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Internet must remain uncensored
Earlier this month U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced that it was giving up oversight of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers or ICANN as it is known. ICANN is a US non-profit created in 1998 with the purpose of managing the internet’s Domain Name System or DNS. The company also has been responsible for managing top tier domain names like .com, .org and .gov. The US government responsible for the creation of the internet beginning in the 1960’s has maintained some oversight of its functions but has faced criticism from more than a few nations who do not like the idea of a free and uncensored internet.
According to the Washington Post “Pressure to let go of the final vestiges of U.S. authority over the system of Web addresses and domain names that organize the Internet has been building for more than a decade and was supercharged by the backlash last year to revelations about National Security Agency surveillance.”
The Obama administration’s announcement that it would not be renewing ICANN’s contract in 2015 and doing so without a firm plan in place to transition oversight has caused a stir among many here in the US and from unlikely bedfellows. Former President Bill Clinton speaking at a panel discussion Friday night regarding internet governance stated “A lot of people … have been trying to take this authority from the U.S. for the sole purpose of cracking down on Internet freedom and limiting it and having governments protect their backsides instead of empowering their people..
Heritage Foundation fellows Brett D. Schaefer, James L. Gattuso, Paul Rosenzweig and David Inserra weighed in essentially agreeing with Clinton stating “The U.S. has a strong interest in maintaining an open and free Internet. If Internet functions were harmed, not only would there be economic damage, but a vital forum for freedom of speech and political dissent would be compromised. While the transition of Internet stewardship from the U.S. may have been inevitable, it is unclear why the U.S. surrendered its greatest point of leverage prematurely. Surrendering U.S. oversight of ICANN was a key objective of many nations that wish to curtail freedom on the Internet.”
The danger lies giving a governing body like the UN which is made up of countries like China, Russia or Iran, not known for their support of free speech or any type of dissent, to weigh in and regulate the internet and its functioning. The consequences that would have are not small. The internet has been a bulwark for freedom and communication across the globe. It has been our government’s ambassador at large for freedom and democracy. Anyone including the oppressed with a connection has a voice that can be heard around the globe by millions. The disenfranchised can see for themselves what it looks like to live in a free country as a opposed to one that is “secure”. A good example of the effectiveness of the net was when world wide attention was brought on Syria and their use of poison gas during their civil war, something that would not have been readily known otherwise had it not been for the internet.
One thing is clear; the US should not surrender oversight quickly regardless of how bad some in the international community want that to happen. A clear plan must first be in place that guarantees a smooth transition to a new governing body that is completely on board with the principles of freedom and uncensored speech. The US has provided the ordinary citizens of the world a voice that must not be silenced by authoritarian governments or well-meaning but dim-witted bureaucrats in the United Nations assembly.
A friend’s passing
A close friend of mine died today. He lived a long, long, life filled with adventure, intrigue and the stuff you read in the history books. During his birth he beat the odds and many said he should not have survived. When he was a child, others left him mostly alone, not sure what to make of his odd ideas, manners and customs. He was blessed with a good place to live filled with abundance, and was raised by parents that respected God and family.
As a young adult he grew strong, powerful and self-confident. Some would even say he had become arrogant. He was also known to be cruel and selfish in his youth. However life’s experience would teach him hard lessons, and he learned from his mistakes. Slowly over time his character was built with confidence to overcome any obstacle. His can do attitude won him much adulation from his peers.
He became a fierce warrior with the heart of a lion out of necessity for survival. Others would call for his help frequently and he always answered that call. He would be forced to fight in wars and conflicts overseas seeing firsthand the cruelty and barbarity men could inflict upon others but it did not change his character instead making him only stronger and wiser as he aged. He was industrious, compassionate, and generous with his money.
In the years that followed he grew happy and content and sired many children. Over time however as with many families his children grew complacent, fat and lazy. Having not experienced the same challenges and hardships that their father had experienced, the same challenges and hardships that built his character; they became weak and insecure.
