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Memorial Day
They were people were just like you and me. They got up each day and lived their lives as Americans. They went to the same schools, churches, grocery stories and ate at the same restaurants. They smiled and laughed at our jokes. They listened to the same music and watched the same movies we did. They comforted us when we were sad and we looked up to them and admired them. They sat across from us at our dinner tables and living rooms and shared with us their hopes, dreams, secrets and aspirations. We loved them and the world was a little brighter because of them. They were our ancestors, our grandfathers, our parents, our siblings, our children, cousins, or maybe just our best friend. They are now gone. They are all missed.
For the families of lost service men and women nothing can replace the heavy loss felt and the empty chair at the table. These brave few served each other, and their country paying with their lives. Some had no choice and were drafted into their country’s service; some willingly answered the call, but each ended up serving something far greater.
It has been said that only the dead have seen the end of war. The world as it is still requires vigilance against tyranny and evil and some men and women still end up paying the ultimate price to keep the peace, and preserve the nation. The good book tells us that “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” It is good and right then they we have a national holiday to remember them.
Memorial Day is not about the political correctness of the conflicts with which these men and women lost their lives; history is the final judge of that. Today on this day we put aside our correctness; our righteous indignation and protests against war and all its causes. Today we just celebrate our loved ones and their tragic, final sacrifices made… and remember them with heartfelt gratitude.
The De-Constructing of America
I don’t believe that the American culture that I grew up with will survive much longer. We have lasted for two hundred and twenty eight years but that is coming to a close thanks to movements in this country that I believe are designed intentionally to de-construct America. The America that the world used to turn to for help and assistance when in need, or look to as a shining example of how successful representative government can be when it protects individual liberty and property rights is dying at the hands of the enemy within.
Ellis Island immigrants
Immigration
Past generations of immigrants came to this country and assimilated into the main culture, adopting American holidays, traditions, language and even food while adding their own essence and flavor. They melted into the very fabric of the country, making it special and in every way stronger and better. Even those unwilling immigrants who were dragged here in chains and forced into slavery were eventually given freedom and the same opportunity to improve their lives and make something of themselves and millions have since then.
Today America’s borders are porous by intention. Those in charge of government have realized that a ready made dependent poor class exists south of the border and all that is required is allowing them to freely come here. Large masses of unskilled or low skilled, poorly educated peasants have come to our country not seeking better opportunity per se but welfare and free benefits. Incomes once earned, are not taxed and instead sent back home to Latin America. What happened to assimilation? What happened to the idea that immigrants come here looking for greener pastures, and the promise of opportunity by joining the country, becoming American and adopting their new country, customs, laws and traditions, as their own and abandoning their allegiance to their old country and languages? Previous generations came here not having the benefit of signs put up in their language everywhere or political action committees waiting in the wings to provide legal support and demanding benefits for their little subset culture, benefits I might add without legal citizenship. This new immigrant class has no intention of assimilating or becoming Americans. Who cares about being an American if they will give you a social security card, pay for your healthcare, find you a job, make existing Americans have to choose whether they want English or Spanish spoken in their places of business, and never ask anything of you accept vote Democrat early and often. Its cultural suicide but that’s what millions of Americans have chosen to accept.
Joseph N. Welch (left) being questioned by Senator McCarthy, June 9, 1954.
Foreign Influences
Maybe Joe McCarthy didn’t have it so wrong?
At some point in our history Americans started expecting more from their government and less from themselves. Over time due in large part to the success of our form of government over others in the world, all of America became richer, more satisfied, and complacent especially after the Second World War. Even those who would claim they were not treated equally saw greater opportunities for improving their lives in this country than in any other on Earth. Similarly America’s prejudices were nothing compared to those found in most other parts of the world where genocide and ethnic cleansing still exist to this day. Compare a Jew living in Europe in 1945 with a Black living in Detroit in 1945. Not exactly a fair comparison of oppression is it?
