The Patriot's Flag

There is a danger of making the Tea Party bigger than it is and a greater danger of belittling the swelling Conservative Tsunami by trying to define it with the Tea Party’s Mission and Core Values. The latter is only a small part of the former.  Confusing the focus of one and the power of the other diminishes the meaning and value of both. A fine discussion happened at “FR”. It turns out we can have both, for all the RIGHT reasons. Worth the time for thought and worth the effort of thinking about it.

From A discussion on the Free Republic:

Comment on Free Republic: You CAN NOT separate social from economical. It is not humanly possible. You can NOT pretend to ignore the crucial, fundamental principles of the Constitution that made this country the best ever and possible for free enterprise. Natural Rights should be the core, because without it, your freedom can NOT exist.

The Patriot’s Flag Response: If I want to deal with social issues, I look to platforms OUTSIDE the Tea Party. The Tea Party is for Fiscal Responsibility and Taxes. That’s where it came from, that is what its mission and core values are about and that is why it was named after the original “Tea Party.” As I said to another poster …If we start including gay rights, abortion, Christianity, and everything else, and try to stuff it into the Tea Party,the result something that looks like the old Democrat Rainbow Coalition.

The COMING of the CONSERVATIVE TSUNAMI.

The Tea Party is only a small PART OF the Conservative Tsunami wave that is forming. It is coming tidal wave with tremendous power that is about to make some major changes on the political landscape. That wave is made up of many groups. Some focus on Anti-Gay, Pro-M/F Marriage, Anti-abortion, Pro-Christianity, Anti-Mosque etc etc etc … and among the “etcs” is the Tea Party, focusing on Fiscal Responsibility. It is a PART of the wave, part of something bigger, but IT IS NOT that bigger thing.

The Restoring Honor Rally: We must not confuse the limited Tea Party’s mission with another far greater mission of a far larger phenomenon. Whatever the heck Glenn Beck did last week “is” that phenomenon. It doesn’t need signs, it doesn’t need rabble-rousing political speeches, it transcends race and even religious differences. It is beyond that, it is bigger than that and it is the God-driven values fueling the power.

This special thing that is happening is not what the Tea Party is, but the Tea Party certainly is a PART of greater wave. As individuals, we can join the “wave” in several ways. The 40 days is one, the Black Robe Regiment another, The Anti-Mosque group or the Anti-abortion group … AND, among those the Tea Party, (the fiscal responsibility group).

In these many groups making up the Conservative Tsunami, all of the Christian and Social values you are discussing and say MUST be there … they are there. The best example is the 8-28 Rally last Saturday. You were looking at the wave … within it were all of the things you say must exist, and in it were Tea Party people … just a smaller (fiscally responsibility driven) group among all the groups there. We don’t want to make the Tea Party into something is not, NOR do we want to belittle the Tsunami rising up (stuffing it into a very limited Tea Party Mission Statement).

Most people still do not realize what is happening or understand the significance the swell rising up beneath the waves. However for some, when we step back and understand what we are seeing it becomes clear and we notice something …

The Bush is afire with the glory of God, but only he who sees takes off his shoes.

And looking around, not everyone is barefoot … YET!

Title of Liberty Flag - Liberty Wins one!

One of the “purposes” of The Patriot’s Flag is to document the milestones as they move by our window on the world.  This little blog would not be complete if we did not take note of an important milestone that passed by us yesterday … the Restoring Honor rally on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC. The rally was non-political, there were no elected officials made presentations. This was one  of the most uplifting rallies held to date in Washington, DC.  If you missed the rally, the C-SPAN link to the entire 3.5 hours of video is below. The tide has turned, a surge is coming … this is just one more indicator.

Restoring Honor Rally

Watch the entire C-SPAN video here:

GlennBeck.com – Photos from Rally

GlennBeck.com - Front Pages of Newspapers

YouTube – God does a “flyover” of the Restoring Honor Rally

Comments and Posts that followed the Event:

From Renew America: “Restoring Honor” – A Huge Success

America’s faithful gathered with the unified mission to Restore Honor within ourselves and our nation. From the steps of the Abraham Lincoln Monument all the way past the World War II Memorial they gathered, straining to hear as numbers exceeded all hopes. Crowd estimates range from 500,000 to over a million as Beck spoke of God and family, of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Between a mix of Gospel and patriotic songs and speakers stood Martin Luther King Jr’s niece, Dr. Alveda King, who bravely spoke in spite of threats and great risk. (Read more…)

