Canadian turned U.S. Citizen Gives Words to Her Fellow-Americans

by: Karen Mecham 

When I first came to the States from Canada, I realized Americans had a strength I wanted to cultivate. Then I realized it was so ingrained in each person that few even knew they had it. I think, today, it’s the best kept secret in the nation. So for your information, here it is:

You can only push Americans so far, then they push back HARD!!!!
 
If you don’t believe me, here are some instances that will convince you.
 
Remember the Alamo?
 
Remember Pearl Harbor?
 
Remember 9-11?
 
So I say to all who will hear: 

Remember who you are!  It’s time to fight for the right.  Demand honesty and integrity from our leaders — no matter which party they represent.  Demand fairness and integrity from Corporate America.
 
It’s time to haul out our pioneer values, dust them off, practice them ourselves, and expect them from everyone else.
 
If you want more regulation — start regulating yourself first!
 
If you don’t buy higher interest rates — they’ll come down.
If you demand fairer gas prices and speak up at the pump to the distributors — prices will come down.
 
Stop being the silent majority — Act and speak. You have the power. When you speak with your purchasing dollars and your vote, they will listen.
 
Get out of debt! And stay out!
 
As they said in the Great Depression:
 
Use it up
Wear it out
Make it do
Or do without
 
It’s time to push back —–Hard.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Karen E. Mecham, BA, MPA

Company: Karen E. Mecham & Associates

Web site: www.upfromtheashes.com

Expert Areas: Goal Setting, Financial Literacy, Mentoring at-risk employees, Marketing your Customer, Motivation, and Self-reliance.

Description: Karen specializes in how to “take the rules and fly with them.” Her keynote addresses, “Take Charge” and “The Sky is Not the Limit” motivate attendees to focus their dreams into goals and maximize their efforts by accomplishing small steps daily. Her ability to connect with and relate to her audience is her key to teaching the skills needed to become successful.

Bio:

Karen began her business career as a single mom with half a college degree, five children, and no way to make a living. After completing two degrees, she co-founded a community based mentoring program. Under her seven years of leadership as executive director, the mentoring program spread across Utah and into Arizona.

She received several awards for her innovative approach to empowering single mothers and others to bring their families out of poverty and move ahead to permanent financial stability. These awards include the Governors Commission for Women and Families Woman of Achievement Award, the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce Pathfinder Award, the Salt Lake Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners’ Rising Star Award.

Today, Karen is the managing member of Karen E. Mecham & Associates. She works with businesses to reduce tardiness and absenteeism by teaching self-reliance skills to employees. She also teaches management-level staff how to use mentoring techniques to develop team building skills. Additionally, Karen custom designs self-reliance programs for nonprofit agencies.

Jon Hellander and Mel Brown Meet the Delegates of District 53

Jon Hellander

“It is better to be despised and have liberty, than to be loved and subservient to the government.” — Jacqueline Smith    

On April 22, 2010, a group of state delegates for District 53 had an opportunity to put questions together that would be asked to each candidate.     

Jon Hellander was first and the moderator, Tom Burton, from Campaign for Liberty, drew the questions.     

Each candidate brings a very different style to their answers.  Mel Brown, being the incumbent, is a polished politician, who is knee-deep in the issues and brings a much richer background to his campaign.  He is a parliamentarian, and when you know the rules, you control the game.  He talked about the things he has done while in office, and spoke of his commitment to the area especially the fight against equalization for education.  Jon Hellander on the other hand, comes to this    

Mel Brown

campaign without the experience in legislation, but with many years experience in business, with 22 of those years being here in Summit County.  He stands firmly on principles. He is not a polished spokesman, like so many politicians, and comes across as someone with common sense wanting to change the nature of the political system.  Jon’s statements were always put forward inside his principal belief on the issues, not on specific bills like Mel’s answers.  It is currently Mel’s job to know and follow each bill, and Jon is looking at things from a principled perspective.  Mel has a voting record, and Jon has his word.  It will be up to the voters to decide who they believe will best represent them based on their answers, and their record.  http://www.UtahGrassRoots.org    

Most of the questions had similar answers, as is expected in an inter-party race; abortion, illegal immigration, defense of marriage amendment, etc.  This article will be focusing on the places where answers were different, as that is what the voters need to look at in order to make a good decision.    

 Here are some of the questions asked and their responses – paraphrased.    

Do you support taxpayer dollars being used to support out of classroom activities for union lobbyists? 

