The Fall of a Great Empire or a Rendezvous with Destiny?

"A people who still remembered that their ancestors had been the masters of the world would have applauded, with conscious pride, the representation of ancient freedom, if they had not long since been accustomed to prefer the solid assurance of bread to the unsubstantial visions of liberty and greatness."
Edward Gibbon the Decline and Fall of Rome

"You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children (America), the last best hope of man on earth, or we will sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness. If we fail, at least let our children and our children's children say of us we justified our brief moment here. We did all that could be done." -- Ronald Reagan

"The opera ain’t over until the fat lady sings."
-- Texas Tech sports information director Ralph Carpenter, 1978

Drug Trafficking: Why a change in District 7 is needed

Dennis Wagner begins a story series in the Arizona Republic that reinforces the need for removing Raul Grijalva as District 7's representative in the US House. Wagner describes the 2006 murder of Ymer Orozco, a 46-year-old former milk delivery driver who quit his job and volunteered to help detectives bust major cocaine dealers. Without going into details, Orozco's death reiterates the the control drug Cartels have over our state, a major route for drugs into the US. As the representative for District 7, Grijalva is the designated go to guy for the border region where, according to Wagner, more Cartel drugs enter the US than any other point of entry. What has Grijalva done about stopping the flow? What legislation have we seen from his office for border security? Stopping the flow of weapons across the border? Here is a list of the items on Grijalva's agenda, from his website:

Legislation Introduced by Rep. Grijalva in the 111^th Congress:

• HR 324 - The Santa Cruz Valley National Heritage Area Act

  Establishes the Santa Cruz Valley National Heritage Area in Arizona. Designates the Santa Cruz Valley Heritage Alliance, Inc. as the management entity for the Area.

• HR 325 - The Avra/Black Wash Reclamation and Riparian Restoration Project

  Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior, in cooperation with Pima County, AZ, to participate in the planning, design, and construction of water recycling facilities and to enhance and restore riparian habitat in the Black Wash Sonoran Desert ecosystem.

• HR 326 - The Cocopah Lands Act

  Provides that if the Cocopah Indian Tribe of Arizona transfers title to certain described land to the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary shall take it into trust for the benefit of the Tribe, if there are no adverse legal claims to it, including outstanding liens, mortgages, or taxes owed. Considers such land to be part of the Tribe's initial reservation. Prohibits its use for gaming under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.

• HR 404 - The National Landscape Conservation System Act

  Establishes in the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) the National Landscape Conservation System (thus, enacting into law the National Landscape Conservation System (NLCS) created by BLM in 2000) in order to conserve, protect, and restore nationally significant landscapes that have outstanding cultural, ecological, and scientific values for the benefit of current and future generations.

• HR 644 - Grand Canyon Watersheds Protection Act of 2009

  To withdraw the Tusayan Ranger District and Federal land managed by the Bureau of Land Management in the vicinity of Kanab Creek and in House Rock Valley from location, entry, and patent under the mining laws, and for other purposes.

• HR 715 - The Saguaro National Park Boundary Expansion and Study Act of 2009

  The bill would enable the Park Service to purchase from willing sellers 283 acres adjacent to the Park's East Unit, including three miles of an important creek, and 300 acres adjacent to the West Unit.

While maintaining a pristine desert environment in Arizona is noble, it pales in comparison to border security and jeopardizing the safety of Arizonans by ignoring the burgeoning Mexican Cartel problem. Where is Raul? Conducting interviews demanding a "public option" in Obama Care. Meanwhile, the drug Cartels take over and our law enforcement officials fight on with fewer and fewer resources.

