Posted on 09/01/2012 6:37:39 PM PDT by joanie-f
Think back on the way the early Americans lived. Consider the quality of life, if you will, of the early pioneers who crossed the country in small covered wagons, who staked a claim to a small piece of land somewhere in the midwest or west, and who spent the next many years living off the land, growing their own food, hunting for meat, caring for sick family members, often without the aid of doctors or other medical practitioners.
These were our forebears. They didn't have the luxury of concerning themselves with those things that today's Americans place at the top of their list of concerns: the job market, affordable medical coverage, the unemployment rate, and the like. Those who came before us were busy doing what they had to do to simply survive from day to day, defending their freedoms, staking out and protecting what was theirs, and defining and facing down enemies.
With the election nearing, we consistently hear both the American electorate, and those running for office, discussing what they perceive as the most pressing issues of the day. Invariably, the issues that tend to top that list are economic ones: the ailing jobs market, high unemployment numbers, the price of a gallon of gasoline, the national debt, the declining net worth of the average American family.
Indeed, all one has to do this week is listen to the speeches at the Republican convention to verify that those domestic economic issues are at the forefront of the nation's consciousness.
I suggest that placing those issues on top of our list of national priorities is representative of short-sightedness at its worst, and we would all be significantly better off if we stepped back and looked at the big picture. If we continue to refuse to do so, we ignore that big picture at great peril.
I will grant you that the American economy is faltering. The jobs picture is bleak. Unemployment is decimating our workforce and harming our families. Prices, especially the price of gasoline, are rising and will continue to do so without the implementation of rational economic policies. Our government spending spree has placed a burden on the shoulders of our children and grandchildren that is beyond shameful. Yet all of these concerns are relatively fleeting, and reversible, under the right leadership.
At the same time, there are three glaring crises facing this country which, if not soon addressed, and if not soon brought into the forefront of the national consciousness, will not be reversed, and may prove fatal to the American experiment itself. Those three crises are embodied in (1) our dramatic loss of personal liberty, (2) the erosion of our national sovereignty, and (3) the threat of radical Islam to our very survival as a people.
Americans' personal liberties have been usurped at an unprecedented rate over the past four years. The oppressive regulations, mandates, penalties and fines contained in Obamacare alone are mind-boggling. Add to that the mountain of regulations that have been placed on the business community through edicts handed down from the administration itself, as well as its agencies (the EPA being among the most flagrant abusers of centralized power) and we find ourselves handcuffed by a government that appears to believe that its relationship to the citizenry is that of master/slave. Such blatant usurpations of individual liberties rarely retrace themselves in the history of mankind.
Likewise, our national sovereignty has been compromised in ways that many Americans seem to not even recognize. This president has sought to cede, and has in many ways succeeded in ceding, much of our sovereign power to global entities, with the United Nations being the primary power beneficiary. Additionally, our southern border remains porous, and there is no accounting for the thousands of people who cross that border every week: Mexicans seeking a new home, and terrorists seeking God only knows what. A nation is no longer sovereign when its government refuses to protect its borders from infiltration by unknown entities.
In these past four years, our president has bypassed the congress and effectively declared war on several countries. The result has been political instability in each case, and the seizure of power by radical Islamist elements. The power of the Muslim Brotherhood alone has risen exponentially, thanks to the president's foreign policy/war interventions. The American president is emboldening radical Islam, a "religion" whose stated destiny includes the destruction of America and her allies.
All three of the relatively unacknowledged crises that face America -- our loss of personal liberty, the erosion of our national sovereignty, and the dramatic rise in the power and breadth of radical Islam -- will eventually threaten our very lives. The more tyrannical a government becomes, the less it values human life. The loss of a national identity, and national borders, will lead to eventual dissolution of the fabric of society, unrest and violence. And ignoring, even encouraging, the rise of a violent, radical, powerful enemy is nothing less than suicidal.
An ailing economy is repairable. The process may require some temporary quality of life sacrifices, but the reward will be worth the sacrifice. The loss of freedom, the loss of national identity, and the refusal to face a deadly enemy threatens irreversible destruction, with the result being an America that we no longer recognize, and an America that our Founders would have sought to flee in search of a better place, a place where liberty is valued, where national identity and borders are respected, and where leaders face down enemies rather than emboldening them.
