The GOP just don't get it.

Societies over the course of recorded history have tended heavily toward monarchical rule. Republican governments and democracies aren't uncommon forms of government, but they do not tend to last nearly as long or be as stable and secure as monarchies. In fact, many a republic has grown unstable and devolved to where one man takes complete power and rules as a dictator. The United States has come close to this several times. Considering how many people put complete trust and faith in Barack Obama, and how many people, now, have placed all of their faith and trust in Donald Trump, I must ask the question: are we really that far from being a dictatorship? No, because we have been teetering on that cusp for roughly 230 years. The only things that have kept us from falling back into becoming part of one man's empire are the Constitution and those of us who defend it. Sadly, some of the people we just elected to serve in the U.S. government just don't get it. I cannot help but wonder if they, somehow, see themselves as benevolent monarchs, trying to do what they think is best for the masses.

Way, Way Down in the Rabbit Hole

Yes, I know that it's been a while since I've posted. Nothing in particular kept me away from here, I was just sick of all the pre- and post-election garbage spewing out of the mouths of dolts and malcontents, and I was trying to stay away from it. You know, to prevent further distress on my body systems. Yes, it has been an interesting first two months (roughly) since Trump became President of these United States, and I have made every effort to simply observe what is occurring from as far a distance as reasonably possible. I admit that I am still hoping the man succeeds at restoring order and civility in this country, but we all know the likelihood of that, don't we? The people who want to literally destroy America and its Constitution from within are not relenting. If anything, they are more vocal than ever, and the GOP, the alleged "conservative" of the two ruling parties, is more progressive than ever. People voted for Trump and they voted for Republican representatives in record numbers because they want two things: good jobs and less government interference in their daily lives. We're not getting that, are we, folks? So far, not really.

I guess I just wanted to run of at the fingers for a minute. Please pray for me, as I have rather severely pulled my lower back, and it is preventing me from doing much. Please, pray for our country and for its leaders, that they grow a pair and stick to conservative principles instead tucking their tail between their legs every time some liberal starts screaming her head off. God bless, you, folks. Maybe I'll write some more tomorrow.

Gonna be a good day, Tater!

Don't ask me why I put that title up there. I suppose I have a Ron White comedy sketch on my brain. One thing is for certain, I am in dire need of some serious laughter. With all of the chaos that the mass media try to get us all to focus on, one gets depressed and bogged down in misery, myself included. I'll go ahead and say it, namely because this is my blog, but the only way to mitigate the endless stream of bad news is to turn it off and focus on God. Yes, God. G-O-D, God. Not just any God, but YHWH, Adonai, the Alpha and the Omega, the Mighty God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. We need the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and we need them desperately.

Do you personally know Jesus? He said it best in John 14:6, He is the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE, and NO ONE gets to the Father (God) except through Him (Jesus). Focusing on God, through Jesus, and being faithful and relying on Him were important factors in the lives of many of our Founding Fathers, who recognized that human rights do not come from government, but from God, Himself. These are the natural rights enumerated in the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, and without which the Constitution would never have been ratified and made law. Can a man or woman be a conservative and not believe in God? Of course, and that is their right, but I'd bet even they must wonder if there is someone or something higher than they from which their freedom is granted, otherwise, nature would take its course and the savagery of man's pride would completely dominate the earth until only one person was left standing. True conservatism starts with a belief in the Creator, God. Y'all think about it and have a blessed, productive day.

Progressives: Evil-Minded Control Freaks

Ever since I was a teenager, I have been fascinated with studying communist countries and their governments. The older I get, the more interested I've become with learning about the mindset of the people that live under communist rulers, especially the psychological and sociological reasons why people become enamored with what we Americans see as tyrannical dictators. Cults of personality form around dictators, who sometimes come to be seen as gods, worthy of adulation and worship from their subjects. The country that best exemplifies this attitude, I believe, is North Korea, where the country and its leader are seen as mutual i.e., where one cannot exist without the other and where one symbolizes the other. North Koreans see current General Secretary Kim Jong Un as not just a leader, and not just a father figure, but as their actual father, and they see themselves as his children. Kim Jong Un is not to be questioned or disobeyed. In return for their loyalty, the people are rewarded with housing and other gifts. The more loyal a North Korean is to the Korean Worker's Party and to the “Dear Marshal,” the greater the reward. He supplies them with all that they need, and, in return, they give him their thanks by devoting their lives to him and his cause.

