There Is No I In Democrat

The collectivist ideas of the leaders in the Democratic Party are not a secret. Each Democrat Presidential candidate has announced plans of Big Government control of our health care. However, FEMA's response to hurricane Katrina revealed the sluggish, grinding wheels of entrenched bureaucracy. The truth of a bureaucracy is: process is more important than solution. Solution is feared because it could end the necessity of their position. Also, most bureaucrats vote for the party of collectivism either through ethos or job security. To a bureaucrat,fouling the plans of an opposing administration is an admirable task.

The constant murmur of the MSM credits the faults of a bloated government to theopposing administration as if a passing administration is synonymous with government. The MSM perpetuates this dark lie through its constant white noise murmur machine that seeks to obliterate contrary thought. Collectivist government, good; Republican administration, bad.

However, something tremendous happened when the Senate thought they could blithely pass another bureaucratic reform with the Immigration Bill. Our hierarchal government leaders were as soundly rebuked as King John at Runnymede. Rather than the simple-minded Michael Moore definition of a collectivist "We the People", the arrogant elected officials met the "We the People" of the individual. The united action of individuals shut down the Capital Hill phone system. The uniting idea was that the government was not trustworthy to do that which they promised. The power of individuals unified by an idea is unquantifiable.

Every day I hear the lament that Republicans have no leader. I discount that whine as a passing of responsibility. There is a great moment in the movie National Treasure when the character Ben Gates, frustrated because no one believes his warning of a threat to steal the Declaration of Independence, looks upon the revered document and reads the line:

…it is their Right, it is their Duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future Security.

Not only do we have the right, we also have the DUTY — the responsibility — to do something to provide new guards, new representatives, for the future of national security from a fascist Caliphate and liberty at home in this war on the individual. The melting of the Capital Hill phone system is evidence that we have the power necessary for change.

Responsibility belongs solely to the individual. Each of us knows what must be done to stop this collectivist march. Their murmur has become a subversive clamor, declaring the nation broken. We know this argument only serves the purpose of entrenched bureaucrats acting in their collectivist best interest while stalwartly supported by intransigent Democrats. Their condescending arrogance is incongruous with the ideals that established this nation.

We do not need a leader to tell us this or to tell us what action needs to be taken in preparation for the next election. Pruning deadwood and rooting out bad seeds must be done before we can ever hope to plant a new course of action. The murmur machine must be humbled so that new seeds can take root in preparation for the intense change we are demanding. We must not allow our precious vote to continue the bad because the good isn't good enough. Such reasoning leads to cultural destruction and besides note it is the MSM murmur machine telling you of your dissatisfaction. The individual bears that responsibility. Our vote is required.

Because my own district was mad at the Republicans for playing the earmark game, Chet Edwards (D-TX District 17) is now earmarking himself into a lifetime seat in Congress, even though the man is the antithesis of our cultural values. Chet Edwards is the epitome of the absent father, buying off his children rather than representing the values that respect his constituents.
Every state has districts struggling to replace an entrenched Congressman. They are like Chet Edwards, bringing home the bacon, but are not the kind of man you’d be proud to call Daddy or follow as a leader. Lift your comrades up as they engage in the fight. Don’t let our front line falter when the negative accusations reach those shrill high notes. Press forward, keeping your eye on the prize - the establishment of a foundation for change. Just as we must crush the fascist Caliphate into the pit of hell from which it came, we must use the power of united individuals to crush collectivism and stun the murmur machine used against us. As individuals united by an idea we have the power to make a change. Just raise your hand in commitment in the fight for individual freedom. The Federalist Party ceased to be because of their arrogant condescending attitude toward the citizenry they tried to control with Federal power. The ideas of the Federalist were despised by the people. The Democratic Party was established on the ash heap of slavery and their collectivist ideas are real time slavery. They must be defeated because of their ideas. Remember there is no “I” in Democrat.

We Are At War!

I have been away for a long while and I apologize to my dear readers. The truth is that I suffer from intense depression and sometimes I just fall off the map for a while. However, I did do one thing in my absence and that was to write a piece for my dear Beast Tracking blogger friend, Yaacov Ben Moshe. YBM has made it his purpose in life to track the footprints of the Beast in an attempt to shine the light of truth upon the destruction left in the wake of its passing. YBM is a modern St. George and the jackalope applauds his work. I urge you to read my Beast story.

The Beast bears two horns: a horn of hatred and savagery and a horn of authoritarian subversion. The trumpet of the first horn calls individuals to immolation or acts of savagery upon other individuals so heinous and unconscionable that they defy civilized standards of behavior. The blood sacrifice of the immolator erases the individual. It is one of the methods the Beast uses to subdue the entire world. The promise of heaven for the immolator produces a living hell for the individuals left behind. Savagery destroys the connections between individuals. Fear petrifies and isolates. Retaliation against this must be sure and absolute. Civilized people must unite and be resolved or we are lost.

The second horn is a loud trumpet of murmuring. It is the horn of demoralization. It is the horn of authoritarian subversion seeking to imprison the soul and mind. The constant murmur discredits individuals that stand against it. This is the technique of Stalin or any dictator. Anyone disagreeing with Stalin was obviously insane until receiving a shot in the back of the neck for being a criminal. In many ways, the questionable mental characterization is worse than the bullet, since the discredited individual must continue to live in the world from which he is now separated.

This is the horn of the beast that pierced my soul and grieves my heart. This is the method the Beast is using to cause America to destroy itself.The source of the Beast’s power is big government – its politicians and bureaucrats. The Beast twists intelligence into business savvy, character into shrewdness, and virtue into the ability to be irresponsible and escape the consequences. The mark of the Beast is man trebled and an empty oblivion, which is the absence of God. The murmur is used to destroy the righteous man while upholding the acts of the wicked. The murmur believes the nation is broken. The conflict is simply big government, entrenched politicians and bureaucrats at war with the individual. The Beast with its mighty horns is at war with our American philosophy both within our nation and on foreign soils. But here comes the Beast’s main obstacle.

The murmur has created a void and nature abhors a vacuum. The more God is denied, the more He exists. What happens to victims of the Beast in the horror work camps of North Korea? God rushes in and feeds their individual soul with precious smuggled pages of the Bible. When the Russian dissident Alexander Solzhenitsyn contemplated walking into the darkness of the Siberian snow to lie down, to give up, and let the snow cover him into a frozen death it was another prisoner making the sign of the cross in the snow with his foot that restored a broken heart. Triumph over the Beast does not come from the death of the individual, but the blood of the perfect sacrifice, crucified but yet victorious over death and the Beast. God in his infinite wisdom understood that man must be free in order to make a choice to worship Him. Likewise in the American experience, we must be free in order to choose our future.

Every day I hear individuals clamoring for a leader, someone to call them to arms. This is simply passing the responsibility. We acted as individuals during the Immigration Debate and shut down the phone network on Capitol Hill. The power of focused, like-minded individuals is unquantifiable.

We recognize big government types, entrenched bureaucrats and politicians, and the purveyors of murmur. We can see that the Democratic Party is at war with America, the individual and ultimately at war with God. That they sense no danger in that endeavor only heightens the necessity of our action.We have the power to encourage others to shake off the self-imposed shackles of group think and the deafening murmur. We have a vote and we can empower individuals around us to vote. We can urge them to be not afraid.

Imagine an America where we are proud of our way of life and would defend it to death. Imagine an America without the false promises and incessant murmuring of the Democratic Party and their fawning media murmurers. Imagine an America not at war with the individual, but rather feeling great pride because of individual success.

We don’t really need a leader to tell us these things. We know it instinctively. When the French republicans stormed the Bastille, it wasn't really to free prisoners, but to gain control of the weaponry stored there. We must unite to rid ourselves of the weaponry of backroom deals, lies, fabrications and the senseless murmuring constantly used against us. If in this next election we were to send every elected Democrat home, can you imagine the instantaneous hush of the murmur? Can you imagine the fear our enemies would experience when the Americans who empower them every day lose both political power and also their murmur machine?

