U.S. Senate Candidate Glenn Addison: An Impromptu Interview

    Tonight I got to sit down with U.S. Senate candidate Glenn Addison at the Jalapeno Tree restaurant in Tyler.  He had just finished speaking at a candidate forum and graciously agreed to an interview, on the spot, by this small time blogger.  His campaign slogan is “A Common Man With Common Sense Solutions.”  I found this to be very true.  He’s a very personable  50 year old guy from Magnolia, TX.  He owns two funeral homes, one in Magnolia and one in Spring.  I have to say that he is so charismatic that he just made me feel right at home talking with him.  You don’t see that every day in most people that run for a seat in the Senate.  It was very refreshing to know he wanted to hear what I had to say and answer my questions!

     So let me tell you a little about Glenn Addison. Mr. Addison has been married to his wife Lorie for 28 years and has 2 grown children.  He’s been a small business owner since the age of 26, so he has experienced first hand what it’s like to try to survive in a hostile business environment.  He has dealt with the destructive nature of the Federal Government in the business market as well as their interference in education.  He served on the Magnolia I.S.D. school board for 15 years!  Mr. Addison talks about reigning in our government and how we need to all “get back into the book” better known as the Constitution.  His campaign is centered around just that.  He wants to restore the U.S. Constitution as the supreme law of the land and repeal vast amounts of destructive and unconstitutional Federal legislation.  He doesn’t want to stop there, either! He wants to get rid of all the unconstitutional agencies and departments, too!  He has said if he is elected he will spend ONE 6 year term in Washington and if he has not accomplished what he proposed to do in those 6 years, he needs to be replaced.  If he has done a good job he can come back to Texas with a good feeling of helping this country be a better place to live.  If he is elected he has pledged to close his political campaign fund the day he takes office and accept no further donations.  Because of this, Mr. Addison will not be saddled with the burden of seeking re-election and therefore, will be able to work full time for the people of Texas!  He has also said he will not be signing on for the government pension plan or healthcare that the Senate provides for themselves.  Does this remind you of anyone else? I hear shades of Ron Paul in many areas of Mr. Addison’s platform and in his desire to really work for the people and to adhere to the Constitution.

     The first thing I asked Mr. Addison was if he was endorsing a candidate for President.  He told me he is not endorsing anyone as he is trying to build his own coalition of voters and thinks it could be detrimental to his own campaign if he comes out to endorse anyone.  He did say that he admires Dr. Ron Paul and the work he has done to make people more aware of where our government is overstepping it’s boundaries.  He said he had some serious issues with Romney, Newt, and Santorum, though.  So we’ll suffice it to say he is for whichever candidate is for the Constitution.

     Glenn Addison has some big ideas that he intends to take with him to Washington, D.C. should he be elected.  He is gonna march into Washington with the Constitution in hand and if they want to do something that isn’t in Article 1 section 8, he fully intends to vote against it and to start talking to the other conservatives asking them why they are going against the constitution.  If they don’t change their minds and continue to vote for unconstitutional legislation, he will become an advocate for finding a constitutional conservative (in deed and not just word) to run against them in their home state.  Those are some big words, but you know what?  I believe him and I applaud him!

     We discussed what departments he felt needed to be cut.  He was very much in line with Ron Paul on these.  He listed cutting the EPA, OSHA, National Labor Relations Board, Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Education, Energy, HUD, Interior, Labor, and Transportation.  He believes that all of these departments are unconstitutional as they are not mentioned in Article 1 section 8 of the Constitution.  He said he realizes that people may balk at a few of those, but says that if it was good enough for our founders and worked for over 100 years, then it is good enough for our country, now.  He believes that government has grown well beyond it’s intended purpose and he is ready to start paring it back down to what it needs to be.

     He talked about passing an Omnibus Bill and then letting the government shut down.  In the Omnibus Bill would be provisions so that our troops would still receive their pay and our seniors and others on Social Security would still receive their checks, as well.  He said that there is enough money coming in to pay on our debt so we do not default and to take care of our troops and seniors.  Government could otherwise shut down and maybe that would force some serious meetings across the Senate and Congress about our economy.  We could be headed for another depression that would “make the Great Depression look like a walk in the park”, he said.

