To Whom Ever May be Interested
The following was written by my neighbor, Charlie. Something words to think about, I think.
To Whom Ever May Be Interested
They tell me that confession is good for the soul. Well I am about to find out if that is true. I wish to confess that I am not a very good American. There, I’ve said it. Should I feel better yet? I don’t. My failings as an American go back to 1967. Remember the Viet Nam War, the draft and the protests? I avoided the draft by enlisting in the Air Force, because in the Air Force officers did all the fighting. But at Basic Training I can still remember with pangs of guilt when they presented a board full of options for what we could volunteer. There were four major categories or breakdowns, electronic, mechanical, administration and a fourth that escapes me. There were several subcategories under each heading. But at the top of each was same option, “Combat Control Team.” That was the only subcategory under all four headings. Did I mention it was at the top? It was the word “combat” that gave me a clue. I came very close to choosing it, very close, so close that it scared me. But safety won out. Instead I ended with a rather insignificant assignment at a rather safe distance from danger. I rationalize my lack of courage with the “honest” assessment that had they sent to Viet Nam I would have gone. There is no way to test that hypothesis since they never sent me.
Thinking of what might have been is an exercise in futility. I squandered my opportunity to do the honorable thing, to put myself in harm’s way for the sake of the greatest country in the world, in all of history. But I gave my country four years of my life, right? I’m a Viet Nam Era Veteran! All was well. No, all was not well. I lived a life of ignorance and near apathy as to what was going on around me, not wanting to know what was happening in Washington or the State Capital. I grumbled when my taxes went up, when the price of gas went up, or when my man did not win the election (I did vote in every election since I came of age). My interest in world affairs was cursory at best. I have always leaned right in my politics, though I voted for Jimmy Carter. I always felt that the Republicans would watch out for my best interests.
I got more involved when Bill Clinton occupied the White House, but actually relaxed when George W. Bush captured it in 2000. The guardians of freedom must never relax. After 9/11, my perspective changed, but not enough, because I did nothing outside my circle of friends during the last election. Once again, I have failed my country by not giving her my all. Now we have a bona fide progressive as our Commander and Chief. I never even heard of a progressive until each of them was no longer afraid to be identified as one. I’m still not too sure what one is except to know they are not good for America, but I am learning. I have been reading a lot lately.
I started with the Constitution of the United States and the Declaration of Independence, two truly remarkable documents written and ratified by some very astute and remarkable men. It is upon these documents that the identity of the United States is set. We are a Constitutional Republic. That means we are a nation that is a representative democracy governed by the rule of law. After two hundred years, now all of a sudden the constitution doesn’t mean what we thought it meant all that time? The word “unconstitutional” means nothing to the progressive because the constitution does not mean what we thought it meant for two hundred years. Progressives must be pretty smart, they know what the constitution means better than those who wrote it over two hundred years ago! Maybe those who wrote put in secret codes and subliminal messages that took two hundred years of progress to discover.
I have discovered that progressives (I prefer statist, as Mark Levin does. I told you I started reading and I can drop a name or two) pay little or no attention to our founding documents, and that was a wakeup call for me. This last electoral victory and the removal of any balance of authority in Washington gave the statists a green light to shred the constitution and do what they want. The fact that the opposition party has virtually no one standing up for our constitution tells me that progressives are not confined to one party only. There are only two possible reasons for not speaking up, either they are compliant to the progressive agenda, or they lack the courage. Either way, they forfeit the privilege to represent the people.
I am a member of the people! I have been given another opportunity to fight for my country! This time not with guns opposing some foreign power seeking to destroy our way of life from afar, but an enemy within our own governing authority that seems hell-bent on bringing some kind of new order to our nation that would be unrecognizable to the authors and those who ratified the rule of law that once governed this free people. These pasts few months have been alarming are best and terrifying at worst to those who hold the constitution as the anchor of our system of government.
As terrible, tragic, and horrific as Viet Nam was, it was a war that left out country wounded and disheartened, but not destroyed. This new war will be fought on our own soil and if we lose this one, the United States will cease to exist. A columnist Ken Conner, and others, have said it this way, that the United States will become the United State! The Federal government will eventually break the states of what little sovereignty they enjoy now and they will become puppets of Washington with no real authority beyond what Washington might allow. Washington will micromanage every facet of state and local authority.
State sovereignty is not the only issue at stake. It is not longer a certainty that “Not in America!” is true. Every right listed in our Bill of Rights to some degree is under attack by these statists. Rather than change the constitution through prescribed methods, the statist plan to circumvent it through the use of international treaties from the United Nations. (Now there’s an organization we can trust!) Currently, they will never attempt to amend the constitution because they know their efforts would be in vain. Repeal the First Amendment? It would never pass the states! Oh wait, they might gain control of the states! Would “the people” stand for it? All indications at this moment make an answer debatable. (The Second Amendment will fall before the First.)
