To Whom Do We Owe Our Freedom?

We owe everything to those who wear the uniform of the United States of America.  They number roughly 1.45 million out of a population of 330 million.

Are we helping them when we overthrow the Constitution they have been sworn to uphold since the days of George Washington?

We are steadily witnessing a government by lynch mobs of media and Trump-deranged civil servants who have abdicated their Oath of Office to overturn two elections, 2016 and 2020, and preen in front of TV cameras.  Mitt, can you hear me?  Susan? Lisa?

If it were an impeachable offense for the President to have policies which are not illegal but differ from those of Nancy Pelosi’s party, all Presidents would be immediately impeached and there would be nothing left but chaos.  So says constitutional scholar Alan Dershowitz.  So says Jonathan Turley.

The bar for impeachment cannot be set this low.

Surely this is not the form of government our brave men and women serve.

White House Counsel Pat Cipollone began his closing argument Tuesday afternoon by playing clips of impeachment managers Jerry Nadler and Zoe Lofgren and Senators Bob Menendez and Chuck Schumer speaking about the abuse of impeachment during the Clinton impeachment proceedings.

When the clips ended, Cipollone said, “They’ve repeatedly said, over and over again, a quote from Benjamin Franklin; ‘It’s a republic, if you can keep it.’  And every time I heard it, I said to myself, it’s a republic if they let us keep it.”

He said it while looking directly at the sniveling Democrat impeachment managers.

Happy Independence Day

On the eve of a far more significant July 4 in 1776, George Washington sat in his New York headquarters, preparing to defend Manhattan from the British.  He contemplated what lay ahead as word circulated that the Continental Congress had formally adopted a Declaration of Independence, a momentous step toward establishing a new nation.

Washington took to his diary to consider the gravity of the moment:

“The time is now near at hand,” he wrote, “which must probably determine, whether Americans are to be Freemen or Slaves; whether they are to have any property they can call their own; whether their Houses, and Farms, are to be pillaged and destroyed, and they consigned to a State of Wretchedness from which no human efforts will probably deliver them.” 

“Our own Country's Honor, all call upon us for a vigorous and manly exertion, and if we now shamefully fail, we shall become infamous to the whole world.” 

“Let us therefore animate and encourage each other, and show the whole world, that a Freeman contending for Liberty on his own ground is superior to any slavish mercenary on earth.”

In triumph and in tragedy we stand united and defiant in the face of any who would challenge our commitment to our freedom and the future of our country.

Happy Independence Day

UPDATE:  Welcome readers of The Pirate’s Cove.  We thank the Admiral for the linky-love.

Easter Hope

On the first Good Friday, the government executed Jesus because it was convinced that by claiming to be the Son of God, He might foment a revolution against it. He did foment a revolution, but it was in the hearts of men and women. The Roman government had not heard of a revolution of the heart, so it condemned Him to death by crucifixion.

What does Easter mean? Easter means that there’s hope for the dead. If there’s hope for the dead, there’s hope for the living. But like the colonists who fought the oppression of the king, we the living can only achieve our hopes if we have freedom. And that requires a government that protects freedom, not one that assaults it.

Former Superior Court Judge Andrew P. Napolitano

Their Gallantry And Devotion

We are bound together by hope in a land that is free through the sacrifices of our veterans, their gallantry and devotion to the light of liberty which has cast its glow upon us for two centuries.

It is fitting that on this Veterans Day we remember the words of President Ronald Reagan at the Vietnam Veterans Wall on November 11, 1988:

“Our young friends—yes, young friends, for in our hearts you will always be young, full of the love that is youth, love of life, love of joy, love of country—you fought for your country and for its safety and for the freedom of others with strength and courage. We love you for it. We honor you. And we have faith that, as He does all His sacred children, the Lord will bless you and keep you, the Lord will make His face to shine upon you and give you peace, now and forever more.''

My Amazing Friend Has Come Back

I was sitting at the bar in my kitchen wrapping up my day of blogging.  It was dusk.  While I was waiting for my computer to power down, I looked out the window and noticed a large bird fly across the yard of my neighbor across the street. He flew up to the trunk of a tree and ricocheted off perching in an adjacent tree.

