Like everyone else I have watched to see how the kidnapping of Captain Richard Phillips would be resolved. I don't think it is any secret how much I disagree with President Obama on nearly every issue. I am pleased to with his handling of this issue so far. With no military experience, he was smart enough to defer to his military leaders, give them the leeway to do what they have been trained to do, and allow for a successful conclusion to this specific situation.
I have no idea what he will decide to do with the pirate who was captured, or how he will plan to address the whole "pirate" situation, but I believe you give credit where it is due. He behaved like an America President.
And KUDOS to the American military. This is the impression that the world should see: America is not going to allow this kind of tyranny. Period. Doesn't matter if you are some little squirts with nice weapons in international waters, some sociopath running a wanna be nuclear country (Iran), or a body of mamby-pamby diplomats with no teeth (UN)... you don't mess with America. Period. Not only can we deal with you efficiently, we have no hesitation when it comes to doing so.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Tea Parties
Wow! These events have really sprung up everywhere! Lexington Kentucky held an event a few weeks ago. You can see pictures of it at Enraged Conservative.
There are going to be several events on April 15th. I will be attending the Richmond Kentucky Tea Party, on the lawn of the Court House in Downtown Richmond from 12pm-1pm. We understand folks have to work, so we are holding the event at lunch time when we hope most are able to join us. Events are being held all over the state, and the country for that matter.
Lexington will be having their major event on Saturday at Applebee's Park. This is a family event and everyone is welcome to join us.
If you are closer to a large city, I bet there is a demonstration there you can participate in.
Keep in mind- This is not about political party. This is about America. We hired those folks in Washington DC who are spending us into unfathonable debt, taking our Liberty, and imposing unconscionable restraints on our society. They work for us. Its time we made sure they understood, with one voice, that they are not representing our best interests.
If you love America, come and join us. Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, doesn't matter... We need to be heard.
There are going to be several events on April 15th. I will be attending the Richmond Kentucky Tea Party, on the lawn of the Court House in Downtown Richmond from 12pm-1pm. We understand folks have to work, so we are holding the event at lunch time when we hope most are able to join us. Events are being held all over the state, and the country for that matter.
Lexington will be having their major event on Saturday at Applebee's Park. This is a family event and everyone is welcome to join us.
If you are closer to a large city, I bet there is a demonstration there you can participate in.
Keep in mind- This is not about political party. This is about America. We hired those folks in Washington DC who are spending us into unfathonable debt, taking our Liberty, and imposing unconscionable restraints on our society. They work for us. Its time we made sure they understood, with one voice, that they are not representing our best interests.
If you love America, come and join us. Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, doesn't matter... We need to be heard.
Capitalism vs Socialism
People will work harder to further their own lot than they will when their labors go to a common pot and are distributed "fairly" amongst the community.
People found ways meet needs others would pay for, so they could provide for themselves.
Our Founding Fathers understood that people trade their time (the right to life I believe includes the right to determine how the time we are alive is used) for things they value, like food, shelter, clothing, etc. If they were especially good at something, even without an education, they could and would find ways to use their talents to succeed.
This is still true today. Small business is responsible for the majority of the jobs in America. These are the people who put their time, money and talents on the line to try to build a better future for themselves and their families. Without the small business people in this country we would be in worse economic straits than we find ourselves today.
Sure we have mega-companies. There is nothing wrong with that. They provide jobs and fill needs that are perceived within communities. If they didn't there would not survive. After all, you can choose which grocery store you shop at, where you go to purchase clothing... Heck, Lowe's and Home Depot are a perfect example. Both are large companies, employ thousands of people nationwide, and provide a service (building materials, landscaping, etc). You get to choose which one you trade with (trade being the operative word, as you are trading your time for the money you have earned, and then trading that money for the things you choose to purchase). If the market could not support 2 large home improvement enterprises, then one would fail. But my point is, they may employ a lot of people but most of those you see in Wal-Mart do not work for a mega-company. They work for someone who started small and built up their business.
Not only can I trade my time or talents for things I want, but when I have more than I need I get to choose what to do with the surplus. Maybe I expand my business. Maybe I contribute to a charity, a church, or the family down the street who is struggling. Maybe I save it up so when I am too old to work I still have the means to take care of myself. I have a lot of options dont I?
When we depend on someone else, or something else for our daily needs, we give up some of our Liberty, our right to answer to ourselves and no one else. The problem with this is that once you start giving up little bits of your Liberty its much easier to give up more and more. Soon we find we have given up something that was bestowed by God without realizing how valuable it was until it was too late.
