Happy Birthday America!

The Battle Hymn of the Republic

Julia Ward Howe February 1862

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord:
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword:
His truth is marching on.
(Chorus)
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.
I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps,
They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps;
I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps:
His day is marching on.
Chorus
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
His day is marching on.
I have read a fiery gospel writ in burnished rows of steel:
"As ye deal with my contemners, so with you my grace shall deal;
Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with His heel,
Since God is marching on."
Chorus
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Since God is marching on.
He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;
He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment-seat:
Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! be jubilant, my feet!
Our God is marching on.
Chorus
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Our God is marching on.
In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me:
As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,
While God is marching on.
Chorus
Chorus
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
While God is marching on.
He is coming like the glory of the morning on the wave,
He is Wisdom to the mighty, He is Succour to the brave,
So the world shall be His footstool, and the soul of Time His slave,
Our God is marching on.
Chorus
Chorus
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Our God is marching on.

This song appeared during one of the darkest years of American history. After the publication of this tune in Atlantic magazine, Union forces pushed to the gates of the Confederate capital of Richmond only to be turned back. Many thousands of men perished from Virginia to Texas. It looked like the United States and its great constitutional experiment would collapse to the glee of old Europe.

Union soldiers made this song popular because it appealed to the sense of mission that many of them carried with them. It compares their sacrifice for freedom with Christ's sacrifice for humanity's salvation. This hymn expresses an America triumphant because it is one of the only in history where people "die to make men free."

Reflect upon that for a second. Our national mission is not to own or dominate others, but to serve as the scourge of tyranny and the protector of freedom. In Ronald Reagan's words to the Normandy veterans in 1984, "These are the champions who helped free a continent. These are the heroes who helped end a war."

America often seems a contradiction. We truly hate war, but when engaged we fight it vigorously. Some in other countries and even a few in our own see that as hypocrisy. They could not be more wrong. America historically loves freedom more than it hates war. We will not dip our flag to tyrants to preserve a false peace. We could have continued bearing the burden of taxes while not enjoying representation in Parliament. We could have cut off trade with Britain in 1917. Hitler was desperate to accomodate himself to America until late 1941. America could have avoided most of its wars, but the country and the people love freedom and hate tyranny.

It is right to wish the United States of America a happy birthday today. We live in one of the only nations in history that has from the beginning "fought to make men free." We have not always lived up to our standards, but overall the world and its people enjoy more freedom and prosperity than if there had been no United States. It is because of our values, our actions, and our sacrifices that this is so. Human civilization never advanced so far in any other 230 year span as it has since the United States of America came into existence.

Happy birthday! So long as you remain free, may there be many more.

Representative Shelley Moore Capito Starts Energy Action Website

On June 27th, Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito launched a new energy action website to address West Virginians' rising concerns about fuel costs.

http://capito.house.gov/Energy.shtml

This site provides information that most West Virginians can use in efforts to conserve energy and save themselves money. Constituents that suspect price gouging have an easy means to report problems as well. Finally the site gives up to date information on Congresswoman Capito's efforts to help West Virginia, America, and the world secure long term energy solutions.

From this site, a reader can learn of the efforts made by Congresswoman Capito to move America towards liquefication of coal. Why not embrace this easy to access resource that puts money into American pockets and employs Americans right here at home. Natural gas production puts money into the pockets of West Virginia landowners when they do not get fooled by unscrupulous agents who convince individuals, companies, even governments to sell rights for a fraction of what they are worth.

Obviously West Virginia should play a strong role in America's energy transition. We sit upon large supplies of natural gas and coal and have grown into a national leader in terms of expanding our wind harvesting capabilities. Liberals would rather see the average American sacrifice economic prosperity or their standard of living to fall more in line with other countries that do not live so well. Congresswoman Capito knows that with the right ideas America can move forward, restore the dominance we once knew in energy production, and maintain our standard of living that remains the envy of the world.

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The Board of Governors recently announced the selection of two new members. Dr. Charles M. Vest, President Emeritus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology will give a tremendous boost to the shaken credibility of that body. Also appointed was former West Virginia University quarterback Oliver Luck. Luck since his graduation and short stint with the Houston Oilers obtained a law degree and worked as an executive with multiple sports franchises. Metro News's Hoppy Kercheval wrote last week that Luck ought to be considered because of his experience, ties to the university, and lack of political connections.

