Quotes - Past & Present

I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations. ~James Madison, speech, Virginia Convention, 1788

Fourth President
1809-1817

Born: March 16, 1751 in Port Conway, King George, Virginia

Died: June 28, 1836 in Montpelier in Virginia

Married to Dolley Payne Todd Madison

My Comments:

Looking forward to the new year I will try to provide present day quotes from current politicians and people of influence who believe as our founding fathers did.

Quotes and actions of freedom and liberty should be timeless.

If our leaders believed, acted and spoke as our founding fathers did, confidence would be restored in all that we do as a country.

Have a happy safe New Year and many more.

Funny Monday

Political cartoons provided by Townhall.com

Despite the country's economic meltdown, Congress is about to receive an automatic $4,700 pay raise on Thursday — a 2.8 percent increase over the current $169,300 salary for most members.

Christmas Eve 40 Years Ago

Only twenty four people in history have seen this stunning view of earthrise first hand. The crew of Apollo 8 were the first to witness the incredible and unanticipated sight of the earth rising over the lunar horizon on Christmas Eve, 1968

On December 21, 1968, Apollo 8 blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida and three days later, Frank Borman, James Lovell and William Anders became the first humans to enter lunar orbit.

The mission ultimately led to the first footsteps on the moon when Neil Armstrong took his "one small step" in 1969.

Apollo 8 also marked a rare moment of unity in the United States in a tumultuous year marred by the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert Kennedy, violence peaking during the Vietnam War and riots across American cities.

Shortly after entering the moon's orbit, astronauts aboard the Apollo 8 witnessed Earth rising above the moon.

"Earthrise," a photograph of the event taken by Anders, became one of the most famous images of the 20th century.

In a Christmas Eve broadcast timed to coincide with a full view of Earth, the crew read the first 10 verses of the Book of Genesis that forms the basis for Judaism, Christianity and Islam. You can read the complete article here.

Today In History

The Continental Congress commissioned George Washington as Commander in Chief of the Continental Army on June 19, 1775. Washington was selected over other candidates such as John Hancock based on his previous military experience and the hope that a leader from Virginia could help unite the colonies. Washington left for Massachusetts within days of receiving his commission and assumed command of the Continental Army in Cambridge on July 3, 1775. After eight years of war, Washington resigned his commission as Commander in Chief on December 23, 1783.

The Journals of the Continental Congress reports that George Washington was unanimously selected as Commander in Chief of the Continental Army on June 15, 1775. In a speech given to the Continental Congress on June 16, Washington accepted the commission and requested that he not receive a salary for his service, only that his expenses be paid at the conclusion of the war. On June 17, the Continental Congress drafted Washington’s commission as commander in chief.

The Name Has Been Changed To Protect The Guilty

I'm sure you have seen the comparison below before, but I figured with the next Bailout (sorry we are supposed to call it a RESCUE) being approved today, 17 Billion for starters, it deserves another look. I'm not ready to calculate Trillion. Please forgive us Great,Great Grand Children.

You are paying interest on every dollar that your government borrows from the Federal Reserve Bank. The bank that is not federal and has no reserves.

A Billion is a difficult number to comprehend. The next time you hear a Politician use the word "Billion," casually --- think about whether or not you want the politician spending your tax money.

A Billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into perspective in one of its releases.

A Billion Seconds ago -- it was 1976.

A Billion Minutes ago -- Jesus was alive.

A Billion Hours ago -- our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.

A Billion Days ago -- No-One walked on two feet on earth.

A Billion Dollars ago -- was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the rate our government spends it.

If you could travel back in time to the birth of Christ, the beginning of the Gregorian calendar, and could set aside $1,350,000 ($1.35 million) every day of every week, every day of every month, and every day of every year right up to today - you still wouldn't have enough to pay off the over two trillion dollars George W. Bush has increased the national debt since he took office.
Sorry George, your not the only one to blame.

Ford (First-on-rescue-day) Not taking any Rescue at this time.

Open Book Test

Principle 7 - The proper role of government is to protect equal rights, not provide equal things.

The Founders recognized that the people cannot delegate to their government any power except that which they have the lawful right to exercise themselves.

Principal 7 is one of 28 principals from The 5000 Year Leap book I am currently reading. The answers to the challenges of today are with the founding fathers and The Constitution that we seem to ignore more every day. How can so many politicians who take an oath to uphold The Constitution know so little about it? Any body can take an oath, I suggest they be required to take a test on The Constitution prior to running for office , similar to the citizenship test with 100% required before running for office. We need to start expecting more from our politicians from the start. It can even be an open book test.

