Category: GOD and the Republic

America First? Or GOD First?

There’s a lot of talk these days about hiring politicians who put America First. Depending on how they mean this, I’m all for it, but I also wonder… shouldn’t we really be putting GOD first? Hear me out.

Time and time again, I’ve advocated turning to God Almighty as a nation. My premise is our nation was founded by God Himself, blessed by God Himself and has risen to be the greatest nation this world has ever seen because God Almighty Himself has graciously allowed it. Why? Because for the first time in the history of the word, a nation has emerged on the basis if being ruled by its very citizens, one that sensibility guarantees each citizen equal rights under the law as the foundation of our being. We are NOT ruled by a monarch or an emperor. We are NOT ruled by a dictator. Nor are we subject to some communist scheme or ruled by a mob (i.e. a democracy). We are a Constitutional Republic, a shining light to other nations. Our nation was conceived by Christian men who risked everything to give birth to it. Now, as we decline in power, both economically and politically, as we are increasingly engulfed in corruption, we are faced with continuing on this path of assured self-annihilation, or repenting and turning back to God – asking Him to restore our nation to former glory.

I suspect my voice has fallen onto the ears of three distinct groups.

First, my brethren in Christ, most of whom look upon my words in puzzlement. Don’t they already pray to God? Daily? Repent? Of what? Surely we are seeking God already.

Second are those who already “have their religion”. Some of these claim Christ. Others worship other gods.

The third and final group scoff at the very idea. God who? They ask. Aren’t we in the modern world? You mean to say you still believe in those old fables? Well, yes, I do.

Hopefully there is yet another group – those of you who are not satisfied with the so-called “answers” above. Somewhere, maybe deep down, you know something isn’t right. Something is missing. I’m sure most of you identify with one of the above groups in some way but it’s not sitting well with you. It is you to whom I am reaching out. Hang in there. Maybe things will soon start to make sense… finally.

For starters, I’m sure you’ve come across the phrase “For God and country”. I can’t tell you where or when I heard it first. Even here something seems to be missing. In my mind this should include the word “family”. So I did some searching and what do you know?

It seems this phrase “God, family, and country” is attributed to Thomas Aquinas. He was a Roman Catholic priest and philosopher. As such he is also attributed “sainthood” but not being Catholic, I’ll circumvent that label. Still, many of his writings are remembered and studied today. Among them is the idea that the three pillars of traditional Western society are “God, family, and country”.

While I have yet to see where anyone else has said this, maybe it is just too obvious, but the order of this phrase is exactly correct. God first, family second, and country last but certainly not least. Thomas Aquinas is also known for defining many principles of “natural law”. I contend here and now, that God, family, and country are not only pillars of our civilization but also the principles on which our natural, God-given laws must stand on.

Thus God should and must come first. Why? Mostly because without God, we have nothing. Okay, let’s back up. What do we have WITH God?

For the moment set aside the concept of “sin”. For those who do not believe in God, the concept of sin is abstract at best. Rather, let us consider something all humans have sought since our beginning – life after death. For those of you who believe there is no such thing, well there you have it. Once you’ve used up whatever time you have, you’ll end up with nothing. Unless you’re wrong, but let’s not go there. I’m perfectly happy to let it go at that. You die and then… nothing. Isn’t that bad enough? Seriously, without God this is the best you can hope for.

Now WITH God in the picture, we have… eternal life. By my calculations, eternity is going to last a long, long time. Even better, in God’s world, eternity is also going to be a big upgrade to what we have now. What about the other side of that coin? You know, that eternal damnation bit with the fire and brimstone and all that? Well… what about it? I’ve heard stories. I’ve read scripture. Yes, I do believe some will end up there. Who and how, I’m not all that clear on. My own feeling, and it’s just that, a feeling, is only the very worst of the worst will end up there. (No, I don’t know about you mother-in-law.) I’m pretty sure all those devil spirits stand a good chance of job security, unpleasant as that may be. Forgiveness aside, there are a few humans I might not feel all that bad about if they ended up there. Even then, I’m not feeling very gleeful at the thought. I suspect a third option is possible. That option is simply death. Lights out forever. How about we revisit that eternal life thing?

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

1 John 5:11 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.

13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

Well, that doesn’t look all that hard now does it? We can obtain eternal life through Jesus Christ. The fact is, it is not hard at all. It was never meant to be. So what’s the catch?

Matthew 19:23 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.

24 And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

25 When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved?

Is that the catch? Whew! I’m not “rich” so I’m good right? In the passage above, wrath wasn’t the real issue. Jesus was talking to a young man who happened to be wealthy. Jesus told him to sell all he had and to follow him. The statement above falls into the “figure of speech” category. You see, that whole “eye of the needle” stuff was really a thing in those days. In some walled cities, in order for a camel to enter, they had to take off everything it was carrying as the entrance was too small for a loaded camel to get through. Whether this was by design or not, well that’s another topic. The idea here is, like that camel, you gotta lose your baggage before you can get in.

You can look at this a lot of ways but, today, I think it’s safe to say, you’ll need to give up that “well there’s many paths to God” thinking if you want eternal life via Jesus Christ. Last I heard, he wasn’t accepting coupons from other stores. Now if you’re thinking, “fine, I’ll just find a back door somewhere”, um, Houston, we’ve got a problem. Now I haven’t studied those “other paths”. I hopped on the Jesus track after I realized atheism was a dead end – literally. That said, I’m pretty sure they all pretty much think they are the only way to eternity. So, I ask you, how can they all be “right”? I guarantee you not one of them will tell you to accept Jesus as Lord. If they did, they’d have to also tell you:

John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Um, yeah, there is that. Of course, you can always say Jesus was the liar, but if that is true than who is saying that and how do you know you can trust them? The thing is, I’m not seeing anyone stepping up to fill the gap if Jesus is tossed out. Nobody, nothing, even comes close. Islam? Funny thing about them, they acknowledge Jesus as a prophet and then deny him as well as his words. I have a hard time seeing how anyone can have it both ways. Can you see the problem here? I see the same issues popping up no matter where else you turn.

Now for the good news – God made it easy for us.

2 Corinthians 11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

God only gave Adam ONE commandment – do NOT eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. That was it. Eve was to follow this too but only ADAM was specifically told “NO”. So the serpent, the devil, went to work on Eve who then convinced Adam it was okay to do the ONE thing God said NOT to do. The point here is, God also makes it easy for us to accept Jesus Christ as Lord. Why? Mostly because we’ve got a lot more to deal with than Adam had back then and unless He makes it easy, we’re going to mess it up. So he made it simple.

Really, that’s the whole starter pack. Sure there’s more, a lot more, but this is the ticket you need to get your slice of eternal life. Is there more to it than this? What do you mean by “it”? If by “it” you mean being set as far as eternal life is concerned, I’d say “yep, that’s it”. Now if you are wondering if you need to do more, well… the short answer is yes, but don’t worry, God has got your back. Let me elaborate just a bit.

Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:

4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

Whoa! What? Yeah. Let that sink in. God, the CREATOR of the Universe chose YOU before the foundation of the world to be holy and without blame before Him in love. Sink your teeth into that and chew on it again. Remember, God is BIG. He can create, He knows what’s going to happen down to every single detail, and He’s, well, God, so He can do what He wants… and HE CHOSE YOU. I can’t speak for anyone else but the thought still gives me chills. Trust me on this, there are lots of times I wonder why the Creator of the Universe would even want me, but He did and He does.

Romans 11:29 For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.

Now consider the next verse in Ephesians:

Ephesians 1:5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will

This verse does require a bit of work to “get it” due to some common misconceptions and a rather inaccurate rendering.

First, let’s tackle the word “predestinated”. Without getting into a study of the Greek, according the Vine’s New Testament Dictionary, the word can be understood as “foreordained” or “predetermined”. In other words, while some might say everyone’s life is “set in stone”, so to speak, and thus our choices are already made for us, the very wording of this is contradictory. How can we have a “choice” if our actions are predetermined? Do keep in mind one of God’s principles is our own free will. Revisiting the Garden of Eden, Adam did not HAVE to listen to Eve and eat that fruit, but God knew ahead of time he would. If he’d refused, mankind would have taken another path and, chances are, you or I would never have been born.

Now about that word “adoption”. Ask any adopted child, the very term can be somewhat painful. Going back to the Greek, the word used here would have been better rendered “sonship”. We are children of God via birth.

1 Peter 1:23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

John 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

Jesus first alluded to this when he spoke with Nicodemus in John 3. He was speaking of the “new birth” that did not become available until after he died and God raised him from the dead at Pentecost. From that day on, when we confess Jesus as Lord and believe God raised him from the dead, God creates that “incorruptible seed” in us, that earnest (token) of what we be blessed with when Christ returns.

1 Corinthians 15:51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

And here we are right back to eternal life. Putting it all together, God, our Heavenly Father, in His foreknowledge, chose you to be holy and without blame before Him in love before the foundation of the world. He brought you here, today. Whether you accept these words or not, if you are His, He will continue to show you the truth until you are ready to accept Him as God Almighty and His only begotten son, Jesus, the Messiah (or Christ) as Lord and Savior. This is your ticket to ride.

