T Minus 7 Days to Election 2020: Thoughts

 T Minus 7 Days to Election 2020: Thoughts

   Socialism is the stepping stone, or pit stop, on the way to communism. Marx himself said so. The more centralized government becomes, the more totalitarian it gets. This is the frightening course on which these United States is on in the year 2020. A loud mouth business man vs. a progressive leftist Alzheimer's patient, and a Marxist. One must ask, what are the leftist progressives progressing toward? The only logical answer is: Communism. 

   This communist takeover has happened over many decades, begun most likely, with the presidency of Woodrow Wilson, and "progressing" steadily since. The communists have been very patient. Remaining in the shadows at first by infiltrating the education of the citizenry from kindergarten, up. They skewed history lessions to their agenda, withheld truths, and vilified the most prosperous system ever created; Capitalism, the free market. 

   No system of government has lifted more people out of poverty, created wealth, fostered innovation, and raised the standard of living, as Capitalism. Especially when that system lives in a representative republic. Communism on the other hand, has led invariably to shortages of essential goods, increased proverty, the quashing of innovation, vast abridgements on freedom of speech (resulting in political imprisonment), torture, and ultimately, the death of millions of innocent people, all while systematically chipping away at all of the rights of the individual. There is no freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion, or any other unalienable rights, within the communist system. The people become slaves of the government, and if one believes otherwise, they are clouded by delusion, and institutional brainwashing.

   Thomas Paine wrote, "These are the times that try men's souls" in December of 1776, before Washington crossed the Delaware River during the War for Independence. Some 244 years hence, and here we go again. When will we ever learn? Sadly, it may be never, certainly not before my generation passes. It is a terrifying prospect, and one that worries so many. Worry however, is not enough: Action is necessary. Action not in the form of violence, for that is a futile and destructive endeavor. No, we must act with our vote. In order to preserve the Union, we must vote against those who hold leftist principles and vote for the conservation of the values on which we were founded; those based on the individual and the immutable characteristics of a moral people, thos that maintain freedom, the rights of each and every person, the preservation of law and order, the free market, innovation, and, dare it be written; American Exceptionalism.  We must vote to  honor the spirit and intent of the Founders and their documents which were written with the open eyes and the ultimate purpose of protecting us from our most obvious, and oft chosen obscured enemy: Ourselves.

     

8 PM March 16, 2020: A Moment That Will Live in Infamy

    Four hours before St. Patrick's Day, and nobody in New Jersey would be permitted to go out celebrating in their favorite pub. Why might this be? Well, at around 6 PM our illustriously evil governor, decided that all bars and restaurants should close at 8 PM, until further notice, in order to "flatten the curve" and ameliorate hospital impact from a virus that is currently traversing the globe. It is the novel coronavirus, or COVID19. It's not just the food service industry affected. Oh, no. There is a list of business-types that were deemed non-essential, including gyms, theaters, clothing stores, and other such service-providing establishments. The mandate includes a quarantine of the healthy, an 8 o'clock PM "suggested curfew," and stay-at-home orders with an admonition to only leave your home for necessary trips to the grocery stores. 

     Unfortunately, this unprecidented tyrannical act is not singular. Some states have been in lockdown for several days to weeks. Tyranny is the order of the day; with complete abridgement of our unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Governors are giddy about wielding their executive orders and dictatorial stop-gap measures. They are intoxicated with power, and New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy is prominent among the drunkards. Andrew Cuomo of New York, Gavin Newsome of California, Net Lamont of Connecticut, and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan also top the list of the most power-hungry. There will certainly be more to follow.

     Businesses of all kinds are scrambling to find solutions to the government overreach. Plans are being made for remote working. Jobs that were traditionally in an office setting, which allowed for fullment of more than just income, but also socialization are being shuttered in favor of isolation. Children are forced from their classrooms to their homes to learn solely online in virtual settings. This is criminal, unconstitutional and amoral.

     The most disconcerting of the developments is the response of the populace to accept, and obey, what is being forced onto them. Not only are these measures being accepted, they are welcomed. What has happened to this country? Why are we looking to government for guidance to a health issue? A science issue? It makes no sense to me. Although we are a secularly established country, it seems that the left has succeeded in turning government into a religion. What a terrifying development! It is the same road that Stalin, Mao, Kim Il Sung, Pol Pot, and other totalitarian despots traveled, only here the leftist indroctrination of our youth has them going, not kicking and screaming as I, and my fellow conservatives, but willingly... almost gleefully.  America is once again in crisis and the immortal words of the great freedom-thinking Thomas Paine are once again sadly relevant: "These are the times that try men's souls." Indeed!

Standing with the Shot Heard 'Round the World

"By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood,
And fired the shot heard round the world."

