Licking the 'hands which feed you' ~ By Patrice Lewis

I am starting you out with a video and it's description in order to prepare you for this column:

VIDEO: The Second American Revolution Has Begun

Produced By Edward L. Daley

"Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people, who have... a right, an indisputable, unalienable, indefeasible, divine right to that most dreaded and envied kind of knowledge, I mean the characters and conduct of their rulers." - John Adams

"Government is like a baby: an alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other." - Ronald Reagan

"A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned... this is the sum of good government." - Thomas Jefferson

"Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys." - P. J. O'Rourke

"We are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of Nature has placed in our power... the battle, sir, is not to the strong alone it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave." - Patrick Henry

"A government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take everything you have." - Barry Goldwater

"The marvel of all history is the patience with which men and women submit to burdens unnecessarily laid upon them by their governments." - George Washington

"It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds." - Samuel Adams

"It will be of little avail to the people that the laws are made by men of their own choice if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood." - James Madison

"If 'pro' is the opposite of 'con' what is the opposite of 'progress'?" - Paul Harvey

"Let not him who is houseless pull down the house of another; but let him labor diligently and build one for himself, thus by example assuring that his own shall be safe from violence when built." - Abraham Lincoln

"Suppose you were an idiot and suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself." - Mark Twain

"Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one." - Thomas Paine

"Ancient Rome declined because it had a Senate, now what's going to happen to us with both a House and a Senate?" - Will Rogers

"It is only when the people become ignorant and corrupt, when they degenerate into a populace, that they are incapable of exercising their sovereignty." - James Monroe

Video provided by the BRILLIANT DarcPrynce

I think that when you read this column, you will understand why I used the above video, along with Edward's description, for the introduction to it. It is almost as if the video, along with the writing of her friend, was what inspired Patrice Lewis to write this ingenious opus.

As Patrice wrote, "The time has come to decide what you are, a patriot or a loyalist."  And I leave you with this advice that I believe originated with Glenn Beck. Be sure that you always remember these famous words: "Not racist, not violent, just no longer silent." Just sayin'...

The time has come to decide what you are, a patriot or a loyalist. Do you love your country, or do you love your government? As Samuel Adams would say, "If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you."

I don't have a crystal ball. I don't know if a second American revolution is in our future. But I do know the circumstances are eerily similar to what the patriots of 234 years ago endured.

If and when a revolution comes, I will proudly call myself a patriot. If you don't, then "may your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen."

By Patrice Lewis

Posted: August 14, 2010 ~ 1:00 am Eastern

© 2010

I have a wise friend who recently posted something on her blog that stopped me in my tracks. She wrote a piece called "Loyalist or Patriot?" and it's one of the more insightful and truthful analyses I've read in a long time concerning the split in philosophy that is dividing our country. I'll pause here for a moment to let you read her words of wisdom.

Now that you're back, can you understand why I think patriot vs. loyalist is a far more intelligent distinction than the silly categories of Democrat vs. Republican, or even progressive vs. conservative? My friend wrote, "The definition of a loyalist is: 'One who maintains loyalty to an established government, political party, or sovereign, especially during war or revolutionary change.' Conversely, here is the definition of a patriot: 'One who loves and loyally or zealously supports one's own country.' Do you see the difference?"

I don't know about you, but I can see that difference clearly.

Even more telling, the terms patriot and loyalist harken back to the days of the Revolutionary War. During that time, of course, patriots were in favor of forming our own government where our rights would derive from Nature and Nature's God, not the whims of an increasingly tyrannical king. The loyalist wanted to remain under the rule of England, laboring under laws and taxes that, while hateful, were at least familiar.

Have we really progressed so little in the past 234 years that we are still loyal to the "king," or are we merely coming full circle where we find ourselves in nearly the identical situation?

I believe it's the latter. Because here's the thing: We have progressed in the last 234 years. Tremendously. Astoundingly. It is only when we again fettered ourselves with chains of servitude that our progress slowed and then (apparently) ceased altogether, and we find ourselves facing a bitter decision, just as those patriots faced so long ago. Fight or fold?

Looked at in this light, I do not believe it is an accident that the symbolically named tea party sprang to life in the last couple of years and called itself what it did. Nor is it an accident that patriots are uniformly and routinely called racists, domestic terrorists and other evil and undermining epithets by the loyalists.

Concerning the Revolutionary War, the history books tell us the states "collectively determined that the British monarchy, by acts of tyranny, could no longer legitimately claim their allegiance." Substitute "American government" in the above quote and you've got our present circumstances. Oooooh, gives me goose bumps. We're back to where we started.

