I find myself in the unusual position of defending Congressman Anthony Weiner… though not completely. The video above, which was widely disseminated shows the man breaking decorum in the House of Representatives. Surely we can’t always function in the mode of anger, but as Ecclesiastes 3:1 tells us “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven” and later in the chapter, “a time to be silent and a time to speak.”

What we saw in the explosion was a man filled with passion. Unfortunately, that passion was directed in the direction of one bad and false idea after another. Yet, his behavior shows an anger and impatience with those who value process and procedure over results. We see so many of our elected representatives who have accepted the “dignity” of their position and the push to “go along to get along” as a straight jacket and muffler that keeps them from keeping their campaign promises to really make the changes in our government that the people want and need.

This past week I watched an interview where Karl Rove called the President “disingenuous”. One definition of this word that I found was, “not straightforward or candid; giving a false appearance of frankness.” Other terms used by the loyal “opposition” include “hypocritical” and “deceptive”. They commentators are being nice, not wanting to accuse a fellow member of the club of what he truly is… a liar! These niceties, while remaining civil, tend to blunt the message that the man and his party cannot be trusted, and that there are dire consequences for us if we don’t stand up to the hopey changey propaganda coming from the people in charge and formerly mainstream media.

Our leaders, even the supposed good guys, tend, at best, to express “concern” of the President’s free spending policies. I, for one, do not want a representative who only shares my concern. I want someone who will do something about it. Many of the tea party types share this desire. When you see the signs carried by these average citizens, you see anger, frustration… and passion for their country.

And what do we get from those who are supposed to be looking out for us. We are patronized. We are told we really don’t understand how Washington works. We are told we must accept political realities and things can’t be done overnight (unless you are motivated Democrats with no respect for the rule of law).

Many of us are looking for someone to champion the things we know are right, someone who will be unbending in their pursuit of the things we know are right. In accepting the presidential nomination many years ago, Barry Goldwater told us, “Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. Moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue”, at which point, fellow party members who had no intention of pursuing justice and liberty with all they possessed left the convention hall. He told us not to back off when we know we are right. His words leave no room for the milquetoast leadership we see in so many cases.

A while back, many young people wore wrist bands with the letter WWJD which stood for What Would Jesus Do. While He was gentle with most, when He saw the money changers and merchants desecrating the temple, He did not say, “I’m concerned that your mercantile activities are having a detrimental effect on the worship of the living God.” No, Jesus threw over their tables and chased them out with a whip. I’m afraid that our appropriate respect for authority has expanded to a respect for illegitimate use of that authority

We have seen a glimmer of hope in statements by Michele Bachmann, Sarah Palin and more recently, Chris Christie among others. The public is shocked to hear such honesty from those who are normally silenced by political correctness or the desire to appear to be thought of as “nice”.

Ms Bachmann is often ignored by the party insiders, appearing alone at some of her press conferences when she should be backed by a phalanx of supporters for her principled positions. Sarah Palin is tossed aside by these same insiders as being “stupid” when they really mean that her honesty makes them look bad. Governor Christie does not appear to get much notice from the party either… yet these three people, along with a few others, show the promise of either being the one, or an example to the one, who will lead us out of the Obamic wilderness. Who it will be, I don’t know, but I do know it won’t be someone more concerned with their position than doing what is right. It won’t be someone without courage and it won’t be someone afraid of controversy.

Right now, pretty much the only place we see these qualities in any quantity are among the tea party crowd. They are certainly in short supply in both parties. Where ever we see these qualities, we need to encourage and support those who have them. Our results will only be as high as our standards.

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait… wait… Rank: wait… Traffic: wait… Price: wait… C: wait…

I will have to admit that there are some aspects of this that does seem to be appealing. Who could be opposed to the President being selected by the majority of voters? This is the way it is meant to be. However, when you consider that nine or ten states could make the voters in the rest of the country irrelevant, it doesn’t seem to be such a good idea. What follows from this is that there would be even less incentive for national candidates to deign to visit the smaller, less populous states.

Polling tells us roughly 70% of the American people would be in favor of simply going by the total votes for each candidate. I have no doubt that the numbers support this. What I wonder is if these good people would be so agreeable if the question were asked how they felt about representatives from their state casting votes contrary to the majority of their neighbors. As with any poll, the way you phrase a question has a great influence on the results.

The goal of this movement is to have states with sufficient votes, 270, to win in the electoral college agree to cast their ballots for the candidate with the most popular votes… then no matter what the rest of the country wants or the constitution demands, is beside the point. Again, the smaller states, or those wishing to honor the will of their people, would be effectively neutered.