There were those however who were not content with American tradition, who started looking towards other forms of governments as being better than our own, who questioned our religious practices and embraced self-indulgence and lust. No man is owed a living, food, shelter and free healthcare. He must work for it, or he suffers the consequences, however this new class of American did not accept that premise. They believed that every man was owed these things and more and that no man should have more than other men. They failed to recognize the most basic of human characteristics. We are all different, or unique with different skills, levels of ambition, intelligence, and physical attributes or gifts. These discontented Americans however were influenced greatly by the socialists and communists of Europe of the late 19th and 20th century in my opinion. Abandoning the American way of life and abandoning God they abandoned the very pillars of which our society was founded. For example the very premise of “natural rights” which was understood by our founders as coming from God and not man is rejected by these leftists. So is the entire premise of self-government and that government exists to protect individual rights and property. Its not recognized by them. How can you call yourself an American and not believe in individual property rights??
Information is power
The left has succeeded in taking control of the media and most information disseminated to Americans coming by way of the public education systems across the country and the universities; the print news; internet news outlets; and the entertainment industry. These new leftists have bombarded Americans with their propaganda for decades and indoctrinated millions of Americans into thinking that our country mistreated all Native Americans and Blacks and continues to do so to this day; that all rich (insert your own definition) people take advantage of the poor, all business owners are greedy, and that the white majority demographic are all racist, bigoted, homo-phobes. In other words division. They divide us by pointing out things that may or may not be true and certainly are not true of everyone. They also have them convinced that the Constitution, the law of the land is something that is malleable and should be changed frequently by our President (who they wrongly believe has the power to do so, or our Supreme Court does for that matter) when not in agreement with the latest polls. How can we expect to stay united as a culture and country and keep our Constitution under such circumstances and ignorance?
Politics as usual
Politically, the left realized long ago that a citizen dependent on government can be controlled by government, so taking their message to the masses they promised “free” things, which was of course not free but simply things paid for by other people’s money in the form of taxes. They legalized theft from the citizens with the threat of government brute force behind it beginning in 1913 with the establishment of income tax and the IRS. Today millions of Americans don’t think about where their “free” stuff comes from. Their okay with the government re-distributing wealth. Slowly the entitlements grow, social security, welfare, unemployment, you name it, a huge percentage of the population is now dependent on some form of government entitlement, assistance, or benefit. How can we expect to be a strong viable country economically if we are all dependent on our government. Where does the money come from when we run out of all of the rich people’s money?
Moral relativism and the legalization of depravity
With the Supreme Court’s recent decision to make gay marriage permissible in every state in the union a requirement, what would have been unthinkable just a few decades ago has become legitimized. State rights be damned. Congress be damned, the Supremes have spoken and nine un-elected men and women will say what is to be for 310 million Americans. The left has succeeded in changing the definition of marriage something understood by all of human society for thousands of years as between a man and a woman. It will not end there. This ruling will set up future legal challenges with the churches in America something that the left desires. Religion has no role in a socialist or communist society. God is the government and all will bow to it or be punished. What is to prevent future legal challenges and the redefining of marriage to mean between man and dog or man and wife and second wife. Pandora’s box has been opened and much trouble is coming to our culture.
Political correctness, the disease that keeps on spreading
America is made up of various demographic groups: Males, Females, Whites, Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, gays, straights, Christians, Jews, Muslims, wealthy, poor, northerners, southerners, conservative, liberal, etc etc etc. We are all Americans but to listen the media these days and the left particularly these subset cultures are more important individually than the whole. If we are to believe what the media is telling us and what our do nothing “right” representatives say, we the “majority” (whoever that is, in the 60’s its was called “the Man”) should be made to suffer the righteous indignation from every minority subset culture in America who has ever suffered or been insulted for each of those two hundred and twenty eight years since America’s government was born. Just about every group has a bitch these days and wants to cash in on the latest “offense” reported in the news demanding recompense, profuse apologies, etc etc etc.
