"Kitchen Conversation"

Today I would like to take a look back in time. The time is the late 1700s; the place is a kitchen in Philadelphia, the people: Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. These two friends are engaged in a conversation over a pot of tea; the conversation is about the new constitution they are involved in writing.

“Tom, what do you think we should start out with as our first thoughts on the rights of the people? You always have a word or two on these things”.

Jefferson answered “Well John, we are here because we don’t like being told what to do by Old George, we like our freedom, my friend. Unfortunately, when we speak out, we are sometimes jailed or worse for our opinions; George doesn’t like criticism very much; you know what I mean?  I believe we better start out with the freedom to say whatever you want to; you know, without fear from our government hauling us off to jail for speaking out. Yes, I believe that should be number one alright!”

Adams went on to say “That will certainly be a novel idea Tom, and I’m sure it will be well received by the people; we colonists are an opinionated bunch and prone to speak out. That definitely should top the list! What’s next, my friend? My thinking is something about self- protection; you know Old George would love to take every pistol and musket away from us.”

Jefferson agreed and said “The people must retain the right to protect themselves, even from the government when it infringes on their freedoms; they should be able to form a militia just in case of government oppression.”

 

“Now you’ve got something there Tom; we all want and need our weapons and every citizen will go along with that!”

 

Adams injected “Our homes are our sanctums, and we should have the right to restrict them to those who we wish to allow in; no person or government should be allowed to violate that right.”

 

“Good thought John, and our privacy is something we should also protect; no government should be able to invade our privacy without cause. Private conversations and private correspondence belong only to those for whom they are designated and no one else!”

“No person should be arrested without charge and proper complaint; we must adhere to a system of laws applicable to all and the government must show cause before any arrest can be made.” “John, I believe we are making real progress here!”

 

“Yes Tom, and no one shall be held for an indefinite period without a fair trial; justice should be served in a timely manner.”

 

“Once a verdict is made, the people involved should not live in the fear that they will be prosecuted for the same offense again; not guilty should be a permanent verdict in all valid cases or the government could seek to persecute those it finds troublesome. What do think about fair bail, John?”

 

“Well Tom, nothing should be so excessive that the average citizen could rot in jail waiting for a trial, yet it should match the severity of the offense that has been alleged. You know we must presume innocence until a trial has taken place and an innocent man must have time to protect himself in court.”

 

“Well said John; every man must have equal protection under the law, regardless of his station in lifel a poor man can be as innocent as a rich man and each should have equal footing in a court of law!”

 

“What about local ordinances in towns and states Tom? Should this new constitution be dealing in those matters too?”

 

“John, most communities know best how to deal with local problems better than those who are located hundreds or thousands of miles away; after all, we are writing this because we have been interfered with by a monarch who has never set foot on any of our soil and we didn’t like that very much. Local governments should handle local issues.”

 

“Well Tom, we’ve just about finished this pot of tea, and I’m a little tired, but I think we have hit on some real issues to bring forward; things that should stand up well for generations. Let’s bring these notes before the rest of the fellows in the morning and see what they think; I believe they’ll like them. Good night my friend, I’ll see you tomorrow!”

 

I don’t know if this is exactly how it went, but I do believe these good men did have some conversations like this one, and they came up with some pretty good stuff. They didn’t gain much for themselves, but they certainly gained quite a bit for the American people. Let’s try not to forget about this “kitchen conversation” when we watch our government in action. I wish our current leaders could remember it as well!

"No Free Sandwiches"

Last Sunday was “Father’s Day”, a day which is dedicated to those men who led us through all of our lives, by their great examples of love towards family and integrity in their actions.

I always think about the man my Dad was when this day rolls around. My Dad grew up during the Depression, the third son of immigrant parents from Italy. His father did a number of things to make “ends meet” while he was growing up, and he learned that taking care of your family was the primary job of any good father.

My Dad went to work early in life and always did his very best on any job he had; it was a matter of integrity and pride in his family name. He enlisted during WWII, his only time out of the work force.  He always held down a full time job. He married my Mom when he was a young man; very young by today’s standards. In about two years I came along; he was a proud Dad, as most Italians are when it comes to their children. He seldom raised his voice to us growing up; a glance in our direction was enough to know we had done something he wasn’t pleased with, and that was sometimes a chilling feeling.

