The Founders Response to the State of the Union Address

Fyodor Dostoevsky once said that sarcasm is “the last refuge of modest and chaste-souled people when the privacy of their soul is coarsely and intrusively invaded.” 

 

Obama gave his version of the State of the Union Address Tuesday January 28^th.  I gave my pre Address earlier knowing that there is much more at state in our Union than what Obama would talk about.  I have dissected many speeches and addresses over the years, usually responding with sarcasm, but this time I would like to have those who have much more wisdom, those whose voices are still very much needed and relevant to our time than they probably ever imagined to respond- Ladies and Gentlemen, fellow citizens, I yield the floor to our Founding Fathers in their rebuttal of the Obama State of the Union…

…The question for everyone in this chamber, running through every decision we make this year, is whether we are going to help or hinder this progress. For several years now, this town has been consumed by a rancorous argument over the proper size of the federal government. It's an important debate - one that dates back to our very founding. But when that debate prevents us from carrying out even the most basic functions of our democracy - when our differences shut down government or threaten the full faith and credit of the United States - then we are not doing right by the American people…

Many times argument and conviction to stand ground is necessary to keep government from passing restrictive bills which do little but give more power to the federal government thereby taking more power away from we the people- a little gridlock is necessary to keep government in check as James Madison said,  “An elective despotism was not the government we fought for; but one in which the powers of government should be so divided and balanced among the several bodies of magistracy as that no one could transcend their legal limits without being effectually checked and restrained by the others.”

Our Government was created to be a Constitutional Republic, NOT a democracy.  When our elected leaders refuse to listen to the people, when one side refuses to allow debate, the desires of we the people are ignored and are forced into a shutdown, this is their democracy, as Thomas Jefferson described as “nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine.”

Those few who stood up to the mob; Senators Ted Cruz, Mike Lee and a handful of others knew that “government in which the majority rules in all cases cannot be based on justice, even as far as men understand it” as Henry David Thoreau once pointed out.

…As president, I'm committed to making Washington work better, and rebuilding the trust of the people who sent us here. I believe most of you are, too. Last month, thanks to the work of Democrats and Republicans, this Congress finally produced a budget that undoes some of last year's severe cuts to priorities like education. Nobody got everything they wanted …

The President has certain duties as outlined in Article II of the Constitution.  George Washington, our First President, who was also beloved by the Continental Army over which he was General, had reservations about being appointed as president, so only by agreeing to serve two terms he consented. Yet he warned “It is important, likewise, that the habits of thinking in a free country should inspire caution in those entrusted 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.”

The Legislative Branch, the Senate is given the job of passing a budget, which they, under the leadership of Senator Harry Reid have not done.  Raising the debt ceiling is not a budget.  Government has grown into a massive over bloated industry paid for by the labors of the people.  Our Founders had much to say about finances and budgets, but it was summed best by Thomas Jefferson who said “We must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt.” And, “A wise and frugal government... shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government.”

Again, our government did not pass a budget, they argued over who would get, and who would have taken. Our Nation’s Veterans and returning Troops lost again with the Ryan-Murray bill which was passed by our Houses, and in the words of George Washington, "The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive the Veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their nation."

..Inequality has deepened. Upward mobility has stalled. The cold, hard fact is that even in the midst of recovery, too many Americans are working more than ever just to get by - let alone get ahead. And too many still aren't working at all. Our job is to reverse these trends… what I offer tonight is a set of concrete, practical proposals … Some require congressional action... But America does not stand still - and neither will I. So wherever and whenever I can take steps without legislation to expand opportunity for more American families, that's what I'm going to do…

It is not the job of the federal government to legislate pay scales, nor is it the duty of the executive branch to over step the Constitution and legislate from the Oval office. Again, Thomas Jefferson makes the point, “To take from one, because it is thought his own industry and that of his fathers has acquired too much, in order to spare to others, who, or whose fathers, have not exercised equal industry and skill, is to violate arbitrarily the first principle of association, the guarantee to everyone the free exercise of his industry and the fruits acquired by it” and, “Were we directed from Washington when to sow, and when to reap, we should soon want bread.”

…it is time to heed the call of business leaders, labor leaders, faith leaders and law enforcement - and fix our broken immigration system. Republicans and Democrats in the Senate have acted. I know that members of both parties in the House want to do the same… when people come here to fulfill their dreams - to study, invent, and contribute to our culture - they make our country a more attractive place for businesses to locate and create jobs for everyone. So let's get immigration reform done this year…

First of all, Unions and the Chamber of Commerce are not expert s when it comes to border security and people coming through the wide open border illegally. The Immigration Service and Border Guards would know better than the Chamber who belongs here and should be rewarded with jobs which plenty of Americans would be able and willing to do.  As for allowing those who entered our Sovereign nation illegally, “And what is proposed by the amendment is that they shall take nothing more than an oath of fidelity, and declare their intention to reside in the United States. Under such terms, it was well observed by my colleague, aliens might acquire the right of citizenship, and return to the country from which they came, and evade the laws intended to encourage the commerce and industry of the real citizens and inhabitants of America, enjoying at the same time all the advantages of citizens and aliens.” James Madison.

There is an idea perpetuated that illegals are merely immigrants who desire a better life, and who are we to deny them of that right.  Being that the United States of America is a sovereign nation, a nation of laws which it is our Federal government’s first duty to uphold those laws to defend and protect the citizens of this country, one can hardly claim that all those millions who are here illegally deserve to be given visas or amnesty, when one can’t possibly know whom they swear their allegiance to. Thomas Paine said, “What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; Tis dearness only which gives everything its value.”  

