If you would like to add a comment to any of the threads here on AADB, registration with blogspot.com is not required. Simply click on the ‘comments’ link at the bottom of an essay, and either enter a nickname under ‘choose an identity’ or post your comment anonymously. Serious comments are always welcome.



REQUIEM

Below are the two final essays to be posted on Allegiance and Duty Betrayed. The first one is written by a friend -- screen name 'Euro-American Scum' -- who, over the past four years, has been the most faithful essayist here. He has written about everything from his pilgrimage to Normandy in 2004 to take part in the 60th–year commemoration of the invasion, to his memories of his tour in Vietnam. His dedication to America’s founding principles ... and those who have sacrificed to preserve them over the past 200+ years ... is unequaled. Thank you, E-A-S. It has been a privilege to include your writing here, and it is a privilege to call you my friend.

The second essay is my own farewell. And with it I thank all of the many regular visitors, and those who may have only dropped in occasionally, for coming here. I hope you learned something. I hope a seed or two was planted. But, even if not, I thank you for stopping by ... 25 March, 2010

10/31/2008

The Incomparable Wisdom of Ezra Taft Benson

Ezra Taft Benson.jpg

Ezra Taft Benson served as President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints from 1985 until his death in 1994. Long before holding that esteemed position within the church, he served for eight years as President Eisenhower’s Secretary of Agriculture.

During Benson’s tenure as Secretary of Agriculture, the press predicted that he wouldn’t last a full term, and many republicans in congress believed that he was ‘too radical’ for the party’s own good. Yet, despite vehement opposition from the media and his own party, Benson remained in his post for the full duration of Eisenhower’s two terms, consistently delivering anti-communist speeches that warned of a socialist/communist conspiracy to eventually bring America to her knees.

Later, in the 1960s, he addressed the students of Brigham Young University, warning, in part:

I have talked face to face with the godless communist leaders. It may surprise you to learn that I was host to Mr. Kruschev for a half day when he visited the United States, not that I’m proud of it. I opposed his coming then, and I still feel it was a mistake to welcome this atheistic murderer as a state visitor.

But, according to President Eisenhower, Kruschev had expressed a desire to learn something of American Agriculture — and after seeing Russian agriculture I can understand why.

As we talked face to face, he indicated that my grandchildren would live under communism. After assuring him that I expected to do all in my power to assure that his and all other grandchildren will live under freedom he arrogantly declared in substance:

    You Americans are so gullible. No, you won’t accept communism outright, but we’ll keep feeding you small doses of socialism until you’ll finally wake up and find you already have communism. We won’t have to fight you. We’ll so weaken your economy until you’ll fall like overripe fruit into our hands!
See previous related essays here that corroborate Benson’s standing as a modern-day patriot, and a belatedly-recognized prophet of much repute:

Barack Obama and the Strategy of Manufactured Crisis

'The One' is My Shepherd, I Shall Not Want

~ joanie

44 comments:

Anonymous said...

So communism is inevitable?

joanie said...

Are you saying that, considering the current state of our society, our leadership, and our electorate -- and barring a dramatic change in all three -- you think it isn't?

Anonymous said...

Benson was demonized by the press because of his courage in calling a spade a spade. He was very well versed in the Marxist playbook. I can recall my Father becoming very angry every time the press unfairly criticized his attempts to unveil their strategies.

Anonymous said...

One of the failures of communism:

The dogma that Americans, people who love freedom, are "gullible."

We are not; we are simply determined to be kind, as long as we can - usually longer than any leftists we encounter - until the leftists' comments remove significant doubt as to the matter of said leftists' antipathies spill out of their feigned "common" dialect nonsense.

- - -

On the matter of the inevitability of communism, it is not - it is merely a test of arbitrary and capricious royalism disguised under a "common" -istic appearance.

Communism is a court, with all the personality trappings of previous royal courts, yet for public appearances, "common" uniforms of the day are donned, and so is meaningless wordity used.

