Frankly Speaking

Frankly Speaking - Frank Gillispie - March 4, 2010

Young men dream dreams and wonder how to make them happen. Old men remember memories and wonder why things happened the way they did.

Sometimes, life events can not be explained understood. For example, Sunday morning, February 28 2010, my younger brother Harold Lee Gillispie, suffered a massive heart attack that proved fatal. The day before he had been working in his back yard with a chain saw cutting up an old oak tree. He was just over a month from his 66^th birthday.

His death was almost identical to that of my father. On February 28, 1990, my father suffered a massive heart attack that proved fatal. The previous day, he had disassembled a mower deck in preparation to installing new bearings. He was just weeks away from his 76^th birthday.

Both events happened shortly after they woke from a night’s sleep. Harold died twenty years to the day after his father. Both appeared to be in relatively good health, having worked the day before. How do you explain that?

Harold was a good man. Like many of my family, he was essentially self educated. Yet he started several successful businesses. He was a proud father of two sons, the husband of one wife, and a loyal supporter of his friends and extensive family. His death will leave a vacuum in our lives.

As the elder brother battling cancer, I fully expected to die before either of my brothers. That is one reason I was so stunned by Harold’s sudden death. So now I don’t know what to expect. As my 70h birthday approaches, I am clearly past the dreaming dreams stage and well beyond the “how” questions and fully in the “why” stage.

The dreams of my youth are almost past. A few were accomplished, many were abandoned and others took totally unexpected turns. Founding a newspaper was not one of them, yet that is probably the most significant of my accomplishments. I have always loved to write, so writing a newspaper came naturally to me. But this week will, I suspect, force a change. I will spend less time writing about social and political issues, and more time recording the mass of memories that I have accumulated.

A number of you have commented on the columns about growing up in the rural South, and I have a lot of those stories I can tell. Perhaps I will collect those memories into a book that I can call “Growing Up Redneck.” You will likely see these stories frequently in this column.

I apologize for rambling today, I am not in a condition to concentrate on anything else. I am sure you understand.

Frankly Speaking - Frank Gillispie - January14, 2010

Let me explain something to you. You have no “Constitutional” rights. The Constitution does not grant rights. It only preserves and protects your natural rights.

Anyone who has ever studied the origins of our American system of government should know that. It is clearly stated in the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, and are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, and that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.”

The Declaration defines the Creator by the phrase, “The Laws of Nature and Nature’s God.”

The position taken by our founders was that the rights of man, all men together and each man (or woman) individually is a product of this natural law. Natural law exist outside of governments of any kind, and they belong to all humans, regardless of what type of government they live under.

Consider this: If any government agency or man made document was the grantor of our rights as humans, that same or a similar government or document could just as easily take them away. But our rights under Natural Law are unalienable, meaning that no human power has the authority to deny or interfere with those rights. Your natural rights can only be denied if they do damage to the rights of other people.

You have a natural right to enjoy the profits of your labor. When you go out and work to earn money for the use of yourself and your family. No one has a natural right to take that money and give it to someone who prefers to live “on the government dole.”

You see, your rights are coupled with your responsibility. You have the right to enjoy any lifestyle you choose, as long as you exercise the responsibility to earn the money to pay for it.

When you take the product of your neighbor’s labor for your own use without giving him fair value in return, you are a thief. It does not matter if you break into his house and steal the money from his wallet, or have a government bureaucrat do it for you. You are still abusing your neighbor of his right to freely enjoy the product of his labor.

Now, Natural Law requires all of us to assist those who are unable to care for themselves. And I know of very few people who are not willing to do just that. I am happy to provide any assistance I can to anyone who truly needs my help. But I resent having the fruit of my labor taken from my by force, including excessive taxes, to support people who make no effort to provide for themselves.

Our government is on an ever expanding track to take from the rich (those who work to support themselves and their families) and give to the poor (those who sit on their couches in front of their big TV waiting for everything to be given to them.) And the current programs being crammed through congress at this time add dramatically to that abuse of our natural rights to keep for our own use the money we earn.

