Thankful for living in the USA? You should be.

This past holiday was one of giving thanks. Thats why we call it “Thanksgiving” Day. However, very few Americans know what the true meaning of the holiday is. Many of us look at this day as a 4 day week end or a day for football and eating lots of turkey and other traditional thanksgiving day fair. We don't stop to think about what this holiday really is about and what we should be thankful for.

Here is a brief history of how the very first Thanksgiving Day came to be and how it was celebrated and who celebrated it.

The early settlers of Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts were particularly grateful to Squanto, the Native American who taught them how to catch eel, grow corn and who served as their native interpreter (as Squanto had converted to Christianity and learned English as a slave in Europe). Without Squanto's assistance, the settlers might not have survived in the New World.
The Plymouth settlers (who came to be called "Pilgrims") set apart a holiday immediately after their first harvest in 1621. They held an autumn celebration of food, feasting, and praising God. The Governor of Plymouth invited Grand Sachem Massasoit and the Wampanoag people to join them in the feast. Evidence to support that claim came from diaries of citizens of Plymouth. The settlers fed and entertained the Indians for three days, at which point some of these natives went into the forest, killed 5 deer, and gave it to the Governor as a gift.*

As you can see, this holiday was indeed a holiday giving thanks to Almighty God above for his provision and you can also see that the Native Americans of the day, helped in that celebration and in fact contributed to the festivities. They did not protest. They did not picket. They did not denounce anyone on this day. The Settlers and the Natives both sat together, ate together, gave thanks together and celebrated together. Are you getting the theme here? Togetherness.

This day has been celebrated for a long time in our country's history. In fact, President Lincoln was not the first US President to celebrate the day. Here is a brief history of how this day came to be a part of our national heritage.

The first official Thanksgiving Proclamation made in America was issued by the Continental Congress in 1777. Six national Proclamations of Thanksgiving were issued in the first thirty years after the founding of the United States of America as an independent federation of States. President George Washington issued two, President John Adams issued two, President Thomas Jefferson made none and President James Madison issued two.

In 1789 Washington designated a national thanksgiving holiday for the newly ratified Constitution, specifically so that that the people may thank God for "affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness" and for having "been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted, for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed..."

After 1815 there were no more Thanksgiving Proclamations until the Presidency of Lincoln, who made two during the Civil War. He declared Thanksgiving a Federal holiday as a "prayerful day of Thanksgiving" on the last Thursday in November. Since then every U.S. President has always made an official Thanksgiving Proclamation on behalf of the nation. President Franklin D. Roosevelt set the date for Thanksgiving to the Fourth Thursday of November in 1939 (approved by Congress in 1941) *

So you see, Thanksgiving is a day, from the beginning that was set aside to thank God for His provision in many ways for this nation. But some of you may still think that none of this has anything to do with today. After all this is the new millennium. Its the year 2007. Surely all of that nonsense has no meaning for today. Well you would be dead wrong.

Now what should every American be thankful for? I have a short list for you to consider. First and foremost, you were born and/or live here. This is by far the greatest and most free nation on the face of the planet. No other country can say they have just about every nationality living here. No other country can claim to be the destination of so many looking for freedom and opportunity. NO OTHER NATION!

The United States of America has the best road system in the world. The best medical care system in the world. The most opportunity for everyone in the world no matter what your station or class in society. The USA has the most personal and political and religious freedom on the planet. We have arguably the best political system in the world. We have the best lifestyle bar none.

I did not say we as a nation are perfect. I also did not say we as a nation are the best at everything. We do have room for improvement in just about every facet of our country. However, there is not a country on the planet that has the will, determination and mechanism to improve itself more than the good ol' US of A.

Now before you pick up the sign and degrades your own freely elected leaders, think about how many nations don't have that freedom. Before you stuff your face with that turkey, think about how many nations don't have that luxury. Before you degrade your own country, think about how many people risk their lives to get here.

Yet you are here. You live here. Most likely you were born here or have a relative that was born here. How lucky can you be. In a world with more than 6 billion people, only 300 million are lucky enough to call this nation home. I think that is a whole lot to be thankful for.

