Rants, Ravings, and Sometimes Doing the Right Thing.....

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“Hence that general is skillful in attack whose opponent does not know what to defend; and he is skillful in defense whose opponent does not know what to attack.” - Sun Tzu

Yesterday, I read an article by Jana Neweley on her website. Jana writes from a perspective that is unfortunately quite unique but growing rapidly. In the article titled Note to Republicans: Pay No Attention to That Democrat Behind the Curtain; Jana does a fantastic job of explaining the democrat’s campaign strategy. D-D-D (Deflect Distract Deny)

(Excerpt from Jana’s Article)

In regards to the War on Religious Freedom, this is how it went on the Democrat’s side:

Phase One is DEFLECT = “This has nothing to do with religious freedom or the First Amendment. Republicans don’t want women to be healthy. They want women to suffer. They want women to die.”

Phase Two is DISTRACT = “Have you met Susan?” Introduction of a female college student, who uses birth control, in order to make their argument more convincing. “See, we told you so.”

Phase Three is DENY = Pay no attention to the “Democrat” behind the curtain. The continued denial that states the new HHS mandate has nothing to do with religious freedom. Nothing to do with the First Amendment. But then the Democrats, like Pelosi, go on to make it a national debate by declaring there’s a WAR ON WOMEN and it’s the Republicans who are to blame.

Jana goes on to explain the importance of honesty in defending ourselves against this type of attack. Everybody knows that “the truth will always find its way to the surface eventually.” That’s why it’s a cliché. Not only must we “tell” the truth, but we have to remind each other of what the truth is from time to time. Reality is going to be distorted over the coming months in ways none of us can currently imagine. His Barackness is going to manipulate facts, numbers, emotions, and opinions in his effort to obtain incumbency. It’s up to us to remain focused on the truth. His record will soon leave him unsure of what to defend and what to attack.

The primaries seem to be all but over. Mitt Romney may or may not be the candidate you would have chosen on your own, but he’s most likely going to be the candidate facing off against Obama in November and the narrative has already begun. We must seize that narrative and maintain our ownership until we see Obama driving his brand new Chevy Volt off the White House parapet. It’s time to unite. It’s time to stop arguing about who would be a better candidate. That decision was made yesterday as Santorum dropped out of the race. Gingrich has terrific ideas and an even better passion, but he has no realistic shot at the nomination. Paul’s chances are even less likely, so put your personal differences aside and focus on the mission.

While defeating Barack Obama is certainly at the top of the priority list, I believe it is equally important to deliver a crushing blow to the ideology that has supported his Immaculate Ascension. We must systematically dismantle the very core of Obama’s belief system. The way to do that is to take the fight to them. Nothing is more demoralizing than to be beaten with your own weaponry. For example: Who doesn’t believe that Mark Sanchez will get hurt just before the inevitable Jets – Broncos playoff game next season? Tebow will step in, win the game dramatically…..give a sincere thanks to God, and then move on. Nothing against Peyton Manning but this story pretty much writes itself. We must use the weapons His Barackness is giving us. We must use those weapons to kick him and all of his little minions right in their Obamacles!

S.L.A.P. – Stop Laugh Address Proceed

· Stop – Don’t react immediately to accusations and lies.
· Laugh – Take a moment to enjoy the humor in their fallacies.
· Address – Distribute legitimate, easily proven facts; dismiss twisted version of reality quickly, efficiently, and convincingly.
· Proceed –Direct the narrative immediately back to Obama’s record and the reality HE has created for this country. No more hope and change. He’s been reading us a children’s bedtime story but the kids fell asleep over three years ago. It’s time to read something a little more mature and nonfictional.

Predict what they’re going to throw at us. We’ve seen plenty of “film” of their “game plan.” Obama’s going to try to increase the level of pessimism in our country. He’ll fan the flames of the opinion that “nobody could do a good job with what’s left of our country so we might as well just leave it alone.” Jobs were lost because of natural disasters in Japan, not ineptitude…..”we’re drilling more than ever”…..”Bush raised the debt too”…..as Dick Morris so eloquently said yesterday in his daily message: By creating an atmosphere of pessimism, Obama “concedes the field of optimism to Romney.” We must seize that advantage and defend it with everything we’ve got. After all, it was optimism that put Obama in office. It was false optimism supported by fairy tales and pixie dust, held up by the efforts of other people, and constructed by outsourced labor, but it was optimism nonetheless. Optimism is the essential element of the American spirit and Obama has consistently ignored it. Optimism is what fuels free market innovation, entrepreneurial ambition, and success. Pessimism is the enemy of such things. Pessimism has never won a presidential election and we simply cannot allow Obama to take back the optimistic platform once he realizes pessimism is getting him nowhere.

He will skillfully insure that racism is manufactured in instances where it simply wasn’t an original motive. His media legions will make sure that those unwilling to look beyond the sound-byte see Obama as the only one capable of ending the sudden outburst of racially motivated hate in this country. Knock that one out of the air, folks! The color of Obama’s skin has absolutely NOTHING to do with his record. There is no “pigmentation” column…..it’s just wins and losses. It’s not a skin color that I’m voting against; it’s the horrendous track record of an appallingly inept President.

His Barackness will release the likes of Jay Carney and Joe Biden, his two most trusted little handbag Chihuahuas, to spread his scent wherever he is personally unavailable. They will appear in front of union supported crowds, trying to convince us all that the mistakes we think he’s made were actually the fault of his predecessor. He will appear in front of throngs of swooning liberal women. (Yes, that image is what the doctor shows you if you’ve had an erection for more than four hours! Cures that problem IMMEDIATELY!) He’ll tell us that voting against him is the same as punching your own mother, sister, wife, or daughter in the face. Again, we must S.L.A.P. this nonsense right in its ugly little face. There is NO War on Women…..that’s a distraction. There is a War on The Constitution and that’s the war to which we must allocate our ‘troops.’

He will continue to try to paint himself as sympathetic yet powerless in our fight against absurdly high gas prices. He and his drones will recite heavily manipulated statistics and figures to imply that these too are somehow the fault of another president. Nope! We’re not buying it, you walking psych study.

He will do his best to convince us that ObamaCare, even if ruled unconstitutional by the one branch with the authority and duty to do so, is exactly what we all need. He will paint the Supreme Court, who was gloriously capable when dismissing claims against his Birth Certificate, as inept and “unelected.” We know they’re “unelected.” They’re appointed by Presidents. They’re appointed to uphold the ideology of the President who appoints them. If the majority was liberal, he’d be praising their efficiency, I assure you.