Concord Hymn, by Ralph Waldo Emerson
First read, July 4, 1837 at the North Bridge, Concord, Massachusetts 

     Earlier in the month, while visiting New England on the eighth day of the U.S. government shutdown, I visited the towns of Lexington and Concord Massachusetts where on the nineteenth of April, 1775 the colonists battle for independence from the tyranny of King George of England began in earnest. First on the Green in Lexington, a shot was fired causing a skirmish and 7 colonist Minutemen and one frightened, fleeing civilian were killed and a dozen more injured. The Redcoats had two members sustain minor injuries. The vastly outnumbered militia retreated to Concord, across the North Bridge over the Connecticut River as reinforcements arrived from Boston and the surrounding area. Both sides deny firing the shot and local folk lore suggests that Samuel Adams, who was visiting town at the time discharged his firearm as an act of characteristic mischief possibly hoping to catalyze the situation out of stagnation. 

    I stood there on the Green and contemplated what must have been a terrifying time for Colonists and Loyalists alike. The colonies were were at unrest with a vocal minority pointing out over taxation, tyranny and crying for freedom while a mostly silent majority were resigned and not wanting to rock the boat of the status quo. (Hm. That sounds familiar.) Whomever fired that shot on the green was the singular catalyst of the Revolution. What were the Minutemen thinking as they retreated to Concord to await orders?  Did they know their course was set? These were questions I pondered as I traveled the few miles from Lexington to stand where the orders were given to engage the Redcoats and begin the battle for independence and the unique freedom and personal liberty that would accompany it as labor began in the birth of the United States of America.
     Before heading to the North Bridge, I toured what is known as "The Old Manse" a famous house because the original parcel encompassed the land where the first battle began and also because a century later great literature, poetry and transcendental philosophy were born there in the minds of Alcott, Thoreau, Hawthorn and Emerson. In a corner of one of the rooms of the manse stood a grandfather clock which was ticking that famous day as the War for Independence began only a few hundred paces away. The clock is tenderly cared for and regularly wound, and I heard it keeping time that day. I was awed by the ticking and the thought of all the history the clock had survived. I thought too of the linear perception of time, the sequential nature of progress and the cumulative acquisition of knowledge over the centuries. It seemed immediately clear to me that without the Revolution, the great writers and thinkers would not have evolved. How could the evolution of the mind occur without freedom? It does not seem possible. Tyranny and oppression must halt progress, good and bad alike. These thoughts consumed me as I exited the house and began the short walk to the North Bridge.
   Fieldstone fences in place for centuries separated the property into sections and I followed the path next to one of them which led to the bridge. I then had to cross the line where the sign said I could not enter because the area was closed due to the government shutdown.  It was fleetingly disconcerting that in order to experience the bridge and the battlefield I had to break the law, but there was no fear for others had ventured past before me. Also, by definition, Federal land is owned by the citizens. It was my land and the land of my ancestors for I am indeed a direct descendant, on my mother's side, of a soldier of the American Revolution.
    I approached the bridge in wooded shade as the Redcoats did and noticed a plain obelisk at the nearest end of the bridge. Off to the side was a small memorial for those British soldiers who lost their lives in the battle. On the base were etched in golden print, the words that began this post. Past the obelisk the woods gave way to the river and the bridge itself was bright with sunshine as was the field where the fighting took place.  Again I was faced with a metaphor: emerging from the dark side of tyranny into the light of freedom. I crossed the bridge slowly, my mind attempting to grasp the enormous importance of what happened there, trying to take it in and connect to history itself. 
    On this side of the bridge stood a sculpture of a Minuteman, an armed citizen soldier willing to die for his freedom and the freedom of his fellow countrymen. He was perched atop a tall base with quotations from founders and generals. Beyond the statue was where battle took place and blood was shed, where good men died and the march to freedom began. It was a solemn place which caused me to pause before daring to walk out onto the sun-drenched gently rolling field. It was there, in the middle of the field, looking at the bridge from the colonists perspective, where my mind started reeling.

     I found myself comparing my place in history with theirs. Once again, this land is ruled by tyranny and too many of the freedoms for which men fought in this place have been severely limited or taken away. This is a great tragedy. Would the grand experiment in freedom begun that day a short 238 years ago be ending the same way it began?  I shutter at the thought and if I think about it too long I become filled with anxiety, even fear that I will live to see the demise of freedom with nowhere left on earth to preserve it.  I do not want to see this.  I would prefer to die before it occurs, or perhaps I will die trying to turn the tide back to liberty.  I do not know. The sense of mourning I felt as I stood in the middle of that field was deep and real.  We need the next round of patriots: another Samuel Adams, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and the others.  Who will rise to the occasion and the cause of freedom?  Could such individuals be living today?  Will they make themselves known so that we who witness the destruction can hold out and hope for a return to a country that aligns with the founders vision of freedom, equal justice under the law and the rights of the individual being more important than the collective, where personal responsibility is the norm?  A girl can dream.... Right?