Yes, we have Republicans entrenched in political schemes, but let us concentrate upon the most ruthless adversaries to American individualism and send them packing with a smarting defeat. Individuals united can reject every collective socialist in Washington, and even to our city districts. The Revolution of 1994 was only the first volley. Victory has not been declared and we have been sucked into the black hole of stalemate. As individuals, we have the power to defeat collectivists as surely as we can crash the phone system of our leaders.

The 2008 election must be a resounding victory for the Declaration of Independence, The Constitution and Bill of Rights. It must be a victory for the individual and a complete rejection of the murmuring poll-driven press.

Once we stop being at war with ourselves, America can defeat any foe on any continent. We just have to make the decision. I'm drawing the line in the sand. Are you with me?

Pirates vs Government Controlled Business

It is a curious fact that nothing is new and that every major event has a correlating story from history. The art of reading the tea leaves is not just the revelation of a possible true or false prophet, but also an important factor in this essay because in American History, The East India Company is the ultimate example of the merge between government and business. On December 31, 1600, Queen Elizabeth I signed a royal charter giving the Honourable East India Company a 21 year monopoly on trade with the East Indies.

This innocuous beginning in the early days of expanding global trade mutated into one of the most insidious mergers of government power with private business savvy that history has ever recorded. The more the government powers demanded, the more the businessmen demanded--and both powers received in abundance. With the company's success important to practically every royal and Parliament member along with company men and investors, the booty was in danger of being divided into mere piddles.

It was then that the Crown made it perfectly clear as to who actually owned the company. With the East India Act of 1773 the Crown declared that the "acquisition of sovereignty by the subjects of the Crown is on behalf of the Crown and not in its own right." Big government now controlled the East India Company, and because the company traded and owned factories and warehouses worldwide, the Crown now controlled practically the entire globe.

The English taxpayer was then tapped as a source of revenue to continue expanding the company so that its financial return could be as large as men of power and wealth would require. As the Pirates of The Caribbean movies have taught every young person with the ability to follow a plot line, The East India Company had a problem determining whether they were The Law or the Monopolistic Merchant of the Seas. Keira Knightly's character, Elizabeth Swann, realizes this fact and rallies the pirates to fight for freedom on both counts. Pirates were fighting for the right to be...well...pirates.

It was the East India Company and its monopolistic power backed up by the Crown that caused a sort of pirate event in the American colonies--the Boston Tea Party. Private colonial shippers like John Hancock were the target of this corporate/government behemoth. The attempt to restrict colonial harbors to ships and cargo belonging to the East India Company occurred because the company was in dire straits financially. The company needed to make as much money as possible, to pay not only the Crown and its investors but also the large Treasury debt. One of the abusive taxes that so angered the colonists was enacted to repay the English treasury which was being used like a bank to keep the golden goose financially afloat. That, along with the ability to enforce being the only fleet able to enter colonial harbors, pushed the American colonists to the point of war. Entrepreneurs like John Hancock were declared outlaw smugglers--and while a smuggler is not quite the same as a pirate, each would have suffered the same fate.

Therefore it is interesting that once again America finds herself being squeezed by a new business/government merger in this 2008 Presidential Campaign. Each Democratic Party candidate has promised a federal government solution to a declared "broken" Health Care System. This ideal is promulgated insidiously by Democrats through the failing pension funds of Detroit auto manufacturers. A government program, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, was created to supposedly protect pension plans--but unless the bankruptcy-prone corporations are able to put money in the PBGC, the pensions will remain empty. Like the East India Company, the PBGC has attempted to pass on this debt to the American taxpayer, thereby releasing the auto manufacturers or airlines of their financial responsibility. (If not for House Minority Leader John A. Boehner 's (R-Ohio) leadership, taxpayers would already be saddled with this burden.)

The federalization of health care would also release the same corporations of the debt of their agreed benefits programs. Therefore, it should be clearly obvious that whatever program the Democrats are proposing would start out deeply in the red. So their promise that the envisioned program would actually save money is preposterous.

Upon the signing of the Pension Protection Act of 2006, Senator Kennedy (D-MA) said: "This bill says to millions of Americans who fear their pensions will disappear that help is on the way.” He hopes with every fiber of his own trust fund that the holders of the pensions in question will hear his siren's call and not pay attention to the looming shoals beneath the water. The huge debt will not just simply transform into fluid cash.

Senator Clinton (D-NY), in a speech for Detroit's International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, said "The creation of a universal health care system is especially important to union workers in the auto industry, who find currently find their jobs in jeopardy." The article continues: "Such workers have been battling with their employers regarding increased health care in an environment with rising retirement and health costs." But unless the average newspaper reader knows why auto workers are having problems with rising retirement and health costs, the assumption will be that everyone's costs are rising because of sinister actions by insurance and retirement fund corporations. And then comes her hard sell to the American taxpayer: "If we don't have a strong manufacturing industry, it won't be long before we don't have a strong economy."

Bill Clinton made a telling speech at the 2007 TED Prize Award: Make a Wish Come True. He was talking about a medical group he was working with to provide medical services in Rwanda. Mr. Clinton is negotiating lower pharmaceutical sales for this group. He talks about working with non-governmental organizations (NGO's) such as the American Heart Association:

"We started a childhood obesity initiative with the Heart Association in America by negotiating industry-wide deals with the soft drink and snack food industry to cutting the caloric and other dangerous content of food going to our children in the schools. We just reorganized the markets. And then it occurred to me that in the whole non-governmental world, somebody needs to be thinking about organizing the world's public goods market."

So much for capitalism and entrepreneurship providing the means to get the desired product to the desirous customer. A new entity, a monarch of the world, will now direct products to their correct place while deciding what is proper food for each of us according to our age and health or activity level.

The former President then rambled into his work in the global warming farce:

"And that is now what we are trying to do in working with these large cities which generate 75% of the world's green house gases to drastically and quickly reduce green house gas emissions in a way that is good economics. And this whole discussion as if it's some sort of economic burden is a mystery to me...

..I think it's a bird's nest on the ground.

Considering the Clintons came to Washington practically penniless, their newfound wealth should raise more than an eyebrow, because every pirate knows that the Pirate Code is really every captain for himself!

And so I warn those drawn in by the Democrat's siren song of a secure future without want or care, with a word from the leader of the first anti-Federalist movement - Thomas Jefferson:

Do not bite at the bait of pleasure, till you know there is no hook beneath it.

Deconstructive Nihilism and the Democratic Party

After the World Wars, a new social war began in earnest; the war upon the bourgeoise. As returning veterans were glad to be home, safe, and alive, relieved to do something easy and non-life threatening like buy a cute little tract home, get a job and raise a family, another group desired in every way to separate themselves from everything that smacked of Middle Class. The more avante-garde the rejection of middle class values, the more the fashionable set applauded as Tom Wolfe observed in New York art scene in The Painted Word.

As artistic realism was deconstructed, highbrow art became not the actual painting, but the action that created it. Likewise out in society, mass meetings such as Woodstock were not so much a method for musical bands to get recognition to sell LP records, but rather the entire event was the happening. Directed by leaders in the anti-American movement, the gullible partying attendees had their personal memory of the event shrewdly replaced. As historians tell us, Woodstock had nothing to do with the music, it was about the in-your-face rejection of the values of Middle Class America. While Woodstock certainly became that, it was a manufactured reality.

In deconstruction terms, the happening became less about being there and more about being there. If all this is true, then the attendees of the happening were just window dressing for the camera, the real artists of the painting were nothing more than manipulative tent revival hucksters preying upon the emotions of their clueless marks.

Happenings became the method to re-educate the masses into believing something happened other than the simple congregating at a specific place. Sometimes, riots were instigated because the manipulators were as shrewd as Jerry Springer in collecting the class of people bent on unruliness and then tossing a lit Molotov cocktail into the mix. The art was The Happening, the action, the riot. The intent was to scare the Middle Class into submission. The unwashed mass of actual attendees thought it was all about being there and enjoying the rowdy party.

