Dear Senator Specter:

Thank you for finally admitting you are not a Republican. Although I think your defection will hurt our country in the short run, I believe your move finally shows the rest of the country what we already knew...You are and always have been a Democrat.

You said, "Since my election in 1980, as part of the Reagan big tent, the Republican Party has moved far to the right." The footnote below (1) contains relevant excerpts from the 1980 Republican Party Platform, the full text of which can be found here http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/showplatforms.php?platindex=R1980.

It is, in essence, the same things that the Republican Party holds as its ideals today.

• ·         Low taxes to strengthen the economy
• ·         A Federal system which limits the strength of the Federal government over the states
• ·         Stop the dependency of people on welfare and make work programs of the government
• ·         A strong military and intelligence capability to stop terrorism
• ·         A Strong Family in the traditional sense
• ·         Parental control of their children's education
• ·         A Pro-Life stance
• ·         No discrimination from anyone
• ·         An Energy policy that makes sure it doesn’t affect the economy and builds on a strong domestic auto industry
•      And many similar points.
  

The Republican electorate has not moved from these points. Our elected representatives are the ones that moved from these ideals. Our Republican elected officials became complacent, leaning to what President Bush called "Compassionate conservatism". This was no more than a leftward shift by you and the others we elected. We have seen the results of this shift in the loss of both houses of Congress and the White House, as well as losses in the states.

We allowed the educational system to drum into our children values completely foreign to traditional America values. We now have a generation that thinks handouts from the government are preferable to hard work and industry. These unsustainable giveaways caught up with our party in the losses of 2006 and 2008.

As you switch to the party of big government, hand-holding, taxing and social decay, I hope you come to see how far you and your compatriots in the past 10 years have led our country away from the ideals of the American Dream.

Sincerely,

...

(1) Excerpt from the 1980 Republican Party Platform http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/showplatforms.php?platindex=R1980.

… "Our foremost goal here at home is simple: economic growth and full employment without inflation. Sweeping change in economic policy in America is needed so that Mr. Carter's promise of hard times and austerity—his one promise well kept—can be replaced with Republican policies that promise economic growth and job creation. It is our belief that the stagflation of recent years not only has consigned millions of citizens to hardship but also has bottled up the enormous ingenuity and creative powers of our people. Those energies will not be released by the sterile policies of the past: we specifically reject the Carter doctrine that inflation can be reduced only by throwing people out of work. Prosperity will not be regained simply by government fiat. Rather, we must offer broad new incentives to labor and capital to stimulate a great outpouring of private goods and services and to create an abundance of jobs. From America's grass roots to the White House we will stand united as a party behind a bold program of tax rate reductions, spending restraints, and regulatory reforms that will inject new life into the economic bloodstream of this country.

"Overseas, our goal is equally simple and direct: to preserve a world at peace by keeping America strong. This philosophy once occupied a hallowed place in American diplomacy, but it was casually, even cavalierly dismissed at the outset by the Carter Administration—and the results have been shattering. Never before in modern history has the United States endured as many humiliations, insults, and defeats as it has during the past four years: our ambassadors murdered, our embassies burned, our warnings ignored, our diplomacy scorned, our diplomats kidnapped. The Carter Administration has shown that it neither understands totalitarianism nor appreciates the way tyrants take advantage of weakness. The brutal invasion of Afghanistan promises to be only the forerunner of much more serious threats to the West—and to world peace—should the Carter Administration somehow cling to power.

"Republicans are united in a belief that America's international humiliation and decline can be reversed only by strong presidential leadership and a consistent, far-sighted foreign policy, supported by a major upgrading of our military forces, a strengthening of our commitments to our allies, and a resolve that our national interests be vigorously protected. Ultimately, those who practice strength and firmness truly guard the peace.

"We affirm our deep commitment to the fulfillment of the hopes and aspirations of all Americans—blacks and whites, women and men, the young and old, rural and urban.

For too many years, the political debate in America has been conducted in terms set by the Democrats. They believe that every time new problems arise beyond the power of men and women as individuals to solve, it becomes the duty of government to solve them, as if there were never any alternative. Republicans disagree and have always taken the side of the individual, whose freedoms are threatened by the big government that Democratic idea has spawned. Our case for the individual is stronger than ever. A defense of the individual against government was never more needed. And we will continue to mount it.

But we will redefine and broaden the debate by transcending the narrow terms of government and the individual; those are not the only two realities in America. Our society consists of more than that; so should the political debate. We will reemphasize those vital communities like the family, the neighborhood, the workplace, and others which are found at the center of society, between government and the individual. We will restore and strengthen their ability to solve problems in the places where people spend their daily lives and can turn to each other for support and help.

"We seek energy independence through economic policies that free up our energy production and encourage conservation. We seek improvements in health care, education, housing, and opportunities for youth. We seek new avenues for the needy to break out of the tragic cycle of dependency. All of these goals—and many others—we confidently expect to achieve through a rebirth of liberty and resurgence of private initiatives, for we believe that at the root of most of our troubles today is the misguided and discredited philosophy of an all-powerful government, ceaselessly striving to subsidize, manipulate, and control individuals. But it is the individual, not the government, who reigns at the center of our Republican philosophy.

"Republicans pledge a restoration of balance in American society. But society cannot be balanced by the actions of government or of individuals alone. Balance is found at society's vital center, where we find the family and the neighborhood and the workplace.

"…The measure of a country's compassion is how it treats the least fortunate. In every society there will be some who cannot work, often through no fault of their own.

Yet current federal government efforts to help them have become counterproductive, perpetuating and aggravating the very conditions of dependence they seek to relieve. The Democratic Congress has produced a jumble of degrading, dehumanizing, wasteful, overlapping, and inefficient programs that invite waste and fraud but inadequately assist the needy poor.

Poverty is defined not by income statistics alone, but by an individual's true situation and prospects. For two generations, especially since the mid–1960s, the Democrats have deliberately perpetuated a status of federally subsidized poverty and manipulated dependency for millions of Americans. This is especially so for blacks and Hispanics, many of whom remain pawns of the bureaucracy, trapped outside the social and economic mainstream of American life.

For those on welfare, our nation's tax policies provide a penalty for getting a job. This is especially so for those whose new income from a job is either equal to, or marginally greater than, the amount received on welfare. In these cases, due to taxes, the individual's earned income is actually less than welfare benefits. This is the "poverty trap" which will continue to hold millions of Americans as long as they continue to be punished for working.

The Carter Administration and the Democratic Party continue to foster that dependency. Our nation's welfare problems will not be solved merely by providing increased benefits. Public service jobs are not a substitute for employable skills, nor can increases in the food stamp program by themselves provide for individual dignity. By fostering dependency and discouraging self-reliance, the Democratic Party has created a welfare constituency dependent on its continual subsidies.

"…Americans enjoy greater personal mobility than any other people on earth, largely as a result of the availability of automobiles and our modern highway system. Republicans reject the elitist notion that Americans must be forced out of their cars. Instead, we vigorously support the right of personal mobility and freedom as exemplified by the automobile and our modern highway system. While recognizing the importance of fuel efficiency and alternate modes of transportation, we quickly acknowledge that for millions of Americans there is no substitute on the horizon for the automobile. We reaffirm our support for a healthy domestic automobile industry, complete with continued support for the highway trust fund, which is the fairest method yet devised for financing America's highway system.

