UGH! Politics – Page 4 – The Liberty Coalition

The Problem With Brazil

Unless you only watch MSM or otherwise live under a rock, you’ve seen what’s going on in Brazil. For the aforementioned readers who someone stumbled upon this post, I’ll elaborate.

Brazil recently elected a new president. From what I’ve been able to ascertain, he is a convicted felon and an avowed communist. While felons are prohibited from running for that nation’s highest office by law, it appears the communist-leaning court gave him a pass. Does any of this sound familiar? Oh, yeah, that’s right, your MSM blinders don’t allow you to see anything other than the “official” party line. Maybe you’d better sit down. You see, the courts here in the good ol’ USA have likewise squelched any hint of electoral impropriety to the outrageous extent of branding the events in DC on January 6, 2020 as an “insurrection”. Nothing to see here, folks. Move along now.

It was only recently when CBS decided Hunter Biden’s laptop was really was Hunter Biden’s laptop and not some “Russian Hoax”. Now we are seeing the massive extent our own shadow government went to suppress this and a whole bunch of other information in order to install Slow Mo Joe in the White House. All that is just the beginning of sorrows initiated by the usurpers of our nation. Enough of that, back to our regularly scheduled post…

So Brazil’s election was compromised, beginning with a nominee who wasn’t legally qualified to run anyway and ending with massive fraud perpetrated to “elect” a communist, essentially turning the entire nation of Brazil over to the China. But that’s not the real story here. The real story is the reaction by the citizens of Brazil.

They are pissed and they are protesting en masse – all across the nation. The streets of ever major city is filled with citizens who are demanding this wrong be righted. That’s the story. Now for the problem…

Just like here in the US of A, nothing is happening. Here we’ve seen scandals, fraud and widespread criminality all over the place. From elected officials compromised by foreign agents, to open total disregard for our constitution, to former Vice Presidents promoted after openly admitting – bragging, actually, on video, to using his influence as VP to get the man investigating his own son fired by threatening to withhold foreign aid. The list of crimes alleged as well as blatant, staggers the mind and yet, only a handful of scapegoats are pursued and/or prosecuted.

Citizens who dared walk into the Capitol building on January 6 languish in prisons unfit for any human, not only deprived of their constitutional rights, but horrifically beaten and abused, while criminals who firebombed a police car are slapped on the wrist. Again and again, we see our nation sinking into lawlessness and all we can expect is more of the same and worse. How does this relate to Brazil?

Just like these things detailed above in the US, the citizens of Brazil are being ignored. Word is, the government there will impose martial law. The implied threat is “shut up about it or we will kill you.” This is the problem. If you’ve happened to have seen the masses protesting, there should be chills running down your back. First comes the realization that with so many Brazilians protesting, something is very, very wrong and the entire world should be taking notice. Then comes the sucker punch – their protests are not likely to have any effect. Yes, things might end badly either now or in the future. Yes, this may be the start of a very unstable Brazil for months, maybe years to come, but the will of the people is being subordinated to the will of the usurpers. This is most disturbing. Worse, it could be a portent of things to come here and all over the globe.

Not too long ago, I envisioned similar things happening here as those events in Brazil. Think of it, all across the nation, citizens gathering at county seats, asserting our authority as citizens and taking back our nation. What a display of citizen authority! Can you see in your mind’s eye, photo after photo in Twitter of citizens standing tall at their county seats? I was certain it would cause the usurpers to tremble with fear and awe once they realized their gig was up. While such an even could happen, what shook me was the apparent apathy of the Brazilian demonstration. It’s like nobody even bothered to yawn. Are the powers that be so confident of their grasp that they simply don’t care? What would it take to make them take notice?

Likewise Chinese citizens are protesting also. The crimes committed on them are even more mind-boggling in that they are being herded into facilities, let’s call them what they really are, concentration camps. Those who resist are beaten and even killed in the streets. One apartment building had the doors welded shut so the world watched in horror as residents were burned alive. Like the Brazilians, the Chinese government has yet to be challenged. If nobody stands up for them, who will stand with us?

That’s the problem I see. Is there a solution? YES! For most of you, it is not what you think. Not at all.

Abandon Ship!

Wait! What?! Really??!! In a sense, yes, really. I am not advocating leaving the country or giving up. What I am advocating is a complete refocus of our efforts. Now I’ve gone down this road before but this time I mean to burn some bridges, so to speak. For the most part, any and all political action is dead or dying. Can we take back our nation county by county? I do think it is still possible but recent events lead me to believe such efforts are more than not likely to fail. Why?

