Conservative

November 2009's off year elections have kicked off what promises to be a fascinating and intense time of campaigning. These may be the most important congressional elections of our time because the result will in one way or another change our nation.

A fork in the road lies ahead. In one direction lies government control, muffled prosperity, and less freedom. The other points to the shrinking of government and the burdens it places upon all of us. The middle ground of the way it is now is no longer acceptable.

The Republican Party is struggling to catch up to the libertarian uprising created by Obama and Pelosi's plan to Eurosocialize America. Party officials reflect the past sentiments of the vast majority of party members in days past. I remember only a couple of years ago hearing a current GOP county chair saying that Republicans simply do not protest. We are the respectable party arguing with reason. Then came a political season driven by left wingers who want to impose massive changes that defy reason. Libertarian conservatives got frustrated and decided to fight the left with their own tried and true medicine of protest and mass action.

In some areas there is a gap between the "conservative" movement and the GOP organization. But what is conservatism? Libertarians want action on economic issues, but oppose social conservative positions on marriage and family and some traditional ideas on foreign policy. Social conservatives are wary of libertarianism. Traditional conservatives want a strong foreign policy and prosperous economy and are willing to give on a few principles to achieve that. All of these groups want the Republican Party to support their brand of conservatism and accuse it of selling out if they do not. Navigating through this ideological minefield is a difficult task for party officials. Sometimes they make good decisions, other times very poor ones (such as the NY 23 nominee.)

Conservatism is a vibrant and dynamic movement and each shade of the movement has a slightly different version of what they want America to be. It is important to remember that the differences between shades of conservatism are relatively much smaller than differences between almost any Republican and left wingers. Many independents and Democrats are closer to the general position of conservatives right now than their own party leaders.

That all being said, the most vibrant and energetic element in the freedom loving right is the libertarian conservative. Their calls for change, cut taxes and keep the government out of individuals' lives as much as possible, contrast powerfully with left wing policies that affect freedom of choice. By focusing on economic and personal freedoms, the GOP can endear itself to the libertarian movement and help take back America from those who want it to be Europe.

Welcome to the other side of the Looking Glass

I have read several articles in recent days that make be feel as I have stepped through the looking glass to the other side. The side where right and wrong are mixed up. One article talks about how the Empire State Building with be bathed in Red and Yellow light to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the founding of the Communist Government in China. Another talks about a Communist Chinese flag flying ceremony at the White House. Why would, let alone should, the most successful capitalist nation in the world celebrate the oppressive regime that killed an estimated 50 million of its own people under Mao? The obvious answer is we shouldn't.

We should be embracing those that fight for freedom. On the 60th Anniversary of the founding of the Communist Government in China I will be saying a prayer for this fellow. He is a true Chinese hero, no a world hero.

I refuse to celebrate anything but freedom. This Communist Government that we are about to celebrate in Washington and New York is the same government that attacked US Troops during the Korean War, a war that has never officially ended. This same government supplied the Viet Cong that killed US troops in Vietnam. This same Communist Government in 2001 captured a US Navy aircrew after a Chinese fighter jet harassing a P-3 Orion in international waters collided with our plane forcing it to make an emergency landing. The Communist Chinese Government has been caught spying on the US. They block attempts to stop nations like Iran from getting nuclear weapons.

The Communist oppose every freedom we believe in. The world has been turned upside down when the free peoples of the world celebrate those that choose to enslave their own people. Welcome to the other side of the Looking Glass.

Make Mine Freedom (1948)

Papiere gefallen!

What has happened to free speech in this nation? It is a Constitutional Right guaranteed by the First Amendment to petition government and a Congressman has the nerve to ask for the identification of a constituent. It is reminiscent of those words heard in Germany in the 1940's "Papiere gefallen!" When a Congressman basically echo's "Paper's Please," then things have gone to far. It is time to return to the Constitution!

Blast from the Past: The Constitution

Bald Eagle attends Flag Day Tea Party

Sunday at Grand Central Business Center a Tea Party was held. Turn out was good with over 118 counted in attendance from 2 states and 11 counties, not including a Bald Eagle that circled the group several times. No doubt to give his approval of those gathered to support the Constitution and liberty. The meeting was opened with, "Welcome Patriots, by attending your now on the Department of Homeland Security terrorist watch list." There was a big cheer from the crowd!

