Freedom is never free.....

"It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds."-Samuel Adams

Friday, April 30, 2010

The Death of a Republic

Obituary (April 2010)-The United States of America: 1776-2010.  Beloved home to 300,000,000 Americans, devoted country to veterans of foreign wars, loving nation remembered as a home of the free, land of the brave. The USA will be remembered as a grand experiment using the philosophies of the Romans, John Locke, and patriots who pledged their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor in order to form a more perfect union. The USA was preceded in death by Common Sense, Patriotism, Self Reliance, Personal Responsibility, Free Markets, Fair and Equal Taxation, and the American Family. Beloved father of the democratic republic, manifest destiny, freedom to worship, freedom of movement, free markets, and free trade.
  

Dear brother to the allied forces, NATO, and the United Nations. Loving protector and liberator of the oppressed, the disenfranchised, the enslaved, and the victims of natural and unnatural disasters.

Cherished benefactor of the nations’ poor, unfortunate, unemployed, underemployed, and the wretched masses of discontent. The late, great USA is survived by twin sisters Political Correctness and Expediency, False Piety, Situational Tolerance, Big Brother, Misplaced Priorities, Republicrats, Righteous Lobbyists, Government Schools, Government Owned Banks and Corporations, and Influential Corruption. The USA left an indelible mark on history as a free nation that failed to learn from its own mistakes, and as a result, died a horrible death at the hands of its own people, which are drenched in the blood of patriots, living and dead. (Survivors may wash their hands in the Federal restroom, and may their conscience be free and clear.) 

Mourners may view the deceased via satellite uplink. Login to www.1984.gov. The place of burial is to be determined. The bill is held up in committee and no decision is expected until after the summer recess. Memorial donations may be made out to the US Treasury. All contributions are appreciated and are due by April 15th.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

On Security and Liberty


“They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” 
Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759

“Papers, please?”

“Papers? What papers?”

“Do as I say. Please”

“Who are you?”

“I am special agent Volt Jackhammer with the joint task force ICECIAFBIATF and the I-hate-all-things un-American book-of-the-month-club. Papers. Now”.

“Can you tell me why I am being stopped and questioned? Please.”

“We have a sniper posted on the roof of the Starbucks with his crosshairs on your forehead. I suggest you comply.”

“Oh, this has to do with the new anti-immigration law passed here in Arizona. The law was intended to be used with probable cause as the basis. What is the probable cause?”

“I need your ID, now. Thank you.” (Talking into his sleeve).

“Just as I suspected. You were observed eating lunch at a Taco Bell, then entering a video game store and purchasing a Microsoft Flight simulator. Your internet traffic shows a visit to “The Philosophy of Islam” website, and a check on emails indicates a steady stream of dialogue between you and a co-conspirator in Baghdad and Mexico City. A response from Mexico was “see you soon”, which is a clear indication of the intent to smuggle human contraband across the border. Where were you born, where are you employed, and just what are your radical intentions?

“I can’t believe this. I was born in Tuscon, and I am a student at Arizona State University. I have a class called “World Religions”, and I enjoy video games.”

“Uh-huh. I find this hard to believe, Mr., uh Muhammed Rodriguez. That is your name, correct?”

“It is. My father is from Mexico City, where he owns an auto parts manufacturing facility. We email back and forth. My brother is in the Marine Corps stationed outside of Baghdad. My mother is Jordanian, but was born and raised in New Jersey. Satisfied?”

“After the information is verified, we will allow you to appear before a tribunal to determine your status. This shouldn’t take more than a year or two. You are not being arrested, only detained.”

“He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from opposition; for if he violates this duty he establishes a precedent that will reach himself.” ~Thomas Paine­­

The preceding dialogue is not based on real events, at least not yet. The fictional conversation is what could happen if we wander down that particular road too far. Legal immigrants, by and large are opposed to illegal immigration. Those that have chosen to immigrate via lawful and proper channels are typically offended by those who don’t. Candidate after candidate will beat the drum of anti-immigration every election cycle. They always tend to back off after the votes are counted. At this point in time, the proverbial horse has been out of the barn for a very long time and the solutions are few.

Illegal immigration and offshore production of manufactured products share some common threads. When the lawn care company presents an attractive quotation for landscaping and weed killing and shows up with a half dozen illegal Mexicans, we turn our head and profess ignorance. When we shop at Best Buy, and purchase a 60” high definition TV for a fraction of what it would have cost fifteen years ago, we say that’s OK, what a deal.

