“Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote. “- Benjamin Franklin

Liberty, like freedom, is a concept that is alien to many of those outside of our country. Liberty means more than just the freedom to spout on about the issues of the day. Liberty means also defending, not just your right to say what you want to say, but to also defend your opponent and their right of what they want to say. Liberty, like freedom, isn’t free.

America has a long history of those who have stood up for the rights of the people. America has a long history of those who have also stood up for the rights of the individual. It is a core value of our country, and we defend that value, and we treasure our rights as free men and women as jealously as a miser treasures his gold.

But with our liberty comes our obligations. The right to “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness” comes with its own price. And America has always been willing to pay that price. Always. Two times against the British, once against the French, once against the Spanish through their surrogates, once against our own brothers on our own soil, twice against German imperialism and ambition, twice against communist aggression, twice against a sadistic madman hiding behind Muslim values, once against a terrorist regime that dared to strike against unarmed men and women. Each time, the Tree of Liberty’s roots have been watered with the blood of those who refuse to bow down to those who would cause terror and deny Liberty and Freedom.

Our government representatives are supposed to be as selfless as the nameless faces that go forth to protect, not just our way of life, but the lives and freedoms of countless others throughout the world. Our government representatives are supposed to be as fair and impartial as they can be, in governing our country, and in insuring our way of life is protected. Our government’s only role is to enact laws that allow our freedoms and liberties to be unencumbered with those ideals and activities that are diametrically opposed to the US Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the several Constitutional Amendments. Our judicial representatives are supposed to interpret the law such that there is nothing that superimposes itself upon our liberties and our freedoms, resulting in a loss of those freedoms. And our executive representatives are supposed to insure that the freedoms and liberties we have fought and died for are represented whenever our villages, our towns, our cities, our states, and our country need to be represented to the world.

Our government was formed of the people, for the people, by the people. It is, and always has been, incumbent upon our elected leaders, to insure that laws are passed that are not in direct violation of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the several Amendments to the Constitution. And yet, in the last 20 years, many laws, Executive Acts, bills of attainder, et. al., have been produced, steadily eroding the rights and liberties we Americans hold dear. The right to bear arms, a formidable right, to insure that a well-trained militia would be available for support of our various state and federal forces, has had attempts to erode it, time and time again, without request for a Constitutional Amendment. An amendment is required as the right to bear arms is a sovereign right guaranteed by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. An income tax is not part of the Constitution, and for good reason. It is, as laid out in the Constitution, incumbent upon the legislative arm of our government, to create a budget and pay for the government through taxes and levies against businesses and to extract customs and excise from the flow of trade through the US border. And yet, our legislative body would prefer to strain the tree of liberty for the lifeblood of the average American, to support causes that do not enhance the life and liberty of the common American.

It seems in the inescapable rush for the current administration and the current congress to force America to become a nation catering to every concept except that which made America the driving force it is today, the current dominant party has decided to ignore the mandates of their own main-stream constituents, as well as those of the other major as well as minor parties that constitute our political landscape.

Although America has been able to recover from the excesses of the various parties at different periods throughout its existence, in this current period, we are faced with a monumental issue of the congress abdicating its responsibilities as the representatives of its people, in favor of currying favor with special interests, unions, the great group of people who live off the handouts from the government and refuse to partake in finding worthwhile jobs ( as opposed to those who have no other option to take welfare, but are working hard to improve their lot in life), those who feel that everything except conservatives have a right to have their feelings and sensibilities considered, in short, all the groups that have been instrumental in holding back the progress of America, increasing Americans dependence on government support, and reducing the ability of the average American to pursue their hopes and dreams.

Liberals have waited 40 years to put into practice at a federal level, every plan that failed at a local or state level. If the 50 states couldn’t or didn’t make the ideas work, how is the federal government going to achieve this, except through mandatory actions, and use of the military to enforce the actions. Of course, the current government won’t call it that; it’ll be “for the good of the people.” How many dictatorial regimes have used the same phrasing to strangle and remove the rights of the people? How many of our civil liberties will we give up to allow the government to try the failed experiment of socialism that plagues Europe and Eastern Europe. When do we say “Enough, this far and no farther”?

America, land of the free, home of the brave. But we have those who feel that our way of life is wrong, our decision to defend what we hold dear to be wrong, our basic freedoms in this republican democracy is wrong. To those I say: Leave. I will pay your way to whatever country or nation you feel is much better than the US. I’ll send you first class, one way. If you cannot look at your country without shame, you don’t belong in this country. I won’t call you a traitor, unless you do something that hurts Americans, in the US or abroad. If you wish to succor the enemies of the US, please, feel free to join them wherever they are. But do not cry, when you find that the freedom to speak your mind, that you take for granted, is brutally repressed by those who don’t want to hear you. Don’t be surprised when you and your family are abused and all your wealth is confiscated, for the government’s pleasure, in the nation you decide to live in. However, don’t be surprised, and do be grateful, if you call to the US to help you go home, and the brave and selfless men and women of our great military risk life and limb to bring you and your family back to the US.

For then you will know what freedom means…

“For our so called politicians If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquillity of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget ye were our countrymen. ” Samuel Adams

“We Must All Stand Together, Or Assuredly, We Shall All Swing Separate…”