I was chastised today by a blog reader who made a comment to my post yesterday regarding Glenn Beck’s recent rally in Florida:

Glenn Beck at the Villages .

This reader, a self described progressive Democrat, said I was dead wrong; progressives love this country as much as we (conservatives) “say we do”.

I hope today, to set the record straight; to clarify my comments and to expound a little on what Progressivism really is.

I said Democrats as well as Republicans love this country, but to make no mistake, Progressives want to see the downfall of this great country.
I stand by this statement.

Progressivism, by definition is a plan of reform, egalitarian style. You’ve heard the term “Share the wealth”? That is egalitarianism, leveling the playing field, which is at the heart of progressivism.

Progressives believe that we should all be equal; and cite the Declaration of Independence as proof:

“We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal…”

What they are missing, is the word “created”. We ARE all CREATED equal; we have the same rights across the board as the next guy. We have the same opportunities as the next guy.
What we DO with that gift of equality is what sets us apart; makes each of us unique. It’s also what makes us rich or poor, bond or free, contributing or criminal.

Progressivism is lock-step with Communism; it’s one in the same and it’s all about control.

Think about the health care “reform” that will save us from the greedy insurance providers; think about Cap and Trade that will save us from those rising temperatures and incandescent lightbulbs (which we found out yesterday is one of the biggest hoaxes perpetuated on mankind-yes, even bigger than the balloon boy hoax.).
The progressives have taken over our banks and our industry, now they want our health care and our lifestyles.

It isn’t possible to legislate charity or goodwill; it isn’t possible to legislate wealth for the masses, but these things are what Democrats have been after for generations. Progressives want to take it a step further, and not only legislate, but regulate every aspect of our lives; they want to control us.

Progressives want to stifle free speech; stifle dissent. They want to control what you hear and what you read. Cass Sunstein and Arianna Huffington have said so in the last few days. I’ve watched the video and read the transcripts, so don’t try to tell me it’s not being debated.

So, JeanB, I can accept that you are a Democrat, and I’m sure I’d even enjoy a lively discussion with you.
If you are a fiscally responsible Democrat, whose policies are constitutionally sound, I’d even consider voting for you, but do you really want to be a Progressive? Do you really think controlling the population is a good plan? A Godly plan? Do you really want to align yourself with those who would overthrow the Constitution?

Nancy Pelosi herself said in a recent press release that objections to the MANDATE to make you buy into the government health care plan are “nonsensical”, that “the power of congress to regulate health care is essentially unlimited”. That’s Communism. That’s the old USSR.

Are you sure you want to be part of THAT?

Honestly, I don’t think that’s part of the America that either of us love.

Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer have jointly authored an article in USA today calling those who speak out and speak up against this health care fiasco “Un-American”.

Now, I don’t know where they get their rhetoric, but the country was founded by people who spoke up and spoke out! They also acted on their feelings, literally changing the world. It’s the American way; we have the RIGHT to disagree with Washington, because they work for US; something they have forgotten.

Add this to the “right wing extremists” memo, the “Send us your fishy emails” and “I want a National Security Force”, and the “I won, get over it”, and you have a group of people that so obviously want an obsequious population; obedient and servile; non thinkers, non complainers; drones.

Each of us has to find our voice, and use it. This blog is one way I’m using my voice. I do call my representatives, even though I don’t feel they are listening; I do write them, and ditto on the reading of my letters. Should we stop writing? No! Keep it up. Go to the town hall meetings that are taking place across the country. Go while you can, I have a feeling the “format” will change, and only invited guests will be allowed, and the media will cover it as a legitimate town hall, despite the crowd being stacked. GO! Go and be a calm voice. Don’t resort to lunatic measures, it will only discredit you and the rest of us, but go.

The government is not on our side, they do not have our best interests at heart. The people we have elected only care about power and control; it’s time they were given pink slips. Most Americans believe things are out of control, and the country is heading down the wrong track; it is. We just have to remain faithful to the Constitution, to the Founding Father’s vision. Most of us “average” Americans want what’s best; desire to honor the Constitution. I know this is the Promised Land; a land where freedom was meant to reign.

