Diane Sori
Just got home from Debby Wasserman Schultz's Town Hall meeting in Pembroke Pines. It was as BIG a joke as she is. Can you believe I was asked to remove my American flag because it was too BIG.....well, that's the truth! But let me start at the beginning.
First let me start off by saying she did NOT, repeat NOT, pack the house nor even come close to filling all the seats, and I have pictures to prove it! So when the msm says she spoke before a packed house you guys know that isn't true! Second, one of her opposition candidates, Joe Kaufman, who was just going around the room introducing himself, was asked to leave and was escorted out by security, and again I have pictures to prove it! Why was he escorted out.....for the simple reason he is running AGAINST DWS! It was at this point that I was asked to leave my American flag outside the door. I guess DWS is ashamed of it or something.....maybe it competes with her for attention....who knows!
Anyway, her entire speech was nothing but Republican bashing, everything is the Republican's fault, and Barak NO-bama is the most wonderful president we ever had (gag, gag....needed a 'bamabag' for that one) and the best friend Israel ever had (needed a 'bamabucket' at this point). She went on to say what a wonderful Jew she is, how being Jewish guides everything she does, how she is a breast cancer survivor (everybody knows that all ready.....enough, we're smart enough to know a sympathy ploy when we see one), and she kept name-dropping so much you needed boots to walk through the crap pile!
She stood there and bold faced lied about how the economy is improving, how jobs are being created, hailing how wonderful ObamaCare is and how it has alleviated the donut hole in drug reimbursements, how NO-bama's policies have done more to keep us safe than Bush ever did, how he has made us liked and respected again in the world (gagging just writing that one), how much NO-bama is a friend to Israel, and on and on ad nauseum!
When she was done bloviating it was time for Q&As. We patriots had our hands up ALL the time but she NEVER called on any of us! In fact, every time she even glanced our way, she started figgeting and then started stumbling over her words. I guess true patriots make her nervous, and she knew exactly who we were and why we were there. My question was going to be, 'Debbie, as a Jew, how can you abide No-bama's original demand that Israel return to its pre-67 borders, knowing full well that would be suicide, and why can't you admit in public that there is NO such thing as a Palestinian people, and stand behind the land of your ancestors, and demand that the other HUGE Arab nations take their brethren in?' Is that so terrible......I think NOT.
The questions she took were for the most part just praise of her and praise of NO-bama, and she stretched out each answer as long as she could so she could run the clock out and wouldn't have to pick one of us! What a coward she is that she can't even stand up to her opposition in a simple Q&A format......ignoring us will NOT work, Debbie, because we will NOT go away! And the funniest part were the people in the audience who were actually drooling and fawning over her every word like she was the 'anointed one' junior!
If ever there was a 'fixed' meeting, this was it! Hope you enjoy it while you can Debbie, because you will soon be packing your bags, because we patriots WILL get the vote out and kick the whole lot of you libertards back to where you came from.
" Pleasant Words are like a honeycomb, Sweetness to the soul and health to the bones"... Proverbs 16:24
Monday, October 31, 2011
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Tarek Fatah Talk at ideacity 2011
If you never watch another video, please watch this one. The speaker is an Indian Muslim who is warning us to wake up. He has tremendous courage and pulls no punches on what is happening with Islamist fascism. Make sure you listen to the end of the tape where he says we now have three members of the Muslim Brotherhood in the White House (and names them).
He is elderly and in a wheel chair recovering from cancer treatments - perhaps that's why he has the courage to speak out. This is probably one of the most important messages of our day.
He is elderly and in a wheel chair recovering from cancer treatments - perhaps that's why he has the courage to speak out. This is probably one of the most important messages of our day.
Watch live streaming video from ideacity at livestream.com
The Fatherhood of God... The Institute for Creation Research - Days of Praise
The Fatherhood of God
October 19, 2011
"For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring." (Acts 17:28)
"The fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man" was a religious cliché promoted for many years, especially by religious liberals in the period between the two world wars. However, continuing hostilities between and inside most nations now make the idea of universal brotherhood in this present world almost farcical.
The fact is, however, that God truly is the Father of all men, in the sense that He created them all. "Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us?" (Malachi 2:10). That was the rhetorical question posed to Israel in the last book of the Old Testament. In the New Testament the apostle Paul confirmed the same great truth to the pagan Gentiles. "|God| hath made of one blood all nations of men to dwell on all the face of the earth," and "we are the offspring of God" (Acts 17:26, 29).
The sad fact is, however, that most men and women have actually become "children of the wicked one" (Matthew 13:38) because of sin. We can only become spiritual children of the heavenly Father by being born again through faith in Christ. But we then truly "become the sons of God," as assured to all those who "believe on his name" (John 1:12).
Now we believers can all rejoice in the wonderful truth that we have the same heavenly Father. We have been "renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, . . . but Christ is all, and in all" (Colossians 3:10-11).
May God help those of us who are (or will someday become) fathers on earth to truly be children of our Father in heaven and thereby be genuine models of the heavenly Father to our human children here on earth. HMM
October 19, 2011
"For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring." (Acts 17:28)
"The fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man" was a religious cliché promoted for many years, especially by religious liberals in the period between the two world wars. However, continuing hostilities between and inside most nations now make the idea of universal brotherhood in this present world almost farcical.
The fact is, however, that God truly is the Father of all men, in the sense that He created them all. "Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us?" (Malachi 2:10). That was the rhetorical question posed to Israel in the last book of the Old Testament. In the New Testament the apostle Paul confirmed the same great truth to the pagan Gentiles. "|God| hath made of one blood all nations of men to dwell on all the face of the earth," and "we are the offspring of God" (Acts 17:26, 29).
The sad fact is, however, that most men and women have actually become "children of the wicked one" (Matthew 13:38) because of sin. We can only become spiritual children of the heavenly Father by being born again through faith in Christ. But we then truly "become the sons of God," as assured to all those who "believe on his name" (John 1:12).
Now we believers can all rejoice in the wonderful truth that we have the same heavenly Father. We have been "renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, . . . but Christ is all, and in all" (Colossians 3:10-11).
May God help those of us who are (or will someday become) fathers on earth to truly be children of our Father in heaven and thereby be genuine models of the heavenly Father to our human children here on earth. HMM
Monday, October 17, 2011
Following the Mark... The Institute for Creation Research Days Of Praise
Following the Mark
October 17, 2011
"Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:13-14)
Paul called his personal achievements (Philippians 3:4-6) as valuable as dung (v. 8), rejecting his own righteousness (v. 9). Now he is focused on reaching the "high calling of God in Christ Jesus." He is well aware that he has not already attained God's ultimate design for him, nor is he perfect in any sense of what he will become, but he intends to follow after and be "apprehended" of the Lord Jesus (Philippians 3:12).
To begin with, Paul knows that he must forget "those things which are behind." Not only his rather stellar reputation and achievements, but especially the awful conditions of being "without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world" (Ephesians 2:12). Those terrible conditions were done away with when Paul (and those of us who are twice-born) were created after God "in righteousness and true holiness" (Ephesians 4:24).
Now, having been apprehended of Christ and forgetting those things that were part of our old lives, we can "press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus" (today's verse). Like for an athelete, the prize is gained only by those who win, not by those who run "uncertainly" (1 Corinthians 9:24, 26).
Thus, we cannot win if we have "two masters" (Luke 16:13), nor can we please "him who has chosen" us if we entangle ourselves with the affairs of this life (2 Timothy 2:4). May God keep us focused on the prize. HMM III
October 17, 2011
"Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:13-14)
Paul called his personal achievements (Philippians 3:4-6) as valuable as dung (v. 8), rejecting his own righteousness (v. 9). Now he is focused on reaching the "high calling of God in Christ Jesus." He is well aware that he has not already attained God's ultimate design for him, nor is he perfect in any sense of what he will become, but he intends to follow after and be "apprehended" of the Lord Jesus (Philippians 3:12).
To begin with, Paul knows that he must forget "those things which are behind." Not only his rather stellar reputation and achievements, but especially the awful conditions of being "without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world" (Ephesians 2:12). Those terrible conditions were done away with when Paul (and those of us who are twice-born) were created after God "in righteousness and true holiness" (Ephesians 4:24).
Now, having been apprehended of Christ and forgetting those things that were part of our old lives, we can "press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus" (today's verse). Like for an athelete, the prize is gained only by those who win, not by those who run "uncertainly" (1 Corinthians 9:24, 26).
Thus, we cannot win if we have "two masters" (Luke 16:13), nor can we please "him who has chosen" us if we entangle ourselves with the affairs of this life (2 Timothy 2:4). May God keep us focused on the prize. HMM III
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Occupy Washington, D.C. This is not a Liberal Group it is a Socialist Group and most don't even know it!!!
Occupy Washington, D.C.
