A republic, if you can keep it

It’s been a while since I have posted anything.  I’ve been altogether too busy with work, family, the Moapa Valley incoporation thing, and so on.  I still don’t have much time, but this is is important enough that I took the time to write it.

I just finished reading this report from michellemallkin.com about a DHS report on “Rightwing Extremism.”

These are scary, sobering times we live in.

There are so many things wrong with this report, and while I guess I shouldn’t be, I am shocked that my country has gone this far this fast. As usual, Michelle covered every point, so I don’t need to restate what she has said, but this part of the report, found on page two, got my attention.

Rightwing extremism in the United States can be broadly divided into those groups, movements, and adherents that…are mainly antigovernment, rejecting federal authority in favor of state or local authority.

Here is how fascism is defined by Merriam Webster:

A political philosophy, movement, or regime (as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition

Look at some of the bills that Congress is discussing, as well as those already passed.  Look at their actions, look at some of the things they say.   The current crop (that’s a pun - keep reading) of food related bills bill would cause grocery prices to skyrocket, and would make growing your own garden a federal crime (google HR875, HR759, and HR1332).  A proposed Internet bill would give the POTUS unilateral power to cut off parts or all of the Internet in the case of a “national emergency” while failing to define a national emergency (of course).  It would also give an unelected appointee power to see ANY and ALL Internet data (i.e. your online bank account statement, your online medical records, etc).  The GIVE act requires compulsory volunteerism at the organization of the governments choosing (no churches allowed).  Then there is socialized medicine, the “smartgrid”, cap and trade, global warming, monetizing the debt, assuming more and more debt and the way we are treating our allies and our enemies (Cuba, House of Saud and Iran), just to mention a few problems.  We have also already seen the federal government go after individuals here and here.  These issues just barely scratch the surface.
Are these not the actions of a fascist government?  The DHS now states that if you “reject federal authority in favor of state or local authority,” you are an extremist, so much so that the DHS feels it necessary to have a report about you.  Is this really where we want to go, what we want to be, and what we want to leave to our children?

The Founding Fathers created the union known as the USA from several sovereign states.  The Constitution clearly states that the federal government derives it’s power from the states, and grants - GRANTS - permission to the federal government to do 18 specific things.  It then goes on to state that ALL other rights are retained by the people, and that the enumerated powers of the constitution CAN NOT be used to weaken or deny other rights retained by the people. But now, according to the federal government, if you don’t acknowledge their complete and total power, you are a person who is just as threatening to them as Islamic terrorists, or members of the KKK, ALF, or ELF.

At some point, people are going to have to stand up to this evil.  And make no mistake, it is evil.  We have faced it before, a long time ago.  Remember that Lucifer proposed that no one would have the individual liberty to choose the wrong thing.  Ever.  The good of the group would be put above the good of the individual.  This would mean that all people would be successful, and he would get all the glory for the accomplishment. This proposal was soundly rejected by his Father, and by the majority of God’s children. One reason I suspect it was rejected (there were many) was because it violated one simple, eternal truth:  There must be opposition in all things.  How can one be successful when one can’t fail?  Without having the freedom to fail, or the freedom to make a wrong choice, how can you succeed or make a right choice?  It is not possible.  All of us at one point understood that, but it is amazing how many have forgotten that.   Let’s just say that Lucifer’s plan had been accepted by all in attendance.  So we would all be saved; we would all be “successful.”  But how could that be?  We all would have gone through life without ever learning what we need to learn to enjoy that success.  Even though all of God’s children would be present, none of us would be prepared to be exalted.  We wouldn’t know what to do, and as a result, all of us would be failures.  Our government is on the fast track to remove so many of our liberties that we no longer have the option to fail, or to make what in their mind is a wrong or bad decision (like having more than one or two children).  When that happens, we will all be “successful.”  But since we won’t know what to do, the only thing we could possibly be successful at is failing.  There “must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things,” and the reason for that is simple.  Opposition is the refiners fire that makes us all better.