His children ignored their father’s warnings and lessons and ridiculed his past mistakes. They chose to spend their inheritance and squander the good will their father had built up with his friends over many years. They welcomed their father’s old enemy’s ideas into their hearts and borrowed money they could not pay back from those same enemies. Over time displeased and disgusted with their father and his ways, they dispatched him while he slumbered. His children celebrated their new found “freedom” from their father proclaiming his old ideas were slowing their progress and that with him gone their direction was certain.
However, seeing my friend’s demise, at the hands of his children, my friend’s old enemies no longer were afraid of my friend’s family and rose up against the house their father had built with blood, sweat and treasure expended and destroyed them all, taking their lands, their livelihoods and their freedom forever.
I shall miss my friend America, as will most of the world as there has never been a country quite like it before in history and we are not likely to see one like it ever again.
Where will freedom reign once it is extinguished here?
“America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.” – Abraham Lincoln
Justice Louis Brandeis
cir 1916 Source: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, LC-USZ62-31230
“The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding.” –Justice Louis Brandeis
Painless War?
Last evening according to Pentagon press secretary Rear Admiral John Kirby, US Navy Seals stormed aboard an oil tanker called the “Morning Glory” which was being held by three Libyan rebels. The tanker according to a Blaze report contained 36 million dollars’ worth of crude oil. The Seals took control of the tanker and no casualties were reported. According to reports, President Obama himself ordered the attack at the request of both the Libyan and Cypriot governments. Kirby said “The Morning Glory is carrying a cargo of oil owned by the Libyan government National Oil Company. The ship and its cargo were illicitly obtained …”
US Navy Seals fast rope on to a ship’s deck.
I wonder had there been Navy Seal casualties, if this story would have ever seen the light of day and possibly instead been given a Top Secret classification, the details hidden in the interests of National Security, i.e. avoiding White House public embarrassment. There may be some national security purpose to this raid but really it just looks like we helped out an oil company for the Libyan’s as a favor. Who knows? One thing for sure is we have made some more enemies with this action.
President Obama making a call in the Oval Office
In my opinion this President or any sitting President for that matter, using the Seals as the World’s 911 first responders is a gross abuse of Presidential executive powers. Just because there is precedent for it does not make it right or just. Had there been casualties and say deaths, the Seals’s loved ones would be told they had died bravely in the performance of their duties for their country. In other words they would have died so an oil company could keep its oil. Will we ever hear outrage from the political left in this country about how this President put brave men into harm’s way over oil interests like we did when President Bush was in the White House? I’m not holding my breath.
President Obama delivers statement on US Consulate attack in Benghazi.
We place our trust in politicians to represent us and do what’s right for the country, but are they really doing so? How would we know when they frequently hide their questionable actions behind the veil of national security? We have seen this administration openly sacrifice a US Ambassador and his security detail at the embassy in Benghazi, Libya. Those men died at the hands of terrorists and this Administration tried blaming some film maker for the incident. We may never know the real reasons why they were sacrificed. According to Hillary Clinton what does it matter? Well it does matter.
Going to war, which is really what it is when you give the green light to use Navy Seals or fire drones at targets in other countries for that matter, should be something that is used sparingly. This is why Congress has to be involved. Declarations of War involving the Congress must be required, something that almost never is done anymore. The practice needs to be restored so that the people have a voice in these potentially long, bloody, protracted engagements with dubious purpose. War making is a tool in a President’s diplomacy bag to be sure but it should be a tool rarely reached for at the bottom of the bag when everything else has failed.
Predator Drone
I am concerned that we in this country have made war far, far too easy and relatively painless. It used to be for most of human history that war was waged by entire societies willingly or not; engaged in the cause, invested totally in the endeavor. Blood, treasure and lives were expended for the cause at great peril to those societies.
