Tag Archives: Democracy

Current Events

The Schuylkill County “We The People”

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Still on the road in Charleston, SC, but had to force myself to post another barn burner and a must read from Greg. We are in great danger folks in case you have not realized it yet. God help us!!

“We the People”

By: G. Maresca

Like 48 years ago, it was a hot August day when another unprecedented historical unintended consequence entered the American chronicle when President Richard Nixon resigned his office. Being a paperboy and a two-sewer stickballer, I took time out of my summer vacation to watch the proceedings on network television.

This time I did not watch as another presidential first went down as a 30-member FBI platoon with weapons drawn burst into the home of a former president, The nine-and-a-half-hour marathon raid’s legacy is another despondent day for the American republic.

The raid was another exemplar of how federal agencies have been weaponized against the Constitution they are sworn to defend and protect. Maybe it was another variant of the Trump Derangement Syndrome and a warning to all MAGA supporters of what awaits them.

Parlay all three.

The raid certainly raises constitutional questions and any prosecution under the Espionage Act would be a reach yet remains to be seen.

After the Clintons removed spoils from the White House, no FBI raid occurred despite clearly underestimating the value of what was taken. Donald Trump’s circumstance should have been handled with the same discretion. Instead of the raid, a legal action in conjunction with the National Archives would have sufficed.

Leave it to the Babylon Bee this generation’s version of Mad Magazine to find levity: “The FBI raid on Melania’s closet was justified,” says Attorney General Merrick Garland while wearing a gorgeous new evening gown and sun hat.”

Where are the federal investigations of Hillary Clinton’s bleached servers, Hunter Biden’s laptop and illicit dealings with foreign governments, and Rep. Eric Swalwell’s intimate relationship with a Chinese spy, or the longstanding parade of Democrats sailing off to Epstein’s Island?

Democrats and the bureaucratic swamp creatures they breed have done everything to Trump short of assassinating him. Trump continues to live rent free in their heads but now as a private citizen.

The recently passed Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is another ill-advised bill directed at reducing inflation and climate change that will prevent neither. The IRA should be renamed the IRS Enforcement Act as it will supersize the agency by adding 87,000 more agents, arming the IRS with more agents than the Marine Corps has Marines. The bill will not only raise but convolute the tax code even further, stagnating the economy leading to diminished investments in a stock market that is more roller coaster than Ferris wheel.

Democrats and the Washington bureaucratic swamp possess a hearty appetite for self-preservation and understand that the only Republican whom President Biden could defeat in 2024 is Trump. Attacking Trump compels Republicans to rally to his defense making him a likely candidate in 2024.

As the nation continues on its tight rope, Benjamin Franklin’s prophetic words ring louder: “We created a republic, if you can keep it.”

The average life expectancy for an empire is 250 years.

Over two centuries ago, a Scotsman and a contemporary of Franklin named Alexander Tytler, made the insightful reflection that a democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government especially when the electorate discovers it can vote itself largess out of the public treasury. Democracy then collapses into a dictatorship.

The impetus to respond on a local level to our ailing, late-stage empire was not lost on Jim Eisenhart, a Schuylkill County native, who recently formed a “We The People” non-partisan, grassroots group dedicated to educating and discussing Constitutional government.

There is an Edmund Burke quality to Eisenhart’s efforts whom like Burke, the 18th century Irish statesman who served in the British House of Commons, understands that the hallmark of a healthy society is reconciliation of the present and the future to the past.

The U.S. Constitution is the sovereign law of the land and remains the font from which protections against government overreach springs. For it is the Constitution that bounds the power of the federal government, not enables it. People must realize that it is them, not the government that holds the power.

The first three words of the Constitution sum it up concisely and the Schuylkill County “We The People” group will hold their second meeting at the Fountain Springs Country Inn at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 15.

When will we wake up folks and take back our country? I cannot imagine an IRS larger than the United States Marine Corps. Can you? Why?

Current Events

A Crime Scene Where the Victims Wore Masks

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We, as normal Americans, are too stupid to have any opinions or to think for ourselves — so believe our elected officials, especially those from the entire administration, even some of our GOP RINOS. But I sincerely believe their day is coming with each passing month until doomsday in November. God, help us to be able to sustain sanity until then. A very well written piece from the WSJ

From the Wall Street Journal

FREE EXPRESSION

By Gerard Baker

A Crime Scene Where the Victims Wore Masks

As terrified passengers stumbled from the train at the 36th Street station in Brooklyn last week, it was noticeable how many of them were complying with the mandate that to enjoy the privilege of venturing into the underground abyss known as the New York City Subway system, you must be wearing a face covering.

