Freedom and Virtue are Inextricably Entwined

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"Ah forget it! If it feels good, do it!"

Today in America, about 75% of adults identify themselves as Christian. In comparison, the next largest religions in America are Islam and Judaism. Combined they represent only about one to two percent of the United States population. ReligiousTolerance.org

That says that nearly 225,000,000 Americans believe they are Believers in the One True God. And, after all, virtue does not require belief in God (or does it?) Still, immorality floods our streets, our homes, our schools, and our churches, cathedrals and synagogues. That is a problem! From suicide to abortion, from euthanasia to childhood abuse, what happened to all the “good” neighbors? How can we expect our children to learn virtue, if we, as adults, are not moral (including humility!)?

This graph was posted originally March 9, 2004 HERE. I’m sure the results would be even more exaggerated now. All one need do is watch 5 minutes of local news or pick up the front page of any newspaper to see that self-control is out the window, and self-indulgence is the rage! (pun intended!) Immorality is easy! Virtue is work!

Freedom and Virtue are Inextricably Entwined

Think about it! They go together like bees and honey! How can one exist without the other? It can’t! Freedom requires that each individual “respect” the rights of his neighbor. Virtue thrives amid personal freedom where it can be freely expressed. Without one or the other, they BOTH wane. This is the fundamental reason America is where she is today! We live under “relative” or “situational” ethics/morals/virtue! We look at how our neighbors live and use that as a reference point. Or we use our boss, or some political or entertainment or athletic figure as a sort of guideline.

Morality … Virtue cannot be relative (or situaltional.) It cannot depend on each situation. Murder is either right or wrong. Drug dependence is either right or wrong. Rape is either right or wrong. Gossip is … yea, that is harder. Or is it? Anger … Right of wrong? Beating up another person … right or wrong? Even if they cut you off in traffic?Drinking and driving … right or wrong? Lying … ooooh another hard one. Is lying right or wrong?

You see … We KNOW what is right and what is wrong. It’s almost instinctive. That is not to say we don’t ever tell lies or allow others to make us angry, but we know it is not right … it is not a good thing! We know it is not virtuous to engage in over-indulgence of any kind. What do we do about it? Do we push it aside and say (like we did when we were 10) “Everyone else is doing it!” or “Johney’s mom let’s him do it!” Yea, I know!

So the next time someone cuts in front of you in traffic, smile and say, “Thanks! I needed that reminder! I’m not perfect either!”

The grace we show will come back to us when we need it most!

What Would the Founders Do or Think?

“Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.” Benjamin Franklin

“When public virtue is gone, when the national spirit is fled […] the republic is lost in essence, though it may still exist in form.” John Adams

“Without Freedom of Thought, there can be no such Thing as Wisdom; and no such Thing as publick Liberty, without Freedom of Speech.” Benjamin Franklin

“Dependence begets subservience and venality, suffocates the germ of virtue, and prepares fit tools for the designs of ambition.” Thomas Jefferson

“The truth is, all might be free if they valued freedom, and defended it as they ought.” Samuel Adams

“Political freedom includes in it every other blessing. All the pleasures of riches, science, virtue, and even religion itself derive their value from liberty alone. No wonder therefore wise and prudent legislators have in all ages been held in such great veneration; and no wonder too those illustrious souls who have employed their pens and sacrificed their lives in defense of liberty have met with such universal applause. Their reputations, like some majestic river which enlarges and widens as it approaches its parent ocean, shall become greater and greater through every age and outlive the ruins of the world itself.” Benjamin Rush

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Exempt from Life’s Tragedies? Think about it!

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“Held” by Natalie Grant

(Read the Lyrics below)

For many years, it has been my contention that God’s priorities and mine were not the same. Teachers of Biblical ideas taught satisfaction, that God wants His people, His children to prosper, to be healthy, to be “blessed.” It was insinuated that we were “favored” above non-believers. It was then assumed that if some “evil” befell you, there must be sin in your life or at the very least, a lack of faith. This, however, was not what I witnessed in or outside the Church-at-large.

Through the years, I’ve seen many people healed of various diseases and crippling conditions. I’ve seen blind eyes opened. I’ve seen deaf ears unstopped and new limbs grown or damaged ones repaired. Some, but not all. Why?

Does God love some better than others? NO! Does He require more of some than others? NO! What is the difference? Why are some healed and not others? Why are some rescued from addictions, but not all? Why do horrible things happen to good and caring people?

