They Just Don't get It

December 22, 1984, scant days before Christmas, in a city ravaged by crime, an event was about to take place that would steal the headlines and sensationalize the plight of a citizenry who could no longer look to their government to protect them.

Four young hoodlums, all with criminal records and fourteen bench warrants among them, were about to accost an innocent victim on New York City’s Seventh Avenue Number 2 subway train. The victim had previously suffered an assault and attempted robbery and had lost all hope of police protection in the pre-Giuliani outlaw haven that was New York City. What the toughs hadn’t bargained for was an armed victim intent on taking matters into his own hands. They weren’t ready when Bernie Goetz pulled out a Smith and Wesson and shot all four, wounding three and crippling the fourth.

The “Subway Vigilante” became the talk of the town. To many he became an instant hero, turning the tables on his would-be attackers. To Manhattan DA Robert Morgenthau, he became a criminal, and while the Grand Jury refused to indict Goetz on charges of attempted murder and assault, he was convicted of gun possession and in a later civil suit was bankrupted by a multi-million dollar suit against him by one of his attackers.

Almost 25 years later to the day, an Islamist Extremist, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, attempted to murder almost 300 innocent civilians over US territory on the Christian Holy day of Christmas. We find out that Abdulmutallab boarded the flight from Amsterdam, the Netherlands (a country which has for all practical purposes surrendered its sovereignty to an influx of Muslim immigrants) to Detroit, without luggage, using a one way ticket, purchased with cash. We later learn that his own father had alerted US State Department officials that his son had become radicalized and posed a threat, and while this put him on a potential terrorist sympathizer list, it did not place him on a “no-fly” list.

Having boarded the plane with powdered explosives stuffed into his underwear, Abdulmutallab, under instructions from his handlers in Yemen, later believed to be former Gitmo detainees who were released for “rehabilitation,” waited until the flight was over US territory before attempting to detonate the explosives. Only through blind luck or incompetence, the explosives failed to detonate, and the actions of a few brave passengers who subdued the would-be terrorist, saved the lives of all those aboard the plane.

The reactions of President Obama and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano only serve to reinforce the notion that our government is failing miserably in its prime directive to provide for the safety and security of its citizens. Napolitano’s initial remarks were pure spin as she stated that everything worked “like clockwork” – after the passengers saved the day. The bomb did not explode and the terrorist was apprehended. “The traveling public is very, very safe.”

So you’re telling me Madame Secretary, that the system that harasses old women, forces us to remove our shoes, endure long lines, turn over our nail clippers, hair gel and babies' milk is designed to allow a reported terror threat, buying a one-way ticket with cash, arriving sans luggage but with explosives up his ass, to just prance on a plane and attempt to detonate a bomb because why???? You knew the detonator wouldn't work? You knew the passengers would do what you failed to do? How exactly is this working like clockwork?

Needless to say, the outcry over her ridiculous remarks resulted in a retraction and an admission that the system failed miserably. Still Napolitano will not consider profiling - we cannot offend the sensibilities of those who have vowed to murder us. This is the same Napolitano who earlier this year had absolutely no qualms about profiling Pro-Life supporters, anti-tax groups, Second Amendment advocates, military veterans and those who would speak against Obama-dictated agendas as being terrorist watch candidates.

President Obama, likewise, displayed no leadership characteristics in his initial response. Taking time out from his Hawaii golf vacation on Monday, he assured the public that they were safe, the “suspect is in custody and being charged.” As in the past, to the president’s delicate senses, this is a criminal act, not a jihadist war of terror being perpetrated on the American public. Now, as is his MO, two days later, realizing that his initial response was so much warm spit, he has taken a more aggressive approach, demanding answers, looking for scapegoats, and seeking to assign blame.

But wait, Mr. Obama, why have all the components in your system broken down? Homeland Security reacted poorly, the State Department downplayed direct warnings, and you seek to prosecute a criminal. Suppose, just for a minute, that things went differently? Suppose profiling was being used? Suppose Abdulmutalab was detained? Suppose he was singled out by security? Is it that hard to imagine, given your past failure to recognize this as a war, and your Attorney General’s preoccupation with the rights of terrorists over the safety of American citizens, that someone would have been called on the carpet, reprimanded, or arrested by your minions for such a serious breach of political correctness? I think not. You set the tone. You establish the parameters. You define the rules of engagement. As they say, sir, “A fish rots from the head down.” Unfortunately, the people are paying the price for your lack of effective leadership and your dyslexic understanding of history.

The sad part is, this near tragedy comes on the heels of the Fort Hood terrorist attack (yes, that’s what it was.) Tragically, the viper fangs of diversity and political correctness did not result in a near tragedy at Fort Hood, but in the absolutely unnecessary and totally preventable deaths of 13 brave men and women going about their lives in the one environment in which they should have felt completely secure.

Again, the evidence that Major Nidal Hasan was a radical jihadist, intent on killing Americans, was there for anyone to see. The FBI was aware of his past, the military brass noted and ignored it, and in the end lives were lost. I suggest that those in the chain of command who let Hasan advance, and who turned a blind eye to the clear and present danger that he represented to those under their command, were not just negligent in their duties, but were in fact criminally complicit in the murders. As I noted above, you set the tone, you establish the parameters, and you shoulder the blame.

As Ralph Peters states in his column today, the refusal of Obama, his cadre of lackeys, and the politically correct Left, to admit that we are in a global war against Islamist terrorists, will doom us to continue to suffer loss and devastation from an enemy with the clear goal of killing the infidels and destroying Western civilization. As Peters writes, “With our lies, self-deception and self-flagellation, we’re terror’s little helpers.”

Our government has a duty to proactively protect its citizens. Proactively – not reactively. Long lines at airports and screenings - watching the infirm and elderly being frisked and delayed to avoid the appearance of profiling - removing our shoes - surrendering pocket knives and liquids – being told when we can and can’t use the bathroom – being forced to sit with our hands on our laps – all reactive nonsense. What next, removing our underwear and submitting to routine cavity searches? Much of this could be avoided with a common sense approach devoid of the crippling effect of political correctness.

The American people are a patient people, slow to anger and forgiving. There comes a time, though, when the breaking point is breached, and when it is, the wrath of the people will be overwhelming and unquenchable. Given the abuse the citizens of this country are receiving from their own representatives in every aspect of their lives, their tolerance for a lack of security is that much thinner.

There will come a time, and it may be very soon, when the people react viscerally out of instinct. Like the animal backed into a corner, like the mother bear sensing danger to her cub, like Bernie Goetz fearing for his life, the people will react. If someone looks like a terrorist on a plane and acts oddly, someone will react. Call it vigilantism, or call it a basic instinct for survival, people will react. Will there be mistakes, innocents accused, threatened and dealt with? Surely. Then the dreaded specter of profiling will have seemed like a reasonable alternative – but it will be too late. And the same government that failed to protect its population will be faced with the prospect of arresting and prosecuting those whom it has failed.

They just don’t get it, do they?

Nico

OK, Let's All Exhale...

Yes, as hoped for, the great states of New Jersey and Virginia have become today's Lexington and Concord. The electorate has spoken and the message is clear, "We want our country back and damned be anyone who stands in our way." A tidal wave of conservative backlash in Virginia and the resolve and determination of the voters in New Jersey have demonstrated that the grassroots movement begun many months ago is for real, and it's here for the duration of this fight.

As this Election Day draws to a close a few things seem self evident. The president's coattails, previously so sought after and debonair, now appear to be worn and tattered. Multiple presidential visits to bolster a floundering incumbent Governor Jon Corzine, have proved to be nothing more than a millstone around his neck, drowning him in the voters’ discontent with the state of affairs in New Jersey and disdain for the policies emanating out of DC.

Virginians, fully cognizant of, and equally opposed to, the Obama administration's agenda, have proudly repainted their state red.

To those congressmen and senators who have been prodded, threatened and cajoled into supporting the administration's legislative assault on our way of life, it may now appear that their own political futures are in jeopardy. They may not be so willing to throw themselves on the sword for a president's agenda that is at odds with their constituents, only to face the voters’ wrath in 2010.

As Congress prepares to bring the Health Care Reform legislation to a vote, the crisp arrogance in the air may now be tempered with the first wisps of doubt. Blue Dogs, moderates and spineless Republicans may think twice before voting for this abomination. Radical liberals, orgasmic over the dream of passing this socialist legislation, just might have to hold off the vote knowing they don't have the numbers to ram it home.

OK, let's all exhale and get ready for the next fight. The first blows to this legislative fiasco were the protests, Tea Parties and Town Hall meetings that stopped a vote before Congress recessed. The votes cast today were an unforeseen uppercut to the jaw, and if we can follow through with the protests scheduled for later this week, we just might put the brute down for the count.