Everyone is offended now and the entire American culture is being forced to twist and turn to the whim of these subset cultures and their easily offended natures. We are no longer united. How can we be with some many different groups of people who are all so offended by the other groups. Witness the latest ridiculousness of political correctness. A racist cracker with obvious mental problems shoots up a church full of black worshipers. Instead of addressing the problem of mental illness the media and the left in particular is trying to say its all because the Confederate flag is flying over the South Carolina capital and still throughout most of the south. The stars and bars, the Rebel flag of the Confederacy is the problem. Really? Ahhh no that’s not the problem and removing it won’t change a damn thing except disenfranchise a lot of the South with the rest of the country and some blacks too who are not offended by a piece of cloth. First off racism is never going to go away. It is not just a white thing. I always said racism ironically is color blind in that every race of man and color is prone to being racist. It is part of human nature, one of our flaws.
How do we fix it in this country. I would argue if you want everyone to respect everyone equally stop treating them differently. Why are black people known as African American? Why not just American? Why do we have affirmative action? Why does the Congressional Black Caucus exist and why can’t a white representative join it? In other words if Blacks started seeing themselves no differently, started to have some self-esteem and self-respect, assimilated into mainstream culture instead of resisting it and demanding they be treated differently, perhaps there would be less racism. I have known black man and women to succeed greatly in America despite being “black”. If they can do it why can’t others? Perhaps it has nothing to do with their skin color and everything to do with the person, the human being who is unique with talents and abilities God blessed them with and who learned how to use them.
Political correctness is a disease that is spreading in America and if left unchecked will result I believe in the 1st amendment disappearing because someone somewhere will always be offended by free expression or thought as well as pieces of colored cloth. These symbols only have power to offend by those who are willing to be offended. If your offended by this story good, it means I did something right in expressing my first amendment right and made you at least think about this problem instead of blinding accepting what the media tell you to think. Here are some more offending images, the last one in particular bothers me. I’ll get over it but If I meet the guy doing that I would punch him in the nose and just claim I was offended and all will be forgiven right?
Obama- the breeder of empires
In Victor David Hanson’s recent story for the National Review, he talks about how the political climate in today’s world resembles the early 20th century. At that time following WWI in rather quick succession you saw the fall of once great powerful empires; empires like Austro-Hungary, Kaiser Wilhelm’s Imperial Germany, the Ottoman Empire, and Czarist Russia. Due to inattention by the world’s leading governments they were then replaced by even stronger more ruthless empires such as the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany, Mussolini’s Italy, and Imperial Japan. The rise and fall of such empires and the cost to humanity in terms of suffering, property damage, and loss of life cannot be accurately measured nor can the cost be ignored and treated as if its irrelevant ancient history.
It was only through a monumental wholehearted national effort by Western democracies, at great cost and sacrifice by their military combatants and civilians, working in cooperation to meet the threat, did these oppressive regimes finally meet their end.
It is not by accident that we have not seen another global confrontation like WWI or WWII in seventy years. Its not because humanity has somehow become more civilized, far from it. Its just that global peace is obtained only through commitment to strength and not by appearing weak or being weak.
Russian Tanks on Red Square
Hanson asserts that in today’s world we are seeing an equally volatile period in history just like the 1930’s and 1940’s largely due to American indifference and perceived weakness by our enemies. During Obama’s watch we have seen the rise of ISIS/ISIL almost immediately after we began withdrawing from Iraq. We see Iran’s subtle and not so subtle influence over the Middle East growing not to mention their appetite to obtain nuclear weapons and to destroy Israel at the right opportunity. As we withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Taliban still assert power there. What is going to stop them from reclaiming what they lost, the shaky Afghan government? Power abhors a vacuum. We are seeing Putin’s Russia reassert its once death grip hold over all of Eastern Europe with Ukraine being its latest victim.
President Barrack Hussein Obama
I believe President Obama believes its his mission to remove the USA from its position of authority and world leadership much to our great detriment and the whole world’s. Our withdrawal from the world stage, retreating if you will, will have very bad consequences for us and those nations that resist oppressive anti-Democratic, anti-American, despotic governments.