Matt Ryan, co-editor of "Unleashing Capitalism: Why Prosperity Stops at the West Virginia Border," gave an excellent speech on Capitalism and how the current steps Congress is taking is hurting our county.

Also Bob Adams said this is a non-political event, but when the President is making mistakes they need to be pointed out. His talk was themed, "If the shoe fits," and when talking about President Obama the shoe fits on a lot of things that are socialism. Dr. Doug McKinney of Clarksburg talked about the military and how there budget is being cut in time of war. We can not do enough for our military.

The microphone was opened up to people in the audience. They were told this is your Tea Party and your time to exercise your right to free speech. Even an Obama supporter took the mic and quoted some scripture. He later told me he disagreed with everything we said and did. I told him, "That's OK, we are supporting your freedom of speech to disagree."

At the end after a benediction given by R. Scott Smith of Terra Alta, WV a Liberty Tree was planted. During the planting it was stated, "While the Founding Fathers hid their meetings from the British Government by holding them at the Liberty Trees, we proudly notify our government this is our Liberty Tree and we disagree with what you are doing and want you to follow the Constitution."

Keyser Flag Day Tea Party - Sunday June 14th

Date: Sunday, June 14, 2009
Time: 2:00 to 3:00 PM
Location: Grand Centeral Business Center, 1 East Piedmont St.
City: Keyser, WV 26726

Planned Events: Planting of a Liberty Tree

The first Liberty Tree was near Boston Common and was a meeting place for the first patriots. As time went on many towns and cities had their own Liberty Trees for meeting places prior to the Revolution. The new Liberty Tree will be our meeting place and symbol that we wish to return to following the Founding Fathers vision of Liberty.

Featured Speakers:

Dr. Matt E. Ryan, Ph. D.
Charles G. Koch Doctoral Fellow
College of Business & Economics
West Virginia University
Associate editor on "Unleashing Capitalism"

Bob Adams of Charlestown
Business Owner and Patriot

Greg Brown, US Army, Veteran OEF - 2002, OIF - 2003-2004

There was ammo on these shelves

There was ammo on these shelves
Shared via AddThis

By Drew Zahn
© 2009 WorldNetDaily

Reports from across the country confirm that gun owners seeking to stock up on ammunition are facing the same list of problems: shortages, back orders, elevated prices and a long line of people staring at empty shelves where boxes of bullets used to be.

"Just about everywhere I've been, it's sold out," Darren Lauzon told KMGH-TV in Denver after he failed to find ammunition for his new .45 pistol. "Wal-Mart, Sportsman's, wherever."

"Folks have been experiencing shortages all over the country," a spokesman for the National Rifle Association told the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat in California. "Since the election there has been a great increase in firearms sales as well. Background checks are up, enrollment in training and safety classes is up, concealed weapons permits are up, gun sales are up – and ammo manufacturers can't keep up with demand."

Gun shops and retailers agree: the press for ammunition is emptying their shelves quicker than the manufacturers can restock them.

"We're probably selling ammunition right now at a 200 percent increase over normal sales," said Richard Taylor, manager at the Firing Line in Aurora, Colo.

"We've probably got over 4,000 cases of ammunition on back order currently. But we just don't know when we're going to receive that," Taylor told KMGH. "Y2K was just like a little blip on the radar screen compared to this. I mean, it's just phenomenal."

A Wal-Mart salesman told Ross Kaminsky of Human Events, "We used to get shipments almost every day. Now we only know we'll have it when we see it. I get at least a half-dozen calls a day asking for ammunition, especially for handguns, and when it arrives, the customers buy everything."

The shortages are creating multiple complications for both gun owners and sellers.

KSNW-TV in Wichita reports the cost of ammunition in many Kansas stores has risen between $5 to $15 more per box over the last six months, and even still, many retailers are limiting the amount of ammunition customers can buy.

"It is a bad problem," Bill Vinduska with Bullseye Firearms told the station, "because we really would rather be able to supply our customers their needs; and not being able to do that is really a problem."

"When you're turning down two or three thousand, four thousand dollars a day in sales because you just can't get the product, that's significant," said Burnie Stokes from Panhandle Gunslingers to KFDA-TV in Amarillo, Texas.