Why Wilson is not a Liar and the President Is

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made a tear-filled appeal to Republicans to yesterday to "tone down the rhetoric" on health care reform because she fears it will result actions like the murder of Harvey Milk. Huh?
Harvey Milk was not assassinated by Right Wing political activists as Pelosi indicates. The violence of the 70s in San Francisco was from left wing activists, not conservatives. Enough of Pelosi's lies in an attempt to get people to stop exercising their free speech.
On to the President.
Pelosi's comments came on the eve of her move to censure House member Joe Wilson for shouting "you lie!" during a presidential speech. Pelosi initially accepted an apology from Wilson, then decided his actions demanded a reprimand on the floor of the House. Pelosi agreed to a "Resolution of Disapproval."
Ann Coulter in her column this week responded to Pelosi's charge. According to Coulter:
"There are a number of theories about why America's greatest living statesman shouted "You lie!" at that juncture, but mine is that Wilson said it because Obama told a big, fat stinking lie.

"illegal aliens are excluded from precisely one section of the thousand-page, goodie-laden health care bill: Section 246, which distributes taxpayer-funded "affordability credits" to people who can't afford to pay for their own health care.

"Even this minor restriction on taxpayer largesse to illegals will immediately be overturned by the courts. But the point is: Except for vouchers, the bill does not even pretend to exclude illegals from any part of national health care -- including the taxpayer-funded health insurance plan."

Why They Don't Teach Logic in Schools Anymore

Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call to her tribunal every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blindfolded fear.
Thomas Jefferson

In its never-ending quest to convince us that we need Universal health insurance, the Obama administration is now comparing its plan for mandatory insurance to requirements for car insurance. Judson Berger has already torn this one apart on logic:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/09/14/health-insurance-mandate-works-like-auto-insurance-think/
I am wondering what the administration is thinking. To avoid mandatory auto insurance in Arizona, I just need to show that I don't use my car. Under Obamacare, can I claim that I don't get sick and therefore don't need insurance? Or is the administration implying that, like a right to health insurance and a home, everyone has a right to a car? Where do Obama's speechwriters come up with this logic? They, like most of this generation, are a product of schools and media which teach students to listen for the soundbite rather than think for themselves, to be a mirror of the urbane rather than a filter of the inane.
The result has meant a vacuum of our political system. Not only is politics full of corruption and immorality, we have lost the ability to detect it. Godly politicians who make moral errors are crucified, while wholesale corrupt politicians with shrewd marketing always survive.
It is time to ignore the slick marketing campaigns and apply business logic to our politicians. If a manager at McDonalds mismanaged funds, he or she would be fired. If your son or daughter was caught cheating in school, you would expect them to get a failing grade for the class. Our politicians should be no different. And yet, we have allowed ourselves to be duped into believing that politics is a game best managed by shifty contrivers, not honest workers. We can no longer afford to operate under such assumptions. it's time to throw the bums out.

Hope and Change--a Contrast in Leadership

In 1964, Ronald Reagan spoke at the Republican Nomination of Barry Goldwater for president. In that election, Goldwater lost in one of the biggest landslides in history to Lyndon B. Johnson, who carried the torch of John F. Kennedy into office. Reagan's speech became a manifesto for the Conservative movement that led to his election as governor of California in 1966 and a landslide election as president 14 years later.
In the waning years of the Reagan era, his vice president, George Bush (the senior) chose as his running mate a young Congressman by the name of Dan Quayle (who had 12 years experience in the Senate). During the VP debates, Quayle was sniped famously by Lloyd Benson for comparing his experience to that of John F. Kennedy (who struggled in foreign policy and relied heavily on supply side economic policies to maintain a robust economy):

Quayle: Three times that I've had this question — and I will try to answer it again for you, as clearly as I can, because the question you're asking is, "What kind of qualifications does Dan Quayle have to be president," "What kind of qualifications do I have," and "What would I do in this kind of a situation?" And what would I do in this situation? [...] I have far more experience than many others that sought the office of vice president of this country. I have as much experience in the Congress as Jack Kennedy did when he sought the presidency. I will be prepared to deal with the people in the Bush administration, if that unfortunate event would ever occur.

Judy Woodruff: Senator [Bentsen]?