ISIS follower beheads a captive 2014
POW Sgt Leonard Siffleet executed by Japanese soldier 1943
History has shown Evil does in fact exist in the world and to turn from it and ignore it, or appease it only encourages it to be more audacious, not less dangerous or less threatening. Appeasement only works for those being appeased. Failing for example to name the source of almost all of the current terrorist activity in the world today ” Islamic fundamentalism” (which is rooted in literal interpretation of the Koran), only encourages those fanatics. I think it would be better a few be offended than billions engaged in a global armed conflict.
A position that says let’s not care about what goes on beyond our borders and focus just on our problems here may seem like a good idea on the surface to some. I understand the arguments for isolation, less intervention and domestic focus as I too once held that position. However I think that only invites a very ugly future global confrontation when we will be much weaker to resist the very real threats to our way of life.
Some might want to convince themselves that the evil in today’s world is caused by USA’s inequities in life and our greedy corporations coupled with our intolerance to other cultures. I would argue show me where these other cultures are better or as tolerant. The truth is the world is a very biased, racist, and intolerant place and its those intolerant cultures and countries that are now posing the greatest threats to mankind.
I believe however that appeasement and disengagement is our President and some of his follower’s intention. Somehow he has convinced himself that downsizing our military and abandoning our allies, while simultaneously: supporting or appeasing Islamic-Fascist regimes; removing sanctions for tired old communist regimes like Cuba; permitting China and North Korea to engage in economic and cyber warfare against us daily; and allowing Russia to do what ever it wants without tangible negative consequences for them is somehow in our best interests.
Looking at the world today I really believe Obama appears feckless by design, he’s not that stupid like some would believe. His actions I believe are a portent of a much greater evil to come but that is another story.
For now the average American being comfortable, complacent and compliant with our government’s control over their lives while solely focused on themselves and their issues is not going to keep any of us safe or free. We must stay concerned and engaged on matters inside and outside of our country. We must elect leaders willing to uphold the law, and oppose those who would seek our destruction from within as well as from outside our borders. Those same leaders must resist evil where ever it is, for however long it takes and rally the citizens behind the cause. We need to be fully committed as a nation, and willing to sacrifice for the long haul, just like those Americans from an earlier generation did for only then can we hope to win and survive.
What I’m saying is an all in commitment is necessary with a resolve to take the fight wherever it leads us, to whatever country’s doorstep it may take us. We must resolve to win this war not just co-exist with it or we can expect to be at war forever.
Fixing the Black/White race problem in the USA
Watching the events unfold all across America these past few weeks and especially in Ferguson, Missouri and in New York City over the death of Eric Garner I have to wonder what the civil rights movement leader Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. would have said about it. I think he would be appalled by the actions of so many, who claim to be seeking “justice” by burning down the towns and looting businesses, all the while professing moral outrage at what they perceive as rampant white racism.
He would feel remorse for the millions who choose to remain ignorant of the history, language, and culture. He would wonder why so many abandon their responsibilities to their children and why they so blatantly disrespect law and order. He would anguish at why so many black men end up in prison.
Yes I do not think he would be on the side of the race-baiters like Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton or the multitudes of other would be black race promoters like Louis Farrakhan.
King fought peacefully for equality. What has evolved from that movement however I do not believe King could have possibly imagined and would have him questioning his own race’s actions not those of other Americans.
What is true is that no living person in America today has personally suffered from American slavery nor has anyone perpetrated it. The American Civil War ended 149 years ago and with it slavery. Time to move on. No more apologies nor reparations should be necessary.
The Civil Rights Act occurred 50 years ago. Blacks have the same rights as any other race in America. What purpose does it serve the black community of picking at the ugly scab of racism in America and perpetually claiming victim status?
Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Among the guests behind him is Martin Luther King, Jr.
Why are we still talking about race relations and having riots in the 21st century?
First off the black race must accept that it is the master of their own destiny and remove the comfortable shackles of “victimhood”. They must recognize they are ultimately responsible for their own advancement, education and choices in their lives regardless of the circumstances of their birth.
They must recognize they and they alone can reap the benefits or suffer the consequences of their life choices just like every other race of people who live here in America.
Those choices of who they associate with; what music they listen to; what movies/TV/internet sites they watch; what level of love and commitment to their spouses and children they have; their choices to stay in school; and what respect and love they have for their God, as well as for law and order of society have a profound impact on the black community.
