Okay, the Republicans capitulated and gave in on most of Obama's demands to stave off the "Fiscal Cliff" so we should hang them and vote a third party right? I truly understand the emotions behind feeling like that. However, right now we need thinking not feeling. No matter what is passed this next two to four years anyone who has any sense, who understands even basic economics or civics will hate it. However, elections have consequences and we are in for a very rough ride. The final verdict is not yet in as to any chance of saving any semblance of our once great nation from the hands of those in power bent on destroying it. One thing is sure, if we stand fast and draw a line in the sand, we won't save her at all.
Let's take a look at what we are up against in this "Fiscal Cliff" debate. Obama controls the White House, the Senate, the Media, and through that the American people who 56% approve of his job performance. I understand that is difficult to grasp if you have ever used your brain for anything but a garbage can. However that is where we are. Most Americans have bought the class envy politics where they want the top earners to get punished, they don't understand they are talking about their boss who may lay them off when his income is diminished. Too many do not understand cause and effect in economics.
So here is what the Republicans have had to deal with, a truly no win situation against an opponent who cannot lose. Negotiating against someone who really wants the "worst case" situation to happen, the only threat you can hold against them being their own best case scenario makes it an uphill climb. Obama and the Democrats truly wanted the Fiscal Cliff to happen, it is their political wet dream, with it they get to raise taxes massively on EVERY working American to where Bill Clinton left them, and get to gut the military as well, even better they would be able to blame the Republicans for it happening.
There are so few who understand what is happening the Republicans couldn't win a dog catcher race in 2014 after EVERY American family sees 300-500.00/month disappear from their monthly paychecks. We would see a recession that would make 2008-2009 look like a Bull Market, jobs disappearing, massive foreclosures both in residential and commercial markets. It would be Grapes of Wrath kind of things. Thousands of military and defense industry personnel would be cut loose and unemployed all at once as well.
Last month Boehner tried something that even the Republicans didn't understand, he took a bill that Nancy Pelosi was pushing last summer and rewrote it verbatim to prove that the Democrats had no intention of accepting ANY bill from the House Republicans. Obama promised to veto it, Reid said it would never be voted on in the Senate. This proved that nothing the House did would ever see the light of day in the Senate, and only a Senate bill would have any chance to be passed.
The Senate Republicans hashed out a terrible bill with the Senate Democrats, but it does limit the damage marginally from no bill at all that the Democrats would actually prefer. It protects the military short term, it gives permanent tax relief to everyone under 400k individually, and 450k as a family, but there is bad news for those making 250k and up with loss of deductions, (read tax increases) just not increased tax rates which Obama wanted both, just got one.
These are the key victories if we want to call them that, maybe better said, the areas we didn't lose as much:
•Raises taxes on incomes over $400,000 for individuals and $450,000 for households instead of everyone.
•Raises taxes on investment income for those taxpayers as well
•Limits tax deductions for incomes over $250,000—raising their taxes, too
•Increases the death tax rate for estates over $5 million
•Extends long-term unemployment benefits for one year
•Postpones sequestration’s automatic spending cuts (including those to defense) by two months
Elections have consequences, and we are all going to feel them for a long time. This is going to be ugly, but we MUST learn how to play politics on our side. The Democrats are masters at it, we as a party suck, mostly because our voting base doesn't understand the game. It is like my Daddy always taught me, it is better to get a little of something than a lot of nothing. We will have to fight for scraps and try to save as much as we can, but when we lost the White House and the Senate we guaranteed that we and our country was going to pay deeply and dearly. It is survival mode now.
As to third parties, who knows, but if we don't play this game very well and very smart getting the little things we can, there won't be anything left to save after a third party would come about.
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
We Speak Our World Into Existence. What Are You Saying About Yours?
We are told in three times in the Bible that We are Created in God's Own Image. Shouldn't that make us question, what that image might be? What does that make us? God, is the great Creator, if we are created in His image wouldn't that also make us creators? How did God Create? He spoke the world into existence, couldn't that mean that we are too creating our own world by the words we speak?
If that is true, and I believe it is, shouldn't we be very careful what we say? Yet, we seem to be so cavalier with what we say about ourselves and others. It makes me cringe when I hear people speak about themselves in negative terms, when they speak of "Their depression," "their cancer," even "their overwhelming debts," quit owning those things. What you speak of you will get more of.
