Tired Of The Rant?

[t-amzn 0]

Are we tired yet of hearing this kind of rant? Are we so jaded already that this kind of thing is becoming tedious? Surely there is someone out there that hasn't heard it all already. I'm not dead yet and I still have some breath and fire left in me.

 

Subject: Do Americans Cherish Freedom Anymore?

 

By Chuck Baldwin

 

 

I am often guilty of using the term "freedom-loving Americans." But I think

the question now needs to be asked, Do Americans really cherish freedom

anymore? I believe an argument could be made that not many do. In fact, I

doubt that most Americans today remotely understand what freedom--as

envisioned by our Founding Fathers--even is.

 

Freedom is more than not being in prison (although America incarcerates more

people than any nation on earth). Freedom is more than driving a car, or

taking a vacation, or being able to choose your place of residence, or

attending a sporting event. People in totalitarian regimes have, for the

most part, been able to do the equivalent of all that.

 

The freedoms upon which America was founded are outlined in our Declaration

of Independence and Bill of Rights. The first principle of freedom is that

freedom is a gift of Almighty God. As God is the Giver of life, He is also

the Grantor of liberty. This was plainly stated by Thomas Jefferson in the

Declaration: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are

created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain

unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of

Happiness . . ."

 

Ask the average American today, Where do our rights come from? Most will

look at you funny and then blurt out, "From government." And, of course,

this is evidently the same opinion held by most of today's politicians. To

them, freedom is whatever civil government says it is. Yes, I am saying it:

most politicians have a God-complex. And, unfortunately, it seems that most

Americans today are willing to go along with this calamitous charade.

 

Jefferson and the rest of America's founders, however, rightly understood

that the only legitimate purpose of government was "to secure these rights."

The only legitimate purpose of civil government is to secure or protect the

freedoms and liberties that have been given to man by our Creator.

 

Jefferson went 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 powers in such form, as to them shall seem

most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness." In other words, whenever

government stops protecting liberty and starts destroying liberty, it is the

right and duty of freedom-loving people to reform or replace such

illegitimate government with a government that will fulfill its legitimate

purpose. And that is exactly what our forefathers did in the late 1700s.

Sadly, here we are in the twenty-first century, the descendents of some of

the wisest and bravest men and women in history, and we do not even seem to

know what freedom is, much less have the courage to defend it.

 

For example, we will work for 30 years or more to purchase our own property.

After having done that, however, the property still does not belong to us.

We are required to pay the State--for the rest of our lives--a property tax

(to support concepts and ideas that many of us find reprehensible and

detestable, no less), or armed agents will confiscate our property and throw

us on the street. Pray tell me, what is the difference between this and the

feudal system of old? In reality, none of us own any property. We are all

serfs paying the feudal lord. Beyond that, our feudal masters even dictate

to us what we can and cannot do with this property we supposedly own. We do

not even have the right to manage and control our own land. And yet, we

Americans put up with this illegitimacy and still have the audacity to say,

"We are free." Again, we don't know the meaning of the word.

 

Virtually everything we do and say is monitored by the great Nanny State.

Practically every service, every act is regulated by the State. Ask any

independent business owner how many regulations, laws, acts, etc., demand

fulfillment, and how many fees, taxes, permits, etc., are required by

various government agencies and bureaucracies before he can perform a single

task. For example, the federal government actually dictates how some

restaurants can seat people or serve tables. Farmers are told what and how

much to plant--and even to not plant. We cannot buy a gun, drive a car,

marry the person we love, or even install a toilet without saying, "Pretty

please?" to a dozen despots. And we still wave the flag every Independence

Day and brag about how "free" we are. Again, we don't know the meaning of

the word.

 

And the people who should be more "jealous over" their liberties than

anyone--born-again Christians--are among the first to gladly relinquish

their freedom. I know of hundreds-- perhaps thousands--of Christian College

employees who happily allow the school Gestapo to barge into their

homes--unannounced and uninvited--to inspect their private reading material,

or CD and video collections, and even their wardrobes. School officials tell

them where they must go to church, what attire their wives and children can

and cannot wear in public (off the job)--AND IN PRIVATE--and what amusements

they may and may not attend. I am not making it up. Adolf Hitler never had

the kind of control that some of these Christian Colleges exert over their

employees. And the remarkable thing is, these Christian employees would

still assume that they are "free." Again, they do not know the meaning of

the word.

