Back to Basics

Theodore Roosevelt 1907

In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes
here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us,
he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is
an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or
birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person’s
becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American…There
can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American,
but something else also, isn’t an American at all. We have room for
but one flag, the American flag… We have room for but one language
here, and that is the English language.. And we have room for but one
sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.

Let us not forget our roots

There comes a time when the blood of martyrs screams at us from the past, calling us to action. I am not saying that such a time is now. But, remembering those from the revolutionary times who made the ultimate sacrafice will keep us vigilant and ready to follow in their footsteps should the time arise to once again fight for liberty.

When the Constitutional Government becomes corrupt and irresponsible to a point of threatening the people's freedoms and wealth, then one must be willing to join the Culpeper Minute Men to once again restore the liberties of our forefather's generation. Bridges to nowhere, $150 toilet seats, illegal immigration, violations of fiduciary duties for the proper management of the peoples money, murder, unjust war entanglements, usurping State's Power, are but a few of the wrongful acts perpetrated on the People by the Constitutional Government.

When is it enough? What will it take to act? To What end will Obama lead our country?

A Letter from Arizona

GLENN: I got a letter from a man in Arizona. He writes an open letter
to our nation's leadership: I'm a home grown American citizen, 53,
registered Democrat all my life. Before the last presidential election
I registered as a Republican because I no longer felt the Democratic
Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me.
Now I no longer feel the Republican Party represents my views or works
to pursue issues important to me. The fact is I no longer feel any
political party or representative in Washington represents my views or
works to pursue the issues important to me. There must be someone.
Please tell me who you are. Please stand up and tell me that you are
there and that you're willing to fight for our Constitution as it was
written. Please stand up now. You might ask yourself what my views and
issues are that I would horribly feel so disenfranchised by both major
political parties. What kind of nut job am I? Will you please tell me?

Well, these are briefly my views and issues for which I seek representation:

One, illegal immigration. I want you to stop coddling illegal
immigrants and secure our borders. Close the underground tunnels. Stop
the violence and the trafficking in drugs and people. No amnesty, not
again. Been there, done that, no resolution. P.S., I'm not a racist.
This isn't to be confused with legal immigration.

Two, the TARP bill, I want it repealed and I want no further funding
supplied to it. We told you no, but you did it anyway. I want the
remaining unfunded 95% repealed. Freeze, repeal.

Three: Czars, I want the circumvention of our checks and balances
stopped immediately. Fire the czars. No more czars. Government
officials answer to the process, not to the president. Stop trampling
on our Constitution and honor it.

Four, cap and trade. The debate on global warming is not over. There
is more to say.

Five, universal healthcare. I will not be rushed into another
expensive decision. Don't you dare try to pass this in the middle of
the night and then go on break. Slow down!

Six, growing government control. I want states rights and sovereignty
fully restored. I want less government in my life, not more. Shrink it
down. Mind your own business. You have enough to take care of with
your real obligations. Why don't you start there.

Seven, ACORN. I do not want ACORN and its affiliates in charge of our
2010 census. I want them investigated. I also do not want mandatory
escrow fees contributed to them every time on every real estate deal
that closes. Stop the funding to ACORN and its affiliates pending
impartial audits and investigations. I do not trust them with taking
the census over with our taxpayer money. I don't trust them with our
taxpayer money. Face up to the allegations against them and get it
resolved before taxpayers get any more involved with them. If it walks
like a duck and talks like a duck, hello. Stop protecting your
political buddies. You work for us, the people. Investigate.

Eight, redistribution of wealth. No, no, no. I work for my money. It
is mine. I have always worked for people with more money than I have
because they gave me jobs. That is the only redistribution of wealth
that I will support. I never got a job from a poor person. Why do you
want me to hate my employers? Why -- what do you have against
shareholders making a profit?

Nine, charitable contributions. Although I never got a job from a poor
person, I have helped many in need. Charity belongs in our local
communities, where we know our needs best and can use our local talent
and our local resources. Butt out, please. We want to do it ourselves.

Ten, corporate bailouts. Knock it off. Sink or swim like the rest of
us. If there are hard times ahead, we'll be better off just getting
into it and letting the strong survive. Quick and painful. Have you
ever ripped off a Band-Aid? We will pull together. Great things happen
in America under great hardship. Give us the chance to innovate. We
cannot disappoint you more than you have disappointed us.

Eleven, transparency and accountability. How about it? No, really, how
about it? Let's have it. Let's say we give the buzzwords a rest and
have some straight honest talk. Please try -- please stop manipulating
and trying to appease me with clever wording. I am not the idiot you
obviously take me for. Stop sneaking around and meeting in back rooms
making deals with your friends. It will only be a prelude to your
criminal investigation. Stop hiding things from me.

