By
Marilyn M. Barnewall
May 23, 2010
NewsWithViews.com
Patriot. Is there a greater compliment than to be called a Patriot?
Actually, there is. If you’re an American celebrating Memorial Day, Constitutional or Truthful Patriot comes to mind. It is for that the soldiers we honor on this holiday fought and died.
Reality: Death in service to any country is a grim reminder of the greatest human sacrifice. It also places upon us all the responsible mantle of that sacrifice. We must ensure such sacrifice is made for constitutional freedoms as practiced, not for proclaimed freedoms based on myths.
There are a lot of people who consider themselves patriots, or patriotic. Communists think Karl Marx had a better idea than George Washington – America would be better with a communist government. They call themselves patriots, too – quietly, of course (especially if they’re politicians). Their arrogance and sense of self is more than a little staggering. They believe they know what’s best for great unwashed masses.
Fascists, who think Mussolini had a better idea than our Founding Fathers and want to move America to fascism, think they are patriots. Their arrogance, too, outweighs their thinking skills. Look at history!
Socialists are arrogant -- and they’re dumber than the fascists and communists. They think socialism is a permanent form of government when the Father of socialism, Karl Marx, referred to it as a temporary path, which in the long term, leads a nation to communism.
Patriots take their obligations as citizens seriously. A commitment to freedom is a commitment to political activism because the moment citizens become apathetic freedom is lost. What seems apparent in today’s world is a stealthy and quite major power push for global government. All the signs are there and ignoring it won’t make it go away.
The point is, we exist because in the late 1700s a group of men dared to say America is a free nation and declared war against those who ruled us, England. Our army was small, theirs was huge. They and the soldiers who fought so bravely with them earned the right to govern. They wrote a Bill of Rights and a Constitution and declared the guidelines by which this nation would be governed. Since our Founding Fathers, no group has had the courage to stand up and openly define the changes they want for America. They fight for nothing. They steal freedom by stealth, through lies. We allow it by accepting their lies and claims to power as truth.
Look at Greece. It is weighed down with lies. In socialist Greece, people riot as government is forced to admit it cannot pay twelve months of salary to those who work only nine. Greek unions, including most government workers, lie by telling themselves they are worth three months vacation and 30 paid holidays a year. The socialist nations of Europe do not deal well with the privations that follow over-spending used to gain political power. Portugal, Italy, Ireland, and Spain will be next to react to the bankruptcy of socialism’s logical destiny.
It doesn’t matter if you’re an oilman, shipbuilder, Wall Street executive, pipefitter or a politician. When you sell yourself to the dishonesty of a moment of pleasure or convenience, you have named your price – like any prostitute does.
Reality: The Greek government cannot afford to pay workers for unrealistic benefits unions demand. It is what socialism demands: Take from one person who earns something and give to another who did not.
Reality: The United States of America cannot afford socialism, either. According to a new report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), debt in the United States will soon reach 100 percent of gross domestic product.
Reality: This is not the time to force the huge cost of nationalized health care on a nation that opposes it. In fact, the IMF Report told European nations that to qualify for IMF Save Your Nation from Bankruptcy loans they would have to cap nationalized health care costs.
Once you start lying to yourself, anything can be rationalized. You can convince yourself that raising taxes during a time of high unemployment creates jobs. Greed and the lies that motivate it blind people to truth. In the end, that’s what causes liars’ empires to collapse – even when they’re called “Wall Street.”
Living life honestly requires us to come to grips with some hard realities. No one said life was easy – if it were, it would be no fun! You would have no challenges and no exhilarating victories. Of course, you would have no agony of defeat, either. Just boredom. The truth is, when you’re positive about what you do, life purpose eliminates boredom. There is only one person in control of your attitude towards life – and it is neither government nor your employer.
Reality: Just because politicians want illegals in the country to provide a cheap source of labor doesn’t make the illegal legal – as Congress seems to think.
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It’s clear that today’s “progressive” society makes it appear that law-abiding folks are at a disadvantage. Law breakers have no problems violating truth or laws. Honest people do. It’s a little like the confiscation of guns. The only people who will give them up on demand are those who don’t use them to commit a crime.
