Can we "keep our republic"?

More political commentary here...

Just as a sidenote, I know my political thoughts may be stressful to some who might disagree, but I know what I think is not "mainstream", so feel free to disagree. I'm not writing to compel people to agree with me. So, whatever. I'm just saying. So don't get mad at me, ok?

I told you so. I mentioned earlier in the year that if we elected a dud in the primary, the Republicans would be toast. Not that I denigrate John McCain's honourable service to his country, but he is really not a political maverick. He's not conservative, and his economic solutions are more of what got us into this mess in the first place. I'm not upset he lost. I am disappointed to be getting a socialist president (not to mention one who doesn't seem to think babies are all that important) but maybe this will be the kick in the pants that Republicans need to get their act together.

Now let me tell you what I really think. The political system in this country is destined to slide into tyranny as things stand today. We would be much better off with the same system our Founding Fathers first conceived, but since we are no longer a people whose lives are based on absolute truth and morality, our government based on the Constitution can't last. Here are a few quotes I found from John Adams:

"The only foundation of a free Constitution is pure Virtue, and if this cannot be inspired into our People in a greater Measure, than they have it now, they may change their Rulers and the forms of Government, but they will not obtain a lasting liberty."

"We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."

It's disappointing that our liberties are disappearing. But let's keep reminding each other that this world is not our permanent home, and God is still in control. He is the One who holds the sparrow, and He will certainly take care of His people. I'll remind you, and you remind me, ok?

Wendell Berry, and Election complaints

Just popping in the post a link to an article by Rod Dreher of the Dallas News (also author of a great book, Crunchy Cons). Mr. Dreher says this article could be titled Wendell Berry 101. I really like Wendell Berry, so that's why I'm posting this link.

And now, allow me to complain about this stupid presidential election. What a waste of time, money and energy. Do you realize our nation has been in campaign mode for almost two years? I'm sick of the whole thing, so here is what I propose:

1. Let's have candidates announce their candidacy no sooner than August 1 of election year. Earlier announcements will disqualify the candidate.
2. Candidates may not shirk the duties of their current job while campaigning. Weekend campaigning only.
3. Primaries for all states will be on the same day, sometime at the beginning of September.
4. No party conventions allowed.
5. One debate will be held between the candidates from each party, not just the top two parties. This debate will be moderated by Joe the Plumber or someone chosen randomly from the phonebook, and shall occur no earlier than the beginning of October.
6. CNN shall suspend all operations from August through November.
7. Candidates shall fill out a form answering specific questions so people will know where they stand on specific issues. This will be on paper, not on video, in order to cut down on evasive responses and soundbite/applause-oriented one-liners. The results of this survey shall be published widely in newspapers, on the internet, and in fliers to be made available at each county's board of elections.

OK, how much money would this save? How much time? If the time and money could be devoted to noble causes, what could be accomplished? I suspect we would all be surprised. Thank you, I feel much better now.

Eat Your Greens

Love him or hate him, you gotta love this.




BARACK-OLI Green
by

WeAreTheInternet

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FAQ

Q: Where is the owner of this blog? Is Amey still alive?
A: Yes, I'm still alive, just been too busy to do much writing.

Q: Is there any hope that we will hear from you soon?
A: Yes, in fact I am working on a series to post hopefully in the not too distant future. Can't you just sense the anticipation building?

Q: What season is it there on your little farm?
A: Well, there are 5 basic seasons on a farm: spring, summer, fall, winter, and mud. This week it was mud. I think we're gearing up for a little more winter now. I have read that in the Inuit language they have a zillion different words for snow. It is my opinion that we should have a zillion different words in our language for mud. What's the word for partially-frozen "crispy" mud? I really like that kind. It doesn't suck the boots off your feet, yet it is also not completely frozen solid to where you're slipping and sliding all over the place. Plus it has a unique feeling when you step on it. Kind of like walking on glass, only not so dangerous.

Q: So what have you been reading lately?
A: The most recent issues from Mother Earth News and Wise Traditions, as well as Children of the New Forest (a school book). Not to mention the seed catalog (I like Baker Creek Heirlooms) and various interesting articles on the web.