We, as American citizens tend toward moral selectivity when sensitive issues collide with out pocket books. It seems quite convenient to ignore the human rights of the Chinese when they stock our stores with dirt cheap products, but quite another issue when the state of Arizona can use “just cause” to verify an individual’s status. “Just cause” can be broadly defined and be as flexible as one may desire at any given time. The illegal immigration problem has grown to out-of-control proportions. Crime, health care, employment, and a plethora of areas are clearly impacted with regard to illegal border crossings. Immigration is a Federal issue that has not been adequately dealt with. Perhaps the state of Arizona had no choice but to pass legislation to stem the flow of undocumented nationals, but once this type of legislation is enacted, the slope gets a little bit slippery. How high is the bar? When does this become abuse?

My illustration may be extreme, but should not be discounted and discarded as the rantings of a paranoid madman. The population of Arizona is comprised of 35% Hispanic/American Indian. This does not include migrants from Mexico and Central America that sneak across the border. Will agents of the State of Arizona be able to differentiate American citizens and legal immigrants of Hispanic lineage to those who have entered the country through other means? What constitutes “just cause”? Does this law render federal border agents less or more effective?

Police agencies all over the nation set up DUI checkpoints on a frequent basis. Statistically, the arrest rate is around 0.5% or less. So they inconvenience a thousand cars to make a ridiculously low number of arrests. Is this what will happen is Arizona and other states who implement similar laws? Why should any state be forced to assume Federal jurisdiction? Reagan, Bush I, Clinton, Bush II and there respective administrations looked the other way when it came to illegal immigration while making it nearly impossible to achieve legal status.



Police officers all over the nation see a carload of teenage boys driving around at 11:00PM and “just cause” is firmly established at that moment. It happens every day.  “Yeah, but what business does a carload of teenage boys out at 11:00PM have anyway?” It is not the business of the police or anybody else so long as these teenagers are behaving inside of the law. My fear is this same scenario will befall law abiding American citizens and legal immigrants in Arizona. “Probable cause” can be defined very loosely. Once it starts, it will be tough to stop, just like the flow of illegal aliens. Why does the next generation have to clean up the mess of the previous one? Cheap labor has it's price.



By the way, last time I checked we have a few hundred thousand soldiers fighting a couple of pointless wars on the other side of the world. Wouldn't they would be more useful plugging the holes in our own borders? That makes too much sense, though. Another topic for another day.







Wednesday, March 10, 2010

The 10th Amendment and Nullification

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.” 10th Amendment



"The true barriers of our liberty are our State governments; and the wisest conservative power ever contrived by man, is that of which our Revolution and present government found us possessed." --Thomas Jefferson to A. L. C. Destutt de Tracy, 1811



The founders understood that the lust for power and distrust in the people were a recipe for disaster. During the ratification period of the U.S. Constitution, congress was back at work penning the Bill of Rights. Federalists believed it was an unnecessary addition to an already satisfactory document. The Democratic-Republicans, i.e., Thomas Jefferson believed it an absolute, had-to-have list of amendments that should have been incorporated in the original draft. Three years after the ratification was complete, the Bill of Rights, or the first ten amendments were voted into law.

Shortly after, the Alien and Sedition Acts we
re put into law to protect the young nation from foreign enemies. Kentucky and Virginia, however, felt the legislation went too far and as a result violated their 1st Amendment rights of free speech. These states passed a resolution to nullify this federal law because they felt it was unconstitutional. Ultimately, the resolutions were ruled invalid, but it effectively put on hold on the federal excess for years.

"Where powers are assumed which have not been delegated, a nullification of the act is the rightful remedy."
Thomas Jefferson: Kentucky Resolutions, 1798.

During Andrew Jackson’s term, South Carolina felt that the trade tariffs in place favored the no
rthern industries, and passed a resolution to nullify the tariffs. Jackson sent warships in 1832 off the coast of South Carolina, a meeting ensued and a compromise was agreed upon.



The Fugitive Slave Act, otherwise known as the Compromise of 1850 was another example of a group of states reaction to the federal government ignoring their sovereignty as guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution. This federal law effectively forced free states to participate in the slave trade. How? Slave owners could legally go across state lines with a band of U.S. marshals to hunt down and capture any runaway slave. Citizens who once were apathetic with regard to slavery suddenly had a vested interest in the long arm of Washington. Wisconsin, among other free states declared the law unconstitutional and nullified it. The Wisconsin Supreme Court was the only judicial body among the states using nullification to rule the law null and void.

