Monday, June 29, 2015

An Impetus For Reform


While federalism and the rule of plain language law took a giant step backward with the Supreme Court's Rulings in the #SCOTUScare and #SCOTUSmarriage cases last week, I think those of us that seek to restore order and good governance can use these cases as a call to action.

All of this revolves around an Article Five Convention of States as outlined in the Constitution of the United States. I know the idea makes some folks' heads hurt, but follow along.

The Congress, whenever two thirds of both houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, on the application of the legislatures of two thirds of the several states, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three fourths of the several states, or by conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress; provided that no amendment which may be made prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first article; and that no state, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate.
Because the elected Congress critters(is my disdain showing?) in Washington, DC show no original thought(there are a few exceptions, but a majority is needed), we, as a self governing people, need to take it upon ourselves to make true national reform happen. I know there are rogue state houses, like Nebraska, that openly defy the will of the people(see here), but the people still have recourse at the state level with ballot initiatives and recall processes. 
The only recourse at the national level is the ballot box. The ballot box at the national congressional level has shown to be ineffective when it comes to reigning in a government bent on usurping the rights of individuals and the states in which they reside to self govern. Lawmakers don't see their election as a chance to serve, rather they see it as a chance to lord over a dominion, accumulate power and pad their nest egg. The government in Washington, DC is no longer what Abraham Lincoln so eloquently stated in the emancipation proclamation, "government of people, by the people, and for the people". We have not ensured that this form of government would not perish from the earth. We now have a government of, by and for the government.

My proposals may differ from others slightly but any reform that serves to remove power from the federal government is something worth considering, in my opinion. Here are amendments I would propose for consideration.


  • Term Limits and Compensation Limits for Congress 
Congress, as it is currently composed, is a career choice for most of the critters that work there. This needs to stop. I don't believe in limiting speech(ie: McCain/Feingold) and I agree with the Citizen's United decision but not allowing our Congress critters to be bought and sold for long lengths of time would do us all a great service. I propose all that all Congressmen be limited to a total of twelve years of service in either the Senate or the House of Representatives. Whether someone serves 6 terms in the House or 2 in the Senate or a combination of 3 House terms and 1 Senate term, that would be it. The second section would repeal all pay for Congressmen after they leave office. Congress was not intended to be a lifetime income for those that were elected. It shouldn't be any longer. A severance package once someone leaves office would be something I would listen to so that there would be no issues in transitioning back to normal civilian life but no pensions should be given. Congress shouldn't be an occupation but rather a call to service.
I also would entertain a limit on the number of staff members that Congressmen are allowed to have. All staffers do now is allow bills to balloon to thousands of pages because lawmakers don't actually right the bills they sign their names to.


The 17th Amendment took the power to elect Senators from the several states' legislatures and gave it to state wide popular elections. All this has served to do is make the Senate a beauty pageant where the Senators have no fear of being held accountable by the states they serve as long as they bring home the pork. The intent was for each Senator to be the advocate for his respective state in the nation's capitol. With the combination of term limits and the repeal of the 17th Amendment, the effect of money on the Congress would be greatly diminished without limiting the individual's right to speech through the campaign contribution process. Each Senator would report to their home state legislature when they aren't in session in Washington. I think a nomination process with primaries at the state level would solve the need for citizen involvement in Senator selection.


The 16th Amendment gave the federal government the power to tax income. This gave way to the "progressive" income tax. Nothing has done more to remove incentive from our country than a tax system that penalizes success. With half of the country paying the freight for the other half from an income tax perspective, all this serves to do is place people in a class system and discourage success. This has also given way to one of the federal government's most draconian arbiters of power. The Internal Revenue Service has the power to take anything and everything a person has with no recourse on the taxpayer's part. This would allow a national consumption tax on new goods and services to replace the current tax system. The mechanisms to collect this tax are in place in all but a few states and little would be required to make the change other than the firing of every IRS agent that works for the federal government. 
The Fair Tax, as it has become known, is a system that would eliminate tax fraud and tax forms altogether. A "prebate" would be given to all legal residents paying the tax on all purchases up to the poverty level. The system would also make sure that those who came to this country illegally would not receive the benefit of being able live relatively tax free and illegal residents would not be eligible for the prebate.
The percentage would seem high but once the average person realizes the benefit of zero payroll, medicare or income taxes on income and no taxes on investment or savings, our financial footing would be much better, save for the tax preparation people and IRS agents, and I don't have much sympathy for them and neither should you. Economic freedom would spur a new entrepreneurial revolution, the likes of which this has not been seen in this country in generations. 


  • A Balanced Budget Amendment
A balanced budget amendment would prohibit the government from spending more than it takes in. An exemption for a time of Congressionally declared war could be added to enable emergency deficit spending. It is long past time that the country lived within its means. While Keynesians will argue that increased government spending stimulates the economy, there is little truth to Keynes' theories other than short term gain. Milton Friedman has proven to be the correct in knowing that less government spending allows a market economy to flourish. 
The current situation in Greece is a great example of government spending run amok. While some will argue that a default situation couldn't happen here, if the US Dollar would lose its status as the world's reserve currency, we could be in the very same situation. Russia and China are already working toward that end. Our country needs to live within its means. 