 

And one would think that our veterans--of all people--would be among the

first to jealously guard freedom. How, then, can former and retired military

personnel sit back and allow the government they once proudly served to lie

to them, renege on promises, withhold medical care, abandon their friends

and family members still missing in action, and not utter a word of protest?

How can they allow their comrades-in-arms to sleep on the streets outside VA

clinics? While they were willing to travel halfway around the world--and

risk life and limb--to defend America against foreign enemies, many will sit

back right here at home and complacently watch while these glorified

miscreants--known as politicians--systematically strip this nation of the

very freedoms and liberties they swore to defend. Did they not take an oath

to defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign AND DOMESTIC? If the

statistics I read are accurate, most veterans do not even vote. I ask, if we

do not know what freedom is at home, how can we fight wars across the world

and understand what we are fighting for?

 

Obviously, people who are receiving welfare, or other government handouts,

seldom complain about there being too much government, because they

personally benefit from the growth of the socialist state. This is also true

for many (but not all, thank God) government employees, of course. And

please remember that government cannot give a blessed thing without first

stealing it from someone else. Big Government is totally incompatible with

freedom. For that matter, so is Big Business and Big Religion. In fact, Big

Anything is incompatible with freedom. Even Big Cities.

 

So, I repeat the question, Do Americans really cherish freedom anymore? And,

if we do, what are we going to do about it? I believe that there are

specific and constructive steps that can be taken to restore liberty in this

land. (I will develop these thoughts later.) I further believe that there

are still millions of Americans who really do understand and cherish

freedom. We may be in a minority, but remember, we were also a minority in

1776. Freedom is laborious, onerous work. And not everyone enjoys hard work.

So be it. Let lazy, indolent fools wallow in their servitude. God will yet

see to it that there is a land of liberty for those who truly desire it and

are willing to fight for it. I firmly believe that.

 

Remember, liberty is a precious gift from our Creator. For those who fear

God, respect Natural Law, and love liberty, there is yet a "promised land."

We may have to do a little searching; we may have to rethink our priorities;

we may have to adjust our lifestyles; and yes, we may have to "pledge our

lives, fortunes, and sacred honor" in order to obtain it; but our forebears

thought it was worth it--and so do I.

 

As Friedrich Schiller wrote in William Tell:

 

"By this fair light which greeteth us, before

Those other nations, that, beneath us far,

In noisome cities pent, draw painful breath,

Swear we the oath of our confederacy!

A band of brothers true we swear to be,

Never to part in danger or in death!

 

"We swear we will be free as were our sires,

And sooner die than live in slavery!

 

"We swear, to put our trust in God Most High,

And not to quail before the might of man!"

 

Such people can never be enslaved. And I believe that such people still

exist in these United States of America. I count them my brothers. I offer

them my arm and my heart. After all, we are freedom-loving Americans.

[alumaliteusaxxxx 3]

I completely agree with you !!!!

Well said !!!!

[RalphXL 9]

Long read but well worth it.

 

RalphXL

[railman1 0]

I wish I was as eloquent as Mr Baldwin..He speaks for many of us. I have truly wondered lately..Can true freedom..true "liberty"..survive long term? Apparently that question troubles many of us..It seems to be in the back of our mind like a bad dream we had in the dark of night..and cant completely forget.

 

Think of the many "democracies"..and "republics" that have come and gone over the ages. Is it inevitable that freedom fail? That by its nature it must eventually destroy itself?

 

I choose to believe not..I choose to believe that even in those worst of times...when all seems lost.. men and women of good will must struggle to hand the faint, flickering candle of hope to the next generation...Dying is not hard..Living as slaves is hard.

[Ijustlikeguns 2]

Well said. Start out small by having marches in the streets of bigger cities. Then the million gun owner march in DC.

I like the part about the feudal system and how we have ties to it nowadays. This country should only be ran on sales tax and nothing further.

[alumaliteusaxxxx 3]

Well said. Start out small by having marches in the streets of bigger cities. Then the million gun owner march in DC.

