When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the consent of the governed, -- That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new guards for their future security -- Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. -- The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our People, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from Punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free system of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislature, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions we have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have we been wanting in attention to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do.

And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

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Every once in a while it is good to read this. Remind yourself where we were and where we are. Though we are in similar situations (then and now), we must not forget that we are a nation of laws. Laws, that unless we find to be immoral, we must follow. Our "leaders" in Washington have forgotten this. We are a nation of law abiding citizens for the most part, ruled by criminals and tyrants that are out to exact social justice and to "fundamentally change America."

I like America the way it is you non-leading, sanctimonious schmuck! Leave America alone! Be proud of us, for better or worse! If you don't like it you are more than welcome to leave it! Want Socialism or wealth redistribution? Move to Europe! Want gov't run health care? Move to England! But leave America ALONE!! We ain't perfect but we are the best game in town and changing the rules during game play doesn't help your cause any!

I read the above document and no place did I find it guarentee'd equal results. You get life, you get liberty and you get to PURSUE happiness. You might catch it, you may not, but you get to chase it and that means you have to work at getting it. Sweat a little. grunt a little. And then when you finally catch it, savor the sweetness of a gift that many have died for and many have tried to catch but failed.

Inhale the aroma of freedom that wafts from the flowes laid on graves of patriots who bled to water that flower. See the disturbed ground around that flower? Under that soil lies another body freshly buried. The body of a nameless military member who went willingly in order for you to be warm beneath a blanket of freedom woven with the cloth of uniforms past and present bearing t he flag of the USA.

Sleep tight buttercup but never, NEVER, say an ill word about my country without expecting me to stand up, wave my flag and stand in the gap and defend your right to be wrong.

OBL is gone

The dust has settled and we have all gotten back to work.  Osama Bin Laden is dead and the world continues to spin.  The left is beside their self.  How can they admit that the intelligence that helped locate him was put in place by the previous administration.  Water boarding, evidently, works.  How can they admit that what they hold to be vile and completely reprehensible got us information that led to the killing of the most wanted man in the US?  Answer?  They can't.  They have all but let that small piece of info go un-noticed.  Instead now we hear them questioning his killing.  They are wondering why we didn't take him alive.  I ask the same question. BUT hold on a second.....
Did he cut our citizens any slack in 2001?  I didn't think so.  He didn't try to take any of them alive nor did any of his henchmen.  But we're better than that.  Yeah.  We are.  And I'm all about turning the other cheek.  But at some point I stop letting you slap me and at some point I stop letting you taunt me.  At some point he has to pay the band if he wants to dance.
He paid alright.  I'd like to ask him how he is enjoying his 72 virgins or however many he gets.  Did he get everything the prophet said he would?

Man up!

It's time to man up.  Often people get told 1/2 truths.  Whether by politicians or in the newspaper or even in school, "truth" is told using the lense of a political or religous ideology.  And people fall for it.  When they get told what they want to hear, the take it as truth and run with it.  Even research can miss the real "truth"  And so ti goes with me.  I wrote a paper in College regarding hte FairTax and did a lot of research.  or so I thought....  No more IRS, no more April 15 nonsense of rushing to mail off my tax check lke the other 40% of America, no more non-tax payers getting refunds.  BUT wait a minute.  That sounds too good to be true.  Well guess what..... 

"Under our plan, all city and state governments will pay to the federal government a tax on all their spending--on all their purchases, on services and goods, including labor (wages)."  Fairtax Answer Book, Page 138. 

That means California would pay roughly $17 BILLION to the Federal Gov't.  Texas would owe roughly $11 BILLION.  SOURCE  Nobody mentioned that part.  They also didn't mentipon taxing city and county Governments, taxing ALL pay, cancer surgery, nursing home care, life insurance premiums, car insurance premiums.  It appears that there is no "fair" tax.  SOURCE

So the jury is out till I can do more digging and sort it all out.  Who is right and who is wrong?  Is it indeed a FAIR tax?  We'll see.