Use “Mouse Over” for Quick Summary of each Link

1. Washington Rally shows power of Conservatism in America (08.29.10)
2. Amanpour – the “bitter clingers” scenario from the left (08.29.10)
3. Estimates Vary of Rally attendance (08.29.10)
4. Faith, Hope and Honor at Glenn Beck’s 8-28 Rally (08.29.10)
5. Beck Rally signals election trouble for Dems (08.29.10)
6. CNN: Beck Positions self as Christian Conservative Leader (08.29.10)
7. Martin Luther King would have been Proud of the Rally (08.29.10)
8. Yahoo: Beck: Help us restore traditional American Values (08.29.10)
9. Reuters: Beck, Palin urge patriotic values at DC Rally (08.29.10)
10. AP: Beck: Help us Restore American Values (08.29.10)
11. Surprisingly, Beck’s rally wasn’t a political event (08.29.10)
12. Glenn Beck Rally, a warning to Obama and Democrats? (08.29.10)
13. The Honor of a Great People (08.29.10)

Title of Liberty Flag - Liberty Wins one!

Today I am flying the Title of Liberty Flag … a (new) Patriot Flag I fly when “Liberty and Freedom Wins one!” The “verbal” moratorium declared by Obama was struck down by a Federal Judge, declaring the moratorium “irrational” … so the impending moratorium is, at the moment, lifted saving 120,000 jobs on the Gulf Coast.  What is amazing is that there was no “written document” for the Moratorium … now “verbal” orders from Obama carry the authority of law, an escalation in his stealth Presidency. Well … not quite yet anyway … thank you Judge Feldman.

The “Moratorium” can’t be found … it was “verbal!”

NPR News: A lengthy search through Executive Orders and all other areas of potential documentation will give you “no returned data” for all your efforts.  That is because this “moratorium” declared by the President was VERBAL, not written. One source of confusion is the apparent lack of an original document laying out all the details of the moratorium. Mike Senatore is with Defenders of Wildlife, another environmental group that is suing the administration.

“We have, in fact, been trying to locate and to actually get from the Interior Department something that actually documents that there is in fact a suspension,” says Senatore.  In fact, two Interior officials tell NPR the drilling suspension was not put into writing.  “It was a straightforward verbal order to the director of MMS, which was then transmitted within MMS,” said one official in an email.

Government expert Paul Light of New York University calls the decision not to put this order into writing “so ridiculous that it defies understanding.” It could not be more important to enforce this moratorium and make absolutely clear to the oil industry what is and is not permissible,” says Light. “And yet you have the execution of a critical order that appears to have been basically done through the most casual way possible under federal law.”

Moratorium declared IRRATIONAL

From the Washington Examiner: Judge Martin L. C. Feldman, the U.S. District Judge in New Orleans, has granted a preliminary injunction against the six month moratorium on Gulf drilling imposed by President Obama and MMS Director Ken Salazar.

The Washington Examiner obtained a copy of the 22 page memorandum from the Judge’s desk explaining the decision. Full Text HERE

“After reviewing the Secretary’s Report, the Moratorium Memorandum, and the Notice to Lessees, the Court is unable to divine or fathom a relationship between the findings and the immense scope of the moratorium,” Judge Feldman wrote. “There is no evidence presented indicating that the Secretary [of the Interior, Ken Salazar]  balanced the concern for environmental safety with the policy of making leases available for development,” he said. He also asked, “If some drilling equipment parts are flawed, is it rational to say all are?”

Reaction:

• Jindal: Moratorium is [now was] a man-made disaster (Economic Times)
• Big Oil plays “Jobs” Card to fight drilling moratorium (Grist)
• Barbour: Judge did right thing to block drilling moratorium (Miami Herald)
• Obama will appeal judge’s order lifting moratorium (The Oval)
• Lawmakers (mostly) criticize judge’s decision (OnPolitics)
• Moratorium [would have] hurt oil demand (EconomicTimes)
• NOIA Encouraged by Fed Court Decision on Moratorium (Benzinga)
• Judge halts oil-drilling ban … says Obama misled public (Washington Times)
• Judge drills holes in deepwater ban, Obama will appeal (ABC)
• 8 out of 15 Obama experts not consulted, disagreed with Moratorium (CNS News)
• Salazar seeks to reimpose drilling moratorium (AP)
• Ruling mocks offshore ban (Politico)
• After apology to experts, Salizar lies in court again (WashExaminer)
• Obama accused of defying court (what’s new?)(Politico)

It is amazing that a “verbal” order from Obama caused this potential loss of 120,000 jobs and a total disruption in on-going oil production in the Gulf of Mexico.  More predictable was that Obama would use any excuse necessary, especially the spill “crisis” to shut down Big Oil and further do anything he can do destroy the economy of the USA and further the intentions of the Left Wing Wackos.  Once again demonstrating he never lets a crisis go to waste when it can advance his left-wing agenda.