One thing to keep in mind about the Revolutionary War that often gets forgotten in the mists of time: The patriots were not fighting against an oppressive and tyrannical foreign government. They were fighting their own government. I have no doubt that many Revolutionary patriots were torn up inside because, although they opposed what their government was doing to them, they loved England and they loved the English people. If they embarked on a revolution, they would be fighting their own countrymen.

Sound familiar?

And yet the patriots fought. They fought because they had to. They fought because they could see what lay in store for them if they did not "dissolve the political bands which … connected them with another."

"As I watch our state and federal governments in action," wrote my friend, "I see a wholesale group of loyalists. They are loyal to their programs, they are loyal to their pet projects, and they are loyal to their pocket books. Ultimately, they are loyal to themselves. Nowhere do I see a loyalty to their country or their countrymen." (Emphasis my own)

She's right. When our collective voices of outrage are ignored during the forced and clandestine passage of Obamacare, when our federal debt is ratcheted so high that the interest couldn't be paid even if all of us were taxed 100 percent, when the inhabitants of the White House yawn and shrug and pretend they don't see 1.2 million protesters outside their doors, well, I'm sorry, but these loyalists are as bad or worse in their inventory of outrages than even those listed in the Declaration of Independence 234 years ago.

Increasingly over the past several decades, our governmental elites have demonstrated their loyalty only to themselves and their agendas, not to the best interests of our country as outlined in the Constitution and Bill of Rights.

Worse, loyalists are usually getting something out of their slavish dedication to increased government, either a direct or an indirect personal gain. They are loyal to their pet projects, their pocketbooks and themselves. They don't give a damn about our country. If they did, then (by definition) they would be loyal to the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

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Hey, this Cato Institute is doing something! ~ By Pat Boone

Hmmm.... This was not an easy column to write an intro for. Thanks a lot, Pat, you made me have to think a little harder than usual. But that's okay, because I may have learned a few things in the process.

So, as Pat wrote about the Cato Institute, I was wondering, what was his purpose? That was my main question. Within his commentary, Pat reminds us of this important fact: "This train called America is our train, we own and run it, and the engineer is our employee – it's not the other way around!" And further, Pat tells us that the Cato Institute "is leading the fight against the explosion of government growth." Edward Crane, President and founder of the Cato Institution, says:

...we're hardly 'hunkered down' – or alone. In fact, I have never seen our side more energized and clear-eyed in its commitment to reclaim our liberties and our government from the statists and redistributionists who infest our nation's capital.

And, who is "our side"? The Tea Party Movement, "the still-large majority of Americans who revere the Constitution and abhor big, intrusive an oppressive government." Pat goes on to mention that "Cato literally exists to further the kind of awakening exemplified in the tea-party rallies and marches – and in raucous town-hall meetings politicians increasingly fear to hold."

So, there you go. That is what Pat's column was about. Cato Institute is helping to awake Americans, and sets the example for what you and I need to keep on doing, just like I am doing on this blog... and I'm not even a think tank! Just sayin'...

Our citizens by the millions are demonstrating a growing grass-roots resistance to regimentation and governance by coercion and connivance, and this is terribly upsetting to Rahm Emanuel. Hallelujah!

By Pat Boone

Posted: May 29, 2010 ~ 1:00 am Eastern

© 2010

Are you as frustrated as I am about the constant deluge of bad news, revelations of corruption and negligence and overreaching in government, the growing impression that we're on an out-of-control course, like Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train"?

Are you deeply concerned that an ultra-liberal, even leftist or socialist cabal in and around the White House is binding America with unpayable debt, unreasonable entitlements and unacceptable alterations in everything from education to health care to defense to energy supply? That the sacred Constitution is being shoved aside and misinterpreted by activist judges, from the bottom of the judicial system all the way up to the Supreme Court?

With the presidency and both houses of Congress under the thrall of people who proudly want to "fundamentally transform the United States of America," isn't it increasingly bothersome to you that you seem to have precious little to say about all this?

When up to 80 percent of polled Americans say they want to keep health care the way it has been – and our elected representatives, our "public servants," conspire openly to cram the unwanted policy into law and down our throats – doesn't that leave you wondering, as I have been, whatever happened to "We The People"?

Aside from the valiant media soldiers at Fox News, some talk-radio broadcasters and informative websites like this one, is there anybody doing anything to sound the alarms and apply the brakes on this runaway train?

