4:

32 And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common.

People often use Acts 4:32 as a claim on Socialism, Rev. Wallis included; yet let’s look at the verse right before this:

31 ¶ And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.

I’m sure you all know the contempt the Jews felt for the Romans; you can rest assured that the assembly here is NOT a city, state or country council, but a Church meeting.
So we see two things here. First, they are being moved by the Holy Ghost, and the MULTITUDE, or majority, of them that believed (not ALL of them), have willingly given their goods to the Church, and hold all things in common.

They’ve given willingly and freely because the Spirit has moved them, not because of a government mandate; not because their wealth has been redistributed by the state or the federal government; it’s also quite important to note, that not everyone of the believers participated in placing their goods in the common pool.

Charity is the pure love of Christ; giving willingly and freely. We are to give to the poor and the needy, but it's to come from our hearts; it seems these early Christians understood that.

I can’t claim any knowledge of the mind of the Lord, but I do read His word, and I employ common sense; the words that have come to me from the mouths of His prophet’s paints a far different picture than the one the Rev. Jim Wallis would have us believe.

The question is, what do you believe?

The Never Done Farm: Seed companies supplied by Monsanto

2010-05-17T12:58:00.000-07:00

For those of you who are trying to save seeds and be more self reliant, here is an interesting blog post concerning Monsanto and companies that use their seeds. Territorial Seed, my neighborhood "go to seed guys" is considering dropping any Monsanto products, and I'll be writing them to show my support.

The Never Done Farm: Seed companies supplied by Monsanto

The Fall of Rome

2010-05-16T22:24:00.000-07:00

A quote gathered from my friend Anne on Facebook:

"The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance"

*That's the "Internet" version.
The correct quote is:

"The arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and assistance to foreign hands should be curtailed, lest Rome fall."*

Who do you think said this? Take a Wild Guess? No clue?

Marcus Tullius Cicero. Yep, the Roman philosopher and statesman who died in 43 B.C.

Now, lest someone call me a fearmonger, a hatemonger, a conspiracy theorist, or a racist, I'll state for the record that I am none of these things.

Either way you read the quote, I think we see that ignoring these bits of advice did nothing for the Roman Republic.

Rome once ruled the earth, before Britannia stepped in that is; now it is reduced to a Papal State, that while worthy in it's own right, is far from the Superpower Rome once was.

History is repeating itself. Take note, and take heed, we are headed for a fall that will eclipse the Fall of Rome, only this time, it will be the Communists who take over; the modern day barbarians.

*Late Edit

"A Republic...If you can Keep it"

2010-04-26T23:10:00.000-07:00

Benjamin Franklin's words are never more dear than today, when we are losing freedoms at an alarming pace.
Below is a 10 minute video tutorial on our form of government; please take a few minutes to watch.

Fireworks

2010-04-23T17:41:00.000-07:00

I didn't really set off fireworks, but this is how we "celebrated" this year's "Earth Day"; every light that was available was turned on. I like the glow :)

Incompetence

2010-04-22T22:00:00.003-07:00

Somehow the link to Mr. Hare's incompetence has hit a snag, so I'm reposting. Please feel free to leave comments-something that Blogger turned off on this post previously.

Here is a classic. Mr. Phil Hare, amazingly from Illinois doesn't seem to know or CARE what the Constitution says.

REALLY?
This man is incompetent; he is a disgrace to his party and to his country!

False Idols

2010-04-22T16:44:00.000-07:00

My friend Donna had a brilliant thought this morning. Here is what she said:

“I suspect Earth Day is a modern "golden calf," designed not to suggest the good ole principle of stewardship, which I'm all for, but to lead people, by their worship of the earth, to the trough where Al Gore and the like wait to take folk's money. Think Cap and Trade, global climate, and etc scams.”
Donna is on to something!

The first Earth Day, April 22, 1970 was by some accounts, a good thing. Since then, smog levels have dropped, lead levels have dropped, and water is cleaner. Make no mistake; these are positive outcomes to a worthy idea.

But, that's about where it ends.
If you fast forward to today, the idea has become twisted and hopelessly political.

We have eco-terrorists; we have mandates; heck we can even buy absolution with "carbon credits", paying for indulgences like we pay for gas.

I’ve pondered this before, but it wasn’t until Donna mentioned the Golden Calf that it came together for me.
Just as the ancient Israelites turned to the golden calf, people have turned to “Mother Earth” in their quest for spiritual fulfillment; taking care of your mother is a good thing, right?

Eco-Nuts, or as my friend Julie says, “Earth Muffins” are people who have turned away from the One True God, in order to worship something else; something that unlike the golden calf, actually does have merit; who doesn’t think clean air and clean water are important? That’s where the confusion come in.

Those of you, who read this blog, know of my firm and deep conviction that our Constitution is a divine document, inspired by God for the temporal governance of His children while sojourning on earth.
With that in mind, I also admit to the equally firm and deep conviction that Satan will do whatever he can, however he can, to distract us from the true path that is life’s purpose.
Knowing that God wants us to look to Him, and none other, Satan has used “earth worship” as just one tactic to distract people from the truth.
Using something "good" for his evil designs.

The Children of Israel, sans Moses, lost their focus, and while Moses was busy, made a golden idol; much like the earth worshippers have done today.
Everywhere you turn, someone is reminding you to “Save the Planet”, “Go Green”, “Tread Gently”, or any number of other catchy slogans designed not only to get your attention, but make you feel guilty if you ignore them.

Here’s the deal. This earth is God’s footstool, given as a gift and a home for His children. Nothing is going to happen to this planet until God himself deems that it’s time. Don’t get me wrong, there is a climate change happening, but it’s not manmade, nor does man have any control over it; to assume so is downright arrogant.

We also know, from recent revelations that climate change science is based on faulty, flawed and deceptive “science”, and now wears the moniker “Climategate.” How appropriate.
They have swindled and cajoled, lied and cheated, frightened and bullied, to get their golden calf on the altar of every household in the world; some have placed that calf at the head of the home, and worship it daily and devoutly, and I’m not here to doubt their sincerity; I believe them to be fooled, but that is another argument for another day. There are also those who, like Algore, have a “do as I say, not as I do” mentality, and hope to get rich off the scheme; and they are, by all accounts.

Yet what would our world, our country, our selves be like if we could all put Christ back into His proper place?
What kind of a people would we be? What kind of nation would we be?

So, for this 40th anniversary of Earth Day, I give you a challenge: banish the Golden Calf of climate change, and let the fear and the anxiety manufactured by the Progressives and the Eco-Nuts go; return to your Savior; pray for guidance and understanding for your role in His plan. Make the next year on earth, an “Earth Year”, a year your sojourn on earth takes on the meaning it was meant to.
Follow Christ, live like He would have youlive; the sky is NOT falling, you are NOT killing the polar bears by driving your SUV, you are NOT making a negative impact on the earth because you want a large family.

If you must do something for the earth fine,wonderful, but know it’s because you are a good and responsible person, not because you are guilty and afraid.

The Light in the Darkness

2010-04-08T17:11:00.000-07:00

I've been away much lately; I wish I could say I have been reading good things. I've mostly been reading the news and posting, frantically some days it seems, to Facebook.

There is much going on in the world today, and most of it isn't good news.
We have a health care boondoggle that will, given time to come to fruition, bankrupt our country; we have a president who is Marxist; we have double digit unemployment numbers; we have a society that shuns God, but embraces immorality and evil. These are depressing facts no doubt, but there is a way out; there is light amid the darkness.

That light is education.

The time is coming, and is not far distant when our home libraries will be the only source of truth available. "Newspeak" is already taking place in a textbook near you. Attempts to rewrite history are already underway-how many times do you still here that Bush is to blame for this, or for that?

My challenge to you, whether you homeschool or not, is to gather great books; starting with your Scriptures, gather Original Source materials. Get the journals of our Founding Father's; get copies of the Federalist Papers; collect books that have valiant characters and good examples for your children and grandchildren to look up to, to emulate; characters from history and fiction alike. Gather contemporary books from authors you trust, those who speak the truth.

In my Church we talk a lot about being self sufficient and about Provident Living, but I want to express to you my sincere belief that we will need to have "food storage for our brains" as well as sustenance for our bodies.
It's not enough to sit around watching American Idol or Dancing with the Stars as a family, however fun these may be; we MUST buckle down and do the hard stuff. We must teach ourselves and our children who we really are; what this Country was founded on, and why. The battle for the hearts and minds of our families is real, the assault on morality and goodness rages on. Progressivism is a cancer than can only be vanquished with truth.

Set aside an evening a week to read something wonderful; read "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere" by Longfellow, read about George Washington; read about Moses and Joseph; for those of you who are LDS, read about Nephi and Mosiah. If you're having Scripture study either alone or as a family, I commend you. If you're not, what's stopping you?

Those of you who are LDS remember Elder Oaks talk Good, Better, Best.

It's time to choose what path you will take.

We the People...

2010-03-22T22:12:00.000-07:00

I read an article this evening called "Morning in America." I really liked the imagery that invoked. I’m not sure it’s entirely accurate, but I do like the feel of it.