The first advantage of living an honorable life – which I define as living truthfully – is that positives attract positives. Negatives attract negatives. At first, the positives attracted to truth seem negligible by comparison to the advantages lies bring those who worship at the altar of untruth. By the 9th inning, however, all of those “advantages” begin to unwind as the lies told to gain them fall apart. It’s always the 9th inning when it happens because liars always push things beyond a reasonable point of support. It takes until the 9th inning for the unreal worlds they have created to crash.
I’ve written often about the synthetic worlds in which so many people live. Synthetic worlds result from lies. Liars never have stability because they build their lives on one fairy tale after another. Their synthetic business ventures also fail – like mortgage-backed derivatives created from liar loans. You may curse those wicked investment bankers all you want (and I’ll join you), but bear in mind if there had not been people filled with envy and a Greek-like sense of entitlement applying for mortgage loans, willing to lie about their monthly income to qualify for homes they couldn’t afford, there would be no liar loans; and, there would be no mortgage-backed derivatives.
Reality: Wall Street insiders lie to themselves about their “profit motive.” They are greedy.
Reality: Bad politicians lie to themselves about the need to compromise for the “good of the country.” They ignore their Oaths of Office and support bad legislation destructive to the nation they are being paid to serve.
Reality: Voters share an equal burden of liar guilt by believing there is a free lunch in life – and, continually looking for something for nothing.
I said in my April 25th article, “The best way for political hacks to gain more power is to implement new regulations.” Why do they want new regulations? They want to redistribute power. They don’t enforce old regulations. When things blow up, they explain it away saying, “The old regulations didn’t work. We need new ones.” The guys who caused the problems gain more power this way.
Quaint, isn’t it? First Congress gains new power over the financial services industry by not enforcing regulations and cries out for better regulatory control when the inevitable happens: the ignored regulations cause system failure. Now they cry for new off-shore drilling regulations – useless if what Obama says is true about BP’s well in the Gulf being in international waters.
Reality: If a well is in international waters, we have no control and issue no permits to a drilling company. So which is it? Has the Department of the Interior been “soft” when issuing drilling permits? Interior Secretary Salazar inferred so before Congress last week when he proclaimed: “We need new off-shore drilling regulations.” Or is what Obama says true: The well was drilled in international waters and we can do nothing about it?
Reality: The least they could do is get their lies straight.
Reality: Unemployment. This is one way to face reality. How do we know when wages or poor border policies result in lost jobs to illegals? When does it go beyond a reasonable point? Well, if common sense doesn’t work, get suspicious that the point of reason has been exceeded when employers cut the work force – or the rate of unemployment exceeds ten percent.
Reality: It is not the time to force the issue of “Green” versus the color of fiscal survival with Cap and Trade (another scam that will cost jobs and increase home energy bills).
Reality: It is not the time to dump huge amounts of dangerous chemical compounds into the Gulf of Mexico and kill the fish and the fishing industry and threaten part of our food supply.
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With lies and liars there is no “point of reason.” The edge of the envelope gets pushed beyond its limits because people rationalize how much more they can steal if the envelope is “just a tad bigger” than it really is.
Reality: In he end analysis, the word “Patriot” defines those unafraid to face Truth. As for the others, the word “traitor” might do.
� 2010 Marilyn M. Barnewall - All Rights Reserved
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Marilyn MacGruder Barnewall began her career in 1956 as a journalist with the Wyoming Eagle in Cheyenne. During her 20 years (plus) as a banker and bank consultant, she wrote extensively for The American Banker, Bank Marketing Magazine, Trust Marketing Magazine, and other major industry publications. The American Bankers Association published Barnewall’s Profitable Private Banking, the first book written about private banks, in 1987. She taught private banking at Colorado University for the American Bankers Association and trained private bankers in Singapore in 1991. She has authored seven banking books, one dog book, and one work of fiction (about banking, of course). She has served on numerous Boards in her community.
Barnewall received her degree in Banking from the University of Colorado Graduate School of Business in 1978 and was named one of America's top 100 businesswomen. She was a founding member of the Committee of 200, the official organization of America's top businesswomen. She can be found in Who's:Who in America (2005-08), Who's Who of American Women (2006-08), Who's Who in Finance and Business (2006-08), and Who's Who in the World (2008).
Web site:
E-Mail: marilynmacg@juno.com