Jere Jordan, general manager Midsouth Shooters Supply in Clarksville, Tenn., a company that specializes in mail-order sales of ammunition and reloading supplies, told the Associated Press that his company has sold out of ammunition commonly used in semiautomatic pistols and popular military rifles.

And even though Midsouth is taking orders for supplies used by hobbyists to handload cartridges, Jordan has no idea when they'll be filled.

"The wait? We're not even guessing on the wait anymore," Jordan said. "It's exceeding 60 days."

Who's to blame for shortages?

According to Lawrence Keane, senior vice president of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a trade organization representing both manufacturers and retailers, the shortages pinching store owners aren't the fault of their suppliers.

"We have heard from all across the country that there is a tremendous shortage of ammunition," Keane told the AP. "We've heard this from the manufacturers, that their customers are calling them trying to get supplies for inventory, and that the manufacturers are going full-bore, pardon the pun."

The shortages, for the most part, stem from a widespread surge in customer demand for ammunition, a surge many link to the election of Barack Obama and the belief, perpetuated in part by the National Rifle Association, that the new president favors limiting the right to bear arms codified in the Second Amendment.

"Sen. Obama's statements and support for restricting access to firearms, raising taxes on guns and ammunition and voting against the use of firearms for self-defense in the home are a matter of public record," declares Chris W. Cox, chairman of the NRA's Political Victory Fund. "Barack Obama would be the most anti-gun president in our nation's history."

"After the election," Midsouth's Jordan told the AP, "where you have a change of parties to a more liberal side, I would say I guess the conservatives want to protect what they feel might be taken away from them, either through a tax, or an all-out ban."

"Everybody's just worried about the new government coming in and trying to ban guns and make everything more difficult to obtain," NRA member Kevin Bishop told KMGH. "Well, the way [Obama] has been acting, there may be a little truth to the rumor."

Rich Wyatt, owner of a firearms shop and training facility outside of Denver, told Human Events' Kaminsky that even "old ladies and young people and liberals" have been buying ammunition from him.

Wyatt's position seems to be that the new president sparked the ammunition buying frenzy with careless words from the campaign trail, such as when he said small town folks in Pennsylvania "cling to guns or religion" during hard economic times.

"Barack Obama is right about one thing," Wyatt said. "We are clinging to God and our guns, and I defy him to try to take either one from us."

You're most likely part of the Militia

This is the current US Law without commentary.

Title 10, Subtitle A, Part I, Chapter § 311

§ 311. Militia: composition and classes

(a) The militia of the United States consists of all able-bodied males at least 17 years of age and, except as provided in section 313 of title 32, under 45 years of age who are, or who have made a declaration of intention to become, citizens of the United States and of female citizens of the United States who are members of the National Guard.

(b) The classes of the militia are—

(1) the organized militia, which consists of the National Guard and the Naval Militia; and

(2) the unorganized militia, which consists of the members of the militia who are not members of the National Guard or the Naval Militia.

Keyser Flag Day Tea Party Scheduled

Date: Sunday, June 14, 2009
Time: 2:00 to 3:00 PM
Location: Grand Centeral Business Center, 1 East Piedmont St.
City: Keyser, WV 26726

Planned Events: Planting of a Liberty Tree

The first Liberty Tree was near Boston Common and was a meeting place for the first patriots. As time went on many towns and cities had their own Liberty Trees for meeting places prior to the Revolution. The new Liberty Tree will be our meeting place and symbol that we wish to return to following the Founding Fathers vision of Liberty.

Featured Speakers:

Dr. Matt E. Ryan, Ph. D.
Charles G. Koch Doctoral Fellow
College of Business & Economics
West Virginia University
Associate editor on "Unleashing Capitalism"

Greg Brown, US Army, Veteran OEF - 2002, OIF - 2003-2004

Today is the day for a Tea Party

Sons of Liberty Song

Warriors for Warriors Marathon

Operation Enduring Freedom.

Our soldiers are fighting for our freedom. They have seen their brothers fallen on the battlefield, they have heard their cries of pain, terror, and loss over the radio, and they have felt levels of pain and emotion we may never quite understand or experience. We owe them our support.

