Posted on 11/08/2006 1:55:58 PM PST by joanie-f
This is the scariest thing of all. Last week a local TV station, WGAL, put up an interview with Casey (Santorum's was a day or so earlier) in which he was asked whether he would support drilling the ANWR. The first thing out of his mouth was that there would be environmental 'issues' with that. Duh. There are environmental issues with going to the bathroom too! Hey, we're Americans. We figure things out, we solve problems, we invent. Besides, didn't we already build a pipeline up there somewhere?
The next assertion was that drilling for oil in Alaska would not affect our dependence on foreign oil. I could not believe I was hearing such a stunningly stupid statement. Bad as that is, what causes despair is that so many would vote for such as this.
Anyway, it's nice to read a well written piece which engendered - for the most part - intelligent, civil responses. Too many threads anymore are just overrun with juvenile piling on and amateurish analysis, not to mention the obligatory "It's Bush's fault."
In order not to miss any future posts, please add me to your ping list.
Who were your candidates?
God bless.
My experience as well. The population has been sufficiently dumbed down by too much JonBenetNatlieHollowayNancyGrace to where most folks haven't a clue as to what's really going on.
agreed
What I am suggesting is that the need to go ‘outside the system’ … indeed the need to correct the countless ailments that are destroying our civilization, and those ailments themselves … wouldn’t exist but for one thing: the fact that the citizen has become lazy, diverted, and otherwise ignorant.
The press and academia would not possess the inordinate power to destroy if the people insisted on being informed, educated and vigilant (the three major qualities needed for a free republic to survive). Despite constant criticism that the Constitution is somehow ‘flawed’ in that the Framers didn’t envision a tyrannical press, an activist judiciary, etc. … I see the only major flaw (and it is one that the Framers could not have addressed, because any Constitution must assume eternal citizen vigilance over it) in the Constitution consists in the fact that the Framers could not include the death-wish-societal flaw that the citizenry would no longer care enough to keep the press, the judiciary, and all other aspects of our government and society answerable to them.
Sadly, the bottom line in the fall of our republic will be the people’s diversion by bread and circuses.
What it will take to save her from that fall is informed, resolute patriots who recognize that the Constitution has been abandoned, and who are willing and prepared to wrest the reins of power from those who have dismantled it. And it isn’t going to happen via the election process.
I have bookmarked your response, and will have a look at the valuable links as soon as time permits.
Thanks, as always, Mia for your powerful insights.
Our son is a Physics teacher at a vo-tech high school located about forty miles from us here in south-central Pennsylvania. Being disgusted with what he has seen the AFT and the NEA do to education in this country, and having been personal witness to what he sees as their misguided (putting their own interests before those of the children) policies and goals, he is only one of only two teachers who has steadfastly refused to join the union.
When Dan began teaching four years ago, there was little interest in taking Physics among the student population. Now, four years later, there is a long waiting list of students eager to take his courses. He is one of those rare teachers who successfully involves hands-on teaching methods, who treats his students with a carefully-crafted balance of respect and discipline, and who keeps his expectations high while also instilling in his students a desire to meet them.
But, as a result of the simple fact that he does not belong to the union, both the administration and a segment of the faculty go out of their way to do what is within their power to make his job difficult.
One of numerous examples:
Two weeks ago, there was a red-alert lockdown at his school. When the lockdown was announced, Dan and his class happened to be walking by the large physics storage room, so he immediately directed his class into the room. It has no windows, a dead-bolt lock on the door, and is as close to a ‘fort’ as anywhere in the school. While in there, he kept the students calm, instructed them as best he could what they should do in the event that the red alert took on increased danger, and kept them still and talking about subjects that were of interest to them. The students remained calm and enthralled with the conversation to which he steered them.
A few hours after the lockdown had ended, he had occasion to talk with a few of the students who attend the class of the teacher who is both another science teacher and a strong union rep. It appears that that teacher virtually ignored the lock-down procedures – even allowing his teaching to continue undisturbed, with children walking past the classroom windows, etc.
Long story short … of the two of them, our son and the union rep, the one who was called on the carpet was Dan, because allowing his students to take refuge in the storeroom could have resulted in damage of the expensive equipment.
This is just one of countless examples of ways in which the administration has attempted to discourage his enthusiasm and thwart his innovative, hands-on style of teaching. And it has been made clear on many occasions that, were he to join the union, he and his teaching philosophy would be looked at much more favorably.
I believe that this situation represents a microcosm of what happens to countless independent-minded Americans who are wise to the machinations of, and motives behind, many of the powerful political special interest groups that, through the power of extortion, wield significant power in the forming of national policy. Not only has the power of the individual to affect policy fallen by the wayside, but so, in some cases, has his ability to live his life and do his job, without consistently needing to battle against forces representing the pressure to conform to ‘the system’.