There they were, desperately fleeing a gunman or bravely helping rescue injured passengers, but still dutifully playing their part in the absurdist theatre of pandemic regulations scripted and directed for us by our little overlords.

Those flimsy pieces of fabric might have offered some minimal protection from the noxious fumes of the smoke bombs that Frank James allegedly set off in that subway car. But they were never going to be a match for the bullets fired from the 9mm semiautomatic handgun recovered at the scene. Many innocents were wounded, and it is something of an Easter miracle that no one was killed. For the millions of people who have dared to ride the city’s subway this year, the greatest danger to life isn’t some escaped molecule of a virus of rapidly diminishing potency. That exiguous risk is dwarfed by the combined threat of being pushed in front of an oncoming train, stabbed, hit in the head by a psycho with a hammer, robbed at gunpoint or being sexually assaulted. The number of robberies on the subway so far in 2022 is up 72% from the same period in 2021. There is no easily discover-able record of how many maskless riders have been struck down this year by Covid.

It’s hard to think of a tableau that better captures the disordered priorities of our governing classes than that scene in Brooklyn.

The politicians and bureaucrats who run almost all major cities, many states and the federal executive branch seem to care more about preserving the symbol of their authority that mask mandates represent than about the actual physical safety of citizens. In their warped ideology, crime is the result of material deprivation, prejudice and wicked police officers. The real need for enforcement is shown by those tempted to show their faces in public.

Masks are only an example. It’s hard to recall a time in recent American history when there has been such a monumental mismatch between the priorities of the people who govern us and the needs of the people. On issue after issue—crime, inflation, immigration— we have leaders so entrenched in their ideological priors that they seem incapable of, even uninterested in, addressing the actual challenges faced by hard-pressed Americans. Joe Biden was at it again last week with inflation. It has been clear for a long time that the return of this old horror is the largest threat to living standards and economic stability. But acknowledging that would have required the Democrats to abandon their ideological goals of ever-higher spending and forced them to reorder their governing priorities. So they didn’t.

Now, unable to dismiss it anymore, they have offered not a serious set of policies to relieve inflationary stresses, but a series of public-relations gimmicks that will have virtually no alleviating impact. Lifting the summertime ban on blended ethanol fuel will be about as effective in addressing higher energy costs as publicly shaming greedy corporations or blaming Vladimir Putin.

On immigration, the administration instinctively reflects a progressive mindset that regards border control as racist. It spent the better part of a year undoing the immigration restrictions imposed by its predecessor. As the inevitable border surge swelled, it feigned some concern. Now, as apprehensions of aliens in border areas reach their highest level in 22 years, what is its response? The repeal of Title 42, a measure that had been effective in curbing illegal crossings.

Interestingly, as the pandemic rationale for that measure is no longer deemed operative, the administration insists elsewhere that the emergency continues when it suits it. So, even as the nation yearns to return to normality, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week announced another extension, for 15 days, of the federal mask mandate on airplanes and public transportation. It had been scheduled to end this Monday at long last. (And on Monday a judge in Tampa, Fla., held that the mandate exceeded the CDC’s statutory authority.)

On it goes. from needless bailouts for student loans to a fixation on sacrificing energy capacity in pursuit of long-term climate goals, Democrats display an unerring focus on aims Americans don’t see as pressing—or even necessary.

Obdurate insistence in the face of evidence of both rising unpopularity and accumulating failure is a common political flaw. No leader willingly acknowledges the irrelevancy of his policies. but it seems to be especially embedded in the modern progressive philosophy that the rulers know best; that they, by dint of their scientific expertise and moral superiority better understand our true needs.

Like all such authoritarian conceits, it doesn’t survive long in a democratic environment. That helps explain why leftists are so panicked at the thought of losing control over information, why they feel so threatened at the thought that a communications channel such as Twitter might fall out of their hands. Anything that challenges their right to go on pursuing their priorities is “disinformation.”