  • Judicial Retention Elections
Senator Ted Cruz, after the recent Supreme Court rulings, suggested the idea of judicial retention elections as a way to keep the country from being ruled by a panel of 9 unelected lawyers. Many states already have retention elections for state appointed judges. Once a judge is appointed, a period of eight years would pass before that judge or Supreme Court Justice would face a retention vote. That vote would happen during the midterm national elections. Judges and Justices would be prohibited from campaigning so as to retain their independence from the donor class and other, nonjudicial interests.


  • Plain Language, Bill Length, Citizen Review and Recorded Voice Votes
An amendment to reform the way Congress does business could encompass all of the reforms above. A plain language provision would not permit legalese or language meant to obscure. A bill length provision would limit bills to 5 pages in double spaced print. No more 2,000 page bills. A citizen review provision would require a period of 5 days, excepting bills regarding a declaration of war, for citizens to review and comment. No private hearings would be allowed but for those pertaining to national security and intelligence matters. All votes would be by voice in the affirmative or negative and would be recorded by video and audio in order for each Senate or House member to be reviewed on line. Perhaps a congressional YouTube channel. No more smoke and mirrors. No more saying one thing behind closed doors and doing another in public.

All of these ideas serve to limit government in the way that our founders sought. They were afraid a day would come and we would need to fence the ever expanding government back in. They gave us the provision, we need to use it. 

Of course, these are just my own thoughts, but I want to encourage everyone to think about what should be proposed during an Article Five Convention of the States. I know there are those on the far right that worry about a runaway convention. There is no chance in that because over half of all state legislatures are in conservative hands. Nothing is working at the Washington, DC level so the states need to seize the constitutional reigns and pull back on this unruly federal government. Senator Tom Coburn is leading the movement and I encourage you to visit the website established to help with the effort to make the Convention possible. This effort is, from my vantage point, the last stand for liberty and self government. Once liberty is lost, it will not be regained for generations and the time is drawing near.

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Ted Cruz talked about the possible need for a Convention of States on the Sean Hannity Radio Show on June 26th, 2015.



Friday, June 26, 2015

The Day the 10th Amendment Died


Today, June 26th, 2015 is the date that officially will mark the death of the United States of America as a federal republic. The states are no longer independent entities that are allowed to experiment, or not, with different aspects of self rule. The Supreme Court, in both of the major decisions that were handed down this week, totally and completely gutted the 10th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

The twisted argument the 5 vote majority signed on to was based on the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment, Section 1.

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

Since there is no right to marry codified in federal law and each state was, in the past, able to establish their own laws based upon the needs and wants of its citizens, the court made this up out of whole cloth. The protections of the 14th Amendment were created to deal with issues related to slavery and ensuring freed slaves the rights of any other citizen. While the criminalization of homosexual relations was wrong, those laws have been struck from the books. No one can be jailed for being homosexual any longer and that is good and proper. This "right" to marry was made up out of thin air. This is the same argument used in the Roe v. Wade decision. There is no "right" to "privacy" in the Constitution or subsequent amendments. The right against illegal search and seizure is not privacy, but a protection against government overreach. 

The rub comes here. The 10th Amendment was written to give each state autonomy over their own affairs except when engaging in trade and commerce with another state. Read the simplest of all amendments.

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.

This was made irrelevant today. Following this logic, how far can we be from totally ignoring other parts of the Constitution. When a church that believes in the Biblical view of marriage turns away a gay couple who wish to "marry" (undoubtedly, the couple is there to make examples of the church in the first place) and they sue said church, the first right codified in the Bill of Rights with be the next to be pushed aside. Don't doubt me.

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

The usurpation of the 1st Amendment has been going on for years, with free speech zones and lawsuits against bakers, florists and wedding venue operators, and all this new found "right" to marry anyone, anywhere, has done is add precedent to those that argue against the ability of churches to follow their Biblically informed conscience. Many people doubt me on this but the progressive left will never quit on their imposition of an amoral, immoral statist agenda. As Edmund Burke said, " The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."  We are doing little to nothing right now to push back against the statist agenda because people of conscious are deathly afraid of being labeled as racists, bigots, sexists, or homophobes. The time to get over the fear of being labelled something by your enemy is over. The left is the enemy to self government and has to be stopped. Undoubtedly, what we are experiencing in the country right now is the rise of tyrannical government. We fought wars to destroy collectivist, fascist and Marxist ideologies in the past and now the country is on its own path to the same type of government that we so strongly opposed.

The LGBTQZRDESATRP mafia will not like what I have to say next, but they have been fighting for a "right" that was actually put in place to keep whites and blacks from marrying. Marriage license laws didn't exist in this country until the advent of Jim Crow laws and the dark, Separate but Equal phase of our history. The license requirements were put in place as a sort of "poll tax" on marriage to keep people apart that the segregationist Democrats didn't want having children together. The federal government then took the idea that they could encourage people to have children with IRS incentives for married people in order to help replace the tax paying population after the advent of Social Security and welfare programs that depended on new income tax revenue. Just in case you flunked biology, homosexual couples can't bear children. The correct fight would have been to abolish marriage licenses and the federal government's recognition of those currently married. Just because two people are married before God or who ever they decide to pray to(Mother Earth, in the case of the green crowd), the federal government need not see them any differently than any other person that is not married. What this case actually will result in will be the marginalization of all that don't tow the progressive line.

