The words below are my opinions based on what I have witnessed or experienced. They are to be taken or left behind as you wish.  Eventually, this post will be moved to a section in August of 2015 where most of my non-photography articles reside.

A month or so ago I wrote an article on this blog and commented on how fortunate I was to have witnessed John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan during their presidencies. They were true world leaders and whether other nations approved of them or not, they were always respected. The contrast today is nightmarish. We are a weak nation and becoming weaker. While I am quite sure that much of the (liberal) world likes this current president, I see no true respect coming from any quarter. He seems to me to be a wimp on the international stage, and an anti-democracy bully at home.

If John Kennedy were alive today and still believed what he believed in the 60s, and governed the way he did during his all too brief administration, he would have to be a Republican. He would be absolutely despised by the political left. His hatred for communism and Fidel Castro are legendary. He along with congress, cut taxes and spurred economic growth and produced a balanced budget. He was a strong military man who did not allow America to become weak. He was an equal rights advocate but never pitted one race against another. He took the issues of the day one step at a time. He believed in the U.S Constitution and the inalienable rights that it granted. The poster below is a quote from President Kennedy.

Ronald Reagan was of course vilified by the American left (including me at that time), and disliked, yet highly respected by the world’s left wing. When he was elected president, the Soviet Communists were actually happy to see a strong leader who said what he meant, rather than the weak, vague presidents that held the past two White Houses. Eventually the entire Soviet Union fell during the George H. Bush administration due to Reagan’s relentless pursuit of freedom over Communism, and his true statesmanship on the world stage. He called the Soviet Union the “evil empire” (out loud and for the world to hear), and regarded communism/socialism as pure evil much the same as Kennedy did.

He stood up for our constitutional rights including gun ownership, even after he was shot by a madman.

These presidents were from two different parties, but had much in common. A relentless love for freedom, incredible statesmanship, strength on a world stage, and a belief in our Constitution. If either had believed that a black American was unrighteously killed by a police officer, they would have said so in plain terms, but if a radical group purporting to represent justice, would have called for the murder of police officers nationwide, they would have gone in front of the country, and condemned them. This president, who egotistically and narcissistically stands in front of America to speak, almost every day of the year, was silent when that occurred. As several police officers were shot, he (for the first time) didn’t even call for gun control.

Both Kennedy and Reagan would be ashamed of America and its leadership today.

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Sometimes when you wonder why things are the way they are, or why people or groups stand for what they stand for, look at the past. Way back in my younger days, the National Rifle Association was asked by the residing president and congress of the same political party, to agree on a federal ban on most assault weapons. They went before their membership and sold them on the idea, and in fact supported that legislation. The only caveat to their support was that this would not be a precursor to further bans on rifles (hunting), or pistols (self-protection). They were assured by the ruling party they would not pursue those goals. In less than a year, that same congress and president was promoting a ban on pistols and semi-automatic rifles. The NRA has never supported any gun control since. It’s hard to negotiate in good faith when you are in the company of liars. Times have not changed.

The problem with violence of all sorts in America, is not guns or knifes or baseball bats, it is several generations of people, who have not been taught to respect life.

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The words you see below were written by Allen West. He is a former member of The House of Representatives, and a former U.S, Army Lt. Colonel. He is also a former school teacher and is controversial to many.  His words are very strong in places, and it is of course up to you to decide for yourself whether to accept or deny his resolution to a current issue. He is noteworthy because of his background and his willingness to “just say it” rather than mincing words.

Whether I agree with every word he writes or not, his appraisal of this president, and who and what he has chosen to support, and who he has ignored, is spot on.

President Barack Hussein Obama, on behalf of true Americans, I want to inform you that we will not follow your unconstitutional executive order.

We the American people have no other recourse than to resort to civil disobedience. We have no representatives in Washington DC who will stand and the Supreme Court has failed us as well.

You have embraced violent protest movements in America such as Occupy Wall Street and Black Lives Matter. We are not lowering ourselves to that despicable progressive socialist “rules for radicals” model.

We, the people, are just telling you “No.” We will now be sending you emails and social media posts as well as calling OUR White House to say one word…….. “No.”

And if you persist and take the same course of action as Xerxes, we will give you a two-word response, Molon Labe.

This is your final year as president of the United States so let us come to an agreement: you leave us alone and we, the American people, will let you stay and finish your term.

Heed these words of counsel. Our American blood is descended from men and women who rejected tyranny — so shall we honor their memory.

If you do not wish to honor your oath to the Constitution and protect us, we shall protect ourselves. And NEVER forget the oath we American Warriors take is to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign, and domestic.

I beseech you, do not come down on the wrong side of American history. Do not come out into the East Room and issue these executive orders, which you know very well are not constitutional. America is a Constitutional Republic, not a constitutional monarchy, and we are not ruled by edict.

We have a system of checks and balances, separation of powers, and coequal branches of government. If you cannot govern this Nation according to its principles and established laws, then tell us so, and kindly vacate the office.

Nothing you are proposing by this executive action has any relevance to recent incidents. You have released countless criminals and now you wish to restrict law-abiding citizens’ rights to keep and bear arms.

Go to your hometown in Chicago, take a walk this evening in Washington DC, or drive up to Baltimore if you want to rectify “gun violence.”

But as a proud gun owner, husband, dad of two daughters, the third of four generations of American combat veterans, a former Member of the US Congress, and an American, I am telling you simply, “Stand down.”                                                                                                Allen West

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When I write articles that contain the opinions of someone like Mr. Allen or anybody else, or that contain a link to the story behind the story in the Oregon NWR takeover (last post), that doesn’t necessarily mean that I agree with everything that Mr. Allen says or stands for, and certainly doesn’t mean that I agree with everything that has or is now happening in Oregon. I do it because our news media really only gives you one side of the story. The side they want you to hear. The majority march in lockstep like good little comrades. This could be a different America with journalists that tell the whole story. In the meantime it is important that thousands of others dig for the whole truth, so Americans can make up their own minds.

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I know that some who read my more harsh political/social posts, are sometimes screaming at the page saying that “you mean this guy says he’s a Christian, doesn’t he know about forgiveness?”

My opinions on social/political issues are in keeping with correct Biblical teachings. Forgiveness is indeed not only fair to those who we forgive, it is essential to those who do the forgiving. Christianity is in fact, about forgiveness. Faith and forgiveness is where Salvation comes from.

Forgiving is righteous, forgetting is foolish

Thank you,                                                                                                                                          Wayne.