UN Seeks Control of the Internet?

UN Seeks Control of the Internet?

A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

That was the sound of the other shoe dropping.

"Officials from 18 countries held an impromptu, late-night meeting earlier this month at the United Nations office in Geneva, and made a decision that rattled Internet technocrats around the world.

Autocratic governments like China and Iran attended the meeting, as did several democratic ones. Despite protests by Portugal and the United States, they voted to staff a working group on the future of the Internet Governance Forum -- an important theatre of discussion on matters of cyberspace -- by governments alone."

The snippet above is from an article by Ian Munroe of CTV.ca News.

In the article, Mr. Munroe goes on: "A second UN body -- the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), which manages the world's radio frequencies and orbiting satellites -- has been debating who should govern the Internet for years.

Its secretary general, Hamadoun Toure, would like to spearhead the creation of a "cyber peace treaty" to prevent the Internet from becoming another domain in which countries wage war against one another, as they do by air or at sea.

"Cyber threats can reach critical infrastructure of any country, the nerve centre of any nation," Toure said by phone from Geneva. "A sophisticated attack can bring even the most powerful nation to its knees."

The article continues: "Others say the ITU's government-to-government approach is too slow and clunky to manage something as fast-moving as the Internet, or that it could pave the way for less open regimes to introduce new online controls.

"We have to be careful about what institutions take the lead," said Ron Deibert, director of the Citizen Lab and the Canada Centre for Global Security Studies at the University of Toronto. "The Chinas, the Irans, the Saudi Arabias of the world want to impose a territorial vision of control over cyberspace -- and if the ITU got its wishes, that's essentially what would happen."

You may read the complete article (HERE).

This sad -- really sad! You know, the thing that really got to me when I read this article was what appeared to me to be an acceptance,by everyone involved,that somehow, some way, eventually, GOVERNMENT WILL CONTROL THE INTERNET!

This is pathetic.

When will the US government understand that the UN is NO friend to freedom?

When will the US government understand that the UN is set on a plan for World Governance?

When will the US government finally understand that there is nothing to be gained by US membeship in such a corrupt, power-drunk, socialist organization as the United Nations?

When will the US government cut off all dues to the UN and cease all funding of any organization sponsered by the UN?

The answer, of course, is -- never.

I should not even have to say this... but ... I will. An organization with control over the communications of this world will completely control this world. THAT is what the United Nations is all about, now, isn't it?

We have railed any number of times about the attempts by the US government to gain control of the Internet. That didn't stop them. They took the first step toward control of the Internet with their "Net Neutrality" regulations issued by the Obama Regime controlled Federal Communications Commission just a few days ago. Is it possible the UN saw how easily it could be done when the people in the US, where freedom USED to reign supreme, didn't put up any kind of fight -- at all? I mean, when the people in the "Home of the Free" acted more like sheep than people, well, any tin horn dictator (and the UN is filled with them!) would have to assume they could certainly get away with it in thier countries and, naturally, the whole world.

We have warned, time and again, the UN is zeroed-in on imposing a one-world government on the peoples of the earth. Two of the most important steps they need to make to fulfill that dream is to control the flow of small arms around the world, incuding here in the United States, with their "Small Arms Treaty," and controling the Internet, the peoples means of communicating with each other.

The UN is a cancer on the earth and it needs, desperately, to be cut out!

J. D. Longstreet

The Term “Illegal Immigrant” Offensive To Some Journalists

The Term “Illegal Immigrant” Offensive To Some Journalists
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet


The US used to be described as a “melting pot.” Today, that melting pot has transformed into a “Boiling Pot” heated by the rage of LEGAL American citizens born and raised in this country and by naturalized American citizens who went to the trouble to enter this country – LEGALLY-- out of respect for the laws of their newly adopted country.

Millions of so-called “immigrants” have chosen to break and enter the United States by crossing our clearly marked borders illegally. Those who do so are called “illegal aliens,” “illegal immigrants,” and a number of other terms less printable than these two.

The reason we call them ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS is because they are in this country illegally.

So – they find it “offensive?” Say WHAT? It reminds me of an old joke from the 1940’s and 1950’s with the punch line: “Don’t you call me what I is!” But, of course, that old joke IS offensive today… as is so much of our language and, well, darn near everything that gave us color and spice, and yes, even spirit as Americans. We have gelded ourselves as a robust, boisterous, flamboyant people. We have become lifeless, pale, bland, and dull. Political Correctness did it all.

Now comes more politically correct pabulum from a journalist’s organization. It seems they find the term “Illegal Immigrant” offensive and even unconstitutional!

In an article By Eric Scheiner entitled: “Society Of Professional Journalists Says 'Illegal Immigrant' Is An 'Offensive' Term” CNSNews reports the following:

"The Diversity Committee of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) is undertaking an educational campaign against the term “illegal immigrant” seeking to inform reporters that the term “illegal immigrant” is “offensive” to Latinos.

In the latest issue of SPJ’s magazine ‘Quill’, SPJ’s Diversity Committee member Leo Laurence writes about the campaign referencing the National Association of Hispanic Journalists’ recommendation to use “undocumented immigrant” or “undocumented worker” and to “Avoid using ‘illegal(s)’ as a noun.”

"SPJ’s Diversity Committee met during the 2010 convention in Las Vegas and decided to engage in a yearlong educational campaign designed to inform and sensitize journalists as to the best language to use when writing and reporting on undocumented immigrants," wrote Laurence.

In his article, Laurence also made a constitutional argument against the term 'illegal immigrant', “One of the most basic of our constitutional rights is that everyone (including non-citizens) is innocent of any crime until proven guilty in a court of law," wrote Laurence. "That’s guaranteed under the Fifth, Sixth and 14th Amendments of the Constitution.”

“Simply put, only a judge, not a journalist, can say that someone is an illegal,” Laurence adds." (SOURCE)

Am I mistaken in my belief that the US Constitution is for “AMERICANS?”I mean -- legal citizens of the United States? I know our government seems bent on extended rights intended for American citizens to terrorists and to Illegal Aliens, but wait a cussed minute! Doesn’t it cheapen those rights? Doesn’t that make a joke of all the efforts our forefathers made to protect and defend those rights?

Look: Attempting to change the way we refer to illegal aliens is not entirely politically correct. It is propagandizing of the highest order.

It seems to me, as a former member of the press, that the job of a reporter, a member of the press, and/or a journalist, is to report the news. They have no business trying to influence the way you and I think about the news. But that appears to be exactly what this campaign is all about.

I find the very fact that illegal aliens are in this country illegally – “OFFENSIVE!” I find the fact that my government will not do its duty – and STOP IT! – OFFENSIVE as all get-out! The moment they set foot on US soil, without the proper, documentation, they have broken US laws and the laws of many of our states.

Here is the bottom line, as I see it: This campaign is all about One-World Governance, a One World Government, or Global Government. A globe with no borders and a single government – likely, the United Nations or some equally pathetic bunch of yahoos we never met -- let alone elected.

To those in the Mainstream Media: This is why your newspapers are failing. This is why your magazines are failing. This is why your broadcast “talk shows” fail. This is why your news networks run second, at best, to Fox News. The American people know YOU CANNOT BE TRUSTED, anymore!

