Recently many of our elected officials have gone on the record calling for a reinstatement of the Fairness Doctrine. This idea essentially calls for equal coverage of both sides of political issues on the radio and the television. They justify this breach of the First Amendment by stating that radio and television signals are public property, and therefore subject to regulation of content by the federal government. Proponents of the Fairness Doctrine ignore the fact that radio and television stations are privately owned businesses with the right to express any opinion they choose.
The truth of the matter is, is that our elected officials are trying to silence the voices of criticism that exist on these medias. Privately owned entities are subject to the rules of the market place. They exist to fulfill a consumer desire. If consumers desired radio and television programs of the type that our elected officials desire, then those types of shows would already be the dominant feature of the industry. However, we all know that Rush Limbaugh and others like him virtually own the talk radio market. They are wildly successful because the market demands conservative radio hosts. Reinstatement of the fairness doctrine is nothing more than government sanctioned suppression of free speech targeted at the critics of the current administration and the majority political party. I am outraged that many of our elected officials are even considering this idea and you should be as well. I urge you to call your elected officials in Washington and tell them to stand against any attempt to regulate the content of politically oriented radio and television programming. If we do not stand up for our rights today we will surely lose them tomorrow.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
A Forward
Why start a blog? I mean there must be another hundred million people out there like me who think they have something important to say. Wait a minute, make that about 6 billion people who think they have something important to say. So why write a blog? Why post my writings and opinions on the internet where they have to compete with so many others?
I write because above all I am disturbed about the direction the United States is taking politically and socially. We were a free country, however I question if we still are a free nation. And if we still can be considered a free nation, how much longer will we enjoy that blessing if current political and social trends continue? I write to share those concerns with others and hopefully get them to at least consider where their country is and where they want it to go.
I also write to try and win people over to my point of view. I am libertarian in my ideas about government, I am Christian in my morallity, and I am a strict constructionist in regards to the constitution.
I must speak up and speak out. I cannot let the policies and ideologies espoused by our current president and his cronies go unchallenged.
With that in mind, please enjoy the material presented here. If you get nothing else out of these essays, rants, and ramblings, please get this: Think for yourself and consider all arguments. Make informed decision based upon the truth and be willing to stand by your convictions.
I write because above all I am disturbed about the direction the United States is taking politically and socially. We were a free country, however I question if we still are a free nation. And if we still can be considered a free nation, how much longer will we enjoy that blessing if current political and social trends continue? I write to share those concerns with others and hopefully get them to at least consider where their country is and where they want it to go.
I also write to try and win people over to my point of view. I am libertarian in my ideas about government, I am Christian in my morallity, and I am a strict constructionist in regards to the constitution.
I must speak up and speak out. I cannot let the policies and ideologies espoused by our current president and his cronies go unchallenged.
With that in mind, please enjoy the material presented here. If you get nothing else out of these essays, rants, and ramblings, please get this: Think for yourself and consider all arguments. Make informed decision based upon the truth and be willing to stand by your convictions.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Welcome to the USSA
Welcome to the United Socialist States of America! With the Federal Governments bailout of the financial machinery of this country and now what appears to be the NATIONALIZATION of the auto industry we are solidly in the camp of socialist countries. We should be ashamed that we have allowed this to happen on our watch. I’m sure that our Founding Fathers are outraged at this bastardization of the free society they established. And while I find the legislation responsible for this offensive, what is far more offensive to me and frightening to me is the ideology behind it.
In effect, these acts have established the precedent that the needs and desires of the many (read the UAW and financial institutions of Wall Street) supercede individual property rights. If these companies and institutions made poor business decisions or are no longer viable in a capitalist economy then they should FAIL! I understand that this has larger ramifications, however it is not government’s role to insure the happiness and comfort of the employees of these businesses.
Government has one purpose and one purpose only: to insure that a person’s native rights are not infringed upon by external forces. To that end, we allow the government a monopoly on the use of force so that criminals are punished and reparations made to the injured party, and our borders are defended. (A short note here: A criminal is an individual who willingly uses force or threat of force to infringe on the rights of others). Lawful government has no other function except possibly facilitating interstate commerce through the construction and maintenance of the Interstate System.
Given that definition of lawful government it is clear that the system we now find ourselves under overstepped its bounds several decades ago. I understand that no system is perfect, however I believe we have reached a critical point. Our nation is about to shed any acknowledgement of individual liberty in favor of collectivism. This idea of collectivism hypothesizes that the needs of the many supercede the rights of the individual and it MUST BE STOPPED! AT ALL COSTS IT MUST BE STOPPED!
