No more Snowdens! From Today Forward – We Become Our Own Fact Checkers!

Not that long ago a friend of mine, Sheri, asked me and several other bloggers to join her in standing up to the corrupt governments of the world. Our goal was to unite as one voice, left and right, to stand up together against the actions of politicians and bureaucrats (left and right) that have undermined the sovereignty of the people. We speak out against the wrongs of governments around the world without taking sides with one political party or the other. We write about these wrongs on our own individual blogs and share what we have written with each other and our readers. I have focused my attention primarily on the United States. Some actions (such as the rewriting of American history) are often portrayed as the sin of one side or party or the other. However, this is far from the truth. The politicians in Washington DC have more in common with each other than the constituents and special interest groups they claim to represent.

A good example of this in the United States is immigration reform. Our politicians ignore the law instead of correcting the law. Politicians on the left AND the right. Why? Because it helps them to push their own agenda. Granted, the politicians on the left and right are pushing agendas that in many areas are different from their opponents. But, when given a choice between their political opponents or the American people, the American people lose every time. No one is above the law, and when the law is wrong we change it through the proper procedure. A procedure our founders wrote into our constitution, expressly for the purpose of changing bad law. THAT, is the difference between a democracy and a democratically elected republic. The left and the right each get something they want by allowing this mess of our immigrations laws to continue as is. It also perpetuates their belief that THEY are above the law. In a republic – NO ONE is above the law!

The constitution was written so that the sovereign power of the United States was invested in the people of the United States. The politicians were intended to act on our behalf and under the temporary authority invested in them by the people. That is what the phrase from Mr. Lincoln meant, “… by the people, of the people, for the people …”

The politicians would rather see the political leaders of the opposition party gain power, than to see the real power returned to the American people. I say returned because the authority, sovereignty, and power of the United States of America was originally invested in the people. The usurpation of this power began in the early 1800s while many of the founders were still alive.

A good example of this is the phrase “American exceptional-ism.” Forty years ago my grandfather explained to me what “American exceptional-ism” is. His explanation bears no resemblance to the definition used by Senator McCain and President Obama. They like to say, that every nation, in its own way, and to its own people is exceptional. My grandfather said that what was exceptional about the United States, what was unique; was the idea that our nation was founded on. The people of this nation are the rulers of this nation, not the politicians. He taught me that this nation was created as a republic and not a democracy, so that the freedoms of ALL Americans would be protected. A republic is a nation of rules or laws. Laws that every person of the nation, from the homeless person in the back alley to the man or woman in the oval office at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue are responsible to respect, obey, and support. Not just the laws that we agree with, but all the laws; only in this way can all people be assured of equal protection of their natural rights as human beings.

There are people who are: republicans and democrats, politicians and judges, senators and representatives, lawyers and bureaucrats who routinely ignore, usurp, and violate these laws, they do not understand, dislike, or disagree with the restrictions placed on them (as the rulers they believe they are) by these laws. The founders put in place mechanisms in our laws, which made it possible to change our laws when the need arises. Our employees (the politicians and bureaucrats) ignore and violate these laws for one reason. It restrains the usurpation of our power and prevents them from making us their subjects. They know that if they put the reform of these laws in front of the people, to be changed to THEIR advantage (instead of the People’s advantage), they would lose. So, they just violate the law.

One of the things the politicians and their supporters like to perpetuate is the notion that everything great about the United States today, we stole from other Peoples. They teach this by leaving out large swaths of history.

In 1831 when Frenchman Alexis de Tocqueville came to the United States, this country was less than 60 years old. Russia was ruled by the Czar with total authority for over 800 years. England was closer in age to Russia than the United States and had a constitutional monarchy. As a matter of fact, all the nations (with the exception of France’s newest government) were many centuries older than the United States. Yet the United States was competing with and surpassing these much older nations. We could compete with Europe, economically, living conditions of our citizens, and the social conditions of our citizens. It was puzzling, how could such a young nation compete with and exceed the much older nations of Europe. But, more than that, the United States citizenry were the unwanted people of Europe. The protestant Huguenots of Catholic France, the serfs, peasants, and Jews of Russia, Catholics and Protestants of England, as well as all the social and economic rejects of other European nations came to America and made it great.