Yes! Yes, there are some bodies, organizations, fellowships and activist think tanks confronting the engineer of this out-of-control administration train and alerting the passengers to get up and reassert control. This train called America is our train, we own and run it, and the engineer is our employee – it's not the other way around!

If we're going to change this destructive, ominous direction, we must be an aroused, informed, determined, organized … and even a sacrificing citizenry. Just being upset, and grousing and complaining, won't change anything.

In the late 1700s, aroused and persuasive patriots like Thomas Paine called effectively to our forefathers, spurring them to heroic action, which resulted in the formation of our republic. Samuel Adams led like-minded men to oppose oppression and even revolt against the armed oppressors, at great cost but greater victory. And you know, hopefully, about George Washington, Ben Franklin, John Adams and James Monroe.

After the dust settled and a new and vibrant nation was born, Thomas Jefferson warned, "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty."

I want to shine a spotlight on one of the several patriotic groups that are performing today like these forefathers of ours did – the Cato Institute.

George Will said of the organization, "The Cato Institute is the foremost upholder of the idea of liberty in the nation."

Thankfully, there are other think tanks that might lay claim to that accolade, but Cato is at or near the top of the list. The University of Pennsylvania's index of "Global Go-To Think Tanks" ranks Cato fifth in the world. And a 2009 survey commissioned by Foreign Policy magazine of nearly 1,800 think tanks in America listed Cato among the top 10 overall and No. 1 in the category for "Top Think Tanks for Innovative Ideas."

Cato is a public-policy research organization, guided by the principles that animated the founders of this great nation. The distinguished University of Pennsylvania historian, Alan Kors, sees think tanks as a "market response to the intellectual conformity and stagnation in most American universities." In too, too many cases, our colleges are turning out mental robots, not truly educated, openminded and inquiring learners. But when confronted with incontrovertible facts and logical thought – many of these intelligent and potentially influential men and women can see the light.

The light of truth.

An alarm went off, loud and clear, when Barack Obama's chief of staff let slip the strategy behind the health-care power grab when he declared you should "never let a serious crisis go to waste. It's an opportunity to do things that you think you could not do before." Since then, in a shocking display of arrogance and cunning, this administration has created an unfathomable level of "crisis"-related spending that will create at least $1 trillion of deficits per year, for the next decade.

As Cato has revealed, "The total potential federal government support could reach up to $23.7 trillion," according to Neil Barofsky, the special inspector general for the TARP program. Do you think the liberal media are going to report this to us? How can a citizenry protect itself when it doesn't have the real facts?

Bloomberg News, an objective media source, stated last December, "The few remaining limited-government types are hunkered down at Washington's Cato Institute."

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Congratulations, Sen. Brown ~ By Ellis Washington

Commentary from WorldNetDaily

By Ellis Washington Posted: January 23, 2010 ~ 1:00 am Eastern © 2010 Editor's note: Ellis Washington's new radio program, "The Washington Report," airs Thursdays at 11 a.m. Eastern on 1620 AM in Atlanta, Ga. It can be heard online at the Radio Sandy Springs website.

It does not take a majority to prevail ... but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men. ~ Samuel Adams

I love those stirring words of Samuel Adams (1722-1803), one of my favorite historical figures, also known as "The Father of the American Revolution." Would to God we had 535 Samuel Adamses in Congress today. During pivotal times of our history, Massachusetts has been at the epicenter of America's republic. We all remember the two great tea parties that began a tsunami of political reform starting in Massachusetts and quickly spread throughout the country:

• May 10, 1773 – The Boston Tea Party lit the fuse of the American Revolution, which eventually destroyed the shackles of British tyranny, monarchy and confiscatory taxation policies from the colonies;

• April 15, 2009 – The first Tax Day Tea Party was started on Tax Day in Boston, Mass., leading to a steady decline of President Barack Obama in the polls and increasing opposition to his radical Marxist agenda to "remake America," including his socialist health-care program currently stalled in Congress.

The first act of defiance by our forefathers 237 years ago established the republic; the last act will perhaps save our republic from the fascist policies of President Obama and the Democrats. With Tuesday's victory of Scott Brown over Massachusetts Democrat Attorney General Martha Coakley, seismic shock waves were sent across the world. The sword of Damocles now hangs ominously over the head Obama and Majority Leader Harry Reid's tenuous 60 votes required to pass their Marxist health-care bill in the Senate. READ FULL STORY >