What lasts is liberty, and all tyrants, such as the communists and also the fanatical Islamiscists, know it --- the bulk of their "government" effort is aimed at constantly having to defeat liberty.

What is inevitable, is war, because tyrants have mostly tended to "not go peacefully."

The tryant you know may not seem to lose, but in the end, all tryants lose. You have the word of God, on that.

First_Salute

Anonymous said...

I had the distinct pleasure to spend three days with Ezra Taft Benson in the 1980s before he became the president of out Church.

It was an unbelievable pleasure and he shared some compelling and even unbelievable stories of his time in the US Cabinet and the rise of socialism, marxism, and communism in our country even back then.

Thank you for referring to him. He was not only a great religious leader...he was a dedicated patriot to this country.

His books ("An Enemy Hath Done This", "The Red Carpet", and others) and his pamphlet, "The Constitution, A Heavenly Banner", are to this day some of the best patriotic reads you can find.

joanie said...

F_S:

We’re all familiar with Alexander Tytler’s ‘eight stages of civilization’ commentary, written around the time of the American Revolution:

The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence:

• From bondage to spiritual faith;
• From spiritual faith to great courage;
• From courage to liberty;
• From liberty to abundance;
• From abundance to complacency;
• From complacency to apathy;
• From apathy to dependence;
• From dependence back into bondage.


I believe that America is sitting somewhere between the seventh and eighth stage. And, for that reason (i.e., because much of the populace is wallowing in apathy and accepting a state-authored dependence), as a people, we can no longer enjoy the privilege of being classified as ‘people who love freedom’.

Enormous numbers of our freedoms have been usurped over the past fifty years (many of them over the past few weeks), without much more than a whimper from the ‘average American’. The tyrants in Washington are drunk with power, and there is very little (including the Constitution) standing in the way of their total inebriation.

As for ‘gullibility’ ... if indeed the polls are accurate, approximately half of the electorate believes that a freshman senator with no record of meaningful accomplishment in government, a political ideology that is in direct conflict with our rule of law, and the character of an alley cat, is fit to lead the free world. The element of our society that has wielded the most power in inculcating that misguided opinion in half of the electorate is the biased mainstream media. If that isn’t an example of ‘gullibility’ borne of apathy, I don’t know what is.

Ezra Taft Benson was a man who railed against such apathy, and warned against such gullibility. As a result, he was excoriated in his day ... and I believe he would be demeaned even moreso today.

What lasts is liberty

I have to take issue with you here, F_S –- as did Tytler. Liberty does not ‘last’. Liberty is not a natural state of being. It was bestowed by God, but, from the moment of His bestowing, it came under attack because of the fallen nature of man –- because of man’s desire to exercise control over other men.

Only when man rises above that ‘natural bent’ (as did our Founders, who themselves were far more ‘noble’ than most) can liberty ever hope to be preserved. And its preservation requires constant vigilance, and willingness to sacrifice to that end.

Would you say that the average American is vigilant, and prepared to sacrifice? Of course, many are –- especially those who daily lay their lives on the line in Iraq, and Afghanistan, and anywhere else that their beloved country sends them.

But take a walk down your street someday. Think about the people living within the walls of each house you pass. How many of them would be willing to do what that young soldier in Iraq does every day of his life? How many of them even comprehend his sense of duty? Whatever your answer is, I certainly don’t know whether you are correct in your assessment. But I know how I would answer those questions about most modern Americans, and I pray every day that I am wrong.

What is inevitable is war

Absolutely! Because the enemies of liberty can be kept at bay for just so long before those whose charge it is to defend our liberties must be called upon to put their lives on the line in order to ensure, or regain, them.

The tyrant you know may not seem to lose, but in the end, all tryants lose

Indeed, all tyrants lose in the end. All will be judged and found guilty of removing, or attempting to remove, precious gifts that were bestowed by God.

