The Line in the Sand

Those who know me know that I’m not a dramatic type, but a happy, fun-loving person. However, this is weighing heavily on my heart and has been for weeks. Where is my line in the sand, and what does it mean for me if / when this government crosses it?  We worked hard all summer to avoid reaching this point, but yet we find ourselves and our country on the edge of a cliff.

As Veterans Day loomed near and assaults on our freedoms come from all angles, I had to ask myself what MY sacrifice will be.  Millions of brave men and women have VOLUNTEERED to put themselves between us and those who wish us harm, KNOWING they may have to pay the ultimate sacrifice. Many hundreds of thousands have paid that price.

Will we allow the enemies of freedom, indeed our own elected officials who claim to represent us, to make their sacrifices be for naught? Reagan said,”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.”

Will it end with our generation?

Those who are shoving us off this cliff have a dismal record of governance and bottom-dwelling approval ratings. They are ideologues and don’t care what we want. They have a long record of corruption, dislike for American greatness, and contempt for our faith in our God.  We’ve gone about our business as good, productive people and parents while, with our own money, they’ve built the machine to destroy us.  They WILL do it if we let them.

This summer we truly learned we are not alone. My fear is that we doubt the commitment of our fellow citizens.  If we believe that we are the substantial majority, we’ll stand against tyranny en masse and emerge victorious. If not, we’ll cower into the shadows subjected to a life of servitude to the State. 

Let it be known this day that I dedicate myself to be able to truthfully tell my children that I did all I could. The great Reagan also said, “Let us be sure that those who come after will say of us in our time, that in our time we did everything that could be done. We finished the race; we kept them free; we kept the faith.”

I understand the hesitancy to address such a heady subject. This shouldn’t be happening in America, the most blessed, most benevolent and most free nation ever to exist.  How can we stand before our God, who gave us these freedoms and used His great land to bless the world over, without hanging our heads in shame?  I don’t know the answers, but I’m searching for them.  I do know we need to get on our knees or we will be forced onto our knees.

Where is your line in the sand? What is your sacrifice? One day these questions will be answered, through thoughtful consideration or by default through defeat and submission, but they will be answered.

Wisdom from the ages, for the ages

The more I study the wisdom of those that have gone before us, the more angry it makes me that we who are in line to take the reins of this great country from the generation before are ill-prepared and quite inept to carry the torch of freedom. All of our technological advances and opportunities in leisure have led us to a place of ignorance; ignorance of what has been sacrificed, of what we have been given, and what is required to maintain those freedoms.

Much of the blame can be put on an education system that is promoting an agenda far removed from the original intent of education.  We are teaching our kids to be good, compliant citizens rather than good thinkers. In that, we’ve created a bunch of followers, willing to toe the government line.

We must, however, share some of the blame. The desire for financial gain, as well as the insatiable appetite of government taking the fruits of our labors, have taken mothers out of the home and placed them in the workplace. Both parents are working long days, shuttling kids to activities thus leaving the nuclear family in tatters.  Mayberry, this ain’t. 

This has been by design by those who think it unfair that we enjoy so much while many millions around the world live in squalor or somewhere in between.  They are an elitist class that suffers little themselves and will never live under the systems they design for everyone else.  Though the endeavor seems noble, it is quite sinister. It is theft on one end and a destroyer of the innate need to produce for ourselves and our families at the other.  The rich, not those who live off trust funds but rather that which they’ve produced and created, become poor and the poor remain poor.  Only those in power remain unaffected.

It’s time for those of us who have always pulled the weight to demand our rights and freedoms once more.  If we go much farther down this road I fear it will be irreversible but by violent revolution.  It does not have to be that way.  What will you do? What is it worth to you? What will the America in which your kids and grandkids live look like?

We have the right to demand real change.  We have the God of Heaven on our side, as He created it and allowed us to experience freedoms and prosperity unheard of in human history when it comes to the general population.  We have experienced freedom and now are getting a taste of what it’s like to have them taken from us. Our selfishness, in this case a good kind of selfishness, should be a great motivator.  We hold the keys to our future right now.   

 As advanced and intelligent as we consider ourselves to be, most of us wouldn’t have been deemed  worthy to sit among men such as those  quoted below, let alone be counted as one of them.  But the beauty of America is that the groundwork has been laid.  All we have to do is learn and apply theses principles.  Please read them, take them to heart, and join us in this battle.

 Enjoy.

 

“Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master.
Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action.”

George Washington

 

A government big enough to supply everything you need is big enough to take everything you have…
The course of history shows that as a government grows, liberty decreases.”

