WHEN IS ENOUGH ENOUGH?

When is enough enough?

            Ever since the election of Donald Trump to be the 45^th President of the United States there has been a complete negative biased campaign against him and his administration by politicians and journalists. The far left leaning press has manufactured every slanted, unfounded accusation and outright lie against the man who wants only “to make American great again.”

            Even many of those of Trumps own party is on board in an effort to sabotage his efforts to pass legislation that was once the hallmark of those of the Republican Party. The only thing that many of Republicans today have managed to do so far is talk without any results. Their ability to govern is negotiable.

            For the past seven years the Republicans promised to repeal and replace Obama Care with the idea of replacing it with real reform. Did they deliver? Not a way in the world! During those past seven years all they did was criticize (with good reason) the Democrats shoving a badly flawed piece of medical coverage legislation down the throats of the American people with the eventual outcome of socialized medicine. What the United Kingdom and Canada have as medical care is what Obama and the Democrats really want and they make no bones about it.

            Most recently Senator Chuck Schumer has admitted as much when he said on national television that the Democrats would be more than willing to take a look at the single server idea.

            But this is only a start in the attack against Trump. There is the continual exploration of that imaginary fairy in the sky regarding Russia. It seems the American people are sick of hearing many of the outlandish theories Trumps opponents keep throwing out. So, when is enough enough?

            It seems the biggest problems the President faces can be reduced to two; the first is “tweeking” and the second shooting from the hip. Both of these things attract criticism from both journalists and politicians. This isn’t because Trump is ignorant but rather that he is not a political person. It must be remembered that he entered office as an “outsider” and this is exactly what the American people wanted.

            Frankly United States citizens are fed up with politicians in general. It was hoped with the election of Donald Trump that the Republican Party would put on their adult boots and take the lead they promised. But the exact reverse seems to have happened. Promises previously made seem to have disappeared into thin air and no one has an answer other than blame the other guy.

            In addition to this is the lack of promoting all of the successes the Trump administration has been able to achieve. Employment is at an all time low, the stock market is continuingly going up, our military is making inroads in the battle against Isis and illegal immigration is constantly going down. These are just a few things that have been accomplished but you will never hear about them watching nightly news.

            Where are the statesmen? Whatever happened to the idea that the first priority of leadership was protecting and helping the citizens of this marvelous land?

            If there was ever a time for term limits now is the time. But since there are no term limits politicians find a permanent “home” in government. Once elected many politicians seem immune to working for the very people who sent them to office to begin with. The only time you hear from these folks is every two to four to six years when they revisit their home districts to celebrate the Fourth of July, Christmas and New Years. This is when they visit state fairs, barbecues and home town parades. Other than that they seem to spend time visiting foreign countries—usually with family members—in some sort of “fact finding trip” and arguing for more tax money.

            Why don’t these people settle down and attack the real problems that face our homeland? One of the biggest of these problems is public education which promoters of liberalism find so attractive. Why is political correctness more important than honesty? Why is someone labeled an enemy for voicing opposition to attacks by those who don’t want to bake a cake for homosexuals because of their own religious belief? Why are rioters permitted to destroy private property and shout down legitimate speakers who are invited to speak at some college or university? The list goes on and on and nobody seems alarmed.

            When is enough enouth?

CELEBRATING INDEPENDENCE DAY. A REFLECTION

            Independence Day! Another year has passed with the celebration of fireworks, parades barbecues, baseball games and political speeches. It was a day of celebration but not necessarily a day of reflection.             

It will be 241 years since the Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, signed the Declaration of Independence on July 2, 1776. But it was two days later when the official document was signed.

            Since that time our country has changed remarkably from what the founders had known and experienced.  But what has changed most in America since that historic document was signed bares no semblance to what the framers originally intended. It is a fact that following the adoption of the Constitution Benjamin Franklin was asked about the establishment of the new form of government. “We founded a Republic—if you can keep it” he is reported to have said. And over the course of over 200 years his sage comment deserves a deeper look.

            Freedom isn’t free. During the course since 1776 the United States has continued to suffer assaults by foreign governments. In 1812 England  attempted to recapture the “colonies” only to be once again defeated. The war came about over trade rather than property history tells us. But the difference between the war of 1812 was it was the Congress of the United States that declared war rather than the British. The best England could claim as a victory was to burn the White House, a current idea of “entertainer” Madonna who shares the same feelings!

            As a result of the war however, one of the most inspiring things to come out of the conflict was our National Anthem—the Star Spangled Banner.

And there was the Mexican-American War fought from 1846 to 1848.

This conflict came about following the annexation of Texas from Mexico which resulted in Texas becoming the 28^th state of the United States. Mexico claimed that Texas was part of their national territory. But Texans thought differently and fought for their independence by partitioning the U.S. Congress.  But this was only the beginning; California, Arizona and New Mexico would follow Texas and after negotiations with Mexico to became part of the United States.

But wars continued resulting in the shedding of much American blood.

On June 28, 1914 the Archduke of Austria, Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie were in an open car when a member of the “Black Hand” secret society opened fire killing both the Archduke his wife. Because of the international entanglements this action directly led to what was known as “the war to end all wars.”

The war lasted from July 28, 1914 to November 11, 1918. During this period some 60 million military and civilian lives were lost.

It is still uncertain what were the actual causes for the United States, under the presidency of Democrat Woodrow Wilson, to declare war on Germany. But we did. What prompted the action was Germany’s sinking of merchant ships in the Atlantic and the torpedoing of the American liner, ”Housatonic” by a German U-boat with the loss of many innocent lives. Along with this was a discovery of a secret agreement between Mexico and Germany that if the Mexicans were to start a war between Mexico and the United States Germany would back them.

With the entrance of American forces led by General Jack Pershing, the war in France became more brutal. Finally by November 11, 1918 the war ended in victory for the allied forces. What resulted, however, was to lead to the Second World War.

After the war the “Paris Conference” was called in 1919. This led to the “League of Nations” which included Britain, the United States, France and Italy. At this conference unbearable economic restrictions were placed against Germany that resulted in the near collapse of the nation. This led to the emergence of the countries new “savior,” Adolph Hitler.

Hardly 25 years passed when Germany under Hitler nearly took over the European continent by force. If it had not been for the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor declaring war against the United States, Hitler might have won the day after his attack against Russia. But just three days after the attack by Japan, Hitler declared war on the United States resulting in Germany fighting on two fronts.

The rest is history; both Germany and Japan were defeated and what came out of the conflict was the use of the most horrible weapon ever devised—the atomic bomb.

But did mankind learn any lessons? Apparently not.

Just five years later North Korea invaded the south only to fight to a standstill three years later. A truce was declared but the war to this day has never been officially ended.

And the wars continue, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria to name just a few current nations involved in the killing of innocent people and the destruction of cities. Some battles are over land, others over religion. Regardless all are of a senseless nature.

So we come back to our “Independence Day.” Why do we celebrate this day? Do Americans really understand that everyone of these conflicts resulted in the deaths of young men who will never be able to have a family, live a life in content or enjoy the fruits of their sacrifice? If you know a veteran then say to them, “thanks for my freedom and your sacrifice.”