Better To Perish Than To Live As Slaves

Some may disagree with what I am about to say, but the fact is, all people, wherever they may reside in the world, have chosen the govern-ment they live under. And it is not a choice made once and for all. Even small choices made over time may substantially alter or destabilize the most firmly established and well balanced govern-ments. Each day citizens may either resist changes to their existing political apparatus, sometimes strongly, or they may simply go along with them. In any event, they are making conscious choices, choices that will lead to a definite outcome.

Consider Germany in the 1930s. During hard economic times and a period of political and social unrest, the people of Germany stood at a crossroads. With a number of alternatives before them, they chose Nazism. Some actively chose it; others, the vast majority, chose it simply by giving in to it. Nevertheless, as a result of these collective choices, the German people opened the way for a charismatic figure, Adolf Hitler, to seize absolute control of their government. And once he had that control firmly vested in his hands, he wasted no time cajoling and bullying the largely decent citizens of Germany down a dangerous and desperate path, a path that ultimately led them to their downfall.

But let us return to the here and now, to the America of 2010. At this very moment, we, the current generation of Americans, are choosing by design or by default the government our children and grandchildren will live under. And it is this government that will determine to a very great extent the level of success, prosperity and personal fulfillment they will experience in their lives.

Though we obviously are not the Germans of the 1930s, there is no reason to suppose that we are any less susceptible to the blandishments of amoral and smooth-talking politicians, especially during difficult and uncertain times.

From a book entitled “As a Man Thinketh,” by James Allen, comes this unusual and thought-provoking quote: “It has been usual for men to think and to say, ‘Many are slaves because one man is an oppressor; let us hate the oppressor.’ Now, however, there is among an increasing few a tendency to reverse this judgment, and to say, ‘One man is an oppressor because many are slaves; let us despise the slaves.’”

I believe strongly that we in America are retreating steadily from our traditional values of independence and self reliance, and are adopting instead the mentality of slaves. More and more we yearn not for liberty, as our ancestors did, but for a life devoid of any real responsibility, a life where thinking for one’s self is largely unnecessary. But have we ever stopped to realize that by exhibiting this despicable behavior we may be inviting an oppressor to step in?

Americans, it is time to wake up! It is time to stop drifting with the current. It is time to begin resisting not only the slave-making policies of our government but our own wishful and impractical thinking. We must forthwith refrain from giving our government any indication whatsoever that we are composed of the material from which slaves can be made. We must let our representatives in Washington know, in no uncertain terms, that we still are proud and defiant Americans, Americans willing to fight for our precious liberties, the ones God granted to us and that were secured for us in our nation’s founding document, the Constitution.

Winston Churchill, no stranger to fighting tyrants, once said: “If you will not fight for right when you can easily win without bloodshed; if you will not fight when your victory is sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves.”

Let us hesitate no longer. The time to make a crucial decision has arrived. Let us this very day, this very moment, resolve to resist oppression and choose liberty, as those who went before us did.


"They tell us Sir, that we are weak -- unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs, and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak, if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature has placed in our power." -- Patrick Henry

The Magic of Modern Politics

Everyone knows that the key to a magician’s so-called magic is distract-ing the audience. The magician cleverly draws the audience’s attention elsewhere during the critical moment when the deception is carried out.

Today many of our politicians employ techniques very similar to those used by the world’s greatest magicians. With the full aid and cooperation of the news media, they distract us by vociferously hyping problems--some real, some imaginary--while effectuating the magical disappearance of our God-given rights and freedoms.

They tell us, for example, that the globe is warming and that immediate and extreme measures must be taken to prevent it. Or they engineer a financial meltdown and then rush into law a series of stimulus packages that further weaken and undermine our once powerful and vibrant economy. More recently they have been attempting an unconstitutional takeover of our nation’s health care industry.

Make no mistake about it, each one of these contrived or trumped up “emergencies” is designed for one purpose only--to direct our attention away from their tyrannical ambitions. By creating uncertainty and fear, they convince us that the enactment of questionable and dangerous legislation is absolutely necessary to save our nation and the world.

But ask yourselves this, what are politicians gaining for themselves as they go about forging what they insist will be a better world? Answer: They are gaining control, ever more control. They are steadily removing control from our hands, the people’s hands, and consolidating it into their own.

That, my friends, is the “magic” of modern politics--the magic that currently is being performed daily with great success by such accomplished illusionists as Barack Obama, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi.

While they are distracting us with frightful tales of distant and imaginary catastrophes, and the amateurish antics of lesser bogeymen, these arch villains are looting our nation and its citizens on a scale never before imagined. And what is worse, they are insolently stomping upon and stealing our cherished American freedoms, the freedoms our ancestors gave their blood for.

Don’t let yourselves be taken in any longer by these cunning and ruthless con artists. Get your head someplace where you can see the whole picture.

And by all means do it before it’s too late to take meaningful action!