Below are two websites where you can show your support for our brave men and women fighting for our freedoms in Afghanistan. Remember the reason they are deployed to Afghanistan in the first place: September 11. Remember where you were, and at what moment your heart stopped for a second, or perhaps plummeted to your very core when you embraced the reality of the most vicious attacks on American soil and the perished lives of over 3,000 innocent people of every race, age, religion, and ethnicity. Remember the anger, fury, and fear that radiated across our nation. Remember, too, how quickly our flag presented itself everywhere - in homes, stores, on rooftops, cars, and buildings - all for the purpose of coming together as a nation.

This initiative emerged with warriors raising funds for fellow warriors, initially beginning on board the USS Roosevelt, which is now on its return home from Afghanistan after 6 long, hard months abroad. Servicemen supporting their own is a wonderful tradition where common ground is shared, respected, and understood, but support should not stop there. We can not and should not isolate the citizens in showing support for OUR servicemen as well, including our strongest ally, Great Britain.

Below is an email written by one of our "own," seeking support for the cause. Lt. Mhley has kept me abreast of his efforts along the way, and this email describes his initiative in a personal, authentic manner.

Family and friends, During the 5 months that our carrier and air wing have been supporting our troops in Afghanistan, we've been through the most difficult of situations with mainly British and American soldiers. We've helped them when under attack from Taliban, we've heard the cries of their wounded over the radio, we've mourned when an attack killed one of their brothers. During our time on station, 105 Coalition lives were lost, including 51 American and 29 British. As a tribute to the fallen, a few of the aviators out here are hosting a fundraising relay-marathon on the carrier's flight deck this Saturday to raise a worthy donation for the US Wounded Warrior Project and British Help for Heroes organization. We intend to present both donations in person on our way home. Many of you ask what you can do to help me endure these 7 months. Well, I'd rather you donate a few dollars to this event than send another box of chubby Oreos. We've raised about $2500 from the 200+ runners signed up so far. Many more to go in coming days. If anyone you know back home wants to donate, please reply and I will happily pass my bank routing number / checking account number to allow a donation via funds transfer. Below is the email we sent to our squadron about the effort, as well an info sheet. Thanks so much for your consideration. Looking forward to being back home next month! Very Respectfully, LCDR Mark Mhley VFA-213 / USS Roosevelt

Please scroll down below to donate just a few dollars to the cause. There are two different websites available. Each fund, one for the British forces, the other for US forces, goes towards recovery for injured soldiers, as well as those who have fallen at the arms of their fellow brothers. The money provides support for individuals and their families in literally every way necessary. Show your patriotism, show your support. Donate a few dollars to those risking their lives for our country.

Thank you.

US Wounded Warrior Project

UK Help for Heroes

An Open Letter to Obama

Mr. Obama today you will become the 44th President of the United States. I wish you and your family well on this day. It is yours and you earned it.

I would like to remind you as you move forward. You will be a leader of a nation that has diverse views and many of those views you do not share, but you must respect those views.

I want you to be a leader and a true leader leads. He understands that sometimes his views are the minority view and the nation may be best served by yielding to the majority. There will be times when the opposite is true. You must try to identify those and make the right decision. You will not always be right and when your wrong we will let you know.

You must respect our military and their sacrifice to freedom. Many have paid the ultimate price to allow you to become president. They fought wars past and present that you may not have agreed with, but they fought them for all of us. Do not forget their sacrifice when you make your decisions.

Some 200 years ago very wise men wrote the US Constitution. Use it when you make your decisions. Don't go by what some historian tells you about it, read it yourself and the papers of the founding fathers. See the nation through their eyes when you make your decisions.

While they will call you the leader of the Free World, the reality you are the leader of the United States of America. Always put the interest of the nation first.

I wish you good luck over the next 4 years. I never voted for you, but you will be my President. I will support you in that role, but I will also disagree with you from time to time. You are my president and you will have the respect from me that your office deserves.

VOTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

VOTE!!!!!!!!!

It is your duty to vote today, so please do so. The blood of many Americans has been shed to protect your right to vote.

Millions of people around the world do not have the right vote, you do. Please exercise it.

