For or Against the Constitution? ... J. D. Longstreet

For or Against the Constitution?
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
******************

Before we Americans put forth a new slate of candidates for upcoming elections -- and I refer to ALL elections from the city council to the county commissioners, to the state legislature, to the US House and Senate,  and finally, to the office of the President of the United States -- we must come up with a new, er, qualification, ah,  litmus test, if you will.

We must determine -- and insist -- that candidates swear (or affirm) that they support the constitution.  Here,  let me make it clear when I say "the constitution," I mean the original document as written by the Founding Fathers.  

It seems our politicians just mutter the words of the oaths they take, when being sworn into office, and never actually examine the words they speak -- and swear to -- before God.

It has become abundantly clear that NOT ALL our representatives actually support the US constitution.  It has ALSO become clear that our President does not support the constitution.

It is high time we make darn sure the lawmakers representing us DO support it, or are considered disqualified to hold office ... period.

Now.  On to "state's rights!"

Much is being made, especially in the leftist media (I realize "leftist" and "media" is redundant!), concerning so many states passing nullification laws which seek to neutralize a great many overreaching federal laws affecting the states.

Students of history -- and there are precious few of them left -- understand that these nullification laws are not just jabs in the eye of the federal government. They are, in fact, the first step(s) a state takes before it secedes.  But there is more here than immediately meets the eye.

It is becoming clear that if Obamacare is not repealed the secession movement in America will ramp up -- and ramp up quickly.  These nullification laws are, at the moment, a safety valve to release some of the building pressure within the states to reclaim their sovereignty, or, at least -- SOME of it.

Only the weak-minded believe the members of the state legislatures passing nullification laws do not know that, constitutionally, federal law supersedes state law.  They KNOW that! 

So why, then are they passing worthless nullification laws?  Well, they are hoping for the safety valve effect we mentioned above and ... they are trying, desperately, to stave off full blown rebellion down the road aways.

Look:  Nullification by the states today is the right of states to choose to not enforce any federal act that fails to conform to the limits on the authority of the federal government set by the constitution, itself!    That, dear reader, is perfectly legal.


Does this surprise you?  If we had a mainstream media, a national press corp,  that was doing its job, rather than sniffing after Obama like dogs in heat, you'd already know that the sovereignty movement is alive and well across the country. 

Consider this little quoted remark made by James Madison in "The Federalist:"  "The powers delegated to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the state governments are numerous and indefinite. The former will be exercised principally on external objects, [such] as war, peace, negotiation, and foreign commerce. The powers reserved to the several states will extend to all the objects which, in the ordinary course of affairs, concern the lives, liberties, and properties of the people."

It is said that state sovereignty died at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia, in April of 1865 when Lee surrendered to Grant.

The people of the states are, again,  longing for their own government -- sans external control from Washington.

"On May 3-4, 2013, Rasmussen Reports polled the opinions of 1,000 likely voters. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points."  Here is a snippet from that report:  " ... What is even less favorable to the administration’s program to exalt the federal government above the states is the poll’s finding that 44 percent of those who participated in the survey believe states retain the right to nullify any act of the federal government they deem constitutionally invalid."  SOURCE: http://www.thenewamerican.com/culture/item/15333-rasmussen-poll-reports-majority-of-u-s-support-nullification

The state sovereignty movement has been quietly gaining momentum over the past few years all across the US.  "... Almost half of the state legislatures are considering or have representatives preparing to introduce resolutions which reassert the principles of the 9th and 10th Amendments to the Constitution and the idea that federal power is strictly limited to specific areas detailed in the Constitution and that all other governmental authority rests with the states."  SOURCE:  http://tenthamendmentcenter.com/2009/02/09/state-sovereignty-movement-quietly-growing/#.Ufk2YKwpiRQ

As Michael Boldin says in his article entitled: "Some Good News For A Change:"  "A government that claims the power to collect and monitor anything and everything you say or do, use drones to spy on people without a warrant, require millions to pay a fine for doing nothing – and so much more – that’s not the government of a “free country.”  It’s not even close."  SOURCE:  http://tenthamendmentcenter.com/

Americans ARE waking up, albeit, slowly.  Hopefully, it isn't TOO slow.

Eventually, there will be a showdown.  When it comes, it will either be in the courts -- or the streets -- or BOTH.  But it IS coming.

Finally:  In the Virginia Resolution of 1798, James Madison wrote the following:

"In case of a deliberate, palpable, and dangerous exercise of other powers, not granted by the said compact, the states who are parties thereto, have the right, and are in duty bound, to interpose for arresting the progress of the evil, and for maintaining within their respective limits, the authorities, rights and liberties appertaining to them."

And Madison went on to say:

" ... that a spirit has in sundry instances, been manifested by the federal government, to enlarge its powers by forced constructions of the constitutional charter which defines them; and that implications have appeared of a design to expound certain general phrases… so as to destroy the meaning and effect, of the particular enumeration which necessarily explains and limits the general phrases; and so as to consolidate the states by degrees, into one sovereignty, the obvious tendency and inevitable consequence of which would be, to transform the present republican system of the United States, into an absolute, or at best a mixed monarchy."

The time has come for the people of the United States to decide if they are for or against the Constitution.  May Providence guide our decision.

© J. D. Longstreet

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America Has Become A Drone Society ... J. D. Longstreet

America Has Become A Drone Society
By:  J. D. Longstreet

It is a painful time for Americans of my age.  We have the memories of an America, glorious and honorable in her past… a past, which has been forgotten and erased, in  many cases, from the history books of America’s students. Above all things our America was honorable. A young American today would be hard pressed to define “honor.”  To define “dishonorable” is much easier. 

As we Americans view ourselves in that inner mirror, we can know that even today, America can be defeated… only by herself. And that is the shameful path we have chosen. 

One of our Founding Fathers and President, John Adams, once said: “Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide."

Americans of my generation, who still recognize a republic, when we see one, also recognize when that republic is gone. The American republic is gone … replaced by a socialist government… complete with Central Planning. 
You see, the new socialist government in America has grasped the American economic system, and by doing so, it now has absolute power over the American people. It will now rapidly proceed to destroy our liberty.  Indeed, it has already begun.

There are a few basic, fundamental truths people who live in a republic know.  Truths, which we Americans, have forgotten because our horrible public education system failed to educate our children over the past two generations.  They are truths which all people who want to live free know.   Now, I am not referring to living free under a socialist government and in a socialist society as we have now chosen.  These are truths FREE MEN and FREE Women (like we used to be) know.

William Boetcker, an outspoken political conservative and Presbyterian minister is perhaps best remembered for his authorship of a pamphlet entitled The Ten Cannots.  In that pamphlet he summed up so much of what modern day Americans have forgotten.  Some the most applicable “cannots” which would apply today are summed up in the few lines which follow.  Please read them and pay careful attention to what the Rev. Boetcker is saying.

