Ethics and Principles And Integrity

I have been watching and listening with interest for some time to people whom I talk with and supposedly share a common set of ethics, principles, and values; yet, when it comes to really putting those supposed personal standards into practice by how we treat others, vote, or handle our business, those standards no longer hold any sway.

We are said to share a common religious heritage, a common belief in treating others how we would like to be treated, stealing and lying are wrong, abortion is wrong, you shouldn’t expect others to provide other than short term assistance. You are responsible for your actions and decisions. We should try to assist those less fortunate than ourselves. Accountability is important in trying to help someone achieve the goals they have set for themselves, especially if we are the ones providing assistance in their achieving those goals.

The sad truth is, none of that goes beyond the words spoken. It is evidenced by the Christian church actively lacking a “Widows and Orphans” list or program. The church has abdicated that responsibility to the State for a multitude of reasons; none good. The church’s clearest indication of its true faith is caring for widows, orphans and those who live at the fringes of society. How we treat those most different from ourselves is the true standard by which the church will win or lose the spiritual battle in this country and our world.

One reason is the growing animosity between the Church and Government. The Courts have been creating, over time, a distance and hostility through the decisions which have been rendered. The “free exercise”of religion is being increasingly eroded by each successive decision. Forcing Christians to participate in events which are anathema to their conscience, removing prayer from schools, attempts to restrict free assembly through the use of zoning ordinances, and removing school choice options are all examples.

Another reason is the actual message being preached from the pulpits of our churches and a lack of adherence to the clear, unambiguous teaching of Scripture. We have many churches which preach God’s blessing are primarily material and are contingent upon the amount of money tithed or donated to the church or a feel good message which reduces the conviction of our transgressions to give us greater self esteem.

Scripture says the Gospel is Christ and Him crucified. We are to be brought to an understanding of our sin nature, our need of a Savior, repentance, and acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. There is no other name under heaven by which humans must be saved. We do not teach this enough in the church as a whole because it causes self reflection and self evaluation; we don’t like that. We have become a people who want to hear how wonderful we are and even our mistakes aren’t that bad; especially when compared to what we know others have done.

Christians can talk about the wrong in the world all we want, but until we are actually pursuing remedies and being active in our communities and giving God the glory for what is done, we are tilting at windmills. We should not expect non-Christians to act as Christians;  especially, when we who call ourselves Christians don’t.

We have to be a living example of the change we want to see. We have to be honest with our struggles and how we overcome them. God is the source of our strength and sustenance. He is the reason we are able to accomplish anything; we can do nothing in and of ourselves. The glory is His.

Remember, faith without works is dead. We are saved by grace, not works, lest any man should boast. The works come as we submit daily to Christ and His calling on our lives. We will naturally do those things which He lays on our hearts as we submit and allow Him to live through us for the world to see. We will also naturally give Him the glory because we know it is Him living through us accomplishing whatever is done.

Until we, as a body of believers known corporately as the Church, submit individually and collectively to God in all we do; our families, churches, communities, counties, states, nation and world will not change. We must give everything to God and allow His will to be shown. He is to get the glory not an individual, not a church, and not an organization. God is to get the glory. He must have all of us and it is something we must strive to do in every aspect of our lives.

They Just Don't Get It

Did the Russians intervene in our electoral process by attempting to hack both parties information processing equipment? Yes. Did it have any effect? Yes. Did they hack election machinery to alter votes? No. Is there evidence of vote tampering? Not by the Russians; Detroit is an example. Has anyone said the information which was released was false? No, in fact, the Democrats haven’t been asked that by those in the press corps and have not denied their veracity when given the opportunity while conducting interviews. Ms. Clinton’s private server wasn’t hacked by the Russians so that information isn’t even in question.

So, where are we with all this hand wringing and intimidation of electoral college electors by George Soros (not an American citizen) funded groups. Let’s remember Mr. Trump is not yet President; Mr. Obama is President. The intelligence community will not come before the appropriate congressional committees to present their evidence on the extent of the hacking, though they have been invited. President Obama could present his evidence to the American people in a nationwide address. No entity within the Democrat controlled executive branch of government will come forward and actually present their information. Until they present the information, these groups are just a bunch of noise attempting to interfere in our electoral process but in a different way than the Russians. Both are funded from outside the United States of America.