Don’t talk to me about “Undocumented Workers.” Don’t talk to me about “Undocumented Immigrants.” They are, in fact, Illegal Aliens, Illegal Immigrants, or even “Undocumented Democrats,” or in most cases, “Undocumented Mexicans.”

Of course, all this effort is intended to assist the democrats in gaining AMNESTY for those millions of Illegal Aliens already in this country sucking the life out of the economy of a number of our states. But HEY, if given citizenship, they’re going to vote democratic! See where all this is going?

Yes, the melting pot is boiling over -- and with good reason. We are suffering the greatest land invasion in history while our government looks the other way and tries, desperately, to distract its citizens from observing the madness, the mischief, the malign intent of a shadow government controlled by a cabal of uber-wealthy miscreants with Napoleonic complexes and a lust to rule the world!

J. D. Longstreet

Nullification in 2011! ... by Alan Caruba

Nullification in 2011!
By Alan Caruba


The great issue of our times is the same great issue of the 1830s. The question is whether Congress can pass legislation or the President issue executive orders that are not authorized by or consistent with the Constitution?

The federal government is a republic composed of separate and sovereign republics.

What recourse do the States have individually and in combination when the central government acts in a fashion that is contrary to the limits and enumerated powers of the Constitution?

The answer, other than an appeal to the courts, is nullification. This term is defined as the assertion that States can and should refuse to enforce unconstitutional federal laws.

This is no trifling matter.

In the past two years since the advent of the Obama administration, the federal government has seized control of one sixth of the nation’s economy, asserting control over the provision of healthcare.

It seized control of General Motors and Chrysler auto manufacturers, arbitrarily casting aside the rightful expectations of their bondholders and other creditors.

It has imposed absurd and invasive demands on air travelers.

It is considering a United Nations treaty that would render the Second Amendment null and void.
It has sued Arizona for enacting an immigration law that mirrors its own.

It is attempting through the FCC to assert control over the Internet.

In the 1860s the issue of state’s rights led to the Civil War.

One hundred and fifty years ago, on December 22, 1860, the State of South Carolina declared its independence and seceded from the Union. It did not arrive at this decision overnight. In fact, on December 10, 1832, President Andrew Jackson issued a proclamation to South Carolina disputing its right to nullify a federal law.

A South Carolina convention had declared that the tariff acts of 1828 and 1832 “are unauthorized by the Constitution of the United States and violate the true meaning and intent thereof and are null, void, and no law, nor binding upon this State.”

Subsequent to Jackson’s proclamation, Congress passed the Force Act that authorized the use of military force against any State that resisted the tariff acts. A compromise engineered by Henry Clay resulted in the tariff of 1833, designed to reduce southern objections. South Carolina ended its nullification effort, but by 1861 it would no longer bend to the mandates of the federal government.

Contrary to some historical reinterpretation, the Civil War was all about State’s rights. Though President Lincoln opposed slavery, he did not introduce the issue into the conflict until after the awful slaughter on the battlefields that led to the Emancipation Proclamation. It came three years after the war had begun and was intended to introduce a moral dimension to the conflict. Slaves, however, were only freed in the Confederate southern States.

There are many issues worthy of nullification these days.

At the top of the current list is Obamacare and the fact that some twenty States have filed suit against its enforcement clearly demonstrates (1) an intense rejection of it and (2) the willingness of States to use the judicial system to seek relief.

Beyond that, we have entire federal agencies that have no legitimate basis in the Constitution.
The Department of Education should be abolished. The Constitution makes no mention of education as a federal concern. It was and should be up to the States and local communities to oversee general education. Part of the controversy raging these days concerns teacher’s union contracts that are contributing to the bankruptcy of many States.

The Department of Energy, created by executive order, should be abolished. States should have the right to determine how their natural resources should be either protected or utilized.

Requiring states to use so-called alternative (wind and solar) energy is seriously wrong.

Likewise, the Environmental Protection Agency, also created by executive order, has so exceeded its original mandate that it has become a lethal threat to the economy and the welfare of all Americans.

Nullification should be utilized to rid us of these and other federal entities that overstep their mission, threatening the Bill of Rights and other constitutional limitations and freedoms.

To learn more about the nullification movement, visit the Nullify Now website and the website of the Tenth Amendment Foundation.

This nation has been heading toward nullification since the 1930s when many of the Constitution’s restrictions of federal power were cast aside. This has brought the nation to the brink of financial collapse. To save it, nullification may be required.

Editor’s note: To learn more about this topic, Tom Woods has written “Nullification: How to Resist Federal Tyranny in the 2lst Century.”

Alan Caruba blogs daily at http://factsnotfantasy.blogspot.com. An author, science and business writer, he is the founder of The National Anxiety Center.

© Alan Caruba, 2010

http://www.nullifynow.com/http://www.tenthamendmentcenter.com/2009/02/23/state-sovereignty-resolutions/

Death Panels?? What Death Panels?

Death Panels?? What Death Panels?
ObamaCare’s Death Panels are Back!
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet


More lies from the Obama Regime are surfacing. Just as the putrid corpse of a drowning victim will rise after a short period, the stench of the sub-surface lies of ObamaCare are coming to the surface -- one at a time.

Remember US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s statement that the Congress would have to pass the ObamaCare law for the citizens of the US to learn what is in it? Of course, you do! That’s why she will be the “FORMER” Speaker of the House is a few days!

Well, they passed it – and now we are learning, just as Pelosi said, what is in it. The majority of Americans STILL hate it! The more we learn about it, the more we learn what is in it, the more we hate it.

Obama is a fast learner. He has learned, since November 2nd, that he must hide his machinations from the new republican led House of Representatives. He is going to rely on his Czars and his regulatory agencies to pass into law the control over US citizens necessary to “fundamentally transform” (Obama’s words) America into the socialist utopia he dreams about. Conservative commentators and pundits warned Obama would do this… why… because he is an ideologue. He eats, sleeps, and breathes socialist ideology! He can’t help himself. He absolutely MUST bring down America’s constitutional republic.

Remember the “Death Panels” we were warned about by Sarah Palin and other conservatives. It was the so-called end-of-life plan written into the original ObamaCare Plan. When the public learned about it, all heck broke loose and the democrats were forced to drop it from the ObamaCare plan.

But never fear. Obama is doing an end run around the national legislature, the Congress, and forcing it on the American people, anyway! ObamaCare supporters refer to it as a “quiet victory.”
See what I mean?

A new Medicare regulation, which goes into effect next year, “ … will pay doctors who advise patients on options for end-of-life care, which may include advance directives to forgo aggressive life-sustaining treatment.” Go here to read the entire article: (SOURCE: NEW YORK TIMES)

The Obama Regime, and his cohorts in the Democratic Party, were hoping to keep this quiet for they knew that once the public learned of it, they would immediately pressure their new Republican led House of Representatives to either force Medicare to abandon the regulation or cut off funding to effectively starve the regulation to death.

NOW – do you see why so many of us were concerned that Obama would use his regulatory agencies to force the full brunt of the ORIGINAL ObamaCare plan on America??? I am more convinced than ever that THAT is THE PLAN!