It is not in the still calm of life, or the repose of a pacific station, that great characters are formed.  The habits of a vigorous mind are formed in contending with difficulties.  Great necessities call out great virtues. When a mind is raised, and animated by scenes that engage the heart, then those qualities which would otherwise lay dormant, wake into life and form the character of the hero and the statesman.

That is one of my favorite quotes.  Abagail Adams wrote that to her son John Quincy in 1777, in the middle of the Revolutionary War.  Challenges force us to look deeper into ourselves and draw upon powers and talents we probably don’t even know we possess.  We discover them, learn to use them, and as we sharpen those abilities, they sharpen and form us into the being that our Creator intends for us to be.

What actually scares me, even more than this latest DHS report (there have been others), is that I see so many people who know, who have been taught what evil is, yet choose to ignore it.  They have access to all of the truth, light and knowledge that exists in this life; while they don’t remember specifics, they know what they fought against before coming to Earth.  Clearly, since these people are part of God’s kindom on Earth, since they are living in these latter days, in this great nation that God created for a specific purpose, they did something special to fight this evil before.  Yet now so many sit and do nothing.  They simply say they will continue doing what they are doing, and pray for a good outcome.  Since faith without works is dead, how will that approach work?

In a previous life, you did something extraordinary.  Neither you or I know what it was, but because you are here, at this time, you can know you did something that was extremely valiant.  You did not sit on the sidelines and watch, you were very involved.  You were successful in fighting evil once, and now it is time to fight it again.  Lucifer was a fascist.  Like every other fascist who has followed him (Stalin, Lenin, Mussolini, Mao, Hitler, Castro, Che), he has morphed into something even more heinous.  Our current politicians are fascists.  History shows what road they take, so I ask again: is this what we want to leave to our children?

Tomorrow is April 15th.  Tax day.  You may have heard about the Tea Parties that will be happening throughout the country.  I would encourage you to go to one.  Most feel that it won’t make much difference, that those in DC don’t care, and they are probably right.  But it still needs to be done.  It is the next (still peaceful) step.  If you want to know where the nearest one is, click here. The Tea Party site is here.

Once again, it is time to stand up for freedom, liberty, truth and righteousness.  No doubt it is scary.  A latter day prophet has told us it may cost us in blood (last paragraph, but the entire speech is outstanding).  However, we are blessed with knowing the outcome, but we still have to fight for it.

I recently finished reading the fictional series “The Great & Terrible.”  At one point in the series, one of the characters explains his belief that when we can do for ourselves, God lets us do it.  But when we can’t, and it is necessary for the survival of the righteous, God intervenes and performs miracles.  The more trying the time, the more spectacular the miracle.  While this is a work of fiction, that sentiment makes sense to me, and seems to be borne out in scripture.  On several occasions, I have heard Glenn Beck say that we live in a time where we are soon going to witness many marvelous miracles.  If both sentiments are correct - and I mention them because I think they are - then we are about to go through an extraordinary time.  A separating of the wheat and the chaff the likes of which have never been lknown.  Just as in the pre-existence, you won’t find “wheat” sitting on the sidelines, it will be actively engaged, this time in saving the world.

We have been told of this time.  We have been told to prepare.  The time for preparation is over, it is now time to choose and act.

Satan is known as The Father of all Lies, in part because he was the first to lie, and also because he is so good at it.  What makes someone “good” - as in talented - at lying is the ability to make it sound like truth.  That is what Satan excels at.  Take this exchange between Satan & Eve:

But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

If you look at that exchange, you’ll see there is some truth included in his statement.  That little bit of truth makes it difficult to discern the lie, and to be honest, the lie isn’t an outright lie, it is a statement that has multiple meanings.  In modern day terms, it would be called spin.

“Good” politicians have the same talent, and the video below shows one of the best doing what he does best

Listen to what he says.

