Random Thoughts Over A Glass Of Tea

Some random thoughts from this evening, while sipping tea and mourning the lack of air conditioning due to a dead condenser:

It is not too terribly surprising, though disgusting beyond description, first that a convicted rapist was sentenced to only six months (in a county jail) and served only THREE months due to his "good behavior" while in jail.

At the same time and across the nation, a drunk driver who killed four people in one "accident" is also about to be released after serving a laughably short sentence.  Well, it would be laughable if it were not so disgusting, and it did not represent the failure of "equal justice under the law."

I say this because of a very awful experience my lovely bride and I shared a few years ago.  I will not give all the details here, but the short story is we witnessed a drunk driver who sped by us, vanished beyond a rise in the road, and while out of our sight for a few seconds, struck a car that was parked...not on the shoulder...but in the grass several feet OFF the shoulder.  Two people were badly injured, and young girl was killed.  The drunk driver of course, too stoned to know why his pickup would not run anymore, was not injured in the least.  He was arrested, and eventually came to trial.  My wife and I were subpoenaed as witnesses.  Confronted with our statements and other evidence, the young man, only in his twenties, took a plea pre-trial because he feared he would receive life in prison.  He was lucky...he received ONLY forty years.

Now, why did this man (and he was WHITE, in case anyone wants to say race was a factor in the length of the sentence) received such a long sentence, compared to the two criminals mentioned above?  The answer is he was only a an average guy with average parents who could not afford a high caliber attorney.  He did not have parents with an endless supply of money and who held "high" positions within exclusive communities.  And probably most important, and most disgusting to me, he did not go before a judge who would so willingly minimize the actions of these young criminals because of their affluent lives and entitlement-filled upbringing.  Equal justice?  Really?



We are upset because athletes do not stand and salute during the National Anthem, and that is indeed truly upsetting.  Especially the one who refused to honor the nation yet has benefited from the wealth of the nation since being taken in by his parents, and now is reaping millions of dollars from a professional football career.  This conduct is upsetting, and very confusing.

But maybe it is not so confusing.  We have a President who refuses to honor this nation, a nation made up of many people who elected this man twice, confusing in itself.  This President refuses to salute or even acknowledge the respect shown him by his military detail of honor; he has several times turned his back to the flag at various ceremonies in Washington and other places; he is the first President to have the American flag removed from a press conference so as not to offend Muslims who might have been present.  So actually there should be little wonder that some people choose to follow this President's example.

We are upset that a few athletes have dishonored the flag, and well we should be.  But how much more outraged should we be that our own, twice-elected President and Commander-in-Chief feels the need to publicly dishonor the flag, thus dishonoring the very people who placed him in that high office.



One of the candidates for the 2016 Presidential Election is the subject of several investigations concerning both her conduct as a public official and her activities as a part of the Clinton Foundation.  A string of potential witnesses in various cases concerning Ms. Clinton have mysteriously died in equally mysterious circumstances.  Yet nearly half the registered voters in the United States cannot wait to put this lady into the White House.  Almost beyond my understanding.




Speaking of Ms. Clinton and equal justice for all, I am exhausted from hearing each new revelation of hidden emails or evidence of other wrong-doing.  The Secretary of State has received virtual "get-out-of-jail-free" cards from both the (dis)honorable US Attorney General and the (puppet) director of the FBI.  Of one or both of these officials may have concerns about the mysterious deaths mentioned above and may not want to run the risk of committing  assisted suicide.  Whatever the reason for Ms. Clinton's pre-indictment "pardons," it is plain that she will never be indicted, much less will she ever spend a night in jail.  So maybe the news services could kindly discontinue these kinds of stories about the likely first ever woman to be President.  Do any of us believe a "regular" citizen would not already by sacked, packed, and doing time?



How can the American political process be summed up by a choice for either Ms. Clinton or Mr. Trump?  Many voters are "disenfranchised" by either candidate.  How were much more palatable candidates tossed to the wayside during the campaign?  Worse, perhaps Hillary and Donald WERE the most palatable candidates!  This election seems to be about electing the second worst candidate, whichever one that may be.



We are trillions of dollars in debt as a nation, meaning we, as a nation, are broke.  Bankrupt!  We do not have enough money to fund Social Security, to keep our promises to our veterans, or to fund various other necessities, such as national infrastructure, but we seem to have endless money to fight various brush wars and proxy fights around the globe.  We have endless supplies of cash to build drones with which we attack people in nations with whom we are not at war.  And we also seem to have an endless supply of money with which to fund the excessive travels our First Family and First Golfer, and for Congress to grant themselves endless pay raises and extravagant pensions. 

