LET'S TRY THIS ONE MORE TIME - DEFINING "RIGHTS" UNDER THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
That sentence is not about Constitutional guarantees, nor are they even Constitutional issues. They were a Jeffersonian philosophy defining the main issues that fomented the American Revolution, and he put them to paper in the Declaration of Independence.

Looking at that sentence logically, we know immediately that all men are not created equal in neither the physical, intellectual nor emotional sense. Jefferson was talking about the equality of their God given rights! And it's not just "men" who have these rights, women have them as well. "Men" was the predominant term in the 1700's because women had few officially sanctioned and supported rights at that time. In fact, in 1868 the Fourteenth Amendment was ratified proclaiming that all citizens were granted the protections of the Constitution against unjust state laws. This Amendment was also the first to define "citizens" and "voters" as "male." It wasn't until 1920 that women were granted the right to vote in the United States, after the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment.

The "right to Life" should be obvious, inasmuch as we have laws prohibiting the unlawful taking of a human life. The only discussion now appears to be one of establishing beyond any question precisely when "life" begins. That's a subject for an entirely different blog.

The "right to Liberty" would insure our ability to come and go freely. We should remain unrestrained and unmolested in our travels within the United States, and need not request permission from anyone to move freely from point to point within those borders. This right, and all the others, are guaranteed by the Articles of our Constitution!

Which takes me to the "right to the pursuit of Happiness". Evidently this one is a bit difficult for some people to grasp. It is not a right to always be happy, and to think so would be an indication of mental deficiency. The English dictionary defines "pursuit" thus:
transitive verb
1 : to follow in order to overtake, capture, kill, or defeat
2 : to find or employ measures to obtain or accomplish : seek
The implication here is that one must take action, or chase after a thing to be pursuing it. We do that through personal effort, using whatever physical, mental or emotional skills and talents with which we were blessed and/or developed. Pursue does not mean we sit on our butt and wait for happiness to come wandering by so we can grab a handful. It means that you have a right, through you own efforts, to chase after those things which you feel will bring you "happiness". You do not have a right to take from someone else without just compensation, nor do you have the right to take rewards from the taxed labors of others. When the ants tire of supporting the grasshopper, the grasshopper will eaten by them. And, as William Shakespeare wrote, "Yon Cassius has a lean and hungry look; he thinks too much; such men are dangerous."

American Civil War II - It Could Happen... or It Could Not Happen

It's almost like watching somebody trying to open the puzzle box from the movie Hellraiser. As each piece is moved into the correct configuration position, you can feel the energy change and become almost palpable... and you know that something evil is about to happen.

Those pieces are in motion as a complicit Congress continues to work against the expressed will of the people, and in continued support of a "President" who appears to be concerned about only one thing - increasing his power to control the citizens of the USA through expanded government control of goods and services. Your President now has 37 unelected "Czars", who have gone through no vetting process by the Senate, and are answerable only to the POTUS. Most people probably haven't really thought about this, but I would guess that the position of Czar pays significantly more than minimum wage, and that each Czar will have a staff of... ohhhh, let's be conservative and say 10 people. That increases the size - and cost - of government by 407 people. And these "Czars" seem to have no more qualifications for the political plums they have been given by Obama than do any of his other appointees. But, why should we expect that they would have qualifications, when the President himself doesn't have any qualifications for his job?

The time of "Civil War II" seems to be rapidly approaching. What influences have created this condition?
1. The election of a left-wing/Marxist/socialist/communist/anti-American "President" with no qualifications other than his personal charisma and his ability to read from a teleprompter. Congratulations America - you've done a bang-up job in electing your new leader... I hope the White House has a good On-the-Job Training program! (Please do not ignore the intentional sarcasm)
2. The decimation of our financial infrastructure by a Congress that directed mortgage lenders to loan money (at ridiculously low interest rates) to people who obviously could not afford to repay those loans. Thank you Barney Frank, et al!
3. The highest unemployment rate since the era of the Great Depression. Double-digit unemployment across the country, with some areas reaching 16% and more (like Michigan).
4. Financial bail outs of companies and corporations whose business was purportedly that of managing money! If they couldn't do it properly, then why are we, the taxpayers, giving them more hundreds of billions of tax dollars to keep playing with? They FAILED in their responsibility to their stockholders, and to the public in general. And our government lawyers apparently failed to put any restrictions upon the improper use of those funds. What they should have gotten is tarred and feathered!
5. A $60 million grant to the National Endowment for the Arts with no restrictions upon its use. So, what's the first thing they do with it? Put on a live stage porn show!
6. Your "President" travels the world apologizing for the United States, instead of reciting the list of good that we have done for most of the rest of the world.
7. The government has insinuated itself even deeper into the direct control of industry and finance, and is now working on grabbing control of nationwide health care services. (Euthanasia is not referring to teenyboppers in Thailand - it means when you reach a certain age, be prepared for your government to take steps to "assist" you in ending your life.)
8. The creation of special protections - beyond those guaranteed to all by our Constitution - for particular groups. Groups who are apparently considered more than "equal".
9. The appointment of 37 "Czars" (and their attendant staff members) within an already cash-strapped government system. Of course nobody is recognizing and reporting this for what it truly is - political cronyism.
10. Passing legislation that nobody (with the possible exception of its creator, and possibly not even them) has read! (But the legislation doesn't sound too bad, and it makes Obama feel good.)
11. It is also obvious that our government does not care one iota about what "We the People" want. Our elected officials are too busy insuring that their political party and the corporate lobbyists get what they want!

