While Men Slept

What follows is a message regard-ing our world and the condi-tions therein, as well as a forecast of what lies ahead. I quote from an impec-cable source: St. Matthew 13: 24-30.

“Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.”

Fellow citizens: Wake up! An enemy is in our midst. But do not despair. A plan to thwart him, a plan imperceptible to human eyes and ears, is magnificently unfolding. That plan is in capable hands, and it is on track and on schedule.

Nevertheless, while we wait for the day of the harvest to arrive, if there is something you can do to help alleviate even a small portion of the fear, anxiety and suffering that currently abound in our world, among our fellowmen, please make yourself useful.

And then be content to leave the rest in God’s hands.

The Perfect Opportunity

Twenty-ten is an election year. One-third of our U.S. Sen-ators, includ-ing public menace num-ber two, Harry Reid, and all members of the U.S. House of Represen-tatives are coming up for re-election. This sets up the perfect opportunity for all good Americans to muck out the stinking pile of excrement accumulating in Washington. As a grateful American and a native Nevadan, I would like to direct my remarks specifically at what I will call the “Harry Reid Problem.”

Though I have made an exhaustive study of the matter, I have failed to detect any virtues in our state’s senior senator. And now his unrelenting barrage of campaign commercials has removed any doubt whatsoever that modesty might be one of them.

Never before in the long and tortuous history of campaign advertising has anyone so blatantly and shamelessly portrayed himself as the indispensable conduit through which all things good and wonderful flow from the U.S. Treasury to the awaiting public.

And yet when you analyze it, what is he really doing to improve things? He is simply seizing other people’s money and handing it over to someone else, minus the huge portion wasted by the federal government. His contemptible scheme consist of nothing more novel or ingenious than that. Nevertheless, after each underhanded exchange is completed, he takes full personal credit for giving a helping hand to the needy, without even bothering to mention the heavy contribution borne by the great American working class, their children and grandchildren.

I ask you, is that your idea of true generosity? Is that your idea of genuine compassion? Is that your idea of real humility?

All we hear day in and day out is what Harry Reid is doing. Yes, we all can agree that Harry Reid is busy. He and his liberal cohorts are drawing closer to destroying America than any previous enemy ever has. Our challenge, our urgent challenge, is to get them busy doing something else, like licking their wounds and writing their memoirs.

If Harry Reid wants to be a generous benefactor, let’s remove him from the U.S. Senate and see what he can do as a private citizen. Let him put his own money where his big mouth is. If he wants to support incorrigible deadbeats, let him do it with his own ill-gotten riches. After all, somehow the man has succeeded in accumulating a fortune during a lifelong career as a “public servant.” Ever wonder how he did that?

There was a time when Nevada, the United States and the world were getting along just fine without Senator Harry Reid. Let us return to those blessed times.

As the popular bumper sticker says: “Vote for anyone BUTT Harry Reid!”

Fixing the Problem

Some may ask, “How can we get ourselves out from under the heavy hand of the federal govern-ment?”

The answer is actually quite simple. We must stop doing the things we did to get ourselves under its heavy hand in the first place.

Most of today’s problems stem from our eagerness to accept help from the federal government. Had we been unwilling to do that, we would not be where we are today.

Furthermore, we should have advised the politicians who first made those clearly unconstitutional offers that it was inappropriate for them to be doing so, and that we would boot them out of office if they persisted in their un-American behavior.

Our Founders provided us with ample warning that politicians crave power. Yet we have permitted them through the years to inch closer and closer to gaining absolute control over us. And they have done this largely by offering us help, or perhaps I should say bait, that we stupidly accepted.

If we ever expect to get the government off our backs, we must start taking care of ourselves again, like our ancestors did. And when our neighbors are down, we must offer whatever help we can to them. We must work out our problems locally, as communities, rather than at the federal level. Experience has shown us that it is by far cheaper and more efficient to help a friend or neighbor directly than to invite an oversized and overbearing federal government to do it.

It is becoming quite apparent that the price we pay for running from our own and our neighbor’s problems is government intervention and control in all aspects of our lives, for we are being asked to part not just with our hard-earned dollars, but we are being asked to part with hard-earned liberties as well.

We must decide whether we want to go back to the old philosophy of solving our own and our community’s problems at the lowest possible level and retain control, or continue surrendering control to the federal government and live with all the many uncertainties and dangers that choice poses.

My advice: Get control back into our own hands and keep it there! To do this we must make every effort possible to ensure that we and those we are responsible for never become a burden on anyone else. Yet we always must be willing to reach out to friends and neighbors who despite their best efforts are unable temporarily or permanently to provide for themselves.

At first this may seem like the hard way of doing things, but in time I am confident we will realize it is the right way. And that is what is important. The Bible tells us that following the ways of truth will lead us to freedom. Therefore, we may conclude that following fallacies, no matter how inviting they may seem, will lead us into captivity.

And one more thing. At the next election we must mercilessly vote out all those in Washington who have an uncontrollable penchant for “helping.” Contrary to what they may be saying, these misguided souls ( I could use a much less flattering word) are not helping. They are driving our once great nation into economic and moral bankruptcy.

We need to start realizing that, and act accordingly. Then we’ll be doing something tangible and meaningful to extricate ourselves from our current predicament.

Let’s be upfront about this, we can’t go on accepting handouts from our government and expect its size and power to diminish.

“They have rights who dare maintain them.” --James Russell Lowell

The New Values of a New Order

I am a victim of an out-dated education and up-bringing.

I was taught that America is the land of the free and that we are fortunate to live here. I was taught that our system of government is superior to any on earth. I was taught that I am a human being, and that as such I am endowed by my Creator with certain inalienable rights, rights the government can’t take from me. I was taught that our government is a government of the people, by the people and for the people, that its just and lawful powers are on loan from us and that we are still the title holders. I was taught that our Constitution is the supreme law of the land and worthy of our continuing respect and devotion. I was taught that the President and all elected and appointed officers of government are but public servants, bound by the Constitution and answerable to the people. I was taught that our Founding Fathers were brave, wise and honorable men, men who wanted to secure and pass on to their posterity the priceless blessings of liberty.

Now, however, I am being advised that these principles and ideals I was taught in my youth are both wrong and dangerous, that we are entering into a new era of enlightenment in which my stubborn adherence to them will only hinder our advancement as a people.

You see, for the first time in human history, or so the story goes, a choice group of politicians and media luminaries have evolved into a master race, wholly and unquestionably superior to all the rest of us. These great men and women, acting in their official capacities as supreme beings, now are able to discern from heretofore unreachable heights what man never before has clearly seen nor fully understood; namely, that it is order, not liberty as was once believed, that mankind is sorely in need of. So that is what these high-minded and noble personages mean to secure for us and our posterity--the blessings of order.

The question now is, where do these astonishing revelations leave those of us who were born prior to the dawn of this bright new age, those of us who were grievously misled by our parents and school teachers, those of us who didn’t have access to the unimaginable advantages of today’s children?

Well, this is how I look at our dilemma. We can only hope that our new, all-wise and beneficent president will see our plight and take pity on us, that he will kindly send us to government administered reeducation centers where our obsolete beliefs and values can be washed thoroughly from our brains, and where we can be instructed in the new values of a new order, and be molded into the obedient and unquestioning world citizens he wants us to be.

I don’t know how the rest of you are coping with these new political and economic discoveries, but I don’t mind telling you that I could use some serious help making the necessary adjustments. My problem is that no matter how hard I try, I just can’t seem to shake this crazy, recurring thought from my head that President Obama’s new vision for America and the world is nothing more than socialism and tyranny concealed under a fresh coat of paint.

