There’s No Turning Back Now
On 09-12-09 our Country came together in Washington, D.C. to protest our government. I came back with renewed hope for my Country; I’m sure I am not alone in this renewed hope. During the trip I met scores of people from all walks of life and every corner of this land. Many people arrived without a plan. They heard of the march and felt compelled to be there. It was like a scene from Close Encounters where everyone was driven by an inexplicable force to meet at Devil’s Mountain. Not knowing exactly what to expect didn’t prevent them from understanding they just had to be there.
The march was to begin at Freedom Plaza on Pennsylvania Avenue.
The route was a mile long down the avenue to the Capital. At 8:30 a.m., Freedom Plaza itself was packed and overflowing into the street. Some of those with our group and I took up space across the street at the Wilson Building to wait for the rest our group. This side of the street, we were told by volunteers, was not part of the area which the permit was covered. 14th Street also continued to allow vehicles. I’m not sure if was part of the D.C. Police’ plans or not, but it became increasingly evident that their attempts to keep 14th Street open to traffic were futile and they closed it to vehicles. From the steps of the Wilson building, as far as the eye could see up and down both Penn Ave and 14th Street, the people were pouring in from all directions.
Those who have ever been to a championship game of their favorite home team know the feeling of being among thousands of like minded people. I have been to such a game and although the electricity is incredible, it pales in comparison to the energy of thousands upon thousands, perhaps millions (the count still isn’t finalized) of people in one place and of one heart… love of Country.
I was not expecting to be overwhelmed with emotion and the tears on my cheeks caught me off guard. When I turned to those beside me and saw their moistened faces I could no longer contain my feelings. Until this day, I had been filled with anger at my government and fear for my Country. Anger so strong and bottled that I had been snapping at those closest to me. Anger so strong that I was learning what it felt like to hate. That anger collided with love on Saturday and together they healed my broken soul. I wasn’t alone.
One by one at different moments during the march each of us became overwhelmed with the emotion and energy of the crowd. We wept tears of happiness and tears of sorrow for our Country. Until you have cried tears of love for your Country and tears of loss for your freedom it is impossible to understand why we marched; why we are so passionate for our beliefs; why we feel remorse for the direction our Country is heading.
On that beautiful day in D.C., we marched. Young and old, healthy and infirm… we marched. Kids with signs, kids in strollers, kids in costume. Parents and grandparents. People with walkers, canes, and wheelchairs. We marched. All came to Pennslyvania Avenue and made the mile long trek past office building windows filled with onlookers. We marched with one mind… to stand at the Capital and roar with one voice that we have had enough.
And roar we did! One of the most incredible moments of the entire event took place a couple of blocks into the march. From far behind me in the crowd I could hear a rumbling. I wasn’t sure what the eerie sound was but as it drew closer my spirit leaped in recognition. I let the first wave wash over me and move forward through the crowd as I listened to thousands of people chant, “U-S-A, U-S-A, U-S-A.” With the next wave I joined in as we yelled in one accord, “You Lie! You Lie! You Lie!” The raw pure emotion experienced in wave after wave of ever increasing crescendos of chanting was a liberating experience.
If you were to ask the marchers why they were there you would likely get just as many diverse answers as there were creative, hand made signs. If you were to question them further and inquire as to whose fault it is that our government has gone so far awry, the vast majority would point to themselves for allowing it. This is where Washington has underestimated us. We are awake now and we are watching. Things will NEVER be the same.
Sarah Palin Comes Out Swinging On Cap & Trade
If there is one person who knows energy in this country it is Sarah Palin. She has taken the gloves off and has come out swinging against cap and trade in her latest Op-ed in the Washington Compost. I love her subtle digs at Washington, DC, Obama, and this piece of legislation. She starts out calling it cap and trade but quickly moves into our beloved term; cap and tax.
Let the games begin!
I am deeply concerned about President Obama’s cap-and-trade energy plan, and I believe it is an enormous threat to our economy. It would undermine our recovery over the short term and would inflict permanent damage.
American prosperity has always been driven by the steady supply of abundant, affordable energy. Particularly in Alaska, we understand the inherent link between energy and prosperity, energy and opportunity, and energy and security. Consequently, many of us in this huge, energy-rich state recognize that the president’s cap-and-trade energy tax would adversely affect every aspect of the U.S. economy.
There is no denying that as the world becomes more industrialized, we need to reform our energy policy and become less dependent on foreign energy sources. But the answer doesn’t lie in making energy scarcer and more expensive! Those who understand the issue know we can meet our energy needs and environmental challenges without destroying America’s economy.
Job losses are so certain under this new cap-and-tax plan that it includes a provision accommodating newly unemployed workers from the resulting dried-up energy sector, to the tune of $4.2 billion over eight years. So much for creating jobs.