To put this all in a more elemental light, the left and the Gay Mafia have been saying that this issue is like modern day equivalent of the Civil Rights movement of the 1960's. That could not be any further from the truth. Unless a genetic link to homosexuality is discovered, there is no basis in fact to support that argument. A black child can no more select their race than can they select whether they are born with girl parts or boy parts. To make this argument makes a mockery of the work of Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and his work. I guess what I'm saying is if being gay isn't inborn, it is a personal preference. Love has nothing to do with law. Unfortunately, feelings have now become a positive defense when arguing a case before the Supreme Court. Frankly, feelings shouldn't matter in the eyes of the law.

Another argument that I would like to see put before the Supreme Court that would illustrate to the leftists that were pushing for the abolition of states rights that states rights actually matter. Since most states have "must issue" rather than "may issue" conceal carry permit laws on the books already, shouldn't all other states recognize that and also issue conceal carry permits to anyone that is eligible to have one? Shouldn't one state's concealed carry permit be valid everywhere in the country? The logic is the same. What if I love my gun and want to carry it with me everywhere? Who's to say that I shouldn't be able to do that.

The past few days of Supreme Court decisions show that words no longer mean ANYTHING. If I was a defense lawyer, I'd be licking my chops. Now that all laws are open to interpretation and plain language no longer matters, why not challenge every single law on the books in the same fashion. Laws and amendments only mean what the Court says that the writers wanted them to mean, not what they actually say. 

I leave you with the excerpts from the dissent of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.


I write separately to call attention to this Court’s threat to American democracy.
The substance of today’s decree is not of immense personal importance to me. The law can recognize as marriage whatever sexual attachments and living arrangements it wishes, and can accord them favorable civil consequences, from tax treatment to rights of inheritance.
Those civil consequences—and the public approval that conferring the name of marriage evidences—can perhaps have adverse social effects, but no more adverse than the effects of many other controversial laws. So it is not of special importance to me what the law says about marriage. It is of overwhelming importance, however, who it is that rules me. Today’s decree says that my Ruler, and the Ruler of 320 million Americans coast-to-coast, is a majority of the nine lawyers on the Supreme Court. The opinion in these cases is the furthest extension in fact—and the furthest extension one can even imagine—of the Court’s claimed power to create “liberties” that the Constitution and its Amendments neglect to mention. This practice of constitutional revision by an unelected committee of nine, always accompanied (as it is today) by extravagant praise of liberty, robs the People of the most important liberty they asserted in the Declaration of Independence and won in the Revolution of 1776: the freedom to govern themselves.

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Thursday, June 25, 2015

Death By A Thousand SCOTUS Cuts

Today, the Supreme Court of the United States continued their diminution of the importance of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The Tenth Amendment explicitly reserved power not expressly granted to the federal government to the several states. This is no longer the case. Each state is now just a federal district and can no longer act independently. The states are no longer permitted to be subject to their constituents wishes, rather they must bend to the wishes of the puppet masters in Washington, DC. The Supreme Court majority has proven to be unelected legislators that serve for life and not jurists.

The 6-3 decision in the King v Burwell case has served to rewrite what laws mean. Now, using Chief Justice John Roberts' logic, we must ascertain the intention of a law, rather than the actual meaning of the words printed on paper. This quote came from CBS DC, quoting the Chief Justice(parentheses by me):

“Congress passed the Affordable Care Act to improve health insurance markets, not to destroy them,(He made that up)” Roberts wrote in the majority opinion. “If at all possible, we must interpret the Act in a way that is consistent with the former, and avoids the latter.(In other words, Justice Scalia was right, words me nothing)”
Roberts continued, “In this instance, the context and structure of the Act compel us to depart(make stuff up) from what would otherwise be the most natural reading(he's explaining he's full of crap) of the pertinent statutory phrase.”(Vomit) 

What the Chief Justice is saying is words don't matter. Frankly, this sets precedent to question the meaning of every law on the books by arguing that the intent of the law wasn't what the written words were supposed to mean. 

Justice Antonin Scalia, in dissent, wrote this:
"Words no longer have meaning if an Exchange that is
not established by a State is “established by the State.” It
is hard to come up with a clearer way to limit tax credits
to state Exchanges than to use the words “established by
the State.” And it is hard to come up with a reason to
include the words “by the State” other than the purpose of
limiting credits to state Exchanges. “[T]he plain, obvious,
and rational meaning of a statute is always to be preferred
to any curious, narrow, hidden sense that nothing but the
exigency of a hard case and the ingenuity and study of an
acute and powerful intellect would discover.”

A stronger or more effective destruction of a high court opinion, there has never been. Justice Scalia effectively called the six in the majority stupid and he would be correct.

Our republic is no longer just in danger but it is now, for all intents and purposes, dead. With the loss of the meaning of language and the loss of the protection from unconstitutional usurpation of equality before the law, there is little left for those that love liberty to hold fast to.

The only process left to reign in the federal government is the Article 5 Convention of the States to propose and ratify new Constitutional amendments. Term limits for congress, a balanced budget with exceptions and a plain language legislation amendment need to be added to the list of amendments to the constitution. Also, I'm in favor of repealing the 17th amendment that turned the Senate into a popularity contest instead of being the representatives of the actual interests of the states they are purported to serve. The 17th amendment was one of the original "progressive" amendments that started our country on the long road to ruin. The Senate was not intended to be just another, smaller version of the House of Representatives. It was intended to explicitly represent each state's interests in Washington DC. The House was intended to be the popular vote component to the government.