Make Do

Here in Nevada, as in other states, our annual operating expenses have exceeded our projected tax revenue. I am told we have an $880 million shortfall to overcome.

Realistically there are only three ways to solve this problem: 1) raise taxes, 2) cut expenses, or 3) a combination of the two.

Already some individuals have voiced strong opposition to making cuts. They contend that doing so will undermine and compromise vital services. Perhaps it is only my imagination or a coincidence, but it seems me that some of the loudest cries of protest are coming from the administrators of agencies slated for cuts.

Certainly no one wants to see the level of any truly necessary public service diminished or curtailed. However, we all know that some fat exists in every public agency, fat that accumulated here and there when times were good. No department of government, at any level, is administered so efficiently and economically that waste cannot be found and cut.

With that in mind, I offer the following thoughts to those who oversee and administer departments within our state and local governments.

Stop grumbling and show us why someone once believed you were qualified for the job you now hold. Look to the future, not backwards. Acquire a new perspective. Become an innovator and a motivator. Be the kind of person who can get a lot accomplished with a little. Anyone can manage an organization when there is no shortage of funds or personnel, but only a few, a very talented and select few, can achieve great things when resources are scarce. By complaining, you are merely showing us that you are not one of those special people.

No one is happy with the predicament we currently are in, and there are plenty of theories regarding whose fault it is. But your job, for the time being, at least, is to make do with what you’re given until we can work through these difficult financial times.

If you can do that, you’re worthy of your salary. If you can’t, please stop trying to occupy a space that you obviously don’t have the professional stature to fill.

Photo: Heath E. Morrison, Washoe County School Superintendent

An Overbearing Majority

Suddenly the Presi-dent says he’s will-ing to be-gin work-ing with Republi-cans. At least that’s what he says. We’ll see.

Maybe the public outrage finally became clear enough and loud enough that he decided to begin accepting input from all Americans, as well as all their elected representatives.

Though I may not be as well educated as our President, I thought that listening to all sides was the way it was supposed to be. I find it surprising that a man could rise to the highest elected office in the land and not be privy to that cherished and time-honored principle of fair play.

In America our system of government permits those in the minority to be heard. We are willing to listen to and consider what they have to say. Even the beliefs and views of Republicans must be taken into account when shaping public policy.

But our President was unwilling to do that until the public demanded it. What does that say about the man who currently resides in the White House?

Anytime an effort is made to limit the number of voices that may be heard in a society despotism is being advanced and democracy is being thwarted.

Do we really want a chief executive who has displayed a willingness to stifle open debate, a bedrock principle of democracy? Do we want men and women like that serving in the U.S. Congress?

I don’t think so. We’re Americans, not Russians or Chinese. Here in America, we the people like to be consulted when major changes are being contemplated. And we want our representatives in Congress to be permitted to represent us--fully and openly. Should not the voice of any and every duly elected representative be heard, including Republicans? Do they not, after all, represent American citizens?

Barack Obama and his cohorts in Congress were trying to rush health care reform into law before any significant objections could be made. That was wrong. It is not the way we Americans conduct our political business.

Hopefully the recent and despicable activities of Barack Obama, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi have once again reminded Americans that what James Madison called an “overbearing majority” can be every bit as dangerous as an overbearing king.

And I hope too that we have been shaken back into the firm knowledge that we are the ultimate watchdogs of our government, and that we must remain ever on the job.

A Precious Resource

A baby is born some-where in America. In this case, we will say it is a girl.

When she arrives, there is no warm or enthusi-astic welcome. She hears no comforting words. Her needs are largely ignored.

As she grows, she receives no positive attention. She receives no sincere help or encouragement. She is made to feel as though she is nothing but trouble, a tiresome burden.

In due time this baby girl reaches maturity and has a child of her own. In attempting to rear this child, the new mother has only her own hollow and discouraging experiences to draw upon, leaving her with little to offer her helpless and needy child.

Another valuable and promising human being is about to be wasted. Another small but indispensable element of society is about to be lost.

Do we not see that this must stop?

Every child in America is precious, a resource we can ill afford to toss aside. Each one must be lovingly nurtured and properly cared for. Each one must be developed to his or her fullest and highest potential. If we fail to do this, one day we will have only dysfunctional people in this country. And dysfunctional people can’t run a great nation. We already as seeing ample evidence of that.

Clearly the job of cultivating and developing a child falls primarily and naturally to its parents and its extended family. No one is in a better position to help a child, nor is anyone better suited for the task.

If you are a parent, a grandparent, an aunt, an uncle, or even a neighbor, start looking for ways you can help make a child’s life brighter and more hopeful.

We must see to it that every child in this country is placed upon a path aimed at making him or her a confident and capable human being, a human being that will be an asset to society rather than a liability.

It's Just That Simple

Recently the election of Scott Brown in Massachu-setts sent a shock wave throughout the nation and the Democratic Party. But why was the outcome of that election not foreseen? Why did it come as such a surprise?