As for my siblings in Christ who may still be wondering what you are doing here… it’s going to take all of us, both new and old, to reclaim our nation. We all need to turn to God and put God first in our lives. Certainly we were born into the greatest nation this world has every seen. We’ve been blessed beyond what anyone could expect. Many of my brothers and sisters in Christ seek God daily. What more can we do?

Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

I’ve no doubt you have faith. Of course you believe that He IS, how could you not. But are you on board with the latter part of this verse? Do you believe He is a rewarder of them who diligently seek Him? Let me put it another way…

Do you really believe God can and will restore this nation just because we ask Him to? I’m not so sure who believes this. My own wife is often skeptical. Even I doubt if it will happen, but I don’t doubt God. Rather I wonder if we have not lost faith in God to deliver us. What faith?

James 1:6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.

But there is more to it than just asking…

James 2:18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.

This last election cycle has demonstrated this principle perfectly. The polls, if anyone can believe them, strongly indicated a “Red Wave”, even a “Red Tsunami”. What we saw was a red ripple. What happened? We voted, didn’t we? Yes. We voted. By one account Republican’s outvoted Democrats by over 3 million citizens nationwide and still many key races were lost. Why? Two reasons.

First, I am completely and thoroughly convinced, the Democrats cheated. Whether you agree with this assessment or not (I’ll not belabor it), in any honest contest, any and all discrepancies would be completely examined and questionable tallies removed. It’s been pointed out multiple times since the 2020 election that if the Democrats were so confident that vote was honest, they would insist on audits to vindicate themselves. That never happened. Instead they fought tooth and nail at every level to obfuscate any questionable results. However this is entirely secondary.

Even worse is the realization that these elections were even close. Far too many citizens proudly vote for godless ideals – abortion on demand, racist policies, pro-criminal behavior, and so forth. Much of what the globalists desire is pure evil. Those voting for evil either embrace the evil or they are blinded. The very idea that more people could possibly vote for evil over Godly principles sickens me. These same citizens have effectively rejected God Himself. Even with this great shroud of darkness looming over our nation, there is a ray of light.

Remember Ephesians 1:4-5? How many of those voting for evil are lost souls? How many has God foreordained them to be His children? I do not know, but I am convinced there are more than a few. The even better news is WE need to reach them. All we need do is reach out. It is God’s place to call His children to Him. He will not let a single one fall into the devil’s hands – at least not for eternity.

I see the potential for a great revival in this land. God is not finished with this nation. This can happen whether or not God chooses to deliver it, however restoration will not happen if we continue to turn our backs to Him. In light of this, the only commitment that makes sense is to put God first in our lives. With this strategy, we cannot lose. What can you do?

Seek out God in your private life. Pray. Read scripture daily. Join or start a bible study. Seek out others to worship with. Turn away from sinful things. Speak the truth.

On this last, I am not advocating for anyone to quote biblical passages to individuals or groups as a means of “speaking the truth”. A quiet word injected in a conversation may be enough. If you commit yourself to listening to God, He will show you. He will direct your path.

Psalms 27:11 Teach me thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies.

Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

God will lead you to those who need to hear.

Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?

15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!

16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?

17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

So many of us, Christians included, look for a Donald Trump or a Ron DeSantis to save our nation. They cannot. Surely God can put such men in place to do His work but our nation needs more. It is bigger than one governorship, or a single presidency. It is greater than Congress. Our nation is one comprised of self-governing citizens, a Constitutional Republic. If we are a nation under God then we will once again be that shining beacon to the world. By putting God first in our lives, we will ensure America is first among all other nations.

Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Do you believe?

Time To Go Underground? Maybe Not Yet

Earlier today I happened across the article below in The American Conservative. It is a very long article but well worth reading. As my reading comprehension is good IF I take my time with the text, I performed a “deep skim” on this article – I tried to read and absorb it without taking the time to assimilate or contemplate what the author was saying.

The long and the short of my understanding can be summed up as such:

Our nation is not as “Christian” as we would like to believe

We need God more than politics

There’s a growing chance Christians will soon be forced to take our faith underground. To this end, small groups may be the best way forward.

The author points to Europe, particularly Eastern Europe for examples. What came to my mind was a book I’d read long ago called “China Cry”. It’s a true story of a young Chinese woman. She was a Christian, born into a wealthy family. She and her siblings in Christ were forced underground and could only meet in small, secret groups.

The Most Dangerous Post-Election Lie For conservative Christians, it’s the idea that politics will deliver us from the persecution to come

In the days ahead, I hope to comment more on these issues, unless, of course, this regime suddenly deems me to dangerous and shuts me down.

Was The Election Stolen… Again? Why This Doesn’t Matter

In fact, we are much better off as a nation if this last election was stolen. How crazy is that? Consider the alternative – Fetterman won, fair and square. What does this say about the people of Pennsylvania? Forget Fetterman. Instead take a look at any race in this year’s election cycle resulting in a disappointing loss. As far as I’m concerned, none of these races should have been close, much less a loss. At least they shouldn’t be close from the perspective of liberty.

Every single democrat ran and won on a single unifying principle – more government. This, at a time when we are all drowning in government. You just don’t throw water on a drowning person. Ronald Reagan was right – the more government we have, the less liberty we enjoy. (paraphrased) This idea, in and of itself is nuts. Our nation was founded on the principle of a limited government but today’s society all but demands unlimited government and it’s killing us, literally as well as figuratively.

There was reason and logic behind the concept of a limited government. Citizens should be free to pursue life, liberty, and happiness. As long as we respect each other’s rights, rights each of us equally enjoy, our nation will thrive. While in practice, our implementation of these principles have been flawed from day one, our nation has thrived. We’ve risen to be the most productive, influential, and powerful nation the world has ever seen. Imperfect as we are, we remain a shining beacon for the world. Nobody is flooding Haiti’s borders trying to get in. You know why.

Instead of a prosperous and orderly nation, we’ve devolved into a myriad of tribes each vying for prizes from the treasury. Equity has replaced equality and as such, has burdened our most productive citizens by forcing one group to suffer to appease another. Worse, productivity has taken second place to privilege so merit is devalued as a factor for opportunity. Everybody loses. Those with lessor skills no longer need to sharpen them to make the grade and those with better skills languish where their abilities are wasted. The new normal is to settle for mediocrity rather than strive for excellence and it shows.

Our nation is devolving into a third-world county. Already, we’ve lost the respect of nations that once looked up to us. Once the cash flow to them subsides, our influence will drop to zero. Our military will soon be transformed from the envy of the world to a laughingstock. Even Corporal Klinger would bow his head in shame. Once our economy tanks and we can no longer afford all those things we now take for granted, the world will look for more promising markets. Nobody heeds a bum, no matter how fabulously wealthy and successful they were yesterday.

None of this is, or will be the result of this last election cycle. Rather it the result of where our nation has been headed for decades. Some will look back to Woodrow Wilson’s presidency. Others may recognize roots extending beyond that. In some ways, I contend we were doomed from the start because our forefathers failed to properly educate the people about the duties and responsibilities of our republic. In their defense, I suggest that few, if any, really understood many of the nuances themselves as what they accomplished had never been done before.

From a godly perspective, we are likely right where we ought to be in the grand scheme of things. Perhaps the real question should be… where do we go from here? I see two paths. One continues on the way we are going, growing government, limiting liberty until everything crumbles… and crumble it will. Our current situation is unsustainable, as we continue to spend far faster than we can produce. The second path is rugged. It doesn’t even appear to be navigable. Instead of growing government, we need to shrink it… a lot. Instead of suffocating ourselves with endless regulation, we need to simplify. Rather than practice “set it and forget it” citizenship where we only show up occasionally on election days, we need to roll up our sleeves and dig in. We need to hold our representatives, ALL of our representatives accountable. We need to gauge every action, every proposal against the standard of limited government vs liberty. We need to learn to do things for ourselves instead of clamoring for more government to do things for us. Most of all… we need to get right with God. What does God have to do with anything? Everything.

If you cannot see how God fits into the equation then you are part of the problem. I’m sorry if you are an atheist or even a non-Christian. I am particularly sorry if you claim Christ and cannot see my point or worse, take offense. Don’t get me wrong, I am not discounting non-Christians. Nothing in our Constitution requires any citizen to be a Christian or even believe in any god at all to participate. You have just as much say, just as many rights as anyone else. That said, our nation was founded by the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself and blessed by Him in no uncertain terms. Those of us who claim Christ need to accept and acknowledge this. Never mind the rest, they get a free ticket to ride. We Christians, however, must put God first in our lives and in our nation.

There is a deeply spiritual aspect to the state of our nation today. It is war. In the end, God wins. Meanwhile this nation is a battleground. The real war is God vs the god of this world, the devil. If we are to win, it will be with God at our side. Politics will not win this war.

CAN We Win on November 8th?

