Rightwords... Prudent Conservatism

Positive directions (version 2, 4/5/07)

Adults in America must come to terms with what they stand for sooner or later: a people that are proud of their national heritage, their accomplishments and their directions, or something far lesser and meaner, as some would have it. Americans by birth or naturalization are asked to take the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag and to the Constitution. Any higher allegiances such as to God are reserved for the spiritual beliefs of the people, and not to the secular side of life, beyond that of the moral guidance of faith.

So what do I stand for? What decisions have I made regarding my birth heritage? I decided to record some of the more important decisions I have made or positions I have taken, while leaving the record open for additions and modifications later on. Here is my list:

First of all (in addition to Mom, the Flag, and Apple Pie):

Be an American:

Support the Constitution of the US and its derivatives in law (US Code, lower court rulings, etc.).

Maintain the integrity of the Constitution against “progressive” changes, such as denial of possession and use of guns.

Be true to the principles of our Republican form of Government,

Be true to the principles of a tripartite government: Executive, Legislative, and Judicial,

Defend the boundaries of each member of the tripartite,

Work to restore the tripartite boundaries where discovered to be wrong,

Restore fiscal sanity to government,

Obey the laws of the land, the states, counties, and cities,

Maintain state’s rights, and the Electoral College,

Respect the constitutional and legal rights of all citizens, unless they abrogate those rights by advocating overthrow of the US,

Be a patriot, and an upstanding and honest citizen,

Be aware of our national shortcomings, and work to fix them.

Some American Shortcomings:

There are very many problems that vex our nation, all the way from daily life quarrels to truly world-shaking conflicts. The few I call out here are significant to the survival of our nation and our people, but it is by no means a complete list.

Education of our children is woefully lacking, the school system is broken, and money is not the cure, per se, nor are fashionable experiments on our children. It is also true, however, that we do not pay our teachers as well as we should, despite massive infusions of money from the federal government, which appears to be absorbed by the bureaucratic superstructure of education, not by benefits for the teachers and pupils. You can thank John Dewey for starting this mess.

Voter education suffers from lack of political, social, economic, scientific and historical education, and from a lack of how to think through and around the propaganda that is used by politicians to cloud minds. A campaign promise is no more than a wish list in the hands of hypocrites and liars, as we found out in the Clinton years. His favorite tactic was to say one thing and do the exact opposite.

Voter turnout is likewise too low for a true participatory republic, and it has been creeping lower every year. This must be reversed.

Life values are skewed in the direction of materialism, comfort, an overarching political correctness born of excessive fear of offending anyone at all, and a general shunning of the duties and responsibilities of a citizen of this republic. We will lose our republic to indifference or to fruitcakes if we cannot correct these things.

Our news media is heavily biased toward the positions of the Left, and gives the public a willfully distorted and brief sound-bite view of the real situation around the world. What does not fit the ideology does not get reported. This is a treasonable act in a democracy. Have you ever realized that over 3 million times a year a citizen owning a gun has thwarted a criminal in his attempt to commit a crime? It is not reported because it does not fit the ideology of gun control saves (a few) lives, where, in fact, guns save millions from perpetrators yearly.

Politically oriented people acting as spokesmen for their party likewise lie, fabricate, and promote falsities to further their party’s ambitions for power. This most definitely promotes cynicism and disrespect for our political and governmental institutions.

When these two factors--the media and the politicos-- operate together to suppress the truth and further the Leftist message, our nation is in grave danger. That is the current situation.

Elitism appears to be the rising ambition for countless citizens who believe their wealth; social position, brains, education, connections and right thinking; make them defacto, unheralded and unelected leaders of the nation. These people must face the white glare of publicity, and the scorn of true patriots. (Some of these so-called elites should simply “Shut Up and Sing” as Laura Ingraham aptly stated, or simply “Act” as the case may be.)

We are a litigious nation, and it is only getting worse. We must work to bring sanity back to justice under the law. Since many, if not most, legislators are also lawyers; one might ask whether tort reform is ever possible by means of legislation.

The Legislative Branch of the government needs to be overhauled to break up cabals, pork, busted budgets, excessive time and money spent electioneering, and tenures into dotage. Term limits is an answer to the 20 and 30 year residents of the House and Senate. This would require a constitutional amendment.

The Judicial Branch must be constrained from performing legislation from the bench, thus usurping the functions of the other branches. Capricious decisions by Leftist judges have done terrible damage to the public in the past twenty years, by letting hardened criminals back out onto the street far too soon. Limiting the terms of the judges either by a fixed number of years or by an age limit is a way to avoid a self-perpetuating bias on the part of politically oriented judges acting singly or in concert.

