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)

Treaty to End U. S. Sovereignty?

 Here is a link to a copy of the treaty.  And here is a link to the entire speech at Bethel University.

Also, please read this PDF, and you’ll get the picture of where our current world is headed.  We must remain the beacon of REAL HOPE!   FREEDOM CAN WIN!!

Our Gun Culture in America

Labor Day, the Border, and Our 2nd Amendment Rights

Written by Jacqueline Smith

We were well on our way to Washington DC for the 9/12 March.  Our children received wonderful memories and lots of history.  We thought it would be wonderful to see Niagara Falls.  We planned on seeing Niagara Falls the entire time, but figured we would travel through Buffalo NY and then backtrack and see Palmyra on our way to Boston.  Our KOA situation became grim as it was Labor Day weekend and really didn’t know how far we would get until the day we needed the rental, so we traveled North into Michigan to stay at a KOA that could accommodate us.  This took us off the original track.  The next day we plotted Niagara Falls into the Garmin and it took us north to the Canadian border.  Oops.

Having traveled to Canada in the past, I remembered that my Driver’s License was a valid form of ID for crossing the border.  Wrong.  Just this June 2009 a new law went into effect that even though getting into Canada is fairly easy, without a passport or birth certificate, you can’t get back into the U.S.

Well, when asked if we had any firearms, we were honest and explained we had a handgun, and a shotgun.  Remember that because we are in a motor home, in the U.S. we have the right to bear arms according to the second amendment of the Constitution.  What ensued next, surprised us.  We were sent to the immigration office on the Canadian side.  Women in bulletproof vests escorted us (with our little children in tow) out of the motor home.  They inspected the motor home and confiscated our handgun.  (Apparently, handguns are illegal in Canada.)  We were told if allowed to stay and pass through Canada, they could not guarantee we would allowed back in the United States.  However, if we turned around here at the checkpoint, we would have to be allowed back in.  We thought okay, it completely throws off the schedule, but we love the United States and like our rights here.  Therefore, we opted to turn around.  After being escorted back to our RV, the woman in heavy protective clothing, reached into her pocket and placed our handgun in a rag in the outside compartment and watched us lock it.  They would not allow it back on board.  Nor would they allow us to touch it. 

Heading back to the U.S. I felt relieved, but also felt nervous.  Border agents walk by cars and ask them what brings people to the U.S.  Knowing honesty is always the best policy, we told them what happened.  The feeling of dread instantly left us.  Not only were we treated wonderfully, but everyone wanted to know about our guns, telling what kind they had.  A completely different feeling pervaded.

Upon entrance to the U.S. because we were Canada rejects, we have to go back through U.S. customs.  Not something that is normal.  They had a TV going and what was on but FOX NEWS.  This was a sigh of relief for me.  Once inside they had to clarify our rejection, check ID, confirm our concealed carry permit, and inspect our guns.  They also took down our serial numbers for the books.  Not sure how I feel about that, but we weren’t in a position to argue.    I proceeded to ask many questions to the officer that was processing us.

We found out that Garmin and the navigation system that gives the shortest route to Niagara Falls is responsible for catching quite a few illegal aliens and criminals.  But that’s redundant.  Because once they cross, if they are turned away, they are caught on the way back in.  They said this happens all the time, every day.  They were especially busy with Labor Day.  We also found out that the reason the Canadians were so freaked out by us, is that their Border Patrol agents are not armed at all.  They aren’t allowed to carry weapons.  All the Canadian agents had bulletproof vests on.  American agents, just wore their blue shirts, with a beautiful weapon strapped on their side, showing anyone looking who is boss.  The officer told us that, as I stated earlier, handguns are illegal, and that’s the real reason we were turned away, but because we didn’t have proper ID that made it a sealed deal. 