We all know this is a long war and we have just won a decisive battle. It would be wise to keep our opponent on the ropes, or better yet, down on the mat. That can only be accomplished if we keep the pressure on, stay on the offensive, and start picking off the enemy one by one. We were all asleep at the wheel for way too long, but now that we're awake, let's give 'em hell and take back what is rightfully ours.

Nico

Address to Morristown Tea Party - October 31, 2009

Parts of the following post are taken from previous essays.

Morristown Tea Party – October 31, 2009

It wasn’t so very long ago that I would have laughed at the notion that I would wind up here at this podium, on this Historic Green, speaking to so many fellow patriots on this final weekend before election day.

I am not a politician looking to sway your opinion or garner your support. I am not a celebrity, a talk show host nor a political pundit. I have never spoken at a political rally in my life. I am, just like most of you, that regular guy who gets up every morning to go to work, who pays his taxes, who enjoys sports, a glass of wine and a good cigar, and who derives most of life’s pleasures in the company of family and friends.

I’m nobody special, and yet, being a citizen of this great nation, I am blessed beyond the wildest dreams of so many others - and like all of you here, I also understand that with those blessings comes an obligation to be informed as to what is happening in our country, and to remain vigilant against any foe, both foreign and domestic, who would infringe upon our sacred liberties.

Last year, as election day approached, I was very apprehensive about how the American electorate would react to the empty promises of Hope & Change. Once the results were in, I feared for the direction the new administration would take the country, but in my most terrible nightmares I could not envision the breadth and depth of change and the speed at which my beloved America would be transformed. Think about it….

One day we stand as a free market, entrepreneurial prosperity machine. Businesses rise, prosper, and expand. Occasionally poor decisions cause failures, businesses collapse, and some new idea, some new phoenix, rises from the ashes with a better plan, a more efficient model, and the internal fortitude to take a gamble, to risk it all, for the endless opportunities that are there for the taking.

One day we elect statesmen who take moral stands, who make us proud, who are honored to serve their nation, yet humbled by their awesome responsibilities. We stare down oppression on the global stage, defeat our enemies while sacrificing our sacred treasure, and then rebuild the ravages left behind out of our boundless prosperity.

One day we are a nation of self reliant individuals, making our own way, content that the sweat of our brow brings sustenance to our families, and allows us to provide some relief for the unfortunate through that charitable virtue that is part of America.

But One day we awaken and realize that the America we knew and loved has been turned asunder, raped and pillaged, not by an external enemy, but from within, by those we have entrusted with the stewardship of our republic.

The beefy paw of government now intrudes throughout our society, promising precise, surgical corrections of our economy, our social structure, our core being as Americans, while in reality wielding a mighty club, and striking out with abandon.

No longer are market forces allowed to make corrections, nor risk takers to find reward or failure. In lieu of statesmen, we find headlines reeking with news of corruption, scandal and infidelity. Sham legislation awards benefactors, hacks, and special interest groups, in a shameless redistribution of wealth, taken from the producers and doers via an endless mill of taxation.

Now we find our elected leaders apologizing for America’s deeds and actions, coddling our enemies, and inviting those who would do us harm to probe what they perceive as the soft underbelly of a once mighty beast. Only the presence of the brave men and women of our armed forces keep us safe, but even that great deterrent is subject to the misguided leadership of its commander.

The strong, silent individual, emblematic of America, has been pushed aside by groups demanding entitlements, professing grievances, and fighting for a place to be suckled under an all-encompassing, ever-expanding federal bureaucracy.

Jefferson wrote “That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its power in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.” I suggest that we are now faced with the reality of those words, and must use the means available to us through our laws and through our vote to correct the damage that is being done to our country.

Now let me ask you a question,
Have you ever wondered, What is the Color of Liberty?

The June 12th election in Iran was supposed to be a well orchestrated show of the peaceful re-election of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, put on for the benefit of a skeptical global audience. All was in order, the outcome predetermined by Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, when something went terribly awry.

Supporters of opposition candidate, Mir Hossein Mousavi, in a bold move against an oppressive government regime, staged a massive, deliberate protest, claiming that the election was rigged. Donning green tee-shirts, green arm bands and green paint, the protesters took to the streets, cognizant of the fact that they were now targets of the police and the dreaded Basij. A green wave of protesters, families, throngs of young Iranians and women in black chadors risked their lives to throw off the yoke of tyrannical government and reach for the gold ring of liberty.

The protests were crushed by the government enforcers, but months later demonstrations continue, and having now tasted a bit of free speech and self-determination, a young, restless population, tired of Sharia Law, may be sowing the seeds of revolution once again in Iran.

Flashback – January 2005, Iraq. Despite the media criticism of that unpopular war, despite the nay-saying of Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, and The New York Times, despite the infighting, border disputes, and tribal feuds of its peoples, the desire for liberty brought out the Iraqi people in droves to vote on their collective future.

Sporting blue fingers, Iraqi voters demonstrated on the global stage their hope for a better future - a future rid of a tyrannical dictator, rid of mass executions, rid of rape and torture rooms. Men and women, aware of the threats of violence, vengeance and death, bravely waited on voting lines and triumphantly raised their blue hands in defiance of those who would condemn them to a hijacked, perverted interpretation of Islamic law.

But what of America? What of the nation that spent its sacred treasure to bring the blue fingers of liberty to Iraq, to inspire the green hands of protest in Iran? What color did liberty take in today’s America?

November 4, 2008, almost a year ago to the day – Over 129,000,000 million Americans would cast their vote for president. One party would put forth an eloquent, young, charismatic candidate, savvy of the day’s communication technology, aware of a youthful, energized voting block, and promising handouts, equality of results rather than opportunity, and an all caring, omnipresent government that would tend to every need, reward the underachiever and punish the wealthy. The opposition presented an aging, honorable war hero - a good man who was not quite up to the fight, who marginalized his conservative base in an effort to appeal to his opposition - A man who abandoned his supporters, who had rallied behind him, ready and willing to fight, waiting only for the battle cry that never came.

The results are history. The majority of the electorate cast their votes for handouts and entitlements. They painted their hands white as they surrendered a piece of liberty here and a freedom there, in exchange for a government to which they would become beholden. Some painted their hands yellow, afraid to speak out against a charlatan candidate for fear of incurring the wrath of the politically correct media, while still others did nothing, failing in their civic duty.

These are not the colors of liberty in America. It was the red blood of Americans that wrenched liberty from the British Empire, and it was that same crimson blood of Americans that would later rescue liberty from the clutches of tyranny and totalitarianism across the globe. The colonists voted with red hands in Boston Harbor in 1773 and again at Lexington and Concord in 1775. The Founding Fathers knew they were voting with red hands when they put those hands to paper in 1776, culminating with John Hancock’s declarative flourish. The red hands of Americans were raised in Bellau Wood, Iwo Jima, Normandy, Korea, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Throughout history America has voted for liberty, both at home and abroad, with the blood of its sons and daughters.

So what now? In a country of law and order we vote not with arms, but with the power of the word. We do not shed blood, but neither do we meekly stand by and surrender our Republic and our liberty without a fight. Our weapons are our pens, our phones and the awesome power of the internet. The enemy is anyone who would seek to diminish our freedom, confiscate our treasure and intrude on our lives via a burdensome, meddling government that has forsaken the values, traditions, and the constitution, of our country. We have a civic duty to vote – to vote with the red hand of America.

If we do nothing, we cannot complain when our taxes are raised to pay for undisciplined spending and bailouts. We cannot complain when private enterprise is replaced with more government bureaucracies. We cannot complain when our inheritance to our children is confiscatory taxes, a crippling national debt, diminished global influence and vulnerability to the forces of terrorism. We cannot complain when we are forced to wait months for routine medical treatment or when we must watch our parents, grandparents and other beloved family and friends denied treatment because they have reached an age when their “useful viability to society” has been deemed to have run its course - instead seeing them forced to undergo “counseling” by a cost-conscious government employee, who will advise them to consider their “end of life options.”

Now you must be wondering, why I am I up here preaching to the choir? Haven’t we all risen to the occasion? Aren’t we the ones who have been energized into action?

Here we are in the waning days of October, basking in the glow of our efforts to counteract the aggressive assault on our country, on our way of life, and on our Constitution, by an arrogant, condescending president, supported by a radical congress, intent on foisting its socialist agenda on America. Aren’t we proud? Haven’t we finally awakened from our malaise to speak our mind, to shine the light of truth on the bastardization of the founding principles of our nation by those to whom we have entrusted their care?

We have risen up at Tea Parties across the fruited plains, culminating with a massive demonstration of our resolve on September 12 on the very lawn of the Capitol, taking over Washington in the greatest display of conservative emotion ever witnessed in D.C.

We have come out in droves to Town Hall meetings, forcing our elected officials to hear our discontent and shouting down the normal barrage of talking points and outright lies that have been spoon fed to the electorate for decades. We have stopped the initial attempt of the administration to ram through health care legislation before Labor Day that this country neither wants, needs, nor can afford. We have fought the good fight so why shouldn’t we be proud?