I reached into my drawer and found my camera.  I moved quickly into the living room which has a picture window to see if I could spot him.  Just then, he took flight and landed in the oak tree in my front yard.

I was now running to the bedroom to see if I could snap a picture of him.  I had already drawn the blinds so I had to stick the camera between the slats and hope for the best.

This picture is decidedly poor quality but I have a good excuse.  It was dusky at the time I took it, I couldn’t open the blinds because doing so would frighten him off and the window screen, unfortunately, blurred the image.  If you look closely at the second branch from the ground on the right you can see him.

I first noticed my amazing visitor back in August 2013.  I spotted him again in September and once more in October.

I wrote in October that I gathered as much information about red-shouldered hawks from my local wildlife organization as I could.  I learned that the southern populations of these raptors are not migratory and their courting display occurred between January and April.

I have looked and looked for my friend and had given up ever seeing him again.  Today, my amazing friend has come back.

Throwback Thursday

Everybody seems obsessed with #TBT, the weekly reminiscent photo movement.  I’ve decided to take the plunge with my own blast from the past.  This is a picture of moi, circa 1956, before I became a curmudgeonly old poop.

I loved ponies.  My Dad used to regale me with stories of when I was a toddler and every Sunday he and Mom would take me to a place not far from our home that had pony rides.  He’d buy a ton of tickets so I could ride for hours and when it was time to go home I’d wail at the top of my lungs to stay and ride some more.  I don’t remember that at all, but I don’t doubt that it happened. 

As a young girl, my room had dozens of horse figurines on shelves decorating the walls because I was always fascinated with their beauty and the freedom one feels astride the magnificent creature.  To feel the wind in your hair as the countryside passes you by is to experience something wonderful.  In riding a horse, we borrow freedom.

I always wanted a horse.

I think I will celebrate my first day of retirement by finding a stable and going for a ride to truly feel free.

“The horse, with beauty unsurpassed, strength immeasurable and grace unlike any other, still remains humble enough to carry a man upon his back.”—Amber Senti

Hooray For The Red, White And Blue

Today is America’s 238th birthday.  In my neck of the woods the weather is going to be sunny with low humidity.  Last night we were getting rain from Hurricane Arthur, but this morning the sun came up with the promise of glorious weather to celebrate our independence.

Our fellow countrymen in Murrieta, CA rose up last week to turn away busloads of illegal immigrants that were slated to be dumped there by federal authorities.  It was reminiscent of that day on Manhattan Island when General George Washington and his weary troops marched toward the Battery to oversee the evacuation of Loyalists.  As the Redcoats and their sympathizers rowed out to the ships that would take them away, an American sailor clambered up the flagpole atop Fort George and pulled down the Royal Ensign and replaced it with the Stars and Stripes.  Moments later the wind caught it and the soldiers cheered as the American flag once again flew overhead.

We are a great nation.  The fact that a huge number of Democrats and independents have now come to realize that The World’s Most Dangerous Community Organizer is the worst president since World War II—a span of 70 years—and the prairie fire of rebellion against the flood of moochers crossing the border illegally is reaching a fevered pitch heartens me.

So Casa de Curmudgeon is plowing ahead with its annual Fourth of July Block Party.  The deck is appropriately decorated for the occasion.  The fireworks were purchased weeks ago and I finally installed outdoor speakers.  My guests will be able to enjoy tunes as I dip into the old jukebox for some summer gold tunes.

I made a run to the grocery store to pick up the ingredients for the Hemingway Hamburger.  A guy on the radio was talking about it the other day on my way into work.  I looked up the recipe and I’m pretty jazzed about making them for my guests.  We’ll also enjoy the savory delights of lobster tails and shrimp on the barbie along with all the obligatory accoutrements.  For dessert there will be blueberry and apple pies and homemade peach ice cream hand-churned on my old White Mountain ice cream freezer.

I hope everyone has a happy, healthy and safe Fourth.  God bless America and God bless all three of my faithful readers.

Broad Stripes And Bright Stars

Photo Credit:  Web Browning, Kristen Garlow Piper and Avery Wedder

"Those who won our independence believed liberty to be the secret of happiness and courage to be the secret of liberty."

Countdown To My Sunset Years

Photo Courtesy:  TeamJimmyJoe.com

Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time. 

