Tag United States

Dictatorial Powers?

Allen Frederick 4 Comments

In those days Israel didn’t have a king. Everyone did whatever he considered right. Judges 21:25 (GW)

Two days after defying Republicans and the Constitution by appointing Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, President Obama visited the new agency to take a little time to gloat.

Making a victory lap of sorts at the independent agency, Obama cracked a joke, telling employees that he came by to help their new director move in.

When he announced Cordray’s appointment in Ohio on Wednesday, Obama made it clear that he would not wait for Congress to act on issues he deems pressing.

“When Congress refuses to act, and as a result hurts our economy and puts our people at risk, then I have an obligation as president to do what I can without them,” he said.

“I’ve got an obligation to act on behalf of the American people. And I’m not going to stand by while a minority in the Senate puts party ideology ahead of the people we were elected to serve. Not with so much at stake, not at this make-or-break moment for the middle class.” Source The Hill

And our elected leaders said nary a peep about it. Where is the outrage? Where is the uproar? Where are those who swore on oath to uphold our Constitution?

Constitution of the United States of America

Image by The U.S. National Archives via Flickr

Ours is not a nation of men but of laws so eloquently spoken by John Adams. By taking an end run around congress Obama has set himself up as the dictator in chief. Congress is elected by the people to represent their interests and to act on their behalf. This action by Obama, like other actions rammed down the American people’s collective throats, shows exactly how little respect Obama has for the American people. Wednesday Obama gave the American people the proverbial finger. It is time we give him the proverbial kick in the butt right out the door.

In spite of the many valid criticisms leveled against John Adams, it is fair to argue that his ideal, that America was a “nation of laws, not of men,” has been the bed rock of our Nation’s longevity.  At every crisis faced by our nation, the Constitution has always been there to temper the heated passions and calm the political tempests.  The genius of the Constitution’s simplicity and brevity has been one of the keys to its permanence.  However, it is only a piece of paper.  It takes citizens to create a civil, law-abiding nation. 

Amoral relativism has reduced questions of right and wrong to simple expediency. Everyone doing what they think is right regardless of established law is a canker that becomes the death knell of free societies.

The American ideal is that we are “a nation of laws, not of men,”  but the unpleasant reality is that the ruling class obeys only the laws it chooses to obey.

“We the people”can persuade its ruling class to “choose to obey” its laws through various means, and not even the absolute monarchs of ancient times could casually disregard all of them.We need to challenge our representatives to take a stand against unconstitutional government and voice our positions firmly but politely, reminding them that they work on our behalf and were chosen to represent our interests not their own. Groups like the Heritage Foundation, Americans for Prosperity, the TEA Party movement and other grass-roots activists groups have been successful in stemming the tide of tyranny rapidly overtaking our society.

Of course, there is always the punishment we can administer at the ballot box, but this is a “limited.” The rate of re-election for the House of Representatives hovers around 95%, and rarely drops below 90% . Senators enjoy high re-election rates as well, with the worst years of the modern era barely dipping below 80%. The most fabulously corrupt members of Congress have been there for decades.I guess we are gluttons for punishment. It is time we enforce our own term limits upon these ‘career politicians’. We must insist that they represent our interests or they will be replaced at the next election. One term until they learn that our government is of the people, by the people, and for the people.

The growth of the modern super-state will continue to grow and become more unruly as it continues to circumvent or disregard legal restrictions on its power enumerated in the Constitution.We the people must hold our elected officials accountable to us and urge them to uphold and defend the Constitution as ‘rule of law.’ Things have degenerated to the point where no one even bothers asking if the actions taken by congress, the President, or the courts is constitutional. The government has become unhooked from the restraints of the constitution and it is now operating lawlessly.

A government that is not restrained by the ‘rule of law’ is both immoral and inefficient. It’s interesting to note that almost the only restraint on government power to survive the last few decades intact is the two-term limit on the presidency, imposed through the 22nd Amendment in 1951.  Of course, like any law, it could be changed – and there are people who wish to repeal the 22nd Amendment – but changing a law is vastly more difficult than ignoring it, particularly when dealing with amendments to the Constitution.