Those of us who have come through the system which everyone in Washington and the media claim to be broken, learn about the history and government of the United States before becoming citizens and then swear our oaths publically (in English) to defend and uphold the Constitution.  One who works to become a citizen values citizenship much more than those who sneak into this country, and for our federal government to consider rewarding those who are here illegally is not only an affront to those of us who love and honor our new home, but is dangerous in assuming that those who come here do so with good intentions. It is proven fact and admitted that terrorists sneak into our country as well, and to do nothing to secure our border is a dereliction of duty.

Theodore Roosevelt wasn’t a founding father, but he did have it right when it comes to loyalty to this nation if one desires to immigrate here. “We should insist that if the immigrant who comes here does in good faith become an American and assimilates himself to us he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed or birth-place or origin. But this is predicated upon the man's becoming in very fact an American and nothing but an American. If he tries to keep segregated with men of his own origin and separated from the rest of America, then he isn't doing his part as an American. There can be no divided allegiance here. . . We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language, for we intend to see that the crucible turns our people out as Americans, of American nationality, and not as dwellers in a polyglot boarding-house; and we have room for but one soul loyalty, and that is loyalty to the American people.”

…In the coming weeks, I will issue an executive order requiring federal contractors to pay their federally-funded employees a fair wage of at least $10.10 an hour - because if you cook our troops' meals or wash their dishes, you shouldn't have to live in poverty…

While many Americans are scraping to make ends meet, government grows, requiring more workers who are paid by we the people.  It seems like the sector which has the lowest unemployment rate in the nation is the Federal government in Washington DC.  Thomas Jefferson has something to say about that as well. “The multiplication of public offices, increase of expense beyond income, growth and entailment of a public debt, are indications soliciting the employment of the pruning knife.”

…Citizenship means standing up for the lives that gun violence steals from us each day. I have seen the courage of parents, students, pastors and police officers all over this country who say "we are not afraid," and I intend to keep trying, with or without Congress, to help stop more tragedies from visiting innocent Americans in our movie theaters, shopping malls, or schools like Sandy Hook…

Citizenship means obeying the laws, but when they go against Constitution, we have a sworn duty to uphold the Constitution and defend it. Our Founders were clear when they embedded the right to keep and bear arms in our 2^nd Amendment of the Bill of Rights.  The government has no right to infringe on the law abiding citizens of this country to keep and bear arms. The fact that these shootings are happening in areas of strict gun control- prove that an unarmed citizen is an unprotected citizen- whether it’s some crazy who decides to go on a shooting spree, or a government who is bent on complete control over the people. "I ask, Sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people. To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them." George Mason

…for more than two hundred years, we have put those things aside and placed our collective shoulder to the wheel of progress - to create and build and expand the possibilities of individual achievement; to free other nations from tyranny and fear; to promote justice, and fairness, and equality under the law, so that the words set to paper by our founders are made real for every citizen. The America we want for our kids - a rising America where honest work is plentiful and communities are strong; where prosperity is widely shared and opportunity for all lets us go as far as our dreams and toil will take us…

Our Founders believed that all are created equal, but that doesn’t mean everyone will have equal outcomes. Fairness and equality are earned, whether it’s playing little league sports or competing for a top corporate spot.  Those who work hard should be rewarded for their work regardless of shade of skin or gender- but to force others to reward based on those qualities is not being fair and equal. To reward someone with the same trophy because we don’t want hurt feelings is not helping that person to become all they can be. We are all endowed by God, with gifts and talents which if given the freedom to develop- can achieve incredible things not just for our own personal gains but for all society. Government intervention by so called fairness and equality stifle those who work hard at developing their skills and gifts.

I leave you with this last word from Benjamin Franklin… “The Constitution only guarantees the American people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself.”

 

C.A.E  2014

 

A New Year- A New Beginning but The Same Vision, Same Mission

"The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil Constitution are worth defending at all hazards; and it is our duty to defend them against all attacks. We have received them as a fair inheritance from our worthy ancestors; they purchased them for us with toil and danger and expense of treasure and blood, and transmitted them to us with care and diligence. It will bring an everlasting mark of infamy on the present generation, enlightened as it is, if we should suffer them to be wrested from us by violence without a struggle or to be cheated out of them by the artifices on false and designing men." ~ Samuel Adams

A lot has gone on in a little more than a year since I wrote a New Declaration of Independence from the two party system of The United States. While we are not an official party, we do not have recognition in any state nor do we have candidates running on a Constitutional Freedom Party ticket, we are a party much like the various Tea Party groups, and our founding has a definite purpose, platform and mission to try and change the course which our country has found itself upon.

We are, like many in other groups, made up of concerned individuals, coming from all backgrounds. While most of us are Bible believing Christians, we have similar views on social issues, defense, foreign affairs, and Israel among other issues; and we all realize we are in danger of losing America as our founding fathers meant it to be. To be blunt, we have already lost it, as it has not been a Constitutional Republic for many decades, but it has still been the freest nation in the world, and if we don’t try and change things, it will no longer be the beacon of freedom and liberty that it has been since the first pilgrims landed some 400 years ago.

When I have a hard time trying to write, whether for my blogs or articles for PolitChicks, I pray, read the Bible, read the wisdom of those who gave us our nation. I have been praying for direction for a while, as more and more of our grip on our Republic slips farther away. I have been, still am as I write this, praying for guidance, direction and words to remind myself and others of why I began this ‘mission’ and for direction on what I am meant to do.