And yet, if we focus on the judgment day alone, there would be no need for blogs such as this … or forums debating the state of the world … or elections ... or wars themselves. Those activities simply serve as the earthly manifestation of good vs. evil, and He does not guarantee that good will triumph in this sphere –- only that those who embrace it have His blessing, and will know an eternal reward.

We are not required to wear rose-colored glasses. We are charged to stand for right in the here and now – speaking (what we perceive as) the truth, knowing that we may fail, and yet holding fast to the promise that He rewards those who love, and hold fast to, His teachings.

I believe that America is going to experience a monumental ‘trial by fire’. I pray that we emerge from the ashes whole ... wiser ... reborn ... refocused ... and with a renewed appreciation for the value of life, liberty, honesty, industry, charity, and, above all, a renewed ability to recognize, and willingness to acknowledge, God’s grace.

joanie said...

Thank you, Jeff. I know you hold Benson in high regard.

~ joanie

Anonymous said...

Joanie,

Here is the most amazing video of the campaign:

Obama's Youtube Arrogance Just Became a Nightmare

Anonymous said...

Joanie-

I like your comment under the column even more than the original column. ;)

Anonymous said...

It seems like I always end up quoting Ayn Rand here, so at risk of being cast as monolithic, here I go again:
~~~~~
Don't Let it Go The American sense of life, as the basis of hope for this country's future (some excerpts from the essay)

So far, America’s protection has been a factor best expressed by a saying attributed to con men: "You can’t cheat an honest man." The innocence and common sense of the American people have wrecked the plans, the devious notions, the tricky strategies, the ideological traps borrowed by the intellectuals from the European statists, who devised them to fool and rule Europe’s impotent masses. There have never been any "masses" in America: the poorest American is an individual and, subconsciously, an individualist. Marxism, which has conquered our universities, is a dismal failure as far as the people are concerned: Americans cannot be sold on any sort of class war; American workers do not see themselves as a "proletariat," but are among the proudest of property owners.
...
There are two ways of destroying a country: dictatorship or chaos, i.e., immediate rigor mortis or the longer agony of the collapse of all civilized institutions and the breakup of a nation into roving armed gangs fighting and looting one another, until some one Attila conquers the rest. This means: chaos as a prelude to tyranny - as was the case in Eastern Europe in the Dark Ages, or in the three hundred years preceding the Romanoff dynasty in Russia, or under the war lords regime in China. A European is disarmed in the face of a dictatorship: he may hate it, but he feels that he is wrong and, metaphysically, the State is right. An American would rebel to the bottom of his soul. But this is all that his sense of life can do for him: it cannot solve his problems. Only one thing is certain: a dictatorship cannot take hold in America today. This country, as yet, cannot be ruled - but it can explode. It can blow up into the helpless rage and blind violence of a civil war. It cannot be cowed into submission, passivity, malevolence, resignation. It cannot be "pushed around." Defiance, not obedience, is the American's answer to overbearing authority. The nation that ran an underground railroad to help human beings escape from slavery, or began drinking on principle in the face of Prohibition, will not say "Yes, sir," to the enforcers of ration coupons and cereal prices. Not yet.
...
If America drags on in her present state for a few more generations (which is unlikely), dictatorship will become possible. A sense of life is not a permanent endowment. The characteristically American one is being eroded daily all around us. Large numbers of Americans have lost it (or have never developed it) and are collapsing to the psychological level of Europe's worst rabble. This is prevalent among the two groups that are the main supporters of the statist trend: the very rich and the very poor - the first, because they want to rule; the second, because they want to be ruled. (The leaders of the trend are the intellectuals, who want to do both.) But this country has never had an unearned, hereditary "elite." America is still the country of self-made men, which means: the country of the middle class - the most productive and exploited group in any modern society.
...
We cannot fight against collectivism, unless we fight against its moral base: altruism. We cannot fight against altruism, unless we fight against its epistemological base: irrationalism. We cannot fight against anything, unless we fight for something - and what we must fight for is the supremacy of reason, and a view of man as a rational being.

These are philosophical issues. The philosophy we need is a conceptual equivalent of America’s sense of life. To propagate it, would require the hardest intellectual battle. But isn't that a magnificent goal to fight for?"

--Ayn Rand, "Don't Let It Go", December 6, 1971

Anonymous said...

The nation that ran an underground railroad to help human beings escape from slavery, or began drinking on principle in the face of Prohibition, will not say "Yes, sir," to the enforcers of ration coupons and cereal prices. Not yet.