"…The truths we hold and the values we share affirm that no individual should be victimized by unfair discrimination because of race, sex, advanced age, physical handicap, difference of national origin or religion, or economic circumstance. However, equal opportunity should not be jeopardized by bureaucratic regulations and decisions which rely on quotas, ratios, and numerical requirements to exclude some individuals in favor of others, thereby rendering such regulations and decisions inherently discriminatory.

"…There can be no doubt that the question of abortion, despite the complex nature of its various issues, is ultimately concerned with equality of rights under the law. While we recognize differing views on this question among Americans in general—and in our own Party—we affirm our support of a constitutional amendment to restore protection of the right to life for unborn children. We also support the Congressional efforts to restrict the use of taxpayers' dollars for abortion.

We protest the Supreme Court's intrusion into the family structure through its denial of the parent's obligation and right to guide their minor children.

The family is the foundation of our social order. It is the school of democracy. Its daily lessons—cooperation, tolerance, mutual concern, responsibility, industry—are fundamental to the order and progress of our Republic. But the Democrats have shunted the family aside. They have given its power to the bureaucracy, its jurisdiction to the courts, and its resources to government grantors. For the first time in our history, there is real concern that the family may not survive.

Government may be strong enough to destroy families, but it can never replace them.

Unlike the Democrats, we do not advocate new federal bureaucracies with ominous power to shape a national family order. Rather, we insist that all domestic policies, from child care and schooling to Social Security and the tax code, must be formulated with the family in mind.

Next to religious training and the home, education is the most important means by which families hand down to each new generation their ideals and beliefs. It is a pillar of a free society. But today, parents are losing control of their children's schooling. The Democratic Congress and its counterparts in many states have launched one fad after another, building huge new bureaucracies to misspend our taxes. The result has been a shocking drop in student performance, lack of basics in the classroom, forced busing, teacher strikes, manipulative and sometimes amoral indoctrination.

"…Significant as these achievements are, we must not be complacent. Health care costs continue to rise, farther and faster than they should, and threaten to spiral beyond the reach of many families. The causes are the Democratic Congress' inflationary spending and excessive and expensive regulations.

Republicans unequivocally oppose socialized medicine, in whatever guise it is presented by the Democratic Party. We reject the creation of a national health service and all proposals for compulsory national health insurance.

Our country has made spectacular gains in health care in recent decades. Most families are now covered by private insurance, Medicare, or in the case of the poor, the entirely free services under Medicaid.

Republicans recognize that many health care problems can be solved if government will work closely with the private sector to find remedies that will enhance our current system of excellent care. We applaud, as an example, the voluntary effort which has been undertaken by our nation's hospitals to control costs. The results have been encouraging. More remains to be done.

"…In view of the continuing efforts of the present Administration to define and influence the family through such federally funded conferences as the White House Conference on Families, we express our support for legislation protecting and defending the traditional American family against the ongoing erosion of its base in our society.

"…We propose to put Americans back to work again by restoring real growth without inflation to the United States economy. Republican programs and initiatives detailed in this platform will create millions of additional new jobs in the American workplace. As a result of Mr. Carter's recession, more than eight million Americans are now out of work.

Sweeping change in America's economic policy is needed. We must replace the Carter Administration's promise of hard times and austerity—one promise which has been [p.16] kept—with Republican policies that restore economic growth and create more jobs.

The Democratic Congress and the Carter Administration are espousing programs that candidate Carter in 1976 said were inhumane: using recession, unemployment, high interest rates, and high taxes to fight inflation. The Democrats are now trying to stop inflation with a recession, a bankrupt policy which is throwing millions of Americans out of work. They say Americans must tighten their belts, abandon their dreams, and accept higher taxes, less take-home pay, fewer jobs, and no growth in the national economy.

We categorically reject this approach. Inflation is too much money chasing too few goods. Shutting down our nation's factories and throwing millions of people out of work leads only to shortages and higher prices.

We believe inflation can only be controlled by monetary and spending restraint, combined with sharp reductions in the tax and regulatory barriers to savings, investment, production, and jobs.

"…The Republican Party declares war on government overregulation. We pledge to cut down on federal paperwork, cut out excessive regulation, and cut back the bloated bureaucracy.

In addressing these problems we recognize that overregulation is particularly harmful to America's small businesses whose survival is often threatened by the excessive costs of complying with government rules and handling federal paperwork.

While we recognize the role of the federal government in establishing certain minimum standards designed to improve the quality of life in America, we reaffirm our conviction that these standards can best be attained through innovative efforts of American business without the federal government mandating the methods of attainment.

The extraordinary growth of government, particularly since the middle 1960s, has brought mounting costs to society which, in turn, have added to inflationary pressures, reduced productivity, discouraged new investment, destroyed jobs, and increased bureaucratic intrusion into everyday life.

"…The intent of the Founders, embraced and reflected by succeeding generations of Americans, was that the Central government should perform only those functions which are necessary concomitants of nationality, preserve order, and do for people only those things which they cannot do for themselves. The durability of our system lies in its flexibility and its accommodation to diversity and changing circumstance. It is notable as much for what it permits as for what it proscribes. Government must ever be the servant of the nation, not its master.

Under the guise of providing for the common good, Democratic Party domination of the body politic over the last 47 years has produced a central government of vastly expanded size, scope, and rigidity. Confidence in government, especially big government, has been the chief casualty of too many promises made and broken, too many commitments unkept. It is time for change— time to de-emphasize big bureaucracies—time to shift the focus of national politics from expanding government's power to that of restoring the strength of smaller communities such as the family, the neighborhood, and the workplace.

Government's power to take and tax, to regulate and require, has already reached extravagant proportions. As government's power continues to grow, the "consent of the governed" will diminish. Republicans support an end to the growth of the federal government and pledge to return the decision making process to the smaller communities of society.

"…The Republican Party reaffirms its belief in the decentralization of the federal government and in the traditional American principle that the best government is the one closest to the people. There, it is less costly, more accountable, and more responsive to people's needs. Against the prevailing trend toward increased Centralization of government under the Democrats, Republicans succeeded in the 1970s in initiating large scale revenue sharing and block grant programs to disperse the power of the federal government and share it with the states and localities.

"…Residence in the United States is one of the most precious and valued of conditions. The traditional hospitality of the American people has been severely tested by recent events, but it remains the strongest in the world. Republicans are proud that our people have opened their arms and hearts to strangers from abroad and we favor an immigration and refugee policy which is consistent with this tradition. We believe that to the fullest extent possible those immigrants should be admitted who will make a positive contribution to America and who are willing to accept the fundamental American values and way of life. At the same time, United States immigration and refugee policy must reflect the interests of our national security and economic well-being. Immigration into this country must not be determined solely by foreign governments or even by the millions of people around the world who wish to come to America. The federal government has a duty to adopt immigration laws and follow enforcement procedures which will fairly and effectively implement the immigration policy desired by the American people.

The immediate adoption of this policy is essential to an orderly approach to the great problem of oppressed people seeking entry, so that the deserving can be accepted in America without adding to their hardships.