No wonder our nation is once again rising up in rebellion.

Dec 30 2009

Michael Barone, writing in THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER pointed out that this is not the first time a political party forced an unpopular bill through congress by a narrow margin. While he was at it, he described the consequences of the battle.

The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 was pushed through Congress by the Democratic Party without a single vote from the opposition Whig party. Stephen A. Douglas, of the Lincoln - Douglass Debates, in his eighth year as senator from Illinois, led the battle. The Democratic Party had control of congress and the presidency. They won the previous presidential election by 254 electoral votes for Franklin Pierce to only 42 for Winfield Scott.

The Kansas-Nebraska act overturned the Missouri Compromise that had limited the extension of slavery in the northwest territory leaving the newly created states to decide for themselves if they would accept the “peculiar institution.”

Opponents of the action responded by killing off the Whig party and launching a totally new “Republican” party. A bloody political campaign between the supporters and opponents of slavery in the Kansas territory resulting in the slogan of “Bleeding Kansas.” Eventually, this power play by the Democrats led to the election of Abraham Lincoln as president by the new party, which was the final straw forcing the southern states to feel they had no choice but to secede from the union, which in turn lead to the outbreak of the War for Southern Independence.

Now I do not think the action by the democrats to ram an unwanted health bill down the throats of Americans will lead to a civil war. But it stands a chance of causing a major political upheaval that once again may lead to a new political party and likely damage the Democratic party so severely that they are at risk of being in the minority for years to come.

A recent poll listed a large number of people who wish George Bush were still president. A generic poll showed the Republicans with an eight point lead over the Democrats. The Tea Party movement is making noises about organizing an new party and the idea polls well among the voters.

President Obama’s approval ratings are the lowest of any recent president after one year in office. The voters are restless and very unhappy about the way the country is going under his leadership.

History may be about to repeat itself again. The national Democratic Party is forcing an unwanted bill through congress on a totally partisan basis, and the majority of Americans do not like it. Many of them are “mad as hell and are not going to take it anymore.”

It is normal for the party in power to lose seats in Congress during the mid term elections. But the Democrats are at risk of losing much more than that. They might lose control of both houses of the legislature, and I do not think that President Obama has the political skills to deal with an opposition congress.

2010 will be a very interesting year, and 2012 may well bring the upheaval that the physics are predicting.

Put on your helmets and strap up your seatbelts. I think we are in for a very bumpy ride.

Dec 25, 2009

I knew when I left camp that I would experience a memorable Christmas. But it turned out to be much more than I had imagined.

The year was 1962. I was serving in the U.S. Army stationed near the tiny town of Dahn, in the Westphalia area of Germany. I had learned of a tour bus coming out of Frankfurt going to Italy with a vacant seat. I asked for leave, booked the seat and prepared see the sights in Italy.

Now you have to picture an inexperienced 21 year old Georgia redneck riding across Southern Europe with a bus load of total strangers, (they were Canadians.) The rest of the people on the bus knew each other. I knew none of them.

We passed through Austria, toured Venice, saw the leaning tower at night and made our way to Rome in time for Christmas. We toured the catacombs and the Vatican on Christmas Eve. I was with the group, but not part of the group during this part of the trip.

We returned to the square in front of St. Peter’s to hear the Pope’s midnight blessing. And that is where I had my epiphany. I stood there, all alone, in the center of a tightly packed crowd of several hundred thousand people, watching a dying pope give his final Christmas blessing. Pope John XXIII died a few months later.

This sharp awareness of being alone in a crowd in the center of a major Christian site immediately changed the tour from a site-seeing trip to a pilgrimage of self discovery. A pilgrimage that continues today.

I became acutely aware of my surroundings and the way I reacted to them. Christmas Day we were left to explore Rome on our own. I spent the day walking alone around the strange, enchanting city. I found the coliseum, the forum, the Spanish Steps and the famous fountains. On a small street, I found an American style hamburger joint were I ate lunch. I found the Olympic stadium were the Rome games were held, and many other well known locations.

