How Did America Come To This? ... J. D. Longstreet

How Did America Come To This?

A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

Americans of my generation are not as surprised, as a lot of Americans these days, at the state of our nation.  We saw this coming as far back as fifty years ago.  Look about you today.  THIS is what the glorious “sixties” has wrought.

The Hippies, the Flower Children, the Pot Heads, the whole scraggly, long haired, dope smoking lot of them – now run every consarned thing!

We are just now beginning to pry them out of our government, but the damage they have done to America will take generations to repair.

Remember their communes, and collectives?  They took those socialist ideas right into our state and national legislatures.  Now we are paying the price.

But when they took their socialist ideas into the halls of education they fundamentally changed the nation by indoctrinating at least a generation of America’s children in the socialist ideals.  They downplayed the importance of American history, of America’s democratic constitutional republican form of government. They declared the Constitution is not set in stone.  It is a “living, breathing document” subject to change at the whim of every new generation.

Then they went on to teach our children how great government is as a provider and protector -- sort of a “Big Brother, ya know?”   They hammered home the idea that government should control everything.  See, with the government in control, we’d never have to worry, because the government would provide for our every need.

My generation recognizes that for what it was and is:  Socialism leading to communism. 

They did, and continue to do, a heck of a lot of damage to America.  One of their gifts just keeps on giving:  Ignorance:   

In 2010 I wrote an article titled:  “America’s Golden Age of Ignorance.”  (You may read the entire article HERE.)  In that article I said:  “One can only conclude that America finds herself in the current mess as a direct result of ignorance. “Ignorance of what,” you ask?  I must answer, “Ignorance of practically everything.

Ignorance of America’s colorful political history, and that of the world, is much to blame for the Obama Regime’s continued acceptance by vast numbers of Americans.  But, I am happy to report that number is growing ever smaller as each day passes.

Ignorance of history, as well as of current events, among the populace of any country, can lead to consequences that are truly awful.  Take the election of America’s first socialist government, for instance.  The election of 2006 turned our national legislature into a socialist machine bent on creating an even stronger central government with all the power it could grasp.  Then, in 2008, the capstone of socialist victory in American politics was the election of Barack Hussein Obama.  He promised fundamental change in America.  The politically savvy in America understood he meant to lead America into out and out socialism.  And he did.

Even today, the average democrat voter will deny the existence of a socialist government in America today.  They simply do not recognize it.  I am convinced that ignorance stems from the fact that they were not taught the US Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the genius of America’s founders, and the love of a free constitutional republic that led their ancestors to lay down their lives to protect and preserve the freedom granted by that constitution. That is ignorance.

Back in the day, before teacher’s unions, American students were taught the fundamental concepts of American democracy and the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. We learned, as students, that life in America is a privilege. We learned that freedom is not free, it is preserved by Americans who know its value, even if it means laying down their lives in its defense..

Students also leaned the immeasurable value of The Founding  Documents, the Declaration of Independence, the US Constitution,  and the all important Bill of Rights.  They learned that The Founders said what they meant and meant what they said when writing the constitution.  Students also learned that the US Constitution is a document for the ages.  It is not a living breathing document subject to change at the whim of those citizens who live under its protection.

No longer.  Today we graduate students who cannot read their diplomas, who cannot find Canada and Mexico on a map, and have no idea what the Constitution or the Bill of Rights are!  They have no clue that the  Bill of Rights limits the role of government in the daily lives of Americans.

These are the Americans who placed the so-called democrats in charge of America’s government.  I say “so-called” because those of us who have dabbled in politics, all our adult lives, understand that those in charge of the US government today are not democrats as they would have you believe. They are socialists, Marxists, communists, and progressives. 

So – how WERE they elected? They were elected by people who genuinely thought they were voting for democrats, and by people who don’t care what kind of government we have so long as their place on the government dole is protected and their “hand outs” continue to arrive every month, and by those who were interested only in the power that would accrue to them if socialists controlled the US government.   The latter could not have accomplished this feat without the ignorance of the former, whose votes they knew they could count on.

Ignorance is a dangerous, dangerous, thing.  WE here in America, are only just re-learning this lesson.” (Read the entire article HERE. )

That was my opinion then and it remains my opinion today.

This is a desperate time for America.  We are suffering from self-inflicted wounds.  We will be a long time healing. And there will be scars. There are always scars when the soul of a nation is attacked.