So the lesson here is take control of your life. Decide what you want, and figure out legal ways to get it. Do you want to live somewhere else? You are not tied to a specific place unless you choose to be. Do you value education and want to go to school? Its possible, but it will take work. You might qualify for grants or loans, you might choose to work extra jobs to pay your way. I am not saying its easy. Its not. I learned the hard way if you do something because you believe it is expected of you, and not because your heart is really in it, your risk of failure goes up exponentially. But if you believe in yourself, if you believe in your enterprise, you can succeed. Its hard, but if you want it you can make it happen.
If you don't believe you can use your Liberty to better your circumstances, I strongly recommend you read My Grandfather's Son by Justice Clarence Thomas. This man's journey took him from abject poverty to sit on the highest court in the land and he did it with hard work and perseverance. Did he have a mentor or two along way, sure. But no one handed him integrity, a strong work ethic, or the ability to reason and pursue his dreams. He was taught to value those things, to develop them. I have more respect for him than I can put into words. If a young poor black man can do what he has done, how can I complain about the lot in life I have created?
The point here is... guard your Liberty and use it to better yourself. If you do not, you may wake up one day and find that you are just like everyone else, and there is nothing you can do about it!!
There will be more, but my daughter wants to use the computer :) I need to cut her some slack, its Spring Break LOL.
People found ways meet needs others would pay for, so they could provide for themselves.
Our Founding Fathers understood that people trade their time (the right to life I believe includes the right to determine how the time we are alive is used) for things they value, like food, shelter, clothing, etc. If they were especially good at something, even without an education, they could and would find ways to use their talents to succeed.
This is still true today. Small business is responsible for the majority of the jobs in America. These are the people who put their time, money and talents on the line to try to build a better future for themselves and their families. Without the small business people in this country we would be in worse economic straits than we find ourselves today.
Sure we have mega-companies. There is nothing wrong with that. They provide jobs and fill needs that are perceived within communities. If they didn't there would not survive. After all, you can choose which grocery store you shop at, where you go to purchase clothing... Heck, Lowe's and Home Depot are a perfect example. Both are large companies, employ thousands of people nationwide, and provide a service (building materials, landscaping, etc). You get to choose which one you trade with (trade being the operative word, as you are trading your time for the money you have earned, and then trading that money for the things you choose to purchase). If the market could not support 2 large home improvement enterprises, then one would fail. But my point is, they may employ a lot of people but most of those you see in Wal-Mart do not work for a mega-company. They work for someone who started small and built up their business.
Not only can I trade my time or talents for things I want, but when I have more than I need I get to choose what to do with the surplus. Maybe I expand my business. Maybe I contribute to a charity, a church, or the family down the street who is struggling. Maybe I save it up so when I am too old to work I still have the means to take care of myself. I have a lot of options dont I?
When we depend on someone else, or something else for our daily needs, we give up some of our Liberty, our right to answer to ourselves and no one else. The problem with this is that once you start giving up little bits of your Liberty its much easier to give up more and more. Soon we find we have given up something that was bestowed by God without realizing how valuable it was until it was too late.
So the lesson here is take control of your life. Decide what you want, and figure out legal ways to get it. Do you want to live somewhere else? You are not tied to a specific place unless you choose to be. Do you value education and want to go to school? Its possible, but it will take work. You might qualify for grants or loans, you might choose to work extra jobs to pay your way. I am not saying its easy. Its not. I learned the hard way if you do something because you believe it is expected of you, and not because your heart is really in it, your risk of failure goes up exponentially. But if you believe in yourself, if you believe in your enterprise, you can succeed. Its hard, but if you want it you can make it happen.
If you don't believe you can use your Liberty to better your circumstances, I strongly recommend you read My Grandfather's Son by Justice Clarence Thomas. This man's journey took him from abject poverty to sit on the highest court in the land and he did it with hard work and perseverance. Did he have a mentor or two along way, sure. But no one handed him integrity, a strong work ethic, or the ability to reason and pursue his dreams. He was taught to value those things, to develop them. I have more respect for him than I can put into words. If a young poor black man can do what he has done, how can I complain about the lot in life I have created?
The point here is... guard your Liberty and use it to better yourself. If you do not, you may wake up one day and find that you are just like everyone else, and there is nothing you can do about it!!
There will be more, but my daughter wants to use the computer :) I need to cut her some slack, its Spring Break LOL.
