Thursday, June 27, 2013

The Declaration of Independence

My fabulous readers, as many of our fellow Americans
are eager to celebrate our nation's birthday this year
by reading the Declaration of Independence, the
document drawn up by our founding fathers that
announced the dawning of our blessed, beloved
United States of America, your patriotic Peasant
thought it would be a grand idea to print the text of this
hallowed manuscript for us all to read, to study, and to
remind ourselves of what our great country stands for
and our need to protect it from our wayward
current government. Here it is:


IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States
of America,

When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary
for one people to dissolve the political bands which have
connected them with another, and to assume the powers
of the earth, the separate but equal station to which the
Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent
respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should
declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are
created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with
certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty,
and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights,
Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just
powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever
any Form of Government becomes destructive of these
ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it,
and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on
such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as
to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and
Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments
long established shall not be changed for light and transient
causes; and accordingly all experiences hath shewn, that
mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are insuf-
ferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to
which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses
and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces
a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is
their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government,
and to provide new guards for their future security. Such has
been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is
now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former
Systems of Government. The history of the present King of
Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations,
all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute
Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submit-
ted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and
necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate
and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation
until his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended,
he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large
districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right
of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them
and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual,
uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public
Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance
with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing
with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause
others to be elected, whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of
Annihilation, have returned to the people for their exercise, the
State remaining in the meantime exposed to all the dangers of
invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States;
for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of
Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations
hither, and raising conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his
Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure
of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms
of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without
the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior
to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign
to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his
Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us;
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any
Murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these
states;
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world;
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent;
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury;
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences;
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighboring
province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and
enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once a fit instrument
for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies;
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws,
and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments;
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves
invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his
Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns,
and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of Mercenaries to
compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already
begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely para-
lleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head
of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the
high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the
executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves
by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections among us, and has
endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the
merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an
undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Opressions We have Petitioned for Redress
in the most humble terms; Our repeated Petitions have been
answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is
thus marked by every act that may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be
the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren.
We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their
legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We
have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and
settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and
magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our
common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would
inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They
too have been deaf to voice of justice and consanguinity. We
must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces
our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind,
Enemies in War, and in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the representatives of the united states of America,
in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge
of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name,
and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly
publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right
ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved
from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political
connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and
ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent
States, they have full power to levy War, conclude Peace,
contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and do all other Acts
and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for
the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the
protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each
other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.


The 56 signatures on the Declaration appear in the positions
indicated:

COLUMN 1
Georgia:

Button Gwinnett
Lyman Hall
George Walton

COLUMN 2
North Carolina:

William Hooper
Joseph Hewes
John Penn

South Carolina:

Edward Rutledge
Thomas Heyward, Jr.
Thomas Lynch, Jr.
Arthur Middleton

COLUMN 3
Massachusetts:

John Hancock

Maryland:

Samuel Chase
William Paca
Thomas Stone
Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Virginia:

George Wythe
Richard Henry Lee
Thomas Jefferson
Benjamin Harrison
Thomas Nelson, Jr.
Francis Lightfoot Lee
Carter Braxton

COLUMN 4
Pennsylvania:

Robert Morris
Benjamin Rush
Benjamin Franklin
John Morton
George Clymer
James Smith
George Taylor
James Wilson
George Ross

Delaware:

Caesar Rodney
George Read
Thomas McKean

COLUMN 5
New York:

William Floyd
Philip Livingston
Francis Lewis
Lewis Morris

New Jersey:

Richard Stockton
John Witherspoon
Francis Hopkinson
John Hart
Abraham Clark

COLUMN 6
New Hampshire:

Josiah Bartlett
William Whipple

Massachusetts:

Samuel Adams
John Adams
Robert Treat Perry
Elbridge Gerry

Rhode Island:

Stephen Hopkins
William Ellery

Connecticut:

Roger Sherman
Samuel Huntington
William Williams
Oliver Woolcott

New Hampshire:

Matthew Thornton



There it is. The document that signaled the birth
of our great and grand country, the United States
of America. The Declaration of Independence.
Reprinted here on this humble blog for your
Independence Day reading pleasure, my beloved
readers.

We'll get together again after the Big Day.
God bless you all, and God bless America.