Q: What do you make of the political scene these days?
A: What's up with John McCain? I can't believe people are voting for this guy. If only Giuliani were still in the race, that would split the vote and lower McCain's delegate count. I still like Ron Paul and plan to vote for him. At any rate, politics is a nice diversion. Something to get your adrenaline going. But political solutions will never be The Answer to the world's problems. So there you go.

This 'n That

Lots of items on my "radar" right now.

I've been following the news on the MRSA infections, trying to figure out what's happening with that. The best I can come up with is: keep your immune system strong, cover up your cuts when you're out of the house, and wash with plain soap and water often. It sounds like the underlying causes of this superbug are antibiotic over-usage and anti-bacterial cleaning products.

Toys from China: why should we even mess with stuff from China anymore? Unfortunately, you can't just choose items from other countries easily, as sometimes there is no choice. Such a high percentage of anything you find in any store is from China that it's hard to avoid. But when there is a choice, why not buy products made elsewhere? I have even found myself (when there is no choice) questioning whether or not I really "need" that item anyway. (Reminds me of that VeggieTales where Bob asks Larry how much stuff he needs to be happy. Larry's reply: I don't know! How much stuff is there?!)

And on the election front: once again I'll reiterate that the Republican primary this winter/spring is the "big one". If we elect a dud for the Republican nominee, we might as well say Hello Hillary. I hear people talking about how if we don't nominate and vote next November for someone like Giuliani, we are guilty of splitting the vote and making it possible for the Democrats to win. Personally, I think they have it backwards. If people insist on a RINO for the Republican nomination, then they are the ones guilty of forcing us to split the vote. I liked this article by Dick Armey that I just read this morning. I am still likely to vote for Ron Paul. I think that actually following the Constitution is probably the only way our out-of-control spending and liberty-crushing ways can be stopped. A lot of Christians are coming out in support of Mike Huckabee, and I do like the way he stands on the social issues, but he is not nearly the supporter of liberty that Ron Paul is.

That last paragraph makes it sound like I am some kind of a political nut. I really don't think THAT much about politics. But when I do, I like to cut to the chase.

You didn't ask, but Here's What I Think

I have a ton of things I'd like to write about, but not enough time to do it in. I'm only here now because it is so deathly hot outside, I don't feel like doing anything constructive. Hence, this blog entry. Wait, that didn't quite come out right. I think I just insulted my own blog.

Here's my topic today: Ron Paul, 2008 Republican Primary candidate. There's only one thing I don't quite understand about this guy, and that is his stand against the Iraq war. He says that it should have never begun in the first place. But it is unclear to me exactly what he would do as president, were he to be elected next year, about national security in the Middle East and Muslim terrorism in general. I know he would be strengthening the borders here and enforcing immigration laws (now there's an idea!). I'm not an expert in military matters (obviously), but it seems to me that just having our military suddenly leave the Middle East would not work very well. I think it is true that our "being there" has fueled their hatred of us, however, this philosophy alone seems to underestimate the evil at work in these Muslim terrorists.

This is the only thing I have found so far to dislike about Ron Paul. If it weren't for this one issue, I would vote for him with no reservations. I love his strict take on the Constitution, not to mention his honesty and intelligence. I mean...the man actually READS the legislation that he votes on in Congress! What a bizarre notion.

I still think that the primary next year will be the biggest election. A third party candidate doesn't have much chance in November, but if we elect a dud for the Republican nomination next spring (e.g. any of the current frontrunners), I will definitely be voting for a third party myself in November. I've heard the Constitution Party might ask Jerome Corsi to run on their ticket. In my opinion, this is not "throwing away your vote". I just don't agree with the idea that we should only support candidates that might possibly be able to win. That seems monopolistic to me. Kind of like saying we have to choose only between Wal-Mart and Target, and forget the little Mom-and-Pop store down the road because they can't compete anyway and they'll only go out of business next year anyway. Well, if we all gave our support to the best candidate despite their perceived "electability", then some of the better candidates at the bottom of the polls actually would have a chance now, wouldn't they?

Let Me Blog Something...Anything!

When I woke up this morning, I realized in no uncertain terms that I could not possibly leave That Cow Picture up at the top of my blog. If you have to ask why not, then you couldn't even begin to understand even if I explained it. That's why I'm here blogging over my daily eggs-over-easy. Now I have to think of something to say...