I suggest that it is time we Americans stop looking at the quality-of-life problems that we face each day and begin looking at the threat-to-life problems that are looming just over the horizon as a result of a government that seeks to enslave us, refuses to protect us from invaders, and emboldens our enemies.
They have no capability to “destroy us as a people.”
That would require at minimum hundreds of accurately delivered nukes, and quite probably thousands. Even then, the counter-strike really would destroy them.
They don’t have hundreds or thousands of nukes, much less the ability to deliver them accurately. Unless you think the USA would surrender to al Quaeda if we lost 5 or 10 cities?
I’m sure they have plans. As did the Nazis and the commies.
Plans are not always realistic mechanisms for conquest.
Personally, I had planned to retire at 35 with $100M.
Didn’t quite work out that way. :)
The German Nazis and the Russian Communists came very close to us in their methods, but they never had the courage to recognize their own motives. They pretendedperhaps they even believedthat they had seized power unwillingly and for a limited time, and that just around the corner there lay a paradise where human beings would be free and equal. We are not like that. We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means; it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?The German Nazis and the Russian Communists came very close to us in their methods, but they never had the courage to recognize their own motives. They pretendedperhaps they even believedthat they had seized power unwillingly and for a limited time, and that just around the corner there lay a paradise where human beings would be free and equal.
I see you’re not thinking as a terrorist. If the object is terror, then outright genocide doesn’t serve the purpose.
The Twelvers in Iran merely wish to start the global chaos; after all, they believe that the Mahdi will come back to save the faithful Muslims out of it and that divine armies will come and clean up the unbelievers by scooping them up and hurling them into Jahannam.
The German Nazis and the Russian Communists came very close to us in their methods, but they never had the courage to recognize their own motives. They pretendedperhaps they even believedthat they had seized power unwillingly and for a limited time, and that just around the corner there lay a paradise where human beings would be free and equal. We are not like that. We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means; it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?The German Nazis and the Russian Communists came very close to us in their methods, but they never had the courage to recognize their own motives. They pretendedperhaps they even believedthat they had seized power unwillingly and for a limited time, and that just around the corner there lay a paradise where human beings would be free and equal.
My three crises would certainly be better addressed if the general economy were in better shape. Yet it is not an economic issue that is preventing us from sealing our borders. It is not an purely an economic issue that is causing us to run up this debt or prevent businesses from hiring. And it is not an economic issue that is preventing us from facing down Islam, but instead emboldening them.
It is the progressive mentality that is purposefully causing all three crises.
The progressives who are in charge see as their crusade the goal of bringing America into parity with the rest of the world, and the economy be damned. Hamilton could never have envisioned such a skewed and self-destructive leadership position. He lived in an era in which it was understood that a nation would strive not to be dependent on other nations for the nuts and bolts of society and its defense. It never would have occurred to him that the leadership of America would have at its disposal, for example, the ability for this republic to be completely energy independent -- and yet chose not to be.
We fix the economy by fixing the leadership. By electing leaders who, put simply, want what's best for America. And time is of the essence. We cannot much longer survive open borders, and allowing our enemies to gain the upper hand. There is a tipping point beyong which a healthy economy will seem irrelevant.
The degree that our sovereignty is at risk, and the degree that we are vulnerable to Islam or any other potential enemy is directly proportional to the success of the progressive agenda, with or without a healthy economy.
Once again, I was responding to the claim that radical Islamists will “destroy us as a nation.”
You are quite correct that they would use nukes on us in a heartbeat.
However, one nuke, or twenty, or a hundred, would not “destroy us as a people.” Not unless we give up, which admittedly is possible. But then that would be suicide, not murder.
You are also correct that Twelvers and other RIFs don’t expect to conquer us, they expect Jesus and the Mahdi to do that.
If the divine armies really show up, I will cheerfully admit I was wrong, and they did have a mechanism to destroy us.
I don’t expect that to happen.
Let’s take possibly your worst-case scenario.
