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