“When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.” “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 to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.” – from the U.S. Declaration of Independence An undisclosed number of American Veterans and former service members have come together to prepare and present this Call-to-Action on behalf of the U.S. Constitution, the Republic, the Rule of Law and equal justice for all freedom loving citizens of the United States of America. Acting together as one, via The Veteran Defenders of America, co-sponsored by civilian patriot group The Unites States Patriots Union, LLC – we issue the following CALL for peaceful disobedience. 1.We CALL upon every member of federal, state and local government, legislative, judicial, law enforcement and military, who have taken an oath to protect and defend the Constitutional Republic from all enemies, foreign and domestic, to act upon those oaths for the stated purpose of restoring the Constitutional Republic. 2.We CALL upon ALL veterans and veteran organizations in America, who still believe in their oath to protect and defend, to unite with us at once - in this Declaration to Restore the Constitutional Republic. 3.We CALL for ALL citizens who still desire freedom and liberty, to stand with us in peaceful protest, and carry our demands to right the wrongs against our nation in the preservation of freedom, liberty, justice and the rule of law. This is a NATIONWIDE Call-to-Action! “We are Facing a Battle That Will Decide our Fate as a Nation!” – Maj. Gen. Paul Vallely (Ret.) The time to unite and fight for the American way of life has arrived… We did not choose this fight, or this time. The fight has come to us in our time and we will not shrink from our responsibility to protect and defend the United States of America, our Constitutional Republic, and the American way of life. We CALL upon ALL freedom loving Americans to JOIN US in this honorable endeavor. We do so on the following basis… Abuses and Usurpations Barack Obama’s once strong approval rating now stands at only 19%. The approval rating of congress is no better. The people have lost all faith in their government… The demise of our Constitutional Republic has been underway for nearly a hundred years. As the people placidly accepted intolerable offenses against the republic, the states, and the Constitution for decades, the Central power in Washington D.C. grew ever more powerful, ever more abusive, and ever more disconnected from the very people it was formed to represent. During the last three years, the current administration has committed the most egregious offenses against the people, the states and the Constitution, since the founding of our country and today, they operate as a virtual dictatorship, against the governed, beyond the scope and authority the people granted them in the Constitution and at odds with the will of the vast majority of American citizens. The actions of the Obama Administration in total, rise to the level of treason against the United States and its people. The Democratic Socialists of America are currently running Washington D.C. and they recently issued this statement in a Call-to-Action for their millions of members – “We are the alternative to the tea party conservatives, the Republicans whose only program is to say no, the Democrats who have forgotten what progressive politics really are and the progressives who think that they can stand apart from the left.” This must not be permitted to stand… Among other offenses, abuses and usurpations, is the following list of transgressions – (detailed in Appendix A) - altering our constitutional form of government and system of justice without authority… ■ Violations against Article I of the U.S. Constitution - Congress ■ Violations against Article II of the U.S. Constitution - The office of President ■ Violations against Article III of the U.S. Constitution - Judicial Powers ■ Violations against Article IV of the U.S. Constitution - The State ■ Violations against Article V of the U.S. Constitution - The Amendment Process ■ Violations against Article VI of the U.S. Constitution - Oath to the Constitution ■ Violations against the 1st Amendment of the Bill of Rights ■ Violations against the 2nd Amendment of the Bill of Rights ■ Violations against the 3rd Amendment of the Bill of Rights ■ Violations against the 4th Amendment of the Bill of Rights ■ Violations against the 5th Amendment of the Bill of Rights ■ Violations against the 6th Amendment of the Bill of Rights ■ Violations against the 7th Amendment of the Bill of Rights ■ Violations against the 8th Amendment of the Bill of Rights ■ Violations against the 9th Amendment of the Bill of Rights ■ Violations against the 10th Amendment of the Bill of Rights ■ Unlawful use of Military force, here and abroad ■ Violations of International Treaties and Laws ■ Numerous violations of the public trust ■ Misuse of the people’s resources ■ The bankrupting of the nation, the states and the people ■ Taxation without representation ■ Confiscation and Redistribution of the people’s earned assets ■ Abuse of Judicial power At this late date, the individually itemized list of abuses and usurpations would require an encyclopedia of unconstitutional offenses to the Republic and there is no evidence to suggest that there remains even one legitimate honest courtroom in the country to which all evidence could be presented. There is no Article or Amendment of the U.S. Constitution which the current leadership in Washington D.C. has not abused and/or usurped over the last three years. As a result, the normal courses of action for redress may not be adequate to solve the problem today, as all three branches of the federal government are currently acting as one, all of them beyond the scope and power granted them by the Constitution, against the principles of freedom, liberty and self-governance, and at odds with the vast majority of citizens. Yet the Constitutional Representative Republic must be restored, no matter the means or the cost. It is on this foundation that we morally and rightfully call for all good people to rise up, stand together, move to restore the Constitutional Republic, and hold those who have and would stand against the people, fully accountable. WE THE PEOPLE On behalf of the Veterans and former Service Members of America, who fought and died for freedom and liberty here and abroad, and all good and decent American citizens from sea to shining sea, we the people of the United States of America hereby demand the immediate restoration of our Constitutional Republic and an end to the Democratic Socialist abuses and usurpations which have become commonplace in the daily corruption of our governmental offices. As the true American people sit idle, the enemy grows in number and strength. No longer will we sit idly by and tolerate the utter destruction of our country, at the hands of anti-American elitists in Washington D.C. who have mistaken the people’s peaceful tolerance for acceptance of their ill-advised behaviors. The time for all good and decent Americans to stand together, in defense of the Constitution, the Republic, freedom and liberty, has arrived. The Rule of Constitutional Law must prevail. We call upon all who have taken an oath to protect and defend, to take appropriate measures now. We the people hereby demand 1.The immediate and unconditional orderly resignation of Barack Hussein Obama, II 2.The immediate and unconditional orderly resignation of Joseph R. Biden In addition to the known fact that the Obama/Biden ticket was advanced by way of fraudulent representations concerning the constitutional eligibility of Barack Hussein Obama II, under Article II requirements for the office of President, the Obama/Biden has committed countless crimes against the U.S. Constitution, our Republican form of government and the American people while in control of the Executive Branch. They are not able to do this alone, but with the help and cover of many anti-American players, who have also acted at odds with their oaths to protect and defend the Constitution, our Republic and the people of the United States. As a result, these players must be removed from office and held accountable for their actions as well. This group includes, but is not limited to the following individuals - 1.The immediate and unconditional orderly resignation of the entire Obama Cabinet, including but not limited to; ■ the White House staff and unelected Czar’s ■ Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton ■ Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner ■ Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta ■ Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr. ■ Interior Secretary Kenneth L. Salazar ■ Acting Commerce Secretary Dr. Rebecca M. Blank ■ Labor Secretary Hilda L. Solis ■ Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius ■ Energy Secretary Steven Chu ■ Education Secretary Arne Duncan ■ Homeland Security Secretary Janet A. Napolitano ■ EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson ■ Office of Management & Budget Director Jacob J. Lew ■ UN Ambassador Susan Rice, the entire Council of Economic Advisers ■ Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan ■ Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor ■· House Speaker John Boehner ■· House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi ■· Senate Leader Harry Reid ■ Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell – all of whom have committed treasonous acts against the people, the states and the U.S. Constitution. Further, to reinstate the rule of law and the Law of this Land, the U.S. Constitution and our constitutional republic - 1.In compliance with Article II – Section I of the U.S. Constitution for the Removal of the President from Office, or of his Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office, the Same shall devolve on the Vice President, -- the Congress may by Law provide for the Case of Removal, Death, Resignation or Inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring what Officer shall then act as President, and such Officer shall act accordingly, until the Disability be removed, or a President shall be elected. 2.That every verifiable member of The Communist Party USA, The Socialist Party USA and The Democratic Socialists of America be immediately publicly identified and removed from office for overtly acting against freedom, liberty and the Constitutional Republic. 3.That in the event that these individuals refuse to immediately resign in an orderly fashion designed to serve the best interests of the United States, we demand that the 66 members of the people’s House who voted against the recent raising of the nation’s debt ceiling, to immediately begin impeachment proceedings against every member of the Obama administration. 4.That the seven remaining members of the U.S. Supreme Court place an immediate stay on all Executive and Legislative actions taken under the term of the unconstitutional administration beginning January 20, 2009. 5.That remaining members of the House and Senate immediately act to name new majority and minority leaders of congress, and work with the U.S. Supreme Court in the assigning of new temporary Executive Branch members, acting on behalf of the people and the will of the American majority until such time that the citizens of the United States can elect their new representatives in 2012. 6.The immediate and unconditional dissolution of all special interest congressional caucuses, including but not limited to The Progressive Caucus, The Black Caucus. In addition, the immediate closure of any and all congressional committees which have been given unconstitutional powers, including the Debt Committee of twelve just formed. Individuals are elected by the people to represent ALL of the people, not special interest groups. 7.That each state government immediately act to enforce its 10th Amendment right to protect and defend the people of their state against a tyrannical central power in Washington D.C., by recalling all State Guard troops home to protect the sovereignty and security of their respective citizens, as well as state resources and governments. 8.That each state government act immediately to cut itself off from federal funding, and take the necessary actions to balance their own state and local budgets immediately. These are our initial demands and nothing less than complete compliance with each of these demands is acceptable to the people of the United States. These demands have been published for public support and delivered to all members of Congress. Further, it is our position that the normal constitutional line of succession to the presidency does not apply in this circumstance, due to the widespread complicity by members of congress, regarding both the original fraud that placed this administration in power and the ongoing effort to cover up the greatest fraud ever perpetrated on the American citizens. The abuse and usurpation of the U.S. Constitution will not be allowed to stand. It is on this basis that We the People make these demands, in full compliance with the law of this land, the Constitution of the United States of America. It is our sincere desire to affect these immediate and unconditional changes to the people’s government through peaceful processes, causing a minimum degree of disruption to the vital ongoing business of the people and their representative government. The individuals named in our demand for immediate and unconditional resignations have acted directly and overtly against the people, the states and the Constitution and they must be held fully accountable for their actions. Call for the People to ACT Now! We are openly calling for the American people to draw a final line in the sand and take a moral and righteous stand for the Constitutional Republic, the rule of law and the future of freedom and liberty. The time to be tolerant and silent has passed and the time for serious action has arrived. Only the people can restore the Constitution as the Supreme Law of this Land. We must do it peacefully if at all possible and our Founders provided all the tools necessary for peaceful corrections of a ship set off course by internal enemies. We are calling for the following specific actions, by every active and former service member and every patriotic citizen, no matter their political stripe... ■ We call upon all members of the U.S. Military, the U.S. Supreme Court, Federal, State, County, Local Law Enforcement, and all Intelligence agencies, to direct all assets of the people of the United States towards the restoration of the Constitutional Republic and stand with the American citizens in compliance with their oath to protect and defend the U.S. Constitution and the people of the United States. ■ We call upon ALL American citizens to provide necessary pressure on all law enforcement, judicial, intelligence and military agencies, until those who have sworn to protect and defend the Constitution begin to act upon those oaths. ■ The current administration has done all it can to whip racial tensions and class warfare into full-blown riots and civil war, including scheduling a “U.S. Day of Rage” for communists, labor union socialists, illegal immigrants, Muslims and blacks across the country. Their “Day of Rage” was scheduled for Constitution Day, September 17, 2011, and although it was a total flop, they will continue to rage against America. It is an open assault on free-market capitalism, waged by modern day Marxists who must be stripped of their entitlement mentality. The LEFT is also planning a “Cairo style occupation of Washington in October, on the ground on Wall Street now and headed towards Washington D.C.” These events are being run by the Obama White House, via a number of left-wing front organizations. ■ We The Veteran Defenders of America and The United States Patriots Union call for a “unified march” from ALL fifty (50) states to Washington D.C. on Friday November 11, 2011, Veterans Day - led by American veterans and former service members with a clear purpose – to demand the immediate restoration of the U.S. Constitution, the removal and prosecution all of the individuals named herein, by voluntary resignation or articles of impeachment, and the end to Sharia Law on American soil. The Veterans March on D.C. Day – In defense of freedom, liberty and justice. ■ We call for all Americans who truly do support our troops to march on D.C. with our veterans. We call upon ALL independent truckers, independent contractors, all non-union workers, all independent business owners, agents and investors, all who support free-market capitalism and the right to work, earn and own, to march together with our veterans and former service members on November 11, 2011 – Veterans Day! ■ To be prepared to act as citizens to protect and preserve the Constitutional Republic, in the event that our public servants, who have sworn an oath to