Embarassed to Be an American?

When one thinks of Obama on the world stage, one does not think of a dynamic leader.  He's more like a suck-up on the elementary school playground, hoping the kids who usually bully him will pick him, just this once, to play on their team.

His endless apologies won't work, and in Ben Shapiro's most recent column, one gets a glimpse of what the new, weak Clinton-Obama foreign policy looks like.  What it looks like is an absolute pathetic mess.  Obama is having the one remaining (or what was the one remaining) superpower bow down to extremist and authoritarian crazy people that don't ever have a democratic or fair thought, people that lead countries like Iran, North Korea, Honduras, Cuba, and Nicaragua.

I guess Obama wants us all to feel like him (and especially his wife) — embarassed to be an American.

Happy Independence Day!

Today is Independence Day, a great holiday that celebrates the original thirteen colonies' independence from the oppressive regime of the British king that taxed the colonists unbearably, limited their religious freedom, and inhibited their ability to pursue economic stability and happiness in general.  Colonist leaders and patriots wrote the Declaration of Independence and thereafter worked to build the United States of America, a unique and blessed land where all, because of acknowledged equality and a government that was originally built to serve the people, are able to pursue opportunity, worship, and engage their fellowman as they see fit.

America, as mentioned above, is a unique and uniquely blessed nation.  I am forever grateful to be an American and to have had the opportunity to grow up and now raise a family in this great land.  There are some, those known as cultural relativists (they call themselves multiculturalists), who would argue that no one country can be better than another.  This is not really true for a number of reasons.

One reason is economic opportunity.  Mexicans and others from Central and South America do not flood across the border (legally and illegally) because the job prospects south of the border are so hot.  In this unique land, one can take an idea, run with it, and essentially control your own economic destiny if you're willing to put in the requisite time and effort.

A second reason America is so great is because here we can worship God (or not) the way we want.  I remember the hassle it was in Russia for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to be allowed to meet, organize, and otherwise function.  I am grateful that in America, organized religion is not subject to the whims and fancies of a bureaucrat or an authoritarian regime (look at the Chinese government's meddling in religion for a great example of that).

A third reason America is so great is because of the relative peace we live in.  Wars simmer and rage all over the world, but although America has been involved in many conflicts, those wars have rarely reached her shores.  Even the domestic scene, which involves occasional riots or some gang violence, is calm compared to elsewhere.  The Mexico-U.S. border is so rife with violence that it is impossible for people to live there.  Honduras has exploded into violence following a coup.

I can think of so many other reasons, too.  The quality of life is just amazing here.  Whenever I hear of poor people in the news in America, I think back to my time in Russia or think of all those articles I've read in National Geographic.  I would argue that poor people in America aren't poor.  We should still help them, but our quality of life in America is so much better than most anywhere else that comparisons of rich and poor just don't make sense.  The choice that abounds because of liberty in America is astounding.  Whether it be a simple choice of where to live, what profession to pursue, or what doctor to go to, America again stands head and shoulders above the rest.  I've lived in the UK and know about not being able to choose what doctor to see.  We have opportunities and chances like no one else.

I hope and pray that America will remain the land of liberty and opportunity.  Things are changing right now, and we need to take time on a day like Independence Day to commit ourselves to action, just as those early colonists and patriots did.  We can only retain our blessings in America if we commit ourselves to following God's commands and remembering that we must work to preserve our liberty because freedom is not free.

God bless America!

Liberty and Tyranny

We all declare for liberty; but in using the same word
we do not all mean the same thing.
With some the word liberty may mean for each man
to do as he pleases with himself, and the product of his labor;
while with others, the same word may mean for some men
to do as they please with other men, and the
product of other men's labor.
Here are two, not only different, but incompatible things,
called by the same name — liberty.
And it follows that each of the things is, by the
respective parties, called by two and incompatible names —
liberty and tyranny.
— President Abraham Lincoln
When one thinks of the great nation of the United States of America, one almost certainly thinks of liberty, among the other blessings that are attendant to a blessed land.  Liberty, though, is an abstract, almost philosophical concept, as are other words we use to describe our condition and who we are.  Just what are conservatives?  Just what is statism?  Even more importantly, what do these words and concepts, bandied about by talking heads, have to do with everyday people?

They have a lot to do with everyday people, and in his book, Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto, popular radio host Mark R. Levin explains just what those concepts are, how they apply to every American, and why a philosophy and course of action grounded in true conservative principles is the most effective approach to preserving liberty and avoiding tyranny.  Levin examines those topics that people associate with conservatism, the Constitution, federalism (states' rights), the free market, limited government, and national security, among others.  He ties it all back, though, to what conservatism is really all about — the ability to make choices for oneself, one's family, and one's property, or liberty.  He ends the book by explaining that conservatism has a chance to lead America if those who believe in its core principles are ready to put forth the required effort.  Armed with the proper understanding of the concepts and the long-term vision such understanding gives, the call is inspiring.

Given that I am not a fan of Levin's show and that I have been disappointed by radio hosts' (Hannity's, to drop names) books before, I was skeptical of this book.  I wasn't more than ten pages into the book before that skepticism had worn off.  The book is surprisingly well written, well sourced, and explains in a profound clarity just what it is that conservatism represents.  Time after time after time Levin blows the leftists and statists out of the water, exposing them for the power-hungry and hypocritical jackals that they are.  It's all done almost void of the over-hyped emotion his listeners have come to expect, too.  The reader sees solid analysis and an accurate examination of the Founders, current politics, and other relevant history.  There is a reason this book was a New York Times bestseller for so long and still trades hotly on resale sites like Half.com and DealOz.  The book will open your mind and solidify the truths that readers already know.

Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.
We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream.
It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same,
or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children
and our children's children what it was once like in the United States
where men were free.
— President Ronald Reagan