Equally strong term limits for Congress would go a long way toward draining the Washington cesspool, making each politician less attractive targets for graft, and preventing them from accumulating decades of power to insulate themselves from the consequences of their actions. In a similar vein, dramatic tax reform is the only reliable means of preventing Washington from believing it can appropriate unlimited funds to indulge its grand designs. I am a strong advocate for abolishing the IRS and instituting a flat tax or fair tax. Eliminate all tax loopholes and apply the tax to everyone. None is exempt thereby making everyone invested in how their tax money is being spent. With almost 50% of the population not paying any taxes is it any wonder there is a large percentage of the population in favor or raising taxes? Since they do not contribute they are not concerned about those who must pay the bill.

We need to take our country back but that requires effort on our part and the willingness to actually take part in our own leadership. We need to embrace the IDEAL that we are a self-governing people and not looking to be ruled by a ‘elite ruling class’. By our silence and inaction, we have allowed our current state of affairs. We have not sought to maintain our autonomy but rather went looking for a king. Well my friends a king is what we have crowned. Giving all authority and power to an individual or a ruling class delimits our own liberty and makes us slaves of the masters.

I do not know about you and your house but this current administration does not speak for me on nearly all matters pertaining to my life and liberty and pursuit of happiness, therefore the ruling class is not seeking to defend my liberties but is only interested in advancing their own agendas and gaining power and control over my freedoms.

And this is another view from the nest. What say you?

But those who are waiting for the Lord will have new strength; they will get wings like eagles: running, they will not be tired, and walking, they will have no weariness. Isaiah 40:31 (BBE)

Along for the journey

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The Silence of the Lambs

Allen Frederick Leave a comment

  1. No I am not talking about the movie starring Jodi Foster and Anthony Hopkins but rather the reluctance of Christians to speak out on political issues. The silence of the lambs has allowed an ever-expanding government to grow even larger and more tyrannical with each subsequent administration.

In this article from Godfather Politics the author traces the silencing of the lambs historically to tyrannical regimes of the past including China and Nazi Germany. The article’s writer cites references to the government crackdown on religion and especially preachers who dared challenge the government aggression or speak out against government abuses of power.

“Over time, churches in Nazi German were “confined as far as possible to the performance of narrowly religious functions, and even within this narrow sphere were subjected to as many hindrances as the Nazis dared to impose.” This is the evaluation of a 1945 report published by the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the precursor to the CIA. It was called The Nazi Master Plan: The Persecution of the Christian Churches and was prepared for the War Crimes Staff. It offered the following summary: “This study describes, with illustrative factual evidence, Nazi purposes, policies and methods of persecuting the Christian Churches in Germany and occupied Europe.””

  1. “Where did the strategic plan begin? “Implementation of this objective
    started with the curtailment of religious instruction in the primary and
    secondary schools with the squeezing of the religious periods into
    inconvenient hours, with Nazi propaganda among the teachers in order to
    induce them to refuse the teaching of religion, with vetoing of . . .
    religious text books, and finally with substituting [a] Nazi Weltanschauung [worldview] and ‘German faith’ for Christian religious denominational instruction. . .”

  2. “The next step was to neutralize the impact that churches would have on
    politics. “Under the pretext that the Churches themselves were
    interfering in political and state matters, [the Nazis] would deprive
    the Churches, step by step, of all opportunity to affect German public
    life.” How often do we hear that the “separation between church and
    state” means that churches must remain silent on social and political
    issues?”

If any of this sounds familiar it is because the wiles of the devil have not changed. In order to gain access to destroy a family, a community, a city or a country the evil one must first be granted permission to do his dirty work. By getting God-fearing men and women to fear the created and not the Creator, the enemy of life and peace is able to gain the upper hand and sets himself up as god. This can be seen clearly in the garden of Eden where the serpent beguiled Eve to seduce Adam to disobey God and by so doing the serpent gains access to all that once belonged to Adam. The serpent gained power over all of life and began to bring about man’s destruction along with everything created by God.

  1. Adam did not heed the Lord’s command to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and by his disobedience sin entered the world.