Czars, executive orders, and regulations have already begun pouring from the faucet of “Big Brother SOCIALIST” government. Watch for the stream to become a flood in very short order.
This, dear reader, is how you lose your freedom, your liberty, and your country.

But how could this possibly happen in AMERICA – to AMERICANS? The answer is simple, really: Ignorance and Apathy.

The public education system in America, the “government schools,” are turning out some of the least educated graduates on earth. The democrats run the schools. Ok, labor unions, then. But what’s the difference? They are symbiotic. They feed off each other.

Americans have no clue, anymore, about whom they are, where they come from, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, freedom, liberty, what it costs to obtain freedom and, even more important, what it costs to remain free. That is ignorance of the “deadly” kind.

The second deadly killer of freedom and liberty is not caring enough. Freedom and liberty must be cared about and CARED FOR.

Americans MUST get involved in the life of their nation. Why? The election of 2006 and 2008 ought to tell you everything you need to know. We placed our country into the hands of liberal-socialists, called democrats, and they, in turn, have taken America so far down the road of ultimate destruction that our actual survival as a free people is in serious question. The results of both those elections hinged on ignorance and apathy.

The ignorance and apathy of Americans also gave us ObamaCare – and -- Obama’s “Death Panels”, government officials deciding who lives and who dies, who receives approved treatment as they approach the end of their lives – and who doesn’t.

And this is just the beginning. It WILL get worse. Trust me.

America has surely entered a time of great tribulation. The handwriting is glaring at us from the wall. America cannot continue to survive on the path she chose in the 1960’s and continues on today.

The path to survival is narrow. It is hard, difficult, and certainly not pleasant. The path we are on, the path to destruction, is broad. It is wide and easy – not difficult at all. But at the end lies destruction.

America’s new Congress is going to need all the help it can get from the citizens of this country – even when Congress doesn’t want it.
I intend to aggravate the living daylights out of my congressman, who happens to be a conservative democrat. (I know that is difficult to believe.) The same goes for my Senators -- one democrat and one republican. Why… because it is my job as a citizen… and as a father and grandfather.

America can be saved. She is worthy of being saved. But we cannot save her by sitting back and waiting on the next fellow to do it.

It is time to fight back -- to fight for our freedom. Freedom, once lost, is almost never recovered. Doing nothing will certainly allow evil to triumph!

J. D. Longstreet

Bipartisanship Must Be Left At The Door

Bipartisanship Must Be Left At The Door
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet


Bipartisanship has no place in the next Congress. Getting along with Democrats should not even be a consideration. We conservatives did not send representatives to the US House of Representatives and the US Senate to “get along” with Democrats OR the Obama Administration. We sent them there to bring the current goings on to a “screeching halt” and to turn the country around and take it back to its conservative roots as a constitutional republic and not the socialist “People’s Republic” the liberal-socialists of the Democratic Party have striven so hard to make it into.

Our country is bearly recognizable today as a constitutional republic. The democratic controlled congress made clear they did not give a rip what the people wanted and they set about to “fundamentally change” America into a socialist dung heap. The many government regulatory agencies under the command of the Obama Regime have taken on so much power they resemble more the Nazi Gestapo than they do agencies of the US government… a government supposedly controlled by the people of the country. They, too, must be stopped, even if that means closing them down -- forever. The Environmental Protection Agency, the Federal Communications Commission, the Department of Homeland Security, the Education Department, the Energy Department, the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission, the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, all top the list of government agencies that must be stopped.

Speaking of US government regulatory agencies – have you ever taken the time to discover just how many government agencies there are? Well, now you can. Go (HERE) for a complete list of all US government agencies. It is an “A” to “Z” list – and you will be astounded! These represent only those agencies made public. We have no idea, who, what, or how many others exist without the knowledge of the citizens of the country.

Prepare for the liberal-socialist democrats to begin, very shortly, to complain that the US government is “broken.” See, it is NOT broken as long as they get their way. Only when the American people get THEIR way is the US government broken to the Democrats!

If the politicians we sent to Washington, as a result of the November elections, do as we want and have instructed them to do, there will be a knock-down-drag-out brawl within the US House of Representatives and the US Senate over the next two years.

We don’t want compromise. We don’t want bipartisanship. We did not send them to Washington for either. We sent them to Washington to rescue our country -- before it is lost forever.

For instance: We want ObamaCare repealed. We want it COMPLETELY repealed! That, alone, will be a monstrous job. The so-called “Dream Act,” which is only another rendition of Amnesty for illegal aliens must be stopped as well.

There will be weeping, and wailing and gnashing of teeth among the democrats at any effort to repeal ObamaCare, especially. Its repeal will mean the government losses control of one-sixth of the US economy. You’d better believe they will fight tooth and nail for control of the lives of every American citizen. They will weep on the floor of their respective chambers. They will tell America that ObamaCare is for the children, for the oppressed minorities, for anything and everything they can think of that might tug at America’s heartstrings. They have won so many battles before by playing on the voter’s emotions that they will not care how ridiculous they look with the crocodile tears streaming down their façade covered faces. It will be a ridiculous comedy played out before the eyes of the world.

We conservatives must be prepared for the onslaught of vile propaganda unleashed on their efforts to rescue America. The Mainstream Media, which is totally immersed in the agenda of the liberal-socialist democrats, will ride to the rescue of Obama and his socialist agenda. It has already begun. They currently sing his praises as the “come-back-kid” after his mediocre successes in the lame duck session of Congress.

Over the next two years, conservatives will need to take careful notice of the remaining “RINO’s” in Congress and prepare a plan of attack to remove them from office in the elections of November 2012.

And we must discover a conservative republican candidate for president who actually has a chance to win. Frankly, I see no possible winner among the host of names being floated about for consideration as possible candidates for the republican nomination today. We may need to go outside the usual herd to find a new face, a new name, with hard rock conservative values to carry our banner into the Oval Office.

The next two years will be two of the most difficult years in the conservative movement in the United States. We must be unrelenting as we push forward the conservative agenda.

Someone once said: “A nation of sheep, breeds a government of wolves.” It is time for conservative Americans to re-assert themselves as neither sheep nor wolves – but as lion-hearted Americans.

Ours is a rescue mission. If we do not press home our advantage over the next two years our mission will become a “recovery” mission.

J. D. Longstreet

Merry Christmas

Will GOP Led House Overturn FCC’s Power Grab Of The Internet?

Will GOP Led House Overturn FCC’s Power Grab Of The Internet?
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

This week the Federal Communications Commission took the first step in taking control of the Internet by the US Government. Their “Net Neutrality” regulation tromps all over the U. S. Constitution and is a slap in the face of the US Courts, which, earlier this year, in very clear terms, told the FCC that they (the FCC) do not have the authority to regulate the Internet.

The fact that it is NOT LEGAL would stop most agencies from boldly forging ahead with plans to grab as much power as is possible for an already near omnipotent government that is out of control and bordering on tyranny.