I can no longer sit on the side lines in my safe little world, insulated from what is happening around me. Something is not right in Washington. No, something is very wrong, and I am afraid, yes I fear not only the IRS, but the government in general now. (I shouldn’t be afraid of the IRS anymore; this new administration demonstrates how forgiving the IRS really is. Who knew?) I am told time and time again that I am free, then why doesn’t it feel like it? Are my fears unfounded? I think not. When this citizen of the world we hired as our President tells a group of private bankers that the only thing between them and “the pitchforks” is him, I think my trepidation of our government is based in reality. My “pursuit of happiness” is hindered by having to look over my shoulder every step of the way. (What if, God forbid, I break one of those new CFL light bulbs, of which I will have the freedom to use exclusively after 2012, or is it 2014?) If any man fears his government, how can he call himself a free man?
It seems that what’s happening in Washington has emboldened some state legislatures as well. In their quest for more funds, my home commonwealth of Kentucky has assessed unjust taxation on a segment of society that uses tobacco and alcohol products. I hear some are going after soft drinks. Can potato chips and candy bars be far behind? These things seem small, even trivial, particularly if you do not indulge, but singling out behavior for taxation is population control. My reading of the constitution tells me that that is against the law! And that makes me angry. It’s not what is being taxed; it’s that they are being taxed! Remember, our founding fathers went after tea!
Then I see the way the media went after those of us who participated in the modern “Tea Parties.” Disgraceful! Shameless! Dishonest! Unworthy of American journalism! And I got angry. This is the United States of America, and it was We the People who participated in those rallies. I never heard such denigration of those protesting the mistreatment of chickens. Those were celebrated as courageous and compassionate. I’m sure such protests were simply spontaneous and grassroots. Our Tea Parties had to have been organized by the Republican Party or Fox News, because We the People are incapable of such initiative and enthusiasm. It couldn’t possibly be grassroots! This is the media that is supposed to inform us of what is going on in our country so that we can make intelligent decisions. (The local print media outlet where I live did not even mention our gathering of nearly 1200 people until two days after.) And that really made me angry! Was this same media outlet able to confirm its reporting that the rallies were organized by Republicans or Fox? I cannot continue to remain silent after being lied to by those who are supposed to report the truth! To them I say either prove it or shut up! I prefer the latter.
I will mourn my country if we fail, I will regret what will have happened to our basic freedoms, and I will lament the loss of the American Dream. But what I will not be afraid of is my future grandchildren asking me, “Grandpa, what did you do when America was changed?” I want to be able to stand tall and say, “I opposed the intimidation of my Government. I stood up to the destroyers of my liberties. I spoke out when they encroached upon my neighbor’s freedom.” I want to be able to tell my children’s children that I told that community organizer and his ilk, “You are taking from me the America my father left me. I will not let you force me to leave to my children less freedom than I enjoyed, more taxes than I ever imagined, and a feeling that I must whisper when out in public.”
What can I do? I will do what is necessary. I must, I have no choice, the future looks too grave to ignore the present as a passing fancy of an idealist. Let’s organize a community of our own, and let’s call it the United States of America and let’s have its bylaws be the Constitution written so long ago by some pretty smart guys. I’m not sure we could improve on that. I cannot, nor can any one person stem the onslaught of progressivism by himself. I must become We and I will ally myself to likeminded individuals. We must become “We the People!”
I have a plan:
1) I will seek and accept allies even if we differ on some issues. If we fail, the issues become moot. There is too much at stake to let the progressives divide us, we can deal with our differences after we have dealt with the minimizing of our individual liberties.
2) I hope to educate myself, and I would encourage others to do the same. Read news papers, search for bias or neglect. Read books, read opinions, become informed!
3) Write letters, email, twitter, or whatever to your elected officials at all levels. Tell them you are watching and that you vote. There is no need for hostility or anger, just inform them how you would vote given the opportunity on a given issue.
4) Question the media of any type and write or call to question why they have done what they did.
5) Stay informed on the issues, try not to let them confuse with obscure or even unrelated information.
6) Get involved with a likeminded organization. Do not spread yourself out to thin.
7) Participate in any protest that focuses on higher taxes or the encroachment upon personal liberties.
8) Confront lies wherever you hear them, and from whomever you hear them.
9) Do not assume the opposition party is on our side. Republicans have to earn my respect and actions speak louder than words.
10) Talk to people (that’s a really hard one for me; I don’t do very well around people).
11) Sign petitions, demand accountability.
There are other actions I am sure. I do not wish to be idle anymore. Can you imagine the affect on the local paper if it were inundated with a thousand letters to the editor questioning the paper’s stand on a particular issue? If I am just a number only, I want to be counted a hundred times! I want the progressive statists to know that I exist and can be counted upon to oppose them. How does the old adage go? If not now, when? If not me, who?
you made the right choices
I knew and worked with a lot of airforce, and navy vets, and viet nam was the reason they enlisted. It wasn't draft dodging, or learning to speak canadian. It was the right and smart thing to do. One of my cousins opted for the coast guard, He went to nam, said it was betterthan alaska, where he went first. The feelings in my age group were enlist and get it over, then you hope you can plan a life. At that time, after korea, if you were 1A you were going to go somewhere, no doubt about it.