He will inflate his accomplishments just as he has done with the auto bailout. He claims victories in a process that actually was designed by his predecessor. The parts of the bailout that failed were the parts that Barack Hussein Obama added to the original plan. Bush didn’t agree to sell Chrysler to Italy. Bush didn’t agree to the exclusive creation of union jobs. Bush didn’t suggest government ownership. Tell the truth.

Obama will use his media legions to convince us that he’s winning a race in which we can find no genuine evidence of his advantage. They will tell us that he’s so far ahead we might as well stay home on November 6^th. I don’t plan to follow that advice…..do you?

Tell the truth. Tell it often and tell it loudly. Do not be afraid for you have much more support and backing than you can possibly imagine. Do not be swayed by clever wordplay or narcissistic charm. Do not be persuaded by manufactured commonalities and adjusted reality. Tell the truth. Remind yourself of the truth and compare it to what you are being told in the news, or from the mouth of your country’s elected ~~leader~~ President. Let the anger that follows fuel you until you cast your vote.

As always, thanks for playing!

J. Robert Giles

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Tuesday, April 10, 2012

More Out Of Touch Than Cooties…..

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“Getting rid of a delusion makes us wiser than getting hold of a truth.” - Ludwig Borne

This particular date on the calendar always brings about that special kind of morbid nostalgia in my life. Every year, I’m taken back to a special yet terrifying point in my life. A point that led to a few of the beliefs to which I currently cling. I was just a kid so a lot of the grown-up world was confusing and left up to my own interpretation. Those interpretations were often made through the lenses of youthful innocence.

1979 was a confusing year for a curious six year old kid. What the heck is inflation and why are so many people obsessed with it? It’s all I heard on the TV. I saw the word on the front of those fake newspapers they sold at the checkout lines in the local Albertson’s grocery store. I heard grown-ups complaining about the price of gas and the fact that we seem to be running out of it. Why can’t we get more gas? My parents assumed I was ignoring the stories I heard as they watched the news because I sure as heck ignored their instructions to do my chores on a regular basis. The truth is that I heard all those stories, I just preferred to interpret them on my terms.

I remember Three Mile Island. I couldn’t comprehend the concept of radiation, but I did understand the fact that there had been an accident at a place with the word “nuclear” in it’s title. To me…..”nuclear” meant “blowing up the world” so I just assumed it was time to make peace with those I had wronged. At dinner that night, I ate my vegetables without being told to do so. Another frequent topic in the news those days was President Carter. The man seemed to invoke facial ticks in my father. Despite my young age, I too believed that Jimmy Carter was a wimp. He used that southern charm to convince people bad was good. He sounded like Huckleberry Hound but in reality, he was just a big old bushel of weakness. The President was supposed to be strong, powerful, and able to defeat all enemies. Everything I knew about kings, leaders, and great military men of history was that they had all performed some kind of heroic deed. My dad was the benchmark as he had just finished flying fighter jets for the Air Force. Heroes were men who had fought wars, won fights, explored uncharted lands, or defeated a determined enemy. Carter was none of those things. When the story of Jimmy Carter and the Swamp Rabbit hit the airwaves, all hope was lost. The man was a wimp.

America needed a leader. They needed a man who would lead, not follow. They needed a man who was slowly but surely starting to make waves on the campaign trail. I got my first taste of what leadership really means on this date in 1979. It was mid-afternoon in Wichita Falls, Texas and my Mom was two and a half hours away in Dallas for a class. My grandparents were coming into town the next day, so my Dad had run up to the bakery at the end of Fairway Boulevard to get some of the Cinnamon Raisin Bread my GrandBob loved so much. My brother and I were watching Popeye and eating a TV dinner when the programming was interrupted.

The sky was black. Not black like it is at night, but black like it would be if someone threw a thick blanket over the sun. There was a certain hue of temporary to the odd colors surrounding our house. A grayish luminescence alerting me to the fact that the calm afternoon I had been enjoying at recess earlier that day was long gone. The trees were bowing to the incoming force and all their leaves were turned over exposing their lighter colored underbellies as if shielding against an attack. As I stood looking out our sliding glass door into the back yard, the landscape was completely unfamiliar. I watched a large bird struggling to fly against the force of the wind. I remember wondering why the bird didn’t land and protect itself……and then BAM…..something big struck the bird and abruptly ended its ill-advised flight. Then it stopped. The debris dropped from the sky and there was an eerie calm in the air. The wind stopped. The hail stopped. The sirens stopped. It seemed like any other day except for the fact that every hair on my arm and neck were standing at rigorous attention. Goosebumps covered my flesh. This was the kind of calm a convicted killer feels in the seconds before the switch is thrown. A tornado was coming.

My little brother Ryan and I had been taught early and often in the Texas School System that preparation saves lives. We had dragged our mattresses into the hallway just as we had been instructed to do. We were under them but staring down the hallway at the TV. Woody Woodpecker had just started but its flickering images provided only a focal point to keep us distracted during the terror. The sounds that followed will never be forgotten. I hugged Ryan tightly as what sounded like a fleet of runaway locomotives hovered over our heads. The electricity went out and Ryan began to cry. He was only 3 at the time and this was one of the few times in his life where he ever shown fear. It was the first time in my life I ever felt like Ryan’s protector. The glass around the house began to shatter and sounds I hope to never hear again began to fill my ears just as Dad came bursting through the front door. He ran immediately into his own bedroom and dragged his own king sized mattress into the hallway. It was then that I noticed the two strangers he had brought with him. Two strangers that needed shelter and were offered such by my father when it would have been just as easy to fly past them and worry only about his own safety. They survived an ordeal that would have most assuredly ended their lives had it not been for the budding Giles family. Dad’s presence and enveloping arms allowed me to cry and panic like the terrified six year old I truly was. All hell officially broke loose in those moments. It wasn’t like it is often portrayed in the movies. There were no distant screams from unfamiliar throats. There were horrific, indescribable sounds. The sounds of brick, metal, glass, and wood being ripped apart by an unstoppable force. It was horrifying.

Then, just as quickly as it started, it ended. The sounds could still be heard, but there was a saddening and yet comforting distance in their tones. The sounds were now being injected into the lives of people in distant, unfamiliar neighborhoods. We slowly emerged from the protection of our mattresses. I half expected to find open sky over my head, but our home was mostly intact. The rest of the town and even some of our direct neighbors didn’t fare so well. But we survived. The leadership came in the following days. By the way, we still have no idea who those strangers were.