As of next Tuesday, we have reached the state of "yet."

Anonymous said...

People who've told the truth about the liberal's agenda have always been hated and degraded. Once Obama is in office, he and Congress will try to silence them completely, with the "Fairness Doctrine" and all kinds of other censorship techniques.

Anonymous said...

There is something known as American conservatism, though it does not even call itself that. It's been calling itself "voting Republican" or "not liking the New Deal." But it is a very American approach to life, and it has to do with knowing that the government is not your master, that America is good, that freedom is good and must be defended, and communism is very, very bad. - William F. Buckley, Jr.

It seems that about half the American people can't understand that very basic concept.

Anonymous said...

A MUST READ:

Investigating Obama: Career Path Toward a Neo-Marxist Presidency

(updated 11/1/08)

Anonymous said...

Cooper, Rand's warnings are excellent, but we haven't heeded them.

Anonymous said...

These days, one of the difficult things we conservatives face is overcoming the voters who are members of the entitlement class and those who are on the government payroll at any level.

Both groups are growing in size, and both almost always vote Democrat.

It's the "government largesses" thing that de Tocqueville warned us about.

Anonymous said...

So deep is Sen. messiah's commitment to wealth-spreading, that he gives up to less than 1% of his income to charity, according to his tax returns. This year, in a display of his compassion for hurricane victims along the Gulf Coast, he jetted off to Beverly Hills to raise big bucks for his campaign.

Anonymous said...

Silence of the Lambs: The 2008 Campaign in a Single Sentence

Anonymous said...

Weeds

Over the last year, I've been spending a lot of time out in my newly-planted orchard. About 18 months ago after visiting the supermarket and seeing that apples were selling for $1.30 per pound (now $2.00), something in my head just snapped. I said, "Hell with this", and decided to grow my own.

I called up the excavator and had him remove one-eighth of an acre of junk-pines from a sunny slope next to my house. After he pulled out the stumps with his John-Deere 590D trackhoe, hauled them to the dump, and graded the plot smooth, I planted pasture grass and clover out there to hold the soil.

It was a struggle at first to keep the grass going due to the dry summer, but with irrigation, fertilizing and some lime, the grass has ultimately done well. Last fall, I planted about fifteen apple trees, and five more this spring - they're all doing well, too. In another couple years, I anticipate having a LOT of apples.

The point of me relating all this is to tell you how I dealt with the inevitable weeds that sprung up among the grass. Surveying the entire orchard, I could see that there were way too many to pull all at once - it would have been just impossible. So I told myself, "If I can't get them all, I'll get what I can." So each time I happened to be out there pruning or spraying, I'd make a point of stooping over and pulling every single weed I saw in the small area where I happened to be working. I've done that for over a year now, and - amazingly enough - I've managed to get rid of most of the weeds.

I'm thinking the only way to rid our culture of the weeds that have grown up in its philosophy is to use the same method: We can't get rid of bad ideas like socialism, fascism, and Marxism all at once. The only possible way is to do it one person at a time like Joanie does when she talks to her neighbors.

If we want to save America as a productive place where things (and people) can grow, we need to adopt the mindset that we're not going to pass right by a weed (or a bad idea) without stopping for a moment pull it out. If we let them grow unopposed for too long, it will be too late.

Anonymous said...

Great blog!

We will need places like this to come to all the more after Tuesday.

Anonymous said...

Obama plan to bankrupt coal-fired powerplant - electrical generation:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hdi4onAQBWQ

First_Salute

Anonymous said...

"Liberty does not ‘last’. Liberty is not a natural state of being. It was bestowed by God, but, from the moment of His bestowing, it came under attack because of the fallen nature of man –- because of man’s desire to exercise control over other men.

Only when man rises above that ‘natural bent’ (as did our Founders, who themselves were far more ‘noble’ than most) can liberty ever hope to be preserved. And its preservation requires constant vigilance, and willingness to sacrifice to that end."

This needs to be taught in every public school history or civics class, but it never will be a popular subject again.

Anonymous said...

In anticipation of an Obama presidency, Andy Rutledge has redesigned the USA.gov website. Check this out!
~~~~~
"When you’re trying to hide a lack of substance or want to fool the most people with the least effort, style must come first. Presumptive president Obama knows this better than most. Therefore, the USA.gov website must begin with, end with, and maintain a high sense of style. But not just any style; it must sport a style that is indicative of the sort of change a President Obama would bring to our nation. The website must sport a style that has been proven to inspire the workers (a.k.a. working families) of other socialist nations, and rely heavily on the powerful image of a strong Socialist leader."