Yes, random thoughts, questions I cannot answer...

And now it is time for another glass of tea...

May God Bless (and Help) America



 

An Old Sewing Needle And A Cave In Siberia

Archeologists in Siberia made a very interesting discovery earlier this month, a sewing needle believed to be over fifty thousand years old.  This needle was discovered in an ongoing dig that has been yielding surprising, even shocking finds since 2008.  The needle, for instance, reveals that humans were sewing clothes many eons ago.

The location of this and many other finds is known as the Denisova Cave.  The cave is located near the borders of Russia, China, and Mongolia.  As scientists have descended further into the cave and dug down from one strata to another, they have reached the conclusion that the earliest inhabitants moved to the cave around 288,000 years ago.  I imagine that many college texts will be re-written after all this information is compiled, analyzed, and published.  A very interesting conclusion these scientists have reached is that the later Denisovans, Neanderthals, and homo sapiens all occupied this same area, the only such place known of on this earth at this time.  This rather startling conclusion is not only based on physical evidence and relics, but on DNA samples found in the cave as well.

The needle found recently is causing quite a stir among the brainy professor set for a couple of reasons.  First, the very fact that humans made a needle that long ago defies the accepted story of human archeology.  Second, the needle, which is made of the bone of a bird that lived (obviously) in that time period, has a hole in it so that thread could be inserted into the needle.  Of course, you say.  Well, what is truly mystifying is that the hole appears to have been drilled, not punched.  Not only does it appeared to be drilled, but the drilling is so precise and done in such a way that the bone was not otherwise damaged.  In other words, the scientists believe that the hole in this particular needle was drilled with some type of high-speed drilling device! Of course, no high speed drilling device existed at that time, right?  We can no longer be sure of this. 

Pre-historic high speed drills and homo sapiens cavorting with Neanderthals?  This is the stuff of good science fiction, yet it is being unveiled before our very eyes.  Another surprising finding is evidence linking the inhabitants of the Denisovan Cave to earlier people from Africa, and to trade with people who used a trading route that would later become known as the Silk Road.  Some of the "younger" finds include bones of a young female, yet this female is believed to have died around forty thousand years ago. 

So much of the information and the artifacts being unearthed at the Denisovan Cave is startling, controversial...and mysterious.  I am great admirer of the mysterious.  I know that science prides itself on having the answer to every question, or at least being on the way to that answer.  But science also loves to tell us that things, events, happened a certain way because of perfectly logical natural laws, physics, etc.  So I am always pleased when things of mystery arise and cannot be easily explained, or if explained, do not fit into the classical explanation of things.

All around the world, from Siberia to South America, strange and wonderful things have been discovered, and are yet to be discovered, which cannot be fully explained, which do not fit into the classical explanation of the origin, history, and even the age of our world.  Even such an ordinary thing as a sewing needle, when found in the right set of circumstances, becomes instead an exotic object of awe and mystery.  One of the things that makes life interesting is the discovery of extraordinary things, or better, the discovery of ordinary things in extraordinary circumstances...like a 50,000 year old sewing needle.  This needle defies explanation...how was a such a precise hole drilled by a high-speed drill centuries before high-speed drills were even invented?  How could homo sapiens, Neanderthals, and Denisovans have existed all together in one location?  I sometimes hope that at least some questions like these go unanswered until the very end of time.  For me, life is so much more interesting when mysteries pop up every now and then, so much more fun when "we just don't know everything."

A Baby Dies After Being Left In A Car All Day - Helotes, TX

News has by now spread around the nation, maybe even to some other nations as well, a baby left in a car all day was found dead by the child's own father.  This happened in Helotes, just south of San Antonio.  This is a terrible and completely avoidable tragedy, but it happened.

I can say that just a few years ago, even a few months ago, I would be on the band wagon calling for the neck of the person who left a child in a hot car...in this case, by the infant's own father.  The events leading to the child's death were fairly mundane.  A new father is supposed to drop off his child at a sitter on the way to his job.  Was he late to work?  Did he have some problem weighing on his mind?  For whatever reason this young man went in to his job and left his infant son in the backseat of his car.  The baby perished in the heat...not being found until the father clocked out of work and returned to his vehicle.