MEM

Thursday, June 20, 2013

What the Government Elites Are Saying About the NSA Spying Scandal

Your faithful Peasant came across a rather
fascinating article in a hard-hitting blog which
I follow, and give the link to at the bottom
of my blog page for your further reading
pleasure. The Economic Collapse posted an
article highlighting quotes from some of our
so-called leaders in Washington regarding the
National Security Agency (NSA) and its
"data mining" of our telephone calls under
the rubric of preventing malicious mischief
by terrorists made upon our country, with
a wide net cast --- much wider than one
would expect for the job. As you, my grand
readers know by now, the NSA has been
gathering information on domestic calls
which include the calls made and received,
the talk time of each call, and the times of
the calls. With the IRS harassing conservative
activist groups, the NSA likely is targeting these
same folk, especially with Homeland Security
chief Janet Napolitano having declared some
time ago that Tea Party groups, pro-life groups,
war veterans of the Vietnam War and the
recent Middle Eastern wars are at least potential
threats to national security (!). And our e-mail
is being scanned and monitored as well, along
with our blogs which we write and read. This
blog especially.

Here, from the EC's article, are quotes from some
of the denizens of Washington, all in defense of
these measures:

Leading off is our Dear Leader President Obama:
"I think it's important to understand that you can't
have 100% security and then have 100% privacy
and zero inconvenience. We're going to have to
make some choices as a society."

Makes you're stomach constrict and your blood
boil, doesn't it? Hang on tight, because you're
gonna need some antacid and tranquilizers for
what's to come:

"I can assure you, this is not about spying on the
American people." U.S. Sen. Al Franken (D-MN).

"Some of you expressed surprise that I showed up
--- so many e-mails to read!" James Clapper,
Director of National Intelligence, remarking at a
recent awards ceremony. Big Brother is apparently
also snooping into our e-mail as well.

"There is no more direct or honest person than Jim
Clapper." U.S. Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA),
Chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

"We fundamentally try to collect everything and hang
onto it forever." Gus Hunt, Chief Technology Officer,
CIA.

"We do not see a tradeoff between security and
liberty." Keith Alexander, NSA Director.

I could share more such breathtaking statements
from this rotten bunch, but you get the picture.
And the picture ain't pretty! This is what happens
when you have a runaway government that has
an overblown opinion of itself, its capabilities,
and its scope of operations, hang the Constitution.
To this tawdry crowd, the Constitution is but mere
bathroom tissue to ... you know. And the people
are not citizens to be served but mere peasants
to be forced into servitude. Obama and Co. have
become so horrible that some Democrats and others
on the Left have openly spoken out against them!
The ACLU has become openly critical of this motley
crew, comparing Obama himself to Nixon. Even
some of the Hollywood lefties are voicing their disgust;
actor John Cusack, a veteran lefty activist in Tinseltown,
has publicly slammed the president for these very
shenanigans. Your inquiring Peasant understands that
he is not alone in that town, either. And the prez took
a huge hit in the polls: Obama went from a 57%
favorable rating down into the forties, and could well
sink further. At this rate, the only people who will
still be in The Annointed One's corner will be the
"Gimme Jimmies", the voters who voted for Obama
because they knew he would give them the goodies
that they clamor for and the rest of us have to pay
for with ever-increasing taxes, this before very long.

In your beloved Peasant's estimation, Barack Obama
is the most horrible, dreadful, arrogant, deceitful, elitist,
and cavalier president our country has ever been saddled
with! Until now I had reserved this dubious designation
for the aforementioned late President Richard Nixon
for Watergate. But Obama and his horrid administration
makes Nixon and his outfit look like an order of
Franciscan priests! While many, perhaps including some
of you my great readers may be calling for Obama to
be impeached and removed, I pause on that idea only
fir this reason: in that scenario, Vice President and
prize buffoon Joe Biden would then ascend to the
White House.

But Obama and his administration, along with his
appointees to critical positions such as those mentioned
a few paragraphs ago and others, i.e. U.S. Attorney General,
and Obama's allies in both chambers of Congress, are
beyond contempt in their callous disregard for the basic
rights and constitutionally guaranteed civil liberties of
the American people. George Orwell call your office,
for 1984 at last is here in 2013, and Big Brother is
just getting warmed up.


MEM

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Would John Wayne Recognize The United States Today?

This week holds the anniversary of the passing of
an American icon, and a hero to many --- on screen
and off. John Wayne, a film actor identified more
readily with the United States than any other, and
your appreciative Peasant's favorite actor of all time,
died on June 11, 1979. The Duke, as many of his
fans remember and refer to him, was also a noted
political activist for conservative candidates and
causes, this in contrast to many in Hollywood then
as now. In his movies and in his personal life,
Wayne embraced the essence of America and
what it means to be an American. When he shed
this mortal coil those 34 years ago, he left our
country a better place. But in recent years
some people have transformed it into a place
that Big John would not recognize, and would not
want any part of.