Look at this last election. Yes, the republicans reclaimed the House of Representatives. whoopie. (was I able to convey my nearly total lack of enthusiasm here?) Meanwhile Arizona’s election was stolen and it looks like it will remain that way. In New York? The democrat machine reinstalled the entirely uninspiring and totally worthless Kathy Hochul. Pennsylvania likewise sent the barely functioning John Fetterman to the US Senate. Michigan went to Gretchen Whitmer. And so on and so forth. As I’ve stated before, it doesn’t matter one whit whether any of these elections were on the up and up or not. It really doesn’t. Unless the cheating was done on such a scale that it totally overwhelmed the will of the People, we need to come to terms with the fact that a significant number of citizens actually voted for these individuals.

Even IF the anticipated “Red Wave” took place, the result would only be a band-aid on the gaping wound infecting our nation – and the adhesive on that would barely cling. The real issue we’re facing is much larger than any one election can address, much less repair. The real issue is we’ve lost God. As a nation we are a people wandering in the wilderness, wondering why God has abandoned us. In truth, WE have abandoned HIM. For this reason, I’m advocating we abandon this “ship”, i.e. an political remedy and turn our attention fully upon God. How can we do this?

For those of you involved in your church already, and I mean really involved, step back and examine what is going on in your church. What is your focus? Are you going through the motions are you in the trenches? Is your church focused inwardly on members or on outreach? Is it effective? Are you bearing fruit? You can ask this of yourself as well as your church. The fruit you bear is the harbinger.

If you are not involved in a church… why not? Are there no churches near you that bear fruit? Surely there must be some Christians in the area doing God’s work. Find them. Join them. Or start something yourself. Look to God to lead you.

If you have not accepted Christ, I’m not sure what I can do for you. Nobody can make you. That’s the whole point. If you are still reading this, I suspect you are doubting your own convictions. All is not lost as long as you are still breathing. Believe it or not, God will help you. I am living proof. God literally saved my life (maybe multiple times, I don’t know.) both before and after I accepted His Son Jesus as my Lord and Savior. He guided me to exactly the right people to provide me with exactly the right information I needed to be saved. And get this, the people He guided me to were not all from some “church group”. Only one was attending services at the time. Ask God to show you the way. Email me if you like.

At this point in history, I do not know what the future holds. Okay, I never do, but that is beside the point. I once had hopes this nation could be restored. Now I am not so sure. Either way, we need to seek out God and His Will. As for me, I’m forming a bible study group. My goal is to get together with other believers and seek out fellowship and biblical truths. My own idea is for this to be the first of many seeded study groups. Whether this is what God has in mind is yet to be seen. All I know is I feel the need to reach out and this is my first step to that end. My own life these days has not born as much fruit as I feel it ought to, so I am doing exactly what I advocate.

What matters most today is outreach. As a Christian, if you are reaching out already, ask God to show you how to do more. If you are not reaching out, then ask God to show you where to start. If you have distanced yourself from God, then your first step is to draw nigh to Him. We can do nothing without God. Until we turn to Him, our nation will continue to decline until we find ourselves fighting for our very lives. Our best effort now is to immerse ourselves in the truth, hold it forth and stand fast.

God bless

WHAT IS This Country Coming To?

For over two years now (longer actually), I’ve put up with all this crap about election fraud, shady elections, questionable election practices and the like. The past two years or so have been the worst because all of a sudden, it’s no longer “cool” to question election results… unless, of course, those results favor a republican nominee over a democrat. I’ve had it.

Like I said this garbage has be going on far longer than the past two years. My most pressing question is:

HOW Did We Get Here?

Or have we always been this complacent? Looking back, I envision more of a slippery slope. Maybe we’d see some sort of blip or a glitch now and then in this election or that one. What was done? Was the problem taken seriously? Was it resolved? Was the integrity of the election process examined with any issues addressed and corrected? I don’t know. Maybe these things never happened. They should have. Even if they did, somewhere along the line someone shrugged. Some problem was simply ignored or otherwise allowed to fester. Then other problems arose. More and more they slid under the radar. During this last election cycle, where the most glaring example is in Maricopa County, Arizona, issues, major issues of election integrity and an honest count, are in danger of being simply batted away like a pesky fly. If it persists, they’ll just kill the fly.

HOW Can We Let This Happen?

Where is the outrage? I liken this to my wife when she reconciles our checkbook. If she is off just one penny, she will work those figures like a dog worries a bone. I’ve seen her fret for days about the most insignificant (to me) discrepancy. Personally, I’d write off a few cents and be done with it. Not her. Only 100% agreement between the bank and her calculations are acceptable. THIS is the sort of attitude we need to have concerning our electoral process.