These example
s were pointed out in a simplistic fashion, and the complexities were bypassed for the sake of time and sanity. While our individual and sovereign states had tested the “compact” with the federal entities throughout our history, nullification is not just a quaint piece of history. While the great Civil War was perhaps the single largest and most dramatic example, it did have precedence as I have described.


Nullification, for the most part is peaceful, effective, and has a long history in the American tradition. It has been estimated that up to (25) states will pass resolutions denying federal healthcare reform. Thirteen states have already defied federal marijuana prohibition in one form or another. President Bush’s Real ID Act of 2005 has been effectively prevented from being implemented in at least (20) states. Missouri and Tennessee are preparing for a showdown by passing laws that negate federal firearms laws in their respective states.

The 10th Amendme
nt apparently is alive and well. It’s a shame that we have to take these measures to reclaim our constitutional rights. The feds, by design, should answer to the states, as opposed to taking the phrase “general welfare” to uncharted heights.

As noted, there are many states using or in preparation of nullification la
nguage in an attempt to dissuade Big Brother from crossing that Constitutional line. Today there are others who walk in lock step, like characters from the Dawn of the Dead, with whatever Congress dictates. Thank God for Tennessee and Texas.

While our freed
oms are seemingly an abstract concept today, tomorrow is, well, a new day.





Friday, January 15, 2010

Rants and Raves.......

On the Prez: The Prez hasn’t held a press conference since July....what a pussy......

On Healthscare: Rep. Anthony Weiner
(pronounced Weener or Whiner) (D-N.Y.) issued a statement, saying the Senate is being “mean”, and referred to Harry Reid as “Mr. Poopy Pants”....maybe he didn’t say that, but he could have....

On Healthscare 2: We will all see, very soon, who has brass balls and who does not........Maybe Madam Pelosi fancies herself as bullet proof, but what about the rest? Joyce Jr. thinks not.....when standing on the edge of the political abyss in a mid-term election cycle, nobody jumps.........

On the GOP: Massachusetts State Attorney General Martha Coakley blamed GOP “stalkers” today for triggering tensions outside a Washington, D.C., fund-raiser last night where a Weekly Standard reporter said he was roughed up.......she was mistaken, there are no Republicans alive who have the stones to rough up anybody.......except maybe
Gov. Perry of Texas..........


On Aliens and Lumberjacks: NASA reportedly photographed 'trees' on Mars. The “trees” are actually debris from an avalanche, NASA says........sounds like time for a multi billion dollar Federal investigation....
I think SOMEBODY knows the real story.......


On The Patriot Act: An (8) year old New Jersey boy is on the Terrorism Watch List. Apparently he shares a name with a foreign terrorist....Homeland Security overlooks a guy with C-4 in his boxer's. When it comes to Cub Scouts, they don't miss a thing...........

On The Prez 2: A new musical set to open in Germany is called "Hope -- the Obama Musical Story"........whatever...........


On Hollywood, Avatars, and Patriots: The script, in its entirety, is out for “Avatar”. Here’s a portion: “............ troopers issue automatic weapons and magazines to a long line of mine workers. The miners lock and load like the red-blooded redneck NRA supporters they are.” Hollywood is so tolerant of others, aren’t they?



On Celebrity Conservatives
: Bo Derek reportedly is a
committed conservative and appeared on Bill O’Reilly to talk about Japanese Whalers and Wild Horse Roundups.....I’m not sure about her politics, but she looked really good when she got naked in “Ten”.......




On Barney Frank: Uh, oh...take a gander at Rep. Frank’s 1,279 pages H.R. 4173. I think somebody should look at it, because apparently our elected reps in D.C. have not. It authorizes Federal Reserve banks to provide as much as $4 trillion in emergency funding the next time Wall Street crashes......say it ain't so, Barn.........



On Barney Frank2: Looks like a sheep gave birth to human-faced lamb in Turkey. This is not 100% substantiated, but a certain congressman was in Istanbul recently and the resemblance is uncanny.........


On Illinois Will Elect Anybody: Former Governor Blagojevich waxed poetic, with eloquence as he said, 'I'm blacker than Barack Obama.” His response to a reporter’s question? “It was a stupid thing to say”.
Maybe it’s the ha
ir......