Yes, I know...there is NEVER A REASON that a child should be forgotten in a car.  And yes, a person should be punished for leaving a child to die in a car.  But today, maybe with getting older, maybe with having seen so much along the way to where I am now, I am not full of anger and rage at this man.  No, I admit, I do not understand how one forgets that his or her child is buckled into a car seat.  Modern infant carriers are so complicated that it would seem almost impossible to go through all the necessary steps of strapping in a child then forgetting about the child.  But it happened.  A child is dead, so needlessly.

I have no connection to the family that lost this child, and I do not even remember the name of the father now, but for some reason this terrible event has lingered in my mind since I read about it yesterday.  I cannot imagine the agony that baby went through and I do not want to imagine it.  Now that child is in the arms of the Good Shepherd and will never suffer again.  But someone else is in agony now, and the care of the Good Shepherd may be unfelt by him at this time.

Yes, I am talking about the child's father.  He may face criminal charges, may be convicted on those charges, and could even spend a year or more in prison.  I have a feeling that even if this man spent fifty years in prison, he would still never get over causing this child's death.  Even if he serves only one year in jail and is freed, this man will never be free of the burden that he failed to protect his child.  I have to say that I will never understand how a father forgets his child in a car...but I feel sympathy for this man as well.

What! You must be crazy, Mr. Meeks!!

Well, like I said, a few years ago, or maybe even just a few months ago, I would have called for this man's head.  Today, not so much.  I know that if I choose to judge someone, then the Good Shepherd will judge me with THAT SAME MEASURE (Matthew 7:1-3, emphasis mine).  I cannot fathom how this man left his baby in a car, but I can feel to some extent what he is going through now, having lost an infant son myself.  No, I did not cause the death of my little angel, but I was still so indescribably heart-broken, sad, angry, and angry at God, above all.  So sad for my lovely bride, and so sad for all the plans we had made in our minds concerning this child. 

This is where I can sympathize, in a way, with this man and his family.  He will have to live with the results of his poor judgment and negligence for the rest of his life.  And, he will have to live with the knowledge that he caused this indescribable level of suffering and pain for his family.  There is a great probability that some of his loved ones will shun and revile him.  Perhaps his wife will never forgive him.  Perhaps some of his friends and relatives may never forgive him.  Living with himself after causing his son's death will worse than any amount of time in prison...because even if he never spends a day in confinement, he can never escape from his mental and emotional prison.

I will go out on a risky limb here myself and say that I am praying for this young man, that he lives over this and is able to someday forgive himself, with the help of God.  And I also pray that young parents across the nation will remember to watch carefully for their children, and to protect them as fathers and mothers should do.

Our President And Hater Of Police In Chief

President Obama has once again demonstrated his true beliefs about America and his utter disrespect and disregard of American law enforcement officers.  In this time of unwarranted assassinations and intentional injury to police officers by thugs of all brands, particularly though by those hiding behind the skirts of the Black Lives Matter farce, the President has answered the newly declared war on police officers by authorizing the Dishonorable Loretta Lynch and her "Justice" Department to create a stronger program to track "police killings" at the state and local level (NOT AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL).

When I first saw the article I thought the Justice Department was creating a better system to track KILLERS OF POLICE OFFICERS but I soon found I was sadly mistaken.  Mr. Obama wants a strict accounting of all persons killed while in police custody or during encounters with police officers.  This is an especially sour-tasting measure since the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), through its various crime reports, ALREADY tracks "police killings" across the nation.  Not only that, the FBI does not hesitate to review officer-involved shootings or other fatalities, as well as assaults committed by officers.  Further, the FBI administration is literally drooling from the mouth to do "civil rights violations" investigations on state and local law officers.

President Obama did not offer any sort of encouragement to police officers across the nation, or condolences to fallen officers.  He did not acknowledge the reality that there is a new (or renewed) war on police officers.  He could not even stay off the political soap box for the duration of ONE memorial service for five slain officers in Dallas, but instead of offering some encouraging, unifying message, or condemning these murders, he used that venue to make another tired call for gun control.  Now he has added further insult by calling on the Justice Department to be sure it is getting accurate information regarding police shooting and fatalities in jails and other holding facilities because he believes that state and local authorities do not hold police officers accountable for unjustified killings.