“You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot help small men by tearing down big men. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot lift the wage-earner by pulling down the wage-payer. You cannot help the poor man by destroying the rich. You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred. You cannot establish security on borrowed money. You cannot build character and courage by taking away men's initiative and independence. You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.”

The good reverend NAILED it!  But our elite intelligentsia in the US Congress and in the White House doesn’t get it.  Voltaire captured the current US Congress a very long time ago when he said:  "In general, the art of government consists in taking as much money as possible from one party of the citizens to give to the other."

One of our Founding Fathers, Thomas Jefferson, would notice immediately the deep stain of socialism on the fabric of the American Republic were he to see it today under Democratic Party control.  Jefferson said: "To take from one, because it is thought that his own industry and that of his fathers has acquired too much, in order to spare others, who, or whose fathers have not exercised equal industry and skill, is to violate arbitrarily the first principle of association, 'the guarantee to every one of a free exercise of his industry, and the fruits acquired by it.”

If President Obama has said anything approaching truth during his meteoric rise to the Office of President and his "Bull in a China Shop" actions since taking up residency there, it is the words he uttered declaring that things will get a whole worse before they get better.  That is true.  Right up until the country collapses, of the weight of its government, things are going to decline. 

The true movers and shakers of America understand what is happening and they are worried sick. They are seeking cover until after the collapse.  Then they hope to, once again, try to build an America from the wreckage left by the socialists masquerading as democrats in charge of our government today.

It would seem, the light at the end of the tunnel has been turned off.  For the next few years we are left to stumble about in the darkness of socialism on our own.  For, you see, my fellow Americans, we got ourselves in to this mess and it is up to us to get ourselves out of it.

Unfortunately, in the "bee hive" that once was America, Obama's fundamental change has, indeed, changed us from a colony of workers to a colony of drones.  No colony, insect or human, can long endure in a drone society.

© J. D. Longstreet 

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Muslim Persecution of Christians: May, 2013

by Findalis
Monkey in the Middle

 

A man accused of helping a Saudi woman convert to Christianity was sentenced to six years in prison and 300 lashes. The daughter was also sentenced to six years and 300 lashes, causing her to flee, reportedly to Sweden, where authorities are trying to find her and extradite her back to Saudi Arabia.

Nigeria continues to be the most dangerous nation for Christians—where more Christians have been killed last year than all around the Muslim world combined. In one instance, Boko Haram Muslim militants stormed the home of a Pentecostal pastor and secretary of the Christian Association of Nigeria, and opened fire on him, instantly murdering him.

Separately, other Boko Haram gunmen killed 14 Christians, including the cousin and two nephews of the Rev. Moses Thliza, head of a Christian organization dedicated to preventing AIDS and caring for AIDS patients and orphans: Said Thliza: "My cousin, Bulus [Paul] Buba, was dragged out at gunpoint from his house by the Boko Haram members. They collected his car keys, demanded money and asked him three times to renounce his Christian faith, and three times he declined to do so [prompting them to execute him]. The attackers met three guards on duty, killed two of them by cutting their necks with knives, and then proceeded to take the third guard, Amtagu Samiyu, at gunpoint to lead them to where the keys of the deputy governor's house is."

As for some Christians observing a wake two kilometers away, Boko Haram Muslims asked to know what was going on there, and when they learned that people were saying prayers for an elderly Christian woman who had died, they charged in and shot into the crowd. "The attackers went there and shot indiscriminately at the worshippers, killing eight Christians—two women and six elderly men," said Thliza. "In all, we buried 14 Christians. Some were injured and taken to the hospital." Despite all this, when the Nigerian government tried militarily to confront and neutralize Boko Haram, the Obama administration criticized it, warning it not to violate the "human rights" of the Islamic terrorists.

Categorized by theme, the rest of May's roundup of Muslim persecution of Christians around the world includes (but is not limited to) the following accounts, listed by theme and in country alphabetical order, not necessarily according to severity:

Church Attacks

Bosnia: The Serbian Orthodox church of Saint Sava in Sarajevo, where Muslims make up approximately half of the population, was "desecrated" and six of its windows panes broken. The unidentified vandals wrote "Allah" in dark paint twice on the church wall. A month earlier, unidentified persons tried to set the church on fire.

Central African Republic: According to the Episcopal Commission for Justice and Peace, since an Islamic rebel leader proclaimed himself president, the situation for Christians, has "deeply worsened." The organization warns against "the evil intentions for the programmed and planned desecration and destruction of religious Christian buildings, and in particular the Catholic and Protestant churches…. All over the country the Catholic Church has paid a high price." Several dioceses have been seriously damaged and plundered, and priests and nuns attacked (more information below, under "Dhimmitude.")

Egypt: Two Coptic Christian churches were attacked, one in Alexandria, the other in Upper Egypt. St. Mary in Alexandria was attacked by Molotov cocktails and bricks, causing the gate to burn and the stained glass windows to shatter. One thousand Christians tried to defend the church against 20,000 Muslims screaming "Allahu Akbar" ["Allah is Greater"]. One Copt was killed and several injured. In the village of Menbal in Upper Egypt, after "Muslim youths" harassed Christian girls—including hurling bags of urine at them—and Coptic men came to their rescue, another Muslim mob stormed the village church of Prince Tadros el-Mashreki. They hurled stones and broke everything inside the church, including doors and windows. The mob then went along the streets looting and destroying all Coptic-owned businesses and pharmacies and torching cars. Any Copt met by the mob in the street was beaten.

Iran: Because it refused to stop using the national Persian language during its services—which makes the Gospel intelligible to all Iranian Muslims, some of whom converted—the Central Assemblies of God Church in Tehran was raided by security services during a prayer meeting; its pastor taken to an unknown location, and the church was searched and its books, documents and equipment seized. Security agents posted a sign stating that the church was now closed. One local source said, "They constantly threaten the church leaders and their families with imprisonment, unexplained accidents, kidnapping and even with execution. We cannot go on like this." A number of its members have already been killed and its activities greatly restricted over the last few years.

Libya: The Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception in Benghazi was bombed. In the words of the Apostolic Vicar of Tripoli, "They put a bomb at the entrance of the corridor leading to the courtyard where there is the door of the church. The church, therefore, was not touched directly, but the attack is not a positive sign. The Church in Libya is suffering. In Benghazi the Coptic Church was hit, its chaplain was killed and now the Catholic Church. As I reported on other occasions, in Cyrenaica different religious women's institutes have been forced to close their doors, in Tobruk, Derna, Beida, Barce, as well as in Benghazi. The nuns who were forced to leave, served the population with generosity."