But it won’t take the intervention of a rogue billionaire to restore democratic equilibrium. A popular reckoning is coming.

November 8th 2022 is the Democrat’s  D-day. Get ready Americans!

 

Current Events

Biden’s Briar Patch

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What is going on in the swamp these days? There is always so much going on among the creatures, tis hard to stay tuned up. Recv’d this missive from my good friend, fellow Marine Brother, Greg, this a.m. Biden just cannot stay out of trouble. To quote a famous Philosopher, “Stupid is what stupid is.” Why do so many of his remarks, promises, and decisions come back to bite him in the backside? Well, this one surely will. Stay tuned.

By: G. Maresca

With Republicans poised to win back the Senate after the November midterm election, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, who is the court’s second-longest serving member, announced his retirement at the end of the court’s term this summer.

Biden promised during the 2020 South Carolina primary that provided he was elected his first appointment to the nation’s highest court would be a Black woman. Biden prefers identity politics taking precedent over qualifications.

Perhaps Biden is trying to make up for the fact that when George W. Bush nominated Janice Rogers Brown, a black woman for the U.S. Court of Appeals, she was opposed and filibustered by Sen. Biden. Brown was eventually confirmed and then nominated by Bush for the Supreme Court but replaced by Samuel Alito due to Biden’s opposition. In 1987, Biden bashed renowned judge Robert Bork, a Ronald Reagan Supreme Court nominee, so maliciously that he transformed Bork’s name into a verb.

Biden weaves a long and sordid tale with Supreme Court nominees, so don’t be fooled by this latest “first” just ask Janice Rogers Brown.

Biden’s appointment record speaks volumes with Kamala Harris as Vice President and Jennifer Granholm as Secretary of Energy – pure ideological selections. Biden’s first year has been a disaster yet, he continues along the same path as he kowtows to the extreme elements of his party. By announcing his intention to only consider black women, Biden insults his nominee, the court and nation.

Biden did his nominee a disfavor and thus put her judicial qualifications in question for the remainder of her career. The search will be limited to roughly 2% of the national lawyer consortium, which narrows the pool tremendously, while handcuffing the best candidates.

Biden’s nominee will not change the court’s balance of power but it will make it much younger.

The nation deserves a robust debate about the nominee, whether Black, Hispanic White, Asian, man, or woman. Diversity does not afford one to accurately read the law better. The increasing acceptance that gender and race, rather than individual merit, is the most important characteristic no matter how well-intended, should raise fervent alarm.

Even if the nominee was the best, she is denigrated by being chosen for race and gender rather than capabilities and credentials. She will certainly not get the disgraceful grilling that Kavanaugh received at his nomination hearing. Nor will she be asked why does any accomplished Black woman stoop to being played as a political pawn?

Biden was reminded that nominating Diana Ross to the Supremes happened a long time ago and he should select Kamala Harris already a torchbearer as the first woman who was Jamaican and Indian to become a Black woman.  Oh yeah, do that Biden, good choice. Wait, stop, watch this short video.

Replacing Harris with a competent vice president would enhance Biden’s ticket should he run again, or who can lead the ticket if he is unable.  

Biden said he will miss Breyer, as he is especially fond of his chocolate ice cream. Wait, stop, sorry to interrupt again, but watch this short clip of our clear thinking president

Naturally, any criticism of Biden’s pick will be treated as racist and misogynistic.

Once upon a time in America, Martin Luther King’s dream had relevance: “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

Many who observe King’s legacy embrace racism and sexism and fool no one.

Rather, they threaten and intimidate.

Biden treats the Constitution as a mere suggestion rather than the nation’s foundational law while failing to live up to his oath to faithfully uphold it.

Democrats run government by quota, rather than merit. Meritocracy is dead as race, gender, religion or lack thereof, is what characterizes contemporary America and not for the better.

This fall, the Supreme Court will hear arguments regarding race discrimination in admissions at Harvard and the University of North Carolina. Biden’s nominee, who gained her seat by race and gender, will now adjudicate such cases.

Breyer’s last line of his resignation letter reads: “Throughout, I have been aware of the great honor of participating as a judge in the effort to maintain our Constitution and the rule of law.”

That should be priority one.

Sadly, it is anything but.

Ice Cream anyone?