Mark Levin made the strongest case for the Article 5 Convention of States in his book, The Liberty Amendments. Contrary to the arguments made by some opponents of the Article 5 Convention, there can be no run away because the Convention is to propose amendments to then be give to all 50 states in order to consider ratification. Three fourths of the states must then ratify the amendment or amendments proposed. Short of this process happening and the protections of our natural rights being restored, the Republic is finished. The United States will likely not go away but it will cease being anything more than a larger version of a top down European socialist state.

Those of us that love this country, warts and all, and respect its founding must make our voice heard. Make those in the places of power uncomfortable to go against us. Absent the reforms that are needed to reign in the power of Washington DC, sadly, civil disobedience may be warranted. Violence is not the answer but abstaining from the Obamacare/SCOTUScare act may be a start. Network with those that are of like mind and make your voices heard. We have to make the conscious decision to resurrect the Constitutional Republic that we were meant to be and throw off the government that has become destructive as Thomas Jefferson so eloquently wrote in the Declaration of Independence.

   IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States.
The tyranny is now being supplied by a government that has overgrown its usefulness. The government, especially at the federal level has become too big to be responsive to the consent of the governed and must be changed. This fight is one that must be fought and for the sake of liberty here, won.

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Wednesday, June 24, 2015

A False Flag.

With the mass hysteria that the media has whipped up in the past several days, you'd think that the matter they spoke of was of great importance to life, liberty or property. Well, you'd be completely and totally wrong. The Confederate battle flag does stir up emotions in some folks, to be sure, but whether it is flying in South Carolina or Alabama doesn't, or perhaps more importantly, shouldn't matter to some one living in New York, Colorado, Oregon, Wisconsin or Maine. The Civil Rights Act was passed. All citizens are equal before the law. Each state should be left alone by the other with the exception of where those two states' interests intertwine. There, I said it.
The many flags of the Confederates during the Civil War.

Now, to what I'm referring to in the post's title. All this noise has helped cover up the fact that the Senate and House just sold the United States down the river when it comes to economic sovereignty. Senator Ted Cruz, in an op ed on June 23rd, for Breitbart.com wrote this, "As a general matter, I agree (as did Ronald Reagan) that free trade is good for America; when we open up foreign markets, it helps American farmers, ranchers, and manufacturers.
But TPA in this Congress has become enmeshed in corrupt Washington backroom deal-making, along with serious concerns that it would open up the potential for sweeping changes in our laws that trade agreements typically do not include." TPA stands for Trade Promotion Authority. Normally, as a free market guy, I'd be for the reduction of tariffs on US goods abroad. That is what the fast track TPA executive authority normally allows a president to do. Negotiate trade. Novel concept. This bill, which was not given to the public to actually read(no worries though, Marco Rubio(R ish FL) voted for it without reading it too), has since had portions leaked by Wikileaks. I don't agree with much of Wikileaks politics but someone has to shine a light on the roach colonies that are the current US Congress and Executive branch. Since there are very few tariff barriers left, this TPA is actually a passing of Congressional authority to the Executive branch to make sweeping changes to policies that concern immigration and heavy handed environmental constraints(against us, not so much for the other parties involved) and many other things that have absolutely nothing to do with trade and everything to do with diminishing the American standing in the world. Obama wouldn't support it if it didn't harm US interests. This bill seems to have passed with implicit terms that included a vote to reauthorize the Export Import Bank as well. This was done to buy the support of several Senators, including one Lindsey Graham(RINO SC) (Rush Limbaugh calls him Grahamnesty. It fits.). 
Knowing all of this, 60 US Senators voted to pass this authority to rewrite law to the president, thereby neutering themselves. Now, even those with a thirst for power in halls of the most deliberative body in the world are too glad to give that power to a despotic president. 
There are a few people to blame. Namely, Speaker of the House John Boehner(RINO OH), the architect of the secession from constitutional power in the House and Senate Majority Mitch McConnell(RINO KY), the same in the Senate. Both of these politicians have shown themselves to be nothing but the worst kind of politician. Just today, two patriotic conservative House members are in danger of losing leadership positions because they dared stand up to the Speaker. Speaker Boehner has sicced his attack dogs on Rep. Ken Buck(R CO). Erik Erikson, editor at Redstate.com wrote about this and explained that John Boehner is actually the one rallying his minions to force out both Buck and Rep. Mark Meadows(R NC) from leadership positions. Ted Cruz also explained that when he approached Leader McConnell, the Leader became visually perturbed by the questioning of the TPA and didn't want to hear any questions or concerns regarding amendments to it, like an amendment allowing the Ex/Im Bank charter to expire. McConnell, when challenged by a good conservative in Kentucky by the name of Matt Bevin, resorted to all kinds of distortions to hold onto his seat in DC. Bevin called McConnell on his inadequacies as a leader and so he was crushed by negative and misleading smear ads. Sounds like the Democrat tactic of asking a Republican when they stopped beating their wife.
This kind of cronyism has to stop. With the passage and signing of this bill, the Congress has effectively ceded their power to a President that has shown he has no love for this country and will do what ever he sees fit to bring us down a notch, so to speak. Why? Two things come to mind. Barry has naughty pics on both Boehner and McConnell(disgusting thought) or both leaders and many members of Congress have been bought and paid for by crony statist interests like the aforementioned Ex/Im Bank benefactors and the US Chamber of Commerce(an anti small business lobby, essentially). Frankly, I find a combination of those two theories to hold the most water. These men need to go.
I, along with many other conservative voters, want Speaker Boehner and Leader McConnell removed from their positions of power. They have done nothing but kiss the ring of the Dear Leader and allow the continued destruction of the constitutional republic that they were voted in to protect. They swear, after elected, to protect and defend the constitution of the United States. They have fallen woefully short and are derelict in their duty. I'm calling for anyone that has any dirt on these two men(or anyone that does their bidding) to spread it to the media. Find those pictures that the regime is using to blackmail them. Find anything on them that will make them squirm. Find something to get them to resign. I'll go about do my part too. The best solution would be amending the constitution to not allow them to stay in DC any longer with the addition of a term limits amendment, but in the mean time, let those of us conservative lovers of liberty get down in the trenches with these pigs and root them out. While you are at it, see what else can be dug up on any politician in DC. They should fear the voters, not look down upon us.
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This flag flying over a State or Federal Building is the only one that matters.