On Nevada Will Elect Anybody:
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s evaluation of our current Prez: “Obama is a "light-skinned" black man with no Negro dialect unless he wanted to have one." Negro? "Bring me my shoes,Toby!!" It’s 2010, Harry, maybe time to sit on the front porch with a good, government issued drool cup......


On the U.S. Will Ele
ct Anybody: Bill Clinton recounting a conversation to a friend said this about the Prez: “a few years ago, this guy would have been getting us coffee.” Nice........

On Political Bedfellows or Friends of Convenience: During the last presidential campaign, Hillary Clinton was seriously considering a new tactic when her New Hampshire campaign chairman, Billy Shaheen, mentioned Prez Obama's previous use of drugs. Probably would have been a good idea. Perhaps we would have had a Secretary of State that was actually worthy of the office......

On Mrs. Prez: A man was taken into custody and later hospitalized for mental-health observation after he was seen jogging stark naked a few blocks from the White House. Maybe the Prez got home earlier than expected?

On Mrs. Prez 2: The Food Network TV show “Iron Chef America” featured the beefy first lady Ms. Obama to share her kitchen secrets with the rest of the world. The veggies used on set did not, in fact, come from the White House garden, as previously reported. This amounts to a Culinary Hoax of grand proportions, not unlike Dan Rather and Buffalo Bob. However, this
scandal affirms the character of those who inhabit the White House. I didn't vote for him.........

On the End of World: Isaac Newton said the year 2060 is it.....could the Mayans be wrong? Stay tuned............


On Did You Know: A cat has 32 muscles in each ear, a pregnant goldfish is called a twit, the plastic things on the end of shoelaces are called aglets, and finally, on average, 100 people choke to death on ball-point pens every year.


On Inner Harmony: Could there possibly be any group of people in the entire world happier than the Yak Herdsmen of Nepal? I think not.........

On Random Lyrics of 60’s Protest Songs:

Like Judas of old
You lie and deceive
A world war can be won
You want me to believe

But I see through your eyes
And I see through your brain
Like I see through the water
That runs down my drain.

Bob Dylan-Masters of War






Tuesday, January 5, 2010

The Birth of a Patriot


"But what do we mean by the American Revolution? Do we mean the American war? The Revolution was effected before the war comme
nced. The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people; a change in their religious sentiments, of their duties and obligations... This radical change in the principles, opinions, sentiments, and affections of the people was the real American Revolution."
John Adams, letter to H. Nil
es, 13 February 1818

I had been thinking about it for some time. Twenty years ago or so, I sent for some information about it. I felt the need to educate myself. So I went through the packet, digested what I had read, put the stuff in my closet, and there it stayed for a couple of decades. It all made perfect sense to me, the principles were sound since they were based on history and the original ideas and philosophies of the men who created them. But how could I possibly alter my way of thinking that cut to the very core of my being? What was so special and unique about this radical, old-new ideology that would allow for a paradigm shift in my day-to-day life experience?

Fast forward to a couple of years ago: my oldest son, who was a junior in high school, was on a diatribe I didn’t care for. The topic was anti-Bush, anti-Re
publican, anti-war, and anti-everything that I held very dear to my heart. “But Dad, what about civil liberties? Why are we at war with a country which had nothing to do with 911? Don’t you think the Patriot Act is a bit intrusive? The Conservatives are social Nazis!”

“Everywhere the human soul stands between a hemisphere of light and another of darkness on the confines of two everlasting hostile empires, Necessity and Free Will.”
Thomas Carlyle,
Essays, "The Opera"

His questions originated with literature I had given him, the very same information I stashed away years before. The packet was about The Libertarian Party. At that moment, I began to process the exchange I had just had with my 17-year-old son. I had read a great deal about American History, the life and times of the Founders, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Declaration, but I was so jaded and politically hypnotized by the Dark Side; yes, the GOP.

I had pictures of Reagan and J.C. Watts hanging in my office, two or three RNC membership cards in my wallet, and a vicious right-wing
attitude. I wouldn’t go so far as to say I had an epiphany, angels did not break out in chorus, and the heavens did not open up. But, at this moment, my eyes were opening, and my vision was approaching clarity. The most remarkable result was the notion of peripheral thinking, to think outside of what had been my sad, little box.