Every day I fight these delusions. Believe me, I really do. But until I can receive some government approved and regulated counseling, all I can do is keep reminding myself over and over again that these hallucinations are merely the result of my substandard mid-20th century upbringing.

They Still Belong To Him

There was a time in America when most people under-stood that the bounties of earth came from God. That is why, as a nation, we have a special day set aside for giving thanks.

Now, however, with stiff competition coming from the federal government, it is difficult for some to remember the source of our blessings or to whom we should be expressing our gratitude.

So when or if you find yourself in doubt, just remember this. God created the earth. It was He who placed the bounties here. Each one of the earth’s resources, or any combination thereof, that we draw upon for our daily survival and comfort are His. Granted, control over their distribution may be shifting steadily into the hands of the federal government, but that does not alter the fact that they still belong to Him.

So today as you gather your loved ones around you to partake of what God has generously provided you with, remember that it is April 15th, not Thanksgiving Day, that we render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s.

Today a simple but heart-felt thank you to God should be sufficient.

The Liberal's Endless Quest for Power

Among the arguments, albeit flimsy ones, made by those who favor a massive and unprecedented govern-ment reform (read that “takeover”) of our nation’s health care system is that the preamble to the Constitution and its “commerce clause” empower the government to do so.

Our Founders, being the wise realists they were, knew that they, or any other humans, were incapable of creating a perfect union. So in the preamble to the Constitution they said their goal in establishing it was to form a “more perfect” one, one that among other things would “promote the general welfare.” Italics added.

To most of us the word “promote” means to encourage and nurture; the word “general” means overall and nonspecific.

With those clear-cut and straightforward definitions in mind, could anyone but a power grabbing liberal suppose that the preamble authorizes our government to start its own insurance company?

Okay, so much for the preamble argument. Now, let’s turn our attention to the Constitution’s commerce clause. This is what it says: “The Congress shall have the Power…To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes.”

Now, I know liberals are weird. They go well out of their way each day to demonstrate that, but can’t they see any difference between regulating commerce and engaging in it? And can’t they see any conflict of interest in the regulators competing directly with the privately owned commercial enterprises they are authorized to regulate?

I am not a Constitutional scholar. I’m just an old guy who lives out in the middle of Nevada. But I think it’s quite clear that what our Founders were saying in the preamble and the commerce clause falls far short of what Barack Obama, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and their over zealous gang of meddlers and manipulators now are reading into to those terse and unambiguous passages.

Certainly there is nothing in them to suggest that government may step in and compete with lawfully run businesses just because it believes they are failing to adequately meet the public’s needs.

And didn’t the Founders make it clear that they were creating a “limited” government, a government that would “secure the Blessings of Liberty?” That’s also in the preamble.

Maybe I’m missing something here, but it would seem to me that permitting the federal government to continue arrogating power to itself is not the way to secure liberty!

With so much written in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights about restraining government and advancing freedom, why is it that liberals always choose to overlook what is so obvious? What morbid need drives them to search frantically and endlessly for nonexistent powers in obscure places? Are they all suffering from diseased minds or are they intentionally and craftily attempting to transform the government of the United States into a socialistic regime?

Please think it over. I think I see a pattern of abuse emerging here.

Masked Intentions

More than ever before, our government is requiring the “Haves” to share with the “Have-Nots.” It claims it wants to level “the playing field,” playing field being a euphemism for our nation’s economy. In other words, it’s not done meddling.

However, it seems to be of no apparent concern to the government that some of the Have-Nots are unwilling to live prudently or work for a living. Nor does the government seem particularly concerned that some of the Haves are growing sick and tired of being forced to share with their careless and unmotivated neighbors. Despite these obvious and legitimate concerns, our government is hell-bent on carrying out this ill-advised and controversial program of exchange, which in countries where the politicians are slightly more honest is called socialism.

But whatever you wish to call it, the most frightening element I see in all this is that we are permitting our government to assume extraordinary and excessive power. We are giving it the power to confiscate--repeat, confiscate--wealth and property. Do we really believe that’s a good idea? Of all the creatures on God’s green earth, are politicians the ones we want to hand this kind of power over to?

Think about it. This year the government is confiscating the outrageous bonus of a greedy corporate executive. No one feels sorry for him because he is a greedy corporate executive. But what about next year, when the government is confiscating your paltry annual bonus, a bonus you sorely need to replace the furnace in your home?

Aren’t we savvy enough to the ways of the world to realize that giving the government the power to determine when someone has too much is not in our long-term best interest? Don’t we understand that giving the government this kind of power will one day backfire on us?

This isn’t about sharing wealth. This is about concentrating wealth, concentrating it into the hands of a select few so they may have it all. The politicians are merely using the ruse of helping the poor and punishing the wealthy in order to gain power, the power to completely manipulate the so-called playing field. Once they have gained that power, which is their ultimate goal, be assured that they will waste no time in revamping our economy in such a way that America’s now widely dispersed wealth will be drawn quickly and effortlessly from our pockets and funneled forthwith into theirs, or more precisely into the pockets of those for whom they work.

If we don’t put a stop to this chicanery soon, expect to find yourself among a very large and growing number of Have-Nots. And don’t expect the shrinking number of Haves to share their exorbitant and rapidly accumulating wealth with you, or to be concerned in the least about the sudden and dramatic increase in the elevation at their end of the playing field.

By that time the game will be over and the masks will be taken off, for there no longer will be any need for masks. By that time the masterminds behind this nefarious scheme will have us, the heedless and the stupid, where they want us--in shackles.

For the sake of your survival and your posterity’s, learn to be a little more suspicious, especially of politicians, the most cunning, deceptive and dangerous animals on earth.

Join the Fight to Save America!

Over the years since the birth of our nation, many threats to our safety and well being have come. One such threat was launched on December 7, 1941. For the United States, the attack on Pearl Harbor marked the beginning of World War II, a global conflagration that put our country and way of life at grave risk.

One of our nation’s first meaningful responses to that fast moving and escalating danger was made on August 7, 1942 with the invasion of Guadalcanal. On that day, 11,000 U.S. Marines were put ashore on that obscure, malaria ridden island. By the second and third days, fierce clashes between U. S. and Japanese aerial and naval forces caused our carrier task force and supply ships to withdraw, leaving our marines stranded and desperately short of supplies. Nevertheless, they did not despair. Instead, they fought, and fought hard. For much was at stake.

The battle for Guadalcanal lasted six months. During that time reinforcements and additional supplies gradually trickled in. Many savage battles were fought on land, sea and in the air. But in the end the Japanese were driven from the island and, with its occupation, the tide of battle in the Pacific began subtly shifting in our favor.

Was it easy? No. Many American lives were lost, and those who survived suffered unimaginably. But an important victory in a long war was achieved. America and her people were made a little safer, a little more secure, by the courageous actions of those marines on that distant island and in that desperate hour.

Now, only sixty-seven years later, our generation stands face to face with another threat, a threat every bit as dire and sinister as the one thrust upon our country by the Axis Powers in World War II. I speak of the threat from within. I speak of the ruthless and relentless assaults being made upon our nation’s very heart and core, the Constitution, by elected officials sworn to uphold it. These men and women in high places pretend to be good and faithful servants, but their perverse and persistent actions reveal an unmistakable pattern that leads the vigilant among us to one inescapable conclusion: These turncoats intend to destroy America. Therefore, like those who went before us, we are left with no recourse but to fight for our survival. We have arrived at another crucial turning point in American history.