It has slipped into the mentality of many Christians that they are somehow exempt from life’s tragedies. That because we give our lives to Jesus to manage, the storms of life will pass by us. We skip over Jesus’ words, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33 NKJV)

Where did we ever get the notion that we were “above” the troubles of this life? I don’t know, but it’s a reality in many congregations to the point that when tragedy does strike, as it always does, the victim is left alone. The other “sheep” scatter unable or unwilling to deal with the hurt, the suffering, the difficulties, whatever they may be because it doesn’t line up with their trouble-free theology.

Today, there are millions, yes, millions of believers OUTSIDE local assemblies because of “friendly fire” incidents. (“Friendly fire” is when members of the same army, on the same side, wound one another accidentally or intentionally!) Something as seemingly innocuous as divorce or a child’s drug addiction or even poor grades is enough to bring on the “gossiper-prayer chains” and bring separation. Assumptions are made, insensitive and unkind words spoken, and insult is added to injury.

At some point, if the Body of Christ is to be healthy, she must learn to embrace suffering as Jesus embraced his own. We must apprehend God’s purpose even if we do not always like His methods. It’s time for Christians to once again, become more “OTHERS” focused and less self-indulgent and learn to love as God loves, less judgmental and more compassionate. God will always take care of our NEEDS, but not always our wishes, wants or desires. It seems God is less interested in our temporary comfort than He is our eternal condition. This is a very GOOD thing!

Both of these songs illustrate my point. Give a listen and ponder the lyrics.

“Blessings” by Laura Story

READ the Lyrics below

* HELD lyrics:
Two months is too little
They let him go
They had no sudden healing
To think that providence
Would take a child from his mother
While she prays, is appalling
Who told us we’d be rescued
What has changed and
Why should we be saved from nightmares
We’re asking why this happens to us
Who have died to live, it’s unfair
This is what it means to be held
How it feels, when the sacred is torn from your life
And you survive
This is what it is to be loved and to know
That the promise was that when everything fell
We’d be held
This hand is bitterness
We want to taste it and
Let the hatred numb our sorrows
The wise hand opens slowly
To lilies of the valley and tomorrow
This is what it means to be held
How it feels, when the sacred is torn from your life
And you survive
This is what it is to be loved and to know
That the promise was that when everything fell
We’d be held
If hope if born of suffering
If this is only the beginning
Can we not wait, for one hour
Watching for our savior
This is what it means to be held
How it feels, when the sacred is torn from your life
And you survive
This is what it is to be loved and to know
That the promise was that when everything fell
We’d be held
[Repeat Chorus]

*BLESSINGS lyrics:

We pray for blessings, we pray for peace.
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep.
We pray for healing, prosperity.
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering.

All the while, You hear each spoken need.
Your love is too way too much to give us lesser things.

Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops?
What if your healing comes through tears?
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re near? What if trials of this night, are Your mercies in disguise?

We pray for wisdom, Your voice to hear.
We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near.
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love.
As if every promise from Your word is not enough.

All, the while, You hear each desperate plea.
And long that we’d have faith to believe.

Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops?
What if your healing comes through tears?
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re near? What if trials of this night, are Your mercies in disguise?

When friends betray us, when darkness seems to win;
We know that pain reminds this heart, that this is not, this is not our home.
It’s not our home.

Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops?
What if your healing comes through tears?
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re near? What if my greatest disappointments, or the aching of this life;
Is a revealing of greater thirst that a world can’t satisfy?

And what if trials of this life, the rain, the storms, the hardest nights; Are Your mercies in disguise?

We Must Not Forget!!!

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Do not be fooled by the shifting sands of Obama-speak. He knows exactly what he is doing. He is beguiling the American people! The catch phrases – “Made in the USA” and “American working people” are designed to appear Patriotic and people-aware, but bear no resemblance to the sincere Patriotism (like that of Toby Keith) of those most Americans.

President Obama will deliver his big Jobs Plan on Thursday.

Is it significant that much of the plan will be in the form of tax cuts? Yes it is. It means that basically, conservatives have won the argument and the Keynesians, while not out the door yet, have certainly been handed their hat.

His ratings have dropped so low that in order to salvage any hope for a second term, he is broadcasting elements within his plan that will sucker some Americans. The expected cost of his plan? “The New York Times said that the cost of the package would be “several hundred billion,” while The Washington Post estimated the cost to be “at least $200 billion.”