     When asked about jobs, he said, “I am convinced the EPA is the biggest job-killer on the face of the earth.  Whenever the Federal government is more concerned with a lizard or snail than the livelihoods of American citizens, we have a major problem.  This happens all over the country as one business after another is negatively affected by some outrageous demand from the Federal Government dealing with issues it has no constitutional authority to be involved with. We have to return those regulatory powers back to the states where the Constitution says they belong.  By getting the regulatory boot of the Federal Government off the necks of the American Economy, people will have a desire to expand their businesses when the opportunity presents itself. ”  He would like to give companies that produce products here in America incentives so that we will see a strong uptick in hiring here.  He wants to lower the corporate tax rate from 35% to 10% for companies that will manufacture in the U.S. creating more jobs for Americans in that process.  For companies that have closed their plants and factories int he U.S., he would like to propose an incentive that if they reopen those factories and rehire American workers, they will pay NO corporate tax for 10 years!  Giving these companies strong financial reasons to make their products here in the U.S. will bring jobs back to America.

My next question to Mr. Addison was about the passing of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).  He said, “I am VEHEMENTLY opposed to the NDAA.  I believe that people have been duped into thinking it’s about security.”  He agreed when I said that although some parts of a bill may be good, if there is one part of it that is unconstitutional it should not be passed.  It should either be redrafted without the unconstitutional portion or killed altogether.  This was great to hear since EVERY  Senator and Congress member from Texas except Ron Paul voted FOR the NDAA.  That is not OK in my book.   This lead to me asking him about the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA).  Although he had never heard of this ludicrous treaty, he did say if it is unconstitutional, “It should be called out for being unconstitutional.”  I didn’t have a lot of time to inform him on ACTA, but you can be assured that he will research it and if the U.S. has not pulled out of the treaty by the time he gets to Captiol Hill, there will be someone in Washington fighting to get us out of ACTA and any other unconstitutional legislation!

     I wish I’d had more time with Mr. Addison to get into the things he talked about in the forum tonight, but, as you can imagine, his schedule is chocked full of stops along the campaign trail.  So, I will direct you to his website to read more about his stances on the issues.  I can tell you that you will be impressed with his views.  This is the kind of person we need to be putting in office!  He has my glowing endorsement!  I would encourage you to attend one of the events at which  Glenn Addison will be speaking.  Talk to him one-on-one, tell him what you think about the issues in this country, and listen to his responses.  Texas should really pay attention to this candidate.  I believe he will do great things if given the opportunity!

     Glenn Addison is facing Lt. Governor David Dewhurst, a known establishment Republican, and Ted Cruz, a former advisor for the 2000 campaign of Bush/Cheney, and Solicitor General of Texas (read establishment republican) that has been endorsed by the official Tea Party of Texas.   Glenn Addison believes the people of Texas are ready for a grassroots Senator who will work for “we the people”.  Spread the word that Glenn Addison is the constitutional candidate for the U.S. Senate!

SOPA & PIPA Dead…Or Are They?

A loud cheer arose from the internet community when news broke that SOPA and PIPA had been shelved.  No sooner than that cheer arose, TX-21 Rep Lamar Smith was at it again with a new bill.  That’s right, we’re looking at a new bill on internet censorship.  There is also a treaty that has been signed by several countries, including the United States that allows for internet censorship and continual monitoring of your personal activities.  These pieces of legislation are the ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement) and PCIPA (Protect Children from Internet Pornography Act) also known as H.R. 1981.  As with all bills, the titles sound harmless enough, but the devil is in the details.  So, let’s dive in and see what our government is REALLY up to.

ACTA-   This treaty (yes, you read that right) is an agreement between the Australia, Canada, the European Union (EU), represented by the European Commission and the EU Presidency and the EU Member States, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland and the United States of America.  This agreement is supposedly to protect intellectual property rights.  Although that sounds good, there are issues with the actual details in the treaty.  Here is a little video to better help you understand what this treaty would mean for all people involved.