For nearly 30 years of my adult life I toiled in the broadcast industry. Every day of those years I was conscious of the Federal Communications Commission staring over my shoulder constantly. I knew that the continued existence of my job, and the business for which I worked, depended upon the whim of the commissioners, or as we would, from time to time refer to them -- the “Commissars” of the FCC. As far as a broadcaster's job was concerned -- and the license of the broadcaster -- and the broadcast station was concerned – THE FCC WAS GOD! An infraction of their rules could and, more often than not, could/would mean a gut-wrenching fine and the revocation of a broadcast station’s license. Lifting the license of a station meant that station would go dark, off the air, out of business. Your professional life was in the hands of an all-powerful federal agency that had the power to regulate -- with those regulations having the force of law.

Regulations “with the force of law” are just the same as any other law. But there is a huge difference that has concerned me for many years. Those regulations/laws were not passed out of Congress and did not require the President’s signature to become law. In effect, an agency that has the power to regulate, such as the FCC and a number of other regulatory agencies within the US government, are little “kingdoms" with their "serfs," the citizens who have to try to stay within the terms of those laws in order not to be fined, or lose their jobs, or licenses.

It concerns me greatly that those agencies even exist. There is no place in a constitutional republic for agencies that can simply make-up laws and enforce them with impunity and with the blessing of Congress.

The Commissars … ‘er ... Commissioners … of the FCC are a government within THE GOVERNMENT. They are a group of un-elected individuals acting as a mini-government. There is something inherently wrong about that. But that is what we have with the FCC and a rather large number of other government agencies.

In our opinion, those agencies, among them the FCC, should be stripped of their power to issue regulations with the force of law. If they feel there is a need for a regulation, then they should make their case before Congress and ask Congress to consider making such a law.

As it is today, the FCC appears to be drunk on power. The commission is controlled by the Democratic Party, which, itself, was inebriated on power right up to November 2nd, 2010 when the people of the US said: “ENOUGH!” But, the FCC, apparently, did not get the message. Or, if they did, they have chosen to ignore it. My money is on the latter.

There is a better than even chance the courts will overturn the “Net Neutrality” regulation passed this week by the FCC. Why ... because it is unconstitutional and outside the mandate of the Federal Communications Commission… period.

Senator Jim DeMint, a Republican of my home state of South Carolina has said he intends to stop the Net neutrality power grab by the FCC. In a statement released by Senator DeMint following the issuance of the Net Neutrality regulation by the FCC this week the Senator said the following:
“The Obama Administration has ignored evidence that this federal takeover will hang a millstone of regulatory and legal uncertainty around the neck of a vibrant sector of our economy.

"Proceeding on its own liberal whims rather than facts, this FCC has chosen to grant itself broad authority to limit how businesses can bring the Internet to consumers in faster and more innovative ways.

“Americans loudly demanded a more limited federal government this November, but the Obama Administration has dedicated itself to expanding centralized government planning. Today, unelected bureaucrats rammed through an Internet takeover, even after Congress and courts warned them not to.

“To keep the Internet economy thriving, this decision must be reversed. Regulatory reform will be a top priority for Republicans in the next Congress, and I intend to prevent the FCC or any government agency from unilaterally burdening our recovering economy with baseless regulation.

"In order to provide the stability businesses need to grow, I will work with my fellow senators to see passage of my FCC Act, which would ensure that the FCC can only use its rulemaking powers where there is clear evidence of a harmful market failure, as well as the REINS Act, which would add the accountability of a Congressional vote before any government agency’s proposed major regulations may be finalized.” (SOURCE)

Senator DeMint is “dead-on.” These agencies need to be cut-off at the knees.

It is clear that as long as the Obama Regime controls the FCC, conservative voices will be seen as a threat. The FCC has made clear its intention to silence those voices, in any way it can, until the elected officials of the people dismantle their agency and relegate it to the dustbin of history.

J. D. Longstreet

Busybodies, Nags and Control Freaks ... Alan Caruba

Busybodies, Nags and Control Freaks
By Alan Caruba


Not long ago I saw a television documentary on the rise of the Third Reich in Germany. I have, in addition, read any number of books on the period of the 1920s and 30s. The lesson it teaches is that the Nazis did not suddenly arise, take control, and impose a totalitarian government on Germans. It was a matter of slow progress until October 29, 1929 when the U.S. stock market crashed.

The affect was worldwide. In Europe where nations were still trying to revive from the devastating impact of World War One, it created havoc similar to the Great Depression that gripped America for a decade.

In the wake of the 1919 Versailles Treaty, a defeated Germany had been hit with huge reparations. The Weimar Republic was struggling to return the nation to some degree of stability.
The destabilization of the worldwide financial system created the chaos needed for Adolf Hitler and the National Socialists to gain seats in the government and when Hitler was named Chancellor it opened the door to total control.

Thousands of communists were rounded up and put in concentration camps, thus eliminating the main political challenge. Ordinary Germans realized that anyone could be arrested and detained without any recourse to the law.

Hitler then turned his attention to the Jews of Germany, a minor part of the population, many of whom had lived there for generations. Scapegoating the Jews played into the anti-Semitism that had existed for centuries in Germany and provided an “enemy”, an alleged reason for the nation’s travails.

I was thinking about this with regard to the way Hugo Chavez managed to take over Venezuela, a major oil producer, step by step until recently when that nation’s supine congress gave him the right to rule by dictate. Ever since he took over and began to nationalize everything, Venezuela has been on a downward path economically and socially. The same thing happened after Fidel Castro took over Cuba in 1959.

Dictators are the ultimate control freaks, nags and busybodies.

In countries where Islam is both the state and the primary religion, people can be whipped, stoned to death, jailed, tortured, and executed for religion-based reasons. One must always demonstrate support for the state and the faith or run terrible risks, but unlike Communism, religion is the all-consuming factor.

Largely unreported, the ethnic cleansing of Christians continues apace in the Middle East, hardly differing from the fate of its Jews. There are few Jews in those nations where many had lived for generations because, with the founding of Israel in 1948, thousands were forced to flee for their lives. Many Arab Christians and Persian Bahaists, joined them. Thousands sought sanctuary there along with the survivors of the Holocaust, but Israel would have to fight several wars of defense. For more than sixty years, no effort to find peace with the Palestinians has yielded any positive response.

What does this have to do with America?

Well, it seems to me that the first two years of the Obama-Pelosi-Reid administration has given most Americans a taste of what it is to live in a nation where the central government is run by people who do not give a damn for public opinion or the Constitution.

It took barely a year for Americans to come together in a Tea Party movement to oppose Obamacare. That hideous piece of legislation interposes the government between all Americans and their physicians, inflicting a bureaucratic nightmare that, if permitted to exist, will surely kill Americans denied timely care.

The members of the Tea Party are not just Republicans, not just Democrats, and not just independents. They are quintessentially Americans that swiftly concluded that a serious mistake was made when Obama was elected. On the anniversary of the original tea party, Sen. Reid was forced to make a humiliating retreat, dropping the $1.1 trillion "budget" bill intended to shackle the newly elected members of Congress and to impose still more debt and control over Americans.

The Obama administration is shot through with control freaks, nags and busybodies, not the least of whom is the First Lady, Michelle Obama. On the signing of a bill giving the governmental control over food in the nation’s schools she said that obesity is “not just an economic threat, it’s a national security threat as well.” That is just absurd. It is a feeble excuse to interpose the federal government between parents and the schools to which they are compelled to send their children.
“We cannot leave it up to the parents,” said Michelle Obama. Not surprisingly, a Rasmussen Reports poll revealed that 75% of those asked did not agree with the First Lady.