This afternoon, I picked up my son from school, and we were driving home, when a thought occurred to me. So many people in this country, the United States of America, the freest most prosperous nation ever to exist in the earth's history, a country founded upon personal property rights and the natural rights of individuals, have the same slavish mentality that one might find in North Korea. The mindset might be lesser in its application of one's thinking and devotion to the state, but is a slavish mentality, nonetheless. They see no problem with giving up some of their natural rights in exchange for government assistance and safety. They don't see the associated problems with allowing the federal government to take portions of their paychecks every week in exchange for the government taking care of them when they reach official retirement age, only to find that when they do reach sixty-five years old, what they receive in return is but a mere portion of what they had taken from them. They would even relinquish their rights to self-protection, a natural right enforced in writing by the Second Amendment. They become singularly minded in their devotion to a certain political party, and they never question what the government does when it is allowed to overstep its bounds in the name of security, even if it means their personal rights are no longer guaranteed. They firmly believe, in some cases, that government edict, no matter how illegal or unconstitutional, be obeyed, no matter what. These people literally idolize the leaders of their political affiliations and will defend them in all circumstances, despite any crimes and despite any amount of evidence clearly indicates their guilt. It is no stretch of the imagination to presume such people would be happy living in such a place as North Korea, especially since they will have a singular master upon which to focus their love and attention, and receive the essentials of daily living in exchange for their natural rights.

People like this are brainwashed, and I'll go right ahead and name them- they are the progressives and the fools that blindly follow them. One doesn't even have to think hard to know who most of these people are, yet, there are some progressives out there, working in our government and for our government, that aren't honest and open about their intentions and their political ideologies. What it all comes down to is control- they want control and crave control. They want to control every aspect of every person's life, from the cradle to the grave and they will not be happy even if they do gain complete control. Why? Because they will always find an injustice or an inequality to fight against, and those who do not agree with them must be summarily punished. We conservatives have to pay attention, careful attention, and weed out the progressives in disguise, the ones that talk a good game and say the right things, then turn around and perform evil deeds under the cover of darkness. They are evil people hellbent on control, and we conservatives have to understand their motivation and their means of execution in order to fight them. Be vigilant, my friends, and never surrender the fight.

The Constitution is our weapon against tyranny!

Let me explain something. What we have here in America are two opposing ideologies: one that states that our rights are natural, and one that erroneously believes that our rights are granted by government. I am a proud conservative and a life NRA member because I am an adherent of the former ideology, specifically believing that our rights are God-given. Our rights, which our Founding Fathers recognized and knew from where they were derived, were carefully and clearly spelled out in the first ten amendments to the Constitution a.k.a., the Bill of Rights. These ten essential rights, the rights to which all human beings that exist are entitled, are also the very basis of a free society, one in which every person has equal opportunity to pursue life, liberty, and happiness, but without the guarantee of equal outcome, which cannot be achieved, even by force, because no human is perfectly equal to any other. All that being said, as long as someone does not adhere to and preach the foolish notion of the latter ideology, that only government can grant and revoke rights, then I personally have no problem with that person. It is when, and only when, someone comes along and insists that I relinquish my God-given natural rights in the name of safety or security, or even peace, that I have a problem with that person.

This will be the last post I ever make on this subject: Hillary Clinton, and those like her, are believers that only government can make life better, and that all people should subjugate themselves to the government. They believe that they can improve society and make it perfect by experimenting with ideas and policies that they, themselves, create, many of which have been tried throughout all of human history, and proven ineffective and often deadly. They run our educational system, a system that has failed to teach our children the very essentials of what the United States means in the world and in history and why our government works the way it does, hence, the ignorance of how such things as the Electoral College functions and the intent behind its implementation. They believe that our Constitution is old, outdated, outmoded, and needs to be revoked. They believe in disobedience to our laws and they believe in employing chaos and social upheaval, all the while declaring that they do it in the name of a just and fair "democratic" society, which is all utter hogwash. In other words, these people are the enemy within our borders, and their shrill voices screech louder and louder each day, their protests increasingly violent.

I cannot help but wonder how this all happened, how it all started. When did it become acceptable to believe that any of us are wiser than our Founding Fathers? These were learned men of means. They were well-off enough to receive educations to which many colleges and universities fall short, today. They contemplated. They deliberated. They fought and argued with each other, but they never came to blows about those things which they all understood the most and held dearly in their hearts and minds, which is the principle that God gave man the drive to learn, to try and to err, to learn from his mistakes, and to handle success as humbly as he handles failure. The Founders understood that our freedoms are born with us, and only those with a desire to control us and do us harm can try to take them away.

Folks, we have to recognize the enemies within our midst. They are there, right next to us. Yes, some people are quite ignorant of our Constitution and of our founder's intent, and they may not know God. We have to try to teach them, and if they refuse to believe the evidence, well, we at east tried and, at least, the seeds of knowledge were scattered upon them. Perhaps, some seeds will find purchase and take root. I implore everyone to, please, take time to read the Constitution and learn about it and why it is written as it is. Read some of the letter from Hamilton and Madison and other, both pro and con, and understand the reasoning and the wisdom that our fathers relied so heavily upon. It is with this that we fight the enemy within, and nothing else, lest we all come to disaster.