The beauty of our electoral system is that, despite the apparent unfairness and potential for an election like we had in 2000 that drove Algore supporters to distraction, is that our founders were concerned that voters of every state would have their voices heard. Now, as with so much going on in our political world, expediency and desired results are taking the place of faithfulness to the process that has served us well for so many years.

Some may wonder whether sparing the feelings of the folks in East Overshoe, SD is worth the danger that of electing a President who did not represent a majority of the people. It should be be noted that Bill Clinton was a 42% president. For those who believe there may be such a thing as ACORN inspired voter fraud, the segmentation of vote counting by state builds a firewall around each area where this may occur. Instead of polluting the entire voting pool, these nefarious deeds would be confined to an individual state.

While this is bad enough, it would be far worse to have the excess votes dilute the will of everyone else in the country. On the other hand, nationalizing the process would reduce the influence of unions on industrial (or formerly industrial) states like Ohio and Pennsylvania. However, would we take that approach… that of looking for a particular outcome rather than supporting the integrity of the process, we would be like progressives who value results over purity of process. This cannot be if our country, as we know it, is to survive and prosper.

Whether electing our President as a national event or one retaining our current practice of actually have an election in each state for people to represent the will of that state is a good idea or not, those promoting the idea obviously do not respect the constitution. As with so many of the actions of the current administration, they are attempting to do an end run around the document. If the electoral process is to be changed from the constitutionally sanctioned one, creating a new amendment would be the way to do it as it would assure more wide spread support than we get from the actions of several renegade states.

This is a legitimate debate. However, we cannot accept the idea of several state legislatures taking it upon themselves to make a change such as this without the appropriate discussion and without following due process. Let the debate begin… just don’t let the, hopefully, well meaning people slip this through without letting the world know what they are up to.

Where we do see racially based data collection, distinction and analysis is in our census form. I was fortunate enough not to get the long form that wants to know how many toilets I have and how often I use them, but I did get the short form which I found quite offensive. Unfortunately, being a white Christian of European descent, my opinions are of absolutely no consequence to those currently in power. However like most similar people, I have too many important things on my plate to carry on endlessly about the unfairness of our government and society.

This time, however, I shall speak up. At a time when our country needs unity more than ever, and from an administration that said it would bring us together, we do not need to encourage people to see themselves broken down into eighteen competing racial groups with a miscellaneous category thrown in for good measure. The citizens of this great country are all Americans. We need to see ourselves as Americans. Not even as hyphenated Americans… that, too, is a divisive view of our population.

I would submit that those who come to our shores legally should strive, not just to become citizens, but to become Americans. This is not to say that they ignore and forsake their native cultures, but if they are living in our world, it should be their primary focus. My background is primarily German with some English and American Indian ancestry. Yet my identity is American, not German-American.

As I look over the form, I see four distinct Latino groups… even though the form itself says that “Hispanic origins are not races”. Yet they want to know if people came from Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba or some other undefined region. What difference does it make? If they are here legally, our constitution, and our creator, says we are all equal in society… and under the law.

If I were given to cynicism, I would find this valuable campaign information. Cubans who have lived under Castro’s authoritarian dictatorship have a far different view of life than those living under the corruption of Mexico. Beyond this, for a political movement whose lifeblood is segmentation and conflict instigation, this information is not only helpful, it is vital.

While much of our population is trying to live in a world, where race is a non-issue, our community organizer in chief and his henchmen are intent on rubbing our noses in these differences and exploiting them to the fullest. Legitimate uses of the census data does not include breaking us up into smaller groups that can easily be manipulated for the benefit of those in power. We need to be counted but to play the rest of their game is an individual decision.

As incompetent as the Democrats are in their leadership of the country, they are consummate politicians. As badly as the bungle ruling, they understand how to get elected and retain power, which is their sole purpose in life. Maybe it’s just finely tuned political instincts or prompting from the dark side, but these two dropping out of their respective races was a stroke of pure genius.

These two… with others to come… didn’t have snowball’s chance in hell of holding on to their seats. By dropping out now, they have removed the focus of public hostility for their personal corruption and incompetence, and the party now has the opportunity to run a fresh face who can lie to the public telling them that he wants nothing to do with Obama’s plans and schemes. They believe the people have such short memories and are so gullible as to believe campaign promises from the Obamessiah’s henchmen. It is our job to see that this does not happen.

We are finding our voice and we need to continue to fan the flames of discontent and anger. We cannot permit them to gloss over the problems created by the departing Senators. Democrats have no problems painting horns and tails on their opponents while the good guys and “moderate” Republicans expect them to play by rules of civility and honesty… kind of like Barack Hussein Obama thinks our sworn enemies are dealing with us.