This generation steeped in the art of manipulating their witless believers are now in charge of the Democratic Party and the MSM. Every action or sound-bite is a scheduled happening to direct the supposed stupid bourgeoise they have risen above. Meanwhile, the pretentious MSM gasp at the revelation of the happening like a hopelessly rich tech investor scouring the pits of bohemia looking for art that is both not middle class and ridiculously priced. How else could the MSM know the highbrow art authority other than by the event director's rejection of the opinion of Middle Class America or by the power they command? Deconstruction has removed all factual content and the ability of elementary prioritization from the entire process.

This is why I’ve come to fear Obama over Hilary. While the nation is fully aware that Hilary is a contrived, over-processed, structured event, Obama has the dangerously glib charisma of a happening. His campaign events are inflated with the helium of him being, as Joe Biden (D-DE) has described him, a “clean and articulate black man.” The attendants to these events are given to believe the only gravity Obama faces is prejudice. However, helium makes a voice sound funny as Obama strings together brainless platitudes about higher education, nonsensical foreign policy ideas and deconstructed religious ideas that devolve good or evil into a circular argument morass, unless of course the activity was done by George W. Bush. And the tout le monde MSM reports that the helium inflated event was heralded by applause! Oh, joy! The happening happened!

Everyone knows that Hilary Clinton’s moral compass doesn’t point due north, but it would appear that Obama doesn’t even have a moral compass. He is nothing but a deconstructed helium balloon, evidently giving Mrs. Bill Clinton a little more of a challenge than she expected. What is causing people to listen to gibberish and think it profound? It is because the ability to stage an event has nothing to do with content and everything to do with hype and the being-there mentality pumped up by the MSM. They have found the deconstructionist’s dream—a poor down-trodden half-minority who looks good in a suit and can perfectly pronounce every word in a sentence with no content. With Obama in the Oval Office, it would be like Jim Jones had been elected president. Where’s the cut glass punch bowl?

We Live In An Exciting Age

Several years ago, I read Capitalism and a New Social Order: The Republican Vision of the 1790's. The book so influenced me because I saw in history a fresh, invigorating vision for the future. We live in an exciting age, but to make these ideas work we must remain steady. We must keep our eyes set on the shining city on the hill, as we continue the path through the foothills singing Psalms of Ascent as we journey to the city of God.

In the 1790's the Federalist Party felt entrenched in a position of power. The elected officials felt it was their responsibility to explain the meaning of the Constitution to the people. The Federalists believed the Constitution to be flexible in regards to the power of government rather than for limiting government power over private citizens. Granted many of the elite had actually written the Constitution, but an attitude of superiority can accompany the desire to teach. Any university student can recall at least one arrogant professor during their scholarly journey.

Just because the people loved George Washington dearly, that did not make him infallible in their eyes. In two cases, the Washington administration was taken aback by the murmuring of the common citizen. The first is known today as The Whiskey Rebellion. Western settlers resisted an additional tax on the whiskey they made from the corn they were unable to get to market. The whiskey was easier to ship to market and they felt the tax was discriminatory toward their personal entrepreneurship in making a useful product rather than suffer a commercial loss. The second reaction came when the citizens were berated for their resistance. This further revealed the mindset of the Federalist elected elite, angering the common man even more.

That generation, having lived through the violence of the Revolutionary War, was not interested in recreating the same system of elitism they'd just rebelled against. Shifting to today, the comparison with the elitism of Democrat leaders, and their disconnect to the common man, could not be clearer. Remember that the generation that preached to us for years this mantra of peace, love, and tolerance gave us The Waco Tragedy.

It is an exciting time when two very clear and divergent visions for the future of America are being debated. The Republican Party platform has the best vision of fostering individual freedom along with a clear interpretation of the War on Terror. Yes, the Republican Party has some entrenched elitists far more comfortable with their Democratic opposition than with the great unwashed rabble whose votes they need to be elected. Well, that seems like an easy problem to solve as Republicans mark the final reign of Arlan Specter (R- PA), John Warner (R-VA) and John McCain (R-AZ). Like the ever-knitting Tale of Two Cities character Madame Dufarge, the jackalope has her list.

Republicanism's civic virtue is fueling alternative media such as talk radio, Fox news, and the rough and rowdy internet. Republicanism is the natural defense against an over-zealous authority. Every time the Democratic Party presidential candidates explain their fascist views of government control of a private industry like Health Care, the Republican Party is clearly the only choice for those interested in self-determination and liberty.

So vociferous was the argument between the Federalists and the newly formed Republican Party that the Federalist Party eventually ceased to exist. A new course of liberty was set and the new nation separated itself from European-style monarchy. Today, the argument between Democrats and Republicans is also vociferous. Democrats, like their Federalist predecessors, blame the citizenry of being too ignorant, and seek to silence their detractors.

If we remain true to the republican ideal of civic virtue and support our candidate for President, re-elect the worthy, and replace the entrenched, it is possible to send the Democratic Party and its socialist and fascist ideas—the negation of the individual—to the ash heap of history. We must vote at all cost; because civic virtue requires that we do the best a flawed human can do for the future of the republic. This is no time to "go wobbly" because as Margaret Thatcher also said:

Europe was created by history; America was created by philosophy.

We live in an exciting age!

Thank You, Discerning Texan

This past weekend I received the wonderful honor of being asked to be guest editorialist at The Discerning Texan. Here are the posts I wrote:

• District 17's Man in Washington
• WSJ's on "The Masses Problem"
• A Reasoning Idea from Reason
• Keeping Some Odd Knowledge
• A Peso for the RNC
• Thoughts on Changing Definitions
  

A Must Read Article

We all know people who make comments that make us wonder what planet they live on because of the complete disconnect to the group understanding. Unfortunately, the rise of political correctness has prevented our leaders from saying what they truly believe. The latest point being the second coming of the radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr as he "drove in a long motorcade from Najaf to its sister city of Kufa to deliver an anti-American sermon to 6,000 chanting supporters at the main mosque." We can only imagine the deaths to follow as this man is allowed to spew venomous rants from his mosque bully pulpit.

But what is really astounding is the inability of our leaders to admit this unavoidable truth. I encourage everyone to read Andrew G. Bostom's article Ignorance, Cognitive Dissonance, and al-Sadr at the ever excellent American Thinker. Mr. Bostom is highly qualified to write about Jihad, as he is the author of The Legacy of Jihad and The Legacy of Islamic Antisemitism.

It is important for everyone to realize the extent of power the Muslim world desires. Islamic control of the world is their ultimate desire. This is a war to preserve Western Civilization.

Terrorist Training Camp in Texas

Everyone likes to think they are safe in their own backyards, so imagine the creepiness of learning of a terrorist training camp for foreign students located in the woods just down the road.

The Houston Chronicle reports (emphasis added):

A Dallas college student who was linked to a Houston-area plan to aid the Taliban was found guilty Thursday of two weapons violations.

A Houston federal jury found that Syed Maaz Shah, 19, unlawfully possessed a firearm while in this country on a student visa.

After participating in firearms training staged by government informants last year at a campground north of Conroe, Shah was charged in a plot to fight for the terrorist organization overseas against U.S.-led forces. On secret recordings, he can be heard railing against the U.S. and quipping that his passport showed the face of a terrorist.

As a student-visa holder, the Pakistani, who attended the University of Texas at Dallas on a scholarship, was not allowed to have a firearm.

Thankfully, the jury didn't get hung up on the intellectual Left and Libertarian's "Why do they hate us?" carousel and returned a swift and sure verdict:

The jury returned its verdict after deliberating for slightly more than an hour. Shah, who is to be sentenced Sept. 14, faces up to 10 years in prison on each charge, plus deportation.

In another Houston Chronicle article we learn (emphasis added):

Syed Maaz Shah was arrested for firing weapons during two camping trips last year. Authorities said the trips were actually training camps organized by several men who wanted to engage in holy war against U.S. troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries.

Presidential Candidate John Edwards (D) is a real man of genius award winner when it comes to foreign policy. His The War on Terror is Just a Bumper Sticker Slogan mentality allows others to base their defense on the notion that there is no war on terror. Shah's Defense Attorney, Frank Jackson believes the verdict was just anti-muslim sentiment in this post 9/11 world:

It was a difficult case because of the times we are in. This so-called war on terror is as phony as can be.