Now that you’ve had a minor run through of the ACTA treaty, here is the actual text to read.  If you are like me, you want to know EXACTLY what this piece of legislation says so you can better combat its existence.   It’s 25 pages long and may be a difficult read if you aren’t used to legalese.

This treaty is a big deal.  All of the monitoring it takes to bring this agreement into fruition is a direct violation of our 4th amendment.  This is allowing them to constantly search our homes, computer, etc. without a warrant.  I don’t know about you, but I’m not willing to give up my right to privacy in my own home just so Hollywood’s elite can save a few bucks from people pirating their stuff.  Do I think the piracy is wrong…yes.  This, however, is NOT the way to go about fighting that.  You cannot give up your rights just so a few can have security.  It won’t work.  There needs to be mass opposition to the signing of this treaty!  The treaty was signed in May 2011, but is open until May 2013.  Anyone may withdraw from this treaty with written notice to the WTO (World Trade Organization).  Within 180 days of receipt of that written notice the participation of the country wishing to withdraw will be withdrawn.  We need to be calling the USTR (United States Trade Representative) and telling them that we DO NOT want to participate in this treaty as it is unconstitutional.  You can contact the USTR here under Intellectual Property & Innovation.  I hope that everyone that reads this will do just that!  Lets fight to keep our 1st and 4th amendments intact!!

PCIPA (H.R. 1981)-  Who would dare to go against something that will protect our children from pornography?  That’s just what TX-21 Rep Lamar Smith is counting on people saying.  If it protects the children it MUST be good, right?  Not always.  I DO NOT condone child pornography in ANY CONTEXT.  I believe it is up to the parents, though to monitor their child’s internet activity.  I think parents should sit with their children while they are on the internet just to keep them from falling into the pitfalls that run so rampant on the internet, but most are too involved in their own things to take time out of their busy schedules to properly police their child’s internet browsing.  This, however, does NOT give the government the right to pass bills that infringe upon our rights.  This bill, once again, just like SOPA and PIPA allows for the government to have the ability to monitor our usage of the internet without a warrant.  Again, I am not for giving up ANY of my rights to feel a little more secure because it DOESN’T work!  We have to take responsibility for our own actions and our family’s actions.  We DO NOT need government to tell us what we can and cannot do in our own homes or to monitor us so we don’t “step out of line”.  That is not their job.  It clearly states in the 4th amendment that the government may only search our property if they have a warrant to do so.  This warrant doesn’t give them a blanket approval so they can come in at any time off one warrant.  Each instance requires a new warrant.  This bill provides for ALL ISPs (internet service providers) to keep records of all usage by their customers for up to 18 months and to provide this freely to the government.  The government HAS TO, by law, get a warrant for that kind of information.  PERIOD.  For this purpose, alone, I disagree with this bill.  It is unconstitutional.  Here is the text of the PCIPA and the text of Title 18 that it is amending.  Again, I ask that everyone that reads this article should contact their Senators and Congress members and ask that this bill be stopped or amended so that it does not infringe upon our 4th amendment right.  We must be vigilant in watching over our rights as the government is so apt to step on them at every turn.  Here is a link to the petition to stop the PCIPA.  Please sign and share the petition with others!

I ask that everyone reading this, please, do your own research and confirm the things that I have found to be true for myself.  If you find something that I have missed, please feel free to let me know and I will immediately look into what you have found.  Again, I repeat, that I am not advocating child internet pornography or any aspect of that.  I AM, however, advocating the upholding of our 1st and 4th amendment rights as well as all rights granted to us by our Creator and guaranteed us in the Constitution.  Go research, fight the good fight, and most of all stay true to our Constitution!  Together, our voices can be heard as witnessed in the fight against SOPA & PIPA.  Lets get the word out and stop these as well!

