Freedom: A Story That Was

"A free people ought not only to be armed and disciplined but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them, which would include their own government." 

--George Washington

This country was founded on the principles of peace and liberty, but to achieve peace and protect liberty you must keep an eye on government’s role in your life. There is a reason the first two amendments of the Bill of Rights are:

           I.           Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

         II.           A well regulated Militia, being necessary to thesecurity of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shallnot be infringed.

The first two amendments are set in place to protect the citizens from a government that oversteps its boundaries. If the citizen/Militia begins to have their rights infringed upon or taken away,the citizen/Militia has an obligation to country and fellow citizen to protest their rights and if need be, defend their liberties and forcefully take back their freedoms. The first amendment protects any citizen that wishes to protest against the government and the second amendment allows that citizen to use force if the government responds with force or a removal of more rights or freedoms.

The topic of “Gun Control” has recently appeared in the MSM’s (Mainstream Media’s) everyday vocabulary again due to the recent horrific shooting in Newtown, CT where 20 little angels were sent to Heaven along with 7 adult victims. This is a tragedy and will forever be engraved in everyone’s minds alongside; 9/11, Columbine and the Challenger disaster. Charlton Heston said it best when he said “"There's no such thing as a good gun. There's no such thing as a bad gun. A gun in the hands of a bad man is a very dangerous thing. A gun in the hands of a good person is no danger to anyone except the bad guys”. Fighting for the removal of guns will not prevent horrific events like the Newtown shooting… it will only make it easier for them to happen. Connecticut has some of the strictest gun laws in the country but this tragedy still occurred. Gun bans do not protect the citizens, they only make them more vulnerable.

How vulnerable you ask??? Here are some interesting statistics:

• States which passed concealed carry laws reduced their rate of murder by 8.5%, rape by 5%, aggravated assault by 7% and robbery by 3% 
• Washington, D.C. has, perhaps, the most restrictive gun control laws in the country, and yet it is frequently the Murder Capital of the nation. In the 25 years following the DC gun ban, its murder rate INCREASED 51 percent, even while the national rate DECREASED 36 percent
• In the fifteen years following the passage of Florida's concealed carry law in 1987, over 800,000 permits to carry firearms were issued to people in the state.(32) FBI reports show that the homicide rate in Florida, which in 1987 was much higher than the national average, fell 52% during that 15-year period—thus putting the Florida rate below the national average
• As many as 200,000 women use a gun every year to defend themselves against sexual abuse
• 3/5 of felons polled agreed that "a criminal is not going to mess around with a victim he knows is armed with a gun
• 74% of felons polled agreed that "one reason burglars avoid houses when people are at home is that they fear being shot during the crime
• 57% of felons polled agreed that "criminals are more worried about meeting an armed victim than they are about running into the police

(All Stats above were taken from http://gunowners.org/fs0404.htm where all sources can be found)

        I can spout off stats all day long and some may never even do their own research but the fact remains, guns save more good people from bad people than they do kill good people by bad people. Guns are our last line of defense from the demons walking the streets like Adam Lanza (Shooter in Newtown, CT). Just think about how many of those Angels could have been saved if a teacher or administrator had a gun on their person. The bravery of Dawn Hochsprung, Principal at Sandy Hook Elementary, showed when rushing Adam Lanza was amazing. She was the first to lose her life that day at the school and she showed courage till the end, but what would have happened if she had a handgun on her person at the time of the shooting? What if instead of trying to rush Adam Lanza and disarm him she could have pulled out her handgun and shot him dead before he had the opportunity to extinguish the beautiful lives of those 20 children? Gun Control advocates would argue that he had body armor on and it could have made no difference, she may have missed and still would have been killed. What I would argue back would be, She would have had more of fighting chance than to try to disarm the shooter with her hands with no weapon. 

      The recent events at Sandy Hook Elementary have caused liberal lawmakers to start another anti-gun frenzy. Congresswoman Dianne Feinstein of California has proposed a bill that will essentially ban 120 different types of guns (including rifles and handguns with fixed magazines that carry more than 10 rounds). She also wants to ban "Assault Rifles" but will not clearly define what she believes "Assault Rifles" are in her proposed bill. Can we really be that stupid to allow a bill to pass that is essentially a blank check to be filled out at a later date once the bill is passed? Well, they did pass Obama-Care without reading it (According to Pelosi we would have to pass it to find out what was in it). 

     We must stand up to our elected officials that want to take away our rights: right to protect self, family and neighbor from anyone who would abuse them and demand they leave our rights alone. 

Don't Tread on Me!

"Without either the first or second amendment, we would have no liberty; the first allows us to find out what's happening, the second allows us to do something about it! The second will be taken away first, followed by the first and then the rest of our freedoms." 

- Andrew Ford 

     Sweet Dreams, 

              

              Knightmare

  

Generation-E (For Entitlement)

      What has this world come to?? Our country is infested with a generation of kids/young adults who are never happy with anything they have and who do not have any manners at all anymore. It disgusts me to think I am apart of this Generation-E (For Entitlement), or Gen-E's as I like to call them. I work for everything I have and appreciate all I have, but these ignorant, rude and unappreciative whiners are never happy and only want more for free. 