Safety versus Liberty

Should the United States government monitor mosques on American soil for terrorist activity by using spies and other forms of surveillance without first obtaining a warrant? The backwardness and insanity of Islam, and our desire for stronger national security notwithstanding, the answer is simply, "No." Islam, at least to its adherents, is a religion. In the United States, the First Amendment of the Constitution guarantees freedom of religion. This not only includes freedom from government intervention, but also from government observation. If a particular mosque, church, Rotary club breakfast, or any other group of people are suspected of plotting criminal and terrorist acts, and the government finds proof suggesting such, then, as usual, a warrant should be obtained before beginning any type of active monitoring of the group by law enforcement personnel. If we give the government the right to maintain surveillance of one group of people without following the legal process, we will all eventually lose our liberty of peaceable assembly without government interference because a precedent of security before liberty will have already been set! We have to guard our liberties, folks, and we especially have to guard our freedoms against those in power who would gladly undermine them, even if it means guarding the freedoms of those with whom we disagree.

Marijuana: the REAL Conservative View

Conservatives often get accused of trying to boss people around, telling them what to do and what not to do. We get fingers pointed at us, saying that we should be more tolerable of other people, especially those who do not share our views. We are presented as uptight, ultra-religious, snobbish prudes who think we are better than everybody else and look down on all of those who are not like us. Conservatives don't want anybody to be free, to have fun, to enjoy living. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We read it and hear it all of the time. Those of us who are true conservatives, though, know darn well that we are the most freedom-loving and fun-having folks around. Unfortunately, we get lumped in with the right-wing statists and absolutists, people who want absolute power and authority to make others conform to their ideal. True conservatives know for a fact that forcing people to willingly conform without a fight is impossible, and that enforcing laws and regulations that require people to conform to an ideal always leads to the deaths of the nonconformists. True conservatives believe in maximizing personal liberty within the bounds of a strong society. We believe in good government, no more than what is necessary, and we believe that any government must submit itself to the will of the people, not the other way around. Today, we have another case, unfortunately, where the government, via bureaucratic regulations, is trying to force people to submit to its ideal image.

The Drug Enforcement Agency, one of the many bureaucratic arms of the federal executive branch, announced today that it will not change the classification of marijuana from its current classification. The DEA classifies marijuana as one the most dangerous drugs out there, as bad as cocaine and heroin. For decades, it has been said that marijuana is nothing but a dangerous “gateway drug,” a drug that people start using to get “high,” but eventually loses its effect on them. When marijuana loses its desired affect, marijuana users supposedly go and seek other more powerful illegal drugs and take them, instead, in order to get their “fix.” The feds insist that there is no medicinal benefit to any Schedule I drug, of which marijuana is one, and that these drugs have a high potential for abuse. Whether this is true or not is debatable. What are not debatable, however, are the deleterious effects of tobacco and alcohol consumption and the impact that these two legal drugs have had on our society.

Two states, Colorado and Washington, have “legalized” the use and sale of recreational marijuana, and each state collects taxes on the sale of the prepared weed. Several states have legalized the medicinal use of marijuana and have strict guidelines for its production, prescription, and use by patients. Legislation to legalize medical marijuana is pending in several other states. Is this a good thing? According to the tenets of true conservatism, it is. Conservatism demands that government not only be limited, but that it be assembled and conducted at the lowest and most effective level reasonably possible. This means, that if a people form a sovereign state, the majority of decisions affecting the lives and well-being of the people within that state should be made and enforced at the level of that state's government. In the United States, our Constitution calls for state sovereignty in matters such as the production and use of marijuana, but by claiming jurisdiction under the so-called “commerce clause” in the Constitution (Article 1, Section 8), and through the exercise of enforcement via agencies such as the DEA, the United States federal government has literally taken that right away from the states. A real conservative must be happy to see that some states have, at least in the matter of marijuana, started to assert their rightful jurisdiction and submit to the authority of their citizens. How long this holds up, however, remains to be seen.

What can be done, at the state level, to once and for all end federal government interference in the affairs of the sovereign states and their citizens? What can Americans do to reassert themselves and make the government work for them, once again? Simply put, the best solution is to have what is called an Article 5 Convention of States, as called for in the Constitution. Medical and recreational marijuana are but two small areas where the federal government has overstepped its lawful bounds and imposed the will of unelected bureaucrats and special interests on the people of the United States. Let us just hope and pray that if God so wills, that the individual states reclaim and reassert their legal authority in other matters of state, as well.