There always seems to be some underlying, not-quite-visible innuendo or nuance in everything Obama does. And so it is with this drilling moratorium. It was bad-enough on its own merit. We all “heard about it” because the “state-run media” reported on it and each of us reacted to it accordingly. But when you search for the “document” that verifies the moratorium, you discover it does not exist.  Wouldn’t this be a REAL JOURNALIST’S starting point?  Obama usually skirts the law and the Constitution with an executive order, this time he did it with a verbal order, faithfully reported to us by the Main Stream Media as “law.”  This is an escalation in the “stealth” we keep encountering (after the fact) with this administration, and it also demonstrates the continuing complacence of the “watch dog press” ever-faithfully supporting his agenda. “Watch dogs” that allow the burglar a pass all too often. We saw the stealth and back-room dealing it in the “made up” figures and lies of the health care bill, we saw the “transparency” of closed-door meetings, reported as “bi-partisan.”   Facts don’t matter to this President unless they fit his agenda. This is getting more frightening every day.

But something to consider, since this order was given verbally, and now has been declared “not rational” … one could begin to draw conclusions about many things Obama says.

Title of Liberty Flag - Liberty Wins one!

Today I am flying the Title of Liberty Flag, a (new) Patriot flag I fly when Liberty overcomes Tyranny!  The House in South Carolina has passed the affirmation of the 10th amendment with an added bonus amendment that reaffirms the 6th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

The Sovereignty Resolution passed the State House of Representatives today (2/2/10); however, since it was amended, it most go back to the Senate for approval.

On Sept 29, 2009 I posted a blog “Got State Sovereignty?”  This post covers the subject of State Sovereignty with many links for proofs and references. From that post, here’s a review:

What is State Sovereignty?

When the Constitution was being ratified during the 1780s, the 10th Amendment was understood to be the linchpin that held the entire Bill of Rights together. The amendment states: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

First of all, it is the new political “buzzword” replacing “States Rights,” a term used mostly during the era of desegregation And from that time acquired a relatively negative connotation. Renamed, “States Rights” (which is still valid) is now being  called  “State Sovereignty.” Same valid concept, just a different name.  To fully appreciate the concept and reasons for State Sovereignty, we must initially look into the wording of the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, also part of the Bill of Rights. The Amendment is surprisingly short and straightforward:

The Item had passed the Senate, and now has passed the house … it now goes back to the Senate for final adjustment and should be passed and signed soon.  Here is the wording of the recently passed legislation for the reaffirmation of the 10th Amendment with the attendant reaffirmation of the 6th Amendment.

• The 10th Amendment clearly states:
  • “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

S. 424–ADOPTED AND RETURNED TO THE SENATE WITH AMENDMENTS

The following Concurrent Resolution was taken up:

S. 424 (Word version) — Senators Bright, S. Martin, Alexander, Campbell, Fair, Knotts, Cromer, Mulvaney, Verdin, L. Martin, Shoopman, Rose, McConnell, Thomas, Cleary, Courson, Coleman, Davis, Reese, Campsen, Grooms, Ryberg, Peeler, O’Dell, Bryant and Massey: A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION TO AFFIRM THE RIGHTS OF SOUTH CAROLINA BASED ON THE PROVISIONS OF THE NINTH AND TENTH AMENDMENTS TO THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION.