Remember you are creating your world by the words of your mouth, make sure that words you are using creates a world that you want. Speak of where you want to be, where you want to go. If you are struggling financially, speak of where you want to be, speak of being debt free, secure, independent. If you are fighting illness speak of health, speak of where you want to be. Speak of overcoming a disease if you want, but NEVER claim the disease, never call it yours.
Never accept anyone else's label for you or your life, unless it is the same vision you have of where you want to be. You do not need anyone else's permission for you to reach your goals and dreams, only your own. Les Brown tells a story of when he was in school, he had been labled "Educable Mentally Retarded," once when a coach/teacher saw him hanging out near a class room he told Les to go to the board and work out a problem, Les explained why he couldn't by using his label he had been given. This coach threw a fit, "Never accept someone else's label, go do the problem." It was one of the key turning points of Les Brown's successful life journey. Do not allow someone else's opinion of you rob you of yours.
God didn't make any junk, you are a miracle of birth, you have unlimited potential but that is up to you to turn into reality. Watch you words, speak the world you want, and if you must be Hung by the Tongue makes sure it is a masterpiece.
A good book on this topic is "Hung By The Tongue," by Francis P. Martin.
If that is true, and I believe it is, shouldn't we be very careful what we say? Yet, we seem to be so cavalier with what we say about ourselves and others. It makes me cringe when I hear people speak about themselves in negative terms, when they speak of "Their depression," "their cancer," even "their overwhelming debts," quit owning those things. What you speak of you will get more of.
Remember you are creating your world by the words of your mouth, make sure that words you are using creates a world that you want. Speak of where you want to be, where you want to go. If you are struggling financially, speak of where you want to be, speak of being debt free, secure, independent. If you are fighting illness speak of health, speak of where you want to be. Speak of overcoming a disease if you want, but NEVER claim the disease, never call it yours.
Never accept anyone else's label for you or your life, unless it is the same vision you have of where you want to be. You do not need anyone else's permission for you to reach your goals and dreams, only your own. Les Brown tells a story of when he was in school, he had been labled "Educable Mentally Retarded," once when a coach/teacher saw him hanging out near a class room he told Les to go to the board and work out a problem, Les explained why he couldn't by using his label he had been given. This coach threw a fit, "Never accept someone else's label, go do the problem." It was one of the key turning points of Les Brown's successful life journey. Do not allow someone else's opinion of you rob you of yours.
God didn't make any junk, you are a miracle of birth, you have unlimited potential but that is up to you to turn into reality. Watch you words, speak the world you want, and if you must be Hung by the Tongue makes sure it is a masterpiece.
A good book on this topic is "Hung By The Tongue," by Francis P. Martin.
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Mass Transit in Indy? Now?
Today Mayor Ballard has come out saying that "Now is the time" we put forth a mass transit plan in Indianapolis. There are a small group of people pushing for this, politicians, politicians in REALTOR clothing, and politicians in downtown development clothing. They all want to rush something through during their election cycle so they can be the ones who "gave" Indianapolis this great "gift." Or better said, give them the gift that just keeps on taking.
Indianapolis does not need an enhanced mass transit system right now, in fact it is likely at least twenty years from that need. Our current one is anything but well utilized, or self-sustaining. We would be spending 1.3 billion dollars shared between us and the Federal Government, who by the way is also us, to purchase something we don't yet need, and likely will barely use. Then we will be given the opportunity to pay millions more per year in operating losses over the next twenty years hoping that it will be mostly covering its own costs by then. After twenty years, how much of that initial infrastructure purchase will be required to replace? How much will that be?
After a brutal fight to cut our property taxes, we are being asked to allow them to be raised so we can see a train running through town several times a day. Has any thought been given to the traffic jams that it will cause at every intersection from the North side to Downtown to allow the trains to go by all day? Has any thought been given to the cost in human lives and property damage to the danger of these trains running all day in a densely populated area? What consideration has been given to the property values and quality of life issues, such as noise, dirt, and danger that will be a result of the trains running up and down along homes along the way?
I agree we should be looking into long-term solutions, but by taking a long-term approach. We have the benefit of time, let's use it, rather than jumping in as if we are backed into a corner, let's take our time, and explore options. If we feel we have a good solution, if we feel we are well served to start procuring land and property, then start that process.
