Informed Citizens

            The topic of discussion for this Constitution Monday is the need for an informed citizenry. The citizens of America must know what the Constitution says and how the government works if the United States of America is to remain a free nation.

            The American colonists did not have any desire to break from Great Britain until their mother country began taxing them to bolster the funds of the king. The Americans were content to pay taxes that were used to improve their living conditions, but they were not willing to be taxed by Parliament without having any representation there. When they could see that the king and Parliament were not listening to them, they proceeded with plans to declare their intentions to be an independent nation.

            After the Revolutionary War gentlemen from the colonies met together in Philadelphia

met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to amend the Articles of Confederation. One of the very first acts performed at the convention was to amend the Articles of Confederation out of service. Then the delegates proceeded to write a new Constitution for their new nation.

            One of the delegates’ main concerns was to write a Constitution that would give the federal government enough power but not too much power. They fought a war for independence from King George, and they certainly did not want to have the same kind of concentration of power in the new United States.

            They decided to give the power to the people. That is the reason that the Constitution begins “We The People of the United States….” The Constitution gives the power to the people and allows them to exercise their God-given rights. The people loan some of their power to the government but retain enough to take control if necessary.

            The people must understand the Constitution and the government well enough to know what the government should be doing and what it should not be doing. Many school districts teach little or no civics or history classes, and the rising generations do not know the Constitution or government. An excellent example is the newly elected representative from New York, 29-year-old Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She is the youngest woman in Congress and basically has no idea what she should be doing and may not care that she does not know.

            I applaud the Indiana state senator who proposed Senate Bill 132 that would require high school students to pass a citizenship test in order to graduate from high school. Republican Senator Dennis Kruse says that “There is a deficiency in government and civics knowledge and it’s getting worse.” Believe it or not, there are people who oppose the bill.

            I believe that all citizens of the nation should know basic civics in order to be informed citizens. We required immigrants to wish to become citizens to pass a test to prove that they understand the responsibilities of citizenship. It is only fair that we require home-grown citizens to do the same.

Informed Citizens

            The topic of discussion for this Freedom Friday is the importance of being informed citizens. In order for any nation to be strong, the citizens must know the history and laws of said nation. This knowledge is so important to a strong nation that the U.S. requires all applicants for citizenship to pass a citizenship exam.

            An officer from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) asks an applicant up to ten civics and government questions out of a possible one hundred questions. The applicant must correctly answer at least 60 percent of the questions asked. This site has the 100 questions with answers. 

            Jesse Watters, Fox News host of “Watters’ World,” recently aired a video about citizenship. He went to Arizona State University and asked some students a few of the questions on the citizenship exam. The students did not do well.

            The fact that the students did not do well does not me. High school students are no longer required to take a civics class in order to obtain a diploma, and some universities no longer require the class. In other words, the rising generation is no longer being taught about the Constitution and laws of the United States.

            If students are not required to gain civics knowledge in school or university, most of them will not study it. This means that U.S. citizens are being “dumbed down” in regards to knowledge about the Constitution and government. Yet, they can still run for office and exercise their right to vote. This is why we have so many uninformed members of Congress: the uninformed voter elects an uninformed representative. If we want more and better informed representatives, then we must become better informed citizens.

Useful Idiots

                The liberty principle for this Freedom Friday is the simple fact that the “useful idiots” in our midst are threatening our freedom and liberty.  Karl Marx is often credited with coining the term “useful idiots” because of his statement, “My adherents are useful idiots.” 

                The phrase has also been attributed to Lenin, but the phrase has not been found among his published works.  A 1948 article - about contemporary Italian politics in the New York Times - “documented usage of the term in an article from the social-democratic Italian paper L’Umanita.  The French equivalent, `idiots utiles,’ was used in a newspaper article title as early as 1946.”

                “In political jargon, useful idiot is a pejorative term for people perceived as propagandists for a cause, whose goals they do not understand, and who are used cynically by the leaders of the cause.

                “The term has been used to refer to Soviet sympathizers in Western countries.  The implication was that, although the people in question naively thought of themselves as an ally of the Soviet Union, they were actually held in contempt and were being cynically used.  The use of the term in political discourse has since been extended to other propagandists, especially those who are seen to unwittingly support a malignant cause.”

“Karl Marx described `useful idiots’ as people who carry the Marxist ideals throughout a society or country itself, but this term can apply to anyone who believes in useless political ideas…. They can be considered useful idiots because other countries around the world have proved these ideas horribly wrong; however, they still blindly follow their leaders who say those things.  Useful idiots believe they are fighting for `good’ causes, but they do not have the ability to think for themselves.  If they would actually sit and think things out for a few minutes, they would realize how bad their ideas really are.”