Potomac Highlands to Lose Key Facility

The Robert C. Byrd Center in Mineral County has announced that it will expand its Machinist Technology Program to include a larger number of students. In one way, this is a positive move because it offers more opportunities for locals to gain valuable skills. The problem lies with what has to go to make room. The CNC Machining Center and the CNC Turning Center must move to Bridgeport so that the MTP can expand.

This does not seem to affect the region on the surface. One program expands, another contracts. However, this represents yet another loss to those trying to recruit companies to the region that provide good paying industrial jobs. No company, especially in these times, wants to deal with any longer distances than are absolutely necessary. The Potomac Highlands loses an asset when it loses these facilities.

So what is the answer? The various legislators and county commissioners of the region should work together and fight to keep this facility local. We have industrial parks with plenty of room to accomodate a variety of operations. Decentralization in this time of restricted energry supplies and high costs is crucial.

Where Have the Heroes Gone?

Real heroes are important. They give us models on how to get to where we want to go, on how to conduct ourselves, on what is important versus what is trivial.

It used to be easy to find heroes. Schools used to place them on the walls of each and every classroom. Framed prints of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln beside the large United States flag once dominated each room. These men defined courage, strength, and fighting against fearful odds for the cause of right. We learned about other heroes as we made our way through history. We got to know Thomas Jefferson, both Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Dwight Eisenhower, Martin Luther King Jr. and so many others. Great men and women who made a strong impact upon history deserve attention. Students deserve to learn about people such as Jesus Christ, Moses, Queen Elizabeth I, Catherine the Great, Martin Luther and a long list of mentionables.

Open a textbook used in public schools these days. Where can one find a hero? Today the books and many of the new teachers represent the new style of teaching history. Let me be correct, social studies. The word history evokes the powerful narrative of human development from tyranny to the freedom we enjoy today. Social studies does not have quite the same power. It's not meant to. Nowadays you read more about how America has oppressed this group or that group at any given time much more so than you learn about an America that learns from its mistakes and strives to meet its own standards.

The textbooks and many of the teachers create a massive drumbeat of a message. They developed during a time when the academic world rejected the idea that individuals could make a difference. Rightly they sought to study and emphasize peoples heretofore ignored by history. Wrongly they destroyed the idea of "hero." George Washington's status as a slaveowner makes him a villain rather than a hero that stood for the kind of principles that would later insist upon emancipation.

To the new social studies experts, all capitalist and democratic forms of authority differ very little from dictatorships. President Thomas Jefferson does not differ much from Idi Amin. To the new way of thinking, authority exploits unless it is grounded in some "progressive" (read Marxist) line of thinking. Heroes don't exist because the new social studies shows that social movements matter, not individuals. If you did not have a George Washington to lead the Revolution, some other exploitative authority figure would have.

It's not American and it's blatantly wrong. Individuals can make a difference. They do matter. We need heroes now more than ever, men and women that stand larger than life and represent something real. The good side of this is that the heroes are still with us. We've been taught for so long to ignore or dilute heroism and not think of great individuals. The challenge to those that still believe in a heroic America is to find these men and women, lift them up, and give them the attention they deserve. Not for the sake of the heroes themselves. Real heroes usually do not like recognition. Do it for the sake of those looking for inspiration, who still believe an individual can make a difference doing the right thing instead of the wrong thing.

The taxman cometh, The people goeth

The facts are all around us if you choose to look at them. John Adams said it best,”Facts are stubborn things and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.” Of the Potomac Highland Counties, Mineral has the highest tax levy rate and lost 0.2% in population in the 2005 census estimate, Hampshire County which has the lowest levy rate gained 9.0%. If not for Mineral County’s proximity to Allegany County, MD it would have been worse. Mineral is the lesser of those two evils.

Migration reflects the dissatisfaction of the populous with the policies of the local government. Those that don’t like the current policies with the means leave, those that like them arrive. With that migration comes a change in influence. As Hampshire County grows in population it will pull in more voters in its senate and house districts. This obviously will increase Hampshire County’s influence in Charleston, and Mineral County’s will wane.

The counties seeing a reduction in population are saddled with an increasing burden of providing services with a reduction of tax base. The tendency is for political pressure to increase taxes, as is the case in Mineral County. This increase tax will increase the rate of migration out of the county. This migration is higher with the better educated residents as their skill set is more easily transferred draining the local economy of its highest income earners.

With the facts in evidence a clear course of action emerges for sound growth, cut the taxes. A counties budget increases should be limited to a combination of inflation and population growth. This will keep tax rates low and encourage economic growth for the benefit of all residents.