Syria: A violent explosion destroyed the church and convent of the Capuchin Franciscan Friars in Deir Ezzor. According to Fr. Haddad of the region, "It was the only church in Deir Ezzor [that] so far still remained almost untouched." It is not clear how it was destroyed, but some say a car bomb was placed next to the church. Fr. Haddad lamented that, as in other regions, "there are no more Christians" left in Ezzor, due to "all this hate and desecration."

Tanzania: During a service to mark its official opening, a new church in a predominantly Christian suburb was bombed, killing at least five people and wounding some 60. According to a local source, "This was… a well-planned attack. Even before it, the threat was given and we still have many threats. Pray for us, and that God will overcome all these in Jesus' name." He added that, "radical camps in the country were teaching young Muslims that Christians must be killed or live as second-class citizens," or dhimmis. Among those arrested, four were Saudi Arabian nationals. The bombing follows the slaying of two church leaders in February, and the shooting in the face of a third on Christmas Day. In October, several church buildings were torched and vandalized.

Apostasy, Blasphemy, Proselytism

Egypt: Twenty-four-year-old Demiana Ebeid Abdelnour, a social studies teacher, was fired and arrested for comparing the late Coptic Pope Shenouda to Islam's prophet Muhammad, "as well as putting her hand on her neck or her stomach every time she mentioned [Islam's prophet] Muhammad," which was interpreted by some students under 10-years-old as disgust. She would be the last Coptic Christian victim to be arrested or imprisoned in a "defamation of Islam" spree that began under now ousted President Morsi. One Coptic activist wondered, Why is defamation of religion a one-way street, only for the benefit of the Muslims, while Christianity is defamed every day?" He added that Sheikh Abu Islam, who tore and burned the Holy Bible, has not been detained.

Iran: Vahid Hakkani, a Christian prisoner in Shiraz, is suffering from internal digestive bleeding. Although doctors have diagnosed his condition as critical, and have recommended urgent surgery, prison officials have not allowed his transfer to any hospital. Earlier, Hakkani and other Christians were gathered for worship in a house-church when they were arrested "for participating in house-church services, evangelizing and promoting Christianity, having contact with foreign Christian ministries, propagating against the regime and disturbing national security."

Kashmir: Two Christians accused of carrying out "acts of proselytism," for distributing pamphlets and publications with biblical passages to some young Muslims, were savagely beaten by a mob, and later arrested by police, "who rescued them from a secure lynching." Separately, the "United Jihad Council" said that Christian missionaries in Kashmir are "highly reprehensible" and have a "hidden agenda [to] exploit the poor and the needy, offering them economic aid to convert them to Christianity." He noted that "Islam is the religion of peace and harmony, and that protects minorities. However, anti-Islam activities [evangelization] cannot be tolerated." The United Jihad Council accordingly calls on all Christian missionaries "immediately to leave the valley of Kashmir," warning, "If not, they will suffer the consequences."

Kazakhstan: Despite the nation's president recently boasting that, "Kazakhstan is an example to the world of equal rights and freedoms for all citizens" and that, "religious freedom is fully secured" in the country, the Barnabas Fund states that the government "has instructed people to report any individuals who speak about their faith with others in public to the police," as "talking about one's faith with others constitutes missionary activity, which requires personal registration… Compulsory prior censorship of all printed and imported religious literature is another way in which the state controls Christian activity. Confiscation of religious books appears to be increasing, with Christians amongst those most likely to be targeted."

Morocco: A fatwa by the government's top Islam authority, partially based on the teachings of Islam's prophet Muhammad, calls for the execution of those Muslims who leave Islam, causing many Christian converts to live in fear. Lamented one Christian: "The fatwa showed us that our country is still living in the old centuries—no freedom, no democracy. Unfortunately, we feel that we aren't protected. We can be arrested or now even killed any time and everywhere. The majority of the Christian Moroccan leaders have the same feeling. We are more followed now by the secret police than before. Only the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ gives us courage and peace."

Saudi Arabia: A Christian Lebanese man, accused of helping a Saudi women convert to Christianity, was sentenced to six years in prison and 300 lashes. Even so, the father of the woman claims the punishment is not sufficient. The daughter was also sentenced to six years and 300 lashes, causing her to flee, reportedly to Sweden, where authorities are trying to find her and extradite her back to the Saudi Arabia. Another man, a Saudi national who reportedly forged a travel document to help the woman flee, was sentenced to two years in jail and 200 lashes.

Dhimmitude

[General Abuse of Non-Muslims as Third-Class "Citizens," or Dhimmis]

Central African Republic: Christians are being terrorized, killed, and plundered by Islamic militants, who seized control of the country in March, even as international media and government ignore the crisis. In what one pastor is calling "a reign of terror," Muslims are tying up, beating and forcing Christians to pay money to save their lives. Many have been killed or wounded. The Barnabas Fund states that "rebels have a hit list of pastors and other Christian workers, and that places of worship are being attacked. Christian property is being looted. In one incident towards the end of last month, Seleka [Islamic] troops seized all the collection money given at a gathering of church leaders. Many Christians have fled their homes to the countryside and are too fearful to return. More than 200,000 people are internally displaced, while 49,000 refugees have been registered in neighbouring countries." On 10 May, Human Rights Watch released a report citing "grave violations" committed by the Seleka rebels against civilians, including pillage, summary executions, rape and torture. One pastor of a besieged church was shot dead when he went out holding a Bible aloft as a sign of peace.

Egypt: Mohamed Abu Samra, secretary-general of the Islamic Jihad Party, asserted that "it is permissible to kill some Christians today," justifying it by adding "Those who came out with weapons, their blood is allowed for us [to spill], as a fighter is not considered dhimmi." In Islamic law, a dhimmi is a non-Muslim who is permitted to exist provided he pays monetary tribute and lives as a submissive, lowly subject, according to Koran 9:29. Those Coptic Christian activists who vocally called for the removal of former Islamist president Morsi were not doing that, thereby becoming fair game for killing.

Indonesia: After an earlier Christmas Eve attack, during which members of Filadelfia Batak Christian Protestant Church were pelted with rotten eggs, dung and plastic bags full of urine, the pastor was attempting to leave the scene with his wife when Abdul Aziz, the leader of the mob who had earlier threatened to kill him, moved to attack him. Because the pastor stopped the Muslim agitator's blow with his hand to protect his wife and himself, he is now facing assault charges. Islamic law, based on the "Conditions of Omar," forbids Christians from raising their hands to Muslims, even in self-defense. The church has been meeting outside and in homes since its building was sealed off by authorities to appease Islamists in 2010—despite its having met all conditions for a building permit, as well as a Supreme Court ruling that a permit should be granted.

