Ignorant and Uneducated

You know you're winning the war of ideas when the opposition resorts to name calling, lies, and misquotes to slander you. Since I've proudly made clear my involvement in the Tea Party movement, I've been called racist, homophobe, uneducated, and ignorant. I've also been called a "birther." I like that one the best. A "birther" is someone who believes that President Obama is not a U.S. citizen. While these folks seek the same goal as I, to rid our country of the socialists who've managed to lie their way into public office, I must disagree with their tactics. The attack on the President's nationality is a waste of resources. Besides, he's given us so many other avenues to turn public opinion against him, it's hardly worth the effort.

For those of us who've actually gone to a Tea Party instead of reading the New York Times hit piece (oddly, they can't understand why they're losing subscribers), you've found that we are highly educated, peaceful, actually fun to be around, loyal to our country, color blind and, I'm so sorry to have to tell you, absolutely committed to bringing this nation back to its constitutional roots. In fact, I just read the Contract from America, put together after polling 500,000 Patriots. The ten points mention things like controlling government spending, protect the Constitution, and reducing our dependency on foreign oil.

All those opposed to those points, raise your hand. The other 99% of you, those who I like to refer to as "non-idiots," stick around.

The current regime in Washington is proof that the founders were correct when they warned us about out of control federal government. They are so certain that everything they do is golden that they completely ignore the protests of those they supposedly represent. Our Constitution established a small, limited central government, leaving most of the control at the state and local levels. If Californians want government health care, they can vote it in for California. If Virginians don't want it, they don't get it thrust upon them from three thousand miles away. That way, you see, when it fails, it only effects the folks in California, not the whole freakin' country!

Here's what we want. We want governors who stand up, grow a spine, and tell the socialist in the White House that we are sovereign states who do not want or need his health care, his taxes, his cap and trade, or any of his attacks on the corporations who provide real jobs.Then we want the federal government to stick to what the constitution allows them which, by the way, is not "anything that provides health or security." There is no amendment that says "Insert your pet issue here." You guys 'n gals work for us. Got it? Now, for those of you with your hands raised, come up with actual arguments to support a socialist agenda, or shut up and get back to your tingly-legged "news" program host or American Idol.

If you choose to engage in your losing battle, you are in for a hell of a ride.

This is what happens when the uninformed and ignorant are called out.

A beautiful mob

I attended my first Tea Party event yesterday in Clinton Township, near Detroit. I confess that I've never attended any kind of political rally in my life. I'm one to cast my vote, make my opinions known, but otherwise stay out of politics. That's for people with time to spare. I'm busy. Trying to make a living here, you know?

A funny thing happened to me on my way to minding my own business, though. Let's start, shall we, with the beginning.

In October of 1981, I'm a short, pudgy, fourteen year old boy living in Yorktown, Virginia. I know, pretty cool place to live, huh? I don't get to call it home, though. I was a Navy brat. Dad was a lifer. Home was wherever duty took him. Yorktown would forever be, though, the place that impacted me the most. This October day will always stand as the pinnacle of that early influence.

You see, for those of you not up on history, October 1981 marked the bicentennial of the Battle of Yorktown, the final victory that would boot the British off our shores. In Yorktown, it meant a week of no school. That's how I saw it. We went down to the battlefield and checked out all the displays, the reinactment and, of course, the girls. The highlight of the week was a visit by the new President, sworn in only nine months before. I thought that was kind of cool, so I stood by the road to watch his motorcade pull into the park.

Mind you, these were not happy times in the U.S. The country still reeled from a massive recession. The hostages in Iran had been released around the same time as the inauguration. And Viet Nam was still a very fresh memory for millions. By 1980, very little national pride remained.

Fourteen year old boys pay little attention to those things, though. After all, there's girls. Even if they didn't notice you, they took up about 99% of your thought patterns. That was until a limo with a President rolled past me on an October day. I knew little about Ronald Reagan, only that my dad was thrilled about his election. When I saw him through the glass of that limo, waving to the crowd, I suddenly felt proud of my country. Perhaps it was because I'd seen a few of his speeches by then, or maybe I was caught up in Bicentennial fever, but 1981 would prove to be the year that the conservative seeds would be planted in my brain. I went on to join the Navy myself in 1984, serving under a Commander in Chief who inspired us to give our all for this country.

Fast forward to 2010. No longer do I see a nation of proud Americans. I see a country deeply divided, and a President determined to divide it even more. Instead of inspiring speeches, I see apologies to our enemies, I see a President mocking those of us who disagree with his progressive policies. And I see a Congress and Senate full of career politicians who refuse to do what is right, more concerned with their political futures than the future of this country.

I've said many times that this generation will have to sacrifice. We cannot leave our children with a $14trillion dollar debt. That means we'll have to forego many of the benefits our parents enjoyed. But is that enough? I'm not so sure anymore. I may have to stop minding my own business and actually take part in this system. If I want change, I can't do it from a blog or facebook.

I'm not sure where I'm going from here. All I know is that I cannot sit and watch my country be destroyed by a radical regime. And once this one is voted out, I have to stand vigilant against the next one that will surely come along. I can't join the military again, but I can still fight. I'll have to sacrifice. There are things I'd rather be doing than passing out fliers or joining an "angry mob" at political rallies, but what did those men at Yorktown give up? The time for minding my own business is over.