This past year has been a rollercoaster for me. I have never been a driven person. I have always tried to do well at whatever I do, doing what I figure needs to be done. But I have never been driven, at least until just a little over a year ago when I saw people I care about began to lose hope. People I have never met face to face, but spending time talking to them over the past few years, I have come to know and love some of these people and some have become closer than family to me, some my best friends. Something made me, someone who couldn’t yet vote, want to do something.

Ordinary, average people don’t normally step out of their comfort zones. Too often, people care more about the latest reality show stars (whatever some producer’s version of reality is), or which Hollywood starlet has lost her baby bump fat. The point is, too many people know more about some chick named Kim something than they do how many rights are listed in the 1st Amendment of the constitution.

I am ordinary, average, but I have been finding myself stretched, sometimes to near a breaking point, for the last year because for once in my life, something bigger than my own life is at stake and I have found something which has driven me.

Something that has never happened to me has been happening more and more the past few months. People have been referring to me as a leader. In all honesty, that scares me because I am no leader. Leaders are strong, commanding, bold; knowledgeable and wise, a guiding force with the ability to have others willing to follow, they are trusted and authorative. There are already plenty of people out there who are leading. Often over the past year I have wondered what in the world was I thinking trying to do anything when so many others have a stronger presence, much more knowledge and wisdom, connections, a base, and who have been working already to try and change the course of things. In other words, I have been asking, "Lord, what is my purpose? If You have a plan for me, here I am, but surely there are better ones who can and already are doing more than I."

(Before anyone wonders if I hear strange voices in my head and believe God is talking to me, be assured that no, I don’t hear God that way, at least I never have yet. But does God talk to me? Yes; in ways that can only be Him.)

What I have, is a vision born of passion. A vision of the future based on the past, and all I can do is hope to share it with others and hope they will share with more. This group, this organization- our platform, our foundation, and our mission is not about me. It never was meant to be. While I have had to stretch beyond my comfortably obscure zone, to get this organization off the ground, it has always been my hope that it is going in the direction which God wants it to go, but also where someone or others better than me would take hold and run with it, unless I am the one to run with it. But there are so many gifted and courageous people out there who could make a bigger impact, a bigger difference. All I want is for the Biblical foundation which it was built on, and the passion which I began to remain unshaken and never forgotten.

Why did I begin? It began and continues for a few reasons. One, our nation has forgotten her Christian roots and heritage.

Alexis de Tocqueville wrote in Democracy in America that "Liberty cannot be established without morality, nor morality without faith."

Ronald Reagan once said, "If we ever forget that we are One Nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under."
I could go through a litany of examples of how America began as a Christian nation- from the Mayflower and earlier, to the charters of the colonies, and State Constitutions, and quotes of our Founders, but the point is, America is going under, and the reason is pure and simple- America has forgotten we are a Nation of Biblical principles, whose foundation was on Jesus. People in America once had a strong faith in Him, and that made America the freest for all faiths and philosophies.

The Founding Fathers understood that social issues do matter, and that when morals and godly behavior are engrained in society, people will elect godly and moral people to represent them. Too many in our society today, and for decades, have come to believe that their rights come from the federal government, that character no longer matters and as long as they receive "free stuff" from the government, they are free. Too many people have made government their god, and too many in our government have made a career of something which was supposed to be a service to represent, and have become as ruling princes, miniature deities who know what’s best for all.

"Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters." Benjamin Franklin.

"We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." John Adams

We must bring our nation back to God. We must bless God if we ever expect to have moral representatives or a society in which they learn that rights come from God, not government, and that by government giving rights, government can and will take them away.

I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior. 1Timothy 2:1-3
We need to pray. We need to pray for our nation, for the people, for our leaders. We need patriots to be praying every day. ^{We need an awakening.}

The other reason I began the Constitutional Freedom Party was for Action. It began and continues, will always be for those who have given so much to gain it, fight for it and retain it. What is it?

It is a country which has been the most blessed of nations, one that to millions of us is still exceptional, one that I have called home and now belong as a citizen. It is freedom given by those who came here hundreds of years ago. It is Liberty- inalienable rights given by God, which those who helped to fight the tyranny of the British Monarchy embedded into our Constitution. It is the men and women who have fought to preserve, and millions who have given their lives to keep. It is the shining city, which drew me and millions before me from all corners of the earth. It is a chance to live, to pursue happiness, and for so many, a chance to live without fear of tyranny and despotic leaders.

Our founder’s voices are alive today more than ever. They give us our future if we pay attention to their words written in the past. We must fight to keep what they have given us. They gave us a Constitutional Republic for a reason.

I will never presume to know why so many people have volunteered for military service. I know various reasons given, but many have given up so much when they have sworn the oath. Others from the not so distant past had no choice- for them it wasn’t voluntary, but they still did their sworn duty willingly and suffered much because of so much, but whether voluntary or drafted, so many say they would do it all again. There are still those who are getting sent to places around the world, places seemingly forsaken by God and all that is good. Yet they go because they know there are still things and people worth fighting for. They all have their reasons, and there are others who take their motto De oppresso liber seriously, loosely translated, Freedom out of Oppression.

Isaiah 1:17, Learn to do well: seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge for the fatherless, defend the widow.

I started this for all of them- those who came before me, those who fight now. For those I know, those I am friends with, those I meet, those, their brothers, who never made it back- I started this for them. While I love this country with all my heart, my heart breaks when I see our present government sending our best off to various hell holes to suffer and bleed while our nation is being destroyed from within. I am angry at too many who have allowed it to be taken little by little over the past few generations. And I am angry that more Americans still don’t care what they are giving up.