• He inherited a 1.3 trillion deficit. That is spin.  He campaigned for that deficit.  Remember last Fall, he urged the Bush administration to bail out the banks, which is where most of that deficit came from.  While that deficit was created by someone else, and he now has responsibility for it, he was a major factor in getting that passed, so to say he inherited it is not entirely accurate.  He asked for it.
• He states, “We cannot and will not sustain deficits like this without end.” That is absolutely true, by mixing in some truth, it makes it tougher to sort out the lies.
• He quotes some numbers to make his case. Those may or may not be true, but are probably based on facts.  Anyone who has taken financial or accounting classes understands that it is easy to make numbers say whatever you want.  When you quote them like he does, it makes him look smarter and more capable of using the numbers to fix the problem.  It also legitimizes what he is saying.
• Of course he takes a few shots at Bush. And in this case, Bush deserves it.  But the reason he takes those shots is because Bush acted more like a liberal/socialist Democrat rather than a fiscally conservative Republican.  One of the most effective things that liberals have done is associate George Bush’s domestic and social policies with conservatism, and since those policies are terrible, people dislike him and the conservative brand.  What they have done so brilliantly is fool people into thinking that Bush (and really the entire GOP) are conservative, when in reality they are socialists-lite.  This is a very subtle lie that most Americans fail to see, it was created and perfected by the Father of All Lies, and his pupils have learned it well.
• He uses the numbers to prepare people  for more upcoming spending. Not only does he use the numbers to show how much debt we have, he uses the numbers to make a plug for two of his party’s pet projects: education and socialized medicine.
• He then goes from quoting some numbers to a little bit of fear mongering, using our common sense as a weapon against us. Conservatives have been harping on the fact that spending this much money will saddle future generations of yet unborn Americans with a huge debt, and that doing do is immoral.  He talks of this as if he agrees.  Again, he uses just a little bit of truth to play on our fears.  By using just a bit of truth and mixing in emotions - in this case fear - he is able to fool many into thinking that he has a plan that will work.  Then he announces what he plans to accomplish to fix the problems and allay our fears.
• Here is the biggest whopper. Listen to him from 1:29 to 1:37.  I’ll admit I missed it until someone pointed it out on the morning talk show I listen to.  He says he plans to cut the deficit in half.  In fact that’s the title of the You Tube video. But that is NOT what he said he would do.  He said he would cut the deficit HE INHERITED by half.  He said nothing of reducing the debt he has strapped us with during his first month in office, nor any of the other debt he will heap upon us during the rest of his administration.  He has learned his lessons well, and he serves his master well.
• He then finishes with one bit of truth and a couple more lies that sound good and speak to our senses. He says it won’t be easy, and he’s right.  Then he says he doesn’t want to leave our children with a debt they can’t repay.  He also says we have to take responsibility now to get spending under control, which is also very true.  So the question is, if he wants to be responsible, control spending and not leave an enormous debt to our children, why then has he basically doubled the national deficit he “inherited” in only one month? Why does he plan on spending more so quickly?  By his own admission it is not sustainable, yet he has promised to work on the inherited deficit, while apparently creating his own deficit that dwarfs Bush’s.

This is what a liar looks like, and this is what he does.  These are not little white lies; these are the types of lies used by Satan to strip away liberty and freedom, and make us as miserable as he is.  Our government seeks to strip liberties and freedoms, and they are employing the same tactics that Lucifer uses.  If they act like the devil, if they talk like the devil, what else could these politicians be but devils?

If we as a nation are to remain free, we have to work for it.  Things don’t look good right now, but there are some glimmers of light.

I have found two in text that Glenn Beck & Mike Church have created.

Beck has what he calls The Nine Principles

1. America is good.
2. I believe in God and He is the Center of my Life.
3. I must always try to be a more honest person than I was yesterday.
4. The family is sacred. My spouse and I are the ultimate authority, not the government.
5. If you break the law you pay the penalty. Justice is blind and no one is above it.
6. I have a right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, but there is no guarantee of equal results.
7. I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable.
8. It is not un-American for me to disagree with authority or to share my personal opinion.
9. The government works for me. I do not answer to them, they answer to me.