And Then There Were 4…

So, I know I’m a couple of days late on this one.  Sorry about that.  Rick Perry has finally dropped out of the Presidential candidate race!  This means I no longer have to listen to the Governor I can’t stand talk like he’s the best thing that has ever happened to TX and how right he would be to run our country.  Am I excited?  YOU BET!  While governing here in TX, he has taken land through eminent domain to build highways he intended to sell to foreign entities while charging Texans to use those same roads.  He has also tried to force our children to have a vaccine that is KNOWN to kill…he started with girls and was rapidly moving on to the boys getting the same vaccine.  This is not the guy I want running our country.  I dealt with enough of his crony-governing and bad ideas with him just being the governor.  He talks a good game…telling you exactly what you want to hear so he can tally up the votes, but believe you me, when it comes down to it, he is all about the money and doing what HE wants.  He does NOT have our best interest at heart.  I personally can’t wait to vote him out of the Governor’s office in 2 more years!!!

So, this leaves the field with only 4.  We now have the “media darling”, Mitt Romney, the “Tea Party Tyrant” Newt Gingrich, the “I agree and would have signed the NDAA” Rick Santorum, and the “I stand firm on the Constitution and liberty for all”, Ron Paul.

I don’t know about you, but if the media thinks Mitt Romney is who should be the nominee, that alone makes me want to find out why they are in his pocket.  I’ve seen too many clips of his rudeness to normal people and I just flat out don’t agree with his ideas on policies for this country.  So, he’s out.

Newt…ahh, Newt…there just isn’t enough time to go into every reason I don’t like him.  He’s a warmongering, back room deals taking, corrupt Establishment politician.  I think that’s enough said, there.

Now for Rick Santorum.  A lot ot of pastors here in TX are supporting him as “the biblical candidate”.  I don’t think I will ever understand this.  This guy has actually said on record that he wants to go to war with China!!  He’s all for blowing Iran off the map and all in the name of  “standing by Israel”.  I agree we should be Israel’s ally.  I think we need to listen to her, though.  When Israel says, I don’t need your help, please remove your troops, we can handle our own defense…we should listen.  If they ask for our help, then by all means, go to her aid.  They did not ask us to defend her against Iran, though.  They are perfectly capable of handling that all by themselves, PER THEM!  Then there is the no birth control thing.  I don’t personally take birth control and I don’t personally think it is right for me or my family, but that by NO MEANS means that NO ONE should be able to have birth control!  There are many people that have to have birth control to regulate their cycles and to keep horrible cramps at bay…just taking away birth control is NOT a good idea.  On the up side, he’s pro-life.

Then we have Ron Paul.  Wow…what a guy!!  Who else can say that they have a 30 year voting record to prove they have never once voted against our constitution?  Who else can say that they even know what the constitution says so that they can fully defend it from enemies foreign or domestic?  The only one of these candidates that can claim that, is Ron Paul.  We NEED someone like him to take the U.S. back to where it needs to be.  There is so much government waste in bureaucracy.  I know that Ron Paul could cut this down quite a bit.  Oh, you’re worried about his age?  Nah…he’s a healthy 76 years old.  I have no problem with this, but if you do, then I would worry more about the things he can get done in 4 years than I would about anything else.  We might actually have real country that’s free again in that amount of time.  Is that that worth it?  Not to mention you need to worry about who you can trust going into office with the NDAA in effect.  I’m sorry, but the only one I trust to repeal that and not USE it, is Ron Paul.  In fact, he is the only person that has even attempted to introduce legislation overturning the controversial section 1021 in the NDAA.  That, alone, should tell you something!

I realize that this is a complete opinion piece, but I’m allowed to do that since this is my blog.  I hope you will really think about who you are voting for and who you are trying to put into office.  Really do the research and look at where each person sits on the issues.  I hope you love liberty as much as I do and vote for Ron Paul, but I won’t hold it against you if you really do the research, KNOW who you are voting for, and they fall in line with YOUR view on the issues.  Just make sure you have all the information, first.  Don’t listen to the media, don’t listen to just the campaign speeches, research their voting record, research their governing record, look as far back as you can and realize that leopards don’t change their spots…they just paint over them in election years.  Good luck researching!!

 

Here are a few sites that I found helpful:

YouTube.com –  Go look up all the videos good and bad of your candidate.  After watching them all, do you still agree with them?