We can’t let these dark times get us down, make us afraid, and keep us from speaking up. Sometimes I think the only thing holding things together are the prayers of faithful people; people of all faiths, praying for our country.

Please be one of them.

Remember back when B.O. said he wanted to have a “Civilian National Security Force”? Something that was “just as strong”, “just as well funded” as our military? Well he’s implemented the first phase of that force. This is from the White House website; the context is the “disinformation” surrounding Socialized Health Care:

“There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end of life care. These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation. Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov.”

Now what’s FISHY is asking people to turn in their neighbor for DISAGREEING with a government program or policy!! Your casual conversations–CASUAL conversations are now subject to federal involvement! Dear God what is happening to our beloved country?

Can’t those of you supporting this man see how Fascist he is? Do we REALLY want to recreate Nazi Germany?? Hasn’t ANYONE seen the movie “Night Crossing” about the desperation of trying to escape Nazi Germany; the fear of your neighbors being suspicious of your every move??

For the Love of all that is Good, America, WAKE UP! It’s happening under our noses, and no one is making noise. Why aren’t we calling our newspapers and demanding real news? Why aren’t we bombarding our news and radio stations demanding to hear the whole story?

If they begin to infringe on our right to Free Speech in “Casual Conversation”, it’s only a matter of time before the “telescreen” becomes reality.

The arguments for why we should or should not have “free” health care are being thrown back and forth in a rather cavalier way. I put “free” in quotes because nothing is ever free. There is always some economy involved in getting what you want, even if it’s not a cash economy. In the case of “free” health care, there just so happens to be a huge cash economy associated with it, but there are also the economies of time and quality. In other words you will have to sacrifice a lot of cash, time, and quality to get “free” health care. As a general rule, people will never understand that. These are the same type of people that get duped by the “free orange Macbook” offers that pop up all over the Internet.

This post is not about “free” health care though, at least not directly. I want to try to put into words what I understand about the Bill of Rights and how it applies to the issues we face today. A lot of people mistake the Bill of Rights for an enumeration of our rights as citizens of this country. These people are fools. I apologize if I just called you a fool, and maybe that’s a strong word, but this aspect of our Constitution has traditionally been taught completely inaccurately in public schools, leaving most people none the wiser. One of the cavalier arguments against “free” health care is that there is no right to health care in the Bill of Rights. Therefore, no one has that right, right? Wrong. This is a horribly inaccurate argument, and I facepalm whenever I hear people and pundits use this to defend their stance against health care reform of any kind.

The Bill of Rights is actually an enumeration of the limitations of government power over our unlimited natural rights. Without getting into too much historical detail, this was a bit of a sore spot between the Federalists and Anti-Federalists during the founding of our country. Alexander Hamilton argued against any Bill of Rights because the Constitution alone gave the people all rights under the sun, and he feared listing any specific rights could be misconstrued as a limitation on other rights. Worse yet, large government might use a Bill of Rights to find more exceptions to the Constitution with which they could restrict the rights of the people even further. (Does this sound familiar?) Meanwhile, Anti-Federalists such as Thomas Jefferson feared that listing no rights would be an open invitation for large government to quickly take away all rights and perhaps turn itself into a monarchy all over again. I’ll just point out that both of these factions feared large government rule. Our Bill of Rights as we know it today is essentially a compromise between the two groups trying to prevent just that. How? Take a look at the Ninth Amendment:

“The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.”

Are you familiar with that Amendment? I know it’s not the First or Second, but seriously, there were only ten total in the Bill of Rights; you should know them all.  The Ninth Amendment illustrates the founding fathers’ belief in personal rights before government and their anticipation that people would easily misconstrue the Bill of Rights as a limitation on personal rights (in the hopes that you would not do this.) This idea is further illustrated in the wording of other Amendments. The First Amendment says “Congress shall make no law…” The Fourth says, “the right of the people to be secure…shall not be violated.” The list goes on. These are strongly worded to restrict the power of government over the people. Ultimately, we ended up with a Bill of Rights, but it was the first Bill of Rights in history to be the exact opposite of what all prior bills of rights of various nations had been, which were essentially lists of rights handed down by the ruling class to its subjects.