Hardly a day goes by when some member of the Obama administration doesn’t say or do something absurd. In mid-December, the U.S. Surgeon-General, Regina Benjamin, said “there is no risk-free level of exposure to tobacco smoke.”

She claimed that even occasional smoking or exposure to second-hand smoke “causes immediate damage to your body that can lead to serious illness or death.” That is not based in any valid analysis and it ignores the rising levels of life expectancy in America. It is just another piece of the hysterical anti-tobacco agenda of busybodies who have no right to tell anyone whether they should smoke or not.

The most dangerous thing Americans do every day is to get behind the wheel or be a passenger in an automobile. Auto accidents annually kill 40,000 or more.

Recently, at the Cancun, Mexico conference of global warming charlatans, the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, said that “climate change is one of the greatest threats facing our planet” as if human beings had anything to say or do about it. He might as well have said that the United Nations must begin to control the Sun, the oceans, and the clouds. Finally, after being banned by the Environmental Protection Agency in 1980, the agency decided that saccharin, a sweetener substitute for sugar, was neither toxic nor a cancer-causing agent, a fact determined in the late 1990s by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. The EPA routinely bans chemicals claiming they could cause cancer, ignoring the fact that too much exposure to any chemical, including salt or sugar, is unwise.

These and a thousand other examples are reasons to distrust the Obama administration in particular and the federal government in general. As it continues to grasp more and more power over lifestyle decisions that belong to individuals, it threatens the very reason America was founded.

Alan Caruba

************************
Alan Caruba writes a daily post at http://factsnotfantasy.blogspot.com/. An author, business and science writer, he is the founder of The National Anxiety Center.

© Alan Caruba, 2010

Obama’s FCC Threatens Internet Freedom

Obama’s FCC Threatens Internet Freedom
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

We have issued this warning until we are nearly blue in the face, yet, somehow, Americans still do not seem to grasp the fact that there is, currently, a stealth attack on the First Amendment by the US government.

We have warned, time and time again, that a free Internet is an immeasurable threat to the liberal-socialists who currently control the US government.

Let me try, once again, to help my readers understand why I am convinced the Federal Communications Commission is such “a clear and present danger” to freedom of speech in the United States.

The Congress bestowed upon the FCC the power to issue regulations, and to make it worse, the Congress declared that the regulations issued by the FCC would have the force of law. Now, what that means is simply this: The FCC CAN MAKE LAW ON ITS OWN! It does not need to wait for Congress to introduce a bill, debate that bill, then vote it up or down, nor wait for the President to sign it into law. The FCC can issue the regulation and set a date for it to become law, and on that date -- IT BECOMES THE LAW OF THE LAND!

The ability to make law that affects everyone in the United States is an awesome power. When that power is abused, or misused, especially when it is misused to serve a form of government other than the constitutional republican government we enjoy in the United States, then it becomes a danger to the citizens of the US.

I am very afraid that is exactly where we find ourselves today with the FCC about to begin regulation of the Internet.

Understand something very important. The US Congress has never given the FCC the right to regulate the Internet! And, in May of 2010, three hundred-plus members of Congress told the FCC to stop their attempts to regulate the Internet. Basically, the Congress told the FCC THEY (The Congress) would regulate the Internet.

For a time, over the summer, the FCC seemed to acquiesce to the demand of Congress. Now, it seems, their acquiescence was only a form of camouflage.

In an article published in the Wall Street Journal December 19th, 2010, Robert M. McDowell, a Republican commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission, says this:

“Still feeling quixotic pressure to fight an imaginary problem, the FCC leadership this fall pushed a small group of hand-picked industry players toward a "choice" between a bad option (broad regulation already struck down in April by the D.C. federal appeals court) or a worse option (phone monopoly-style regulation). Experiencing more coercion than consensus or compromise, a smaller industry group on Dec. 1 gave qualified support for the bad option. The FCC's action will spark a billable-hours bonanza as lawyers litigate the meaning of "reasonable" network management for years to come. How's that for regulatory certainty?” (SOURCE)

Commissioner McDowell goes on to say: “On this winter solstice, we will witness jaw-dropping interventionist chutzpah as the FCC bypasses branches of our government in the dogged pursuit of needless and harmful regulation. The darkest day of the year may end up marking the beginning of a long winter's night for Internet freedom.”

Call it “Net Neutrality,” or whatever you wish, but, as a conservative, I believe Net Neutrality is just the first step in government control of the Internet including censoring speech, which does not toe “the party line” of the Democratic Party.

It is a sad commentary on the state of the nation when its very own government holds the citizens in contempt as the Obama Regime so obviously does.

Another word, which so aptly describes the FCC and the Obama Regime, which spawned today’s version of the FCC, is – TYRANNY!

C. S. Lewis, that great British author (Of whom – I am NO FAN.) once said this: “... Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." (I give Mr. Lewis credit where he deserves it. Even a stopped clock is right twice a day!)

“Net Neutrality,” believe me, will be the beginning of the end for the Internet… at least, as we know it.

The Internet is NOT BROKEN. The government should keep their hands off it. We implore you to not be taken in by the liberal-socialist’s claims that they want the Internet to only be “fair.” If they haven’t already, they will soon be claiming their efforts at regulation of the Internet is all “for the children.” It is the same old smoke screen and the same old propaganda the left uses time and time again to get what they want, which ultimately, is a citizenry that is nothing more that slaves to their socialist form of government.

Look, I know, even before I click on the “post” button, I am going to be accused of “fear mongering” by the left. Allow me to assure you that fear of tyranny is a fear worth “mongering!”

Yes, we live in America. But tyranny is always hovering, just out of sight, waiting for a single moment of weakness to grasp freedom by the throat and throttle it … even in America -- ESPECIALLY in America.

We desperately need the Congress to geld the FCC at the earliest possible moment. Allow the free market to continue to build the Internet into the most successful enterprise on the globe, while, at the same time protecting American’s constitutional right to free speech. After all, the ultimate goal of the FCC, in our opinion, is the squelching of America’s free speech on the Internet -- and on America’s airwaves.

J. D. Longstreet

America’s Blunt Force Military Blunted By Repeal Of Don't Ask, Don't Tell

America’s Blunt Force Military Blunted By Repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell.
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

A military is a blunt force. The waging of war is nothing less than blunt force trauma. That blunt force truma is inflicted by rough men who keep the people of the nation they serve safe.

Over the weekend, a civilian Congress, with very few military veterans now serving within its ranks, voted to repeal the 17 year old “Don’t ask, Don’t tell” policy. With repeal of DADT, openly homosexual volunteers will be allowed to serve in the ranks of the US military. In doing so, the fate of the US Military, as a real fighting force, was ended. A force of fighting men feared and respected the world over has been reduced to the battlefield effectiveness of a troop of girl scouts.

I’m a veteran. I wear a US Army lapel pin awarded me by the Army some years ago. My truck had proudly boasted a US Army logo on the rear glass. I have, ‘til now, been proud to have been a member of the most effective fighting force in the history of the world -- the US Military.