Discrepancies, murky questions, and shady dealings should never, EVER be associated with our electoral processes. Everything needs to be on the up and up and on full display for everyone to see. ALL questions should be dealt with, in public. The process should never need be questioned.

Over the past few years, we’ve seen a myriad of issues come up in multiple elections all over our nation. These range from dead people voting, to questionable individuals being allowed to vote without ID (right here in Virginia where ID is legally required to vote!), to scores of voting machine issues – including alleged flip/flopping actual votes, machines that conveniently jam or otherwise fail, districts counting more votes than they have registered voters, and more. Whether any of these issues have been properly addressed, and I’m certain some of them have NOT, is more often than not never publicized beyond the initial reports. Granted, news media thrives on conflict and dies on resolution but one would expect at least a hint that some of these issues are resolved. Instead, crickets.

Enough Is Enough!

Frankly, I’m pissed. My anger is not directed at the cheaters or at those whobenefit from cheating. It’s not directed at the courts who refuse to even look at these problems. It’s not directed at our elected officials who should see to it the issues are addressed properly and corrected. Nor am I angry with those charged with overseeing the processes and ensuring they are right and proper. No. I am mostly pissed at myself and my fellow citizens. WE are allowing this to happen. WE are ultimately responsible to see to it that OUR elections are squeaky clean and there is NO QUESTIONS about their integrity.

WHERE IS OUR OUTRAGE? When are WE going to INSIST our elections are done right? There is no excuse for us if all we do is throw up our hands in surrender. Right here. Right now is when we must take a stand. If any, ANY result is not “right”, then we need to DEMAND a strict accounting. The books need to balance. We cannot afford to be off one single penny, one single vote.

The Society For the Elimination of Thanksgiving

In case you are wondering there is no official “society”… yet. It just feels that way to some of us. Okay, it feels that way to me. Years ago I read where Halloween was the second biggest retail season of the year. It was only outpaced by Christmas. It wouldn’t surprise me if Halloween was now number one. Certainly more people seem to broadcast their love for Halloween far more often and vocally than anyone does for Christmas. Many even fear saying “Merry Christmas”. Instead they substitute the benign “Happy Holidays” or some such tripe… with voices dripping with weak apologies no less.

As for myself, I have always hated Halloween, this even before I came to Christ. The revelry always gave me the creeps. It still does. If you ever want to open your eyes to the truth about this “holiday” I urge you to check out Carol Kornacki. She is a former witch who accepted Christ. My favorite line of hers is “if you are watching the parade, you are part of the parade”. Of course everyone in my family, save my wife, always berated us for refusing to allow our children to participate in the “festivities”. We were just no fun. We were depriving them of their childhood and so on and so forth. I wish my childhood had been as deprived. Seriously, they are all grown now and I don’t really think they were damaged by our decision. About all that “fun” they missed – think about it.

What is the central theme of Halloween? What word do you think of when you hear Halloween? Scary? Close enough. Another word for “scared” is fear. What are those fears based on? Death. Sure, some kids want to be Superman or a firefighter and such but lets face facts. Most of the glory centers around the gory. The movie ain’t about a tea party. Nor are the sequels. They are scary. They are about death. I’ll grant you, Halloween isn’t all about death. It is mostly a celebration of evil. Cry and whine all you want, take out those things that celebrate evil and death and what are you left with? Uh-huh. Without those things are society would abandon Halloween in a heartbeat. What does that say about us?

Skipping on Christmas, why not take a blunt look at this season as well. Personally, I’ve never been a fan of Christmas either. I tend to root for the Grinch. I know it is supposed to be a time when we celebrate the birth of Christ, at least ostensibly. But do we really? Any serious or even semi-serious biblical student (semi-serious so I can count myself in) should have to admit Jesus wasn’t born on December 25^th. Just on the basis of angels announcing Jesus birth to the shepherds, one can ascertain he must have been born in the fall or spring. Winter is too cold to be pasturing sheep. There’s more evidence available for anyone willing to look. It’s nearly as easy to debunk as Kwanzaa. Look, if our society truly embraced Jesus during the “Christmas season”, I’d be far more supportive of it but even this holiday was heavily commercialized from the time it was first popularized. I remember reading somewhere that Dickens was encouraged to write “A Christmas Carol” for the express purpose of popularizing the holiday. If it were truly a sacred time then it would be about as exciting as, well, Thanksgiving.

The best the hawkers can do is promote “Black Friday” – the day after Thanksgiving. These days, they’ve polluted that day in order to try to leverage a buck. Now, rather than launching the Christmas season, the “Black Friday season” begins 30 seconds after the Halloween decorations are put up. Of course I’m exaggerating. They no longer wait for Halloween to be over anymore. It’s all about the money. That’s way they hate Thanksgiving. There’s no real money in it. And that’s exactly why I love it.