Who is Dimwitted? Not President Bush

And as for the Federal Government spending a large sum on defense, well, the Constitution dictates just such spending. The Federal Government through this document, is charged with maintaining a national army and providing for the defense of the nation. That is not a cheap en devour. The Constitution does not grant the Federal Government the power to have, maintain, mandate or fun social programs. Indeed, Constitutional historians believe that many of the departments and programs run by the Federal Government are not constitutional. And frankly they are dead on.

The United States is a Democratic Republic, not a Socialist Republic. That means, the people have the power and are responsible for their own lives. In a Socialist Republic, the few decide for the many what is best and how to live. Is that what Liberals want? Do they truly believe that the few can better decide what the many need on a daily basis? Hasn't history proven time and time again that just such a government model fails? Has always failed? Indeed, will continue to fail.

I guess these people are not as smart as they like to think they are. The good news for them is the fact that some of those bumper stickers are just down right funny and make you laugh out loud. Maybe they can get comedy writing jobs. Lord knows, they can't get ahead with their ideas alone.

The Left of Hate

I was talking go a couple of guys the other day. The conversation turned political when an advertisement come on the TV. We could not here what the this particular advertisement was saying because we were in a bar and the volume was turned down.

One of the gentlemen asked what I thought of Hillary Clinton. I responded, “I don't like her, I don't trust her and I don't believe she is best for the Office or the Country.” His reply was that he liked her for the simple fact that he thought she would get us out of Iraq when she took office.

The other gentlemen ask me if I like Barack Obama. He is an elderly black man and I am a young black man. (Actually we are both mixed race but that is a discussion for another time) I said I thought Obama was too slick and too inexperienced to be President of the United States. Surprisingly he agreed however. They both expressed support for Hillary.

When I informed them that Hillary has stated publicly that she would not pull out of Iraq if elected they first didn't believe me. But when I explained why she wouldn't they paused and the elderly man said it was because of Bush. It was his mess and that she would have to clean it up.

The conversation went on to cover such things as health care, taxes (tax the rich) and other things of note till we finally got to the point of discussing Clarence Thomas and Condi Rice. The elderly black man called them both 'Uncle Tom's'.

I had to ask what made them such a thing. I really did not get a response other than something filled with hate. He said that Condi probably had sexual relations with a number of white men in power to get where she is and the Clarence by his views and being conservative had to be an Uncle Tom.

That got me to thinking. When a black person becomes successful outside of the entertainment or sports industry, they should still be liberal. If they are not then they are Uncle Toms and have sold out their fellow black brothers and sisters. Forget the fact that these successful blacks might just have an educated mind of their own.

This view was based on ignorance and hate. Hate for conservatives, hate for Bush, hate for anything that is not big government.

When I explained that the Constitution of the United States does not authorize the Federal Government to do many of the things it does, the sneered and said that there was Supreme Court precedence for such things. They also lambasted chief Justice Roberts because he said he was going to rule on precedence. They misunderstood what the Chief Justice said.

He was referring to the precedence as set fourth by over 150 years prior to the 1950's when the Supreme Court began rewriting history and started creating law from the bench. I told them that the Founding Fathers had set precedent and that the modern court has thrown all that out the window and began setting their own.

Confronted with this reality, they could not argue but started calling conservatives names and kept lambasting conservative blacks and other minorities.

When it comes down to it, the left are the ones who hate the most. They cannot win with their ideas simply because their ideas are based on emotion and not logic or common sense. They lack any real significance is reality and when confronted with this, they cannot argue so instead resort to name calling and lambasting anyone who would dare question their sincere intentions. Life is not about good intentions, its about reality and logic and common sense. Life in this country is about the Constitution and how the Founding Fathers saw how things should be for the good of all.

Liberals are not interested in the good of all. Only the good of the few, the minority. In doing this they, end up costing us all our liberty and freedom. The saying goes, the road to hell is always paved with good intentions.

A Day off is Freedom For You and Me

When Congress takes a day off, it is good news for you and me. A couple of days ago, Fox news had an article about how Congress was going to work longer hours. Yes, Nancy Popo (Pelosi) has dictated that Congress will work a 40 hour week.