However, right now it seems more that a group of politicians in all walks of life, are just wanting to have their pictures taken cutting the ribbon with no thought of the massive losses of dollars and frankly quality of life for the city in the near term.
Indianapolis does not need an enhanced mass transit system right now, in fact it is likely at least twenty years from that need. Our current one is anything but well utilized, or self-sustaining. We would be spending 1.3 billion dollars shared between us and the Federal Government, who by the way is also us, to purchase something we don't yet need, and likely will barely use. Then we will be given the opportunity to pay millions more per year in operating losses over the next twenty years hoping that it will be mostly covering its own costs by then. After twenty years, how much of that initial infrastructure purchase will be required to replace? How much will that be?
After a brutal fight to cut our property taxes, we are being asked to allow them to be raised so we can see a train running through town several times a day. Has any thought been given to the traffic jams that it will cause at every intersection from the North side to Downtown to allow the trains to go by all day? Has any thought been given to the cost in human lives and property damage to the danger of these trains running all day in a densely populated area? What consideration has been given to the property values and quality of life issues, such as noise, dirt, and danger that will be a result of the trains running up and down along homes along the way?
I agree we should be looking into long-term solutions, but by taking a long-term approach. We have the benefit of time, let's use it, rather than jumping in as if we are backed into a corner, let's take our time, and explore options. If we feel we have a good solution, if we feel we are well served to start procuring land and property, then start that process.
However, right now it seems more that a group of politicians in all walks of life, are just wanting to have their pictures taken cutting the ribbon with no thought of the massive losses of dollars and frankly quality of life for the city in the near term.
Saturday, November 10, 2012
Post Election 2012, Where Are We, Where Are We Going?
"THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives everything its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated." Thomas Payne
I just thought all of us could benefit from reading those words written in December of 1776 when all looked lost in our countries Revolution for Independence. With that said, if you think I am going to get Pollyanna with rose-colored glasses and blow smoke up your skirt you are going to be disappointed.
We just went through a very hard fought election and ended up in figuratively the same place we were going in. We went in with an either incompetent or intentionally destructive president, a Senate Leader who has decided to put that chamber in a total deep freeze with nothing ever coming to the floor, and a House that is opposed to both. We went to bed Tuesday night/Wednesday morning exactly the same, at least on the surface.
What actually changed is the likely end of The United States of America as a Free Market Capitalist based economy in a Representative Constitutional Republic under the Rule of Law. At least for as long as most of us will be living, and that is optimistic, it is likely gone forever.
What are we up against?
1. Obamacare will be fully implemented, in so doing it will enslave ALL Americans to owe their very lives to the whims of the government bureaucracy. This is slavery as much as any shackles and chains could ever reach. For this reason government healthcare is always the first thing any Totalitarian Regime puts into place.
2. Dodd-Frank will stay the law and will be more and more rolled out. This essentially ends any semblance of the free market system, now government has total control over any financial transaction.
3. Obama will choose the next three Supreme Court Justices who will stack the court with a 6-3 lead assuring a Marxist Constitutional Revisionist view for the next 20-30 years. One could argue right now that the game is over, fulfilling Nikita Khrushchev’s prophecy. That we would not be defeated from outside but would vote for Communism from within.
It appears that the One Party Rule that is tied to a dependent voter base who relies on government for their lives is complete. It was started under Woodrow Wilson, put on steroids under FDR, another shot of steroids by LBJ, and maybe harvested by BHO. The goal was to get enough people who abdicated their very lives to government largess who would always vote to keep Democrats in office to protect their goodie bag.
So what's next? Do we just give up? Do we figure out how to best take care of ourselves and our families in the "new" world and let the rest go? Do we fight back? What's Next?
First of all I would strongly recommend no matter what you do about the country that you first and foremost figure out the best way to take care of yourself and your family in our new reality.
What can we do to try to save our Republic? Of course America will go on, look at Europe, we will survive just not the way we could or should unless we can figure out a strategy to take it back. There is not going to be any easy path. The last best chance we had ended Tuesday night. It is now a series of long-shots. We have a chance to help a bit in 2014 if we can figure out a path to take the Senate and stop Obama from doing further damage in the last two years of his second term. Who knows, maybe those three judges will hang in for two more years. That would be HUGE!