Saturday, June 20, 2015

Disturbing News Doesn't Matter to Obama, Unless it Does

I'm tired of the cherry picking of the news by those in power. All that matters to those that are in charge is how that news is spun. White guy kills many black people, rightfully a big story. Black people killing each other in many greater multitudes in inner city America, not so much. Why? Follow along.

On the evening of June 20th, 2015, just days after the shooting in a historically black Charleston, South Carolina church, there were two more mass shootings. One in Philadelphia involving nine people and one in Detroit affecting at least ten. Their difference, unless a white guy did it, will be the lack of the ability to add to the leftist narrative of racism and easy access to guns as the reason these things happen. You notice that the president said nary a peep in regards to the violence happening in his adopted home town of Chicago, Thursday, June 18th, saw sixteen people shot with three killed in violence in the streets of the Second City. Did Obama or Bloomberg or Shannon Watts or any of the other usual exploiters of certain types of violence send out even a press release about this while "mourning" for those lost in Charleston? Nope.

In my mind, the difference between a disgusting twenty one year old white supremacist from Columbia, South Carolina and a gang banger on the streets of Chicago is actually very small. Neither specimen is worthy of spending any more time using up oxygen. Violence like this needs to be dealt with and not in a kind or warm and fuzzy way. Criminals convicted of murder, beyond a reasonable doubt, should meet what is called justice in the Republic of Texas. Especially those that have show a complete lack of repentance and are boastful of their deeds. The meeting with their maker should be arranged and then they should be dispatched and never spoken of again. Once you take another individual's rights from them, you stop deserving your own rights.

To the mind of the progressive leftist, the two are completely different. One is a downtrodden societal outcast that had no other life to turn to (read: gang banging thug to the rest of us). The other is a product of white privilege that has chosen to incite a race war. The former is just the narrative cooked up to excuse thugs in the inner city and allow police departments to cover up the actual number of violent crimes against people and personal property. The latter, a way to actually gin up the race war the perpetrator actually sought to start. Both need to be corrected

What all this says to me is the whole #blacklivesmatter, #gunsense, #UniteBlue crowd of feces mixers are nothing more than a bunch of leftist ne'er-do-wells who never actually learned to think for themselves. They are led by people on the left that are bound and determined to use certain crimes to advance an anti-liberty agenda against the Bill of Rights. Namely, their problems are with the First, Second, Fourth and Tenth Amendments. These Amendments, along with the whole Bill of Rights, serve to limit government reach into the everyday citizens' lives. This dissolving of our rights must not be allowed to stand. If, on the other hand, you are a Marxist who sees the individual as being subservient to the state, the complete and total dissolution of the individual is the ultimate goal.

I see a different way. I see the individual being respected by the government for what he is. The ultimate expression of the intention of the founders to keep government out of the business it didn't belong in. That was the whole reason for the founding of this country. There was really no other reason for the colonists to throw off the burdensome yoke of the British Empire other than that of the yearn for self government.

If, as the left believes, the individual is not worthy of respect, we are doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past. Perhaps, with more respect afforded from birth, each individual would know that they are worth something more than just being part of a group. With respect for the individual comes the responsibility to be good to one another. Schools teach victim-hood rather than perseverance. Why? It goes back to what the central theme of this piece. Leftism is about a certain way of controlling the people through any means necessary. It is time for this to stop.

The time for good and independent people to rise up is now. Start at the local level. Get rid of progressives(from either party) in your local government. Speak up. Then keep that momentum going toward the state and then the national level. Good people can make a difference but we must quit believing people that have shown no ability or want to actually make a stand. Support the Article Five Convention of States. The government must be reigned in. Call your local, state and national representatives and let them know of your ideas and of your opposition to anti-liberty legislation and policy. I'm in. Join me.

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Thursday, June 18, 2015

A Lesson From Charleston, South Carolina


Last night, June 17th, 2015, a horrific and disgusting act was perpetrated against some members of the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. Nine souls were taken before their time. The perpetrator was a 21 year old male from Columbia, SC. He showed signs of mental issues and was arrested a few times. There are even photos showing him wearing a jacket with the South African apartheid era flag on the lapel. We know he is a violent and disturbed individual. You'll notice no mention of his name in this piece. This act may have been an act of outright racial hatred or it may have been something else. What needs to be stressed is that no one, other than the shooter, is responsible for this crime.