We currently have an administration that gives
massive amounts of money to mostly supportive
cronies whose large corporations have foundered,
in some cases because of their own incompetence
and/or crookedness, under the rubric of "economic
stimulus". The president has doubled down on the
misbegotten TARP (Troubled Assets Recovery
Program), the brainchild of his predecessor,
aiding other large corporations in a similar state.
He has followed this up with forcing upon us a
national health care program which most of us
have demonstrably opposed, responding that
we'll "like what's in it" (or else!). Add to this so
many other pork-filled nightmares with the
requisite tax increases all around for an
economic nightmare. To add insult to injury,
our current "leadership" in the White House
labels us "extremists" and worse for opposing
these programs and the taxes to pay for them;
this from true extremists in tone and content of
governance!

Our current administration also devised and
implemented a plan to track the sale of guns
at our southern border, named "Fast and Furious"
which was very fast and furious in getting guns into
the hands of drug cartels in Mexico and getting a
U.S. border patrol agent killed in the process.
This same administration refuses to continue
construction of the border fence at that very
border, which was begun before it came to
power, by the way; now, the administration
wants to give amnesty to the many illegal aliens
already here, some having been here for some
years, and put them on a fast-track to citizenship.
A slap in the face to all those immigrants who
came here and, following the rules and the
established timetable, gained their U.S. citizen-
ships.

And let's not forget (although the administration
hopes we do!) the abandonment of Ambassador
Christopher Stephens and his staff at our embassy
in Libya when Stephens was blown off after several
requests for military backup, each request more
urgent than the last. Stephens and three other
Americans were killed by radical Islamic attackers
in what was a planned attack, not a protest of a
politically incorrect movie about Islam having
gotten out of hand like this administration at first
claimed. Their butt-covering didn't hold up, and
now there's yet another scandal of theirs being
investigated. This would never have happened
in The Duke's day! But in that time and place we
had a government that at least cared about the
safety of those people whom they assigned to
represent our interests in other lands, as well as
all Americans who traveled and lived abroad
for any purpose and length of time. And
would have made anyone who would so much
as harm a single hair on an American head pay
a frightful price.

The latest outrage from this motley outfit is their
harassing and intimidating political groups opposed
to their rotten policies via the IRS, and following
that up with collecting telephone call information
on individuals under the guise of seeing who among
us have been talking to terrorist groups or anyone
suspected of such activity, claiming only to get
the times of calls, the time length of each call,
and to whom the calls were placed. They claim
to not be listening in on the calls; if they aren't
doing that now they soon will be! It is the next
logical step in the progression of spying on and
keeping tabs on us for fear of who is not on board
with their increasingly statist governance.

And the kind of movies that Big John made back
in the day have long since gone out of favor with
the Hollywood set. Whereas The Duke made films
which captured and celebrated the American spirit,
ethos, and way of life, the moguls and their stars
currently make movies that depict the U.S. as at
best a clumsy, lumbering, clueless giant stepping
on the rights and well-being of her people and
those of other countries and at worst, a scheming,
grabbing, empire-building evil entity menacing
the world around it. Parents are rarely portrayed
as wise, caring, and loving but often as stupid
and out-of-touch while their children are shown
to be hip, cool, and worldly. Industriousness is
downplayed or outright ridiculed and slackers
are made into heroes. Chastity and virginity are
hooted at while promiscuousness is vaunted.
Movies and TV shows are slinging this sludge
at us daily (and please don't get me started on
the so-called reality TV shows; come on, whose
reality is being showcased in them?). Wealthy
people are presented as layabouts lolling around
on their sumptuous estates or depicted as villainous
and vile. People in poverty, even by their own
erroneous choices in life, are seen to be their
victims or at least victims of society as a whole.
Businessmen and women are rapacious and
oppressing to their workers; the workers are
noble and faultless, even when they are them-
selves are engaging in outright illegal activity
i.e. violent strikes or protests against their bosses
or the government. And the theme of political
correctness ... it almost makes one want to
emigrate!

And popular music? Don't ask. PLEASE don't ask.
Ditto fashion trends.

Manners and civil behavior is fading while crude,
rude, loutish behavior is lauded. Trying to better
yourself with a quality education and vying for
solid career opportunities are not touted as being
as "with it" as being an ill-educated slacker working
(if working at all) at a minimum-wage job or,
worse, living on government handouts. If Duke
Wayne were to return to us for just a single day,
and he were to take in some of this bilge that we
are wallowing in, the shock and dismay of it all
would kill him again just like the cancer that took
him 34 years earlier.

I miss John Wayne something awful. Not just for
his movies, but for what he symbolised. He was a
great role model for our country's young men to
emulate and our young women to appreciate, and
for we older folks to be grateful for. We could use
some more people like The Duke today!Would
that we had some Duke-like folks not just in our
entertainment industry, but in our government as
well! Especially the White House!

At least we can still enjoy John Wayne's movies.
They afford us some temporary escapism from the
dreck that has engulfed our country. Thank you,
Duke, for your legacy.