       This kind of behavior is learned. Learned from their parents that is, not their grandparents though. Our grandparents lived through the Great Depression and they know how important it is to work hard and make money for what they want in life. If you told those grandparents that they were going on food stamps they would be embarrassed and work their asses off to get off them as quickly as possible. They would not tell a single soul they were on them and pray that no one would find out. Today, the USDA encourages "Food Stamp Parties" in the same effect as having a Tupperware Party. "...Make it fun by having activities, games, food, and entertainment, and provide information about SNAP. Putting SNAP information in a game format like BINGO, crossword puzzles, or even a ‘true/false’ quiz is fun and helps get your message across in a memorable way..." one of the pamphlets on the USDA's website stated. Is this what our country has come to??? We evolved from people who were embarrassed to be on food stamps into people who throw parties to encourage people to "join their club". As of June 2012, the US has 46.7 Million people on food stamps (Dep. of Commerce Statistics, Oct.15th, 2012). According to statistics from USDA, FNS and BLS records job growth since President Obama has taken office shows only 194,000 jobs created and 14.7 million people added to food stamp rolls. That shows food stamp recipients have increased 75X that of job creation.

     

     Gen-E's have taken over in all aspects of our daily lives. Going to the store, mall or shopping center has turned into a stressful experience. I was raised to always show good manners and be polite to everyone, even if they are being an idiot. When I am crossing a crosswalk to enter a store I will stop and wait until the car coming sees me and if they stop I will wave and mouth "Thank you" to them. Today, these Gen-E's will walk out in front of you, never acknowledging you are even there, and just keep walking like you "OWE" them something. They are "ENTITLED" to walk in front me.  

    I was also raised to look behind me when I am entering a door to see if there is anyone coming and hold the door for people until someone takes the door from me. I will be the person who stands at the door at a store and hold the door for 5 minutes, especially if I see women approaching. These Gen-E's will open a door, just enough for them to walk through, and continue walking without even looking back to see if someone could possibly be behind them. They wouldn't even care if their own grandmother was behind them... their time is limited and they are "ENTITLED" to be in a hurry. 

     What I have seen of the generation I was born into scares me about the next generation. If the young adults I grew up with learned this behavior from their parents, what is going to happen when these same people start to have families of their own? It can only be worse. Is this the start to Socialism in America where everyone feels "ENTITLED" to something that someone else worked hard for? These people collecting food stamps are not receiving free food, they are receiving food that was worked hard for, sweat for, bleed for by myself and every other hard working American. We pay more and more in taxes each year to cover this deficit created by these "ENTITLEMENT" programs. $139.1 Billion is spent each year by the federal government on Welfare, not including food stamps and unemployment. The total amount spent each year by the federal government on "ENTITLEMENT" programs takes up about $1.03 Trillion in fiscal spending each year. We are moving in the wrong direction and it scares me. 

    When will we go back to the days when it was a disgusting feeling to take a handout? When will people have morals and manners again? When will America be the America we love again, where we know as long as we work hard and play by the rules we can have that American Dream? My fear is THAT America will never return and we will go the same route as the USSR and crumble under the extreme pressure of our fiscal irresponsibility. All it takes is everyone raising their kids on the principles that our grandparents were raised; Respect, Honor, Self Worth and Hard Work. It is sad to say, but maybe we do need another Great Depression to open our eyes to what our grandparents went through and change this course of destruction before we cause irreparable damage to this great nation. 

Sweet Dreams, 

Knightmare       

              

The Hope, The Change... The Reality

I would like to start off by saying that I voted for Obama in 2008. I was, at the time, a 22 year old student at the University of Central Florida where I was studying toward my bachelors in Business Administration. I felt that I was witnessing history. I would be able to tell my children and my grandchildren that I voted for not only the greatest President in US history... I was born into a generation that would erase the racial gap that was created in the 60's by giving me the opportunity to be able to vote for the first black president.
Four years later I realize that my mind had been kidnapped, tied up and left in a closet by my heart and my emotions. I was constantly being force fed in my college classes that Obama was the answer and we would have a multitude of jobs awaiting us once we finished school. There are no jobs. The company I work for has recently laid off 80% of it's workforce. The president /CEO of our company has ceased to collect a paycheck and is currently paying the remaining employees out of his pocket every week. That president/CEO I just spoke of is the greatest man I have ever known... He is my father. My father has worked tirelessly his entire life, since he was 10, to be able to give me a good life and retire so he may enjoy the rest of his life. He turns 66 today and over the last 4 years has had to put over $2,000,000 of his own money; retirement, investments, multiple mortgages, refinance, etc... just to keep the doors open. Not only is the manufacturing slow down hurting him, now he has to worry about healthcare costs that will soon be too high to handle. He currently pays for 80% of his employees health insurance. How can he continue to pay for that when the costs are going to rise exponentially. Again, my father has worked since he was 10 years old to be able to get to where he is today and do you know how much money, assistance or tax breaks he has received from the government along the way... ZERO. That is why it made me sick to hear our President, the President of these United States, state that he didn't build that. HE DIDN'T BUILD THAT?!?!?!?! You are damn right he did! We have a president who has never worked in the public sector. He has no understanding of how a business is run.
All he has done for 4 years is blame President Bush. I will say that I do not think Bush was the greatest President we ever had either, but he did a fine job of protecting our nation after 9/11 and treated our troops with a great deal of respect and for that I will always be thankful. But there comes a time when Obama cannot blame Bush anymore. Obama has spent almost twice what Bush did, and Obama did that in 4 years compared to 8 for Bush. What Bush spent, he spent because of 2 wars and a country's failing economy. Obama has ended one of those wars but has replaced any positive change in the deficit by adding a healthcare bill that will cost us many trillions more. He is not fiscally responsible and that is the most dangerous thing that our country faces today.
Please people...open your eyes and do your own research. Don't listen to MSNBC, CNN, ABC or Fox News for that matter... watch speeches, read transcripts, learn about your candidates and make up your own minds. I believe that once you do that you will see the truth as I recently did and vote out President Obama in the election in November.