What does this mean for us today? First of all, it means you now know the true meaning of the Bill of Rights and can use it correctly in your political arguments. (Please, spread the word. It’s so embarrassing that we the people don’t know the true origins of our country and the meanings of its founding documents.) More importantly, it means we have all of those rights you have ever said were not rights because they were not in the Bill of Rights. That being said, what we must not forget are the responsibilities that come with every right. You cannot have a right without a responsibility. Here, I propose my Bill of Rights And Responsibilities for modern reference. This is a living document that can be amended as new issues arise. It should be easy enough to do for those of us who understand what personal responsibility means.

• The Right to Own a Home: You cannot be denied the purchase of a home based on race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age or any other discriminatory measure that violates your civil rights. Additionally, your home cannot be seized at the whim of any person or governing body.
  The Responsibility of Owning a Home: You have to pay for your home in order to own it. No other person, group, or government can be held responsible for the home you own. Educate yourself on what it means to have a home mortgage. If you are not fiscally ready to own a home, rent one instead.
  The Consequences of Failing Your Responsibilities: You will lose your home. No one will save you. Buying another home later in life may be extremely difficult. Alternatively, the government may bail you out, and everyone will hate you.

• The Right to Health Care: You cannot be denied health care based on race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age or any other discriminatory measure that violates your civil rights. Additionally, you have the right to not have your health put in jeopardy against your will.
  The Responsibility of Health Care: Take care of yourself. Health care begins with you. Do not run to the hospital every time you need a band-aid (or a drug fix.) Get off the couch. Eat healthy. Plan ahead. Put money aside for any chronic or unexpected conditions. Be smarter with your money. This is your health we are talking about. Why buy the 60-inch flat panel HDTV when you know you could be saving that money for a rainy day? Put your health first. You are the victim of the choices you make. People have been taking care of their families for centuries. Don’t feel entitled. Don’t be spoiled. Be an adult.
  The Consequences of Failing Your Responsibilities: You overcrowd the system. You become a leech on society. The government declares a national crisis and makes you and everyone else a ward of the state. Your rights to health care are now dictated and restricted by the government. You have no options. Your right to health care as it should have been is now gone.

• The Right to Higher Education: You cannot be denied higher education based on race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age or any other discriminatory measure that violates your civil rights. Additionally, you cannot be forcibly removed from school without just cause.
  The Responsibility of Higher Education: You have to study hard, work hard, and save a lot. If you can’t save more, study more. Scholarships come to those who earn them. Universities are competitive. If you cannot compete, you will not win.
  The Consequences of Failing Your Responsibilities: You won’t get into college, or you will flunk out of college.

• The Right to Dance Naked to “Billie Jean” In Your Living Room: No one can stop you. You’re a dance machine.
  The Responsibility of Dancing Naked to “Billie Jean” In Your Living Room: Close the blinds. Don’t let the music disturb the neighbors.
  The Consequences of Failing Your Responsibilities: At best, your neighbors just label you a freak, never speak to you again, and post their video of you on YouTube. At worst, you get fined or locked up for any number of reasonably policed infractions.

You can see where I am going with this. My point is simple: every right has a responsibility, and failure to be responsible for your rights leads to consequence. There are no guarantees. There are no free rides. Granted, that last example was a little silly, but it just goes to show how silly it is to try to limit people’s natural rights. Some things are just nobody else’s business. We don’t need to outright ban those things.

Responsible people should be rewarded for their model behavior. Everyone has to live the life they have chosen for themselves. You will find people are much more willing to help you in your time of need if they are left to their own means of taking care of themselves than when you call upon the government to force them to take care of you. When you ask the government to solve your problems, you invite it to chip away at the unlimited natural rights you once had under the Constitution. My other point is that for those of you who claim to be “Constitutionalists” and continue to deny people rights because they are not in the Bill of Rights, it is time to wise up. We can solve the problems we face without government intervention, but we will never get there if we continue to argue inadequately. For those of you who outright reject the Constitution, well, I’m not sure what to say except that it is in fact our main governing document, and if you continue to pass legislation that contradicts it, we will have to hold you accountable for our nation’s spiraling demise.