We are at a most critical time, more than any other time since the Revolution, perhaps the Civil War, we are at a point in time where I have never been more afraid for our country and those who fight for her as I am now. We are on the edge of the narrowest precipice and it is the American people who must decide which side we will travel down.
It is evident that God has used men and women throughout history to change courses of events; from Esther, in the Biblical days to Joan of Arc and Abigail Adams.  And no, I don’t imagine myself as like any of these, but it is possible that some of where He has been leading me is to a realization that even ordinary unknown people can make a difference, even if not huge history rattling events. Is it possible that as Esther, God has brought me to the United States for such a time as this? I don’t know what I can do- but I am an American now. I wasn’t when I began this journey a year ago, but I am now because I wanted to be an American if it comes to fighting for America alongside fellow patriots.

I pray there will be another way of retaining and regaining our nation as the Founders intended. I have and will continue to speak about America’s exceptionalism, about the importance of our Constitution, about the Founder’s intent. I pray, but I also know as the Founders did and millions of men and women since, that anything worth having is worth fighting for- that much is required to gain and keep it. To echo Thomas Paine, "If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace."

I swore my oath in front of a judge a couple of months ago, but that oath has been in my heart since the day I came to the United States. I will do whatever is required to uphold and protect the Constitution, and keep the Liberties granted by God from being taken by a handful of men and women in Washington.

I share too much and see too much pain from those who have and keep this country’s freedoms for me to sit and let it all be taken from them. To see friends sent out all over the other side of the world for a bunch of self-made tyrants who give themselves awards and rewards to each other for a job well done in dictating to We the People while our best are put in ever more harm’s way.

No Way. No More.

I can’t do much of anything on my own to change the course, but whatever it takes, whatever God would have me do; I will follow the path which has been stained with the blood of Christ, and with blood of those who gave me freedom if that is the only course to retain Freedom.

There is nothing noble about that, although Patrick Henry, my favorite founder stated so well, "We are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of Nature has placed in our power... the battle, sir, is not to the strong alone it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave."

I began this message by quoting Samuel Adams. Let me end with one more from him. "It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds."

I am irate. Irate at a lazy, willfully ignorant people who have forgotten and ignored the gift they have had in being born and living in the greatest nation on the face of the earth. I am irate for my friends who are sent to hellish places in deserts most of us will never see, fighting evil yet knowing people here at home ungratefully trash our Country. I am willing to do whatever needs to be done to set those people’s minds and hearts to burning for knowledge and truth about their nation and their nation’s God. But I am just one. Who will come with me?

It’s time to get our Country back.

 

 C.A.E "duckie" 2014

We Must Fight This Hypocrisy- It Cannot Stand!

In light of today's incredible power grab by the US Senate by Harry Reid, by voting for the Nuclear Option, I decided to show in their own words just what hypocrites these career politicians who should have been voted out long ago really are (as if we didn't know already)

Remember this one Harry?
As long as I'm the leader... 

 

Or how about this one Senator OBAMA and CLINTON, Reid, Biden  and others?!

It would change the rules of the Senate.. you'd have authoritarian absolute power...

 

 

Hey Hilary! What difference does it make?
Interesting y'all talk about the Founding Fathers just as you do everything else when it suits your purpose.

Hey Dick Durban, remember when the nuclear option was a power grab and an assault on the Checks and Balances?


These are just a few of many. Most thinking folks get the point. When Democrats want their un Constitutional crap shoved down our throats, they will use whatever tactics are necessary to shut down opposing views. When it's something they don't like, they accuse others of shutting down opposing views.

For the people who voted for this today, it's time to make our voices heard.  This must not be allowed to stand.

CC. 2013
 

It's About Us

Our greatest generation is going fast to meet their maker and seek their promised salvation. They have felt some trepidation about it too, being taught to love life above the expediency of politicians. They sacrificed a lot for the greater good of their fellows to be the preservers of freedom in the world. Liberty rested in their hands! They knew it and rose up to seek the continuity of the freedoms they had enjoyed their whole lives up to then. The generation before theirs had risen to that task as well. Unfortunately the peace that had been won was not to last. The punishment meted out against the aggressors of that time was too steep a price to pay, resentments ran high.

Then came along a charismatic speaker to the fore, feeding the resentments; a divider and propagandist non-pareil who whipping up a generation of punished people, ordinary people, to feel righteousness in their resentments of the generation before. He then found another group on which to place blame. Putting blame toward a particular ethnic group, the Jewish people and culture, scapegoating them for their dire circumstances and poorness due in truth to the onerous burdens of restitution for WWI.

Most Jewish people were just working people like all others, values similar, but also a degree of different. It seemed to be enough to be made into a targeted foe of the Nazi Party, not a real foe but a convenient one. The tragedy of the holocaust and WWII ensued. When America got involved it was tough going, but eventually there was enough military strength to overcome the axis powers soundly and the peace was won. Then we had to keep the peace.

 

There have been other wars and policing actions at times around the world. But no other generation of heroes was ever feted and made over as much as that one generation has been in the life of our nation. Now we are at a crossroads once again and have to decide:

 

 Who are we now?

 Are we the defenders of our fellows, or are we the expedient foe?

 Are our leaders leading us in the direction of another war?

 Is the GOD of today a lesser leader than the GOD of those generations before us had?

 When we see vile acts being visited upon our fellow men and women do we hurt less?

 I think not.