"Gone is the red, white, and blue theme, now replaced by the more unifying red typical of Socialist ditatorships. In fact, style and content will be what we concentrate on in this redux. Certain design changes are necessary, but it is the style and content that will account for the most significant changes necessary under the Obama administration. And yes, so much red color can be visually overwhelming, but it is entirely appropriate here. Socialist history affirms this fact."

Anonymous said...

Tomorrow?

I'm voting for Sarah and the old dude.

Anonymous said...

OHIO

All you have to do is show up and vote, and McCain/Palin will win.

I spent Monday doing some of my own investigating, about election fraud.

I spoke with the U.S. Attorney, and I visited the Ohio Secretary of State's office and spoke with a security representitive (who did not say so, but I believe this person was the chief of that security dept.), and then a county board of elections office, where I spoke with the person in charge of absentee ballot voting.

Despite all the doom-and-gloom reporting that you have read or heard about, in fact, gov't officials are more than interested in catching and prosecuting unlawful voters.

The Feds in particular, will investigate and prosecute.

At the state level, it is the job of the county prosecutors. You, as a citizen, have the right to report and insist upon prosecution. Light a fire under any reluctant county prosecutor, and if that prosecutor fails to act, take the matter to your newspapers and the conservative media on the Internet.

If you KNOW of voter fraud (not merely your impression, by way of "you heard this or that," then you should write down and assemble all evidence (include pictures if you can - especially of the mode of transportation of the offending parties), and report all that to:

- the U.S. Attorney (who will also
bring that to the attention of
the F.B.I., who investigates

- the county prosecutor

- the county board of elections

Now, about the student body count. It is largely an unknown, other than to speculate on the numbers; but it is likely that ACORN has had success in getting a large turnout ... but that does not mean that turnout are a bunch of kids in Democrat Party-paid-for (or Democrat Party Supporter-paid for) buses, enaging in fraud across state lines, or even county lines.

All early voters and absentee voters --- fraud is a bit easier to pursue and prosecute. It may take a while, but it is IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND that anybody who votes unlawfully - particularly twice, can and will likely be found and prosecuted.

Students for Obama, may think that funny, and that they will get off with a slap on the wrist. Indeed, but their failure to uphold our laws, will be on the record, and their ability to repeat the offense will be sharply curtailed, because their criminal records will then run across state lines (they will have both state and federal criminal records), where some subsequent voting events of their doing, unlawfully, will very likely result in their arrest within days of an election, and including the scrubbing of their vote(s).

There remains any possible chance, that some gov't officials might be lethargic in pursuit of justice in the matter of voter fraud, but it is our duty to make these officials uphold the law and pursue the violators.