The Administrative Branch needs a careful, objective study to find out where it has exceeded its powers, and what must be done to restore the balance, if anything.

I have no idea who I would trust fully and appoint to such a study commission. There are seemingly ever fewer trusty, wise old hands to set to work in the business of America, instead of the business of moral relativism. Then, too, many, many (well, most!) of the professors in our universities are themselves leaning left by a 10 to 1 margin. How about former Presidents: Carter, Clinton, Bush Sr., and Bush, Jr.? I can cite many reasons against each one of these men having any primary responsibility for the task. But the task needs doing.

We must have a new approach to taxes that is both simple and fair. I support the Flat Tax idea.

Americans as a group are fat, sloppy fat, even disgustingly jelly-fat. The cure is a proper diet, avoiding burgers, french-fries, cokes and milk shakes, along with regular exercise. I get the impression that all of the books and ads regarding the necessity for weight reduction are largely falling on deaf ears in the over 30 group. This says much about our discipline, our lack of regard for our bodies, and our indulgent way of life.

Two great values many Americans on the political scene seem to have dropped altogether are honesty and integrity. At least that is how it comes out when listening to the systematic, outright lies and distortions, the out-of-context cherry-picking of statements, and the making up of issues out of thin air made by fully 50% of the politicians in Washington--namely, the Democrats. One lies, and the rest swear to it. It may also be true that the current rank and file of the Democratic Party is equally likely to have deep-sixed their honesty and integrity in their quest for political victory at any cost.

The issue that has seriously divided the nation, mostly along party lines, is the war in Iraq. It has lived up to its original billing as a long, tough, tragic and expensive war, one that will take still longer. For example, it took the UK fully ten years to eradicate insurgents in Malaysia.

The Democrats, after voting to proceed with the incursion into Iraq, hypocritically decided to politicize the war to gain advantages for their political ambitions. Now they are trying to force us to give up. If this actually happens, we will lose far more than we will gain by pursuing the war vigorously. We want a win in Iraq, not a craven retreat. Pacifists do not wish to understand the reasons for conflict; therefore they simply shut their eyes and ears to the horrible threat of Islam.

They are doing our nation almost insurmountable harm, and for that reason, I am utterly opposed to electing such people. There needs to be a land where we could dump all of the pacifists and Leftists and let them govern themselves…peacefully, of course!

Participate in the system by:

Voting, championing, and commenting on issues,

Paying taxes, and supporting valid institutions,

Respecting majority and minority positions, but,

Working against majority or minority positions

that threaten harm to America, but always within the system.

Working against the poison spewed forth from fringe groups,

Supporting capitalism and free market economies,

Becoming well-informed about issues and trends,

Joining associations and organizations that work for the betterment of America, not its degradation,

Advocating conservative values and policies,

Supporting campaigns for trustworthy people, or even by running for office yourself,

Participating in the military services and in the conflicts that arise when we are called; we need a strong military!

Participating in support for our soldiers and veterans, and for provision of the proper tools of war,

Defending law-abiding and innocent Americans worldwide,

Defending the sovereignty of the US against all incursions,

Defending the religious choices of all citizens, including the religion of atheism or unbelief in God, unless the religion itself is a threat to us, as is Islam.

Defend and protect the US against:

Religious, anti-religious, and non-religious acts of terror,

Further secularization of the government,

Further attempts to denude religious symbols and prayers,

The incursions of the UN or other agencies on our sovereignty,

All forms of communism, socialism, and utopias,

Secular humanism and World Government encroachment,

Religions that advocate the overthrow of the US,

Irrational progressivism and destruction of morality,

Smut, porno, corruption of morals, and crime,

All foreign attempts to damage or defeat the US,

The worldwide threat posed by Islam and jihad,

The worldwide threat posed by communism and socialism,

The coming collapse of the European Union, and the probable Islamification of each nation in Europe,

Emerging world threats, by use of massive and deciding preemptive actions where needed, such as in the cases of the GWOT, Iraq, and Iran,

Zealots who use the gullibility of the public to further their own ambitions, such as Al Gore has done with the issue of Global Warming (which in itself is a little one degree over 100 years fact) and Climate Change( which has been unscientifically hyped),

Illegal immigrants must be deported,

Immigration to and residence in the US by Muslims must be halted. US citizens that convert to Islam must be treated exactly as we treat other Muslims--deport them,

Stopping foreign treaties and entanglements, many of which are not in the best long-term interests of the nation; especially those regarding the UN and the ICC need to be terminated.

Labels: Citizenship USA, Conservatism, Worldview

# posted by Mannning @ 5:35 PM