Lies During Third Year

“I cannot guarantee that those checks go out on August 3rd if we haven’t resolved this issue. Because there may simply not be the money in the coffers to do it.” – American.com

“USA producing more oil than ever before.” – Petroleum Insights

“Fence between US and Mexico is “Practically Complete.” – Department of Homeland Security says 5%

MORE LIES HERE

I offer this list, not out of any hatred toward President Obama, but rather, out of an understanding of how quickly WE-THE-PEOPLE forgive and forget! We must not forget!

We must not forget the lies!

We must not forget the tyranny of pushing his agenda down the throats of the Congress and the people!

We must not forget that his policies have tanked our economy like never before!

We must not forget the evidence of illegal activity with “Fast & Furious!”

We must not forget our military and First Responders and the wars in which we are currently engaged.

We must not forget the lack of leadership from the White House as political friends and Democratic members of Congress “hate-speak” specific elements of the American population.

We must not forget the events of 9/11 and those who helped – and those who profited!

We must not forget!
The list goes on …

Watch to the Republican debates! Listen to the candidates. Read about their stand on the many issues. 2012.presidential-candidates.org is a good source of information. ANY of them are an improvement over the current POTUS! Some of these candidates have clear plans for creating real jobs. Some have years of experience in government. Some have outstanding banking and financial expertise. Some are US Military Veterans.

A Red, White & Blue Patriotic Giant

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George Michael Cohan became the stuff theatrical legends are made of, so it shouldn’t be surprising that he instigated a few of those legends, including one surrounding his birth date.

George M. Cohan was America’s first show business superstar, known coast to coast as a successful actor, singer, dancer, playwright, composer, librettist, director and producer. Once known as “The Man Who Owned Broadway,” most of his work is forgotten today — aside from a few of his songs and the film bio Yankee Doodle Dandy.

Cohan’s baptismal certificate — which is his only written birth record — verifies that he was born in Providence, Rhode Island on July 3rd, 1878. However, Cohan’s family unfailingly insisted that George and his country shared birthdays on the 4th. Although noted for their honesty, the Cohans certainly would have found it hard to resist the publicity value of a performer being “born on the Fourth of July.”

In 1900, most Americans sincerely believed there was no problem that a little “Yankee know-how” and a dash of common “American” decency couldn’t fix. George M. Cohan’s writing reflected this jingoistic exuberance, expressing it as no other playwright or songwriter had…While most sources refer to Cohan’s “flag waving,” patriotic fervor was only one of the noteworthy elements in his work. Many of his songs and plays also reflected his ethnic roots.

Cohan visited the White House in 1940, where President Roosevelt presented him with a Congressional medal honoring him as the creator of “Over There.” To this day, he remains the only American composer to receive such an award. But Cohan was hardly anxious to receive it. He had kept Roosevelt waiting for more than a year — some suggest that FDR’s progressive social policies had alienated the increasingly conservative Cohan.

In Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), the songs and patriotism come to life. It was a different time, for sure, but the songs this man wrote were as vital to the war effort (that’s the World War, The Great War!) as soldiers and weapons. I hope you take the time to listen to these songs and catch the spirit, the love of America!

In the early 1960s, a statue of George M. Cohan was erected in the center of Times Square, at the intersection of Broadway and 47th Street. Crowds waiting for the TKTS line now snake around the base of that statue every day, and most pay little if any attention to it. But the visage of the man who once “owned Broadway” still gazes down the street he dedicated his life to. In a neighborhood caught in an ongoing vortex of upheaval, Cohan’s monument provides a much-needed visible link with the past.

The Cost of Freedom Doesn’t Go Away …

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I can only hope and pray that those in positions of leadership in this country, that our inadequate Commander-in-chief, and the 90% of Americans who do not know what service costs, can somehow remember that Freedom costs … the – the bravery exhibited on a daily basis, the selflessness in service as politicians argue over Trillions of dollars and shake hands with desired votes.

I do not support Ron Paul’s foreign policy of “isolationism,” but I would very much like to see the mission clarified and simplified so we know when the battle is over!

Calm in the midst of chaos is lifesaving protocol for medevac crew in southern Afghanistan

FORWARD OPERATING BASE PASAB, Afghanistan — It was the worst of places, but the soldiers on the ground had few options when they marked the landing zone for the medevac helicopter. One of their buddy’s legs had been blown off by an IED near Pashmul South, and another had suffered a traumatic brain injury from the blast.