Twelve, unprecedented quick spending. Stop it now.

Take a breath. Listen to the people. Let's just slow down and get some
input from some nonpoliticians on the subject. Stop making everything
an emergency. Stop speed reading our bills into law. I am not an
activist. I am not a community organizer. Nor am I a terrorist, a
militant or a violent person. I am a parent and a grandparent. I work.
I'm busy. I'm busy. I am busy, and I am tired. I thought we elected
competent people to take care of the business of government so that we
could work, raise our families, pay our bills, have a little
recreation, complain about taxes, endure our hardships, pursue our
personal goals, cut our lawn, wash our cars on the weekends and be
responsible contributing members of society and teach our children to
be the same all while living in the home of the free and land of the
brave.

I entrusted you with upholding the Constitution. I believed in the
checks and balances to keep from getting far off course. What
happened? You are very far off course. Do you really think I find
humor in the hiring of a speed reader to unintelligently ramble all
through a bill that you signed into law without knowing what it
contained? I do not. It is a mockery of the responsibility I have
entrusted to you. It is a slap in the face. I am not laughing at your
arrogance. Why is it that I feel as if you would not trust me to make
a single decision about my own life and how I would live it but you
should expect that I should trust you with the debt that you have laid
on all of us and our children. We did not want the TARP bill. We said
no. We would repeal it if we could. I am sure that we still cannot.
There is such urgency and recklessness in all of the recent spending.

From my perspective, it seems that all of you have gone insane. I also
know that I am far from alone in these feelings. Do you honestly feel
that your current pursuits have merit to patriotic Americans? We want
it to stop. We want to put the brakes on everything that is being
rushed by us and forced upon us. We want our voice back. You have
forced us to put our lives on hold to straighten out the mess that you
are making. We will have to give up our vacations, our time spent with
our children, any relaxation time we may have had and money we cannot
afford to spend on you to bring our concerns to Washington. Our
president often knows all the right buzzword is unsustainable. Well,
no kidding. How many tens of thousands of dollars did the focus group
cost to come up with that word? We don't want your overpriced words.
Stop treating us like we're morons.

We want all of you to stop focusing on your reelection and do the job
we want done, not the job you want done or the job your party wants
done. You work for us and at this rate I guarantee you not for long
because we are coming. We will be heard and we will be represented.
You think we're so busy with our lives that we will never come for
you? We are the formerly silent majority, all of us who quietly work ,
pay taxes, obey the law, vote, save money, keep our noses to the
grindstone and we are now looking up at you. You have awakened us, the
patriotic spirit so strong and so powerful that it had been sleeping
too long. You have pushed us too far. Our numbers are great. They may
surprise you. For every one of us who will be there, there will be
hundreds more that could not come. Unlike you, we have their trust. We
will represent them honestly, rest assured. They will be at the polls
on voting day to usher you out of office. We have cancelled vacations.
We will use our last few dollars saved. We will find the
representation among us and a grassroots campaign will flourish. We
didn't ask for this fight. But the gloves are coming off. We do not
come in violence, but we are angry. You will represent us or you will
be replaced with someone who will. There are candidates among us when
he will rise like a Phoenix from the ashes that you have made of our
constitution.

Democrat, Republican, independent, libertarian. Understand this. We
don't care. Political parties are meaningless to us. Patriotic
Americans are willing to do right by us and our Constitution and that
is all that matters to us now. We are going to fire all of you who
abuse power and seek more. It is not your power. It is ours and we
want it back. We entrusted you with it and you abused it. You are
dishonorable. You are dishonest. As Americans we are ashamed of you.
You have brought shame to us. If you are not representing the wants
and needs of your constituency loudly and consistently, in spite of
the objections of your party, you will be fired. Did you hear? We no
longer care about your political parties. You need to be loyal to us,
not to them. Because we will get you fired and they will not save you.
If you do or can represent me, my issues, my views, please stand up.
Make your identity known. You need to make some noise about it. Speak
up. I need to know who you are. If you do not speak up, you will be
herded out with the rest of the sheep and we will replace the whole
damn congress if need be one by one. We are coming. Are we coming for
you? Who do you represent? What do you represent? Listen. Because we
are coming. We the people are coming.

I was Thinking

Last night I met a new friend on Twitter. His handle is Islamvoice. From what I deduced, Islamvoice hopes to educate people about his religion. I told him that I do not hate Islam, instead I hate what some have done in the name of Islam. He replied, ""I do hate what some in the name of Islam have done." I AGREE 100%"" I believe Islamvoice, who ever they are, are peace loving and care about humanity. I believe that they truly want to bring us together in harmony with God. But, as well intentioned as they are, I hope that they keep an open mind to the Truth. As an American, I was raised to question what I see, what I am told, and what I hear. I look to the motive behind the statements: who benefits, why?