Shortly after the shooting happened, the Department of Justice declared that this crime would be investigated as a "hate crime". I don't see much of a difference in what this person did and what the perp in Aurora, Colorado did when he shot up a theatre. All murders are due to some sort of hate. Punish the criminal for the actual act.

On the other hand, I am heartened that South Carolina has good leaders that care about their state. Nikki Haley is a good leader. Tim Scott is a good leader. Both have shown great leadership in the face of this terrible act.

Contrast the good state leadership to that coming from the White House. This morning, our "dear leader" decided to get his feces spreader out and did so with the following words:

"Good afternoon, everybody. This morning, I spoke with, and Vice President Biden spoke with, Mayor Joe Riley and other leaders of Charleston to express our deep sorrow over the senseless murders that took place last night.
Michelle and I know several members of Emanuel AME Church.  We knew their pastor, Reverend Clementa Pinckney, who, along with eight others, gathered in prayer and fellowship and was murdered last night. And to say our thoughts and prayers are with them and their families, and their community doesn’t say enough to convey the heartache and the sadness and the anger that we feel.
Any death of this sort is a tragedy. Any shooting involving multiple victims is a tragedy.

There is something particularly heartbreaking about the death happening in a place in which we seek solace and we seek peace, in a place of worship.

Mother Emanuel is, in fact, more than a church. This is a place of worship that was founded by African Americans seeking liberty. This is a church that was burned to the ground because its worshipers worked to end slavery. When there were laws banning all-black church gatherings, they conducted services in secret.  When there was a nonviolent movement to bring our country closer in line with our highest ideals, some of our brightest leaders spoke and led marches from this church’s steps. This is a sacred place in the history of Charleston and in the history of America. 
The FBI is now on the scene with local police, and more of the Bureau’s best are on the way to join them. The Attorney General has announced plans for the FBI to open a hate crime investigation. We understand that the suspect is in custody. And I’ll let the best of law enforcement do its work to make sure that justice is served.
Until the investigation is complete, I’m necessarily constrained in terms of talking about the details of the case. But I don’t need to be constrained about the emotions that tragedies like this raise. I’ve had to make statements like this too many times. Communities like this have had to endure tragedies like this too many times.

We don’t have all the facts, but we do know that, once again, innocent people were killed in part because someone who wanted to inflict harm had no trouble getting their hands on a gun. 

Now is the time for mourning and for healing. But let’s be clear: 

At some point, we as a country will have to reckon with the fact that this type of mass violence does not happen in other advanced countries. It doesn’t happen in other places with this kind of frequency. And it is in our power to do something about it.

I say that recognizing the politics in this town foreclose a lot of those avenues right now. But it would be wrong for us not to acknowledge it. And at some point it’s going to be important for the American people to come to grips with it, and for us to be able to shift how we think about the issue of gun violence collectively.

The fact that this took place in a black church obviously also raises questions about a dark part of our history. This is not the first time that black churches have been attacked. And we know that hatred across races and faiths pose a particular threat to our democracy and our ideals.

The good news is I am confident that the outpouring of unity and strength and fellowship and love across Charleston today, from all races, from all faiths, from all places of worship indicates the degree to which those old vestiges of hatred can be overcome. That, certainly, was Dr. King’s hope just over 50 years ago, after four little girls were killed in a bombing in a black church in Birmingham, Alabama.
He said they lived meaningful lives, and they died nobly. “They say to each of us,” Dr. King said, “black and white alike, that we must substitute courage for caution. They say to us that we must be concerned not merely with [about] who murdered them, but about the system, the way of life, the philosophy which produced the murderers. Their death says to us that we must work passionately and unrelentingly for the realization of the American Dream.
“And if one will hold on, he will discover that God walks with him, and that God is able to lift you from the fatigue of despair to the buoyancy of hope, and transform dark and desolate valleys into sunlit paths of inner peace.”
Reverend Pinckney and his congregation understood that spirit.  Their Christian faith compelled them to reach out not just to members of their congregation, or to members of their own communities, but to all in need.  They opened their doors to strangers who might enter a church in search of healing or redemption. 
Mother Emanuel church and its congregation have risen before –- from flames, from an earthquake, from other dark times -– to give hope to generations of Charlestonians. 

And with our prayers and our love, and the buoyancy of hope, it will rise again now as a place of peace."

The parts I highlighted show that this president jumps to blame liberty and the United States of America before blaming the actual perpetrator. Mixed in with his flowery language and empty platitudes, Obama never fails to step back to his roots of hating this country. 

Instead of Obama blaming this country, our leaders should be looking to bring this country together. Concentrate on what makes us the same rather than what makes us different. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s neice, Alveda King, tweeted this message this morning.



Our country is a rudderless boat right now. It is up to those of us that respect and love this land and the American people that populate it to stand up and shout from the mountain tops that we won't allow horrible acts to tear us apart. We won't allow crime and violence to bring out differences. We will concentrate on what makes us the same and what will help us move forward. Politics of identity has to stop. Politics of the individual needs to take its rightful place at the table. If every individual knows that their life has meaning, much of what is happening today would become a thing of the past.

I ask that all of you pray with me in asking God for forgiveness for our people and healing in this land that we call home.