Grape rows, tree lines and mud walls surrounded the field. It was the perfect setting for an ambush.

Medics tend injured soldier alongside the road

Purple smoke billowed from the landing zone as the crew of Dustoff 59 sped toward a small band of 1st Infantry Division soldiers, waiting with their wounded. As pilot and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Marcus Chambers slowed for the landing, gunfire broke out and the all-too-familiar tat-tat-tat-tat, tat-tat-tat-tat pinged around them.

Chambers set the aircraft down and flight medic Staff Sgt. Garrick Morgenweck flung the door open to retrieve the wounded. As he stepped out, insurgents fired a rocket-propelled grenade from close range, striking a mud wall and narrowly missing the helicopter as it blasted through. PLEASE READ MORE

The day to day devastation …
the unimaginable sights, sounds, smells …
the uncertainty from one day to the next …
waiting, waiting, waiting …
all take a toll on the soldiers on the ground.

War is hell!!!

A phrase thrown around lightly
by many who have never given much thought to the subject.

‘A little more closer to hell’

Capt. Maureen Pennington, director of nursing services at the NATO Role 3 Multinational Hospital at Kandahar Air Field, believes that medevac crews carry a quiet burden, one they aren’t often willing to share with outsiders, and she worries about what they see.

She senses the relief they feel when they hand over a patient and notices a slight drop in their head once the trauma team takes over. She knows they’re retracing their actions and wondering whether they did everything they could.

“You can’t even imagine what they go through. I think they have the weight of the world on their shoulders with all of the soldiers that they take care of,” Pennington said, adding after a brief pause, “That responsibility must weigh very heavy on them.”

While most of the medevac soldiers attempt to disengage their personal feelings from their work, some, like Lowther, let the swell of emotions wash over them. He can’t help but cry at times, especially when his patients are Afghan children. An endless stream of them, robbed of their childhood by poverty and war, make their way onto their helicopters.
Some have been caught in crossfire; others are simply victims of the brutal Afghan rural life.

Sometimes he calls the hospital to check on someone he’s treated. He’s one of the few who wants to know if they made it. Most can’t bear to know.

But even Lowther has a threshold. Recently, while other crewmembers were watching mission footage shot by an embedded film crew, he was overcome with a sickening pain and left the room. He can live it every day, but he can’t stand to watch it replayed.

Even those who try to disengage eventually think about what they see. Catastrophic blast injuries from IEDs that shred a body like nothing else. Gunshot wounds that cause a man to writhe as he pleads with a medic to help him breath or give him water.

Sometimes, the pain in the eyes of the soldiers gets to Morisoli.

He thinks about the journey they’ll have trying to put their life back together. He thinks about the families that will welcome them home. He can’t linger in his thoughts too long, though, because he knows that in the end, it just hurts too much.

He has to let go because he knows that tomorrow, or the next day, he and his crew will pick up another soldier who has lost his legs.

“This is a rough game, and I don’t care who you are, it’s going to affect you,” Role 3 hospital commander Capt. Mike McCarten said.

“They’re seeing things a little more closer to hell.”

America … Who are You, Now?

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I work hard. I’m not rich, but I have enough.
I take care of my family, provide for their needs.
I haul my weight and that of my family.
I will work to take care of them,
I don’t need subsidies or tax dollars spent on me.
Nor do I want to be taxed so those who choose not to work
and procreate more of their kind can live off my earnings.
Got it? Now lemme alone so I can work!

Once upon a time, America was inhabited by hard-working, proud, legal immigrants, grateful for a place to thrive and raise their families without fear of oppression for political, religious, or ethnic reasons. From the war ravaged European nations or nations undergoing harshly difficult times, these new Americans were eager to become part of the ideal for which America stood: … land of the free and the home of the brave!

They brought with them their skills and talents and employed them with great zeal to prove their gratitude to the new nation founded on principles of personal liberty, the likes of which none had experienced previously. Naturally, they settled in neighborhoods that took on the characteristics of their homeland culture: the Italians, the Irish, the German, the Slavic, the Mexican, the Puerto Rican, and so on. This was not so much built on a fear or hatred of others as it was a comfortable familiarity with those from similar backgrounds. But, human nature being what it is, fear and hatred grew and wove its ugliness in, around and through our neighborhoods, and emphasized our differences rather than our similarities.

