Politics and Insights from History

Something has been lost in this country: a sense of identity and being. People are reluctant to be proud of their country. In fact, it is fashionable to be ashamed of being an American. We seem more likely to be proud of being Indian (American Indian), black, Hispanic or from any descent other than American. We are never proud to be just Americans.

There was a dream that was America. But it has been lost. Many will tell you that the American dream is owning a house with a white picket fence, having two cars, and being rich. But that is not and never was the American dream. It is much more. It started during Colonial times as settlers from Europe fled political repression looking for a better life. The Declaration of Independence sums it up stating that people have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

To understand the true American dream, you must first understand her foundation for the dream is written within it. The principles that make up America’s foundation are faith, liberty, justice, and a thirst for independence.

First there is a faith, a belief not only in the Christian God but that our rights and liberties come from Him and Him alone. The Founding Fathers and Mothers acknowledged that not only did God exist, but that He guided the destiny of a nation if that nation allowed him to. They believed that He participated in the affairs of men, especially if asked. Incorporated with this belief is the notion that our rights come from God. If a people believe their rights come from other men or the government, they do not flinch when those rights disappear. But if a people believe that they are born with certain rights and that those rights come from an authority higher than man, then they are apt to fight for them.

There are those that claim that the Founders were deists. Read their writings and you will learn that these men were anything but deists. Within the last century rose the theory of Evolution and the widespread notion that there is no God and that everything is a matter of chance. This belief has permeated us as a nation to the point that Americans no longer look to God for any guidance, much less acknowledge his existence publicly. But consider this: how is it the Founders all lived in the same era so that they could come together to create a nation? Is it really coincidence that the signers of the Declaration of Independence, the participants of the Constitutional Convention, our first few presidents and ambassadors lived in the latter half the 18^th century and in the same region? Is it chance that they were all committed to freedom? Coincidence and chance only explain so much. It’s almost as if something gave this country exactly what it needed to be born.

As a people we have lost this foundation of faith. We are no longer taught Christian morality in school. The Bible has been practically banned from schools. Public prayers are virtually outlawed. Nativity scenes around Christmas time are becoming increasing rare. Atheists have managed to make the words “under God” in the pledge of allegiance a crime. And we now have a president that insists we are a Muslim nation and scoffs at anyone who thinks we should return to our Judeo-Christian heritage. The American people have allowed a minority group of malcontents to dictate when and where Christians may display their faith and to strip away the Christian foundation of this country. No other religion in this country has been under such attack.

The next pillar is liberty, especially individual liberty. People are free to live their lives as they see fit, to govern themselves, and to determine their own future. A government cannot oppress a people that maintain their individual freedom. With liberty comes responsibility. Individuals must guard their freedom taking charge of their own lives. They cannot depend on any one person of governing body to provide for them.

With the growth of the welfare state, Americans are losing their individual freedom. The government continues to grow in size and liberty’s foundation erodes. People have forsaken personal responsibility and liberty for the chains of a government safety net.

There has also been this rise in the notion that the Founding Fathers did not believe in equal rights because some of them owned slaves and they did not grant rights to women. To tarnish their achievements with our pettiness insults them. To think less of them because they did not solve all of the ills of their times is wrong. They were men, human beings doing their best to achieve the unattainable. We think little of them because they did not achieve equal rights for women of blacks, but they gave us much more. They gave us a foundation of principles to allow us as a nation to achieve the rest. They gave us independence. Without it what difference would the rest make?

Another part of America’s foundation is justice. Equality before the law has always been a part of The United States’ justice system. The Founding Fathers believed that no one was above the law. It does not matter if a person is a convenient store clerk or a head of state, the law deals with them equally. The law is supposed to be blind to social stature, race, and gender.

Unfortunately this is not always the case. People being what they are sometimes cater to their own prejudices instead of justice. Charlie Rangel’s punishment for ethics violations—granting official favors (bribery), not reporting income from his villa in the Dominican Republic, etc.—is a good example of how the foundation of justice is disappearing. The only punishment Rangel received for the 11 ethics violations he was found guilty of was a censure within Congress. Now compare this to James Traficant who was also found guilty of ethics violations—taking bribes and not filing income on his taxes—within the House of Representatives. Traficant went to prison for his crimes. Both are guilty of the same transgression, yet suffer different punishments. Why?

The fourth cornerstone of America is independence. The Founders wanted American independence where the United States determined her own destiny free from foreign influence and oppression of global powers. They wanted the American people to be free from tyrants both at home and abroad. As colonists, Americans governed themselves before England decided to pay attention to her colonies. The Founding Fathers felt that America should maintain that right to self government.

