September 25, 2013

What Have We Done?

By Tammy Derouin

Our country is lost.  The citizens of the United States have been turning a blind eye to the destructive actions of our President.  It’s beyond belief how so many Americans can support a president who shows nothing but disdain for our country.  They follow blindly without checking his actions. 

Our President has been undermining our principles and stripping us of our freedoms ever since he took the oath of office.  Prior to being elected, he boldly stated what he intended to do.  Nobody really thought he meant exactly what he said.  It was all political verbiage.  An American president wouldn’t willfully destroy our country, would he?

Will the act of treason move people?  This past week President Obama waived a federal law to prevent the supply of arms to terrorist. Now the good old U.S.A. will be able to provide military assistance to “vetted” terrorist fighting in Syria or anywhere else I suppose.  Some of these groups are radical Islamic terrorist who were responsible for the September 11, 2001 attack on the United States.

Our President is arming, aiding and abetting our enemy.  This is treason!  The Constitution clearly states, “Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort.”  It also states, “No person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act…”  I think we have more than two witnesses. 

On the eve of the September 11 anniversary, the President went on television and told the American people that we have to go to war.  We have to fight with, and in support of Al-Qaeda.  The arrogance of this President knows no bounds.  Al-Qaeda attacked us.  They want to destroy the United States.  Our President wants to arm and fight with them, as an ally. 

President Obama waived a law that was put in place due to the September 11 attack.  By waiving the law he wouldn’t be breaking the law.  We couldn’t have a president in violation of a law now could we?  Eric Holder won’t prosecute him for continuously violating our Constitution.  Why should he be concerned about breaking a little law?  The fact that he waived the law is proof that he knows he’s arming terrorists, which is against the law or rather was against the law.  The fact that he is giving aid and comfort to our enemy is treason.

The President is given the ability to waive this law but only if he, “determines that the transaction is essential to the national security interests of the United States.”  On September 9, 2013 Obama said, “…But the notion that Mr. Assad could significantly threaten the United States is just not the case.”  So what is the case?  Why does the President want to partner with those who wish to destroy us?  Al-Qaeda’s current leader wants to “…bleed America economically.”  He also states, “…Americans, after all, are humans who can be defeated, felled and punished.”  Why does our president want to partner with Al-Qaeda?

The President has shown nothing but contempt for our Constitution.   He knows it limits his power.  He’s studied it.  He knows how to dismantle it.  The founders knew what they were doing when they established a government with checks and balances.  How many times have we heard the President state he will act on his own, that he won’t wait for Congress or he will go around Congress? 

If the President is simply going to write the law, which isn’t his job according to the Constitution, why bother having a Congress?  If the President is going to appoint people to rule in his favor and not prosecute him or those in his administration, why bother with the judicial branch?  If the President isn’t going to be checked, why have an election?  The president is slowly eliminating the need for the other two branches.  Without the other two branches, we are no longer free.   If we are no longer free, we have no need for a president.  We have a dictator.     

Our country is indeed lost.  If we don’t recognize the facts and see them for what they are, we will never be able to find our way back to being the exceptional nation we once were.

The Revolutionary War was fought because one person, a king, imposed his will and disregarded the will of the people.  The king could act as judge, jury and executioner.  What have we done America, what have we done?

“We must watch and wait to seize any opportunity to direct a large strike on (America), even if that takes years of patience to do it.”

Ayman al-Zawahri

Al-Qaeda Leader

 

 

 

September 18, 2013

Knock Out Punch

By Tammy Derouin

There was a time when Americans were not easily fooled.  We had a no-nonsense attitude.  Cut to the chase and don’t try to sell me something that isn’t true or just plain stupid.  We have a word for that but I’ll let you use your imagination.  We used to demand proof if we thought someone was trying to pull the wool over our eyes.  Now we look at a wolf and obediently say it’s a sheep.  We no longer control the fire, the fire controls us.

Our confidence was shaken on September 11, 2001.  We were the victim of heinous crime.  The strongest nation in the world with the best security money could buy became a victim on the global stage.  What went wrong?  Attacks of this magnitude only happened in other countries.  The days of feeling safe and secure at home were gone forever.  But that’s not all that went wrong.

We were violated and we wanted to feel safe and secure once again.  In our haste we began to disregard the Constitution.  When you or someone you love is violated, you immediately look for better ways to protect them.  But at what cost, independence and the ability to think for yourself?

All the locks you can install and all the cameras you can mount will not stop a determined individual from gaining access or causing harm.  It will however, make the person you’re trying to protect feel like a prisoner.  Eventually you won’t trust the one you are trying to protect.   You’ve decided they aren’t capable of making decisions.  You decide when they come and go, whom they associate with and what they say and do.  It’s for their protection.