Scrap Metal Drive in Hood River, Oregon during WWII 1942
What sacrifices today does the average American experience as a result of war being fought on their behalf overseas? Today most Americans know little of the sacrifices our soldiers experience on daily basis in combat other than what they see on the web or television. Our leaders too have little invested personally in the endeavor and do not appear to be concerned about the long term consequences of their actions. Yes, there might be political fall-out if things go wrong, but when it’s all said and done they eventually retire from public service with full benefits and country club lifestyle at the tax payer expense for the rest of their lives.
Today with our satellites in orbit tracking everything; and the NSA listening to everybody, our leaders can sit in comfort and order death sentences to foreign nationals with never experiencing the real costs of waging this new kind of war. To me it seems talking is no longer part of US diplomacy and has been left behind in favor of brute force. Our policy now is shoot first, plan later and apologize only when absolutely necessary.
Our leaders in Washington argue that we are still at war against terror, but for how long does that last, another year, ten years, fifty? No one knows. How much longer can we afford to wage this type of war? In the year 2012 we spent 682 billion dollars or four times more than our nearest rival China on military expenditures. What are the incentives for peace? How about because we are broke financially as a country. That sounds like a good incentive to me.
War however appears to be big business. When you add our dependence on oil from the Middle East to that equation it almost guarantees justification for more and more spending on defense. I see no end in sight. Do you? I am not a peacenik but any stretch of the imagination but I am being practical in saying when will there be peace?
Has anybody really started asking that? We cannot remain in a perpetual state of war. What foreign policy initiatives are we taking right now to ensure that peace will come? I don’t think there are any on the table. Make no mistake about it, there are organizations and individuals in our country that benefit from our country being energy dependent and prolonging this war on terror as long as possible. I think the dangers of Eisenhower’s military industrial complex have come to fruition.
Fighting the war on terror is like fighting the war on poverty. We have invested billions of dollars on a problem that never goes away. Where is the return on investment? It could be argued we have developed better weapons and capabilities to fight this war and have men with experience now they wouldn’t have had otherwise, but it’s all spent in making war more efficient not eliminating the war. Just like the war on poverty, we’ve added new programs and spent huge sums of cash since the 1960’s fighting the “poverty war” but instead of eliminating poverty we have increased the numbers dependent on some form of assistance. Where does it end? It doesn’t apparently. It’s self-sustaining and painless until the bill comes due.
The Flag
“I swing before your eyes as a bright gleam of color, a symbol of yourself, the pictured suggestion of that big thing which makes this nation. My stars and my stripes are your dream and your labors. They are bright with cheer, brilliant with courage, firm with faith, because you have made them so out of your heart. For you are the makers of the flag and it is well that you glory in the making.” ~Franklin Knight Lane
I was driving past a business office the other day and noticed an appalling site; there hanging from a pole on the side of this office building was Old Glory tattered to the point of rags. Its ends were so frayed that you could see strips of flag all along the bottom edge. Had I not been already late for an appointment I would have stopped and asked the business to please remove the flag they were displaying. (Someone beat me to it later thankfully)
In today’s society we are bombarded with iconic images and messages constantly and it is not surprising to me that a great deal of our population look at the flag as being no different. However it is very different and not just any icon.
For one the US flag in its present form has been around longer than most every other visible icon in America. However in December 1860 Major Robert Anderson of the Union Army made a stand at Ft Sumter, South Carolina in Charleston Harbor and from that point the flag took on even more meaning and symbolism. According to Adam Goodheart in his prologue for the book 1861: The Civil Awakening he states:
“Before that day, the flag had served mostly as a military ensign or a convenient marking of American territory, flown from forts, embassies, and ships, and displayed on special occasions like American Independence day. But in the weeks after Major Anderson’s surprising stand, it became something different. Suddenly the Stars and Stripes flew—as it does today, and especially as it did after the September 11 attacks in 2001—from houses, from storefronts, from churches; above the village greens and college quads. For the first time American flags were mass-produced rather than individually stitched and even so, manufacturers could not keep up with demand. As the long winter of 1861 turned into spring, that old flag meant something new. The abstraction of the Union cause was transfigured into a physical thing: strips of cloth that millions of people would fight for, and many thousands die for.” —Adam Goodheart, Prologue of 1861: The Civil War Awakening (2011).