Where There's Not Smoke, There Are People Fired Up

Kanawha County's recent smoking ban for all restaurants and bars did not go unchallenged. Several bar owners have either threatened litigation or civil disobedience against a law they claim is unjust and harms their business. They work against the grain of the nanny state response that not only embraces the reasonable goal of helping people escape smoke, but the dangerous aim of forcing a morality on law abiding citizens.

The Legislature and county health departments agree that West Virginia must work towards becoming a smoke free society. I am not a smoker and I do not care to be around cigarette smoke for long periods (unless I am around my good friends whose company is enough fun to distract me from the smoke!) However people over the age of eighteen have the natural right to make this choice for themselves. This overt move towards prohibition only undermines the idea that individuals have the right to choose as well as the responsibility to live with the consequences.

And what about businesses? The idea of creating enclosed smoking sections was a responsible compromise. Keeping non-smokers from having to experience dangerous smoke was workable. It also recognized that individuals still had the right to choose. Jacking up taxes and eliminating public smoking areas reeks of the nanny state. New York now devotes millions of dollars in resources to combat cigarette smuggling, including paying for the incarceration of thousands. All of this resulted from extremely high taxes designed to eliminate the choice to smoke. Even those that do not smoke ought to fight for the reasonable rights of those that do.

What's next? The nanny state crowd never stops. They know what is best for you and me and will come after our unhealthy habits next. Snuff affects no one but the user, but do you think they will be left alone? Some cities have already started to legislate on the content of food served at restaurants. Others want to outlaw drive through establishments. They see obese children and blame the free market instead of schools that eliminated recess and phys-ed while making children take longer trips on the bus to go home and sit around doing increasing amounts of homework.

Are we a free society of adults that can make decisions about our lives, or are we a people that need guidance from our betters. It is not the government's business whether or not I or any other citizen are healthy. America was founded on freedom and real Americans must fight to prevent the control freaks from legislating our lifestyles.

Honoring those currently protecting freedom

This past weekend we celebrated the birth of our nation and most of did it with family and friends at picnics and festivals, then ended the day with fireworks. The start of the greatest nation on the face of the earth is definitely a day worth celebrating, but we should never forget those that maintain it and the freedoms it affords us.

While we rightfully have great ceremonies that honor those who have served in the past, the town of Valley Point, WV has found a way to honor those currently defending freedom. The 3^rd of every month people from around Preston County gather around an old Oak tree in Valley Point decorated with yellow ribbons. The yellow ribbons are labeled with names of each Preston County solider currently deployed defending freedom.

The ceremony opens with a prayer, moves on to those in attendance singing the national anthem and reciting the pledge of allegiance. Those returning home from overseas are given a certificate of appreciation for their service to the nation, their name is removed from the oak tree and they are welcomed home. The names of those newly deployed have their yellow ribbons added to the tree and prayer said for their safe return.

The honoring is held the 3^rd of every month at 5 in afternoon. Just as our troops stand guard in rain, snow, and blazing heat without fail, the ceremony is never canceled due to weather without fail. If our troops can do it, then those honoring them can as well. On a rainy muddy July 3^rd between 100 and 200 people stood praying for the safe return of those that keep us safe.

This is a great way to honor those currently defending freedom. I think it would be nice if we could find an Old Oak tree in Mineral County where would could do that same.

Honor those that gave us Freedom on Memorial Day

This weekend marks Memorial Day, a day in which Americans should pause and remember all those brave men and women who have served in our armed forces and who have made the ultimate sacrifice in the name of freedom. In towns all across the country, the main streets turn into parade routes as Americans remember those whose blood was shed on unseen shores -- whether in the Argonne Forest, on Omaha Beach, at the 38th Parallel, on the Ho Chi Minh Trail, or in Baghdad.

Author James Michener quoted an unknown admiral in his book Bridges at Toko-Ri, "where do we find such men?" to which President Reagan answered, "where we've always found them in this country. On the farms, in the shops, in the stores and the offices, they are just the product of the freest society man has ever known."

May 17th marked Armed Forces Day in the U.S. which honors those who are currently serving in the military, whether apart of Operation Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom, or stationed somewhere else abroad. Please join with me in not only honoring those who have given their lives for freedom but also in honoring those who continue to serve our great country. We are proud of their sacrifice and their sense of duty and patriotism.