Yet, do not be discouraged, because the likelihood --- if you act --- is that the officials will not want to appear to fail their duties. From what I saw and heard on Monday, you can expect law enforcement to act - *and especially if you act.*

So, DO NOT BE DETERRED from voting, because you somehow imagine a Democrat victory through fraud --- better, just ignore it later this mornign and throughout today, other than doing your duty to enforce our laws, should you encounter fraud, and proceed to the polls to vote!

ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS SHOW UP AND VOTE FOR MCCAIN/PALIN.

No kidding.

Stand up.

Thank you.

First_Salute

Anonymous said...

This letter was sent to the Wall Street Journal on August 8, 2008, by Alisa Wilson, Ph.D. Of Beverly Hills , CA .

On July 31, 2008, the Wall Street Journal had an article titled "Where's The Outrage?"

Really. I can tell you where the outrage is. The outrage is here, in this middle-aged, well-educated, upper-middle class woman. The outrage is here, but I have no representation, no voice. The outrage is here, but no one is listening for who am I?

I am not a billionaire like George Soros that can fund an entire political movement.
I am not a celebrity like Barbra Streisand that can garner the attention of the press to promote political candidates.

I am not a film maker like Michael Moore or Al Gore that can deliver misleading movies to the public.

The outrage is here, but unlike those with money or power, I don't know how to reach those who feel similarly in order to effect change.

Why am I outraged? I am outraged that my country, the United States of America, is in a state of moral and ethical decline. There is no right or wrong anymore, just what's fair.

Is it fair that millions of Americans who overreached and borrowed more than they could afford are now being bailed out by the government and lending institutions to stave off foreclosure? Why shouldn't these people be made to pay the consequences for their poor judgment?

When my husband and I purchased our home, we were careful to purchase only what we could afford. Believe me, there are much larger, much nicer homes that I would have loved to have purchased. But, taking responsibility for my behavior and my life, I went with the house that we could afford, not the house that we could not afford. The notion of personal responsibility has all but died in our country.

I am outraged, that the country that welcomed my mother as an immigrant from Hitler's Nazi Germany and required that she and her family learn English now allows itself to be overrun with illegal immigrants and worse, caters to those illegal immigrants.

I am outraged that my hard-earned taxes help support those here illegally. That the Los Angeles Public School District is in such disarray that I felt it incumbent to send my child to private school, that every time I go to the ATM, I see "do you want to continue in English or Spanish?", that every time I call the bank, the phone company , or similar business, I hear "press 1 for English or press 2 for Spanish". WHY? This is America, our common language is English and attempts to promote a bi- or multi-lingual society are sure to fail and to marginalize those who cannot communicate in English.

I am outraged at our country's weakness in the face of new threats on American traditions from Muslims. Just this week, Tyson's Food negotiated with its union to permit Muslims to have Eid-al-Fitr as a holiday instead of Labor Day. What am I missing? Yes, there is a large Somali Muslim population working at the Tyson's plant in Tennessee. Tennessee, last I checked, is still part of the United States. If Muslims want to live and work here they should be required to live and work by our American Laws and not impose their will on our long history.

In the same week, Random House announced that they had indefinitely delayed the publication of The Jewel of Medina, by Sherry Jones, a book about the life of Mohammed's wife, Aisha, due to fear of retribution and violence by Muslims. When did we become a nation ruled by fear of what other immigrant groups want? It makes me so sad to see large corporations cave rather than stand proudly on the principles that built this country.

I am outraged because appeasement has never worked as a political policy, yet appeasing Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is exactly what we are trying to do. An excellent article, also published recently in the Wall Street Journal, went through over 20 years of history and why talking with Iran has been and will continue to be ineffective. Yet talk, with a madman no less, we continue to do. Have we so lost our moral compass and its ability to detect evil that we will not go in and destroy Iran 's nuclear program? Would we rather wait for another Holocaust for the Jews - one which they would be unlikely to survive? When does it end?