I’m not sure which of these misapprehensions is more damaging to our country. We can’t do much about Obama’s illusions, but we can work to make sure those going up against his minions develop the same “go for the jugular” approach they have been up against for years. There is just so much at stake here to run campaigns by Marquess of Queensberry rules when your bare knuckled, street brawling opponent recognizes no rules.

Democrats are working on plans to legalize the illegals among us and implement universal registration with the goal of a permanent majority. There is no limit to the damage they can do with this, and most Republicans and independents are holding back. This has got to stop, unless we like the idea of slavery to an all powerful government.

“Mr. President, it is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth and listen to the song of that siren, till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be of the number of those who, having eyes, see not, and having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth, to know the worst and to provide for it.”

Later in his historic speech Henry said, “Three millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, Sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, Sir, is not to the strong alone. It is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, Sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable. And let it come! I repeat it, Sir, let it come!”

Of course, Henry ended his stirring speech with the immortal words, “Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”

(The complete text of Patrick Henry’s immortal address on March 23, 1775, is found in my giant compilation of great, historic documents called THE FREEDOM DOCUMENTS, which may be ordered exclusively at http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/products.html )

Many people today (including the vast majority of my Christian brethren) are doing exactly what Patrick Henry said many were doing 234 years ago: they prefer to “shut [their] eyes against a painful truth.” Just as in 1775, many today, “having eyes, see not, and having ears, hear not.”

Serious students of history, however, cannot mistake the similarities between the British Crown in 1775 and the federal government in Washington, D.C., today. In fact, I would argue that federal usurpations of State sovereignty, personal liberty, and constitutional government are far more egregious today than at any time during the reign of old King George III. Were America’s Founding Fathers alive today, they would have waged another war for independence years ago. Compared to the violations of liberty by the federal government in 2009, the abridgements of liberty committed by the Crown in 1775 were miniscule. We should all hang our heads in shame that we have not already exerted our right and responsibility as free people to “throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for [our] future security” (Declaration of Independence, Paragraph 2). Were we as righteous as our forebears, we would have already done so.

If we were writing a Declaration of Independence today, in which we would “let Facts be submitted to a candid world,” the examples of federal abuse of power would be so multitudinous it would be difficult to contain them to a single document. The question is not, “Has the current federal government become tyrannical?” The question is, “How long will the States continue to tolerate it?”

For example, within the last couple of months, the States of Montana and Tennessee have each passed their own “Firearms Freedom Act.” Briefly stated, the bills provide that any firearms or ammunition that are manufactured, sold, and kept within the State are not subject to federal law or federal regulation. Clearly, Montana and Tennessee have the Second, Ninth, and Tenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution on their side.

Of course, the Constitution doesn’t matter to the federal government. On July 16 of this year, BATFE Assistant Director Carson Carroll sent an “Open Letter” to all firearms dealers within the States of Tennessee and Montana, telling them in no uncertain terms, “Federal law supersedes the [Tennessee or Montana] Act, and all provisions of the Gun Control Act and the National Firearms Act, and their corresponding regulations, continue to apply.”

You see folks, in the minds of the politicians and bureaucrats in Washington, D.C., there is no such thing as constitutional government. There is no such thing as State autonomy. There is no such thing as balance of power. To the miscreants in Washington, D.C., there is only federal authority. To them, these States United are merely colony-subjects, who must bow to an omnipotent, ubiquitous federal power that knows no limits and no boundaries.

I hope and pray that the Tennessee and Montana governors, State legislatures, and State supreme courts will tell Mr. Carroll “where to go,” and will defend their State sovereignties “to the end.” And by the same token, I hope and pray that dozens more states will put teeth to their State Sovereignty resolutions and follow the examples of Montana and Tennessee.

Add to the continual usurpations of State sovereignty the fact that both the Republican and Democratic parties in Washington, D.C., have allowed our once-great free enterprise system to become a giant socialist economy, and the outlook only gets bleaker. This is why Republicans in D.C. have no moral credibility in opposing President Barack Obama’s Marxist-style universal health care proposals. Under George W. Bush, the Republican Party expanded socialism in America like no administration in recent history. Now they are going to oppose the Democrat version of socialism? What a joke!

The only difference between the economic policies of the Democrats and Republicans in Washington, D.C., is Democrats want to tax-and-spend America into socialism for the benefit of the Welfare State, while Republicans want to borrow-and-spend America into socialism for the benefit of the Warfare State. Neither party wants to confine Washington, D.C., to the prescribed limits of the U.S. Constitution. And neither party in Washington, D.C., is willing to recognize the constitutional authority and autonomy of the States United.