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Sunday, June 14, 2015

Our Great National Sacrifices Disregarded

I spent another Sunday in Washington DC. I went with the intention of taking in another museum and ended up going to the World War II memorial, the Civil War Memorial and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. I was so struck by the each memorials' reverence and especially at "the Wall", the solitude and solemness. The National Mall, book ended by the US Capitol and the Lincoln Memorial, is a beautiful and historic place.
Old Glory on Flag Day

The World War II Memorial








Today, part of national mall was also sullied by a celebration of decadence and personal aggrandizement that was a direct affront to the sacrifices memorialized just a mile away. "Pridefest" was taking place in Washington DC today. People walking around in all states of undress, making everything about themselves, made me realize just how far our culture has fallen. The current climate of making privileges into rights has left no room for those that don't think of themselves first. Service to your fellow man has been replaced with "I feel" and these "feelings" are all about shutting off debate and making the normal into the abnormal and vice versa.



The juxtaposition was quite striking. Vietnam veterans leaving mementos to their long lost brothers and the LGBT mafia pushing their brand of hate and state authorized depravity within one mile of one another.

I, for one, will push back. What someone does in the confines of their bedroom is no business of mine. What someone does in the public square is open to criticism. No one would go to "Pridefest" if it wasn't about them. "Look how tolerant/gay/fabulous I am" is the thought of those that attended that affront to traditional values. I don't want for government to outlaw speech but I want those that don't agree with the lack of respect shown by the LGBT mafia to speak their minds. If I would have walked to the streets of DC today with an "I'm White, Straight and Proud" shirt, I would have been verbally accosted and possibly physically assaulted but if I would have know that the LGBT mafia was out in force, it would have been well worth the risk to my personal safety to make an example out of their brand of one-way tolerance.

In the coming days, the Supreme Court will decide whether homosexual marriage is the law of the land or if it will continue to be a state's rights issue. If they come down on the side of the LGBT mafia, our country will be irrevocably harmed. The state will then have license to restrict free exercise of religion and speech. They will effectively strike the first amendment from the books without the power to do so.

I urge you to pray for our leaders, including those in the Supreme Court and even the guy that I can't stand in the White House. We still have 19 months until some one else will reside in the peoples' house and those of us that treasure the United States of America and its unique founding and way of life need to stand firm, with a resoluteness that doesn't bend. Those of you that consider yourselves to be patriots need to make your voice heard.

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Tuesday, June 9, 2015

My vision for this Republic.

Having moved to the Washington DC metropolitan area, this weekend I had the opportunity to go to DC for the first time in my almost 35 years. I was taken aback by the size and grandeur of the myriad government buildings. While I understand having memorials to our war dead and an impressive capitol and executive residence, the sheer size of the bureaucracy is really what hit me.

One whole block downtown is dedicated to the Internal Revenue Service, for example. This monolithic building is an example of the waste our government generates, figuratively and literally. There is a totally separate, yet equally immense building that houses the IRS's parent, the Department of the Treasury. Our government has become a model of corruption on the backs of the American people, in no small part, due to the inefficiency of a giant behemoth where the right hand doesn't know that it even has a left hand, let alone, what that left hand is doing.

Don't get me wrong, I want the United States of America to return to her place as the preeminent power in the world, but adding non military federal departments with mass amounts of federal workers that are net tax sponges isn't the way to do it. Continuing to prop up failure in the way of wealth redistribution is not the way. Continuing to allow some businesses that can afford to buy off the president with extravagant golf outings or Jay Z appearances doesn't jibe either.

I see a system where privatization of many services could increase efficiency. I see a system that does away with baseline budgets. I see a system where the IRS doesn't even exist any longer. I see a system of a simple tax code where there are no deductions and a simple, flat rate. I see a system of a truly fair consumption tax replacing all income taxes. I see a system where the largest federal budget items are those that are constitutionally mandated. I see us scrapping the name of the "Department of Defense" and going back to the "War Department". We haven't won a war since we went to the more politically correct name.

I see a system where we strengthen laws against bad business practices and do away with confiscatory license fees. I see a system where the individual is free to succeed or fail with no government intervention. I see a system where power companies are free to build to capacity rather than hope the current grid and generation capacity pleases the EPA kingmakers. I see a system where farmers produce all they can and are free to sell it to anyone at any price they can negotiate. I see a system where each state is free to try their own programs, or not. I see a system where success of those that came from nothing is no longer the enemy of those that are already successful. I see competition making business better and stronger, not government picking the winners and losers. I see no minimum or maximum wages. Novel concept, someone actually negotiating their own wages, huh,

I see a system where many government held lands are free up to be sold to the citizens for personal use. The federal government owns more than half of the American West. Just think what cheap land would mean for ranchers and people looking to get out of congested cities. I see a land where the EPA can't tell a land owner with a puddle on their land that they can't make their own land usable. I see a system where the government has no right to anything on private land. Period.

I see a system where I can go into a hospital or doctor's office and negotiate my own healthcare. I see a system where medicine is unburdened by regulation so that doctors may make enough money and not have to devote so many of their resources to paperwork and compliance. I see a system where charity is encouraged and government involvement is discouraged. I see a system where a kid that has a lemonade stand is free to do it everyday, should his little heart desire.