We have experienced one of the most tragic moments in the history of the United States of America. As if “Social Security”, “Medicare”, “Medicaid” and all of the other outrageous, unconstitutional programs weren’t enough, those who represent us in Washington D.C. have deemed that they know better than we do. A full SEVENTY-SIX percent of American CITIZENS did not want this heath care bill; reform yes, but not this.

George Washington said “It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the Providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits and humbly to implore His protective favor.
Oct. 3, 1789
We may not think we have much to be thankful for today; indeed, it has taken me all day to want to come and write what’s really in my heart.

We have much to rejoice about.

John McCain did not win the 2008 election; because of that, the Progressive movement has been forced into the open-quite before they had secured the hearts and minds of the complacent populace.
We as a people had been sleeping, coasting along for so long, they, the Progressives thought that the time was right for their coup.

They were greatly mistaken.

You see, we have this:

“WE THE PEOPLE of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

A Divine document that even our Founding Father’s acknowledged could not have been framed had Divine Providence not played an important role.

Last night I had a fighting spirit awakened in me, almost a “bring it on” kind of attitude. This health care bill is blatantly unconstitutional, there is no way that the courts will rule it so.

From the American Thinker:

“House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer was asked where in the Constitution Congress was granted the power to mandate that a person must buy a health insurance policy. His answer:

‘Well, in promoting the general welfare the Constitution obviously gives broad authority to Congress to effect that end. The end that we’re trying to effect is to make health care affordable, so I think clearly this is within our constitutional responsibility.’

The “general welfare” clause Hoyer was referring to is in the first line of Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution. This section specifically enumerates the powers of Congress. (The list is very short. Congress has 17 listed, or “enumerated,” powers. Health care isn’t one of them.)

The first line of Article I, Section 8 states, in part:
The Congress shall have Power To … provide for the … general Welfare of the United States … [Emphasis added.]
Notice that this first sentence does not say, “The Congress shall have the Power to provide for the general welfare of the citizens of the United States.”

Every time the phrase “United States” is used in the Constitution, it denotes the federal (or central) government. This is clearly seen in Tenth Amendment where the “United States,” the “states,” and “the people” are three distinct concepts:

Amendment 10 The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. [Emphasis added.]”

The “general welfare” was so obviously meant for the country as a whole, and not individuals it’s simply pathetic how it’s been twisted.
If that phrase was meant as a blank check to Congress, there would be no need for the SEVENTEEN enumerated powers granted to Congress to be listed. The Founding Father’s were not prone to superfluous repetition.

There are a number of avenues for legal recourse; among them, challenges to the First, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Ninth and Tenth Amendments. Various reasons apply: due process, religion, unreasonable search and seizure, privacy; the list goes on.

There is much to be thankful for; we have a Divine document as our Foundation and, despite the efforts of evil, it will, in the end, remain standing and I believe will be restored to its proper place in our legal system; the Progressives have played their hand too soon to succeed in the takeover of America, and we are aware of the agenda; there are good people still in government who are willing to take on the challenge of righting the wrong; God is still in charge.

I ask you tonight, to join me in thanking our Father in Heaven, and do as George Washington recommended: acknowledge the Providence of Almighty God and thank him for blessings large and small that will, in the end, allow our Republic to be whole once again; implore Him to protect and favor us. It may not be soon, and it may get ugly, the ride may be bumpy, but have Faith, He has not forsaken us.

A Letter from the Heritage Foundation

2010-03-22T11:04:00.000-07:00

This is a great letter, I will have more to share this afternoon, but I wanted you all to read this.

Fellow Americans,

Late last night, in a narrow and partisan vote, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the most significant piece of social legislation in over seven decades. It did so in the face of overwhelming and principled opposition from the American people. Large majorities of Americans oppose this legislation because it offends the historic American dedication to the principle of self-government. They understand that this new law will accelerate Washington’s intrusion into our most personal and private decisions.

This is why opposition to this bill will only grow. Supporters of this bill argue that popular hostility will recede upon its passage. But, rather than cementing our descent into a European-style welfare state, last night’s passage of Obamacare is best seen as a historic turning point, a true catalyst for real change.

I write to reassure our supporters, the conservative movement, and the American people at large that The Heritage Foundation will do all within its power to keep this issue alive in the public square and make the intellectual case for the repeal of this act. We will bring all our resources to bear on behalf of those who believe America is and will always remain the Land of the Free.

This, rest assured, can be done. The American people are never permanently thwarted. President Obama’s health care legislation can and will be repealed.
Those who supported this bill are our fellow Americans, and we do not question their good will or patriotism. In public policy, however, good intentions alone do not suffice. And let there be no mistake, our philosophical differences with supporters of this bill are profound. The reason government-run health care has been the holy grail of the left for decades is that liberals realize as much as we do that it is a giant step toward the creation of a European-style welfare state. This is an evolution Americans have always resisted because it is alien to our national character.

If there is one good thing about the past year—one in which we have witnessed unprecedented horse-trading, press stunts, midnight votes and political manipulation in both houses of the U.S. Congress—it is that the American people have come away educated as never before about the differences between these two visions for America. Americans are strongly opposed to this bill not because they have been hoodwinked but because they understand this bill both in its particulars and at an instinctive, gut level.

They understand this health care bill forces individuals and employers to buy insurance policies designed by government bureaucrats. This intrusion is intended to follow us from cradle to grave.

Instead of empowering families and individuals to make their own choices, Obamacare empowers the bureaucracy to make those decisions for them. It is this unelected bureaucracy, unanswerable to the electorate, that will determine the content of health benefits packages, including medical treatment and procedures, and how much will be paid for those services. Yesterday’s legislation brings us one step closer to fully government-run medicine, with expanded government power over the financing and delivery of medical services that is sure to ration care in the name of cost control.

You will hear the left say this new entitlement will be popular with the American people. Do not believe them for a second. Yes, 32 million people will gain the theoretical right to health insurance. But over half of that coverage comes from placing at least 16 million more Americans into Medicaid, an unpopular and overextended welfare program that already rations care.

Americans will not stand for it. The American love for liberty prevailed in our founding, and will prevail once again.

In December of 1773, to protest unjust taxation, a group of American colonists dumped tea in Boston Harbor. The punishment for that first Tea Party was a series of intrusive laws passed by Parliament that were so oppressive that they could only be described as the “Intolerable Acts.”

Obamacare is today’s Intolerable Act. And just as the colonists banded together to enact change after those acts were passed, so should America respond to Obamacare. This law must be repealed.

Much of the fight against this bill will be led by the individual states, a process we encourage. All told, 33 states have already taken steps to challenge various aspects of Obamacare, including its unprecedented mandate that every American purchase health insurance or face a steep penalty for noncompliance. Four additional states will have this question on the ballot in November.

On Capitol Hill, the initial battle over Obamacare will occur when Congress considers whether to fund the tens of thousands of new federal bureaucrats necessary to implement the new law. In the tradition of the Hyde amendment, which prevented federal funding for abortions through annual limitations appended to appropriations bills, conservatives should look to the appropriations process as our first line of defense. Straightforward funding limitations would prevent any Administration official or any bureaucrat from implementing the law.

Our health care system requires reform, and we have long advocated measures to improve our system. We can and should strengthen the ability of American families to choose the coverage they want, rather than giving that power to Congress and its agency bureaucrats. We can also spur competition and choice to bring efficiency and lower costs to the health system, in place of the bill’s deadening regulation and damaging price controls. And, above all, we should foster state innovation rather than Washington-based central planning.

But such reforms can only be considered once this tragedy of arrogance has been fully and completely repealed.

Fortunately, there are no permanent victories or defeats in Washington. For millions of Americans and for Heritage, Round One of this fight is over. Today, The Heritage Foundation is answering the bell for Round Two. Join our fight; become a part of our mission. Help us educate our lawmakers, as well as those who aspire to become tomorrow’s lawmakers. Together we can make the persuasive case for repeal of this Intolerable Act and thereby return us to our American destiny.

Onward!

Sincerely,
Edwin J. Feulner, Ph.D., President, The Heritage Foundation

Samuel Adams; Patriot and man of God.

2010-03-21T16:02:00.000-07:00

My friend Sheree from Facebook posted this from Samuel Adams today; it comes from comments he made regarding the Declaration of Independence:

"WE ARE now on this continent, to the astonishment of the world, three millions of souls united in one cause. We have large armies, well disciplined and appointed, with commanders inferior to none in military skill, and superior in activity and zeal.

We are furnished with arsenals and stores beyond our most sanguine expectations, and foreign nations are waiting to crown our success by their alliances. There are instances of, I would say, an almost astonishing Providence in our favor; our success has staggered our enemies, and almost given faith to infidels; so we may truly say it is not our own arm which has saved us.

The hand of Heaven appears to have led us on to be, perhaps, humble instruments and means in the great providential dispensation, which is completing. We have fled from the political Sodom; let us not look back, lest we perish and become a monument of infamy and derision to the world. For can we ever expect more unanimity and a better preparation for defense; more infatuation of counsel among our enemies, and more valor and zeal among ourselves? The same force and resistance, which are sufficient to procure us our liberties will secure us a glorious independence and support us in the dignity of free, imperial states.

