Where Will You Go?

I have been hearing many disturbing things after the election of our new administration. I have had sensible people, people of long acquaintance, who seemed steady and unshakable, confide their plans to leave the country "when it gets too bad." I read on the blog-o-sphere of theories that we are headed for a civil war, because the election and subsequent actions of our new administration have cast the differences between liberals and conservatives into a stark and unpleasant new light. I have read and seen on the news (little though I watch it these days) that Americans are buying record numbers of guns in anticipation of civil unrest and worse.

To those who plan to leave, I must ask:"Where do you plan to go?" In what country will you have more freedoms than you can claim in America? There is no other country where you will not be as or more oppressed than whatever you see shaping up here. It behooves you to stay and join the rest of us in fighting for our country. God willing, it will not come to armed battles between Americans, and it should not, if we get busy now and demand good character in our politicians.

Let us show discernment in our choices. When our politicians demonstrate poor character, let us bestir ourselves and recall them immediately. Let us demand good behavior in our judges and remove them when they stray from it. Let us demand a return to fiscal sanity and recall any representatives who do not provide it.

We, among the population of the world, have the God given and Constitutionally affirmed right to do these things. If America falls, where will you hide from the darkness of oppression that is sure to overtake the rest of the world? It is not our place to bend before the rest of the world. It is our place to demonstrate the rightness of our cause and our ability to maintain our form of government as responsible, free men and women and to require the rest of the world to come up to our standards.

"If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your counsel nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen." Samuel Adams

For those who will stay and fight for our American experiment, I have for you this excellent speech. The available remnant of our Congress had gathered at York, in 1777, after several setbacks to question whether there was any hope of success. There seemed no hope, everything seemed to be going against us. Samuel Adams stood and addressed the group with these words:

"If we despond, public confidence is destroyed, the people will no longer yield their support to a hopeless contest, and American liberty is no more. Through the darkness which shrouds our prospects the ark of safety is visible. Despondency becomes not the dignity of our cause, nor the character of those who are it's supporters.

Let us awaken then, and evince a different spirit, - a spirit that shall inspire the people with confidence in themselves and in us, - a spirit that will encourage them to persevere in this glorious struggle, until their rights and liberties shall be established on a rock.

We have proclaimed to the world our determination "to die freemen, rather than to live as slaves." We have appealed to Heaven for the justice of our cause, and in Heaven we have placed our trust.

Numerous have been the manifestations of God's providence in sustaining us.

In the gloomy period of of adversity, we have had "our cloud by day and pillar of fire by night." We have been reduced to distress, and the arm of Omnipotence has raised us up.

Let us still rely in humble confidence on Him who is mighty to save. Good tidings will soon arrive. We shall never be abandoned by Heaven while we act worthy of its aid and protection."~ from "Samuel Adams A Life" by Ira Stoll.

That last line is worth repeating because it is true. "We shall never be abandoned by Heaven while we act worthy of its aid and protection." Let us act worthy of Heaven's aid and protection and we will reclaim our country.

"When the centurion heard that, he went and told the chief captain, saying, Take heed what thou doest: for this man is a Roman.
Then the chief captain came, and said unto him, Tell me, art thou a Roman? He said, Yea.
And the chief captain answered, With a great sum obtained I this freedom. And Paul said, But I was free born.
Then straightway they departed from him which should have examined him: and the chief captain also was afraid, after he knew that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him." ~Acts 22:26-29

Iowa Caucus Results

Huckabee and Obama; sounds like an actual ticket.

Just saw Obama's speech and it wasn't bad. Seemed impromptu and well-delivered. Of course, the substance left a LOT to be desired.

Huckabee... well, here's my problem with the guy. He's of the "compassionate conservative" cloth, which, translated, means he's not a conservative. Fantastically devoid of any logic, he's going to atone for the sins of slavery by pursuing open borders and granting entitlements to illegals. Of course, one has nothing to do with the other. Of course, such a policy might very well destroy the country. OF COURSE, there was the little matter of the War Between the States, which settled that debt.

Well, here's hoping that Huckabee's fawning support in the media finally gets through to voters that this is a bad guy. If liberals like him, he's bad for America. I'm concerned that things may have to get worse before they get better; I honestly hope that's not the case, as I thought things were bad enough as they are.

Put This One In The Books

And so we come to the close of another month. Time to flip the calendar, turn the page, cross off the old and look forward to the new.

May should be a good month. I have a couple of exciting things to look forward to in the coming month - more activism and even a homeschooling conference, all of which I'll share with you right here. Hopefully, my partners in this space will see their time free up and they can join in the fun.

I'll close out this last post of the month with an observation on the Democrat debate that happened last week (also known as the "Idiot Parade."). Hillary Clinton can raise all the money she wants, and her attack dogs and consultants can be as good as they are, but none of that changes the fact that she's a shrill, harsh, and personally unlikable candidate.

I'm no fan of him (you can read more here on the subject), but I think Obama is going to foil her grand plans. Most people outside of NY state don't realize this, but Hillary isn't all that experienced at much of anything, other than political survival. Barack is a better speaker and is personally much more appealing as a candidate, and I think this will bear itself out as we get closer to 2008. That said, these are Democrats we're talking about, so if I'm wrong, I'll attribute it to irrational people behaving, well, irrationally.