Shah was not the only terrorist in training arrested at this camp.

His cousin, Adnan Mirza, faces three firearms charges, in addition to a charge of conspiracy to defraud the United States by making donations to the Taliban. The 30-year-old Pakistani, who also was here on a student visa, is scheduled for trial in October.

Kobie Williams, 34, who pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge last year, is to be sentenced in October.

Thankfully, this local terrorist training network was captured and prosecuted. The question is: How many others are operating in the woods down the road from your backyard?

Maybe It Was About The Money After All

Over and over, financial planners tell us that the path to wealth is a balanced portfolio. Grandma pointedly reminded us to not put all our eggs in one basket. Grandma, being the wise woman she was, knew that counting on only one thing, one hope, one idea would leave her grandkids vulnerable to things outside their control. So, we wisely spread our precious savings across several different investment opportunities just in case something outside our control happens.

In a previous post, It's Not The Money It's The Message It Sends the jackalope described a certain shady deal between Chet Edwards (D-Tx. 17), our military, and the predatory insurance company American Amicable. This insurance company is located in Waco, Texas; Chet's home stomping grounds.

So, dear readers and fellow constituents, it might interest you to learn that Chet Edwards' portfolio is 100% invested in insurance. Maybe he knows how to control things a bit more than the rest of us when it comes to those things normally outside human control. How else to explain an intelligent person putting all his eggs in one basket?

Learning From History in the War on Terror

Last night I began the DVD series Lord Mountbatten: The Last Viceroy. The story is about the British delivering a self-ruling government in India in 1946. The Jewel in the Crown, as India was described, then operated under a half system of self governance called the Raj. Under the Raj, tribal leaders ruled territories but ultimately answered to British authority. The Crown gave Lord Mountbatten authority to aide the Indian leaders in establishing a democratic Parliament and ultimately complete self-determination.

The comparisons to our work in Iraq are very interesting. One of the problems the blossoming Indian Parliament faced was religious animosity between Muslim, Sikh, and Hindu. Different leaders had their own desires for the future of India. Genocide followed as religion divided the nation into three parts. The British had been able to keep order, but as they discussed pulling out to allow self rule, factions sprung up to take advantage of the situation. There are historians that say the British set an unrealistic date for the Indian government to gain control and settle differences.

This sounds very close to the current situation in Iraq. The Iraqi government must have authority across the entire country and over each tribe and faction within their border. Some Indian Muslims, lead by Mohammad Ali Jinnah, wanted their own country; a complete Muslim state. Some Muslims, Sikhs, and Hindus wanted to remain where they currently lived with the freedom to practice their own religion. If the United States were to pull out our troops too soon, could what happened in India happen in Iraq? There are even more comparisons.

The DVD shows Mohammad Ali Jinnah, leader of the Muslim League, stirring up a mob by declaring, "We will have Pakistan or we will destroy India!" It is hard for our pragmatic western minds to understand such thinking. However, when we recall the kamikaze pilots of WWII, Buddhist monks torching themselves in protest of the Viet Nam war, and the current crop of suicide bombers, we should realize that self immolation has been a route to paradise in the eastern mind.

The undeclared war between Muslim and Sikh along with the usually fate-driven Hindu in the Punjab is reputed to have killed between 200,000 and 360,00. This number could be higher if the 10 years before 1946 are counted. The migration of the different ethnic peoples to the portion of India they preferred to occupy was a dangerous journey because of violent attacks by other factions. The anger boiled over and blood flowed freely.

President Bush is wise to stand firm against any timeline for American departure in Iraq. The Congressional leaders that demand America pull out now have not studied their history and because of this educational lack, the blood of Iraqi innocents would be on our hands. It is very disturbing that the people that preach "caring" for others to their vassals here in the United States deride our military for being in Iraq and taking the time to empower this new democratic government.

Today India and Pakistan have joined us in The War On Terror. Maybe the memories of the brutality they endured spur them to action to join us. Whatever their reason, we welcome them in this fight. If the Democratic Party joined the fight maybe Ahmadinejad and Bashar al-Assad, the Mohammad Ali Jinnahs of today, would not be openly supporting insurgent terrorists with money and tools of destruction or threatening to wipe Israel off the face of the earth.

Human nature dictates that when benevolent authority is perceived as weak, evil men will rise to fill the void. If the American troops leave Iraq and Afghanistan before self-rule is strong, evil will respond as it will. Most of America seems to understand this, but Bush-hating tunnel vision has destroyed the Democratic Party and innocents are being slaughtered every day because of their weak and selfish rhetoric. I suggest they be quiet, sit in their comfortable chair and read The Life of Reason by George Santayana because "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

Well Worth Our Support

Too often, we complain when someone does something wrong while saying nothing if something is done right. It goes against our human nature to edify one another. The state of Texas has much to be proud of when it comes to debate in the Senate and House on the illegal immigration issue.

Both Texas Senators, Kay Baily Hutchison and John Cornyn are standing strong against the effort to pass this bill without debate. Serious issues are in need of debate and Congress has a bad habit of rushing headlong into legislation without proper consideration of the rule of unintended consequences. Pressure in Washington to get a "done deal" is a tough thing to resist.

District 17 cannot boast of its contribution to this debate. However:

• Jeb Hensarling (R-TX 5),
• Randy Neugebauer (R-TX 19),
• John Culberson (R-TX 7),
• Mike Conaway (R-TX 11),
• Kenny Marchant (R-TX 24),
• Joe Barton (R-TX 6),
• Michael Burgess (R-TX 26),
• Nick Lampson (R-TX 22),
• Michael McCaul (R-TX 10),
• Ted Poe (R-TX 2),
• Lamar Smith (R-TX 21),
• John Carter R-TX 31),
• Pete Sessions (R-TX 32) and
• Sam Johnson (R-TX 3)

all deserve a word of thanks and appreciation.

This list also clearly reveals the delineation between Democrats and Republicans on this issue.

Note: The jackalope visited the website of every Texas Representative to get this information. If a Representative is not listed, and is strong on border security and anti-illegal immigration, I was unable to find information supporting it.

Chet Edwards - Democrat First, American Second

Chet Edwards (D-TX17) has an unjustified reputation as a conservative Democrat. The reality is that he follows closely the far left ideas of the Democratic Party. He is careful to never be photographed with members of his party that would tarnish that carefully constructed persona, but his voting record mirrors theirs in most respects.

A major problem concerning the (il)legal immigration issue is that nothing is backed up by enforcement. Legislation is a great concept, but unless it is actually followed through in practice we only worsen the situation. Problems become a "make work" project for Congress allowing them to posture and prattle for the news camera rather than the hard work of solving a problem. If they were to solve the problem then they would have nothing to preen about before the Sunday Talking Head hosts. Making hard decisions is not always conducive to Congress' first job: re-election. And it goes without saying that pleasing their idiot hick constituents back home could make them persona non gratia with the tony Washington cocktail circuit. This is a problem for even some (most?) Republicans.

It is in this light we must contemplate the current (il)legal immigration bill because the law of human nature dictates that we get the behavior we reward. Any legislation that does not first address the problem of a porous border is doomed to be a future and much larger problem. If our schools and social programs are already overburdened, inaction concerning the open border issue means in mere months these taxpayer funded programs will be exponentially so. Tax funds are not some bottomless coffer regardless of how legislators may treat them.

It is not wrong for citizens to prefer to keep as much of their own money to provide for their own family and extended family. This is the intent of the proverb: Charity begins at home. Unbridled taxation to provide social services for illegal aliens will eventually make all native and naturalized citizens wards of the state because it will lead straight to poverty because the more services provided, the more people will come. To assert so is not to be anti-immigrant, but rather to recognize the reality of human nature.

That explained, this morning in his weekly radio interview, Chet Edwards (D-Tx17) distanced himself properly from the Senate's illegal immigration bill. He listed off his requirements: illegals must pay a fine, learn to speak English - even their children - so illegals can provide better for themselves rather than expecting to receive myriads of social welfare, and oh yeah that other thing, border security.