MEM

Thursday, June 6, 2013

The IRS Gone Wild

Last week your outraged Peasant commented on
the IRS harassing Tea Party and other conservative
groups which applied for 501(c)(4) status. These
organizations' applications have been held up for
months, in some cases upwards of two years,
while being subject to the most inappropriate
questions --- these included:

"What are the names of the members in your
organization?"

"What are the names of your donors?"

and ...

"What is the content of your prayers (if your
organization prays during your meetings)?"


Shocking, isn't it? This is the kind of treatment
that statist governments routinely subject the
citizens of their countries to when those govern-
ments suspect groups of citizens may be trying
to stand up to it and stand up for their rights.
Whoever thought that such a thing could ---
would --- ever happen in the USA? If a
body would have told me thirty, twenty, ten,
even five years ago, I would have asked him
if he was smoking anything illegal. Now,
it has come to pass. It is a clear and present
danger to us and to our freedom. It's no joke;
this is for real.

This week, the IRS faced angry, passionate
testimonies before the House Ways and Means
Committee by the heads of organizations that
were targeted by the nation's tax collection
agency. Among these groups were pro-life
advocates, Tea Party groups, and various other
right-of-center organizations, all having been
bullied by the IRS for their political stands.
One witness stated that the IRS' actions were
"unconscionably chilling".

Becky Gerritson, president of the Wetumpka,
Alabama Tea Party, gave her thoughts on the
IRS giving her and her outfit a grilling:

"This was not an accident. This is a willful act of
intimidation to discourage a point of view!"

But this is precisely what the IRS claimed it was.
They at one point claimed that it was a few
"rogue agents" who were responsible for the
intimidating tactics unleashed upon these groups.
Lois Lerner, a director with the IRS office in
Cincinnati said before Congress that she was
pleading the Fifth (Amendment) so as to not
say anything. She would not even corroborate
the aforementioned weaselly excuse, let alone
offer an alternative one. Investigations have
begun to trace the origin of the idea and
accompanying orders to go hell bent for leather
after the conservative groups, and it should
prove to be quite a climb. Some are speculating
that the White House may have a role in all this;
that might prove true. Obama and his pals have
no love for the Tea Party movement, nor any for
pro-life groups and such. More will be discovered
in due course.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Gerritson was just one of many
leaders of conservative organizations telling their
horror stories of illegal inquiries, extensive application
delays, bullying, oppression, and arrogant disdain
for these people and their rights. Some group heads
were warned not to talk to their congressmen any
further regarding the IRS' treatment that they
received! Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI)
gave his own assessment of the IRS' witch hunt:

"At its core, this investigation is about how and why
the IRS was empowered and allowed to use a broken
tax code to abuse individuals based on their beliefs
--- and seemingly only based on their beliefs.

"While their life stories are different, what they all share
in common is that they are Americans who did what we
ask people to do every day --- add thier voice to the
dialogue that defines our country, and for pursuing that
passion, for simply exercising their First Amendment
rights --- the freedoms of association, expression, and
religion. The IRS singled them out."

One Tea Party group chieftan admonished the committee
members that these abuses took place on their watch, and
that they MUST take action!

Many of the committee members, along with the other
members of Congress present, openly sympathized with
those who had given testimony as to the brutal treatment
given them by the IRS. However, one House member
blamed the vicitms for their troubles with the IRS;
Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) mentioned the witnesses
for their opposition to President Obama's health care
reform and restrictions on abortion in stating that "taxpayers
have a right to know which side" of the political issues of
the day "that (they) fall on." Methinks Rep. McDermott
is merely crying crocodile tears for the taxpayers in his
quest to brand these conservative activists with the
"they had it coming" tattoo. Perhaps he would like to
explain how is it that left-wing groups have not had to
wait inordinately lengthy periods of time to get their
applications for 501(c)(4) status, nor have not been
required by the IRS to provide confidential information
regarding their membership and their donors? And
how a member of Presidnet Obama's family was able to
apply for and receive tax-free status within 30 days?
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

It must be noted that, in receiving this tax-free status, a
group would not have to pay any taxes on the donations
sent them by donors; however, the donors cannot claim
their donations for tax credits or exemptions on their taxes
as they can with donations to charitable organizations.
The stalling on, or refusals to approve the applications for
this status by the aforementioned conservative groups have
negatively impacted their ability to raise money to fund their
functions, including consequentially affecting their ability to
raise money for conservative candidates for public office.
Some people are even saying that this has affected the
last national election itself, the presidential race included.

This is but one of the scandals embroiling the Obama
administration. Your faithful Peasant shall comment on
the others in the weeks to come. But my closing comment
on this tragic story is this: it should now be as clear as
Waterford crystal just what President Obama's "Hope
and Change" plan is all about. This misbegotten joke
of a president hopes to change our country into a statist,
totalitarian husk of what was once a vibrant, shining land
of freedom and promise of a better life for downtrodden
people from other nations.


MEM