When your personal rights and space are violated, you feel defenseless.  Has your space ever been ransacked?  Were your belongings and personal papers ever searched and read without your knowledge?  When you realized something so sinister had taken place, did you discover anything missing?  Were you told you couldn’t have what was rightfully yours?  Has your activity ever been secretly monitored?  Have you ever been followed or tracked?  Has your mail been opened or your email password compromised?  Have you ever been told that you were given the opportunity to explain your private thoughts, feelings and ideas but you weren’t actually told that’s what you were supposed to do?  Go ahead, read that last sentence again, but it doesn’t get any clearer. 

This is where the “I’m not doing anything wrong so what difference does it make if I’m being watched,” argument receives a knock-out punch.  The one watching makes the rules.  You are viewed as suspicious because you aren’t following rules that were changed or penciled in without your knowledge.  Were you asked to agree to such ridiculous terms? No!  No one would agree to such scrutiny.  To make matters worse, you’re now expected to “clear things up” for the one who trespassed?  The victim has become the criminal. 

Continuous monitoring makes you feel like you’re going crazy.  You don’t want to believe it’s even possible because it’s so outrageous.  When it’s confirmed, it’s a mixed bag of emotions.  You’re relieved that you weren’t making it up; you’re not crazy after all.  Then the reality of it hits you.  You were being watched.  Your personal space was violated.  You became a target, the enemy.  Why?  Because you didn’t comply with the one who was watching.

Welcome to the new United States of America, the land where you are guilty until proven innocent.  If you’ve never experienced privacy violations, you’re in for a real treat.  It will leave you questioning yourself and your sanity.  If you have experienced privacy violations, you never want to experience it again.

The NSA has the ability to listen to every phone conversation, read every email and every text message.  They have partnered with tech companies and can track your purchases and interests while you’re on line or whenever you use a credit card.  Cameras are everywhere.  Up to 30,000 drones are expected to be in the sky within the next 10 years.  There are over 4,400 federal crimes currently on the books with more being added.  The president now has the power to act as judge, jury and executioner.

You still say you aren’t doing anything wrong?  What about tomorrow when the rules change and your once legal activity is now in question?

Similar offenses are stated in the Declaration of Independence.   What we don’t learn, we will repeat. 

Hillsdale College offers a wonderful online lecture series on the study of the Constitution.  I want to thank Frank Cereska who informed me of these lectures.  They are free but please consider a donation.

“The truth is, all might be free if they valued freedom, and defended it as they ought.”

Samuel Adams

 

September 4, 2013

Expect the Unexpected

By Tammy Derouin

Life is surviving the unexpected.  We can plan and prepare for many situations but there’s always an unexpected factor that comes into play. We think we are headed in one direction when all of a sudden something happens and we end up on a different path.

I attend a yearly writers’ conference at Maranatha.  Each year I walk away with a feeling or theme that seemed to reoccur throughout the conference.  Last year it was, “Expect the Unexpected.” 

So what is the unexpected?  It’s everything you didn’t plan or didn’t think would happen.  On the large scale, it’s watching the United States fall apart.  I never expected that I would witness the end of the greatest country in the world.  I never expected that our country would go from super power status to insignificant in five short years.  I never expected the United States would go from the land of opportunities to the land of entitlements and handouts.  I would have never believed that the people would be willing to give up their liberties to be subsidized.

In my own little world, I never expected to be divorced with children.  I never expected to experience the circumstances that led to the divorce.  I never expected the opportunities that surfaced once that final piece of straw landed on my camel’s back crossing my line, causing a shot to be heard, a battle to be fought, which led to my independence.  My life was intact, my liberty was renewed.  I had the freedom to pursue my happiness. 

The unexpected also means change.  Change isn’t something that is always welcomed.  Even when we know the situation is in dire need of an adjustment, the adjustment that occurs may be completely unexpected.  When a situation, which is typically a problem, is ignored and allowed to fester, we end up dealing with a much bigger problem. We have the ability to turn things around.  We have the map.  It’s still readable.  It’s our guide, our compass that must be followed to steer our country back on track.  Are we going to decide where we go or will we let the government continue to steer us?   We will decide by determination or default, which direction we will go.

When I hear key words such as transform, turning things around or going in a different direction, I’m very cautious.  We, as individuals, have very different ideas as to what is implied when such words or phrases are spoken.  We want to assume it’s all for the best.  But our goals aren’t the same.  What is beneficial to one can be harmful to others. 