I like the part about the feudal system and how we have ties to it nowadays. This country should only be ran on sales tax and nothing further.

 

 

 

 

 

Hang on to your hat!!!!! If you have a son, brother, father,

mother, sister, daughter or friend in the military you can expect that this

president intends to take over this whole country with this sort of

allegiance to the presidential office. Urge them all to refuse to sign any

such oath or to take it orally. Urge your congressmen to stop this

immediately. If all the other nonsense that's already happened since this

man took office is weighed along with this, it ought to be clear to all of

us what his intent is. The Posse Committals Act will be ignored and when

the UN treaty banning the ownership of privately held small arms is signed,

(it won't be ratified) this administration will call it a fact

accomplished,

and we will be seeing those we love in the military, coming to take our

weapons. Do you realize the genius of this??? He is counting on the fact

we, the private citizens, will not fire on our own family members, but will,

instead give up our weapons. The only way to definitely stop this is for

all the military to refuse to take this oath, flat refuse. The explosion

that is about to come to this country. If we really do wake up, we will

make the Revolutionary War look like a Sunday paint ball game. If we do NOT

wake up, it will happen just the way. This president has it laid out, with

the help of his advisors, some of which are outright Marxists. We really

don't have much time!!!!! The horror of what is happening is mind

boggling!!! Israel, bail-out, immigrations amnesty, energy disaster, loss of

military power, (he wants to reduce our nuclear arms by 80%), reduction in

new military systems, DO YOU GET THE PICTURE YET???? Every day the new

things that are coming at us are so overwhelming, and he is expecting that

we will be so numb, as to not see the forest for the individual trees that

are burying us alive!!!!!! We better get our "line in the sand"

drawn, or

we will never be able to. His agenda will be beyond action to stop it.

It's

probably too late to save our Country, as we have known it!!! But let's act

as though it matters, and maybe a few of U.S. will not go down willingly. We are in deep

SHIT!!! The time for patience is past!!! I'm waiting for

them to bust down my door at any moment, especially after this post!!!

Oops, gotta go........ There's someone with a gun knocking on my door!!!

 

 

January 30, 2009

**Military to swear Oath to Obama, not Constitution?**

 

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates is allegedly extremely frustrated with

orders that the White House is contemplating. According to sources at the

Pentagon, including all branches of the armed forces, the Obama

Administration may break with a centuries-old tradition.

 

A spokesman for General James Cartwright, the Vice Chairman of the Joint

Chiefs of Staff, states that the Obama Administration wants to have soldiers

and officers pledge a loyalty oath directly to the office of the President,

and no longer to the Constitution.

 

"The oath to the Constitution is as old as the document itself." the

spokesman said, "At no time in American history, not even in the Civil

War,

did the oath change or the subject of the oath differ. It has *always* been

to the Constitution."

 

The back-and-forth between the White House and the Defense Department was

expected as President George W. Bush left office. President Obama has

already signed orders to close Guantanamo and to pull combat troops from

Iraq . But, this, say many at the Defense Department, goes too far.

 

"Technically, we can't talk about it before it becomes official

policy." the

spokesman continued. "However, the Defense Department, including the

Secretary, will not take this laying down. Expect a fight from the

bureaucracy and the brass."

 

Sources at the White House had a different point of view. In a circular

distributed by White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, the rationale for

the change was made more clear.

 

"The President feels that the military has been too indoctrinated by the

old

harbingers of hate: nationalism, racism, and classism. By removing an oath

to the American society, the soldiers are less likely to commit atrocities

like those at Abu Ghraib."

 

"We expect a lot of flak over this," the classified memo continues.

"But

those that would be most against it are those looking either for attention

or control."

 

The time frame for the changes are unknown. However, it is more likely that

the changes will be made around the July 4th holiday, in order to dampen any

potential backlash. The difference in the oath will actually only be slight.

The main differences will be the new phrasing. It is expected that the oath

to the Constitution will be entirely phased out within two years.

[t-amzn 0]

Someone help me out here. Wasn't this subject already posted and determined to not hold water. But I'm sure this administration would like to implement this kind of thing if they could pull it off.

[alumaliteusaxxxx 3]

[Drusagas 2]

[alumaliteusaxxxx 3]