Today, I do not feel that pride. What I feel is sorrow. And shame.

I cannot, in good conscious, encourage America’s young people to enlist in the US Military any longer. If I had any advice for parents of youngsters considering service in the US Military, I would advise them to make every effort to discourage their son or daughter from enlisting.

“Oh,” but you say, “the top brass said it would have no effective on the war-fighting ability of the US Military.” To that I say: “Don’t make me laugh!”

Look, when you have a military under civilian command, the top brass will say whatever the civilian bosses want to hear! Its what a soldier does! They say jump and he jumps.

I have often thought the US Military should not under the command of the President nor the congress but a co-equal branch of our government. I KNOW how radical that sounds, and for Americans it would be a radical departure from everything we have known as a country.

One must remember that America’s early government feared a standing army. They feared then, as some do today, that a standing army could over-throw the government and set up its own government any time it chose much as a few of the so-called “banana republics” do from time to time. There would be no one to stop them.

Since, at least, the 1950’s, the patriotic feeling that a man owed service to his country in the military has waned to a historic low. As a result we have the majority of our politicians with power over our military while they, themselves, have never spent one day in uniform and have absolutely no idea what it means to put your live on the line for your fellow Americans every single day. Yet they order our military personnel into harm’s way with the fervor reminiscent of an insane person with an extreme Napoleonic complex!

Allowing openly homosexual persons to serve in the US Military, regardless of all the BS propaganda we have been fed by the MSM, the “gay” special inertest groups, the leftist and liberal bleeding-heart politicians is going to accomplish three things: It will reduce the recruiting numbers forcing a resumption of the draft. (This time the draft will be for both men and women.). It will lower the morale of the serving troops. It will reduce the effectiveness of combat units at the point of the spear, it will increase casualty rates among American troops, it will reduce the respect for, and the fear of, the American fighting men, and it will, eventually, result in America winning no more wars. In other words – it will destroy history’s most effective fighting force -- ever. And finally, it will do irreparable damage to the national security of the United States.

America should prepare itself for so-called hate crimes within the military. How long do you suppose it will be before naked heterosexual males become incensed at having an openly homosexual male in the shower with them and decide to do something about it? Seems to me that scenario would be the equivalent of having a heterosexual male in the shower with a number of naked co-ed college students. I see no difference.

I’m not even going to speculate on the probable increase in “friendly fire” incidents involving openly homosexuals in combat zones.

What I am endeavoring to describe to you is the coming deterioration of our fighting forces into a non-cohesive conglomeration of young, virile, males -- trained to be killers -- acting as individuals with no loyalty to the man next to him. It will be every man for himself and to hell with the unit.

Sadly, when this happens, the military will not dare admit it has made a mistake – nor will the government. It will be too late by then anyway.

In a decade, or so, I expect America will have to lease a private army of mercenaries to provide national defense.

The decision to repeal DADT was not only naïve -- it was just plain stupid. America will pay a price in blood that can be slathered upon the hands of those politicians who endorsed it, upon the Commander-in-Chief who signed it into law, and upon the military leaders of the America military who had not the cajones to stand up and be counted and tell the Congress and the President the truth concerning their responsibility for destruction of America’s prized military.

It is a sad day for America and a happy day for America’s enemies.