Well, wake up America, We Ain’t Done Nothin’ yet! The real moment of truth is yet to come. The long awaited harbinger of things to come is right around the corner. That so called Bellwether event is just three days away.

Up to now, our representatives have been listening, have been watching, and have been measuring our resolve, because in the world of politics the only thing that matters is the vote, and up to now, no one has been thrown out of office, no one has suffered the wrath of the electorate. Congress has moved boldly along, picking up the health care issue and moving steadily forwards. Pelosi is intent on a “public option” and the Left is in her corner. Obama, whose approval rating is starting to once again improve, has continued to show a deaf ear to the voice of the people in almost every regard, from bankrupting domestic policies to malfeasance in foreign affairs. The likes of Charlie Rangel laugh in the face of blatant allegations of abuse and the Czars run rings around constitutional authority.

In three days the good people of New Jersey and Virginia will decide whether or not this raping of America continues unabated, or whether some moderate voices, concerned about their own political future, begin to reign in this mad dash towards Socialism. In three days the Gubernatorial elections in the Garden State and the Old Dominion State will ascertain whether or not the electorate is willing to carry through with its threat, or whether we’re all talk and no action. Rest assured, Congressmen, Senators, Governors, and elected officials right down the line will be paying rapt attention to the outcome of these two elections.

Your vote is a precious gift, and when you enter the voting booth, it should be just you and your conscience. I will not be so bold as to suggest who you should or should not cast your vote for. It is up to you to research the candidates – both their positions and their character – and come to the conclusion of who best will represent your ideas and values. You’ll know the right choice – you’ll feel it in your gut.

It should be obvious that I personally believe the current trends of the new administration have perpetrated more malicious damage to our country in such a brief period of time that the only way to reverse this trend will be the election of candidates who will support the virtues of personal responsibility, individual liberty, limited government and free markets.

A sweep of both elections by candidates who espouse these principles would send a strong message that the silent majority has awakened and has brought its discontent to the ballot box. A sweep by those who march in lockstep with the administration would only embolden the liberal congress, and would in fact emasculate the conservative opposition as nothing but a passing fad, all bark and no bite. A split would be claimed as a victory by both sides and accomplish little.

So what can you do now to bring all our recent efforts to fruition? Here in New Jersey you must get out and vote, and you must energize as many other patriots who want to preserve our way of life, our culture, our tradition, our very liberty, to vote also.

When you leave here today you must send this message to your email list, to your Facebook or Twitter list, to everyone you know and ask them in turn to forward it to their lists with the intent of alerting as many of the voting public in New Jersey and Virginia that the time to act is now. The great states of New Jersey and Virginia can be today’s Lexington and Concord.

The battle to retake America was begun months ago with the first grassroots uprising of those ordinary Americans who love this country. These upcoming elections are the first decisive battles in a long war to which we are all committed. Your efforts as you go forth today will go a long way in completing the first goal we all set out to accomplish many months ago.

My fellow patriots! The first finish line is in sight. March on with passion and resolve, and keep your eye on the prize, for it is no less than our sacred liberty and the America we all love so deeply.

Thank you. God Bless You – and God Bless America.
**************************************

We Ain't Done Nothin' Yet

We’ve all seen it before. The desperate mother trying to control her unruly child in a store. The child screaming for that special toy, that piece of candy, that worthless “thing” that the marketing gurus have managed to make indispensible to the malleable young mind. The mother, embarrassed, beside herself, trying everything to make the screaming stop. Begging, bribing, threatening, all to no avail. If nothing else, the child has learned that all the threats in the world matter for naught if in the end the parent does not follow through with actions. In the end, the empty threats fall on deaf ears, the screaming persists, and the parent, unwilling to enforce the promised sanctions, retreats, reinforcing the learned behavior once again, and condemning herself to the same indignities in the future.

So here we are in October, basking in the glow of our efforts to counteract the aggressive assault on our country, on our way of life, and on our Constitution, by an arrogant, condescending president, supported by a radical congress, intent on foisting its socialist agenda on America. Aren’t we proud? Haven’t we finally awakened from our malaise to speak our mind, to shine the light of truth on the bastardization of the founding principles of our nation by those to whom we have entrusted their care?

We have risen up at Tea Parties across the fruited plains, culminating with a massive demonstration of our resolve on September 12 on the very lawn of the Capitol, taking over Washington in the greatest display of conservative emotion ever witnessed in D.C. We have taken over Town Hall meetings, forcing our elected officials to hear our discontent and shouting down the normal barrage of talking points and outright lies that have been spoon fed to the electorate for decades. We have forced the administration to back off and regroup in their efforts to ram through health care legislation that this country neither wants, needs, nor can afford. We have fought the fight and we should be proud.

Well, wake up America, we ain’t done nothin’ yet! The real moment of truth is yet to come. The long awaited harbinger of things to come is right around the corner. The so called Bellwether event is just a few short weeks away.

Up to now, our representatives (forgive the folly of that description) have been listening, have been watching, and have been measuring our resolve, because in the world of politics the only thing that matters is the vote, and up to now, no one has been thrown out of office, no one has suffered the wrath of the electorate. Congress has moved boldly along, picking up the health care issue and moving steadily towards a vote. Pelosi is intent on a “public option” (read government monopoly) and the Left is in her corner. Obama, whose approval rating is starting to once again improve, has continued to show a deaf ear to the people in almost every regard, from bankrupting domestic policies to malfeasance in foreign affairs. The likes of Charlie Rangel laugh in the face of blatant allegations of abuse and the Czars run rings around constitutional authority.

In three and a half weeks New Jersey and Virginia will decide whether or not this raping of America continues unabated, or whether some moderate voices, concerned about their own political future, begin to reign in this made dash to Marxism. In three and half weeks the Gubernatorial elections in the Garden State and the Old Dominion State will ascertain whether or not the electorate is willing to carry through with its threat, or whether we’re all talk and no action. Rest assured, Congressmen, Senators, Governors, and elected officials right down the line will be paying rapt attention to the outcome of these two elections.

In Virginia, Republican Robert McDonnell continues to hold a lead over Democrat R. Creigh Deeds, and has been solidifying that hold over the last week. New Jersey is another story altogether. Republican Chris Christie has watched his lead over Democrat John Corzine erode from double to single digits over the past weeks. In addition, Independent candidate Chris Daggett could be siphoning critical votes from Christie, who, in the mold of modern day New Jersey Republicans, is a lukewarm alternative to the democrats at best, and who clearly does not inspire the passion normally needed to unseat an incumbent.

A Republican sweep of both elections would send a strong message that the silent majority has awakened and has brought its discontent to the ballot box. A Democratic sweep would only embolden the liberal congress, and would in fact emasculate the conservative opposition as nothing but a passing fad, all bark and no bite. A split would do…..

So what can you do now to bring all our recent efforts to fruition? If you live in New Jersey or Virginia, you must get out and vote, and you must energize as many other patriots who want to preserve our way of life, our culture, our tradition, our very liberty, to vote also.

If you do not live in either of these states, you too can help. Send this message to your email list, to your Facebook or Twitter list, to everyone you know and ask them in turn to forward it to their lists with the intent of alerting as many of the voting public in New Jersey and Virginia that the time to act is now. The great states of New Jersey and Virginia can be today’s Lexington and Concord.

A personal message, along with this essay, will go a long way in completing the task we all set out to accomplish many months ago. The finish line is in sight. Press on, summon that extra ounce of energy and keep your eye on the prize, for it is no less than the America we all love so deeply.

Nico

Unraveling a Sacred Trust

The role of government is first and foremost to provide for the safety and security of the people. It is only when the state lives up to its primary directive, this sacred trust to establish a security blanket for the population, that the citizens of the country can fully pursue their God given rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

In the fragile security of the Cold War Era, the struggle for global hegemony between the Eagle and the Bear, only the doctrines of détente and mutually assured destruction allowed some measure of peaceful existence, while the specter of Soviet military might, under control of an ideology bent on breaking America, loomed at the periphery of our daily lives, like menacing clouds encroaching on a bright summer sky. It would take a unique set of circumstances to provide the fabric that America, and much of the world, could use to weave the wrap of security that would allow for hopes of a brighter future.

It can be said that the loom began to spin on August 26, 1978 when the first wisps of white smoke appeared above the Vatican, announcing the election of a new pope, as Albino Luciani ascended Peter’s throne as John Paul I. In Britain, economic hard times grew and the Labour Party bore the brunt of blame during the 1978-1979 Winter of Discontent, while miles away in the Middle East, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini made a triumphant return to Iran.