During this fateful day, I never lost my direction. In my wandering, I crossed many busy streets, mostly filled with people I couldn’t understand. When I became tired in the afternoon, I simply turned and walked back to the hotel.

This intense awareness of myself continued as we completed the tour, seeing Pompeii, the Isle of Capri and parts of the Italian Rivera on the trip back north. When the bus dropped me off in Heidelberg to catch a local train back to camp, I knew I had changed. I didn’t know the extent or nature of the changes for some time to come.

The adventure was not over. Later that year, the Berlin Wall was built. We were on a war footing for over a month, with all the physical and mental pressures that brought along. But I never had a sense of fear or uncertainty.

When I returned to the U.S., I had developed a love of philosophy, and a deep interest in the world’s religions. A survey of my private library will show just how much time, energy and money I have devoted to my studies.

And it all started on that dramatic Christmas Eve in Rome.

December 17, 2009

Are you rushing around looking for last minute Christmas gifts. I have a suggestion for you. Give them books. I don’t mean one of those electronic book reader things. I mean real paper, hard bound books.

There is just nothing like holding a real book in your hands and opening it at the book mark to the last page you read. You can get quality books on all subjects. Whatever your loved one is interested in, there are books about it.

Does she like to cook? There are cookbooks of all types. Every one of the cooking show hosts has one or more book on the market. There are specialist cook books for vegetarian cooks, people with diabetes, dessert books - there is one that is devoted totally to cupcakes.

How many of your friends and family are devoted to their church. Every one of the major TV preachers has one or more books on the market and that includes such names as Bishop T. J. Jakes and Rev Joel Olsten. Bibles and bible commentary are always in order for Christmas giving.

How about politics. You can have your choice from all areas of the political spectrum, from Glenn Beck‘s “Arguing With Idiots”’ or Sarah Palin’s “Going Rogue” to Saul D. Alinsky‘s “Rules for Radicals.

You can find the books that were made into block buster movies about vampires, magic worlds, great romances, science fiction. Harry Potter books are still available along with some secondary books that relate to the system.

How about some of the older books that have been in the news recently. Ayn Rands, “Atlas Shrugged” is still on the shelves. New and older biographies of great Americans are out there, and there is no better way to learn about our nation than to read the life stories of the men and women who created her.

Books are works of art. Not only are the words inside the product of creative minds, so are the bindings, the illustrations and pictures often found inside. There is nothing more impressive than to handle one of the “heirloom” books bound in leather and embossed with gold leaf.

Books are great for children. I have never seen a young child who is not thrilled to have his or her very own book. Learning to read from their own special books is a major part of a child’s education.

Books are easy to find, reasonably priced and always in style. So if you are in a rush, or have that one person who is impossible to shop for, consider a book. So what if they don’t read. A good book will likely get them into the habit.

Give books for Christmas. Its easy for you, good for them.

December 10 2009

What kind of things offend you? As some of you know, it is very hard to offend a redneck. We rednecks have a level of self confidence that shields us from most insults. But there are a couple of things that really get our dander up. One of them is people who go around looking for things to be offended about. I am almost equally offended by those who bow down to the blackmailers who threaten to call people bad names if they dare disagree with them.

Take the example of so called Atheist. They run around threatening to file law suits against any public or private business or office that dares to display Christmas decorations because the handful of non believers in America might be offended. And far too many government offices, schools and even private companies cave in to their demands and remove anything suggestive of Christmas from their displays. Christmas trees have to become “holiday trees.” Singing of Christmas carols are forbidden. Some of them even refuse to allow Santa clause or candy canes.

The question is, who is offended most, those who oppose Christmas, or those who support the holiday. I talk to a lot of people. I can tell you that far more people are offended when Christmas is taken down, than those who are offended when it is put up.

Why do you suppose all these complainers are offended by Christmas. I mean the real reason. I think it is a power play. They know that their anti-religious stance will always be a minority position. The vast majority of Americans reject their non-belief. That leaves them with a justifiable feeling of inadequacy. They just cannot convince many people to adopt their position. So, rather than try to win points through discussion and debate, they decide to force the issue. They have no respect for the opinions of the majority. In their arrogant minds, they have the right, or even the responsibility to force their opinions on the nation by what ever tactic they can come up with.