We cannot suppose that our opposition has made a corrupt and dissipated nation more friendly to America, or created in them a greater respect for the rights of mankind.
We can therefore expect a restoration and establishment of our privileges, and a compensation for the injuries we have received, from their want of power, from their fears, and not from their virtues. The unanimity and valor, which will effect an honorable peace, can render a future contest for our liberties unnecessary. He who has strength to chain down the wolf is a madman if he let him loose without drawing his teeth and paring his nails.

We have no other alternative than independence, or the most ignominious and galling servitude. The legions of our enemies thicken on our plains; desolation and death mark their bloody career; whilst the mangled corpses of our countrymen seem to cry out to us as a voice from Heaven.
Our union is now complete; our constitution composed, established, and approved. You are now the guardians of your own liberties. We may justly address you, as the decemviri did the Romans, and say: "Nothing that we propose can pass into a law without your consent. Be yourselves, O Americans, the authors of those laws on which your happiness depends."

You have now in the field armies sufficient to repel the whole force of your enemies and their base and mercenary auxiliaries. The hearts of your soldiers beat high with the spirit of freedom; they are animated with the justice of their cause, and while they grasp their swords can look up to Heaven for assistance. Your adversaries are composed of wretches who laugh at the rights of humanity, who turn religion into derision, and would, for higher wages, direct their swords against their leaders or their country. Go on, then, in your generous enterprise, with gratitude to Heaven for past, success, and confidence of it in the future. For my own part, I ask no greater blessing than to share with you the common danger and common glory. If I have a wish dearer to my soul than that my ashes may be mingled with those of a Warren and a Montgomery, it is that these American States may never cease to be free and independent."

First,the above highlighted remarks.
Our adversaries are many, and they mock God, and tear asunder our Constitution and our Republic. We must not turn back; we must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope. We must not let our adversaries win. If the health care bill passes, we may be as the Children of Israel, with burdens aplenty; let us continue, as Mr. Adams suggests, go on with gratitude to Heaven. We have the truth on our side, the Constitution is the Supreme law of the land; many of you believe as I do, that our Constitution is a divinely inspired document; God will not fail us if we stand firm.

Second, this sentence:

"The unanimity and valor, which will effect an honorable peace, can render a future contest for our liberties unnecessary."

It's amazing how right he was. When we were united in cause, we were free, having liberty to be free. When we let the progressive agenda in, the unanimity and valor began to erode; it's gotten us where we are today.
If the health care bill fails, as many of us have been praying it would, we must unite with those of like mind, we must share the burdens of our Republic. Mr. Adams points out that when people were united and courageous, future contests over our liberties would be unnecessary.
We can't go back to sleep and think that someone else will do the job; take up the slack; it must be us.

Pray for our Republic; pray for our representatives who are honest and filled with integrity; then get to work. It's our job to support this Republic.

Probabable Constitutional Challenges

2010-03-21T14:39:00.000-07:00

There is hope on the horizon if this health care bill actually passes. I am hopeful that it won't, and the strong arming and Mafia politics continues as I write this. There is an excellent article at the American Thinker today that lays out the legal challenges this bill faces, which a sensible court would agree with on numerous fronts. Several violations of our Constitution would occur, and will be met with a plethora of challenges.

Read this from the American Thinker today, it will give you a bit of hope.

Probable Constitutional Challenges to Obamacare

Census Quesitons and the Fifth Amendment

2010-03-20T12:35:00.000-07:00

As many of you probably guessed, I have some major problems with the way the Census is handling their Constitutional job this time around.
They do not need to know my race or the status of my living arrangements.

Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3:

[Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons]. The Actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years in such a Manner as they shall by Law direct.

The phrase "in such manner as they shall by law direct" refers to the manner in which the Census is executed, NOT what they can ask.
I found a letter on Lew Rockwell's Blog.
I want to warn, that I am not saying that you SHOULD do as this letter writer is espousing, only you can determine the risks for your own actions; however, I will be adopting the plan of stating only the head of household and the number of occupants in the household; this is what the Founding Father's wanted from us, nothing more. As the Blogger stated, anything more, and I'm pleading the Fifth Amendment.
The letter is as follows:

To Whom it May Concern,

Pursuant to Article I, Section 2, Clause 3 of the Constitution, the only information you are empowered to request is the total number of occupants at this address. My “name, sex, age, date of birth, race, ethnicity, telephone number, relationship and housing tenure” have absolutely nothing to do with apportioning direct taxes or determining the number of representatives in the House of Representatives. Therefore, neither Congress nor the Census Bureau have the constitutional authority to make that information request a component of the enumeration outlined in Article I, Section 2, Clause 3. In addition, I cannot be subject to a fine for basing my conduct on the Constitution because that document trumps laws passed by Congress.

Interstate Commerce Commission v. Brimson, 154 U.S. 447, 479 (May 26, 1894)

“Neither branch of the legislative department [House of Representatives or Senate], still less any merely administrative body [such as the Census Bureau], established by congress, possesses, or can be invested with, a general power of making inquiry into the private affairs of the citizen. Kilbourn v. Thompson, 103 U.S. 168, 190. We said in Boyd v. U.S., 116 U. S. 616, 630, 6 Sup. Ct. 524,―and it cannot be too often repeated,―that the principles that embody the essence of constitutional liberty and security forbid all invasions on the part of government and it’s employees of the sanctity of a man’s home and the privacies of his life. As said by Mr. Justice Field in Re Pacific Ry. Commission, 32 Fed. 241, 250, ‘of all the rights of the citizen, few are of greater importance or more essential to his peace and happiness than the right of personal security, and that involves, not merely protection of his person from assault, but exemption of his private affairs, books, and papers from inspection and scrutiny of others. Without the enjoyment of this right, all others would lose half their value.’”

Note: This United States Supreme Court case has never been overturned.

Respectfully,

A Citizen of the United States of America

Mark Levin with Neil Cavuto

2010-03-20T10:05:00.000-07:00

Mark Levin, Constitutional laywer, explains exactly why this health care monstrocity is not Constitutional. It's about 5 min, and it's worth listening to.
He points out that what they will be sending to the president's desk won't even be a bill.

Fundamental Transformation

2010-03-18T23:26:00.000-07:00

Since January 22, 1973 the government has been telling us that NO ONE had the right to tell a woman what she could or could not do with her body. They've been telling us that a woman, with her doctor, could choose abortion in earlier months of pregnancy without restriction, and with restrictions in later months, based on the right to privacy.

That's Thirty-seven years of "reproductive freedom" that women have been allowed; sometimes painfully, sometimes vehemently, but always a government assured "right". No one can tell her that she can't; even at the moment of birth she can, in some instances and in some places choose to end the life of her child, it is, according to the Progressives, her choice.

Fast forward to March 18,2010. Our elected representatives-those elected to represent US, are proposing to "deem to have passed" a bill that only a small MINORITY of people want, which will take away our right to decide for ourselves what kind of health care we'll get, who will give it to us and who will pay for it. We will be stripped of choices over our own bodies, denied care for things that are too costly, sent home to die because it's too costly to care for whatever it is you have(Don't worry about death panels in the health care bill, they covered that in the Stimulus package). Our "right to choose" stripped from us without a second thought.

The hypocrisy is palpable; a dark and evil presence.
It was part of the plan, to give women a choice; it served a purpose: population control, eugenics, race control, a weeding out of the undesireables; quietly, legally, committing infanticide for generations. They are now ready for phase two of the plan of control; the next step in the "fundamental transformation" of the United States of America."

Kill the Bill

2010-03-18T17:50:00.000-07:00

Here are a few questions:

If this Health Care bill is SO great, why use the back door?
If this bill is so great, why haven't they voted on it long before now?
If this bill is so great, why are they strong arming their own people?
IF this bill is so great, why does it take until 2014 to go into effect?
IF this bill is so great, why is it that 73% of American's do not want it to pass?
IF this bill is so great, why the Parlimentary trickery?
If this bill is so great, why do they keep blaming the Republican's, when they don't NEED the Republican's to pass it?

The president had an interview with Bret Baier the other day. Quite frankly, Bret ran the president in circles and did an excellent job of getting to the question; Obama did an excellent job of ducking-as is usual for most politicians.

Here's the deal. If this bill were so fabulous, and the Republican's/Conservative's were out voted, then we lose fair and square, and we move on, working to changing things if we want. That's not what's happening.
Deceit and trickery reign. Obama said about a month ago that it had to be an up or down, square vote because he wouldn't be able to govern with a 50+1 vote. Now it's Okay? The Slaughter rule is okay? (that's a fitting name for something that will slaughter our Republic don't you think?)

These people are Marxists; they are Maoists; they are Communists. Everything they do is about control.

Our rights come from God and God alone. The state can't grant rights; when the state grants what they call a "right", they are actually giving goods or services(paid for by a third party-it's called redistribution of wealth). The state then decides who gets the goods and services, when they are received, when they are taken away and why.
This is about control. Control of our lives, every facet of our lives.