Jon’s response was that he is against any taxpayer money paying for activities involving union workers, but especially taxpayer money earmarked for our children’s education.  Mel’s response was that he is also against it.  However, when the bill was put forward to end this practice of waste with our taxpayer money, Mel Brown voted against this bill. (SB77)  His reasoning was that it should be local decision.  While I agree that decisions involving curriculum, etc should be at the local level, it is my understanding funds are allocated at the state level. 

Do you believe that a sales tax increase for all that is offset by tax break for a few is redistribution of wealth?  And will you vote to raise taxes if elected? 

Jon’s response was, to tax all and give breaks to a few is “socialism.”   He went on to say that taxes do not need to be raised, but cuts need to be made and better management of our money needs to be in place to ensure we are using our taxes wisely.  Jon promised to vote NO for any tax increases, regardless of what they were called.  Mel’s response , “All taxes are too high.”  That sounds great, because he’s right; however, he went back to 1998 to talk about how a newspaper article touted him as “Conan the tax-slasher.” 1998?  Really?  What does his record show now?  The last 3 out of 4 years Mel Brown has voted to raise taxes, including the increased sales tax that was “justified” by a tax reduction to a few.  He never actually answered the first question about the tax he actually voted yes on.  He did say he would not raise taxes.  Check his record.   

What are your thoughts on property rights?   

Each candidate answered this question identically saying they believed property rights are vital.  However, when a smoking bill went through the legislature this year, Mel Brown voted that even in your personal property (your vehicle) if a child is present you don’t have the right to smoke.  While this may seem well-intentioned to most of us that know second-hand smoke can be dangerous, it is a direct infringement on rights.  Property rights, parental rights and personal responsibility cannot be lost on well-intended legislation. (HB82)     

Mel Brown also voted to pass legislation allowing the power companies to curb your electrical consumption.  This goes against property rights as well.  Thankfully, our Governor vetoed this bill. (SB47)   

What are your thoughts on vouchers?   

Jon and Mel also agreed on this in word.  They want vouchers, they want school choice.  Again, the voting record on Mel differs from his answers.  We have no way to determine Jon’s answers because he has no record to run on, but since Jon has used both public and homeschooling methods, parental choice is a big issue to him.  Either you will trust him, or you won’t.  Mel voted against the voucher bill put forward claiming it was in direct conflict with our state constitution, and it left out homeschoolers.  (Homeschoolers do not want government money period.)   Here is what the Utah Constitution says in Article 10 Section 9:   

“Neither the state of Utah nor its political subdivisions may make any appropriation for the direct support of any school or educational institution controlled by any religious organization.”   

This argument did not hold water for me, as the state funds would not be given to a school directly.   Vouchers are not a direct support of any school.  If the state were making the decision of where to send money, that would be direct support.  A voucher is given to a parent, and the parent is deciding where the money is spent.  The money then follows the student where a parent decides is best for their child.  This is not a direct support of any school.  Sources on “the hill” say that Mel was against the voucher bill from the very beginning.  And to take it a step further, you could argue the other direction that the public system has become an atheistic institution, which is it’s own religion, or to put it bluntly it’s a religious organization of secular humanism.   

Nevertheless, let’s say he’s a strict Constitutionalist.  While he may argue using the Utah State Constitution for one bill, it appears he didn’t even look at the U.S. Constitution for his vote on another bill.  (HB150)  This bill is in direct violation of our 4^th amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and Mel voted yes on that bill.  This bill would allow internet service providers to turn over service information without a warrant.     

How do you feel about sunsets in legislation?  

Jon was adamant that the way it is currently handled is a bad practice.  He feels that to re-authorize programs in our government, each should be looked at individually, and not lumped together into one bill and reauthorized at the same time. (HB221).  Mel finds this practice suitable and believes that the committees that recommend the bills reauthorization have already done their homework.  

What are your thoughts on water?   

 This question on water began a pretty heated argument from a person in the crowd with Mel.  Both candidates recognized that water is very important.  On the one hand, Mel claims the state owns all the water, and on the other, said that the state doesn’t sell any water.  The person in the audience said, if you pay a fee of any kind in order to get water, you are paying the state for water, and actually run others wells dry.  Mel doesn’t see a fee to the state as a payment for water.  Not sure on this specific issue, but I do understand that water is our life blood here in the desert and it is a commodity that must be used wisely.  Jon also understands that ranchers and farmers, those that feed the rest of us, hold water rights as vital to their survival.   

What are your thoughts on privatizing more of the government jobs?   