They were required to inspect our vehicle to see our guns, and when my husband opened the side compartment on the outside of the RV, the officer said, “Why are you putting that nice of a gun in a rag outside your vehicle?”  My husband explained the border patrol agent incident in Canada.  He told us to just put it back in our RV, and not worry as long as we had the ammo in a separate place.  My husband and the officer talked for a bit about different guns they both owned and we were sent on our way.  We were treated with great respect.

The gun culture of America is wonderful.  In Canada we were seen as such a threat, and in America in was almost exciting for these agents to meet responsible, gun-toting citizens, that were behaving in a respectful and responsible manner. 

 What a wonderful country we live in.  Our rights are what make us a great nation.  It is imperative that we continue to stand for liberty and freedom in all aspects of our lives.  Our Constitution was founded on principles that will stand forever, but as citizens of this great land, it is important to remember that it will only remain when we understand our freedoms, and when we quickly put our policies and our elected officials back on track when we notice our freedoms being eroded.

FREEDOM CAN WIN!

March on Washington Video

Washington DC March on 9.12 / A Utahn’s Account

by Jacqueline Smith

The 9.12 march on Washington was a wonderful, peaceful event.  I had many emotions while I was there.  

We drove into Maryland on Friday night before the March.  There were activities planned as early as Thursday, but our family opted to spend the time seeing other places, like the Freedom Trail in Boston, that I wrote about earlier.   We stayed at a KOA on Friday night and ran into a few people in the KOA store, all who were planning on attending the march.  There were three ladies from Florida, who drove up.  There was an elderly gentlemen, 83 years old, who was a Veteran of our military, and his wife, who said, “This is the last thing I can do for my grandchildren, so I’m going to do it.”

We got up early on Saturday and went to the train station.  ALL of the people that I could see had signs in their hands.  The train filled with people going to the march.  As we exited the train, the underbelly of DC filled with shouts of “U S A, U S A.”  People began cheering.  The excitement was palpable.  My children joined in.  People were giving away American flags and Constitutions.  People in wheelchairs participated.  Some walked with canes.  Children in tow with parents.  I met people from Indiana, Connecticut, Maryland, Florida, Alabama, Washington, Tennessee, Texas, New York, just to name a few.  In addition, of course, we were there from Utah.   

I experienced all kinds of individuals, with a wide range of ages.  Many elderly people participated.  This was no ordinary march.  We have been called angry, but I would use the word empowered.  We gained strength from each other.  We saw all the people around us who had united under 9 Principles and 12 Values. 

The issues ranged the gamut from ending corruption, to eliminating czars, to ending the Federal Reserve, to The Statue of Liberty in tears.  However, the main theme seemed to be restoring the Constitution to its rightful place inside our government.  Also taking a good long look at the unconstitutional things that are currently running rampant within the government bureaucracy.  Yes, there were a few who carried the “birth certificate” signs, but most are just frustrated with Congress even more than they are frustrated with the President.   

 

I asked a few people if they affiliated themselves with a specific party.  I received answers of Republican, Independent, and Democrat.  While most seemed to come from the Republican party, they were frustrated within their own party as well.  This was by no means any type of scientific poll, just a chance meeting with the marchers as we walked.  One feeling I received was that these people are becoming informed.  They will not sit idly by while the so-called elite run their government any more.  They don’t trust them to do what’s in their best interest.  Party-lines mean very little to this group of people.  They are going to listen to the candidates, look at their record, look at their lives, and then pull the lever.  If a candidate arises that holds dear the Constitution, small government, tax-cuts, end of corruption, and will live with the same laws they enact they will be popular among this crowd, no matter the party on their sign.  These people are going to understand the issues and weigh in through the internet, twitter, facebook and other social media.  They are once again looking for statesmen.  Mr. Smith is wanted in Washington.