So where do we begin? Our first mission in this bizarre and emerging conflict will be to thoroughly expose the enemy, for many of our friends and neighbors still are blind to the threat that surrounds us. They must be awakened, energized and mobilized quickly into an army of outraged and resolute citizens, citizens willing to make any sacrifice necessary to save the Constitution and our special way of life that rests upon it.

Then we must strike back with every legitimate means and tool at our disposal, and keep hitting, hard and sure, though the road ahead may seem long, grim and arduous. To do otherwise would be an insult to the brave men who seized Guadalcanal from the Japanese at a time when the fate of the world hung precariously in the balance. Those men fought nobly and unrelentingly to keep freedom and democracy alive in the world. And they did it with the odds squarely against them and while enduring unspeakable horrors and hardships. Will we let them down? Will we, now that it is our turn to fight, forget the gallant battle they waged? Will we simply hand over to our current foes that which those brave and loyal men fought so hard to preserve? Or will we be inspired and vitalized by their example?

I say, let us take heart from their splendid example, and overthrow these despots in sheep’s clothing just as our fathers and grandfathers threw back the Japanese. This is not an attack upon a naval base in Hawaii, this is an attack upon our Constitution!

On this Veterans’ Day, let us remember and pay tribute to those gallant men living and dead who fought on Guadalcanal. And to all those who have fought and sacrificed around the world to keep America free. But let us show our thanks not by mere flag waving alone but by doing our utmost now to preserve our precious freedoms so they may be passed undiminished to our posterity.

Unlike the battle waged on Guadalcanal, this is not yet a call to arms; rather, it is an urgent and peaceable plea to support and perpetuate the system of government wisely formulated by our Founding Fathers. This we can do systematically and successfully at the ballot box if we are organized and united.

Remember, freedom is not free. Every generation or so, a select few, a favored few, must pay an installment. It is now our turn. We must not waver; we must not despair; we must not turn away. For much is at stake.

Join the fight to save America!

A New World Order

Unless you have come out of a de-cade-long coma re-cently, you doubt-less have heard the terms
“World Order,” One World Order,” or “New World Order.”

Some may dispute whether a purposeful and bona fide effort is being made to formulate and implement such an order; however, may I suggest to you that the very existence of a United Nations serves as definite and material proof that more than a casual effort is being expended to create one. Moreover, the words “world order” seem to be issuing forth from politicians mouths with ever-increasing regularity these days.

It is not my intention at this time to call into question whether the implementation of a one world order is vitally necessary or not. In my opinion, it is not a world order that we should be in fear of. Indeed, a world order may actually be a good idea.

The question, rather, that we currently should be asking ourselves is whether we have advanced sufficiently as human beings to provide the kind of leadership necessary to successfully run a world order; that is, run it in a manner and on a basis whereby we all are much better off with it than without it.

Human beings, after all, have grave, serious and obvious flaws and limitations. For example, we still are greedy; we still are selfish; we still are petty; we still are intolerant; we still are hateful; we still are imperious; we still are stupid.

Who, therefore, from among us would possess the moral and intellectual qualifications to lead and manage such a powerful and colossal organization? Who and where are the wise and self-sacrificing elder statesmen fit to take on such an important and challenging task--Bill Clinton, George Bush, Al Gore, Dick Cheney?

When you look at it that way, the idea of a new world order seems rather ludicrous, doesn’t it? And also very premature.

My opinion? Let’s wait awhile. Maybe if we’re lucky, in a thousand years or so, an honorable man may come along.

In the meantime, consider this: “Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it.”

God Save the Constitution

The British have a say-ing: “God save the King.” I suppose that’s okay if you have a king and are labor-ing under the misconception that he is necessary to your survival, but we Americans have something far better than a king. We Americans have a Constitution, so our daily and fervent prayer ought to be: “God save the Constitution.”

You see, the reason our Constitution is vastly superior to a king is because our Constitution is what stands in the way of anyone ever becoming a king (or queen) in this country. But in order for our Constitution to be effective, we must employ it. And that’s where we’ve been letting ourselves and our founding ancestors down. We haven’t been taking full advantage of the priceless gift they left to us. We haven’t been demanding that our political leaders adhere strictly to its terms. Foolishly, we have been allowing them to break their contract with us. That is why they’ve been able to make so many pernicious inroads into our freedoms. While we were sleeping and getting “cash for clunkers,” they, like hungry termites, were hard at work boring holes in our Constitution.

People who were born free, as we Americans were, have no use for a father-figure looking over us. We don’t need a king. We prize our independence and freedom far more than any false sense of security an earthly king might provide us with. And from a purely personal standpoint, I would just like to say that I wouldn’t want to be staking my future happiness and welfare, or the future happiness and welfare of my children, on the hoped for benevolence and generosity of a king. Rather, I hope I would always possess the gumption and grit to make my own way in the world, without stooping down to accept bogus dollars from a bankrupt federal government--bogus dollars that have many dangerous and entangling strings attached.

And if at some point I refuse to go on taking care of myself, I fully understand and accept the fact that I will have to live in the unfavorable circumstances and squalor I have created through my own indolence. After all, why should I expect to be rewarded by my government for being incompetent and lazy, especially when that reward will have to come at the expense of someone who is not incompetent and lazy--someone who is enterprising, bold and daring. Why should the government be permitted to permanently break that person’s spirit in order to temporarily boost mine? Someone’s got to produce the wealth in this country and God knows the government can’t do it.

Our Founders knew that nature and nature’s God would reward the persistent and the industrious. Therefore, they saw no need for the federal government to get into the middle of this divinely ordained equation and throw it all out of balance. And look at the many national and personal blessings we have reaped as a result of their uncanny wisdom and astonishing insight. We have become the most richly blessed country in all the world.

But we Americans must remember one thing: We were created by God, who is the omnipotent Ruler over all things seen and unseen. As His creation, we belong to Him. Therefore, our first and ultimate allegiance must always be to Him. He is our King. He is our Savior. He is our Deliverer. So long as we have faith in Him, we may confidently reject the spurious promises made to us by smooth-talking charlatans, men who yearn to be kings, men who yearn even to be gods over all the earth.

If we truly wish to successfully resist and defeat tyrants, we must return to God and the Constitution. There and there alone is where genuine safety lies, despite what the so-called elite of this country are shouting at us day in and day out.

“No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the Invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men more than those of the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency.”--George Washington, first inaugural address

As Sound as a Dollar

You may have you heard the expression: “As sound as a dollar.”

A sound dollar is the kind of dollar our grandparents had. A sound dollar is a dollar that holds a fixed value. A sound dollar is a dollar people can have faith in--both here and abroad.

Anyone who has been around a while knows that a new car costing $3,000 forty years ago may now cost as much as $30,000. Granted, auto workers earn more today, but on the other hand, cars are constructed of cheaper materials. Moreover, cost-efficient robotic machines do much of the work. So what’s up here?

The fact is, a U.S. dollar simply is not worth as much as it was forty years ago. Therefore, it takes many more of them to purchase a new car. Or anything else, for that matter.

Now let’s view this from another angle, the working person’s angle. There was a time when a man earned $3.00 an hour and could barely support his family. Now a man must earn $20.00 an hour and his wife $10.00 an hour, or vice versa, to make ends meet. That’s how we maintain some semblance of economic stability in our lives. We dicker and fight with our employer for a pay raise. And when it comes, if it comes, it comes in the form of devalued dollars. So the long-awaited pay raise turns out not to be a pay raise after all.

Some things have intrinsic value; that is, by their very nature they possess value. This is because people just seem to want those things. And that’s the key, people have to want something in order for it to have value.