When the black race can accept that they are not “owed” anything from anyone other than perhaps their love and need not be treated any differently than any other race, then they can begin to move forward and join the American culture.
The “entitlement/victim” mentality that permeates their culture is only destructive to them. They are in essence their own worst enemies, allowing themselves to be “enslaved” by their own false beliefs and perceptions.
Like what Rodney King once said years ago ” Can we all just get along?” ….The answer begins with self-esteem.
Margaret Thatcher
“We want a society where people are free to make choices, to make mistakes, to be generous and compassionate. This is what we mean by a moral society; not a society where the state is responsible for everything, and no one is responsible for the state.” — Margaret Thatcher
I believe many Americans want the same thing except the left. The left hated Thatcher in the UK and resorted to much of the same vile rhetoric they use against Sarah Palin in this country. They hate any woman who is strong willed, intelligent and conservative on issues.
The Man Without a Country
“I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do. What I can do, I should do. And what I should do, by the grace of God, I will do.” Edward Everett Hale
Ronald Reagan once said at an address to the annual meeting of the Phoenix Chamber of Commerce March 1961 “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it on to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”
I think maybe Reagan was wrong. Extinction is probably a lot shorter than a generation away given today’s advances in communication where lies can be spread at light speed to reach the empty headed. Add to this the current geo-political climate, the economic instabilities of the US and the very real threats of terrorism and you have the threats of the 21st century. The founding fathers could not possibly have imagined or contemplated these threats more than two centuries ago, yet the very principles they set forth in government so long ago are the only reason I believe this country still survives and has not already succumbed to totalitarianism in one form or another. The principles of respect for the individual and his personal property, division of government and specific limitations on the Executive have stood the test of time and allowed generations to live in greater freedom than most others have ever enjoyed on the planet.
Edward Everett Hale April 3,1822- June 10, 1909 was an American author, historian, and Unitarian clergyman. Photo Source: Library of Congress
Edward Everett Hale was a 19th century American author, historian and Unitarian clergyman who wrote a story called “The Man Without a Country” first appearing in The Atlantic Monthly in 1863. In the story a lieutenant is found guilty of treason and after proclaiming he never wanted to hear another thing about the US, he is given the unusual sentence of being kept aboard US warships the remainder of his life and never to be permitted to set foot on US soil again and never permitted to learn any more news good or bad about his former country. His guards and no one else are permitted to speak about the country to him ever again. The man after many long years traveling from ship to ship and without a homeland and starved for news of it, learns to love his country but far too late. He becomes so distraught that he laments to a young man just before his death: “Remember, boy, that behind all these men … behind officers and government, and people even, there is the Country Herself, your Country, and that you belong to her as you belong to your own mother. Stand by Her, boy, as you would stand by your mother, if those devils there had got hold of her to-day !..” At the time Hale wrote this our country was deeply divided and fighting for its very survival in the Civil War. Hale was promoting the idea of patriotism and the preservation of the union. The story resonated with many Americans.
Today with so many threats to our lives from outside our borders we fail all too often to see the very real threats that exist from within them. I’m not speaking of terror cells living within the US, greedy Wall Street corporate raiders, or illegal immigrants for that matter sponging off the rest of us taxpayers. I am talking about all those Americans so eager and willing to just surrender their personal responsibilities and with that their freedom, in exchange for the false promises made by politicians, of greater safety and security. The promises of Big Government never end and neither do the costs to fund them. We must refuse to allow our fellow Americans to steer us to extinction. For each new burdening regulation and perversion of the Constitution; for each new usurpation of power by the President or the courts we allow for our own good or for extra security and safety; we surrender that which made us different, exceptional, and free. Piece by piece we are creating our own demise by growing this government leviathan until some day we may be the ones looked upon as that traitor and forced to live without a country, telling our children’s children what it was like to live in a free country for they will not know of any and their history books will criticize it as dangerous.
We are fighting to not be that man, our home and way of life is under siege by fools and power hungry men and women. What are you going to do about it?