Now Thanksgiving is under attack. Just the other day I read where protesters (you can guess who) are decrying Thanksgiving. They say it’s an “imperialist” holiday, whatever that means. Oh, I’m sure they’ll tell us. Let me beat them to the punch – by “imperialist” they mean it is NOT communist. For the record, I maintain communism is a poor cousin to globalism. As the Highlander would say, “There can be only one.” and that “one” will be a globalist. Bet on that. Now the curtain has been pulled back, you can see the real reason Thanksgiving will soon become a point of great contention. Thanksgiving by its very name centers around God. To add insult to injury, we celebrate this by bringing families together. There is nothing the globalists hate worse than God and family.

It won’t be long before someone forms an organization resembling “The Society for the Elimination of Thanksgiving”. Wait for it. In past years, globalists have done their best by polluting the waters. Most recently, they urge their minions to insist on discussing volcanic topics at the dinner table. Why think of those things we have to be thankful for when we can talk trash about Trump? This year my money is on “gun violence”. It may be the top menu item from the left as I write for all I know. Yesterday’s Walmart shooting is still fresh off the presses. “Never let a crisis go to waste”, as they say. I’m sure it won’t be “vehicular violence” or “knife violence” or “pushing people into trains violence”. I guarantee no one from the left will want to bring “hammer violence” to the table. Nor will they want to discuss just plain “violence” or “crime” in general. Both are losers. Truth be known, the whole “gun violence” idea is a loser, ask anyone in the nether parts of Chicago.

Word is now out that Biden’s handlers have released a “cheat sheet” to arm his minions with propaganda to spew out for the holidays. Ironically they called it some “talking points when that uncle comes at you”. Interesting. I’d say they stole this from me but I hadn’t posted anything at the time. Unless they are lurking on my computer…

Meanwhile they emphasize “working with Republicans” while downplaying any and all real family issues. The only “republicans” they work with are RINOs and only when they can be taught to perform cheap globalist tricks – like impeaching Donald Trump or holding trials disguised as congressional committee hearings that would make Stalin proud.

May I propose we set aside darkness and talk about godly things instead? Note, I said “godly things” not necessarily God. Sure we can talk about God too or even entirely. I’m all for that. You and I both know how that sort of things go in most families. There’s always Uncle Crank. Why can’t we talk about love? What’s wrong with happiness? There’s a whole world of good things out there to talk about, is it so impossible to focus on them? Many family gatherings will harbor at least one “Uncle Crank” who seems determined to sour the mood if not incite a nuclear incident. Sometimes conflict is unavoidable but more often than not a peacemaker can emerge and save the day. Why not commit yourself to being that peacemaker? Pray about it now and be ready to enlist God’s help to diffuse any situation.

Proverbs 15:1 A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.

Matthew 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

It’s a start. Happy Thanksgiving and God bless you.

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?

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.

Clowns to the Left of Me, Jokers to the Right

Stuck In The Middle With You · Stealers Wheel

Why did this song suddenly start running through my head?

As you might guess the refrain was what kept coming to mind

Clowns to the left of meJokers to the rightHere I am stuck in the middle with you

Now, it’s not entirely accurate. For the most part both sides of the political spectrum could be deemed to the left of me. It’s not that I’m “so far right” but more that they are so far left. Seriously.

First up, emails from the Virginia GOP. Take a peek at the snapshot I took.

Note the subject line of each email – “We didn’t receive your response”

and then “Where’s your response”.

Now I’m not going to try to school them or anybody on writing subject lines that get open or emails that get responses. I could learn a few things about both myself. That said, I doubt this approach is very effective. All it did for me was piss me off but maybe I’m just too sensitive.

Inside is an appeal for money, because, the Republicans are losing Virginia or some such. Maybe they are. Our two Senate seats are held by Democrats, crappy ones at that, but they aren’t up for reelection.

According to one search engine, this is the current makeup of Virginia’s representation in the House

So it’s no wonder they think they are losing, they probably are. Here’s a hint fellas – you aren’t getting creamed for lack of money. How can I say this? In election after election Republicans have won despite being outspent big time. It’s not the money, it’s the message. Take what you sent me for example.

The subject line whines “We didn’t receive a response” while the sender says “noreply@virginia.gop”. That tells me you want me to hunt for a way to respond to you. Now, I will tell you the actual email address went to an address different that the “noreply” addy. That’s comforting. NOT.

Then you follow up with another whiney subject line, same sender demanding to know “Where’s your response”. Not even a question mark. Jerks.