The Shoe

By now I'm sure most people have seen the man throw his shoes at George W. Bush, good arm by that free man and good duck by the President. Too many people in this country and around the world think the man that threw those shoes is a hero, far from it. The true heroes are all the freedom loving people who sacrificed life and limb and made it possible for the shoe thrower to live another day. He would have been walked outside and shot immediately during Saddam Husein's time. The president should keep those shoes on display at his presidential library one day and be very proud of them, or auction them off to the highest bidder and donate the money to a worthy cause. There will never be a ticker tape parade in this war on terror, so when you get the chance remember to thank the men and women of our armed forces and say a prayer for The United States of America.

Freedom Friday

The highest level of prosperity occurs when there is a free-market economy and a minimum of government regulations.

Prosperity depends upon a climate of wholesome stimulation with four basic freedoms in operation:

1. The Freedom to try.

2. The Freedom to buy.

3. The Freedom to sell.

4. The Freedom to fail.

I pulled this quote from a book I recently purchased, The 5000 Year Leap, more about that later.

Have a great weekend!

Car Czar?

Fact

General Motors sold 9.37 million vehicles worldwide in 2007 and lost $38.7 billion. Toyota sold 9.37 million vehicles in 2007 and made $17.1 ...

I told my wife a few months ago that we might not recognize this country in about 10 years. I need to revise those comments, it is happening now.

We are nationalizing free markets!

Banks
Auto
Future Health Care
Oil and Energy (You should listen to Congress woman Maxine Waters here)

Generations of hard work are going to be turned over to our govt.?

I honestly believe the American auto makers have a better chance of surviving if the federal govt. stays out. There are already programs in place to handle these situations, bankruptcy. I would rather buy a vehicle from GM than GGM (GovtGM).

Congress will once again be going against the will of We The People because of the unions and their financial influence of mostly democratic congress members.

George W. Bush has disapointed me on the bail out issues. The republicans in congress may stop the auto bail out this time, but it's just a matter of time with the new administration taking over.

Have a little fun and try making up some govt. car names. Remember the Yugo? How about YUOWE or IOU SUV or Cadilack.

Article 2, Section 1 of the Constitution

No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty-five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.

As WND has reported, there remain serious questions as to whether Obama is "a natural born citizen," as specified in Article 2, Section 1 of the Constitution. While he claims to have been born in Hawaii in 1961, two Obama family members have told WND they were present at his birth in Mombasa, Kenya.

From World Net Daily:

Dear member of the Electoral College:

Before you cast your vote Monday to make Barack Hussein Obama Jr. the next president of the United States, please seriously consider the following:

Right now, a dozen lawsuits are pending all over the United States – including one brought by a former presidential candidate and U.N. ambassador, and another suit brought by a former deputy attorney general of Pennsylvania, plus there are many others – all attempting to bring clarity to an issue that will haunt an Obama presidency if it isn't dealt with now.

That issue, as you surely know, is the fact that the U.S. Constitution says clearly and unambiguously in Article 2, Section 1 that presidents must be natural born citizens. But, as is evident not only from lawsuits, but from news stories and the actions of millions of Americans signing petitions, this constitutional issue has not yet been addressed, even at this late hour.

Unfortunately, there isn't enough time for our slow-moving legal process to deal with this before the Electoral College meets next week. Only you, our Electors, have the power and responsibility – and the obligation under the Constitution – to use your authority to establish, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that Barack Hussein Obama Jr. qualifies for the office under that standard.

There is grave and widespread concern throughout the American public that this constitutional requirement is being overlooked and enforcement neglected by state and federal election authorities. There should be no doubt whatsoever that America's next president was truly born in the United States.

Remember, if the Constitution doesn't mean precisely what it says, then America is no longer a nation under the rule of law. And a nation no longer under the rule of law is, by definition, under the rule of men.

Therefore I urge you to honor the Constitution in this matter and uphold the public trust – even if doing so may prove awkward or inconvenient.

All Americans should have confidence their president is eligible to serve. In this unique and historic case, you may prove to be the Constitution's last line of defense.

Sincerely,

My Comments:

The president elect will have issues with the constitution from the start.

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

This controversy is the responsibility of We The People to resolve. Barack Hussein Obama Jr. will come and go, our constitution needs to be protected for future generations. Why can't Mr. Obama provide proof of citizenship? How and why has this issue been ignored by so many? I guess Mr. Obama thinks he's above the requirements of the Constitution or this is his first step in rewriting it. But then again you don't have to rewrite it if you can just get away with ignoring it.

I will be writing more about the challenges our constitution faces in the future.

Hang on it's going to be a bumpy ride.

Today in History

On December 9, 1992, U.S. Marines landed in Somalia as a part of Operation Restore Hope, designed to help the war-torn and famine-ravaged nation.

LATE IN THE AFTERNOON of Sunday, Oct. 3, 1993, attack helicopters dropped about 120 elite American soldiers into a busy neighborhood in the heart of Mogadishu, Somalia. Their mission was to abduct several top lieutenants of Somalian warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid and return to base. It was supposed to take about an hour.

