... an open letter to the Congress of the United States of America ...

To the Congress of the United States and whomever else it may concern,

What in the world do you believe you are doing in Washington, D.C.? What is it that you think you were hired to do?

I can assure you, along with a majority of the citizens that pay your exorbitant and disproportionately high salaries, that it is not what you are actually doing.

The 'checks and balances' built into our system by our founders are being, not just ignored, but flagrantly violated without regard to results or consequences. You have allowed our President to run rough-shod over the Constitution of the United States, to step on the neck of private industry and the entrepreneurs that have lifted our nation to the top of the world, and to embarrass and denigrate our people to our allies and our enemies both here on this continent and abroad.

You must stop berating the conservative side of both houses as being the 'Party of No,' and become the 'Congress of No.' You must find, within yourselves, the fire of resistance and the intestinal fortitude to stand against the Progressive changes that are debilitating our nation.

You, as a single unit, must bring a halt to the Change that Mr. Obama and his revolutionaries are bringing. The Executive Orders must be stopped and further EOs must be ignored. The nation knows that these orders are not binding and are followed only because of tradition and respect. Mr. Obama is constantly ignoring any tradition that he cannot use to his advantage, and he has no respect for our laws unless they suit him. All "Czars" must be relieved of duty and sent back to their homes. No future Czars can be appointed, by any President, ever again. Appointing Czars runs counter to our system and reduces the power of Congress to ensure good order when crafting legislation. Mr. Obama believes himself to be inviolate and untouchable.

I assure you, he is not.

You can stop him. You must stop him.

You must stop him before our nation crumbles. Before his political police and sycophants reduce you to a facade, lock-stepped like stormtroopers walking on your former powers, and crushing our rights as citizens of the United States of America. Before our grandchildren awaken in a world where the future is a decision between government slavery and destitution with no hope of a better life.

Our future is bleak under the Progressive boots Mr. Obama and his cronies wear, but is bright under the Liberties outlined by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

Some of you have made mistakes, and may have even broken laws or the public trust. I do not care. All I ask is that you stand up now, renounce the things you have done in the past, and strive to make America into the nation she can be. Prosperous, strong, and a place people come to escape the evil governments and regimes of their homelands.

Stand up, be strong and true to your roots, create a place, not where your children can excel, but where all children can succeed, regardless of their place or class and undivided by race, creed, color or any other artificial label.

If you do not do this, we will do it for you. America will be restored to its natural place on our world, leading from the front, spreading the prosperity and liberty that only Freedom can bring.

... Ramblings

I'm just an American madman, watching the current era with a heavy heart.

The Great Experiment has not yet failed, but it lies on the ground, stunned and frightened, wondering if it yet has the strength ... if its bruised and battered body can muster its will and rise again to defeat the Progressive onslaught that has hammered it so mercilessly. Does it ... do we ... have the physical or, more importantly, the moral courage to endure? Do we still have the inner Patriot that knows that what is happening and knows it is wrong and strains against the chains of Modern Radical Liberalism, for Liberty and Personal Freedom and love of life? Against the loss, not just for ourselves, but for the coming generations that will listen in wonder and disbelief when told that anyone with a will was free to succeed or fail based on the merit of their skills and talents? Where anyone, even the lowliest drudge, can become a billionaire, regardless of their nationality or religion. Anyone.

Will the stories of their parents and grandparents become the musings of old people, then fade to history, and finally out of existence forever? If you don't believe that this is what we are facing, here in the sunset an era, then you need to look at some history. You can still do that. At least for a while.

The Progressives are in charge. You can insert whatever term you want there. Liberal, Democrat, whatever you want. Its all the same today. They vote together, even if they disagree with their colleagues, they vote together. They are not free thinkers, but they are determined thinkers. They've been at this for almost one hundred years, give or take a few, and they have learned stealth and patience. A little nudge here, a quiet appointment there. Baby steps.

They have stepped up their pace, of late. The changes are no longer small, the appointments not so quiet. They've come out from hiding with the intent to bring us low, to steal our children's future, to ensure that they're way is the only way.

But ...