Jon and Mel both recognize that some things government must do, but that there are many programs that could be done better, with less waste in the private sector.  Mel spoke of a Privatization Policy Board that he implemented years ago, that needs citizen involvement to get rolling.  This sounds like a great idea, and something that I want to look into.  Any time we can move jobs into the private sector, everyone wins.  Government wins because there is a profit motive, and profits mean tax base.  The people win because they are given jobs where they must perform, and there is no drain on the tax system. What are your thoughts on legislation with your name on it?   

This was one question that Jon had the opportunity to answer that Mel never did, because Mel’s answers went on much longer.  That question was about legislation put forth in order to appear as if you are getting something done.  Jon does not believe in this position.  He feels that legislation for the sake of legislation is just bigger government with more intrusion.  Our founding fathers would argue that the point of congress was to create laws in the hopes that they would have so much disagreement that very little would be passed.  Jon does not have a specific agenda going into the legislature, other than ensuring we limit the size of government, expand personal liberty and responsibility, and defend our 10^th Amendment rights (state rights).   

      

Will you revisit the raw milk bill and correct the regulations to ensure a free-market system and allow individuals to have the liberty to legally share their milk through cow sharing again?     

This question did not get asked, and that was unfortunate for the voters of this district.  I am all for buying raw milk, and there was a bill that passed with the help of Mel Brown that made the sale of raw milk in Utah legal with some big restrictions.  However, this bill also eliminated cow sharing.  Mel is on record as saying, “I don’t usually vote for raw milk, but I’m voting for this bill because the restrictions are so strict it will make it impossible for any new raw milk dairies to open.”  This statement disturbs me because it seems to go directly against free market principles and because his family is in the dairy business eliminates any competition in the form of raw milk.  It also created a bit of a monopoly within the state of Utah for the people who pushed the legislation through.  A well-intended bill that gives one thing while taking away so many others.  It hurts the free-market, and individual liberty by making it difficult for rural families and small farms to enjoy the benefits of raw milk in their communities without driving a great distance to get their supply.   It would be nice to know what both of these men think about this.     

Final Message:     

UtahGrassroots.org  puts Mel Brown (since he has a voting record) with an overall score of 49% for his career in the legislature, with a 64% for this year.  (All our legislators received higher scores this year with individual liberty and states rights being the forefront of this session.)  Some legislators received 100% and some 95% on their voting record.  Mel is not in the top 25 of the conservatives in our state, but he is also not in the bottom 25, where most Democrats fall.  This would indicate he is more of a liberal Republican.  We have no way of scoring Jon, since he has no voting record yet.      

At the end of the evening, everyone enjoyed chatting together.  It is the goal of The STAR Forum to bring people to awareness of the principles, the issues and the process.  We are looking for solid candidates that exemplify the standards set forth by our founding fathers.  Many people are speaking constitutionally right now, because it has become popular to be a conservative.  Each candidate must be vetted, and their record looked at carefully to ensure you are choosing a candidate that truly will stand and help Save The American Republic.

Tax Day Tea Partiers Geer Up, and Should Be On Guard

Thursday, April 15, 2010, there will be another opportunity for the Tea Party groups to rally.  In Utah, there will be a protest / rally at the Federal Building at 10:00 a.m. that moves to the Utah State Capitol Building at noon.  This will be a family friendly event, with speakers ranging from Tea Party Organizers, 9.12 Organizers (including me) , Candidates for public office, and those already holding political office.   For more information on this event go to www.utahrising.com

So who are the people who belong to the Tea Party Movement?  Are they anarchists, racists, and violent?  No, no, and no.  They are families that believe in their country, and they recognize government as a necessary evil to control anarchy, but government must never be allowed to become tyrannical.  They come from all backgrounds, all education levels, and all classes.  They are freedom loving people who recognize that failure is part of life, and the freedom to fail is part of what makes this country great.  They are peaceful people, that sing songs of our country when they are walking the streets of DC like “God Bless America” and “America the Beautiful.”

This clip gives you a great idea of the kind of people who make up the tea party movement.  My favorite line in this clip is “The more I give you, the more I control you.”  It really is true that a government big enough to give you everything, is also big enough to take it all away.

This next clip is a letter read by Jon Voight, and he is very accurate in his thinking.  We must be peaceful, God-loving, calm, resolved Americans.  Join us in this great movement for liberty.