J. D. Longstreet

Venezuela Congress Grants Chavez Decree Powers ... By Texas Fred

Venezuela Congress Grants Chavez Decree Powers
A Commentary by Texas Fred

LINK: http://texasfred.net/archives/8287

~~~~~~~~~~~

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) – Venezuelan lawmakers granted President Hugo Chavez broad powers Friday to enact laws by decree, undermining the clout of a new congress that takes office next month with a bigger opposition bloc.

Chavez opponents condemned the move as a power grab, saying the law gives him a blank check to rule without consulting lawmakers. The National Assembly approved the special powers for 18 months.
A new congress goes into session Jan. 5 with an opposition contingent large enough to hinder approval of some types of major laws.

Chavez has argued he needs decree powers to fast-track funds to help the victims of recent floods and landslides, and also to hasten Venezuela’s transition to a socialist state.

Full Story Here:Venezuela congress grants Chavez decree powers

I have seen one sentence in this story, so far, that has any truth to it, ‘and also to hasten Venezuela’s transition to a socialist state‘, and I have to say.

Stories have surfaced that Obama sent message of congratulations to his BFF, Hugo Chavez.

Sources have reported that they overheard Obama cheer loudly and state: ”That’s what I’m talkin’ about!”

I am a bit surprised that Obama didn’t try to run this same scam past the American people with his own we have nothing to lose, lame duck congress.

Another measure under discussion Friday was the revised “Social Responsibility Law,” which would impose broadcast-type regulations on the Internet and ban online messages “that could incite or promote hatred,” create “anxiety” in the population or “disrespect public authorities.”

Tell me that Obama and his entire administration are not an almost mirror image of Chavez and his socialist agenda! If Chavez can do it, Obama and Company believe they can too.

“They’re accusing me of being a dictator,” Chavez said on state television Thursday night, dismissing the criticism as unfounded. “We’re building a new democracy here that can’t be turned back.”

Change we can believe in anyone? Are you ready to join Obama as he transforms America?

What was it he said? ‘We’re only days away from fundamentally changing America forever!’, or some such socialist BS.

Hugo Chavez is Obama’s buddy, you know that Obama has got to be thinking, ‘If Hugo can do it, why can’t I?’, I would bet the farm on this very thing being tossed around within the most secure inner circles of the Dems and Obama cronies.

The law to grant Chavez decree powers, the fourth such legislation of his nearly 12-year presidency, also will allow him to unilaterally enact measures involving telecommunications, the banking system, information technology, the military, rural and urban land use and the country’s “socio-economic system.”

ObamaCare, Detroit bailouts, Net Neutrality, TARP, Cap and Trade, fat kids…do you see the same parallels I am seeing? How long before those Executive Orders begin to emerge?

Critics accuse Chavez of taking advantage of the disaster to tighten his grip on power, saying he is violating the constitution while trying to impose a Cuba-style system.

Folks, you’d better listen, and listen closely, we, the American people, are only one terrorist attack, or one natural disaster away from martial law and presidential rule by executive order. I am not exaggerating, I am NOT over-reacting, we are that close to rule by decree.

Newly elected opposition lawmaker Julio Borges said Chavez is trying to use the Christmas lull when Venezuelans are focused on other matters to push through “laws that have one single purpose: to give more power to the government and take power away from the people.”

Borges said the opposition will keep fighting and that “the Cuban project is going to fail.”

Venezuelans are focused on other matters? Gee, where have I heard that before? Oh yeah, in a discussion I had with our TEA Party president today as we were talking about the obvious lack of "give a damn" that many in the TEA Party are showing, and the overall apathy of the American people as a whole.

My readers, and members of the Rowlett TEA Party will NEVER be able to look at me and say ‘WHY DIDN”T YOU WARN US FRED?‘, and when the stuff hits the fan there will be many that sit back, wondering what went wrong, crying and panicking and saying that exact thing.

Lock and load America, this is just getting started. Keep your powder dry, you’re going to need it! Our new Congress has a lot on their plate, right from the start, and if they take their eye off the ball for so much as one minute, We, The People are screwed.

And it wouldn’t hurt to pray that it’s not already too late…

Texas Fred

LINK: http://texasfred.net/archives/8287

What Communism Feels Like ... Alan Caruba

What Communism Feels Like
By Alan Caruba

Recently I received an email and requested permission to share it. It says a great deal about the danger of a government inclined to ignore the Constitution. December 15th was Bill of Rights Day; time to read them if you have not done so already. (READ THE BILL OF RIGHTS)

The text below has been lightly edited for continuity and is published with the permission of its author..

Dear Mister Caruba,

I want to thank you for your Warning Signs blog. I want you to know that I am scared out of my wits with everything that is going on...

I was born, raised, and grew up in Communist Poland. I presently reside in the USA since June 1983. I love the country and love Americans. Every time the national anthem is played I tear up with happiness to be lucky enough to live in The Greatest Country on Earth!!

What I see happening all around us is very troubling, since Obama's election and the great number of people looking forward to change and hope to get us on track to build a better tomorrow. The light at the end of a tunnel, however, has turned out to be a TRAIN!!

Of course, as everyone, I have my opinion just about everything...

I am not the sharpest tool in a shed, but I call Obama "The Closer" just like the TV show I watched a few years ago. Over the years our society was brainwashed and socially conditioned

I've experienced it back in Poland when our party Leaders were feeding us utopia, talking about the greatness of our country, how proud we shall be, how lucky we are, how together we shall build it even stronger, work harder, save more, and as one we will overcome the BAD AMERICA!!!, the source of evil, racism and slaves!. All the time they kept us with no freedom and communist propaganda in the newspapers and on TV.

I remember as a young child---maybe 9 or 10---my Father and I would wake up at 2:00 AM to listen to 'Free Europe" (BBC station) a one-hour broadcast on the radio. The transmission was very much interrupted with static, but religiously we were finding out some truths. Our window was covered with a heavy blanket (we did not want to take any chance with neighbors or passing police patrol noticing any activities.)

Even when we talked about it later and I had some questions it was always done in such way that my 6-years younger sister couldn't be near for fear of her saying something to someone.

I remember when Russians invaded Czechoslovakia in 1968. The whole school was gathered by the main road, we were given Russian paper flags and were told to wave at the moving tanks and heavy military trucks and yell "hello" and clap and be happy that we have such good help in the Soviet Union to protect us from the 'evil movement' that had spread over Czechoslovakia that they said put us all in danger.

My late Father always told me "Keep your eyes and ears open and your mouth shut and if you ever have an opportunity to escape safely don't even take a second to think about it. Just go for it and make a better life for yourself in a free world where you can talk without blankets in a window"

Sadly I see my country, the country that gave me the opportunity to enjoy freedom in all aspects slowly becoming a closed-door agenda, anti-American bills and policies not upholding the values on which it was established and for which thousands died to keep it true.

I am offended when Obama is not holding his hand over his heart when the anthem is played.

I am offended when he called me an enemy.

I am offended when he bowed to the Saudi Arabian king!

I am offended with his lies so obvious and bold that a deaf person could hear it!

As far as I am concerned he is not my president.
--End--
I am concerned we increasingly live in a society where everything we say or write can be fodder for those who think the Bill of Rights was written for a different age or people and no longer applicable.

On Bill of Rights Day it is useful to recall that several of the original States refused to ratify the U.S. Constitution unless the Bill of Rights, the first ten Amendments, was included.

If America is not about personal, individual, political, and spiritual freedom, than it is not America. It is about the rights reserved to the States and the People. Without them, life in America will be no different than the Communist Poland from which my correspondent escaped.

© Alan Caruba, 2010

Alan Caruba's commentaries are posted daily at "Warning Signs" his popular blog and thereafter on dozens of other websites and blogs. If you love to read, visit his monthly report on new books at Bookviews. To visit his Facebook page, click here For information on his professional skills, Caruba.com is the place to visit.

Can The Democrats Save Obama? Do They Want To?

Can The Democrats Save Obama? Do They Want To?
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

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Obama is in TROUBLE. Big Trouble. He has managed to “P.O.” the Democratic Party, the Republican Party, AND the Tea Party. And – if the polls are to be believed—he has, somehow, managed to tick off a slew of Independent voters, as well. He has done it before reaching the mid-point of his term in office.

Did we not warn the man is a narcissist? Yes, we did! We were scorned and ridiculed for daring to speak what was obvious to anyone except those who were, and are, willfully blind to the truth.

So, here we go again, issuing a warning to the leftists in America: You ain’t seen nothing yet! As Obama triangulates toward the middle (as per Bill Clinton) you may need professional help with your collective blood pressure.

Americans spoke last month and they declared they do not like the course Obama has set for this country. The voters told the US government they would not stand for it and sent a new batch of Congresspersons and Senators to Washington to put a stop to it. It was a message writ large across the face of the Obama Regime. ENOUGH! No More! We intend to stop America’s race toward socialism, which has been so enthusiastically led by Obama and the liberal-socialists in the Congress.

Americans have a natural in-born hatred for tyranny in any form. When we find it in our own government, we rip it out.

The purge of the Congress began last month. It was only phase one of the American endeavors to take back America from those who would fundamentally change America into some sort of socialist dung heap.

The second phase has begun. The gelding of the socialist movement within the American government will be the prime goal over the next two years. It will not be easy. They have entrenched themselves and they are dug-in deep.