Luciani’s death, a short 33 days after his election, allowed the College of Cardinals to make the timely selection of the young, charismatic Pole, Karol Wojtyla, who would embark on an historic papacy as John Paul II. It was this globetrotting man of conviction, who, upon returning to his beloved Poland in June 1979, inspired his native countrymen, who would then form the Solidarity movement that would eventually throw off the yoke of Soviet tyranny and serve as a precursor of the demise of the USSR.

Under the anti-American influence of Khomeini, Islamist students stormed the American embassy in Tehran on November 4, 1979, and captured 52 embassy workers, holding them hostage for 444 days. While the world watched, President Carter appeared helpless, and mired with domestic economic problems on top of the international embarrassment of the Iranian Hostage Crisis, retreated to the solitude of the Oval Office as America’s prestige plummeted.

In the midst of this Carter era malaise, emerged Ronald Reagan with his upbeat message of a better America. Espousing conservative ideology, military might, capitalism and opportunity, Reagan’s words and convictions resonated with the American electorate, who swept him into power and rode his coattails to greater prosperity. With the conservative, strong willed Margaret Thatcher already ensconced as Prime Minister of Great Britain since May 1979, the triumvirate was now in place, the threads ready to weave.

Over the course of the 1980s Reagan engaged the Soviets in a battle of ideologies, using American enterprise and prosperity to ratchet up military spending at a rate that the cumbersome Soviet economy could not maintain without inflicting harsh economic sanctions on its already impoverished population. Under Thatcher’s steady hand, Britain held fast as America’s wingman, and John Paul continued to spread his message far and wide. In time, the unwavering moral convictions of three leaders, guiding their respective charges without apology and without flinching at obstructions, literally bankrupted their adversary without firing a shot. As the last days of 1991 faded into the past, so too the USSR finally breathed its last breath and the security blanket was complete.

As with all things we hold precious, our security requires constant vigilance and regular repair. The Soviet threat had been abated, however a new evil had festered in Khomeini’s Iran, and Islamist Fundamentalism began to tug at the threads of American security, testing the resolve of the Clinton administration while the president was entangled in domestic issues and distracted by personal indiscretions.

On February 26, 1993 the first World Trade Center bombing shocked the nation, but was treated as a crime, not as a terrorist attack. The Battle of Mogadishu on October 3-4, 1993 in Somalia served as a watershed event for terrorists. Osama bin Laden later commented that it was there in Somalia that he realized that America did not have the intestinal fortitude to shed its blood.

The Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia were bombed on June 25, 1996, followed by the coordinated bombings of the U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania on August 7, 1998, all perpetrated with impunity. With the brazen attack on the U.S.S. Cole on October 12, 2000 the blanket had already started to unravel and bin Laden felt confident that America had become a paper tiger.

The fabric was finally torn asunder on September 11, 2001, when the horror of terrorism arrived on our shores. The years of neglect, the lack of credible response, the politically correct downplaying of military might had finally come home to roost. American lives were forever changed and security became a nebulous notion, sometimes apparent, often no more than a hope, an apparition that we prayed would materialize into a reality while we wandered through a rainbow of terror alerts.

Fortunately the ship of state now had a worthy captain at the helm who guided the country through the storm. George W. Bush understood his sacred duty, his prime directive, to safeguard the citizens of the nation. America’s response was quick and measured. The war was brought back to the enemy and away from our shores. Demonized by the Left, ridicules in the press, Bush nevertheless stayed the course, conducting an increasingly unpopular action, which nonetheless kept the scourge of terrorism off our soil for 8 years, allowing the blanket of security to mend and the prosperity of the nation to rebound.

Now we find ourselves with a new leader, a man who seems uncomfortable with the idea of American greatness. In Barack Obama’s world, military strength is old world and boorish. Those who have vowed to destroy our way of life are just misguided, blinded by America’s arrogance, and surely susceptible to his charm and rhetoric. He has bent over backwards to coddle our enemies while chastising our allies. He speaks of Israeli occupation and Palestinian hardships. Dictators are embraced and those brave Americans who interrogated those who would kill us are prosecuted as criminals. Our armed forces are demoralized and our intelligence agencies are compromised. Rules of engagement in Afghanistan have put the lives of our forces in danger as we try to fight a politically correct war with directives from bureaucrats in Washington. Military leaders are being censored and politics trumps success, even at the cost of American lives.

We now find out that the administration has been aware for months of a new uranium enrichment facility in the Iranian city of Qom, but has chosen not to alert the American people of this continuing threat from Iran, while at the same time moving forward with plans to hold negotiations with Iranian President Ahmadinejad. Concurrently, we discover that an al-Qaeda cell has been operating in America, and was planning a follow-up terrorist attack on the anniversary of 9-11, but was stopped through the efforts of the FBI, Homeland Security and local law enforcement. While the attack was thwarted, members of the conspiracy remain at large, and the specter of another terrorist incident overshadows any sense of security that may have existed prior. The president has thus far not spoken of these events, but would anyone be so surprised if his initial announcement would be the investigation of the techniques used by the authorities to uncover this plot?

In the latest show of incompetence, Obama has appeared as if by divine providence at the United Nations. Speaking to that vile assembly of anti-Semitic, anti-American, corrupt despots and human rights abusers, he again apologized for all that is America. He embraces the fantasy of nuclear disarmament and has abandoned the doctrine of diplomacy through strength. As Obama continues his apologist agenda on the world stage, our enemies no longer fear the Eagle’s talons, but take aim at the soft underbelly of the beast.

Where does that leave our nation today? Our security blanket is tattered, unraveled not from any foreign entity, but rather from those entrusted with its protection. North Korea and Iran look with scorn on the weakness being portrayed by America’s president. Venezuela’s President Chavez rattles sabers with impunity as he spreads his poison throughout Latin America and Libyan Leader Khadaffi has emerged from his years of silence as a new man, railing against the west. A re-emergent Russia, under Vladimir Putin, is calmly taking the measure of the American President, winning concessions, and gaining ground with the chess moves of a Russian genius against an overmatched opponent, while lurking in the shadows, the Islamist threat must surely be weighing its options, biding its time, as its sworn enemy emasculates himself with a shameful lack of historic understanding.

Preoccupied with his legacy, continuing to campaign rather than govern, spending more time in green rooms doing show prep than reading the monumental legislation he wants rushed through Congress, and intent on passing a health care reform bill that the nation neither wants nor can afford, it can be said that Barack Obama’s malfeasance regarding America’s security is akin to Nero fiddling while Rome burned, but in reality the messiah President, by undermining the nation’s economic stability and attempting to dismantle the free market machine that produces the prosperity that America will need to combat a threat to its security, is not just fiddling, but is in fact throwing gasoline on the fire as he abandons his prime directive, his sacred trust to provide for the security of the nation.

Nico

...not a cloud to be seen

It was the penultimate perfect day. Crystal clear blue sky, not a cloud to be seen, the air crisp and clean. New Yorkers of every stripe, in their own inimitable way, hurried about their business, rushing off to school or work, to a morning run or a latte at Starbucks. Down the subway, chasing a bus, stuck in morning rush hour traffic, or scurrying across the crowded streets they came, converging on downtown Manhattan like bees to the hive. For some, the day held an important meeting, for others only the mundane daily grind. They came, thinking ahead to their evening plans – a trip to the gym, pasta or chicken for supper, a romantic evening with that someone special – never knowing that those plans would never materialize.

They also came that morning – filled with hate for Americans and their freedom, their pursuit of prosperity, their individualism and their attitude, nowhere else better portrayed than in New York. Their mission was simple – to kill those who cherish liberty and to destroy the dream that is America.

Remember the first newscast – a plane had crashed into the Trade Center. Surely an accident, it quickly became the focus of the morning news.

Remember watching the broadcast, the speculation, the queasy feeling of seeing the first tower on fire. As the broadcast continued a second plane appears in the background – why was it flying so low, so close to the skyscrapers rising from the bedrock below?

Remember the shock as the second tower was hit. Flames bursting out from all sides – the realization that this was no accident – the understanding that the unthinkable was happening before our very eyes, broadcast for all the world to see.

Remember thinking that this was the worst day of our lives, and soon realizing that it had merely just begun. A fire at the Pentagon? – no another plane on a perverted act of religious vengeance. Then a fourth down in Pennsylvania. Back to the smoking inferno in New York, we watched horrified as office workers, fleeing from the flames, stepped out onto a window ledge one hundred floors above, held hands, and jumped to their deaths, while far below firefighters and police ran into the fire and up the stairs in a valiant effort to rescue their fellow Americans.

Remember the utter despair as the first tower collapsed in on itself, the plume of smoke and debris filling lower Manhattan, only to be followed by the collapse of the second tower, completing the devastation of the financial district and crushing the spirit of America.

Remember the immediate aftermath – air traffic halted, the market tumbled, the fear of subsequent attacks hung in the air, and the economic stability of the country hung in the balance.

