Come and Take Them

It's been a while.

A couple of weeks ago, I took my family to Dallas to see an exhibit at the Dallas Museum of Art. King Tutankhamun's stuff was in town. My daughter has been studing Egyptology since she was around eight, and has since been fascinated with just about anything "Egypt". She wants to go to Cairo one day.

We got back from Dallas late on a Saturday, only to find that our old collie was at the end of his rope. It was a sad ending to an otherwise fabulous weekend.

Then reality set in.

Tea parties. Political angst. An over bearing Federal Government. Panic. More anger.

Fewer bullets available. :) I do a LOT of shooting for sport. With the recent political climate, ammunition is very scarce. I am even having a hard time finding the components to make my own ammunition (an act which, if the Feds have their way, will soon be illegal).

I digress.... back to the fervor.

Our governor, Rick Perry, made a few comments on the topic of secession.

The main stream media went crazy.

Not only did the media go nuts about the comments that Perry made, the MSM also down-played the tea parties around the state (and nation) that brought those comments about. If you haven't heard about the tea parties, you may want to start getting your news elsewhere.

Recently, according to a memo released by the Department of Homeland Security, I have been labeled an extremist. While the vast enemies of the United States are frothing at the mouth to see her collapse, my country has labeled me, a citizen, an extremist.

I am not religious. I am pro-life. I am also of the belief that our government has become way more intrusive than it was intended to be. When the federal government can mandate to a State what that State will and will not do, the federal government has over stepped it's bounds, and as a result, the 'contract' that the State had with that government is null and void. It's not hard to understand.

The Federal Government was given certain specific responsibilities, and it (the fed) cannot assume that a certain power belongs to it unless it is expressly given to it by the US Constitution. It really, really isn't hard to understand.

So, when the Fed told the State of Texas that it was going to give Texas so much money to expand welfare and unemployment benefits, Texas refused. Why? Because once that money runs out (and it will), Texas will have to continue to pay the benefits on her own dime. So, in short, the Fed was stating to a State (in this case Texas) that Texas would have to increase taxes to pay for welfare and unemployment benefits. According to the Tenth Amendment, the Federal Government cannot do this.

But it did.

Now, I don't know if I am a rebel at heart because I am a Texan. I think it has more to do with the way I was raised. But, whatever it is, I have become one of the millions of people that have had it up to my neck with the Federal Government.

You needn't play the race card. I was fed up with the Fed long before B. Obama took office. Bush was no gift to independence either. Nor was his father.

We, as a country, have become so dependent upon someone else to do things for us that we have forgotten what freedom truly is. Really. I know this is hard to understand for some - there are actually those people out there that believe that the government should go as far as to tell us what to eat, how much to eat, what to drive, and where to drive.

Do you realize where this could lead?

Our Founding Fathers really weren't saints, but they did realize that an intrusive government was not a good thing. Jefferson even suggested that a revolution was necessary once in a while order to maintain a healthy Republic. Republic. NOT Democracy. We are a democratic Republic. There is a difference.

Yes, we do vote on things. But when those votes intrude on the rights of others, they have to be revoked.

California recently voted to ban gay marriage. I do foresee that vote being over turned. A truthful Republic cannot look at one person differently than it looks at another. Banning gay marriage is basically saying that one person can get married, and another person cannot get married. No matter how one tries to spin it, this requires the government to get involved at a level which it need not be involved.

For the record, I do not agree with homosexuality. However, banning gay marriage is going to do nothing concerning homosexuality. The Federal government needs to stay out of that battle. Honestly, I don't see what the big draw is on this topic. I absolutely do not give a rat's ass whether two men or two women get married. Leave me out of it, and leave small children and animals out of it.

What happens if the government takes a vote and decides that a particular religion is not acceptable? Well, I would wager that this would sit quite well with those whose religion is acceptable, but the one on the short end of the stick would be screwed. Again, the Fed needs to stay out of it.

We are at the point where the government can do as it pleases.

Patrick Henry once said that if we (the people) were not willing to use force to maintain our liberty, then we would be ruined. I am afraid that there are not enough citizens willing to use force to cast off the Federal government.

Don't get me wrong. I think we are a long way from using force. There are many ways to turn this big boat around. But we have to start by leaving the federal government in a spot which it was intended to be. The Fed does not belong in your living room, or your bedroom. The Federal government does not have the power to tell you or me that we must use a certain type of light bulb, or a certain toilet.

"We Texans are an independent lot", says Rick Perry. While I didn't sit on Perry's side of the fence when it came to curtailing illegal immigration (he said he was going to stop it and he didn't), I wholeheartedly agree with him on this statement.

I want to live as I see fit, and pursue my own happiness. I want the Feds to punish the law breakers, and protect my borders. And I want my governor to continue to keep the Fed at arm's length.

It's the only way to maintain our independence.

I do NOT want a revolution.

I do not want to be punished for being successful by being taxed heavier than my neighbor. I do not want my two kids to have to pay for the debt we are racking up right now.

I do want freedom and liberty.

I will do what I need to do in order to maintain that freedom and liberty.

Many years ago, two kings met each other in a small pass near the Mediterranean Sea. The first king, Xerxes, wanted to take something from another king, Leonidas. He wanted to remove Leonidas' people's right to self governance. While the Spartans were no model for a Republic, they showed us how to defend honor, a word that has all but lost it's meaning as of late.

So, should the Federal Government decide that it needs to make my decisions and thereby remove my right to self governance, let them try.

When the Fed demands our liberties, we should answer them with these words:

"Molon Labe"..... Come and Take Them"