Gold and silver, for example, have intrinsic value. Since the beginning of time human beings have wanted to possess gold and silver. When U.S. dollars contained gold and silver they had intrinsic value, value that went beyond that which was established by the government.

Even when the dollar was merely anchored to gold and silver, it retained its value. It still possessed intrinsic value because it was associated in people’s minds with gold and silver. In those days, a paper dollar could be exchanged for a silver one because a paper dollar was a “Silver Certificate,” not a “Federal Reserve Note” as it is today.

Now, due to poor leadership at the highest levels of our government, our country is deep in debt--so far in debt that some in the world wonder if we have the resolve to correct the situation. Even so, and with disaster looming, our government recklessly continues on with its shortsighted borrowing and spending rampage.

You see, now that our dollars aren’t anchored to anything of genuine value, when our government thinks it needs more money, it simply prints some. Where do you suppose all that “stimulus” money came from?

Unfortunately, printing more money is a little like watering down booze. The watered down booze just doesn’t possess the same kick as the 100 proof stuff. And neither do dollars watered down daily with a steady stream of newly printed ones.


That is why a “Federal Reserve Note” is no longer held in high esteem, at home or abroad. That is why merchants the world over demand ten times as many dollars for an item now than they did forty years ago. There’s just too many dollars out there in relation to the number of goods and services that currently are available.

Returning to the booze analogy, our money is no longer 100 proof money; it is now 10 proof money. Could it be put any more simply or graphically?

But what is worse than our perpetual inflation problem--which primarily is fueled by too much money being in circulation--is that now a growing number of the world’s central banks don’t want our dollars. They simply don’t want them. They have no faith in them. Instead they are favoring yens and euros as their reserve currency. This is alarming news because since the end of World War II, the American dollar has been the preferred reserve currency of most central banks.

Now remember, for a thing to possess value, someone has to want it. So when foreign countries refuse to accept U.S. dollars, and demand instead yens or euros, where do you suppose that puts us in the world marketplace?

Well, I’m not an economist, but I’m almost certain it won’t make our lives any easier.

My advice: Begin sending strong and repeated messages to Washington to put our economic house in order, or start learning to say: “As sound as a euro.”

The Generosity of Government

One of the things Americans seem to be forgetting as their gov-ernment continues to balloon crazily out of control is that govern-ment is force. At least that is how our first president viewed it.

An enormous degree of power is vested in government, even the ones believed to be benevolent. Everyone knows, for example, that a government can compel its citizens to obey its laws, whether those laws be reasonable or unreasonable. In fact, government may severely punish you, even hang you in some instances, if you refuse to submit to its demands.

With that in mind, let us examine how our government grants wishes to those it deems “underprivileged.”

When our government decides to bestow a special benefit or entitlement upon a particular segment of society, it does so at the expense of another. That is because government does not and cannot create wealth. Government squeezes its income out of the incomes of its working citizens, those who have been prudent, those it deems “rich.” What it can’t extract that way, it borrows--to be paid back by those same industrious, hardworking citizens.

So next time you hear the president or a member of congress bragging about what he or she is going to do to help someone, remember that the funds necessary to pay for that so-called good deed will have to be picked from the pocket of another citizen, or maybe even from the pockets of his or her yet unborn children and grandchildren.

But what if that other citizen doesn’t wish to contribute to this latest cause? What if he doesn't agree with the philosophy behind it? What if he is growing tired of having his pockets picked?

The force of government will be applied, for that is how the generosity of government is made possible.

"Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master." --George Washington

The Blessings of Liberty

Thomas Jefferson made it clear in the Consti-tution’s preamble that it was written to, among other things, “se-cure the Blessings of Liberty to our-selves and our Posterity.”

To have liberty means to be able to act without undue hindrance or restraint. To secure something means to lock it into place.

With that in mind, can anyone doubt that the central objective of Thomas Jefferson and the other Founders was to keep Americans free forever of unnecessary and unreasonable government interference?

This is not an obscure detail in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution or the Bill of Rights. It is the all-encompassing and pervasive theme around which our entire system of government is built. Therefore, it is surprising to a great many of us that it has escaped the attention of such a large number of our recent and current leaders in Washington.

Keeping government small and innocuous, after all, is why our Founding Fathers went to the trouble of drawing up a written contract between citizens and government. That is why they erected so many safeguards around our precious liberties and set up so many barriers to government expansion.

They knew, as we ought to know, that ambitious and unscrupulous men and women live in every generation and every age, men and women who pose as champions of the people by offering them insubstantial and fleeting security in exchange for priceless and hard-won freedoms.

Over the years members of congress, presidents and supreme court justices, while serving in their official capacities, have acted in ways that have seriously diminished the rights of citizens while enlarging the power and scope of government.

I suppose we could be lenient and excuse their conduct by saying these decisions undoubtedly were made in ignorance. But are members of congress, presidents and supreme court justices supposed to be ignorant? When they seek or accept these high offices do they not lead us into the belief that they are the most worthy, wise and eminently qualified citizens in all the land? And if their assessment of themselves is correct, is it unreasonable to assume that they possess at the very least some small understanding of and appreciation for our Constitution, the document upon which our entire philosophy of government rests and which they swear before their fellow citizens and God to uphold?

Admittedly, correctly interpreting the Constitution could in certain instances and cases prove difficult, but should there ever be any doubt in anyone’s mind about what the Founders wanted most for American citizens, among them their own children and grandchildren? Doesn’t the whole tone and tenor of everything written by our Founders, beyond their mere words, resound with liberty?

Would it be asking too much then that when members of congress are debating and enacting a law, a president is executing a law or a supreme court justice is interpreting a law that they keep their eyes squarely focused upon this one preeminent fact--that our Constitution was written to secure the blessings of liberty?

Barnyard Wisdom

Recently there was a huge gathering at our nation’s capital of concerned citizens who have come to the realization that their once-limited government has mushroomed into something much too big, much too unwieldy, much too expensive and much too intrusive. These astute citizens also know that their government has a long and dismal record of hastily implementing costly and convoluted programs that exacerbate rather than solve problems.

In the period immediately following this orderly rally, some in the news media were attempting to portray these patriotic citizens--who had every right to assemble--as a disgruntled and meaningless bunch of radicals, a mere fringe group on the outer margins of society whose simple-minded 18th century views on politics were distinctly out of harmony with today’s more stylish, regal, paternalistic and avant-garde approach to ruling people. There were further insinuations that the march was motivated not by patriotism but by racism, even though many blacks were clearly in attendance.

Mislabeling and mischaracterizing those who stand in the way of advancing tyranny is not an unfamiliar tactic. Anyone who has studied even recent history knows that this tactic was employed with great success during the last century by Communists and Nazis alike. Though clever, the tactic essentially boils down to this: an unscrupulous and unhesitating willingness to engage in boldfaced lying.

As a reminder to everyone, just let me emphasize this. From the outset our government was never intended to be unnecessarily large or meddlesome. The Founders knew they could either have a big government that granted few individual liberties or a limited government that granted a great many individual liberties. They chose the latter and we have been richly blessed for it.

The recent demonstration in Washington was nothing more nor less than a legitimate means of emphatically conveying to our chief executive and lawmakers an important and urgent message: “You are leading this nation off course!”

Though some may have forgotten it, in this country the government is not permitted to wield absolute power. In America the government is authorized to exercise only those enumerated powers surrendered to it by the people and specified in writing in the Constitution.

Rather than casting doubt on those who are lawfully attempting to preserve our system of government, it would seem to me we ought to be questioning the motives of those who are using illegitimate means to pervert and destroy it. Since when is forsaking long-established values and principles considered to be more honorable and brave than standing up for them?