So, it follows that phase three will be the completion of the purge of the remaining progressives and socialists in the Congress along with those in the White House. They must be rooted out and identified, publicly, so the American electorate has a face for the socialist movement in their government. The end result will be the removal of the anti-American socialist cancer within the American governing body. That is set to occur in November of 2012.

Conservatives all over this nation are burning the midnight oil devising plans of action that will save the constitutional republic of America from her domestic enemies.

I should be clear to all Americans now that the most effective people in Washington for the Republican Party are: Obama, Pelosi, and Reid. For certain, it is crystal clear to all Americans exactly what the liberal-socialists in the Democratic Party have been up to over the past four years.

To a growing majority of Americans from both left and the right, it is now clear that they could not care less what the American people want. They have demonstrated, clearly, the only thing they have any interest in is changing America -- not for the better -- but for the worst. We intend to turn the lights back on in that “Shining City on A Hill” the lights the democrat liberal-socialists so unceremoniously outed when they took the reins of power in 2006.

We cannot expect the Democrats to take this lying down. They will come at us, tooth and claw. The next two years will be spent by the democrats shoring up their base, which is a collection of unions, minority groups, special interest groups, socialists, progressives, and the few unenlightened liberals who, for some reason, have yet to understand, or accept, that Obama is at the head of the movement to strip America of its superpower status and force America from its leadership position among the nations of the world.

It would seem that the famous, or infamous, “liberal guilt” has spawned a party-wide inferiority complex among the democrats. They fail to understand their sackcloth and ashes apologies for previous actions of their own country is not seen as a courageous act on their part, but is rather interpreted as show of weakness by America’s enemies. It is a perceived weakness they will most certainly take advantage of and may even result in the loss of even more American lives around the globe as well as right here within our own borders.

It has become clear over the past couple of decades, or so, that our so-called allies in Europe have little, if any, understanding of the American people – not the American government – the American people. The do not seem to grasp that the American people have realized their mistake in electing Obama to the Presidency and handing over legislative power to the liberal-socialists of the Democratic Party. Americans are compelled, not just because they have the right, but because they have a duty, to right their government when it becomes as derailed as it so obviously is today. The majority of Americans now know the derailment was caused by the efforts of the Obama Regime and the Democrat Party controlled Congress. They will not forget it by November of 2012 and they will go to the polls and vote to save America by removing from office those they have determined to be the culprits of America’s demise into mediocrity.

When given a choice between saving the Obama Regime or saving America, my money is on Americans rising to the challenge, as we always have in the past, and saving this last best hope for the world – America.

J. D. Longstreet

Whatever Happened to “The land of the Free and the Home of the Brave?"

Whatever Happened to “The land of the Free and the Home of the Brave?
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

Some months ago I related to you how I stood in the parking lot of one of the Big Box stores and counted 22 cameras observing everything going on around me. Those were just the cameras I could see from my vantage point. There were more. Please note: That was OUTSIDE the store. Upon entering the store there were uncountable cameras peering at shoppers -- some obvious and others strategically located and camouflaged, I expect.

Some years ago, in a nearby city, my wife and I had been shopping in a large grocery store in route home from attending church. As we prepared to pay for our purchases by check, the cashier informed me that I must have my photo taken. I completely lost it.

I launched into a tirade that brought the entire checkout of that giant store to a complete halt. It also brought the store manager -- and security. By the time my wife was able to get me (and my temper) under control, I had become so angry I was literally sick to my stomach.

The long and the short of it is – we left all the groceries at the checkout because, my wife’s protestations not withstanding, I refused to make a purchase of any kind from that company. I have never been inside of that company’s store(s) since. I never will.

Why, you may ask, did I create such a stir? It is really quite simply. I despise being treated as a criminal. I am a free American. I insist upon being treated as such. It is my right as an American citizen.

We Americans had better stand up for our rights and we’d better stand up yesterday! We have very few left. Our right to privacy is GONE! And we, you and I, allowed it to happen.

In the past few days we have learned that not only are we on camera most of our waking hours, but now, every time we use our credit cards, it is reported to the federal government… not in a report at the end of the week or the end of the month, but in real time, at the moment the card is swiped. They know what you bought, where you bought it, when you bought it, how much you spent -- the whole 27 feet!

In an article at Wired.com entitled “Feds Warrantlessly Tracking Americans’ Credit Cards in Real Time,” it is reported as follows: “Federal law enforcement agencies have been tracking Americans in real-time using credit cards, loyalty cards and travel reservations without getting a court order, a new document released under a government sunshine request shows.The document, obtained by security researcher Christopher Soghoian, explains how so-called “Hotwatch” orders allow for real-time tracking of individuals in a criminal investigation via credit card companies, rental car agencies, calling cards, and even grocery store loyalty programs. The revelation sheds a little more light on the Justice Department’s increasing power and willingness to surveil Americans with little to no judicial or Congressional oversight.”

The article goes on to say: “The document suggests that the normal practice is to ask for all historical records on an account or individual from a credit card company, since getting stored records is generally legally easy. Then the agent sends a request for “Any and all records and information relating directly or indirectly to any and all ongoing and future transactions or events relating to any and all of the following person(s), entitities, account numbers, addresses and other matters…” That gets them a live feed of transaction data.” (SOURCE)

In an article at The Wall Street Journal Online entitled: “Race Is On to 'Fingerprint' Phones, PCs,” It is reported thusly: “It might seem that one computer is pretty much like any other. Far from it: Each has a different clock setting, different fonts, different software and many other characteristics that make it unique. Every time a typical computer goes online, it broadcasts hundreds of such details as a calling card to other computers it communicates with. Tracking companies can use this data to uniquely identify computers, cell phones and other devices, and then build profiles of the people who use them.” (SOURCE)

I have learned that every time you fill a prescription for a painkiller, which happens to be a controlled substance, a medication your doctor has prescribed for you, a record is kept which is “readily available” to the DEA. The term "readily retrievable" means the record is kept or maintained in such a manner that it can be separated out from all other records in a reasonable time or that it is identified by an asterisk, redline, or some other identifiable manner such that it is easily distinguishable from all other records. (SOURCE)

Now I am paranoid about getting my prescriptions filled. I honestly think twice about it. I have no intention of breaking the law, but I have to consider the federal government obviously THINKS I may just violate the US drug laws, somehow.

Now comes word of the new campaign with the government in cahoots with Wal-Mart in their “If you see something, say something” campaign; The Wal-Mart news release says the following: “Washington, D.C. - Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano today announced the expansion of the Department's national "If You See Something, Say Something" campaign to hundreds of Wal-Mart stores across the country - launching a new partnership between DHS and Wal-Mart to help the American public play an active role in ensuring the safety and security of our nation. The news release goes on to say: “"Homeland security starts with hometown security, and each of us plays a critical role in keeping our country and communities safe," said Secretary Napolitano. "I applaud Wal-Mart for joining the ‘If You See Something, Say Something' campaign. This partnership will help millions of shoppers across the nation identify and report indicators of terrorism, crime and other threats to law enforcement authorities." It continues: “A short video message will play at select checkout locations to remind shoppers to contact local law enforcement to report suspicious activity.”

The government is crowing about this new campaign. They LOVE IT! Not only is BIG Brother watching you, now they have all the little brothers and little sisters watching each other, in other words: “spying” on each other.

I don’t know about you, but this sort of activity makes me feel DIRTY! Encouraging Americans to spy on their neighbors is a tactic right out of Nazi Germany or the former Soviet Union. It is certainly not something a free people ought to be involved in.

THIS is where we are in America these days – and I didn’t even mention the “pat-downs” and the naked scanning of our bodies at the nation’s airports.

America is fast becoming a police state. Some would argue we have already arrived.

What is wrong with Americans? We have become sheep herded by an out of control federal government. Why aren’t we in the streets with torches and pitchforks raising hell and demanding a return of our constitutional freedom and liberty?

Remember the expression: “All that is necessary for evil to prevail – is for good men to do nothing.” I submit that THAT is exactly what Americans are doing these days – NOTHING!

How long before the hammer and sickle is raised over the Congress and the White House?

The price of freedom is really eternal vigilance directed at out very own government, not each other. But that is not going to happen as long as so many Americans are on the government dole. The government as bought their acquiescence and their silence.

A truly free America is gone. We are now a banana republic with a socialist government which appears to fancy itself as a benevolent dictatorship.

I have news for America. There is no such thing as a benevolent dictatorship. And Americans are about to learn, to our everlasting shame that we have destroyed our freedom and willing accepted the yoke and chains of a tyrannical government.

Once a nation’s freedom is lost it is almost always lost forever. America has exchanged freedom for some sort of elusive security that can only end in slavery to the state.

How sad. How very, very, sad.

J. D. Longstreet