The mainstream media can ignore us, and it won’t matter.  The media can pretend we don’t exit, and it won’t matter.  For every single person at the march, there were likely hundreds of people back home that wanted to be there, or knew someone who went.  They know us.  They know we are real, and they trust us.  So, if the media downplays the march, they are biting the hands that feed them, because the people who weren’t totally sold on the media bias, now have proof in their friends and neighbors that they were there and were ignored.  Their friends, who are not racists, tell them how peaceful it was, and the media said they were an angry, racist mob.  Their friends tell them about the wonderful democrats and independents they met, and the media says it was a GOP stunt.  Their friends tell them about the people from all races who attended and are standing for the Constitution and running for office, and the media says it was a white-male crowd.  The media can ignore us, and they will soon find they are the ones ignored.  Their only hope will be to ask for a government bailout that Congress had better think twice about giving.  As a friend of mine tweeted, after lamenting at the lack of coverage, her son told her, “Don’t worry, mom, ABC didn’t report on the Revolution either.”

 

We gathered in the Federal Triangle on Pennsylvania Avenue at about 9:00.  We walked around for an hour.  There were people with speakers and microphones giving pep-talks.  There was only one camera that I saw, and I’m not sure if it was even anyone from a media station.  As people continued to get off the trains, the area became so overcrowded you could barely move.  One girl saw us with our little children and tears streamed down her face.  She reached down and said to my daughter, “I’m so glad you are here.  Don’t ever forget this.”

We walked quite a distance both directions and never found the ends of the crowd.  At 10:00 the march began.  One person with a bullhorn strapped to him, was asking the crowd, “Why are you all so happy?  You are supposed to be an angry mob, remember?”  And it was true.  Everyone was happy.  People were signing “God Bless America,” chanting “U S A, U S A, U S A.” 

The police at the Capitol building when we got there about 20 minutes after we began, were not allowing anyone else on the lawn of the Capitol even though there was plenty of green to be seen.  We sat around the Capital Reflecting Pool, while the street continued to flow for another hour and a half to the capital.  There were individuals, who chanted things over the loud speaker, and many joined in, but the conservative group was difficult to lead.  We just aren’t the cheerleading type.  We don’t chant, because it feels strange.  Crowd mentality is not really our thing.  We are individuals that believe in individual liberty, so behaving in a crowd is not the norm for this group.

We expected more vendors available on the streets to help feed the crowds, but when that did not happen the crowd began to separate around 12:30 p.m. just to find food.  The rally took place at 1:00; many had already dispersed into other parts of DC.  This was unfortunate because the crowds were much heavier before the media (only Fox) began their coverage.

In the end, we may have gone home ignored, but the empowerment has taken root, and it will continue to grow.  We know who we are.  We will continue to educate ourselves, and we will not back down from our conservative stand.  At the 9.12 march Senator Jim DeMint said that the Republicans had lost their way.  Maybe now they have found it again.  The GOP has the right platform, but as said by Rand Paul the GOP is an empty shell.  It all depends on the people we fill it with.  If the GOP embraces this movement properly, and returns to their roots, finding statesmen instead of politicians to represent their people rather than their party, they, and all Americans will be the better for it.

FREEDOM CAN WIN!

To see all the photos taken from the March please click here

The 9.12 Project Video

Special thanks to the people that put inspirational videos like this together. 

On 9.12.01, we the American people, pulled together to fight a foreign enemy.  On 9.12.09, we the American people, are pulling together to fight with our voices, a domestic enemy.  It is not one person, it is not our president, it is not one party, but the systematic destruction of our way of life, by usurpation of power, by corruption, and by circumventing our Constitution.  We are waking up, we are organizing, and we will through our voices, let Washington DC and politicians everywhere know that our country, our liberty, and our Constitution mean more to us, than they realize.  Thank you to Glenn Beck for helping raise our title of liberty.

Remember, remember the twelfth of September

when American reason was sought

 

We are seeing the season of Constitutional treason

but we will destroy their plot.