Gradually, fear and hatred swallowed up the personal pride and deep gratitude shared by our great grandfathers and great grandmothers. Our current society, crying out for handouts, is the result.

This is America to me.

I was taught the notion of the American “melting pot” with neighbors from just about every imaginable European background. There were the McCutchean’s two generations out of Scotland. The Henrici’s with 5 daughters, the Midocks with a back yard ice-skating rink, the Amslers, the Dills, the Allens, Amicis. It was not a big deal. The Polumbo’s were “rich” because they had a NEW car. The Perez family talked funny, but they were really nice. America was different than other places because we could be different and still be friends.

I was taught to be polite to everyone and to respect people. I was taught to behave. I was taught not to lie or cheat. That when I did, I really only hurt myself.

I was taught to treat others the way I wanted them to treat me. To plant seeds of respect to reap respect. To plant seeds of kindness and it would come back to me in my time of need.

I was taught to respected every person equally – There really was such a thing a “color-blindness,” maybe not everywhere, but where I grew up, it existed. A person’s sexuality was a completely private thing and simply not an issue. I know how foreign this sounds, but … it was real once.

Where has MY America gone?

• I believe there are more people who care and want to help one another than there are those who only want to take.
• I believe there are more people who believe in God than those who choose not to, but I also believe NEITHER side needs to shove their beliefs on the other.
• I believe there are more people who understand responsibility and accountability than those who don’t.
• I believe there are more people who live by a moral code than those who don’t know right from wrong, but those who don’t need instruction.

Nearly one half! Can you wrap your head around those numbers? Of the billions spent by our Federal government, almost HALF is handed out to those unable? or unwilling? to work and become self-reliant. Whatever happened to the individual desire for independence, for fulfillment, and accomplishment? Don’t we teach our children to be independent and self-reliant?

“There was a time in America when being on the public dole was a bad thing, today it is rapidly becoming a way of life. Getting this number back down to size is not going to be pain free.” (Clifton is a Conservative and blogs at Another Black Conservative

America Needs to Re-discover
Her Identity

Maybe we should ask the rest of the world to help us re-define our American Identity? Do we want to be known as the Global Bullies? or the Good Neighbor? The New Age Robin Hood (stealing from the rich and giving to the poor?) or The New Age Emancipator, freeing individuals to rise above their circumstances and find a noble purpose in wholesome work and daily, self-sustaining life?

Many of our minority citizens have a strong leaning toward the liberal side of the fence because they have been taught to believe that the “HELP” programs are for them, and demonstrate the compassion of the Democratic party. I beg to differ! Think it through! Many of these lovely, hard-working Americans have pulled themselves up out of the roots in slavery only to become enslaved once again to the slave-master government. How is government, foodstamps, welfare dependency freedom??? The goal of our republic is to provide the possibility, the availability of freedom sufficient to pursue individual and personal happiness, not doled out by the government in monthly increments, but as built and designed by the individual for the individual! In America, it is about the individual! Individual rights secure individual freedoms to live out our individual lives as we each see fit. However, freedom is only freedom until mine steps on yours.

What is important to you?

freedom to worship, or not, as you see fit, or allowing the sterilization of America from all religious affiliation and influence?

freedom to say what’s on your mind, or intimidation by way of political correctness?

freedom to live as you choose or a multitude of restrictions on your lifestyle?

freedom to build a family or state issued “family units”?

freedom to choose your friends or political pressure toward certain group affiliations?

freedom to pursue purposeful work or government assigned “lemming” work?

time to pursue hobbies, pleasures, enjoyments or no money or time for such frivolousness?

happily involved in volunteerism or or hoarding in fear?

helping others out of compassion or taxed enough to feed those who don’t want to work?

Help up or hand out?

“I predict future happiness for Americans
if they can prevent the government
from wasting the labors of the people
under the pretense of taking care of them.”

Thomas Jefferson

Lloyd Marcus at American Thinker (via Diary of a Mad Conservative)

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A prefect opportunity to President Obama to BE a leader and take an outspoken stand on the behavior of these mobs … like so many other opportunities, has been shoved aside. Maybe when he is all rested up, eh?

