-Caveat Lector-
MONDAY APRIL 19 1999
Patriots Day by Geoff Metcalf
Today is Patriots Day. My wife grew up in Lexington, Mass., and direct
ancestors of mine fought in the Revolution -- in fact, one of them was on
the Green the day the shot heard around the world was fired. Patriots Day
is, and should be special.
Because today is Patriots Day, I'm refraining from my natural inclination
to rail against the treachery, manipulations, and multiple sins of an
administration staffed with morons, cowards, quislings, and hypocrites, to
reflect on our nations strengths, rather than our weaknesses.
Certain Congress critters may consider the Constitution and Bill of Rights
as antique literature and akin to the clothes they have eaten themselves
out of -- but frankly, they are wrong. The Constitution and Bill of Rights
are not accoutrements, and subject to fashion. Those founding documents are
the foundation upon which the greatest nation in the history of man was
built. Those who would undermine, abrogate, or destroy the foundation, are
in fact, the "domestic enemies" referenced in the very same oath most of
they have taken.
I was appalled, sickened, and more than a little PO'd, when five years ago
I heard the President of the United States say, for God and everyone to
hear, "When we got organized as a country and we wrote a fairly radical
Constitution with a radical Bill of Rights, giving a radical amount of
individual freedom to Americans. ..."
He went on to say, "And so a lot of people say there's too much personal
freedom. When personal freedom's being abused, you have to move to limit
it. That's what we did in the announcement I made last weekend on the
public housing projects, about how we're going to have weapon sweeps and
more things like that to try to make people safer in their communities."
I'm not making this up. This is NOT a parody or satire, or Ionessco play.
Clinton actually said this on March 22, 1994 on MTV's "Enough is Enough." I
hate that he said that. I am incensed that he believes it.
Today is Patriots Day. The obvious questions a reasoning person will ask
are Who gets to decide when personal freedom's being abused? Why DO you
have to move to limit it? Who gets to limit freedom? By what measure? And
how?
Thelen Paulk wrote a wonderful piece called "Visitor from the Past" (click
here for entire story). In it, his colonial visitor notes, "We fought a
revolution, to secure our liberty. We wrote the Constitution, as a shield
from tyranny. For future generations, this legacy we gave, in this, the
land of the free and the home of the brave." But Paulk's ghost from America
past observes, "You buy permits to travel, and permits to own a gun.
Permits to start a business, or to build a place for one. On land that you
believe you own, you pay a yearly rent. Although you have no voice in
choosing, how the money's spent. Your children must attend a school that
doesn't educate. Your Christian values can't be taught, according to the
state. You read about the current news in a regulated press. You pay a tax
you do not owe, to please the foreign IRS. Your money is no longer made of
silver, or of gold. You trade your wealth for paper, so your lives can be
controlled."
Gary Hildreth penned another inspiring piece which some claim is
apocryphal. He started by asking and answering a question about a bunch of
old dead white guys. Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who
signed the Declaration of Independence? Five signers were captured by the
British as traitors, and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes
ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons in the Revolutionary Army;
another had two sons captured. Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds
or hardships of the Revolutionary War. They signed and they pledged their
lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. He continues with a litany
of horror stories, and concludes, "These were not wild eyed, rabble-rousing
ruffians. They were soft-spoken men of means and education. They had
security, but they valued liberty more. Standing tall, straight, and
unwavering, they pledged: "For the support of this declaration, with firm
reliance on the protection of the divine providence, we mutually pledge to
each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."
They gave you and me a free and independent America. The history books
never told you a lot of what happened in the Revolutionary War. We didn't
just fight the British. We were British subjects at that time and we fought
our own government! Perhaps you can now see why our founding fathers had a
hatred for standing armies, and allowed through the Second Amendment for
everyone to be armed. Some of us take these liberties so much for granted.
We shouldn't.
A few months ago I was sitting in the office of a California Assemblyman
who is both brilliant, and a strong Constitutional Conservative. I don't
happen to consider the two items to be unrelated. Assemblyman Tom
McClintock is really one of the good guys. However, he was surprised when I
reminded him that the first three battles of the War for Independence were
not fought over taxes, or representation, or any of the long list of
usurpations about which American colonists were complaining. The first
three battles of the Revolution were a direct result of the British
intentions and efforts to confiscate powder and ball. ... It was about gun
control.
Today is Patriots Day. I realize most of the news focus will remain in the
Kosovo "Wag-the-Dog" as the controllers continue to divert our attention
from the high crimes related to communist red China and our posturing
Commander-in-Grief. However, it is probably also a good time to recall the
words of Pastor Martin Niemoller who said, "In Germany they first came for
the communists and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a communist. Then
they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. ...
"Then they came for the Catholics, and again I didn't speak up because I
was a Protestant.
"Then they came for me -- and by that time no one was left to speak up."
Geoff Metcalf is a talk-show host for KSFO in San Francisco.
© 1999 Western Journalism Center
--------------
"A patriot without religion, in my estimation, is as great a paradox as an
honest man without the fear of God. Is it possible that he whom no moral
obligations bind, can have any real Good Will towards Men? Can he be a
patriot who, by an openly vicious conduct, is undermining the very bonds of
Society? ...The Scriptures tell us righteousness exalteth a Nation."
- Abigail Adams, wife of 2nd President and founding father, John Adams
In the beginning of a change, the patriot is a scarce man and brave, hated,
and scorned. When his cause succeeds however, the timid join him, for then
it costs nothing to be a patriot.
- Mark Twain
**********************************************************
[EMAIL PROTECTED] The Patriot Resource Center:
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