Wait a minute, he just described the current embattled Senate Bill. By listing border security last, Edwards makes clear his priority. After 16 years in the House, Edwards understands perfectly the reality of not enforcing the laws he passes. He has a history of not enforcing the laws he votes for. He is facile in speaking the "correct" talking points, knowing that those constituents who are not well-versed politicos will hear his words outside the context of political realities and nod their heads thinking the incessant bickering has been solved.

The political reality is that the Senate and House Democratic majority could pass the current bill and the President would sign it into law. Their dilemma comes when the people, realizing that the problem is not in fact solved, blame them for passing a problem intensifier. President Bush will not be running for office ever again. To blame him would be moot and the proverbial chickens will come home to roost infecting the Democratic Party with its political pox.

This is why the word bi-partisan is the key word. If the Republicans do not play this game, and fall into the sprung trap, Democrats will not pass this bill. This indicates that the bill was never in the best interest for the long run of the country, but rather another piece of legislation whose main purpose is the destruction of their political foes. The ugly truth is that our Representative is extremely adept in playing this game. It is Mr. Edwards' and his Party's behavior that constitutes a major loss to his constituents and to the nation.

The Revolution #4: A Modest Proposal: the Solution of Illegal Immigration and Foreign Terrorists Living in the United States

Note: This post was nominated for a Weasel Watcher Award during the week of May 23, 2007

In 1729, Jonathan Swift published the satirical pamphlet A Modest Proposal: For Preventing the Children of Poor People in Ireland from Being a Burden to Their Parents or Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to the Publick. It was Swift’s proposal that Irish parents sell their children to be eaten to provide a family income.

“A young healthy child well nursed, is, at a year old, a most delicious nourishing and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricassee, or a ragout.”

Needless to say, the public did not see the humor in his modest proposal nor did they recognize Swift’s homage to the Roman tradition of satire that disparaged the solutions they actually supported. Swift lost nearly all the subscribers to his pamphlets. Today, this work stands as the greatest piece of satire ever written.

It is with true jacklope humility that I set down my own modest proposal. I hope you enjoy:

A Modest Proposal: the Solution of Illegal Immigration and Foreign Terrorists Living in the United States

Regarding the upcoming Illegal Immigration Bill, rejoice that Congress has at last streamlined the legislative process so much that the mere idea is passed into law without all that troublesome legal fine print ever being written. We already know we can’t possibly understand the yearly tax code, so why bother our stressed out brains with another piece of congressional mumbo jumbo? We can just jump to the obvious outcome: instant citizenship, a voter card in Spanish card with a preprinted “X” in the box next to “Democratic Party”, and a Pueblo, Colorado publication listing all the social services that come with citizenship.

And, by logical extension, the only natural conclusion to the immigration problem is for the United States to simply declare universal sovereignty over the entire globe, making all earthly inhabitants Americans. Think of the problems that would instantly be solved by expanding our borders to include every continent, island, peninsula, sandbar, and floating flotsam and jetsam! No more illegals dying in the brutal trek across the American southwest deserts, or sweltering in the back of 18-wheelers with no air, water, food, or bathroom facilities. Never again would we have to hear of such tragedies and risk having our free time and peace of mind disturbed.

Even if the new citizens stay in their current locations, now they wouldn’t have to work to change the governments they would otherwise desire to flee. The former nation of Mexico can cease in its almost-achievable quest to achieve a true two-party democracy. Hugo Chavez can offer symposiums for Democratic Congressmen on how to nationalize private business as he did Citgo Oil and how they aspire to do with our health care system. The reality of a fast track to making all citizens both wards and employees of the state would be created ipso facto. The Democratic Party is thinking small-time in its present goal of making only people residing within the current borders of the United States citizens. Imagine the possibilities for complete domination if the Democratic Party were able to make every single person on the planet their ward and vassal. Surely when they examine the absolute magnificence of this modest solution they will realize that this short proposal has barely begun to explore the possibilities.

The idea of annexing the entire world is so pregnant with opportunity that one could not even begin to list the benefits to the future power of the Democratic Party. Instantly the need to travel in order to receive the benefits of the United States becomes moot. Instead we can export government social workers and labor union members to provide all benefits accorded with citizenship. Like lawyers descending on the Bhopal tragedy, government agencies could be set up at the four corners of the world and incremental points in between to provide all benefits and necessities to new citizens at taxpayer expense. Furthermore, since we celebrate diversity already, no new citizen need suffer the burden of learning English (lest they assimilate into the bigoted and racist present American culture, developed as it was by dead white men). If this proposal were enacted, all people could continue to speak in their indigenous language and dialect. Because after all, that’s what being an American is all about: making America just like the place you fled.

So brilliant is this plan that Democratic Party leaders will be guaranteed voters and power for life, possibly even eternity. Their pursuit of wealth could then be expanded to include every tax-free offshore account or even the banks of the new state of Switzerland. All wealth will now be subject to the American tax code and every redistributionist PAC or 501(c) receiving federal funds. It is hard to believe that no one at the DNC has thought of this plan sooner. It appears there is not a political visionary in the entire party.

Even terrorists will receive incredible benefits by becoming American citizens. It goes without saying that now they will be able to kill Americans with greater ease, as they will not have to risk the sneaking and hiding, the plotting and scheming it currently takes to set up splinter cells bearing outdated visas over here. Why travel when just killing your own neighbor is a death of an American? Consider the double bonus when a terrorist's own child becomes a self-detonating bomb: an American child killing other Americans! Jews will be Americans, infidel Christians will all be Americans, Shi’ias will be Americans, Sunnis, Hamas, PLO, Chechen, all are Americans. Now they can really mean it when they drive a bomb-laden truck into a shopping mall with the cry, “Death to America!” The simplicity of absolute cultural nihilism borders on divine perfection.

Not to mention the benefit of outmaneuvering the United Nations, a bureaucracy that could be swiftly rendered null and void. Never again will we need to seek permission to establish democracies in terrorist states. Surely a nation that had no problem gassing and torching Branch Davidians would have no compunction about bombing itself, wherever and whenever needed. It’s good to have a frame of reference when it comes to the almighty state delivering justice swift and sure. Nothing keeps a citizenry in order better than them knowing their proper place in the power hierarchy.

The benefits of this modest proposal are so bold, so enlightened and radical, that to not put it into action immediately could blight humanity forever. Let us cease striving after such clearly unworkable legislation as building a border fence and increasing a well trained and equipped border guard. There is no sense wasting taxpayer money on high-tech satellite equipment, unmanned drones, and expensive gadgetry like night-vision goggles and infrared cameras. We all know it is impossible to track every person within the borders or defend ourselves indefinitely against a far more determined worldwide jihad. Why strive after mediocre stopgap half-measures when a self-evident solution exists? Why continue the suffering for one more second? Call your Congressman and Senators immediately and urge them to pass this simple proposal with all haste, and begin planning a family vacation to the new America—no visa, passport or papers required. Brilliant.

The Revolution #3: Federalist Democrats

In the 1790’s Thomas Jefferson was able revitalize the nation’s quest for individual liberty because ordinary citizens formed political discussion groups, newspapers and broadsides were printed to cover debates and forums, and pamphleteers wrote their ideas on how to further the individual’s right for self-determination. Today this same action is taking place with the popularity of political issue groups, talk radio, blogs, and other media alternatives. The old media of network news and printed newspapers that firmly support Democratic Party control is no longer the federalist monolith of power.

The reason Jefferson’s revolution against the Federalist Party was successful was because there was an important decision to be made about the future of the nation.

Today, the revolutionary ideas challenging the Democratic Party are of equal importance.

While Jefferson’s success was fueled in part by the French Revolution and its ousting of a hierarchical monarchy, today’s ideas are triggered in some part by the fall of communism.

America has something fundamental to decide: do we continue toward the socialistic future envisioned by the Democratic Party, or set a new course of republican liberty as envisioned by the Republicans?

Is liberty to be defined and passed down to the individual by the totalitarian elitism of the Democratic Party and their federalist sensibilities? Or will liberty continue to be defined as the ability of individuals through self-determination having their say in regards to the power delegated to the state and its intrusion upon their private lives?