The Blame Game

So who is the party to blame? Here we are about one year overdue for a budget and we still don’t have one. Do we blame the Democrats? We could, after all they were in control of both the House and the Senate and failed to yield a budget. Do we blame the Republicans? We could, after all they refuse to cave in to the Democrats. What about the President? We could, after all he is showing ZERO leadership in the whole matter. So how about we spread the wealth. How about we point the finger at all three? Democrats left the house and senate in disarray by not passing a budget. Republicans are taking a moral stand and giving very little yet are vehemently pointing the accusatory finger at the Democrats. The president said nothing to HIS OWN PARTY when they failed to yield a budget almost one year ago. Or should we blame ourselves? After all we left Harry Reid in office and elected John Boehner and President Obama. We, the American public, continue to vote in the same worthless bunch of non-job getting, not-my-money spending, don’t care a hoot about the public except around election, NON vote giving (President Obama then Senator Obama), lawyers into office. After all, where else do you give yourself a raise, get lifetime retirement benefits after a measly few years in your job and work as little as they do? How many months off do they get during the year? How many jobs can you NOT do your job and still keep that job? (See no budget resolution in 2011) It is time the public stood up or shut up. Vote out the useless junk we have sitting in Washington DC “representing” us and put people in with a term limit with no lifetime benefits at all! We need to take back OUR Government. We are not represented by anyone on either side of the aisle. They are too busy politically maneuvering for re-election that they won’t do what we, their constituency tell them to do. But they won’t. America is full of sheep who complain all year or all term and then yank by either the D or the R come Election Day with no thought ot the outcome. America, you got what you asked for. Enjoy it.

All Hail The King

I've been scouring the Internet for a few days now and I have been unable to find a date. I was searching for the date we, the United States, were no longer a representative republic. We have a POTUS in office who, since election, has not been acting presidential but instead has been acting more like a King. Many on the left would hang me in effigy for saying such a thing and would demand proof. Need proof? Stand by for the proofinator!!

1) The people, nationwide, shouted from the rooftops (We do NOT want national Health care!!" Democrats, acting like mommies and daddies who knew better than we did, passed it and implemented in. President Obama signed it and now we have nationalized health care. Welcome to England and Canada.

2) "Obamacare" was ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge and Obama seams to not give a rip. He, essentially, told the law of the land, "I am going to do what I want, how I want, when I want and you will not stop me!!"

3) The DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act) was a legally enacted law. Yet King Obama seams to, again, tell the law of the land "I will do what I want, how I want, when I want!" and has said outright he will not spend time or money defending it because HE thinks it is unconstitutional. Never mind how the law feels. He decides what and what will not be enforced or defended. And his side kick, the US Attorney General goes right along with him.

4) A federal ruling said that the moratorium on Deep Offshore oil drilling in the gulf coast (Louisiana) is illegal and ordered the moratorium lifted. And again King Obama said "I will do what I want, how I want, when I want!!" and ignored the order.

5) Federal Immigration laws are a whole lot tougher than the recently passed and signed into law, Arizona Immigration Law. For whatever reason, He feels as if people who are legally (key word LEGALLY) detained should not be asked by law enforcement to produce an ID. As a citizen, from birth, when I get stopped for speeding or failure to stop at a Stop sign, they ask for my Drivers License and no one seems to get upset about that. Why?! Why is it a stretch for the law to ask for ID from anyone LEGALLY detained, regardless of skin tone, accent, hair color, religion, shoe size, ear size, eye color, etc, etc??

6) Right up there with #5; Why is it the King is not shouting from the balcony that overlooks his serfdom and asking why the Black Panther Party thugs who were at the voting booth not being prosecuted? Could it be because his puppet in the US Attorney Generals office feels as if it is OK because it wasn't as bad as what "his people" went through in the 50's, 60's and 70's when they were fighting for civil rights?