The refugee problem is an international problem and every effort should be made to coordinate plans for absorbing refugee populations with regional bodies, such as the Organization of American States and the Association of South East Asian Nations, on a global basis.

Mr. Specter has decided to move on. No one here in PA will be surprised. Mr. Specter is the ultimate politician. He looks out for Arlen Specter first and his cronies second and his constituents last. In one of his first elections, Mr. Specter became a Republican because he knew he couldnt oust a sitting Democrat in the primary. But he never lost his left leaning views.
Mr. Specter knows he would lose to Pat Toomey in the primaries. His comment was "I am also disappointed that so many in the Party I have worked for for more than four decades do not want me to be their candidate." He says the party has moved far to the Right, but it seems that the people who HAVE supported him still don't want him. He is right. WE DO NOT WANT Mr. Specter to be our candidate. His leftist leanings have always been a sour taste in our mouths, but we put up with them because the Democratic candidate alternatives have been worse. He got votes for being the least worst of the candidates.
Conservatives cannot rest easy. The man is a tough candidate. We will need all the resources of the Republican party in the fall to defeat him. George Soros and President Obama will be supporting him. So be ready for a hard fight. And pray, in the end, that the man who has abandoned all pretense to being a conservative will not have the opportunity to fool anyone anymore.

In the past 5 months we have seen the following from the federal government:

• The takeover of a large financial company and several banks
• The attempt to rescind legitimate contracts for employees of these companies
• Comments saying the executive branch would like to control private financial institutions who did not take TARP money
• Equity purchases of businesses
  
• Comments from the President that he would like to limit compensation of private citizens
  
• The removal of used military ammunition brass from the market
• The attempt to limit the sale of ammunition
• Unsolicited overtures to Cuba's Communist government and Iran
• Discussion of the use of a federal militia on American soil
• Statements that only the Government can fix the current issues
• Attempts to create enough money to pay off debts (knowing the creation will cause major inflation)
• Statements from several federal officials that those who are financially successful need to give more of their hard earned money to those who have not earned it.
• Legislation for taxation in an ex post facto manner
• Demands from a congressman for the names of employees without probable cause and without a warrant
• Smear campaigns on individuals that disagree with the current government
• Attempts to create class warfare between executives of companies, businessmen, blue collar workers and the unemployed.
  
• and many many more.

Today's revelation is the attempt to nationalize the press by offering to create a special fund for failing newspapers with the caveat that they "cannot give political endorsements"

We have people currently running our government that are running roughshod over almost every one of the Bill of Rights in the name of the People. We MUST stop the madness NOW! Tell your friends. Call your local and state officials. Call your Congressmen. Tell them to stop the communist subversion of our country. If we don't do it now, it may be too late.

It seems the politicians are outraged... OUTRAGED that working people... I mean white collar workers are getting money they are owed... I mean bonuses. We even have one Senator that suggested working people.. I mean executives, commit Hari Kari.
Apparently when politicians make laws, it's OK to become outraged when the people it affects receive what they are owed. Senator Dodd's amendment to the original TARP bill provides an “exception for contractually obligated bonuses agreed on before Feb. 11, 2009” (http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/industries/finance/dodd-cracks-aig---time/). Yes, that's right, the CONGRESS VOTED TO MAKE SURE THESE BONUSES WERE PROTECTED!
Now they act like the AIG employees that did their jobs correctly don't deserve money they are contractually owed. Did they not do their job correctly? Let's review that.
There was one division of AIG that caused most of their losses. It was a financial arm working with deriviatives, trying to make money on the same financial products that everyone agreed were safe. After all, most of the investments were covering mortgages by FNMA and Freddie Mac, 2 quasi-governmental agencies. Almost anyone in the financial industry would have told you they were among the safest investments you could make. The whole world agreed and were buying the investments, knowing they were sound. We now know, when the government gets its fingers into something, you can never be sure how sound it will be.
The other folks at the company were managers and executives that were meeting their quotas on new and existing business underwriting. Apparently they shouldnt be paid for doing their jobs.
Politicans love to hate business. After all, businesses make people independent of the need for government. And if we don't need government, they have no power.
They've been doing it for centuries. Why do we expect any different from this bunch?
The same people that created the interference in the markets are the ones screaming the loudest about the losses and asking everyday workers to refuse to take money they are owed. They are threatening to steal it back, using tax law. Imagine if the government tried to do the same in your job.
Every day, these denizens of democracy find new ways to usurp our Constitition and laws. Apparently contracts no longer have meaning. Congress and the media need to stop the witch hunts for AIG boogiemen and get out of the way of business. Let's keep up the Tea Party thinking and stop these people from destroying our laws.

On this inauguration day, I thought it appropriate for us to remember the speech of perhaps the 20th Century's greatest President, Ronald Reagan.

(Source: http://www.bartleby.com/124/pres61.html)

Senator Hatfield, Mr. Chief Justice, Mr. President, Vice President Bush, Vice President Mondale, Senator Baker, Speaker O'Neill, Reverend Moomaw, and my fellow citizens: To a few of us here today, this is a solemn and most momentous occasion; and yet, in the history of our Nation, it is a commonplace occurrence. The orderly transfer of authority as called for in the Constitution routinely takes place as it has for almost two centuries and few of us stop to think how unique we really are. In the eyes of many in the world, this every-4-year ceremony we accept as normal is nothing less than a miracle.

Mr. President, I want our fellow citizens to know how much you did to carry on this tradition. By your gracious cooperation in the transition process, you have shown a watching world that we are a united people pledged to maintaining a political system which guarantees individual liberty to a greater degree than any other, and I thank you and your people for all your help in maintaining the continuity which is the bulwark of our Republic.

The business of our nation goes forward. These United States are confronted with an economic affliction of great proportions. We suffer from the longest and one of the worst sustained inflations in our national history. It distorts our economic decisions, penalizes thrift, and crushes the struggling young and the fixed-income elderly alike. It threatens to shatter the lives of millions of our people.

Idle industries have cast workers into unemployment, causing human misery and personal indignity. Those who do work are denied a fair return for their labor by a tax system which penalizes successful achievement and keeps us from maintaining full productivity.

But great as our tax burden is, it has not kept pace with public spending. For decades, we have piled deficit upon deficit, mortgaging our future and our children's future for the temporary convenience of the present. To continue this long trend is to guarantee tremendous social, cultural, political, and economic upheavals.

You and I, as individuals, can, by borrowing, live beyond our means, but for only a limited period of time. Why, then, should we think that collectively, as a nation, we are not bound by that same limitation?

We must act today in order to preserve tomorrow. And let there be no misunderstanding—we are going to begin to act, beginning today.

 The economic ills we suffer have come upon us over several decades. They will not go away in days, weeks, or months, but they will go away. They will go away because we, as Americans, have the capacity now, as we have had in the past, to do whatever needs to be done to preserve this last and greatest bastion of freedom.

In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem.

From time to time, we have been tempted to believe that society has become too complex to be managed by self-rule, that government by an elite group is superior to government for, by, and of the people. But if no one among us is capable of governing himself, then who among us has the capacity to govern someone else? All of us together, in and out of government, must bear the burden. The solutions we seek must be equitable, with no one group singled out to pay a higher price.