The Democratic Party is failing in part because the various groups that support it have forsaken the common good in their quest to solidify power. They have acted in the worst of human nature. What else can be expected from a generation steeped in the belief that The Constitution was flawed from its very inception? So much is their belief that they govern in a manner diametrically opposed to its very words. The 1st Amendment has degenerated into a protection for selfish hedonism, while the 2nd Amendment has become the denial of the right to self-preservation. Words that don't even appear in The Constitution , separation of church and state, are now presented as absolute law.

The Federalist Party failed when it fundamentally reconnected its ideas of legislative power with monarchy. The Democratic Party must fail because of its connection with the failed atheistic communist state and the denial of the rights of man. These ideas deny the fact that man is a spiritual being, finding meaning in life in a relentless search for God, and that self-determination is an inherent part of being human. America’s very survival and its beacon of liberty to the rest of the world are at stake in these upcoming elections.

Just as the Federalists thought of government power in the manner of the English gentry, today’s Democrats consider their power in Stalinist terms. The “Fairness” Doctrine and the new rules of Campaign Finance Reform show that contrary speech is to be silenced. So ingrained is their thinking that any citizen disagreeing with them is derided with name-calling, vulgarities, and ultimately accusations of mental illness. All these methods of discrediting detractors come directly from Stalin himself. Leaders of the various Democratic Party support groups attained their positions through fraud and deceit. Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, George Sorros, Cindy Sheehan to name a few leaders. NOW, NARAL, and PETA to name a few groups.

A revolution is the proper recourse when a government no longer serves the purpose of the people it serves.

What is needed today is a revolution that completely repudiates a political party that no longer represents the constitution it serves.

Like the Federalist Party before them, the Democratic Party must be repudiated with such vehemence in these next elections that the party and its socialist ideas are forever destined to be past history.

A New Species of Democrat

Back during the days of the Viet Nam war, the left came up with the name Chicken Hawk to describe those that were pro-military but did not serve in the military. Yesterday's vote in the Senate to cut off funds for the troops overseas fell from the sky in flames. Only 29 Democratic Senators voted for the measure, including Hilary Clinton (D-NY) and Barak Obama (D-IL) in a political machination to vote for a bill they knew would fail in order to satisfy the blood lust of their wacked out base.

In light of the fact that new species of animals are being discovered at an alarming rate, it should be noted that a new species of Democrat has been discovered in the Senate: the Chicken Nugget Dove Democrat. The Chicken Nugget Dove can be recognized by the biological oddity of the lack of any bones, which causes the new species to do a lot of flapping and squawking but an inability to vote its conscience because of re-election fears.

The Revolution #2: Human Nature and Republicanism

Human nature has been an overlooked reality for the past generations as government has sought to legislate the nation into Darwinian perfection. Supposedly, human nature was to “evolve” with each new law. However, look where we are now: attempting to legislate hate (thought) crime. An intelligent person only has to read the book of Job, written 5 thousand years before Christ, to conclude that in both reasoning and the poetic arts man has not progressed much—regardless of his technologies.

There is much to learn from Job concerning human nature. Man will always testify to his innocence and friends are always capable of piling on when the chips are down, for even a good man. There it is folks, the Darwinian theory of human nature: we secretly love it when bad things happen to good people. This is the unvarnished truth about human nature; we are jealous, selfish, antagonistic, little hedonists who hypocritically deny it all.

Considering such a truth, it is amazing that we have created any sense of civil society at all. Given our sinful human nature we certainly deserve the rule of an autocratic despot, if not certain death. History records man’s ability to balance ever so precariously personal freedom with civil society. Western civilization, aided by Christianity has developed the best form of this balance. Tiananmen Square and The Branch Davidians should be a constant reminder that Gandhi’s method of peaceful protest only worked because of the British adherence to Christian principles. Slavery in Britain met its end because of Christianity. Christianity recognizes the truth of human nature with Christ’s crucifixion the ultimate and only reconciliation between man and God. In many ways, our government’s usurpation of Christianity has allowed generations to disallow the truth of human nature.

An example of this usurpation is revealed when citizens pray to government to supply their needs, rather than to God. Previous generations would be appalled. This is all aided by the Democratic Party’s relentless quest to eradicate any reference to God in government buildings and pursuing the path of eradication even in public places. However, a more insidious method of usurpation of Christian values comes through an attempt to deny 2nd amendment rights which is derived from that basest of human needs, the right of self-defense. The government in this instance enforces with law Christ’s teaching of turning the other cheek. Ask any student, at any government school, what happens when a bully attacks them and they dare defend themselves. You will learn they will each be punished equally under zero tolerance rules. Even worse, the victim is urged to try to understand the problems associated with his attacker.

This twisted deviation of Christ’s teaching is reflected in Democratic Party policies. In foreign policy we are told if this nation only treated our enemies “nicer” they would not be so mean to us. The implied message being that this nation is responsible for creating its own enemies. In domestic policy, we are forced to give tax money to the government as offerings for the poor, the children, or the victims of (insert cause here) because Christ taught the same. Democratic Party policy is a sort of Christian/Nihilism that while denying the existence of God and His Law, they then enforce with penalty various teachings of Christ. In both instances individual rights and human nature are ignored because the responsibilities of an individual before God are denied. The Democrats absolve the foreign evildoer without penance, while God does not respect their enforced piety upon others at home.

Human nature dictates that we all want something for nothing, would enforce on others what we would never accept for ourselves, and quite frankly would cut off our nose to spite our face. While the Democratic Party plays to the worst of human nature, republican thought addresses the qualities of human nature and the need to rise above it, which is why so many evangelicals are members of the Republican Party. However, republicanism resides in the heart of any individual who while believing in self-determination, is also able to rise above personal interests in regards to civil society.

Therefore, it is imperative that the Republican Party be a big tent for all those of like mind. And nothing is more indicative of this than the variety of Presidential candidates: pro-life, pro-choice, Mormon, nominal Christian, fervent evangelical, along with a myriad of immigration and security ideas. The Republican Party has been blessed by the number of men willing to accept the brutal gauntlet of the election process and the sobering responsibility of the presidency. As Republicans we vote in the primaries for the ascendancy of our candidate of choice. However, as republicans we are also called to vote for the party candidate for the better good of the republic even if not the man of our personal choice. It is our belief in self-determination coupled with that ability to rise above personal interest that unites us as Republicans and makes our ideas the best course for the country.

The Revolution #1: The Fork

In the 1790’s, this nation approached a fork in the road. The single party, the Federalists, had assumed the same hierarchy of power as the English government they'd just rebelled against. In a mere 25 years, the nation was running adrift in its journey toward the concept of government intent upon expanding the limits of individual freedom and liberty.

The Federalists were supremely in charge, but devoid of groundbreaking ideas that set apart the nation in a manner befitting the boldness of the Declaration of Independence.

Thomas Jefferson was the man with ideas to push once again the limits on personal freedom and liberty. Understanding the becalmed political scene, Jefferson set about coalescing a republican counter to the Federalist Party.

In classical republican thought, it is the requirement of citizens to do what they believe to be the best actions for the long road, to rise above their selfish human nature and do the higher, nobler action for the betterment of the community as a whole. The republican value of civic virtue requires that citizens be responsible for conducting their life and their business in a manner that does not harm the fragile and precious commodity of civil society.

Citizens of a republic are also required to speak up if they believe they have a better idea for government than those in elected office.

Jefferson coalesced this second party from disparate groups that believed in a set of ideas rather than in a certain group of people. Farmers, small business entrepreneurs, and evangelicals united under these ideas and a second party was born. By the turn of the century the Federalist Party ceased to exist, and our nation returned to its original course.

Today, the nation approaches a new fork. The Democratic Party has no new ideas in regards to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Their one idea is socialism and strong government control; views diametrically opposed to the bedrock foundation of the nation. Like the Federalists, today’s Democrats speak down to the people in a highborn, condescending manner, with ridicule and legislative silencing tactics for their critics because like their predecessors, they are incapable of accepting criticism.