My Dad never asked for a “handout” from anyone and believed that you needed to work for things in life through effort and determination. He always said “Nothing in life is free, except for a beating, and people will always be willing to give you one of those”, and he was certainly right about that. When I said I wanted a car, his response was “Get a job”; there were no “free sandwiches” as far as he was concerned. He was right again because we always value something a little more when we actually have to work for it. This may all sound a little austere, but this same man would always sacrifice his own needs for that of his family; he would repair his own work shoes so he would have more money to spend on his children. He took in his mother and uncle when they retired, not out of obligation, but because of love and respect for family. My Dad carried quite a bit on his back, yet he never complained; he was a great Dad!

Today we are living in a society that looks at life quite a bit differently than my father did. Even as far back as the 60s, my Dad said a few things about the “welfare society”, and they weren’t too complimentary! We see a society today that cries about their lives, but does very little on its own to take care of its own problems. Our society wants the government to fix everything for us. Our young people seem to want a free ride through life; they want the government to clear a path for them so life will be easy and smooth. It seems there are too many hands outstretched and too few hands willing to get a callous or two by working hard. It seems everybody wants a paycheck, but nobody wants to work for it.

 

I have an extremely successful daughter, and from the time she was young, she knew nothing in life was free; I passed on the same message I received from my Dad, and it worked! America will only recover from our current state of lethargy if we instill the message of hard work back into our lives. We need to forget about government “evening things out” for everybody and getting up off of our collective butts and working for our goals!! America works better when people work toward their own goals. It is like my Dad said, “There are NO FREE SANDWICHES!”  

"Inside the Bunker"

Soon we will be observing the anniversary of the invasion of Normandy, D-Day, the beginning of the end for Hitler’s Third Reich.

 

On June 6, 1944, elements of the United States, Great Britain, France and other allies landed on the beach in Operation Overlord, and they began the march toward Berlin. In less than one year, Adolph Hitler would be dead and the war in Europe would be ended. In the end, old men and children became the last measure of defense for the “Master Race”; the magic that Adolph Hitler once held over Germany collapsed in rubble and death.

Hitler’s rise to power seemed indomitable and nation after nation fell to his military might. Every time the dictator achieved victory, his arrogance and swollen ego grew even larger; he felt that he could do anything and nothing was beyond his grasp. He opened up a second front against Russia, and he believed he would easily defeat the Russian troops, as he considered them an inferior race.

Although his generals knew the war was all but lost after D-Day, they continued to follow his orders without question; those who did question him were quickly replaced with men of lessor capabilities but more fervent in their support for Hitler’s “genius”.

In the end, Hitler sat in his bunker moving from explosive rants to great depression, giving command to generals to move non-existent troops and barking about disloyalty among his military commanders. Everything around Hitler was falling apart and he could do nothing to stop his crumbling dream. All his charisma was gone, and all that was left was his lonely arrogance and self- pity. 

Over the course of the last few weeks we have seen our President, Barack Hussein Obama, thrust into a series of political scandals. His Attorney General, Eric Holder, seems to be at the epicenter of quite a bit of these controversies; his ethics are most certainly in question. The Internal Revenue Service seems to have been targeting conservative groups and businesses for “special scrutiny”, while leftist groups went merrily on with barely a look. American news agencies have been secretly investigated with questionable probable cause and oddly, Mr. Obama seemed to be unaware of any of these things. The liberal New York Times was even under the gun for saying things that seemed critical of the Obama Administration. Benghazi isn’t going away, even though former Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton has said “What difference does it make how it started!”

Several different groups are calling for an impeachment investigation over the ever growing quagmire surrounding Mr. Obama, and his staff members. Eric Holder is very close to being held in a contempt situation, as he gave spurious testimony to a Congressional Committee.

It appears that Mr. Obama has too many “fronts” to defend and his options are growing fewer as each day goes by. There is evidence suggesting that the IRS scandal reaches into high level Washington offices, perhaps even into the White House itself.

Mr. Obama still maintains a “happy face” throughout all of this adversity, but I wonder if he secretly would like to have an underground bunker to hide in, away from those who have found out that his charisma may be fading. I wonder if he will soon be issuing orders to “troops who don’t exist” and screaming about disloyal supporters. It may get lonely in that bunker, Mr. President!!