They don’t care about the Constitution, they twist and distort it as a way of forcing their opinion. They do not care about the opinion of the majority. Sense they are so superior to the rest of us, anyone who agrees with the majority is week and deserves to be punished.

Now back to my original question. Who would you rather offend, the arrogant elitist minority, or the massive majority of believers who want to celebrate the birth of Christ? For clearly, you have to offend one or the other. You choose.

December 3, 2009

We now know that all the data used to proclaim a world wide climate crisis was manipulated to yield the result the advocates wanted. The millions of dollars that have been spent and the billions that have been budgeted or proposed are all based on a lie.

Why? It was designed to gain massive financial, social and political gains for the proponents of climate change at the expense of we the people who were expected to sacrifice our own financial, social and political freedoms to satisfy their ambitions.

So, how many of the other “emergencies” fall into the same category. Has our nation’s health been misjudged for the sole purpose of turning over a major part of our economy to the politicians and bureaucrats in Washington? Are all those appeals for donations to one desperate cause or another real, or are they based on false or non existent data?

Would all these financial institutions that were “too big to allow to fail” have done as much damage as the massive spending deficits being run up by our government? Would General Motors and Chrysler have survived after a normal bankruptcy without the billions of federal dollars they collected from our pockets?

I believe that in every case above, and many others, government intervention did far more damage than good. If we could just get government out of the way and allow the market place work as it should, most of these so called crises would be resolved If we remove the unnecessary government regulations from the work place the cost of American made goods will be competitive with those from outside the U.S. A dramatic cut or even elimination of payroll taxes would boost employment to the point that even those unneeded government workers would easily find truly productive jobs.

Just imagine a nation where workers get to keep all the money they earn and are allowed to spend it as they wish. Imagine a nation where workers never have to worry about filing income tax returns on
April 15. Imagine a nation where everyone who wants to work can easily find jobs, and those who don’t want to work will have to find a way to take care of themselves. Imagine a nation were anyone who wants to start a home based business can do so without having to fill out tons of tax forms and permit requests.

How do we achieve this? First, we should insist that our governments strictly obey the limits set by the Constitution as written, not as some judge thinks it should have said. We should eliminate all payroll taxes and apply a consumer tax at the wholesale level. That would force imported goods to pay the same taxes as the things we build here at home. We should dramatically reduce or eliminate government welfare programs, returning the responsibility for the care of those who cannot care for themselves to family, church and community where it belongs.

With these changes, U.S. made products will be competitive with imports. People will be free to start their own family business without interference from government so that they can support and care for themselves and their families. Unemployment would virtually vanish from our economy. And government can devote their time to preserving the safety, defense and communication systems that cross state lines.

President Reagan was right when he said, “Government is not the solution, government is the problem.”

November 26, 2009

While public pressure is swaying numerous decisions to remove “Christmas” from sesional celebrations, Athens-Clark chooses to continue the boycott.

Here is the official announcement from the city’s web site: “Downtown Parade of Lights on Dec. 3: The annual Athens-Clarke County Downtown Parade of Lights is scheduled for Thursday, December 3 starting at 7:00 p.m. This year’s theme is ‘A gift from the heart.’” Notice the absence of any reference to Christmas.

Contrast this with the recent decision of The Patchogue NY Riverfront Committee to return Christmas to their parade. They had dropped Christmas from the name of their festival a year ago, but when attendance dropped dramatically, they quickly decided to return to the original title of "Christmas Holiday Boat Parade"

Note also the move by a number of national retailers to return Christmas to their stores. They include Target, Sears and Lowes.

If you are unhappy with Athens-Clarke about this decision, I have a recommendation for you. You will be welcome at the 2009 Comer Christmas Parade to be held at 2PM on Saturday, December 5, 2009. This year’s theme is: “Christmas in Comer, The Old Made New”

I think I can safely say that Christmas will be very visible in the Comer parade. Among the units in the parade will be a number of church and civic floats depicting both religions and secular Christmas themes. You will very probably hear carols about Bethlehem and the baby Jesus. There will be Christmas trees, of course, and reindeer, and Santa will likely be the last float in the parade. He has held that position in every Comer parade I have ever seen.