Leadership came in the form of the people who weren’t afraid to face the task at hand. The sounds of chainsaws and hammers filled the air for weeks. With no power and the primitive communications systems of the late seventies, clean-up was difficult but hard work triumphed over tragedy as it so often does. Those who waited for someone else to come take care of them got back to normal at a much later date than those who were willing to get in there and get their hands dirty. Those who gathered in cowardly circles and leveled their collective blame against someone else for what nature had delivered missed some terrific life lessons. Until that storm hit, I had been under the delusion that my world was insulated from the horror I saw on the news. Suddenly, my world was the news. I saw the strength of men and women not ideology and charm. I saw the resolve of a community working together, not one suckling at the teat of handouts and unjustified expectations. I saw REAL hope and change on the horizon as our country waved goodbye to one of its weakest leaders and all of the broken promises, failed expectations, and empty facades of accomplishment he left in his wake. I cheered with all the understanding my youth would permit as the rebuilding of Wichita Falls, Texas coincided nicely with the rise of one of our country’s strongest leaders.

Flash forward to today: History truly has a way of repeating itself. I believe our current President is just as weak as Jimmy Carter, but the similarities don’t end there. The lessons I learned in the nightmare of Terrible Tuesday, as it has come to be known in Wichita Falls, reached far beyond the destruction of that powerful storm. Where I had interpreted weakness, Terrible Tuesday delivered examples of strength. Those who sat back and waited for someone else to fix the problems delivered by that storm are the ones who would vote for His Barackness in November. The people who climbed up on their roofs with a hammer and some shingles while waiting for the insurance company to get to them…..those were the ones with a clear vision of reality. Those were the ones with a sense of personal responsibility. Those were the people who realized that it is NOT the job of government to run their lives. Those people had no room for fairy tales…..they lived in reality.

Just this past Friday, while speaking at what the White House is calling the “Forum on Women and The Economy,” Obama stated that after his daughters were born, he and Michelle – both Harvard Law graduates – couldn’t afford the “luxury” of having her stay at home with the children. Just so we’re clear…..Michelle Obama made $316,000 per year in those days. Obama was earning $168,000 from the US Taxpayer. He went on to say that he knew Michelle “felt guilty” when she was at home with the girls because she wasn’t giving enough time to work. She had a heavy “burden” in those days because of the busy travel schedule of His Barackness.

Are you kidding me? Are we supposed to take this nonsense and believe that the life of a Senator and a highly paid University of Chicago Medical School “Executive Director of Community and External Affairs” somehow relate to the struggles of a normal family? Barack Hussein Obama is so far out of touch with reality, he reminds me of that bird I watched struggling against the wind as that tornado rolled into Wichita Falls 33 years ago today. He believes the nonsense that flows from his mouth just as much as that bird believed he would outrun the storm if he just flapped his wings hard and fast enough. He ignores the reality that surrounds him and believes his ideological instinct will overpower any opponent’s so called “logic.” In reality, the American people are heaving big old pieces of debris into the wind. Obama has skillfully avoided them thus far, but he has suffered some “structural damage” along the way. He’s bruised, but determined. We tossed the debris of his birth certificate into the air, but it only scratched him. We tossed Solyndra into the spiraling nightmare, but it only grazed his wing. We launched the Fast and Furious case, consistently “adjusted” jobs numbers, and the incineration prone Chevy Volt at him but he navigated his way through their debris trails with only superficial wounds. The Supreme Court may soon deliver a rather crippling blow if they strike down Obama’s legacy, but the big piece of flying debris that will knock His Barackness and his ideology out of the sky forever will be the will of the American people on November 6, 2012.

As always, thanks for playing!

J Robert Giles

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Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Who Decides…..

“All things truly wicked start from innocence.” - Ernest Hemmingway

On January 6, 2007; Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom went out to dinner at a Knoxville, TN restaurant. Channon was a senior at University of Tennessee. She was about to graduate with a degree in Sociology before five thugs carjacked her and Christopher. So far the story seems all too familiar, right? Unfortunately, it’s at this point in the story that all familiarity ends. The heartless thugs that carjacked Channon and Christopher may have originally intended to simply secure a ride home for themselves but it quickly escalated into a gruesome and horrifying nightmare. The couple was driven back to a home rented by one of the five thugs. Christopher was bound, gagged, and sexually tortured for several hours before being dragged naked out to the railroad tracks behind the house where he was set on fire and then shot to death. It’s hard to imagine that he was the lucky one.

Channon was tortured in ways that none of us should ever be forced to imagine. She was sexually assaulted with what coroners believe to have been a broken chair leg. She was repeatedly raped by multiple thugs. Her genitalia was so badly abused it was almost indistinguishable at autopsy. She was forced to drink household cleaning chemicals and then she was stuffed into a large plastic bag and shoved inside a trash can where she slowly suffocated. If that seems a little too graphic, I apologize but you must understand that this was a drastically cleaned up version of the details that emerged over the course of the trial. I will not name the criminals who perpetrated these horrific acts. They deserve no more fame or criminal credibility at the expense of their victims.

There are not many people on earth who can imagine the kind of pain the parents of Channon and Christopher must have experienced in the days following the discovery of their children’s bodies. That’s the kind of pain that doesn’t go away.

It’s all real and you are more than welcome to look up the details if you would like. Quite frankly the research is making me sick, but I will put a few links at the end of this article for those who want to read more. Racism seems to provide a nice, easy explanation to those too lazy or too ignorant to examine facts but it fails to answer any of the real questions. Yes, racism may have played a role in a lot of the crimes. I certainly believe the story above started out as an “innocent” carjacking but once the five thugs realized they had themselves a couple of racial trophies, it escalated into a very obvious hate-crime. Five black thugs carjack and kidnap an attractive white couple and brutally torture, rape and kill them in the most sadistic manner imaginable…..that’s a hate-crime. I don’t care what the victims did in their past lives. That’s completely irrelevant. The fact is that five people tortured and killed two other people of differing skin colors. If the roles had been reversed, it most certainly would have been deemed immediately racist.

So, what is it that makes us sit up and take notice of a case like the one involving Trayvon Martin, and ignore a case like Channon Christian? I don’t believe the racial angle. As previously stated, it provides an easy to attach excuse, but it lacks logic or credibility. Racism may have been a factor in the actual crime, but not in the coverage of the crime. News channels, shows, websites, blogs, and made-for-TV dramas are extremely competitive. To suppress a story for reasons of race would not only require an unprecedented level of cooperation among the media giants, but would also require them to actually honor any agreements made during such periods of accommodation. So, what is it then? Is it the details of the case? Is there a certain level of depravity to which our imaginations have yet to lead us? Some of the best shows on TV are based on horrific storylines, but even the imaginations of the shock addicted writers of those shows trail behind the reality described in the Christian / Newsom Trials.