Most of us are anticipating the “Big Game” on Tuesday. It’s the Nationalists vs the Globalists in a heated contest. From the looks of things, the Nationalists are coming on strong. Many are predicting a blowout. Others warn it’s not a done deal. The Globalists are known to play dirty and there is every reason to believe they will pull out every sneaky play in their book. One thing we all can agree on – this one will be a nail biter.

Yawn. That’s right. Wake me when it’s over. Don’t get the wrong idea. I do believe this coming election may well be very crucial to the future of our nation. No matter which way it goes it will be decisive. Or will it? Let’s consider.

Suppose the worst happens, as far as us “Nationalists” are concerned. The blue team snatches a victory by keeping a majority in both houses. Even if all they do is keep on doing what they are doing now, we are in for one hell of a tempest. Our current path leads nowhere but down. Worse, the burgeoning diesel crisis could soon plummet our nation into depression territory. I’m not talking about running out of diesel. I am assured we are still producing it but we will see shortages. And since our nation literally runs on diesel fuel – from trains to trucks to tractors to heavy equipment and more – no aspect of our nation’s economy will be unaffected. And that is just one issue.

Even more dire is the fact that the globalists will seize upon a win, declaring it a mandate to double down. It won’t matter if they cheated to gain the advantage. They will not let go of it come hell or high water. And double down is just what they will do. Hunting down political adversaries, shutting down all semblance of free speech, even demanding more violence against dissenters will all be on the table. If the globalists win, we who oppose them will be in a fight for our very lives.

But what if we win? That’s a good thing… right? It depends. Really. One factor we need to consider is how big the win is. At this point I’m seeing a lot of speculation about impeachments. Every time I point out that unless there are enough potential votes in the Senate to convict, any impeachment efforts are a foolish waste of time. And the democrats are not likely to vote for a conviction even if the evidence is overwhelming. Here in Virginia, our two Senators, Warner and Kaine are solid blue. I cannot see Kaine voting against his party under any normal circumstances. Warner might possibly jump ship IF he was convinced it was the only way to salvage his political career. Such would be the case for any democrat Senators and none of them will even be up for election for another two years. That’s a lot of time to forget.

Besides that, gaining a “super majority” in the Senate is more pipe dream than possibility. I don’t see it happening. So what we’d be left with is a majority in both houses and there is no guarantee of this either but let’s dream a bit. Again, with a majority in the House, the republicans could impeach anyone within their constitutional reach, but, again, there’s no teeth to this act and I cannot see Joe Biden stepping down for that. I can see him pardoning anyone who happens to be impeached. Along with that, I’ll stand by my prediction that Joe will not last much past the two-year mark of his first term. How the handlers plan on dealing with Harris is beyond me. If I were in their position, I’d replace her first and then dump Bobo, but I digress.

What, exactly can an opposition majority do with a globalist president in the Oval Office? One thing they are not likely to do is override any vetoes. So anything they pass will have to be negotiated. And they can hold up funding so as to make life miserable for the leftist cause. The danger here is the left will be screaming bloody murder all the while. They know from experience, what they scream is far less crucial to their cause than how loudly and how often they scream it. Even defeated, they do not give up and they do not give up. My point is, what the nationalists can do is limited at this point, especially when the globalists control the administration. But it gets worse.

What’s worse? Winning will most likely give us a false sense of security. We’ll breathe a collective sigh of relief – hopefully it will be about the only “collective” thing we do – and go back to our day jobs. Meanwhile, the political machines keep rolling. Unless we keep applying pressure, supporting those who support our republic and shining the light on the globalists and their agenda, we will soon end up right back between a rock and a hard place. In short, we can expect little reward for our win and lots of trouble.

The Bigger Issue

As a nation we have a far bigger issue facing us. I’ve pointed this out before and I’ll keep on doing it until I crash into some brick wall. The problem is, somewhere in the neighborhood of half our nation buys into the globalist garbage enough to put them in power. This is not a “political” difference. It is not some intellectual contest. It runs much deeper than that. It goes to the core of our nation. It is spiritual in nature. The globalists’ “god” is government. Their god is a false god and they worship it in earnest. I’ve pointed this out before – their ultimate goal is complete and total rule over every aspect of every individual’s life. And they’ve conned nearly half of our citizens into believing in their utopia.

The only way to reclaim our nation is to reclaim our stature as sons of the God and Father of our Lord Christ Jesus. We need to turn back to God and ask Him for His help. We must stand strong on those principles we’ve been taught since our youth. We need to turn away from ungodly things and set our affections on things above.

Colossians 3:1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.

2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.

Do you turn to God daily? How many times? The apostle Paul encouraged us to pray without ceasing. Does your life reflect your commitment to Christ? Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying we all need to start living like monks. Speaking for myself, I see a whole lot of room for improvement in my own life. That said, I do endeavor to make those improvements on a daily basis. I’ve also gone down paths where I’ve spent days, weeks, and months pursuing things that would never bring me closer to God. Not all pursuits necessarily need to be “sinful” to draw us away from our relationship with God. I’ve even seen “church projects” that have lead honorable men away from a godly life. Often it is not the path itself but the perspective of the individual traveling it.

No matter what party ends up with a majority in either house, we can win or lose by the actions we take as citizens and believers. If we gain ground, great – lets make sure those we elect into offices are held accountable and that we diligently work towards bringing God back into our lives and our nation. If we lose ground we need to do much the same but it will be harder as the globalists will do all they can to eradicate anyone or anything in their way. They cannot defeat God but knowing this will not deter them.

Twitter – Elon and Me – Where Are We Now?

So Elon and I take over Twitter today. If you haven’t been following the “and I” bit is tongue and cheek. I own ten shares. I think. My online “broker” (I guess – who knows these days what role anyone actually plays? I sent them a few hundred bucks and purchased my shares so…), anywho, Webull, my “broker” displayed a cryptic message last night (after I poked around) saying starting today Twitter shares would no longer be publicly traded. Okay I expected that, but back up a bit.

A couple of weeks ago, I received a letter from Webull about another stock I own. It’s a few shares of ADT and those were given to me as part my “sign-up bonus” from Webull. It’s one of those deals where they promise the moon and deliver a few grains of dust. The letter said there was an offer on the table for my shares. I diligently inquired only to find out that it would cost me $50 bucks to take up the offer. Well, gee, I don’t think my entire holding in that company is worth $50. So much for that.

Now. Twitter. Call me a dinosaur. Long, long ago I was a “stockbroker” myself. I held a series 7 license and was legally qualified to sell stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and maybe other stuff but leave it at that. That was long ago before time and the internet. Somewhere in the back of my mind I delusionally thought there would be an actual stock certificate laying around somewhere. Now I understand that there could be but I’d pay dearly for it if I insisted on something I could actually put my grimy fingers on. These days, it’s all electronic. So the question is, do I own Twitter stock and if so what happens now?

As I said before I’d rather keep my stake in the company than sell it off. Granted I know it could be worthless for all practical purposes. There’s no market for it and so if Elon wants to offer me fifty cents a share, take it or leave it, there’s nothing much I can do. And my pittance of a holding gives me no say in the company at all. All I am really entitled to as far as I can see is an accounting not publicly available. And still I want to hang on.

All of this is if I have any choice in the matter at all. For all I know there is some weird ass loophole somewhere that would allow Elon to buy me out whether I like it or not. I just don’t know where I stand right now.

My druthers is to hang on to my stake and tout my “part ownership” in the now private Twitter. It’s not much but it is something. Plus I’d get to be a bit of a thorn in Elon’s side. More like a mosquito bite but I really don’t expect to be all that antagonistic. As long as he promotes free speech and keeps an even hand, I’m fine with it all.

As with anything, time will tell.

Piercing the Darkness

Before I begin, “Piercing the Darkness” is also the title of a Christian novel by Frank Peretti. It is an excellent read that, along with his previous novel, “This Present Darkness” is written from a spiritual as well as a human perspective. Other than the title, today’s post has little in common with Mr. Peretti’s work other than being written from a Christian perspective.

Today’s topic might be summed up with yet another story, a riddle actually, whose author is unknown to me. While the basic premise is similar, I rather strayed somewhat. You be the judge.

It seems there was a man on his deathbed who had accumulated a great deal of wealth. He had been an honest and honorable man throughout his life. Now he was faced not only with his own passing, but the task of choosing a successor from among his three grown children. While he felt they were all worthy in their own way, he didn’t want to play favorites, nor did he wish to induce jealousy among them. After praying about it, he decided gave them a riddle to solve. The child with the best solution would inherit the bulk of his estate and assume leadership of his companies. He called them to his bedside, and handed each an envelope.

“Each envelope contains a $100 dollar bill. I want each of you to take that money and use part or all of it to fill my room. I will evaluate your solution based on two criteria. First, whatever you use to fill the room should represent how you will run my companies. Second, you will need to account for what you spent and what, if anything, is left over. The child who provides the best solution will take my place in my companies and inherit the bulk of my estate.”