Now I realize that the season represents many things to many different people. Many religions have celebrations at this time of year. The spirit of giving is not limited to Christians. And they all will be able to celebrate the season in accordance to their beliefs and traditions. But for the vast majority of Americans, especially in the South, the predominant reason for the season is the birth of Jesus Christ and any event that fails to keep Christ in Christmas is a slap in the face of the millions of Christians who make up the majority of our population.

So, enjoy the season. Visit those stores that keep Christmas in their displays. Attend events that put the birth of Christ at the center of their programs. And, perhaps, you might want to ignore any event that chooses to ignore Christmas and stage a strictly secular celebration. They deserve to be ignored.

Nov 19, 2009

What is that dollar in your pocket worth? There is a lot of concern being expressed in the media these days about the weakness of the dollar. It is losing value, especially in the world markets. So how do they determine what it is worth?

The simple answer is that the dollar is worth whatever it will buy. For example, if the price of crude oil goes back up to $100.00 a barrel, which it may, then $100.00 is worth one barrel of oil. But if the dollar continue to lose value in the world markets, that barrel of oil will cost more. If, in the future, the price of oil goes to $200.00 a barrel, then the value of the dollar will have been cut in half.

Now here is how it works. Our economy has a certain amount of goods, services and property at any given time. And we have a certain number of dollars depending on the governments monetary policy. These two figures will always balance out. The amount of dollars will always match the amount of goods, services and property. If the number of dollars is increased, say by the government spending more money than it collects in taxes, the price of the goods, services and property will increase until the balance is restored. That is what causes inflation.

We are currently in a financial crisis caused by excessive government spending. Government is spending trillions of dollars they do not have, creating a vast new number of dollars. That means that one of two things must happen. Either we need to vastly expand our production of goods and services to absorb all this new money, or the price of everything we buy will have to increase dramatically. (The amount of property, especially land, is not likely to increase significantly.)

Inflation will help solve one of our problems, the national debt. If we double the number of available dollars, thus cutting the value of a dollar in half. Then we would be able to pay back all that borrowed money to China, India and our other creditors with cheep dollars. They will not like that very much and will likely refuse to extend credit to us in the future.

But the real suffers will be those people on fixed income. Those who live off of income from saving accounts, pensions and such. and such. They will find themselves having to buy less and less as the price of everything they need rapidly increases. Their fixed dollars will not keep up with the prices.

The massive spending programs currently underway by our government cannot be sustained. They simply cannot collect enough taxes to support these programs which means that the deficit will continue to grow, creating more and more dollars without producing goods and services to balance them. Our elderly citizens will be severely damaged by this policy by having their fixed incomes greatly reduced in value.
And our young people will be heavily damaged by being forced to pay off the massive debt out of their future earnings.

Unless there is a dramatic change in our government’s spending policy, we face a very poor future.

November 12, 2009

In a letter to James Madison written from Paris, on January 30th, 1787, Thomas Jefferson had this to say”

“I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical. . . . . . .It is a medicine necessary for the sound health of government.”

This statement is just as applicable today as it was in the aftermath of Shay’s Rebellion which Jefferson was addressing. A rebellion by the voters is what we need today and a rebellion by the voters is well underway.

The rebellion has been underway for some time now with brief periods of conflict that were most often put down by the power of the federal government. But a year ago, it broke out with strength. Voters were tired of their voices being ignored. On the right, they were angry about candidates who campaign as conservatives, then govern from the center-left. When John McCain was nominated, they saw him as being at best a moderate, and expressed their displeasure by staying home in 2008. On the left, voters were tired of leaders who campaigned as liberals then govern from the center-right. Obama campaigned center-left, but the radicals were convinced that his rhetoric was a political necessary and once in office he would push the nation to the far left. They were partly right.