How is it that Abraham's two sons, Isaac and Ishmael, and through their seed, left a legacy that today has their descendants hating and killing each other? Jews, followers of Islam, and Christians, are all related to Abraham's sons. I believe that God would not advocate the murder of anyone who descended from Abraham. I believe that anyone who promotes violence against the descendants of Abraham is of Satan; for killing the descendants of Abraham is like killing God's promises to Abraham. This then, would make God out to be a liar. When some say, that Jesus was a Prophet who was not crucified, instead they say it was Judas, then what they are really saying is that this Prophet of God called Jesus lied. A Prophet from the one true God is incapable of lying. Historical records from the Romans to the Greeks to the Jews shows that Jesus was in fact crucified by Pontius Pilat. To say in the 6th Century AD that this did not happen and claim God's authority to say so, is a deception perpetrated on the people to hide the truth for one's self-aggrandizement.

History demonstrates that the Quran was written sometime in the 6th Century. There is no evidence of any recorded history of the Islamic faith prior to the 6th Century. In other words, manuscripts do not exist that science has dated to be from the period of Moses, as an example. Islam puts forth that God gave Adam Islam. The Bible warns us to be wary of anyone who changes the word of God. And, no where in the book does God say that he gave anyone a religion. Instead, he commands us to follow only Him. This is my belief based on my understanding of history.

So, I revert to the book, or Bible for some clarity. I understand that the Great deceiver is Satan. I understand that Moses gave the people God's 10 commandments. I understand that one of the commandments states, You shall not kill. I believe that in rendering this commandment, God reserved unto himself the power to kill. Any man who claims to be speaking with God's authority by advancing the law to state that he has the power to decide who dies and who lives, is deceiving the people for their own power position. Claiming the power of God is obviously a false prophet. Again, the one who hurts God by killing Abraham's descendants, and he who deceives the people, is of Satan.

I look forward to a thought provoking dialog with my new friend(s). I hope through communication, we can find peace and understanding in the World.

Words that I Feel by Senator Robert A. Hall

I âm Tired

Robert A. Hall

Ill be 63 soon. Except for one semester in college when jobs were scarce, and a six-month period when I was between jobs, but job-hunting every day, Ive worked, hard, since I was 18. Despite some health challenges, I still put in 50-hour weeks, and havent called in sick in seven or eight years. I make a good salary, but I didnt inherit my job or my income, and I worked to get where I am. Given the economy, there no retirement in sight, and I'm tired. Very tired.

I'm tired of being told that I have to spread the wealth around to people who don't have my work ethic. I'm tired of being told the government will take the money I earned, by force if necessary, and give it to people too lazy or stupid to earn it.

I'm tired of being told that I have to pay more taxes to keep people in their homes. Sure, if they lost their jobs or got sick, I'm willing to help. But if they bought McMansions at three times the price of our paid-off, $250,000 condo, on one-third of my salary, then let the leftwing Congresscritters who passed Fannie and Freddie and the Community Reinvestment Act that created the bubble help them—with their own money.

I'm tired of being told how bad America is by leftwing millionaires like Michael Moore, George Soros and Hollywood entertainers who live in luxury because of the opportunities America offers. In thirty years, if they get their way, the United States will have the religious freedom and women's rights of Saudi Arabia , the economy of Zimbabwe , the freedom of the press of China , the crime and violence of Mexico , the tolerance for Gay people of Iran , and the freedom of speech of Venezuela . Won't multiculturalism be beautiful?

I'm tired of being told that Islam is a Religion of Peace, when every day I can read dozens of stories of Muslim men killing their sisters, wives and daughters for their family honor; of Muslims rioting over some sligh t offense; of Muslims murdering Christian and Jews because they arent believers; of Muslims burning schools for girls; of Muslims stoning teenage rape victims to death for adultery; of Muslims mutilating the genitals of little girls; all in the name of Allah, because the Qurân and Sharia law tells them to.

I believe a man should be judged by the content of his character, not by the "color of his skin I am tired of being told that race doesn'T matter in the post-racial world of President Obama, when it's all that matters in affirmative action jobs, lower college admission and graduation standards for minorities (harming them the most), government contract set-asides, tolerance for the ghetto culture of violence and fatherless children that hurts minorities more than anyone, and in the appointment of US Senators from Illinois.