"All truth passes through three stages: First, it is ridiculed; Second, it is violently opposed; Third, it is accepted as self-evident." Arthur Schopenhauer

Honestly, it was the elbow of perspectives previously unknown to me giving me a polite nudge. My personal Ghost of Political Future had shown me a glimpse of what could be. I knew that what had once been wasn’t working any longer. There was no need to question the fact that the current gang of 535 presently in D.C. was not there to serve me or mine.

After November 4th, 2008, I awoke uncharacteristically rested, but a tad troubled. Typically, on the night of the presidential election I stay up until it’s over. My little crystal ball told me the outcome long before the votes were cast. My first thought as I woke up was: Had I done it again? Did I vote in another presidential election just to vote? Did I vote against a candidate again? Yes, yes and yes. That day, I wrote a piece about what I
knew about The Libertarian Party, sent it to the newspaper (The Cincinnati Enquirer, and I’ll be damned if it didn’t show up on the editorial page that Saturday morning. So I wrote more, and again, and I’ll be double damned if they didn’t print my column four out of the next six weeks. Then, boom, it stopped as quick as it started. Oh, well, I had my fifteen minutes of fame, or whatever you would like to call it. I was miffed, but more than motivated to continue.

“The searching-out and thorough investigation of truth ought to be the primary study of man”. Cicero

My experience gained was I could write something passable to publish in a large newspaper where it is read by thousands of people. I learned that I could write about the Founders and Libertarianism, publish it on my own blog, and have people read it and comment. The 1st Amendment is alive and well, thank you very much. The internet is a veritable plethora of knowledge, and a good portion of it is accurate. I also learned that I had more readership from the newspaper.

I learned that it really wasn’t any of my business what
people do behind their closed doors, and that if two people of the same sex want to live and thrive together, it really had no impact on me at all. The Patriot Act seemed like a good idea, but at that time I was under the influence of GWB. Good man, bad decisions. Period. The 10th Amendment meant very little to me back in the day, but today it has become a throw away. It’s a sad day when the Bill of Rights turns into a comedy sketch that would be seen on Saturday Night Live. “Let’s see, we’ll keep the 1st so the media can gush all over us, and the 10th is laughable, and the 2nd is in our sights”. The dominoes are falling, one by one.


“Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.” ~Thomas Paine

This is all happening today, at every level of government. Our elected officials, by and large, are of one party. We could call the party the Democratic Republicans, but that would be a slap in the face of Jefferson, who used that moniker at the birth of partisan politics. Rinos, Republicrats, whatever. This political hybrid has lied, bluffed, misguided, begged, borrowed and stolen all of what I had learned to believe in, and I mean BELIEVE. Hook, line and sinker. Now I can see sideways. I can see inside out, upside down and backwards. Anybody can read the platform of The Libertarian Party (www.lpo.org), and grasp at least enough to understand that anything is possible. “What once was” is absolutely relevant to “what has to be”.




"Every human has four endowments: self awareness, conscience, independent will, and creative imagination. These give us the ultimate human freedom. The power to choose, to respond, to change." - Steven R. Covey







The Libertarian Party is, quite simply, an organization wh
ose goal is restoration of government to its rightful owners, who are “We the People”. We the People should be governed by our consent, and only our consent. We the People should be entrusted with policy and protocol, with selecting the individuals that best represent our village, our township, our county, our state, and our nation. Here’s the dirty secret: THEY don’t trust us anymore. THEY are effectively saying, “Sit down and shut up. We’ll tell you what’s good for you. And if you don’t like it, screw you.”

We the People deserve better than that. We, as Libertarians are positioned for a sort of spiritual revival, or a back-to-the-future type of quest. The ot
her major parties have financial resources, but are lacking in assets that only We the People can provide. Our major assets are our people. The Libertarian Party is in a position to recruit, market, and recruit some more. There exists, in today’s political hodgepodge, an enormous potential for disgruntled voters stuck in the abyss of the political middle to make a new commitment. Maximum freedom + minimum taxes + limited government = The Libertarian Party.

Mf + Mt + Lg = LP.


The time is now and our goal is just. A true revitalization of government and its objectives are in reach; freedom of movement, freedom of thought, freedom of choice, and most importantly, freedom of spirit. Like the man said:

“It is easy to take liberty for granted, when you have never had it taken from you.” -Unknown

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

The Song of the Syren





"It is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth -- and listen to the song of that syren, till she transforms us into beasts. ... Are we disposed to be of the number of those, who having eyes, see not, and having ears, hear not?" --Patrick Henry


siren [sahy-ruhn] syren (alternate spelling)


Classical Mythology, one of several sea nymphs, part woman and part bird, who lure mariners to destruction by their seductive singing.