As expected after a loss, especially one where we were so blindsided, a lot of finger pointing is going on. The old school blames the tea party, the tea party blames the "RINOs", our candidate was too moderate, too conservative, too negative, not negative enough, whatever. There is likely some blame to spread around, but I don't think it is really anyone who is to blame, it is more than that. We just had more people choose freebies than freedom, and that is a problem. I have heard we need to "reach out to the single women, minorities, immigrants, and those who want a bigger and bigger social net to take care of them. In my opinion if that is our approach, why bother, why be copies of the Democrats? Holding offices with an R instead of a D but doing the same things is not a win in any way.
My thoughts are we need to go all out to take the shot at the Senate in 2014. Then if we win the Senate we try to start dialing things back, but make sure that nothing of the Obama ideology is pushed forward. Win or lose that race we need to start looking long term. If we are to make a come back to our Constitutional and Free Market principles we have to educate our electorate. We have for far too many decades allowed the left to indoctrinate and not educate our children. Beginning in the 1950s we were taught revisionist history, in what history we were taught. Each decade became significantly worse, today our kids are getting out of school with virtually no understanding of our country's history and how it came to be, or what makes it work. They have been instead taught that all of those things were evil if taught at all. They have been indoctrinated on television, in the movies, in their music, and schools, and now we are shocked they don't love our country and what it stands for.
We need to find a way to get our hands back into the schools, but short term, I have an idea. Instead of running a billion dollars of ads bashing our opponents, we MUST educate our electorate. We could take advantage of those ad buys to start doing so. What if we picked five keys to our platform and had ads teaching the advantages of that issue, do so with clever visuals and catchy jingles that will get stuck in people's head. We all can sing along to the jingles of commercials from decades before if we can "get into the voter's heads" we might start getting through to them. Run the ads on the shows that young voters watch and start reprogramming them. If we do not win the Senate and House in 2014, this will be starting the program to hope to turn this country back by our grandchildren's time. If we can win the Senate, we might be able to take it back sooner.
I know this isn't all kittens and sunshine, but this is how I see it today.
I just thought all of us could benefit from reading those words written in December of 1776 when all looked lost in our countries Revolution for Independence. With that said, if you think I am going to get Pollyanna with rose-colored glasses and blow smoke up your skirt you are going to be disappointed.
We just went through a very hard fought election and ended up in figuratively the same place we were going in. We went in with an either incompetent or intentionally destructive president, a Senate Leader who has decided to put that chamber in a total deep freeze with nothing ever coming to the floor, and a House that is opposed to both. We went to bed Tuesday night/Wednesday morning exactly the same, at least on the surface.
What actually changed is the likely end of The United States of America as a Free Market Capitalist based economy in a Representative Constitutional Republic under the Rule of Law. At least for as long as most of us will be living, and that is optimistic, it is likely gone forever.
What are we up against?
1. Obamacare will be fully implemented, in so doing it will enslave ALL Americans to owe their very lives to the whims of the government bureaucracy. This is slavery as much as any shackles and chains could ever reach. For this reason government healthcare is always the first thing any Totalitarian Regime puts into place.
2. Dodd-Frank will stay the law and will be more and more rolled out. This essentially ends any semblance of the free market system, now government has total control over any financial transaction.
3. Obama will choose the next three Supreme Court Justices who will stack the court with a 6-3 lead assuring a Marxist Constitutional Revisionist view for the next 20-30 years. One could argue right now that the game is over, fulfilling Nikita Khrushchev’s prophecy. That we would not be defeated from outside but would vote for Communism from within.
It appears that the One Party Rule that is tied to a dependent voter base who relies on government for their lives is complete. It was started under Woodrow Wilson, put on steroids under FDR, another shot of steroids by LBJ, and maybe harvested by BHO. The goal was to get enough people who abdicated their very lives to government largess who would always vote to keep Democrats in office to protect their goodie bag.
So what's next? Do we just give up? Do we figure out how to best take care of ourselves and our families in the "new" world and let the rest go? Do we fight back? What's Next?
First of all I would strongly recommend no matter what you do about the country that you first and foremost figure out the best way to take care of yourself and your family in our new reality.