What is happening before our very eyes is that many of our political leaders and their accomplices in the news media are turning reality up-side-down. In order to make us believe that free enterprise is bad and collectivism is good they are subtly redefining terms--cleverly using what George Orwell called “newspeak.”

Don’t be taken in by it! It’s a shame that fewer and fewer Americans are capable of distinguishing truth from the stuff bulls leave behind, but nevertheless that seems to be the case.

Perhaps the day will come when spending four days in a barnyard will prove more beneficial to citizens than spending four years at Harvard.

Education Breakdown

America is in a state of decline. Countless individuals in and out of govern-ment are respon-sible for this condi-tion; however, today I wish to single out the dereliction of one special group--those who earn their livelihood as educators of our children. And I am not speaking of our nation’s teachers alone, but of the misguided PhDs who formulated and implemented our modern-day educational curricula.

When those entrusted with the critical task of faithfully passing on a clear understanding of our nation’s special legacy failed to do so, the spirit that had energized and animated Americans since 1776 began to be extinguished. And as a result of their inexcusable carelessness, we now have an entire generation of Americans partially or completely devoid of any meaningful understanding of how or why America developed into the distinct and special nation it did--a land of unparalleled freedoms and almost limitless opportunities.

When patriotism went out of style, when it became more fashionable to be cynical rather than optimistic, when it became more trendy to speak about what was wrong in America rather than what was right--and there was and still is so much that is right--that is when our uniquely American sense of identity and pride began to be smothered out--smothered out by the very individuals charged with keeping it alive.

Please understand this: The life-sustaining heart of a nation, any nation, is composed of its deeply committed citizens who firmly believe in the principles upon which their government was founded. Not surprisingly, when you begin reducing the number of those steady and stalwart citizens, the nation’s moral, political, and economic health starts to deteriorate. If no meaningful action is taken to arrest the condition, the afflicted nation soon becomes gravely ill and may ultimately die. And although it is true that another form of government may rise up to replace the one that preceded it, that which replaces it may be rank and bitter indeed--a system so foul and repugnant that brute force must be applied to implement it.

To prevent America from dying, and hopefully that is what we all earnestly desire, we must without delay begin fostering once again in our children and grandchildren a sincere love of country. Not a blind fanaticism but a sincere devotion and respect based upon knowledge. And we must further make it clear that those currently holding positions in government are but the present caretakers of government and not the government itself. To be sure, office holders may be flawed, some seriously, but our government “conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal” is not seriously flawed. It is all anyone acquainted with the governments of the world, past and present, could ever hope for.

So let us join together as concerned Americans and get this vital project underway. For if we fail to act, there soon will be no one left willing to make the sacrifices necessary to promote America’s welfare or to ensure its survival.

Hopefully, there still are enough Americans out there, both young and old, imbued with a sufficient level of commonsense and patriotism to roll back this alarming and potentially deadly trend. We must all recognize that the preservation of America lies in the hands of our rising generations, and that we must equip them with the knowledge, skills, tools and spirit necessary to survive and succeed in a highly competitive and constantly changing world.

Of the Few, By the Few and For the Few

The form of govern-ment Americans live under is called a con-stitutional republic. In America we maintain order through a willing-ness by everyone to live according to an agreed upon set of laws. The solid, bedrock foundation of those laws is the Constitution.

Laws govern behavior. They determine what is appropriate and what is inappropriate. They set standards and limits. They create fair and equitable ways of doing things.

Years ago, the Founding Fathers of this great nation established in writing an agreed upon set of rules for government. In this code of rules--the Constitution--the Founders yielded to government only a small number of specific and limited powers. All the remaining powers were left to the states or to the people. Compared with other governments in the world, theirs was extremely rare and remarkable.

Sadly, not every U.S. president has strictly abided by the rules set forth in the Constitution or lived up to his oath of office. Many have performed well below expectations. But our current president, without any question or doubt, surpasses them all. Almost daily, our new president demonstrates in some way or other that he doesn’t believe it is absolutely necessary to confine himself to just those powers granted to him by the Constitution. Instead, he has shown us that he believes he may unilaterally exert power far beyond the wise and time-honored Constitutional limits set by our Founders.

This leads one to the inescapable conclusion that he considers himself to be above the law and superior to the rest of us. His behavior and attitude tell us that he is not a democrat, at all, but an elitist, someone who believes firmly in a government of the few, by the few and for the few.

And what is so utterly fascinating about all this is that no one is seriously challenging his deviant behavior. He is exhibiting a blatant disregard for long-established rules--for Constitutional boundaries--and yet no one seems to be very alarmed. And the president himself arrogantly acts as though no explanation of his behavior is necessary. If you were to mention the Constitution to him, he probably would be insulted by your insolence.

But let me ask you this. How does our new president expect to govern others and maintain order in our society when he himself will not be constrained by law?

Well, let me take a wild guess.

It appears as though he intends, with the aid and backing of the gang of cronies and crooks he works for, to push America and Americans one step closer to a new system of government, a system of government so powerful and so pervasive that gaining and holding the trust and support of its citizens will no longer be necessary.

If you think that’s far fetched, please think again.

It's Time We Found Out

It is becoming increasingly apparent that a significant number of our representatives in Washington are working for someone other than their constituents back home. I don’t know who is buying members of Congress, or how much they cost, but someone has outbid us. Someone, it would seem, is willing to pay a great deal more for their services than we are.

Now I know we could call the behavior of these “public servants” shocking, reprehensible and treacherous, for it most certainly is, but perhaps we just need to suck it up and face reality. Perhaps we’re just going to have to try to buy these slippery, double-crossing charlatans back.

Without question a venture of this kind will be costly--both in time and money. No one is disputing that. But in the long run it may turn out to be a whole lot cheaper to purchase back these turncoats, and put them to work for us again, than to have things remain as they are now.

So here is my proposal. Maybe some of you will have a better idea, but this is mine: In order to acquire the necessary funds, we could initiate state-wide fund raisers in every city--large and small. Well, why not? There are any number of ways to pick up a loose quarter here and a spare dime there. For example, we could put people out on busy street corners, like the Salvation Army does at Christmastime, with signs that read: “Please help us buy back Senator Harry Reid!” Additionally, families could forego a vacation and donate the money they saved, or women could take in laundry. And kids--even small ones--could get after-school jobs. We could then take the funds generated from these various endeavors, pool them, and use the proceeds to buy back our representatives in Washington.

Okay, I know what you’re thinking. Taking on a task of this nature and magnitude will involve making painful sacrifices and bearing countless hardships. But again, I ask you. Will these sacrifices and hardships be any greater than the ones we now are enduring, and will go on enduring, if our government officials continue to work against us instead of for us?

I say let’s stop grumbling and get this disagreeable but necessary project underway. We’ve got work to do, friends. So don’t delay! Don’t hesitate! Break the news to your family that Disneyland is out of the question this year, stock up on more laundry detergent, and find the kids’ social security cards.

It’s time we found out once and for all what U.S. Senators are selling for in today’s market.

“Behind the ostensible government sits enthroned an invisible government owing no allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people. To destroy this invisible government, to befoul the unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics is the first task of the statesmanship of the day.” --Theodore Roosevelt, April 19, 1906

To Save A Great Nation

In the past I have written about Harry Reid. (Please refer to Feb. 2, 2009 post). I don’t like writing about Harry Reid because writing about Harry Reid inevitably requires the mentioning of offensive matter processed by the bowels. Nevertheless, I believe it is time we return to the unpleasant subject of Harry Reid.