Throughout history, civilizations have been seduced by the Song of the Syren. Stalin, Hitler, Mao, Amin, Saddam, Franco, Mussolini, Pol Pot, Ngirumpatse, on and on and on. What these despots had in common was a song that was very soothing to their population. Typically, these monsters raise their heads at a time of economic collapse or civil unrest, or both.


The song is always the same: a promise to bring their respective country/state/region back from the abyss, a firm commitment to be a leader for the people. The lyrics reflect a sort of hope to these people who have none. The tune always begins with a melodic, yet hypnotic tempo that sets their collective minds at ease. One could imagine a symphonic largess filled with strings and woodwinds. Now that the new “leader” has the attention and support of the crowd, the tempo begins to change.


It speeds up, with more percussion, a marching band in motion. He selects his most ardent supporters to stand firm by his side, the volume of the music increases, the cadence much more distinct, but the theme has morphed into a much darker and sardonic one. Cello and bass overtake the violins and flutes. The Song of the Syren ends abruptly, every time, with a staccato-like finality.


As the director leaves the stage, the scenes unfolds with timeless duplicity; thousands of bloated corpses floating down the Kagera River in Rwanda, mountains of rotting bodies at Auschwitz, fields filled with the skulls of intellectuals in Cambodia, millions starved to death in the Ukraine, countless dead during Mao’s Cultural Revolution. And so it goes.

"If a nation expects to be ignorant -- and free ... it expects what never was and never will be." --Thomas Jefferson

The song is always the same. Those that are in need or in a state of despair hear the seductive notes as a solution that they perhaps did not hear the day before. The messiah has come. Never again will they have to worry about war and famine, disease and pestilence for the savior has arrived and sings the song of salvation up until the point when the realization of oppression and genocide appears. By then it is too late.


We have had the good fortune here in the U.S. to have had a group of men who studied and understood the ramifications of what such regimes had to offer its citizens. After years and years of debate, the U.S. Constitution was born, and has outlived countless dictators and despots. Why? Personal freedom and the right to choose our own individual destinies. It all boils down to choices we are permitted to make on a daily basis. The decisions we make are either right, wrong of indifferent. Some can impact our lives in such a negative fashion that we may never be able to dig out. These choices are being taken away bit by bit.


"Freedom had been hunted round the globe; reason was considered as rebellion; and the slavery of fear had made men afraid to think. But such is the irresistible nature of truth, that all it asks, and all it wants, is the liberty of appearing."--Thomas Paine, Rights of Man, 1791


Today my toilet allows me one gallon per flush. I’m not supposed to fill up my car until after 6:00 PM if the air quality index is in the red zone. I can’t decide whether to smoke or not smoke in the bowling alley because the state has decided I cannot. My guns must be registered or deemed to be illegal. I don’t have choice which assault rifle to purchase, or whether or not I can smoke a Havana. My insurance company chooses for me what doctor to see and where to go for treatment. I can’t make a decision to carry shampoo on an airplane. I’m not allowed to make a choice on whether or not my Federal government spends us into oblivion.

"Dependence begets subservience and venality, suffocates the germ of virtue, and prepares fit tools for the designs of ambition." --Thomas Jefferson


We, as a country, could fall into that same hypnotic state, like sleepwalkers. Lack of due diligence on the part of the rest of us could be deadly. We must stay focused, keep our eye on history, and to be forever committed to the cause, and that is the restoration of government to its rightful owners; we the people. If we lose sight of that, the U.S. could become the Late, Great United States.


The Ukrainians or Jews or Cambodians or Rwandans didn’t see it coming either. They listened to the song. They were attracted to the lyrics. They loved the beat. It was easy and pleasant to dance to. What separates us from them is a unique document, firm resolve, and commitment to turn our ears from the music. At least I hope we still have enough Americans that believe to maintain the necessary diligence to turn back any attempts to further degrade the freedoms we take for granted, for, after all, the song remains the same.


“There is trouble in the forest,
And the creatures all have fled,
As the maples scream "Oppression!"
And the oaks just shake their heads

So the maples formed a union

And demanded equal rights.

"The oaks are just too greedy;

We will make them give us light."

Now there's no more oak oppression,

For they passed a noble law,

And the trees are all kept equal

By hatchet, axe, and saw.”-


Neil Peart (Rush)