But this was America. Unwilling to surrender to fear, defiant and proud, led by the sheer bravado that is New York, the country began to rebound. They came from all across the great expanse of our land, professionals and volunteers, men and women, the rich and the poor, every race, creed and color, united by the common bond that is America. Flags were raised and the ruins were cleared. Offices and schools opened. The wheels of commerce once again began to turn. In Queens a special part of American culture and tradition brought the Atlanta Braves and the New York Mets, bitter enemies, together on a ball field where rivalries were momentarily forgotten and players embraced. Emotions flowed openly, starting with the opening pitch, continuing through Liza Minnelli’s passionate rendition of “New York, New York” in the seventh inning, and culminating in a storybook ending as Mike Piazza, the darling of the New York fans, won the game with a dramatic home run. At that moment it was clear that the Islamic terrorists had failed, and that America would rise up and reclaim its place at the top of the hill.

Remember the resolve as we mourned and buried our dead, united in prayer and purpose, and planned vengeance on those who would destroy us. There was a very special feeling coursing through the veins of the country then. All differences were set aside and political bickering was given a backseat as congress united, not as democrats and republicans, but as Americans.

Just as time heals all wounds, time also dampens our resolve. Vigilance gives way to complacency. Cooperation to partisanship. Volunteerism to entitlement. Leadership roles change, new agendas come into vogue, and the course of our country is altered. Where once we projected military might, we now drop our defenses and apologize for being the great country that we are. We coddle those who wish us harm and prosecute those who rose to the challenge and defense of the country in the face of pure evil. Traditions are jettisoned for a vague notion of change, and our sacred liberties are threatened by a soft tyranny that would transform the face of the nation we hold dear.

As we commemorate the events of 9-11, let us first mourn our dead, both the innocent victims and the heroic first responders who embodied all that is right with America. Let us remember the emotions and passions that wrenched us all on that faithful day – shock, fear, sorrow, despair – followed by rage, vengeance and resolve. Finally, let us also remain vigilant to all forces that would seek to destroy our nation, both via malicious intent or by misguided actions, both foreign and domestic, for we alone are the last defense of our liberties.

Nico

......and Pigs Can Fly

Many battles begin in a blatant demonstration of firepower and overwhelming force - witness the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Germany’s Blitzkrieg in Europe and America’s Shock and Awe mission in Iraq. Other times it is an isolated skirmish, an acceleration of hostilities or irresponsible rhetoric that can set the wheels of war in motion.

This past week the opening salvos of the Obama administration’s next battle against the America we know and love may have been launched via two stealth actions intended to stay below the radar of the American public.

Under the pretense of inspiring America’s schoolchildren, President Obama intends to preempt normal educational activities and address our children in their classrooms via TV and computer. A seemingly innocuous event at face value until put in complete perspective. The U.S. Department of Education, under guidance from the White House, has prepared a curriculum for use by teachers in conjunction with the address. The recommended activities for the schoolchildren include writing a paper on how to “help the president,” discuss what “the president wants us to do,” and “write letters to themselves about what they can do to help the president.” It alarms me that no where is there mention about “what can be done for America,” only this continual obsession with the cult of personality that surrounds this narcissistic charlatan who has the American Left mesmerized by his every word and action.

To use our children and grandchildren as a captive audience, and to give the NEA, one of Obama’s staunchest allies, carte blanche to practice subversive indoctrination of their precious charges, reeks of the politicization of the public educational system and comes dangerously close to the nascent stages of the fascist youth movements of the mid 20th century. Fortunately, the American public has become aware of the president’s upcoming address and the White House is rethinking its next move. Notwithstanding any positive revisions to their original plan, the very thought that the administration devised such a strategy should send chills down the spine of every American.

The second covert move came in the form of a not highly publicized comment by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, advising the public that they should expect “a big influx” of swine flu in the coming fall season. On July 24, 2009, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius renewed a previous determination that “a public health emergency exists nationwide involving Swine Influenza A that affects or has significant potential to affect national security.” Napolitano’s comment, following the determination of Sebelius, puts swine flu squarely in the crosshairs of Homeland Security and allows it to be elevated to crisis status at Napolitano’s discretion.

Recall for a moment the comments of Napolitano regarding her take on terrorism. While deleting the politically incorrect phrase “war on terror” from the vernacular of Homeland Security, Napolitano felt compelled to include groups or individuals opposed to abortion or immigration, gun owners and veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars as potential risks to America. Given this ideological mindset, in complete lockstep with the president, is it so far fetched to imagine Napolitano politicizing the swine flu issue in order to advance the administration’s agenda regarding Health Care Reform? Once it becomes a crisis, we can expect the Rahm Emanual doctrine “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste” to trigger actions dedicated to formalizing government takeover of Health Care, either via legislation or executive orders, under the mantra of Homeland Security. Remember that it was a so-called crisis that compelled the government to legislate bailouts, industry takeovers and stimulus fiascos.

We have all seen the hysteria that can be generated around the predictions of an epidemic. The mainstream media, content to serve as the administration’s propaganda machine, would delight in 24 – 7 coverage of a supposed health emergency – think SARS and Bird Flu, previous imminent Armageddon predictions that failed to materialize.

As the fall approaches there will no doubt be an increase in the number of cases of swine flu throughout the country. The American people should take prudent precautions to safeguard their health, and the government should procure sufficient vaccine for the protection of the public. The government should not politicize the disease, panic the populace, and usurp powers that are not within its constitutionally mandated jurisdiction. The American people should remain alert, informed and skeptical of unwarranted reports of widespread dangers to national security, safeguarding their sacred liberties as deliberately as they do their health.

Then, again, in contrast to what we have witnessed in the first months of the Obama administration, maybe our elected officials are only acting in the best interests of the American people with no regard for their own power…..and then, again, maybe pigs can fly.

Nico

Thank you, Congress....

Time is running out. Your voice still matters.

Before your Congressman & Senators return to Washington, take the time to send them an email, make a call, and fax a letter to their offices. If you are paying attention, you should know that the grassroots protest to the actions of our government is being heard, and surely being weighed.

Do it now. It’s your right. It’s your civic duty. It’s your country.

Here’s a sample letter that I’ll be sending. Feel free to copy, cut and paste, or revise. Be sure to include your name and address. They listen to constituents.

Nico

Dear Congressman / Senator,

Let me begin by expressing my appreciation to the 111th Congress for its contribution to the political awakening of the American public. In a few short months, the actions of Congress have more than compensated for the years of failure by our educational system to teach the fundamentals of American civics.

Thank you, Congress, for allowing an overreaching administration, led by an arrogant president, to attempt an overthrow of our free market economy, so blatant, that even the most uninterested citizen has had to stop and take notice.

Thank you, Congress, for abandoning the strategy of incrementalism, that has been so effective for so many years in eroding our freedom, confiscating our wealth, and changing the fabric of our country, while we were all too busy supporting our families to take notice. Thank you for replacing it with massive, radical legislation so antithetical to American values and tradition, that you have shaken the American public from its collective malaise.

Thank you, Congress, for spending so much, so quickly, for mortgaging our future so boldly, that even the most jaundiced citizen can see that the rising debt service is unsustainable without inevitable, crushing tax increases.

Thank you, Congress, for attempting to decimate and nationalize our health industry, ration our health care, and bring increased bureaucratic intrusion into our lives via stealth legislation that has caused the electorate to demand answers, to which there appear to be no satisfactory replies.

Thank you, Congress, for responding to the voice of the American people, the free speech that is the very cornerstone of the foundation of this country, with insolence and condescending insults. Like smelling salts under the nose of a knocked out boxer, your actions have finally awakened the public.

For many years, I have lamented the disinterest the vast majority of Americans have shown to being actively involved in their government. For too long, too many people have assumed that they really had no say, that their votes didn’t really matter. Now, thanks to the actions of our elected representatives, all that has changed. It seems that every place I go, every group I meet, the conversation is politics. People of all walks of life, all social and economic classes, friends, family, co-workers, and casual acquaintances, are talking about stopping health care reform, the inevitable costs associated with Cap and Trade, unwarranted bailouts, unfathomable stimulus spending and government intrusion into their lives.

There is a grassroots protest throughout America. The Tea Parties are real. The passion and concern at Town Hall Meetings are authentic. You may chose to think otherwise, but rest assured, the political future of America’s elected officials is in the balance. The same outrage that is being displayed today, the same organizations that have formed to give the electorate a venue to express their concerns, the same need to take back control of our beloved country, and the same newly found power of internet communication and networking, will all be channeled towards the ballot boxes in a very short time.

Before you return to do The People’s business, here are the feelings of one of your constituents who is now actively engaged:

Vote No on any Health Care Reform measures that in any way include government intervention, oversight, or control over costs, rationing of benefits, etc.

Put a stop to the Cap & Trade sham that can only harm the American people

Cut the stimulus spending and bailouts, get the government out of American industry, and let free market capitalism and market forces prevail. It works – just get out of the way.