What can we do to try to save our Republic? Of course America will go on, look at Europe, we will survive just not the way we could or should unless we can figure out a strategy to take it back. There is not going to be any easy path. The last best chance we had ended Tuesday night. It is now a series of long-shots. We have a chance to help a bit in 2014 if we can figure out a path to take the Senate and stop Obama from doing further damage in the last two years of his second term. Who knows, maybe those three judges will hang in for two more years. That would be HUGE!
As expected after a loss, especially one where we were so blindsided, a lot of finger pointing is going on. The old school blames the tea party, the tea party blames the "RINOs", our candidate was too moderate, too conservative, too negative, not negative enough, whatever. There is likely some blame to spread around, but I don't think it is really anyone who is to blame, it is more than that. We just had more people choose freebies than freedom, and that is a problem. I have heard we need to "reach out to the single women, minorities, immigrants, and those who want a bigger and bigger social net to take care of them. In my opinion if that is our approach, why bother, why be copies of the Democrats? Holding offices with an R instead of a D but doing the same things is not a win in any way.
My thoughts are we need to go all out to take the shot at the Senate in 2014. Then if we win the Senate we try to start dialing things back, but make sure that nothing of the Obama ideology is pushed forward. Win or lose that race we need to start looking long term. If we are to make a come back to our Constitutional and Free Market principles we have to educate our electorate. We have for far too many decades allowed the left to indoctrinate and not educate our children. Beginning in the 1950s we were taught revisionist history, in what history we were taught. Each decade became significantly worse, today our kids are getting out of school with virtually no understanding of our country's history and how it came to be, or what makes it work. They have been instead taught that all of those things were evil if taught at all. They have been indoctrinated on television, in the movies, in their music, and schools, and now we are shocked they don't love our country and what it stands for.
We need to find a way to get our hands back into the schools, but short term, I have an idea. Instead of running a billion dollars of ads bashing our opponents, we MUST educate our electorate. We could take advantage of those ad buys to start doing so. What if we picked five keys to our platform and had ads teaching the advantages of that issue, do so with clever visuals and catchy jingles that will get stuck in people's head. We all can sing along to the jingles of commercials from decades before if we can "get into the voter's heads" we might start getting through to them. Run the ads on the shows that young voters watch and start reprogramming them. If we do not win the Senate and House in 2014, this will be starting the program to hope to turn this country back by our grandchildren's time. If we can win the Senate, we might be able to take it back sooner.
I know this isn't all kittens and sunshine, but this is how I see it today.
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Home Energy Report
The Indianapolis Energy Report arrived yesterday in my mailbox. Did you get yours? The last one that came drove my curiosity about what it was they were trying to tell me because their numbers made no sense to me what-so-ever.
The report tells me that I use more energy than 100% of my neighbors, costing me 88% more or 161.16 more a month than my average neighbor pays. That would be pretty impressive dropping my total electric bill for my heat, air conditioning, water heater, lights for a family of 3 including a teenage girl, to less than 40.00/month on average! My neighbors must be amazing.
When I talked to a few neighbors they too were all the worst energy hogs as well. So I talked to others from work and friends and guess what? Everyone I know is an over achieving energy hog! This made me more curious and I checked into it further and learned that IPL was just one client of the company that does these energy reports in the utilities name. The company making the report is OPower a company that formed in 2007. So, utility companies all across America "hire" OPower to try to convince their customers to use less of the product the utility is selling.
Opower is one of the true success stories during this economy, they are skyrocketing in growth. It is pretty impressive that a small start up can line up dozens of huge utility companies in just a handful of years, it makes me wonder if the Government EPA requires these services, how about you?
The more I read on the company, their founders, the more questions I had about this report showing up in all our mailboxes. However when I learned about their Chief Scientist things started to clear up. What would you assume that Dr. Robert Cialdini would be an expert in? Since this is about energy savings and energy efficiency, wouldn't you guess that it would be involved somewhere in the energy, or heating or cooling specialities? You would guess wrong, Dr. Cialdini, is a leading expert on group manipulation and compliance psychology? Did you get that? I have to admit I missed it on my first guess. Why would their top scientist be someone to create mass compliance? Does this creep you out?