Some of the best  times of my life were spent in reverie of the wonders God made for us like snorkeling in Chankanaab Lagoon and watching the parrotfish nibbling on coral formations, walking along the South Rim or the breathtaking helicopter flight over the Grand Canyon.  My memories include the ascent to the peak of Rothorn in the Bernese Highlands of Switzerland and trying my best to play an alpenhorn at a restaurant situated on the mountain.

I am four agonizing months away from retiring.  As I look out my window, I see the trees coming to life with neon-green buds where leaves will soon be.  In a few days the air will be filled with the fragrance of Spring.  The little Carolina Wrens have been busy remodeling their nest inside the birdhouse just outside my door and the grass is greening up after a long winter.

 

Retirement—that is when life will truly begin and I can go anywhere I choose.

For Those Who Sacrificed So Much So That We Can Live In Freedom, Thank You

It Reminds Me Of What I Love Instead Of What I Fear

Two Saturdays ago, before the government shutdown, I visited my local home improvement store to pick up the items I needed to create a “flower tower”.

I was inspired by the beautiful towers that Adrienne of Adrienne’s Corner had created some months back using petunias.

I already had the tin snips for shortening the 4-foot wire fencing needed and the scissors for trimming the landscape fabric.  All I needed were the utility knife, some zip ties, the fencing and the fabric.

I also went to my favorite greenhouse and purchased several trays of Cool Wave® pansies.  This series of pansies entered the marketplace last fall.  The owner of the greenhouse told me that they are ideal for planters and hanging baskets because they bloom profusely with little fuss and there’s no need for deadheading.  They are perfect for my plant hardiness zone.

I selected Golden Yellow, Frost, Berries and Cream, Blue Velvet and Pink Vein for my colors.

Pansies are one of the most popular and recognizable cool weather annuals.  In Germany they are known as Stiefmütterchen, which means “little stepmother.”  Anyone who’s read any of the Grimms’ fairy tales will know that stepmothers had an image problem in old Germany.  They have little frowning faces, hence the appropriate moniker of “little stepmother.”

My plan, at the time, was to construct the towers on my days off which are Sunday and Monday.

Friday night after work, just two miles from home, my power steering gave out.  When I woke up Saturday morning, I called the car repair shop I trust and asked if it would be safe for me to drive my car back and forth to work one more day without damaging my car.  The answer was “No, because doing so could damage the rest of the power steering system like the rack and pinion.”

I drove the car to the repair shop and the mechanic who knows my car very well determined that I needed to replace the drive belt tensioner and the serpentine belt.

One of the guys drove me home rather than have me wait for the repairs to be completed.  I decided to tackle the flower tower while my baby was being fixed.

There was ample time for me to prepare the planter boxes on my deck.  A few hours later the repair shop called to let me know they were coming to pick me up.  I cleaned up a smidge, rode back to the shop, paid for the repairs and headed back home.

With the towers completed, all I had to do was place the pansies in the towers and stand back to admire how beautifully they had turned out.

I went inside and had a chicken salad sammich, some Sun Chips and a Sunkist to wash it all down.

I decided to look out my window to admire my work yet again, when what should I see, but my feathered friend about which I have written before.

The red shouldered hawk was perched as pretty as you please on the handrail.  It was looking slightly upward and I was able to snap this photo from inside my window overlooking the deck.

On September 8^th I wrote that I believed the hawk had built a nest in one of my trees or in one nearby.  The trees on my property have only lost a few leaves thus far and so I cannot yet determine if the nest is actually in one of my trees.

My local wildlife organization informs me that this raptor may begin to nest as early as January.  If this is true, I hope to be able to witness its courting display during the months between January and April.  Apparently the southern population of red shouldered hawks is not migratory.

This means I will be blessed with the beauty of God’s magnificent creature and its offspring for years to come.

I’m sharing this story with you because the beauty of this raptor reminds me of what I love, which is freedom, rather than what I fear.

I am considered “key and essential personnel and a first responder”.  Yes, I am a federal government employee and I am required to report for duty each day despite the fact that I am not getting paid while the government is shut down.

Had I earnestly believed that the shutdown would actually happen I wouldn’t have spent the money for the flower towers.  And the car repairs really took a bite out of my checking account.