Does the media play on the emotional tendencies of a certain race? Is it true that the black community typically reacts to stories of racism much more publicly and emotionally than the white community? Do media outlets play on the emotions of the black community in this “stirring-up” of racial conspiracy? There has been no evidence given to suggest that George Zimmerman acted out of racist motive. Witnesses corroborate his story and the police have stated that evidence supports Zimmerman’s claims of self-defense, yet Attorney General Eric Holder, whose credibility is apparently beyond reproach, has now thrown his services into the fray. Trayvon even got a shout out from His Barackness in a recent speech, fundraiser, campaign stop, or some combination of the three. Is there a political agenda at play? Remember James Byrd? He was murdered at the hands of cowardly white bastards but his name was only used to insinuate that then Presidential hopeful George W Bush supported such lunacy because the crime occurred in his (and my) home state of Texas. Did the emotional outpouring end with Bush’s election? The Duke Lacrosse Team Rape-That-Never-Was…..anyone remember that? Remember how those rich white boys took advantage of that poor, defenseless black woman? Remember all the cries for humiliating and outrageous punishments to be delivered in lieu of a trial? The crimes, despite any evidence whatsoever, were beyond our simple legal system….they were to be tried in the court of Jesse Jackson’s opinion. They were to be tried according to the rules of the Black Panther Party. Anyone who supported the legitimate legal process was labeled a racist. Remember that? It was class warfare and every single aspect of it was manufactured, inflated, and broadcast by those who feed off of ignorant, uninformed public opinion.

I am not suggesting, in any way that the death of Trayvon Martin is a laughing matter. It’s not any easier to imagine the hole in the hearts of Trayvon’s parents than it is to imagine the one in Channon’s. A child was killed at the hands of a stranger. That’s a tough pill to swallow. My question remains, why the fascination with one case over the other. Jesse Jackson is rhyming his way to another vigil with cameras in tow…..Al Sharpton has regained the publicity induced twinkle in his eyes…..Trayvon’s mother has trademarked several of the more popular phrases bearing her deceased son’s name (but swears it has nothing to do with money)…..Channon’s killers are facing the possibility of freedom rather than execution because the judge in their original case was found to have been using drugs…..Spike Lee Tweets the wrong address to 250,000 followers ordering black people to “reach out and touch” the Zimmerman family…..yet we’re supposed to believe that the abolishment of racism is still a goal. If we ever find ourselves in a society where black people don’t do anything to draw attention to the fact that they are “oppressed” and white people stop feeling the need to “apologize” to anyone with a darker than Caucasian skin tone, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton will be completely irrelevant; do they realize this? Racism fuels their fame and they are not about to let go without a fight. Even if it means they have to publicly convict a man of a crime he may not have committed.

If the evidence comes to surface that refutes the witness statements and the currently existing evidence, I will gladly hand over George Zimmerman to the proper authorities. Can I get the Black Panthers to agree that they will stay completely away from the polling stations in November? Can I get Jesse Jackson to commit to the notion of innocent until proven guilty? Can I get a White Entertainment Channel, White History Month? How about a “Snow Leopard Party” to answer the “Black Panthers?” No, of course none of these things will ever come to fruition. They would be deemed racist and insensitive and would be met with a level of emotional outcry their ill-advised foundation simply couldn’t withstand. The fact is that George Zimmerman, until proven otherwise, acted in self-defense. It doesn’t matter what you think of the laws that provide him the right to do so. It doesn’t matter what you think of Trayvon’s wardrobe decisions…..the fact is that George Zimmerman, no matter how mad it makes you, has yet to be charged with a crime and there is a reason for it. You don’t get to let public opinion try this case but then discount public opinion whenever it goes against you. That’s not the way the world works. If it did, ObamaCare wouldn’t have required the involvement of the Supreme Court. I’ll end by stating for the record that a) Black Panthers are the most overtly racist group in existence. Their actions and demands make them far more racist than the Ku Klux Klan. b) Jesse Jackson is a racist, separatist idiot. c) Al Sharpton is a tad more entertaining, but just as big of an idiot. These statements have nothing to do with the color of their skin but rather to do with their actions. Act racist, get called out…..isn’t that what we’ve been told for decades? The phrase “justice is blind” means that you can’t blame skin color for motivation in a crime against one of your own, but then use skin-color to claim innocence when the story doesn’t go your way.

As always, thanks for playing!

J Robert Giles

Reference Articles:

Satterfield, Jamie: “Facts Are Enough to Haunt Families of Slain Couple” Knoxville News Sentinel – May 27, 2007

Satterfield, Jamie and Jacobs, Don: “Details of Double Slayings Emerge” Knoxville News Sentinel – January 13, 2007

“New Trials Ordered in Torture Slayings” The Tennessean – December 2, 2011

“Newsom/Christian Murders” http://www.snopes.com/politics/crime/newsom.asp

Michelle Malkin Video - http://punditgirl.blogspot.com/2011/08/christian-newsom-hate-crime-murders.html

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Friday, February 24, 2012

You’re Grounded…

“Humility and knowledge in poor clothes excel pride and ignorance in costly attire.” - William Penn

What keeps you humble? What is it within your brain that allows you to defend against the inevitable embarrassment that would surely come from exposing the majority of the half-baked plans, ideas, and decisions that pop into your head throughout each and every day? It’s humility. It’s the fact that we are not insulated like we were when we were DSCN1655 kids. Last night, I had the distinct privilege to be slapped across the face with a bit of reality that had somehow gone unnoticed in my own life. Unnoticed may be a bit harsh. Perhaps…..”selectively ignored” would be a better way to describe my flight from the reality that my beautiful Jackie and my terrific kids are what keep me grounded.