It is time for us to come together and accept the result of the election. Mr. Trump will be our next President. Democrats must do what they wanted Republicans to do if Ms. Clinton had won; accept the election results and let’s get down to the business of getting our country to be representative of all of us.

Trump Steps So Far

I have enjoyed the consternation from the political elite of both sides of the political spectrum as President Elect Trump has met with a variety of people from different backgrounds and ideologies. They seem to forget he isn't an ideologue; he is a pragmatic businessman. He doesn't have political baggage or ties which can back him into a corner and hinder his strategy. He isn't beholden to any political or business special interests and he promised to be the President of all Americans. He is listening to everyone and isn't shutting any doors or burning any bridges. He is doing what must be done before making a decision; that little thing called critical thinking which is so lacking in today's America.

The people who voted for Mr. Trump are tired of politicians and the stale rhetoric and positions from all the people belonging to the political establishment of either party. The mouths open and the same ideas are pronounced with changes to the semantics but not the substance. Their bottom line politics are essentially what they have been, and what people have been seeking solutions for since time began. Mr. Trump comes with none of that because he isn't someone who has a political history of stands on issues. He can cast a net for information and opinion from every quarter, which is a good thing. It is the politicians of the establishment in both major parties which have gotten our nation into the divided and indebted state it is in today.

Both sides practice racist identity politics. They each try to divide us into different camps according to our ethnicity, sexual orientation, social, or economic status. They try to tell us one group is getting this particular little goody and so this other group has to fight for their little group as does the next little group. It never ends and does nothing but continue to alienate and make us suspicious of one another. We start forgetting we are all in this together and the law and rules have to apply to every individual American the same. If it doesn't, none of us are safe from being singled out at some point. We cannot make exceptions for adherence to the rules just because it might be an individual in the group we identify ourselves with who is being held accountable. We are all equally accountable before the law.

This means if you protest and start destroying property you must be held accountable. If someone from your group breaks the immigration law, they must be held accountable be they an employer or someone who didn't enter the country legally. It doesn't matter the history of a hundred or hundreds of years ago; the law of today is applicable to today and anything else is noise meant to confuse the issue. We are a nation of laws and not of men for this very reason. We are one people from many different backgrounds who have certain inalienable rights from birth which are codified in our Constitution. This Constitution must mean what it says because if it doesn't, if it is indeed a living document which can be construed however the current political climate desires, our most basic freedoms can be brushed away with a 5 to 4 vote of the Supreme Court. We are already beginning to see this happen. Your deeply held belief could be next if you fall out of favor with the political elite.

It is why it is so important Mr. Trump continue to do what he is currently doing. Meet with everyone, even those he may not agree with at present. Hear every idea, challenge established philosophy and policy, push back against conventional government bureaucratic thinking from those who have been in their positions through many administrations (it isn't as if they have this great track record). Ultimately Mr Trump will have to make a decision, when he does he must move forward with and implement without hesitation.

As he implements his strategy he must do so transparently and lay it out before the American people without the filter of the journalistic establishment, which has proven to be untrustworthy and with an agenda. He must do it outside the established political elite as they have become entrenched and only concerned with protecting their individual power. He must call out those who are duplicitous. He must acknowledge those who are helpful. He must go to the people; they are his greatest asset. Lay his case out to the citizenry and use the army which got him elected. They are the ones who got him elected and who only want one nation undivided which is fair to all its citizens and each is truly measured by the "content of their character".

A Beginning

We have just come through a very contested and divisive presidential campaign which has defined the differences in our country in pretty stark terms. We could look at this as the beginning of the end of the United States of America which we love or as the beginning of a dialogue which must be no holds barred, frank, straightforward and without concern for feelings and emotion. We cannot afford to ignore these issues or sugar coat the challenges to protect my or your feelings any longer. Politically correct dialogue must become a thing of the past; as must identity politics. There should be one identity, American.