A number of Republican legislators ran into the same problem. The result was a Democratic sweep. And a government that, while not pushing as hard as the radical left wishes, is still trying to change our nation in to a socialist Mecca.

The conservative gamble may be paying off. Obama’s rush to the left is leaving a large majority of voters out in the cold. They are turning to the more conservative voices for guidance. They are launching street demonstrations featuring thousands of people who were never before active in political matters. And in Virginia and New Jersey, they threw out the ruling democrats for conservative republicans. This was a great surprise in heavily democratic New Jersey.

In upstate New York, a liberal Republican was pressured so strongly by a third party conservative, that she withdrew and threw her support to the liberal Democrat. This move managed to hold the seat for the left, but just barely.

This whole experience has left voters in all states and at all levels in an angry mood. They are not overly interested in supporting candidates, as they are kicking out the current offices holders for new blood. That happened a year ago in Madison County when the two key elected officials, Chairman of the Board, and Sheriff, were replaced by new faces. Thin just this month, voters removed two of our county’s mayors by two to one votes.

As Jefferson said, a little rebellion can be a good thing. In the current political climate it is essential if we are to preserve our individual liberty.

Nov 5, 2009

In the late afternoon of November 9, 1989, a member of the new East German Government was asked when new unrestricted travel rules would come into force. His answer: “As far as I can see - - -straightway, immediately.” Thousands of East German citizens responded by heading to the gates of the Berlin Wall demanding that they be opened. At 10:30 p.m. the gates were opened and the official fall of the Berlin Wall was underway. Monday, November 9, will be the 20^th anniversary of that momentous event.

I have a personal interest in this story. You see, in the fall of 1961 I was a member of the U.S. Army stationed in Germany when the Berlin Crisis began. I can clearly remember the reports coming in of U.S. and Soviet tanks standing eyeball to eyeball at Checkpoint Charlie. I remember the rush of adrenalin when we were ordered on full alert. And I still remember the intensity and fatigue we experienced in the month following the event. We watched on Armed Forces Television as East Germans made desperate dashes for freedom through the barbed wire and flying bullets as construction of the wall proceeded.

Things were especially tense in my unit. I was assigned to the Advanced Weapons Command (AWSCOM). We were the maintenance company for the command and that made us a very rich target for any invading Soviet army. I had made the mistake of scoring well on all parts of the Army proficiency test so the commanding officer figured I could do about anything. When he learned that I had taken a course in mechanical drawing, he assigned me to draw up a diagram of our post showing the placement of explosive charges in case we had to blow it up and run.

My security clearance was SECRET. But when I finished the blueprint, the officer directing me stamped it TOP SECRET and told me I could not look at it anymore! But that is typical of the military mind.

Our company had a full company of Military Police assigned to guard our work compound day and night. But when the Berlin crisis started, the commander decided we needed more protection than that, so we were assigned patrol duty in addition to our normal work schedule. When you add in our house keeping chores, and meals, we averaged four hours sleep a day for that first month.

Because of the secret nature of our mission, we were restricted in what parts of Europe we could visit. We were not allowed to go to Berlin, or to go within twenty miles of the so called Steel Curtain that divided East and west Germany. Before I left for a weekend pass, I had to list all the locations that I intended to visit and submit it to the security people for their approval.

I was in Germany in 1961when that wall was built. I was watching on TV in 1989 when if finally came down. It hardly seems that long ago. My memories of both events are still fresh. And it kind of makes me feel old.

Oct 23, 2009

Children will be children

Have you ever watched a group of children playing? You will see all kinds of conduct on the play ground. Some kids are believe that they have a right to rule over the others. Some are so spoiled that they ruin the games for the rest. Some of them are bullies and some are even thieves.

For example, say there are children playing in a room. Then cannot agree on which game to play, so one group storms out of the room. But on the way out they lock the doors to prevent the other group from playing there as well. It is the old “If I can’t have my way I will take my ball and leave” trick.

On another play area, one group demands that the game of their choice be played, and when the others object, they start insulting them and calling them childish names. Some take this to an extreme, obtaining great pleasure out of making the other kids cry.