His eldest child returned first. With a flair, he handed his father the $100 bill. He opened the door and motioned for someone to come in. One after another, people entered with flowers. The parade stopped when no more flowers could be brought in.

“As you can see, Father, I didn’t spend a penny!”

“So where did all of these flowers come from?”

“From our warehouse of course! I remembered one of our companies distributes flowers wholesale. As you can see, I intend to run our companies by bringing wonderful color and cheer everywhere.”

“Hmmm, you say you didn’t spend a penny?” his father said, “Who paid for the flowers and the labor to bring them here.”

“I… I guess the company did.” His eldest looked at his shoes. “I didn’t think of that. I spent thousands to save $100, didn’t I?”

His father just nodded. “Please remove these flowers.”

“As long as they are here, how about I donate them to the hospital auxiliary to distribute to other patients and staff? At least then I can write the expense off.”

“That should work.”

The flowers were just cleared out when the man’s second child entered. She had a box under one arm and was pulling a tank with the other hand. She opened the box and began filling balloons with helium.

She explained as she filled balloons. “I used most of the money on the balloons and the helium, Dad. Each balloon has a positive message and that’s how I’ll run the companies – by being positive and resourceful.”

Before long the room was nearly filled with balloons and the box was empty.

Her father nodded. “Well, you filled the room all right, but I can’t see anything anymore. Can I ask you one thing?”

“Of course.”

“Now what?”

His daughter’s face fell. “I don’t know. I suppose I need to get these balloons out of here. I’ll take them down to the children’s wing. I’m sure they’ll love them.”

“Good idea.”

The balloons were gone. In came the youngest child.

She smiled shyly at her father before pulling his beside table to the center of the room. She set a candle on the table. She lit the candle and flipped the switch by the door. Light filled the room.

“Daddy, I’m sorry I don’t have any money left. I bought the candle and the candlestick at a thrift shop for one dollar. But while I was looking for it, I noticed a young woman with two children looking at clothes. One of them kept crying saying she was hungry. The younger child had her eyes on a yellow dress. It was worn but in decent condition. I saw the tears in her mother’s eyes as she told her child it was very pretty be she needed clothes for school more. The girl nodded, her lips quivered, but she couldn’t take her eyes off the dress.”

“I couldn’t help myself. I stepped over and told the little girl I too thought the dress was beautiful. I said I know a little girl just like her who would love it but her parents couldn’t afford it. Would she mind if I bought it for her. Her eyes widened and she broke into big smile. She said yes, she just know that poor little girl would just love it.”

I took the dress and found the candle. At the counter, the cashier gave me a funny look when I broke the $100 bill to pay for the candle and then used my credit card to pay for the dress and then asked for separate bags. The little girl cried with delight when she realized I was giving her the dress. I gave the change along with all the cash I had to the woman. I handed her my card and told her if she was looking for work to call me. I’d find something for her. I hope that was all right.”

Her father held out his arms. “Honey, the light from that candle filled the room better than anything but the light in you will light up the world.”

* * *

This was not what I had in mind when I set out to recount the story. I can only give credit to God for this as it brought tears to my own eyes as I wrote it. While I have to admit, I generally like my own prose, I can’t remember ever getting emotional about it.

Not long ago, I heard a preacher say love is not about how you feel, it is about what you do. The young daughter in the story above demonstrated exactly that. Jesus was asked about the greatest commandment.

Matthew 22:36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

38 This is the first and great commandment.

39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Love God. Love your neighbor. Those two commandments supersede all the rest, but how do we love God and love our neighbors? How will others see our light?

We are told not to put our light under a bushel but on a candlestick as did the young lady above.

Matthew 5:14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

It is often said people judge us Christians by what they see rather then what we say. They look at the example we set. They observe how we act and how we react.

Look around you. Our nation is overshadowed by a great cloud of darkness. God is denied, defamed and disregarded everywhere. Christians are targeted and, yes, even thrown in prisons for standing for what we believe to be right. Others are fired from their jobs for their beliefs or for simply praying to God. This darkness is encompassing us. It is suffocating our nation, but it has a weakness. That weakness is light.

Light will pierce darkness every time. Light dispels darkness.

Ephesians 5:8 For you were once darkness, but are now light in the Lord. Walk as children of light

Our nation can once again shine as a beacon, a light unto the world. That light needs to shine from us because we are the children of light. This is the light that will pierce the darkness. Return unto God. Let your light shine.

Heathen Nation – The Rebirth of Sodom and Gomorrah

Some contend we are a Christian nation still. Others insist ours has not been such for decades. As for myself, I’m not sure how one defines a “Christian nation”. Is it one where a majority of citizens are Christian? Or do we just need to mostly abide by Christian morals? Either test we fail. What say you? Are we a Christian nation? On what do you base your answer?

What is a “heathen nation”? For the sake of this article, I’ll define it as a nation where a majority of citizens deny the One True God – the God and Father of the Lord Christ Jesus. As for the Sodom and Gomorrah label, well, I don’t believe one must be a heathen to embrace those things we all think of when we hear the term “Sodom and Gomorrah”.

To my dismay I recently saw a video of a drag queen strutting his stuff in front of an enthusiastic audience. The audience was sitting in a rather large “Christian” church. Call me judgmental but I cannot reconcile any Christian group hosting a drag show, much less cheering on the “performers” in front of believers, much less their children. And yes, children were present. Is the next step a live sex show? For the record, I’d be just as disgusted if the performer was a female stripper/dancer whatever. If someone wants to worship at a strip club, by all means, go ahead (leave the kids at home or with a responsible person), but don’t bring the strip show to a place of worship. Jesus overturned the tables of dishonest merchant in the house of worship, I cannot imagine his ire at drag queen shenanigans.

If this was the worst of it or the end of it, it would be one thing but it’s not. More and more parents are exposing graphic pornographic materials aimed at children being made available in school libraries. To add insult to injury, such materials are paid for with taxpayer dollars. Not long ago, if an adult was found merely possessing anything depicting sex with children, that person would be arrested and charged. More charges would be levied if the adult showed such things to children. When did it become acceptable for government employees (teachers, etc.) to buy and provide explicit graphic sexual publications to children?

Add to this the growing push to “redefine” child molesters as “Minor Attracted Persons” or MAPs. Some refer to it as a “movement”. Far too many are giving this concept credibility. In addition the term “groomer”, referring to someone who is preparing a child for sexual exploitation has found disfavor among Big Tech companies and others who are shielding child molesters from public discord, if not outright promoting their agenda.

Meanwhile a New York man who is running for a seat in the US Congress published a porn video of himself and a partner as part of his campaign to demonstrate a “sex positive” image. While I doubt he has much chance of wresting the seat from Democrat Jerry Nadler, the fact he has not dropped out of the race in shame is telling. Of course, given the choice between this fool and Nadler, well, I’d be glad NY still allows write-in votes.

We have yet to devolve to the point the two angels visiting Lot in Sodom. The men of Sodom demanded Lot hand them over so they may “know” them (have sex with them.) Lot instead offered them his daughters to no avail. Even so, it is only a matter of time until our nation becomes every bit as decadent as Sodom, unless we turn the tide and soon.

What will it take? Maybe less than one might think. In the story of Sodom above, before those angels arrived, there is an interesting dialog between God and Abraham. God informed Abraham He intended to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham began to negotiate a deal. He asked if God would spare the cities if there were 50 righteous to be found there. After God said he would spare the cities for 50 righteous, then 45 and eventually, ten. Unfortunately only Lot escaped with his wife and two daughters. His wife famously was turned to stone as she looked back against wise advisement. The two daughters had husbands who thought Lot was joking about the coming devastation and stayed behind. The story doesn’t exactly end there.

Surely Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed. Lot and his two daughters ended up in a cave. The daughters decided they were the last people on earth so they got Lot drunk and lay with him and got pregnant. One gave birth to the patriarch of the Moabites and the other the patriarch of the Ammonites. Both tribes later proved troublesome for Israel, however Jesus’ linage traces back to Ruth who was a Moabite.

While God can indeed make something good out of even our most ill-advised acts, we may do well to remember the two daughters may well have been greatly influenced by the practices of the Sodomites who apparently were willing to bed anybody. How long before incest, sex with children or even animals becomes commonplace in our nation? Already there is a “movement” to normalize sex with children. But we’re not done yet…

It’s not enough that our children are targeted by sexual predators. The so-called “adults” we are trusting our youth with are determined to obfuscate their sexuality by popularizing trans and multiple genders. Worse, they brand parents to object to this madness as child abusers! Get this straight: trying to confuse a child by “teaching” them about “gender alternatives” is abuse, plain and simple. The lies are blatant and plentiful. There is no “science” to back up this idiocy. True science supports two genders as standard – male and female and nothing more. While one can indeed point to aberrations, such are the exceptions rather than the rule.

There is only one way out of all of this – we need to turn to God while rejecting ungodly behavior. Returning once more the the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, God did not require the entire region to turn to Him in order to spare them. In the end, a mere ten righteous would have sufficed. How many will it take to reclaim our nation? I cannot say but for now, how about just one more? Are you ready to turn to God? If you have accepted Christ as your Lord already then pray and speak the truth. If you are still seeking, stop. What you seek is right here.

Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

If you are not quite ready to accept Jesus as Lord, then seek out a Christian to help you find your way. Do not be discouraged if you find those who claim Christ are not who they say they are. Consider the “church” described above. Feel free to contact me at the email address in the right margin above if you cannot find anyone nearby.

Exploring The Local Government Landscape

Lately I’ve been hunkered down while I take care of some things closer to home. I contacted my Congressman to follow up on my J6 Political Prisoner questions.

On the J6 issue: My next step is to contact Governor Younkin, et. al. to urge them to step up on behalf of the Virginia citizens who are being held by the federal government and whose civil rights are being violated.

The first problem I’m facing is finding out exactly who these citizens are. While American Gulag displays a ton of information, only the state where they are arrested is shown. I have yet to find where to determine what state these citizens are residents of.

Thus, I’ve only been able to identify three Virginia citizens currently being held. They are:

Thomas Robertson

Jonathan Gennaro Mellis

Geoffrey William Sills

Only Mr. Mellis is currently listed as being held in the DC gulag.

Mr. Sills and Mr. Robertson both appear to have had their cases adjudicated.

From what I’ve been able to ascertain, Mr. Sills is still being held in Virginia and is being denied his civil rights. The most startling is, he is being denied access to any chaplains or other men of God who wish to provide spiritual support. Even death row murderers are afforded this. I would think denial of this First Amendment right would be grounds for immediate release.

While I am fairly certain both Mr. Mellis and Mr. Robertson have likewise been denied their civil rights – their right to a speedy trial comes to mind – such needs to be pursued by our Governor or Attorney General. I see no reason why our AG could not step in on these citizens behalf.

Meanwhile, closer to home, I am continuing a conversation with one of the County Board Supervisors, (not my rep as he appears to be inaccessible – something I am soon to address more publicly), and at this moment I’m asking about budget matters.

To me, the principle “follow the money” should be the foremost thought of any citizen, as everything any government does centers around their ability to tax and spend.

Book Review and Analysis: The Nation Will Follow by Colonel (Retired) John Mills

RE: Book Review and Analysis: The Nation Will Follow by Colonel (Retired) John Mills

Never before seen here! As a rule I don’t analyze books and I rarely review them. The Nation Will Follow by Colonel (Retired) John Mills is an exception because I believe the book is exceptional. A warning first: what caught my eye and lead me to buy this book in the first place was an appearance by Colonel Mills on Newsmax. There he emphasized the concept of reclaiming our nation county by county. For anyone who has read more than a few posts, you know I strongly advocate this concept.

About the link: it leads directly to the website for the book itself. There you should find a popup where the book can be had for 99¢ from Amazon. I have no idea how long this will be available at the price. If you don’t see the 99¢ deal I suggest going directly to Amazon for the best price. For the record, I am not an affiliate nor do I make any money at all for this recommendation in any way.

Now about the book itself. Much of it covers Col. Mills experience in government, in particular in the DOD. He was working at the Pentagon during the 2016 election. It was there he had his most dramatic epiphany concerning the Deep State, the Swamp. That alone is worth the price of the book, even the $3.99 I paid. Moreover he offers some excellent insights into the inner workings of the governmental labyrinth. What I drew out from it was confirmation that our entrenched government employees largely work against, rather than for us. He also shored up the idea that it is not necessarily the average “grunt” but rather the higher ups in these agencies who are most insidious.

Colonel Mills does promise an “action plan” to get involved in local government. While he fulfills his promise, as well as providing a decent rendering of the structure of county governments, I would have liked to see him take this aspect farther. Most of his focus is on election integrity. I’m all for that. It is indeed something we must absolutely pay strict attention to, particularly considering the fiasco of the 2020 election.

At the risk of invoking the ire and punishment of my detractors, I’ll say it out loud: the 2020 Presidential Election was rigged and the rightful winner was with little doubt, Donald J. Trump. Backing up this claim I’ll first point out to the indisputable facts.

The Pennsylvania election process was unconstitutionally changed by election and/or administration officials. The constitutional challenge was dismissed by Pennsylvania’s liberal-leaning court. For whatever reason, SCOTUS decided not to hear this.

Thousands, THOUSANDS, of affidavits were gathered documenting election irregularities in several key states.

The Dinesh D’Souza documentary “2000 Mules” offers credible and damning evidence of voting irregularities.

The January 6 so-called “insurrection” broke out at the very convenient time when Congress adjourned to debate the first validated challenge to electoral certifications. (objection made in writing and signed by at least one member of house and one member of the Senate).

Rather than encourage any and all votes in question be investigated and validated, the globalist democrats in power have dodged and evaded scrutiny at every turn

Colonel Mills is correct, we cannot allow such shenanigans to happen again and the place to stop them is at the county level. He also points to events in Virginia’s Loudoun County where average moms fought the school board for their kids. He cites these battles as instrumental in electing Glenn Youngkin as Governor. Thus he expands his vision to include county and school boards, as well as county sheriffs as vitally important to reclaiming our nation. I agree wholeheartedly with all of this.

With all of this, I wanted to see more. Yes, we do need to secure our election process. Yes, we need to ensure the integrity of these critical offices. What more is needed?

We need to hold those we elect to public offices accountable. We also need to hold those employed by said officials accountable and by this I mean every individual who is paid with taxpayer dollars.

We need to scale back government to constitutional limitations.

We need to review all government entities, regulations and laws and determine if they are indeed necessary and effective.

We need to monitor law enforcement efforts at all levels to ensure the law is applied equally and without prejudice. This includes police, prosecutors and courts.

Most important: we citizens need to communicate with each other, particularly at the county level. Each county should reflect the will of the citizens residing there and governed according to the will of the people rather than a handful of so-called “leaders”. Local boards for towns, counties and schools should be responsive to those citizens they serve. Board members and other public servants are allowed to live their private lives. Communication needs to be orderly and respectful at all times.

The Nation Will Follow is an excellent work as far as it went but a clearer path is needed if we are to reclaim our nation. It’s one thing to secure our elections and a necessary task at that, but for too long we’ve adopted a “set it and forget it” attitude towards our self-governance. If we are to govern ourselves then we must also accept the responsibilities and acknowledge our duty to participate not only in elections, but in keeping a diligent watch on the workings of our government.

Your Vote Means Nothing

Now that’s a shocker, isn’t it? Anyone who has read more than ten of my posts is likely waiting for some sort of twist to take it all away. It’s not coming. I mean it. Your vote means nothing. No, I haven’t turned into a raving lunatic champing at the bit to wipe the slate clean and start from scratch. I’m still the same raving lunatic I’ve always been. It’s just that I had this thought that opened up a different perspective. Bear with me.

Once again I found myself at that pool of thoughts that reflects my past back at me. Okay, I got to thinking about my life – all right? Mostly I got to thinking about my journeys into the world of politics. On occasion I’ve attended caucuses, political events, and yes, even board meetings. I was part of the “Young Republicans” once, though I wasn’t all that young at the time. I even nominated a friend for office and ran for an office myself (TownClerk). At the time I believed I could help shape things from the inside. Said illusions were shattered without mercy. The Party wasn’t interested in my thoughts, only how they could control them and me. I was never one to tame easily. Then life kicked in and I moved on. The one thing I’ve consistently practiced over the years is voting.

Whatever else I might have done, I cannot say voting has ever been a mistake. This doesn’t mean I’ve always voted for the “right” person but I’ve consistently voted for the person who is most likely aligned with the same principles as myself. While I’ve always taken voting seriously I realized voting alone has never been enough and my entire perspective on it is warped.

Your Vote Means Nothing – The Proof

How can I even think this? Taken alone, one vote means nothing. If you doubt this, the next time you are at the polls, try this: instead of checking the box for one of the listed candidates, move down to the blank space and write in your own name. There. You’ve voted. The problem is you don’t stand a chance in hell of being sworn into that office. Your one vote just became meaningless. Chances are it won’t even be listed in the final tally.

For your vote to count, really count, for anything, it must be “e pluribus unum” – one, out of many. Herein lies the power of our Constitutional Republic. This is also the reason and justification for political parties. Any elected official must have the support of a majority of those citizens voting for that position, however misconstrued. Parties are organized to elect and support individuals who have the same goals and want the same things. At some point they all lose their way. Why? Any organization eventually grows to a point where the organization itself becomes more important than the purpose it was organized to serve.

While I have stated as much many times over the years, I cannot say whether this statement is original or if I’ve absconded with it from someone else. For the time being I’ll take full credit or blame for what I can only term as a general principle of organizations.

Moreover, organizations in general and our two premier political parties specifically no longer reflect the interests of their members. Instead they’ve become inbred and corrupt. This is glaringly evident in recent revelations of the money spent in this current Congressional election cycle. Depending on who one asks, anywhere from about $2 billion to over $9 billion dollars has been spent to elect (or re-elect) all 435 of the House of Representatives and 34 U.S. Senators for a total of 469 representative positions. The cumulative salaries of both houses of Congress, all 535 seats, is less than $100,000 million per year. This is insanity.