Check out the article for yourself here:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,243643,00.html

Now lets get one thing straight. The more time Congress takes off, the less time they have to screw up your life and my life. The less time Congress spends in chambers, then the more freedom and liberty we get to keep for a longer period of time.

Do you actually think that the majority of laws that Congress has passed over the last 40 years has been to expand our liberty and freedom? If you do, then I have some really nice first class property in the Florida everglades you would be really smart to purchase. Then again maybe some "green" acres in Arizona or New Mexico would be more to your liking.

Now it can be argued that our Congress men and women have lost touch with reality when they get to Washington, D.C. Usually because Congress doesn't work as the rest of us do. Congress doesn't put in the hours that many of their very constituents do.

Well, that is not such a bad thing. Remember when Congress is in session, all they can do is come up with laws that limit freedom. So it is safe to say that when Congress is not in session, when Congress is away from the capitol, the more freedom we preserve.

Let The Eagle Fly

The time has come for politics to be taken out of war. Have we learned nothing from Korea and Vietnam? By the tone and speeches of our politicians on both sides of the isle since President Bush’s speech on Jan 10, 2006, it would appear we have learned nothing.

The ironic thing about this is that many of the loudest critics of Bush’s plan on Iraq are tossing the bomb of how this is a repeat of Vietnam. The fail to see that they, themselves are repeating the same stupid mistakes that made Vietnam a failure.

In Korea and Vietnam, there were political limits placed on the President and troops on the ground that prevented them from an all out win in those countries. We have a similar case here with Iraq.

We now have Senators and Congressmen telling the President he has no authority to conduct the war without their consent. They are telling the Commander in Chief of our Military Forces that where he can and cannot take the War on Terrorism.

As with Vietnam, these same politicians are threatening to cut the funding needed to keep our soldiers safe and in the battle in order to defeat this enemy. No I would say they have learned nothing. Or they think that pandering to the left wing peace-nicks of the country they can win votes.

They let the media dictate what is important and then they let lies and deceit be perpetrated on the American people so much so that the American people begin to believe it. When that happens, then we indeed are not safe.

I do not agree with all the actions our President has taken since this battle for our liberty and safety began that temperate morning in September back in 2001. Actually, this battle began long before that day.

You can trace the beginnings of this battle back to the birth of Israel. There are people still in this day and age that believe that the Jewish people do not deserve a home of their own. In fact there are people in this world that would believe as Hitler did, that all Jews should be eradicated from this planet.

And since the United States has always stood against such radical tyranny, we are now placed on the same hated platform as the Jewish people. The radicals hate our way of life. They hate our very existence. They will stop at nothing to eliminate every man, woman and child of Jewish and American decent. Make no mistake about it. Much like the tyrants of history, these people are bent on world domination.

For those of you who believe that the base level of Muslim faith is peace you are dead wrong. The Koran, in its own words, clearly and emphatically states that every man, woman and child should convert to the only true religion or be put to death by the sword. No other major religion on this planet has that tenant. Especially Judaism and Christianity.

I am not saying that every single Muslim is radical and is willing to follow their bible by the letter. Many are peaceful. But just like with other religions, there are a few radicals that take things to the far extreme. These are the people that President Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair are engaging in battle.

We cannot be limited to where we can go to get this enemy. That would be the same mistake we made in Vietnam. You cannot limit how our troops can engage the enemy. That would be the same mistake we made in Vietnam. We cannot limit how far our troops can travel to root out and destroy the enemy. That would be the same mistake we made in Korea and Vietnam.

In truth, those who are screaming the loudest the President Bush is committing the same mistakes that were committed in Korea and Vietnam are correct to a point. He allowed their rants to limit his view and action which were the same mistakes made by the Presidents during the conflicts in Korea and Vietnam.

Those same loudmouths seem to not realize or at worst poor students of history because they never see themselves as committing the same deadly and disastrous errors of those conflicts in our not so distant past.

I do not believe more troops will solve the problem of Iraq if those additional troops are not allowed to do what they need to do, go where they need to go, in order to defeat the enemy.

Be it known to all, this is not an enemy state. What we are fighting is an idea. It will never be totally defeated. But like racism, it can be managed and limited to negligible affects on the general, peaceful population.

