Stockings hang with names spelled in glitter.
The tree glows. Colorful presents beneath.
Parents sit. Waiting to hear feet padding down the hall.
To see eyes sparkle.
To watch wrapping paper fly.
Silence.
The joyful noise, bows its head.
Sleep in peace little ones. Sleep in peace.
Dedicated to those lost and those who lost today.
A mandate? Really?!
Obama is delusional if he thinks his reelection was a mandate on policy.
Did he not see the video of people opposing Romney’s policies only to be told that they were Obama’s policies?
Did he not see the college students rallying for Obama who couldn’t articulate why?
Did he not see the “Obamaphone” lady?
This election had nothing to do with Obama’s policies. Even he knows how caustic they are. That’s why he didn’t run on policy. He ran on identity politics and demonization.
This election was all about celebrity. Cool factor. Swagger. Endorsements. Interviews.
The View. Ellen. Samuel L. Jackson. Bruce Springsteen. Jay-Z. Us Magazine.
Policy? Insanity. Any Republican who proclaims otherwise is delusional as well.
Boehner anyone?
Conservatives want you to be you.
Liberals want you to be them.
“America” was founded on the idea that you have a right to be yourself.
The entire architecture of American government centers around individual rights.
Conservatives want to “conserve” this idea.
Liberals want to destroy it.
Oh, liberals will deny it. They’ll talk about “tolerance” and “fairness” but it’s really easy to get the truth. All you have to do is ask for it…
Do you support an individual’s right to get a tattoo?
Do you support an individual’s right to smoke weed?
Do you support an individual’s right to be gay?
Do you support an individual’s right to organize a gay pride parade?
Do you support an individual’s right to protest that parade?
Do you support an individual’s right to define marriage as between a man and a woman?
Do you support an individual’s right to keep all of the money they earn?
Do you support an individual’s right to kill and eat an animal?
See how that works? The liberal will support individual rights until an individual wants to behave contrary to the liberal worldview.
Forget about the whole “social conservative” thing. You’re afraid to vote for conservatives because you think they’ll ban abortion and birth control? Some might want to. But it DOESN’T MATTER. Even if a conservative is repulsed by something (e.g. abortion), the conservative will also be repulsed by the prospect of using government power to take away your freedom to choose. A conservative’s reverence for individual rights will prevent them from using government to forward their personal agenda. If a politician uses government to ban something, they are NOT conservative, they are liberal.
Liberals jump at the chance to use government power as a tool to deny a freedom. Bans on salt. Helmet laws. Insurance mandates. Endless use of government to force others to be “right” or “good.”
If you are a liberal because you think liberals allow people to be themselves, you need to look at how liberals use government to force people to live a certain way. That’s tolerance?
If you truly want tolerance. Truly want everyone to be able to be themselves, you should be a conservative.
Conservatives will defend your right to be yourself, regardless of how your life might conflict with our personal beliefs, because we detest the use of power to limit freedom.
Sure there are examples where individuals should be limited. Murder comes to mind. But as a philosophy, conservatives support individual rights over the power of government.
Conservatives are champions of individuality.
Conservatives defend individuality.
Liberals demand conformity.
Thank you veterans.
“Soldier on” conveys the need to continue moving toward your goal, even in the face of insurmountable resistance. “Soldier on” is a reflection on the determination of a soldier in the midst of a challenging mission.
A soldier must fight through the temptation to give up. Through the mud, in a storm of bullets, under a barrage of artillery, they must “soldier on.”
In this spirit, in the face of seemingly insurmountable resistance, we must soldier on.
And soldier on we will.
I cannot predict the future, but I am determined to shape it.
My dog woke me up this morning, just like every morning.
When I reached out and felt her fur, I started to cry.
I cannot believe what has happened to my country.
Out of bed I stared out the window.
In the distance, an American flag.
I was filled with emotion.
Disbelief. Sadness. Helplessness. Rage.
Then…
Determination.
I will not surrender. My beliefs are good. I do not question them. I know they are good.
There is no other possibility.
The left must be destroyed or it will destroy us. Destroy you. Destroy everything.
In my ongoing mission is to expose and disassemble the left, I will take all of the messages, all of the propaganda, all of the lies, and expose them. I will make those who support leftism recognize how disgusting it is. They will be disgusted with themselves. So much so they will either change or live in disgust.
I am reenergized. Recast. Renewed.
I will look into the distance and I will see freedom, goodness, happiness. And I will be someone who helps us get there.
I cannot predict the future, but I am determined to shape it.
Ahh yes, the “protest” vote.
The equivalent to an electoral temper tantrum. “My candidate didn’t get picked, so I’m taking my ball and going home!”
Casting your vote for a third-party to “make a statement” isn’t a brash move to show the establishment that you’re tired of poliitics as usual, it’s spit in the face of those who died providing and protecting your freedom to vote.
You want to make a statement? Donate a couple grand to your choice’s campaign. Volunteer for them. Get involved in the local effort to reform your school system so kids aren’t indoctrinated in progressive left-think.
A vote is not a “statement”. It’s a freedom paid for in blood.