This is the obamacare that tries men’s souls…

The following is a condensed version of the message I shared at our STAR Forum of Phoenix meeting March 26th:

I’ve had a fairly emotional week.  Hearing on Sunday night that Obamacare passed in the house in spite of a complete lack of bipartisan participation and a strong vocal resistance from the people made me lose faith in the legislative process.  It further tarnished my opinion of our president and other federal leaders who seem to have forgotten or just refuse to accept that they are our representatives and our servants.  It sickens me.

As I was looking more into this I found out that the bill actually includes articles providing for the formation of Obama’s “civil army” that will be appointed by him, take their orders from him, report to him, operate on their own ranking and pay scale independent from the one established by congress for our current military.  I wonder just how devious and dark President Obama’s true designs are.

I also know that to get too caught up in the negative points will become destructive to me and my goals.  I have been critical of Glenn Beck at times because I felt that he got too angry and didn’t offer a plan of action to deal with all of the problems he was identifying.  I don’t know how correct this assessment of mine was.  Lately I have appreciated his efforts to educate people.  I also appreciate something I heard him say this week.

He explained that a lot of people were surprised that he wasn’t crying and frothing at the mouth about the Obamacare vote.  He said that the reason why is that he appreciated that those in our government who hate freedom and have a complete disregard for the constitution and for the people they were elected to serve have clearly identified themselves.  Then he reminded us of a powerful lesson from our history.

December of 1776 was a bleak time in the colonies.  General Washington and his armies had lost every battle so far in the war.  They were starving and freezing.  I believe that the states were not sending supplies, reinforcements, or the pay that the army needed.  They were disheartened.  Many soldiers were leaving and choosing to not continue on with the army.  It was a dangerous time during which we could have easily lost our ability to continue fighting for our independence.  It was at this time that Thomas Paine penned his famous words, “These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated.”

His words inspired the troops.  They inspired the people.  The colonies continued their fight, and eventually we were victorious over the oppressive English.

This story reminds me to never give up.  We have lost battles.  We have lost freedoms.  We have strayed too far from the government designed by our founding fathers to protect our liberties and freedom to prosper.  But the war is not yet over.

I don’t know what will happen from here.  I have an idea how it ends, but I’m not certain what route will carry us from point a to point b.  All I know is that I do not want to be counted among the summer soldiers.  I am not a sunshine patriot!  I will continue to educate myself and act on opportunities that present themselves to help others learn and act as well.  I will share the message of liberty.  I will support others who will stand with integrity for the constitution and the principles on which it was designed.

“Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered…” but it will be conquered.  Tyrants will fall, and Freedom will ring, and I choose to fight on her side so that I can stand tall and proud when that day comes!

I want to thank Jeffrey, Ed, Jason, Jim, and the wonderfully beautiful Ashlee for your attendance and participation.  I’m especially glad for the example of Ed becoming a GOP Precinct Committeeman and for Jeffrey pointing out that more of us should follow suit.  My email has been sent to our district chair to inform of my intent to become a committeeman myself.

I invite all within my “voice” to educate yourselves.  Read a book about history or government.  Get involved.  Come to a meeting or start your own.

If you live in the Phoenix area you can find our contact information on the tab above or visit www.thestarforumphoenix.wordpress.com.  We have monthly meetings scheduled for the last Friday of each month.

Finally, good job to my fellow liberty lovers in Utah for your participation in the Caucus.  I’ve heard great things about your efforts and results!

Western States Owned by Federal Government — Utah Fight Backs

Utah is one of many states that have joined to create a 10th Amendment Task Force.  If the Federal Government takes our land, it takes our resources, and it takes our possibility of revenue.

A Father’s Letter to His Children

I am always grateful to good friends, like Robin that help me find material worth posting. 

Robin likes The STAR Forum, and likes what we we are doing.  Just before she left California, politics came up with a good friend of hers, named Audrey.  She found out they had similar views.  The letter that follows is an actual letter that Audrey’s husband sent to their two college age children.  This is beneficial for all to read, and I received Audrey’s permission to post it.  I have not included their last name to protect their privacy; however, if you want to submit comments, I will make sure they receive them.  FREEDOM CAN WIN.  Enjoy.

_____________________________________________________________

Dear Jake and Danielle,

            What a disappointing, yet inspiring time.  Already I find myself doing what Hoedad did late in his life, apologizing for the insufficiency of his generation.  As his is called ‘the greatest generation’, ours is simply ‘the biggest’.  These characterizations are not coincidental.  “The greatest’ because they waged and won horrific war which saved civilization as we know it from Nazi inhumanity.  The ‘biggest’ because they, visiting death, returned to make life.