For millions of Americans and especially those who have served in the US military, the flag is the very embodiment of the nation. Francis Scott Key was inspired to write the words that would become our national anthem while standing on the deck of a British warship and seeing the stars and stripes still flying over Ft McHenry. The fort had been pounded by cannon and rockets throughout the night, but the flag by morning was still obstinately flying after receiving that pummeling and was an inspiring sight. For US Marines fighting on the island of Iwo Jima, the raising of the flag over Mt Suribatchi represented victory that was close at hand. When Joe Rosenthal snapped the photograph of that flag raising, the entire country was inspired, as it still is today when then they see that image.
That same inspiration has been felt on every battlefield where Americans have made the ultimate sacrifice. This is why seeing the flag burned by our enemies or radicals in our country attempting to make a political statement is so shocking and upsetting. It’s been argued that the right to burn the flag is a right of expression that the Constitution protects. Even if that is so, in my opinion respect and love for your country is something every American citizen owes. In times of old it was called fealty or a pledge of allegiance. The flag represents the nation of the United States of America and it represents the men and women who sacrificed all of their tomorrows for our todays. Its symbolism is clear and for this reason alone the flag should be treated with the utmost respect and care.
The US government has sought to protect the US flag from mistreatment and misuse. Laws relating to the flag can be found in detail in the United States Code, Title 4, Chapter 1. Among some of the more notable things to remember about the treatment of the flag are:
- No disrespect should be shown to the flag of the United States of America; the flag should not be dipped to any person or thing.
- The flag should never touch anything beneath it, such as the ground, the floor, water, etc..
- The flag should never be fastened, displayed, used, or stored in such a manner as to permit it to be easily torn, soiled, or damaged in any way.
- The flag, when it is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem for display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning.
As of this date although the Flag Code is U.S. federal law, there is no penalty for a private citizen or group failing to comply with it but that may change. Until then Americans who love their country need to respect their flag and also politely inform their fellow citizens of the proper care of their flag that is torn, tattered or poorly lit in cases where the flay is left flying at night time. An informative website I came across while researching this article is here.
Foundations
Americans have flirted with the ideas of socialism for so long and the impact of big government in Americans lives has become so pervasive that millions of young Americans now cannot envision any time in living memory where government bureaucracy wasn’t needed nor wanted. Most Americans cannot recall a time when Social Security did not exist or where people who did not have jobs and work, did not eat. They cannot recall a time when the IRS did not get to take large portions of their earnings Freedom does not mean the same thing to today’s generation of Americans as it once did to the founding fathers.
The modern democrat party, for the most part, has completely rejected the Founding Fathers belief in small government and respect for individual rights and property. They attack Tea Party members who hold the founding fathers in high regard and believe in the ideals of American independence. They also now use the power of the Federal Government to actually punish their political opponents.
They openly discredit free market capitalism holding examples of criminal abuse from the likes of Bernie Madoff for example as proof that Capitalism does not work. Democrats demand more oversight and more government regulation every day, in short more power be handed over to them. The ignorant say yes, amen. Let’s reign in those evil capitalists and all capitalism does is breed greed. We need government to protect us and take care of us. But they fail to understand that government is just as greedy and selfish if not more so. Plus, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and business people don’t threaten people with guns, garnish their wages or force people to pay them and do what they want like government can.
The proof that socialism is starting to take hold in this country is in the last two Presidential election cycles where Americans by the millions flocked to the polls and elected a President who is arguably the most openly hostile President ever, towards free enterprise, and individual self-determination. He shows his utter contempt for the US Constitution almost daily like threatening to go around the Congress to make law by executive fiat and bypass the will of the people.