Thomas Jefferson

 

“It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brushfires in people’s minds.”

Samuel Adams

 

Arbitrary power…must be introduced by slow degrees, and as it were, step by step, lest the people should see it approach.”

Lord Chesterfield

 

“Whenever the legislators endeavor to take away and destroy the property of the people, or to reduce them to slavery under arbitrary power, they put themselves into a state of war with the people, who are thereupon absolved from any further obedience, and are left to the common refuge which God hath provided for all men against force and violence.”

Locke

 

“A claim for equality of  material position can be met only by a government with totalitarian powers…‘Emergencies’ have always been the pretext on which the safeguards of individual liberty have been eroded.”

Friedrich August von Hayek

 

Good intentions will always be pleaded for every assumption of authority…There are men in all ages who mean to govern well, but they mean to govern. They promise to be good masters, but they mean to be masters.”

Noah Webster

 

If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all property until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.”

Thomas Jefferson, in a letter to Albert Gallatin, Secretary of the Treasury, 1802

 

You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot help the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by encouraging class hatred.
You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than you earn.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away man’s initiative and independence.
You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.”

Abraham Lincoln

Where do we go from here?

At our 912 Project volunteer summit this week I had an interesting, yet somewhat disturbing and enlightening conversation with one of our members.  The gist of it was:

All these committees and activities are futile. We need to start over with a new government.

At first I was a bit put off that he would belittle all the efforts we’ve made to rally the troops to so many protests and rallies.  What had he done to help the cause?  Besides reading  an occasional post on the Meetup, I had no idea who he was.

I countered with a question.  ”Are you saying to get our guns out?”  He said that’s not what he meant. We need to create a new government and start fresh. This one’s too far gone to reverse.  In true smart-aleck fashion I replied that I didn’t think those in charge would just pack up their things and leave Washington. He agreed. 

I was encouraged by all the energy and passion in the room coming from people who had never in their lives done anything like we’ve done these past months. Once the meeting was over, it kept recurring in my head what my new acquaintance said. I’m no newbie to the political scene as I’ve been an interested watcher for over 25 years, but I had to admit he was right about the “do over.”

As part of the leadership, it made me pause to question if we are really being fair and honest with our members and with ourselves.  

Tens of thousands, if not more, showed up at town halls.  Tens of thousands showed up at rallies across our state alone.  And over a million of us showed up in Washington to voice our dissatisfaction over the direction we are now rapidly moving. Millions of petitions and signs and letters and phone calls have not compelled those in DC to stop what they’re doing.  We created a speed bump, for which we all should be thankful, but the juggernaut is still on the move.

Yes, a do-over will be required.  Let’s take a brief look at what that could mean – big picture – the wayI see things.

That may mean the elimination of the dollar as that is the means that the Federal government and Federal Reserve have enslaved us. Think about that one for a minute living here in the Land of Plenty.  There are lots of people smarter than me that say we’re already well down that road. Think wheelbarrows of cash for a loaf of bread that may or may not be on a shelf somewhere or a total loss of all we’ve worked for.

The elites that have grown accustomed to their power and lifestyle will have to be dethroned. Think about that one in this land of tranquility and peaceful transfer of power after every election for over 200 years.  Kings and queens don’t abdicate their power at the request of the peasants. 

The infrastructure of such a massive government will have to be dismantled.  Think about adding millions of unemployed government workers in an economy with 10% unemployment.

A leader will have to emerge that is willing to make the proper hard choices that the rest of us will have to abide by or risk falling apart completely. Is this country of individuals capable of doing that?

Here are a few questions we need to ask ourselves as this unfolds: 

What price do we put on freedom?  What will the America we leave our children and grandchildren look like?   Are we prepared for if / when tougher times arrive?   What is it we believe about the American way of life?  Will we defend free speech?  Will we defend the right to peaceably assemble?  Will we defend the right to practice our religion?  To the end?  What will “the end” look like?

Yes, these are sobering thoughts that most of us do not want to consider.  Who thought that in America we’d even have to think on these things?  If we don’t, we are destined to continue down the road we’re on.
  
Pray for God’s wisdom and peace and that His mighty hand will see us through whatever lies ahead.  This country was given to us and to the world beyond our borders so He could bless us all.  God’s not wringing His hands and neither should we, though, for me, it’s difficult at times.  We know that He is sovereign, and regardless of the outcome, we are His and He will take care of us. 

Glenn Beck has called for a day of prayer and fasting coming up in October.  That’s the least and yet the most we can do to contribute to the cause of freedom here and for those elsewhere that long to be free. Join us.