Now they vary the name of the sender, all with the same return addy. Sometimes they’ll say “Team Virginia”, “Team GOP”, or sometimes just a first name, like I’m supposed to know who it is and where they’re from. There’s no consistency. No rhyme. No reason. Most of these emails are ignored. I can’t even work up enough enthusiasm to delete them, much less unsubscribe.

For the record, I’m not going to send you any money no matter what your subject line says and no matter whom you say it’s from. I’m just not. Why not? Because your message sucks and I’m not talking about your emails. Beyond that, I am generally opposed to party politics because in practice, the two-party system sucks even worse.

So much for the jokers. Now about those clowns.

This one is more sad than irritating. I’ll elaborate in a bit. First, take a gander at these three screenshots I stole from 90 Miles From Tyranny

My thoughts when I read the first one was, sure, let Darwin do his work. Or at least it got me to thinking about all those who have taken the jab and experienced serious health issues up to and including death. Isn’t this sort of what’s happening? This brings me no joy and unlike the late Mr. Rowe, I do care. I have no wish to see anyone suffer or die because they were duped into taking this jab.

This last meme says exactly what I’ve been thinking for quite some time now. I’m fairly certain I’ve posted as much here before.

Mr. Rowe was a fool and he paid for his foolishness with his life. Was he Darwined? I suppose so but again, I only feel sadness, not victorious.

Believe it or don’t but I see a common thread uniting the two more or less “opposite” sides of the spectrum above. Neither side has bothered to take a step back to actually look at things. They are blinded by their micro-focus. For the GOP, maybe it’s just greed. Maybe they don’t really want to win, they just want the money. I find it hard to believe everybody who calls themselves a Republican or work for the party is like that, but enough of them may well be. As for the rabid vaxers, I can’t say. The only thing that comes to mind is this:

The eye sees what the mind tells it to see.

This is always true in my experience. I’ve seen it in myself and I’ve seen it in others. It is one of the main reasons I try to challenge by beliefs and check my assumptions at the door. Those are the things that blind us.

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.

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?

The Ins and Outs of Local Politics

Bear with me, I’m still learning the ropes. No, this isn’t my first rodeo but it’s been a long time since I was active in local politics in any way. It’s been over 20 years actually, since I moved from my hometown. Even then my activity was sporadic. I attended meetings now and then on the village and county level, as well as a couple of meetings when the Congress critter deigned to show up. I also attended some Republican functions. My wife and If you like your republlic you can keep it - Ben Franklin I distanced ourselves from the Young Republicans when the county chair showed up one night at our meeting and asked what we thought of our new President – Bob Dole. Yeah, it was that long ago. The problem we had was Dole was not the Republican candidate at the time because the primaries had not yet been held. We liked Steve Forbes. What we didn’t like was the idea we were being told who we were going vote for. If I were the county guy, I’d be asking who the YRs liked and why. You know?

So fast forward to our relocation to Virginia. Early on, I contacted the county Republican chair indicating my desire to become involved. Crickets. I’ve been to a couple of county board meetings and that’s about it. I have checked the BOS minutes a few times and I’ve tried now and then to figure out who my representative is and when s/he is up for (re)election. Last cycle I got my answer when a fellow running against him knocked on my door. Guess who got my vote. He didn’t win. Oddly enough, at that poll I came face to face with my rep. It wasn’t pretty. At the time I had a real problem with some recent action. There was a grant to bring some broadband to the county. They awarded the work to a company who proposed stringing lines in the two populated villages in the county. My issue was they already had broadband while the rest of the county was stuck with satellite. I was told he had no choice as it was a done deal when it came up for a vote. Needless to say, my intelligence was insulted if he expected me to believe his crap. No doubt he didn’t exactly lie but he also failed to mention there was a lot of behind the scenes action long before that vote came up. I wasn’t born yesterday.

Now about today, well okay, lets back up a day or two. In a previous I detailed on how I came across information on becoming an election official and a poll watcher. Now the fact is, I really don’t want to do either but I applied for both. Why? I’m putting my money where my mouth is. How can I advocate being involved and holding our representatives accountable unless I’m willing to do it myself? Now on that, I filled out the “interest form” for the election official gig. Then I tried to do the same as a poll watcher. The link didn’t work so I contacted them via email and got a decent enough response from someone there. She said she’d forward my info to the responsible parties. I have yet to hear from either one.