Where is the justification for this? Why should so much money be spent to elect any Congressional representative? Where is this money coming from? Indeed. Follow the money and you are sure to discover who owns what… or whom. This is not to say every member of Congress serves special interests but the mere avalanche of money dumped into the Swamp daily has to be almost impossible to resist. Harry Truman is quoted as saying “Show me a man that gets rich by being a politician and I’ll show you a crook”. How many poor career politicians can you name?

Yet The Parties want us all to believe they are all snow white, honest, trustworthy servants of the people. Each Party posts lofty ideals. Here is the Virginia Republican Creed:

That the free enterprise system is the most productive supplier of human needs and economic justice.

That all individuals are entitled to equal rights, justice, and opportunities and should assume their responsibilities as citizens in a free society.

That fiscal responsibility and budgetary restraints must be exercised at all levels of government.

That the Federal Government must preserve individual liberty by observing Constitutional limitations.

That peace is best preserved through a strong national defense.

That faith in God. as recognized by our Founding Fathers is essential to the moral fiber of the Nation

Nice huh? The problem I see here is that while at least a good number, maybe even most candidates affirm the creed, some may even be able to recite it verbatim, in the end their assertions are only lip service. How can I say this? Consider the preponderance of the evidence of their actions.

Rather than a limited government we are burdened with government without limitations. Ronald Reagan stated it succinctly:

“As government expands, liberty contracts.”

Free enterprise is hobbled by regulations and taxation. Individual liberties are tolerated only when they do not inconvenience government agendas. God has been all but eradicated from society with the blessing of our representatives. Like regulation and taxation, government budgets know no bounds. Need I continue? I expect the Democrats sport something similar to the Virginia Republican creed above but it is just as much a false front. The promises are empty. Only The Party matters. It no longer matters which Party you refer to. Is there a better way?

Suppose instead of opposing candidates for any elected position spending absurd amounts of money battling things out in the media and littering the land with signs, buttons and bumper stickers, they all had to speak to interested voters who actually had a dog in the fight?

Since there is no statewide race here in Virginia this cycle, lets consider the contest between, Dr. Oz and John Fetterman in the Pennsylvania Senate race. Wouldn’t it be wonderful (fantasy as it may be) if ALL the citizens of Pennsylvania took an interest in this race and, having access to say, a website where they could see for themselves what each candidate stood for, watch them speak on video, respond to questions in a forum and even see them participate in a truly even-handed debate? Wouldn’t it be something if whoever was elected to office was actually held accountable to every citizen they are charged with representing?

Sure I said this postulation is fantasy. Today it is but does it have to remain so? Can we not, as sovereign citizens expect, yea, demand better? Yes. We can. And we should. I’ll tell you up front this is never likely to happen at the federal or even the state level unless we take charge of our elected offices at the county level. Look at it this way.

Remember the example above where I demonstrated how your single vote means nothing? As true as this is at the county level, it is even more accurate at the state and federal level. Why? Because so many more citizens are involved. In any Congressional district a Congressman represents, on average, nearly three quarter of a million citizens. It would be impossible to try to listen to so many voices. What is possible is to meet with representatives from each county in a district. Even more efficient would be several counties in a district banded together to make themselves heard on some of the more critical issues. And if this is possible on the federal level, it would also be effective on the state level. The underlying principle here is if enough voices speak as one they can be heard.

Not Voting is the Worst Option

While those occasions where I did not vote in an election are few, I’d say they might be among the most significant. To the best of my knowledge, I have never refrained from voting in a presidential or congressional election. Thus the only times I neglected to cast my ballot, election-wise, is for a local election. Considering my treatise above, I’d say this carries some significance. However, my neglect runs far deeper than this. In fact, I’d say those times I failed to vote, or even show up where a vote was held is far more damning as to my responsibilities as a citizen.

How many times has someone been selected to represent me or other decisions have been made directly effecting me where I wasn’t even present? How many times might my voice have swayed such decisions? I might as well face reality. I’ll never know. Worse, I have very little understanding on how and when I could at least lend my voice to such decisions. Now I’m not talking about “public hearings”. I’ve been to a number of these and from those experiences I can tell you, our “representatives” typically endure those events secure in the knowledge their minds are already made up. In other words, nothing you or I can say is going to have any impact whatsoever. No, the time to have one’s say and make it count comes long before any issue reaches the floor. This is true whether the subject matter is a proposed law, an expenditure or filling some appointed position.

It is also true when it comes to Party decisions but, I fear, much less so. Why? Because it is apparent that most political parties are run from the top down rather than the bottom up. Anyone wishing for their Party’s blessing typically requires the assent of the “leadership” rather than the will of rank and file. We are seeing this during the current election cycle. Certain Republican candidates at the national level are disfavored by those at the top – House Minority Leader Keven McCarthy and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to be exact. Those candidates they don’t personally like (or politically agree with) are not being supported. To what end? Well let’s see, in a two-party system, if one party doesn’t win then the other one does. So effectively, these two “Republican Leaders” are supporting the opposing party. Considering some of the bills they’ve allowed to pass, particularly in the Senate, one must wonder exactly who they are representing.

Even so, local party decisions still fall under the realm of local members to some extent. As it has been a long time since I’ve participated in party politics and never where I now live, my understanding should be taken with a grain of salt. Realistically, no one can really know about this unless they are personally involved.

All said, I do believe I am opinionated enough, vocal enough and even persuasive enough to possibly make a small difference in those arenas I would participate to any great extent. While I might come across as overbearing in this blog, rest assured my own sense of fair play forces me to consider any dissenting opinions. Damned straight I want to be heard but you have just as much right as I do and I’ll fight for your rights with just as much vigor as I do my own.

Overall I see the need to set aside my personal objections and work toward becoming much more involved as a citizen in local affairs. I can no longer justify not voting. I’m not exactly sure how I will make my voice heard, but I cannot in good conscience keep silent.

My Voice Means Nothing

If one vote means nothing then doesn’t it follow that one voice is also meaningless? While one could make a case for a single voice ringing out to make a clear impact, I contend that unless someone hears it and it moves them, it is all for naught. To be effective the one voice must resonate with others and together we can be heard.

To this end, I have yet to determine whether trying once again to work within the party system is worth the effort, or if I should, by principle, abandon Party Politics altogether in favor of encouraging individuals. Ideally, I’d like to see the two-party system come crashing down. I find it ironic that certain individuals within the Republican party vie for the same thing, even if they don’t realize it or overtly state it. For example, Steve Bannon recently predicted the end of the Democrat party. Okay, so… does he envision the Republican party to be the only choice? Such is doomed to end just as badly. Even if another group takes up where the Democrats left off, we are still faced with the same inherent problem – two groups vying for control. To gain control, a group must gain power and such is only gained by growing government. Bang! Here we go again. This too, is insane.

If we are going to really fix the underlying problems we need to understand the underlying cause. As I see it, the underlying cause is the struggle for control. To paraphrase Ronald Reagan:

“As control expands, liberty contracts.”

The fix centers around decentralization. Return the power to the people, or rather, WE, the People, need to step up, step in and lay claim to what is already ours to begin with. It won’t happen all at once but it can happen. Perhaps the first baby step would be to target a local election and gather supporters for a write-in vote. Is this nuts? I don’t think so. Consider the numbers involved.

In the last election, the current county supervisor in my district was elected by 350 votes. This number does not seem insurmountable. Whether I toss my hat in and win or not isn’t nearly as important as exploring the idea of a no-party system. We naturally tend to think such ideas are unreachable but is persuading 351 people to vote for one person all that daunting?

The globalists would have us think they have it all under control. It’s their game and they’ve already won. Like most everything with the globalists, their presumptions are based on smoke, mirrors and outright lies. WE have control. We always have. It is our birthright. Even IF the voting numbers were entirely stacked against us, those numbers consist of citizens who voted. And just because they voted for one party or another doesn’t mean they have to vote that way again. The fact is, as the 2021 election as well as this coming election should prove out, voters have far more in common with their neighbors than their parties when it comes to ideals.

Here in Virginia, the battle was over our children and the parent’s won. Why? Because most of us parents are not about to concede our children to state control. (No matter how bratty they might be today.) WE citizens generally want the same things. We want to live our lives in peace and safety, raise our children, and enjoy ourselves. Given enough facts about any situation, I think we citizens can come to an agreement on most issues easily. It is the politicians who like to twist things up to get their way. Too often their way is a far cry from what is the best interests of their constituents. This is how we end up with things like “Daylight Savings Time”, banned incandescent light bulbs, and electric cars shoved down our throats.

It’s time we citizens stop whining for “somebody” to do “something” and be the adults in the room. We need to cut up our legislator’s credit cards and restore liberty and sanity. We can do this.