Pakistan: Over the course of five days, a Muslim mob tortured Javaid Anjum, a teenaged Christian student to death, because he dared drink water from the tap of an Islamic seminary while on a long journey to visit his grandfather. When Muslims discovered he was Christian, they forced him into the seminary, where they tried to force him to renounce Christianity and convert to Islam. When he refused, for five days, Muslim seminary students electrocuted him, broke his arm, and pulled out his fingernails. The electric shocks caused his kidneys to fail and he eventually died.

About this Series

Because the persecution of Christians in the Islamic world is on its way to reaching pandemic proportions, "Muslim Persecution of Christians" was developed to collate some—by no means all—of the instances of persecution that surface each month. It serves two purposes:

1. To document that which the mainstream media does not: the habitual, if not chronic, Muslim persecution of Christians.
2. To show that such persecution is not "random," but systematic and interrelated—that it is rooted in a worldview inspired by Sharia.

Accordingly, whatever the anecdote of persecution, it typically fits under a specific theme, including hatred for churches and other Christian symbols; sexual abuse of Christian women; forced conversions to Islam; apostasy and blasphemy laws that criminalize and punish with death those who "offend" Islam; theft and plunder in lieu of jizya (financial tribute expected from non-Muslims); overall expectations for Christians to behave like dhimmis, or second-class, "tolerated" citizens; and simple violence and murder. Sometimes it is a combination.

Because these accounts of persecution span different ethnicities, languages, and locales—from Morocco in the West, to India in the East, and throughout the West wherever there are Muslims—it should be clear that one thing alone binds them: Islam—whether the strict application of Islamic Sharia law, or the supremacist culture born of it.

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Obama criticizes Republican "phony scandals," "short-term thinking"

When questions arise about why four American foreign service personnel died at the hands of Libyan terrorists, or why a Border Patrol agent was murdered by Mexican drug cartel thugs possessing US-provided guns, or why the Internal Revenue Service improperly delayed action on some religious and conservative applicants for non-profit status, or any of the numerous other irregularities under this administration, Democrats and the agenda-driven media say, "That's old news. Move on," as if relevance depends upon the calendar, not the substance of the events.

And that is a pretty convenient modus operandi: They avoid coming clean with the American people on legitimate questions of competence for months on end, virtually never hold guilty parties accountable, and then complain that those asking the questions are living in the past and the answers they seek no longer matter. And they do so knowing that millions of people won't care.

All the while President Barack Obama blames every problem in the country on someone or something else, and calls the government's disgraceful handling of the aforementioned boondoggles a bunch of "phony scandals" manufactured by Republicans. It's a great game of Beat the Clock.

But honest Americans realize that their government failed miserably to do its job as dictated by the US Constitution and want to know who screwed up and what penalty they will pay for their gross incompetence and/or illegal behavior. So far, only lip service has been paid to accountability, and some of the most likely culprits have escaped reaping their just reward, while others have been promoted to higher positions.

Several months after Mr. Obama took office the Department of Justice's (DOJ) gun running operation known as Fast and Furious began. Intended to track gun sales to Mexican drug cartels, it backfired and Border Patrol agent Brian Terry was murdered in 2010 by people possessing two of those guns provided by the DOJ. The Obama administration's response was something like: "Ooops! Gawrsh, we didn't expect any o' them guns to be used against us. Sorry 'bout that. Nothing to see here; keep moving."

On September 11, 2012, after multiple requests to beef up security at the American diplomatic sites in Libya had been denied or ignored, terrorists attacked the facilities in Benghazi, resulting in the deaths of Ambassador Chris Stevens, foreign service officer Sean Smith, and former Navy Seals Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty.

Politics demanded that 2 months before a presidential election no screw-ups be under investigation or terrorist activity be fresh in voters' memories, since President Obama had declared the War on Terror over, so the administration concocted a lame excuse that a video that hardly anyone in the entire world had seen, let alone in Libya, caused a spontaneous demonstration at the US consulate. That idiotic story was repeated for weeks by administration spokespersons, including President Obama himself.

Barack Obama, the “news” media, and millions of liberals showed little interest in the inconveniently-timed deaths of these brave Americans.

Unanswered questions persist, but instead of keeping these important events in front of the American people, the media most recently have focused on the shooting of a black high school student by a "white Hispanic" in Florida and the birth of a future monarch in Great Britain. Perhaps if the five murdered government employees looked like Trayvon, Mr. Obama and the media would give a hoot.

Not everyone is as cavalier about these tragic government failures as the administration, Congressional Democrats and the agenda-driven media. A group called Special Operations Veterans, the mission of which is to uncover the truths about the Benghazi terror attack, took its demands to Capitol Hill last week in the form of a 60-foot-long petition, which was unfurled near the steps of the Capitol. It demanded that the government “End the cover-up” of the attack. The petition was signed by more than 1,000 people and called for a special congressional committee to investigate the incident.

Each of us either believes that the deaths of the five government workers are important, or we don't. Apparently, most people don't, or are too-easily satisfied with the partial information provided that doesn’t explain what went wrong.

The Internal Revenue Service targeted scores of conservative religious and political organizations seeking non-profit status with improper questions, and denied action on their applications for up to two years, then tried to blame it on a couple of rogue agents in Cincinnati, Oh. It turns out there were 12 different IRS offices involved. Now the administration tells us that the targeting was actually non-partisan. That's a low threshold; even one liberal organization makes that technically true. But the reality is that 292 were conservative; 6 were liberal.

Each of us either believes that our government must operate honorably and follow the rules set forth for it in the US Constitution, or we don't. There is a shockingly large faction of Americans that apparently don't, because they are not demanding answers to these questions, or that people responsible for these events be disciplined, or that such dishonorable and un-American activities be stopped and government restored to functioning constitutionally.

Which side are you on: Honorable government or the status quo?

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Descendents Of Revolutionists And Rebels ... J. D. Longstreet

Descendents Of Revolutionists And Rebels
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
*******************

Sometime ago I mused:

Change is not always good.  This “changed” America is definitely not as good as the America we had before we decided to exchange freedom for socialism.

Today, Americans are just beginning to awaken and learn the nightmare they are experiencing is not a nightmare one experiences during REM sleep.  In fact, they learn, to their utter surprise, they are NOT sleeping.  This nightmare is NO DREAM.  It is REAL.  And, Americans who THOUGHT they wanted, and yes, even NEEDED change brought it on.

Many of the votes that were cast for “change” back in 2008 were votes from young people who had no idea what they were trading and what they were getting for the trade. They are the product of a public education system in America now almost totally ruled over by the political left, which still seeks the Nirvana of Utopia through socialism.  After 12, or more, years in the public education system, then 2, 4, or 6 more years in those bastions of liberalism/socialism we refer to as colleges and universities, is it any wonder their Pavlovian response in the voting booth was to pull all the levers by the names of the candidates who were decidedly left-wing candidates? Hardly!  They were simply reacting to the stimuli implanted in their malleable minds as they made their way through an education system designed to do just that.

