11 April 2010

Righting the Wrongs

"I have met with difficulties ... such as I never expected; but they must be borne with. The cause we are engaged in is so just and righteous that we must try to rise superior to every obstacle in its support."

~~ George Washington to Major General Philip Schuyler (Dec. 5, 1775)

I have been much troubled of late, regarding the fight which is even now striving for the heart and soul of America. We seem to be two peoples sharing a common border, but little else.

Beginning nearly a century ago, school curricula began teaching that the founders of this nation were evil white Europeans. Slowly but steadily, the lives and writings of those who painstakingly crafted this Constitutional republic are forgotten, and in their place, we are served pablum ... the most puerile pap imaginable. One daughter's history text, some years ago, had 24 pages about Sacajawea, but ONE PARAGRAPH about George Washington.

Long has the pop culture, and the so-called "mainstream" media told us that conservatives are evil, selfish, greedy, and so on. We're told that whatever their struggles, it has little-to-no relevance to today. After all, these are modern times. Didn't you know?

Bull. That's all a crock of the worst kind of garbage.

The men and women who gave their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor - a term which has nearly no modern equivalent - did NOT fight, stand, and often die so that greedy politicians could take care of us. That is NOT government's job, and I don't care who says it is. Anyone who believes that has been deluded, or is deliberately ignoring the truth.

When President Dwight Eisenhower addressed the students at Columbia University in 1954, he spoke the following words:
Here in America we are descended in spirit from revolutionaries and rebels – men and women who dare to dissent from accepted doctrine.
Absolutely.

We can no longer afford to sit idly by, hoping for the best, while those who hate America are striving to destroy it from within.

The progressives - those who want to progress beyond the Constitution - are in a decades-old struggle to take over this nation, this federation of united States. They know that it cannot be destroyed by conventional means, so they have undertaken to weaken it from within ... to use our compassion, our essential goodness, against us.

They tell us we must "care" about this cause or that ... we must "care" about the hungry, the needy, the disadvantaged. Well, here's a news flash: we do! The citizens of the United States have traditionally contributed more to charity than those of any other nation on earth.

But that's not good enough, they say. The problem is too large, too complex, too daunting for churches, or civic organizations, or charitable foundations to deal with it. Only government can do it properly, they say.

Well, they say LOTS of things. President Lyndon B. Johnson declared war on poverty in 1965; how's that workin' out for ya? Yay, poverty's gone! Oh, wait.

One of the things our domestic enemies tell us is that the Constitutional is just an old document. They say it's no longer pertinent to us, today. Oh, really? Patrick Henry said
The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government – lest it come to dominate our lives and interests.
That Constitution lays out a few specific duties for the "General Government", as Thomas Jefferson phrased it. It also specifically says that anything not specifically spelled out in that document as being the responsibility of that government, is deliberately reserved to the States, or the People. That's the 10th Amendment (in case you've been under a rock for the last year). But the progressives in government, and their appointees who legislate from the judiciary, have been warping that for a long time, now.

Those who love this Union, and the Constitution, and revere the idea that governmental authority flows upward from US, not downward from the government, are now waking up to find the burglar's nearly out the door with all our possessions.

You think you're free? Do you have a permit for concealed carry in your wallet? Did you have to get permission to exercise your unalienable natural right, the one which shall not be infringed?

Ihre Papieren, bitte.

Don't tell me about your driver's license; driving is a privilege, rather than a right. Unfortunately, too many have never been educated as to the difference.

This war - and make no mistake; it is a war for the heart and soul of this country - is here, now. You've watched that General Government ignore the voice of the constituency. You've seen them dismiss concerned and angry citizens at meeting after meeting; talking down to upset voters as if they were unruly children. After all, they say, they know what's best for us. Just shut up and listen, and they'll tell you.

Is your existence so dear that you'll pay any price in taxes, in licenses and fees and fines and penalties, in thousands upon thousands of new laws making your freedom a crime? Or, as Patrick Henry said, "Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?" You know what I mean, folks. Big Brother the Nanny will tell you what's best, after all.

The massive entitlement programs which have been put in place, to enslave generations of Americans, will be tough to dismantle. But we must try. We can't allow the promise of a free lunch to bankrupt us. Unfortunately, the politicians are seemingly ignorant of TANSTAAFL. They need to be educated.