Bentsen: Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy, I knew Jack Kennedy, Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy.


In 2000, Barak Obama gave a speech to the Democratic National Convention and Democrats began salivating; they had the "Ronald Reagan of the modern era." Eight years later we see the Democratic "savior" swept into office, enacting policies that would make even Lyndon Johnson shout "Save our Constitution!" Today thousands of Americans, who lived through the seventies can forcefully say: "Senator Obama, I remember Ronald Reagan, I trusted Ronald Reagan. Mr. Obama, you're no Ronald Reagan."
The following is a comparison of speeches on the issues that matter, between Ronald Reagan, the "Great Communicator" and Barak Obama, the "Great Windbag." Watch and learn, America:

Remember that Day?

As we watch our President negotiate with terrorist states, castigate our intelligence services, and cut military spending REMEMBER. Lest we forget the sights and the sounds of that day, please revisit what it was like:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Mz0_x7313I

I can hear you, the rest of the world can hear you and the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon.
George W. Bush

One thing that can be said of George Bush in contrast to the man who now occupies the White House: George Bush KEPT his promises.

Death by Suicide

"Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant, to step over the ocean, and crush us at a blow? Never! -- All the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth (our own excepted) in their military chest; with a Bonaparte for a commander, could not by force, take a drink from the Ohio, or make a track on the Blue Ridge, in a trial of a Thousand years. At what point, then, is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide."
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln lived to see some of the worst of American government in action during the
Civil War. Corruption, inaction, graft, selfish profiteering; all were a part of American government during the Civil War. but Lincoln also saw the tremendous sacrifice of Americans on the battlefield and on the home front. It is not the government of the United States that determines the destiny of our country, Lincoln posed, it is the people. Their willingness to find the common good and sacrifice despite the ineptness of a corrupt and inefficient government.

Free Enterprise, the Foundation of real Hope and Change

"The strongest bond of human sympathy outside the family relation should be one uniting all working people of all nations and tongues and kindreds. Nor should this lead us to a war on property, or the owners of property. Property is the fruit of labor; property is desirable; is a positive good in the world. That some should be rich shows that others may become rich, and hence is just encouragement to industry and enterprise."
Abraham Lincoln
Capitalists who invested their hard-earned money at a risk of loss, in order to better their future are the foundation of our nation's greatness. The middle class was built by small business owners, some of whom became large business owners, who had vision and insight to look into the future and risk everything on their dreams.
This is the problem with government-run health care. It assumes a government right to interfere in people's pursuits and usurp people's property. These rights are not trivial, they are foundational to an independent people. Throughout history, when people gave up these rights, they lost their freedoms. An reform of healthcare, therefore, needs to emphasize private industry, personal choice, and respect for private profit-making.
"Free enterprise has done more to reduce poverty than all the government programs dreamed up by Democrats."
Ronald Wilson Reagan

Looking for Hope and Change? Don't look to government

Liberty has never come from the government. Liberty has always come from the subjects of it. The history of liberty is a history of resistance. ~Woodrow Wilson
Our Founding Fathers recognized the dangers of a government with too much power. Woodrow Wilson, a Democrat, agreed. A people who rely on their government for change and hope are destined to have neither.

George Washington on "Hope and Change"

Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.
George Washington
One of only a handful of representatives elected to the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention, George Washington understood the power of oratory and philosophical reason on otherwise reasonable men. He moderated the arguments for a strong government and those for a Bill of Rights in the new Constitution. I wonder what he would have to say to Americans today about our last election.
Moderates who voted for Barak Obama, hoping for an articulate leader who would improve the economy now find themselves confronted by radical factions of the party holding power in the highest places in government. What will be the cost to our liberties before they are finished?

Why can't Southern Arizona have a "Real" Congressperson?