And those new jets Congress tried to slip past public scrutiny– it wouldn’t be such a big deal if only you hadn’t put the country in such dire financial straits already.

Very truly yours,

Nico

Blue, Green and.....What Color is Liberty?

The green ripples continue.

This past week, Iranian police continued the violent crackdown on dissidents who protested the recent presidential elections as they gathered at the gravesite of Neda Agha Soltan, the now-famous young woman who was shot to death at a June 20 election protest.

The June 12th election was supposed to be a well orchestrated show of the peaceful re-election of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, put on for the benefit of a skeptical global audience. All was in order, the outcome predetermined by Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, when something went terribly awry.

Supporters of opposition candidate, Mir Hossein Mousavi, in a bold move against an oppressive government regime, staged a massive, deliberate protest, claiming that the election was rigged. Donning green tee-shirts, green arm bands and green paint, the protesters took to the streets, cognizant of the fact that they were now targets of the police and the dreaded Basij, the Islamic culture enforcers of the theocratic leaders. A green wave of protesters, families, throngs of young Iranians and women in black chadors risked their lives to throw off the yoke of tyrannical government and reach for the gold ring of liberty.

In the end, with a brute show of force, the government quelled the initial riot, but at a high price. Despite a clampdown on journalists, the protesters utilized cell phone cameras, Twitter and the powers of the internet to expose, for all the world to see, the true response of an oppressive theocracy to the dissenting voice of its populace. Weeks later demonstrations continue, and having now tasted a bit of freedom of speech and self-determination, a young, restless population, tired of Sharia Law, may be sowing the seeds of revolution once again in Iran.

Flashback – January 2005, Iraq. Despite the media criticism of that unpopular war, despite the nay-saying of Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, and The New York Times, despite the infighting, border disputes, and tribal feuds of its peoples, the desire for liberty brought out the Iraqi people in droves to vote on their collective future.

Sporting the blue fingers of voters, Iraqis demonstrated on the global stage their hope for a better future - a future rid of a tyrannical dictator, rid of mass executions, rid of rape and torture rooms. Men and women, aware of the threats of violence, vengeance and death, bravely waited on voting lines and triumphantly raised their blue hands in defiance of those who would condemn them to a hijacked, perverted interpretation of Islamic law.

But what of America? What of the nation that spent its sacred treasure to bring the blue fingers of liberty to Iraq, to inspire the green hands of protest in Iran? What color did liberty take in today’s America?

November 4, 2008 – Over 129,000,000 million Americans would cast their vote for president. One party would put forth an eloquent, young, charismatic candidate, savvy of the day’s communication technology, aware of a youthful, energized voting block, and promising handouts, equality of results rather than opportunity, and an all caring, omnipresent government that would tend to every need, reward the underachiever and punish the wealthy. The opposition presented an aging, honorable war hero - a good man who was not quite up to the fight, who marginalized his base supporters in an effort to appeal to his opposition. A man who abandoned his supporters, who had rallied behind him, ready and willing to fight, waiting only for the battle cry that never came.

The results are history. The majority of the electorate cast their votes for handouts and entitlements. They painted their hands white as they surrendered a piece of liberty here and a freedom there, in exchange for a government to which they would become beholden. Some painted their hands yellow, afraid to speak out against a charlatan candidate for fear of incurring the wrath of the politically correct media, while still others did nothing, failing in their civic duty.

These are not the colors of liberty in America. It was the red blood of Americans that wrenched liberty from the British Empire, and it was that same crimson blood of Americans that rescued liberty from the clutches of tyranny and totalitarianism across the globe. The colonists voted with red hands in Boston Harbor in 1773 and again at Lexington and Concord in 1775. The Founding Fathers knew they were voting with red hands when they put those hands to paper in 1776, culminating with John Hancock’s declarative flourish. The red hands of Americans were raised in Bellau Wood, Iwo Jima, Normandy, Korea, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Throughout history America has voted for liberty, both at home and abroad, with the blood of its sons and daughters.

So what now? In a country of law and order we vote not with arms, but with the power of the word. We do not shed blood, but neither do we meekly stand by and surrender our Republic and our liberty without a fight. Our weapons are our pens, our phones and the awesome power of the internet. The enemy is anyone who would seek to diminish our freedom, confiscate our treasure and intrude on our lives via a burdensome, meddling government that has forsaken the values, traditions, and the constitution, of our country. We have a civic duty to vote – to vote with the red hand of America.

Lest we think that we only vote in November, ask any candidate, any elected official when elections begin. They are running for office every day, with every decision they make, every calculated move, every sound byte, every facial expression, every parsed word and every empty promise.

Since they are campaigning every day, we must be voting every day. For every vote coming up in congress we should be issuing emails, faxes and calls. We cannot influence those who represent us if we do not speak out. If we speak, and they decide to disregard our voice, they should know that they do that at their own peril.

If we do nothing, we cannot complain when our taxes are raised to pay for undisciplined spending and bailouts. We cannot complain when private enterprise is replaced with more government bureaucracies. We cannot complain when our inheritance to our children is confiscatory taxes, a crippling national debt, diminished global influence and vulnerability to the forces of terrorism. We cannot complain when we are forced to wait months for routine medical treatment or when we must watch our parents, grandparents and other loved family and friends denied treatment because they have reached an age when their “useful viability to society” has been deemed to have run its course - instead seeing them forced to undergo “counseling” starting at age 65, by a cost-conscious government employee, who will advise them to consider their “end of life options.”

Now is a unique time. Our elected officials are coming home from Washington. When they return they will take up the issues of Health Care Reform, further stimulus (spending) bills, increased government takeover of private industry and the general dismantling of our Republic as we know it. Let them hear your voices while there is still time to stem the tide of socialism. If you think that they are not concerned by this groundswell of popular dissent, you need only listen to the words emanating from the administration. Concerned citizens, showing up at Town Hall Meetings and otherwise questioning their elected representatives, are being called angry mobs, right wing extremists, and dangerous crowds.

The “angry mobs” in Iran are being brutalized by their oppressive government and yet they continue to speak out. The “dangerous crowds” in Iraq are still attempting to reclaim their self-determination as a nation.

Perhaps it is time to conduct a primer in American history for those who profess to lead us. Let’s start with a few short phrases.

Repeat after me:

“…that to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just power from the consent of the governed”

“We, The People….”

Nico

The Tea's Brewing in Staten Island

We awoke to the drumbeat of a steady rain that continued unabated throughout the early morning hours. The weather forecast did nothing to put a positive spin on the day ahead. Not exactly the perfect day to spend at an outdoor political rally, especially for someone who has never put rallies of any sort high on his list of priorities. That was yesterday, this is today. Times have changed, the country is changing, and for those of us who are paying attention, priorities must change also.

We left around 10:30 AM to show our support for the upcoming Staten Island Tea Party rally organized by a long time close friend. The rally was held at the Conference House, a fitting venue, since it was there that the American delegation of Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and Edward Rutledge listened to and declined the proposal from Admiral Lord Howe, Commander the British fleet in New York, to denounce the Declaration of Independence, set down arms, and return to the status of British colonies.

Despite the ominous grey clouds overhead, the setting was perfect. Cresting a slight knoll there appeared before us an open air, covered pavilion right on the water’s edge, with the shore of Perth Amboy in the distance. A scattering of people were already there as the stage was being set for the event. Throughout the intermittent drizzle the crowd continued to grow. Friends and strangers alike met, and became engaged, all sharing a common grievance – the ever expanding reach of government into our pockets, our business, and our lives. For the locals, the issues had festered under the dismissive attitude of a congressman who was beholden to the Obama administration at the expense and detriment of his constituents.

As the rally was about to begin, wave upon wave of citizens crested the knoll, swelling the space before the pavilion. One could feel a palpable excitement in the air that manifested itself part way through the singing of the National Anthem when the entire multitude, almost 700 strong, joined in, raising their voices in a patriotic display of unity.

After some opening words by the organizers, the guest speakers addressed the audience, while behind them we could see the incoming storm, the lightning flashes striking New Jersey, and hear the first rumblings of thunder. Sheets of rain replaced the drizzle, but the crowd held fast. Halfway through, heralded by a massive thunderclap and the first strike of lightning on the Staten Island shore, the heavens opened, creating a river of runoff through the crowd and into the bay. As lightning continued, some returned to the safety of their cars, but a large contingent remained, taking shelter under the pavilion roof, and the rally continued. For these citizens, their focus was undeterred. They understood, our forefathers shed blood for the gift of freedom we take so much for granted – a summer storm was not about to cause them to retreat.

So today in Staten Island it is evident that there are Americans who will fight for their country, and who will not abandon their civic duty to act as watchdogs over those who would lead our republic to ruin. If this small event, in the least urban corner of the New York City metropolis, is being duplicated throughout the vast expanse of America, then there is hope that the current tide towards a socialist agenda can be reversed.