OK, here it is, I've got it. The Republican Primary. I have a front-runner in my own personal poll (which is to say, if the election was held today, I know who I would vote for). Here he is:

Dr. Ron Paul, physician and congressman from Texas.

I like this guy because he actually votes by the Constitution and by his conscience. He pays no attention to lobbyists and special interest groups. Do you have any idea how rare that is? Right now, I don't imagine he has much chance at winning the primary, but that is why I'm posting this now, so I can encourage everyone to do their research BEFORE the primary instead of after. Not that you have to vote exactly like me, but find out about the candidates and vote for the one that is closest to carrying your ideals. That seems simple, but really, I don't think most people think to do that. They just find out about the candidates from the television (NOT A GOOD WAY TO RESEARCH! ...sorry I yelled). I've said this before, but it bears repeating: I think the Republican primary will be more important next year than the Big One in November. Let's not elect a dud to run against Hillary or Obama, or whoever else the Democrats come up with (Gomer Pyle, Julie?). If we do, I'll be voting third party. And I don't think I'll be the only one.

A Timely Conversation

I was going to write about something fun today, like transfats or GMO's or similar, but I've got to interrupt my regularly scheduled blogging for some commentary on the evil events that took place on the Virginia Tech campus yesterday. Leave it to WorldNetDaily to provide some fabulous coverage and editorials concerning what happened. Here are a few:

How to Prevent Next Massacre, by Joseph Farah
You're Dead, I'm Healing, by Dennis Prager
Needed: More Americans with Guns, by Andrew Longman

People once again are clamoring for more gun control laws, but no one seems to have noticed that what the murderer did was already against the law. Laws didn't stop him from committing a crime. But gun control laws did prevent responsible people from defending themselves and other innocents. One person with a concealed carry permit in that engineering building could have prevented several dozen deaths. In fact, the killer may have reconsidered his plans if he knew there would likely be armed people in that building.

I think it is a tragedy that so many young men today are only being trained in violence through R-rated slasher movies and video games; and not in a healthy, responsible, manner, such as through gun safety courses and a constantly attentive father who teaches them to channel their "violent energies" for defending innocent people. Would it not have been good for someone so trained to have stopped the killer yesterday? Instead, what we have is a society that overwhelmingly values complete non-violence, which opens up the door for evil to violently conquer. And why not? There are no good guys to fight back. This belief is why I would never make it in the Amish community. That and my love affair with electricity.

I currently know of at least one responsible person we see regularly at a weekly gathering of a large number of people who has a concealed carry permit. Personally, I feel safer in this gathering of people knowing that he is there. Let's say you could choose between two classrooms in that Norris building in which to be a student: one completely unarmed, and one with a well-trained concealed carry permit holder who was "packing heat". Which would you choose?

This is a controversial topic, I know, but if you decide to leave a comment to this post, please at least leave a real first name. I won't take anonymous comments on this post. I assume my opinion is in the minority, but I won't mind if anyone has a well-organized opinion on the contrary they'd like to post. I'd just like to know who's writing it.

Brave New World vs. 1984

Today is the second anniversary of the death of Terri Schiavo. At the time she died, I wrote several blog posts about the politics surrounding the ruling to allow her to dehydrate. Her brother recently wrote an article for WorldNetDaily that fairly summarizes the press’ treatment of her life and death. I so appreciate the “alternative press’” handling of cases like these. You do not get an accurate picture of what is happening from the lamestream media (I didn‘t make that up, I read it somewhere else, but I forget where). They can make you think and feel however they want you to, just by the way they word their stories. Which leads me to the subject of today’s post.

I just finished reading Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, and 1984, by George Orwell. Huxley’s book first came out in 1932, Orwell’s in 1949. They are both referred to so often in our culture, that since I hadn’t read them before, I thought I’d better give it a shot. They are what’s called “negative utopias” - visions of the future “perfect” society that obviously fall far short of real perfection. They are similar in that in both works, the value of the individual is nothing. All is for the good of collective society. Both societies are governed by an elite few. Huxley accomplishes this “good” through genetic engineering, conditioning, drugs, and encouraging promiscuous behavior. Orwell makes the accomplishment through force: continuous universal monitoring, constantly rewriting history, and physically reprogramming independent thinkers through torture.