Coming back to Earth
I haven't posted for a while.
Frankly I have been so emotionally affected by the events of the last month or so that its just not been possible to put my thoughts to paper (so to speak). Glen Beck calls this effect having blood shoot from your eyes. Its just been overwhelming. I am regaining my equilibrium, so I am back, and I think its time for a quick history lesson. In these events are really important political concepts, which I have highlighted.
First, the Mayflower Experiment. Those who came to the New World agreed to certain rules about how their society would be run. One of the things that they agreed to was that everyone would work to gather and raise food. It would go into a common "store" and it would be available as it was needed by the participants. Nifty idea, everyone works, everyone benefits. (AKA Socialism) Unfortunately, human nature kicked in. Some people realized they could go to the "store" without having worked to contribute to the goods. In reality it turned out that there was not enough food for the people who needed it.
So, they changed the rules. Instead of working for the common good, each individual was provided with a specific plot of land and they were able to keep all the food they were able to produce on their tract of land. This worked out much better. People worked hard and provided for themselves. Some even had extra and shared with those unable to do for themselves. Amazingly they discovered the secret to success for the greatest country in history: People will work harder to further their own lot than they will when their labors go to a common pot and are distributed "fairly" amongst the community.
Later, as the country's population grew, cities were established. After all, we are not all cut out to be farmers. Some people ran taverns (the equivalent of early American restaurants), others were blacksmiths or glass blowers. Newspapers sprung up, doctors and dentist setup practice. People found ways meet needs others would pay for, so they could provide for themselves. In this way they could trade their time (either a service, a labor, or the fruit of their labor) for the goods they needed to live. Welcome Capitalism to the New World!
Funny thing about earning your own money. You just don't want someone else to tell you how to spend it. The United States of America exists because a group of individuals decided that no one -even a King- should be deciding how to spend their money, or run their lives, without someone involved in the decisions representing the them. You remember this phrase from US History right? No Taxation without Representation.
Most of the names you remember from Revolutionary history started out as loyal Englishmen. They didn't want to break away from England, the just wanted the King to see them as participating subjects with a say in legal affairs, and not as an endless source of revenue with nothing in return. The King was not predisposed to take their opinions into consideration, and kept insisting that he had the right to appropriate their money without their agreement.
Now if you have ever worked and earned money, you can understand why this was not acceptable to people. They had a Tea Party, instigated boycotts as a means of civil disobedience; eventually when it became unbearable, broke out the muskets and went to war to protect their right to determine their own fate. Inherent sovereignty is a big deal to Americans.
When the war was over, and America was a fledgling nation, it was necessary to develop a system of government. It took a long time, many arguments and speeches. The founding fathers developed a government that had never been tried in quite the same way anywhere else. It was pretty easy to decide what they did not want: no more despots-there needed to be a balance of powers, and everyone involved needed to answer to the people. That is a bit simplistic, but still speaks to their thinking.
It was important to them that no part of government be able to intimidate the other parts, or wrest power from them. Balance is the key to success. Yes the Legislature makes laws, the Executive does not. The Judicial does not. On the other hand, the Judicial interprets the laws and ensures they are Constitutional. So the Legislature can make all the laws they want to but if they are not Constitutional then the Judicial will strike them down. The Executive can't interpret the law. It can sign a law into existance, or veto it. But it cannot write or interpret the law. Balance. No branch of government gets ALL the power. This is one of the really important concepts of our government.
They also believed deeply in the power of the individual. They built this entire system of government with belief that each person has the power to determine their own fate. In other words, if you work hard you can be or do anything. The only real limits on your success are put in place by your willingness/unwillingness to do what is necessary to get what you want. At the time our country came into being there was some serious class demarcation. People were either wealthy or poor. There wasn't much in between. They were either educated or ignorant, and most were ignorant because there was little formal education available for the common man. Still, the founders believed that people were clever and industrious and would find a way to better their lot in life if they were willing to apply themselves.
Because they believed so much in the individual it was necessary to put extreme limits on the government. This is why the 10th Amendment says:
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.
In other words, Federal Government has its place. There are specific things it can and should do. Everything else belongs to the States and to the People. After all, the individual knows best what is needed in his home, his community, his part of the country. Local oversight will address local issues. We can take care of ourselves pretty well, thank you, and we do not need the Federal Government involved in every aspect of our lives. When we allow the government to take on our responsibilities we relinquish our Liberty.