Mike Church has gone further than that and drafted what he calls the America Again Resolves.  They are based on the Thomas Jefferson’s Kentucky Resolves.  Click the link & it will take you to a 10 page document.  It takes a few minutes, but is worth the time.  I do have a few questions about this resolve, but overall I support it & think that we must do something now, or simply watch the candle of liberty go out.  If you want to get involved, go to these websites and say so.  The time is now & the window is closing.

I was reading a thread on a firearm forum today that was discussing a hypothetical situation and how one could defend themselves while remaining legal.  It involved disarming a criminal who had attacked you, and then deciding what to do when they won’t follow your commands (to leave, lie down, etc).  Most people commented that it would be prudent to call 911 ASAP.  One person made this comment:

In my opinion, a pistol in the hands of a civilian for self defense is for just that, defense, not apprehension. If the guy runs away, then he runs away, call the cops and let them handle it.

Shortly after that, someone else commented about that comment:

Agreed. While I certainly wouldn’t be happy that he got away to menace someone else, the law doesn’t empower me to force his compliance so I’m not going to get myself into a legal quagmire.

Given the litigious world we live in today, I would have to agree 100% with both comments.  What bothers me though is part of the second comment.

…the law doesn’t empower me to…

Now in this particular case, the discussion is about using a gun for self defense, but in reality, there are many instances where the same statement could be said.  “The law doesn’t empower me to do something,” whatever that something may be.  That sentiment - while unfortunately true today, is entirely opposite of one of the key founding principles.

The law - or government - was never meant to empower an individual to do something.  In a just form of government, it is the individual who offers empowerment.

The principle in question can be summed up by saying that, “[T]o secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”  Now I hope you recognize that sentence.  It is based on the political and philosophical teachings of John Locke, and was written by Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence.  What it means is that individuals can come together and as a group, delegate specific roles or responsibilities to the government.  The individual does NOT surrender or forfeit that right, they merely give authority to the government to do it for them.  The individual retains the right to do it - whatever it may be - for themselves at any time. This is necessary because the people thereby retain the right to take away authority or empowerment of the government at any time, for any reason.

As a society, we have done this with police services.  We have empowered law enforcement with authority to detain and arrest criminals.  For government to work properly, we, the people,  have to retain the ability to detain and arrest criminals.

We can’t grant that which we don’t have, and for government to work, we can’t give it away, nor will a just government seek to take it.

As a result, while I agree that the statement above is legally right, it is fundamentally wrong, and I think it shows us one of the root causes of the problems we as a nation are facing today. We have gone beyond just delegating tasks to the government and now freely surrender many rights.  It could be argued (not by me - I’m just saying it could be) that in past times, the people would completely forfeit a right, and the government would step in to take care of it, because someone has to.  Our present-day government has become so used to this arrangement that they now no longer wait for the people to forfeit something, they just unilaterally decide to take those rights.  Regardless of how we got here, we have - by definition - an unjust government, and an electorate that for the most part, doesn’t care.

For those who do care, we have a really tough question to answer: How do we fix this problem?

For those of you who don’t know, I live in the small unincorporated township of Logandale. Since it is unincorporated, there is no mayor or city council, instead there is a 5 member Town Advisory Board (TAB) that hears things that would go before a city council. They vote on these items, and then those items go before the Clark County Board of County Commissioners (BCC), which takes the TAB’s vote into consideration and then makes a final decision. For many years (actually a couple of decades), there has been a straw poll taken at every election, and the 5 highest vote-getters have been appointed to the TAB. This seems to make sense, as it allows the voice of the people to choose their representatives, and history suggests that it has worked well.