American independence has been rapidly disappearing. The United Nations has actively sought the destruction of America since its inception. Each year the U.N. grows in influence resembling a global governing body instead of a mediating ground for countries to work out their disputes. President Obama is willing to sign any agreement with the U.N. sending America’s wealth abroad, shrinking our influence in the world just so he can have an excellent global image. Obama seeks to sign a treaty (G-20 summit) with other members of the U.N. that would shrink American industry and the economy while sending what little money we do have to countries that are less developed industrially. China has bought up most of our debt. One could say that since China owns our debt, it owns America. We cannot claim to be a free and independent nation while we are indebted to China, or any foreign power. All these measures threaten American sovereignty and security.

How does all of this tie in with the American dream, you might ask. The American dream harbors the same principles as her foundation. Simply put, the American dream is the provision of a place where all men and women can live free from government tyranny and oppression, to keep what they work hard to earn, worship according to conscience, and to have the opportunity to improve their lives and be more than they are. That is the American dream.

Why is it this is not taught to children in schools? Why do people not know this? The answer is simple. In the early 20^th century a group of people known as progressives rose up wanting to change America into what they think it should be. To do this, they had to chip away at America’s identity. First they wiped out America’s Christian Heritage and our belief that our liberties come from God. Then, they made us ashamed of being Americans by reminding us constantly of our more negative history, such as slavery. (The Civil War never ended the slavery issue; it is alive and well even today.) They incorporated the notion that all cultures are equal and that we should be tolerant of everyone. However, anyone that is openly proud of being an American is call bigoted, racist, and humiliated publicly. All of this has whittled away at our American identity to the point that many Americans do not know who they are.

We must imprint the American dream, and her foundation, in our hearts and our minds. Teach it to your children. This dream is a fleeting one. If we do not grab hold of it, cherish it, live it, and pass it on to future generations it will be lost to the ages.

Remember, if we do not know who we are as a nation, how can we know what our dream is? How can we know where we are headed? And what is to stop a bunch of tyrants from robbing us of our freedom and turning us into slaves?

Tweet

1. Why was a stimulus bill passed when we had to borrow money from China to pay for it?

2. Since all revenue generated by the government is already spent and our country is basically bankrupt, why does Congress and the president continue to pass spending bills?  Wouldn’t the sensible thing to do be to cut spending?

3. Universal health care, in all its forms, has failed everywhere it has been tried. Medicare and Medicaid are bankrupt and do not provide quality care to its recipients. Why, then, is President Obama and Congress pushing for a Universal Health Care plan? Since the U.S. is bankrupt and is forced to borrow money to meet its spending, how do they expect to pay for it?

4. Cap and Trade failed during the Clinton administration and slowed economic growth. Knowing this, why is the federal government passing it again?

5. We are in a recession and well on our way into a depression, so why is Congress and President Obama passing more legislation that increases spending and our taxes? Such measures prevent economic prosperity and prolong economic downturn.

6. We were told that the Stimulus Bill would stop the rising unemployment rate and create more jobs. Why then, since its passage, the unemployment rate has dramatically increased? Where are all the jobs Obama promised us?

7. In the six months since the Stimulus Bill was passed, over 2 million jobs have been lost, costs are going up, taxes are increasing, and the unemployment rate has almost doubled, sitting at 9.5%. Why is Obama not taking responsibility for this? Why does he continue to blame Bush for the bad economy, especially since the past 6-7 months is the consequence of his bill?

8. Why do we constantly have the same people, the same faces in Congress?

9. Why do former Democrat Presidents keep showing up on the public stage giving speeches or running for another office, while former Republican Presidents tend to just go home?

10. Why do presidents have czars when they are unconstitutional?

11. Why does our government continue to whine the rich do not pay enough in taxes? The wealthy in this country already pay the majority of our taxes. They always have.

12. How much does an individual have to pay in taxes before it is considered enough?

13. Why does the federal government control almost every aspect of our lives? They control the schools, health care, businesses (through various regulations), food and drug, banks, car companies, industry, and agriculture to name a few.

14. Why do people jump for joy when the government says they will give them something for free, knowing all along that it’s never free? (i.e. universal health care or free health care)

15. Why is we are told the less government and deregulation is what caused this current economic mess when for the past 70 years we have steadily moved toward more government regulations and more government programs? (Despite efforts by some Republicans, we have yet to enact massive deregulation and massive, permanent tax cuts.)

16. Why do we have Affirmative Action? In a time when we are supposed to ignore the color of someone’s skin, doesn’t Affirmative Action make look at race first?