That may seem like simple and quite common sense to most of you, but allow me to explain. Last night, my seven year old son, Aidan took part in his school’s Black History Night. While the majority of the kids in his school are not black, the event was organized in such a way that skin color was not the accomplishment being celebrated. The celebration was about the accomplishments of the women of Gee’s Bend, Alabama. All of the expected clichés were used to make the correlation between the quilts made by the freed slaves of Gee’s Bend and the diversity of our nation today, but the kids themselves, at least the younger ones like Aidan, couldn’t have cared less about any of that. Last night’s performance was an undeniable example of the fact that racism is something taught. The kids on that stage were untainted by the stresses and temptations of adulthood. Their world is insulated by their limited exposure and the result is unbridled happiness. They have yet to experience the concept of prejudice, so they sing happily with all of their friends. They could care less about subjects like net worth or income levels, so they laugh with all of their friends. Sadly, the majority of the stress they feel in their young lives is the direct result of parental deflection, so they find comfort in all of their friends.

Unfortunately, we are not afforded the same luxuries of innocence in adulthood. We must face challenges that simply can’t be confronted with childish ideology. Consider anything that requires a minimum age for participation as proof of this fact. Drinking requires an attained age of 21. Voting requires an age of 18 (but proving it is apparently up for debate) as does military service. Driving calls for an attained age of 16, generally speaking. These age restrictions were put in place for a reason. It was the general consensus that unless you had reached the specified age, the emotional, physical. or intellectual requirements of these tasks would simply be too daunting.

What we have allowed to happen, instead of facing the challenges as a family, is that we have changed the challenges. We have pretended that they don’t exist by putting limitations on our children. Competition is too hard for one kid so instead of encouraging him to work harder or to pursue those things for which his abilities will allow him to excel, we change the rules to accommodate the weak. Those kids grow up to demand what is not realistically theirs. (i.e. Occupy Anything) We thought we were protecting them, but instead we were rendering them incapable of performing in the world that awaited them. How can you be grounded when reality delivers the exact opposite of what you were promised?

Our politicians, celebrities, and pro-athletes are a lot like those insulated kids. They live in worlds where the only opinions they hear are the ones that will make them happy. TonyRomo Anyone who is famous, regardless of reason, is insulated. Do you really believe that Obama surrounds himself with people who will tell him “gee, Mr. President; I don’t really know if stubbornly ignorant is the way to go on this one.” or do you think he’s surrounded by a nest of little, yelping, Carneys who blindly support any decision he makes? Do you think anyone has had enough courage to tell Nancy Pelosi that her patented “I think I just farted” look is starting to greatly reduce the effectiveness of all that plastic surgery? No! Of course not. These people are surrounded only by those who will tell them what they want to hear. That’s not how a team works. A team wins and loses as a unit. If the NFL was run like American Politics, Tony Romo would be allowed to believe that he has won six Lombardi trophies and was the MVP of eight different Super Bowls, two of which he was awarded while in High School. No, a team requires preparation for battle with a common enemy. Each member of the team is assigned a position and prepares so that their contribution will lead to overall victory. When inevitable defeat smacks the team around a bit, they heal together and they prepare for the next battle with the added advantage of having learned the indelible lessons imparted only in defeat.

Compare that to the world in which Barack Hussein Obama lives. Every decision he makes is made only after consulting with several public opinion polls first. He’s basically spoon fed his opinions by those with which he chooses to surround himself. In that regard, he can never be truly grounded the way a man who is part of a real team will be grounded. A real team accepts defeat as an opportunity to improve. Obama accepts defeat as someone else’s mistake. He lives his entire life trying to be the man the latest polls tell him he should be. He’s left, like so many others who never figure out how to stick to their convictions, without an identity. He’s left, for lack of a better comparison, like the grown up version of those kids on that stage last night. Happily ignorant of the real world around them. Obama is fed only the information that will support the agenda of those who provide his platform. That’s only half the reality of the country he’s asked to lead. Guess what, Mr. President….Romo hasn’t won a single Super Bowl and your record is not nearly as impressive as your teleprompter would have you believe.

We, as a people, need to remain just as grounded and faithful as those kids on that stage last night. They found themselves shielded from the frightening reality of public speaking by the strength of their innocence. We must resolve to have that kind of faith in our position as conservative, Christian, right-wing, red-state, God-fearing, Church-loving, breeding, patriots and stand together in the face of twisted polls, veiled promises, and outright deceit that is surely coming our way over the next 8 months. Obama will continue his chameleon game, shifting his shape and political color to fit the latest demand of him. We cannot be that way. We must remain steadfast in our belief that if Obama’s given another four years, this country will be nothing more than a final exam question in a future History class.

As always, thanks for playing and have a great weekend!

J Robert Giles

Support Capitalism

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Let Go Of My Country….

“Aim above morality. Be not simply good, be good for something.” - Henry David Thoreau

In Monday’s article we looked at what is really necessary to correct the course on which our country is now travelling. The needs go far beyond the 2012 Presidential Election and politics in general. The Election is just the first game of the season, but there are a lot more to go.

In the fall of 1991, Coach William Randolph of Fishburne Military School stood in the stagnant air of the visitor’s locker room at Randolph Macon Military Academy in Central Virginia. His anxious team huddled around him, most seated. His face was visibly agitated as he stumbled for the words to launch them out into competition. The entire team was well aware of the fact that it had been a long, long time since Fishburne had tasted victory against that day’s opponent. His face reddened as he began to speak. “Today is their Homecoming Day. They invited us here to play them on their Homecoming Day. Do you gentlemen have any idea what that means?” The veins in his neck were now at a distractingly visible bulge. “They invited us here because they thought we would make a nice starter to the festivities of their weekend! They thought we would just lay down and let them march victoriously off to their Homecoming Dinner with a big smile on their face! Well guess what, men….dinner is about to get up off the table and gnaw on their throats! We are NO ONE’s scheduled victory! We are NO ONE’s commencement ceremony! They can have their party, but the mood will be somber. Their bodies will be bruised. Victory will be absent.”

Randolph Macon was soundly defeated that day, and Fishburne went on to win the Conference Championship that season. Coach Randolph’s screaming, spitting words still ring out in my ears whenever I need motivation. It wasn’t just the words that inspired the team that day, it was the passion behind them. It was the level of emotion his words were able to inspire in us that ultimately delivered victory. (After the game, we were able to laugh about the fact that Coach Randolph was the only injury of that game. He punched a tree at half-time to motivate us. Laughter is often very motivating!) The point of the story is that we are a country in desperate need need of motivation. We need someone who believes in us and is willing to fight alongside us as we battle a formidable opponent. Now, it would be easy to assume that America is the team and the President is our coach in this little metaphor. That’s how we’ve been programmed. Switch it. No longer do we take our orders from our elected officials. We’re here to take back what a corrupt and incredulous government has taken from us. Like we said yesterday, jerk the wheel to the right before we Sheen ourselves over a cliff! Determine our own course of action and demand nothing less than absolute adherence by our elected officials.