Given the fact that both parties are hell-bent on destroying constitutional government, dismantling State sovereignty, and trampling individual liberties, it seems painfully obvious to me that a war for State independence is inevitable. Just exactly what that means is unknown at this point, but all of the elements and ingredients that existed in 1775 exist today. In fact, in view of the battle currently taking place between Nashville/Helena and Washington, D.C., the war has–for all intents and purposes–already begun. And unlike many of my Christian brethren who want to “shut [their] eyes against a painful truth,” I say with Patrick Henry, “Let it come! I repeat it, Sir, let it come!”

More of Chuck Baldwins’ writing can be found at http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com.

How can ordinary Joes make sense of the endless game of partisan ranting and empty promises? Do you really think you will be better (or worse) off just because your favorite party just won (or lost) the recent election?

Political books are usually written by politicians with agendas or media personalities hoping for the next bestseller. Robert Wickes, author of The Myth America Pageant, is neither. Rob is an “Ordinary Joe” just like his readers, who uses simple, practical, common sense to create a whole new political perspective to explore and explain America’s most critical issues, including taxes, the economy, the environment, education, and, most of all, political mischief.

Finally, some is willing to reveal the truth about the historical origins, political motivations, and economic realities of our democracy with a thought-provoking, passion-evoking analysis of today’s problems.

Here’s his list of the 10 questions every American should be thinking about in terms of Democracy.

1. How many people vote based the last sign they saw before they entered the voting booth?
2. If only 1/2 of the population is eligible to vote, and only 1/2 of the eligible voters register to vote, and only 1/2 of the registered voters actually vote, what are the rest of you doing?
3. Is the fate of our nation is being determined by people who can’t figure out how to mark their ballots correctly?
4. Why don’t you have to pass a written test to prove you’re qualified to vote and determine the fate of 300 million people?
5. What do those people who together give over a BILLION dollars to win a job for someone else expect in return for themselves?
6. You can’t vote unless you’re a citizen. You can’t be a citizen unless you can pass an English test. So why do we print ballots in 18 languages?
7. If all the voters in the 8 largest states all voted for the same presidential candidate, it wouldn’t matter how the entire rest of the country voted. Do you really want to get rid of the electoral college?
8. Considering the growth of government for the last 80 years, do you really think you will be better (or worse) off just because your favorite party just won (or lost) the last election?
9. Is the nation’s course is being set by opinion polls using as little as 3/10,000ths of one percent of the population.

And the NUMBER ONE question Ordinary Joe needs to think about our Democracy:

1. A medical survey once concluded that 48%–almost half-of the population had some symptoms of mental illness. If “illness” is defined as a departure from normal, and if “normal” is defined as what half the population holds in common, then how do we know which half is really mentally ill?

Author Resource:-> Robert V. Wickes is an Ordinary Joe who believes that other Ordinary Joes need to educate themselves about the reality of the American political system. Learn more at http://www.mythamericabooks.com

Atlanta – “The decision by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to deny preclearance of Georgia’s already implemented citizenship verification process shows a shocking disregard for the integrity of our elections. With this decision, DOJ has now barred Georgia from continuing the citizenship verification program that DOJ lawyers helped to craft. DOJ’s decision also nullifies the orders of two federal courts directing Georgia to implement the procedure for the 2008 general election. The decision comes seven months after Georgia requested an expedited review of the preclearance submission.

“DOJ has thrown open the door for activist organizations such as ACORN to register non-citizens to vote in Georgia’s elections, and the state has no ability to verify an applicant’s citizenship status or whether the individual even exists. DOJ completely disregarded Georgia’s obvious and direct interest in preventing non-citizens from voting, instead siding with the ACLU and MALDEF. Clearly, politics took priority over common sense and good public policy.

“This process is critical to protecting the integrity of our elections. We have evidence that non-citizens have voted in past Georgia elections and that more than 2,100 individuals have attempted to register, yet still have questions regarding their citizenship. Further, the Inspector General’s office is investigating more than 30 cases of non-citizens casting ballots in Georgia elections, including the case of a Henry County non-citizen who registered to vote and cast ballots in 2004 and 2006.

“It is important to underscore that not a single person has come forward to say he or she could not vote because of the verification process. Further, while DOJ argues that the process is somehow discriminatory, the historic voter turnout among Hispanic and African-American voters in the 2008 general elections clearly says otherwise.

“This decision provides a specific example of the inherently illogical and unfair nature of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. It is a sad day for the rights of our state and for the integrity of our elections. I remain committed to continuing the fight for citizenship verification. In the coming days, I will consider every option available to the state, including the possibility of legal action.”