Here is the oath a President takes:
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." (George Washington added "So help me God", all the other's have followed suit, but it is not formally part of the oath of office.)

Here is the Congressional Oath of Office:
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God."

There are hardly any in Washington today, right now, upholding their sworn oaths. On Saturday March 20th and Noon local time there will be a gathering of Patriots in Washington D.C. to remind our elected employees of their oath's; to remind them that they work for US, and we plan to hold them accountable. Please, if you are able, if you live within a three or four hour drive, PLEASE go to Washington D.C., and stand up and be heard. Be heard for those of us on the "Left Coast" who cannot be there.
One word describes what is at stake: Liberty. Your's, mine, our children's and grandchildren's Liberty.
We must work to "Kill the Bill"; Liberty will be killed if we don't.

The Cowardice in Washington

2010-03-17T09:36:00.000-07:00

I think I've mentioned PJTV before, I check out their website regularly. This morning I watched their "Trifecta" program, and I must say, they are spot on. Highlighting some things I want to talk about in an upcoming post, I'm thrilled to have them give us a head start.
Please watch the video, it's about 9 minutes, and well worth your time.

Breaking the Law: Congressional Cowards Bet the House and the Senate on Obamacare

Thomas Paine, Patriot

2010-03-16T22:40:00.000-07:00

I've heard a lot of Democrats say lately that they want an "up or down vote" on the health care bill; yet they keep delaying the vote.
Do you see what's happening? They are bullying and harrassing the members of their party who do not want to vote for this clearly unconstitutional bill. There is no where in the Constitution that talks about providing ANYTHING for EVERYONE; not ANYWHERE.
They think we are too stupid to know what's best, to know what the Constitution says. They have made it clear that "they" know best; just listen to Nancy Pelosi:

HUH? I'm not sure about her, but I KNOW I'm not that stupid. Period.

I feel the need to leave you with an excerpt from "The Crisis", a pamphlet by Thomas Paine. I know you've all heard this before, or at least the first line, but I feel it's quite fitting given the rise of tyranny in the last few years, but particularly in light of the legislative debacle taking place right now in Washington.

"THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated."

Please, don't be a summer soldier or a sunshine patriot; the storms are gathering and we, each one of us, must decide which side of the Constitution we will come down on; will it be the version the Founding Father's gave us, or the version that is shredded and nearly unrecognizable?

Choices

2010-03-16T12:26:00.000-07:00

I have been pondering for a few days what can be done about the health care monstrosity that is being forced upon us by our employees.
Sixty percent of American's do not want this health care bill, yet those we have elected to serve us in Washington believe, in their arrogance that we just aren't smart enough to know what's good for us.
Clearly they aren't listening, and through all we can and have done, they snub and denigrate us.

I have stated before my firm belief that the Constitution is a Divine document, inspired by a loving Heavenly Father to allow maximum freedoms and give us the opportunities to use our God given agency, or power to choose freely.

With that understanding, you should know I pray nightly that this health care bill will not pass; that those who wish to control our lives will fail in their bid to extinguish our freedoms and those of generations yet unborn.
It is time for us to unite our voices in supplication to God; it matters not that your idea of God is different than mine, praying to Him, whoever He is to you is an eternal truth, and all truth can unite for the common good, or, "the general welfare" as our Founders wanted.

I ask then that you fast and pray, both if possible, for the Republic. We know the power of prayer, and we know the power of sacrifice in fasting; I ask you to use these powers together that we might invoke a mighty miracle; that we can keep these last threads of our Beloved Constitution from being severed.
For my part, I will be fasting dinner tonight and breakfast tomorrow, a complete 24 hours. If you can't do that for whatever reason, do some; fast one meal. If you have health concerns, do some kind of fasting and combine it will sincere prayer.
There is great power when many people are fasting and praying together for a common goal.
Be specific, pray that this health care bill will fail, that it will be defeated soundly; that because of our faith and our knowledge of the Divinity of our Constitution that we receive Divine Intervention.
I ask you to join me tonight, fasting dinner and breakfast-or however you can.
May God continue to bless the United States of America!

Bill Gates, Progressive: In His Own Words

2010-03-08T11:06:00.000-08:00

I found this link by accident today, and I was thoroughly dismayed and disgusted. This man has made his billions, so the rest of the world is expendable? Only God can decide how much is too much.

We, as mortals, see "through a glass darkly" as Paul reminds us and we don't know His ways. It's not for Bill Gates and his ilk to decide what the correct population is for our Father in Heaven's footstool.

Take a look at this video, and listen carefully. I'm not telling you NOT to vaccinate your children, that is a personal decision to make prayerfully, but you must understand what the Progressives agenda is; how Eugenics is being used right under our noses and with our consent.

Mr. President, You Scare Me

2010-03-05T05:30:00.000-08:00

I found this letter on Facebook this morning, and after checking with Truth Or Fiction, finding it's a real, honest to goodness letter to the president, I decided to share it. It pretty much sums up what many, many, many American's are feeling right now.

AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA
By Lou Pritchet

Dear President Obama,
You are the thirteenth President under whom I have lived and unlike any of the others, you truly scare me.

You scare me because after months of exposure, I know nothing about you. You scare me because I do not know how you paid for your expensive Ivy League education and your upscale lifestyle and housing with no visible signs of support.
You scare me because you did not spend the formative years of youth growing up in America and culturally you are not an American.
You scare me because you have never run a company or met a payroll.
You scare me because you have never had military experience, thus don't understand it at its core.
You scare me because you lack humility and 'class', always blaming others. You scare me because for over half your life you have aligned yourself with radical extremists who hate America and you refuse to publicly denounce these radicals who wish to see America fail.
You scare me because you are a cheerleader for the 'blame America' crowd and deliver this message abroad.
You scare me because you want to change America to a European style country where the government sector dominates instead of the private sector.
You scare me because you want to replace our health care system with a government controlled one.

You scare me because you prefer 'wind mills' to responsibly capitalizing on our own vast oil, coal and shale reserves.
You scare me because you want to kill the American capitalist goose that lays the golden egg which provides the highest standard of living in the world. You scare me because you have begun to use 'extortion' tactics against certain banks and corporations.
You scare me because your own political party shrinks from challenging you on your wild and irresponsible spending proposals.
You scare me because you will not openly listen to or even consider opposing points of view from intelligent people.
You scare me because you falsely believe that you are both omnipotent and omniscient. You scare me because the media gives you a free pass on everything you do.

You scare me because you demonize and want to silence the Limbaugh's, Hannity's, O'Rellly's and Beck's who offer opposing, conservative points of view. You scare me because you prefer controlling over governing. Finally, you scare me because if you serve a second term I will probably not feel safe in writing a similar letter in 8 years.

Lou Pritchett; (www.loupritchett.com)

If Looks Could Kill

2010-03-04T09:26:00.000-08:00

Take a look at this video, from the meeting the Republicans had with the president last week.
Look closely, Obama does not like what he's hearing from Paul Ryan (R-WI).
If looks could kill! Obama is livid that Rep.Ryan has hit the nail on the head.

Here is an article that I found on The American Thinker entitled "Malignant Narcissism." Take a look.

The man wants nothing more than the total collapse of our economy, in order to usher in a Communist utopia; the look on his face says it all.

Peeking Into the Mind of a Liberal

2010-02-27T01:20:00.000-08:00

I had an interesting encounter with an old friend from High School these past couple of days that helped me realize I needed to get back to writing, and hopefully helping to educate those around me.

I had posted this link on Facebook: Obama Threatens to Advance Health Care Reform Without GOP Support , and another friend reposted; that's where the story begins.

My friend then commented it was too bad the two sides couldn't work together on something as important as health care reform. I then commented that we needed insurance reform, not an unconstitutional takeover of another segment of our lives. I also said for Obama to say "do it my way or else" didn't bode well for America.
I was then asked to show him one line in the Constitution that prohibited the feds from providing health care-THAT was easy; Section I Article 8.
He said to him it was pretty clear, "provide for the general welfare" covered it.
I carefully explained that "provide for the general welfare" as the Founding Father's knew it meant that congress, in this context was to provide for the general welfare of the states, not individuals. (There were huge debts the states inccured during the Revoluitonary War that the federal government was now to take over and pay off). We bantered about language and he said that the dictionary was not the court, the Supreme Court was the final arbiter.
He then digressed into repeating that just because *I* said something was unconstitutional didn't make it so, that the Supreme Court rulings were Constitutional by virtue of them saying something was Constitutional (yeah, like slavery for example?).
It digressed even further by him insulting me, saying my arguments were neither sophisticated or knowledgeable. I then said if wanted to start with insults, I was done but that I felt truth (in the form of the Constitution)was on my side.
Here is how he responded when I wouldn't concede:
"Jeannetta, this discussion really is over. After our last face to face meeting at the high school reunion I knew that I didn't really need to ever interact with you again. I saw your posts on ______'s account and never pursued it, again, because I really didn't want to resume any kind of contact with you. Our "discussion" as you called it has only made that more clear to me. Please don't contact me again in any manner."