Imagine kneeling down next to a dying soldier laying on the ground. You look into his fading eyes and say, “Hey man. Thanks for taking a bullet to protect my freedom to vote. You know what? I’m gonna cast a vote in protest of our establishment politics! Later!”
Pathetic.
Disgusting and pathetic.
Art is amazing.
Music, movies, paintings, photographs…
A song can transport you to a different place or a different time, change your mood, make you happy, even angry. A movie thrusts you into an unbelievable situation, yet compels you to believe it; you’re a soldier in World War II, you’re a pirate, a lover, the reluctant hero. You’re on a spaceship, a long time ago in a place far, far away.
Our natural reaction to art is to feel. Happy, sad, anxious, uplifted. When art is created, the artist invests emotion into the work of art. When we experience art, we experience that emotion. Art is like a sponge, absorbing emotion when it is created, releasing it when it is consumed. For a work of art to be effective, it must have a component of emotion.
It is this emotional requirement that ties art irrevocably to freedom. Without the freedom to pursue the craft of choice and produce the art of choice, the artist loses the incentive to invest emotion, the art becomes void of emotion, and fails to inspire emotion. In effect, art is no longer art. It is a thing, a commodity. Something produced without passion, without conviction, and presented without honor or expectation.
I am baffled by artists who politically side with those who diminish freedom. Do they not see where this path leads? Do they not see how every attack on freedom further narrows the distance between their ability to choose their craft and have that choice become conditional, or eliminated altogether?
Because I see artists supporting politicians who seek power and control, I wrote the following story to expose the dirty underbelly of government control, the rotten core of the leftist “utopia”. Is the story fiction? I don’t know. What concerns me is not whether it is fiction at this moment, but whether it might someday be reality…
Tears in White Powder
The weary old sculptor puts away his tools and shuffles out the door.
Waiting for the bus. Did he forget to lock up? He can’t remember.
On the bus. Heavy eyelids droop. He thinks about the stone.
Standing quietly, it waits for him to reveal the secret inside. Silence gives to hammer and chisel. Chipping, scraping, sanding. He runs his hands across the surface. They are covered with white powder, a remnant of the stone that concealed the beauty within.
He opens his eyes. Still on the bus. He remembers the visit from the woman.
She said there was no need for sculptors, but since he was good with his hands he could be a mechanic.
He looks down. His hands are black. Stained by a lifetime of grease and grime. He doesn’t use chisels on stone. He uses wrenches on rusty bolts, repairs flat tires, changes dirty oil.
He presses his hands to his face. He weeps.
His hands fall from his face. Tears have cut trails through white powder.
Finally.
He is free.
Do you want to see what it looks like when the government takes your soul?
Imagine what would happen if you sat down with this woman in a quiet room and asked her to tell you her dreams. As a small girl looking out at the world, what did she dream of, what did she want from her life? Then stand with her in a mirror and ask her to look at what she has become. Did she ever dream she’d be out in the street holding a piece of posterboard shouting about her free phone?
Do you think she would break down and cry? Remain indignant?
I really don’t know how she would react, but I am sad for her.
And I am angry.
Angry at the bureaucrats who speak of compassion as they destroy dignity.
Angry at those who support welfare programs with no result other than taking someone who feels like they’ve hit bottom and giving them a shovel.
Tax the rich!
For what? So we can send more people home with their government phones and government food, where they can sit on the porch and slowly sink into the misery that is breathing but not living?
Sorry, but I’m not gonna be on that side. I’m not gonna tear people’s hearts out and stomp on their dreams in the name of social justice.
Tax the rich. Take more money for programs that take people’s souls. Take, take, take.
No thanks.
This is big government, social justice, welfare at work folks. Take from people who work to support programs that destroy. The welfare system is supposed to eradicate poverty, right? Then why isn’t it getting smaller? Why hasn’t it become obsolete?
This situation needs to be fixed but big government advocates are too hungry for power to be concerned about it. And capitalists are accused of being selfish? Rubbish.
It’s time to give these people their lives back. Rip the welfare system out and replace it with something that fulfills its purpose, to provide a safety net and get people back on track. Enough with the bottomless pit.
For all of you who plan to vote early, what if you change your mind?
Put aside for a moment that your mind is made up. What if you placed your vote, then watched a debate and heard something so shocking it changed your worldview? Imagine how substantial that would have to be. Your entire political and social foundation shaken. Then imagine how you would feel if you had already placed your vote?
My point? Even if you think your mind is set, even if you likely won’t change your voting preferences, wait. Absorb everything you can before casting your ballot. If you don’t change your mind, your decision will be further cemented as the right one. And if you do change your mind, think how relieved you’ll be that you didn’t vote early.
Prove that you want the tax code changed such that all income earners pay income tax.
Prove that you want the federal government to shrink such that in the future perhaps no one will need to pay income tax.
Prove that you believe people should be able to keep their property (income) and that you support consumption taxes rather than income taxes.
Prove that you want to be independent and responsible and reject the notion that you need government to take care of you.
Prove that you believe in yourself and only want government to protect your right to do so.
Prove, as a member of the 47 percent that pays no federal income tax, that the 47 percent assumption is untrue and vote for Mitt Romney.