clee1
Since Jun 20, 2001

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You can have peace; or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having both at once.

I'm grateful that I was raised in a Christian family, where education and character were considered prime requisites toward living a fulfilled life. I am not the best Christian in the world, for I am a sinner, but I really believe that it is important for each of us to strive daily for a greater understanding of God's way.

I was raised to believe deeply that the American Ideals were the best that the world has ever known, and that it is the duty of every American citizen to cherish these ideals and defend them to our last breath, if necessary.

The West Point motto of "Duty, Honor, Country" comes close to how I view it; but (as odd as it sounds) the Boy Scout Oath comes even closer:

On my Honor, I'll do my best to do my Duty
To God and my Country.
To obey the Scout Law. To help other people at all times.
To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.

In the crush of daily lives, in the distortions of the left as disseminated by the Major Media outlets, and in the failure of our educational system to teach these core American values; many Americans have forgotten what it means to

BE an American.

I have not forgotten; and by the Grace of the Lord God, I never will.


Islam is a deadly world-wide plague and liberalism is the AIDS virus that prevents our protecting ourselves from it.

No trees were harmed in the creation of this message -
but many thousands of electrons were seriously inconvenienced!

When we won our independence, a popular rallying cry was "No more Kings!"

What we have now in this Nation is a nominally "elected" professional politician class, that is mostly devoted to remaining in office, and will do whatever it takes (even to the detriment of their constituents) to keep their personal power. The power of incumbency is awesome, and politicians use this power to full effect. The longer a person is in office, the more power they attain; this is called "seniority" and voters are hesitant to throw out a "senior" politician because that constituency will lose the "pork" that the pol can provide. We need the BEST people to run for office; and the system is such now that the "best" people are unwilling to put up with the bullsqueeze necessary to become elected. This is a National disgrace.

So... how do we fix this?

Term limits is one answer, and so is a law that prohibits an elected official from introducing a bill to benefit his/her own district as well as an anti-quid pro quo provision that keeps one pol from "porking" for another and vice versa. A law that prohibits lawyers from elected office would also help a great deal. Lawyers are "officers of the Court" or de facto members of the Judiciary - that they also number as the vast majority of elected officials is a clear violation of the separation of powers, and may explain why Congress is unwilling to reign in an out-of-control Court system. A line-item veto (and a President with the balls and the integrity to use it) would also help a great deal. A Constitutional Amendment that forbids an elected official any benefit not provided to the national population would also reduce the abuse of power.

The best way, perhaps, to fix these issues is to return to the truly Constitutional method of electing our representatives, and to force the Courts to behave in a Constitutional manner. Unfortunately, this will require a Second American Revolution. (which I see as inevitable in any case). The last 12 Presidential elections have indicated that this Nation is divided 50/50 between Leftists and freedom-loving patriots. A house divided against itself cannot long stand.

How else do you "fix" a system that is so corrupt and dysfunctional as ours is?


Thoughts on Christmas

Christmas is supposed to be about Christ; period.

The gifts we give each other are supposed to be symbolic of the gifts the Magi brought to the Christ child; period. They brought him gold, frankincense, and myrrh (gifts traditionally given to a King, BTW) - not wide-screen TV’s, Wii’s, and GI Joe with the kung-fu grip: materialist garbage NOT in keeping with Christ’s gift of salvation.

Most people WAY overdo the “Christmas presents” thing anyway. A cutback would not be a bad idea.

My household does a much smaller than average “commercial” Christmas; emphasizing well-thought-out “personal” gifts as opposed to large numbers of big-ticket items. We focus on the “reason for the season” here, and the “money” has very little to do with it.


Wisdom of the Ages

We use 43 muscles to frown, 17 to smile, and 2 to pull a trigger. I'm lazy and I have nothing to smile about.

Get a shot off fast. This upsets an attacker long enough to let you make your second shot perfect!

“The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of their folly is to fill the world with fools.” - Herbert Spencer

It may be better to be a live jackal than dead lion; but it is better still to be a live lion. And usually easier.

Place your clothes and weapons where you can find them in the dark.

In a mature society, "civil servant" is semantically equal to "civil master".

Democracy is based on the assumption that a million men are wiser than one man. Huh?

Stupidity cannot be cured by money, or by legislation. Stupidity is not a sin. However, stupidity IS the only natural and universal capital crime: the sentence is death. There is no available appeal, and is carried out automatically and without pity.

$100 placed at 7% interest compounded quarterly for 200 years will increase to more than $100,000.00 - by which time it will be worth... nothing.

Taxes are not levied for the benefit of the taxed.

You live and learn; or you don't live long.

Do not handicap your children by making their lives easy.

NEVER underestimate the power of human stupidity.