Why must there just be an American identity? Well, the simple truth is we have allowed politicians to use those separate identities to divide us and appeal to our self-interest. We segregate ourselves in these artificial ways and allow special incentives to be given to us in tax breaks, set asides, or preferences for different things. We do not consider what would be best for all of us or how much it will cost someone else; and it will cost someone else because resources are finite and there are no free lunches.

We have allowed ourselves to be divided ethnically, by age, by income, by social standing. Social Security is used to divide us by age. The Democrats tell the old that their “benefits” will be cut if Republicans are in office. The Republicans tell those who are working about the percentage of the budget which go to Social Security payments and that the Social Security Trust Fund is going to be bankrupt. There is truth in all those statements, but also lies of omission.

The Social Security Trust Fund will become insolvent because of the population bubble which is fast approaching. But if the Government under both parties hadn’t been using the fund to borrow against because they won’t hammer out a budget which makes the Government live within its means, the fund would be solvent.

We the people are also to blame for the state of the Social Security Trust Fund because we expect government to be our Daddy. We think we deserve some kind of tax break, refund, or government service which we don’t think we should have to pay for or we don’t require our lawmakers to come up with a solution which will make it fiscally responsible. As citizens we have to be honest with ourselves and understand these things don’t just magically appear; they are going to have to be paid for by someone in the form of taxes or fees.

Here are some of the questions you should ask yourself when pondering these things. How much of your earned money are you willing to give away to fund someone else’s lifestyle? Why should someone fund the lifestyle you desire when you won’t do it for yourself? Why are you entitled to any part of someone else’s paycheck? Are your wants more important than someone else’s? Why should you be immune to the unexpected turns of life? Why aren’t you more responsible in your budgeting? Why aren’t you saving for those unexpected consequences? What are your real beliefs, morals, and ethics? Are you voting according to them? If not, why aren’t you? Are you responsible for what people did 5 or 6 generations ago? If not, why do you even entertain the notion of reparations? If a government program meant to alleviate poverty still has families on the program after 4 generations, why does it still exist? Let’s just start with these questions and go from there.

What Is Journalism?

I think it is now time in the west and in other countries who have governments which have democratic processes in the governmental systems, to ask what is journalism? What is its purpose? What are the ethics of those who call themselves journalists? What responsibility, if any, do the have to their readers, their governments, their employers?

These questions come to my mind after seeing trends within the media of activism for one set of political views, their growing brazenness in doing so, and their condescension to those who have a different set of values. I was given impetus to write this after watching 2 news programs this weekend. One was a show from a local station out of Tallahassee, Florida called “The Usual Suspects” and a show on PBS on Georgia Public Broadcasting entitled “Open Mind”; both shows illustrated the things I have seen in the media and those who identify themselves as journalists.

On the show “The Usual Suspects” there were 4 journalists, all progressive in leaning as evidenced by their very apparent dissatisfaction with Mr. Trump winning the Presidency. There were 2 Caucasian males, 1 Caucasian female, and an African American male, I don’t remember their names as I was overcome by their lack of objectivity and failure to grasp the mood of those who voted for Mr. Trump. They were obviously restraining themselves from saying the things they wanted about those voters and displayed a veneer of professionalism.

The African American journalist was honest in saying he was restraining himself from saying the things he wanted, I appreciated it and understood his feelings (though I feel he shouldn’t have to feel as he did) but the Caucasian female journalist couldn’t contain herself saying they need to be more proactive in “educating” those who voted for Mr. Trump about the issues. She feels journalists need to do more to get their progressive message out because, I guess, we don’t understand or maybe they are using words which are just to big for us to understand because how else could she explain those voters disagreeing with her.

In the other program, “Open Mind”, the control of information was what seemed to be what was important through journalist controls. I took that to mean, maybe I misinterpreted it, I was not smart enough to process the raw data and they were the ones who need to parse that data and decide what I should be able to see and interpret. I took it to mean, that unlike WikiLeaks, they would not have released the emails of Ms. Clinton, but they agreed with the release of those earlier emails and other documents which detailed the deeds of the NSA. This smacks of an agenda and wanting to engage in propaganda for a certain agenda.