The Tide is turning

Wow, I miss pontificating here, but the time spent with the Cincinnati 912 Project and the Tea Party is giving me the hope that we CAN and WILL stop the madness in DC.  All the efforts of Patriots across the US seem to be paying off. 

We may have dodged the immediate bullet on health care “reform” but we will never stop and now we will push back . Those that have so willingly attached themselves to the Obama agenda are very certainly marked people, in the political sense - for you Lefties who take any resistance to your socialist agenda as physically dangerous.

The real America has awakened and we are not only going to work very hard to remove those that hate American principles, but replace them with people that will begin to reverse the process.

Everyone has now seen the real Obama, not the media version of him and most don’t like what we see.  The take-over of private business and this attempt at taking over health care and strapping us with environmental nonsense is being seen for what it is – the beginnings of a totalitarian regime. Under Obama?  Maybe not, but how long until the next “One” comes along?

We pledge our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor to maintain this last bastion of freedom for our children and grandchildren.  Even for those around the world who have longed to live half as free as we have. 

God continue to show mercy and favor to your people.

Flag This!

     

Join the fun!

Did this at our right-wing nutjob event planning meeting last night. Made it onto Drudge front page this AM.

In honor of our President’s recent request to rat out our friends, and now with today’s comment telling us to stop talking and let him fix this “mess,” join us by doing your civic duty and send the picture to info@cincinnatiteaparty.org.

I may add other pictures later, but you get the point.

Flag the White House

 We Tea Partiers and 912ers in Cincinnati had fun last night posting the House version of the health care bill in emails and sending them to the President’s “rat line” asking them to please check it out.  We need to overwhelm the system the way the Left has been for a long time.

On another similar note:
I tried to call the WH to protest the taking of these emails and couldn’t get through (hmm), so this is what I faxed -

Mr. President,
We the People are NOT paid political mobsters disrupting town hall meetings to “break” you.  We hold the Republicans in contempt as much as the Democrats for the economic and political mess we’re in. We are the citizens of the United States that have had our wills thwarted at every turn for a long time now.

We will not be silenced but at the point of a gun – and many not even then.  We are demanding, as is our right in the Constitution, a return to Constitutional government.

We are quickly and effectively educating the ignorant masses who have always thought politics is just politics.  With that education in the truth, we are certainly adding millions to our ranks – and very quickly. 

Are we building an army?  In the political sense, absolutely – yes.  Our armaments are the Constitution, history and the hand of the God that created it.  

Go ahead and take our names and email addresses at flag@whitehouse.gov. We’re not hiding from anybody.  We have quickly put together a strong web of connections and any strong or illicit action against one of us is an action against all.  News travels fast these days.

We pray that God’s wisdom will infiltrate the halls of Washington and that righteousness, freedom, and prosperity will once again be the hallmark of the American way of life.

 

Thank you for your time,
Roger Titkemeyer
US Citizen
Ohio, USA

See everyone in DC on 9/12!

Open letter to the Democrat Party

Since I posted an open letter to the Republican Party last time, I thought it only fair to post an open letter to the Democrat Party.

 I’ve never been a Democrat, so I’m not fully knowledgeable about the inner workings of the party, but I’ve been a political / current events junkie for about 25 years.  I will speak only to what I know.

 What I know is that the only hill your party would die on is the hill of abortion, or as you so affectionately misname it, choice. Nothing else in your party platform is so sacred. That you will defend so vehemently the right to kill human babies is appalling and downright evil.

 What I know is that your concern for the poor is exactly what has kept generations of people in exactly that situation. God was teaching us about ourselves when he said “One who does not work does not eat.” Your party has decided to give the fish, the hammock, cell phone, cable TV and even the house to put it all in.

 What I know is that many in your party won’t take wisdom from God because you hate God. You’ve worked diligently, and successfully I might add, to remove so much of our Christian heritage from public discourse and especially from school curricula.  John Adams said our unique American representative republic was only fit for a moral and religious people.  Your party has been vilifying our Christian heritage for decades while you promote all types of sex sin, rebellion and godlessness. Obviously, that’s why you’re doing your damndest to change it. I’m sure there are moral, though obviously ignorant, people in your ranks, but as a party you are not moral or religious.

 What I know is that you consider yourselves to be modern day Robin Hoods that take from the rich and give to the poor, yet it is well-known that as a percentage, liberals are the least giving. You seem very willing to give someone else’s money but not your own.