the Constitutional Republic, refuse for any reason, to act upon those oaths. ■ To act peacefully, but prepared for a violent reaction from our nation’s enemies. To avoid if possible, the RACE WAR being incited by the Obama Administration and the Black and Progressive Caucus’s. ■ Locally, to confront all anti-American infringements upon our Natural Rights with boots on the ground whenever and wherever local, state or federal officials act beyond their scope of authority, or at odds with the Constitutional Rights of the people. ■ To begin to openly identify and address government corruption at the local, county and state levels, too often found in both governmental and law enforcement offices, also sworn to protect and serve the people of the United States. ■ To be ready and willing to end the taxation without real representation by refusing to fund the anti-American regime currently in control of Washington D.C., until such time as the taxpayers of this nation are once again properly represented. ■ To make the necessary provisions to secure and protect your families and neighborhoods in the event of economic instability and social chaos, similar to events already witnessed abroad, by stocking up on cash, food and water supplies, as well as personal protection items. ■ In the event that the current administration or its thug supporters attempt to use government or civilian force and violence to silence the people, as in the cases of Syria, Libya, Yemen, China’s Tiananmen Square, the Bonus Army of 1932 in the United States, or the UK presently wrestling with black and Muslim violence, the people must be prepared to defend themselves against such tyrannical tactics. We cannot expect that the federal government will act in the best interest of American veterans or citizens. This CALL FOR ACTION is being issued as a joint initiative, by the leaders and members of The Veteran Defenders of America, The United States Patriots Union. All citizens who want to see the Constitutional Republic restored immediately are encouraged to immediately join one of these unified organizations and become directly engaged in our joint missions to restore America to that shining city on a hill, and beacon of freedom and liberty around the world. We the People are the solution! Volunteer leaders across the country must join one of these organizations to take part in leading in their local areas. All supporters who do not wish to join these organizations but who do support the initiative can keep up with information concerning the action here. Foundation for Our United Action Our Declaration of 1776 establishes the principles upon which The United States of America was founded. On September 17, 1787, our nation’s Founders ratified The United States Constitution, forming a Constitutional Representative Republic as our system of self-governance. From that day forward, the American people are guaranteed a Constitutional Representative Republic of, by and for the people, which was to at all times, operate within the confines of the limited authority provided the government by the people and their respective states. For decades, our federal government has been operating beyond its constitutional authority, infringing upon the Natural Rights of every American citizen and every American enterprise, until our government has indeed become destructive of the common cause of freedom and liberty. In its usurpations of the Constitution, it has committed atrocities against the people for which it was designed to protect and serve, until the people are forced to rise up in the name of freedom and liberty, casting off the shackles of soft tyranny and it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. When a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. Our United Mission We are finished with changing America to suit every anti-American whim… This time, the change is coming to Washington D.C. It is not our intent to separate from any foreign King, nor to abolish or alter our Constitutional Representative Republic, but rather to restore it, as the Supreme law of this land, under which both the government and the governed must live. Our united mission is to end the march of democratic socialism, which has become the most dangerous modern threat to American peace, prosperity, freedom and liberty and reinstate the republican form of self-governance guaranteed every citizen in the U.S. Constitution. To accomplish this objective, the people responsible for the usurpation of the Constitution must be immediately removed from office and held fully accountable for their actions, setting an example for future generations, who must also be forever vigilant in the common defense of freedom and liberty. The long train of abuses and usurpations must be brought to a swift end and the Constitutional Republic must prevail, or the United States of America will soon cease to exist. Our mission is just – it is moral – it is legal and constitutional and it is necessary… This is not a call to overthrow our entire institutions of government, or subvert the Law of the Land, but rather to restore those institutions to their honorable constitutional forms. As such, and under their oaths to the Constitution and the people whom they are sworn to protect and defend against all enemies, foreign and domestic, it is incumbent upon every citizen, veteran, soldier, officer and agent to use the tools of the people to protect the people and return our government to a Constitutional Republic of, by and for the people. Let Freedom Ring! May the Creator, who endowed each of us with certain unalienable rights, among them the right to Life, Liberty and the individual Pursuit of Happiness free from government tyranny, bless this mission of, by and for the people of the United States, and may the Lord let freedom ring in America, once again. We demand an end to government corruption, an end to despotic leadership in D.C., an end to the current assault on all decent and honest American taxpayers, businesses and honorable public servants of the people. We demand the peaceful return of the people’s government, and we will remain resolute in the defense of the Constitution and the United States of America until the people can once again, feel secure in their nation and government. IN GOD WE TRUST! JOIN the MISSION HERE - http://www.veterandefenders.org/ or HERE - http://www.patriotsunion.org/ Non-member supporters can follow the mission here - http://www.facebook.com/groups/262343767138128/ Sign your name in support of the mission here!- http://military.gras.me/register/register.aspx?c=VET Requests for information or interviews should be sent here: https://www.patriotsunion.org/contact/contact.htm
“When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.” “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 to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.” – from the U.S. Declaration of Independence An undisclosed number of American Veterans and former service members have come together to prepare and present this Call-to-Action on behalf of the U.S. Constitution, the Republic, the Rule of Law and equal justice for all freedom loving citizens of the United States of America. Acting together as one, via The Veteran Defenders of America, co-sponsored by civilian patriot group The Unites States Patriots Union, LLC – we issue the following CALL for peaceful disobedience. 1.We CALL upon every member of federal, state and local government, legislative, judicial, law enforcement and military, who have taken an oath to protect and defend the Constitutional Republic from all enemies, foreign and domestic, to act upon those oaths for the stated purpose of restoring the Constitutional Republic. 2.We CALL upon ALL veterans and veteran organizations in America, who still believe in their oath to protect and defend, to unite with us at once - in this Declaration to Restore the Constitutional Republic. 3.We CALL for ALL citizens who still desire freedom and liberty, to stand with us in peaceful protest, and carry our demands to right the wrongs against our nation in the preservation of freedom, liberty, justice and the rule of law. This is a NATIONWIDE Call-to-Action! “We are Facing a Battle That Will Decide our Fate as a Nation!” – Maj. Gen. Paul Vallely (Ret.) The time to unite and fight for the American way of life has arrived… We did not choose this fight, or this time. The fight has come to us in our time and we will not shrink from our responsibility to protect and defend the United States of America, our Constitutional Republic, and the American way of life. We CALL upon ALL freedom loving Americans to JOIN US in this honorable endeavor. We do so on the following basis… Abuses and Usurpations Barack Obama’s once strong approval rating now stands at only 19%. The approval rating of congress is no better. The people have lost all faith in their government… The demise of our Constitutional Republic has been underway for nearly a hundred years. As the people placidly accepted intolerable offenses against the republic, the states, and the Constitution for decades, the Central power in Washington D.C. grew ever more powerful, ever more abusive, and ever more disconnected from the very people it was formed to represent. During the last three years, the current administration has committed the most egregious offenses against the people, the states and the Constitution, since the founding of our country and today, they operate as a virtual dictatorship, against the governed, beyond the scope and authority the people granted them in the Constitution and at odds with the will of the vast majority of American citizens. The actions of the Obama Administration in total, rise to the level of treason against the United States and its people. The Democratic Socialists of America are currently running Washington D.C. and they recently issued this statement in a Call-to-Action for their millions of members – “We are the alternative to the tea party conservatives, the Republicans whose only program is to say no, the Democrats who have forgotten what progressive politics really are and the progressives who think that they can stand apart from the left.” This must not be permitted to stand… Among other offenses, abuses and usurpations, is the following list of transgressions – (detailed in Appendix A) - altering our constitutional form of government and system of justice without authority… ■ Violations against Article I of the U.S. Constitution - Congress ■ Violations against Article II of the U.S. Constitution - The office of President ■ Violations against Article III of the U.S. Constitution - Judicial Powers ■ Violations against Article IV of the U.S. Constitution - The State ■ Violations against Article V of the U.S. Constitution - The Amendment Process ■ Violations against Article VI of the U.S. Constitution - Oath to the Constitution ■ Violations against the 1st Amendment of the Bill of Rights ■ Violations against the 2nd Amendment of the Bill of Rights ■ Violations against the 3rd Amendment of the Bill of Rights ■ Violations against the 4th Amendment of the Bill of Rights ■ Violations against the 5th Amendment of the Bill of Rights ■ Violations against the 6th Amendment of the Bill of Rights ■ Violations against the 7th Amendment of the Bill of Rights ■ Violations against the 8th Amendment of the Bill of Rights ■ Violations against the 9th Amendment of the Bill of Rights ■ Violations against the 10th Amendment of the Bill of Rights ■ Unlawful use of Military force, here and abroad ■ Violations of International Treaties and Laws ■ Numerous violations of the public trust ■ Misuse of the people’s resources ■ The bankrupting of the nation, the states and the people ■ Taxation without representation ■ Confiscation and Redistribution of the people’s earned assets ■ Abuse of Judicial power At this late date, the individually itemized list of abuses and usurpations would require an encyclopedia of unconstitutional offenses to the Republic and there is no evidence to suggest that there remains even one legitimate honest courtroom in the country to which all evidence could be presented. There is no Article or Amendment of the U.S. Constitution which the current leadership in Washington D.C. has not abused and/or usurped over the last three years. As a result, the normal courses of action for redress may not be adequate to solve the problem today, as all three branches of the federal government are currently acting as one, all of them beyond the scope and power granted them by the Constitution, against the principles of freedom, liberty and self-governance, and at odds with the vast majority of citizens. Yet the Constitutional Representative Republic must be restored, no matter the means or the cost. It is on this foundation that we morally and rightfully call for all good people to rise up, stand together, move to restore the Constitutional Republic, and hold those who have and would stand against the people, fully accountable. WE THE PEOPLE On behalf of the Veterans and former Service Members of America, who fought and died for freedom and liberty here and abroad, and all good and decent American citizens from sea to shining sea, we the people of the United States of America hereby demand the immediate restoration of our Constitutional Republic and an end to the Democratic Socialist abuses and usurpations which have become commonplace in the daily corruption of our governmental offices. As the true American people sit idle, the enemy grows in number and strength. No longer will we sit idly by and tolerate the utter destruction of our country, at the hands of anti-American elitists in Washington D.C. who have mistaken the people’s peaceful tolerance for acceptance of their ill-advised behaviors. The time for all good and decent Americans to stand together, in defense of the Constitution, the Republic, freedom and liberty, has arrived. The Rule of Constitutional Law must prevail. We call upon all who have taken an oath to protect and defend, to take appropriate measures now. We the people hereby demand 1.The immediate and unconditional orderly resignation of Barack Hussein Obama, II 2.The immediate and unconditional orderly resignation of Joseph R. Biden In addition to the known fact that the Obama/Biden ticket was advanced by way of fraudulent representations concerning the constitutional eligibility of Barack Hussein Obama II, under Article II requirements for the office of President, the Obama/Biden has committed countless crimes against the U.S. Constitution, our Republican form of government and the American people while in control of the Executive Branch. They are not able to do this alone, but with the help and cover of many anti-American players, who have also acted at odds with their oaths to protect and defend the Constitution, our Republic and the people of the United States. As a result, these players must be removed from office and held accountable for their actions as well. This group includes, but is not limited to the following individuals - 1.The immediate and unconditional orderly resignation of the entire Obama Cabinet, including but not limited to; ■ the White House staff and unelected Czar’s ■ Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton ■ Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner ■ Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta ■ Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr. ■ Interior Secretary Kenneth L. Salazar ■ Acting Commerce Secretary Dr. Rebecca M. Blank ■ Labor Secretary Hilda L. Solis ■ Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius ■ Energy Secretary Steven Chu ■ Education Secretary Arne Duncan ■ Homeland Security Secretary Janet A. Napolitano ■ EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson ■ Office of Management & Budget Director Jacob J. Lew ■ UN Ambassador Susan Rice, the entire Council of Economic Advisers ■ Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan ■ Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor ■· House Speaker John Boehner ■· House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi ■· Senate Leader Harry Reid ■ Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell – all of whom have committed treasonous acts against the people, the states and the U.S. Constitution. Further, to reinstate the rule of law and the Law of this Land, the U.S. Constitution and our constitutional republic - 1.In compliance with Article II – Section I of the U.S. Constitution for the Removal of the President from Office, or of his Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office, the Same shall devolve on the Vice President, -- the Congress may by Law provide for the Case of Removal, Death, Resignation or Inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring what Officer shall then act as President, and such Officer shall act accordingly, until the Disability be removed, or a President shall be elected. 