Barack Obama is Bad for America

So he made his announcement today. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to scream or cry...?

Once and for all, I'd like to put the fascination with Sen. Obama behind us. The MSM loves this guy. And his shameless, outrageous, and inappropriate "branding" as a modern day Lincoln is an insult of the highest order. I'm sure that our 16th President would just love a pretender like Obama invoking his name for political gain. Obama is to Lincoln as Saddam Hussein is to Ghandi; the comparison makes no sense. Obama isn't even close to "great" Democrats in history like FDR or Truman. He's a groomed and polished Jimmy Carter with better communication skills.

Here's what I'd like to do. Given that people have so little understanding of where the Senator stands on the issues, as a public service, I'll spell his positions out for you. I'll use his website as a source, so you can check for yourself and share this with others. I'm going to use the man's words, folks, so please let people know who and what they're going to be supporting when they support this candidate. If I hear one more person say that he's a fresh new leader I think I'm going to be sick. Anyway, here goes.

On Taxation: The Senator thinks the tax code has become too complex and "unfair" and is need of reform. So far, this follows his modus operandi - speak in platitudes so absurdly generalized that they can't be criticized. You almost expect him to follow a statement like this with something really controversial, like, I don't know, "Women are people too." The Senator thinks that "Reform options should focus on creating a system that is simple, progressive, easy to comply with and devoid of abusive shelters." Translation: the redistribution of wealth as it currently is designed should remain ("progressive") and there are too many means of avoiding taxes as the system stands. On taxation, the Senator's position is in line with the majority of his party, which is out of touch with most Americans. Shall we continue?

On Energy: The Senator supports alternative fuels, raising automobile fuel efficiency standards, investing in new technologies, and taxing oil companies so they don't make as much money (somehow, beyond comprehension, he calls this "Working to Lower High Gas Prices."). If indeed we are too dependent on foreign oil, we could open up increased offshore drilling right by these United States, if the environmental lobbies/interests would allow it (they won't). Last I checked, no new nuclear reactors are being built in the United States, for that matter. I'll give you three guesses why that isn't happening, and the first two don't count.

On Iraq: The Senator actually makes the effort to separate Iraq and National Defense; the sheer stupidity of this isn't worth the time to address. On his inability to discern the critical role of our presence in Iraq alone he should be disqualified from seeking the Presidency (and if I had my way, removed from the Senate). However, for the record, the Senator wants US forces out of Iraq by March 31, 2008 - about 13 and a half months from now. You know who thinks that's a good idea? Registered Democrats, everyone who works at either ABC News, CBS News, CNN or MSNBC, most Europeans, the Chinese and the Russians. Oh yeah, and the Terrorists.

On the Environment, On Immigration, On Education, On Health Care... oh Dear Lord, this could take a week! I suppose that if indeed Obama is the fraud that I think he is, he'll either be exposed in the Primaries or in the General Election. Forgive me for not being confident in the citizenry's ability to recognize a fool when he presents himself. Nor in the GOP's ability to just pound a lightweight like Obama.

I'm sure I'll have just as many objections to the eventual nominees from both parties, and since we've got a long way to go, I'll give it a rest for now. ;)

Big Shocker

So Hillary is going to run in 2008, have you heard?? I laughed at this headline this morning. According to the Laura Ingraham show, Team Billary has already taken a shot at Obama's muslim background, indicating/questioning that he was educated at a madrasa in Indonesia. Of course, had a conservative mentioned this, they'd be forced to resign... from whatever it is that they happen to be doing (Headline: "Dogcatcher Resigns Amid Backlash From 'Outing' Obama's Past").

I'd say that I'm psyched to see the two of them tear each other apart, except that this would be a little like watching the Green Bay Packers play the Minnesota Vikings for the NFC Championship. Isn't there a way where both of them can lose?

Obama '08

So it appears that the Senator from the once-proud state of Illinois (a/k/a the Land of Lenin, f/k/a the Land of Lincoln) is mulling a run for the Presidency in 2008. He was on "Meet the Press" today and you can read the story here.

My first thought on the matter was: I must debate this Osama character.

From the distinguished Senator's website:

"He believes firmly that health care should be a right for everyone, not a privilege for the few."

"Senator Obama is committed to providing every American with the opportunity to receive a quality education, from pre-kindergarten to college or vocational school to job retraining programs." (he's providing?)

And, especially,

"Senator Obama played a key role in the crafting of the immigration reform bill that the Senate passed in May 2006. The bill, which President Bush supports, would provide more funds and technology for border security and prevent employers from skirting our laws by hiring illegal immigrants. The bill also would provide immigrants who are now contributing and responsible members of society an opportunity to remain in the country and earn citizenship."

Of course, he's an intelligent man, for everyone will tell you so. Yet, I fear that a side effect of his smarts is that he's convinced himself of so much that isn't true.

I hold out hope that the Senator weighs his chances and decides against it. But if he decides to run, I challenge him, here and now, to a debate on the issues above or any of his choosing. I am sublimely confident that inexperience notwithstanding, I'd give him a debate he wouldn't soon forget.

THE MONARCHIST ADDS: As of this weekend (11/5/06), the man with nothing on him finally admits some remorse over his dealings with IL power broker and confidence man Tony Rezko. As Borat would say: Niiice.