The President's call to the Justice Department to review deaths while in police custody or during encounters with the police, supposedly a move towards "transparency," rings hollow because he exempts federal agencies from this same scrutiny.  This means the killing of persons such as the bombing suspect in Baltimore would not be reviewed.  The killing of the farmer-protester in Oregon will not be reviewed.  In fact, if you or me, or a loved one is killed by one of the many federal agencies with police powers, chances are slim that there would be any review outside of the usual internal investigation.  Did you know such internal reviews have cleared EVERY SINGLE FBI fatal shooting that has ever been reviewed?!  Imagine, not one single FBI agent has EVER committed an unjustified shooting in the ENTIRE HISTORY of that agency! 

President Obama lost another opportunity to bring calm and good judgment back to the forefront.  Instead of supporting the nation's police officers, the President in fact fostered even more division and hatred by promoting the idea that police officers (particularly White officers) are out to kill Black men at every opportunity.  Instead of condemning the actions of those that have murdered officers, the President calls for more gun control.  Instead of meeting with the families of slain police officers, the President brings the families of thugs to the White House.  And as if all this were not enough, the President now wants Frau Lynch to find ways to prosecute more "local" police officers. 

This President, who came in on a wave of popularity that seemed to me to overshadow that of John F. Kennedy, has become the most odious person ever to hold that high office.  How was he re-elected?!  And now, even as his Administration is fading, this most odious President managed to get in yet another blow to the fabric of this nation by promoting hatred and distrust of our police officers to a degree unseen ever before in America. 

In spite of it all, however, the Blue Line is still standing strong, holding their own, and will continue to do so long after President Obama has faded into just another bad memory.

May God protect police officers...

And May God Bless America

A Rather Sappy Post From A Rather Old Softy

This post is going to be rather sappy, so be warned.  I am just a rather old softy at heart. This story climaxed today but actually started about two weeks ago, the last time I mowed.  I know it must have been two weeks ago because the weeds I mowed today were about knee high.

Two weeks ago I mowed the weeds (and few blades of grass) because the weeds were, well, knee high.  I was mowing some rather tall vegetation along the end of the house when I looked down and saw a horrifying sight.  A Texas Horned Lizard (a horny toad if you from these parts) was writhing in the grass I had just mowed.  The poor thing was bleeding from its head, and it was missing a front foot.  I was struck with remorse and compassion for this creature and I did a crazy thing.  I caught it and took it into the house, where I provided what little help I could think of to do for it.

Just as I had feared, the horned lizard was missing its right front foot.  But the injury on the head was bleeding very heavily.  I poured water over the poor little horny toad, and I am not sure what I thought that would do for her, but at least it got off some of the blood.  I then wrapped the animal in a small white cloth and held it for a few minutes. 

My spouse, seeing what all was going on, was struck speechless, but only for a few seconds.  When she recovered her voice, she insisted that I take the horny toad outside and release it since there was nothing I could do for it.  I knew she was right but I felt incredibly bad about hurting this little creature.  Since there was really nothing more to do, however, I took the horny toad outside and placed it under a large rose bush.  I consigned the poor thing's spirit to the Great Spirit and returned to mowing.  That was that, or so I thought.

Flash forward to today, this morning at 11:00 AM, to be specific.  My lovely bride and I were constructing a small rail and brick fence in the front yard.  My lovely bride yelled and pointed at something, and then I realized that she had seen a horny toad.  I thought to myself wouldn't it be something if this turned out to be "Stubby!"  Then I saw it myself.  It was Stubby!  I was elated!  I had feared that Stubby, as the horny toad was now known to us, must have crawled into some sheltered place and died.  But there she was!

The tragedy of running over a horny toad was even greater because I suspected that I had run over a pregnant one.  She was very fat.  Today Stubby was very skinny, so apparently she gave birth at some point after our dangerous encounter.  I have not seen any horny toad children, but then, there are a lot of loose cats around, so it is possible that the baby horny toads had some felinious encounters. But I was so happy to see that Stubby's head was healed, and she seemed to get around very well on three good feet and one stub. 

I know it seems awfully mundane and probably very sappy, but I was so happy to see that this horny toad was alive and thriving in spite of the injuries I had caused it when I rolled over it with the lawn mower.  I believe that horny toads, which are so much a part of Texas lore, have been declining in numbers over the past couple of decades, so I certainly did not want to needlessly kill one.  Yes, I know, this was a sappy story, and I admit, I am definitely just an old softy,

The World Watches The Sad State Of The "Union"

The title of this post is my opinion, I admit, but I believe it to be true, nonetheless.  I believe that people around the world, particularly those people with some knowledge of American history, are watching in disbelief, and in sadness, as the state of this "Union" slowly and steadily worsens with each passing day, certainly with each signing of another of President Obama's executive orders.