This is what has brought about the demise and credibility of today’s news organizations; I am not even sure the journalists realize they are doing this. They have come to believe they are so much smarter than everyone else and they have the sole recipe for curing all the world’s ills. They believe they know how I should spend the money I work to earn, what car I should drive, how I should talk, how I should think, and it should all be done through government edict no matter what is in the law of the land; the Constitution.

Journalists are suppose to be the intelligence network of the American public. They are to give us the facts, without ideological slant, and allow us to make decisions based on those facts. There should be analysis pieces and editorials; but, they should be clearly labeled as such, not hidden as a straight news article.

Their cheer leading for certain candidates, issues, and ideology led to the rise of Fox News and their being ignored by a large segment of the population because of this lack of credibility. They need to return to the example of Walter Cronkite whom no one knew as a liberal until he had left his post at CBS News. It is because of this objectivity Mr. Cronkite was the most respected and trusted journalist in America. People knew he was a straight shooter, honest and a man of integrity.

 When journalists return to reporting who, what, when, where, and how they will again be trusted by all the American people. Until they separate the how and label it is such, they will not.

Why I Voted For Mr. Trump

I voted for Donald Trump and throughout the election cycle I explained why I was voting that way. I am an informed independent, Christian, constitutionalist American. I am a Marine no longer on active duty who takes the oath of enlistment seriously and it has no expiration date. If I perceive you as a threat to the Constitution I am honor bound to protect the ideals and principles and law set forth in that document against all enemies foreign and domestic. I am honest and detest dishonesty in those entrusted with governing and have taken the same or similar oath.

President Obama, a Democrat, has had 2 terms (the maximum) in office and had campaigned and was elected on a platform of transparent, honest, and inclusive government. He failed at all of it by those standards. His administration has not been transparent as evidenced in the emails which have been made public detailing the exchanges with Ms. Clinton’s staff to cover up the private email server she set up and compromised classified information. Which also exhibits their lack of compliance with a personal standard of mine, the rule of law.

You cannot tell me you are for the rule of law when you will not, and do not intend, to enforce the law of the land because you disagree with a law which has been instituted in accordance with our system of government and you happen to disagree, something the Obama administration has done throughout its tenure. They would not prosecute voting law in regards the New Black Panthers who were intimidating voters in Philadelphia and they will not enforce immigration law against either employers or those who enter the country illegally.

If you believe in the rule of law, you live it out in the actions taken when in a position to take action. You enact legislation through compromise and deal making; you do not do it with the stroke of a pen through executive order. When you do not put action with words you have no credibility, you are not truthful. You live within the bounds of the authority granted your branch of government in the Constitution. Mr. Obama and the democrats have not done that and have no intention of doing so. Ms. Clinton would be a continuation of this behavior.

You also don’t denigrate those who have legitimate differences on matters of conscience as President Obama and Ms. Clinton have done. They force Christians to perform acts contrary to their Biblically based beliefs or lose their businesses. They say we must change those Biblically based beliefs on abortion and homosexual marriage and enforcing of the current law in regards to immigration or be in the “basket of deplorables”. We are not xenophobic, or misogynist, or racist, or homophobic, or any other hateful name you wish to call us when using the Saul Alinsky political tactics to try and win an argument on other than facts. You have an us versus them mentality, not me. Live within the bounds of the Constitution and we will not have an issue. I am an adult, I can live and deal with disappointment in a positive way.

I am also not a globalist; I am an American before anything else and I will not surrender the sovereignty of my country to any world body or allow it to be surrendered by either an internal or external threat as defined in the Constitution. While I have empathy and sympathy and compassion for those in other countries, they are not my priority. My priority are American citizens. Our veterans come first, our homeless, our poor, our downtrodden all others come after them; especially when we have an almost 20 trillion dollar national debt. Any other tact is irresponsible and burdens our future in a way which is criminal in its negligence.