17. Why can’t people admit that the only reason Barak Obama was elected, and that they voted for him, was because he is black?

And why can’t the media just admit that they are in love with this idiot, who has the same IQ as TOTUS? (TOTUS is the president’s teleprompter that seems to have been breaking down an awful lot lately.  Good Job TOTUS!  Keep up the good work.)

18. The time when Countries, especially the United States, experienced the most economic growth and prosperity was when the federal government left people alone and did not micromanage everything. Why is it we have not learned from that? Why do we increase the size of government and spending when the economy is failing?

19. Why are liberals incapable of telling people who they really are and what they stand for? (They always run as moderates or semi-conservative to get elected and then show their true colors.)

20. If the state of California is bankrupt from all of their spending on welfare/entitlement programs and are now forced to hand out IOUs, why is Congress and President Obama following their example? Shouldn’t they be learning from their mistakes and not duplicating California? (New York and Massachusetts are also going bankrupt with their big government policies.)

21. Where is the tax cut that Obama promised 95% of Americans? Or is that the extra ten dollars in everyone’s paycheck? (Wow. We can now go to Starbucks to prevent them from going into bankruptcy.)

22. Why is President of Obama, leader of the FREE world, shaking hands and being chummy with dictators who force their people to live in poverty?

23. Manuel Zelaya, former president of Honduras, was overthrown by the Honduran military when he tried to remain in office even though his term was up and the people had voted for a new president. According to the Honduran constitution, Zelaya had to leave, but he tried to usurp the constitution and declare himself president for life. The Honduran military upheld their constitution, their laws. It was not a coup. Obama condemned the actions of the Honduran people and military demanding that they return Manuel Zelaya to power. Could this be an insight into Obama’s true intentions? Is he planning to remain president even when his term ends and the American people elect another to take his place?

President Obama swore an oath the uphold, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States. Since then he has systematically violated it and has taken over industries that were one in the hands of the private sector. Nowhere in the Constitution is our government (the Presidency, Congress, and the Supreme Court) given the authority to take over businesses, mange health care, dole out welfare/entitlement funds to anyone, to buy crops from farmers.  Why is he not up for impeachment? (Many member of Congress should be impeached as well.)

Why is Obama concerning himself with universal healthcare, cap and trade, and another stimulus bill when we are being threatened by foreign powers?  North Korea vowed to wipe the United States off the map.  Why has Obama not addressed this?

Why is Obama cutting our military defenses?  Does he want the U.S. to be attacked?

How could the Obama administration “misread the economy” when he spent his entire campaign telling us that we “are in the worst economy since the Great Depression”?

Did anyone ever bother to consider that perhaps the 46 million people in this country who do not have health insurance, do not want it? (Everyone in this country has access to health care, even if they do not carry health insurance.  This will change under Obama’s health care plan.)

Did it ever occur to people, especially the government, that the reason the health care system in the U.S. is broken is because the of all the rules/regulations imposed on it by the government and the bureaucracy that always accompanies said regulations?

Why do people turn to the government to fix the economy when it was the government that caused the economic downturn?

Why is it that those who are for universal health care and praise Canada’s health care system, go to privately run hospital in the U.S. and stay far away from countries that have socialized medicine?  Also, if government run health care is so great, why do people who live in countries such as Canada, England, Sweden, etc. come to the United States for medical care? Look at Micheal Moore.  He constantly praises countries like Canada and Cuba for their great health care.  Yet when he needed medical help in losing weight, he went to a privately run hospital in Florida.  Hypocrite!

The U.S. Constitution is no more than 3-4 pages in length.  Why are all the bills passed by Congress more than a 1,000 pages?  Can we say, “pork barrel spending?”

Why is it that lately Congess has passed legislation without even reading or debating the bill?  Isn’t it important to know exactly what you are voting on and enacting into law?

Why would anyone want the federal government to run the health care system, or any system in this country when they destroy everything they touch? Look at the education system.  Since the formation of the Department of Education and the feds took control of education, the quality of education in this country has decreased every year.  High Schools are turning out kids who can barely read or do basic math, much less actually think.  Colleges routinely turn out graduates who know less than they did before they registered with classes.  Very few graduates understand history, basic economics, common sense, or that the gray matter between their ears is for thinking.  Analytical thinking.  It is not for listing to your ipod or watching the latest music video on you tube.

What ever happened to the American Spirit and America’s rugged individualism?

Why are liberals always angry at a bunch of dead, white males? THose dead, white males made this country that they live in and prospered in.