Now the poll watching should be going on now due to early voting that began on September 23. I doubt very much that anyone is watching those goings on. There might be a bit of leeway on the election official bit IF that form I filled out was what was required to be submitted before September 30. That is tomorrow as I write this. According to the Virginia Department of Elections, 15,000 volunteers are needed. They don’t say for what but that seems like a lot to me. Mind you, that’s not partisan volunteers, per se. They don’t work for any party organization or candidate but for the election commission itself. Granted I expect nearly of volunteers would carry some bias one way or another but all should be expected to do the right thing no matter what. Back to the point, if there is such a dire need for people then why ignore someone who raises their hand?

Well that’s a dangerous thing to do with me because I’m not one to sit around and play solitaire while I’m waiting for the phone to ring. So what I did was start looking around. One thing that always bothers me is the near total lack of useful information about something. My county is one of the worst I’ve seen in that respect. For example, the fellow who is supposed to represent me at the county level lists no contact information at all. Others provide an email address. Not this guy. And he’s the board chairman! At least now they all list their term. This guy comes up for re-election next year. I’ll do what I can to make sure this term is his last, if I have to run myself. Other than that, it’s not at all easy to figure out who represents who in this county. The only guide I found is the redistricting document. It lists each district and the boundaries. That’s it. It is a mess trying to find out. There is also a map put out by someone (Virginia Elect claims responsibility but I have no idea who they are.) but that map doesn’t include any names of the roads. Oi. I found a Virginia DOT map of the county and superimposed one upon the other. Then I enhanced it a bit by adding each supervisor with an arrow pointing to his district. Their terms and the email addresses of the supervisors who provided them were on at page so I kept them too. I also highlighted the boundaries.

Now I’m going to post this map where I can online. In addition, I got the idea to start a citizen’s group on Fnbook. If you don’t know this already, I really despise FnBook but I’d say most county citizens visit there so it is a reasonable place to start. Eventually, I’d like to find a permanent home that is not dependent on Big Tech. One possibility is to just fire up a website. The problem with that road is acceptance. As much as I dislike Fnbook, the platform is widely accepted and used. People don’t like to venture outside their comfort zone.

One of my goals is to make things easier for those who represent us. While I chide my BOS representative, I can sympathize with him also to an extent. I’ve talked with several individuals in similar situations. The fact is, being elected to office is declaring open season on your life. We will stop them in the street, call them at home, whatever. I get that. What bothers me more is they all seem to go to the extreme in the opposite direction and become almost totally inaccessible. There has to be a happy medium. Personally I’d prefer a forum-style format where reps can answer questions and receive input on issues. Town-hall style Zoom calls or something similar might be worth considering.

We citizens not only need to be heard but we need someplace to exchange ideas with each other and with those who represent us. It cannot be just at board meetings. Some boards are very heavy-handed when it comes to public input. Others, like ours, are more reasonable but a board meeting with a set agenda and an itch to get it over with is no place to hash out issues that come up without warning. Discussion sure, but I’ve been to too many meetings where some proposal or another is up for a vote and it’s obvious those voting have their minds made up. So much for a public “hearing”.

Today we citizens are facing unprecedented challenges to our sovereignty and this by the very people who are supposed to be working on our behalf. We’ve allowed them to turn our nation on it’s head. Consequently, we also have unprecedented opportunities before us. Never in our history have we been able to communicate with so many at lightning speed. Never before have we been able to quickly and efficiently publish our thoughts and ideas, to promote our passions, even to rally our fellow citizens to one action or another.

Consider this: any citizen can stand for any elected office. This has always been true in our nation but with today’s technology, a citizen can launch a write-in campaign (at the very least), publish one’s views and ideas, gather momentum and support and be voted in to any elected office. Can this actually happen? YES! In fact this did happen not too long ago here in Virginia.

A Virginia State representative from Culpeper, Nick Freitas, decided to run for Congress as a Republican. Due to a technicality, i.e. some paperwork that was deemed to be incorrect or incorrectly filed, I don’t know, he was not allowed to run. It was too late to run for his State seat for his party so he ran as a write-in. He won… big. In fact he got more votes than any write-in in Virginia history. Now I’ve seen Mr. Freitas speak on several occasions via video. He is an impressive man who has something to say and says it well. But the point here is winning via a write-in vote absolutely can be accomplished.

Personally, I’d like to see this be the standard rather than something that only happens occasionally. As far as I’m concerned, we do not need political parties at all. According to the “Open Secrets” website, 2022 federal midterm election spending on track to top $9.3 billion

Now the Federal Election Commission says… United States House and Senate candidates running in the 2022 election cycle reported raising a total of $2.4 billion and spending $1.8 billion between January 1, 2021 and June 30, 2022

Whose right? Darned if I know. Now I just did a quick calculation. And the combined salaries of ALL 535 members of Congress is slightly less than $100 Million. Who in their right minds spends $10 to earn $1? Well, it’s easy if your spending someone else’s money isn’t it? This is insane. It should not be so. I contend eliminating political parties would go a long way to fixing this problem.