2.That every verifiable member of The Communist Party USA, The Socialist Party USA and The Democratic Socialists of America be immediately publicly identified and removed from office for overtly acting against freedom, liberty and the Constitutional Republic. 3.That in the event that these individuals refuse to immediately resign in an orderly fashion designed to serve the best interests of the United States, we demand that the 66 members of the people’s House who voted against the recent raising of the nation’s debt ceiling, to immediately begin impeachment proceedings against every member of the Obama administration. 4.That the seven remaining members of the U.S. Supreme Court place an immediate stay on all Executive and Legislative actions taken under the term of the unconstitutional administration beginning January 20, 2009. 5.That remaining members of the House and Senate immediately act to name new majority and minority leaders of congress, and work with the U.S. Supreme Court in the assigning of new temporary Executive Branch members, acting on behalf of the people and the will of the American majority until such time that the citizens of the United States can elect their new representatives in 2012. 6.The immediate and unconditional dissolution of all special interest congressional caucuses, including but not limited to The Progressive Caucus, The Black Caucus. In addition, the immediate closure of any and all congressional committees which have been given unconstitutional powers, including the Debt Committee of twelve just formed. Individuals are elected by the people to represent ALL of the people, not special interest groups. 7.That each state government immediately act to enforce its 10th Amendment right to protect and defend the people of their state against a tyrannical central power in Washington D.C., by recalling all State Guard troops home to protect the sovereignty and security of their respective citizens, as well as state resources and governments. 8.That each state government act immediately to cut itself off from federal funding, and take the necessary actions to balance their own state and local budgets immediately. These are our initial demands and nothing less than complete compliance with each of these demands is acceptable to the people of the United States. These demands have been published for public support and delivered to all members of Congress. Further, it is our position that the normal constitutional line of succession to the presidency does not apply in this circumstance, due to the widespread complicity by members of congress, regarding both the original fraud that placed this administration in power and the ongoing effort to cover up the greatest fraud ever perpetrated on the American citizens. The abuse and usurpation of the U.S. Constitution will not be allowed to stand. It is on this basis that We the People make these demands, in full compliance with the law of this land, the Constitution of the United States of America. It is our sincere desire to affect these immediate and unconditional changes to the people’s government through peaceful processes, causing a minimum degree of disruption to the vital ongoing business of the people and their representative government. The individuals named in our demand for immediate and unconditional resignations have acted directly and overtly against the people, the states and the Constitution and they must be held fully accountable for their actions. Call for the People to ACT Now! We are openly calling for the American people to draw a final line in the sand and take a moral and righteous stand for the Constitutional Republic, the rule of law and the future of freedom and liberty. The time to be tolerant and silent has passed and the time for serious action has arrived. Only the people can restore the Constitution as the Supreme Law of this Land. We must do it peacefully if at all possible and our Founders provided all the tools necessary for peaceful corrections of a ship set off course by internal enemies. We are calling for the following specific actions, by every active and former service member and every patriotic citizen, no matter their political stripe... ■ We call upon all members of the U.S. Military, the U.S. Supreme Court, Federal, State, County, Local Law Enforcement, and all Intelligence agencies, to direct all assets of the people of the United States towards the restoration of the Constitutional Republic and stand with the American citizens in compliance with their oath to protect and defend the U.S. Constitution and the people of the United States. ■ We call upon ALL American citizens to provide necessary pressure on all law enforcement, judicial, intelligence and military agencies, until those who have sworn to protect and defend the Constitution begin to act upon those oaths. ■ The current administration has done all it can to whip racial tensions and class warfare into full-blown riots and civil war, including scheduling a “U.S. Day of Rage” for communists, labor union socialists, illegal immigrants, Muslims and blacks across the country. Their “Day of Rage” was scheduled for Constitution Day, September 17, 2011, and although it was a total flop, they will continue to rage against America. It is an open assault on free-market capitalism, waged by modern day Marxists who must be stripped of their entitlement mentality. The LEFT is also planning a “Cairo style occupation of Washington in October, on the ground on Wall Street now and headed towards Washington D.C.” These events are being run by the Obama White House, via a number of left-wing front organizations. ■ We The Veteran Defenders of America and The United States Patriots Union call for a “unified march” from ALL fifty (50) states to Washington D.C. on Friday November 11, 2011, Veterans Day - led by American veterans and former service members with a clear purpose – to demand the immediate restoration of the U.S. Constitution, the removal and prosecution all of the individuals named herein, by voluntary resignation or articles of impeachment, and the end to Sharia Law on American soil. The Veterans March on D.C. Day – In defense of freedom, liberty and justice. ■ We call for all Americans who truly do support our troops to march on D.C. with our veterans. We call upon ALL independent truckers, independent contractors, all non-union workers, all independent business owners, agents and investors, all who support free-market capitalism and the right to work, earn and own, to march together with our veterans and former service members on November 11, 2011 – Veterans Day! ■ To be prepared to act as citizens to protect and preserve the Constitutional Republic, in the event that our public servants, who have sworn an oath to the Constitutional Republic, refuse for any reason, to act upon those oaths. ■ To act peacefully, but prepared for a violent reaction from our nation’s enemies. To avoid if possible, the RACE WAR being incited by the Obama Administration and the Black and Progressive Caucus’s. ■ Locally, to confront all anti-American infringements upon our Natural Rights with boots on the ground whenever and wherever local, state or federal officials act beyond their scope of authority, or at odds with the Constitutional Rights of the people. ■ To begin to openly identify and address government corruption at the local, county and state levels, too often found in both governmental and law enforcement offices, also sworn to protect and serve the people of the United States. ■ To be ready and willing to end the taxation without real representation by refusing to fund the anti-American regime currently in control of Washington D.C., until such time as the taxpayers of this nation are once again properly represented. ■ To make the necessary provisions to secure and protect your families and neighborhoods in the event of economic instability and social chaos, similar to events already witnessed abroad, by stocking up on cash, food and water supplies, as well as personal protection items. ■ In the event that the current administration or its thug supporters attempt to use government or civilian force and violence to silence the people, as in the cases of Syria, Libya, Yemen, China’s Tiananmen Square, the Bonus Army of 1932 in the United States, or the UK presently wrestling with black and Muslim violence, the people must be prepared to defend themselves against such tyrannical tactics. We cannot expect that the federal government will act in the best interest of American veterans or citizens. This CALL FOR ACTION is being issued as a joint initiative, by the leaders and members of The Veteran Defenders of America, The United States Patriots Union. All citizens who want to see the Constitutional Republic restored immediately are encouraged to immediately join one of these unified organizations and become directly engaged in our joint missions to restore America to that shining city on a hill, and beacon of freedom and liberty around the world. We the People are the solution! Volunteer leaders across the country must join one of these organizations to take part in leading in their local areas. All supporters who do not wish to join these organizations but who do support the initiative can keep up with information concerning the action here. Foundation for Our United Action Our Declaration of 1776 establishes the principles upon which The United States of America was founded. On September 17, 1787, our nation’s Founders ratified The United States Constitution, forming a Constitutional Representative Republic as our system of self-governance. From that day forward, the American people are guaranteed a Constitutional Representative Republic of, by and for the people, which was to at all times, operate within the confines of the limited authority provided the government by the people and their respective states. For decades, our federal government has been operating beyond its constitutional authority, infringing upon the Natural Rights of every American citizen and every American enterprise, until our government has indeed become destructive of the common cause of freedom and liberty. In its usurpations of the Constitution, it has committed atrocities against the people for which it was designed to protect and serve, until the people are forced to rise up in the name of freedom and liberty, casting off the shackles of soft tyranny and it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. When a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. Our United Mission We are finished with changing America to suit every anti-American whim… This time, the change is coming to Washington D.C. It is not our intent to separate from any foreign King, nor to abolish or alter our Constitutional Representative Republic, but rather to restore it, as the Supreme law of this land, under which both the government and the governed must live. Our united mission is to end the march of democratic socialism, which has become the most dangerous modern threat to American peace, prosperity, freedom and liberty and reinstate the republican form of self-governance guaranteed every citizen in the U.S. Constitution. To accomplish this objective, the people responsible for the usurpation of the Constitution must be immediately removed from office and held fully accountable for their actions, setting an example for future generations, who must also be forever vigilant in the common defense of freedom and liberty. The long train of abuses and usurpations must be brought to a swift end and the Constitutional Republic must prevail, or the United States of America will soon cease to exist. Our mission is just – it is moral – it is legal and constitutional and it is necessary… This is not a call to overthrow our entire institutions of government, or subvert the Law of the Land, but rather to restore those institutions to their honorable constitutional forms. As such, and under their oaths to the Constitution and the people whom they are sworn to protect and defend against all enemies, foreign and domestic, it is incumbent upon every citizen, veteran, soldier, officer and agent to use the tools of the people to protect the people and return our government to a Constitutional Republic of, by and for the people. Let Freedom Ring! May the Creator, who endowed each of us with certain unalienable rights, among them the right to Life, Liberty and the individual Pursuit of Happiness free from government tyranny, bless this mission of, by and for the people of the United States, and may the Lord let freedom ring in America, once again. We demand an end to government corruption, an end to despotic leadership in D.C., an end to the current assault on all decent and honest American taxpayers, businesses and honorable public servants of the people. We demand the peaceful return of the people’s government, and we will remain resolute in the defense of the Constitution and the United States of America until the people can once again, feel secure in their nation and government. IN GOD WE TRUST! JOIN the MISSION HERE - http://www.veterandefenders.org/ or HERE - http://www.patriotsunion.org/ Non-member supporters can follow the mission here - http://www.facebook.com/groups/262343767138128/ Sign your name in support of the mission here!- http://military.gras.me/register/register.aspx?c=VET Requests for information or interviews should be sent here: https://www.patriotsunion.org/contact/contact.htm
Friday, October 14, 2011
Requirements for Being A Good Democrat Big Time Conservative » This just says it all.
Requirements for Being A Good Democrat
1. You have to be against capital punishment, but support abortion on demand.
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2. You have to believe that businesses create oppression and governments create prosperity.
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3. You have to believe that guns in the hands of law-abiding Americans are more of a threat than nuclear weapons technology in the hands of Chinese and Korean communists.
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4. You have to believe that there was no art before Federal funding.
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5. You have to believe that global temperatures are more affected by soccer moms driving SUV’s
than cyclical, documented changes in the earth’s climate.
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6. You have to believe that gender roles are artificial but being homosexual is natural.
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7. You have to believe that the AIDS virus is spread by a lack of federal funding.
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8. You have to believe that the same teacher who can’t teach fourth graders how to read
is somehow qualified to teach those same kids about sex.
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9. You have to believe that hunters don’t care about nature but loony activists, who have never been outside of San Francisco, do.
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10. You have to believe that self-esteem is more important than actually doing something to earn it.
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11. You have to believe that Mel Gibson spent $25 million of his own money to make ‘ The Passion of the Christ’ for financial gain.
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12. You have to believe the NRA is bad because it supports certain parts of the Constitution,
while the ACLU is good because it supports certain parts of the Constitution.
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13. You have to believe that taxes are too low, but ATM fees are too high.
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14. You have to believe that Margaret Sanger and Gloria Steinem are more important to American history than Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Edison, and A.G. Bell.
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15. You have to believe that standardized tests are racist but racial quotas and set-asides are not.
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16. You have to believe that Hillary Clinton is normal and is a very nice person.
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17. You have to believe that the only reason socialism hasn’t worked anywhere it has ever been tried is because the right people haven’t been in charge.
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18. You have to believe conservatives telling the truth belong in jail, but a liar and sex offender belongs in the White House.
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19. You have to believe that homosexual parades displaying drag, transvestites, and bestiality
should be constitutionally protected, and manger scenes at Christmas should be illegal.
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20. You have to believe that illegal, Democrat Party funding by the Chinese Government
is somehow in the best interest to the United States .