Harry Reid is coming up for reelection on November 2, 2010, and although I understand, as we all do, that excrement happens, I don’t believe it should occupy a seat in the U.S. Senate. So here is an opportunity for us to flush Harry Reid down the toilet and put him in the septic tank with other raw sewage where he belongs.

Okay, now that we have the really repugnant part of this out of the way, let us get on with the milder, though no less important, aspects of our case against Harry Reid.

We Americans seem temporarily to have lost our sense of priorities and proportions. We are more concerned about the qualifications of airline pilots, train engineers and bus drivers than we are with the qualifications of those we entrust with the important job of guiding our great nation. For instance, we didn’t know diddly squat about Barack Obama’s personal and political background, and still don’t, yet we elected him to the highest political post in the land.

This isn’t the way it is supposed to be, dear friends. The people--we the people--are supposed to be thoroughly and meticulously scrutinizing candidates before electing and reelecting them to public office. This entails, for the most part, avoiding the mainstream media’s liberal biases while assiduously gathering and sharing information from more honest and reliable sources.

Come on folks, let’s get real here. We are considering these candidates for service as trustees of a trust--a very sacred and valuable trust. These men and women will be holding the fate of our entire nation in their hands. The future welfare and happiness of our children and grandchildren will depend largely upon the kinds of decisions they make in our behalf.

Think about it. How much weight can you put into a boat before it sinks? And similarly, how much debt load can a nation, even a great nation, bear before it goes under? We have to start getting practical and serious about our future. We’re in grave danger, people!

In times like these, more than ever, we need honest, capable and trustworthy men and women in public office. This is no time to be reelecting misguided and corrupt politicians like Harry Reid who pose as champions of the people while recklessly spending every available dollar in the U.S. Treasury, whether it be a tax dollar or a borrowed one, to fund their twisted and cockeyed vision of America.

Let’s be candid. Harry Reid is ill-equipped both mentally and morally to be a U.S. Senator, regardless of what he may say about himself or what his supporters in the liberal media may say about him. He has clearly demonstrated that he is a staunch opponent of limited government and a very strong supporter of big government. He has clearly demonstrated that he believes in taking power away from the many and consolidating it in the hands of a select few. He has clearly demonstrated that he is in favor of replacing people rule with elitist rule, elitist rule being a government administered by people like Harry Reid who believe hard-working American taxpayers are too stupid to know what’s best for them.

There is, and I know you can all smell it, a putrid stench emanating from our nation’s capital. Please join with me in removing the source of that stench, Harry Reid and other odious officials like him, from public office. It is not this generation’s calling to establish a great nation, but it is this generation’s calling to save a great nation from destruction.

If you are not already one, become a true American patriot!

“Government is a trust, and the officers of government are trustees. And both the trust and the trustees are created for the benefit of the people.” --Henry Clay

A Dark and Tragic Tale of Despair

Sundays are decep-tively quiet in the town where I live. In the morning men cringingly nurse their throbbing hangovers with generous doses of tomato juice and Tabasco sauce, and then hurry off to church with their hastily groomed families in tow, usually arriving a little late. When church has run its course, they return to their homes tired and out of sorts, and take a nap, if circumstances prevented them from catching one during the sermon. Later, if there is a sporting event on, they immerse themselves deeply into that so they may engage vicariously in a contrived and distant thrill while they swill beer and devour anything loaded with empty calories and salt. In the evening, when it starts to settle in that tomorrow is a workday, they grow moody and restive. Another feeding frenzy begins. Frequent trips are made to the refrigerator and cupboards in search of snacks of questionable nutritional value. As the evening wears on, unflattering words are sporadically and off-handedly fired off with no particular victim in mind, and copious quantities of Alka-Seltzer are gulped down. Finally, in a last ditch attempt to stave off the inevitable, a frantic and futile effort is made to find something on TV that is the entertainment counterpart of what they’ve been eating all day. Around 10:30 p.m. defeat is begrudgingly declared. Teeth are brushed, spouses and children are kissed goodnight and the day ends, much as it began, with a creeping and haunting fear that this is as good as it may ever get.

An Opportunity Of A Lifetime

Even a casual study of the writ-ings of those who framed our govern-ment persuades one to believe that the Founders, without question, viewed the people as the ultimate and most reliable restraint upon it. It was their hope that the American people would appreciate and cherish their rare form of government enough to nurture it, watch over it and, most of all, to protect it from the corrosive affects of mischievous and self-serving office holders who for one reason or another might decide to ignore and circumvent the Constitution--the sacred agreement that binds us together as a nation, and which our elected officials are sworn to uphold.

But alas, the Founders’ hopes were not fully realized. It turns out that their confidence in us was largely misplaced. Decades ago, Americans began forsaking their birthright and going off this way and that way in search of the “good life.” We have had neither the time nor the inclination to look after our government. Indeed, many of us don’t even know how it is supposed to work or what is so extraordinary about it. We all have been too deeply engaged in the highly addictive activity of acquiring things, things we thought we needed to have in order to be happy.

But the sad irony of it is, we may soon lose all those things we’ve accumulated through hard work and easy credit, and become downright unhappy. For while our eyes were directed elsewhere, our once limited government expanded itself well beyond its intended boundaries. And now the unwieldy monster wants to control everything and everybody in its sight. We allowed the camel to get its nose under the tent and now it’s trying to do what the Founders feared--push us out.

So is it too late to do anything about it? Perhaps. But personally I don’t think we should go down without a fight. We are, after all, the sons and daughters of patriots. We may have temporarily forgotten that, but we are blood-kin to daring men and women, bold risk takers who came to this country with little or nothing and created the best damn nation in the history of the world. All we have to do is get that noble blood pumping in our veins again.

Let’s face it, most of us know deep in our hearts that what our government is doing in the name of social and economic “reform” is wrong. Dead wrong! The government’s policies, whether calculated to do so or not, are backing all of us into a corner. Our government, let me repeat that, our government is gradually and methodically enslaving us. There’s no other way of putting it.

Daniel Webster once wrote: “It is hardly too strong to say that the Constitution was made to guard against the dangers of good intentions. There are men in all ages who mean to govern well, but they mean to govern. They promise to be good masters, but they mean to be masters.”

Dear friends, that is precisely where we’re at. We have in the highest levels of our government men and woman who are promising, in effect, to be good masters. They say they want us to have affordable health care, better schools, cleaner air and safer cities. But there’s just one catch, they want to take away our liberties in exchange for those things, things they won’t even be able to deliver.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m not going to be able to accept their terms. So, like a prodigal son, I’m going to return to my civic responsibilities. I’m going to begin taking less interest in my stuff and a lot more interest in my government, the government that was created and bequeathed to me at great cost by my forefathers. And I’m going to fight tyranny, just as they did, with every legitimate means and tool at my disposal.

And I invite any who may read this to join with me in what is certain to be an exciting and glorious adventure, an opportunity of a lifetime.

“Our union is now complete; our constitution composed, established, and approved. You are now the guardians of your own liberties. --Samuel Adams

Life's Journey

It has been said that life is a jour-ney. But in most cases when we set off on a journey, it is presumed that we have select-ed a destina-tion and plotted a course. Yet man’s fundamental and most critical journey, life’s journey, is often left to luck and happenstance.

All of us, young and old alike, are at some point along a path. The end of that path may be near or far; but whatever the case may be, we need to determine whether our present location is where we truly want to be. And if it isn’t, we need to change course.

At birth each of us was given an allotment of time, energy and natural talent. Our success and happiness in life rests largely upon how we use those finite and precious resources.

Benjamin Franklin once said: “Doest thou love life? Then do not squander time; for that’s the stuff life is made of.”