 What I know is that you set out to destroy your opponents in any manner necessary to get your agenda in place.  You denigrate everything someone like me feels is good and right while calling me a hate-monger or racist or any number of other names just for doing so.  The attacks are personl not political. You won’t tolerate dissent for long.  Ask Sarah Palin or either of her daughters how personal it is. 

 What I know is that you are quite willing to weaken our national sovereignty to impose global programs through corrupt organizations like the UN.  The passage of your Cap and Trade bill is the most recent example where you are willing to shackle your own citizens for the sake of saving the earth for the rest of the world.

 So as not to pile on, I’ll stop here.  The above reasons are exactly why I’ve never been a Democrat, nor will I ever be one. 

The evils you portray as good are ruining the greatest country ever to exist. You’ve enslaved a large segment of the population and build on that daily by buying votes with my money. Once you enslave them, your power grows. And that’s the end game. Marx would be proud.  

Be it known today that there is a large and growing contingent of Patriots that are prepared to fight you to the end.  You’ll have to take us by force as we will not go quietly.

Open letter to the Republican Party

As this whirlwind, known as the Obama Administration, continues it’s march against most of what typical Americans consider right and good, it’s pathetic to see what the Republicans have offered in return:  silence, whimpers and resignations. 

First Senator Ensign fails to uphold his marital vows and soon after Gov. Mark Sanford has to bow before the public to express his sorrow for the same offense.  Is this really the best we can do?  Newt Gingrich, who’s desperately trying to get out in front and act like he’s leading the fledgling Second American Revolution effort, Bob Livingston, his predecessor, Senator Larry Craig, Senator Bob Packwood, Rudy Giuliani, Mark Foley and Senator David Vitter are the most recent alumni to the scandal fraternity.  Two of those named, Newt and Giuliani, are still considered stalwarts and standard-bearers in the party that used to stand for right and against wrong. 

Am I saying that we’re to be perfect and sinless? No, that’s impossible except for one man and we’re not even close.  The fact that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God doesn’t mean we shouldn’t hold ourselves to a higher standard.  By and large I believe Republicans do maintain a higher standard as compared to so many shameless Democrats who seem to gain in power for such offenses. But we’re stopping way short of the goal.

Just this evening, pondering as I have so often recently the fate of our country and the soul of the Party I grew up in, I came across this article at World Net Daily written by Dr. Alan Keyes, a former Republican, that sums up my feelings of what went wrong with the Republican Party.  It is entitled Sanford and the GOP: For whom tolls the bell?  

Read it for yourself.  I can’t approach the eloquence necessary to even paraphrase the words of such a statesman. 

The Party adopted the Big Tent strategy and that’s what it gave us – a large canopy full of animal dung.  You say abortion is wrong, but nobody will stand in front of the tank.  With  both houses of Congress and the White House you did nothing to stop the killing of the babies. 

 For millenia marriage has meant the union of one man and one woman yet rare few will speak with conviction against proposals to extend this sacred institution to same sex partners. We’re not asking you to condemn gays, just stand up for what’s right.   Nobody will stand in front of the tank. 

What happened to the party of fiscal responsibility? The last years of the Bush Administration were an abomination.  Adding new entitlements like the Democrats and spending us into the largest deficits on record.  Yes, the Democrats had the House and Senate back due to your ineptitude, but like today you only whimpered, never roared. Nobody stands in front of the tank.

You stood by, and some in leadership (Boehner) even voted for, the TARP bailout, proposed by President Bush as the Federal Government began its take-over of the financial system. 

You stood by whimpering as the new administration took over the auto industry and gave huge amounts of control to the UAW.

Our rights as land owners you’ve allowed to be stripped away piece by piece by not standing against environmental and other illegal federal regulations. Often you’re  co-sponsors. Nobody stands in front of the tank.

Our first, second and tenth amendment rights, arguably the most powerful of the amendments to our truly amazing and God-breathed Constitution are trampled under the feet of bureaucracy and you’ve stood by or marched along.

It makes me furious to read about  the demise of the Republican Party by those on the left, but you, and by complicity we, asked for it.  We were sucked into the lesser of two evils mentality and America is paying the price. Perhaps even all people the world over who long to be free.  Ronald Reagan, the man that so many of you hide behind but aren’t worthy of dusting his shoes, said 

“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children through 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’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”

Is the final demise of the Party imminent or unavaoidable? At this point many of us in the newly-coined “Liberty Movement” don’t really care.  Prove you’re worth our money and sweat and we’ll fight for you.  Fail us, deceive us or continue to throw us bones in election cycles and we’ll find your replacement.  We’re quickly choosing which hills to die on.  You have a very short time to choose if they coincide with yours.