Ignoring the Constitution
Many of us look at our country today and wonder where the experiment in self-government went wrong. With the President’s approval rating as of an April 2014 Gallup poll of 43% and Congress’s approval rating hovering around 12% to 14%, more and more Americans are feeling disenfranchised and want to blame the Constitution as the source of the problems saying its outdated, needs changing or should just be eliminated altogether as some die hard socialists and communists advocate. 
The truth however is not that the Constitution does not work, it’s that all too often it’s just ignored or bypassed as a matter, the politicians claim, of practicality. The passing of the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare is a good example of this bypassing of the founders intent. Art. I, Sec. 7 part 1 of the US Constitution states
“All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments as on other bills.”.
Known as the Origination Clause, it basically means that all bills proposed related to taxing the people shall originate in the House of Representatives. The thinking behind this was to create an institutional protection against repressive taxation since members of the House of Representatives faced the shortest terms in office and they would, in theory, be more accountable to the people. The powers of the purse strings were given to the House, however over the years the Senate has taken on this role through a process called gut and replace bypassing the original intent of the Constitution. The Senate by law can only propose changes or agree to existing house bills related to taxation. Where the perversion of this law takes place is when the Senate takes a House originated bill, guts all of the language out of the bill but keeps the bill number thus staying in compliance with the Origination clause’s technical meaning while rejecting its intent of allowing the body of Congress closest to the people to have control of the purse strings. 
The Affordable Care Act started out as H.R. 3590 “Service Members Home Ownership Tax Act.” It was unanimously passed by the House in 2009 and provided tax cuts and breaks to veterans. The language of the bill upon arrival in the Senate however was completely gutted out and replaced with Senator Harry Reid’s Heath Care bill which included many revenue (taxation) provisions and the health care mandate which the Supreme Court would later rule as a tax. The house bill number was retained in order to stay in compliance with the Origination Clause. The Democrat controlled House rather than object to the revenue bill produced by the Senate which they could have, instead passed it without a single Republican voting for it. On March 23, 2010 President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act into law. There are numerous cases being heard across the country right now challenging the authority of the Affordable Care Act and among some of the arguments being presented to throw out Obamacare was the manner in which it was passed using gut and replace. This is but one poignant example of how our Constitution is being perverted and circumnavigated by supposed representatives of the people. 
The hard truth is that the country is more divided politically now than it has for many, many decades. We have two major political groups vying for control of the hearts and minds of Americans. The Democrats, who reject many parts of the Constitution in principle and in actions when they are able, and want to make government the sole sovereign in this country. They do not believe that individuals can know what is best for them. They believe only trained experts can properly guide the population and provide happiness. We also have mainstream Republicans who like the principle of limited government when it eliminates burdensome regulation but has no problem using government to eliminate competition and provide them with subsidies often at the expense of their fellow countrymen.
Democrat Party Symbol
Democrat politicians want to stay in power so they promise to give the people what they desire, “free” stuff, which is not really free, but to the recipients of government charity ie social security, welfare, grants, healthcare, unemployment benefits, etc it appears to be free. They’re not paying for it so it must be free. They ignore the fact that in order for the government to give a person anything, it has to take it from someone else. This class of people think government owes them happiness and must really believe either that government is this separate entity that has endless funds to provide anything its citizens wants, or they must think it is totally appropriate to take from other people’s wealth and redistribute it to less wealthy. Who gets to decide how much is taken and who it’s taken from is left to their “experts” whoever they are. The politicians that represent this class of “American” know that as long as they continue to provide more goodies and protect the existing goodies they will continue to receive votes and be able to stay in power. These Americans will continue to vote for them and vehemently oppose any party or individuals that would threaten to take their goodies away. This I think is also why there has never been a hard push for immigration reform by the Democrat party. As more and more unskilled, poor, and needy people enter this country each year desiring the same “free” stuff the Democrats promise, the more these politicians will have a growing dependent constituency.