            They did so at a time when survival was being technologically and pharmacologically liberated from perennial threat.  Food production, refrigeration, transportation, communication, antibiotics, medical and every other industrial innovations, etc., propelled the standard of living far past historical mortality. 

            They did so with classic American enthusiasm, hard work, ingenuity, and resolve, expressing the same self-interest which won the war.  The problem is that the greatness with which they fought for values was not as great as the values for which they fount.  (Rand used this phrase to describe Victor Hugo’s heroes.)  The rank and file American person possessed the classic American spirit of individualism, but the American intelligentsia and political leadership abandoned true liberty early in 20^th center, and then disastrously during FDR’s reign of error.  The only reason America escaped FDR’s perpetuated depression is the war forced economic and industrial realities of production upon his destructive policies.  When the war was over, the power of American liberty was left standing.  Our economy replenished a ravaged world.  Our intelligentsia and politics however remained moth-eaten, leading to efforts like ‘the great society’ and a general inclination towards socialism which persists today.

            As young people, you expect to be born into a functional and sustaining society.  You expect that the generations before you and settled on basic rules of civil conduct promoting societal advance.  You expect that the models being displayed have been merited, naturally selected by prior challenges to survival and reliability.  This is obviously not the case. 

            Just in the last several weeks, three separate and vital institutions have failed their constituents, you.  “Scientists” responsible for climate data, which was being used to fundamentally restrict energy usage and hence our economic relationship to the environment, falsified finding to fit their theory.  The scientific method has been deconstructed.  Aspersion is thus cast up on the means of establishing the truth, the foodstuff of human evolution.  Science, still in its infancy compared to the rule and depredation of dogma, has been abused by those positioned to glorify it. 

            Our political leadership is in the act of lying.  They promote fiscal irresponsibility, indebting your generation forever, while calling it the “era of responsibility” (Obama’s deceitful inauguration).  They are devaluing the currency, the means by which you will monetize the value you’re working to achieve.  They are forcing a fraudulent healthcare bill down the American throat which will choke us to death.  The only means to pay for their insane efforts is to tax and punish yours.

            Tiger Woods, heretofore one of the most charming, successful, and popular icons, has betrayed his following by betraying his family.  Family is the centerpiece of human evolution.  It is the biological and cultural means of procreating the species.  If not modeled consistently and correctly, we are biologically and culturally doomed.  Woods, by desecrating his marriage, has failed the billions of people who pay him homage.

            As a society, we are teaching you wrong.  Instead of providing reproducible positive models, we exhibit the negative.  Rather than displaying what to do, we display what not to do.  This may contrarily inspire you to pursue and practice real science, seek out real political and personal leadership.  It however places much greater demands upon your own judgment and developing values.  If not exhibited before you, how does one establish right from wrong, truth from falsehood?

            My own answer has always been to resort to first principles.  Discern the origins, of the universe, of life, of human nature, of reason, of morality, and the evolutionary means by which negentropic progress is made.  As human individuals are our basic evolutionary unit, establish that which promotes, establishes, secures, and unleashes individual potential.  Fidelity matters, to oneself, one’s spouse, one’s family, the truth, the transcendent.  Society like our species, will then benefit and thrive.  We are most certainly here to assist you as we can.

Love,

Dad

Awaken, O America!

This 10 minute video is important to watch.  Senator Jim DeMint is asking a very important question.  I’m sure most of the American people are not aware that the recent bill that just passed has language that will stop all future Senators from amending or repealing this Health Care Plan.   Please watch the whole thing.   We are at the brink of tyranny.

Also, I wanted to share this video.   As someone who marched on 9.12 in Washington, D.C. this song and the pictures are moving.  Even though we are at a time of trouble, America truly is calling to you.  Stand up, be proud of our country, help our fellow countrymen through our own deeds, not those of the government, and be a light to your neighbors and friends.  O, America is calling.

Seven Keys to Freedom

Based on a talk by Oliver DeMille

To read  articles by Oliver DeMille, please vist www.thesocialleader.com.  You can also find a link under our GREAT LINKS section on the right hand side of this site.  There are also articles in the box.net site that you will be interested in.

 by Jacqueline Smith

We have come to a point in time where certain areas of society are told to be silent regarding public policy.  Recently Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid (D), commented that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (the Mormon Church) should not have been involved with the debate on Proposition 8 in California.  We have also had a leader of  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Elder Dallin H. Oaks, come out and say we cannot leave our religion at the door of the voting booth, or at home when we step into public office.  Which view is correct?  I believe if we follow the advice of Harry Reid he can only lead us further down the path toward the end of our Republic as we know it.