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21. You have to believe that this message is a part of a vast, right wing conspiracy.
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22. You have to believe that it’s okay to give Federal workers Christmas Day off but it’s offensive to say ‘Merry Christmas’.
1. You have to be against capital punishment, but support abortion on demand.
�
2. You have to believe that businesses create oppression and governments create prosperity.
�
3. You have to believe that guns in the hands of law-abiding Americans are more of a threat than nuclear weapons technology in the hands of Chinese and Korean communists.
�
4. You have to believe that there was no art before Federal funding.
�
5. You have to believe that global temperatures are more affected by soccer moms driving SUV’s
than cyclical, documented changes in the earth’s climate.
�
6. You have to believe that gender roles are artificial but being homosexual is natural.
�
7. You have to believe that the AIDS virus is spread by a lack of federal funding.
�
8. You have to believe that the same teacher who can’t teach fourth graders how to read
is somehow qualified to teach those same kids about sex.
�
9. You have to believe that hunters don’t care about nature but loony activists, who have never been outside of San Francisco, do.
�
10. You have to believe that self-esteem is more important than actually doing something to earn it.
�
11. You have to believe that Mel Gibson spent $25 million of his own money to make ‘ The Passion of the Christ’ for financial gain.
�
12. You have to believe the NRA is bad because it supports certain parts of the Constitution,
while the ACLU is good because it supports certain parts of the Constitution.
�
13. You have to believe that taxes are too low, but ATM fees are too high.
�
14. You have to believe that Margaret Sanger and Gloria Steinem are more important to American history than Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Edison, and A.G. Bell.
�
15. You have to believe that standardized tests are racist but racial quotas and set-asides are not.
�
16. You have to believe that Hillary Clinton is normal and is a very nice person.
�
17. You have to believe that the only reason socialism hasn’t worked anywhere it has ever been tried is because the right people haven’t been in charge.
�
18. You have to believe conservatives telling the truth belong in jail, but a liar and sex offender belongs in the White House.
�
19. You have to believe that homosexual parades displaying drag, transvestites, and bestiality
should be constitutionally protected, and manger scenes at Christmas should be illegal.
�
20. You have to believe that illegal, Democrat Party funding by the Chinese Government
is somehow in the best interest to the United States .
�
21. You have to believe that this message is a part of a vast, right wing conspiracy.
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22. You have to believe that it’s okay to give Federal workers Christmas Day off but it’s offensive to say ‘Merry Christmas’.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
An Important Distinction: Democracy versus Republic
An Important Distinction: Democracy versus Republic
It is important to keep in mind the difference between a Democracy and a Republic, as dissimilar forms of government. Understanding the difference is essential to comprehension of the fundamentals involved. It should be noted, in passing, that use of the word Democracy as meaning merely the popular type of government--that is, featuring genuinely free elections by the people periodically--is not helpful in discussing, as here, the difference between alternative and dissimilar forms of a popular government: a Democracy versus a Republic. This double meaning of Democracy--a popular-type government in general, as well as a specific form of popular government--needs to be made clear in any discussion, or writing, regarding this subject, for the sake of sound understanding.
These two forms of government: Democracy and Republic, are not only dissimilar but antithetical, reflecting the sharp contrast between (a) The Majority Unlimited, in a Democracy, lacking any legal safeguard of the rights of The Individual and The Minority, and (b) The Majority Limited, in a Republic under a written Constitution safeguarding the rights of The Individual and The Minority; as we shall now see.
A Democracy
The chief characteristic and distinguishing feature of a Democracy is: Rule by Omnipotent Majority. In a Democracy, The Individual, and any group of Individuals composing any Minority, have no protection against the unlimited power of The Majority. It is a case of Majority-over-Man.
This is true whether it be a Direct Democracy, or a Representative Democracy. In the direct type, applicable only to a small number of people as in the little city-states of ancient Greece, or in a New England town-meeting, all of the electorate assemble to debate and decide all government questions, and all decisions are reached by a majority vote (of at least half-plus-one). Decisions of The Majority in a New England town-meeting are, of course, subject to the Constitutions of the State and of the United States which protect The Individual’s rights; so, in this case, The Majority is not omnipotent and such a town-meeting is, therefore, not an example of a true Direct Democracy. Under a Representative Democracy like Britain’s parliamentary form of government, the people elect representatives to the national legislature--the elective body there being the House of Commons--and it functions by a similar vote of at least half-plus-one in making all legislative decisions.
In both the Direct type and the Representative type of Democracy, The Majority’s power is absolute and unlimited; its decisions are unappealable under the legal system established to give effect to this form of government. This opens the door to unlimited Tyranny-by-Majority. This was what The Framers of the United States Constitution meant in 1787, in debates in the Federal (framing) Convention, when they condemned the "excesses of democracy" and abuses under any Democracy of the unalienable rights of The Individual by The Majority. Examples were provided in the immediate post-1776 years by the legislatures of some of the States. In reaction against earlier royal tyranny, which had been exercised through oppressions by royal governors and judges of the new State governments, while the legislatures acted as if they were virtually omnipotent. There were no effective State Constitutions to limit the legislatures because most State governments were operating under mere Acts of their respective legislatures which were mislabelled "Constitutions." Neither the governors not the courts of the offending States were able to exercise any substantial and effective restraining influence upon the legislatures in defense of The Individual’s unalienable rights, when violated by legislative infringements. (Connecticut and Rhode Island continued under their old Charters for many years.) It was not until 1780 that the first genuine Republic through constitutionally limited government, was adopted by Massachusetts--next New Hampshire in 1784, other States later.
It was in this connection that Jefferson, in his "Notes On The State of Virginia" written in 1781-1782, protected against such excesses by the Virginia Legislature in the years following the Declaration of Independence, saying: "An elective despotism was not the government we fought for . . ." (Emphasis Jefferson’s.) He also denounced the despotic concentration of power in the Virginia Legislature, under the so-called "Constitution"--in reality a mere Act of that body:
"All the powers of government, legislative, executive, judiciary, result to the legislative body. The concentrating these in the same hands is precisely the definition of despotic government. It will be no alleviation that these powers will be exercised by a plurality of hands, and not by a single one. 173 despots would surely be as oppressive as one. Let those who doubt it turn their eyes on the republic of Venice."
This topic--the danger to the people’s liberties due to the turbulence of democracies and omnipotent, legislative majority--is discussed in The Federalist, for example in numbers 10 and 48 by Madison (in the latter noting Jefferson’s above-quoted comments).
The Framing Convention’s records prove that by decrying the "excesses of democracy" The Framers were, of course, not opposing a popular type of government for the United States; their whole aim and effort was to create a sound system of this type. To contend to the contrary is to falsify history. Such a falsification not only maligns the high purpose and good character of The Framers but belittles the spirit of the truly Free Man in America--the people at large of that period--who happily accepted and lived with gratification under the Constitution as their own fundamental law and under the Republic which it created, especially because they felt confident for the first time of the security of their liberties thereby protected against abuse by all possible violators, including The Majority momentarily in control of government. The truth is that The Framers, by their protests against the "excesses of democracy," were merely making clear their sound reasons for preferring a Republic as the proper form of government. They well knew, in light of history, that nothing but a Republic can provide the best safeguards--in truth in the long run the only effective safeguards (if enforced in practice)--for the people’s liberties which are inescapably victimized by Democracy’s form and system of unlimited Government-over-Man featuring The Majority Omnipotent. They also knew that the American people would not consent to any form of government but that of a Republic. It is of special interest to note that Jefferson, who had been in Paris as the American Minister for several years, wrote Madison from there in March 1789 that:
"The tyranny of the legislatures is the most formidable dread at present, and will be for long years. That of the executive will come it’s turn, but it will be at a remote period." (Text per original.)
Somewhat earlier, Madison had written Jefferson about violation of the Bill of Rights by State legislatures, stating:
"Repeated violations of those parchment barriers have been committed by overbearing majorities in every State. In Virginia I have seen the bill of rights violated in every instance where it has been opposed to a popular current."
It is correct to say that in any Democracy--either a Direct or a Representative type--as a form of government, there can be no legal system which protects The Individual or The Minority (any or all minorities) against unlimited tyranny by The Majority. The undependable sense of self-restraint of the persons making up The Majority at any particular time offers, of course, no protection whatever. Such a form of government is characterized by The Majority Omnipotent and Unlimited. This is true, for example, of the Representative Democracy of Great Britain; because unlimited government power is possessed by the House of Lords, under an Act of Parliament of 1949--indeed, it has power to abolish anything and everything governmental in Great Britain.
For a period of some centuries ago, some English judges did argue that their decisions could restrain Parliament; but this theory had to be abandoned because it was found to be untenable in the light of sound political theory and governmental realities in a Representative Democracy. Under this form of government, neither the courts not any other part of the government can effectively challenge, much less block, any action by The Majority in the legislative body, no matter how arbitrary, tyrannous, or totalitarian they might become in practice. The parliamentary system of Great Britain is a perfect example of Representative Democracy and of the potential tyranny inherent in its system of Unlimited Rule by Omnipotent Majority. This pertains only to the potential, to the theory, involved; governmental practices there are irrelevant to this discussion.
Madison’s observations in The Federalist number 10 are noteworthy at this point because they highlight a grave error made through the centuries regarding Democracy as a form of government. He commented as follows:
"Theoretic politicians, who have patronized this species of government, have erroneously supposed, that by reducing mankind to a perfect equality in their political rights, they would, at the same time, be perfectly equalized and assimilated in their possessions, their opinions, and their passions."
Democracy, as a form of government, is utterly repugnant to--is the very antithesis of--the traditional American system: that of a Republic, and its underlying philosophy, as expressed in essence in the Declaration of Independence with primary emphasis upon the people’s forming their government so as to permit them to possess only "just powers" (limited powers) in order to make and keep secure the God-given, unalienable rights of each and every Individual and therefore of all groups of Individuals.
A Republic
A Republic, on the other hand, has a very different purpose and an entirely different form, or system, of government. Its purpose is to control The Majority strictly, as well as all others among the people, primarily to protect The Individual’s God-given, unalienable rights and therefore for the protection of the rights of The Minority, of all minorities, and the liberties of people in general. The definition of a Republic is: a constitutionally limited government of the representative type, created by a written Constitution--adopted by the people and changeable (from its original meaning) by them only by its amendment--with its powers divided between three separate Branches: Executive, Legislative and Judicial. Here the term "the people" means, of course, the electorate.
The people adopt the Constitution as their fundamental law by utilizing a Constitutional Convention--especially chosen by them for this express and sole purpose--to frame it for consideration and approval by them either directly or by their representatives in a Ratifying Convention, similarly chosen. Such a Constitutional Convention, for either framing or ratification, is one of America’s greatest contributions, if not her greatest contribution, to the mechanics of government--of self-government through constitutionally limited government, comparable in importance to America’s greatest contribution to the science of government: the formation and adoption by the sovereign people of a written Constitution as the basis for self-government. One of the earliest, if not the first, specific discussions of this new American development (a Constitutional Convention) in the historical records is an entry in June 1775 in John Adams’ "Autobiography" commenting on the framing by a convention and ratification by the people as follows:
"By conventions of representatives, freely, fairly, and proportionately chosen . . . the convention may send out their project of a constitution, to the people in their several towns, counties, or districts, and the people may make the acceptance of it their own act."