With our communications being practically in real time now it becomes even more urgent to us to right the wrongs we see. Yet we are drawn into wanting to act decisively, accurately, and accountably, and we are not seeing that quality of leadership being exhibited nowadays. With more questions than answers we see our leadership needs going unmet. Our confidence is shaken.

Our resources are being misused and squandered before our eyes and not being utilized in a judicious manner. Our challenge may be to remonstrate that the benefits our generation has garnered from our parents' and grandparents' willingness to pitch in to further the advantages furnished through those sacrifices that we are worthy of them.

 

It does continue today. Young people are willing and able to sacrifice for the causes of freedom and the nation's interests. That brings me to my motive for writing today about failure of leadership at the highest levels, punishing those that do the most to defend us and our liberty.

 

During the recent governmental shutdown the darkness cast from Washington D C out across this nation showed the American people, the bureaucratic position was to make suffering of our veterans the showpiece of their ineptitude in resolving the most inane of issues, much less the truly big issues plaguing our nation today!

 

I visited our local zoo one warm afternoon, to see some new exhibits that have been installed. They were very nice; our extra tax dollars are being well spent there. We went to see the sea lions and orangutans, the giraffes and the condors. We went into the rain forest exhibit and I stopped for a moment's rest in the relative coolness of the muted shadows inside the doors. Another woman was doing the same. Her husband and children moved on ahead of us and my companions did too. We chatted as we watched them all go ahead on the pathway into the moist air. She said she needed to rest her knees as she had stress fractures in both of them and still was in need of more surgeries and therapies to fully heal. I must have looked surprised at that. She is a beautiful young woman. How could that be? She had been injured during training of some kind in Afghanistan, she said. She was afraid the VA funding for her continuing treatments would be cut and that that would devalue her quality of life forever. I said I hoped that wouldn't happen to her, thinking to myself that it had better not! I could see the 3 active kids, ahead of us all, with wonder in their eyes and curiosity in their antics, excited to see and do new things. Those kids need their mother to be able to do all the things that moms do! We moved on then, our respite over. But, our encounter there stuck to my heart and to my mind. Mulling over what she'd said and sad that she should have to be fearful of not getting the treatments she needs, breaks my heart.

I know several other young veterans that are also in such a place, not knowing with any confidence that the promises of the contract they made with the USA would be fulfilled, after they had fulfilled their duty to their own side of the agreement. I can't help but be more and more irked by the utter callousness and failure of those in the seats of power to be continuingly deaf to the needs of so many that have gone, at their direction, to meet any and all demands put upon them; those who are regularly going above and beyond mere requirement to perform admirably the tasks given them.

 

 

 These contracts must be met!

The high roller on Capitol Hill must be smitten with their own hubris in thinking they would not have to fulfill their part of those contracts.

 

What with the caution-to-the-wind spending they do, they have forgotten their own jobs. To do what they have been hired to do, by, We the People. Defending our borders, enforcing our laws, and to make a budget to do those things and to live within that budget. It is not their job to do much else. It is not their job to regulate everything that we do, not what we eat, nor what we think say or express. The Capitol Hill crowd, with all the cronies and hangers on there, seem to be thinking that their behaving as martinets is acceptable.

Wrong!

Small minds, wielding power over others, doesn't change the fact of their small mindedness. It is but one small line item in the over bloated spending that Capitol Hill does every year. I do think that we could cut a few pork barrel items to take care of our veterans. OR, do the martinets think that would be Un-American?

It is now up to us, to step up to the task and be the great generation of the new century, to emulate our forefathers. To demand and posit for our people what is the most important to us, self-determination! In liberty and in justice for all our people; not to be trampled upon for the divisive greed on capitol hill nor set aside for this group or that.

 Power lust is the road of ruin as is evinced through all recorded history.

 

MA.W 2013

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thomas Paine's American Crisis

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 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. Britain, with an army to enforce her tyranny, has declared that she has a right (not only to tax) but "to bind us in all cases whatsoever," and if being bound in that manner, is not slavery, then is there not such a thing as slavery upon earth. Even the expression is impious; for so unlimited a power can belong only to God.

Whether the independence of the continent was declared too soon, or delayed too long, I will not now enter into as an argument; my own simple opinion is, that had it been eight months earlier, it would have been much better. We did not make a proper use of last winter, neither could we, while we were in a dependent state. However, the fault, if it were one, was all our own; we have none to blame but ourselves. But no great deal is lost yet. All that Howe has been doing for this month past, is rather a ravage than a conquest, which the spirit of the Jerseys, a year ago, would have quickly repulsed, and which time and a little resolution will soon recover.  I have as little superstition in me as any man living, but my secret opinion has ever been, and still is, that God Almighty will not give up a people to military destruction, or leave them unsupportedly to perish, who have so earnestly and so repeatedly sought to avoid the calamities of war, by every decent method which wisdom could invent. Neither have I so much of the infidel in me, as to suppose that He has relinquished the government of the world, and given us up to the care of devils; and as I do not, I cannot see on what grounds the king of Britain can look up to heaven for help against us: a common murderer, a highwayman, or a house-breaker, has as good a pretence as he.