Meeting My Congressional Representative

As with so many things, I made a much bigger deal of this than it turned out to be. The atmosphere of the event was very laid back and so was my conversation with my Congressman. This the first contact I had with him and I was rather impressed. He came across as a regular guy who happens to be a Congressman. We shared a likeminded view of the plight of the J6 political prisoners and, I think, of the issues we all face in general.

To be fair, though there was not a huge crowd there, in fact no crowd at all really, there were others who wanted to talk to him. As such, our conversation was not what I would call a “one on one”. I could tell he felt obligated to acknowledge and/or talk to others rather than ignore everyone else. The fact is, I’d do the same in his position. For all I know, the interruptions were a welcome relief from me, though I our exchange was anything but antagonistic and certainly not unpleasant from my perspective. At some point, I decided to give it up as this really wasn’t a venue conducive to anything seriously intense. Looking back, I’d say all the conversations I had around the Republican booth were similar and I talked with several people.

On J6 and him not having much to say after the much-touted tour of the DC gulag, he said he wasn’t able to tour with the rest of his colleagues. Well, that explains his lack of any after action report. However he agreed that the prisoners are being mistreated, abused even, they have been denied due process and so forth. He expressed his own frustration about this and most everything else going on in our nation’s capital. As a member of the minority party, he feels his hands are tied in so many ways (my words). He asked me point blank what I thought he should be doing.

After a moment’s thought, I said, we’ve got to be more vocal. We’ve got to raise a bigger stink. Whether he takes this to heart or not, I don’t know. However I plan on following up with some ideas I’ve since had along with one I’ve been mulling over. This last is a letter to the Governor, Lieutenant Governor and the Attorney General requesting they step up and get involved to protect the rights of the Virginia citizens who are being held by the federal government. My rep says he’s written the Governor. That’s fine. I will too.

I cannot fault him for not doing enough. I haven’t done enough. Sure, it’s not my “job” but the atrocities committed by Biden’s administration affect us all. Whose to say someone won’t come knocking on my door at 3AM some morning because I’ve been critical? Whose to say I won’t be hauled off the the DC Gulag or some similar hell hole because I won’t simply shut up? Like I’ve said before, it won’t be the first time I’ve paid a price for speaking out. As it is now, my voice was a tiny whisper compared to the megaphones of the MSN and even blogs with actual traffic. (Okay, so back then the word “blog” hadn’t even been invented.) Seriously, I was doing a 15 minute segment on a diminutive 100 watt (powered up to a whopping 1000 watts after sunrise!) AM radio station at 6AM in the morning in a market that was pretty much a footnote in the Nielsen ratings. For all that I was “downsized” because then Governor Mario Cuomo was livid about my broadcast. This I found out directly in a moment of candor from the station’s owner who considered himself a “close personal friend” of the Governor. My point is, if I was vulnerable then, I am vulnerable now, especially since my potential audience far exceeds anything I could imagine back then.

Sorry for the side trip there, but yeah, I could have done more and I still can. How can I fault my representative who is faced with dealing with all the national issues we have today. Add to that, his hands really are tied in many respects. When it comes down to it, all anyone in the House of Representatives can effectively do at this point is be vocal. I’ll add that in order for him to be truly effective, he needs to choose his battles. Certainly more him than me because as a blogger and a publisher, I have far more leeway, but even then, who is going to pay much attention to someone who runs screaming from one issue to another to another? I might as well sign up with MSNBS.

Now with all that said and done, I am now formulating a plan to make a bigger stink. Some of my ideas I will forward to my congressman and a few others who can potentially put some pressure on this. While there are other areas of concern, the J6 political prisoners is an issue that deserves a great deal of attention for several reasons. First of all, these prisoners are suffering. They are being abused, not simply because they are being denied due process but they are being treated as inhuman. We’ve all seen stories, movies about POWs and felt outraged at how they were treated. I’m convinced that should the curtain be pulled back on the DC gulag, we would be similarly appalled. No doubt some might dismiss such treatment because they believe those prisoners to be traitors, insurrectionists. I contend that even if they indeed are, they still deserve humane treatment and the due process of law.

On other news, I also met the local head of there party whom I’ve been emailing back and forth all week. As it’s hard to gauge someone over a few emails, the face to face meeting was telling. I liked him right off. I sensed he found me tolerable as well. This is good because, believe it or don’t, I’ve found I do rub some people the wrong way. There were a couple of others there also I wish I could have spent more time with, including one fellow who traveled from NC to be there. However it was a very cool morning and I was just slightly under dressed for the weather. Additionally I had another commitment so I ended up cutting things shorter than I wanted to.

One other thing, I saw no indication of a federal agency presence, covert or otherwise. Granted I wasn’t looking all that hard. Maybe if I paid more attention I’d have seen something but the event was very relaxed and I relaxed with it.

UPDATE on The Ins and Outs Of Local Politics – Finally! Some Word About Election Issues

Well for some reason, the only person I ever heard from was from the lady who first answered my inquiry from the “RNC Election Integrity Team”. I’m not even sure why that was sent but I replied to her saying I hadn’t heard from anyone else. She got right back to me with the text of the email the county guy supposedly sent me. Maybe he did, maybe he didn’t. I somewhat think he did because of the content of the email. So I replied to both.

The election official position(s) are filled. He didn’t mention poll-watching, even though, if the early voting poll, i.e. the Registrar’s office was to be watched, it would need to manned daily from now until the election. One more reason for same day voting.

He also expressed a need for volunteers for our current Congressman. For that I said, I didn’t think this seat was in danger of being lost. I also added I wasn’t exactly enthusiastic about this representative. I have my reasons and, of course, I believe they are quite valid. Okay, one of my biggies is he supposedly went to visit the DC gulag with MTG and others. Never heard a word about it. I wrote his office asking about his observations. Crickets. With this and his almost total lack of any communication (not with me personally but with all of us constituents) if he DOES lose his seat, he deserves to. Our side needs more MTGs.

Then he told me about the monthly meetings and such locally. Okay great. Then I’m informed I need to complete a “short form” to “become a member”, pay $20, and then I’m voted on. Wait a minute. I am already registered as a Republican so what’s the deal? Membership to what, exactly? Is this some sort of formal organization? Is there a charter and bylaws? I want to see them. Yes, I am that kind of pain in the ass. MTG, move over. Look, I really am trying to be nice about this but I’m not “joining” something so I can feel good about being a member. I can stir things up on my own and those plans are in the works. This county has had a couple hundred years to get their act together and so far, I’m not impressed. To be fair, it wasn’t any better anyplace else I’ve lived either. Oh! By the way, the monthly meeting was two days ago. Apparently, my presence is not needed this election unless I want to stump for our shoo-in Congressman.

The above was a couple days ago. Since then I’ve had a few emails back and forth with the local R head guy. My tendency is to get blunt and I start pissing people off. I did my best to hold it together this time. The $20 for “membership” is to become a voting member. He referred me to the “State Party Plan” of the Virginia Republican Party. I browsed through that. It’s a lot of goop mostly about party hierarchy. The structure of the party is laid out but I’d almost need a road map in order to follow it. Yawn. I suppose if they want citizens to pay to play, that is their privilege. I’m not so sure I want to be a card-carrying, secret decoder ring-wearing voting member at this point. Sometimes it’s more interesting to snipe from the outside.

For the record, from the exchanges I’ve had with the local head guy, I like him well enough. He seems like a decent guy. He answered my questions as best he could though I don’t think he actually read some of them. For one thing, he encouraged me to ask to our congressman myself about his voting record as he couldn’t answer for him. I never asked him to answer for anybody. What I said about his voting record was from what I’ve seen he’s done all right. As far as the rest of our discussion about “the honorable soandso”, I covered that above. I should have learned by now that most people have difficulty handling directness. I do try to be more roundabout when I can but my tendency is to get fed up with beating around the bush and just saying things plainly. I know, right?

So it turns out our vaunted congressman is due at a local event today. I’m debating as to whether to show up just to see if I can ask him face to face about the whole J6 deal. I know this is not a big “campaign issue”. It should be but it is not. I don’t want to debate anything. I just want to know what he learned from his visit and why I’ve never heard another word about it from him. If I get a chance I’d like to see him pursue due process for these prisoners. That’s it. Due process. At this point I’m concerned these prisoners’ rights have been so woefully violated that they should be immediately released and if they are to be tried, they should be tried in the federal court nearest to their own homes.

I’m hesitating for a couple of reasons. First, I have another commitment so if things run late as they always seem to do, I will have to leave before seeing anyone. Second, I have my doubts about how effective my little voice will be. We are now racing towards an election and he never bothered to answer me way back when things were far calmer. Heck, even all this Ukraine nonsense hadn’t hit at that time. Then there’s crowds. I hate them. While I don’t expect a huge mass of people today, even small crowds are an anathema to me, especially these days. Finally there’s the trust issue. While I long ago stopped worrying about the bogeyman, feds are everywhere these days and our congressman is a federal guy. While I don’t expect any trouble I hesitate to show up on anyone’s radar, even if I am just a brief blip. The bottom line here is I won’t be controlled by fear. I post this blog and I suspect half of my four visitors are likely connected with the feds. I doubt they are fans.