The opportunity presented at this current fork:

do we continue down the failed path toward complete socialism and government control or do we seek to unite diverse groups under a set of ideas and again push forward the limits of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness?

Despite our falling down in the last election, one good thing occurred: the RNC realizes that it must respect the people’s support of a challenger to an incumbent Republican in name only (R.I.N.O.). In the next election the RNC must recognize that challenges to long-time Republican incumbents are in the highest form of republican ideals.

Let the RNC be aware: Any incumbent not able to rise above poll-driven democratic opinion is fair game. The ultimate goal being that the 110th Congress be the last defiled by any incumbents insensitive to the fleeting opening of the radical fork in the road toward rugged individualism.

Our goal is simple:

that in our own pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness the earth be turned upside-down and freedom flourish in intolerant lands.

Cultural Relativism Harms Young People

Jesus answered, "… Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice." Pilate said to Him, "What is truth?" John 18: 37c- 38a

For Pilate, Truth became the road of political expediency. Today, Truth slides on a scale of public opinion. It becomes nothing more than grains of sand in an hourglass, falling into a pile only to be turned upside down again. No wonder our young people live in a “ ...whatever...” world. For them, everything is in flux.

The human mind needs the guardrails of absolute truth, as surely as children thrive under acceptable rules of conduct rapidly followed by swift justice for infractions. How can the average or below average young mind handle complex evaluations otherwise? Without parameters, every “if/then” situation becomes nothing more than a throw of the dice with no ceiling, no standardization, no moral frame of reference. The fabric of our present society is riddled with dropped stitches and flaws due to years of cultural relativism for whatever reasons. Political pressure, public pressure, misguided do-gooderism, and simple ignorance have all had their hand in ill-equipping our children for entry into the fast world of our national economy.

A friend of mine manages these kids in the food service business. He sings his woes to me. Because the economy is so good, young people can choose to switch jobs instead of developing personal job skills. My friend tells me how his employees are incapable of making change even when every price, sale tax included, has been rounded to the nearest quarter. How walking in their personal “style” prevents them from moving quickly and with purpose. How speaking in an intelligible dialect is an affront to their sensibilities. And you can forget writing altogether, because spelling and the standard formation of letters are nonexistent. Even showing up for work is a matter of personal choice. Not only does the need for personal change never occur, it isn’t even considered for future contemplation.

Because the economy is so healthy, there is a glut of available jobs. It is possible to move from one entry-level job to another if fired for not showing up for work. Currently, there is no need to develop a better personal work ethic. If some work related problem arises, these young people are ill prepared to deal with it. They choose the method of problem solving they have been taught – the path of least resistance - and simply move on to the next situation. After all, everything is in flux and relative. Our own economic good fortune has become the course of their downfall. But what happens when, not if, the economy eventually declines?

A dynamic economy requires absolute truth. Hard facts are required. Your product either works or it doesn’t. It is available or it isn’t. Planes are on time or they aren’t. Customers are there to be satisfied, even the ones that are intent on being dissatisfied. When the music stops, someone is going to be left without a chair.

Which gets us back to the revolving door of employment young people are currently enjoying. The current system of relativism has left them sorely prepared for life. The only entrepreneurs among this group are criminals. Does this mean society can “tsk, tsk” while saying, “We did everything we could” while continuing to deny the existence of absolute Truth? The evidence speaks louder than words.

The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds; There is no one who does good. Psalm 14:1

One only has to look into the eyes of the lost lambs behind the service counter to know this culture of relativism has sacrificed Truth for political expediency and we are drenched in the blood of innocents.

Compassion Requires Truth and Love

My husband did a Google search on me the other night and came across two comments I made to this man's post last November. He asked me to post these comments here at The Jackalope's Voice, so here goes:

Nate,

I found your link from “ROT Unmasked” post. First, I am very sympathetic to your problem with chronic pain as I too am a sufferer. My prayers go out to you that you may find mercy with those that treat you. It is a very difficult road and I cannot even begin to explain to you how my spiritual life has developed in light of this sorrow. I would encourage you to seek not only solace for your soul, but the wisdom and understanding that is found in The Bible. I thought I knew what Christianity and religion was all about having been raised in a “Christian” home. But, it wasn’t until I read the entire book for myself that I learned of the Big Picture, the magnificent puzzle that is God’s revelation to man. It opened my eyes to understanding the political world and the nature of man. It is that view that explains why I think going to Iraq was the right thing. My husband and I are conversational English partners with many people, especially from South Korea. My father served in the army in Korea and was presented with the Bronze Star for meritorius valor. A real act of bravery that would make John Kerry’s Silver Star tarnished in comparison, but I digress.

I never really understood what Korea or any subsequent war was all about, until I saw a French woman weeping and paying homage to the D-Day Paratrooper that stood in the doorway of the cellar where she and her family were hiding during the 50th year celebration. You see, they knew that if that man in the doorway was a German soldier, they would be dead. We can only appreciate the relief the family felt when it was revealed that the uniformed man in the doorway was some farmboy from the Midwest - an American, when we understand the horror of human nature. Fifty years later, this woman was overwhelmed with gratitude that a farmboy from the Midwest had thought it important to protect her freedom and liberty. I watched this happen on t.v. and I was moved to tears. I now understood. And likewise, these people that I meet from South Korea, they all tell of the gratitude that they have of men like my father because they know it was only through men like him and the grace of God that prevented them from living in the terror that is North Korea. Evil must be confronted at all times, from the school yard bully, to the government that threatens to wipe another free people off the face of the earth.

This is not politic, this is the fact of living in a fallen world, as we religious zealots would say. If we see evil and do not confront it, then we are not men. Iraq is the place were that is happening. If we leave without victory, then we will each be responsible for the genocide that will take place as every Iraqi with a purple-stained finger will be eradicated so that the new totalitarian regime can establish their “utopia”. All people yearn to be free, but human nature rears up its ugly head and wants to control and be in power over others. That is the nature of this fallen world.

Again, I am so sorry that you suffer such pain. I am home from church today because I just have to stay off my feet because of my pain. It is constant and then more than I can bear. I’m grieved to know that someone young is having to suffer so. I will pray for you.

I would like to participate in ROT’s Vincent, you and the others mentioned in the post to get a new perspective on Texas and U.S. politics.

Sincerely,
Nancy Coppock

Here is his response:

Thank you for commenting Nancy. I can see you have your view and it is rooted in your spirituality. I have to admire that… but I also have to disagree with it. For every South Korean or French family that rejoices remembering an American soldier in their doorway, there is a Vietnamese family that remembers the sight of an American with horror. I wish I could believe that everytime we send out soldiers somewhere, we do it because we are right and we are fighting evil. But I can’t anymore. When I was a child, I saw the world in black and white, good vs. evil. When I grew up, I discovered there was only grey. The world hasn’t fallen; it is as it always was.

Probably my view is also reflective of my spirituality. I have long wanted to believe in a God, a supreme being who keeps the universe just and fair. But faith, by its very definition, is a kind of ignorance. It is unquestioning belief in the absence of evidence. I could never be happy with myself or with the universe if it is reliant on self-imposed ignorance. I need proof, I need evidence, I need to see and to know.

That’s why when I see what we’re doing in Iraq, I can’t just sit back and have faith that we’re right and that we’ll be victorious. The evidence I see seems to suggest that our presence there is only making things worse.

My reply:

I love that! Who says that there is a Vietnamese family that remembers an American soldier with horror? Several years ago I had a discussion with the college student son of the owners of the Vietnamese restaurant my family patronized. I apologized to him that for all he and his family had been through that when they finally get to America, we turn around and elected our own version of his oppressors, Bill Clinton. I was just talking out of the blue to this young man. We had never spoken before. He readily agreed with me, adding that the Democratic Party was like the communists his family had fled, in that they always made big promises that would never be kept. He said people would vote for the Democrats because they wanted something, but it would never work out like they thought.