We hear much of special interest groups. Our concern must be for a special interest group that has been too long neglected. It knows no sectional boundaries or ethnic and racial divisions, and it crosses political party lines. It is made up of men and women who raise our food, patrol our streets, man our mines and our factories, teach our children, keep our homes, and heal us when we are sick—professionals, industrialists, shopkeepers, clerks, cabbies, and truck drivers. They are, in short, "We the people," this breed called Americans.

Well, this administration's objective will be a healthy, vigorous, growing economy that provides equal opportunity for all Americans, with no barriers born of bigotry or discrimination. Putting America back to work means putting all Americans back to work. Ending inflation means freeing all Americans from the terror of runaway living costs. All must share in the productive work of this "new beginning" and all must share in the bounty of a revived economy. With the idealism and fair play which are the core of our system and our strength, we can have a strong and prosperous America at peace with itself and the world.

So, as we begin, let us take inventory. We are a nation that has a government—not the other way around. And this makes us special among the nations of the Earth. Our Government has no power except that granted it by the people. It is time to check and reverse the growth of government which shows signs of having grown beyond the consent of the governed.

It is my intention to curb the size and influence of the Federal establishment and to demand recognition of the distinction between the powers granted to the Federal Government and those reserved to the States or to the people. All of us need to be reminded that the Federal Government did not create the States; the States created the Federal Government.

Now, so there will be no misunderstanding, it is not my intention to do away with government. It is, rather, to make it work—work with us, not over us; to stand by our side, not ride on our back. Government can and must provide opportunity, not smother it; foster productivity, not stifle it.

If we look to the answer as to why, for so many years, we achieved so much, prospered as no other people on Earth, it was because here, in this land, we unleashed the energy and individual genius of man to a greater extent than has ever been done before. Freedom and the dignity of the individual have been more available and assured here than in any other place on Earth. The price for this freedom at times has been high, but we have never been unwilling to pay that price.

It is no coincidence that our present troubles parallel and are proportionate to the intervention and intrusion in our lives that result from unnecessary and excessive growth of government. It is time for us to realize that we are too great a nation to limit ourselves to small dreams. We are not, as some would have us believe, doomed to an inevitable decline. I do not believe in a fate that will fall on us no matter what we do. I do believe in a fate that will fall on us if we do nothing. So, with all the creative energy at our command, let us begin an era of national renewal. Let us renew our determination, our courage, and our strength. And let us renew our faith and our hope.

We have every right to dream heroic dreams. Those who say that we are in a time when there are no heroes just don't know where to look. You can see heroes every day going in and out of factory gates. Others, a handful in number, produce enough food to feed all of us and then the world beyond. You meet heroes across a counter—and they are on both sides of that counter. There are entrepreneurs with faith in themselves and faith in an idea who create new jobs, new wealth and opportunity. They are individuals and families whose taxes support the Government and whose voluntary gifts support church, charity, culture, art, and education. Their patriotism is quiet but deep. Their values sustain our national life.

I have used the words "they" and "their" in speaking of these heroes. I could say "you" and "your" because I am addressing the heroes of whom I speak—you, the citizens of this blessed land. Your dreams, your hopes, your goals are going to be the dreams, the hopes, and the goals of this administration, so help me God.

We shall reflect the compassion that is so much a part of your makeup. How can we love our country and not love our countrymen, and loving them, reach out a hand when they fall, heal them when they are sick, and provide opportunities to make them self-sufficient so they will be equal in fact and not just in theory?

Can we solve the problems confronting us? Well, the answer is an unequivocal and emphatic "yes." To paraphrase Winston Churchill, I did not take the oath I have just taken with the intention of presiding over the dissolution of the world's strongest economy.

In the days ahead I will propose removing the roadblocks that have slowed our economy and reduced productivity. Steps will be taken aimed at restoring the balance between the various levels of government. Progress may be slow—measured in inches and feet, not miles—but we will progress. Is it time to reawaken this industrial giant, to get government back within its means, and to lighten our punitive tax burden. And these will be our first priorities, and on these principles, there will be no compromise.

On the eve of our struggle for independence a man who might have been one of the greatest among the Founding Fathers, Dr. Joseph Warren, President of the Massachusetts Congress, said to his fellow Americans, "Our country is in danger, but not to be despaired of.... On you depend the fortunes of America. You are to decide the important questions upon which rests the happiness and the liberty of millions yet unborn. Act worthy of yourselves."

Well, I believe we, the Americans of today, are ready to act worthy of ourselves, ready to do what must be done to ensure happiness and liberty for ourselves, our children and our children's children.

And as we renew ourselves here in our own land, we will be seen as having greater strength throughout the world. We will again be the exemplar of freedom and a beacon of hope for those who do not now have freedom.

To those neighbors and allies who share our freedom, we will strengthen our historic ties and assure them of our support and firm commitment. We will match loyalty with loyalty. We will strive for mutually beneficial relations. We will not use our friendship to impose on their sovereignty, for our own sovereignty is not for sale.

As for the enemies of freedom, those who are potential adversaries, they will be reminded that peace is the highest aspiration of the American people. We will negotiate for it, sacrifice for it; we will not surrender for it—now or ever.

Our forbearance should never be misunderstood. Our reluctance for conflict should not be misjudged as a failure of will. When action is required to preserve our national security, we will act. We will maintain sufficient strength to prevail if need be, knowing that if we do so we have the best chance of never having to use that strength.

Above all, we must realize that no arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women. It is a weapon our adversaries in today's world do not have. It is a weapon that we as Americans do have. Let that be understood by those who practice terrorism and prey upon their neighbors.

I am told that tens of thousands of prayer meetings are being held on this day, and for that I am deeply grateful. We are a nation under God, and I believe God intended for us to be free. It would be fitting and good, I think, if on each Inauguration Day in future years it should be declared a day of prayer.

This is the first time in history that this ceremony has been held, as you have been told, on this West Front of the Capitol. Standing here, one faces a magnificent vista, opening up on this city's special beauty and history. At the end of this open mall are those shrines to the giants on whose shoulders we stand.

Directly in front of me, the monument to a monumental man: George Washington, Father of our country. A man of humility who came to greatness reluctantly. He led America out of revolutionary victory into infant nationhood. Off to one side, the stately memorial to Thomas Jefferson. The Declaration of Independence flames with his eloquence.

And then beyond the Reflecting Pool the dignified columns of the Lincoln Memorial. Whoever would understand in his heart the meaning of America will find it in the life of Abraham Lincoln. Beyond those monuments to heroism is the Potomac River, and on the far shore the sloping hills of Arlington National Cemetery with its row on row of simple white markers bearing crosses or Stars of David. They add up to only a tiny fraction of the price that has been paid for our freedom.

Each one of those markers is a monument to the kinds of hero I spoke of earlier. Their lives ended in places called Belleau Wood, The Argonne, Omaha Beach, Salerno and halfway around the world on Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Pork Chop Hill, the Chosin Reservoir, and in a hundred rice paddies and jungles of a place called Vietnam.

Under one such marker lies a young man—Martin Treptow — who left his job in a small town barber shop in 1917 to go to France with the famed Rainbow Division. There, on the western front, he was killed trying to carry a message between battalions under heavy artillery fire.