And now we are watching our country collapse around us.  

Those of us who knew socialism’s sad story of lies, deceit, and destruction are not surprised at America’s perilous position today.  We knew it would happen. We have watched socialism nearly from its birth.  We watched socialism’s struggle to grow as it murdered its host countries all the while.  Like a physician trying to heal a patient, by draining the patient’s body of all its blood, socialism drains a nation of its life-giving force and leaves it a broken shell of its former self. Even as robust a nation as Russia required assistance from former enemies, just to survive, after throwing off the bonds of socialism a few short years ago.

Pope Pius XI once said: “It is wrong to withdraw from the individual and commit to the community at large what private enterprise and industry can accomplish.  So, too, it is an injustice, a grave evil, and a disturbance of right order for a larger and higher organization to arrogate to itself functions which can be performed efficiently by smaller and lower bodies.”

Now we are observing this “wrong,” and this “injustice,” Pope Pius XI warned of, play out right before our eyes right here in America.

The “old” America was truly “something else!”  She was a dream.  She was a land of unlimited opportunities and horizons that went on forever.  She was the envy of the world!

Americans were optimistic people who threw themselves into the task of firing the furnace of the engine of democracy and delighting in the rewards of their own labor. The “American Dream” was so big and so multi-faceted that no one could even describe it! 

One British author, John Keegan, described America this way:

“Left to themselves, Americans build, cultivate, bridge, dam, canalize, invent, teach, manufacture, think, write, lock themselves in struggle with the eternal challenges that man has chosen to confront, and with an intensity not known elsewhere on the globe.

Bidden to make “War” their work, Americans shoulder the burden with intimidating purpose.  If I were obliged to define the American mystery, I would say it is the ethos - masculine, pervasive, unrelenting - of work as an end in itself.  War is a form of work, and America makes war in a particularly workmanlike way.  I do not love war; but I love America!”  - John Keegan, author of “Fields of Battle: The Wars for North America,”  a British military historian, lecturer, and journalist.

Mr. Keegan had it right  This is what America used to be like. And for those of us who STILL remember her, as she was, today’s “changed” America  is a bitter pill to swallow!

Theodore Roosevelt  said: "The things that will destroy America are prosperity-at-any-price, peace-at-any-price, safety-first instead of duty-first, the love of soft living, and the get-rich-quick theory of life."

The renown men above speak of an America hardly recognized today.  We have forgotten as President  Dwight D. Eisenhower  said:  " Here in America we are descended in blood and in spirit from revolutionists and rebels - men and women who dare to dissent from accepted doctrine."

We have forgotten as President Harry Truman once said:  "America was not built on fear. America was built on courage, on imagination and an unbeatable determination to do the job at hand."

Where is our revolutionist spirit, our rebellious spirit?  Where is our courage, our imagination, our determination?  Where is it?

We have forgotten that we are the off-spring, the children, of heroes -- not mythological heroes but real, flesh and blood, men and women who stood, head and shoulders, above the remainder of the human population on this earth.

Former Presidential Candidate, Mitt Romney , during the latest presidential campaign said:  "And the American people are the greatest people in the world. What makes America the greatest nation in the world is the heart of the American people: hardworking, innovative, risk-taking, God- loving, family-oriented American people."
Well, Mr. Romney, we USED to be!  That's why you lost the election, sir. 

It has taken, literally, generations to wipe the collective memory of America of any useful recollection of its roots.  People who remember the "blood of heroes courses through their veins" do not lie down and roll over when adversity strikes.  If they fall back at all-- it is only to fall back to that "steely resolve" instilled in them by heir hero forbearers.

The edifice that is America may be crumbling and in a state of great disrepair -- but our foundation is intact!   And today that foundation is under continuous, incessant, attack by the forces that would wipe America from the face of the earth.

Our founding documents -- the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights remain as a bulwark against every effort the enemies of America have thrown at them -- so far.  They have withstood every campaign against them to date.  But they need our help.   

It is said that today we are living in a "Post-Constitution America."  We are told the constitution is simply too old to apply anymore.  We are told the constitution is a living, breathing, document with the malleability to be twisted and contorted into any shape necessary to fit any agenda our political leaders are attempting to foist on the citizens of America on any given day.

Of course -- it's a lie! 

The constitution says what it means -- and means what it says -- plain and simple.  The US Supreme Court is tasked with determining exactly what the Constitution means when asked.  Now, however, Americans no longer trust their Supreme Court! 
 I recently saw a video clip of a gentleman offering a petition to passers-by on a beach boardwalk that petitioned the President of the US to repeal the Bill of Rights!  My jaw dropped as I watched them all but line up to sign away their freedom and liberty!  It was mind-blowing! It served to remind me of just how little value is placed on individual liberty in America today.  Basically -- NONE!

Lady Liberty is being gang-raped by the political left today while the sons and daughters of America's early heroes are standing by and, in some cases, cheering on the assault on their freedom.

Just as God's Spirit "will not always strive with man,"  neither will the spirit of freedom and liberty always strive with Americans.  It can be quenched.  Much of America has already become tone-deaf to liberty's call.

For America to survive, we must reclaim that which is ours by birthright.  

Alexis de Tocqueville said of America: "The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults."

It is long past time for us, as Americans, to employ that inherent ability to heal ourselves, to repair our faults, to restore that which is good and right about our country.  There is not a moment to waste.  We must reach down deep inside and tap the reservoir of revolutionist and rebellious spirits that each of us received as blood-bought gifts from our forbearers.  Along with our faith that God will not abandon a country with yet a remnant of the faithful,  THIS will be our source of strength for the struggle to restore America to her former greatness.  
    
© J. D. Longstreet

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Muslim Persecution of Christians: April, 2013

Christian Suffering Under Jihadi Extremism

Before Egypt's President Muhammad Morsi was ousted, April was one of the worst months for Christian Copts there. On April 5 near Cairo, when a longstanding feud between a Christian family and a Muslim family—based on male Muslims sexually harassing Christian girls—culminated in the violent deaths of six Christians, including two of the participants, a Christian and a Muslim, being set on fire, and local Muslims went on another "collective punishment" spree. It resulted in the injury of at least 20 other Copts, an Evangelical church being set on fire, and an attack on a Coptic church, Two days later, after Copts had mourned their dead in the St. Mark Cathedral—Coptic Christianity's holiest site and home to the Coptic pope—Muslim mobs, who had waited outside, launched yet another attack—aided by state security forces. Eyewitnesses said as many as 40-50 tear gas canisters targeted the mourners, many of whom were women and children hiding in the cathedral. Two more Copts were killed and many dozens wounded as other officers stood by while the Muslim mob tried to destroy the cathedral.