'Tis surprising to see how rapidly a panic will sometimes run through a country. All nations and ages have been subject to them. Britain has trembled like an ague at the report of a French fleet of flat-bottomed boats; and in the fourteenth [fifteenth] century the whole English army, after ravaging the kingdom of France, was driven back like men petrified with fear; and this brave exploit was performed by a few broken forces collected and headed by a woman, Joan of Arc. Would that heaven might inspire some Jersey maid to spirit up her countrymen, and save her fair fellow sufferers from ravage and ravishment! Yet panics, in some cases, have their uses; they produce as much good as hurt. Their duration is always short; the mind soon grows through them, and acquires a firmer habit than before. But their peculiar advantage is, that they are the touchstones of sincerity and hypocrisy, and bring things and men to light, which might otherwise have lain forever undiscovered. In fact, they have the same effect on secret traitors, which an imaginary apparition would have upon a private murderer. They sift out the hidden thoughts of man, and hold them up in public to the world. Many a disguised Tory has lately shown his head, that shall penitentially solemnize with curses the day on which Howe arrived upon the Delaware.  As I was with the troops at Fort Lee, and marched with them to the edge of Pennsylvania, I am well acquainted with many circumstances, which those who live at a distance know but little or nothing of.

Our situation there was exceedingly cramped, the place being a narrow neck of land between the North River and the Hackensack. Our force was inconsiderable, being not one-fourth so great as Howe could bring against us. We had no army at hand to have relieved the garrison, had we shut ourselves up and stood on our defence. Our ammunition, light artillery, and the best part of our stores, had been removed, on the apprehension that Howe would endeavor to penetrate the Jerseys, in which case Fort Lee could be of no use to us; for it must occur to every thinking man, whether in the army or not, that these kind of field forts are only for temporary purposes, and last in use no longer than the enemy directs his force against the particular object which such forts are raised to defend. Such was our situation and condition at Fort Lee on the morning of the 20th of November, when an officer arrived with information that the enemy with 200 boats had landed about seven miles above; Major General [Nathaniel] Green, who commanded the garrison, immediately ordered them under arms, and sent express to General Washington at the town of Hackensack, distant by the way of the ferry = six miles.

Our first object was to secure the bridge over the Hackensack, which laid up the river between the enemy and us, about six miles from us, and three from them. General Washington arrived in about three-quarters of an hour, and marched at the head of the troops towards the bridge, which place I expected we should have a brush for; however, they did not choose to dispute it with us, and the greatest part of our troops went over the bridge, the rest over the ferry, except some which passed at a mill on a small creek, between the bridge and the ferry, and made their way through some marshy grounds up to the town of Hackensack, and there passed the river. We brought off as much baggage as the wagons could contain, the rest was lost. The simple object was to bring off the garrison, and march them on till they could be strengthened by the Jersey or Pennsylvania militia, so as to be enabled to make a stand. We staid four days at Newark, collected our out-posts with some of the Jersey militia, and marched out twice to meet the enemy, on being informed that they were advancing, though our numbers were greatly inferior to theirs. Howe, in my little opinion, committed a great error in generalship in not throwing a body of forces off from Staten Island through Amboy, by which means he might have seized all our stores at Brunswick, and intercepted our march into Pennsylvania; but if we believe the power of hell to be limited, we must likewise believe that their agents are under some providential control.

I shall not now attempt to give all the particulars of our retreat to the Delaware; suffice it for the present to say, that both officers and men, though greatly harassed and fatigued, frequently without rest, covering, or provision, the inevitable consequences of a long retreat, bore it with a manly and martial spirit. All their wishes centred in one, which was, that the country would turn out and help them to drive the enemy back. Voltaire has remarked that King William never appeared to full advantage but in difficulties and in action; the same remark may be made on General Washington, for the character fits him. There is a natural firmness in some minds which cannot be unlocked by trifles, but which, when unlocked, discovers a cabinet of fortitude; and I reckon it among those kind of public blessings, which we do not immediately see, that God hath blessed him with uninterrupted health, and given him a mind that can even flourish upon care.  I shall conclude this paper with some miscellaneous remarks on the state of our affairs; and shall begin with asking the following question, Why is it that the enemy have left the New England provinces, and made these middle ones the seat of war? The answer is easy: New England is not infested with Tories, and we are. I have been tender in raising the cry against these men, and used numberless arguments to show them their danger, but it will not do to sacrifice a world either to their folly or their baseness.

The period is now arrived, in which either they or we must change our sentiments, or one or both must fall. And what is a Tory? Good God! what is he? I should not be afraid to go with a hundred Whigs against a thousand Tories, were they to attempt to get into arms. Every Tory is a coward; for servile, slavish, self-interested fear is the foundation of Toryism; and a man under such influence, though he may be cruel, never can be brave.  But, before the line of irrecoverable separation be drawn between us, let us reason the matter together: Your conduct is an invitation to the enemy, yet not one in a thousand of you has heart enough to join him. Howe is as much deceived by you as the American cause is injured by you. He expects you will all take up arms, and flock to his standard, with muskets on your shoulders. Your opinions are of no use to him, unless you support him personally, for 'tis soldiers, and not Tories, that he wants.  

I once felt all that kind of anger, which a man ought to feel, against the mean principles that are held by the Tories: a noted one, who kept a tavern at Amboy, was standing at his door, with as pretty a child in his hand, about eight or nine years old, as I ever saw, and after speaking his mind as freely as he thought was prudent, finished with this unfatherly expression, "Well! give me peace in my day." Not a man lives on the continent but fully believes that a separation must some time or other finally take place, and a generous parent should have said, "If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace;" and this single reflection, well applied, is sufficient to awaken every man to duty. Not a place upon earth might be so happy as America. Her situation is remote from all the wrangling world, and she has nothing to do but to trade with them. A man can distinguish himself between temper and principle, and I am as confident, as I am that God governs the world, that America will never be happy till she gets clear of foreign dominion.