Govtrack.us –  You can go here to look up how your candidate voted in Congress or the Senate.  This is a very handy tool.  Sometimes our candidates don’t exactly remember how they voted.  Hold them accountable for the way they actually did vote.

http://www.NRA.org –  See how they score with the NRA, not necessarily who the NRA endorses, just how they were graded on gun rights.

http://www.nrlc.com – If you are concerned with how they stand on Pro-Life issues, check here to see how they score the candidates on being pro-life.

http://www.google.com  Use this to find out information about what your candidate did as governor over the whole length of their term.  Read articles both good and bad.

Then think about asking the candidates questions that are important to you.  You can send them an email or tweet with your question or go to one of the Town Hall meetings they will do or campaign trail stops.

Read books about your candidate or by your candidate if you can, as well.

Become familiar with the things your candidate talks about.   If you don’t know what Austrian Economics is or who Mises, was, find out.  Technology is an amazing thing.  Get educated on your candidate and the others.  KNOW who you are voting for!

28% of Americans Have Read the Entire U.S. Constitution?!?

I encourage all my readers to go read this article.  I also encourage you ALL to take the challenge presented.

 

28% of Americans Have Read the Entire U.S. Constitution?!?.

Do Unto Others…EXCEPT in South Carolina!

Tonight was the South Carolina debate for the GOP candidates.  I must say that I was absolutely appalled at all the warmongering speeches coming from the podiums!  On a daily basis you hear people talk about how we need to get out of Iraq and Afghanistan and bring out troops home.  It’s absolutely nuts that all it takes to get people in this country riled up for another war is the GOP screaming that some middle eastern country is about to have nukes.  If people would FACT CHECK these statements, they would find that the GOP has been screaming Iran was “about to have nuclear weapon capabilities” since 1984!  During 1984 it was said that Iran was 7 years away from nuclear weapon capabilities.  Then again in 1995 it was said they were closer than we thought to nuclear weapon capabilities.  Then again in 1999, they were supposedly 6 months from nuclear weapon capabilities.  Here were are now in 2012 and Iran STILL HAS NO NUCLEAR WEAPON CAPABILITIES!!  The uranium that Iran has is mostly enrinched to 3.5%.  They have begun enriching to 20% (which is an isotope that is for cancer patients) and declared it through the IAEA as they are required to do!!  Weapons grade Uranium is 90% !! That’s a long way to go to get to nuclear weapon capabilities!  The GOP is fear-mongering to push the people into believing that we MUST go to war!  The people have obviously fallen for this once again hook, line, and sinker!!  In tonight’s debate in Myrtle Beach, SC, the whole audience cheered for going to war and booed the Christian way of “doing unto others as you would have them do unto you.”  This message is SO important that it is written in the Bible TWICE!  Once in Matthew 7:12 and again in Luke 6:31! HOW UTTERLY SAD!!!!!  I think this “Bible belt” state has forgotten that Christ gave us that rule.  They must have also forgotten that He said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God.” (Matt 5:9)  This is the seventh beatitude mentioned in Matthew 5:3-12.  “It would have shocked most Jews (in this case Americans) in the crowd. Jews were looking for ‘Messiah’ who would overthrow the Roman empire (in this case all middle Eastern and Obama’s empires) and establish an earthly kingdom (American Empire). But Jesus supports peace and encourages the peacemakers. Once again, Kingdom of Heaven defies the norm of earthly kingdom, which is established by power, force and wars.” (Bible Study on the Beatitudes)  Does that make you think twice about wanting to go full fledged into war with ANOTHER country?  Are we acting like the Christians we CLAIM to be?  This is why it absolutely perplexes me that a Christian country would CHEER for war and BOO peace!  Maybe we should all get back into our Bibles that we claim to model our everyday after and REALLY think about what Jesus would want us to do!  We’ve been given a great opportunity to stand up and speak for peace, people!!!  Let’s stop the warmongering and cheering for war and essentially the death of our sons and daughters, and move toward peace as Christ has told us to do!