This is so very comical and typical to me of liberal thought processes.
If I had offended him at the last reunion(five years ago I *think* is the last time I saw him, it could have been 10), I would have been glad to know of it to apologize promptly; this was the first I had heard of a problem. (Liberals will change the subject to reflect their warped sense of justice).
The "Please don't contact me again" is so very comical, because I DIDN'T contact him! I posted on a link that our mutual friend had posted, he commented, I commented after. (Liberals will act offended and refuse any further discussion when it's not going well for them, or if they can't come up with anymore wild arguments and accusations).

When liberals can't come up with a cogent rebuttal, they do one of three things, or a combination of the three; either they insult you, cut you off or they continue to babble making less and less sense. They can't be bothered by facts, reality, truth or reason.

If you get into a tight spot like this, stick to your guns, but make sure you are educated, read the Constitution, read the Bill of Rights.
I also have been reading A Patriot's History of the United States by Larry Schweikart, which I'm loving. I would also recommend Who Killed the Constitution:The Fate of American Liberty from WWI to George W. Bush by Thomas E. Woods(there is actually an updated version including Obama's foibles I noticed on Amazon as well). I received both for Christmas last year and had put A Patriot's History aside for other things(it is on the "large and heavy" side)until recently, I'm sorry I waited.

In order to combat the radical Progressive's in our midst, we must be educated. Please make the time. My challenge to you all is to read the Constitution before school lets out. That's 3 to 4 months from today. I am going to as well. Take a highlighter and highlight those parts that seem important to you. If you don't have a small one, you can get a Pocket Constitution from The National Center for Constitutional Studies for $1.00 plus shipping. They have a special, 100 copies for $30.00; why not start passing them out?

Please, be educated, it's the only way we can turn the tide of Progressivism that is eating away at our liberties; their road leads to Communism and Totalitarianism.

If your friends leave you, if neighbors reject you, if family members scorn you, it's all good. You have the truth on your side.

Happy Birthday Mr. Washington

2010-02-22T15:26:00.000-08:00

I just finished a wonderful book on George Washington, The Real George Washington by Jay A. Parry. I HIGHLY recommend this book, in fact, it has inspired a new blog that I'm going to be firing up soon: Keeping Liberty's Flame, which will be my favorite quotes from not only George Washington, but many of the Founding Father's, the Founding Documents, the Federalist Papers and any other fabulous source I can find.

For now, I leave you with George Washington's Farewell Address. Be aware that it is LONG and it may have language you are unfamiliar with. Please, read it; take your time; read it in snatches; read with a dictionary handy and don't be intimidated by how heavy it may seem. I promise it will be worth it.

George Washington's
Farewell Address
To the People of the United States
FRIENDS AND FELLOW-CITIZENS:

1 The period for a new election of a citizen, to administer the executive government of the United States, being not far distant, and the time actually arrived, when your thoughts must be employed designating the person, who is to be clothed with that important trust, it appears to me proper, especially as it may conduce to a more distinct expression of the public voice, that I should now apprize you of the resolution I have formed, to decline being considered among the number of those out of whom a choice is to be made.

2 I beg you at the same time to do me the justice to be assured that this resolution has not been taken without a strict regard to all the considerations appertaining to the relation which binds a dutiful citizen to his country; and that in withdrawing the tender of service, which silence in my situation might imply, I am influenced by no diminution of zeal for your future interest, no deficiency of grateful respect for your past kindness, but am supported by a full conviction that the step is compatible with both.

3 The acceptance of, and continuance hitherto in, the office to which your suffrages have twice called me, have been a uniform sacrifice of inclination to the opinion of duty, and to a deference for what appeared to be your desire. I constantly hoped, that it would have been much earlier in my power, consistently with motives, which I was not at liberty to disregard, to return to that retirement, from which I had been reluctantly drawn. The strength of my inclination to do this, previous to the last election, had even led to the preparation of an address to declare it to you; but mature reflection on the then perplexed and critical posture of our affairs with foreign nations, and the unanimous advice of persons entitled to my confidence impelled me to abandon the idea.

4 I rejoice, that the state of your concerns, external as well as internal, no longer renders the pursuit of inclination incompatible with the sentiment of duty, or propriety; and am persuaded, whatever partiality may be retained for my services, that, in the present circumstances of our country, you will not disapprove my determination to retire.

5 The impressions, with which I first undertook the arduous trust, were explained on the proper occasion. In the discharge of this trust, I will only say, that I have, with good intentions, contributed towards the organization and administration of the government the best exertions of which a very fallible judgment was capable. Not unconscious, in the outset, of the inferiority of my qualifications, experience in my own eyes, perhaps still more in the eyes of others, has strengthened the motives to diffidence of myself; and every day the increasing weight of years admonishes me more and more, that the shade of retirement is as necessary to me as it will be welcome. Satisfied, that, if any circumstances have given peculiar value to my services, they were temporary, I have the consolation to believe, that, while choice and prudence invite me to quit the political scene, patriotism does not forbid it.

6 In looking forward to the moment, which is intended to terminate the career of my public life, my feelings do not permit me to suspend the deep acknowledgment of that debt of gratitude, which I owe to my beloved country for the many honors it has conferred upon me; still more for the steadfast confidence with which it has supported me; and for the opportunities I have thence enjoyed of manifesting my inviolable attachment, by services faithful and persevering, though in usefulness unequal to my zeal. If benefits have resulted to our country from these services, let it always be remembered to your praise, and as an instructive example in our annals, that under circumstances in which the passions, agitated in every direction, were liable to mislead, amidst appearances sometimes dubious, vicissitudes of fortune often discouraging, in situations in which not unfrequently want of success has countenanced the spirit of criticism, the constancy of your support was the essential prop of the efforts, and a guarantee of the plans by which they were effected. Profoundly penetrated with this idea, I shall carry it with me to my grave, as a strong incitement to unceasing vows that Heaven may continue to you the choicest tokens of its beneficence; that your union and brotherly affection may be perpetual; that the free constitution, which is the work of your hands, may be sacredly maintained; that its administration in every department may be stamped with wisdom and virtue; than, in fine, the happiness of the people of these States, under the auspices of liberty, may be made complete, by so careful a preservation and so prudent a use of this blessing, as will acquire to them the glory of recommending it to the applause, the affection, and adoption of every nation, which is yet a stranger to it.

7 Here, perhaps I ought to stop. But a solicitude for your welfare which cannot end but with my life, and the apprehension of danger, natural to that solicitude, urge me, on an occasion like the present, to offer to your solemn contemplation, and to recommend to your frequent review, some sentiments which are the result of much reflection, of no inconsiderable observation, and which appear to me all-important to the permanency of your felicity as a people. These will be offered to you with the more freedom, as you can only see in them the disinterested warnings of a parting friend, who can possibly have no personal motive to bias his counsel. Nor can I forget, as an encouragement to it, your indulgent reception of my sentiments on a former and not dissimilar occasion.

8 Interwoven as is the love of liberty with every ligament of your hearts, no recommendation of mine is necessary to fortify or confirm the attachment.

9 The unity of Government, which constitutes you one people, is also now dear to you. It is justly so; for it is a main pillar in the edifice of your real independence, the support of your tranquillity at home, your peace abroad; of your safety; of your prosperity; of that very Liberty, which you so highly prize. But as it is easy to foresee, that, from different causes and from different quarters, much pains will be taken, many artifices employed, to weaken in your minds the conviction of this truth; as this is the point in your political fortress against which the batteries of internal and external enemies will be most constantly and actively (though often covertly and insidiously) directed, it is of infinite moment, that you should properly estimate the immense value of your national Union to your collective and individual happiness; that you should cherish a cordial, habitual, and immovable attachment to it; accustoming yourselves to think and speak of it as of the Palladium of your political safety and prosperity; watching for its preservation with jealous anxiety; discountenancing whatever may suggest even a suspicion, that it can in any event be abandoned; and indignantly frowning upon the first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion of our country from the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now link together the various parts.

10 For this you have every inducement of sympathy and interest. Citizens, by birth or choice, of a common country, that country has a right to concentrate your affections. The name of american, which belongs to you, in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of Patriotism, more than any appellation derived from local discriminations. With slight shades of difference, you have the same religion, manners, habits, and political principles. You have in a common cause fought and triumphed together; the Independence and Liberty you possess are the work of joint counsels, and joint efforts, of common dangers, sufferings, and successes.

11 But these considerations, however powerfully they address themselves to your sensibility, are greatly outweighed by those, which apply more immediately to your interest. Here every portion of our country finds the most commanding motives for carefully guarding and preserving the Union of the whole.