Now, I realize that this is anecdotal, but I would propose that the idea of the fear of American soldiers is a myth and that the truth is what the people actually say. Of course there are the incidents of criminal behavior but I would chalk that up to human nature of the individual rather than to cast aspersions on the entire group. For instance, if a member of your high school commited a crime, does that mean the entire alumni are all criminals? In the larger picture, America is good. Indeed, my Korean friend only yesterday was commenting that compared to the rest of the world, America was the least corrupt nation that he had ever known. So, it would seem even our dirtiest slime, is cleaner than any other nation’s slime. I laughed, of course, because I decry any slime, at any time. So, maybe you are looking through the eyeglasses in reverse. Maybe, it’s time to change your perspective. You are still young.

In our spiritual discussion, I would remind you that we do live in a fallen world. Because we yearn for something different is truly evidence that this is not our home. Why would we desire something that doesn’t seem to exist if it truly does not exist? Man is imperfect, of that I am sure! And this world is certainly not just….or the ugly people would have all the money, to quote a line from Laurie Anderson. ha! But seriously, that does not mean a perfect God does not exist. Or that because of the vulgar nastiness of human nature, we should not strive to live beyond those baser instincts. If you think THIS world is bad, just consider what it could be like should the few cease striving after the sublime! We would become the horror of Commander Kurtz in “Apocolypse Now” which was not really a movie about the truth of the war, but actually a commentary on the darkness of the human heart as written by Joseph Conrad.

Faith is actually a gift from God [link added 4-21-07]. It’s not really anything we are capable of creating. Faith is a gift and gifts must be accepted and opened to be enjoyed. For this reason, so many people lack faith because it does come from God and we willingly refuse the gift. Faith is not a magic act or trick that we fool our minds with. That truly is the definition of ignorance and therefore deplorable in the eyes of God. Faith is not ceasing in our questioning, indeed true faith is an ever expanding gift. Sort of like a Russian matroska doll in reverse.

In the war on terror, we can not have faith we will be victorious, because faith without works is dead. However, we must be resolved to accept nothing short of victory because to lose is to exchange our way of life for slavery to an alien ideology. To be defeated will end our way of life. This is an enemy that will not just sit in the land that they would then dominate. This is an enemy that will track our way of life down to the ends of the earth. I can not willingly flinch into a future like the movie Brazil with bombs going off in the mall and life trying to ignore it or an ideology tracking even my thoughts into the recesses of my mind. And people think Christian Republicans are the enemy? Hello? You and I are just enjoying a sparing of wits and ideas, there is no burka to throw over you or a sword in my hand. We need to pray to the Almighty that we are victorious in this fight, not only for liberty and freedom for others, but for our own precious way of life. There’s nothing more like the spirit of anti-christ when a people would kill anyone in the name of God!

Your blog title says that you are a cripple. What is your condition and the cause of your pain? I truly care for your position and I share in your sorrows. Truly, this world is not our home. I would again encourage you to pick up the Bible to discover more about the great mystery of God’s revelation of Himself to us. Abraham searched for the city whose foundations were laid by God and this was counted as righteousness to him. Knock and the door will be opened unto you. Seek Him and you shall find Him. I know this is true, that once I was blind, but now I see and no one can debunk that which I am totally aware of what happened.

With sincerity,
the jackalope’s voice

The Other Declaration of Independence

The original Thirteen Colonies have a legitimate claim to be the cradle of liberty for all Americans, with Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Virginia having particularly strong cases. But another part of America has a proud and too often ignored history of proclaiming liberty throughout the land, unto all the inhabitants thereof.

Another March 2nd has come and gone with barely a mention of it here in Texas. For those not fluent in Texas history, March 2, 1836 was the date of the Texas Declaration of Independence. Now, granted there were some mentions in the local newspaper and some celebrations throughout the state but overall the date passes largely unnoticed.

The brave words of our beloved state's Declaration of Independence are not quoted by schoolchildren or state opinion journalists. My own local paper does make mention of the date in the "On This Date in History" section alongside "1923 - Time Magazine debuted." But there was a fun program at the site of the signing with re-enactors living as settlers of the age. From the declaration come some beautiful words proclaiming the logic of liberty:

"When a government has ceased to protect the lives, liberty and property of the people, from whom its legitimate powers are derived, and for the advancement of whose happiness it was instituted, and so far from being a guarantee for the enjoyment of those inestimable and inalienable rights, becomes an instrument in the hands of evil rulers for their oppression."

In 1820, Moses Austin negotiated land grants for settlers with the Spanish government in San Antonio. His son, Stephen F. Austin proceeded to bring settlers into the area with the promise of 1,280 acres for families at 12.5 cents per acre. The next year Mexico won its independence from Spain and re-negotiation of the land grants began, even though the "Texians" had joined in the fight for Mexican independence. Originally, the newly established Mexican government was supposed to be a liberal federalist democracy. However. the new government led by Valentin Gomez Farias so angered religious leaders and conservatives that another rebellion quickly ensued, led by Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. Santa Anna, previously a leader in the fight for Mexican independence, now declared Mexico unfit for democracy and declared himself dictator. When captured by General Sam Houston at the battle at San Jacinto, Santa Anna was recorded to have said:

"...it is very true that I threw up my cap for liberty with great ardor, and perfect sincerity, but very soon found the folly of it. A hundred years to come my people will not be fit for liberty. They do not know what it is, unenlightened as they are, and under the influence of a Catholic clergy, a despotism is the proper government for them, but there is no reason why it should not be a wise and virtuous one."

The Texas War for Independence and the American War for Independence were fought for the same ideals: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. But Texas took particular note of one issue: without the right of personal property and the right to defend it, liberty becomes a moot point. Personal private property is integral to what makes the United States of America the great nation it has become, despite the original Declaration's ignoring of the concept.

Our Texas Independence Day has been overshadowed for years now by the holiday, Cinco de Mayo, a day scarcely even noted in Mexico, but for some reason adopted in America as a celebration of Mexican ethnicity. This follows the East Coast pattern of St. Patrick's Day for the Irish, Columbus Day for the Italians, and the bluntly ethnic Puerto Rico Day, unadorned with any great personage or event as an excuse, celebrated in New York City as a means of giving parade parity to a major ethnic bloc.

Cinco de Mayo is not a celebration of Mexican independence or liberty. Rather it is a celebration of a Mexican dictatorship defeating the army of the French dictatorship, that of Napoleon III in 1862.

Cinco de Mayo celebrations in Texas are a month-long extravaganza with the local grocery chain offering sales on all your Cinco de Mayo needs: chips, salsa and Corona beer. Ad flyers fill Sunday papers and mailboxes across Texas and the entire Southwest. There are Cinco de Mayo sales on everything imaginable - picnic sets, grills, coolers, cars and trucks. There are town festivities, park festivities, family festivities. It rivals Super Bowl Sunday as a major event in the gustatory calendar.

A day like March 2nd just doesn't have the castanet clacking, magenta and green can-can skirt-swishing allure of a May 5th celebration. And it's sad to say that unless the rowdiness of a "Come and Take It!" or a "line in the sand" party of an Alamo burndown stirs in the hearts of Texans, we may doom our own good fortune of liberty.

As noted in our Texas Declaration of Independence:

"When, in consequence of such acts of malfeasance and abdication on the part of the government, anarchy prevails, and civil society is dissolved into its original elements. In such a crisis, the first law of nature, the right of self-preservation, the inherent and inalienable rights of the people to appeal to first principles, and take their political affairs into their own hands in extreme cases, enjoins it as a right towards themselves, and a sacred obligation to their posterity, to abolish such government, and create another in its stead, calculated to rescue them from impending dangers, and to secure their future welfare and happiness."

America continues to draw immigrants from all over the world, because the liberty we have unshackled enables humans of all hues to live better, happier, richer lives. Texas, for its part, draws people from all over the world and all over America to our own brand of freedom and opportunity. Located as we are on the Southern border, a share of these arrivals have not bothered with the formalities demanded, and due to "acts of malfeasance and abdication on the part of the government, anarchy prevails" on the border.

Unless we defend the cause proclaimed in the Texas Declaration of Independence as a superior ideal, Mexico will never change and we will cease to be.

Note: article first posted at American Thinker