We're a Military Family

My dad was in the Army . . . Special Forces . . . where he was wounded four times, shot down three times, and awarded the Silver Star.

Like my dear old Dad, I joined the Army as a teenager. My brother joined the Army the same way. Another brother spent four years in the Navy.

Four of my sons were in the military. One was a teenaged combat engineer sent to Iraq in the spring of 2003, just as that war got started. Lots of tears the morning we dropped him off, not knowing if we'd ever see him again. Another son volunteered for the Army and served in an Intelligence Company.

Another son volunteered for the Infantry and spent four years in the famed Stryker Brigade. He was in combat in Iraq, nearly constantly, for a year. He fought in Fallujah, Samarrah, Tal Afar, Mosul and a dozen other places. His wife and children paid the price of families who stay behind and wonder about the safety of their soldier.

Another son was a flight navigator on a spy plane in the Air Force. He spent so much time away from home, flying over Korea and the Middle East, that his poor wife and young son wondered whether the Air Force would really be as 'family friendly' as they thought. He got out of the Air Force as a Captain, after 8 years.

I love and support the men and women who make the effort to join the military.

However, I want to comment about the bureaucracy that places them in harm's way.

Stop sending America's sons and daughters to war unless you really need them there. If you want them to show up in these dangerous zones, don't shackle them with Rules of Engagement that place their lives in a lower priority than the bad guys.

Don't send them at all, unless there's an absolute need to destroy evil. Violence against humanity must be viewed as either 0% necessary, or 100% necessary.

You can't wage war if it's only 95% necessary.

You can't wage war without killing innocent people.

You can't wage war without destroying homes, cities and places of worship.

Stop spilling our American blood, and the blood of others, unless it's 100% necessary.

It's my opinion, that the Americans dying in Iraq and Afghanistan, are dying in vain. Why? Because rather than sending them to DESTROY THE BAD GUYS AT ALL COSTS, and come home, we're sending them to limited engagements, shackled by rules, in a war that could be WON, but is instead allowed to drag on and on.

We could never have defeated the Nazi's or the Japanese Empire by fighting this way.

America's treasure and her blood must be more highly valued than this.

Destroy the bad guys or bring the troops home.

I loved Ronald Reagan

I loved Ronald Reagan. Truly loved the man. My soul thrilled every time he spoke. His speeches were like scripture for me.

I have vivid recollections of the morning President Ronald Reagan was shot. I was home with three little boys and we immediately knelt in a circle and prayed for his life to be spared. I had tears in my eyes throughout the day until it was clear that he would survive the bullet to his left lung.

Below are some of my favorite Ronald Reagan quotes.

"Above all, we must realize that no arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is so formidable as the will and moral courage of FREE men and women. It is a weapon our adversaries do not have."

"All great change in America begins at the family dinner table."

"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same."

"Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them."

"Government's first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives."

"Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. If it stops moving, subsidize it."

"If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, we will become one nation gone under."

"It has been said that politics is the second oldest profession. I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first."

"Some people wonder all their lives if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem."

"Mr. Gorbachev . . . Tear Down This Wall!"

I loved Ronald Reagain. Truly loved the man.

Hillsdale College

For years now, I've been on the mailing list for the 'Imprimis'. It's a monthly newsletter published by Hillsdale College. Hillsdale is a private, conservative college that will not accept government money. Won't even accept students who accept government money. No PELL Grants, no financial aid, not even ROTC programs. Hillsdale is completely, entirely private.

Every month there is a lecture delivered by a top authority on government, constitution and reality. Public Schools don't even know what those things are.

This month's Imprimis featured a lecture by Professor Charles R. Kesler. He made a statement that struck home and I wanted to share his comment. His address was about the liberal mentality that government, not God or Man, has the responsibility to provide equality and sustenance to the people.

He said, "Virtue was the way free people used to deal with their necessities. It took industry, frugality, and responsibility, for example, to go to work every morning to provide for your family. It took courage to handle the fears that inevitably come with life, especially in old age. But the new social and economic rights tended to undercut such virtues, subtly encouraging men and women to look to the government to provide for their needs and then to celebrate that dependency as if it were true freedom."

Wow . . . I love clarity like that.

Read the whole article and subscribe to the newsletter at hillsdale.edu

I Just Got Profiled

I took a quiz on Facebook. It is supposed to measure how conservative or liberal you are. I answered the questions honestly and the darn thing came back and said I was 'Very Far Right Conservative, to the point of being nearly anarchistic.'

Hmmmm . . . just because I carry a 9mm G23 Glock with a high capacity magazine filled with hollow points, and I wave the American Flag, and go to TEA Parties, and I HATE intrusion from the government, and joined 'Oath Keepers', and oppose abortion, and Love the Savior, and am willing to die in the streets fighting to defend the Constitution, and will NEVER give up my G23 until someone pries it from my cold, dead fingers, means I'm Far Right??!!

I just got profiled!!!!

Who Am I?

I am a man who doesn't litter. Taught my sons and daughters the same. I am a man who judges others by the content of their character, not by the color of their skin.

I stand for goodness and decency wherever it is found. I stand for religious freedom and for equity among all people. I stand for the sacred principles of peace and equality for all. And I stand for the Dream of Martin Luther King.

I stand for love and generosity.

But I stand against oppressive government. And I stand against the huge bureaucracy that steals the wealth of hard working Americans. And I stand against any politician who puts self ahead of ethics and morality. And I stand against taxation and public debt that is heaped upon us out of greed and socialistic policies.

I have a zero tolerance policy toward any governmental policy that presumes the government owns my rights and merely doles them out to me at it's own desire.

I own every right known to mankind. The government is allowed to restrict those rights only when there is a prevailing public interest to do so.

Any law wthat invades my rights is worth fighting over . . . and dying for.

When I Grow Up I Wanna Be Just Like Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson once said, "Timid men prefer the calm of despotism over the tempestuous seas of liberty."

I agree with him. Evidence surrounds us. At the risk of my life, I choose the rougher seas.