So the questions must now be posed: Who among you are willing to do some little bit as citizens? Who can step out of that comfort zone that exists on the sidelines? To those in the general Summit, New Providence, Berkeley Heights area, would you be willing to take a small step to assure that our elected officials know how we feel about the out-of-control spending, the government intrusion and the threat to our health care? Let me know. To others in New Jersey, we have an upcoming election for governor – do you want better than we now have? To those around the country, can you influence others to speak out for our rights? Our elected officials are returning home now, before the decisive vote on Health Care Reform. NOW is the time to let them know your thoughts on Health Care Reform, on the Cap & Trade legislation that they voted on, on expansive government issues and on the tax burden that these decisions will place on us, our children and grandchildren. Rest assured, they will listen, and then they will act, knowing that we are out here and watching.

The Tea’s brewing in Staten Island. Anyone else care to put on a pot?

Nico

You Too Can Be a Pearl

We’ve heard it all before. What good will my vote do? Why bother emailing or calling my congressman? Who cares about one man’s voice? What good will all these Tea Parties and protest groups accomplish against the money and resources of the government and those currently in control of which direction the country is headed?

Sounds like surrender to me. Take a step back from the big picture and focus in on the details. Tip O’Neill was right when he said “All politics is local.” Each and every member of the House and Senate, every governor, mayor and local official has one primary objective which influences every vote he takes, his ultimate reelection. To that end, they will listen to every opinion and complaint from their constituents, weigh the pros and cons and evaluate how to vote to maintain their office.

Those who favor entitlements, government largesse and intervention into life’s minutia, indiscriminate spending and the class envy proposition of punishing those who succeed on their own, have made their voices heard and have allowed our representatives to safely follow the new administration as it reverses American tradition and tramples free market capitalism.

The voice of the opposition, those who cherish the opportunities available in this country, those who want to keep more of their hard earned income, those who believe in individual reward and failure, unimpeded by government intervention, has only recently begun to be raised. It is being heard but is being evaluated as to its strength and its staying power. Is it just an aberration, a momentary fad, or is it the beginning of an uprising which will oust those politicians who choose to ignore it? If our voices are to make a difference they must be persistent, ever-growing and relentless. We have only to look to nature to see the picture of all that can be accomplished if we remain vigilant and outspoken.

A foreign object invades the host oyster and settles in, refusing to let go. Try as it might, the oyster cannot dislodge the particle, so in order to protect itself against the invader the oyster continuously coats the intruder with a substance called nacre.
Over the course of time the oyster will be discovered, its defenses broken down, and pried open to reveal the invader which has manifested itself as a pearl.
The voice of each individual can become, as all the grassroots movements across the country are likely to become, an intruder beneath the veil of our elected officials. If our efforts continue, despite the constant attempts to marginalize them and cover them up, the usurpers of our government will be revealed for what they are, and we will be left with the pearl formed by the spirit of Americans like yourself who will not go silently into the night.

Nico

Health Care Reform - Obama's Trojan Horse

Health Care Reform – Obama’s Trojan Horse

The Obama administration, in its mad dash to transform America, is conducting another bum’s rush to pass its version of Health Care Reform legislation, which will devastate this country’s health industry and push the American economy another step closer to collapse, while ratcheting up the inevitable tax hikes looming over the American people.

Please take a moment to read the following passage, concerning Health Care Reform, and also the Long Term Budget Outlook by the CBO (which will only get worse at the breakneck pace of escalating government spending.) Then call and email your congressman, demanding a vote against ObamaCare and a stop to the undisciplined spending going on in Washington.

Your comments are welcome at www.aramisamerica.blogspot.com.

Nico

(The following was sent by an old friend, Frank S. who is the driving force behind a Tea Party organization in Staten Island. To read his excellent articles visit www.teapartysi.com.)

“Ladies and Gentlemen, socialized medicine is about to be rammed down our throats, and the greatest health care system in the world is going to be dynamited at its foundations.

Obama, Pelosi and their Congressional minions are blasting this UNCONSCIONABLE bill through the committees, because they know that if they wait too long, and the truth about this bill comes out, the American people will never swallow it. Just as with the "Stimulus" bill and Cap and Trade, transparency scares them to death.

On today's show, Rush Limbaugh said that the passage of this bill would be the death knell of the American economy….

This is from an editorial from Investor's Business Daily. It was not investigated and reported by ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, or anybody else - just little ol' IBD. Read it and weep for your country.”

It's Not An Option

It didn't take long to run into an "uh-oh" moment when reading the House's "health care for all Americans" bill. Right there on Page 16 is a provision making individual private medical insurance illegal.

When we first saw the paragraph Tuesday, just after the 1,018-page document was released, we thought we surely must be misreading it. So we sought help from the House Ways and Means Committee.

It turns out we were right: The provision would indeed outlaw individual private coverage. Under the Orwellian header of "Protecting The Choice To Keep Current Coverage," the "Limitation On New Enrollment" section of the bill clearly states:

"Except as provided in this paragraph, the individual health insurance issuer offering such coverage does not enroll any individual in such coverage if the first effective date of coverage is on or after the first day" of the year the legislation becomes law.

So we can all keep our coverage, just as promised — with, of course, exceptions: Those who currently have private individual coverage won't be able to change it. Nor will those who leave a company to work for themselves be free to buy individual plans from private carriers.

From the beginning, opponents of the public option plan have warned that if the government gets into the business of offering subsidized health insurance coverage, the private insurance market will wither.

..... What wasn't known until now is that the bill itself will kill the market for private individual coverage by not letting any new policies be written after the public option becomes law.

..... The public option won't be an option for many, but rather a mandate for buying government care. A free people should be outraged at this advance of soft tyranny.

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Congressional Budget Office
Director’s Blog

The Long-Term Budget Outlook

Today I had the opportunity to testify before the Senate Budget Committee about CBO’s most recent analysis of the long-term budget outlook.

Under current law, the federal budget is on an unsustainable path, because federal debt will continue to grow much faster than the economy over the long run. Although great uncertainty surrounds long-term fiscal projections, rising costs for health care and the aging of the population will cause federal spending to increase rapidly under any plausible scenario for current law. Unless revenues increase just as rapidly, the rise in spending will produce growing budget deficits. Large budget deficits would reduce national saving, leading to more borrowing from abroad and less domestic investment, which in turn would depress economic growth in the United States. Over time, accumulating debt would cause substantial harm to the economy. The following chart shows our projection of federal debt relative to GDP under the two scenarios we modeled.

Keeping deficits and debt from reaching these levels would require increasing revenues significantly as a share of GDP, decreasing projected spending sharply, or some combination of the two.

Measured relative to GDP, almost all of the projected growth in federal spending other than interest payments on the debt stems from the three largest entitlement programs—Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. For decades, spending on Medicare and Medicaid has been growing faster than the economy. CBO projects that if current laws do not change, federal spending on Medicare and Medicaid combined will grow from roughly 5 percent of GDP today to almost 10 percent by 2035. By 2080, the government would be spending almost as much, as a share of the economy, on just its two major health care programs as it has spent on all of its programs and services in recent years.

In CBO’s estimates, the increase in spending for Medicare and Medicaid will account for 80 percent of spending increases for the three entitlement programs between now and 2035 and 90 percent of spending growth between now and 2080. Thus, reducing overall government spending relative to what would occur under current fiscal policy would require fundamental changes in the trajectory of federal health spending. Slowing the growth rate of outlays for Medicare and Medicaid is the central long-term challenge for fiscal policy.

Under current law, spending on Social Security is also projected to rise over time as a share of GDP, but much less sharply. CBO projects that Social Security spending will increase from less than 5 percent of GDP today to about 6 percent in 2035 and then roughly stabilize at that level. Meanwhile, as depicted below, government spending on all activities other than Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and interest on federal debt—a broad category that includes national defense and a wide variety of domestic programs—is projected to decline or stay roughly stable as a share of GDP in future decades.

Federal spending on Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security will grow relative to the economy both because health care spending per beneficiary is projected to increase and because the population is aging. As shown in the figure below, between now and 2035, aging is projected to make the larger contribution to the growth of spending for those three programs as a share of GDP. After 2035, continued increases in health care spending per beneficiary are projected to dominate the growth in spending for the three programs.

The current recession and policy responses have little effect on long-term projections of noninterest spending and revenues. But CBO estimates that in fiscal years 2009 and 2010, the federal government will record its largest budget deficits as a share of GDP since shortly after World War II. As a result of those deficits, federal debt held by the public will soar from 41 percent of GDP at the end of fiscal year 2008 to 60 percent at the end of fiscal year 2010. This higher debt results in permanently higher spending to pay interest on that debt. Federal interest payments already amount to more than 1 percent of GDP; unless current law changes, that share would rise to 2.5 percent by 2020.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 16th, 2009 at 4:43 pm and is filed under Budget Projections, Long-Term Budgetary Issues.