Most people my age have some regrets, regrets that for the most part are the result of poor choices and an unwise use of time.

If you’re young and single, I have some advice for you. Don’t get old and don’t get married.

But if that advice doesn’t suit you, I will offer this alternative: Prepare yourself--emotionally, mentally, physically and spiritually--so that you may have some hope of dealing successfully with life’s inevitable challenges. And one other thing, choose a mate who has the same destination in mind you have and who fully understands and appreciates the amount of mutual effort it will take to get there.

If you do, you’ll be reasonably happy. If you don’t, I can assure you you’ll live to have some regrets.

Another Look At Global Warming

Perhaps the globe is, as Al Gore insists, warming; but to what degree man is respon-sible for it, and to what extent he can reverse it, is largely unknown.

What is known, however, is that most of the world's politicians are greedy and power-hungry fools. So you can be certain of one thing--they wouldn’t be leaping on the global-warming bandwagon if they didn’t expect to reap some pretty substantial dividends.

And who will be paying those dividends? Who do you think?

The wealth and power that currently resides in our hands gradually, or perhaps speedily, will be shifted over to them, for you can be assured that the politicians will see to it that the job of keeping the world from overheating will be big, expensive and quite possibly endless.

Furthermore, as the global-warming locomotive gathers momentum, expect to see individual freedoms greatly curtailed and government power vastly expanded. In due time, don’t be surprised if you begin hearing more and more talk of the need to establish a global government. (Well you didn’t think an ugly bogeyman like global warming could be subdued by anything less than a global government, did you?)

What Americans have to get through their heads--and quickly--is that the global-warming mania is simply an excuse to steal power away from the people and transfer it to government officials around the world. It’s not about controlling climate, at all. Even selfish and power-grabbing politicians, dumb as they are, know that’s impossible.

Some of you may be asking yourselves, why are scientists on board? Well, a great many aren’t. But those who are see gobs of grant money and possibly a Nobel prize coming their way. Remember, even scientists have egos. They hunger for recognition, just like the rest of us.

But know this, if we allow the world’s politicians to push this scam through, we’re going to find out the hard way that going “green” doesn’t lead to utopia. Instead, it will open the door to the worst and most pervasive tyranny imaginable.

A great American patriot, Patrick Henry, once proclaimed: “Give me liberty or give me death!” And you know, he had a point there. What good is life, after all, if you don’t have the freedom to live it as you wish? Are we going to permit ourselves to be pushed, frightened and stampeded into bondage in order to escape the largely unknown consequences of global warming?

To abandon the best system of government in the world, with its guaranteed rights and freedoms, to pursue a dubious undertaking like climate control is both absurd and dangerous.

Don’t buy into it!

The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.
--H.L. Mencken

A Competitive and Dangerous Place

Even when the world is experi-encing a period of relative peace, there is restless-ness, tension and discontent among the nations. Countries are jockeying unceasingly to acquire more favorable conditions for themselves. At this very moment, nations that consider themselves disadvantaged, and most do, are doggedly looking for ways and means of getting ahead.

Historically, the primary reason similarly minded people have banded together is to enhance their chances of survival, survival being something that must be attended to constantly. Therefore, there never is a time when a nation can safely set aside the basic and demanding task of surviving.

But it is not enough that a nation possesses a well trained and well equipped military. Each individual within a nation, whatever his or her vocation or station in life, must be steadfastly using all their natural gifts and acquired skills to the fullest extent possible, because that is what the leaders of competitor nations are urging their citizens to do.

Make no mistake about it. If we as a people fail to fully utilize all our talents and resources, a nation that is fully exploiting all of theirs eventually will overtake us.

And why will they overtake us? Because we forgot that the world is inherently a highly competitive and dangerous place, and we foolishly permitted ourselves to become preoccupied and distracted with things that don’t matter.

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness

Today marks the two-hundred and thirty-third anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. A lot of water has passed under the bridge since those fifty-six brave signers pledged to one another their lives, fortunes and sacred honor.

The Declaration of Independence is, among other things, a proclamation of man’s inherent rights, rights that predate government, rights that our Creator endowed us with and wants us to keep.

Thomas Jefferson called these rights “unalienable rights” because they are an elemental and integral part of man. When he is arbitrarily deprived of them, he is no longer complete, and lacks the capacity to pursue his dreams and aspirations. Therefore, he becomes something less than a man.

A good government, Thomas Jefferson believed, should not only acknowledge these special rights but it should “secure” them as well. To him, that was the prime purpose of government.

The signers of the Declaration of Independence were confident men. They did not lack courage or initiative. They wanted to control their own destinies, but they knew that in order to realistically do that they would need full possession of all their unalienable rights. And that holds true to this day.

Admittedly, not everyone who is granted life and liberty will find true happiness. It may still elude many of us. But without life and liberty, real happiness is virtually unattainable.

The signers knew this, and we need to know it too.

Silver And Gold Have I None

In a world obsessed with wealth, sometimes it is bene-ficial to remind ourselves that there are things more precious than money.

The third chapter of Acts begins with a beautiful and touching story. It is about a “certain man lame from his mother’s womb” who is brought daily to the temple gate to beg for alms.

One day two special men, disciples and apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ, come his way. He asks them for money, but to his great surprise he receives something far more valuable than what he was hoping for.

Quoting now: “And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us. And he gave heed to them, expecting to receive something of them. Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus of Nazareth rise up and walk. And he took him by his right hand, and lifted him up; and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God.”

Through an extraordinary miracle a man born with a serious disability was made whole. But I ask you: Is it any less of a miracle to be born whole?

If you currently are penniless--but otherwise are physically and mentally sound--stand up, walk and praise God! You are sufficiently equipped to improve your circumstances in life.

Leaves Do Not Shed Their Roots

Perhaps we should review some elemental aspects of our constitutional system of government, a system that served us well until about 70 years ago when misguided, and in some cases devious, politicians began recklessly trying to “improve” upon it.

Above all else, we must understand that the Constitution is not a creature of the federal government as some would have us believe. Rather, the federal government is a creature of the Constitution. The Constitution came first, and then the government. The government was born of the Constitution, and takes from it its unique shape and its just powers.

Ergo, no branch of the federal government, or any office growing out of it, is greater than the Constitution.

Just as the branches and leaves of a tree depend upon the roots for their stability and support, so too do the branches and offices of the federal government depend upon the Constitution for their steadiness and vitality--not to mention their authority and legitimacy.

Tree branches and leaves, however, differ from the branches of government and their respective officials in one important respect--branches and leaves understand instinctively that the continued health and vigor of a living organism is dependant upon the harmonious interaction of the component parts. In other words, branches and leaves know their place and confine themselves to their proper and appointed role in the system.

Regrettably, many public officers do not share this same keen sense of humility and teamwork. They erroneously believe that the life and splendor of our political system resides in them, not in the Constitution, and are continually attempting to disassociate themselves from it. In so doing, they foolishly jeopardizes themselves as well as the greater organism of which they are but a component part.

Conclusion: If more of our current politicians possessed the simple integrity of a leaf, America and Americans would not be facing many of the painful uncertainties and needless upheavals that now plague them.

The Constitution is the political contract Americans have agreed to live by. When grasping and unscrupulous politicians will not adhere to its terms, they carelessly undermine and corrupt the established social order, thereby endangering all of us.

In the natural world, leaves do not shed their roots. Instead, they obediently and respectfully carry out their ordained part in a beautiful and elegant system.

It’s high time those in the political world took a lesson from nature.

D-Day

People tend to forget the sacrifices others have made in their behalf.