We have a number of common words and phrases that come from these works: Big Brother, newspeak, “Orwellian”, thought police, thought crime, and doublethink all come from 1984. Huxley gives us the word soma (a drug used daily to even out people‘s emotions), as well as numerous plot line references in many modern books, movies, music, etc.

Basically, Brave New World keeps people in line through pleasure. 1984 controls through pain. We obviously have elements of both at work in our society today. More and more we are using genetic engineering to select for traits that we consider desirable. Conditioning is made easy through television, the press, and public schooling. Both adults and children are often drugged before even making an effort to discover the root cause of physical and psychological problems. Promiscuity is accepted and even encouraged. We are forced into allowing the government to decide whose lives are worth living and whose are not (quality of life has replaced sanctity of life as the overriding value). Computers and credit/bank cards allow tracking of almost everything we do or buy.

Here is what Neil Postman (in Amusing Ourselves to Death, a book I haven’t made it all the way through yet) says about the comparison between these two books:

What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism. Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance.…In 1984,…people are controlled by inflicting pain. In Brave New World, they are controlled by inflicting pleasure. In short, Orwell feared that what we hate will ruin us. Huxley feared that what we love will ruin us.

So, perhaps we could say that the United States is more like Brave New World, and any Muslim or Communist totalitarian regime is more like 1984. There are exceptions, of course. Such as the Terri Schiavo case, when government decides that death by dehydration is the best way to fix a disabled woman’s problems.

These are two very thought-provoking books. If you are a reader, you might consider reading them. I would not recommend them for anyone under 18 due to adult content. Bottom line: there will be no “perfect” societies this side of heaven. Jesus is the only perfector, and the fall of man through sin guarantees an imperfect world. We should all pray for wisdom in discerning evil and good.

More on the Primary

I am developing quite an interest in the 2008 Republican Primary. To me, that's the big election. It's still a year away, but there's already a fair amount of activity with the candidates. I think it's the most important election because if we elect a dud for the primary, you might as well forget about the election in November. Whether we get a Democrat or a Republican will not much matter, as we have learned in the past. The press is telling us our top three choices are: John McCain, Rudy Guiliani, and Mitt Romney. I agree with Phyllis Schlafly. All of those guys are "no-go's" for me. One thing that is nice is that the primary "season" seems to be starting earlier and earlier with each election cycle. That way we have plenty of time to "kick the tires" on each candidate before we "buy" (elect) them, as Kevin McCollough puts it. Third parties don't get much of a chance in November elections, but if we do get the "dud" for the Republican nomination, I will have no choice but to go with one. And the overarching truth that brings sanity to my thoughts on the big election: God will still be God, even if Barack Obama is elected president of the United States.

Republican Primary 2008

Here's an article worth reading regarding next year's primary: Ron Paul, the Real Republican?

What I Do During Blizzards

Irony is so ironic. Yesterday for my son's birthday we took the day off from school to celebrate, while the "regular" schools were all in session. Today we have a blizzard, all the local schools are closed, but we are going to have school here. I guess it all evens out, doesn't it. The weather is too bad for my husband to make it to work, so he's out in the windy fray, puttering around doing guy stuff. Starting the tractor, making short trips into town to the little store to buy stuff "we might need", taking care of the animals. And I'm staying put. Keeping nice and warm. Duh.

I thought I'd post a couple of links to some good articles I read today on WorldNetDaily. I got out of the habit of reading there over the last few months. It was annoying me that they were spending so much time bashing the illegal immigrants. I know it's wrong for people to disregard the law, but the large bulk of illegal immigrants are here because they are wanting to have a better life. We need to enforce the immigration law, but I think we can have a little compassion for needy people too.

The first article I liked, from Mr. Mychal Massie, talks about slim pickings for the Republicans come primary time next year. Giuliani and McCain seem to be the front runners, and I'm thinking, HUH? They are RINO's. Why would real Republicans vote for them? What's up with that? Anyway, read Mr. Massie's article for some good info.

The second article is from Mr. Jim Rutz. He reminds us that "History is Scripted". If you look up "soy" on the WND search engine you will also find a very good series of articles he wrote on the dangers of soy. It is worth reading too, if you get the chance. Hopefully you will, especially if you use any soy products (other than fermented soy like soy sauce and miso).

And now, back to school...