Muslim "youth" climb to the roof of a building adjacent to St. Mark Cathedral to attack it. To the left, a man winds to hurl a projectile at it. And in the white circle to the right, high-ranking Egyptian officials and security stand by watching (easily recognizable by their hats and helmets). Source: RaymondIbrahim.com

On one Friday after prayers, the Bilal Ibn Rabah Mosque in Cairo was turned into a "torture chamber" for Egyptians, many of whom were Christians, protesting the Muslim Brotherhood. One of the victims, Amir Ayad, a Christian, said he was severely beaten before being left for dead at the side of the road. He suffered a fractured skull, a broken arm, bleeding in his right eye and pellet wounds. Coptic Christian children, mostly boys, were targeted for kidnapping and held for ransom; one 6-year-old, after his family had paid the Muslim kidnapper, was killed. And a video appeared on Arabic-language websites showing a crowd of Muslims in Egypt assaulting and raping two Christian women on a crowded street and in broad daylight. Throughout, the women scream in terror as the men shout Islamic slogans such as "Allahu Akbar!" "["Allah is Greater!"] None of the many passersby intervenes in any way.

Also in April, during Easter week in Nigeria, Muslim herdsmen launched a series of raids on Christian villages, killing at least 80 Christians. Most of those slain were either children or the elderly. Over 200 Christian homes were destroyed, eight churches burned, and 4,500 Christians displaced. According to a pastor present at the time, "It was a helpless situation, as no Christians had any weapon to fight back. Women, children, and the elderly who were not able to escape were shot and killed. Luckily, all my children are in school, so this made it easier for our escape from the Muslim attackers. We sneaked away in the midst of the confusion and trekked for more than 20 kilometers [12 miles] to find a place to stay."

Categorized by theme, the rest of April's Muslim persecution of Christians around the world includes (but is not limited to) the following accounts, listed by theme and in country alphabetical order, not necessarily according to severity:

Church Attacks

Central African Republic: A number of church buildings were attacked and the homes of Christians looted in the aftermath of a bloody coup by Sharia-adherent Muslim rebels. During the chaos, as in a standard jihad, Christian property was targeted for plundering, while Muslim property was spared. The leader of the Muslim rebels, Michel Djotodia, "assumed the presidency from the ousted François Bozizé, becoming the predominantly Christian nation's first Muslim president." According to one Christian, "We are no longer at home. They pillage our goods which are then sold by the Muslims, who export them."

Indonesia: Local officials, at the behest of Islamist forces, demolished the Batak Protestant Church building in West Java and threatened to close others, causing hundreds of Christians to protest in the streets. Once again, as happens with increasing regularity in Indonesia, congregation members then held services in the street, near the site of the destroyed church. As the Morning Star News added: Indonesian officials routinely delay or deny church building permits… thus providing Islamic extremists a pretext for protests and attacks." Newspapers covering the event posted photos of "church members in tears—singing hymns, crying and begging local officials not to demolish their facility. Hundreds of police and army officers guarded the area while Muslim militants, shouting Koranic verses, cheered the excavator."

Saudi Arabia: Apparently once again "The Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia—the top Islamic official in the country of Saudi Arabia—has [again] declared that it is 'necessary to destroy all the churches of the region." (First reported here over a year ago.)

Sudan: In the latest of a series of moves that have put pressure on Christians, a Muslim government minister announced that no new licenses will be granted for church buildings; he claimed that the existing churches are sufficient for the number of worshippers. Building churches has, in fact, been disallowed since South Sudan seceded in July 2011; the Islamist government of Khartoum responded by making the lives of Christians in Sudan even more difficult than usual. Days before this latest measure, the government deported a senior church leader and two expatriate missionaries who had been working with children in Khartoum. No reason was given. The government has also demolished countless church buildings on the pretext of paperwork irregularities.

Turkey: A 13th century church building, the Hagia Sophia of Trabizon (not to be confused with Constantinople's famous Hagia Sophia) is set to become a mosque again.

After the Ottoman conquest it had been turned from a church into a mosque, but later, under Turkey's secularist President, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, and apparently due to its "great historical and cultural significance" for Christians, it had been turned into a museum. Local authorities decreed that its Christian frescoes must again be covered in preparation for its reopening as a mosque. [Update: As of July, the Hagia Sophia of Trabizon has become a functioning mosque.]

Apostasy, Blasphemy, Proselytism

Indian Kashmir: In Srinagar, a Muslim mob attacked two men, five women and two children, all of British origin, on the accusation that they were preaching Christianity. The mob also threw stones at their vehicles and tried to destroy their home. The police, however, when they arrived, arrested the two men on, according to Asia News, "false charges of forced conversions." The local imam told police that, "if they try to convert anyone, I will prevent it at all costs." According to a Christian close to the case, "The false and defamatory accusations of the imam and the complicity of the police in arresting these Christians are a serious threat to religious freedom, a right guaranteed by the Constitution of India." Also in Srinagar, another Muslim mob attacked a Christian-children's home, beat the staff and visitors, tried to kill the pastor and kidnap the children, destroyed property, and killed the home's pet dog—again on the accusation that the group running the home was converting Muslim children to Christianity.

Somalia: Muslims from the Islamic organization Al Shabaab ("The Youth") shot to death 42-year-old Fartun Omar, a widow and mother of five, for converting to Christianity. Months earlier, they had killed her husband for the same "crime," and had been hunting for the wife, who, after abandoning Islam, had gone in hiding. She leaves behind five orphaned children. Separately, Al Shabaab Muslims also seized Hassan Gulled, 25, for leaving Islam and converting to Christianity, and imprisoned him, and tortured him. According to local sources, "Al Shabaab have been torturing him to see whether he would deny his Christian faith. Since last week, no information has surfaced concerning Gulled. There is a possibility that he could have been killed."

Tanzania: After a visit by an evangelist, Lukia Khalid, a Muslim mother of three, and nearly seven months pregnant, converted to Christianity; she later said: "My husband asked me whether I had left Islam, to which I said 'Yes.' He threatened to kill me if I was to stay with him. I then decided to escape that night with my three children to a neighbor's house…. We left only with the clothes that we were wearing. The command was so urgent that we could not wait any longer. We had to leave immediately." Unable to pay school fees and supplies without her husband, the children have stopped attending school.

Dhimmitude

[General Abuse of Non-Muslims as Second-Class "Citizens," or Dhimmis]

Iran: A new report, based on interviews with 31 Christians and produced by the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, has found "that the authorities consistently treat standard Christian practices, such as being a member of a house church or attending a Christian conference, as criminal acts. Although the Iranian government claims to respect the rights of its recognised religious minorities, it does not do so in practice. The report found that Christian converts and members of unregistered churches are denied the right freely to practise their faith, and that they face violations of their right to life through extrajudicial killings and even execution for apostasy (though only one Christian convert is known to have been executed since the 1979 Islamic Revolution)."