Oh Deer! A Lesson in the Freedom Market

I’m sure you have heard the saying, “there is no such thing as a free lunch.” Whoever came up with that saying had a working understanding of economics. That person understood that somewhere along the line that free lunch was paid for by somebody. Unfortunately many elected officials in Charleston do not understand this most basic of free market economic facts.

Recently State Delegate Ralph Rodighiero (D-Logan) introduced bill H.B. 4498, in an effort to reduce out of pocket insurance expenses of those hitting deer on the states highways. The bill states, “Any person striking a deer on a state highway shall not be liable for repair costs exceeding two hundred dollars regardless of the amount of the deductible required from their motor vehicle insurance policy.” H.B. 4498 is a free lunch bill and somebody is going to have to pay for it.

Those of us that understand economics know exactly who is going to pay for this free lunch. It will be the person purchasing the insurance. The very same person that Delegate Rodighiero’s bill is supposed to reduce cost. Like all businesses, the insurance companies are in business to make a profit. Insurance companies will not simply absorb the cost of fixing the car of every West Virginian that hits a deer without charging the policy holder for the additional coverage that this bill will require.

Currently in West Virginia you are required to have a minimum of liability coverage on your vehicle. H.B. 4498 by default will require all insurance companies in West Virginian’s to sell nothing less than comprehensive (covers deer) with a $200 deductible.

I called my insurance agent to find out what this free lunch would cost. On a 2004 Dodge Pick-Up the difference between carrying liability coverage and a $200 deductible comprehensive is an increase of over $360 a year. Just dropping the deductible on an existing comprehensive policy from $1000 to the proposed requirement of $200 would increase the cost of that same policy over $110 a year. It is easy to see who is going to pay for this free lunch.

The real problem with H.R. 4498 is it that it assumes that West Virginian’s are not able to handle freedom of choice. It assumes that we are not able to make wise financial decisions on our own. The truth is we are able to make those choices and we can do a better job that government can. We understand that if we have a 1989 Cavalier that is only worth $500, it makes no sense to carry a $200 deductible comprehensive insurance policy. We may wish to pick $1000 deductible instead of $200 if we are willing to take that greater financial risk. The economic free market has provided us all with choices in auto insurance. As a result, Delegate Rodighiero is free choosing to purchase $200 deductible insurance on his own, but it will be his choice not the governments.

H.R. 4498 simple takes away our freedom of choice. If passed we will no longer be able pick our insurance based on our need or financial ability. For most West Virginian’s, they will be forced to pick more expensive insurance that they may not be able to afford, want, or need. Government decisions like this one that are not based on sound economic principles or freedom of choice are one of the very reasons West Virginia ranks at bottom of the good economic categories. We must change.

Our Veterans

November 11th marks the date on the calendar that we honor our veterans. We gather in our towns, watch the parades with ROTC members, Veteran local organizations, civic groups and the occasional Uncle Sam on stilts. Whether or not we agree with the War on Terror, on that day, we join together, wave our American flags and enjoy the local marching bands and all those that participate to honor our veterans.

Our veterans are those that have fought before us to preserve our freedoms that we enjoy today. Their selflessness makes it possible for us to be able to enjoy our work, religion and life in general without fear.

The military has been a great way for our youth to serve our country. They voluntarily sign up, and go off to training. They leave their families and communities to go down an honorable road where they become the educated and well-disciplined individuals that we are so proud of.

Everyday that our men and women in the armed forces serve, they leave their families behind and go into harms way. They never know when get up in the morning what will await them when they walk in the front door of their duty station office or when they walk onto the battlefield.

And today, there are thousands of our men and women who serve on our soil but also overseas to fight against those who want nothing more but to harm us here at home.

Many of our soldiers that go off to battle return as combat veterans. They sometimes return as wounded, or worse, in a box draped by a flag. They leave and do not know the fate that awaits them.

They don’t do it for the glory, fame or money. In fact, many of our service men and women don’t make much at all in way of monetary compensation.

They do it because they care. They care about their families, their communities and their country. They want to make sure that the safety we have today, we will still have tomorrow.

So today, as we wake in freedom, we raise our flag, and say a prayer for our military. And when we see a veteran, we can’t thank them enough for what they have sacrificed so that we can have everything we dream of.