As if the battle for good and evil isn't enough, now come the Environmentalists who are so afraid of global warming that they want to put a Bag tax on grocery bags in California; to eliminate Mylar balloons; to establish something as insidious as the recycle police in San Francisco. I do my share for the environment: I recycle, I use water wisely, I installed an energy efficient air conditioning unit.

But when and where does the lunacy stop? Ahmadinejad wants to wipe Israel off the map, the California economy is being overrun by illegal immigrants, and the United States of America no longer knows right from wrong, good from evil. So what does California do? Tax grocery bags. Now they want Washington [you and I] to bail them out, too, so our money can be used for services to those illegal aliens. Heaven forbid we kick em out.

So, America, although I can tell you where the outrage is, this one middle-aged, well-educated, upper middle class woman is powerless to do anything about it. I don't even feel like my vote counts because I am so outnumbered by those who disagree with me.

Alisa Wilson, Ph.D.
Beverly Hills , California

Anonymous said...

You are not powerless.

You only have to do your duty and stand up.

You, because you are among the sovereign people, must do your part to bear down upon lethargic gov't and lethargic gov't agencies and lethargic gov't agents.

You, doing so, rattles their cages.

They actually, for the most part, admire citizens who actually will stand up and do their duty to make our gov't act under our laws.

Two days ago, I read the story about the passing of Col. Ripley, U.S. Marine.

I remember reading about his exploits, years ago, his many trials by fire in Vietnam, one of which, involved his moving hand-over-hand, hanging from the bottom I-beam supports of a bridge, being shot at almost constantly, having NO HOPE to survive ... but doing his duty anyway.

He did it. He survived it. He returned to raise his family.

If he can do that, then you can stand up too and see to it that our laws are enforced.

Get to know the law better.

Call the people who enforce our laws and talk with them. Don't take "No ..." for an answer.

DO NOT BE DISCOURAGED.

Unlike in other countries, as a U.S. citizen, you have actual power.

Use it.

More, and more often, than "just voting."

When gov't knows that the people know the law and cannot be deterred from enforcing the law --- particularly where gov't looks for a vaccuum of such law enforcement *by the people* --- then and there, gov't might find wiggle room to ignore the law *and you.*

Well, that is when you/we need to ring the bell of liberty "up side" their head.

Do it. Stand up.


First_Salute

Anonymous said...

FreeRepublic.com guest area at FreeDominion.com (while FR is "down" this morning ... )

http://tinyurl.com/5reywk


First_Salute

Anonymous said...

FreeRepublic.com alternate use site at yahoo.com:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/freerepublic2/


First_Salute

Anonymous said...

FreeRepublic.com beta website is working:

http://beta.freerepublic.com/tag/*/index


First_Salute

Anonymous said...

McCain HQ

"If you see voter fraud, irregularity or other suspicious activity, the McCain campaign has set up a special number to call":

866-976-8683

First_Salute

joanie said...

Thank you, F_S. You are a modern American patriot, and Rick and I are, as always, privileged to call you our friend.

joanie said...

John, your 'Weeds' essay is absolutely beautiful. Rick and I read it together and it brought us close to tears.

As with F_S, we are privileged to call you our friend.

(Thank you for not revealing the identity of one who was something of a naysayer regarding your wonderful orchard project). :)

~ joanie

joanie said...

Thank you all for the very insightful comments, and for the excellent links to other valuable information. There is never a shortage of willingness to share information that needs to be known, as is evidenced by the valuable contributions made by the readers here.

God bless you all!

Anonymous said...

News updates

Try the Townhall blog:

http://townhall.com/blog


First_Salute

Anonymous said...

Voted for McCain/Palin and completed other votes, here in Ohio, by 1:20 PM EST.

Turnout in the early afternoon is light. Building manager for location of precinct, reports that turnout was heavy this morning.