Folks, I believe human beings are responsible for their behavior.  However, as America's first black president, fair or unfair, Obama's presidency comes with enormous responsibility in terms of its influence on black youths.  This is why it is so unfortunate that American black youths' ultimate role model is a characterless, race-baiting political hack. While I am not saying president Obama is responsible for the epidemic of black youth flash-mob … Read More

via Diary of a Mad Conservative

Thomas Jefferson ~ An American Hero Speaks Today

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Thomas Jefferson was a very remarkable man who started learning very early in life and never stopped.

At 5, began studying under his cousin’s tutor.

At 9, studied Latin, Greek and French.

At 14, studied classical literature and additional languages.

At 16, entered the College of William and Mary.

At 19, studied Law for 5 years starting under George Wythe.

At 23, started his own law practice.

At 25, was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses.

At 31, wrote the widely circulated “Summary View of the Rights of British America †and retired from his law practice.

At 32, was a Delegate to the Second Continental Congress.

At 33, wrote the Declaration of Independence .

At 33, took three years to revise Virginia ’s legal code and wrote a Public Education bill and a statute for Religious Freedom.

At 36, was elected the second Governor of Virginia succeeding Patrick Henry.

At 40, served in Congress for two years.

At 41, was the American minister to France and negotiated commercial treaties with European nations along with Ben Franklin and John Adams.

At 46, served as the first Secretary of State under George Washington.

At 53, served as Vice President and was elected president of the American Philosophical Society.

At 55, drafted the Kentucky Resolutions and became the active head of Republican Party.

At 57, was elected the third president of the United States .

At 60, obtained the Louisiana Purchase doubling the nation’s size.

At 61, was elected to a second term as President.

At 65, retired to Monticello .

At 80, helped President Monroe shape the Monroe Doctrine.

At 81, almost single-handedly created the University of Virginia and served as its first president.

At 83, died on the 50th anniversary of the Signing of the Declaration of Independence along with John Adams

Thomas Jefferson knew because he himself studied the previous failed attempts at government. He understood actual history, the nature of God, his laws and the nature of man. That happens to be way more than what most understand today. Jefferson really knew his stuff. A voice from the past to lead us in the future:

John F. Kennedy held a dinner in the white House for a group of the brightest minds in the nation at that time. He made this statement: “This is perhaps the assembly of the most intelligence ever to gather at one time in the White House with the exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone.”

“When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe .” — Thomas Jefferson

“The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.” — Thomas Jefferson

“It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle which if acted on would save one-half the wars of the world.” — Thomas Jefferson

“I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.” — Thomas Jefferson

“My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government.” — Thomas Jefferson

“No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms.” — Thomas Jefferson

“The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.” — Thomas Jefferson

“The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.” — Thomas Jefferson

“To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.” — Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson said in 1802:

“I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies.

If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property – until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.”

Are you paying attention???

ECCLESIASTES 10:2

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"life lessons", American, American Conservative, American history, American Interests, American Moral Character, American Morality, Blog, Building Character, character training, Committment, Conservative opinion, DO SOMETHING!, GET INVOLVED, Helping others, Hope * Change, Human nature, Human Rights, Limited Government, Military appreciation, Service to Others, spiritual, Term limits, The BEST of America, Women's Issues

The heart of the wise inclines to the right,
but the heart of the fool to the left.

Ha! That is actually what it says!!! I didn’t make this up!

The Average American Soldier

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"life lessons", American, American Conservative, American history, American Interests, American Moral Character, American Morality, Blog, Building Character, character training, Committment, Conservative opinion, DO SOMETHING!, GET INVOLVED, Helping others, Hope * Change, Human nature, Human Rights, Limited Government, Military appreciation, Service to Others, spiritual, Term limits, The BEST of America, Women's Issues

SGT Joseph Prince, a soldier from 3rd Platoon, Company A, Task Force 3-66 Armor, pulls security while Iraqi Army soldiers search a house during a patrol Thursday in Tahweela, Iraq. The IA, supported by soldiers from Company A, kicked off Operation Dark Wolf Pursuit One to execute the “clear, hold and build” strategy in southern Balad-Ruz District of Iraq’s Diyala Province. (Ben Bloker/Stars and Stripes photo.)

Who is the Average American Soldier?

The average age of the military man is 19 years old. He is a short haired, tight-muscled kid who, under normal circumstances is considered by society as half man, half boy. Not yet dry behind the ears, not old enough to buy a beer, but old enough to die for his country. He never really cared much for work and he would rather wax his own car than wash his father’s, but he has never collected unemployment either.