I feel a little desperate right now.  I don’t know how I will pay the bills when they come due if this impasse lasts much longer. So, I will try to live by this quote attributed to Corrie ten Boom, “Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.”

UPDATE:  I don’t own a camcorder so I thought I would embed this video taken by “opticalpress” on May 11, 2011.  You see a red shouldered hawk perched high in a tree and then the videographer shows the majestic bird in flight in slow-motion.  I hope this helps you to appreciate the regal splendor of this raptor.

Sunday Wonderful: In Riding A Horse, We Borrow Freedom

I Hope You Have The Best Fourth Of July Ever

“You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism.” ― Erma Bombeck

UPDATE:  I was up early this morning prepping for the Annual Red White and Blue Barbecue and Fourth Of July Block Party.  I took a break and decided to sit down for a few minutes.  I warmed up the old laptop to just browse the innerwebs and saw a tweet from Stephen F. Hayes.  His suggestion was a solid one.

He urged that we celebrate freedom by celebrating those who safeguard it.  I’m here to tell you if you can make it through this video without wiping away tears there’s not a speck of love in your heart for our service members, their families who sacrifice so much for us or a molecule of love for your country.

Mr. Jefferson Visits The White House

I understand, my dear sir, that you recently gave a very confused speech to university students upon their graduation.

You seemed quite fretful at the time.  Perhaps it was because you felt the winds of change rustling against your brow.  You lamented, nay, chillingly suggested to these impressionable young men and women that they had grown up hearing voices that incessantly warn of government as nothing more than some separate, sinister entity that you felt was at the root of all the problems of this great republic.

You sir, went on to say that those same voices would warn that tyranny is always lurking just around the corner.

I thought I should pay you a visit in an attempt to school you on the subject of tyranny; something about which, I am intimately familiar.

Need I remind you sir that the arduous work of the Founding Fathers to resist tyranny established the brave, creative and unique experiment in self-rule to which you referred?

I further remind you that King George III had established tyranny over our thirteen original colonies and it was his tyranny that helped us to forge The Declaration of Independence.

After our struggle to gain independence from The Crown, I along with the other patriots, worked to the point of exhaustion to create The Constitution, a document for which I perceive you have great disdain.

Indeed sir, I tremble at your vanity. My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government.  You have accepted the kingly crown placed upon your head by sycophants and flatterers.

Experience has shown that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny.

You sir, are not king of the world.  I listed twenty-seven abuses that King George directed at our colonies for the sole purpose of creating a tyrannical government.  You are following his path and the tyranny of which you spoke is well on its way.

Fate is fickle.  Soon you will learn that the citizenry much prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery.

Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the gift of God?

It is a happy truth that man is capable of self-government, and only rendered otherwise by the moral degradation designedly superinduced on him by the wicked acts of his tyrant.

Your humble servant,

Voices Without A Vote

If They Could See Us Now

The Presidents by Georgia artist Steve Penley

America celebrated her 236^th birthday today.  The old girl is looking pretty haggard lately.

We’ve got cemeteries that consider placing the American flag on gravesites “excessive adornment” and unsightly.  A city in Oregon canceled its longstanding fireworks display because the noise might disturb nearby seabirds.  We even have an overrated, potty-mouthed comedian who took to his Twitter account to say, “Happy white peoples Independence Day the slaves weren’t free but I’m sure they enjoyed fireworks.”  He bashed the country that has afforded him success and millions in wealth.  I could go on, but you can see where I was headed.

Across the breadth and depth of his great land, there were parades in red, white and blue.  Old glory flapped proudly in the breeze. 

The examples above show that this nation is diverging.  Many Americans hold fast to the ideals of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness while a growing number of our brethren plunge this country into disarray and despair.  I wonder what the Founders would think if they could see us now.

In a supreme act of courage and defiance 236 years ago, our Founders knew that government must be limited to protecting the peace and preserving our liberties.  They set up a system of checks and balances so that government operated through the consent of the governed—of the people, by the people, for the people—We The People.