The Awakening

In my life, I have always paid attention to politics, even as a small child. I’m not sure what made me so interested, but with my first mock election in elementary school, I was hooked. The school had us vote for the Presidential Election of 1984. It was Ronald Reagan against Walter Mondale. I was a very independent thinker even then, so it didn’t matter what my parents thought or what my teachers thought, I was going to form my own opinion. I remember listening to them speak and asking questions about each candidate. Come time for the mock vote at school, I KNEW who I was voting for. I had decided that Reagan’s message of liberty and freedom was just common sense! I didn’t like Walter Mondale at all! So, I cast my vote for Reagan. Apparently 58.8% of the country agreed with me. I continued to pay attention to the elections as they came up each time and always knew exactly who I wanted to vote for. I knew I was a die hard republican!
I remember being able to go vote for the first time. I was so excited to cast my vote! I had my mom drive me to the polling location and I excitedly went in and presented my voter registration card and my driver’s license. I walked to the voting booth and quickly punched the mark for an all Republican ticket. Wow! I was letting my voice be heard!!
For the next presidential election, I was a military wife with a 2 year old and was pregnant with my second child. It is amazing the things you learn once you really get out into the world and have a family of your own. Again, in the election, I voted a straight Republican ballot, but with more knowledge that I was absolutely voting my principles. I was so happy to vote that year, even if it was by absentee ballot. I must admit I LOVED having George W. Bush win, knowing I had voted for him. You see, my family knew his family personally. I’d met him on many occasions and just LOVED him and Laura, too. They were two of the sweetest people I’d ever met! My grandparents knew their parents and spoke so highly of them and of George and Laura. I guess this influenced my opinion quite a bit. I know that President George W. Bush prayed about his actions before he did anything. What a great person to have leading this country! As you can imagine I voted for him the second time around, too. That election I got so involved I actually worked on George Bush’s campaign. I became a member of the Young Republicans in my town and worked diligently to get him re-elected. That election was exciting and scary all at the same time. It really felt like it was THE most important election, ever. I could almost feel our country being thrown away by the democratic party. We HAD to vote George Bush to save us.
It’s funny how with each election you get the feeling that it’s more and more important than the last. Come the election of 2008, I was never more convinced of that. There was this outrage against the president I had loved so much and you could feel the pull of the country in the opposite direction. I researched ALL of the candidates and was not very happy about the ones that had been presented until I found former Arkansas Governor, Mike Huckabee. I wished I had know about him sooner. I was so excited to find him as my candidate. I eagerly joined his campaign and worked very had to make sure people in my town knew about him. Come the primary, my sister, husband and I all went to vote together and then waited to see the election returns. We were so excited. Unfortunately, Mike Huckabee did not win the nomination and we got stuck with John McCain. This was the first time I really felt out of sorts with my party. Going to vote in the general election was awful. Again, my sister, my husband, and I all went together and we all felt HORRIBLE voting for McCain, but he was the lesser of two evils at the time. I felt actual disgust in voting for him. How could my party betray itself by nominating this very moderate “conservative”? In my opinion, he might as well have been a democrat. Obviously, he didn’t win and we ended up with an even worse scenario. Now we had a man that I believe wasn’t even eligible to be President in the office. The fact that my party just seemed to sit back and accept that made me even more unhappy with them.
During all this time I was also following other elected officials and their elections and voting in those elections, as well. The 2010 governor’s election was coming up and Rick Perry was running, again. I had become increasingly unhappy with his running of our state and wanted desperately to get him out of office. I believe he has been in that office way too long and has become very corrupt. Try telling that to the Republican Party of Texas, though. They won’t even hear it. It doesn’t matter that he was stealing land (eminent domain) from our people to build the Trans-Texas Corridor and selling it to other countries. No, that wasn’t a bad thing according to the GOP. So, I started looking for someone to replace him that was really paying attention and wanted to do something that was very different. I found Debra Medina. Oh what an amazing woman she is! I researched her and found out how to get involved in her campaign and became the Smith County coordinator. I loved every minute of being involved in her campaign! She wanted to (REALLY) have small government, unlike Perry that increased it at every turn. She wanted to give property rights back to Texans and stop property taxes which only make us “rent” the land from the government. She opened my eyes to see that you cannot truly own your property because