We are told that on his body was found a diary. On the flyleaf under the heading, "My Pledge," he had written these words: "America must win this war. Therefore, I will work, I will save, I will sacrifice, I will endure, I will fight cheerfully and do my utmost, as if the issue of the whole struggle depended on me alone."

The crisis we are facing today does not require of us the kind of sacrifice that Martin Treptow and so many thousands of others were called upon to make. It does require, however, our best effort, and our willingness to believe in ourselves and to believe in our capacity to perform great deeds; to believe that together, with God's help, we can and will resolve the problems which now confront us.

And, after all, why shouldn't we believe that? We are Americans. God bless you, and thank you.

It's 11PM Eastern on election night and as I write this, Mr. Obama has won the election. My home state of Pennsylvania has gone strongly to him and my home county, previously a strong Republican stronghold has once again voted for a very liberal Democrat for Congress as well as voting for Mr. Obama. Some are calling this election the end of Republicanism. What this should be viewed as is the end of the neo-conservative wing of the Republican party.
What happened to cause this change in our country? Many will blame President Bush and he needs to take a large part of the blame. His swing to the left, large government programs and the constant barrage of the Left against him helped make him impotent over the past 3-4 years. His inability to communicate with the American people allowed his enemies to destroy his presidency.
The failure of ongoing programs such as forcing banks to give loans  and mortgages they know will not be paid and so many give aways we can't even count, continue to rip at the fabric of our economy. His takeover of some banks and ongoing "bailouts" of companies by the government has continued us down the path of socialism.
The Republican majorities several years ago forgot why we sent them there. Many of us on the Right thought we needed to show a special "compassion" by passing laws that were really the signs of liberalism. Large subisdies for medicine, ethanol and many other social agenda items have served to lead us to the brink of financial collapse.
Somehow the American people think by increasing taxes on small business and the people who are already paying 60% of the taxes will bring the country back. We have demonized our most productive citizens. The Left's social programs aim to take the wealth of the top producers in our society and dole it out to those who have not been as productive. This used to be called thievery. Now we call it "fair".
For a view of what could occur, I would recommend reading Ayn Rand's 'Atlas Shrugged'. This is a book many of us should have read long ago. It should also be required reading in every high school and college. It describes how easily capitalism can be destroyed by the unproductive of society.
We will best help those in need by rebuilding business, creating jobs, stopping the agendas of those who want to destroy business. Getting someone a job will help the country far more than handing them $500 or $1,000. Politicians love give-aways. Everyone likes the guy who hands out cash. The problem is the money has to come from someone else. It's a net loss to the economy.
Capitalism is at a precarious position. Our once strong military-industrial complex is collapsing around us. Those of us on the Right must move back to Reagan conservatism. We need to find ways to strengthen our businesses despite the expected slashes at their profits. We must work together to return to the strength of our country and our movement, the Judeo-Christian work ethic. We need new innovation rather than just take from the rich. Let us pray that as our government changes, we can protect our nation from the worst tendencies of those that feel rather than think. Let's show the country the right way to reform and bring our country back to greatness. May God have mercy on us and guide us.

These are quotes by Will Durant. After my son was assigned to discuss the first quote, I felt that posting more of his thinking would be valuable to others.

A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself within. The essential causes of Rome's decline lay in her people, her morals, her class struggle, her failing trade, her bureaucratic despotism, her stifling taxes, her consuming wars.
A statesman cannot afford to be a moralist.

As soon as liberty is complete it dies in anarchy.

Bankers know that history is inflationary and that money is the last thing a wise man will hoard.

Civilization begins with order, grows with liberty and dies with chaos.

Civilization exists by geological consent, subject to change without notice.

Civilization is the order and freedom is promoting cultural activity.

Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.

Education is the transmission of civilization.

Every form of government tends to perish by excess of its basic principle.

Every science begins as philosophy and ends as art.

Every vice was once a virtue, and may become respectable again, just as hatred becomes respectable in wartime.

History is mostly guessing; the rest is prejudice.

I am not against hasty marriages, where a mutual flame is fanned by an adequate income.

If man asks for many laws it is only because he is sure that his neighbor needs them; privately he is an unphilosophical anarchist, and thinks laws in his own case superfluous.

In my youth I stressed freedom, and in my old age I stress order. I have made the great discovery that liberty is a product of order.

Inquiry is fatal to certainty.

It may be true that you can't fool all the people all the time, but you can fool enough of them to rule a large country.

Knowledge is the eye of desire and can become the pilot of the soul.

Man became free when he recognized that he was subject to law.

Moral codes adjust themselves to environmental conditions.

Most of us spend too much time on the last twenty-four hours and too little on the last six thousand years.

Nature has never read the Declaration of Independence. It continues to make us unequal.

One of the lessons of history is that nothing is often a good thing to do and always a clever thing to say.

Our knowledge is a receding mirage in an expanding desert of ignorance.

Science gives us knowledge, but only philosophy can give us wisdom.

Sixty years ago I knew everything; now I know nothing; education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.

The ego is willing but the machine cannot go on. It's the last thing a man will admit, that his mind ages.

The family is the nucleus of civilization.

The love we have in our youth is superficial compared to the love that an old man has for his old wife.

The most interesting thing in the world is another human being who wonders, suffers and raises the questions that have bothered him to the last day of his life, knowing he will never get the answers.

The political machine triumphs because it is a united minority acting against a divided majority.

The trouble with most people is that they think with their hopes or fears or wishes rather than with their minds.

There have been only 268 of the past 3,421 years free of war.

There is nothing in socialism that a little age or a little money will not cure.

Tired mothers find that spanking takes less time than reasoning and penetrates sooner to the seat of the memory.

To say nothing, especially when speaking, is half the art of diplomacy.

To speak ill of others is a dishonest way of praising ourselves. Nothing is often a good thing to say, and always a clever thing to say.

Truth always originates in a minority of one, and every custom begins as a broken precedent.

We Americans are the best informed people on earth as to the events of the last twenty-four hours; we are the not the best informed as the events of the last sixty centuries.

We are living in the excesses of freedom. Just take a look at 42nd Street an Broadway.

When liberty becomes license, dictatorship is near.

Woe to him who teaches men faster than they can learn.

Quoted from http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/w/will_durant.html

Basic Rights? Mr. Obama seems to think we should be adopting the following... (some words changed to protect the guilty)

Chapter 7: THE BASIC RIGHTS, FREEDOMS, AND DUTIES OF CITIZENS OF THE COUNTRY
 
Article 39. Citizens of the Country enjoy in full the social, economic, political and personal rights and freedoms proclaimed and guaranteed by the Constitution of the Country and by our other laws. The system ensures enlargement of the rights and freedoms of citizens and continuous improvement of their living standards as social, economic, and cultural development programmes are fulfilled.
 Enjoyment by citizens of their rights and freedoms must not be to the detriment of the interests of society or the state, or infringe the rights of other citizens.
 
Article 40. Citizens of the Country have the right to work (that is, to guaranteed employment and pay in accordance with the quantity and quality of their work, and not below the state-established minimum), including the right to choose their trade or profession, type of job and work in accordance with their inclinations, abilities, training and education, with due account of the needs of society.
 This right is ensured by the economic system, steady growth of the productive forces, free vocational and professional training, improvement of skills, training in new trades or professions, and development of the systems of vocational guidance and job placement.
 