Six Iranian bombs smuggled into USA and detonated in six cities. Probable loss of life <1M. But let’s bump that, for sake of argument, to 10M. Out of 300M. About twice the percentage we lost in the Civil War.
Is that going to “destroy us as a people?”
What do you think the most likely response would be in this country to such an attack, given the response we saw (initially) to 3000 murdered on 9/11? Do you really think America would surrender?
You don’t explain how to get out of it without reverting to Hamilton’s strategy, though. It is indeed all intertwined.
And I daresay that the evisceration of our manufacturing base certainly has served the progressive agenda, if by that the removal of the most powerful enemy of worldwide communism has to be effected. The War of Independence exposed our utter dependence on outside allies that could rapidly turn to enemies; Hamilton highlighted the urgency of moving away from that dependency as rapidly as possible.
Surrender, no. Get thrown into chaos, possibly and perhaps probably. And it wouldn’t necessarily be all nuclear detonations. If the USA turns on itself, then we would be doing the work for the terrorists after all. They have had several decades to strategize over this, after all.
Not to mention, they aren’t our only enemies.
Good post joanie-f.
Good to see you posting too. It’s been awhile. ‘Pod.
Not too sure about that. What do addicts and thieves tend to do when they're starved for cash?
Cordially,
Read Romans 1:18+
Pay attention to the order of precedence.
“Because of this, God gave them over...”
In California, we are learning what the govt. does when money is tight, they raise fees and prices, and start searching for new ways, new approaches to collect revenue, and on the roads, you start feeling more like prey as traffic enforcement comes to be almost a retail cash generating business.
Like the Highway Patrol announced, they are going to start ticketing eating and other activities in cars, they stated honestly enough that there aren’t laws against it, but that they think they can cover it under ‘driving while distracted’.
Over the past couple of generations, the American citizenry has become so easily programmed to believe the powers that be, especially in politics and the mainstream media. Our education system, in particular, is turning out robots who actually require programming in order to have what passes for intelligent thought. The ability to critically think, and independently analyze, is fast becoming a rare commodity.
We are consistently told that the economy, and the jobs market, are the main issues troubling America. Just look at the speeches at the Republican convention. No mention of our open borders. No mention of Iran, North Korea, Libya, Egypt, etc. Little mention of the blatant unconstitutionality involved in so many of the perceived succcesses of this administration Obamacare being simply the most conspicuous in an endless list of abominations.
Romney himself stated that his first real effort will consist of a jobs tour.
As you so masterfully point out in your column, what good is money in ones pocket, or so-called job security, if one does not have the freedom to enjoy the fruits of ones labor? Individual liberty is highly under-rated in this country. And a return to prosperity is being sought without first demanding the return of the stolen liberties that are required in order to reclaim it.
The first step toward curing what ails us is a renewed reverence for the Constitution. We have to stop focusing on the symptoms and start identifying, and then treating, the disease.
~ joanie
It is the economy stupid is the campaign slogan of Romney as well as Clinton, fixing it is cover for them to continue the destruction of the Constitutional Republic.
Remember how GW was going to set all the Evils done by the Clinton's right, and put those thieves in jail? Well big Woop, danged if GW didn't get a new brother as a result of GHWB taking Bill in as a son.
The GOPe spoke loudly and wielded a very big gavel this week, and told us exactly where our proper place was. Now we should just eat our peas, no matter who serves them up.
Your post brings Japan and scrap metal to mind.
If you think the economy is NOT the over riding issue you are sorely mistaken...economic freedom is the base of all the other freedoms-—without that the government is guaranteed to get bigger and bigger. It is only through economic freedom that people can exercise the other freedoms that this nation has treasured from the beginning. It is the essential ingredient to all other freedoms.
Read Locke and Hyaek and Smith and Adams and Jefferson and all the others
What Islam Isnt
By Dr. Peter Hammond
FrontPageMagazine.com | Monday, April 21, 2008
The following is adapted from Dr. Peter Hammonds book: Slavery, Terrorism and Islam: The Historical Roots and Contemporary Threat:
Islam is not a religion nor is it a cult. It is a complete system.