Faith in God, country and family has been the bedrock foundation of American society. To the modern democrat however God either does not exist or if he does he’s never spoken of in public and should not play any role whatsoever in public policy. As a side note, did you happen to see Hollywood’s Oscars show on television? Do you recall when Matthew McConaughey openly thanks God in his acceptance speech? You could have heard a pin drop in the audience. I think that demonstrated that either the audience was abundantly atheistic or so politically correct and embarrassed, they could not openly show support. It was painful to watch.
To the modern democrat America is not exceptional at all, and in those areas that it is unquestionable that America is exceptional, like our military power and economic power, (albeit a lot less powerful lately) they profusely apologize for that fact and claim that others were exploited along the way to get that power.
Similarly the traditional view of family once defined as one man and one woman married has come to mean anything now. I would not be surprised that American society starts accepting marriages between humans and their pets like they do in Europe. I guess some of us Americans are just old fashioned that way.
Change is inevitable. However, some things should not change, or else risk the entire edifice collapsing in a heap. Perhaps that’s their real mission. The US Constitution was greatly influenced by the philosophy of Englishmen like John Locke who had believed that God provided men with rights that are immutable and natural. These natural rights cannot be granted or taken away by government and indeed government exists to protect these rights. This is an underlying philosophy of the founders and is not better demonstrated that what is written in the Declaration of Independence.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness”…
To say God has no place in American society or should have no influence in American policy is to ignore the very premise set forth by the Founders however inconvenient to non-believers that might be. The founders believed people have natural rights given to the them by God and that government was formed to protect those rights. Note the Declaration does not say men are endowed by their government or King with unalienable rights. They state their creator endowed them. That sounds a lot like recognition of God or a superintending power over the affairs of men.
One does not have to be particularly religious to understand that this is what the founders were basing their ideas of self-determination and rights when they wrote the Constitution. If you reject God then it follows you reject the premise that men were given unalienable rights from their creator since men were not created. But where do those natural rights come from if not then from God? To the Democrat there cannot be natural rights. The whole premise of the Founding Father’s argument does not reconcile with their agenda. Their rejection of this foundation opens up the door to the ancient idea that only strong willed leaders, kings or despots determine what rights men should have and not have based upon nothing more than their supposed “enlightened” opinions and altruistic nature. And to show just how strong their case is, they will promise to threaten you with force and annihilation if you don’t believe them or agree with them. Freedom then is dangerous and should be controlled in their mind.
It is perhaps American society’s rejection of God, country, and family that we now struggle. We the People have forgotten who we and where we come from and look to a future promised by bureaucrats whose new foundation of hope and change is built on sand.
Moral Courage
Ronald Reagan-40th President of the United States
“No arsenal, no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women.”
— Ronald Reagan ∞
Smallest Minority
“The smallest minority on earth is the individual. Those who deny individual rights cannot claim to be defenders of minorities.” Ayn Rand
Course of Empire
The Course of Empire is a five-part series of paintings created by American artist Thomas Cole in the years 1833–36. Cole’s paintings reflected the American sentiments of the times, when many saw pastoralism as the ideal phase of human civilization, fearing that empire would lead to gluttony and inevitable decay. The paintings depict the rise and fall of an imaginary city, perhaps Rome, from different vantage points and different times in its history.
Savage State
Pastoral State
Consummation State
Destructive State
Desolation State
When I came across these paintings today I could not help note how they might be conceived as an allegory for our “American Empire”. I imagine Cole having history as his guide would not at all be surprised to see just how prescient his work had become. It is my opinion that with the beginning of the 21st century we have entered our “destructive state.” Only a drastic course correction can avoid the desolation of our way of life completely.
Freedom
Embed from Getty Images
Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.Thomas Paine
PaladinHouse.com 