Roger Titkemeyer
Batavia, Ohio USA

Grassroots growing deep

In my last post, I spoke of stepping up and walking the talk.  Here I wish to share some of the fruits of that effort.

The Flag Day Rally For Freedom held recently in the quaint rivertown of New Richmond, Ohio, just to the east of Cincinnati, was the culmination of a lot of hard work by those in the 912 Project and the Cincinnati Tea Party. Most of us are new at this and had lots to learn as we went along. 

I have to say, I’m glad to be counted among such a fine goup of people, like Tom from City BBQ who took a chance on the event and brought his whole setup out to provide awesome brisket sandwiches and huge hot dogs .  When asked how it went, he said he did OK, but was just glad to be there because of the great people he met.  He donated a percentage to the cause.  Thank you, Tom!  The Dan Henning Band was the house band for the event and they ROCKED! And they did it for no charge – even supplying the PA system for all the speakers to use.  Thank you, Dan and band! Laura, who was the event coordinator, Mike from the Tea Party, Karen from 912, Deb from 912, and so many other volunteers.  Special mention and thanks go to Bill and Melanie for their tireless effort to make it happen in their hometown. Thousands of their own dollars were invested in the event. 

One thing about events like these – you won’t be embarassed like so many filthy events put on by the Left.  Profanity was nowhere, just good people discussing their disgust and anger at where Congress is taking the country we all love. 

Since I was busy with “things” (like trying to keep 1500 cups of UDF Homemade Ice Cream frozen in hot, humid weather- thank you, John from UDF!) I didn’t get to hear many of the great speakers.  Varied in style, but with much the same message, these fine people came from points far and wide to support the grassroots effort here in Cincinnati.  The message was loud and clear that America has succumbed to the parties- Republican and Democrat – and we are no longer party people.  Candidates will have to earn our votes, not by placing a letter behind their name. 

We really believe the Second American Revolution has begun and Cincinnati is on the frontline.

Here are some links to the organizations whose representatives spoke or had information booths.

Bob Basso of Thomas Paine YouTube fame
Tim Cox of Get Out Of Our House (goooh.com) came all the way from Texas.  
Kristine Cassady of the Independence Caucus  
Mike Wilson, Founder of the Cincinnati Tea Party
And my new friend, Karen Best, Founder of the 912 Project in Cincinnati.

If you think a major thunderstorm and subsequent loss of electricity that occurred right after Thomas Paine spoke his rallying words urging us to take this revolution to a new level, you would be mistaken.  The strong remnant of the crowd moved up under the domed cover of the bandstand and finished the rest of speakers for well over an hour.  That, my friends, was the defining moment of the event.  Just like the old days in the town square,  Patriots were discussing their options for improving the state of their nation.  Those of us involved in running the event were busy drying things off and packing things up and I for one wished I could have been in that group of new revolutionaries. 

Here are a few pictures I took as Thomas Paine gave his rallying cry.

   

Join the thousands who attended this event in declaring your independence from the parties and declare your commitment to the ideals of the Founding Fathers. Their wisdom has warned us and now guides us.  Time is short - join the battle.

Conservatives, join the fight or stop complaining.

The left/ Progressives are decades ahead of us in the action arena, but we’re the smart and productive ones.  We’re motivated by freedom and they are motivated by lust for power, so we’re on the side of righteousness.  Justice and equal opportunity should be the standard, not chosen by the elite.  We are lovers of life and they are the purveyors of death. We are the people who want decency and they’re selling social pornography.  We want to live our own lives and they want to force us to live the way of their choosing. We believe in God and trust in His Providence and they mock and scorn us for it, preferring to play god themselves. 

I’ve decide enough talking and complaining and have gotten involved in a couple local groups in Cincinnati that are working hard to be in position to affect the next election cycle.  The Cincinnati Tea Party, the 912 Project, and in a very limited way, the Campaign for Liberty, the John Birch Society and Ohio Freedom Alliance.  Thus I haven’t been posting except mostly on my Facebook page. If you care to join me there, search for Roger Titkemeyer.  I don’t post going to the store or mowing the grass, just  much like you’d find here only in shorter versions as FB has word limits.  

Please, find somewhere to plug in and get active.  The midterm elections are coming way faster than we want to believe.  We CAN and MUST make a difference or I’m afraid this Grand Experiment will join the rest in the history books.

Our grandchildren may not know what it was like to live as we have – free to prosper or to fail, free to live where we choose, drive what we choose and choose what we do for a living.

Ronald Reagan: (several more available here in the archives.)

“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children through 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’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”