I believe that each day, around the world, thousands of people are wondering what is wrong with America?! I sometimes envision these people asking themselves, "When will America WAKE UP!"  Maybe some of these people are also thinking to themselves, as America, so the rest of the world.  The United States of America, the land founded on freedom and liberty, framed by one of the greatest human-produced documents of all time, our Constitution, is hovering on the brink of dictatorship, yet to the rest of the world, it must appear that America...and I mean by that YOU and Me, American Citizen, are standing by while our freedoms and liberties disappear!

Actually the title is not totally made up of my own opinion.  I have read in social media over the past few months comments from people in many different nations wherein they ask the same questions I have asked above.  I have seen the comments at the bottom of many news stories covering the latest Obama Executive order.  Many people asked the same question, "When will the American's wake up!"  These people are speaking of our "representatives," that is Congress, the Senators and Congressmen who have the authority, the power...AND THE RESPONSIBILITY...to rein in the President and his runaway dictatorship.  Congress has demonstrated over and over during the past seven years that they WILL NOT stand up to President Obama and demand that he follow the Constitution.  President Obama is the SAME Obama that ran for office in 2008 promising to do all he could to dismember the USA PATRIOT Act.  Instead, President Obama not only ram-rodded the renewal of USA PATRIOT, but also signed the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act, which once and for all did away with our Constitutional assurances of freedom from unreasonable search and seizure.  Our Congress, instead of casting this bill out into a fire pit, eagerly like a bunch of lap dogs voted this bill into a law, which of course Mr. Obama signed immediately.  These men and women, our "representatives," failed to PROTECT AND UPHOLD the United States Constitution, as did the President.

Since that time, the President has issued many Executive Orders which seek to curtail our liberties.  Congress has not taken a single step, as a body, to attempt to rein in this would-be dictator and his most over-bearing executive orders.  Instead, Congress either cannot get itself to act on these matters, or is itself enamored with this President and seeks to do his bidding like a little boy begging for his father's approval.  Oh, that little thing about "representing the people" has been cast aside as our Congress basically represents their OWN best interest, that is, making sure that they stay in the best light with the President, and to blazes with the state of the "Union."

So, that brings me back to we Americans, "we the People."  Why are we standing by as this democratic republic literally crumbles around us?  What aren't we DOING SOMETHING?!

That is indeed a question...WHY AREN'T WE DOING SOMETHING?!  I have to admit that frankly I am puzzled as to what it is that we CAN DO...at least at this point.  You see, we The People, are responsible for this situation, just as much as are our representatives in Congress. Americans have continued to re-elect the same "representatives" each term, then elect them yet AGAIN. When I say "we" I am actually saying most of the twenty or thirty percent who vote in elections other than the Presidential Election.  A very small number of voters, year after year, vote for candidates other than the "two real choices," that is the Democrat or the Republican that is running for whatever office may be under discussion.  Many people have felt that there must be a better choice, but that better choice "just could not beat" the "main stream" incumbent or leading opponent.  Most voters simply vote for the name they recognize, or vote for the candidate of "their party" regardless of what that candidate might really stand for (or lay down for, as the case may be).  Still others vote for the incumbent simply because he or she IS the incumbent.  So it is safe to say that most American voters, complain though they might, have done precious little to turn the "Establishment" out of office. 

I believe that many people here in the lately endangered "Union" may feel that they do not have the time to get "involved" any deeper into politics than voting in an election or two every few years.  It is easy to imagine that this is true.  Most families now have two heads of household working fulltime to make just enough to stay ahead, or maybe just to stay "even."  Then there are the endless activities for children that occupy much of the "off work time" available to most families.  Then there are volunteer activities and so on.  The bottom line is that most Americans are too busy to get more involved than just voting every now and again.  This has been the norm now for several decades.  The other side of the coin is that this "norm" has meant our government has operated without a lot of supervision for those same decades.  And, oh, so much has changed. 

