Xerox – Let’s Say Thanks

One of many in the Hero Generation

 

A special way to say “Thank You” to our troops.  The picture is of my nephew, Jonathon Heideman, in the service.  I thought a lot about the sacrifices these young men and women make for our country.  Today, I was on the plane to Salt Lake City.  A young man in uniform was going home to Utah to see his daughter.  He had not seen her since she was 2 months old.  She’s 8 months now.  He missed her rolling over, and sitting up, he missed her crawling, and now, she’s getting to take her first little steps.   He has only spent 2 weeks of her life with her.  What an amazing sacrifice.  He has time to spend Thanksgiving with her, and then he’ll ship to Afghanistan.  All of our hero’s make sacrifices.  There is a new generation of heros.  Remember them.

Click on the orange corners to see a message, and then click on the link to send your card.

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Joe the Plumber, and A Look At Our Government

Two bald plumbers and me

 by Jacqueline Smith

I went to an event for Cherilyn Eagar last night.  She is running on the Republican platform for U. S. Senate against incumbent Bob Bennett.  I had a  chance to meet Joe Wurzelbacher.  He was very nice, and gave a great speech.  Before he spoke, my husband and I had a chance to speak with him for about 20 minutes.  We talked a lot about plumbing.

I think he feels like many of us.  He said being famous isn’t fun, and he would rather be plumbing.  While he enjoys going on the road and meeting people, and spreading the word about taking our country back, he, like many of us, wants to do the things in life that we do well.  We want to do things that bring us joy, happiness, and peace in our lives.  We love spending time with family, with friends, and being productive.  So does he.  Now we are thrown into a political maelstrom and feel we can no longer watch as the political winds blow the country into a place that is unrecognizable.

 The question isn’t whether or not we want to be politically active, the question is, “How can we not be?”  It is our responsibility as good Americans, parents, and citizens of this great nation to join in the great debate.  To put our best foot forward and leave behind some of our current desires for something so vital to our nation’s well-being.  This may be the only chance in our lifetime to begin to repair the damage. 

Remember, this isn’t about the Democrats.  This isn’t about Barack Obama.  This is about the slide into socialism and the Federal Government’s take over of our lives that has been happening for over 100 years. 

Do you think we’ll get through this like we did the Carter years?  Think again.  This is a different time in history.  Take a look at The 4^th Turning Cycle of History.  This is the time when a fight for the right way of life happens every single time in history.  300 generations have done it the same way.  We are no different.  But the last two times we went through this cycle, we did a poor job of it. 

Here is a drawing of how our government was set up to look originally.

 

 This shows a central Federal government, with surrounding states giving them certain limited powers.  This was in the Founding of this great country.

After the Civil war, we created another founding.  Many people don’t realize how much our government system changed.  But here is a drawing of that founding.

You will noticed that now the Federal government is over the states, and the arrows are going from the Federal government to the states.  The Federal government is now telling the states what they can and can’t do.  State sovereignty was being eliminated.

Then after the great depression, which was the crisis of that turning in history, we began WWII.  This pulled us from our depression, and another new founding was created.  This founding has been the most dangerous of all.  This globalism and socialism has found their way deeper into our government, where personal responsibility and accountability (as Joe spoke of in his speech last night) have all but disappeared.

Here is a drawing of that founding.

Notice the global entities that are putting pressure on the world governments, and then those governments are putting pressure on their states.  The states are left with a desire to de-centralize.  We can go one of two ways at this point.  We can move to global governance and lose all sovereignty, or we can bring the power back to the states, and re-gain control of our sovereignty on a local level.  The EU has had such an impact on Europe, that they no longer have currency that belongs to their individual countries but a European currency.  The global pressure on the U.S.S.R. had the opposite impact.  The states of that country broke apart and became their own individual countries.