In addition to immediately increasing unemployment in the energy sector, even more American jobs will be threatened by the rising cost of doing business under the cap-and-tax plan. For example, the cost of farming will certainly increase, driving down farm incomes while driving up grocery prices. The costs of manufacturing, warehousing and transportation will also increase.
The ironic beauty in this plan? Soon, even the most ardent liberal will understand supply-side economics.
Absolutely BRILLIANT! – read the entire piece here.
Thought Police Legislation H.R. 1984… I mean 1966
Orwell is that you? I know the 80′s are back in style but I was hoping it wasn’t 1984 – I was wrong. In fact, maybe they should have named the bill H.R. 1984 instead of 1966!
Democrats scream bloody murder when progressive Republicans usurp the Constitution, but suddenly suffer from double standard glaucoma when their own progressives are running the show.
This is one insidious piece of legislation because it completely violates our first amendment rights. It will now be considered a FELONY, yes, a felony, to say anything offensive over email, on the Internet, through a blog, or anywhere else over the web. Any individual who may not be PC on any given day could face up to 2 years in prison.
This is pure thought/mind control and is the reason why the PC society we find ourselves in does more harm than good. Here is a section from the bill:
a) Whoever transmits in interstate or foreign commerce any communication, with the intent to coerce, intimidate, harass, or cause substantial emotional distress to a person, using electronic means to support severe, repeated, and hostile behavior, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.
(b) As used in this section-
(1) the term ‘communication’ means the electronic transmission, between or among points specified by the user, of information of the user’s choosing, without change in the form or content of the information as sent and received;
(2) the term ‘electronic means’ means any equipment dependent on electrical power to access an information service, including email, instant messaging, blogs, websites, telephones, and text messages.
We all know this is unconstitutional, but hypothetically speaking, if this section of the Hate Crimes bill passes, who will be in charge of deciding whether something was offensive to an individual or not? I would make a wager that there will be an emotional distress czar appointed by Obama…unfortunately Stuart Smalley is currently working in Congress, but he’ll probably pick a liberal like Depak Chopra. If Obama does in fact pick a czar for this – your freedom of speech will be politicized. “Right wing extremist” talk, blogging, tweeting, and the like, will all be banned and we could all find ourselves in prison. Emotional distress is so vague that a simple civil argument could possibly offend someone and cause, in their eyes, distress… Like all things in America, a policy like this would be used to excess.
Wouldn’t one think that hate crimes would include every race, creed, religion, and sex? In a common sense world sure – but in DC, never. Take for example the fact that a black teen mob attacked a white family in Ohio. There was barely any mention of this in the news! I know for a fact that there are racists in every group, so why wouldn’t this be a hate crime as well? Why can’t white people be discriminated against? Heck! I was when I lived in Baltimore!
It came after a family night of celebrating America and freedom with a fireworks show at Firestone Stadium. Marshall, his family and two friends were gathered outside a friend’s home in South Akron.
Out of nowhere, the six were attacked by dozens of teenage boys, who shouted ”This is our world” and ”This is a black world” as they confronted Marshall and his family.
The Marshalls, who are white, say the crowd of teens who attacked them and two friends June 27 on Girard Street numbered close to 50. The teens were all black.
This could also be Obama’s back-door way to create an Internet czar to monitor the web, much like Russia, China, Iran, North Korea… getting the hint? Remember the fairness doctrine and net neutrality? I gaurantee that famous blogs will be taken down, conservative hashtags on twitter will give people away, and radio talk show hosts will be accussed of causing emotional distress.
I better watch myself! Here I was thinking I was an equal opportunity proponent by offending everyone – there goes my humor…
Here are the members of the House sponsoring this section of the bill:
Rep. Linda Sánchez [D, CA-39] (wrote the above section)
and 14 Co-Sponsors
* Rep. Timothy Bishop [D, NY-1]
* Rep. Bruce Braley [D, IA-1]
* Rep. Lois Capps [D, CA-23]
* Rep. William Clay [D, MO-1]
* Rep. Joe Courtney [D, CT-2]
* Rep. Danny Davis [D, IL-7]
* Rep. Raul Grijalva [D, AZ-7]
* Rep. Phil Hare [D, IL-17]
* Rep. Brian Higgins [D, NY-27]
* Rep. Marcy Kaptur [D, OH-9]
* Rep. Mark Kirk [R, IL-10] (he is not a Republican vote him out! – he voted for Cap and Trade too)
* Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard [D, CA-34]
* Rep. John Sarbanes [D, MD-3] (I would give my right arm to run against this man in Maryland)
* Rep. John Yarmuth [D, KY-3]
Rep. Fleming Says If Officials Vote For Health Care, They Should Be Required To Use It
John Fleming (R-LA) has created a resolution in the House, backed by several other sponsors, which stipulates any Congress member who votes to back a government “option’ for health care, must use that same “option.”