Pakistan: According to the Morning Star News, "Incited by calls from mosque loudspeakers after a dispute between Muslim and Christian youths, which started when Muslims told Christians not to play music [forbidden in Islam] a Muslim mob attacked a Christian neighborhood in Gujranwala today, injuring at least five Christians and damaging a church and dozens of shops and vehicles…. A resident of Francis Colony, where 2,000 Christian families have settled in the overwhelmingly Muslim-majority country, said police bias was evident in today's attack. 'The police was doing what it does best – nothing!' said Asif Barkat, who received minor injuries as he and other Christians tried to defend themselves. 'Their bias towards Christians is quite evident, because when the Muslims were raiding our church and property, they just watched, but when we confronted them, they started hitting us with batons and used live ammunition to deter us.'" Separately, two unidentified men tried by force to stop the car of the president of All Pakistan Minorities, Saleem Khursheed Khobar, a Christian, and when that failed, opened fire on him. As with other Christian human rights activists who have been assassinated in Pakistan, Khobar is being hounded for vocally representing the nation's downtrodden religious minorities: "I am being threatened and have gone into hiding to protect myself," he said from an undisclosed location. "Law enforcement agencies know that I am being followed. My whole family is under threat but the government doesn't care."

Syria: Christians continued to be targeted by Islamic rebels, especially for kidnapping. Among those abducted were two bishops, Bishop Yohanna Ibrahim and Bishop Paul Yazigi. An armed group of Chechen jihadis stopped their car, killed the driver, and took the two bishops hostage. Meanwhile, thousands of Christians continued to flee Syria. In in one instance, 500 crossed the border into Turkey, where church officials are considering building a "tent city" to house the refugees. Adds AINA: "Assyrians and other Christians in Syria have been disproportionately affected by the war, and have been targeted by the Muslims rebels. The Muslim Jihadists have kidnapped Assyrians for ransom, attacked places of worship and created a climate of fear, forcing many Assyrians to abandon their homes and villages and seek safety in Turkey."

Turkey: Erdal Dogan, a human rights defender, who played an important role in the trial of the 2007 Malatya massacre, against those Muslims who tortured and slaughtered three Christian men working in a Bible publishing house, "remained in life danger Friday, April 12, after receiving death threats," including from the defendants, one of whom threatened him during a hearing.

About this Series

Because the persecution of Christians in the Islamic world is on its way to reaching pandemic proportions, "Muslim Persecution of Christians" was developed to collate some—by no means all—of the instances of persecution that surface each month. It serves two purposes:

1. To document that which the mainstream media does not: the habitual, if not chronic, Muslim persecution of Christians.
2. To show that such persecution is not "random," but systematic and interrelated—that it is rooted in a worldview inspired by Sharia.

Accordingly, whatever the anecdote of persecution, it typically fits under a specific theme, including hatred for churches and other Christian symbols; sexual abuse of Christian women; forced conversions to Islam; apostasy and blasphemy laws that criminalize and punish with death those who "offend" Islam; theft and plunder in lieu of jizya (financial tribute expected from non-Muslims); overall expectations for Christians to behave like dhimmis, or second-class, "tolerated" citizens; and simple violence and murder. Sometimes it is a combination.

Because these accounts of persecution span different ethnicities, languages, and locales—from Morocco in the West, to India in the East, and throughout the West wherever there are Muslims—it should be clear that one thing alone binds them: Islam—whether the strict application of Islamic Sharia law, or the supremacist culture born of it.

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DEFUND OBAMACARE ... or ELSE ... J. D. Longstreet

DEFUND OBAMACARE ... or ELSE
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
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A big, nasty, battle is coming up.  It will involve republicans against democrats and republicans against republicans.

We are coming hard up against either stopping Obamacare or having it as a part of US law for, well, FOREVER!

Ronald Reagan once said:  "The nearest thing to eternal life we will ever see on this earth is a government program."

How right he was! (In more ways than one!)

Once Obamacare is up and running, full time, it will NEVER BE CUT from the Law Books of the nation.  Never.

"NO federal program ever gets eliminated once it is put into place. NO federal program ever suffers an absolute real cut from this year's levels because of baseline budgeting (which always projects an overall increase of at least the expected inflation rate plus 1%-2% in future overall growth in federal spending)."  SOURCE:  http://www.telemachusleaps.com/2012/09/the-nearest-thing-to-eternal-life-on.html

As soon as our national lawmakers return to Washington, after their August recess, they will begin the debate over funding the government, keeping it open and operational.

The debate will provide an opportunity to defund Obamacare -- and kill it, or do nothing and have it kill the US.

If you are a regular reader of this scribe's rants then you know I have been against Obamacare long before it was ever introduced into a congressional hopper as a bill.   If it is possible, I am even MORE against it today.

Anything that has to do with socialism is anathema to me.  And Obamacare is nothing more than socialized medicine which will destroy this country. 

Sen. Ted Cruz, a republican from Texas, is urging conservatives to join a petition drive to defund Obamacare, calling it the last chance to stop the national health-care plan before it goes into effect on January 1st of next year.

Here's what Senator Cruz said recently:  “On Jan. 1, the exchanges kick in and the subsidies kick in. Once those kick in, it’s going to prove almost impossible to undo Obamacare. The administration’s plan is very simple: Get everyone addicted to the sugar so that Obamacare remains a permanent feature of our society.”  SOURCE:   http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jul/27/sen-cruz-defund-obamacare-americans-become-addicte/#ixzz2aLljI94H

In the same speech, Senator Cruz went on to say:  “Right now we don’t have the votes. Right now we’re not even close. There’s only one way we’re going to get 41 Republicans in the Senate and 218 Republicans in the House of Representatives, which is if they hear from the American people in overwhelming numbers.”  SOURCE: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jul/27/sen-cruz-defund-obamacare-americans-become-addicte/#ixzz2aLmeKplR

The Continuing Resolution to keep the government funded and running is scheduled to be voted on in September.  The debate on it will begin next month when the August recess is over.

"Utah Senator Mike Lee along with Senators Ted Cruz of Texas and Rand Paul of Kentucky are currently trying to lead the effort to defund Obamacare in the upcoming Continuing Resolution by vowing not to vote for any CR or appropriations bill that provides funding for the much hated Obamacare. There are roughly a dozen Republican Senators and more than 60 members of the House who have signed on to the idea of not funding Obamacare in the Continuing Resolution scheduled to be voted on in September. They are willing to fully fund the rest of the federal government, just not Obamacare."  SOURCE:  http://www.redstate.com/ulyssesarn/2013/07/27/effort-to-defund-obamacare-is-separating-the-leaders-from-the-cream-puffs-in-the-gop-ranks/

North Carolina Senator Richard Burr who called the defunding of Obamacare effort, “the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard” last week.