We've been down before. We have had the wind knocked out of our sails before, pushed to the dirt, humiliated. Empires have tried to destroy us, terrorists have tried to take us out, and we've always stood back up. Even after we went to war with ourselves, we came back better and stronger than before.

We've never faced a foe like this, with the power of our own leaders against us. Manchurian candidates. The welfare of the American people, that which the government is charged to protect, is in grave danger.

They have your "health care" now, and you'll only understand what that really means, you who are duped by the flowery words of the Progressives, when you look back and see it in the end, when it will be far too late. It means that, someday, sooner than you think, they will control the very intake of nutrients you are allowed to have. Your medical and civil records will be available to everyone from the McDonald's cashier to the bank. All they'll have to do is scan your National I.D. card.

They control the educational system now. Your money goes to your children's schools through the government, so they decide what your kids learn. The history is their version of history, with the distasteful parts removed to shield the kids from the terrible and dangerous ideas of our forefathers. Liberty and Freedom? Pfah! We apparently don't really need them, now that The Messiah President is here to take care of us. They decide, now that they control all of the money that a person can borrow for their "higher" education, what you get to learn. That means they control all education, from cradle to mortar board.

... But ...

We are Americans. We have done more for the people of this planet than any other nation in the history of the world. We have been beaten, but we have never given up, and we have never lost. Although we have never lived in the world of today, with its unique challenges and unrest, we have been here, politically, before, and we triumphed, in the end.

Whether we change our direction or not, is all up to us. Our decisions over the next few months will, in all likelihood, decide the far future of these United States. What we must do is ensure that our rights, given by a higher authority, are not lost to our children. We must do whatever is right, and necessary, to preserve our country and its culture for all the new generations.

Trillions are interesting ...

They are! Do you know, really and without any kind of visual references, what trillions means? We can, usually with ease, imagine what a thousand is. It's ten one-hundred-dollar bills. One hundred thousand. It is a big number, but almost everyone can imagine it. We've been so completely exposed to a million that we can see it, even use it without really knowing what it is. A billion is almost as common. A trillion? Apparently a trillion is as common in political speech as a hundred is in daily speech.

Let's look at it sideways ... A hundred thousand, easy

A thousand thousand? Oh ... that's a Million.

A hundred million ... a hundred thousand thousand.

Billion? A thousand million! Wow, Can you really wrap your mind around a thousand million? A hundred thousand million is one hundred billion.

Holy crap. One hundred thousand million is a hundred billion.

A thousand billion ...

A thousand billion dollars is one trillion dollars. A thousand thousand million dollars. Cripes! A thousand thousand million dollars! According to some sources, the actual national debt is closer to one hundred-six trillion dollars (give or take twenty trillion, depending on the data used).

Sideways?

One hundred-six thousand billion dollars? A hundred-six thousand thousand million dollars?

Really?

Really?!?!

If the state of California is in debt for something like twenty-six billion dollars, and it is the most ... broke? The most broke state in the country, and if every state in this country was just as broke, the debt would be on the order of one trillion three hundred billion dollars.

The bailouts and the stimulus package are on the order of one trillion five hundred billion dollars.

I know, the numbers don't necessarily show all of the other variables, but it puts the whole thing in a strange perspective, doesn't it?

... Our landed gentry

Is there no mechanism in place for the American people to halt all Congressional action (submitting bills, voting on legislation, etc.) until a full investigation into the actions and dealings of the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the Office of the President can be performed?

Surely our founders made provision for such an occurrence, as they were well aware of the possible consequences of widespread corruption within the federal government?

As far as I can see (which is a long way in West Texas) the citizens of this country are sick and tired of the lies, deceptions and webs of intrigue that make the U.S. Congress look more like the court of a corrupt monarchy than an elected body of trusted officials.

I am troubled by the current actions of the members of both parties. These people are not noblemen, regardless of how they may see themselves, they are elected by the people.

We are not their serfs, regardless of how they may see us.

Our senators and representatives seem to be more interested in holding office and enriching themselves and their special interest supporters than doing anything for their constituents.

I submit that this is a mistake, and that this mistake will lead to long-term negative consequences for our government and us, the people that elected them.

Only by acting decisively and quickly can we hope to avoid dire consequences for our Republic.