                The term describes people who blindly support leaders without understanding exactly what their leaders are proposing.  When Marx made his famous statement, he was most likely referring to those people who blindly supported Lenin and Stalin even though they were committing many atrocities.  Useful idiots are not necessary unintelligent but are brainwashed; they are “misinformed, naïve, and ignorant  of the facts due to being indoctrinated with liberal/socialist propaganda through their public education….”

                Useful idiots in our day could be those who continue to claim that Obamacare is a good law in spite of all the evidence against it.  Other useful idiots could be those who listen to Al Gore and believe that mere mankind can control the climate.  Still other useful idiots could be those who believe that Islam is a peaceful religion.  Useful idiots believed that Obama was personally paying for their cell phones or would pay their mortgage or car, etc. from his “stash” - and gave him four more years to destroy our government.  They believe Mr. Obama when he claims the murders of Benghazi, the IRS persecution of conservative groups, Fast and Furious, etc. are “phony scandals.”  They believe conservatives are against Mr. Obama because of the color of his skin and cannot understand that we do not care what he looks like; they do care about his policies.  They cannot understand that he and his cohorts are taking steady steps to dismantle our Constitution and “fundamentally change” our nation.  They think it is a good thing when he says that he wants to bring the United States down to the level of all other countries.

                Rush Limbaugh asked, “How can people be so stupid?  I marvel at that.  See, I think you have to work at being ignorant – and if you’re gonna work at being ignorant, why not work at being informed?”

Will Durant stated, “We Americans are the best informed people on earth as to the events of the last twenty-four hours; we are not the best informed of the events of the last sixty centuries.”

                President Franklin D. Roosevelt said, “The only sure bulwark of continuing liberty is a government strong enough to protect the interests of the people, and a people strong enough and well enough informed to maintain its sovereign control over the government.”

                Please become informed.  Please use the brains given to you by God to THINK and UNDERSTAND that our nation is incrementally being destroyed.  Please start listening to what the progressives are saying – really listening – and then read between the lines.  They tell us what their plans are and should be believed!  Please, please, please! Become an informed citizen and help save our nation!

Well-Informed Citizens

                    The liberty principle for this Freedom Friday is the importance of being well-informed citizens.  We must do our own homework and learn the truth instead of simply believing everything someone tells us.

                    Americans have been told the importance of being well-informed since the day Benjamin Franklin said, "A nation of well informed men who have been taught to know and prize the rights which God has given them cannot be enslaved.  It is in the region of ignorance that tyranny begins."

                    To our parents and grandparents, Will Durant said, "We Americans are the best informed people on earth as to the events of the last twenty-four hours; we are not the best informed as the events of the last sixty centuries."

                    What would Will Durant think of Americans today who know instantly of events happening anywhere in the world?  As he said, we are well informed about what is happening today, but we are not well informed about history.  Since history tends to repeat itself, we would do well to study it.  We would do well to understand what caused the collapse of great civilizations such as Ancient Greece, the Roman Empire, and the British Empire.

                    Recently Senator Jim DeMint said, "I just want people to know that if they want to change the direction of the country, they can do it, but only if they're active, informed, and engaged."

                    We need to be able to read between the lines and discern between the truths and lies being told.  The Obama Administration keeps spouting lies in order to keep Americans in the dark about what really happened in Libya and why our Ambassador was killed.  Our Department of Justice refuses to give us the information we need to know about what really happened and why in the Fast and Furious operation.  I personally do not believe anything this administration tells us because they tell so many lies!

                    In my estimation, our national leaders are a bunch of "snake oil salesmen" much like the one depicted in a 1948 cartoon entitled Make Mine Freedom.  This Cold War-era cartoon uses humor to show the dangers of communism and the benefits of capitalism.  I believe that this cartoon was used in schools to educate the youth of our nation about the differences of the "isms" and should be shown to the youth once again.

                    This original cartoon was given a twenty-firstcentury update in 2010 that includes news clips showing how far America has drifted into socialism since the days of our grandparents.  The news clips show that we have a well spoken man in the White House right now who is just as smooth as the snake oil salesman in the cartoon.  There are many American citizens who are mesmerized by cheap, well-spoken words and who are willing to sell their freedoms for the empty promises.  When you watch the cartoon, imagine Barack Obama as the salesman who tries to convince Americans that communism and socialism are good.  Imagine Milton Friedman as John Q. Public who points out that communism and socialism are good only in theory but fail once they are put into action and that capitalism brings freedom to succeed or fail on our own.

                    Both versions of the cartoon show that once the people are informed and see clearly, they do not want the snake oil of isms.  When people really understand the pain and suffering caused by communism and socialism, we reject them quickly.  An example would be the rejection of Obamacare:  the more we know about Obamacare, the more we do not want it.  We must do our own homework and become educated and well informed citizens.  America as we know it is depending on it.