Sixty-five years ago the fate of the world hung in the balance as dictators and tyrants engaged in a vicious and relentless struggle to dominate the globe. On the morning of June 6, 1944, soldiers of the Allied Expeditionary Force, including men from every corner of the United States, set out to break their iron grip and to free the oppressed peoples of Europe.

Four years earlier, in June of 1940, Winston Churchill uttered these stirring words to his fellow countrymen: “Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this Island or lose the war. If we can stand up to him, all Europe may be free and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands. But if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science.”

History records that England did, against great odds, stand up to Hitler in those early, dark days of the war. As a result of its determined effort, precious time was bought. The United States ultimately entered the conflict and the tide began slowly to turn. By mid-1944 everything was in place to launch the final assault on fortress Europe.

Operation Overlord, or what we now call simply the D-Day landings, was the largest single-day invasion in history. As predicted by General Eisenhower, the enemy fought back savagely. Yet by day’s end, and despite a loss of over 9,000 killed or wounded, more than 100,000 men were ashore and beginning the historic march across Europe that ultimately brought Hitler and his evil regime to an ignominious end.

On this sixth day of June, 2009, let us take a moment to remember and honor those, living and dead, who took part in that titanic and fateful struggle to free the world of tyranny. They were not supermen. They were our fathers and grandfathers, uncles and cousins, friends and neighbors. They knew fear as few have, nevertheless they fought courageously.

May we take heart from their noble example and resolve to vigorously expose and resist the would-be oppressors of today, for truly the war with evil never ends.

Fragile Ecosystems

Unhealthy pollutants come in a variety of deadly forms. For in-stance, network news organizations daily befoul our channels of commu-nication with distortions and falsehoods that are endangering fragile social, political and economic ecosystems.

This insidious work is being carried out by sly spin doctors posing as journalists who inten-tionally introduce carefully crafted and highly damaging myths into our nation’s information pipeline. These dangerous fallacies then flow into homes all across America where they infect the minds of unsuspecting consumers.

Why is this such a grave problem? A society’s future is seriously jeopardized when citizens are misinformed. Consider, for example, what happened to the German people and Germany in the period just prior to and during World War II. More often than not, a misled people soon find themselves coping with devastating consequences.

So if you would like to take part in cleaning up a sorely neglected but critical part of our nation’s environment, I would like to recommend that each of you email our nation’s top news anchors and tell them to please stop poisoning our vital streams of information.

We have been told repeatedly by liberal environmentalists that preserving delicate and complex ecosystems is extremely important.

So if you haven’t received your memo from our nation’s Environmentalist-in-Chief, Al Gore, please consider this your official notification and get moving.

[T]he truth is the greatest enemy of the State.
--Joseph Goebbels

Broad is the Way

Let us return to James Madison and his astute observa-tions regarding men and angels. (See original James Madison post dated March 28, 2009)

There is an old saying that fools rush in where angels fear to tread. Put another way: The foolish don’t stop to consider fully the risks and ramifications involved when plunging into the unknown. Therefore, they often find themselves in dire predicaments, with one following another, and the next worse than the previous one.

Recent steps taken by our national leaders have many concerned about our future stability as a nation. Bold and broad changes were rushed into effect with little or no thought given to long-term consequences. Thoughtful Americans are left wondering what manner of pernicious seeds are being cast as we race further into this highly dubious business of “saving our economy.”

The Bible teaches us that there is but one narrow path to life but that the road to destruction is broad and easy to find. Any fool may discover it and remain upon it with little difficulty.

It would appear that our new President and many members of Congress, in their overzealous desire to bring about “change,” have found that latter road and believe they are onto something truly brilliant, amazing and novel.

Our Constitution was written to confine our government and its office holders within certain narrow limits. Yet our current leaders are daily rushing well beyond those limits like frenzied fools.

Conclusion: Further evidence that what James Madison said was true: “If men were angels, no government would be necessary.” And what’s more, no written constitution would have been necessary to “oblige it to control itself.”

If you want to see how little resemblance there really is between men and angels, keep permitting Chief Executives, members of Congress and Supreme Court Justices to trample our Constitution out of existence.

Ask Not...

In America we have the uncommon privilege of openly offering our opinions and beliefs to our political leaders. And they, by the same token, may offer theirs to us

For example, in President Kennedy’s inaugural address he advised the American people: “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” Apparently he believed, even then, that Americans were growing a little too accustomed to leaning on their government for support.

Keeping a country healthy--socially, spiritually, politically and economically--requires a sincere effort on the part of citizens and government alike. There are things a good government ought to be doing for its citizens and things good citizens ought to be doing for their government. And those duties and responsibilities we owe to each other must be maintained in a perpetual state of harmony and balance if we are to be a happy, successful and vibrant nation.

So what are some of the things goods citizens should be doing for their country?

First and foremost, Americans ought to be conscientious about voting. It is, after all, a special right not granted to everyone in the world. Moreover, Americans should know why their government was framed the way it was and why its unique attributes provide to us the blessings and benefits they do. Furthermore, every American should be well versed on how those who formulated and established our government intended it to work.

I realize our schools are no longer teaching these things, so we may need to acquire that knowledge on our own. But the fact is, you cannot fully appreciate the country you live in if you are not thoroughly acquainted with its distinct character as well as the people who poured their hearts and treasure into it to make it distinct. Some of those people may have been your own ancestors.

Additionally, every citizen should be obeying the laws of the land and living a useful, productive life. By doing what we know is right and by bearing our own load rather than passing it over to someone else, we are making ourselves, our community and our nation stronger. Nations are made great not through sweeping and expensive government programs but through the honest and steady efforts of the common man and woman. A nation made up primarily of deadbeats and losers simply cannot prosper or endure.

Parents have a special responsibility to their country. They need to be providing a safe, healthy and loving environment for their children to grow up in. In other words, if you are going to have a child, help it get off to a good start in life, a start that will assist him or her in becoming a fully functioning and productive member of our society. Remember that giving a child a part of yourself is more important than giving him or her the latest electronic gadget. And by all means, don’t in any way expect the government to raise your child for you. The government is a very poor substitute for a nurturing mother and father, despite what Hillary Clinton thinks.

Now let’s turn our attention to the government.

What the government essentially needs to be doing is leaving us alone. It’s incessant and prejudicial meddling is destroying the moral fabric of our society. A good government does not care for its citizens like an overbearing, bloated nanny. What our government really should be doing, but is neglecting badly, is guaranteeing to its citizens their God-given and Constitutional rights. If it were doing that, it would be providing us with what we need most.

Unfortunately, at this time, our government is not doing that. Instead, many of our elected representatives are forsaking their oaths of office and deserting the Constitution. A good many of our leaders in Washington have completely lost touch with reality and are behaving like juveniles on spring break. They are not just recklessly spending the tax dollars provided by the current generation of American workers, they are already dipping deeply into the future earnings of our grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

This kind of irresponsible behavior can’t be attributed to stupidity alone. Rather, it would appear that some among us, probably the obscenely rich, are orchestrating the downfall of our present system of government so that it may be replaced by a ruling elite made up of selfish, arrogant people who will manage our country’s shrinking natural resources for the benefit of a very few.

Before it is too late and while we are still permitted to do so, we must unite and begin utilizing our right to speak up. We must not hesitate to express our profoundest political beliefs to our elected representatives in Washington--the President, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, and so forth. They work for us and are bound by a contract called the Constitution.

Paraphrasing President Kennedy we might advise our wayward leaders in this way: “Ask not how you can continue plundering your way to absolute power, ask instead how you can transform yourselves into more humble and faithful servants to the American people.”