Yet the first proposal in 1778 of a Constitution for Massachusetts was rejected for the reason, in part, as stated in the "Essex Result" (the result, or report, of the Convention of towns of Essex County), that it had been framed and proposed not by a specially chosen convention but by members of the legislature who were involved in general legislative duties, including those pertaining to the conduct of the war.
The first genuine and soundly founded Republic in all history was the one created by the first genuine Constitution, which was adopted by the people of Massachusetts in 1780 after being framed for their consideration by a specially chosen Constitutional Convention. (As previously noted, the so-called "Constitutions" adopted by some States in 1776 were mere Acts of Legislatures, not genuine Constitutions.) That Constitutional Convention of Massachusetts was the first successful one ever held in the world; although New Hampshire had earlier held one unsuccessfully - it took several years and several successive conventions to produce the New Hampshire Constitution of 1784. Next, in 1787-1788, the United States Constitution was framed by the Federal Convention for the people’s consideration and then ratified by the people of the several States through a Ratifying Convention in each State specially chosen by them for this sole purpose. Thereafter the other States gradually followed in general the Massachusetts pattern of Constitution-making in adoption of genuine Constitutions; but there was a delay of a number of years in this regard as to some of them, several decades as to a few.
This system of Constitution-making, for the purpose of establishing constitutionally limited government, is designed to put into practice the principle of the Declaration of Independence: that the people form their governments and grant to them only "just powers," limited powers, in order primarily to secure (to make and keep secure) their God-given, unalienable rights. The American philosophy and system of government thus bar equally the "snob-rule" of a governing Elite and the "mob-rule" of an Omnipotent Majority. This is designed, above all else, to preclude the existence in America of any governmental power capable of being misused so as to violate The Individual’s rights--to endanger the people’s liberties.
With regard to the republican form of government (that of a republic), Madison made an observation in The Federalist (no. 55) which merits quoting here--as follows:
"As there is a degree of depravity in mankind which requires a certain degree of circumspection and distrust: So there are other qualities in human nature, which justify a certain portion of esteem and confidence. Republican government (that of a Republic) presupposes the existence of these qualities in a higher degree than any other form. Were the pictures which have been drawn by the political jealousy of some among us, faithful likenesses of the human character, the inference would be that there is not sufficient virtue among men for self government; and that nothing less than the chains of despotism can restrain them from destroying and devouring one another." (Emphasis added.)
It is noteworthy here that the above discussion, though brief, is sufficient to indicate the reasons why the label "Republic" has been misapplied in other countries to other and different forms of government throughout history. It has been greatly misunderstood and widely misused--for example as long ago as the time of Plato, when he wrote his celebrated volume, The Republic; in which he did not discuss anything governmental even remotely resembling--having essential characteristics of--a genuine Republic. Frequent reference is to be found, in the writings of the period of the framing of the Constitution for instance, to "the ancient republics," but in any such connection the term was used loosely--by way of contrast to a monarchy or to a Direct Democracy--often using the term in the sense merely of a system of Rule-by-Law featuring Representative government; as indicated, for example, by John Adams in his "Thoughts on Government" and by Madison in The Federalist numbers 10 and 39. But this is an incomplete definition because it can include a Representative Democracy, lacking a written Constitution limiting The Majority.
From The American Ideal of 1776: The Twelve Basic American Principles.
It is important to keep in mind the difference between a Democracy and a Republic, as dissimilar forms of government. Understanding the difference is essential to comprehension of the fundamentals involved. It should be noted, in passing, that use of the word Democracy as meaning merely the popular type of government--that is, featuring genuinely free elections by the people periodically--is not helpful in discussing, as here, the difference between alternative and dissimilar forms of a popular government: a Democracy versus a Republic. This double meaning of Democracy--a popular-type government in general, as well as a specific form of popular government--needs to be made clear in any discussion, or writing, regarding this subject, for the sake of sound understanding.
These two forms of government: Democracy and Republic, are not only dissimilar but antithetical, reflecting the sharp contrast between (a) The Majority Unlimited, in a Democracy, lacking any legal safeguard of the rights of The Individual and The Minority, and (b) The Majority Limited, in a Republic under a written Constitution safeguarding the rights of The Individual and The Minority; as we shall now see.
A Democracy
The chief characteristic and distinguishing feature of a Democracy is: Rule by Omnipotent Majority. In a Democracy, The Individual, and any group of Individuals composing any Minority, have no protection against the unlimited power of The Majority. It is a case of Majority-over-Man.
This is true whether it be a Direct Democracy, or a Representative Democracy. In the direct type, applicable only to a small number of people as in the little city-states of ancient Greece, or in a New England town-meeting, all of the electorate assemble to debate and decide all government questions, and all decisions are reached by a majority vote (of at least half-plus-one). Decisions of The Majority in a New England town-meeting are, of course, subject to the Constitutions of the State and of the United States which protect The Individual’s rights; so, in this case, The Majority is not omnipotent and such a town-meeting is, therefore, not an example of a true Direct Democracy. Under a Representative Democracy like Britain’s parliamentary form of government, the people elect representatives to the national legislature--the elective body there being the House of Commons--and it functions by a similar vote of at least half-plus-one in making all legislative decisions.
In both the Direct type and the Representative type of Democracy, The Majority’s power is absolute and unlimited; its decisions are unappealable under the legal system established to give effect to this form of government. This opens the door to unlimited Tyranny-by-Majority. This was what The Framers of the United States Constitution meant in 1787, in debates in the Federal (framing) Convention, when they condemned the "excesses of democracy" and abuses under any Democracy of the unalienable rights of The Individual by The Majority. Examples were provided in the immediate post-1776 years by the legislatures of some of the States. In reaction against earlier royal tyranny, which had been exercised through oppressions by royal governors and judges of the new State governments, while the legislatures acted as if they were virtually omnipotent. There were no effective State Constitutions to limit the legislatures because most State governments were operating under mere Acts of their respective legislatures which were mislabelled "Constitutions." Neither the governors not the courts of the offending States were able to exercise any substantial and effective restraining influence upon the legislatures in defense of The Individual’s unalienable rights, when violated by legislative infringements. (Connecticut and Rhode Island continued under their old Charters for many years.) It was not until 1780 that the first genuine Republic through constitutionally limited government, was adopted by Massachusetts--next New Hampshire in 1784, other States later.
It was in this connection that Jefferson, in his "Notes On The State of Virginia" written in 1781-1782, protected against such excesses by the Virginia Legislature in the years following the Declaration of Independence, saying: "An elective despotism was not the government we fought for . . ." (Emphasis Jefferson’s.) He also denounced the despotic concentration of power in the Virginia Legislature, under the so-called "Constitution"--in reality a mere Act of that body:
"All the powers of government, legislative, executive, judiciary, result to the legislative body. The concentrating these in the same hands is precisely the definition of despotic government. It will be no alleviation that these powers will be exercised by a plurality of hands, and not by a single one. 173 despots would surely be as oppressive as one. Let those who doubt it turn their eyes on the republic of Venice."
This topic--the danger to the people’s liberties due to the turbulence of democracies and omnipotent, legislative majority--is discussed in The Federalist, for example in numbers 10 and 48 by Madison (in the latter noting Jefferson’s above-quoted comments).
The Framing Convention’s records prove that by decrying the "excesses of democracy" The Framers were, of course, not opposing a popular type of government for the United States; their whole aim and effort was to create a sound system of this type. To contend to the contrary is to falsify history. Such a falsification not only maligns the high purpose and good character of The Framers but belittles the spirit of the truly Free Man in America--the people at large of that period--who happily accepted and lived with gratification under the Constitution as their own fundamental law and under the Republic which it created, especially because they felt confident for the first time of the security of their liberties thereby protected against abuse by all possible violators, including The Majority momentarily in control of government. The truth is that The Framers, by their protests against the "excesses of democracy," were merely making clear their sound reasons for preferring a Republic as the proper form of government. They well knew, in light of history, that nothing but a Republic can provide the best safeguards--in truth in the long run the only effective safeguards (if enforced in practice)--for the people’s liberties which are inescapably victimized by Democracy’s form and system of unlimited Government-over-Man featuring The Majority Omnipotent. They also knew that the American people would not consent to any form of government but that of a Republic. It is of special interest to note that Jefferson, who had been in Paris as the American Minister for several years, wrote Madison from there in March 1789 that:
"The tyranny of the legislatures is the most formidable dread at present, and will be for long years. That of the executive will come it’s turn, but it will be at a remote period." (Text per original.)
Somewhat earlier, Madison had written Jefferson about violation of the Bill of Rights by State legislatures, stating:
"Repeated violations of those parchment barriers have been committed by overbearing majorities in every State. In Virginia I have seen the bill of rights violated in every instance where it has been opposed to a popular current."
It is correct to say that in any Democracy--either a Direct or a Representative type--as a form of government, there can be no legal system which protects The Individual or The Minority (any or all minorities) against unlimited tyranny by The Majority. The undependable sense of self-restraint of the persons making up The Majority at any particular time offers, of course, no protection whatever. Such a form of government is characterized by The Majority Omnipotent and Unlimited. This is true, for example, of the Representative Democracy of Great Britain; because unlimited government power is possessed by the House of Lords, under an Act of Parliament of 1949--indeed, it has power to abolish anything and everything governmental in Great Britain.
For a period of some centuries ago, some English judges did argue that their decisions could restrain Parliament; but this theory had to be abandoned because it was found to be untenable in the light of sound political theory and governmental realities in a Representative Democracy. Under this form of government, neither the courts not any other part of the government can effectively challenge, much less block, any action by The Majority in the legislative body, no matter how arbitrary, tyrannous, or totalitarian they might become in practice. The parliamentary system of Great Britain is a perfect example of Representative Democracy and of the potential tyranny inherent in its system of Unlimited Rule by Omnipotent Majority. This pertains only to the potential, to the theory, involved; governmental practices there are irrelevant to this discussion.
Madison’s observations in The Federalist number 10 are noteworthy at this point because they highlight a grave error made through the centuries regarding Democracy as a form of government. He commented as follows:
"Theoretic politicians, who have patronized this species of government, have erroneously supposed, that by reducing mankind to a perfect equality in their political rights, they would, at the same time, be perfectly equalized and assimilated in their possessions, their opinions, and their passions."
Democracy, as a form of government, is utterly repugnant to--is the very antithesis of--the traditional American system: that of a Republic, and its underlying philosophy, as expressed in essence in the Declaration of Independence with primary emphasis upon the people’s forming their government so as to permit them to possess only "just powers" (limited powers) in order to make and keep secure the God-given, unalienable rights of each and every Individual and therefore of all groups of Individuals.
A Republic
A Republic, on the other hand, has a very different purpose and an entirely different form, or system, of government. Its purpose is to control The Majority strictly, as well as all others among the people, primarily to protect The Individual’s God-given, unalienable rights and therefore for the protection of the rights of The Minority, of all minorities, and the liberties of people in general. The definition of a Republic is: a constitutionally limited government of the representative type, created by a written Constitution--adopted by the people and changeable (from its original meaning) by them only by its amendment--with its powers divided between three separate Branches: Executive, Legislative and Judicial. Here the term "the people" means, of course, the electorate.