Thanks for the kind words.
Thanks for the kind words, and addition insight, texastoo.
Brilliant, Joanie, brilliant.
Hi joanie; thanks for the ping. I have run out of superlatives to describe your work, so just let me add another -- well done. Since I can't add so much as a jot or tittle to improve on your amazing piece, I felt compelled to share with you an email I sent out some time ago to an acquaintance. Please feel free to add to or comment on my "random thoughts".
Hi again Bob,
Thanks for the "random thoughts". It's sometimes interesting to have a look at others' thoughts, especially ones who appear to be "thoughtful" individuals. You qualify.
I'll take a stab at a few of your random thoughts with a few of my own -- just for grins.
"Not even God was able to run the Garden of Eden with only two humans." If true, it is only a stone's throw to conclude that God cannot be "all-knowing", "all-powerful" and "all-caring".
In its simplest terms, God gave Man the freedom to choose between Him or the prospect of becoming as gods. We know how that worked out. Free agency, as you're probably aware, is the term most often applied to the concept. And while God has the ability, He could not give Man free will and also control him and his surroundings. Could God have removed all evils including temptation from the equation? Certainly, but then Man would not have been free. In essence, liberty is the greatest, and potentially worst gift He gave to Man.
I realize how difficult it is for anyone to believe how or why an all knowing, all powerful and all caring God could or would allow such atrocious behavior from his creation(That's all of us btw, some are just worse than others). I struggled with this very thing for years myself, in particular how He could allow abuse of innocent children. I had decided if there was a God, he would not allow this particularly egregious behavior; ergo, there probably was no God.
For whatever reasons, some years ago He allowed me a tiny peek into what He's about. The closest I can come to describing this revelation is Saul's/Paul's "road to Damascus" experience. To say I was awestruck doesn't even come close. There are actually no words I've ever found available to describe it. However, I became aware of so many things in a matter of what could have not been more than a few seconds. The thought entered my mind during these few seconds or so that I might not survive the sensory overload, such was the amount of information being transferred. Just to give you an idea, I wrote 12 pages in a spiral notebook with side notes all over the place of items I would try to fill in later. I was able later to only recover a fraction of the information from my side notes, which BTW were mostly in the form of questions. About 15 pages altogether -- all from several seconds(maybe less; I'm not sure); from a snapshot if you will, of what He's about.
I know this, there is a power in and of the universe(not my words) which we cannot begin to comprehend. He is everything He says He is and He knows what He's doing. He loves us, His creation, more than we can even fathom. He is powerful beyond words; omnipotent doesn't describe it. Did He create the universe and all that's in it? The Bible says He did, I know He could have, with only a thought.
Given this information, I can no longer question His actions, or more accurately, His inaction. You've doubtless heard the expression, "God is in Heaven and all is right in the world"? I believe a more accurate turn would be, "God is in Heaven and all is as He said it would be". That is to say, when Man chooses his own paths, things may go well -- for a while. Considering God's timeline, a few hundred years is but a breath to Him; He will give us some time to get it right -- but not forever. When He gives up on this bunch(as He knows He will), He will salvage a remnant and start over. I daresay Man will never learn, but then what would you have God do? Without His complete knowledge, we have no way of answering that.
As our nation moves away from God we can expect things to begin unraveling. If we as a nation are unable or unwilling to follow His lead and His commandments, our fate is sealed IMHO. Any efforts that don't include His wisdom and guidance are destined to fail. I've probably said it before but we can't defeat the evil in our midst on our own; the recruiting of [-] notwithstanding IMHO. You're probably familiar with this passage:
Ephesians 6:12
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
I believe the passage is prophetic. How do we fight this force on our own? I say we likely can't, but that doesn't necessarily mean we do nothing. We have got to request the assistance of the only one that probably can help at this point. If we ask for His guidance we may stand a chance. We're running out of options don't you think?
Regards,
Beautifully and artfully said, Braveman.
Because of the corruption of the Constitution, the exponential power of special interest groups, and actual recent keep-the-populace-entertained-but-quiet legislation (CFR highest on that infamous list), the power of the individual to affect change …. even to maintain his own God-given individual rights …. has suffered seriously (sometimes deadly) blows over the past fifty years.
But if that remnant of us that recognizes the increasingly tyrannical nature of the beast simply shrug our shoulders and surrender, the battle will be lost at that crucial point.