We the people who continue to work our tails off in order to survive in the nightmare of today’s reality have become the underdogs. We are the ones that the left dares to laugh at. They have deployed a brilliant game plan over the past decade or so, you have to give it to them. They duped us. They attacked our weaknesses and it is now time to fight back. It is time to fight for our morals. Whether you are religious or not, it is time to put theological differences aside and demand better from our world. Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, and Amy Winehouse lived lives completely void of morality yet in their deaths we are ordered to believe

they were saints. Soldiers, Marines, Sailors, and Airmen die following orders of protected men yet our very own Supreme Court can’t protect their funerals from disgusting protest. It’s time to fight for your family. Their attacks on family have not gone unnoticed. It’s time to fight for our children. Even if you don’t have kids, it’s time to step up and help those of us who do to tell the United States Government that they not know better than parents. Not on any subject. We will decide what’s best for our kids and for them to believe there is another option speaks volumes as to the level of arrogance found in our common enemy. They have their anointed deity at the core of their arrogance. Most of Barack Hussein Obama’s support comes in the form of those blindly loyal to party or skin-color. We must be louder. We must broadcast his record nonstop, but our focus must be on the years after his presidency. Liberal virus has infected this country and it is time to vaccinate.

Because I pray, I’m a zealot. Because I pray to God, I’m intolerant. Because I oppose abortion, I hate women and their bodies. Because I don’t believe that a latte sipping, tent dwelling, participation trophy shining, moron deserves the same income as a CEO, I’m a fat-cat. Because I’m from Texas, I’m a redneck. Because I believe we all owe a huge debt of gratitude to anyone who has ever worn the uniform of the United States Military, I’m a right-wing nut. Because I believe marriage should be defined as a union capable of creating life, I’m a bigot. Because I think Barack Hussein Obama is an absolutely horrendous stain on the integrity of this great country, I'm a racist. Enough! All they have is words. They have their voice, and we have allowed it to grow quite loud, but it is still just words. We allow their opinions of what is popular to influence our judgment. Remember just a few years ago when speaking ill of God or His Word was considered ratings suicide. It was akin to repeatedly using the “N-Word” on Prime Time TV. It wasn’t allowed. Can anyone tell me when it became okay to openly mock the teachings of the Bible? I’m not suggesting that every show recite scripture and every actress wear a turtleneck. So, help me….if Megyn Kelly shows up in a turtleneck tomorrow, I’m destroying my satellite dish! All I’m demanding is that we take the moral compass out of the box in the attic, dust it off, and take a gander at it. I’m not asking that all teachers be fired and every parent be given permission to educate their own children. I’m demanding that union interests be ignored entirely. I’m asking for the choice to have my tax dollars support a school my child attends by choice and aptitude rather than one the government chooses for me.

Get up! Demand the changes you want to see. Enlighten those who have veered too far to the left. The fight is tough but you are not alone. The temptations are almost irresistible but together we can strip them of their power. Demand better. Not just in your president, or your Congressman, or your actors, singers, authors, teachers, lawyers, bankers, athletes, and neighbors; but demand better from yourself. They have exposed our weaknesses, but they have in turn left themselves exposed. Attack and defeat. Now.

In a prayer before the Kansas House of Representatives in 1996, Pastor Joe Wright of Wichita, Kansas said:

“Heavenly Father…..we come before you today and pray your forgiveness and seek your direction and guidance. We know your Word says ‘woe to those who call evil good’ but that’s exactly what we’ve done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and inverted our values. We confess that we have ridiculed the absolute truth of your word and called it moral pluralism. We have worshipped other gods and called it multiculturalism. We have endorsed perversion and called it an alternative lifestyle. We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery. We have neglected the needy and called it self preservation. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare. We have killed our unborn and called it choice. We have shot abortionists and called it justified. We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building esteem. We have abused power and called it political savvy. We have coveted our neighbor’s possessions and called it ambition. We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression. We have ridiculed the time honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.”

Go ahead…..bring on the “extremist” nonsense, lefties! We’re done playing by your rules, listening to your values, and we are most assuredly done welcoming your invasions.

As always, thanks for playing!

J Robert Giles

Support Capitalism

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Quietly Staying On Point…

“A president who, after thousands of years of human history, a Harvard law degree, and four years in the White House, cannot tell us with certainty what he thinks marriage or life is, is not worthy of the trust of the American people or a second term in office. It is time for leadership in America. It is time again to stand for self-evident foundational truths.” - Rick Santorum

No longer is the race for the 2012 GOP Nomination being run by just two men. Yesterday, Rick Santorum had the kind of day many would consider to be a “good day".” He won all three of the caucuses held. Santorum defeated Romney in Colorado where several polls showed the latter enjoying a considerable lead as recently as Sunday. He won Minnesota which is still trying to prove it’s sanity despite the existence of Senator Al Franken (D-MN). And he won here in Missouri in a “non-binding” primary.

Who is he though? We all knew he was so much more than just a sweater-vest, but why should we vote for him? I made a case for Mitt Romney when he won Iowa. I made a case for Newt Gingrich when he won South Carolina. Here is the case for Rick Santorum. Santorum was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1990 at the age of 32. From 1995 until 2007, he served as a United States Senator.

As a member of the famous “Gang Of Seven”, Santorum loudly opposed many Congressional “perks” and investigated what would eventually become the House Banking Scandal and the House Post Office Scandal. His fierce opposition to what he viewed as governmental extortion led one Washington Post reporter to describe him as “a Tea Party kind of guy before there was a Tea Party.” In reading the information provided on his website, it is clear that Mr. Santorum’s family has inspired many of his political opinions. His views are those of a father and a husband, two titles from which he draws immense personal pride. He believes in empowering America to do what it does best, but he’s also willing to put laws into place that would make possible such noble endeavors.

Rick Santorum wrote and championed the “Born Alive Infants Protection Act” which protects a fetus ~~that~~ who survives an abortion procedure. This act received almost unanimous support when presented on the floor of Congress. In fact, there was only one Senator who opposed the bill. There was only one Senator with the “courage” to speak out against the bill on the Senate floor. There was only one Senator with a conscience small enough to allow him to support the possibility of a doctor having to stand in a room and watch as a human life faded before his bureaucratically tied hands. Can you guess who that Senator was? That’s right…..Barack Hussein Obama! When Pastor Rick Warren asked Obama in 2008 “at what point does a baby get human rights, in your view?” Obama, in full campaign mode at the time, responded “Well, you know, I think that whether you’re looking at it from a theological perspective or a science perspective, answering that question with any specificity, you know, is above my pay-grade.” Eloquent as ever, Mr. President but Rick Santorum believes that marriage and human life are issues that transcend a campaign cycle. Opinions of these fundamental subjects should be rock solid, no matter what a political advisor may suggest. Santorum believes that marriage between a man and a woman is special and should be protected as such. He believes that it’s special in that it is the only union upon which life itself depends.