The people adopt the Constitution as their fundamental law by utilizing a Constitutional Convention--especially chosen by them for this express and sole purpose--to frame it for consideration and approval by them either directly or by their representatives in a Ratifying Convention, similarly chosen. Such a Constitutional Convention, for either framing or ratification, is one of America’s greatest contributions, if not her greatest contribution, to the mechanics of government--of self-government through constitutionally limited government, comparable in importance to America’s greatest contribution to the science of government: the formation and adoption by the sovereign people of a written Constitution as the basis for self-government. One of the earliest, if not the first, specific discussions of this new American development (a Constitutional Convention) in the historical records is an entry in June 1775 in John Adams’ "Autobiography" commenting on the framing by a convention and ratification by the people as follows:
"By conventions of representatives, freely, fairly, and proportionately chosen . . . the convention may send out their project of a constitution, to the people in their several towns, counties, or districts, and the people may make the acceptance of it their own act."
Yet the first proposal in 1778 of a Constitution for Massachusetts was rejected for the reason, in part, as stated in the "Essex Result" (the result, or report, of the Convention of towns of Essex County), that it had been framed and proposed not by a specially chosen convention but by members of the legislature who were involved in general legislative duties, including those pertaining to the conduct of the war.
The first genuine and soundly founded Republic in all history was the one created by the first genuine Constitution, which was adopted by the people of Massachusetts in 1780 after being framed for their consideration by a specially chosen Constitutional Convention. (As previously noted, the so-called "Constitutions" adopted by some States in 1776 were mere Acts of Legislatures, not genuine Constitutions.) That Constitutional Convention of Massachusetts was the first successful one ever held in the world; although New Hampshire had earlier held one unsuccessfully - it took several years and several successive conventions to produce the New Hampshire Constitution of 1784. Next, in 1787-1788, the United States Constitution was framed by the Federal Convention for the people’s consideration and then ratified by the people of the several States through a Ratifying Convention in each State specially chosen by them for this sole purpose. Thereafter the other States gradually followed in general the Massachusetts pattern of Constitution-making in adoption of genuine Constitutions; but there was a delay of a number of years in this regard as to some of them, several decades as to a few.
This system of Constitution-making, for the purpose of establishing constitutionally limited government, is designed to put into practice the principle of the Declaration of Independence: that the people form their governments and grant to them only "just powers," limited powers, in order primarily to secure (to make and keep secure) their God-given, unalienable rights. The American philosophy and system of government thus bar equally the "snob-rule" of a governing Elite and the "mob-rule" of an Omnipotent Majority. This is designed, above all else, to preclude the existence in America of any governmental power capable of being misused so as to violate The Individual’s rights--to endanger the people’s liberties.
With regard to the republican form of government (that of a republic), Madison made an observation in The Federalist (no. 55) which merits quoting here--as follows:
"As there is a degree of depravity in mankind which requires a certain degree of circumspection and distrust: So there are other qualities in human nature, which justify a certain portion of esteem and confidence. Republican government (that of a Republic) presupposes the existence of these qualities in a higher degree than any other form. Were the pictures which have been drawn by the political jealousy of some among us, faithful likenesses of the human character, the inference would be that there is not sufficient virtue among men for self government; and that nothing less than the chains of despotism can restrain them from destroying and devouring one another." (Emphasis added.)
It is noteworthy here that the above discussion, though brief, is sufficient to indicate the reasons why the label "Republic" has been misapplied in other countries to other and different forms of government throughout history. It has been greatly misunderstood and widely misused--for example as long ago as the time of Plato, when he wrote his celebrated volume, The Republic; in which he did not discuss anything governmental even remotely resembling--having essential characteristics of--a genuine Republic. Frequent reference is to be found, in the writings of the period of the framing of the Constitution for instance, to "the ancient republics," but in any such connection the term was used loosely--by way of contrast to a monarchy or to a Direct Democracy--often using the term in the sense merely of a system of Rule-by-Law featuring Representative government; as indicated, for example, by John Adams in his "Thoughts on Government" and by Madison in The Federalist numbers 10 and 39. But this is an incomplete definition because it can include a Representative Democracy, lacking a written Constitution limiting The Majority.
From The American Ideal of 1776: The Twelve Basic American Principles.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Obamateurism of the Day
posted at 8:05 am on October 11, 2011 by Ed Morrissey
Sometimes President Obama is so brilliant that, er … no one knows what he’s talking about, and perhaps he doesn’t either. Take this quote attributed to Obama in a Wall Street Journal profile of Harold Hamm:
When it was Mr. Hamm’s turn to talk briefly with President Obama, “I told him of the revolution in the oil and gas industry and how we have the capacity to produce enough oil to enable America to replace OPEC. I wanted to make sure he knew about this.”
The president’s reaction? “He turned to me and said, ‘Oil and gas will be important for the next few years. But we need to go on to green and alternative energy. [Energy] Secretary [Steven] Chu has assured me that within five years, we can have a battery developed that will make a car with the equivalent of 130 miles per gallon.’”
Mickey Kaus is a bit mystified by the mixing of measures:
What does “130 miles per gallon” even mean in a car that doesn’t use gallons at all? What size and price of car are we talking about? (Mitsubishi already sells a car that is somehow rated at 126 mpg in the city, but it’s tiny.) … If this is the stat Obama throws in the face of a stranger who argues with him, the President probably thinks it’s important. But is it realistic? … Larger implications: Obama is “data-driven,” his observant friends suggest. But how good is the data that’s driving him? The possibilities here are a) he’s well-informed; b) he’s being fed wildly optimistic estimates of the sort he wants to hear; c) he doesn’t really know what he’s talking about at all; or d) he’s BS’ing. … I’m guessing (b), at least when (as here) the issue is ideologically charged, patronage-driven and plays to Obama’s self-image as a transformational figure.
Edward Niedermeyer at The Truth About Cars is even less impressed:
What makes this so strange is that the President expressed his optimism in an MPG format. It’s one thing to say EV battery prices will drop by 70% between 2010 and 2015 (even when the CEO of LG Chem says his firm is targeting 50% improvement), or even to say that US battery manufacturing will go from 2% of the global total in 2010 to 40% in 2015… these, like the “one million plug-ins on the road” pledge are straightforward targets. But 130 MPG based on some mysterious battery? There are so many moving parts in that goal, it’s not even funny. …
Presumably, President Obama was using a number from a briefing that used an average size, weight, range and price and projected the required battery size and power for a typical car, and found that by 2015 a 130 MPG-equivalent, average-sized EV would sell for not much more than an equivalent ICE or hybrid. But given that nearly every estimate about EVs ever given out by the administration looks wildly overoptimistic, it’s tough to take that estimate at face value. So I’m wondering, do we know how Obama came up with this number? Is he referring to price drops on traditional lithium-ion cells, or a new chemistry that is expected to be on the road by 2015? FInally, is the president referring to a battery produced by the “domestic industry” or one of the dominant foreign firms and their transplant factories? This private “130 MPG” revelation seems to underpin so much of the president’s optimism about EVs, I think it’s worth taking a much closer look at.
I actually think Mickey had it right in option D. Anyone who expresses battery strength in miles per gallon isn’t arguing from a position of expertise.
Sometimes President Obama is so brilliant that, er … no one knows what he’s talking about, and perhaps he doesn’t either. Take this quote attributed to Obama in a Wall Street Journal profile of Harold Hamm:
When it was Mr. Hamm’s turn to talk briefly with President Obama, “I told him of the revolution in the oil and gas industry and how we have the capacity to produce enough oil to enable America to replace OPEC. I wanted to make sure he knew about this.”
The president’s reaction? “He turned to me and said, ‘Oil and gas will be important for the next few years. But we need to go on to green and alternative energy. [Energy] Secretary [Steven] Chu has assured me that within five years, we can have a battery developed that will make a car with the equivalent of 130 miles per gallon.’”
Mickey Kaus is a bit mystified by the mixing of measures:
What does “130 miles per gallon” even mean in a car that doesn’t use gallons at all? What size and price of car are we talking about? (Mitsubishi already sells a car that is somehow rated at 126 mpg in the city, but it’s tiny.) … If this is the stat Obama throws in the face of a stranger who argues with him, the President probably thinks it’s important. But is it realistic? … Larger implications: Obama is “data-driven,” his observant friends suggest. But how good is the data that’s driving him? The possibilities here are a) he’s well-informed; b) he’s being fed wildly optimistic estimates of the sort he wants to hear; c) he doesn’t really know what he’s talking about at all; or d) he’s BS’ing. … I’m guessing (b), at least when (as here) the issue is ideologically charged, patronage-driven and plays to Obama’s self-image as a transformational figure.
Edward Niedermeyer at The Truth About Cars is even less impressed:
What makes this so strange is that the President expressed his optimism in an MPG format. It’s one thing to say EV battery prices will drop by 70% between 2010 and 2015 (even when the CEO of LG Chem says his firm is targeting 50% improvement), or even to say that US battery manufacturing will go from 2% of the global total in 2010 to 40% in 2015… these, like the “one million plug-ins on the road” pledge are straightforward targets. But 130 MPG based on some mysterious battery? There are so many moving parts in that goal, it’s not even funny. …
Presumably, President Obama was using a number from a briefing that used an average size, weight, range and price and projected the required battery size and power for a typical car, and found that by 2015 a 130 MPG-equivalent, average-sized EV would sell for not much more than an equivalent ICE or hybrid. But given that nearly every estimate about EVs ever given out by the administration looks wildly overoptimistic, it’s tough to take that estimate at face value. So I’m wondering, do we know how Obama came up with this number? Is he referring to price drops on traditional lithium-ion cells, or a new chemistry that is expected to be on the road by 2015? FInally, is the president referring to a battery produced by the “domestic industry” or one of the dominant foreign firms and their transplant factories? This private “130 MPG” revelation seems to underpin so much of the president’s optimism about EVs, I think it’s worth taking a much closer look at.
I actually think Mickey had it right in option D. Anyone who expresses battery strength in miles per gallon isn’t arguing from a position of expertise.
Friday, October 7, 2011
Who and What to Esteem
October 7, 2011
"Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward." (Hebrews 11:26)
We hear much today about the importance of self-esteem, with the implication that lack of self-esteem is the cause of many of the personal problems and antisocial activities of so many young people (and others as well) these days.
But this is not the biblical perspective. The problem really is too much self-esteem. The biblical command is that we should "in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves" (Philippians 2:3). The man Moses was once a prince of Egypt, probably in line to become the pharaoh, but he chose Christ and the people of God instead, "esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt" (today's text).
Paul the apostle could have become the greatest teacher and leader in the religious/political life of his own Jewish people, but he said: "What things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord" (Philippians 3:7-8). In these verses, "count" is the same word in the original Greek language as "esteem."
Similarly, the apostle James assures us that we should "count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations"--that is, trials that test your faith--"knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience" (James 1:2-3).
Therefore, if we would truly conform to the will of God for our lives, we should be esteeming others more than cultivating self-esteem in ourselves, esteem knowing and serving Christ more than all the riches and fame of the world, and esteem it a joyful privilege when we are enabled to grow more like Him through the trials and testings He permits us to share. HMM
"Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward." (Hebrews 11:26)
We hear much today about the importance of self-esteem, with the implication that lack of self-esteem is the cause of many of the personal problems and antisocial activities of so many young people (and others as well) these days.
But this is not the biblical perspective. The problem really is too much self-esteem. The biblical command is that we should "in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves" (Philippians 2:3). The man Moses was once a prince of Egypt, probably in line to become the pharaoh, but he chose Christ and the people of God instead, "esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt" (today's text).
Paul the apostle could have become the greatest teacher and leader in the religious/political life of his own Jewish people, but he said: "What things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord" (Philippians 3:7-8). In these verses, "count" is the same word in the original Greek language as "esteem."