Trent Franks articulated well the problems with Obama's health care reform on Fox News Friday:


"The American people understand how far this administration has taken us. . . the word to use for it is bizarre. . . It just seems the Obama administration is taking us in the exact opposite of the American ideal of Freedom and individual responsibility."



Georgia Representative Tom Price, a doctor, is full of ideas that are bipartisan and can be passed to improve health care without busting the budget or forcing insurance on Americans:

"There is no reason why we as a society should give the ability to the Federal government to be making medical decisions for you and your family at all."


Jeff Flake, who has also has proposed effective and less costly healthcare reform, demonstrates how to do a townhall:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QiXaX8CM6k
His description and criticism of Obamacare is clear and practical:
"This legislation creates an (organizational) chart that only Rube Goldberg could love placing dozens of boards and commissions and individuals and organizations between you and your doctor and it will not control costs and it won't improve quality and that's what we should look for in terms of health care reform."

So what great ideas does Arizona District 7's own Raul Grijalva have for representing our views and reforming healthcare? let's see:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WI7OdN4KjQU
" If this bill does not contain a public option, that isuniversal health care, then it is not worth supporting and I won't support it."
There you go. Grijalva is willing to harpoon any bill that does not result in socialized, universal health care his final goal for Arizona. Even though such a plan has been shown to cost billions, is ineffecient, and will result in poorer health care for all Americans.
When will we elect a real American to represent us?

Constitution Made for a Moral People, not Corrupt Politicians

"We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."
John Adams
So how do we deal with corrupt politicians like Charlie Rangel?
Rep. Charles Rangel said Tuesday that "bias" and "prejudice" toward Obama are fueling opposition to health-care reform.

Those incendiary comments came on the heels of Paterson's controversial comments about race that also mentioned the nation's first black president.

"Some Americans have not gotten over the fact that Obama is president of the United States. They go to sleep wondering, 'How did this happen?' " Rangel (D-Manhattan) said Tuesday.

Speaking at a health-care forum in Washington Heights, Rangel said that when critics complain that Obama is "trying to interfere" with their lives by pushing for health-care reform, "then you know there's just a misunderstanding, a bias, a prejudice, an emotional feeling."

"We're going to have to move forward notwithstanding that," said Rangel, the powerful chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee and a chief health-care negotiator.

Rangel then likened the battle over health-care expansion for the uninsured to the fight for civil rights.

"Why do we have to wait for the right to vote? Why can't we get what God has given us? That is the right to live as human beings and not negotiate with white southerners and not count the votes. Just do the right thing," he said.
Thomas Jefferson said it best:
"I know no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves, (A)nd if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education. This is the true corrective of abuses of constitutional power."
Thomas Jefferson

Politicians live under Justice of one kind or Another

"I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that His justice cannot sleep forever." Thomas Jefferson

The longer I live, the longer I am convinced that in the end all corrupt politicians will get their justice, whether in this life or the next.

"God is, even though the whole world deny him. Truth stands, even if there be no public support. It is self-sustained."
Mohandas Gandhi

Responsibility--It lies with the People, not Government

"Now more than ever before, the people are responsible for the character of their Congress. If that body be ignorant, reckless and corrupt, it is because the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness and corruption. If it be intelligent, brave and pure, it is because the people demand these high qualities to represent them in the national legislature.... If the next centennial does not find us a great nation ... it will be because those who represent the enterprise, the culture, and the morality of the nation do not aid in controlling the political forces."
James Garfield, the twentieth president of the United States, 1877
How is the following email, sent out by the DNC, promoting character or responsibility?

“From: info@barackobama.com
Sent: 8/9/2009 2:01:04 P.M. US Mountain Standard Time
Subj: Visit Rep. Shadegg's office in Phoenix

All throughout August, our members of Congress are back in town. Insurance companies and partisan attack groups are stirring up fear with false rumors about the President’s plan, and it’s extremely important that folks like you speak up now.

So we’ve cooked up an easy, powerful way for you to make a big impression: Office Visits for Health Reform.