Sin came into the world through one person, and death came through sin. So death spread to everyone, because everyone sinned.Romans 5:12 (GW)

Jesus came to regain the authority that Adam lost through his disobedience. Jesus therefore defeated the power the enemy had to run amok in the world. Therefore Satan has to resort to his tried and true tactics to gain power and authority over a group of people. His main modus operandi is to twist the word of God to seduce people into believing that God hates them and is keeping something from them and thereby getting a person to distrust God which makes them an easy target.

Be well-balanced (temperate, sober of mind), be vigilant and cautious at all times; for that enemy of yours, the devil, roams around like a lion roaring [in fierce hunger], seeking someone to seize upon and devour. Withstand him; be firm in faith [against his onset—rooted, established, strong, immovable, and determined], knowing that the same (identical) sufferings are appointed to your brotherhood (the whole body of Christians) throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace [Who imparts all blessing and favor], Who has called you to His [own] eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will Himself complete and make you what you ought to be, establish and ground you securely, and strengthen, and settle you. To Him be the dominion (power, authority, rule) forever and ever. Amen (so be it). 1 Peter 5:8-11 (AMP)
God gives stern warnings to the church and church leaders who refuse to warn His people of impending doom and destruction. Since Satan operates in all areas of life that pertains to humanity why should Christians be limited to only being concerned about one area of life the spiritual? Shouldn’t Christian leaders be encouraging their flocks to be diligent in all areas of life especially since Satan is out to gain authority over them anyway that he can? I think that answer to that is obvious.
The Lord spoke his word to me. He said, “Son of man, speak to your people. Tell them, ‘Suppose I bring war on this country, and the people of this country choose one of their men and make him their watchman. If he sees the enemy coming to attack the country, he will blow his horn to warn the people. If the people hear the horn and ignore the warning and the enemy comes and takes them, they will be responsible for their own deaths. They heard the sound of the horn but ignored its warning. So they are responsible for their own deaths. If they had taken the warning, they would have saved themselves. “‘But if the watchman sees the enemy coming and doesn’t blow his horn to warn the people and the enemy comes and kills someone, that watchman must die because of his sin. I will hold him responsible for their deaths.‘ Ezekiel 33:1-6 (GW)

The trumpet has been sounded, you have been warned, take heed to yourself how you shall respond. As for me and this blog I will continue to speak forth the words of the Lord as the Lord gives me the utterance so help me God.

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A Presidential Greeting for the New Year

Allen Frederick Leave a comment

Official Portrait of President Ronald Reagan.

“I’ve always thought New Year’s Day was an especially American tradition, full of the optimism and hope we’re famous for in our daily lives — an energy and confidence we call the American spirit. Perhaps because we know we control our own destiny, we believe deep down inside that working together we can make each new year better than the old. … Let us renew our faith that as free men and women we still have the power to better our lives, and let us resolve to face the challenges of the new year holding that conviction firmly in our hearts. That, after all, is our greatest strength and our greatest gift as Americans.” —Ronald Reagan

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Cooperation is not Compromise

Allen Frederick 1 Comment

“Integrity is not a conditional word. It doesn’t blow in the wind or change with the weather. It is your inner image of yourself, and if you look in there and see a man who won’t cheat, then you know he never will.” John D. MacDonald

When a man walks in integrity and justice, happy are his children after him. PROVERBS 20:7

It seems to me that the only time we hear the word compromise, or the concept of compromise is when the democrats do not have control of one house of the congress or the other. When they controlled both houses plus the White House I do not recall ever hearing the word compromise. Now that the American people voted to put some brakes on this current administration, every congressional impasse is met with the term compromise.

Have you noticed how it is usually the democrats telling the republicans that they need to compromise? If you can cite me examples of democrats willing to compromise with republicans I would welcome the response.

Compromising one’s ethics, integrity, and core values does not move morality and ethics forward, it dilutes them at best and negates them at worst.

Cooperation however can be achieved without compromising one’s principles and values. What we need are more men and women of conviction who will not compromise their values just to get along with the opposition.  With that being said I give you an article written by Debra Burgess. Be sure to stop by her website and show her some comment love.

Eagle out.

Cooperation For Integrity
By Debra Burgess

The time has come to learn what cooperation is. When I research it, I find the meaning to be “working or acting together for a common purpose or benefit”. Something stands out however; there is no synonym for its meaning to compromise.