So here we are, facing another crisis.  I have no mis-conceptions that this will be an easy time in history.  I’m not even sure what this crisis will really look like, but we are beginning to feel the impact.  We have had a housing bubble burst.  We have had the dollar falling.  We have had a swine flu scare.  We have the threat of terrorism ever looming in the back of our minds.  And we have The White House full of people with a different world view than many Americans. 

What are you doing?  Anything?  Are you just turning off the news because, why watch it anymore?  I know you are frustrated.  I am too.  So is Joe.  This will be a long fight.  This is not an election-cycle away from being fixed.  We will need to transform ourselves into the kind of people that generations later will thank us for our sacrifice.  Help us Save The American Republic.  That’s what this group is all about.  And every tiny chapter all over is doing the same thing.  We are waking our neighbors and friends and we are standing together.  Is there a 9-12 group in your area?  Join it.  If there isn’t one, create one.  Call it The STAR Forum, and we’ll help you.

There are amazing people behind the scenes doing so much.  But we need your help.  We need every tiny community all across this great nation to become STARS.  We hold the light and truth within us.  Together, we can Save The American Republic.

No one can do this alone.  A giant group won’t do it either.  But each community doing something can change the world.  Each person putting his shoulder to the wheel can push the Constitution back into the forefront of our minds.  We can talk about it.  We can study it.  We can be proud of it again.  Politics must be talked about openly.  Religion, too, for that matter.  They aren’t subjects to be considered controversial anymore.  They are the fabric of our country.

What we must also do, is be active.  Next year the Republicans want to take back control of the Senate.  If we are just looking for Republicans, then count me out.  However, if we are looking for truly Constitutionally-minded Republicans, I’m in.  Once we find them, how do we beat the machine that is the Republican incumbent that hasn’t held to those principles?  We become delegates in our precinct and take back our party.  We the people, create the party.  We have just ignored it for far too long.

FREEDOM CAN WIN!

Jeff Sandefer’s State Policy Network Speech

The following speech is available to read in it’s entirety by clicking here

SPN Speech

Thank you, Rich.  It is an honor to be introduced by such a good friend, a man who not only is my favorite education reformer, but brings incredible energy and good humor to such a difficult quest.

It is an honor too to be with so many freedom fighters. From my years on the board of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, I have seen how a state think tank can do so much for the cause of liberty. My thanks to all of you, for all that you do.

As I was preparing this talk, I was wondering what it might feel like to be on the front lines, defending freedom, in times like this.

Do you feel as I do?

Are you still wondering how a President from Texas, a self-proclaimed “compassionate conservative,” could have understood so little about freedom and free markets?

Are you angry with men like Mark Sanford, who with so much promise and so much to give, let personal appetites destroy their ability to serve?

Are you holding the Republican Party banner at arm’s length, like a soiled piece of cloth, wondering if we can ever wash off the stench from politicians who promised one thing to get elected, but spent money like drunken sailors once they were in office?

Does your heart, like mine, cry out for a Buckley or a Reagan or a Thatcher?

I am nothing more than an entrepreneur, a teacher and a father of three.  But I have had the honor of teaching with some of the finest entrepreneurs in this country.  And I have sat at Bill Buckley’s feet, and watched Margaret Thatcher from up close and studied Ronald Reagan from afar.

If you feel as I do today, please listen closely to what I say next, for it embodies all that I have learned as an entrepreneur and a teacher:

Do not give up hope.  For we freedom fighters have three simple truths, ancient truths, entrepreneurial truths, that are the secret to the American dream. Embrace them, master them, and you not only change the world – but you will change yourself as well.

Let me say that again:

Do not give up hope.  For we freedom fighters have three simple truths, that are the secret to the American dream. Embrace them and you not only change the world – but you change yourself as well.

I came here today because I believe that some of you in this room will change the world.  Not in a small way, but in a profound one. Because I have witnessed how the courage of ordinary people, armed with these three truths, can change the world.

Can the truths change your life as well? Stay with me for these next few minutes and I promise you’ll have your answer. …(Read the rest of the speech here)