As I said all through this essay, I am anything but optimistic about the future of our republic (the bottom line for that lack of optimism being the fact that I believe all of our problems could be faced, and eventually solved, if the citizenry were as educated, informed and vigilant as is required by the Constitution of any free society). But, what little optimism I do possess rests in the knowledge that a handful of patriots has not lost sight of the concept of the sense of personal responsibility of which you speak. And that small handful of patriots also recognizes that there is no greater responsibility than the defense of liberty.
Continued best to you and yours, BraveMan …
~ joanie
Allegiance and Duty Betrayed
Please see my post #167 regarding a small example of what happens to those who attempt, even just at the individual level, to do what is right in an education system that has not only failed our children, but threatens our very way of life.
Casey's response which argued than ANWR drilling would not contribute to easing our dependence on foreign oil was among the most ignorant lies I have heard in recent memory. The problem is, I am certain that there was a significant portion of the viewing audience that accepted that response at face value.
Will add you to my ping list. Privileged to do so.
~ joanie
Allegiance and Duty Betrayed
Well said.
When we find ourselves swept up and overwhelmed by the forces of destruction at work in this world, we would do well to reflect on these verses.
2 Peter 17, 18, especially, can serve as a source of great comfort:
You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness,
but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.
Again, thank you for the gentle reminder.
~ joanie
Allegiance and Duty Betrayed
2006 will be seen in retrospect as the beginning of the end of conservatism as a viable political voting block - there simply won't be enough of us to win an election. Add to that the fact that the Federal Gov wouldn't let us take a state or two and leave the sinking ship of liberal socialism and we're screwed.
Add to that the fact that illegal aliens, and their offspring, will eventually represent one of the largest American voting blocks (and, make no mistake about it, the leftists among us see this as one of the major goals of their open-door policy), and your argument is even more powerful.
In this extremely disturbing video, Jose Angel Gutierrez, a professor at the University of Texas at Arlington, speaking to an enormous throng of illegal immigrants (tens of thousands) last year somewhere in the southwest, advises, ‘We are millions! We just have to survive! We have an aging white America. They are not making babies. They are dying. It’s a matter of time. The explosion is in our population!’
His views are seconded by Art Torres, Chairman of the California Democrat Party, who observes, ‘When I hear the question, ‘Why do you fight so hard for Affirmative Action?’ I tell my white colleagues, ‘You’re gonna need it!’ (Translation: it won’t be long before his ‘white colleagues’ are a minority in America).
Thanks for the excellent insights, Abundy.
~ joanie
Allegiance and Duty Betrayed
Thanks for the kind words.
Your post is a masterpiece of semi-political analysis and, at the same time, one of the most compelling examples of personal witness for Him that I have read in recent memory.
We have just begun attending a new church, and I have been asked to teach the adult Sunday school class. I would like your permission to read your post to the class in a future lesson for which it would be appropriate.
Thank you so much for sharing your letter here!
Along with every other word in it, I found these especially precious:
God gave Man the freedom to choose between Him or the prospect of becoming as gods. We know how that worked out. Free agency, as you're probably aware, is the term most often applied to the concept. And while God has the ability, He could not give Man free will and also control him and his surroundings. Could God have removed all evils including temptation from the equation? Certainly, but then Man would not have been free. In essence, liberty is the greatest, and potentially worst gift He gave to Man.
I know this, there is a power in and of the universe(not my words) which we cannot begin to comprehend. He is everything He says He is and He knows what He's doing. He loves us, His creation, more than we can even fathom.
As our nation moves away from God we can expect things to begin unraveling. If we as a nation are unable or unwilling to follow His lead and His commandments, our fate is sealed IMHO. Any efforts that don't include His wisdom and guidance are destined to fail. I've probably said it before but we can't defeat the evil in our midst on our own.
Continued best wishes, as always, to you and yours, FGS. You are a true patriot and a faithful and effective witness for Him ...
~ joanie
Allegiance and Duty Betrayed
And I believe the power of propaganda has taken on a whole new dimension, given that the power to think and analyze critically is becoming a lost art among the citizenry.--joanie-f to M Kehoe Indeed, (altho I would add that true critical thinkers have always been in short supply). Liars and prevaricators are going to have their way with us unless and until another major tragedy of the scope of 9/11 or beyond occurs, and, by then, it may well be too late to salvage what's left.
There is little difference between citizens (and media) so devolved and the armies of brainwashed Muslims who accessorize their vests with bombs. It is becoming increasingly obvious: We cannot save our democratic republic with elections. Once we understand this, once we understand that we must go outside the system to save it, once we understand that this is war, not democratic process, we regain control. We see the solution. And the pessimism vanishes.
|
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.