Rep. J. E. SMITH proposed the following Amendment No. 8 (COUNCIL\AGM\19805AB10), which was tabled: Amend the concurrent resolution, as and if amended, page 4, immediately after line 22, by inserting: Whereas, the Sixth Amendment to the United States provides “In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district where in the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense”; and
Whereas, by guaranteeing a speedy public trial for criminal offenses, requiring trial by a jury, guaranteeing the right to know the charges against the accused, guaranteeing the right to legal counsel for the accused, and guaranteeing that the accused may require witnesses to attend the trial and testify in the presence of the accused, the Sixth Amendment provides every South Carolinian peace of mind in knowing the wrongly accused is protected from the tragedy of wrongful conviction, imprisonment, or other punishment. Therefore, the protections afforded by the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution are of upmost importance to the Citizens of South Carolina and the State of South Carolina; and / Amend the concurrent resolution further, page 6, immediately after line 13, by inserting: Be it further resolved that the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina, by this resolution, affirms its support of the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution. /Renumber sections to conform.
Amend title to conform.

Rep. J. E. SMITH spoke in favor of the amendment.  Rep. BEDINGFIELD moved to table the amendment.

Rep. J. E. SMITH demanded the yeas and nays which were taken, resulting as follows:

Yeas 60; Nays 38

Those who voted in the affirmative are:

Bannister              Barfield               Bedingfield
Bingham                Bowen                  Brady
Cato                   Chalk                  Clemmons
Cole                   Cooper                 Daning
Delleney               Duncan                 Erickson
Forrester              Gambrell               Hamilton
Hardwick               Harrell                Harrison
Hearn                  Herbkersman            Hiott
Horne                  Huggins                Kelly
Limehouse              Littlejohn             Long
Lowe                   Lucas                  Millwood
D. C. Moss             V. S. Moss             Nanney
Parker                 Pinson                 M. A. Pitts
Rice                   Sandifer               Scott
Simrill                Skelton                D. C. Smith
G. M. Smith            G. R. Smith            J. R. Smith
Sottile                Spires                 Stewart
Stringer               Toole                  Umphlett
Viers                  White                  Whitmire
Wylie                  A. D. Young            T. R. Young

Total Yeas –60

Those who voted in the negative are:

Agnew                  Alexander              Allen
Anderson               Anthony                Bales
Battle                 Branham                Brantley
H. B. Brown            R. L. Brown            Clyburn
Dillard                Funderburk             Gilliard
Govan                  Gunn                   Hayes
Hodges                 Hosey                  Hutto
Jefferson              Kennedy                King
Mack                   McEachern              McLeod
Miller                 Mitchell               J. H. Neal
J. M. Neal             Neilson                Parks
J. E. Smith            Stavrinakis            Thompson
Weeks                  Williams

Total Nays = 38

SC Sovereignty Flag

A little history for South Carolina: The use of the 10th Amendment in conjunction with nullification garnered much attention in 1828, when the federal government passed a tariff that southerners believed affected them disproportionately. When the 1828 tariff was complemented by another in 1832, Vice President John C. Calhoun resigned the Vice Presidency to lead his home state of South Carolina in pursuit of an “ordinance of nullification,” which was no less a declaration of the sovereignty of each individual state within the union than the declarations now being made.

Calhoun was simply exercising what he recognized to be his state’s right to defend liberty within its borders by rejecting the dictates of an overbearing central government. While his efforts culminated in a tense affair referred to as the “nullification crisis,” which saw everything from threats of a federal invasion of South Carolina to an ongoing and near union-rending debate over national power vs. state’s rights, they also succeeded in turning back the tariffs that had been passed in spite of the Constitutional limits on federal power.

The 10th Amendment Center is, without a doubt, the best current refer to site for 10th Amendment information. If you have an interest in this subject, you should go there and discover all the related issues to this central issue.

With an out-of-control Federal Government, the 10th Amendment is a recognized Constitutional Barrier between total federal tyranny and the basic liberties and freedoms that were guaranteed in the Bill of Rights.  It is more important than ever to re-affirm this part of the Constitution first as a warning to Federal imposition and second as a legal barrier to Federal imposition.   We cannot afford the mandates being placed on taxpayers by the Federal Government.  If the “blue” states want to pay for the mandates, that is their “right” … in South Carolina, we are deciding we do not want to pay for the Federal mandates.

• On a local note: State Senator Tom Davis will be speaking at the Hilton Head Island Tea Party Constitution Class on Feb 20th, 2010, and his subject will be State Sovereignty.  This meeting has been “filled” attendance-wise, but more classes are scheduled. You can get the information HERE.

1. The 10th Amendment Center Best source of 10th Amendment information.
2. The 10th Amendment Center Raising the bar for Nullification

Title of Liberty Flag - Liberty Wins one!