Energy is another topic being tossed around a lot lately. In addition to the immediate implementation of the KeystoneXL Pipeline, Rick Santorum has a carefully articulated plan for America’s Energy Policy. Whereas Obama’s energy plan is similar to Clark W. Griswold’s infamous roller coaster ride at Wally World (he’s the deranged, fake-gun wielding, psychopath – John Candy represents the public), Santorum’s plan is logical and doesn’t involve loaning billions more of our dollars to companies that build products none of us want. Santorum believes that America’s dependence upon foreign oil sources not only drives up costs of almost everything within our borders, but it also severely limits our defense options. Obama restricts domestic exploration and facilitates America’s dependence upon unstable, often adversarial sources. Santorum believes that Americans should be given the right to invent, explore, and innovate our own way to energy independence. Obama has weakened an already burdensome regulatory process and imposed ridiculously unfair ideology where solutions are needed. Santorum believes in getting government the heck out of the way.

Speaking of defense, Santorum served 8 years on the Senate Armed Services Committee. Even before 9/11, Santorum led the fight to reform our military not for budgetary or political reasons, but for logical ones. He wanted to transform our military from the Cold War model by which we now operate, into a force capable of facing and dominating today’s threats. Germany is no longer a threat yet we spend billions of dollars each year maintaining, staffing, and supplying several bases in that country. Countries that actually pose a threat to our country are supported by either trade agreements, or our own laws.

When it comes to education, Senator Santorum believes in a “Put Parents First” kind of plan. This obviously makes him an enemy of big-unions whose very livelihood depends upon the current system of corruption, cronyism, and indoctrination. His education plan calls for flexible options designed to maximize the potential of the individual student. No longer would parents be at the mercy of the government to determine the education path of their own children. No longer would good teachers be stifled or driven into other careers because of union regulations, demands, and involvement.

Obviously, Health Care is a huge issue in this election. Romney can’t possibly speak out against ObamaCare which scares me. Santorum, again with a “family-first” approach to his thinking, says he will repeal ObamaCare as soon as he takes office. Healthcare options should be between a patient and a doctor, not forced upon both by government regulations. His Barackness promised us that ObamaCare would lower our costs, yet the law itself specifically calls for increases in cost, taxation, and regulation. Businesses and our gasping economy can’t afford anymore of Obama’s “help” or “wisdom.” The Obama plan calls for tax incentives to encourage employers to stop providing coverage, leaving employees uncovered and in risk of penalty unless they succumb to the Obamanator’s Supreme Power and purchase government controlled healthcare plans. Santorum erases all that nonsense with a market driven healthcare plan that allows for premiums to come from pre-tax dollars. There is no religious conflict in Santorum’s plan as healthcare options are left up to the patient which, in and of itself, protects the religious freedom Obama is working so hard to strip away from us. (Liberals, feel free to insert “witty” anti-religion comment here…..the response is coming in the form of Friday’s article!)

Lastly, and the most important issue we all want addressed is the economy. None of this other stuff matters if we’re all broke and living in our Chevy Volts under constant fear of a battery fire. Rick Santorum has an economic plan which makes more sense than any of the others I’ve heard. Again, as is becoming a pattern, his plan is obviously the plan of a man who takes his family as more than just an obligation, or a photo-enhancer. Rick Santorum is a devoted husband and father of seven children. (That fact alone earns him some street-cred, don’t you think?) He believes the family is the first economy, and government should operate as a household operates. Santorum plans to simplify income taxes by reducing tax rates to either 10% or 28%. All others would be eliminated. He will also eliminate the Alternative Minimum Tax and other confusing, often manipulated code within our tax system. He will lower the Capital Gains and Dividend tax rate to 12%. (That oughta thrill the Occupy Wall Street types!) He plans to triple the Child Tax Credit for each child in the home. Marriage penalties, of any kind, anywhere they appear within our tax code, would be removed. He has several other points in his plan that would make it much easier and less costly for companies to expand and hire.

All in all, Santorum would be a fine candidate for President. He’s stood up to Obama in the past and has won. He’s got much more experience than people think. I do believe that despite the popularity of the sweater-vest, it’s time to put on a suit and start acting Presidential. I’m not asking to sit on your lap while you read me stories, I’m asking you to run my country.

As always, thanks for playing!

J. Robert Giles

Support Capitalism

Friday, February 3, 2012

A Few Comparisons…..

“Wisdom and good examples are necessary at this time to rescue the political machine from the impending storm.” - General George Washington

The United States Constitution is often referred to in our sound-byte society, but how many of us have actually taken the time to learn anything beyond the quotes and phrases that further our cause? How many of us have taken the time to look at the Constitution and it’s entire history? It’s fascinating to look back at the uncertainty and the fear that surrounded our infantile country in those days and compare it to the realities of today. We’ve come so far but our country still has so many of the same questions.

Imagine if you possibly can, a countryside still soaking into it’s soil the blood of revolutionary soldiers. Brave soldiers who died defending the very idea of the world we now take for granted. There are no cars, there are no billboards. There are no highways, or airplanes, or computers, or cell-phones. There are plenty of other problems that we can’t imagine, but so much of what we take for granted today was 220 or more years from invention in those days. It was in those days that James Madison, a young Virginian with boyish features and an insatiable sense of patriotism worked tirelessly studying political theory and history. Madison’s work was not for personal entertainment, but rather as a search for solutions. Madison felt that the Articles of Confederation which ruled the land in those days, left the blossoming United States exposed to dangerous inadequacies. He was determined to find solutions. The Articles left too much power in the hands of the individual states while leaving the national government weak and seemingly impotent with regard to commercial arguments between states.

The Articles of Confederation provided no taxing authority to the country itself, but instead left the power up to the states. When arguments inevitably arose, the current system left very little power in the hands of the government. States would eventually go to war with each other over commercial issues and a union of states would never exist. Madison was literally terrified with the economic future this presented to the country in which he so vehemently believed. The Continental Congress was working with a heavily depleted treasury, inflation was rampant, businesses and farms were failing, and jails were filling up with people unable to pay their escalating taxes. Depression follows debt and Madison was determined to head it off before it crippled the country he loved.