I see a system where innocent life is valued over that of the life of a murderous criminal. I see a system where our children are directed by their parents and not some government directed school. I see a system where peaceful people can practice their faith, or lack of faith, freely. I see a system where I can travel without being molested by an unqualified federal brownshirt. I see a system where people that might commit acts against our country aren't allowed to enter the country in the first place. I see a system where immigration of all kinds is stopped for at least 10 years until we get our borders in check. I see a system where our border is define, defended and nearly impenetrable. I see a system where every illegal alien found is taken back to the country of their origin and the country of origin billed for the flight home. That will get some of these third world, failed state types to clean up their own litter boxes, so to speak.

In summary, I see a Republic of the several States that our founders envisioned. I just wish more people in the swamp that is Washington, the District of Columbia, agreed with me. Do you agree? If so, write your Senators and your Representative. Call them at 202-224-3121. Make your voice heard. Find your Senators and Representative on Twitter. Tweet them and let them know what your thoughts are.

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Saturday, June 6, 2015

Out of Many, One.

After spending a few days in my new place of residence, I will come out and say it. This country doesn't have issues with race. There are issues in the cultures of certain groups of people that tend to stick together. The United States of America used to be the great melting pot. We had a collective identity that revolved around individuals that worked for their own betterment and in turn, culture and society as a whole was better for it. That tendency has been pushed away by forces on the left that preach "multiculturalism" for its own sake.
The Flag symbolizes the culture. Out of many, one. E Pluribus Unum

This country did have a race problem. I will not sweep that under the rug. We rectified it with the deaths of 620,000 souls during the Civil War. We rectified it with the freeing of the slaves. We rectified it by the passing of the Civil Rights Act and the integration of schools. We rectified it by integrating the Armed Forces. What we didn't do is tell every one to stay in your separate little cliques and communities. I don't doubt that racism still exists but much of the racism now is due to people trying to keep communities closed off from one another for less than noble causes. Identity politics has taken our country by the nape of the neck. Follow along, if you will.

The American culture has shown itself to be superior to that of other countries. Why do we discourage it? Why do schools teach that just because someone has darker or lighter skin or a different accent that they must remain true to their ethnic background and heritage? I understand that there are customs and foods that other cultures have brought here that add to our own, but they must not be allowed to replace the American culture where the individual is the ultimate form of expression of culture. Being one's own person and not belonging to a group based upon inborn features must be THE goal. Just because your neighbor has the same color of skin or shape of eyes does not make them just like you. What makes someone like you is your experiences and beliefs. A church of people that believe the same way is a group to belong to because it is a conscious decision to do so. A group of people united around a common art or discipline is also something that you may choose to be associated with to your betterment. Why just congregate with people because their ancestry is somewhat like yours? I don't hang around with people of only English or German backgrounds and I doubt many Caucasians do that either.

When using character to judge someone, that certain someone needs to stand on their own. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. famously said "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." In order for character to matter, a person needs to stand on his own when it comes to his character. What his neighbors or family do need not be his end.

Look at the world before the United States and after. Since the inception of this country and its republican form of representative government, more progress has been made than in all of human history before it. Never before had the individual and his rights been made the center of a form of government. I truly believe that this lifting up of the individual resulted in all that is good in this country. Invention was fostered like nowhere else. Technological progress became commonplace here. Our inventiveness spurred the world to do more, as well. Without Eli Whitney, the Wright brothers, Henry Ford, Alexander Graham Bell, Tesla and Edison, Steve Jobs, Steve Wonzniak, Ronald Wayne, Bill Gates and Paul Allen, the world would be a very different place and not for the better(unless you are one of those radical green types that hates the fact that they are human). Also consider the contributions of men like Samuel Colt, Richard Gatling and John Browning. All of these amazing men had the environment fostered by the placement of the importance of individual rights to spur them forward. Many of today's inventions rely on the ideas and work of these pioneers. American culture enabled them to achieve and succeed beyond that of any other society or culture before.
John Browning's Semi Auto Pistol
The Ford Assembly Line in 1913

Why should we seek to emulate the cultures of failed states, the world over. If we wanted to be a Third World country, the blueprint is there. Look to sub-Saharan Africa, Cuba and even Mexico if you want to see what government that is about those in power yields. Better yet, look to the Soviet Union and North Korea to see what authoritarian government yields. These are not cultures to emulate. The reason we did so well with immigrants coming to these United States for so many years was the push to make those immigrants into members of the American culture and value system. Be your own person, they were told. Learn the language of commerce (English, for those of you that don't know) and rely on yourself and if need be when you are down and out, your family, but most definitely, do not rely on the government for your success.

We are told by corporatists from both sides of the political aisle that we need to accept people that come here and treat our country like their third world home lands. Why? Just for cheap labor and even cheaper voting blocs? I won't do it and neither should you, if you have any sense. We are told that we must accept the lower expectations put on certain minority communities in our country, namely the black community. Why? All human DNA is the same. Why not hold every person to the same standard of conduct and not "give them room to destroy", as one idiot Baltimore mayor suggested? Rather than teach that every person is special for no reason, teach self worth based upon each person's actions and abilities. Self esteem is shallow but self worth is priceless.

In closing, hold up the ideals that founded this great land and learn from the mistakes of our forefathers. Push to return to individual liberty. Push against over regulation and the statist driven goals of a utopian society. Orwell was correct in when he explained in "1984" that groupthink is not a good thing. Think for yourself and your fellow man will benefit too.

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