Similarly, the apostle James assures us that we should "count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations"--that is, trials that test your faith--"knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience" (James 1:2-3).
Therefore, if we would truly conform to the will of God for our lives, we should be esteeming others more than cultivating self-esteem in ourselves, esteem knowing and serving Christ more than all the riches and fame of the world, and esteem it a joyful privilege when we are enabled to grow more like Him through the trials and testings He permits us to share. HMM
Obamateurism of the Day
October 7, 2011 by Ed Morrissey
Barack Obama went on national television yesterday to insist that his jobs bill would add up to economic growth. CNS News points out that the math itself doesn’t add up:
At a White House press conference on Thursday, President Barack Obama said the legislation he has proposed to create jobs could “grow the economy as much as 2 percent.” However, the White House estimates that the plan itself will cost $447 billion — or 2.97 percent of the 2011 GDP of $15.012 trillion that is currently projected by the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis. (See chart: GDP Chart from BEA.xls.)
Let’s spend 3% of our GDP in order to get 2% back! That sounds like Obamanomics, all right. And it also sounds like a better deal than we got from Porkulus I, when we spent nearly 6% of our GDP in order to get, er, almost nothing back.
Barack Obama went on national television yesterday to insist that his jobs bill would add up to economic growth. CNS News points out that the math itself doesn’t add up:
At a White House press conference on Thursday, President Barack Obama said the legislation he has proposed to create jobs could “grow the economy as much as 2 percent.” However, the White House estimates that the plan itself will cost $447 billion — or 2.97 percent of the 2011 GDP of $15.012 trillion that is currently projected by the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis. (See chart: GDP Chart from BEA.xls.)
Let’s spend 3% of our GDP in order to get 2% back! That sounds like Obamanomics, all right. And it also sounds like a better deal than we got from Porkulus I, when we spent nearly 6% of our GDP in order to get, er, almost nothing back.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
IS THIS IDIOT REALLY BLAMING PRESIDENT BUSH? THEY HAD CONTROL OF BOTH HOUSES WHEN EVERYTHING WENT SOUTH!!!
http://www.breitbart.tv/biden-propagandizes-5th-graders-things-got-really-bad-before-we-came-into-office/
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
The Heart of Stone
October 5, 2011
"Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart." (Ephesians 4:18)
The blindness mentioned in our text is the same word used to describe a kind of stone. In verb form, this word indicates a process and means "to make hard or to petrify." Often the word is translated as "hardness."
The people of Israel developed a hard heart and mind toward God and the things of God (2 Corinthians 3:13-15), which continually brought both grief and anger to the Lord Jesus (Mark 3:5). Even the disciples suffered from this hardness (Mark 6:52; 8:17).
Our text is directed toward New Testament believers who are challenged not to become blinded or petrified as are unbelievers. This petrification in the moral realm can be compared to the loss of sensation in the physical realm--a kind of spiritual paralysis as when sensor and motor nerves no longer respond. "Who being past feeling have given themselves over to lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness" (Ephesians 4:19).
Petrification of once-living tissue usually takes place over the course of many years, as each organic molecule decays and is removed, with the space it occupied refilled with stony material dissolved in groundwater percolating through the host material. Or, it may take place as material is injected into the living tissue, thus stopping all life processes. In just such a way, the hardening of the heart can take place slowly, but finally petrification is complete. Petrification of wood can be stopped by removing it from the decay-and-replacement process, but natural processes cannot return it to its former state. Praise God that we can "put on the new man" (v. 24) with a renewed (new) mind and spirit (v. 23), no longer hardened toward the things of God. JDM
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Institute for Creation Research | 1806 Royal Lane | Dallas | TX | 75229
"Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart." (Ephesians 4:18)
The blindness mentioned in our text is the same word used to describe a kind of stone. In verb form, this word indicates a process and means "to make hard or to petrify." Often the word is translated as "hardness."
The people of Israel developed a hard heart and mind toward God and the things of God (2 Corinthians 3:13-15), which continually brought both grief and anger to the Lord Jesus (Mark 3:5). Even the disciples suffered from this hardness (Mark 6:52; 8:17).
Our text is directed toward New Testament believers who are challenged not to become blinded or petrified as are unbelievers. This petrification in the moral realm can be compared to the loss of sensation in the physical realm--a kind of spiritual paralysis as when sensor and motor nerves no longer respond. "Who being past feeling have given themselves over to lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness" (Ephesians 4:19).
Petrification of once-living tissue usually takes place over the course of many years, as each organic molecule decays and is removed, with the space it occupied refilled with stony material dissolved in groundwater percolating through the host material. Or, it may take place as material is injected into the living tissue, thus stopping all life processes. In just such a way, the hardening of the heart can take place slowly, but finally petrification is complete. Petrification of wood can be stopped by removing it from the decay-and-replacement process, but natural processes cannot return it to its former state. Praise God that we can "put on the new man" (v. 24) with a renewed (new) mind and spirit (v. 23), no longer hardened toward the things of God. JDM
Print this article | More Days of Praise articles
Institute for Creation Research | 1806 Royal Lane | Dallas | TX | 75229
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Morning and Evening By Bible Gateway
October 1
Morning
"Pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved."
Song of Solomon 7:13
The spouse desires to give to Jesus all that she produces. Our heart has "all manner of pleasant fruits," both "old and new," and they are laid up for our Beloved. At this rich autumnal season of fruit, let us survey our stores. We have new fruits. We desire to feel new life, new joy, new gratitude; we wish to make new resolves and carry them out by new labours; our heart blossoms with new prayers, and our soul is pledging herself to new efforts. But we have some old fruits too. There is our first love: a choice fruit that! and Jesus delights in it. There is our first faith: that simple faith by which, having nothing, we became possessors of all things. There is our joy when first we knew the Lord: let us revive it. We have our old remembrances of the promises. How faithful has God been! In sickness, how softly did he make our bed! In deep waters, how placidly did he buoy us up! In the flaming furnace, how graciously did he deliver us. Old fruits, indeed! We have many of them, for his mercies have been more than the hairs of our head. Old sins we must regret, but then we have had repentances which he has given us, by which we have wept our way to the cross, and learned the merit of his blood. We have fruits, this morning, both new and old; but here is the point--they are all laid up for Jesus. Truly, those are the best and most acceptable services in which Jesus is the solitary aim of the soul, and his glory, without any admixture whatever, the end of all our efforts. Let our many fruits be laid up only for our Beloved; let us display them when he is with us, and not hold them up before the gaze of men. Jesus, we will turn the key in our garden door, and none shall enter to rob thee of one good fruit from the soil which thou hast watered with thy bloody sweat. Our all shall be thine, thine only, O Jesus, our Beloved!
Evening
"He will give grace and glory."
Psalm 84:11
Bounteous is Jehovah in his nature; to give is his delight. His gifts are beyond measure precious, and are as freely given as the light of the sun. He gives grace to his elect because he wills it, to his redeemed because of his covenant, to the called because of his promise, to believers because they seek it, to sinners because they need it. He gives grace abundantly, seasonably, constantly, readily, sovereignly; doubly enhancing the value of the boon by the manner of its bestowal. Grace in all its forms he freely renders to his people: comforting, preserving, sanctifying, directing, instructing, assisting grace, he generously pours into their souls without ceasing, and he always will do so, whatever may occur. Sickness may befall, but the Lord will give grace; poverty may happen to us, but grace will surely be afforded; death must come but grace will light a candle at the darkest hour. Reader, how blessed it is as years roll round, and the leaves begin again to fall, to enjoy such an unfading promise as this, "The Lord will give grace."
The little conjunction "and" in this verse is a diamond rivet binding the present with the future: grace and glory always go together. God has married them, and none can divorce them. The Lord will never deny a soul glory to whom he has freely given to live upon his grace; indeed, glory is nothing more than grace in its Sabbath dress, grace in full bloom, grace like autumn fruit, mellow and perfected. How soon we may have glory none can tell! It may be before this month of October has run out we shall see the Holy City; but be the interval longer or shorter, we shall be glorified ere long. Glory, the glory of heaven, the glory of eternity, the glory of Jesus, the glory of the Father, the Lord will surely give to his chosen. Oh, rare promise of a faithful God!
Two golden links of one celestial chain:
Who owneth grace shall surely glory gain.
Morning
"Pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved."
Song of Solomon 7:13
The spouse desires to give to Jesus all that she produces. Our heart has "all manner of pleasant fruits," both "old and new," and they are laid up for our Beloved. At this rich autumnal season of fruit, let us survey our stores. We have new fruits. We desire to feel new life, new joy, new gratitude; we wish to make new resolves and carry them out by new labours; our heart blossoms with new prayers, and our soul is pledging herself to new efforts. But we have some old fruits too. There is our first love: a choice fruit that! and Jesus delights in it. There is our first faith: that simple faith by which, having nothing, we became possessors of all things. There is our joy when first we knew the Lord: let us revive it. We have our old remembrances of the promises. How faithful has God been! In sickness, how softly did he make our bed! In deep waters, how placidly did he buoy us up! In the flaming furnace, how graciously did he deliver us. Old fruits, indeed! We have many of them, for his mercies have been more than the hairs of our head. Old sins we must regret, but then we have had repentances which he has given us, by which we have wept our way to the cross, and learned the merit of his blood. We have fruits, this morning, both new and old; but here is the point--they are all laid up for Jesus. Truly, those are the best and most acceptable services in which Jesus is the solitary aim of the soul, and his glory, without any admixture whatever, the end of all our efforts. Let our many fruits be laid up only for our Beloved; let us display them when he is with us, and not hold them up before the gaze of men. Jesus, we will turn the key in our garden door, and none shall enter to rob thee of one good fruit from the soil which thou hast watered with thy bloody sweat. Our all shall be thine, thine only, O Jesus, our Beloved!
Evening
"He will give grace and glory."
Psalm 84:11
Bounteous is Jehovah in his nature; to give is his delight. His gifts are beyond measure precious, and are as freely given as the light of the sun. He gives grace to his elect because he wills it, to his redeemed because of his covenant, to the called because of his promise, to believers because they seek it, to sinners because they need it. He gives grace abundantly, seasonably, constantly, readily, sovereignly; doubly enhancing the value of the boon by the manner of its bestowal. Grace in all its forms he freely renders to his people: comforting, preserving, sanctifying, directing, instructing, assisting grace, he generously pours into their souls without ceasing, and he always will do so, whatever may occur. Sickness may befall, but the Lord will give grace; poverty may happen to us, but grace will surely be afforded; death must come but grace will light a candle at the darkest hour. Reader, how blessed it is as years roll round, and the leaves begin again to fall, to enjoy such an unfading promise as this, "The Lord will give grace."
The little conjunction "and" in this verse is a diamond rivet binding the present with the future: grace and glory always go together. God has married them, and none can divorce them. The Lord will never deny a soul glory to whom he has freely given to live upon his grace; indeed, glory is nothing more than grace in its Sabbath dress, grace in full bloom, grace like autumn fruit, mellow and perfected. How soon we may have glory none can tell! It may be before this month of October has run out we shall see the Holy City; but be the interval longer or shorter, we shall be glorified ere long. Glory, the glory of heaven, the glory of eternity, the glory of Jesus, the glory of the Father, the Lord will surely give to his chosen. Oh, rare promise of a faithful God!
Two golden links of one celestial chain:
Who owneth grace shall surely glory gain.