But the times they are a-changin’. When the new BCC was sworn in recently, one of the first things they had to do was finalize all of the TAB’s in Clark County. Instead of listening to the voice of the people and appointing the 5 people with the most votes, they only selected 3. The other 2 positions went to people who, at least based on the number of votes they received, wouldn’t do a good job of representing the town of Logandale. The local paper, the Moapa Valley Progress has an article in this week’s paper that ought to throw up a HUGE red flag for all of us. I think it gives us a very clear idea of what sort of change might be on the horizon - specifically for residents in Logandale, but also for Clark County & even for all Americans. You see, the Clark County BCC is now 100% Democrat. They are further bolstered by a Democratic controlled Nevada legislature that has a veto proof majority, both Congressional representatives who represent Clark County are Democrats, and they have the ear of Senator Harry Reid as well as President-elect Obama. So they are no doubt feeling pretty good about themselves. This is evidenced by some of the statements and actions reported in the Progress article. Commissioner Tom Collins had the following to say when the Progress called him for a comment on this new break from democratic procedure and the new appointments:

“I have no comments for you on your paper. You know what I think of you. Have a nice day.” Then he abruptly hung up the line.

Collins knows that the Progress is the only paper in Logandale. If he wants to get a message out quickly to his constituents there, it is the fastest way to do so. Well, the message was received loud and clear. The residents of Logandale can pretty easily figure out just what Collins thinks of them, both by the way he listened to their voice on election day & in his comment to the paper.

When state assemblyman Joe Hardy called Collins to ask about the change in appointments, Collins said:

“He (Collins) told me that it was now a new era,” Hardy said. “He said that he wanted to break the mold and do things differently. He felt that the change would be for the better.”

What new era is starting now? Politicians have been ignoring their constituents for some time now, so that’s not new. What is new however is that this ignoring is now out in the open, and is being openly admitted by politicians like Collins - and embraced by many voters. I guess when your party controls everything, you can do what you want, thus proving the old saying about power.
So we now stand on the precipice of a new era. Well, it’s at least new to us, but not to this land. I seem to remember that 230+ years ago, people here had very similar issues. This new (to us) era is one where elected officials do whatever they want without any regard for those whom they claim to represent. And when questioned about it, are belligerent and rude in their response. After all, how dare those of us in the underclass question them?

I fear that we are in for a lot of this at all levels. This is certainly a bad sign of things to come in Logandale and Clark County, but I think it is also an example of just what we can expect from most of our elected officials at most levels.

Rick Eide was one of the people who had served on the TAB & had received enough votes in the straw poll but was not reappointed. I know Rick (not well, but I know him). He is very opinionated and honest. If he doesn’t agree with you, he will tell you, and he will explain why. While he can become animated, he’s not rude. I also, unfortunately, know Tom Collins. He is also very opinionated. He’s very pro-big government and knows everything, including what’s best for you. He’s one of those guys who feels it is his right to protect you from yourself while increasing the girth of the government’s waistline. He’s one of those people that Ronald Reagan warned us about when he told us what the 9 scariest words in the English language are (I’m from the government and I’m here to help).

Another unfortunate part of this sad affair is who was appointed in place of those who were the winners in the democratic process. I also have had the unfortunate experience of dealing with Rick’s replacement, Billy Mildice. Some may call him a dimwitted hack and a tool. I would argue that doing so is a huge disservice to dimwits, hacks and tools the world over. But he is Tom Collins’ tool, and Collins knows how to use him, and no doubt will use him well. It will be very interesting - in a sad, pathetic way - reading about his antics on the TAB, and I feel for anyone who has to go before that board, as well as the other members of the board.

Eide’s comment really sums up what Logandale residents and indeed all Americans are going to experience for the foreseeable future.

“The new Commission has proven right off in their very first meeting that the will of this community will not be heard. My concern is that this community no longer has any representation at all at the County level.”

Indeed, looking at the federal level and the bailout-palooza, they have largely ignored American citizens. The Clark County BCC, in one of their first actions, set the tone for at least the next 2 years, and probably longer, showing that they don’t feel it important to listen to their constituents, nor do they feel a need to explain their actions.

We’ll have to wait just a little longer to see what happens in the Nevada legislature this year. Last November, Nevadans overwhelmingly rejected tax hikes. The Democrats who have control are typical tax and spend liberals, and all but a few of the Republicans appear ready to roll over in hopes of getting their belly rubbed.

Will they do their will or the will of the people? It’s really not too tough to guess.