According to Dr. Oliver DeMille, of George Wythe University, there are seven places in our society that must maintain an equal voice for freedom and liberty to abound.  When one or more takes precedence over the society we begin to see our liberties deteriorate.

What are those seven (7) parts?  Government is one of them.  However, if government is the only voice, then we have a totalitarian, fascistic style of government.  Government has begun to create an aristocracy, as the example of Harry Reid shows us, because it appears to be his belief that government always knows best, and all other voices should stay out of it.

 

Media also has a vital role.  But if media is left unchecked by the other parts of society, propaganda and the media’s agenda will reign.  We are seeing our media play into this propaganda media, and real journalism doesn’t seem to be as prevalent.

The other strong voice that is currently heard in our society is Business.  If business is the only voice, we have an oligarchy, where a few are making the decisions for many, and money creates a kind of aristocracy within our country.  The Republicans have long been a strong voice for business, but that isn’t the only voice that needs to be strong in the Republican party or their party will eliminate itself because most of the people will no longer tolerate the aristocracy.

These first three voices have been the main voices in deciding our public policy.  But should they be the only voices?  No.  But again, lets look at the other options as if they were the only voice as well. 

 

Family is one of them.  But if one family is the only voice, you will end up with a Monarchy, or the Mafia.  Not a good form of government.

Education has a role in creating our free society.  If they were the only voice heard we would have a very strong secular society.  Something I would argue we do indeed have.  People must be educated in freedom principles to maintain their freedom.  However, the government has been the overriding influence on our education system, and that is part of the reason many of our liberties have been lost.  The truth about our country is not as available to our young children, and they have, as of late, been spoon-fed the ideas of socialism from the time they are in elementary school, and then on a grand scale at the college and university level.

 

Religion is  a powerful example in history of both good and bad.  When religion is the only voice of public policy we end up with a theocracy.  The beauty of our great country is that it is founded upon religious freedom, so one religion cannot be held over us and put in place as a state religion.

 

Community must maintain its voice in public policy as well.  If only one community were to lead with it’s policy it may be oppressive to others or not strict enough, depending on the needs of that community.  It is imperative that each community (town, county, state) create laws that fit their own communities so that they are sovereigns within the sovereignty.

You can see how many of these voices are silenced by claims of “intolerance” or “lack of knowledge” to the specific policy.  All of these voices must equalize each other.  It is the voice of the family that must put education in it’s proper place, while the community as whole can influence the schools.  It is the schools place to help support the family in their roles, not to replace them.  It is up to the religions to help keep morals alive and well in our communities, and help man reach for the higher good.  It is the role of all of these to help keep media, and government in check.  it is the role of business to help our communities thrive, help our families maintain or grow their lifestyle, and help fund educational influence in our communities.  It is the role of religion to help our businesses maintain ethics, and the role of government to enforce good ethics practices with our businesses.

These seven places of society must have their voice heard by all other places in society.  One cannot be the ruler over the others, but must maintain equal ground in order for freedom to thrive and be passed on to our children and our grandchildren. 

I think the most silenced groups are the family and religion.  But according to our founders, they knew that if the people did not remain virtuous they would not be able to maintain their freedoms.  They knew that parents had the greatest influence on their children, and that religion held the greatest influence on communities.  As we have strayed from our Judeo / Christian beliefs in this country, and made God a word that is considered offensive, we see that freedom cannot be maintained.  We are watching as the idea of “tolerance” has become a mask for Judeo / Christian intolerance.

It is time for each of us to take a look at the 7 places in society that must share a  voice to maintain liberty.  If you have any influence in any of these areas, let your voice be heard.  Create a platform to make that voice heard a bit louder, and a bit truer in the public square.  Bring principles and God back into the center of our culture, and Save The American Republic. 

If you would like to be a leader in your community, and don’t know where to start, contact us for information on starting a STAR Forum group near you.

FREEDOM CAN WIN!

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!

We Must Be Educated to WIN.

This video shows parliamentary procedure, or Robert’s Rules of Order being used.  If you do not understand this system, you cannot win.  We must educate ourselves in the process of liberty, because these same rules are used on the local levels as well.  This video shows, however, that when you have corruption at the very top (the speaker), even knowing the rules won’t help you.   If you are interested in a class on Robert’s Rules of order, please contact a parliamentarian and start a class in your neighborhood.  Even better, start a STAR Forum near you.