the government can take it away if you don’t pay property taxes. I had never thought about that before. What an interesting perspective! She also opened my eyes to a new tax system that actually made sense! If you just put a tax on the things people buy and use everyday, you can get rid of the tax on your property! The studies that were done on it show that it works!! WOW! We could actually REALLY have our OWN property in TX! This woman is a visionary! While working for Debra’s campaign, I also learned a little about Ron Paul and what it means to be a Libertarian. I wasn’t fully convinced, but I definitely liked what more of their candidates had to say then what the GOP candidates were offering. Hmmm, maybe I wasn’t such a die hard republican after all? Then someone put a test up that would tell you where you actually were on the political spectrum. I was a little shocked to see that I wasn’t as conservative as I thought, but I was more libertarian. I fell right smack dab into the middle of the libertarian section of the graph. I was still in denial to some degree, though, so I didn’t put much stock in that test.
At one point in the Debra’s campaign she was attacked by Glenn Beck. We had worked so hard to get her on his show just knowing that he would promote her. She was everything he talked about our country needing! She was actually for LESS government, for individual property rights, pro second amendment, pro-life, and not corrupted by the establishment republicans. This was going to be so great! The interview started off kind of strange. Glenn Beck had this odd tone to his voice and he was being kind of rude. The more I listened the more angry I got! Then it happened. He asked her if she was a “truther” and she stumbled. She had no idea what a “truther” was at the time. I thought she handled herself pretty well, but he just kept talking over her, laughing, and saying that she made him “want to give Rick Perry a big ol’ French kiss!” HOW COULD HE?? He completely railroaded a person the stood for everything he said we needed! I was more than angry! Within minutes of the interview being over, Rick Perry’s campaign release a statement condemning Debra even more. Then it came out that Glenn Beck was in Rick Perry’s pocket. The same dirty politics that they were playing in Washington was playing out right there in front of me, in MY home state. I couldn’t believe it. I knew Rick Perry was not a good man, but I had never envisioned him stooping that low. I had never envisioned Glenn Beck stooping that low!! I was completely disgusted with the way the Republican party treated her and her supporters after that. My eyes had been opened that much more.
When Debra didn’t win the nomination, I started looking for someone else that had the same core values and ideas as she did. There was no way I was going to vote for Rick Perry or Bill White, so I HAD to find someone else. I found another candidate that I was happy to support and wrote him in on the ballot. I also made sure that I voted for NON-establishment republicans or libertarians anywhere that I could. I refused to vote for the same dirty politics ever again.
Fast forward to the build up to this years campaign. No one had officially thrown their hat in, but I was sure that Mike Huckabee was going to run again and I had liked him so much last time and liked that he had a plan for our economy, so he was my guy! I waited for him to announce he was going to run. I was so excited he was finally going to make an announcement on his show and then lo and behold, he said he was NOT running. WHAT?? I was heart broken. That last little bit of my attachment to the Republican party had been broken. There was no one in the field that I wanted to vote for. I started looking for anyone else that was going to run. Then I remembered what Debra had said about Ron Paul. He was worth looking at even if I didn’t agree with some of his positions. I started researching him and where he stood on the issues. I checked his congressional record and it became clear, this was the man I had been looking for. Ron Paul had it right. The more government interferes in our lives, the less free we become. He had the economic plan that I knew would work to get us out of this mess we are in. The more I researched the more I believed. This was amazing. Every day my eyes were opened just a little more. All of the remaining blinders I had were removed and I was AWAKE!! I had left the Matrix and was now fully awake! George Bush was not the president I thought him to be, his father was not the president I thought him to be, either. I was appalled at the things I learned with just a little research. How had I kept my head in the sand for so long? I was a “sheeple”…I admit it. I can only thank Debra for giving me the opportunity to “take the red pill” instead of the blue and continuing to be disillusioned by the government.  As each day passes with this election season, I am more and more aware of the corruption in our government.  I am more and more sure that the only candidate that I could possibly vote for is Ron Paul.  This guy has it right.  We should absolutely be adhering to the Constitution.  It was drafted and ratified so that our Federal government wouldn’t get out of hand.  Men are greedy for power and without those checks and balances in place, we would surely end up in a dictatorship.  Oh wait, we are pretty much already there.  Every Republican from my state, EXCEPT Ron Paul voted to trash our Constitution when they voted to pass the National Defense Authorization Act.