Then there are the bullies. These kids try to use force and intimidation to gain control of the play area and impose their games on the others. And of course there are the extreme bullies who make great efforts to steal the other kid’s lunch money.

Now, those of you who watch real news rather than the slanted propaganda so common on TV today have already figured out who I am talking about. And I suspect that you are the only ones who read my column. I write for people who think for themselves, not those who devote themselves to parroting the party line of their leaders.

So, what do we need to do? First, we need to find all the children in our government, especially the ones who occupy grownup bodies, and sent them back out to the sand boxes where they can play their silly games without doing any real harm. Then we need to establish a set of political time limits so that when we mistakenly send a child to do an adult job, we can correct the problem within a reasonable time.

We need to break up the two big gangs that these childlike adults use to boost their power so that mature people have a chance to take responsibility for our actual children and their future. Then we need to make sure everyone has a strong zipper in their pockets so that the bullies can no longer steal the money we are saving for our children’s future.

I often hear statements about educating our young people so that they can take control of the nation when their time comes. But worrying about their future is pointless if we continue on the path of destruction that will assure they have no future to control.

Only when the childlike antics in Washington are ended and we are allowed to be responsible for ourselves and our families, will our children have a chance to build a future of their own.

October 15, 2009

Friction can be a good thing, and it can be an agent of destruction. It takes friction to smooth and polish objects and ideas. The crankshaft in your engine has to be highly polished to avoid wear and distortion. A small stone can be polished into a jewel for your ring or pendant. Your wood furniture can be buffed into a deep shine. All this takes friction.

But friction can also be harmful. If you let grit or sand enter your engine, the friction it creates can destroy the crankshaft causing the engine to seize up. Air friction determines the maximum speed at which an airplane can travel. Friction from your shoes can gradually strip away the finish from your floors.

Friction can waste energy. If your tires are not properly inflated, the extra friction with the roadway damages your car’s mileage. Accumulation of dust on the blades of a fan will reduce the flow of air from your heater.

In the late spring of 1908 a massive explosion in Northern Russia, known as the Tunguska Event, was caused by friction from the air acting on an invader from deep space. The asteroid or small comet hit the atmosphere at an extremely high speed, and became so hot, so fast that it exploded in the air destroying thousands of acres of trees below.

So. What does this have to do with today’s events. Friction can occur in non physical ways, such as politics. Our two party political system creates significant amounts of friction between their ideas and plans. \

Usually this is a good thing, as the friction from the party in the minority helps to shape and polish the legislation from the majority. The results is usually policies that are beneficial to and approved by most citizens. But that is not always the case.

In the past, political power has been evenly divided between the two groups. As a result, friction from the opposition party can bring the efforts of the ruling party to a virtual standstill. In these cases, government grinds to a halt and important things are left undone.

Today, the greater risk of political friction is a clear possibility. The Obama administration is trying to push major changes through congress at a rapid pace. These high speed efforts are generating high levels of political heat that could result in a massive explosion. Clearly, the fallout from such an event would be damaging to our nation for years to come.

In order to avoid a political Tunguska Event, President Obama and his liberal Democratic supporters need to dramatically slow their push for reform, allow their ideas to fully develop, and then be polished and shaped by the friction from the conservative Republican opposition. That is the only way programs satisfactory to the majority of Americans can be achieved.

Physical friction by the atmosphere caused a massive explosion over Russia that destroyed thousands of acres of trees. Political friction in Washington D.C. could cause a policy explosion that will destroy the careers of hundreds if not thousands of politicians. Which will it be? We will probably know by this time next year.

Frankly Speaking - Frank Gillispie - October 1, 2009

Most news reports on the internet are followed by a “Comment” section where readers are able to respond. If you read these comments regularly, you find a theme developing. One of the most common themes continues to be “It’s George Bush’s Fault.”

Typical of these comments is the following posted by someone who identifies himself as ronnierayjenkins who was responding to a story about growing anger among Americans: “So, the Republicans are mad as hell. Where was their anger when GWB and Dick Cheney set out to destroy America?”