I think it's very cool that we have a black president and that a black child is doing her homework at the desk where Lincoln wrote the emancipation proclamation. I just wish the black president was Condi Rice, or som eone who believes more in freedom and the individual and less in an all-knowing government.

I'm tired of a news media that thinks Bush's fundraising and inaugural expenses were obscene, but that think Obama's, at triple the cost, were wonderful.. That thinks Bush exercising daily was a waste of presidential time, but Obama exercising is a great example for the public to control weight and stress. That picked over every line of Bush's military records, but never demanded that Kerry release his. That slammed Palin with two years as governor for being too inexperienced for VP, but touted Obama with three years as senator as potentially the best president ever.

Wonder why people are dropping their subscriptions or switching to Fox News? Get a clue. I didn't vote for Bush in 2000, but the media and Kerry drove me to his camp in 2004.

I'm tired of being told that out of tolerance for other cultures we must let Saudi Arabia use our oil money to fund mosques and madrassa Islamic schools to preach hate in America , while no American group is allowed to fund a church, synagogue or religious school in Saudi Arabia to teach love and tolerance.

I'm tired of being told I must lower my living standard to fight global warming, which no one is allowed to debate. My wife and I live in a two-bedroom apartment and carpool together five miles to our jobs. We also own a three-bedroom condo where our daughter and granddaughter live. Our carbon footprint is about 5% of Al Gore and if you're greener than Gore, you're green enough.

I'm tired of being told t hat drug addicts have a disease, and I must help support and treat them, and pay for the damage they do. Did a giant germ rush out of a dark alley, grab them, and stuff white powder up their noses while they tried to fight it off? I don't think Gay people choose to be Gay, but I damn sure think druggies chose to take drugs. And I'm tired of harassment from cool people treating me like a freak when I tell them I never tried marijuana.

I'm tired of illegal aliens being called undocumented workers, especially the ones who aren't working, but are living on welfare or crime. What's next? Calling drug dealers, Undocumented Pharmacists? And, no, I'm not against Hispanics. Most of them are Catholic and it's been a few hundred years since Catholics wanted to kill me for my religion. I'm willing to fast track for citizenship any Hispanic person who can speak English, doesn't have a criminal record and who is self-supporting without family on welfare, or who serves honorably for three years in our military. Those are the citizens we need.

I'm tired of latte liberals and journalists, who would never wear the uniform of the Republic themselves, or let their entitlement- handicapped kids near a recruiting station, trashing our military. They and their kids can sit at home, never having to make split-second decisions under life and death circumstances, and bad mouth better people then themselves. Do bad things happen in war? You bet. Do our troops sometimes misbehave? Sure. Does this compare with the atrocities that were the policy of our enemies for the last fifty years—and still are? Not even close. So here's the deal. I'll let myself be subjected to all the humiliation and abuse that was heaped on terrorists at Abu Ghraib or Gitmo, and the critics can let themselves be subject to captivity by the Muslims who tortured and beheaded Daniel Pearl in Pakistan, or the Muslims who tortured and murdered Marine Lt. Col. William Higgins in Lebanon, or the Muslims who ran the blood-spattered Al Qaeda torture rooms our troops found in Iraq, or the Muslims who cut off the heads of schoolgirls in Indonesia, because the girls were Christian. Then we'll compare notes. British and American soldiers are the only troops in history that civilians came to for help and handouts, instead of hiding from in fear.

I'm tired of people telling me that their party has a corner on virtue and the other party has a corner on corruption. Read the papers bums are bi-partisan. And I'm tired of people telling me we need bi-partisanship. I live in Illinois , where the Illinois Combine†of Democrats and Republicans has worked together harmoniously to loot the public for years. And I notice that the tax cheats in Obama’s cabinet are bi-partisan as well.

I'm tired of hearing wealthy athletes, entertainers and politicians of both parties talking about innocent mistakes, stupid mistakes or youthful mistakes, when we all know they think their only mistake was getting caught. I'm tired of people with a sense of entitlement, rich or poor.

Speaking of poor, I'm tired of hearing people with air-conditioned homes, color TVs and two cars called poor. The majority of Americans didn't have that in 1970, but we didn't know we were poor. The poverty pimps have to keep changing the definition of poor to keep the dollars flowing.

I'm real tired of people who don't take responsibility for their lives and actions. I'm tired of hearing them blame the government, or discrimination, or big-whatever for their 0A problems. =0 A

Yes, I'm damn tired. But I'm also glad to be 63. Because, mostly, I'm not going to get to see the world these people are making. I'm just sorry for my granddaughter.

Robert A. Hall is a Marine Vietnam veteran who served five terms in the Massachusetts state senate. He blogs at www.tartanmarine. blogspot. com

Teach the Children to Hate!