No more. Stand up, my friends. We can not allow this to continue.

I know that many of you are already doing what you can. To those, I say, "Bravo!" But many of us could do more. Our elected officials must understand that we will NOT sink back into slumber while they continue to destroy our liberty, one new regulation at a time.

Just a couple of years ago, the Democrats informed us - while they berated the previous administration in the most hateful and derogatory terms - that dissent is patriotic. Oh, really? Then why are the Tea Partiers told to sit down and shut up? Why are conservatives called the same names now, by those in power? Now dissent is not only unpatriotic, they say, but "hate speech".

As long as there's any hope that peaceful protest will still work, we must be peaceful. But we must also be insistent and steadfast in our determination that they have gone too far. The day could be fast approaching when we may not be able to do - or say - anything at all about it.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Just remember....."they" is just about 50% of this great nation - "you" are only half of us.....quite the dilemma, I know. Wish there was more common ground between us!

joated said...

As more of this nanny state stuff hits BOTH halves, I believe "they" will begin to realize the error they have made in foresaking their freedoms for some temporary gratification.

I am optomistic in believing it is NOT currently a 50-50 split. Rather, I believe the scales have begun to fall from the eyes of those who thought they could live off the teat of the government forever without facing the problem of where the government gets its resources. We shall see if this is true come November.

If the voting populace does not stem the tide of the Democrats' Big Government program or if the Republicans fail to heed the Tea Party message we are indeed headed for tough times--and perhaps violent ones.

Jenny said...

1. I must disagree on the "driving is a privilege" thing. I got told the same thing in high school *mumbledy mumble* years ago, and on reflection, it doesn't wash.

I have a right to travel freely. Saying I have a right to travel freely, but *driving* is a privilege is no different that saying I have a right to self defense, but owning a rifle is a privilege. Or that I have a right to express myself freely...but that operating a computer with an internet connection is a privilege.

If the *ends* are protected, then the *means* must by implication be as well.

Sorry for the sidetrack, but that example just always gets my goat. :)



To your broader point, I think the real solution is generational, cultural. It took generations for the snare to draw this tight. It's going to be generations of movies, TV, and songs opening it back up again in the culture before it ever changes in law.

I do think much of our current state came from a generation or more deciding - some few with conspiratorial intent, most out of simple idealism - that the best place to "make a difference" was in the media of the nation. And after forty odd years of this, here we are.

.. I also think they never counted on the barriers to entry falling so low that any effective monopoly on "legitimate" public discourse they had would be largely erased.


What comes next I'm not sure.. the good part I think is that the Founders and their intention is - Providentially perhaps - coming back on the scene just as the welfare state is nearing the cliff-edge of economics.

The guess we'll have to see is that I think we're at the dawn of world-changing new age of cultural diversification, now that anyone can find themselves in a "community" of like-minded folk, no matter how far removed from the mainstream they are. The "Michael Savage" listener and the "Daily Kos" reader can live side by side in the same neighborhood, and live in totally different worlds.. each convinced that theirs is the mainstream, because that's the majority of their cultural interaction all day. In other words, the "Manhattan Newsroom Effect" on a nationwide scale.


.... gonna be a fun ride. :)

Rev. Paul said...

Jenny, to clarify: driving IS a privilege, and so is owning a vehicle. Yes, the country has an obligation to make travel as safe as possible, so that its citizens can exercise their freedom of travel. Specifically to your point, the Constitution guarantees your right to keep & bear arms; it doesn't guarantee you a right to a particular type of firearm (or broadsword, battle-ax or halberd, for that matter). You have the right to travel, but you are not required to purchase a vehicle in order to exercise that right. I see your point, but let's set that aside, as a pet peeve between friends.

I agree with your last six paragraphs, and hope that "fun" is all it is.

Anonymous said...

HOOORAH!...Well said /Written ......Your most literary piece yet and most eloquent as well....Well Done Paul and THANK YOU!...I just feel better after reading...

Dana

Steven M Nielson said...

Rev - I felt like I was reading myself... it was brilliant (j/k)... This is one of the more moving pieces you have written, to the point, and directly on message! Bravo!