If we take a moment and consider other collectivist societies that have been tried we can see where this road will lead. The USSR struggled for years to make collectivism work and millions died. China instituted collectivist ideology and millions died. Cuba tried to work off the same template and they stifled progress and forced many of their citizens to flee to America. The common thread through all of these is that collectivism resulted in oppressive regimes that killed any and all voices of dissention. Why do American politicians have the audacity to think that the results will be any different here?
When individual liberty is denied in favor of collective “good” then anyone not marching in lockstep with the ideology suffers. The many persecute the few because they cannot tolerate questioning of their treasured ideology. All restraint for the majority is removed and anything that the majority deems as necessary, beneficial, or good is acceptable and consequently if a few suffer at the expense of the majority then so be it. This kind of thinking led to Nazi Germany. The majority deemed the Jews a threat and took steps to eliminate them. It was deemed right and proper to execute Jews and it became a crime to disagree with that position. A short aside here; Nazi Germany had Adolph Hitler urging them on, however Hitler would not have risen to power if collectivist ideology had not already been firmly in place.
We have ample lessons from history that demonstrate the failure of socialism and collectivism. It is only through willful blindness and gross belief in their own infallibility that our leaders assume they can take that path and avoid the pitfalls that have doomed other societies that experimented with collectivism. It is imperative that the people of this country take a stand against this type of thinking and politics. There is no time left to sit on the sidelines and blindly hope that our leaders will “do the right thing”. They have made it obvious what they believe “the right thing” is and those beliefs are incompatible with a free society. Take a stand and make your voice heard before it is too late. If we do not take action NOW, then this generation will bear the responsibility of leaving their children a country that is a shadow of it’s former self.
“Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it!”
In effect, these acts have established the precedent that the needs and desires of the many (read the UAW and financial institutions of Wall Street) supercede individual property rights. If these companies and institutions made poor business decisions or are no longer viable in a capitalist economy then they should FAIL! I understand that this has larger ramifications, however it is not government’s role to insure the happiness and comfort of the employees of these businesses.
Government has one purpose and one purpose only: to insure that a person’s native rights are not infringed upon by external forces. To that end, we allow the government a monopoly on the use of force so that criminals are punished and reparations made to the injured party, and our borders are defended. (A short note here: A criminal is an individual who willingly uses force or threat of force to infringe on the rights of others). Lawful government has no other function except possibly facilitating interstate commerce through the construction and maintenance of the Interstate System.
Given that definition of lawful government it is clear that the system we now find ourselves under overstepped its bounds several decades ago. I understand that no system is perfect, however I believe we have reached a critical point. Our nation is about to shed any acknowledgement of individual liberty in favor of collectivism. This idea of collectivism hypothesizes that the needs of the many supercede the rights of the individual and it MUST BE STOPPED! AT ALL COSTS IT MUST BE STOPPED!
If we take a moment and consider other collectivist societies that have been tried we can see where this road will lead. The USSR struggled for years to make collectivism work and millions died. China instituted collectivist ideology and millions died. Cuba tried to work off the same template and they stifled progress and forced many of their citizens to flee to America. The common thread through all of these is that collectivism resulted in oppressive regimes that killed any and all voices of dissention. Why do American politicians have the audacity to think that the results will be any different here?
When individual liberty is denied in favor of collective “good” then anyone not marching in lockstep with the ideology suffers. The many persecute the few because they cannot tolerate questioning of their treasured ideology. All restraint for the majority is removed and anything that the majority deems as necessary, beneficial, or good is acceptable and consequently if a few suffer at the expense of the majority then so be it. This kind of thinking led to Nazi Germany. The majority deemed the Jews a threat and took steps to eliminate them. It was deemed right and proper to execute Jews and it became a crime to disagree with that position. A short aside here; Nazi Germany had Adolph Hitler urging them on, however Hitler would not have risen to power if collectivist ideology had not already been firmly in place.
We have ample lessons from history that demonstrate the failure of socialism and collectivism. It is only through willful blindness and gross belief in their own infallibility that our leaders assume they can take that path and avoid the pitfalls that have doomed other societies that experimented with collectivism. It is imperative that the people of this country take a stand against this type of thinking and politics. There is no time left to sit on the sidelines and blindly hope that our leaders will “do the right thing”. They have made it obvious what they believe “the right thing” is and those beliefs are incompatible with a free society. Take a stand and make your voice heard before it is too late. If we do not take action NOW, then this generation will bear the responsibility of leaving their children a country that is a shadow of it’s former self.
“Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it!”
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