Would it be a stretch to believe that we are being manipulated? Does it seem a stretch to believe that you and I are paying extra in our utility bills to pay for this "service?" If it is all nonsense and everyone is being told we are the worst to guilt us into using less energy, what value is this service. One of my neighbors was rated the worst, but their house was sitting empty for three months with all utilities turned off and it was still an energy hog, hmmm?
Check yours.
The report tells me that I use more energy than 100% of my neighbors, costing me 88% more or 161.16 more a month than my average neighbor pays. That would be pretty impressive dropping my total electric bill for my heat, air conditioning, water heater, lights for a family of 3 including a teenage girl, to less than 40.00/month on average! My neighbors must be amazing.
When I talked to a few neighbors they too were all the worst energy hogs as well. So I talked to others from work and friends and guess what? Everyone I know is an over achieving energy hog! This made me more curious and I checked into it further and learned that IPL was just one client of the company that does these energy reports in the utilities name. The company making the report is OPower a company that formed in 2007. So, utility companies all across America "hire" OPower to try to convince their customers to use less of the product the utility is selling.
Opower is one of the true success stories during this economy, they are skyrocketing in growth. It is pretty impressive that a small start up can line up dozens of huge utility companies in just a handful of years, it makes me wonder if the Government EPA requires these services, how about you?
The more I read on the company, their founders, the more questions I had about this report showing up in all our mailboxes. However when I learned about their Chief Scientist things started to clear up. What would you assume that Dr. Robert Cialdini would be an expert in? Since this is about energy savings and energy efficiency, wouldn't you guess that it would be involved somewhere in the energy, or heating or cooling specialities? You would guess wrong, Dr. Cialdini, is a leading expert on group manipulation and compliance psychology? Did you get that? I have to admit I missed it on my first guess. Why would their top scientist be someone to create mass compliance? Does this creep you out?
Would it be a stretch to believe that we are being manipulated? Does it seem a stretch to believe that you and I are paying extra in our utility bills to pay for this "service?" If it is all nonsense and everyone is being told we are the worst to guilt us into using less energy, what value is this service. One of my neighbors was rated the worst, but their house was sitting empty for three months with all utilities turned off and it was still an energy hog, hmmm?
Check yours.
Saturday, September 8, 2012
Come Join The Second Revolution!
We are living at a time that is very similar to our nation's founding. The political animosity between different factions is nearly as ugly today as it was then, not quite as violent yet, not too many tar and feathings or house ram sackings going on today.
Our Founding Fathers, it could be said, were our first political bloggers. They were not people in position of political power, in fact for most the opposite. Yet they spoke out, but mostly they wrote out. They were pamphleteers, filled the letters to the editor's pages of the newspapers mostly writing under pseudonyms. Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, James Madison, Benjamin Rush, and many more were prodigious writers, writing copious writings, helping us today understand their time and quest so much more clearly.
No one was more important in getting things started than Samuel Adams, who not only as a writer, but more so as a "community agitator" and Thomas Payne's booklet "Common Sense" as the driving force to start our quest for independence. It was also Thomas Payne's "Crisis" where he admonished the soldiers who were planning on leaving the fight during that cold hungry winter with "THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman."
Even then, those who were the Patriots who were clamoring for freedom and independence were in the minority. Most Americans at the time were either Tories, who supported the King, or were independent and really didn't care that much, they were more interested in their own day by day existence. John Adams told us about this when he said that Americans in any conflict would be 1/3 passionately for it, 1/3 passionately against it, and 1/3 in the middle. It was that middle third what must be won. Today is no different than at his time.
Today's bloggers are fighting the very same fight, today the battle is not so much in the newspapers but on the computer screen, the Founders would have loved Social Media, it was exactly what they were doing without the power to reach so many so quickly.
I am proud to try to play a part today, we are at a crossroads today in this country. This election will determine what kind of country we will live in, one that is what our Founders gave us, or one that they tried to free us from. If you have a voice, be it in type, or speaking out, come join the 1/3 who are trying to save this nation!
Our Founding Fathers, it could be said, were our first political bloggers. They were not people in position of political power, in fact for most the opposite. Yet they spoke out, but mostly they wrote out. They were pamphleteers, filled the letters to the editor's pages of the newspapers mostly writing under pseudonyms. Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, James Madison, Benjamin Rush, and many more were prodigious writers, writing copious writings, helping us today understand their time and quest so much more clearly.