 

 Poem re-written by Jacqueline & Cleve Smith

 

The following events occur on September 12, 2009:

If you would like to join in the March on Washington DC with events beginning on Sept 10, and culminating in a March on September 12 please visit

 http://www.912dc.org

If you would like to participate in the March on the Utah State Capitol at 10:00 a.m. please visit

 http://www.meetup.com/We-surround-them-saltlakecity/calendar/9951215/ 

Judge Napolitano Gives Constitution Lesson

Whether you agree with healthcare reform or not, this is a good video on our Constitution limiting powers of the Federal Government.  Enjoy

March on Washington DC on 9.12

There are members of The STAR Forum marching on Washington DC on September 12, 2009.  If you cannot make it to our nations capital, we invite you to gather at your state capitals around the country.  A good place to find others doing this is at www.meetup.com.  Sign up and then search for 9.12 groups or teaparty groups.  Also, you can get more information about the march on DC at www.912dc.org.  Please remember to be peaceful and respectful to others.  Enjoy the video.

The Government and The Cure

GOVERNMENT

 

By Phillip Leonard

 

The Declaration of Independence gives witness to our God-given right to Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Happiness.  This is the document by which we as a nation declare we are not subject to the demands of rulers of foreign nations.  It opened the door to self-rule by government of the people.   The necessity of this document became evident through a number of factors.  A few of which are as follows:

 Citizens of various nations left their country of origin because they wished to escape injustice, poverty, subjugation to an elite ruling class and unbearable taxes levied at the whim of any number of individuals in the ruling class.

Once in America immigrants found new opportunities, but the heavy hand of the colony’s founding nation’s ruler was still felt and that feeling was all too often uncomfortable.

 If we renew the old ties of bondage to other nations who haven’t improved their system of governance in the last 400 years then we will have sold our birthright as stated in the Declaration of Independence.  That is the three part birthright of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. We will again become the property of, and subject to, the whims of governments and despots who will see us only as a source of labor and resources.

 If we join with foreign governments and agree to allow them ( i.e. international court in The Hague) to have any jurisdiction over American citizens for what they may do in their own country, or for what its soldiers or other US Government representatives may do while in the service of their government then we have forfeited our benefits under the Declaration of Independence.  Foreign powers will feel no obligation to acknowledge an individual’s rights to life, liberty or the pursuit of happiness.

The fathers of this nation recognized the importance of acknowledging these God-given rights.  Therefore, they devoted themselves to the task of drafting an instrument, which would ensure these rights for all citizens.  Its comprehensiveness, economy of words, and simplicity of form are nothing less than marvelous. 

If we reject the wisdom of our nation’s founding fathers, what do we stand to gain from such a mindless deed?  The present administration is well on its way to “remaking America”.  They are drowning us in debt.  They want to destroy our present healthcare system, which more than 85% of the population participates in and most of which are happy with their coverage.  The desire to destroy the old system of caring for the 85% is so the government can provide care for 7-10% at the expense of the 85%.  

Capitalism is no longer going to be an acceptable economic system.  The government will control manufacturing, labor, healthcare, energy and environment and the financial institutions.  Various media outlets have already surrendered their independence to the present political machinery. 

THE CURE

We have seen the disease infecting our national structure and weakening our ability to remain an independent sovereign nation.  This is the same ailment, which was found so harmful by our founding fathers.  The disease leads to an unsympathetic ruling class and a working class whose symptoms are heartache and hard times.

Our founding fathers were able to bring about a cure because the colonial congress was filled with moral virtuous men and when the average colonist saw they needed to be virtuous to gain and maintain their liberty they did so and it had the desired effect.

Today we do not have a congress filled with virtuous moral men, and our czars are avowed communists, tax dodgers, admitted adulterers, bribe-takers and they employ people and organizations who use intimidation, bribery, fraud and would fit right in with dictatorial regimes anywhere in the world.

We need to send new men to Washington, D.C.  Men who are moral and virtuous.  Without a healthy congress, we cannot succeed at restoring the Republic.  In the meantime, we must express our dissatisfaction with the status quo.  Not only do we need to voice our displeasure with it, but we must increase our numbers by helping to educate those suffering from apathy.