The list of reasons for social unrest could go on and on. These simply skim the surface by identifying the most obvious reasons. Think of a few of your own dislikes about the path along which your current federal administration is racing. Why did I choose the word "racing" there? Because Obama knows that if he slows down even a bit, even the true dullards of the country would eventually catch on to what it is he's really trying to do!

What influences are apt to circumvent a second Civil War?
1. The initial reluctance of Americans to do battle against other Americans. We are basically a caring people, and see violence only as the "court of last resort"... like if our Constitution were in jeopardy... which it appears to be.
2. Our tendency to disbelieve that our elected government would do anything that ran counter to the best interests of the American citizens. We cling to the ever-dwindling hope that there are still a few people in Congress who are honest, and will refuse to rubber stamp bills without first having an opportunity to read and understand those bills.
3. The fact that, if we were to engage in such a civil war, our enemies in the world - and there are legions of them - would be on us like white on rice (or black on a bowling ball - your choice)! What better time to eliminate those with whom you are in strong political, moral (i.e. - religious) and philosophical disagreement than when they are engaged in internal hostilities? (The million dollar question then becomes; "Could we reconcile our internal differences in time to repel such an attack?" or would we all become subjects of yet another kind of ruling party?)

I'm sure there are many more ways to avoid a "civil" war (talk about your oxymorons!) within our national boundaries, but my mind is weary now, so I'm going to stop thinking about the subject for awhile... and go clean my guns.

I suppose I could be entirely wrong about this, but in this world there is very little that is completely outside the realm of possibility.

Why Is Obama Moving So Quickly To Implement His "Changes"?

There are many things changing under the Obama administration. A few may even be for the benefit of some of the people, but the majority of his changes aren't reported in the media. It may simply be because they are considered minor, or not particularly newsworthy.

Then again, it may be because, if they were made a matter of public record, they would not do anything to maintain Obama's popularity among the left-wing Marxist liberals and the left-wing media who elected him.

Why is Obama moving to implement Marxist controls so quickly? Because if he slows down long enough for people to get a sense for the direction in which he is moving our country, he could find himself looking at impeachment proceedings. What exactly has he done? If you can't tell, then perhaps you should ask the Russians - they can see exactly where he's taking our country (see my blog entry, "When The Russians Can See Where We Are Headed, Why Can't Most Of Us See it?", June 4th, 2009).

Obama has, in any practical sense of the word, nationalized our automotive industry, and our major financial institutions.
1. He has placed Edward Whitaker jr., the former CEO of AT&T, at the helm of GM. Whitaker is a man who is on record as having said, "I don't know anything about cars. I do know about business and I know about big business." Knowing about business - and especially big business - may not be of much help as the Chairman and CEO of General Motors. Trading at under $1 per share, Government Motors barely qualifies as in business!
2. Next we have the appointments to Obama's cabinet posts -
a. Janet Napolitano, the Director of "Homeland Security" is a proponent of open borders! So much for protecting the homeland.
b. Tim Geithner, the Director of the IRS is, himself, a tax dodger! There's not much else one needs to say about that fact.
c. Strangely enough, Leon Panetta, the newly appointed Director of the CIA, seems to be more capable than one might have expected, given that he lacks any background at all in the intelligence field. At least he appears to be (publicly) defending his operatives and their integrity.

Then there's Obama's Supreme Court nominee, Sonia Sotomayor, who is on record with positions indicating she is not just sexist and racist ("I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life."), but she apparently also believes that if a member of a minority group can't qualify for promotion, then you should promote nobody (see Ricci v. DeStefano), thereby punishing the successful candidate(s)! So much for "equal justice under the law".

And, where he can't get support from Congress for changes to the existing laws, he simply issues an Executive Order decreeing a change to be so. On June 10, I posted a blog noting that the administration had, through the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency, reworded USC15, Chapter 29 (Sections 1241-1245, which defines "switchblade knives") to include in that definition any folding knife that could be opened using only one hand... which would include about 112 million thumb-operated, spring-assisted folding knives owned today throughout the USA. Add to that the fact that our State Department may be on the verge of cutting off all imports of certain calibers of firearms ammunition. Ammos listed for this rumored ban include the .50BMG, 7.62x39mm Soviet, 7.62x51mm NATO, .308 Winchester, 5.56 NATO and .223 Remington. Additionally, it's said that an expansion of this proposed ban might be broadened to include the 6.8mm SPC, 9mm Parabellum, .40 S&W, and .45 ACP - among others. In other words, State Department officials may be floating a trial balloon to see if there are howls of protest, or whimpers of compliance (as of this posting I have been unable to confirm this as having become law... yet). This could be seen as a backdoor method by which the government can manipulate its way around the Second Amendment (right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed) by controlling the availability of affordable practice ammunition.