There are two major flaws with this argument. First, many, of not a majority of the people showing up at the Tea Party protests are independents who have never before taken part in political activities. To make a blanket statement that all these people are Republicans is simply wrong.

Secondly, The suggestion that Republicans did it first does not justify political abuses by Democrats. They sound like a bunch of kids who were caught playing in the mud.

“What happened to you Harry,” ask his mother. “You are all covered with mud.”

“It’s not my fault,” little Harry answered. Nancy fell in the mud first, and I tripped over her.”

“Why were you and she running through the mud to start with,” his mother asked.

“Well, George and Richard were wading in the mud hole and we were running to get ahead of them,” he answered.

“What was so important about getting ahead of George and Richard.” she ask?

“Barry was standing on the curb telling us to run faster. So we were running as fast as we could until Nancy fell in the mud and I tripped over her. So, you see, it was George and Richard’s fault that I got so muddy.”

“Did Barry get muddy as well,” ask his mother.

“No,” Harry answered. “He just stayed on the curb telling us to outrun George and Richard.”

People like myself have been protesting the government’s power grab for many years now. We protested Republican overspending well before the Democrats took power and dramatically increased the abuses. The problem is that too few people took notice. Now that the present governments radical spending programs are too obvious to be ignored, people are finally speaking up.

People in America have become angry about government over spending. They are concerned for the future of their children who will have to pay these bills in one form or another. And it is not just Southern White Rednecks. People of all races, economic levels and regions of this nation are realizing that the current crop of politicians are leading us all into the swamp and if we all get mired up in the quicksand there will be no one left to pull us out.

So I say to all of the “blame Bush” crowd: You are doing nothing more that blindfolding yourself with this argument. And we all know what happens when the blind lead the blind.

Sept 24, 2009

Are you smarter than a politician? The Institute for American Civil Literacy decided to find the answer to that question. For the last several years, they have conducted a survey of Americans to see just how much they know about civics and history. The Answers are disturbing.

In 2008 they ask 2,508 Americans a series of 33 questions, then gave the nation a grade from A to F. Only 21 people received an “A” meaning they scored 90% or above on the test. Another 66 people received a “B”, 165 managed a “C” and 445 people qualified for a “D”. An amazing 1791 people out of 2,508, or 71.4%, failed to achieve a score of 60 or higher.

On most of the questions, elected officials scored lower than the general public. For example: 44% of elected officials were able to identify Rowe vs. Wade as the primary Supreme Court ruling involving legal abortions. The public did a bit better with 51% knowing the answer.

Less than 46% of elected officials knew that the Constitution gives the power to declare war to Congress, not the president. The general public did a bit better with 54% answering correctly.

How did President Roosevelt react when the supreme court ruled against some of his programs? About 25% of us knew that he tried to expand the court so he could appoint judges who would support his programs while fewer that 20% of elected officials knew that.

But the politicians came out ahead on a couple of questions, but even then they were not impressive. App. 24% of our elected officials knew that the Lincoln-Douglass debates were about expanding slavery into the new territories. Only 19% of the general public got that right.

If you would like to take the test, go to http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/

So what are we to make of this? In its summary, the Institute listed among its major findings that Americans failed the test with a average score of 49%. This failure crosses all political and regional lines. Liberals earned a 49% score: Conservatives came in at 48%. Republicans averaged 52% and Democrats achieved only a 45% score.

Nor does higher education help. College graduates with a bachelor’s degree scored 57% which is only 13% higher than those with a high school diploma.

Our educational system is a failure when it comes to teaching fundamental history and civics to our citizens. Or as one commentator said, Americans are to dumb to cast an enlightened vote. In my opinion, our schools spend far too much time being politically correct and pushing social changes and far too little time in basic education. And if we loose track of our history and heritage, we will loose America.

At the end of the Constitutional Convention, someone ask Benjamin Franklin, “What have you given us?” He answered, “A Republic, if you can keep it.” A radical politician once said. “If you would conquer a people, first take away their heritage.” I am afraid both of those statements are coming true. Our culture, our history and our heritage is nearly lost. And so is our liberty. Time is running short.