The Hill has more:

“I think it’s the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard,” Burr told journalist Todd Zwilich on Thursday. “Listen, as long as Barack Obama is president the Affordable Care Act is gonna be law.

“I think some of these guys need to understand that you shut down the federal government, you better have a specific reason to do it that’s achievable,” Burr continued. “Defunding the Affordable Care Act is not achievable through shutting down the federal government.”  SOURCE:  http://www.redstate.com/ulyssesarn/2013/07/27/effort-to-defund-obamacare-is-separating-the-leaders-from-the-cream-puffs-in-the-gop-ranks/

You can easily see the politicos are much more concerned about saving their own backsides than in saving the country. Their political careers and the health of their political party is far more important to them than the welfare of the nation and its people.
We can all see now that when saving the country actually MIGHT cost them something, they shrink away from their duty.  (I have already alerted my republican senator that he no longer has my support.)

We need to watch the upcoming debate closely and, in my opinion,  we need to "primary" any republican who fails to back defunding Obamacare in the CR debate over the next few weeks.  If they are NOT going to represent us, then we need to get them the heck out of Washington before they can do anymore damage -- or -- allow any more damage to be done.  It is past time to be rid of these feckless empty suits strutting the halls of Congress.

© J. D. Longstreet

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The Last Days of America ... J. D. Longstreet

The Last Days of America

Obama's Bread and CircusesA Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
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Panem et Circenses
"In modern usage, the phrase "Bread and Circuses" is taken to describe a populace that no longer values civic virtues and the public life. To many across the political spectrum, left and right, it connotes a supposed triviality and frivolity that characterized the Roman Republic prior to its decline into the autocratic monarchy characteristic of the later Roman Empire's transformation about 44 B.C."
SOURCE:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bread_and_circuses

"Roman politicians devised a plan in 140 B.C.E. to win the votes of these new citizens: giving out cheap food and entertainment, "bread and circuses", would be the most effective way to rise to power."  SOURCE:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bread_and_circuses

If the above strikes you as being frighteningly like America today, in my opinion, you would be correct to be concerned and yes, even frightened.

How else does one explain the Obama Administration's exponential increase in welfare and food stamp rolls in America.  How else does one explain the sudden presidential executive order awarding certain illegal aliens  the right to remain in the US and even provides a pathway to citizenship.

This is NOT NEW!  It's bread and circuses.  Obama ain't from Rome but he sure as heck IS from Chicago (or, at least, he SAYS he is!)  and -- all things considered -- the pols from Chicago could teach the ancient Roman pols a thing or two about manipulating the voters to win an election or to stay in office -- once they secure it in the first place.  The Romans were no slackers when it came to stealing elections. 

I have often thought that America in decline parallels ancient Rome in decline.

It is striking, at least to me, how accurate those in politics are who assess the electorate's intellect.  It infuriates me that the political left, especially, tends to see the ENTIRE electorate as dumb and stupid, wandering mindlessly, and just waiting to be told what to do. 

Then, we have a couple of elections, as in 2008 and again in 2010, and the results prove the left was absolutely correct in that assessment! 

The democrats played the American electorate in 2008 and 2010, as if it were a Stradivarius.  And they are still trying to do it.  But now -- the violin is out of tune.     

One of the advantages, or disadvantages, of a long life is that one lives long enough to see history repeat itself -- over and over and over again.  Sometimes ad nauseum. It never fails to surprise and disgust me at how easily fooled the general public is when politicians run a con game on the electorate with great success time and again.

See -- nothing much changes in politics.  Names, faces, dates change -- but the tried and true tactics never change -- because the American voter is basically dumb as as a fence post insofar as knowing how our republic is SUPPOSED to work.
Explaining that the US has a constitution is, for them, some sort of ethereal concept that has no equal in their consciousness.    Oh, they've heard about it, seen snapshots of the parchment page on TV, heard quotes from it, but -- they've never actually read it.  And they, sure as heck, have never studied it. 

Dear reader, in a constitutional republic, such as America,  that is a death wish!  And America has just the people currently in charge of the government to insure a very nice funeral for a free America.   

Four and a half years into Obama's administration of the country and Americans of all political leanings are learning that the constitution is an afterthought for Obama, a speed bump, a temporary impediment to be overcome with whatever means necessary.

If you like Obama's governing by fiat, or executive order, then you should be happy with the cloudburst of decrees from the man who would be king of America. 

See -- the left not only THINKS you're dumb -- they KNOW you are dumb, and they KNOW, beyond doubt, that THEY are far superior to you in intellect and, by some celestial right, it is THEY who should be caring for you, as one would a simple-minded child.  For the political left THAT is the NATURAL ORDER OF THINGS.  They believe that Providence would have commanded it so, had God had all the facts.  (Yeah.  There are a few on the left who actually believe in the existence of a god.... gender neutral, of course.)
So far as the bread and circuses for America is concerned, my deepest concern is that it is working.  Obama gives them "free stuff" like welfare, or food stamps, and a free phone.     Like the free cheese giveaway with people lining up down, and around, city blocks to get a hand-out of a huge block of cheese -- I am sorely afraid the beneficiaries of the bread and circuses actually believe, like the cheese, that it is free. And the few who DO understand that you and I (the taxpayers) are paying for all that "free" government largesse don't give a damn.  The left is counting on that. 

The taxpayers of the United States paid for that "FREE" cheese.  EVERYONE will have to pay for the "free" bread and circuses. The currency to be used in this exchange is freedom. Just freedom. That's all.

In the end, bread and circuses did not save Rome -- and it will not save the United States.  It will, however, hasten our demise.  Just as the Roman Empire eventually broke up into numerous countries, the United States will certainly do the same.

If you are sick and tired of being played for a fool then you have roughly sixteen months to pay attention to both sides of the argument and decide which side is playing to the lowest common denominator amongst us and which side actually thinks you are not a simpleton and that you have the ability to think for yourself.

Mr. Obama has already told you that you had nothing to do with making this country great.  Government did it -- not you.  He made a mistake.  He accidentally revealed what he and the left actually believe.  

The bells tolling America's death knell are growing louder.  Many are now of the opinion that is too late to rescue and restore America to her once great glory.

There is an old expression that says:  "It must be dark before you can see the stars."  Well, it IS dark in America and yes, we CAN see the stars of freedom and liberty piercing the shadows cast by socialism and Marxism.  If America resets her compass, takes a new bearing, and maintains her heading toward those stars, we will find our way through this present darkness into a new day with all the promise afforded us by all the Americans who went before us and dared to build that "Shining City on a Hill."

These do not have to be America's last days. But they WILL be if we don't rescue her from the hands of those who have stated their intentions of "fundamentally changing" her into something she was never, ever, supposed to be.  

© J. D. Longstreet

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