Now what do I mean by “eliminating” political parties? I mean let them go the way of the Whig party. If enough people simply ignore them, unlike some relatives, they’ll just go away. If the write-in concept gained popularity, we would be free of the parties. Instead, individuals would have to make their case to get our vote and then they themselves would be held accountable.

It all starts here, now. Okay, so that’s more than a little presumptuous. Fact is, I’m only tossing my two-bits in here. I am not the first nor the last to express such ideas and for this I am grateful. More and more I’m seeing others advocate for those ideas I hold dear. Local control of government as a base for state and federal control is central to these ideas. Everything else is negotiable. Overall decentralization of government and ideas can be instrumental in reclaiming our nation. For those citizens who yearn for a Constitutionally limited government why not start right here?

CITIZENS – DO YOUR PART for FAIR and HONEST ELECTIONS!

I just opened this from the VDCL (Virginia Citizens Defense League). They are the premier gun rights group here in Virginia. I’ll post the entire message below.

I received this from member John G. These instructions are for a Republican. Similar instructions would be for a Democrat:

You can sign up to be an elections officer at https:apps.elections.virginia.gov/OnlineForms/OfficerofElection

To be considered for this election you must apply by 9/30.

You can go ahead and sign up now for future elections. Once accepted you can serve for 2 years. You can be an Election Officer only in the county where you vote. Virginia law says Republicans are entitled to parity. Currently Republicans only have 385 officers compared to 1,100 trained and ready Democrats. A total of 1,100 is all the registrar requires for the election. We should try to get 550 to a 550 ratio.

Training is required by the county you serve in. You get paid $150 for the day of election. It is a long – day 5:00 a.m. until after the polls close at 7:00 P.M.

If you want to poll watch, sign up at https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0e4bacf28a2fbc16-early.

You have to have a letter of authorization from your local Republican committee. When you arrive to poll watch you will have to give them a copy of your authorization letter so make several copies. Some training is required for poll watching check with your local Republican committee.

For questions, call the GOP hotline at 804-600-4809 or email them at help@va.protectthevote.com.

The highlighting is my doing. Note that for election officers Democrats outnumber Republicans nearly 3 to 1. This is appalling. Also note that here in Virginia the only officially recognized parties are Democrat and Republican. I do not know how this works. There are other parties active in the Commonwealth but only those two are “official”, whatever that means.

The bottom line here is we cannot continue to piss and moan about fair and honest elections while refusing to step up and participate. For the record, I’ve already signed up to become an election official in my county. The link to be a poll watcher doesn’t work so I contacted the GOP hotline above via email.

Even better, I noted the email address – “va.protectthevote.com” and followed it. (I highlight right click and select the “Goto” option in the drop down menu. YOU only need to click on the link above if you are a Virginia resident or the link below if you are from any other state to get to the national web page.

protectthevote.com I didn’t figure out how to get to any other state specific site but there is a “volunteer” link at the top. Geez, don’t expect me to lead you by the nose guys.

If we REALLY want to make a difference in November and crush the globalists, we need to come out in force and overwhelm them at the polls. Simply adding another “I Voted” sticker to your collection ain’t gonna do it. We need to show up en masse. We need to diligently watch the polls and take responsibility to ensure this election is honest and fair. Cheaters are like cockroaches – they will scatter when the lights are turned on. It’s time to shine!

This is OUR country. WE are the government. WE need to start acting like it.

Civil War II – Because We Can’t Vote Our Way Out of This – Oh REALLY? PART 1

Well, I got carried away again… or did I? In part one, I confront the current discourse gaining steam in our nation, i.e. “we must have a civil war because we have no other choice.” Bunk. In part two, I make my case on how we can peacefully exert our rights and duty as citizens to reclaim our nation.

Civil War II – Because We Can’t Vote Our Way Out of This – Oh REALLY? PART 1

Time and time again, I’ve heard this. “We can’t vote our way out of this.” Most often this alludes to some sort of violent solution. The most common solution is often referred to as Civil War II. Now wait just a gol darn minute.

First off, I contend that the first “Civil War” was not a civil war at all. The South did not “rise up” in order to overthrow any government. They opted out of the Union and formed their own government. It was an act entirely within their rights. If the first “Civil War” was indeed misrepresented then a Civil War II cannot rightfully be called such. However there is a much simpler reason for negating the idea of a “Civil War” in our Constitutional Republic. We are a nation of sovereign citizens, the idea that we can somehow “overthrow” ourselves is ludicrous. Now if a group of armed individuals descend on our nation’s capital and forcefully take command of our nation, well, that would be an actual insurrection. There is no constitutional provision for such an act and therefore the act itself would naturally be unconstitutional and therefore null and void.