Any trade deals which costs Americans their jobs or destroy our manufacturing base are negligent. Any trade deal which disadvantages American based business or makes it more advantageous for American businesses to operate outside our borders instead of at home creating American jobs and building our manufacturing base is wrong and should not be pursued. The United States of America and her citizens must come first.

This is not to say we should disengage from the world and what is going on, not at all. We have to be engaged and protect our interests as we are the world power, but we cannot be a bully or impose our will on others. We continue to fight for human rights and the rule of international law, but we choose our battles carefully. If American interests are not at stake, we should not be militarily committed; it should be a diplomatic approach.

We should also not call domestic political activist groups as good if they promote an agenda which calls for violence as certain groups favored by the current administration have done. If you engage in or use rhetoric which calls for violence against any group within our country you are to be labeled as what you are, a hateful organization which promotes an agenda which is in contradiction to the values embodied in our Constitution. The Constitution is the standard against which everything must be measured.

 These are some of the reasons I voted for Mr. Trump. I could have also mentioned the Supreme Court or the nomination of an extremely polarizing candidate, but this is getting long and I don’t want to bore anyone. These are my reasons and I don’t claim to speak for anyone else (I am not that arrogant).

An Open Letter To Ms. Hillary Rodham Clinton

Ms. Clinton,

I am writing this letter because you seemed a mite bit confused why you are in the predicament you find yourself.  You seem under the impression others are at fault for your poll numbers going down and a vast majority of the American population believing you should be indicted for the various and sundry charges which could be filed.

The reason you find yourself with these challenges aren't the Russian intelligence services. It wasn't the "vast right wing conspiracy". It wasn't FBI Director James Comey. it wasn't Donald Trump. It wasn't Wikileaks. It wasn't Julian Assange. It wasn't Huma Abedin. It wasn't Anthony Weiner. It wasn't Leon Podesta. It was you and the choices you made. No one else.

You see, you are finding out what the vast majority of us already know. It is also the reason some of us would never vote for you. You and your husband (remember when he ran and the thing we were getting two intelligent people for the price of one) refuse to take responsibility for your actions. You chose to have an unclassified private email server even though policy and law said you weren't suppose to. You chose to put classified email on an unclassified server even though having been in government in some fashion for at least the past 30 years and been exposed to and taught how to handle classified information throughout that tenure from your time on the Watergate Committee onward.

You see I handled classified information during my 12 years in the Marine Corps, some of it as a Special Security Office Chief; so, that explanation doesn't fly with me. It doesn't pass the smell test. It is a rudimentary and common sense rule for anyone who has handled this type of information you do not put classified information on an unclassified system or on any device which is connected to an unclassified network. Anyone who has been indoctrinated, when they sign their Non-Disclosure Agreement, they are explained the rules for handling said information. Privates learn how to properly handle classified information everyday. Again, your excuse just doesn't pass the smell test.

In those emails which were part of the hack of the Democratic National Committee detail them and your campaign colluding to rig the Democrat Primary. You rigged an election. You are a cheat and have a difficult time with the truth. Yes, the emails were obtained in a questionable manner, but their actual validity has never been challenged. You rigged an election.

You lied to the American people by claiming the attack on the United States consulate in Benghazi, Libya was caused by a video when you knew all along (as documented in the emails you tried to destroy). You did not tell the truth about help being told to stand down; they were told to stand down. Those 4 men were left to die; abandoned by their government to protect a failed foreign policy you helped devise. Just like the failed foreign policy you came up to have a "reset" with the Russian Federation; another failure. And the failed foreign policy you came up with to deal with middle east violent extremist groups (since you just can't bring yourself to identify them as the militant Islamist they are) has been a failure as documented by the rise of ISIS/ISIL/DAESH. You are incompetent.

Ma'am you chose to put that information at risk. I say again, you chose to put that information at risk. It would never have been exposed if it hadn't been put at risk. You can't take responsibility, you are don't deserve to be President. You are incompetent as demonstrated by your actions, you don't deserve to be President. You feel entitled, you don't deserve to be President. You feel you are above the law, you don't deserve to be President.

Anyone who can really be intellectually honest about your actions, and your reactions to their becoming public, would never be able to vote for you.