USA PATRIOT Act, the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012 (NDAA), as well as numerous Executive Orders signed by both President Bush II and President Obama, have all eaten away at our Constitution, so that now we are one signature on an Order of National Emergency away from total martial law.  I am not speaking as a tinfoil hat -wearing lunatic, but only as a person who has read these orders and acts, or portions of them.  I have not read, for instance, the complete USA PATRIOT Act, because this "Act" is over THREE THOUSAND PAGES LONG.  Having NOT read this law in its entirety puts me in very good company actually.  Why?  Because few, if any, of our "representatives" in Congress have read it in its entirety either, even more than a decade after it was passed. 

One reason that I have not read this treasonous law in its entirety is that the parts of it I have read are just too scary.  USA PATRIOT provides the reasoning and the practical means for the curtailment of our civil liberties whenever the President decides we are in a "national emergency."  The great thing about USA PATRIOT is that it leaves the definition of national emergency to the discretion of the President (by the way I capitalize President just because I like to).  One thing USA PATRIOT does clarify that a national emergency does not have to be an attack on the nation or a major civil insurrection.  It could be as simple as a major hurricane...like Katrina, for example. 

This ability to "federalize" the nation was further enhanced by the NDAA of 2012, President Obama's baby.  The NDAA-12 outlines practical procedures for the operation of the United States under a military government, all for our own safety of course, when the chips are down for some reason.  This "Act," just like USA PATRIOT Act, is an open document that anyone can view right here on the Internet.  On top of all that, the almost innumerable Executive Orders signed by both Presidents Bush II and Obama simply add more teeth to the Martial Law grinder.  So, as I said, I am not speaking as a representative of the "Head-Voices Crowd" when I say that we are just one signed order away from a dictatorship.

The point is that the rest of the world has watched America as this dictatorship becomes more and more viable with each passing session of our legislature.  I suspect that as the rest of the world watches our nation crumble, they also hope that the American people will somehow rise up, will band together against our out-of-control government, and will demand that our Constitution once again be honored as the Law of the Land, and that our land become, once again, a land under the rule of law.  I suspect, also, that many people around the world wonder, as do I, whether we are not already beyond the point of no return.  Given that our law-makers cannot get elected without a great deal of corporate backing, it follows that the laws that are passed most likely benefit one corporate sponsor or another.  So the people, themselves, are not represented any longer by our "representatives."  Nor does the Chief Executive have the best interest of the nation in mind - if he did, he could govern other than by Executive Orders that circumvent the Constitution.

But at this late hour, what can Americans do to rein in our government?  The rest of the world is waiting to see what that might be.  I don't pretend to know what to do about this situation, so I am not going to be of much help.  For instance, voting on the national level does not seem to help.  It appears that no matter who, or what party, is in office, the trends toward a possible dictatorship continue.  The laws passed by our Congress neither represent us or benefit us any longer.  I blame the voters for this, at least partially, because incumbents are re-elected more often than not.  One definition of insanity, I have learned, is to do the same thing over and over, but expect different results each time.  But that exactly describes our collective voting habits.  Most voters vote for the incumbent each chance they get, then wonder why our government is broken.

There is more I could write about, such as the exceedingly POOR choices we have for Presidential Candidates this time around (uh...just like last time, too) would seem to require Americans to pick whichever of the two they perceive as the "lesser of two evils."  And, as usual, the shrill cry that a third party candidate cannot win the Presidency assures that most people will vote for one of the two "viable" candidates.  Unfortunately, no matter which one of the "lesser evils" wins, policies remain essentially the same.  Want proof?  Just review Obama's 2008 political rhetoric with his actual Presidency.  Not much difference between him and Dubbya, after all.  

Yes, there is more I could write, but this blog has ran long already.  Suffice to say, in summary, I believe the world is looking at America now, wondering what we will do, when we will do it, and if it will be enough to save this Republic.  But one thing we, as Americans, should realize, is that the rest of the world is not only watching us, but is DEPENDING on us to act as a people, as a proud nation, and somehow rein in this government of ours...because in so doing, we will actually be saving the world.  I firmly believe this...as the United States of America, so the entire world.  Once this democratic republic fails, and a military government rises in its place, the nations around the world will fall one by one.  This scenario does not have to take place, but unless we all put our heads together and figure out how to stop our rapid advance toward dictatorship, I think what I have described is a pretty accurate description of what we can expect after the coming election.

Boy, do I hope I am wrong about all this, and...

Please...

May God Bless...and PRESERVE...America