Bill Frezza, writing at Forbes, laments the lost legacy of Independence Day:

Why do we still celebrate Independence Day? Is it a lingering habit, a mindless bit of nostalgia, a time to indulge in fireworks and barbecues, devoid of any deeper meaning? Can anyone honestly argue that our nation still honors the values, or practices the principles, for which our Founders fought? 

Today, most Americans have been trained to be embarrassed by the “extremist” individualist ethos that made the protection of liberty the primary purpose of government. They have been taught to apologize for the shortcomings of the “rich white men” who led the revolution. A majority of Americans now subscribe to an expansive view of government as both great provider and beneficent leveler. Its primary purpose is to redress unequal or unhappy outcomes, regardless of their source, through wealth redistribution on a scale so vast that it mocks the concept “private property.” 

As for the causes of revolution, we’ve lost sight of them, too. King George III was a champion of laissez-faire compared to the modern cradle-to-grave entitlement state. The swollen capital city named after the man who won our freedom now claims the prize for erecting “a Multitude of new offices” bent on sending out “Swarms of officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.” If there is a field of endeavor that the federal government does not yet regulate, subsidize, or penalize, just wait. A new law is only a “crisis” away.

Freedom, liberty, justice and equality comprise the bedrock on which this nation was founded.  We stray from it at our peril.

What Will You Do Without Your Freedom?

“We on this continent should never forget that men first crossed the Atlantic not to find soil for their ploughs but to secure liberty for their souls.”—Robert J. McCracken

Right Jabs For Freedom

Politics is not a playground, it’s a battlefield.  Here’s the news you can use from conservative bloggers, not the corporate-controlled stenographers from Central Planning.

Richard Nixon, often accused of being an imperial president, never approached the extent to which we now see President Obama taking extra legal acts to silence his opposition.

Joe Biden’s secret mission.

…if you think Bush using his Constitutional authority to replace U.S. Attorneys is a giant scandal, but shrug your shoulders at the federal government sending guns to Mexico, where drug cartels use them to kill a U.S. Border Patrol agent, then you are a hopeless partisan hack who is literally willing to overlook murder to advance your political agenda.

We all know Chávez is a buffoon, but, as Roger Kimball said, the ridiculous is no laughing matter.

Oh, wait. It’s pink people.

…isn’t it curious that while on his daily fundraising binge Monday, Obama himself had someone privately foot the tab for security at a New Hampshire stop after the locals decided they’d had enough of this freeloader campaigning on the public dime.

So, America bailed out GM and GM has since bailed on America.

What if Hillary Clinton and a couple of deputies in the State Department, The National Security Council, Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, the White House, and maybe Senators Durbin and Feinstein were all complicit in Fast and Furious? What if Hillary led the strategic planning? What if the administration wanted to restrict our Second Amendment rights and both she and Barack Obama told us that 90% of the weapons used in crimes in Mexico came from the United States…

What exactly is being purchased with all these Food Stamps? Our rulers won’t say.

No possibility of fraud here! Nothing to see! Move along! 

As the so-called Arab Spring brings yet another Islamic government hell-bent on introducing Sharia law—rather than anything resembling freedom and democracy—it's become glaringly obvious that in its wake the world has not gotten better for anyone, save medieval Muslim fanatics…and nobody knows it better than the almost 50% that voted against Morsi this past weekend.

Take a good look at what you disrespected.

It's never a bad thing when your enemies escape into a delusional state, to a world of their making in which they are in complete control of everything. It makes it more likely that they will cede at least some control over the real world. And it's not only an admission of defeat, but of emotional and mental fragility. Adults don't need to build fantasy worlds to escape the effects of their failures on their precious self-esteem. That's for overgrown children who are used to getting trophies for just showing up.

I wonder how understanding and patriotic they will be when Taxmageddon hits.

Everybody paaaaanic…wait, what? .02 inches worldwide? .08 inches from Hatteras to Boston?

…Brian Williams is a big reason for our national ignorance.

The background music has been the constant refrain that everything wrong is Bush’s fault. Obama continues to sing this tune like some aging vaudevillian barnstorming in the Catskills, desperate for one last round of applause.

More of that homosexual tolerance we keep hearing so much about!

As we ready ourselves to celebrate the Fourth of July, let's remember that nothing has been more dearly purchased than our freedom.

Photoshop™ Of The Day: Freedom