One reason--the prime reason--is that the news media is neglecting to do its whole job. The news media in their unchecked zeal to cover the president and promote his interests are failing to adequately cover the American people and their interests.

There are at least three sides to most political stories. 1) What the politicians are doing in Washington. 2) How the people back home are reacting to what they are doing. And 3) Why the people are reacting as they are. Our nation’s journalists, if they may be called that, are leaving out roughly two-thirds of every political story, which means they are concealing much more than they are revealing.

Take the health care legislation that recently passed through both houses of congress. Many of us have felt for quite some time that the nation as a whole was not supportive of those bills. Moreover, it seemed apparent that most Americans were unhappy with the unsavory tactics liberal politicians were employing to rush these unpopular pieces of legislation through. Had meaningful polls been taken by the news media, and their results truthfully and faithfully reported, I am fairly confident that the health care story would have played out much differently and the election of Scott Brown would not have been such a great surprise.

When the news media intentionally withholds part of a story, a crucial element of a story, it is guilty of misleading the public. And when that sort of insidious behavior becomes the norm rather than the exception, the news media ceases to be a news media and becomes a propaganda machine.

Can anyone doubt that a huge and vital portion of the health care story was the public’s overwhelmingly negative reaction to it. Why, then, do you suppose the news media chose to overlook it?

I believe the news media failed to tell that part of the story because it was in the best interest of their allies, the plotters and schemers in Washington, to do so. They simply didn’t want those who were adamantly opposed to this socialistic legislation to know that most of their neighbors also were adamantly opposed to it. That’s what it all came down to. They just didn’t want us to know what was going on. But isn’t faithfully reporting what is going on the true purpose of the news media?

Americans: It is time we realized that we are fighting a two-front war in this country. We not only are waging a deadly battle against political tyrants in high places but we also are locked in a desperate struggle with their dangerous and sociopathic collaborators in the news media.

If we are going to win this fight, we must work diligently together to soundly defeat those in Washington who are steadily undermining our way of life, and in so doing prove to their immoral accomplices in the news media that there is nothing to be gained by supporting crooked politicians and their schemes.

Governments intending to inflict harm and hardship upon their citizens need propaganda machines. Governments intending to do good don’t.

It’s just that simple.

A Consummate and Polished Liar

Never before in the history of our nation have Americans put a bolder liar into the White House. Never before have we had a president who better understood what Americans want to hear and yet has been ever willing to do the very opposite in carrying out his self-centered and destructive agenda.

Be assured that any man exhibiting these traits and characteristics is a dangerous man. History records that every tyrant who ever lured a free people into bondage was a consummate and polished liar.

From President Obama’s White House website come these patently misleading statements concerning openness and transparency in his administration.

“My Administration is committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in Government. We will work together to ensure the public trust and establish a system of transparency, public participation, and collaboration. Openness will strengthen our democracy and promote efficiency and effectiveness in Government.

“Transparency promotes accountability and provides information for citizens about what their Government is doing. Information maintained by the Federal Government is a national asset. My Administration will take appropriate action, consistent with law and policy, to disclose information rapidly in forms that the public can readily find and use. Executive departments and agencies should harness new technologies to put information about their operations and decisions online and readily available to the public. Executive departments and agencies should also solicit public feedback to identify information of greatest use to the public.

“Public engagement enhances the Government's effectiveness and improves the quality of its decisions. Knowledge is widely dispersed in society, and public officials benefit from having access to that dispersed knowledge. Executive departments and agencies should offer Americans increased opportunities to participate in policymaking and to provide their Government with the benefits of their collective expertise and information. Executive departments and agencies should also solicit public input on how we can increase and improve opportunities for public participation in Government.

“Collaboration actively engages Americans in the work of their Government. Executive departments and agencies should use innovative tools, methods, and systems to cooperate among themselves, across all levels of Government, and with nonprofit organizations, businesses, and individuals in the private sector. Executive departments and agencies should solicit public feedback to assess and improve their level of collaboration and to identify new opportunities for cooperation.”

Now, my dear fellow citizens, contrast those glowing and inspiring words with the shameful manner in which our President and congressional Democrats currently are behaving as they underhandedly conduct the business of pushing through their widely unpopular health care reform package.

Am I incorrect or unfair in suggesting that our latest president is the boldest and most blatant liar ever to inhabit the White House?

Allow me to remind you once again that liars are dangerous people. Dishonesty and double-dealing are their stock-in-trade. If we hope to retain our precious freedoms much longer, we must waste no time in running these coarse degenerates out of Washington.

Someone once said that America will be the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave. Wherever you are in this great country of ours, begin making a courageous stand--now!

Bear in mind that liberty is far too valuable a commodity to be possessed by those who are unwilling to preserve and defend it. Surely it will slip from our hands if we don’t rally together in these critical times.