Article 41. Citizens of the Country have the right to rest and leisure.
This right is ensured by the establishment of a working week not exceeding 41 hours, for workers and other employees, a shorter working day in a number of trades and industries, and shorter hours for night work; by the provision of paid annual holidays, weekly days of rest, extension of the network of cultural, educational, and health-building institutions, and the development on a mass scale of sport, physical culture, and camping and tourism; by the provision of neighborhood recreational facilities, and of other opportunities for rational use of free time.
 The length of farmers’ working and leisure time is established by their farm co-op.
 
Article 42. Citizens of the Country have the right to health protection.
 This right is ensured by free, qualified medical care provided by state health institutions; by extension of the network of therapeutic and health-building institutions; by the development and improvement of safety and hygiene in industry; by carrying out broad prophylactic measures; by measures to improve the environment; by special care for the health of the rising generation, including prohibition of child labour, excluding the work done by children as part of the school curriculum; and by developing research to prevent and reduce the incidence of disease and ensure citizens a long and active life.
 
Article 43. Citizens of the Country have the right to maintenance in old age, in sickness, and in the event of complete or partial disability or loss of the breadwinner.
 The right is guaranteed by social insurance of workers and other employees and collective farmers; by allowances for temporary disability; by the provision by the state or by farms of retirement pensions, disability pensions, and pensions for loss of the breadwinner; by providing employment for the partially disabled; by care for the elderly and the disabled; and by other forms of social security.
 
Article 44. Citizens of the Country have the rights to housing.
 This right is ensured by the development and upkeep of state and socially-owned housing; by assistance for co-operative and individual house building; by fair distribution, under public control, of the housing that becomes available through fulfillment of the programme of building well-appointed dwellings, and by low rents and low charges for utility services.
Citizens of the Country shall take good care of the housing allocated to them.
 
Article 45. Citizens of the Country have the right to education.
 This right is ensured by free provision of all forms of education, by the institution of universal, compulsory secondary education, and broad development of vocational, specialised secondary, and higher education, in which instruction is oriented toward practical activity and production; by the development of extramural, correspondence and evening courses, by the provision of state scholarships and grants and privileges for students; by the free issue of school textbooks; by the opportunity to attend a school where teaching is in the native language; and by the provision of facilities for self-education.
 
Article 46. Citizens of the Country have the right to enjoy cultural benefits.
 This rights is ensured by broad access to the cultural treasures of their own land and of the world that are preserved in state and other public collections; by the development and fair distribution of cultural and educational institutions throughout the country; by developing television and radio broadcasting and the publishing of books, newspapers and periodicals, and by extending the free library service; and by expanding cultural exchanges with other countries.
 
Article 47. Citizens of the Country, in accordance with the aims of our society, are guaranteed freedom of scientific, technical, and artistic work. This freedom is ensured by broadening scientific research, encouraging invention and innovation, and developing literature and the arts. The state provides the necessary material conditions for this and support for voluntary societies and unions of workers in the arts, organises introduction of inventions and innovations in production and other spheres of activity.
 The rights of authors, inventors and innovators are protected by the state.
 
Article 48. Citizens of the Country have the right to take part in the management and administration of state and public affairs and in the discussion and adoption of laws and measures of All-Union and local significance.
 This right is ensured by the opportunity to vote and to be elected to The Legislature and other elective state bodies, to take part in nationwide discussions and referendums, in people's control, in the work of state bodies, public organisations, and local community groups, and in meetings at places of work or residence.
 
Article 49. Every citizen of the Country has the right to submit proposals to state bodies and public organisations for improving their activity, and to criticise shortcomings in their work.
 Officials are obliged, within established time-limits, to examine citizens' proposals and requests, to reply to them, and to take appropriate action.
 Persecution for criticism is prohibited. Persons guilty of such persecution shall be called to account.
 
Article 50. In accordance with the interests of the people and in order to strengthen and develop the system, citizens of the Country are guaranteed freedom of speech, of the press, and of assembly, meetings, street processions and demonstrations.
 Exercise of these political freedoms is ensured by putting public buildings, streets and squares at the disposal of the working people and their organisations, by broad dissemination of information, and by the opportunity to use the press, television, and radio.
 
Article 51. In accordance with the aims of building a fair society, citizens of the Country have the right to associate in public organisations that promote their political activity and initiative and satisfaction of their various interests.
 Public organisations are guaranteed conditions for successfully performing the functions defined in their rules.
 
Article 52. Citizens of the Country are guaranteed freedom of conscience, that is, the right to profess or not to profess any religion, and to conduct religious worship or atheistic propaganda. Incitement of hostility or hatred on religious grounds is prohibited.
 In the Country, the church is separated from the state, and the school from the church.
 
Article 53. The family enjoys the protection of the state.
 Marriage is based on the free consent of the woman and the man; the spouses are completely equal in their family relations.
 The state helps the family by providing and developing a broad system of childcare institutions, by organising and improving communal services and public catering, by paying grants on the birth of a child, by providing children's allowances and benefits for large families, and other forms of family allowances and assistance.
 
Article 54. Citizens of the Country are guaranteed inviolability of the person. No one may be arrested except by a court decision or on the warrant of a procurator.
 
Article 55. Citizens of the Country are guaranteed inviolability of the home. No one may, without lawful grounds, enter a home against the will of those residing in it.
 
Article 56. The privacy of citizens, and of their correspondence, telephone conversations, and telegraphic communications is protected by law.
 
Article 57. Respect for the individual and protection of the rights and freedoms of citizens are the duty of all state bodies, public organisations, and officials.  Citizens of the Country have the right to protection by the courts against encroachments on their honour and reputation, life and health, and personal freedom and property.
 
Article 58. Citizens of the Country have the right to lodge a complaint against the actions of officials, state bodies and public bodies. Complaints shall be examined according to the procedure and within the time-limit established by law.
 Actions by officials that contravene the law or exceed their powers, and infringe the rights of citizens, may be appealed against in a court in the manner prescribed by law.
 Citizens of the Country have the right to compensation for damage resulting from unlawful actions by state organisations and public organisations, or by officials in the performance of their duties.
 
Article 59. Citizens' exercise of their rights and freedoms is inseparable from the performance of their duties and obligations.
 Citizens of the Country are obliged to observe the Constitution of the Country and other laws, comply with the standards of conduct, and uphold the honour and dignity of the Country's citizenship.
 
Article 60. It is the duty of, and matter of honour for, every able-bodied citizen of the Country to work conscientiously in his chosen, socially useful occupation, and strictly to observe labour discipline. Evasion of socially useful work is incompatible with the principles of society.
 
Article 61. Citizens of the Country are obliged to preserve and protect property. It is the duty of a citizen of the Country to combat misappropriation and squandering of state and socially-owned property and to make thrifty use of the people's wealth.
 Persons encroaching in any way on property shall be punished according to the law.
 
Article 62. Citizens of the Country are obliged to safeguard the interests of the Nation, and to enhance its power and prestige.
 Defence of the Country is the sacred duty of every citizen of the Country. Betrayal of the Country is the gravest of crimes against the people.
 
Article 63. Military service in the ranks of the Armed Forces of the Country is an honorable duty of our citizens.
 