Nazi’s still exist, but they pose no real danger to the general public. We can push the radical Muslim down to the level of the Nazi, make them insignificant in the general scope of the world. But we will never totally defeat them. However, making them that irrelevant is victory indeed. And the world will be a much better place for it.

But in order to do so, we cannot repeat the mistakes of the past. In fact the United States of America is not invincible. If we do not put our heart and soul into a fight, we can and do lose. If we do not meet the enemy on his turf, he will most assuredly meet us on our turf.

I ask you all, do you want this war on terror to be a political war or a true war with a defiant objective in which we can win and remain a safe and free people? You cannot be a coward and live free. You cannot run from a fight and expect the enemy to not chase you. If you do not stand, you will fall. History is never wrong. History has proven what works and what does not work.

History is what we seem to be forgetting. History is what we will repeat if we do not change our ways. Only this time, we may lose more than just a battle in a small part of the world. We may lose our very way of life. Its time we stop playing politics the Ancient Roman way which will lead to our very destruction. It is time we start doing politics the way our Founding Fathers did and unite under one banner to defeat those who are bent on defeating us. Its time for America to let that Eagle fly high again without restraint. Its time we remember our History.

Give Me Liberty not Security

Let me start by stating that I love the United States of America. I believe with all my heart that is the single greatest nation to ever grace the pages of history on this planet. I believe God Himself ordained and did establish this great nation through Godly men. Those men we call the Founding Fathers of the United States.

They were not perfect people. Yet they created a nearly perfect human governance document called the Constitution. Now when it comes to politics many would say I am a Conservative Right Wing Christian Republican. That is not true.

Yes I am a registered Republican and I usually vote for a Republican in local, state and national elections. However, I do not tow the party line. Yes I am a Conservative. Yes I am a Christian. But truth be told, I am a Contstitutionalist. I believe in the fabric of the Constitution of the United States.

I would defend that document, this nation and any man woman or child legally in this land to my very death. However, I must take great issue with some of the laws coming down the pike especially since September 11, 2001.

Now President Bush has decided he and his predecessors will have the power and authority to open up and look through mail without a search warrant. This is in direct violation of the Constitution. I don't care how you justify it. Benjamin Franklin's words of “those who give up liberty for security deserve neither” never rang more true. I believe there is more to that statement and it goes something like this: “Indeed for they shall quickly find they have neither.”

White House spokeswoman Emily Lawrimore, though, told the Daily News that “in certain circumstances – such as with the proverbial 'ticking bomb' – the Constitution does not require warrants for reasonable searches.”

This was reported in the Thursday January 4, 2006 edition of USA Today. Now a statement like that totally bothers me. What stops them from saying that every word in the Constitution is null in void in “certain circumstances” and who determines what those circumstances are?

Even the Police have oversight. The police have a check and balance. But when you have officials in high office that decide through strokes of the pen that the Constitution doesn't mean what it says, then we all need to look out because they will be coming for you and me and our families. Never for an instant believe that if you give them an inch they will stop at an inch.

When has the government, local, state or federal, ever stopped at an “inch”? They never have, they have always gone forward and taken a foot, then a yard. Now the Bush Administration is advancing and taking a rod. (A rod in measurement is five feet for those of you who are Rio Linda in the head)

If we give them the room and ignore this slight of the Constitution, our government will move forward and take a mile. At that point it will be too late. You will have lost your liberties in the pursuit of security. What America needs to do is stand up and say “NO” to this intrusion on our liberties. We need to elect people who will stand up for the Constitution. People who will not pervert the good work of the Founding Fathers.

This nation has been secure for over 200 years by following the Constitution. It can be secure for another 200 years by following that same document. Those words were written for a reason. They are not arbitrary. They are real, purposeful and living and breathing, like every man, woman and child who call this great nation home. Follow the rule of law and you will be secure with your liberties in tact. Subvert that law and you quickly slip into a Communistic, Fascist and/or anarchist society. Man was meant to live free. President Bush, I implore you, do not destroy the very nation you seek to protect by subverting the very document that gives you power.

There are other words that ring true, “As for me, Sir. Give me LIBERTY or give me death!” Because life without liberty is worse than death. And that is the view from a Conservative, Christian, Right Wing, Constitutionalist.