12 The North, in an unrestrained intercourse with the South, protected by the equal laws of a common government, finds, in the productions of the latter, great additional resources of maritime and commercial enterprise and precious materials of manufacturing industry. The South, in the same intercourse, benefiting by the agency of the North, sees its agriculture grow and its commerce expand. Turning partly into its own channels the seamen of the North, it finds its particular navigation invigorated; and, while it contributes, in different ways, to nourish and increase the general mass of the national navigation, it looks forward to the protection of a maritime strength, to which itself is unequally adapted. The East, in a like intercourse with the West, already finds, and in the progressive improvement of interior communications by land and water, will more and more find, a valuable vent for the commodities which it brings from abroad, or manufactures at home. The West derives from the East supplies requisite to its growth and comfort, and, what is perhaps of still greater consequence, it must of necessity owe the secure enjoyment of indispensable outlets for its own productions to the weight, influence, and the future maritime strength of the Atlantic side of the Union, directed by an indissoluble community of interest as one nation. Any other tenure by which the West can hold this essential advantage, whether derived from its own separate strength, or from an apostate and unnatural connexion with any foreign power, must be intrinsically precarious.

13 While, then, every part of our country thus feels an immediate and particular interest in Union, all the parts combined cannot fail to find in the united mass of means and efforts greater strength, greater resource, proportionably greater security from external danger, a less frequent interruption of their peace by foreign nations; and, what is of inestimable value, they must derive from Union an exemption from those broils and wars between themselves, which so frequently afflict neighbouring countries not tied together by the same governments, which their own rivalships alone would be sufficient to produce, but which opposite foreign alliances, attachments, and intrigues would stimulate and embitter. Hence, likewise, they will avoid the necessity of those overgrown military establishments, which, under any form of government, are inauspicious to liberty, and which are to be regarded as particularly hostile to Republican Liberty. In this sense it is, that your Union ought to be considered as a main prop of your liberty, and that the love of the one ought to endear to you the preservation of the other.

14 These considerations speak a persuasive language to every reflecting and virtuous mind, and exhibit the continuance of the union as a primary object of Patriotic desire. Is there a doubt, whether a common government can embrace so large a sphere? Let experience solve it. To listen to mere speculation in such a case were criminal. We are authorized to hope, that a proper organization of the whole, with the auxiliary agency of governments for the respective subdivisions, will afford a happy issue to the experiment. It is well worth a fair and full experiment. With such powerful and obvious motives to Union, affecting all parts of our country, while experience shall not have demonstrated its impracticability, there will always be reason to distrust the patriotism of those, who in any quarter may endeavour to weaken its bands.

15 In contemplating the causes, which may disturb our Union, it occurs as matter of serious concern, that any ground should have been furnished for characterizing parties by Geographical discriminations, Northern and Southern, Atlantic and Western; whence designing men may endeavour to excite a belief, that there is a real difference of local interests and views. One of the expedients of party to acquire influence, within particular districts, is to misrepresent the opinions and aims of other districts. You cannot shield yourselves too much against the jealousies and heart-burnings, which spring from these misrepresentations; they tend to render alien to each other those, who ought to be bound together by fraternal affection. The inhabitants of our western country have lately had a useful lesson on this head; they have seen, in the negotiation by the Executive, and in the unanimous ratification by the Senate, of the treaty with Spain, and in the universal satisfaction at that event, throughout the United States, a decisive proof how unfounded were the suspicions propagated among them of a policy in the General Government and in the Atlantic States unfriendly to their interests in regard to the mississippi; they have been witnesses to the formation of two treaties, that with Great Britain, and that with Spain, which secure to them every thing they could desire, in respect to our foreign relations, towards confirming their prosperity. Will it not be their wisdom to rely for the preservation of these advantages on the union by which they were procured? Will they not henceforth be deaf to those advisers, if such there are, who would sever them from their brethren, and connect them with aliens?

16 To the efficacy and permanency of your Union, a Government for the whole is indispensable. No alliances, however strict, between the parts can be an adequate substitute; they must inevitably experience the infractions and interruptions, which all alliances in all times have experienced. Sensible of this momentous truth, you have improved upon your first essay, by the adoption of a Constitution of Government better calculated than your former for an intimate Union, and for the efficacious management of your common concerns. This Government, the offspring of our own choice, uninfluenced and unawed, adopted upon full investigation and mature deliberation, completely free in its principles, in the distribution of its powers, uniting security with energy, and containing within itself a provision for its own amendment, has a just claim to your confidence and your support. Respect for its authority, compliance with its laws, acquiescence in its measures, are duties enjoined by the fundamental maxims of true Liberty. The basis of our political systems is the right of the people to make and to alter their Constitutions of Government. But the Constitution which at any time exists, till changed by an explicit and authentic act of the whole people, is sacredly obligatory upon all. The very idea of the power and the right of the people to establish Government presupposes the duty of every individual to obey the established Government.

17 All obstructions to the execution of the Laws, all combinations and associations, under whatever plausible character, with the real design to direct, control, counteract, or awe the regular deliberation and action of the constituted authorities, are destructive of this fundamental principle, and of fatal tendency. They serve to organize faction, to give it an artificial and extraordinary force; to put, in the place of the delegated will of the nation, the will of a party, often a small but artful and enterprising minority of the community; and, according to the alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the public administration the mirror of the ill-concerted and incongruous projects of faction, rather than the organ of consistent and wholesome plans digested by common counsels, and modified by mutual interests.

18 However combinations or associations of the above description may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely, in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people, and to usurp for themselves the reins of government; destroying afterwards the very engines, which have lifted them to unjust dominion.

19 Towards the preservation of your government, and the permanency of your present happy state, it is requisite, not only that you steadily discountenance irregular oppositions to its acknowledged authority, but also that you resist with care the spirit of innovation upon its principles, however specious the pretexts. One method of assault may be to effect, in the forms of the constitution, alterations, which will impair the energy of the system, and thus to undermine what cannot be directly overthrown. In all the changes to which you may be invited, remember that time and habit are at least as necessary to fix the true character of governments, as of other human institutions; that experience is the surest standard, by which to test the real tendency of the existing constitution of a country; that facility in changes, upon the credit of mere hypothesis and opinion, exposes to perpetual change, from the endless variety of hypothesis and opinion; and remember, especially, that, for the efficient management of our common interests, in a country so extensive as ours, a government of as much vigor as is consistent with the perfect security of liberty is indispensable. Liberty itself will find in such a government, with powers properly distributed and adjusted, its surest guardian. It is, indeed, little else than a name, where the government is too feeble to withstand the enterprises of faction, to confine each member of the society within the limits prescribed by the laws, and to maintain all in the secure and tranquil enjoyment of the rights of person and property.

20 I have already intimated to you the danger of parties in the state, with particular reference to the founding of them on geographical discriminations. Let me now take a more comprehensive view, and warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party, generally.

21 This spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable from our nature, having its root in the strongest passions of the human mind. It exists under different shapes in all governments, more or less stifled, controlled, or repressed; but, in those of the popular form, it is seen in its greatest rankness, and is truly their worst enemy.

22 The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries, which result, gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of Public Liberty.

23 Without looking forward to an extremity of this kind, (which nevertheless ought not to be entirely out of sight,) the common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it.

24 It serves always to distract the Public Councils, and enfeeble the Public Administration. It agitates the Community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms; kindles the animosity of one part against another, foments occasionally riot and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which find a facilitated access to the government itself through the channels of party passions. Thus the policy and the will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of another.

25 There is an opinion, that parties in free countries are useful checks upon the administration of the Government, and serve to keep alive the spirit of Liberty. This within certain limits is probably true; and in Governments of a Monarchical cast, Patriotism may look with indulgence, if not with favor, upon the spirit of party. But in those of the popular character, in Governments purely elective, it is a spirit not to be encouraged. From their natural tendency, it is certain there will always be enough of that spirit for every salutary purpose. And, there being constant danger of excess, the effort ought to be, by force of public opinion, to mitigate and assuage it. A fire not to be quenched, it demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into a flame, lest, instead of warming, it should consume.

26 It is important, likewise, that the habits of thinking in a free country should inspire caution, in those intrusted with its administration, to confine themselves within their respective constitutional spheres, avoiding in the exercise of the powers of one department to encroach upon another. The spirit of encroachment tends to consolidate the powers of all the departments in one, and thus to create, whatever the form of government, a real despotism. A just estimate of that love of power, and proneness to abuse it, which predominates in the human heart, is sufficient to satisfy us of the truth of this position. The necessity of reciprocal checks in the exercise of political power, by dividing and distributing it into different depositories, and constituting each the Guardian of the Public Weal against invasions by the others, has been evinced by experiments ancient and modern; some of them in our country and under our own eyes. To preserve them must be as necessary as to institute them. If, in the opinion of the people, the distribution or modification of the constitutional powers be in any particular wrong, let it be corrected by an amendment in the way, which the constitution designates. But let there be no change by usurpation; for, though this, in one instance, may be the instrument of good, it is the customary weapon by which free governments are destroyed. The precedent must always greatly overbalance in permanent evil any partial or transient benefit, which the use can at any time yield.

27 Of all the dispositions and habits, which lead to political prosperity, Religion and Morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of Patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of Men and Citizens. The mere Politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connexions with private and public felicity. Let it simply be asked, Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths, which are the instruments of investigation in Courts of Justice? And let us with caution indulge the supposition, that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect, that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.