I have learned that sometimes things have to get worse before they get better.  To what degree depends on how long the problem goes unchecked.  There are too many people who still believe all is well, it can’t happen here.  They won’t realize how much of a transformation we have gone through until something affects them.  When it does, as situations always catch up to everyone, they will rely on what they assumed to be true.  That’s when the reality of the transformation will be realized.  The ideals we cling to will be gone.  The freedoms we took for granted will have slipped away.  One by one they will disappear if we continue to ignore the problem.  Why does it have to go to extremes to get people to wake up?  When did we become so complacent? 

I never expected the safe haven to be so broken and on the verge of collapse.  What was once a sanctuary is slowly becoming a prison.  The colorful dream, the place that gives hope has lost its way.  Its value has been diminished, its traditions made irrelevant.  If the past doesn’t support the transformation, it will simply be erased.

Life has been a little bit different these past several weeks.  I didn’t expect to go down this path.  I guess I should have expected the unexpected.  So on that note, let’s have a little fun in an unexpected direction.

Maybe next week I’ll come out swinging.  Maybe the news will have me seething.  I do not know what I’ll propose.  I do not know what the future holds.  One thing that I do now know, took many teachings to unfold.  Knowledge is what knowledge knows so what do you think you should suppose?   Suppose you plan but don’t expect to never know…what to expect.

“You have brains in your head.  You have feet in your shoes.  You can steer yourself in any direction you choose.  You’re on your own.  And you know what you know.  You are the guy who’ll decide where to go.”

Dr. Seuss

September 4, 2013

Expect the Unexpected

By Tammy Derouin

Life is surviving the unexpected.  We can plan and prepare for many situations but there’s always an unexpected factor that comes into play. We think we are headed in one direction when all of a sudden something happens and we end up on a different path.

I attend a yearly writers’ conference at Maranatha.  Each year I walk away with a feeling or theme that seemed to reoccur throughout the conference.  Last year it was, “Expect the Unexpected.” 

So what is the unexpected?  It’s everything you didn’t plan or didn’t think would happen.  On the large scale, it’s watching the United States fall apart.  I never expected that I would witness the end of the greatest country in the world.  I never expected that our country would go from super power status to insignificant in five short years.  I never expected the United States would go from the land of opportunities to the land of entitlements and handouts.  I would have never believed that the people would be willing to give up their liberties to be subsidized.

In my own little world, I never expected to be divorced with children.  I never expected to experience the circumstances that led to the divorce.  I never expected the opportunities that surfaced once that final piece of straw landed on my camel’s back crossing my line, causing a shot to be heard, a battle to be fought, which led to my independence.  My life was intact, my liberty was renewed.  I had the freedom to pursue my happiness. 

The unexpected also means change.  Change isn’t something that is always welcomed.  Even when we know the situation is in dire need of an adjustment, the adjustment that occurs may be completely unexpected.  When a situation, which is typically a problem, is ignored and allowed to fester, we end up dealing with a much bigger problem. We have the ability to turn things around.  We have the map.  It’s still readable.  It’s our guide, our compass that must be followed to steer our country back on track.  Are we going to decide where we go or will we let the government continue to steer us?   We will decide by determination or default, which direction we will go.

When I hear key words such as transform, turning things around or going in a different direction, I’m very cautious.  We, as individuals, have very different ideas as to what is implied when such words or phrases are spoken.  We want to assume it’s all for the best.  But our goals aren’t the same.  What is beneficial to one can be harmful to others. 

I have learned that sometimes things have to get worse before they get better.  To what degree depends on how long the problem goes unchecked.  There are too many people who still believe all is well, it can’t happen here.  They won’t realize how much of a transformation we have gone through until something affects them.  When it does, as situations always catch up to everyone, they will rely on what they assumed to be true.  That’s when the reality of the transformation will be realized.  The ideals we cling to will be gone.  The freedoms we took for granted will have slipped away.  One by one they will disappear if we continue to ignore the problem.  Why does it have to go to extremes to get people to wake up?  When did we become so complacent? 

I never expected the safe haven to be so broken and on the verge of collapse.  What was once a sanctuary is slowly becoming a prison.  The colorful dream, the place that gives hope has lost its way.  Its value has been diminished, its traditions made irrelevant.  If the past doesn’t support the transformation, it will simply be erased.

Life has been a little bit different these past several weeks.  I didn’t expect to go down this path.  I guess I should have expected the unexpected.  So on that note, let’s have a little fun in an unexpected direction.

Maybe next week I’ll come out swinging.  Maybe the news will have me seething.  I do not know what I’ll propose.  I do not know what the future holds.  One thing that I do now know, took many teachings to unfold.  Knowledge is what knowledge knows so what do you think you should suppose?   Suppose you plan but don’t expect to never know…what to expect.

“You have brains in your head.  You have feet in your shoes.  You can steer yourself in any direction you choose.  You’re on your own.  And you know what you know.  You are the guy who’ll decide where to go.”

Dr. Seuss