Article 64. It is the duty of every citizen of the Country to respect the national dignity of other citizens, and to strengthen friendship of the nations and nationalities of the multinational states within our country.
 
Article 65. A citizen of the Country is obliged to respect the rights and lawful interests of other persons, to be uncompromising toward anti-social behaviour, and to help maintain public order.
 
Article 66. Citizens of the Country are obliged to concern themselves with the upbringing of children, to train them for socially useful work, and to raise them as worthy members of society. Children are obliged to care for their parents and help them.
 
Article 67. Citizens of the Country are obliged to protect nature and conserve its riches.
 
Article 68. Concern for the preservation of historical monuments and other cultural values is a duty and obligation of citizens of the Country.

Article 69. It is the internationalist duty of citizens of the Country to promote friendship and co-operation with peoples of other lands and help maintain and strengthen world peace.

If you haven't guessed by now, this is a slightly modified version of Chapter 7 of the 1977 Constitution of the USSR. Welcome to the new Socialist Society.

PS: the translation of "Working class" in Russian is 'Proletariat'

It's looking like the American Socialist Society, better known as the Democratic Party, has just about made its decision. They are choosing the most left wing member of the Senate to carry their banner. Viva Comrade Obama! A recent mailing I received in PA copied the classic pose of Che and Lenin.
Most of us thought we defeated Communism in 1989. Since then, we've seen the rise of socialism throughout the Democratic Party. The constant hammering about "free" healthcare, welfare and other income redistributions continue to invade our way of life. The elite try to make the decisions for everyone, assuming they know what is best for every American. Control of every facet of life is their final goal...and it's the goal of communist rule (whatever name the A.S.S. party wants to put on it).
They seek to force everyone to rely on the government for their needs, remove all weapons from the common man, and force us to accept anything they say as the Truth. Those of us that remember Stalin and Khrushchev, Ho Chi Min and Mao have seen what these kinds of policies lead to. I pray that we can stop this encroachment before it's too late.

In the 60's and early 70's, I was influenced by the liberals of the time, JFK, John Kerry and the socialist, anti-Americans agendas of the day. I even voted for Eugene McCarthy. In the mid 70's, I picked up a magazine called National Review and was stunned. Here, in print was a repudiation of everything I thought was right. I immediately subscribed to the magazine and learned not only HOW i was wrong, but WHY I was wrong. Bill Buckley was the mind and soul of my conversion to conservative thought. He spoke to my intellect and made me see the reality of the world instead of the theorist view of the world. The evils done in the name of "The Good of the People" sprang from Mr. Buckley's words (and sent me scurrying to the dictionary on a regular basis).
I became a devotee of Mr. Buckley his magazine, books and columns. I learned how to respond to those who would turn our world into a socialist gulag, where money was "adjusted" from the working man's purse, thought was limited and anyone who believed in capitalism and the American Way was evil.
Mr. Buckley never wavered from his view of the world and gave us all hope that we could make not only the US, but the whole world a better, safer place for all people. We saw the results of his thinking culminate in President Reagan's election and the Reagan Revolution.
Mr. Buckley will be sorely missed by people throughout the world, but especially the Conservative Movement he started.
Mr. Buckley, may you rest in peace in the arms of the Lord.

First of all, Happy New Year to everyone. I hope God richly blessed you over the past year and continues to bless you in this year.
What can we expect in this election year? We will see about 5,000 commercial telling us why some political candidate is the worst person ever in existence. But some of those people will go on to lead this great nation. I hope every one of us, no matter the outcome of the elections this year. supports those elected by our fellow citizens.
Let's get back to the heart of what makes our nation great, a citizenship that understands not only our rights, but our responsibilities to our nation, our state and our community.
If you don't already, Volunteer to help in your community. Be a coach, a scout leader, a mentor. These are the things that will help our country stay strong. If you're a parent, teach your kids about what makes us strong as a country. Fight against those things which seek to destroy our way of life. In other words, don't stand on the sidelines.
Get out and support the people you think will continue to support the American Way of Life.
As President Bush's term in office comes to an end, help your elected officials know what you expect from them. And welcome to a fresh year in the greatest nation in the world.

That's it. After yesterday's vote to add a massive additional "benefit" to children's health care and Hillary's recent suggestion to give a $5,000 birth bond, I have decided that I can no longer refer to the party of Clinton, B. Hussein, Reid and Kennedy as the Democratic Party. It's new name is the American Socialist Society, or its acronym A… S… S. This massive new set of entitlements will bankrupt the economic engine that drives America. Where are these billions of dollars coming from? A Birth Bond? Who is paying for it? Where is this flow of money?
There is only one place it could be, and that is those who have worked hard to move up in the world. In other words, it will come from our pockets.

What would be the cost per person of handing out $5,000 for each new birth? How big would that bureaucracy be? A quick guess… it would probably cost three times the cost of the bond over its life to monitor for investment, fraud and distribution. So, let's see… the US currently has a birthrate of 14.16 births per 1,000 per year. That would be about 4.2 million births per year...times $15,000 per birth… oops my calculator doesn't go that high. Every Year. This is pure socialist redistribution of wealth.
So, welcome to the new world of politics where it's the GOP vs the A… S… S.

Pick your box.

Let me pick a couple of my boxes

Male

Married

2 kids

Over50

White

Graduate degree

Employed

Scout leader

Elder in my church

By giving you those descriptions, you have probably used boxes to form an opinion of me. Some people call them stereotypes.

People who are regular readers of townhall.com would probably say, I'm probably a typical American, working to take care of my family, supporting my community and contributing to society.

 But those of the left would be using other boxes…

A few come to mind…

Scout leader? Church? Must be a pedophile or a pervert.

White? Male? He's a hater. A racist. Wants to keep women down. Probably spews hate speech.

Graduate degree? Employed? He must be rich and stealing from someone. He is trying to avoid taxes. He hates the poor. We need to tax him more so the government can help the poor he wants to keep down.

Married? He hates homosexuals and wants to oppress them.

2 Kids? He wants to take away a woman's right to her own body.

You get the idea. So what do all these boxes have in common?

Each of the conservative views is a positive view of a good citizen, whereas each of the liberal views is a negative view. According to the liberal world view, each needs laws and governance to control the possibility that I may fall into the expected category. How many people who are in each of my liberal boxes actually ARE what the liberals think? It doesn’t matter. Even if there is one person that meets the criteria, there needs to be a way to check and to control.

Liberals create categories in order to control citizens. Every time a new classification is created, freedom is lost. Whether it be hyphenated Americans, check boxes for skin color or sexual orientation (something that wasn’t even discussed until the past two decades), boxes take away basic freedoms. Some boxes are used to add punishment, e.g., 'hate crimes'. Some are used to redistribute possessions. And ALL are used to divide our country.

In our world of polls based on demographics, this slide is inevitable.

It's time for our lawmakers to stop looking at boxes, and look at the positives that our individual achievements can accomplish. Stop trying to use diversity as a way to pass laws and divide. Yes we are all different, but bottom line, we are Americans. E Pluribus Unum.

  ¹Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. ² As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.

 ³They said to each other, "Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. ⁴ Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth."

 ⁵ But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. ⁶ The LORD said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. ⁷ Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other."