Wars, without ceasing, will break out till that period arrives, and the continent must in the end be conqueror; for though the flame of liberty may sometimes cease to shine, the coal can never expire.  America did not, nor does not want force; but she wanted a proper application of that force. Wisdom is not the purchase of a day, and it is no wonder that we should err at the first setting off. From an excess of tenderness, we were unwilling to raise an army, and trusted our cause to the temporary defence of a well-meaning militia. A summer's experience has now taught us better; yet with those troops, while they were collected, we were able to set bounds to the progress of the enemy, and, thank God! they are again assembling. I always considered militia as the best troops in the world for a sudden exertion, but they will not do for a long campaign. Howe, it is probable, will make an attempt on this city [Philadelphia]; should he fail on this side the Delaware, he is ruined. If he succeeds, our cause is not ruined.  He stakes all on his side against a part on ours; admitting he succeeds, the consequence will be, that armies from both ends of the continent will march to assist their suffering friends in the middle states; for he cannot go everywhere, it is impossible.

I consider Howe as the greatest enemy the Tories have; he is bringing a war into their country, which, had it not been for him and partly for themselves, they had been clear of. Should he now be expelled, I wish with all the devotion of a Christian, that the names of Whig and Tory may never more be mentioned; but should the Tories give him encouragement to come, or assistance if he come, I as sincerely wish that our next year's arms may expel them from the continent, and the Congress appropriate their possessions to the relief of those who have suffered in well-doing. A single successful battle next year will settle the whole. America could carry on a two years' war by the confiscation of the property of disaffected persons, and be made happy by their expulsion. Say not that this is revenge, call it rather the soft resentment of a suffering people, who, having no object in view but the good of all, have staked their own all upon a seemingly doubtful event. Yet it is folly to argue against determined hardness; eloquence may strike the ear, and the language of sorrow draw forth the tear of compassion, but nothing can reach the heart that is steeled with prejudice.  

Quitting this class of men, I turn with the warm ardor of a friend to those who have nobly stood, and are yet determined to stand the matter out: I call not upon a few, but upon all: not on this state or that state, but on every state: up and help us; lay your shoulders to the wheel; better have too much force than too little, when so great an object is at stake. Let it be told to the future world, that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive, that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet and to repulse it. Say not that thousands are gone, turn out your tens of thousands; throw not the burden of the day upon Providence, but "show your faith by your works," that God may bless you. It matters not where you live, or what rank of life you hold, the evil or the blessing will reach you all. The far and the near, the home counties and the back, the rich and the poor, will suffer or rejoice alike.

The heart that feels not now is dead; the blood of his children will curse his cowardice, who shrinks back at a time when a little might have saved the whole, and made them happy. I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. 'Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death. My own line of reasoning is to myself as straight and clear as a ray of light. Not all the treasures of the world, so far as I believe, could have induced me to support an offensive war, for I think it murder; but if a thief breaks into my house, burns and destroys my property, and kills or threatens to kill me, or those that are in it, and to "bind me in all cases whatsoever" to his absolute will, am I to suffer it?

What signifies it to me, whether he who does it is a king or a common man; my countryman or not my countryman; whether it be done by an individual villain, or an army of them? If we reason to the root of things we shall find no difference; neither can any just cause be assigned why we should punish in the one case and pardon in the other. Let them call me rebel and welcome, I feel no concern from it; but I should suffer the misery of devils, were I to make a whore of my soul by swearing allegiance to one whose character is that of a sottish, stupid, stubborn, worthless, brutish man. I conceive likewise a horrid idea in receiving mercy from a being, who at the last day shall be shrieking to the rocks and mountains to cover him, and fleeing with terror from the orphan, the widow, and the slain of America.  

There are cases which cannot be overdone by language, and this is one. There are persons, too, who see not the full extent of the evil which threatens them; they solace themselves with hopes that the enemy, if he succeed, will be merciful. It is the madness of folly, to expect mercy from those who have refused to do justice; and even mercy, where conquest is the object, is only a trick of war; the cunning of the fox is as murderous as the violence of the wolf, and we ought to guard equally against both. Howe's first object is, partly by threats and partly by promises, to terrify or seduce the people to deliver up their arms and receive mercy. The ministry recommended the same plan to Gage, and this is what the tories call making their peace, "a peace which passeth all understanding" indeed! A peace which would be the immediate forerunner of a worse ruin than any we have yet thought of. Ye men of Pennsylvania, do reason upon these things!

Were the back counties to give up their arms, they would fall an easy prey to the Indians, who are all armed: this perhaps is what some Tories would not be sorry for. Were the home counties to deliver up their arms, they would be exposed to the resentment of the back counties who would then have it in their power to chastise their defection at pleasure. And were any one state to give up its arms, that state must be garrisoned by all Howe's army of Britons and Hessians to preserve it from the anger of the rest. Mutual fear is the principal link in the chain of mutual love, and woe be to that state that breaks the compact. Howe is mercifully inviting you to barbarous destruction, and men must be either rogues or fools that will not see it. I dwell not upon the vapors of imagination; I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as A, B, C, hold up truth to your eyes.  I thank God, that I fear not. I see no real cause for fear. I know our situation well, and can see the way out of it.