Instead, two of their high-tech attack helicopters were shot down. The men were pinned down through a long and terrible night in a hostile city, fighting for their lives. When they emerged the following morning, 18 Americans were dead and 73 were wounded. One, helicopter pilot Michael Durant, had been carried off by an angry mob. He was still alive, held captive somewhere in the city.

The True Story of Black Hawk Down Can be viewed here.

Freedom Friday

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759

Now, the real story of Thanksgiving:

"On August 1, 1620, the Mayflower set sail. It carried a total of 102 passengers, including forty Pilgrims led by William Bradford. On the journey, Bradford set up an agreement, a contract that established just and equal laws for all members of the new community, irrespective of their religious beliefs. Where did the revolutionary ideas expressed in the Mayflower Compact come from? From the Bible," and this is what's not taught. This is what's left out. "The Pilgrims were a people completely steeped in the lessons of the Old and New Testaments. They looked to the ancient Israelites for their example. And, because of the biblical precedents set forth in Scripture, they never doubted that their experiment would work. But this was no pleasure cruise. The journey to the New World was a long and arduous one. And when the Pilgrims landed in New England in November, they found, according to Bradford's detailed journal, a cold, barren, desolate wilderness. There were no friends to greet them, he wrote. There were no houses to shelter them. There were no inns where they could refresh themselves. And the sacrifice they had made for freedom was just beginning. During the first winter, half the Pilgrims -- including Bradford's own wife -- died of either starvation, sickness, or exposure.

"When spring finally came, Indians taught the settlers how to plant corn, fish for cod and skin beavers for coats. Life improved for the Pilgrims, but they did not yet prosper! This is important to understand because this is where modern American history lessons often end. Thanksgiving is actually explained in some textbooks as a holiday for which the Pilgrims gave thanks to the Indians for saving their lives, rather than as a devout expression of gratitude grounded in the tradition of both the Old and New Testaments. Here is the part that has been omitted: The original contract the Pilgrims had entered into with their merchant-sponsors in London called for everything they produced to go into a common store, and each member of the community was entitled to one common share. All of the land they cleared and the houses they built belong to the community as well." They were collectivists! Now, "Bradford, who had become the new governor of the colony, recognized that this form of collectivism was as costly and destructive to the Pilgrims as that first harsh winter, which had taken so many lives.

"He decided to take bold action. Bradford assigned a plot of land to each family to work and manage, thus turning loose the power of the marketplace. ... Long before Karl Marx was even born, the Pilgrims had discovered and experimented with what could only be described as socialism. And what happened? It didn't work! Surprise, surprise, huh? What Bradford and his community found was that the most creative and industrious people had no incentive to work any harder than anyone else, unless they could utilize the power of personal motivation! But while most of the rest of the world has been experimenting with socialism for well over a hundred years -- trying to refine it, perfect it, and re-invent it -- the Pilgrims decided early on to scrap it permanently. What Bradford wrote about this social experiment should be in every schoolchild's history lesson," every kid gets. "If it were, we might prevent much needless suffering in the future." Here's what he wrote: "'The experience that we had in this common course and condition, tried sundry years...that by taking away property, and bringing community into a common wealth, would make them happy and flourishing -- as if they were wiser than God,' Bradford wrote.

"'For this community [so far as it was] was found to breed much confusion and discontent, and retard much employment that would have been to their benefit and comfort. For young men that were most able and fit for labor and service did repine that they should spend their time and strength to work for other men's wives and children without any recompense...that was thought injustice.'" That was thought injustice. "Do you hear what he was saying, ladies and gentlemen? The Pilgrims found that people could not be expected to do their best work without incentive. So what did Bradford's community try next? They unharnessed the power of good old free enterprise by invoking the undergirding capitalistic principle of private property. Every family was assigned its own plot of land to work and permitted to market its own crops and products. And what was the result?" 'This had very good success,' wrote Bradford, "for it made all hands industrious, so as much more corn was planted than otherwise would have been." In no time, the Pilgrims found they had more food than they could eat themselves. ... So they set up trading posts and exchanged goods with the Indians.

"The profits allowed them to pay off their debts to the merchants in London. And the success and prosperity of the Plymouth settlement attracted more Europeans and began what came to be known as the 'Great Puritan Migration.'" Now, aside from this program, have you heard this before? Is this "being taught to children -- and if not, why not? I mean, is there a more important lesson one could derive from the Pilgrim experience than this?" So the Pilgrims decided to thank God for all of their good fortune. And that's Thanksgiving. And read George Washington's first Thanksgiving address and count the number of times God is mentioned and how many times he's thanked. None of this is taught today. It should be. Have a happy Thanksgiving. You deserve it. Do what you can to be happy, and especially do what you can to be thankful, because in this country you have more reasons than you've ever stopped to consider. (Written by R. Limbaugh)