Republican Party Symbol
Mainstream Republican politicians also want to stay in power and promise to use government as a tool and provide goodies too. Government can be useful eliminating competition factors making the potential for profit greater. Government can also provide subsidies to certain businesses and industries. It can force foreign governments to open trade opportunities and use our military to ensure they remain open. It can also give tax breaks to certain entities. If mainstream Republicans were truly interested in protecting the Constitution why do they view the Tea Party political grass roots movement, which embodies the founding father’s principles, with such disdain? Could it be that the principles of limited government interfere with their use of government as a tool and source for goodies? I am certain of it. The idea that government was somehow created to provide for its citizens “goodies” is poison to our country and society . Take a moment to notice the words enshrined in one of our founding documents, the Declaration of Independence. It says our founders believed that people have a right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”. Note it does not say we guarantee happiness or outcomes, but instead the pursuit of happiness and to be what you want to be free from government prejudices, state religion, and class nobility restrictions. Nowhere does the Declaration of Independence or the US Constitution guarantee that people will not go hungry, will have clothing, shelter, TV’s, no competition in business, health insurance, social security, etc… Individual responsibility for your lot in life was left up to you not some benevolent government, single sovereign or the greased palm of a politician.
“Today, when a concerted effort is made to obliterate this point, it cannot be repeated too often that the Constitution is a limitation on the government, not on private individuals; that it does not prescribe the conduct of private individuals, only the conduct of the government; that it is not a charter for government power, but a charter of the citizen’s protection against the government.” –Ayn Rand
Samuel Adams
![Samuel Adams, Engraving by C. Goodman & R. Piggot after painting by Copley. [Between 1810 and 1835.] Source: Library of Congress](https://paladinhouse.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/samuel-adams.jpg)
Samuel Adams, Engraving by C. Goodman & R. Piggot after painting by Copley. [Between 1810 and 1835.] Source: Library of Congress
“If ye love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest for freedom, go home and leave us in peace. We seek not your council nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.” -Samuel Adams
One of America’s first rebel rousers and instigator of the American Revolution, Samuel Adams, was a vocal critic of British policy towards the colonies and its taxation specifically. Adams vehemently opposed Britain’s Stamp Act of 1765 and Adams played a vital part in organizing the original Boston Tea Party, December 16, 1773.
Samuel Adams, second cousin to John Adams the country’s 2nd President of the USA, was instrumental to the American independence movement. He was a religious man and fervent revolutionary who would go on to be one of the fifty six signers of the Declaration of Independence. Adams in his political career served as Massachusetts state legislator; delegate to the Continental Congress, and later after the revolutionary war would become governor of Massachusetts.
“It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people’s minds.”- Samuel Adams
…Truth, Justice, and the American Way
Feeding the Unemployed. Men at a soup kitchen in Washington, D.C., 1936. U.S. Federal Government photograph. Public domain.
The time was June 1938. America was still reeling from years of economic calamity brought on by the Great Depression. War was also in the wind. The beginnings of the darkness that would soon spread across multiple continents and cost millions their lives had already fully metastasized in Europe and far off places like Nanking, China. America’s hope of staying out of a second world conflict looked very grim.
Against this back drop two Jewish immigrants living in blue collar Cleveland, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, struggling to make ends meet and dreaming of using their talents someday, stumble upon an idea for a comic book serial. Siegel is later credited with saying that one night while looking up at the stars he imagined a powerful hero that looked out for those in trouble. A savior if you will. From that germ, the idea of Superman was born and in June 1938 was introduced to the American public, a public desperate for heroes and someone or something to look out for them.
Superman
To Siegel and Shuster both left leaning immigrants, Superman in early serial comic editions took on the role as social activist fighting against business corruption and dirty politicians. The character would later see greater notoriety not in comic books, but in radio broadcasts. By the 1940’s and 1950’s Superman began personifying the ideal American: quiet, humble, mild mannered, but with strong fortitude and desirable character traits like being truthful and just. It also didn’t hurt that he could fly and was virtually invincible.
Through the decades Superman’s mantra would change little. His beliefs in truth, justice, and tolerance could easily have been said to be the ideal “American Way.” An America where people do what’s morally right, believe in a system of laws that are just and not arbitrary, and are tolerant of all races and cultures.