Next I want to look at how these important political concepts are important today.
Frankly I have been so emotionally affected by the events of the last month or so that its just not been possible to put my thoughts to paper (so to speak). Glen Beck calls this effect having blood shoot from your eyes. Its just been overwhelming. I am regaining my equilibrium, so I am back, and I think its time for a quick history lesson. In these events are really important political concepts, which I have highlighted.
First, the Mayflower Experiment. Those who came to the New World agreed to certain rules about how their society would be run. One of the things that they agreed to was that everyone would work to gather and raise food. It would go into a common "store" and it would be available as it was needed by the participants. Nifty idea, everyone works, everyone benefits. (AKA Socialism) Unfortunately, human nature kicked in. Some people realized they could go to the "store" without having worked to contribute to the goods. In reality it turned out that there was not enough food for the people who needed it.
So, they changed the rules. Instead of working for the common good, each individual was provided with a specific plot of land and they were able to keep all the food they were able to produce on their tract of land. This worked out much better. People worked hard and provided for themselves. Some even had extra and shared with those unable to do for themselves. Amazingly they discovered the secret to success for the greatest country in history: People will work harder to further their own lot than they will when their labors go to a common pot and are distributed "fairly" amongst the community.
Later, as the country's population grew, cities were established. After all, we are not all cut out to be farmers. Some people ran taverns (the equivalent of early American restaurants), others were blacksmiths or glass blowers. Newspapers sprung up, doctors and dentist setup practice. People found ways meet needs others would pay for, so they could provide for themselves. In this way they could trade their time (either a service, a labor, or the fruit of their labor) for the goods they needed to live. Welcome Capitalism to the New World!
Funny thing about earning your own money. You just don't want someone else to tell you how to spend it. The United States of America exists because a group of individuals decided that no one -even a King- should be deciding how to spend their money, or run their lives, without someone involved in the decisions representing the them. You remember this phrase from US History right? No Taxation without Representation.
Most of the names you remember from Revolutionary history started out as loyal Englishmen. They didn't want to break away from England, the just wanted the King to see them as participating subjects with a say in legal affairs, and not as an endless source of revenue with nothing in return. The King was not predisposed to take their opinions into consideration, and kept insisting that he had the right to appropriate their money without their agreement.
Now if you have ever worked and earned money, you can understand why this was not acceptable to people. They had a Tea Party, instigated boycotts as a means of civil disobedience; eventually when it became unbearable, broke out the muskets and went to war to protect their right to determine their own fate. Inherent sovereignty is a big deal to Americans.
When the war was over, and America was a fledgling nation, it was necessary to develop a system of government. It took a long time, many arguments and speeches. The founding fathers developed a government that had never been tried in quite the same way anywhere else. It was pretty easy to decide what they did not want: no more despots-there needed to be a balance of powers, and everyone involved needed to answer to the people. That is a bit simplistic, but still speaks to their thinking.
It was important to them that no part of government be able to intimidate the other parts, or wrest power from them. Balance is the key to success. Yes the Legislature makes laws, the Executive does not. The Judicial does not. On the other hand, the Judicial interprets the laws and ensures they are Constitutional. So the Legislature can make all the laws they want to but if they are not Constitutional then the Judicial will strike them down. The Executive can't interpret the law. It can sign a law into existance, or veto it. But it cannot write or interpret the law. Balance. No branch of government gets ALL the power. This is one of the really important concepts of our government.
They also believed deeply in the power of the individual. They built this entire system of government with belief that each person has the power to determine their own fate. In other words, if you work hard you can be or do anything. The only real limits on your success are put in place by your willingness/unwillingness to do what is necessary to get what you want. At the time our country came into being there was some serious class demarcation. People were either wealthy or poor. There wasn't much in between. They were either educated or ignorant, and most were ignorant because there was little formal education available for the common man. Still, the founders believed that people were clever and industrious and would find a way to better their lot in life if they were willing to apply themselves.
Because they believed so much in the individual it was necessary to put extreme limits on the government. This is why the 10th Amendment says:
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.
In other words, Federal Government has its place. There are specific things it can and should do. Everything else belongs to the States and to the People. After all, the individual knows best what is needed in his home, his community, his part of the country. Local oversight will address local issues. We can take care of ourselves pretty well, thank you, and we do not need the Federal Government involved in every aspect of our lives. When we allow the government to take on our responsibilities we relinquish our Liberty.
Next I want to look at how these important political concepts are important today.
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