You can now see how quickly the boots of tyranny can trample the rights of "free people"... and how little resistance there is to it. Not because we don't wish to resist, but because we are not informed that there is something which needs to be resisted.

"CONSTITUTION VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW"

As usual, I suppose I could be wrong about this... and I hope I am!

When The Russians Can See Where We Are Headed, Why Can't Most Of Us See it?

The article below was written by Stanislav Mishin, a blogger and columnist for the Russian newspaper Pravda.

American capitalism gone with a whimper . . . . .

It must be said, that like the breaking of a great dam, the American decent into Marxism is happening with breath taking speed, against the back drop of a passive, hapless sheeple, excuse me dear reader, I meant people.

True, the situation has been well prepared on and off for the past century, especially the past twenty years. The initial testing grounds was conducted upon our Holy Russia and a bloody test it was. But we Russians would not just roll over and give up our freedoms and our souls, no matter how much money Wall Street poured into the fists of the Marxists.

Those lessons were taken and used to properly prepare the American populace for the surrender of their freedoms and souls, to the whims of their elites and betters.

First, the population was dumbed down through a politicized and substandard education system based on pop culture, rather than the classics. Americans know more about their favorite TV dramas than the drama in DC that directly affects their lives. They care more for their "right" to choke down a McDonalds burger or a BurgerKing burger than for their constitutional rights. Then they turn around and lecture us (Russia) about our rights and about our "democracy". Pride blinds the foolish.

Then their faith in God was destroyed, until their churches, all tens of thousands of different "branches and denominations" were for the most part little more then Sunday circuses and their televangelists and top protestant mega preachers were more then happy to sell out their souls and flocks to be on the "winning" side of one pseudo Marxist politician or another. Their flocks may complain, but when explained that they would be on the "winning" side, their flocks were ever so quick to reject Christ in hopes for earthly power. Even our Holy Orthodox (Russian Orthodox) churches are scandalously liberalized in America.

The final collapse has come with the election of Barack Obama. His speed in the past three months has been truly impressive. His spending and money printing has been a record setting, not just in America's short history but in the world. If this keeps up for more than another year, and there is no sign that it will not, America at best will resemble the Wiemar Republic and at worst Zimbabwe.

These past two weeks have been the most breath taking of all. First came the announcement of a planned redesign of the American Byzantine tax system, by the very thieves who used it to bankroll their thefts, loses and swindles of hundreds of billions of dollars. These make our Russian oligarchs look little more than ordinary street thugs, in comparison. Yes, the Americans have beat our own thieves in the shear volumes. Should we congratulate them?

These men, of course, are not an elected panel but made up of appointees picked from the very financial oligarchs and their henchmen who are now gorging themselves on trillions of American dollars, in one bailout after another. They are also usurping the rights, duties and powers of the American congress (parliament). Again, congress has put up little more then a whimper to their masters.

Then came Barack Obama's command that GM's (General Motor) president step down from leadership of his company. That is correct, dear reader, in the land of "pure" free markets, the American president now has the power, the self given power, to fire CEOs and we can assume other employees of private companies, at will. Come hither, go dither, the centurion commands his minions.

So it should be no surprise that the American president has followed this up with a "bold" move of declaring that he and another group of unelected, chosen stooges will now redesign the entire automotive industry and will even be the guarantee of automobile policies. I am sure that if given the chance, they would happily try and redesign it for the whole of the world, too. Prime Minister Putin, less then two months ago, warned Obama and UK's Blair, not to follow the path to Marxism, it only leads to disaster. Apparently, even though we suffered 70 years of this Western sponsored horror show, we know nothing, as foolish, drunken Russians, so let our "wise" Anglo-Saxon fools find out the folly of their own pride.

Again, the American public has taken this with barely a whimper...but a "freeman" whimper.

So, should it be any surprise to discover that the Democratically controlled Congress of America is working on passing a new regulation that would give the American Treasury department the power to set "fair" maximum salaries, evaluate performance and control how private companies give out pay raises and bonuses? Senator Barney Franks, a social pervert basking in his homosexuality (of course, amongst the modern, enlightened American societal norm, as well as that of the general West, homosexuality is not only not a looked down upon life choice, but is often praised as a virtue) and his Marxist enlightenment, has led this effort. He stresses that this only affects companies that receive government monies, but it is retroactive and taken to a logical extreme, this would include any company or industry that has ever received a tax break or incentive.

The Russian owners of American companies and industries should look thoughtfully at this and the option of closing their facilities down and fleeing the land of the Red as fast as possible. In other words, divest while there is still value left.

The proud American will go down into his slavery with out a fight, beating his chest and proclaiming to the world, how free he really is. The world will only snicker.

Stanislav Mishin

I wish I could say he was wrong... but he's not! WAKE UP AMERICA!!