At this point I can see some globalists and their leftist minions gleefully rubbing their hands (or their wrists if you are in Nancy Pelosi’s camp), jumping up and down, and pointing to the events of January 6, 2020. Calm yourselves, little ones. Nothing of the sort happened that day. Get over it. The fact is, your overzealousness in jailing hundreds of citizens for their alleged participation in those events has tainted the tree of justice. Since so many of those citizens have been outright denied due process, among other of their civil rights, it is now evident that none of them can rightfully be held and they should all be set free. I still advocate for reparations granted to them for ruining their lives. This does not mean that the actual perpetrators of the J6 chaos should not be brought to justice. To my knowledge none of the true villains have been charged, much less tried so true justice awaits. Now back to our regularly scheduled essay.

It is sad to say that even among us so-called “conservatives” there are those who can only see a violent ending to the strife we are experiencing today. For the record and lack of a better term, I refer to myself as a “constitutionalist”. Our constitution is the law of our land and thus the foundation of our nation. To date we’ve built erratically upon this foundation and the entire structure is in danger of falling into itself. The good news is, even if this should happen, we still have a sound foundation. It upon this foundation where we citizens must restructure our nation. Many haphazard constructs need to be torn down. If Rube Goldberg ever built a house, it would resemble our nation today. This is the very source of our problems today.

Consider, for a moment, what a “Civil War” would do. It would wreak havoc and destruction. It would bring death. It would destroy the fabric of our nation and could well mark the end of it entirely. Such a war would necessarily and ironically be fought between two camps, both claiming the desire to “save the nation”. One camp would consist of the usurpers, the globalists – those holding power and so-called “authority”. These same elitists have deceived many of our citizens claiming their seats by legitimate and legal means. The other camp would be populated by the dissenters. Those who realize the truth of who the usurpers really are. These citizens have been conned into believing the usurpers hold all the cards save one… violence. Stuck between the two camps are the masses. Most are innocent and confused as to whom to believe. The lies sold to them vary widely as they are custom-fitted to slip easily into their chosen lifestyle.

In the end, the globalists are likely to win no matter what. If they can muster the firepower to overwhelm the patriots then their victory would be outright. More likely there would be an extended conflict much like what the world witnessed in Afghanistan. It would take years. Meanwhile the countryside would be decimated. Should the patriots emerge victorious, either in the short or long term, what then? First note the physical damage to the nation’s infrastructure would likely be extensive. The leaders who would rise up from the ashes would be those who were the most effective battle commanders. Certainly there could be one or a handful of political-type leaders who could step up to take the helm. Great. What would happen next? Would our current constitution be re-established? Elections held? Would we the people demand a new constitution? Or would certain among the victors demand such and expect everyone else to go along? And then maybe we could have more elections? And here we go again. How long before we’d be right back where we started?

We Voted Our Way Into This Mess

Now let me ask you. Why CAN’T we vote our way out of this mess? Isn’t voting how we got into this pickle to begin with? Were not ALL our elected officials voted into office? (Okay, I’ll give you Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and maybe a few others should we really dig into the issue of election frauds.) WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO INSTEAD OF VOTING? Other than elections, we have kings and dictators and anarchy. Right up front, I will say there are those who make a pretty decent case for anarchy or the idea of having no government at all. While this might be attractive in theory, I believe anarchy has inherent flaws just as communism has inherent flaws. In the case of communism, the major flaw lies within the very premise. If everyone enjoys an equal result regardless of any efforts made, most will only put for minimum effort. In short, why work if I can not work and still eat? As for anarchy the major flaw again stems from human nature. There are those among us who naturally tend to assume control. These will rise until they control far more than their own homes. Thus I see some sort of government as necessary to assure the rights of all citizens are equally protected. I have yet to see a more efficient and viable concept than a constitutional republic. The problem with our own, as I see it, is we citizens failed to step up and do our duty to hold those we elect accountable. In short, we fell asleep at the wheel and now the bus is hurtling off a cliff.

If you don’t get anything else out of this essay, get this. We voted our way into this mess. Think about it. The question I’d think would be most on our minds is “HOW”? How did we manage to vote ourselves into this mess. While it is true we citizens have been asleep at the wheel and are indeed ultimately responsible, we had help. Lots and lots of help. Short and sweet – we’ve all been conned. Big time. In our own defense, this con game has been played on us all long before we were born.