Altho the sun is going down on America, it has not set yet. To insure that it will rise and shine brightly on America again, we must reclaim our government, reclaim the dream that is America, and reclaim America’s status as the greatest nation in the world and the global leader of freedom loving peoples everywhere.

J. D. Longstreet

Rescue and Restore America

Rescue and Restore America
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
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William John Henry Boetcker said the following:

“You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.

You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.

You cannot help little men by tearing down big men.

You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.

You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.

You cannot establish sound security on borrowed money.

You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.

You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than you earn.

You cannot build character and courage by destroying men's initiative and independence.

And you cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they can and should do for themselves.”

The question begging to be asked is: Why the dickens are we doing all these things (as a nation) today?

And, No! Abraham Lincoln is not the author of “The Ten Cannots.” The real author was “William John Henry Boetcker (1873 – 1962). He was an American religious leader and influential public speaker.

According to Wikipedia he was born in Hamburg, Germany, he was ordained a Presbyterian minister soon after his arrival in the United States as a young adult. Rev. Boetcker was raised in Erie, Pennsylvania and ordained in Brooklyn, New York.

He quickly gained attention as an eloquent motivational speaker, and is often regarded today as the forerunner of such contemporary "success coaches" as Anthony Robbins.

An outspoken political conservative, Rev. Boetcker is perhaps best remembered for his authorship of a pamphlet entitled The Ten Cannots. Originally published in 1916, it is often misattributed to Abraham Lincoln. The error apparently stems from a leaflet printed in 1942 by a conservative political organization called the Committee for Constitutional Government. The leaflet bore the title "Lincoln on Limitations" and contained some genuine Lincoln quotations on one side and the "Ten Cannots" on the other, with the attributions switched. The mistake of crediting Lincoln for having been the source of "The Ten Cannots" has been repeated many times since; most notably by Ronald Reagan in a speech he gave at the 1992 Republican convention in Houston.

There are several minor variants of the pamphlet in circulation, but the most commonly accepted version appears” above. (SOURCE)

Everything Rev. Boetcker says in his “Ten Cannots” is true. And yet -- we have a US government not only breaking all these common sense rules, but shattering them. And their malfeasance is taking a tremendous toll on our nation.

If the democrats are successful in punishing the rich with more and higher taxes, do you really think it is they only who will suffer? Do you actually believe they will suffer at all? Of course they won’t. It is you and I, the ordinary Americans of what used to be called the Middle Class, who will bear the weight of those taxes on the rich. The rich simply pass them along, or avoid them completely with their batteries of hi-powered tax lawyers who specialize in protecting their clients from such government levies.

Businesses do the same. They pass those taxes along in the prices of the products they sell to the public. And, when the tax burden becomes too heavy to pass along, they either close up shop, or move off shore where they can continue a profitable business.

Today, America’s economy is operating on borrowed money. The country continues to spend money we do not have thus placing a tremendous burden on the generations of American not yet born. It is THAT bad.

As the aphorisms above say:

“You cannot establish sound security on borrowed money.”

“You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than you earn.”

Buy, hey, the United States government, under the guidance of Obama and the democrats, is doing it every day. We are in a never-ending cycle of “borrow and spend.” We continue to dig the hole we are in deeper. They are going to bring about the total collapse of the US economic system and the political system if they are not soon removed from office.

Above Rev. Boetcker says: “You cannot build character and courage by destroying men's initiative and independence.” But that is exactly what Obama’s socialist agenda is doing to America.

America is on thin ice. In my nearly seventy years on this earth I have never seen my country in such dire straits. Arguably, the US is in more danger today than she was during the Second World War or the Cold War.

That is why the Mid-Term Election, this coming November, is so important. If America is to survive, we must rid ourselves of the menace to our existence. We cannot do that with democrats running the US Senate and the US House of Representatives. They must be relieved of the reins of power in the US. Unfortunately, we are stuck with Obama until 2012. But – we can stop most of his agenda dead in its tracks if we control both houses of Congress.

Look, there is a fight coming. So much depends on whether we can rescue our country at the ballot box. If we cannot, then all bets are off.

I do not want to see my country turn into a “Banana Republic” with a new “revolution” every couple of weeks and small armies, with tin pot generals in charge, roaming the countryside. But, I must tell you; it is most certainly not outside the realm of possibility.

America has been badly wounded by the socialist agenda of Obama and the Democrats. We can begin to bind up her wounds and restore her to health November 2nd, 2010.

America was once a “can do” country. We can be again. But first we must “Rescue and Restore America.” We begin when the polls open on November 2nd.

J. D. Longstreet