He’s a recent High School graduate; he was probably an average student but not because he’s stupid – just a kid. He pursued some form of sport activities, drives a ten year old jalopy that he’s damn proud of, and has a steady girlfriend that either broke up with him when he left, or swears to be waiting when he returns from half a world away. He listens to rock and roll or hip-hop or rap or jazz or swing and a 155mm howitzer.

He is 10 or 15 pounds lighter now than when he was at home because he is working or fighting from before dawn to well after dusk. His grammar isn’t always the best, thus letter writing is a pain for him, but he can field strip a rifle in 30 seconds and reassemble it in less time in the dark. He can recite to you the nomenclature of a machine gun or grenade launcher and use either one effectively if he must.

He digs foxholes and latrines and can apply first aid like a professional. He can march until he is told to stop, or stop until he is told to march. He obeys orders instantly and without hesitation, but he is not without spirit or individual dignity. He is self-sufficient. He has two sets of cammies: he washes one and wears the other. He keeps his canteens full and his feet dry.

He sometimes forgets to brush his teeth, but never to clean his rifle. He can cook his own meals, mend his own clothes, and fix his own hurts. If you’re thirsty, he’ll share his water with you; if you are hungry, his food. He’ll even split his ammunition with you in the midst of battle when you run low.

He has learned to use his hands like weapons and weapons like they were his hands. He can save your life – or take it, because that is his job. He will often do twice the work of a civilian, draw half the pay, and still find ironic humor in it all. He has seen more suffering and death than he should have in his short lifetime.

He has wept in public and in private, for friends who have fallen in combat and is unashamed. He feels every note of the National Anthem vibrate through his body while at rigid attention, while tempering the burning desire to ‘square-away’ those around him who haven’t bothered to stand, remove their hat, or even stop talking.

In an odd twist, day in and day out, far from home, he defends their right to be disrespectful. Just as his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather did, he is paying the price for our freedom. Beardless or not, he is not a boy. He is the American Fighting Man that has kept this country free for over 200 years.

This is the guys! Then there are the American fighting women! She has many things in common with her male camrades, but she is also sassy, playful, and plays as hard as she works. She’s an “activist, a Doer, not a watcher! She’s resourceful, creative, and takes care of her mind as well as her body. She, too, has wept in public and in private for friends or strangers fallen, unashamed. She feels every note of the National Anthem vibrate through her body while at rigid attention, while tempering the burning desire to ‘square-away’ those around her who haven’t bothered to stand, remove their hat, or even stop talking. She is fiercely patriotic, and she loves her country! She serves alongside the guys, putting up with their innate crudeness, without batting an eyelash. She looks beautiful with or without makeup. She can march and shoot at least as well as her male counterparts, and looks good doing it! She is proud to be an American. Proud to be a soldier, proud to be woman!

They ask nothing in return, except our for friendship and understanding, and maybe an occasional prayer. Remember them always, for they have earned our respect and admiration with their own blood. These soldiers do their part as tradition tells them, of going to war when and where our nation calls us to do so.

As you go to bed tonight, remember this shot: a short lull, a little shade, and a picture of loved ones in their helmets.

Letter from "Home" (Anywhere, USA)

Fallen Soldier All Alone

Fallen Soldier Far From Home.
Trickling Down His Face A Tear,
Forgetting How It Feels To Fear
Death And All It’s Fate And Glory.
Now It’s Here, No Need To Worry.
Fallen Soldier Waiting for the End
Fallen Soldier Far From Home
He’s One Of Those They’ll All Forget;
But He’s the One Thing You Should Never Forget.
The Life He Lived, The Goals He Set,
The Ones He Loved, The Ones Who Wait
To See His Nearly Forgotten Face.
Fallen Soldier All Alone
Fallen Soldier Far From Home
Now Breathing’s Just A Waste Of Breath
And Living’s Just A Waste Of Death
As He Searches For A New Address;
A Brand New Home Free Of Loneliness.
Fallen Soldier All Alone
Fallen Soldier Far From Home
Lying Motionless On The Ground,
The Battle Raging All Around.
For Now He Is Not All Alone.
This Fallen Soldier Is Welcomed Home.
***
-Unkown Author-

**Putting it in Perspective
Thank You, Soldiers**

BEKINDREWRITE ~ Inspiration Monday XXIII