How Could It Get So Bad, So Fast?

What happened in America?

One day we stand as a free market, entrepreneurial prosperity machine. Businesses rise, prosper, and expand. Occasionally poor decisions cause failures, businesses collapse, and some new idea, some new phoenix, rises from the ashes with a better plan, a more efficient model, and the internal fortitude to take a gamble, to risk it all, for the boundless opportunities that are there for the taking.

One day we elect statesmen who take moral stands, who make us proud, who are honored to serve their nation, yet humbled by their awesome responsibilities. We stare down oppression on the global stage, defeat our enemies while sacrificing our sacred treasure, and then rebuild the ravages left behind out of our boundless prosperity.

One day we are a nation of self reliant individuals, making our own way, content that the sweat of our brow brings sustenance to our families, and allows us to provide some relief for the unfortunate through that charitable virtue that is part of America.

One day we awaken and realize that the America we knew and loved has been turned asunder, raped and pillaged, not by an external enemy, but from within, by those we entrusted with the stewardship of our republic.

The beefy paw of government now intrudes throughout our society, promising precision, surgical corrections of our economy, our social structure, our core being as Americans, while wielding a mighty club, and striking out with abandon.

No longer are market forces allowed to make corrections, nor risk takers to find reward or failure. In lieu of statesmen, we find headlines reeking with news of corruption, scandal and infidelity. Sham legislation awards benefactors, hacks, and special interest groups, in a shameless redistribution of wealth, taken from the producers and doers via an endless mill of taxation.

Now we find our elected leaders apologizing for America’s deeds and actions, coddling our enemies, and inviting those who would do us harm to probe what is perceived as the soft underbelly of a once mighty beast. Only the presence of the brave men and women of our armed forces keep us safe, but even that great deterrent is subject to the misguided leadership of its commander.

The strong, silent individual, emblematic of America, has been pushed aside by groups demanding entitlements, professing grievances, and fighting for a place to be suckled under an all-encompassing, ever-expanding federal bureaucracy.

Who is to blame for the metamorphosis of America?

Front and center, the Obama administration must shoulder the blame for the rapid, widespread disintegration of American values, traditions, economy, and respect on the world stage. The far-left liberal agenda, the embracing of socialist ideology, the demonization of capitalism and the shameless vitriol leveled at those who would strive to achieve success outside the umbrella of Obama-sanctioned programs have, and will continue to, fundamentally change the lives of Americans now, and in the foreseeable future.

While the administration and the democrat party are at the apex of the problem, there is sufficient blame to spread around. The republican party, by embracing bigger government, participating in uncontrolled spending, miring itself in scandals, and marginalizing its conservative base, has forfeited its fiduciary trust with the American people. Furthermore, it has failed to produce a salient, sustainable, alternative policy platform, nor a charismatic, strong-willed, media-savvy, representative to serve as a rallying point for the grassroots uprising that is bubbling up throughout the country. Until it finds itself, and its figurehead, it offers little as the opposition party.

Finally, the blame must be shared by the electorate. The American citizens of today are too focused on immediate gratification and personal needs and wants. The country is bereft of civic education, responsibility, and self sacrifice for a greater good. The uneducated citizen falls prey to slick campaign promises, lies, and the cult of personality. Freedom is sacrificed for convenience, self respect for handouts, and love of country for the empty promises of Hope and Change.

Wake up America. Speak out, write, petition, and demonstrate, lest we wake up again to greater changes, less liberty, and an America we hardly recognize.

Reflection on Independence Day

In scant days from today this country will celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence, one of the founding documents of our American heritage, and the clarion bell of man’s resounding demand for liberty and self government.

The Founding Fathers made a bold move 233 years ago, knowing that they could ultimately suffer the wrath of the world’s superpower, but nonetheless declared for all to witness “with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.”

These brave men, along with their fellow Americans, sacrificed everything for a dream that would become a reality, and would inspire a people to overcome all odds, defeat the undefeatable, accomplish the impossible, create unheard of prosperity, and in future generations save millions from tyranny, spread the seeds of liberty, and become a “Shining City on the Hill.”

Today, as we celebrate our past and honor our founders, it is a bittersweet moment, fraught with melancholy and remembrances of times that were. As we watch the evolution of our government, one cannot help but wonder if we are leaving our children and grandchildren with the same hopes, the same dreams, and the same opportunities which have been handed down from generation to generation. The hollow promises of Hope & Change emanating from Washington clash in harsh contrast with the legislation, directives and pronouncements coming from an arrogant president, an agenda driven congress and a sea of bureaucrats, all intent on changing the very fabric of our society.

The Founders noted that all men had “certain unalienable Rights” of “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness,” and “That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just power from the consent of the governed.” I posit the opinion that today’s politicians are no longer concerned with the consent of the governed, but are focused on their own perpetual reelection to office. To that end they have pandered to an electorate that has abdicated its civic obligation to be informed and to act as watchdogs, and have in essence forfeited certain liberties for the cornucopia of handouts being offered by the ruling class.

The Founders knew the dangers of larger, ever growing bureaucracies, and one of their enumerated grievances with the King was that he had “erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.” As the American public is preoccupied with daily life, the government continues to expand, sending its bureaucratic tentacles into all aspects of our lives. The banking industry, the auto industry and soon all of healthcare are quickly coming under government influence. How much can someone be paid? What kind of cars should be produced? Who should get loans? Who should be denied? Soon, Who gets medical treatment and who has outlived their usefulness, and should be denied treatment? All questions being answered by agencies, bureaucrats, and politicians, most of whom have never run a business, been responsible for a P&L report, or lived life in the real world that the average American traverses daily.

Another burning issue addressed by the Founders was “imposing Taxes on us without our Consent.” In a few short months, we have witnessed massive spending, bailouts, so-called stimulus packages, and are now threatened with a looming array of hidden taxes in the pending Cap & Trade legislation. Under the guise of environmental policy, we will be riddled with taxes on all forms of energy in an 1100 page bill and a 300 page amendment that were ram-rodded through the House, and now go to the Senate. For those of you in the Summit – New Providence – Berkeley Heights area, you should be aware that our Congressman Lance was one of 6 Republicans who felt compelled to punish his constituents with more taxes. (If that irks you, let him know. I did.)

After stating that governments are instituted among men to secure their unalienable rights, and that governments derive their power from the consent of the governed, the Founders go on to say “That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its power in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.” It is my assertion that the problem lies not in the form or foundation of the government, the Constitution being a remarkable blueprint for the Republic, but rather in the current politicians, who have jettisoned all manner of statesmanship as they prostitute themselves in the complete absence of shame and honor.

As we approach Independence Day we have choices to make. To some the current state of affairs in America is acceptable, and the promise of Hope & Change (and anything that is not Bush) is their wish come true. To others, politics is someone else’s problem. They feel that their voices do not matter and are content to go on with their lives, hoping that things don’t get too bad. To these people, I implore you to make your voices heard. There is a grassroots movement underway in this country as witnessed by the numerous Tea Parties that have taken place. Organizations are forming. There are forums for speaking out. Our representatives are only concerned about reelection – to that end, if they sense a movement against the current direction that this administration is going, they will listen, if for no other reason than self preservation. For myself, I have been stewing over current events for months. From early in the election process I had a sense of doom about what would happen if we elected a president who I perceived as being anti-capitalist, anti-American, ultra-liberal, arrogant, and blessed with a charisma and eloquence which would captivate an ill-informed, celebrity-obsessed populace, which could be easily manipulated by class envy rhetoric and promises of a nanny government which could satisfy its every need. Once this president was given both houses of Congress, my fear increased exponentially. That being said, I never in my wildest nightmare, could have envisioned such a massive, blitzkrieg attack on this country I so love.

So for me, the choice is simple. I will write to all who will listen. I will do everything in my power to keep informed those who care and who would likewise speak out, pass the word, and do their little bit in a grassroots campaign to save this blessed republic. I owe it to my children, to my friends and to those fellow Americans who cherish the liberty, the individualism, and the heritage that is our country, to do all I can before handing over the future of America to those whose visions are antithetical to those of our Founding Fathers.

To that end, I am beginning a series of essays, posted periodically to the following website. If you are interested, please click on the link http://www.aramisamerica.blogspot.com/

(I have sent this to family, friends, and acquaintances, and I will forward new essays to you as they are written. If you do not wish to receive them, please email me to that effect. I will certainly honor your wishes. The beauty of this country is that we all can have our beliefs and opinions, and no one should be forced to listen to anything which they don’t agree with. To those who find these essays informative or interesting, or who find their passions aroused, please share them with friends on your email list, facebook, etc. There is no easier way to spread the word. Comments can posted directly on the blog site.)