Maybe that America never really existed, but it is a hopeful vision. Today as they did in Siegel and Shuster’s time, people look to government as the answer to all their problems. Back then it was Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal. Today President Obama could easily be identified by some as the personification of the superhero in red cape, who promises to stamp out injustice and corruption, intolerance, feeds the poor and provides for the uninsured. Superman was fiction then and is fiction now.
America needs it heroes, but perhaps instead of new heroes dressed in business suits, making speeches, and promising the stars, we just need to look further back in time. Maybe we need to try and reconnect to an older group of heroes than Superman. We need to look to the lives and lessons learned from super men who founded this country more than 200 years ago, or better still one Superman who was hung on a cross more than 2000 years ago and came back from the dead.
The roots of the IRS
When the federal government spends more each year than it collects in tax revenues, it has three choices: It can raise taxes, print money, or borrow money. While these actions may benefit politicians, all three options are bad for average Americans. -Ron Paul
Where did it all begin?
One of the most reviled of all US Federal agencies is the dreaded IRS or Internal Revenue Service. This agency created to help fund the US Federal Government’s never ending spending appetite has its roots in rebellion. In early 1861 President Abraham Lincoln, looking at the imminent secession of Southern states and the loss of their lucrative seaports, began looking at ways to make up lost revenue. Lincoln made inquiries of his cabinet members Edward Bates, Salmon Chase, and Gideon Welles wanting to know if he had the constitutional authority to collect duties on goods and services as well as import tariffs and property taxes. The end result was the Revenue Act of 1861 passed on August 5th 1861 and the first federal income tax statute of the United States. The income tax placed a 3% tax on all individuals whose annual incomes were above $800 per year. 
By 1862 however realizing the war was not going to be a short affair, the Lincoln administration passed of the Revenue Act of 1862 which established for the first time an Office of the Commissioner of Revenue. It also levied excise taxes on everyday goods and services and established the first graduated or progressive tax system in the US which separated citizens into multiple categories and taxed them based upon their abilities to pay. As the years would pass the revenue generated from this law was not enough to pay the burdensome debts the war was amassing and subsequent legislation would need to be passed. After the Civil War and ten years after the original income tax law was passed the largely unpopular law was repealed, only to be revived once more by Congress in 1894. The subsequent year saw the Supreme Court rule the law unconstitutional, based upon the fact that the income tax was a direct tax not apportioned according to the population of each state. In 1909 President Taft would recommend Congress propose a constitutional amendment that would give the government the power to tax incomes without apportioning the burden among the states in line with population. In 1913 Delaware became the 36th and last state needed to ratify the 16th Amendment which established the federal government’s authority to enact income tax.
What’s next?
All governments throughout world history have levied taxes on its citizens to help pay off debts accrued by war and or other expenditures. Our country is no different and at times has had tax rates as high as 77% of income. Image that, 77 cents for every dollar earned was going to the government. That’s simply outrageous. If we allow our leaders to keep spending money like they are doing now we may well see tax rates that high again.
This is why it is imperative now upon all our citizens to understand the implications of Lincoln’s legacy, the establishment of the federal income tax system, and all that it entails. We are trusting our elected officials with our money and should they continue on the deficit spending track there will be dire consequences for all of us, to include higher taxes.
In my opinion we cannot afford to maintain global hegemony for much longer. We simply do not have the revenue to be the world’s beat cop, and defender of the free world. It’s time for the other nations to pick up some the slack.
It’s time to win the war for peace as we cannot afford to wage war in perpetuity. No nation can do that and survive.
We need to look at ending entitlement programs that do not change people’s lives for the long term. Investment in education and skill training instead of extending unemployment benefits for example.
We need to change our foreign policy so that it’s not so reliant on dollar diplomacy. We cannot afford to keep giving billions and billions in aid to foreign nations, some that do not even like us or have the same values.
Our leaders need to represent WE the People and not spend our hard earned money that the IRS is so hard at work taking away from us.
PaladinHouse.com 