Daniel Shays was one of those men who became so enraged with the taxation issues that he started a mini-revolution. Shays had been a Captain in the Revolutionary War. He fought bravely in the Battle of Saratoga, The Battle of Lexington, and the Battle of Bunker Hill. He was wounded and forced to retire. He was never paid a dime for his service, courage, or bravery. Upon returning home he learned that he had been summoned to court over his unpaid debts that had continued to mount in his noble absence. What would later be known as “Shay’s Rebellion” ensued. Mostly farmers, tired of being exploited in order to pay British War investors, Shay’s Rebellion grew quickly. While Captain Shay’s forces were defeated rather easily, his message reached the ears of men like James Madison and General George Washington. The poor were stretched as far as they could be stretched and were looking to relieve the pressure. An uprising against the wealthy would derail the future so many had died to deliver. Anarchy was a very real possibility and it prompted General Washington, from his Mount Vernon home to reach out to James Madison with the quote at the top of this article. That simple quote; that innocuous suggestion may have been the very words that launched the Constitution of the United States. “Wisdom and good examples are necessary at this time to rescue the political machine from the impending storm.”

In a proposal to the Virginia Assembly, James Madison recommended a meeting of delegates in September of 1786. The meeting was to take place in Annapolis, Maryland and the purpose was for all states to discuss rising problems with the current commercial environment. James Madison and a young, New York lawyer by the name of Alexander Hamilton issued a report from that meeting in Annapolis in which they urged the Continental Congress to summon delegates from all States to meet in Philadelphia to revise the Articles of Confederation. Changes were needed. That much was made abundantly clear in the Annapolis meeting. Congress didn’t jump at the idea but felt compelled enough to summon the delegates. The idea was not met with overwhelming support. Some of the era’s most prominent men publicly denounced the proposed Constitutional Convention. The State of Rhode Island refused to send any delegates and Patrick Henry said in a public statement that he “smelt a rat.” People feared that Congress had just taken part in the invitation of it’s own overthrow. It was anarchy from within. Henry and many who shared his fear of a central form of government felt that individual state sovereignty offered more personal protection than the proposed alternative. Despite the notable absences of not only Patrick Henry but other men now considered to be founders of our country like Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Samuel Adams, and John Hancock, the Constitutional Convention commenced in Philadelphia as planned.

It was spring in Philadelphia, and there was a buzz in the streets. There was a sense that something big was happening inside the Pennsylvania State House, which is now known as Independence Hall. The windows, normally open to provide transparency to the very people being represented inside the hallowed halls, were locked shut and covered by thick curtains. Guards stood stoically in front to keep curious passersby from interrupting the proceedings. On May 25, 1787, Robert Morris of Pennsylvania opened the Constitutional Convention. Morris had been considered the “money man” behind the revolution and he commenced the nationally anticipated convention by nominating General George Washington as President of the Constitutional Convention. The vote was unanimous. The very presence of General Washington gave instant credibility to the proceedings and provided an intense source of pride for some of the younger delegates who feared failure. Those same fears had almost kept Washington in the cozy comfort of Mount Vernon. He was torn. He was battling rheumatism, the emotions of his brother’s recent death, and the fear that no men of stature would lend their reputations to what most believed was a futile exercise. Those facts not withstanding, Washington accepted the nomination with humble grace. “I’m embarrassed to preside over such an august body. I apologize for any errors into which I may fall in the course of these deliberations.”

George Mason wrote to his son, in the early days of the convention, “the eyes of the United States are turned upon this assembly and their expectations raised to a very anxious degree. May God grant that we may be able to gratify them, by establishing a wise and just government.” 81 year-old Benjamin Franklin never missed a session despite being so frail he had to be carried into the hall. Perhaps it was the level of importance that kept lips sealed as normally chatty politicians were prodded in pubs and taverns nearby.

On May 29, 1787, the governor of Virginia, Edmund Randolph opened debate with a long speech about the need for a strong, central government. He eloquently outlined the three branches of our government and the system by which each branch would hold the other accountable, but he went too far in his annihilation of state powers. The Virginia Plan, as it was known, was shot down but it put the course of the deliberations in their corner. It established their governmental system as a baseline. The early days of political maneuvering. The New Jersey Plan was shot down quickly as it merely suggested an amendment of the existing Articles of Confederation to allow Federal authority over taxation and commerce. It was viewed as ‘too moderate.’

Alexander Hamilton had them eating out of his hand on June 18, 1787 until he referred to British Government as the “best in the world.” His plan would have laid the groundwork for an American king. He suggested a government in which the elected President would rule as long as he was in good health and maintained his behavior. Interestingly enough, Hamilton would later become one of the most ardent supporters of the new Constitution.

The Convention itself nearly disintegrated over representation issues, but on June 29, 1787 they approved a resolution making population the basis for representation in Congress. Still the pace and frequent gridlock of the proceedings had General Washington frustrated. In July, Washington referred to opponents of a strong, central government as “narrow minded politicians under the influence of local views.” He ordered the entire delegation on a much needed, 10-day vacation. General Washington and Governor Morris rode alongside a creek that ran through the land of what was once the Valley Forge encampment. While the governor plucked trout from the pollution free waters of the creek, George Washington gazed out over the lush lands where just ten years earlier he had led freezing troops through the brutal winter of the Revolutionary War. The battles had launched the country on a course that now required some correction.

On August 6, 1787, the first draft of the Constitution was greeted with immediate conflict. The southern states feared that a New England dominated Congress would impose crippling taxes on the export industries so vital to the south. Concessions were made, and the convention moved forward. Slavery, and the regulation and taxation thereof, was carefully and heatedly debated from both moral and economic viewpoints. Again, concessions and agreements were made and the idea that a central government, hearing and considering all sides of an issue, could serve all states spread among the delegates like fire. The future of the young country depended not on individual states, but on their ability to work together as a country.

On September 17, 1787, the Constitution of the United States was signed. The Bill of Rights was outlined and promised through upcoming amendments and this promise insured the victory for the Federalists in the battle to ratify the Constitution and rid the country of the crippling rule of the Articles of Confederation. The Constitution spelled out the system of government by which we have lived for years. The buildings pictured below were erected to symbolize the power of the people. They were never intended to be the final destination of selfish men interested only in their own agenda. These buildings were meant to represent the people who built them, not the men who work inside them.