First_Salute

Anonymous said...

Thanks for all the reports, First Salute. Much appreciated!

Luis said...

I don't know if you have seen the reports of a black panther "guard" outside a polling station in Philadelphia.

That is really concerning stuff. I hope it is just isolated.

God bless America.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=lFpfQpuuVzI

Anonymous said...

Luis-- Speaking of Black Panthers, has anyone noticed that the platform of the Black Panther Party from October 1966 is about to be adopted in America?

* 1. We want freedom. We want power to determine the destiny of our Black Community.

* 2. We want full employment for our people. We believe that the federal government is responsible and obligated to give every man employment or a guaranteed income. We believe that the white American businessmen will not give full employment, then the means of production should be taken from the businessmen and place in the community so that the people of the community can organize and employ all of its people and give a high standard of living.

* 3. We want an end to the robbery by the CAPITALIST of our Black Community. We believe that this racist government has robbed us and now we are demanding the overdue debt of forty acres and two mules. Forty acres and two mules was promised 100 years ago as a restitution for slave labor and mass murder of black people. We will accept the payment in currency which will be distributed to our many communities...

* 4. We demand decent housing, fit for shelter of human beings. We believe that if the white landlords will not give decent housing to our black community, then the housing and the land should be made into cooperatives so that our community, with government aid, can build and make decent housing for its people.

* 5. We want education for our people that exposes the true nature of this decadent American society. We want education that teaches us our true history and our role in the present-day society.

(snip)

* 10. We want land, bread, housing, education, clothing, justice and peace. And as our major political objective, a United Nations-supervised plebiscite to be held throughout the black colony in which only black colonial subjects will be allowed to participate, for the purpose of determining the will of black people as to their national destiny.

I think Obama has most of those planks covered...

Anonymous said...

Our precinct closed, here in Ohio.

No disturbances; no voting officials overloading any of the machines, at the last minute.

I'd say it was a just-above-average after-work voter turnout; it was steady, the poll workers were constantly busy as working people came home.

There was no build-up in the line past, maybe 10 individuals; like I said, steady flow.

Listening to the city, normal traffic sounds on the roads. Normal here-and-there siren for who knows what.

Nothing other than very nice weather to report.

First_Salute

Anonymous said...

At a Columbus, Ohio precinct - some shennigans by the Democrats:

http://blog.dispatch.com/vote08/2008/11/police_called_to_dispel_rumors.shtml

"an attorney registered with the Ohio Democratic Party, and that he had been told by attorneys at another location that provisional ballots would go uncounted"

He was trying to stir up trouble, but the police showed up to set him straight "or else."

First_Salute

Anonymous said...

Luis,

Yes I heard those reports about a group of Black Panthers outside a polling place in Philly. Also heard that several voters turned around because they didn't want to walk past them. They contacted police, but I don't know what was done about it. Haven't heard any further reports.

Anonymous said...

Cooper,

Your reference to the Black Panther platform is horrifying. Who would have thought that forty years later many "average Americans" would be voting for such garbage, many of them without even realizing it! Sick sick sick!

Anonymous said...

At Ohio State University:

http://blog.dispatch.com/vote08/2008/11/ohio_republican_party_question.shtml

An organization known as "OSU Votes" was unlawfully staked out at the entrance of the Jesse Owens Recreation Center --- where and when it attempted to steer voters.

You cannot do that --- you MUST be at least 100 ft from the ENTRANCE of the polling place. A reminder of that, is the purpose of placing U.S. Flags at a 100 ft radius from the entrance.

Of course, some AFL-CIO union representative from San Francisco of all places, apparently tried to assert her own opinion, and the students remained at the door(s).

Now, why the Republican attorney did not stick around to see that the law was enforced, remains a mystery. This is an instance where the various gov't agencies should have been notified, and the police should have moved the students to 100 ft from the entrance.

First_Salute