Yes, I did say Catholics AND Protestants fled England. England was Catholic until King Henry VIII broke with the Catholic Church. The King created the Church of England in its place. The Puritans, who founded Plymouth, Massachusetts, were Protestant but not members of the Church of England. The Puritans were denied the right to worship in the manner they saw fit, because they would not join the Church of England. They had to worship in secrecy, just as religious people in the Soviet Union would do centuries later.

When our arrogant and law breaking employees talk about America, they will tell you how “we” stole the land from the Mexicans and Indians. I know you have probably heard of the Louisiana Purchase. But, did you ever hear about Seward’s Folly, the 1783 Treaty of Paris, the Anglo-American Convention of 1818, the Gadsden Purchase (of 1853), the Hay-Bubau-Varilla Treaty (or of the many other land acquisitions by the United States that did not involve Native Americans)? Probably not. Depending on your age a couple of those you may know or have heard of before but cannot remember.

Have you ever heard of the Native American tribes that became extinct before Columbus? A little yes. We still have many artifacts from them including impressive structures they left behind. But, what do the experts say happened to them? We don’t know it’s a mystery. Do you hear the names of the individual tribes? No. We refer to them as “paleo” or refer to them by regions. Some of these different individual tribes died out as the climate changed over thousands of years. Some died of disease and some died in wars with other tribes of indigenous Peoples. But, you do not hear about that?

Also, we skip from Columbus in 1492 to the genocides committed by the United States in the middle and late 1800s, a nation that did not exist for almost 300 years after Columbus. What about all the people who disappeared during that time? Many died from disease brought by Europeans. Some died from wars with other tribes and some died at the hands of the Europeans. But, all of these deaths are blamed on the United States.

Amateurs and professionals have begun to find evidence that Native Americans thought to have lived exclusively in Central and South America had cities in areas of what is now the United States. Lands they conquered from those who were already there.

Let us get something straight. What happened to the Native Americans at the hands of the United States and its citizens was an atrocity. But, we were not the first or the last. The responsibility of those Americans (oh by the way those Americans are dead and have been for quite a while) cannot be explained away. But, their actions did not happen in a vacuum. Humans have been killing each other over land and for supremacy over each other for tens of thousands of years before Columbus or the Vikings arrived on this continent, right or wrong it is the nature of man.

But, here is the rub, this history (and sooo much more) is never discussed by our employees (politicians, bureaucrats, and their supporters). It does not advance their agenda to tell us ALL of the history – the good, the bad, and the ugly. We need to know our history, all of our history, the good, the bad, and the ugly. Not just parts of the history that helps our employees push their own personal agendas at the expense of some or all Americans. We cannot make amends for a wrong to someone who has been long dead, nor can we punish the person (or persons) who are responsible for that wrong – because they have been dead about as long as the person/persons they wrong. What we can do, is ensure that we, and the future generations who follow us, do not commit those same actions.

What can we do? Learn our history – all of it. Never take the word of anyone, as the Russians say “trust, but verify.” Not all errors are intentional, some are just repeating what was already heard, but not verified.

We are ALL Americans,” … endowed by our creator with certain unalienable rights.” What is an unalienable right? “Unalienable right” does not mean “God given rights.” Unalienable rights are non-transferrable rights (look it up). That means that no dictator, king, queen, or politician can take them from; not even if they pass a law. You see they did not give those rights; you were born with those rights simply because you are human. Governments can violate those rights, but they are still your rights. Governments can not take what they did not give, they can only usurp what is rightfully OURS.

You know, it is really not that hard to learn our history a little bit at a time. History is not names and dates. History is what you and I have done, what our parents have done, and grandparents, and billions of other people. That butterfly in Asia that flaps its wings and causes a storm in Mexico City doesn’t just have effects across continents, but through time as well. So, the next time you hear of something like the Gadsden Purchase … take five minutes and look it up.

We can make a difference; freedom is something that every human being can enjoy. More important, every human being SHOULD enjoy freedom, it is after all our birthright has humans. Do not let our employees get away with telling us just part of the story. But, we should also not follow someone who tells us the history we want to believe either. When you look things up you will find out things you do not believe, even things you may not want to believe. But, when you acknowledge that our ancestors were not as bad or unique as you thought; or you acknowledge that our ancestors were worse and more unique than you thought, then you will gain the respect of those who believe differently than you. Then we can make real progress to live together peacefully with our differences.