Islam has religious, legal, political, economic and military components. The religious component is a beard for all the other components.
Islamization occurs when there are sufficient Muslims in a country to agitate for their so-called religious rights.
When politically correct and culturally diverse societies agree to the reasonable Muslim demands for their religious rights, they also get the other components under the table. Heres how it works (percentages source CIA: The World Fact Book (2007)).
As long as the Muslim population remains around 1% of any given country they will be regarded as a peace-loving minority and not as a threat to anyone. In fact, they may be featured in articles and films, stereotyped for their colorful uniqueness:
United States Muslim 1.0%
Australia Muslim 1.5%
Canada Muslim 1.9%
China Muslim 1%-2%
Italy Muslim 1.5%
Norway Muslim 1.8%
At 2% and 3% they begin to proselytize from other ethnic minorities and disaffected groups with major recruiting from the jails and among street gangs:
Denmark Muslim 2%
Germany Muslim 3.7%
United Kingdom Muslim 2.7%
Spain Muslim 4%
Thailand Muslim 4.6%
From 5% on they exercise an inordinate influence in proportion to their percentage of the population.
They will push for the introduction of halal (clean by Islamic standards) food, thereby securing food preparation jobs for Muslims. They will increase pressure on supermarket chains to feature it on their shelves along with threats for failure to comply. ( United States ).
France Muslim 8%
Philippines Muslim 5%
Sweden Muslim 5%
Switzerland Muslim 4.3%
The Netherlands Muslim 5.5%
Trinidad &Tobago Muslim 5.8%
At this point, they will work to get the ruling government to allow them to rule themselves under Sharia, the Islamic Law. The ultimate goal of Islam is not to convert the world but to establish Sharia law over the entire world.
When Muslims reach 10% of the population, they will increase lawlessness as a means of complaint about their conditions ( Paris car-burnings). Any non-Muslim action that offends Islam will result in uprisings and threats ( Amsterdam - Mohammed cartoons).
Guyana Muslim 10%
India Muslim 13.4%
Israel Muslim 16%
Kenya Muslim 10%
Russia Muslim 10-15%
After reaching 20% expect hair-trigger rioting, jihad militia formations, sporadic killings and church and synagogue burning:
Ethiopia Muslim 32.8%
At 40% you will find widespread massacres, chronic terror attacks and ongoing militia warfare:
Bosnia Muslim 40%
Chad Muslim 53.1%
Lebanon Muslim 59.7%
From 60% you may expect unfettered persecution of non-believers and other religions, sporadic ethnic cleansing (genocide), use of Sharia Law as a weapon and Jizya, the tax placed on infidels:
Albania Muslim 70%
Malaysia Muslim 60.4%
Qatar Muslim 77.5%
Sudan Muslim 70%
After 80% expect State run ethnic cleansing and genocide:
Bangladesh Muslim 83%
Egypt Muslim 90%
Gaza Muslim 98.7%
Indonesia Muslim 86.1%
Iran Muslim 98%
Iraq Muslim 97%
Jordan Muslim 92%
Morocco Muslim 98.7%
Pakistan Muslim 97%
Palestine Muslim 99%
Syria Muslim 90%
Tajikistan Muslim 90%
Turkey Muslim 99.8%
United Arab Emirates Muslim 96%
100% will usher in the peace of Dar-es-Salaam the Islamic House of Peace theres supposed to be peace because everybody is a Muslim:
Afghanistan Muslim 100%
Saudi Arabia Muslim 100%
Somalia Muslim 100%
Yemen Muslim 99.9%
Of course, thats not the case. To satisfy their blood lust, Muslims then start killing each other for a variety of reasons.
Before I was nine I had learned the basic canon of Arab life. It was me against my brother; me and my brother against our father; my family against my cousins and the clan; the clan against the tribe; and the tribe against the world and all of us against the infidel. Leon Uris, The Haj
It is good to remember that in many, many countries, such as France, the Muslim populations are centered around ghettos based on their ethnicity. Muslims do not integrate into the community at large. Therefore, they exercise more power than their national average would indicate.
Can you say EMP?
Madness.
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