No one was more important in getting things started than Samuel Adams, who not only as a writer, but more so as a "community agitator" and Thomas Payne's booklet "Common Sense" as the driving force to start our quest for independence. It was also Thomas Payne's "Crisis" where he admonished the soldiers who were planning on leaving the fight during that cold hungry winter with "THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman."
Even then, those who were the Patriots who were clamoring for freedom and independence were in the minority. Most Americans at the time were either Tories, who supported the King, or were independent and really didn't care that much, they were more interested in their own day by day existence. John Adams told us about this when he said that Americans in any conflict would be 1/3 passionately for it, 1/3 passionately against it, and 1/3 in the middle. It was that middle third what must be won. Today is no different than at his time.
Today's bloggers are fighting the very same fight, today the battle is not so much in the newspapers but on the computer screen, the Founders would have loved Social Media, it was exactly what they were doing without the power to reach so many so quickly.
I am proud to try to play a part today, we are at a crossroads today in this country. This election will determine what kind of country we will live in, one that is what our Founders gave us, or one that they tried to free us from. If you have a voice, be it in type, or speaking out, come join the 1/3 who are trying to save this nation!
Sunday, September 2, 2012
Dinesh D'Souza's "2016"
One of the top selling movies this summer is a surprise hit by Dinesh D'Souza, the president of King's College in New York. This movie "2016" is a detailed look at Barack Obama, where he came from, who influenced his life, and an analysis of where those beliefs likely will materialize.
What I found was a very well researched documentary, one with an outstanding group of interviews with those who can help shine a light on who Obama, and his family were, and those who can enlighten what consequences his policies and ideologies will create in America and the world. I truly cannot say that I learned anything that I didn't already know. But then again, I have been obsessively studying Obama and all those around him since mid-year 2008. What I did see was a very fair view, not sensationalized, but simply documented.
Last week a friend of mine who idolizes Obama, posted that he went to see "2016" and walked out since it was the biggest propaganda film ever. I can see why he may not like it, he cannot stand hearing anything but praise to his god. However, I have to question if he actually saw the film, and didn't just post a review of what he believed it would be. From what I saw, I can understand why the Obama Administration has been as quiet about it as they have, frankly, I think D'Souza owes Obama royalties. Most of the movie is straight from Obama's own books. It is Obama's own words that D'Souza shares with the world.
There is a reason that I and so many others have spent inordinate time researching, preaching, filling up every one's Social Media walls with information. Like Dinesh D'Souza, we believe Obama to be living out his Dreams From His Father at all of America's, and ultimately the world's expense.
As the movie ended, we sat quietly and listened to the others exit conversations. I am not sure that there were many votes changed, but nearly everyone there was taken aback by all they did not know about their current president, and were not happy with what they learned.
If you have not seen it, do. If you have any friends who might be on the fence, buy them a ticket and take them with you.
What I found was a very well researched documentary, one with an outstanding group of interviews with those who can help shine a light on who Obama, and his family were, and those who can enlighten what consequences his policies and ideologies will create in America and the world. I truly cannot say that I learned anything that I didn't already know. But then again, I have been obsessively studying Obama and all those around him since mid-year 2008. What I did see was a very fair view, not sensationalized, but simply documented.
Last week a friend of mine who idolizes Obama, posted that he went to see "2016" and walked out since it was the biggest propaganda film ever. I can see why he may not like it, he cannot stand hearing anything but praise to his god. However, I have to question if he actually saw the film, and didn't just post a review of what he believed it would be. From what I saw, I can understand why the Obama Administration has been as quiet about it as they have, frankly, I think D'Souza owes Obama royalties. Most of the movie is straight from Obama's own books. It is Obama's own words that D'Souza shares with the world.
There is a reason that I and so many others have spent inordinate time researching, preaching, filling up every one's Social Media walls with information. Like Dinesh D'Souza, we believe Obama to be living out his Dreams From His Father at all of America's, and ultimately the world's expense.
As the movie ended, we sat quietly and listened to the others exit conversations. I am not sure that there were many votes changed, but nearly everyone there was taken aback by all they did not know about their current president, and were not happy with what they learned.
If you have not seen it, do. If you have any friends who might be on the fence, buy them a ticket and take them with you.
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