Full Story Here:

Obama Justice Department Decision Will Allow Non-Citizens to Register to Vote in Georgia

Ladies and Gentlemen, let me ask ALL of you, do you know what the REAL cause of the American Civil War was? The War of Northern Aggression and Repression. Let’s have a show of hands, or the like. Was the cause of that war:

1. Economic and social differences between the North and the South
2. States versus federal rights
3. the fight between Slave and Non-Slave State Proponents
4. Growth of the Abolition Movement
5. The election of Abraham Lincoln
6. The preservation of the Union
7. All of the above
8. None of the above

This link: Top Five Causes of the Civil War is where I got the top 5, the last 3 are my options. I have NEVER bought into the slavery issue being the cause of the Civil War, there were numerous Northern slave holders prior to emancipation.

The Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic States, including Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, had legally sanctioned slavery in the 17th, 18th and even part of the 19th centuries, but in the generation or two before the American Civil War, almost all slaves had been emancipated through a series of statutes. SOURCE: Northern Slave States

We all know that slavery was wrong, we have ALL heard that slavery was THE cause of the Civil War, but it was not. It may have been a contributing factor, but it was NOT the one and only reason for the War Between the States.

STATES RIGHTS folks, that was the primary cause of the conflict. No matter what anyone tells you, States Rights was the primary reason that the Civil War was fought. Today we are seeing the exact same thing, history IS repeating itself. It’s been coming for a long time. Now Barack Hussein Obama has rapidly escalated his efforts to infringe upon STATES RIGHTS. He and his minions, at Obama’s direction, particularly the DOJ and one Eric Holder, attempt to turn this USA into a socialist, Marxist, communist nation dominated by Sharia law and liberal mentality.

Texas has sent their Sovereignty Resolution from the Texas House to the Texas Senate. HCR 50 We are well on our way to a declaration my friends. The Secessionist Movement is alive and well in Texas, and it’s the actions that this story presents, those in Georgia, that makes me honestly believe, ALL states MUST declare their SOVEREIGNTY from the USA and the Obama Nation.

Once sovereignty has been established, let the chips fall where they may, if secession and returning Texas to it’s original inception as a REPUBLIC, a free and independent REPUBLIC is the way we must go, then so be it!

This entire nation is on the brink of collapse, some of us will NOT sit idly by and watch our self sufficient states go down with the rest of the nation, not when those states have the power at their fingertips to rectify the travesty known as The Obamessiah…

A special thank you to The Liberty Sphere, where I found this story.

You can read more from Texas Fred at http://texasfred.net

Instead of the beltway elites who have the inflated delusions that they can solve most any problem by throwing our money at it… we saw the response of the people who actually have to pay for for these machinations. They have decided that rather than bankrupt themselves, they would call the government’s bluff that rapists would be set free from prison and may even be filling in for laid off teachers in the middle schools. They took the risk that their homes may burn down because of there would be no more firemen or they would be robbed because there would be no police. For once they did not buy the story that their money was really needed to help the sea otters and illegal aliens.

How much of this backbone came from the tea party spirit and how much was natural individual frustration at the continual abuse from Sacramento, is hard to tell. In some ways, it doesn’t matter because the people have spoken. No, the people screamed at the top of their lungs, “NO MORE!” The voters finally had a say in this financial dissipation.

What is interesting is that there were not lines of people waiting to make their wishes known. Turnout was low but margins were high… almost 2 to 1 rejecting some of the proposals. It did not take massive numbers to set California on the course to fiscal sanity. Apparently most of residents were resigned to the state government squeezing more and more out of them, in much the same way the folks in DC do… or they saw the poll numbers and were willing to let others do the lifting for them. It is sad that so many took this view and didn’t make themselves part of the victory. It’s even more frightening because that is how freedoms are lost and tyranny solidifies power.

On the other hand, it shows us that a small but motivated group can actually make a difference in the world. It shows that the citizens have more sense than the professionals who are paid to make government work efficiently and effectively. As I write this, I understand I am talking about residents of the land of fruits, nuts and flakes. The system can even work there. Again I have to remind myself it was a motivated minority that got the job done… and we have to thank them for their efforts.

The denizens of Sacramento got the message. The question remains, “Did the beltway appropriators get the message?” Immediate feedback doesn’t show much of a difference in the spendthrift approach to problem solving. However we can’t be discouraged. We saw progress! We saw the people could defeat the politicians. The boys in DC may just be a tougher nut to crack but with sustained pressure and, may I say, harassment, they will hopefully get the message soon, or find a new career.