 ⁸ So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city.    ⁹ That is why it was called Babel —because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth. (Genesis 11:1-9, NIV)

 

We are witnessing the destruction of Western civilization. As the European continent continues to bring in more guest workers, they are experiencing the loss of their culture and heritage. The Western, Christian concepts of freedoms and tolerance are only valid with an overriding sense of social responsibility. Western society and democracy only work if each and every citizen is willing to participate in taking the responsibilities of civilization to heart.

The new standard is "Don't talk about the (insert here… Turks, Blacks, Indians, etc) because they may get upset and riot. Don't force them to speak OUR language. Don't insist if they live in OUR country, to learn and respect OUR ways. Their ways are as good as ours. Who are we to judge?

 

All cultures are NOT created equally.

 

The national borders always controlled the diversity of Europe. The culture of Germany is significantly different from the culture of Italy, but within each country, there was homogenization and knowledge that the citizen must respect and support his own country.

Because of wealth and loss of religious faith, however, the core principles of the countries are beginning to collapse. Add to this the unwillingness of the affluent to do "menial" work and the influx of outsiders to do the work.

What does this have to do with the US? Growing up in a German immigrant household, I learned very early that I was expected to learn about the United States, Pennsylvania and I was to embrace my family's new home. I was to become an American. I wasn't becoming a German-American, or a European-American; it was just American.

In school, we learned the meaning of the nation's motto, E Pluribus Unum… One Out of Many. We learned about the many early settlers, coming in and being accepted as a part of the New Land. It was required for EVERY student to learn about our historical traditions and modern civics.

Pennsylvania was known to be the most diverse of all the new colonies, accepting all manners of religions (although most were denominations within Christianity) and people. Differences were put aside in most cases for the good of the colony. They were diverse, but they came together in common cause – Freedom.

During and after the War of Independence, the colonies put aside their differences for the American Cause. – Freedom. In a speech to the House of Representatives in 1858, Abraham Lincoln said the following, "… A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved -- I do not expect the house to fall -- but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other. …" (http://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln/speeches/house.htm)

As wave after wave of immigrants came to this country in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries, each arrival understood that they needed to take the yoke of America on their shoulders and join their fellow citizens in the perpetuation of "The American Dream" – Freedom.

In the 1960s, a change occurred. It started slowly and initially with good intentions. Blacks were being discriminated against purely for the color of their skin, so well-meaning people suggested they need to get certain advantages to make them economically equal with the rest of American society. We began "affirmative action" programs, a government mandated distinction based on a group.

Then came the Feminist movement. They sought to use another biological characteristic to create an additional "minority" group entitled to special privileges. Quickly behind this, many more people began to characterize themselves, not by the appellation "American", but by a hyphenated version of American; the beginning of our Tower of Babel.

So where are we now? The diversity movement continues to classify people by their groups. As they spout platitudes about diversity and avoiding stereotypes, they automatically use characteristics and stereotypes of groups for classifications. For example, it is still assumed that because someone has darker skin, they are in need of additional help in securing school entrances, loans and jobs. Fat people cannot stop themselves from eating, so we need to legislate against unhealthy food, and so on.

Each classification brings on the ability of government to control another group and another part of life, removing… Freedom.

Hate crimes add additional penalties based on your group. White-on-black crime is deemed worse than black-on-black crime. Saying the wrong word about homosexuals in a joke can get an 81-year-old man who has raised millions to help kids with muscular Dystrophy in trouble. More was said about Ann Coulter's use of a word, which I'm not even allowed to use here, than about how John Edwards' trickery and bad science caused good doctors to lose their practices.

To survive, our society needed to stop this flow to diversity. Stop the use of other languages in general use. Force new immigrants (legal or illegal) either to accept our ways of life, or to return to their homeland. Otherwise, the "Huddled Masses Yearning to be Free" will never know Freedom.

It's been awhile since I've posted to my blog. There are many reasons, but the most significant is the changes brought about by the last US election.
With the Democrats coming into power, I've felt disappointed by my fellow citizens resolve to stop evil in this world.
I've thought about what caused the changes... Foremost, it seems to be the non-stop torrent of bad news coming from the media on all sides. Maybe we need an attitude adjustment. It's time to add something else to the Fear ,Uncertainty and Doubt (FUD) that spews from every news outlet.
I know I'm not the first to say this, but the bigger issue is how to we change it.
Let's look at some bad news and see how we can change it for the good of the country. In Philadelphia, there have been well over 200 murders so far this year. Who has perpetrated most of these murders? Young men in gangs. So what's the good news?
There is an organization that is making a difference in the lives of young men. It's called the Boy Scouts. Yes, I know they are not new, but let's take a look at some recent developments with the Scouts.
In May, the Cradle of Liberty Council (Philadelphia, PA and suburbs) held Jambo 2007, a jamboree for Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts. Over 8,000 people participated, including a troop from St. Edmond's Home, a school for severely disabled kids.
Now let's think about what most people would expect with that many young men get together in one place. Fights? Violence? Mayhem? NO!
This jamboree featured over 60 sponsors, including most of the areas sports teams, corporate and government sponsors. Events included rock climbing, obstacle courses, home building, a trebuchet, archery range, crafts, and a variety of demonstrations.
In the evening, a hot air balloon demonstration filled the skies.  The boys were then treated to  musical groups, the last of which was a band formed by a local Army Reserve. The band finished their set with "I'm Proud to be an American" and the boys spontaneously started a chant.... USA USA USA...  It was thrilling.
The finale of the night was a fireworks display rivaling those seen at Disney World. The guys all went back to their tents and had a great sleep in the cool evening. the following morning, the troops packed up, each cleaning its area and trying to clean something additional to return the area to its normal state.
I also just got back from Resica Falls Scout Reservation, having been up there with my son's scout troop. Our guys, ages 12 to 16, had a great time, but more importantly, they have begun to learn how to be self reliant men. They learn to respect our country and our world, being true conservationists, not the pseudo conservation of Live Earth. They learned how to cook and live in the outdoors. How to take care of themselves in the wild, watching for insects and what to do if they get lost. Several guys finished Swimming, Lifesaving, Emergency Preparedness and First Aid merit badges, preparing them for days when they will need to assist someone. Some worked on Ecology badges, studying animals and plants and understanding how nature works.
The change in the youngest boys becomes apparent by the middle of the week. Boys that were once scared to leave home get the confidence that will let them become men.
So, where was all this reported? Nowhere. When I returned home from the Jambo, we checked the news, assuming that a gathering of 8,000 kids might be on TV. Not a word on any of the 4 major stations in Philadelphia. Nothing in the papers. Nothing on the radio. It was as if it didn't happen.
What was being reported was the escalating murder rate and that the City of Philadelphia continues to try to evict the Boy Scouts from their Philadelphia headquarters because the Scouts have rules about not allowing avowed homosexual men to be leaders. Instead of supporting an organization that could help stop murders, they prefer to bankrupt them with legal fees and toss them out of the city.
I won't delve deeper into that situation, because this is supposed to be about GOOD news, not the bad. Just remember that there are thousands of volunteers out there trying to make a difference. Be sure to let people know this is still, as Bill Bennett's book says, "America: The Last Best Hope".