Anyway, I’m posting this today before I go so there is a record of what I expect to do today and why. My intent is to simply ask this congressman about his efforts for the J6 prisoners and encourage him to do what he can to see justice prevails. Hopefully, all goes well.

The Democrat Death Cult

Last night Tucker Carlson interviewed Kanye West. I must say it was interesting. I had no idea Mr. West had a such strong relationship with God. It was encouraging. What I found even more riveting was Tucker’s conversation with one of his regular commentators, Jason Whitlock.

The fact is, I always find Jason Whitlock’s comments worth paying attention to. Last night was no exception. Of course the subject line tells it all. Mr. Whitlock described the Democrats as being focused on death. He cites abortion mostly. Others (I can’t remember any names) have come right out and declared the Democrats as a death cult. Whitlock’s comments got me to thinking along those lines and now I’m convinced those who say so may be more right than one first suspects.

Before I get into that, I’d like to delve a bit more into Jason Whitlock’s perspective as I’ve observed it. What I really like about him is he tends to think in godly terms. He and I both were somewhat conflicted about Kanye West’s statements. His sense overall was Mr. West struggles between fame and God. While I’d be more inclined to describe the conflict as between the trappings of fame and God, I cannot say Mr. Whitlock would disagree with me on that. It’s a small distinction, my specialty. Still, Mr. Whitlock got me to thinking deeper about the larger spiritual issues this artist faces. It is then when I saw the Democrats as a whole in a new light.

Of course they are all about death. Their spiritual leader, whether they recognize him as such, is death incarnate, or he would be if he were able to take human form. The spiritual leader of the Democrats is the devil himself. Not that many, if any, would publicly affirm this, but think about it. They deny God at every turn. They actively seek to remove God from any public place and as many private places as possible. For them, God has no place in science. He is not in control of the environment. They refute the natural order of man down to where they deny gender. He is barred from government and from schools. Public prayer is looked down upon, if not banned altogether. Those of us who turn to God are treated worse than second-class citizens. We are less than human to them. In short, their goal is nothing less than a godless society. While this will never happen, you can rest assured it won’t be from lack of effort on their part.

Now hang on to your hats, here it comes, the devil, the spiritual leader of the Democrats, wants us all dead. While Jesus promised eternal life for all those who believe on him…

John 3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:

15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

… the devil makes no such promise, ever. What does that tell you? Without God, all you have is the life in front of you on this earth. If this life was all I had to look forward to, I’d make every effort to squeeze as much out of it I could too – maybe. Yet humans naturally seek to live longer and many seek evidence of life after death. Why?

Part of the reason is we are all hard-wired to want more. We want more material things, more love, more sex, more everything. Ultimately, we want more life. This desire is innate. Those who take their own lives do so mostly because the life they are now living is unsatisfying. I would speculate the rest end things because they anticipate a bleak future as well. The rest of us spend the brunt of our time trying to make the most of the life we have.

John 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

Ahhh! That’s the spot! Not just life, but a more abundant life. Need I say who the thief referenced here is? How have those who cling to the Democrat party manifested themselves?

To steal: promoting “cashless bail” schemes that enable criminal behavior, redistributing wealth from those who work for their money to those who don’t

To kill: insisting on abortion on demand up to the last second prior to birth and beyond, releasing violent criminals back into society, encouraging the use and abuse of deadly drugs

To destroy: advocating violent riots that decimate cities, defunding police protection, implementing policies that destroys and erodes families, obliterates reproduction, encourages destructive behavior on all levels.

Aren’t we better than this as a nation? Given a choice between peace and turmoil, isn’t peace far more attractive? If you choose to forsake God or refuse to recognize God’s very existence, this choice is yours, but shouldn’t the rest of us be free to choose and believe our own path?

There is nothing the Democrats have to offer that I want any part of – at least nothing I am precluded from getting elsewhere. Other than death, they can only claim compassion by taking what is mine and giving to someone they deem worthy. No thanks. It is not your “compassion” I object to, it is how you manifest it. As for their obsession with death, I’ll choose life every time.

NOW Ukraine Applies to Join NATO – How Worried Should We Be?

Ukraine has now officially applied for NATO membership. What does it all mean?

Last week, I saw this headline scrolling across the bottom of one newsy site or another. That’s it. Nothing else. Last night Tucker Carlson did a segment on this topic. He brought up some valid  points in his usual over-the-top style. Look. I like Tucker. I really do, but between his fake laugh and his typical drama-queen presentation, he gets tiresome. Today I dug down to get some real dirt on the situation. Here’s what I found from the AP of all sources:

9 NATO members urge support for Ukraine after annexation

Well that’s the headline. I almost passed it up. I admit, I’m somewhat ignorant when it comes to NATO. I mean I know it was formed to ward off the Soviets after WWII so they didn’t start acquiring new territories by invasion. I know they become active from time to time in different conflicts. Mostly, I surmise, to enable member nations to participate in international affairs without committing their own militaries. And I know the President Trump once (at least) chided NATO nations for not chipping in their fair share and allowing the US to cover the brunt of the costs. What else is new? Other than that, I don’t know a lot. Now I know more.

NATO membership needs approval from all 30 members and Ukraine is unlikely to join anytime soon. Being a country already at war complicates the request.

Now that’s some intelligence I can sink my teeth into. Even before Tucker started ranting on what would  happen if Ukraine joined NATO now, I shared the same thoughts. Such an act would be equivalent to declaring war on Russia. The vary premise of NATO is an attack on a NATO country is considered an attack on ALL NATO countries. Thus, per the agreement, NATO would be bound to providing military assistance.

So, yeah, Tucker is right to be concerned about Ukraine joining NATO. Where I see the drama queen factor is in the details. ALL 30 NATO Countries would have to vote to let Ukraine join. Let’s face it, this means all 30 NATO nations would essentially be voting to go to war with Russia. I don’t see that happening. Not now.

So let’s move on to the meat of the AP headline:

The nine NATO countries in Central and Eastern Europe fearful that Russia could target them next if it isn’t stopped in Ukraine urged a response to the annexation.

So here we have nine countries already in NATO who want to approve Ukraine’s application because they are worried Russia could invade them next? Now that is idiotic. Again if Russia invades a NATO country, it is as if they are invading ALL 30 NATO countries. In other words, it was be akin to Russia declaring war on NATO.

Let’s see the reasoning here… we are going to bring Ukraine under the NATO umbrella so we can enter into battle with Russia because we are afraid Russia is going to invade and thus enter into battle with us.

Hel-LO? Anybody in there? That’s just stupid. Not ignorant as in lacking knowledge but plain ol’ stupid.

Should all 30 NATO nations decide this insanity is the way to get we all will deserve what we get and reap what we sow. I don’t see this  coming to pass. It’s a no-win preposition and surely at least one NATO country will understand this. Even Joe Bobo’s handlers are shying away from this idea:

Asked Friday about Zelenskyy’s application for accelerated NATO membership, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the application process in Brussels “should be taken up at a different time.”

Of course the other major topic of discussion surrounding the Ukraine-Russia theater is the increasing mention of using nukes. Should this be a greater concern? Personally, I don’t think so.

Sure, it could happen but using nuclear weapons opens a whole new can of worms and I really don’t think anyone want’s go to there. You can’t unring that bell. The only time nuclear weapons have been used was in a desperate attempt to end a war. The consequences were horrible. While those with their fingers on nuclear buttons can rest assured they are likely safe from such horrors, nobody knows for sure. Now only could such a action unleash untold destruction on the targeted area but it would also open up the potential for  normalization of nuclear weaponry in conflicts. No sane person desires this.

Then there’s the potential of MAD – Mutual Assured Destruction. This policy is not talked about any more but it is still officially in place between Russia and the United States. While the idea of limited nuclear use restricted to certain areas may be “acceptable” to some of those in elite circles, I doubt if even they really want to see how life is in their bomb-proof bunkers. For goodness sakes what if their caviar went bad?

As with so much going on in the world, we are seeing a flurry fear-mongering on every level. It’s not coming from the right, the left, or the top, it is coming from everywhere. One could make a case for much of this being propaganda by nefarious sources trying to stir up FUD – fear, uncertainty and doubt. Bluntly put, I’m sure much of what we see from all media sources is just that, but mixed in with these are simply those who may have the best of intentions but for some reason or another, never take in enough facts to see a bigger picture. In this respect, I am likely guilty of this myself.

Many of these issues are mere distractions and it is easy to get caught up in them. What I am taking from all of this is we need to refocus our efforts closer to home – the closer the better. I can’t do anything about Ukraine. What I can do is speak the truth both here and locally. I can work to secure my county – to work towards making sure our county board, school board and sheriff  are working for us citizens rather than some shadowy figure. I use my voice to urge the local party to work for us and to make our voice and desires heard within the state and nation, as well as to convince my fellow citizens to abandon party politics in favor of a non-political approach to our issues.  This may be a small pond and even here I may always be a small fish but even so, I can make more waves here than in any ocean. What about you?