All this week, OFA members like you will be stopping by local congressional offices to show our support for insurance reform. You can have a quick conversation with the local staff, tell your personal story, or even just drop off a customized flyer and say that reform matters to you.

We’ll provide everything you need: the address, phone number, and open hours for the office, information about how the health care crisis affects your state for you to drop off (with the option of adding your personal story), and a step-by-step guide for your visit.

According to our records, you live near Rep. John Shadegg’s office in Phoenix, AZ.

Sign up now to visit Rep. John Shadegg’s office in Phoenix this week.

(Not your representative, or think there might be another office that’s easier for you to get to? Click here to find a different office.)

As you’ve probably seen in the news, special interest attack groups are stirring up partisan mobs with lies about health reform, and it’s getting ugly. Across the country, members of Congress who support reform are being shouted down, physically assaulted, hung in effigy, and receiving death threats. We can’t let extremists hijack this debate, or confuse Congress about where the people stand.

Office Visits for Health Reform are our chance to show that the vast majority of American voters know that the cost of inaction is too high to bear, and strongly support passing health reform in 2009.

Don’t worry if you’ve never done anything like this before. The congressional staff is there to listen, and your opinion as a constituent matters a lot. And if you bring a friend, you’ll have more fun and make an even greater impact.

Click below to sign up for an Office Visit for Health Reform:

http://my.barackobama.com/OfficeVisit

Wherever you live, these visits matter: Many representatives are pushing hard toward reform, and they are taking a lot of heat from special interests. They deserve our thanks and need our support to continue the fight. But those who are still putting insurance companies and partisan point-scoring ahead of their constituents must know that voters are watching — and that we expect better.

Earlier this week, the President wrote that “this is the moment our movement was built for” and asked us all to commit to join at least one event this month. This is the way to answer that call, and rise to the challenge of this moment together.

Thank you for going the extra mile when it matters the most,

Mitch

Mitch Stewart
Director
Organizing for America

Paid for by Organizing for America, a project of the Democratic National Committee — 430 South Capitol Street SE, Washington, D.C. 20003. This communication is not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.”

“All 50 States are coordinating in this – as we fight back against our own Right-Wing Domestic Terrorists who are subverting the American Democratic Process, whipped to a frenzy by their Fox Propaganda Network ceaselessly re-seizing power for their treacherous leaders.”This is Obama’s official ‘Organizing for America’ website paid for by the DNC not just some left wing website.
Why have we allowed ourselves to be duped by party leaders only interested in power for themselves?

The Second Amendment--A Well-armed Lamb

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote!"
Benjamin Franklin

From American Carol, a little 2nd Amendment humor:

My wife recently asked me if I wanted a gun. I said I had never really thought about it before. After reading the following quote, I am thinking about it a lot more:

"As to the species of exercise, I advise the gun. While this gives [only] moderate exercise to the body, it gives boldness, enterprise, and independence to the mind. Games played with the ball and others of that nature, are too violent for the body and stamp no character on the mind. Let your gun, therefore, be the constant companion to your walks."

-- Thomas Jefferson, writing to his teenage nephew.

On a March Toward National Socialism

"Every step we take towards making the State our Caretaker of our lives, by that much we move toward making the State our Master."
Dwight D. Eisenhower

Contrary to what many liberals believe, there is no Constitutional right to health care. There is no Constitutional right to housing. there is no Constitutional right to childcare or a job either. The idea for these things as "rights" comes out of International Law, a product of European socialism, not Common Law or the American Constitution. The Constitution (and all of the philosophical thought leading up to it's writing) proposed that government was best that was smallest, asserting the right of "life, liberty and pursuit of property (or happiness in the Constitution). Our founding Fathers felt that citizens could best choose for themselves how to pursue happiness and that it was not the role of government to decide what that pursuit would look like. The founding Fathers also noted that governments throughout history had tried to tell people what they needed and had always failed miserably.