28 It is substantially true, that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government. The rule, indeed, extends with more or less force to every species of free government. Who, that is a sincere friend to it, can look with indifference upon attempts to shake the foundation of the fabric ?

29 Promote, then, as an object of primary importance, institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge. In proportion as the structure of a government gives force to public opinion, it is essential that public opinion should be enlightened.

30 As a very important source of strength and security, cherish public credit. One method of preserving it is, to use it as sparingly as possible; avoiding occasions of expense by cultivating peace, but remembering also that timely disbursements to prepare for danger frequently prevent much greater disbursements to repel it; avoiding likewise the accumulation of debt, not only by shunning occasions of expense, but by vigorous exertions in time of peace to discharge the debts, which unavoidable wars may have occasioned, not ungenerously throwing upon posterity the burthen, which we ourselves ought to bear. The execution of these maxims belongs to your representatives, but it is necessary that public opinion should cooperate. To facilitate to them the performance of their duty, it is essential that you should practically bear in mind, that towards the payment of debts there must be Revenue; that to have Revenue there must be taxes; that no taxes can be devised, which are not more or less inconvenient and unpleasant; that the intrinsic embarrassment, inseparable from the selection of the proper objects (which is always a choice of difficulties), ought to be a decisive motive for a candid construction of the conduct of the government in making it, and for a spirit of acquiescence in the measures for obtaining revenue, which the public exigencies may at any time dictate.

31 Observe good faith and justice towards all Nations; cultivate peace and harmony with all. Religion and Morality enjoin this conduct; and can it be, that good policy does not equally enjoin it? It will be worthy of a free, enlightened, and, at no distant period, a great Nation, to give to mankind the magnanimous and too novel example of a people always guided by an exalted justice and benevolence. Who can doubt, that, in the course of time and things, the fruits of such a plan would richly repay any temporary advantages, which might be lost by a steady adherence to it ? Can it be, that Providence has not connected the permanent felicity of a Nation with its Virtue? The experiment, at least, is recommended by every sentiment which ennobles human nature. Alas! is it rendered impossible by its vices ?

32 In the execution of such a plan, nothing is more essential, than that permanent, inveterate antipathies against particular Nations, and passionate attachments for others, should be excluded; and that, in place of them, just and amicable feelings towards all should be cultivated. The Nation, which indulges towards another an habitual hatred, or an habitual fondness, is in some degree a slave. It is a slave to its animosity or to its affection, either of which is sufficient to lead it astray from its duty and its interest. Antipathy in one nation against another disposes each more readily to offer insult and injury, to lay hold of slight causes of umbrage, and to be haughty and intractable, when accidental or trifling occasions of dispute occur. Hence frequent collisions, obstinate, envenomed, and bloody contests. The Nation, prompted by ill-will and resentment, sometimes impels to war the Government, contrary to the best calculations of policy. The Government sometimes participates in the national propensity, and adopts through passion what reason would reject; at other times, it makes the animosity of the nation subservient to projects of hostility instigated by pride, ambition, and other sinister and pernicious motives. The peace often, sometimes perhaps the liberty, of Nations has been the victim.

33 So likewise, a passionate attachment of one Nation for another produces a variety of evils. Sympathy for the favorite Nation, facilitating the illusion of an imaginary common interest, in cases where no real common interest exists, and infusing into one the enmities of the other, betrays the former into a participation in the quarrels and wars of the latter, without adequate inducement or justification. It leads also to concessions to the favorite Nation of privileges denied to others, which is apt doubly to injure the Nation making the concessions; by unnecessarily parting with what ought to have been retained; and by exciting jealousy, ill-will, and a disposition to retaliate, in the parties from whom equal privileges are withheld. And it gives to ambitious, corrupted, or deluded citizens, (who devote themselves to the favorite nation,) facility to betray or sacrifice the interests of their own country, without odium, sometimes even with popularity; gilding, with the appearances of a virtuous sense of obligation, a commendable deference for public opinion, or a laudable zeal for public good, the base or foolish compliances of ambition, corruption, or infatuation.

34 As avenues to foreign influence in innumerable ways, such attachments are particularly alarming to the truly enlightened and independent Patriot. How many opportunities do they afford to tamper with domestic factions, to practise the arts of seduction, to mislead public opinion, to influence or awe the Public Councils! Such an attachment of a small or weak, towards a great and powerful nation, dooms the former to be the satellite of the latter.

35 Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (I conjure you to believe me, fellow-citizens,) the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake; since history and experience prove, that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of Republican Government. But that jealousy, to be useful, must be impartial; else it becomes the instrument of the very influence to be avoided, instead of a defence against it. Excessive partiality for one foreign nation, and excessive dislike of another, cause those whom they actuate to see danger only on one side, and serve to veil and even second the arts of influence on the other. Real patriots, who may resist the intrigues of the favorite, are liable to become suspected and odious; while its tools and dupes usurp the applause and confidence of the people, to surrender their interests.

36 The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign nations, is, in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connexion as possible. So far as we have already formed engagements, let them be fulfilled with perfect good faith. Here let us stop.

37 Europe has a set of primary interests, which to us have none, or a very remote relation. Hence she must be engaged in frequent controversies, the causes of which are essentially foreign to our concerns. Hence, therefore, it must be unwise in us to implicate ourselves, by artificial ties, in the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics, or the ordinary combinations and collisions of her friendships or enmities.

38 Our detached and distant situation invites and enables us to pursue a different course. If we remain one people, under an efficient government, the period is not far off, when we may defy material injury from external annoyance; when we may take such an attitude as will cause the neutrality, we may at any time resolve upon, to be scrupulously respected; when belligerent nations, under the impossibility of making acquisitions upon us, will not lightly hazard the giving us provocation; when we may choose peace or war, as our interest, guided by justice, shall counsel.

39 Why forego the advantages of so peculiar a situation? Why quit our own to stand upon foreign ground? Why, by interweaving our destiny with that of any part of Europe, entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of European ambition, rivalship, interest, humor, or caprice?

40 It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world; so far, I mean, as we are now at liberty to do it; for let me not be understood as capable of patronizing infidelity to existing engagements. I hold the maxim no less applicable to public than to private affairs, that honesty is always the best policy. I repeat it, therefore, let those engagements be observed in their genuine sense. But, in my opinion, it is unnecessary and would be unwise to extend them.

41 Taking care always to keep ourselves, by suitable establishments, on a respectable defensive posture, we may safely trust to temporary alliances for extraordinary emergencies.

42 Harmony, liberal intercourse with all nations, are recommended by policy, humanity, and interest. But even our commercial policy should hold an equal and impartial hand; neither seeking nor granting exclusive favors or preferences; consulting the natural course of things; diffusing and diversifying by gentle means the streams of commerce, but forcing nothing; establishing, with powers so disposed, in order to give trade a stable course, to define the rights of our merchants, and to enable the government to support them, conventional rules of intercourse, the best that present circumstances and mutual opinion will permit, but temporary, and liable to be from time to time abandoned or varied, as experience and circumstances shall dictate; constantly keeping in view, that it is folly in one nation to look for disinterested favors from another; that it must pay with a portion of its independence for whatever it may accept under that character; that, by such acceptance, it may place itself in the condition of having given equivalents for nominal favors, and yet of being reproached with ingratitude for not giving more. There can be no greater error than to expect or calculate upon real favors from nation to nation. It is an illusion, which experience must cure, which a just pride ought to discard.

43 In offering to you, my countrymen, these counsels of an old and affectionate friend, I dare not hope they will make the strong and lasting impression I could wish; that they will control the usual current of the passions, or prevent our nation from running the course, which has hitherto marked the destiny of nations. But, if I may even flatter myself, that they may be productive of some partial benefit, some occasional good; that they may now and then recur to moderate the fury of party spirit, to warn against the mischiefs of foreign intrigue, to guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism; this hope will be a full recompense for the solicitude for your welfare, by which they have been dictated.

44 How far in the discharge of my official duties, I have been guided by the principles which have been delineated, the public records and other evidences of my conduct must witness to you and to the world. To myself, the assurance of my own conscience is, that I have at least believed myself to be guided by them.

45 In relation to the still subsisting war in Europe, my Proclamation of the 22d of April 1793, is the index to my Plan. Sanctioned by your approving voice, and by that of your Representatives in both Houses of Congress, the spirit of that measure has continually governed me, uninfluenced by any attempts to deter or divert me from it.

46 After deliberate examination, with the aid of the best lights I could obtain, I was well satisfied that our country, under all the circumstances of the case, had a right to take, and was bound in duty and interest to take, a neutral position. Having taken it, I determined, as far as should depend upon me, to maintain it, with moderation, perseverance, and firmness.

47 The considerations, which respect the right to hold this conduct, it is not necessary on this occasion to detail. I will only observe, that, according to my understanding of the matter, that right, so far from being denied by any of the Belligerent Powers, has been virtually admitted by all.

48 The duty of holding a neutral conduct may be inferred, without any thing more, from the obligation which justice and humanity impose on every nation, in cases in which it is free to act, to maintain inviolate the relations of peace and amity towards other nations.