 

Current Events

The Woke of July

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Well here we are the first day of a new month, a summer month, when folks should be planning vacations to the beaches, the lakes, the mountains, or many of the places this once great nation has  to offer. And what’s even more significant about this month is it includes our nation’s birthday. Personally, I am concerned about the future of its birthday. In fact, this just might be the last time any of us get to celebrate the Republic of the “United” States of America. How sad is that, but then I will have celebrated the founding of our nation 80 times this July 4th. How many my children, grandchildren and  great grandchildren  will be able to celebrate I haven’t a clue. Why? The answer is simple, but if you do not know why, you are reason.

By Greg Maresca

As the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia concluded on September 17, 1787, Benjamin Franklin was asked what kind of government do we have? “A Republic,” he replied, “if you can keep it.”

Stripped to its essence as the nation attempts to celebrate its 245th birthday, Franklin’s challenge needs examination and any newspaper will do.

The nation’s president says: “America is back”— back to the 1970s with increased inflationary spending, high gas and food prices and compounded global threats. Not to be outdone, he also claims the Constitution does not protect our right to own “assault weapons” because “if you wanted, or if you think you need to have weapons to take on the government, you need F-15s and maybe some nuclear weapons.”

Sen. Dick Durbin’s remarks on the Equality Act was equally as telling. “Catholic” Durbin ran counter to the church’s disapproval to the legislation as it discriminates against Christians and the unborn. Durbin quantified, “I do believe that people who want to blatantly discriminate and use religion as their weapon have gone too far. We have to have limits on what they can do. I might remind us in history that the Ku Klux Klan was not burning question marks.”

Equating those who adhere to biblical morality with the KKK, does not bode well for any reasoned debate about religious freedoms in the future and those arguments are forthcoming.

Welcome to July 4, 2021, where courage is a boy declaring himself a girl and athletically competing against them. It is a place where the Internal Revenue Service denied a Christian nonprofit tax-exempt status because the Bible’s “teachings are typically affiliated with the Republican Party.” This disqualifies them from exemption under Section 501(c)(3), according to the Washington Examiner.

Don’t dare joke about Newark, New Jersey that erected a 700-pound bronze statue of George Floyd or utter “all lives matter.” Do not expect to keep your job at Space Force if you criticize the evils of Marxism, or post on Facebook how the COVID vaccine made you sick.

Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Carl Nassib’s pronouncement that he is gay made national headlines. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell spoke directly to the wokeism cult saying, “The NFL family is proud of Carl for courageously sharing his truth today.” Evidently, the highest leftist virtue is discovering one’s personal truth, and expecting approval for doing so.

A transgender BMX bike rider who qualified as an alternate for the U.S. at the Tokyo summer Olympics said her goal was to win an Olympic medal “so I can burn a U.S. flag on the podium.” In a spirited nation, she would be immediately nixed from the team. Yet, certain folks will lionize her.

Some police departments have stood by as looting and burning goes unabated and where statues of Columbus and Lincoln are toppled, while the law is applied asymmetrically on the basis of ideology and race.

Technology tycoons exploit the cult of woke to attack those who have dissenting views including a former president. In Biden’s America, the Federal Reserve is now telling employees to avoid “biased terms like Founding Fathers.”

Governors and mayors have used a virus to deny constitutional freedoms of assembly, religion and speech. Society can be juxtaposed to the condition of that Miami condominium before its collapse. Cracks in our moral and spiritual foundations threaten our future.

Undoubtedly, you can add to this list – daily.

We have abandoned the concepts of a republic for a democracy.

The Constitution’s framers were adamantly against tyranny of the majority. The Founders framed a representative republic that Franklin’s famous quote underscored with designated checks-and-balances.

Over two centuries ago, English historian Alexander Tytler believed, “A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the majority discovers it can vote itself largess out of the public treasury.” The Wall Street Journal reports nearly half the nation is now on the federal dole.

If you believe America is humanity’s noblest construct of nation and spirit, the moment to stand up and be counted is upon us.

Doing nothing will only accelerate the deep-seated conversion from a constitutional republic into a one-party socialist government.

What better time to step-up than the nation’s birthday?

I will attend church on Sunday with my bride, come home, and revel in the fact we are still a Republic that is 245 years old. It may be the last time I will be able to do that, and not because I will have passed, but my Republic did. Sad!