Looking at historical references we can learn much. The downfall of nations all seem to begin in the heart of those who lead, or are in partnership with leaders. The downfalls begin because someone came into an agreement to compromise from what they knew to be right.

Imagine the possibilities if our leaders could be surrounded by those whose hearts are willing to cooperate but never compromise? Integrity could use some good press these days, but until we value it within ourselves we cannot appreciate its truth in others.

I love to encourage the heart of people to be who they are meant to be in Christ. My hope is anything offered of myself would be pleasing first to my Heavenly Father and secondly to bring a blessing to others.

http://www.debrabee.org

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In Defense of the LGBT Community

Allen Frederick Leave a comment

Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar. As it is written: “That You may be justified in Your words, And may overcome when You are judged.” Romans 3:4 (NKJV)

I am growing weary with the constant barrage of acronyms flooding our language lexicon, and the secular humanists redefining the terms and manipulating our language to advance their agenda. So I decided to take matters into my own hands and redefine one of their terms by taking an acronym of theirs and repurposing it to reflect a Christian centric world view. I chose to use the acronym LGBT and I will define it thusly: Let God Be True… and every man a liar.

Official portrait of Secretary of State Hillar...

Image via Wikipedia

It is interesting to note that the discussion of persecution was raised by none other than Hillary Clinton in her defense of the LGBT community. It would seem there is a large-scale effort to protect a certain segment of society against persecution.

Speaking at a United Nations event in recognition of International Human Rights Day, Clinton pulled no punches in her defense of LGBT rights. She referred to the LGBT people as “human beings born free [with] equality and dignity” and said their struggle for rights is “one of the remaining human rights challenges of our time.”

To which I give an enthusiastic two thumps up! Well said Mrs Clinton. In fact I wholeheartedly agree.

Most satisfying, Clinton firmly rejected the idea that bias against LGBT people based on cultural or religious norms is acceptable in any nation.

“Now, raising this issue, I know, is sensitive for many people and that the obstacles standing in the way of protecting the human rights of LGBT people rest on deeply held personal, political, cultural, and religious beliefs,” Clinton said. “So I come here before you with respect, understanding, and humility. Even though progress on this front is not easy, we cannot delay acting.” In her remarks Mrs Clinton stated:

Today, I want to talk about the work we have left to do to protect one group of people whose human rights are still denied in too many parts of the world today. In many ways, they are an invisible minority. They are arrested, beaten, terrorized, even executed. Many are treated with contempt and violence by their fellow citizens while authorities empowered to protect them look the other way or, too often, even join in the abuse. They are denied opportunities to work and learn, driven from their homes and countries, and forced to suppress or deny who they are to protect themselves from harm.

I am talking about LBGT people, human beings born free and given bestowed equality and dignity, who have a right to claim that, which is now one of the remaining human rights challenges of our time. Many LGBT Americans have endured violence and harassment in their own lives, and for some, including many young people, bullying and exclusion are daily experiences. So we, like all nations, have more work to do to protect human rights at home.

It is not often I find myself in agreement with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton but I nod my head in agreement with these remarks. I agree that for far too long the LGBT community has been harassed, ridiculed, beaten, hated, mistreated, and in some extreme cases around the world abused or even killed; while the world at large turns a blind eye to this assault on a class of people.

We are no better in the United States regarding the LGBT community. Our record of mistreatment of the LGBT crowd is not very stellar. We have schools forbidding those who occupy this community from speaking freely, or practicing their lifestyles openly and honestly. We have laws forbidding this community from exercising their free speech rights and are barred from many public places because of their stance on social issues. Their lifestyles are frowned upon by many in our society, and for the most part they are treated like lepers.

This should not be permitted in a free and open society. The members of the LGBT community need to be respected and their beliefs should be regarded as equal to others. They should not be singled out for abuse or ridicule. They should not be treated like second class citizens. They should be free to live their lives without the fear of being accosted or bullied. So, echoing Mrs Clinton, I too want to take a stand to defend the members of the LGBT community and let them know that they have an ally here at the Eagle’s Nest. Let God Be True! Amen

But those who are waiting for the Lord will have new strength; they will get wings like eagles: running, they will not be tired, and walking, they will have no weariness. Isaiah 40:31  (BBE)

Along for the journey

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