While our army was collected, Howe dared not risk a battle; and it is no credit to him that he decamped from the White Plains, and waited a mean opportunity to ravage the defenceless Jerseys; but it is great credit to us, that, with a handful of men, we sustained an orderly retreat for near an hundred miles, brought off our ammunition, all our field pieces, the greatest part of our stores, and had four rivers to pass. None can say that our retreat was precipitate, for we were near three weeks in performing it, that the country might have time to come in. Twice we marched back to meet the enemy, and remained out till dark. The sign of fear was not seen in our camp, and had not some of the cowardly and disaffected inhabitants spread false alarms through the country, the Jerseys had never been ravaged. Once more we are again collected and collecting; our new army at both ends of the continent is recruiting fast, and we shall be able to open the next campaign with sixty thousand men, well armed and clothed. This is our situation, and who will may know it. By perseverance and fortitude we have the prospect of a glorious issue; by cowardice and submission, the sad choice of a variety of evils- a ravaged country- a depopulated city- habitations without safety, and slavery without hope- our homes turned into barracks and bawdy-houses for Hessians, and a future race to provide for, whose fathers we shall doubt of. Look on this picture and weep over it! and if there yet remains one thoughtless wretch who believes it not, let him suffer it unlamented.

 

 

Advice Please

I’m in a bit of a dilemma and I’m hoping that somebody who reads this has some good advice for me.

My neighbors and I initiated a neighborhood watch program because there was a lot of theft going on in the community. Just about everybody had been a victim of some sort of attack and with the attacks becoming more frequent and the few arrests that were made ended with the charges being dropped we knew we had to do something. We decided to start this program with the intention of being able protect everyone from the onslaught that was hurting us and lowering our property values.

So my neighbors and I formed this program and decided to make my neighbor Barry, who lives around the corner, our watch captain. Barry was new to the neighborhood, having moved in a couple of years ago. We didn’t really know where he came from but he seemed to understand the situation and had the right answers to our questions. He seemed the perfect choice to lead us out of this situation.

 

 It turned out Barry was amazing. He kept us informed of what he was doing to stop the crime; He was hiring people to help watch the community, he was working on safety guidelines to keep us protected in our homes and while we were outside. He was working with the Watch Captains of other community programs and sharing ideas with them to make communities safer everywhere. Pretty soon crime was almost a thing of the past and my neighbors felt comfortable again no matter where they were. Our community watch program was a success!

 

Barry was extremely motivated by his success and he continued to add security measures and restrictions to protect us. He gave us what he called the Community Care Act (CCA) that guaranteed we would have the best security possible. It covered everything from home fires to splinters. He would take care of everything. We didn’t need took to look anywhere else for our needs. Most of us didn’t mind, we knew it was for our own good. We also didn’t mind when the CCA had a tax built into it to pay for it. He was protecting us and after all, who can put a price on security?

We all decided that our neighborhood was safe so we didn’t mind when Barry decided to let illegal aliens move into the empty houses that were vacated during the crime spree. The new people didn’t talk to us, they kept among themselves, but you know, they didn’t speak English anyway. If they committed any crimes Barry would have prosecuted them just like the original criminals so we tolerated them.

Some of my neighbors started talking about how Barry was overstepping his authority. “Barry was just trying to clean up the neighborhood” I thought, “he wasn’t making unreasonable demands”. My neighbors didn’t appreciate that Barry was telling them what they could and couldn’t do in their own house and in their own yard.

My neighbor John was fined for leaving his outside light on all night. “That wasn’t so bad” I thought, “that light has always shined in my bedroom window when I’m trying to sleep”.

Mark, who lives down the street was fined for having a flag pole in his yard. “That’s not so bad” I told myself, “A tree would look much nicer than a skinny pipe reaching twenty feet into the air”.

Some of my neighbors started to rebel. A few of them at first but more started to join in when the regulations seemed to only affect the longtime homeowners, the new neighbors didn’t seem to be required to obey the rules. They kept their lights on all night, they kept their flag poles and flew flags on them that I didn’t even know what they represented. It seemed unfair in a way but I didn’t have any problem with the rules and I tried to follow them so I wouldn’t get in trouble with Barry.

There was no reason to complain about the rules, the rules were there to stay and besides, we chose Barry to clean up the neighborhood, and he was.

My neighbors son was beaten in Independence Park, the public park across the street from me, by a couple of illegals two weeks ago, he went the emergency room and was released a little while later with minor abrasions and six stitches. His father, Tom went to talk to Barry about finding the kids responsible and getting the hospital bill paid as guaranteed in the CCA but he was only able to talk to Barry’s assistant who said that the CCA did not cover fighting, even though it was an attack and not a mutual fight did not matter, CCA would not pay. The assistant said that kids who attacked the boy would not be held responsible because they are a minority and in the spirit of fairness it would be inappropriate to discipline them. There have been three more beatings in the park since.

Tom became the loudest voice against Barry’s actions. He talked about how wrong it was that Barry was taking our money but not giving us the benefits he promised. Other neighbors started agreeing with Tom and they starting talking about how Barry needs to removed from his position as Watch Captain. A week ago Tom was fined for having dead branches on his tree, for having weeds in his yard, there was a dent in his siding and an oil stain in his driveway. The fine came to $560 and Tom has to pay it by the end of the month or he will be required to do community service for two weekends. Some of the other neighbors have been quiet ever since but not all of them.

Yesterday, Barry had a construction crew put up a fence around Independence Park. He told us that we are complaining too much and not paying enough to be able to have access to it. He posted guards at the gate and only allowed the illegals into it while we stood at the fence watching. We called the police but the police said that Barry could do whatever he wanted since we elected him and then they informed us that we were standing on public property and would have to return to our homes.

 I still want to give Barry the benefit of the doubt that he is trying to do the right thing in our community but I am beginning to think that he is going too far. Am I being too hard on Barry? I would appreciate some advice on this.

 

K.B. 2013