(Source:  http://www.govtrack.us/congress/vote.xpd?vote=h2011-375 )

These people that claim they are the party of less government and the protectors of the Constitution just showed their true colors.  They are, as Debra would say, “two sides of the same coin.”  They have very few differences in their platforms and are bound and determined to push their agenda down our throats…along with the candidate THEY want in office.

I have never seen such corruptness as I have with this election!  The media has refused to acknowledge Ron Paul as a “serious” candidate because they don’t agree with his “radical stand point” on the role of government and adhering to the Constitution.  This is just about laughable!  Almost all of the major Republican talking heads are speaking out against Ron Paul and his “Paulbots”, “Ronulans”, or “crackpot” supporters.  If they were really for the ideals that the Republican party stands for, wouldn’t they WANT Ron Paul to be their candidate?  They should, but they aren’t really for having freedom and personal responsibility like they claim.  They are happy with the “status quo” and don’t really want change.  I mean after all, why aren’t any of them talking about the NDAA or the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), or the Protect IP Act (PIPA), or the Enemy Expatriation Act (EEA)?  These by no means help to limit government or make it smaller.  Wait, isn’t that what the Republicans all claim to want??  Interesting, isn’t it?  Then there is Iran.  If you listen to the Republicans, Iran is gearing up for nuclear weapons and we need to intervene right now!  If you do a little of your own research, though, and actually read the IAEA report that was put out in November on Iran’s nuclear enrichment programs, you will find that they are not enriching anything to anywhere close to weapons grade.  Yes, they have gone from 3.5% to 20%, but that isn’t even close to weapons grade which is 90%.  The 20% was declared through the proper channels and is for the radioactive isotope needed for cancer patients.

(source:  http://www.iaea.org/Publications/Documents/Infcircs/2011/infcirc828.pdf )

Now the Republicans, will have you believe that they have secret stores of uranium that are being further enriched by the day.  Sound familiar?  Isn’t this what the Bush administration told us about Iraq?  This is what we invaded them for and then found there were NO WMDs there!  The Republicans are at it again.  It’s like they just can’t get enough of war!  These are our fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, husbands, wives, sons, and daughters we are sending over there to fight for what?  Because the Republicans want war?  No, thank you!  We are already in two wars that are costing us a fortune…and they are illegal wars at that! Yes, illegal!  If congress doesn’t declare war, it’s NOT LEGAL!  Our constitution lays that out plain and clear for all to read!  How did we allow encroachment upon our rights and our constitution to get so out of hand?  Are people really that content to just let the government do whatever they want?  This country is starting to feel like Nazi Germany!!  If you aren’t awake, yet, you had better wake up and FAST!  If we are not vigilant in watching over our Constitution and our rights, the government will take them all away from us under the cover of night!!  Don’t let them scare you into signing away your rights, thinking that it will keep you safe!  Those rights are all you have that are keeping you safe and free!  I honestly feel like I’m screaming to people to wake up from the matrix and “take the red pill”.  I don’t think I could ever go back to just putting my head in the sand and pretending that government really isn’t corrupt, power hungry, and greedy!  I see the world through a new set of eyes, now.  I am very aware of the things going on around me.  For the first time ever, I am afraid that we are really going to lose all hope for true liberty and freedom in America.  I am awake, and I am not willing to sit idly by while our government runs  all over the Constitution and our rights.  If you are like me, it makes you angry and you must do something!  I will fight in whatever way necessary to keep our Constitution intact and our country free from domestic tyranny!  Right now, that means voting for Ron Paul, working his campaign, blogging about the political world, posting political videos on social media sites, sending tweets for Ron Paul, protesting unconstitutional legislation, and trying to wake up everyone I know!  I. AM. AWAKE!