And if all of that wasn't bad enough, what about the "Queen"? She feels as if I need to be told what and what not to eat. All while she eats BBQ spare ribs? Is anyone else seeking the definition of Arrogance?

Look, I am glad that America has finally moved past the issue of race. It has defined our society for way too long. But I also believe we were past race long before we elected our first black President. See, I think the left uses race to cover any and all dissent when it comes to discussing the President. I am white and if I convey my dis-trust of the President, if I relay my dis-content with his policy's, if I talk about how he is a do nothing President more concerned with filling out his College March Madness pick sheet instead of addressing the high gas prices, well it MUST be about race. It is obvious by what I said and has nothing to do with his out of whack stance on foreign policy or fiscal policy.

He will indeed go down in the history books, as well he should. But will the history books be as honest as they should or will they, like the liberal media, protect him at all cost? Will they cover up his ineptitude? Will they talk about his golf outing while Japan nears nuclear meltdown? Will the history books talk about his blatant disregard for the will of the people? Will the history books show the truth about the years of the Obama Presidency? Only time will tell. But if I had to guess, I would say no. He will be the "savior" that the left feels he is and the right knows he is not.

Thoughts....

So I have to list things in order to make sure I get it right.

1) Japan is about to melt off into the ocean unless the Nuclear plants can be handled in a quick and safe manner.
2) Muammar Qaddafi is killing his citizens at an alarming rate.
3) The whole Middle East needs to be paid attention to, NOT just Libya.
4) The US Economy is bleeding and dying quickly.

And I am sure there are other things I could mention but I have to stop the list at some point.

And all the while the Presidents list of "Things I need to do" grows he is actively doing absolutely nothing. O wait. I am wrong. He is doing something and that is filling out his March Madness Bracket sheet. Now that is truly Presidential. Much more important than anything listed above. Who makes it out of the 1st round in the NCAA is so much more important than reassuring Israel we stand with them.

I'm not convinced that this POTUS thinks that way. Meaning, I am not sure that he truly sees our standing in view of the whole world as an important issue. I truly believe that he thinks it is much more important than discussing the Qaddafi issue or taking a stand and dealing with the US Economy.

When is this guy going to start acting like the POTUS and not a senator who gets the house while the parents are gone?

Thoughts on teachers and the Department of Education

Why do we continue to fund the Department of Education? It seems to me that the teachers protesting the Governor of Wisconsin are a very real cross section of the whole education system. The "it's all about me" mentality has invaded our educators and is being taught in our schools. Our students now feel as if ANY act we try to lay on them is outside of what is acceptable. They have forgotten their only job is to learn. They don't realize that by not learning, they are setting themselves up to be replaced by foreign labor forces.

Why do we continue to fund the Department of Education. It seems the protesters in Wisconsin are indicative of the teachers across America. We want the cake but don't want to pay for the ingredients. I am sure they know that they have it easy and have had it easy for far to long. Is it really too much to ask that you pay a part of your own health care or put in to your own retirement? Are you really willing to admit you are that childish? Evidently they are.

Why do we continue to fund the Department of Education? If I were to ask them if they feel they are doing a good job of educating our children, I am pretty sure they would say they are. Really? Why is it that according to infoplease.com, in 2003, educational testing in 41 countries of high school students revealed the following: Math - The U.S. upper mean rank was 25th, tied with Spain and Latvia. Some of the countries scoring higher included China, the Czech Republic, and Liechtenstein; Reading - The U.S. was surpassed by countries such as Belgium, South Korea, Finland, and the Netherlands; Science - The U.S. ranked below many countries including the Slovak Republic, Hungary, and Iceland. Perhaps we should pay according to success and not effort?

Maybe we should dismantle the Department of Education. It appears they aren't educating anyone except their workers in how to think of themselves above all else and rewarding failure. Wow!! That sounds like Government as usual.