Today I am flying the Title of Liberty Flag. This has been the best week for Conservatives in the past “Year of Obama.” McCain Feingold gutted, Corporate Money back on the political table, not just Union Money. Scott Brown (R-MA) wins in Massachusetts, the Health Care bill is declared “dead” by Nancy Pelosi.  What a difference a week makes! However …

Liberty Winning

Forty Nine out of Fifty States report job losses … and in the month of DECEMBER which usually causes jobs to increase because of the Holidays.  South Carolina with 12.3% unemployment! Ohio with 10.9% unemployment! You can see the full list of job losses HERE … it is devastating! However, when Obama runs into a problem, his solution is to run out and give a speech or have a beer summit.  The poor people of Ohio just got the speech … no beer!

But the White House says:

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama is trumpeting a new White House estimate that his top economist calls “stunning”: His stimulus plan has already created or saved up to 2 million jobs. The analysis is part of the administration’s quarterly report to Congress on the controversial $787 billion package of spending and tax cuts he signed weeks after taking office.

And today in Ohio, Obama was campaigning again … for increasing JOBS?

Elyria, Ohio: A combative President Barack Obama exhorted Congress Friday to pass a new job-creation bill with tax breaks for small business hiring and people making their homes more energy efficient. Hitting the road at the end of a week in which the White House was stung by the election of a Republican to a U.S. Senate seat in trditionally liberal Massachusetts, Obama hammered away at the theme of putting people back to work.

Neither the tax breaks nor the energy incentives, both backed by Obama, was included in a jobs bill the House passed in December. The $174 billion stimulus package now is before the Senate, where it faces a tougher test, in part because it is financed with deficit spending.

So is somebody lying again?  How could the White House be claiming all those SAVED jobs when we are seeing record unemployment in 49 out of 50 states?

A Jobs Bill? Surely the people of Ohio and the rest of this country aren’t going to swallow the Kool Aid AGAIN are they?  We already had a jobs bill this year it was a $3.7 TRILLION STIMULUS Job Bill! and it didn’t work … it failed and now he wants another jobs bill?  And not one person at the “campaign rally” today stood up and said “We already tried your ideas, they didn’t work!“  Are these people totally asleep?     zzzzzzzz      zzzzzzzz     zzzzzzzz

Obama is Obama, but the people at the rally? The claims of the White House are totally refuted by the actual job numbers coming from the individual states. Looking at the people “behind” the President as he gave this speech made one wonder about what kind of people would go to a rally like this and cheer this man who now is a documented failure.  I expect Obama to make the usual “campaign” promises (none of which he has kept except getting a dog for the kids). But I shake my head in wonder at the people who would show up and applaud this man … who is RESPONSIBLE for millions of job losses, who’s policies have only caused MORE job losses and who now proposes a “jobs bill” to fix the problem.  What could be wrong with such people?

What Kiind of People Go to an Ohio Town Meeting? How could you have an “open” Town Hall type meeting in Ohio with 10.9% unemployment and make “MORE” promises to people that you will provide jobs …. and yet not have one protester jump up and say “You Lie!”  What is the matter with these people?  Or was this a hand-picked crowd for another Obama photo op? Regardless, how could those people stand to be there and be a part of this travesty when their friends and neighbors are jobless and struggling because of this man?

Obama I understand … Ohio Puzzles me. Obama is going to be Obama. He’s an ideologue that will continue to spout the socialist rhetoric he was taught by his lefty friends and preachers … he won’t change, he is who he is. But were the people in that Town Hall meeting just a bunch of trained robots or will they eventually wake up, like the folks in Massachusetts did and start saying “ENOUGH!”?  I “muted” the TV because I’ve heard all the BS from Obama before … (and I can always read a version of it in the NY Times later). But the fascination to me was watching the faces and expressions of the people nodding and cheering behind him … so many still-delusional people … people who will see the video tape someday and wonder what they were thinking by cheering this man on. I would think  most people in Ohio would have had enough of Democrats … especially when you look at their chances for recovering from this disaster before 2015! (See above graphic).

The failure will continue: His failures will continue, most of the country is waking up from the Obama-induced coma that lured everyone into a deep sleep of unaccountability.  Lets hope next week brings more good news for Conservatives.  It has been a long year and watching this President and the Democrat congress fail is an event long past due.

1. CNN: In Ohio, Obama vows never to stop fighting
2. USNews: Mort Zuckermann: How to get Americans Working Again.
   

Title of Liberty Flag - Liberty Wins one!