49 The inducements of interest for observing that conduct will best be referred to your own reflections and experience. With me, a predominant motive has been to endeavour to gain time to our country to settle and mature its yet recent institutions, and to progress without interruption to that degree of strength and consistency, which is necessary to give it, humanly speaking, the command of its own fortunes.

50 Though, in reviewing the incidents of my administration, I am unconscious of intentional error, I am nevertheless too sensible of my defects not to think it probable that I may have committed many errors. Whatever they may be, I fervently beseech the Almighty to avert or mitigate the evils to which they may tend. I shall also carry with me the hope, that my Country will never cease to view them with indulgence; and that, after forty-five years of my life dedicated to its service with an upright zeal, the faults of incompetent abilities will be consigned to oblivion, as myself must soon be to the mansions of rest.

51 Relying on its kindness in this as in other things, and actuated by that fervent love towards it, which is so natural to a man, who views it in the native soil of himself and his progenitors for several generations; I anticipate with pleasing expectation that retreat, in which I promise myself to realize, without alloy, the sweet enjoyment of partaking, in the midst of my fellow-citizens, the benign influence of good laws under a free government, the ever favorite object of my heart, and the happy reward, as I trust, of our mutual cares, labors, and dangers.

George Washington
United States - September 17, 1796

Source: The Independent Chronicle, September 26, 1796.

Glenn Beck on the 9th and 10th Amendment

2010-02-17T16:44:00.000-08:00

I've been asked if I am a "Tenther"; the answer is a resounding yes! After listening to this piece by Glenn, I'm also a "Ninther." As we all should be.

The Mount Vernon Statement

2010-02-17T08:09:00.000-08:00

I heard about this the other day, but it wasn't until today that I found out what it actually is.
The Mount Vernon Statement is a petition that will be signed today, February 17, 2010 on the eve of the CPAC convention.

I encourage all of you to read it and sign if you agree. Basically what it's saying is we need a return to Constitutional principles, that the Founders knew what they were doing, and we need to uphold not only the Constitution, but the principles found in the Declaration of Independence as well.

Happy Birthday Mr. Lincoln

2010-02-11T23:55:00.000-08:00

I'm not ready to be back blogging yet, my brain isn't able to form complete sentences, but I can't let this day go by without honoring one of America's greatest men.
Here, in its entirety is the Gettysburg Address. One of the greatest speeches in history, it should be read by every citizen. I had to memorize it in the eighth grade-not a bad idea at all.

The Gettysburg Address, November 19, 1863
by Abraham Lincoln

Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation: conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war. . .testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated. . . can long endure.
We are met on a great battlefield of that war.

We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate. . .we cannot consecrate. . . we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.

It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.
It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us. . .that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion. . . that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain. . . that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom. . . and that government of the people. . .by the people. . .for the people shall not perish from the earth.

Life's Speed Bumps

2010-01-31T21:25:00.000-08:00

Although there are things happening in Washington that I'd love to go on about, I can't right now, and I hope you'll all be here when I get back.

We've had a freak accident that took the life of my younger brother on Thursday, and I can't seem to wrap my brain around anything harder than brushing my teeth at the moment.

I know with all my heart that he is having a joyous reunion with beloved family members; my Testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is sure, my compass points True North. However, my heart and my head don't seem to be speaking the same language lately, and I need to not think about politics for a week or so.

So have a Happy Groundhog Day--usually a day to at least bake cookies or something right?

Besides, with the way things are going in D.C., not much will have changed, and it might be like we haven't missed a week chatting about it.

See you soon.

Founding Fathers Rejoice

2010-01-25T08:25:00.000-08:00

Here is an article I'd like to share this morning. Some will dismiss it because it's from a Fox News opinion writer, but that would be a mistake. The author brings up some really good points favoring the "little guy," which the left claims to champion.
I'm not saying that we are out of the woods on this particular issue, I can see potential problems with a company like GM donating money to a candidate. However, we as "the People" have been lazy over the last generation, and have let advertisments (money) sway our decisions. It's our job, our obligation to do the work to vet a candidate ourselves; an issue ourselves. There may be oodles of money floating around, but we need to take a hard look, and only vote for someone who shares our values and our goals as closely as possible.

We also need to be very, very concerned when a sitting president threatens the Supreme Court. Socialism will not stand for dissent, the opposition will be vilified at all costs, and eliminated if possible. Be watchful.

Please read the article, the link is below.

Founding Father's Smiling

Massachusetts Miracle

2010-01-23T20:47:00.000-08:00

I know the vote is over, I know the miracle occured, but I found this video tonight, that actually brought tears to my eyes.
I have such love for George Washington, for the other Founding Fathers, that the message here went straight to my heart.

Pray for more miracles in the coming weeks and months, the Lord wants to help, but we have to ask.

The End of Camelot

2010-01-20T15:13:00.000-08:00

Well, the people of MA have spoken, and they have united their voices in opposition to the Marxists in the White House, and also to the communist who had held their state seat for over 40 years. I can only say Hallelujah!

However, let's not delude ourselves and think that Scott Brown is "The Answer." We don't know the man well enough yet, and anyone who poses nude is suspect to me. That being said, he seems conservative, genuinely so.

We, many of us, have prayed for redress, and there is the hope that Scott Brown is the first answer of many to those prayers. We must keep up the fight however, this is only one election, and it's very early in the 2010 election year to rest on our laruels; please don't become complacent, thinking that you can rest because there is enough outrage out there without you; It's not true! We need every Patriot, every soccer mom, every security mom, and all the dads too, to continue to speak up and fight back.

I was watching Fox's Neil Cavuto this afternoon before leaving the house, and he had on Billionaire Mort Zuckerman. Mr. Zuckerman was an Obama voter, who now has come to understand we've been duped, and that Obama has it all wrong. The article link is here for your perusal; enjoy, and remember to pray for more miracles for and in behalf of our Republic.

The Daily Beast

Constitution Web Seminar

2010-01-18T12:15:00.000-08:00

My dad just called me with news that Hillsdale College is offering a "Constitution Townhall" on Saturday January 30th. It is a free web seminar, and I would encourage everyone out there to listen, or to sign up so you can listen to the archived version.
I won't be able to be online to listen, as I have a baby shower to attend for my newest grand daughter. I will be listening to the archive however.

If you are interested, or would just like more information, go to Hillsdale College . The title they have there is "Reviving the Constitution."

The direct link is A Constitution Townhall

Constitutional Integrity

2010-01-16T22:18:00.000-08:00

A quote from Ronald Reagan:

"I have long believed there was a divine plan that placed this land here to be found by a people of a special kind and that we have a rendezvous with destiny. Yes, there is a spirit moving in this land and a hunger in the people for a spiritual revival. If the task I seek should be given me, I would pray only that I could perform it in a way that would serve God."

I love what President Reagan says, but my belief turns into knowledge because of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ.
I know that this land was under divine protection until such a time as it could be found by those special people, guided by the hand of the Lord, that Reagan talked about. We are the posterity of those people, and we have a solemn responsibility to act in such a way that this country is protected from those who would continue to take us off of the Constitutional path; as you know, nothing happening in D.C. right now is Constitutional.
The Marxists seek power, and for too long we have let them take it, apparently under the notion that “someone else” will stand up, speak up, or what-have-you.

The time has come that each of us must be that “someone else”; no longer can we sit back and rely on others to take up the slack. If we continue to do so, our country will be unrecognizable within five years; already it’s not the country our Founding Fathers gave us, it’s time to regain what we’ve lost.

This last week, I’ve posted video clips from Judge Andrew Napolitano, talking and teaching about the Constitution. It’s time for each of us to talk it and teach it as well. Get yourselves a pocket Constitution from the National Center for Constitutional Studies...www.nccs.org; buy a few extra, and start carrying them with you to hand out when the subject comes up-and believe me, you can make it come up fairly easily [VBG].

I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again, we must speak up, we must speak out, and we must get involved. I know that the Constitution is a divine document, and we must not let the Adversary bring it down, and continue to marginalize it.

Be fearless. Be bold. Question what is happening in Washington, and check it against the Constitution; again and again if necessary.

I’m not sure in the end those in Washington will listen, but when the time comes, you will be armed with the truth, and nothing is stronger than that.
Hopefully then we can, all of us, bring this country back to the path we are meant to be on.

The Constitution and Freedom Part 5

2010-01-15T09:47:00.000-08:00

As we finish this week of "lessons" from Judge Napolitano, I wonder, are those who need to understand the Constitution even paying attention?

Please, learn the Constitution and the Bill of Rights; make an effor to understand them. Teach the principles to your children and discuss current events with them, all through the lens of the Constitution. It's the only way this next generation of promise has any hope of learning the truth, the Public Schools aren't going to do it.

The Constitution and Freedom Part 4

2010-01-14T07:21:00.001-08:00

Here is today's offering from the Judge.

TheConstitution and Freedom

2010-01-13T08:39:00.000-08:00

Here is part three of Judge Napolitano's wonderful piece on the Constitution.