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Doug Smith: A Nation of Ideas

8 Mar

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Doug Smith: Author, historian, patriot and lead contributor to Free State Patriot

 

“You have a republic, madam, if you can keep it.”

Benjamin Franklin

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Senator John F Kennedy wrote a pamphlet in 1958 entitled “A Nation of Immigrants.” As a fellow descendant of Irish ex patriates, I can sympathize with his sentiment, but I believe he missed the mark in a crucial way. We are not, by some coincidence, just the nation where immigrants magically appeared or washed ashore. There was a reason that Irish, and Catholics, and Anabaptists, and Puritans, and Dutchmen, and Germans, and others risked all to come to seek a home between Plymouth Rock and San Diego.

There were natural resources, and land, and room, and a man might dream of riches, but all those things drew men to this Continent before this nation was born. It is not as if some worldwide memo went out reading “All those wishing to leave their ancestral home, head for America. They need all the help they can get.” Yet that is not so terribly far off the mark. For there was, and is, something that made people yearn to come to America.

It is that which drew men to our shores that made us what we are, and who we are, not merely the men who came. (Yes, I realize that women came as well. But I refuse to engage in the tortured heshe language of political correctness. ) Proud I may be of my Celtic ancestry, and the bards, and storytellers, and politicians, and yes, drunks, (but I repeat myself) that became a part of American life, but I have to ask an honest question. If the Irish are all that, why then, is Ireland not America. Why no mass migration to Eire s green hills? What is it that made the strong, the bold, the adventurous, and yes, the moonshiner fleeing the law, come to Boston and New York?

I believe that the truth is that we are a nation of words and ideas, and not of immigrants. Oh, we have immigrants a plenty. My great, great grandfather came to New York as a farrier, and later became a farmer in Kentucky, and so brought my family to this area. But why here? Why not Australia, or New Zealand, or Brazil, or France?

Words. Powerful words. Words which form ideas and ideals a man might strive for, might live for, and would die for.

These words.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,

And these

Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!
And these

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, [promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

These are good words the express fine and high ideals. Oh, not that we, being men, achieve the perfect fulfillment of these ideals, but uniquely in the world, and on the stage of history, we formed a nation dedicated to these ideals. We sweated, bled, and yes, died, to further these ideals. Uniquely among the nations of the world, we fought with blood and treasure to free men and nations. We did not fight to further the claims of prerogatives of the Plantagenet or the Tudor dynasties, or to claim French soil for our own. We fought to free men on our own soil and correct injustices. We fought to free men on foreign soil and stop hateful ideologies. We did not keep soil won with our blood for our own and declare an American Empire, we freed people and went home.

Those ideas and ideals are the nectar to the world.

And yet.

If these ideas are the basis of what we are, we are right, and just, and prudent to insist that if men come to us, the embrace those ideals which make us uniquely who we are: Americans. We are not the Balkans: little states of very different and antagonistic peoples pressed against each other until a Serbian assassinates an Arch Duke and ignites WW1.

No, we have long embraced E Pluribus Unum. Of many, One. So if you come, look around and see who we are. Learn to speak the language. Russians speak Russian. Germans speak German. Chinese speak Chinese. And Americans speak English. Learn to act and blend with your new countrymen. Don’t expect them to change what they are into what you were. You escaped that world to come here. Become a part of this one.

We do not encourage gangs and neighborhoods that are Europe all over again, or Africa, or Asia. No little Italy, or Ireland, or Somalia. In America, Be American. This is what you wanted. This is why you came. If it is not, you made a terrible mistake.

I hope next year to visit Ireland, the ancestral home of my family. If I do, I will do so as a stranger. I will not speak the Gaelic, nor speak English with a brogue. I will be a stranger, visiting his roots. I will be, very obviously to the Irish, and American. That is what great, great grandfather wanted for his descendants in America.

So should all who come. Not because they are immigrants. But because this is where those great ideas have flourished. And we ought to jealously guard them so this great experiment does not fail.

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Mark Caserta: Liberals struggling to rekindle progressivism

3 Mar

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Mark Caserta:  Free State editor

March 3, 2017

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The progressive movement, or liberal ideology as many have come to know it, incurred a serious setback with the election of Donald Trump. And they’re not happy about it.

In fact, it seems they’ve nearly lost all sense of reality.

Last week, multiple news outlets, including Breitbart, reported witches across the country gathered on Friday to “cast a spell” with the hopes of “binding” Trump and ejecting him from office.

Per the spell “Facebook event page,” the purpose was to initiate “a mass binding ritual to be performed at midnight on every waning crescent moon until Donald Trump is removed from office.”

So liberals simply refusing to accept the reality of a Trump presidency can now escape to an “alternate dimension.”

A February column by Peter Hasson in The Daily Caller reported “liberals seeking refuge from reality now have a fake news website where they can pretend to live in a world where Hillary Clinton is president!”

Unidentified site proprietors reportedly manage a satirical, repugnant news site devoted to covering stories from an “alternate universe” where Hillary won the presidential election. The site’s description reads: “Long live the true president, Hillary Rodham Clinton.”

Liberals are scraping the bottom of the barrel searching for methods to perpetuate their progressive movement.

I suppose they should be worried. Politifact confirms Democrats have never experienced the large number of losses in legislatures they’ve incurred in recent years. Voters have not only stripped Congress of nearly 70 Democrats since Barack Obama’s presidency, but more than 900 state legislators!

The American people have had enough of failing progressive ideology.

But let’s be clear, if conservatism is to succeed, the leaders in whom voters have placed their trust had better come through – with absolutely no compromising of principles.

Understand, true conservatism is a steadfast guide of standards and values. It doesn’t subscribe to a sliding scale of morality that resets with mankind’s latest thirst for pleasure and independence.

In fact, when conservatism budges, it morphs into progressivism. Many of us have witnessed the self-destruction of a progressive, unrestrained society over the years.

Twenty years ago, a debate about “which bathroom to use” would have been odd to say the least. But now, it’s integral to the progressive platform.

Organizations like the North American Man/Boy Love Association advocate deviant love relationships between men and boys as an alternative lifestyle.

Websites like “Ashley Madison” offer the indulgence of a “discreet encounter,” or a protected way to cheat on your spouse. The website sports over 50 million members!

Marijuana has now been legalized for recreational use in seven states, as well as the District of Columbia.

The list of progressive insanity goes on. What will our future hold if liberals prevail?

But liberals embrace this “progressive” moniker. They flaunt the Merriam-Webster dictionary definition of “progress” and condemn anyone as intellectually “deplorable” if they don’t subscribe to it.

But this isn’t progress in industry, technology or science – it’s societal euthanasia.

So, what will liberals be willing to do to resume their “paused” movement?

Get ready.

I submit nearly anything.

 

 

Mark Caserta is a conservative blogger, a Cabell County resident and a regular contributor to The Herald-Dispatch editorial page.

 

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Mark Caserta: Is shadow government trying to derail Trump?

24 Feb

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Mark Caserta:  Free State Patriot editor

  • February, 24, 2017

 

US-POLITICS-TRUMP-INAUGURATION-SWEARING IN

The double standard by which liberals comport themselves, on a local and national level, when holding politicians accountable for the truth, is shameful. And it’s damaging our country.

For the past eight years, our nation has been deluged with debilitating lies from the Obama administration and the GOP establishment. In addition to calling out the GOP for their feckless behavior, I’ve often called for progressives to address this “protocol of prevarication” which seems prerequisite for driving their agenda.

But the silence has been deafening. Liberals seem content to cower beneath the progressive banner of shameful innocence and plausible deniability.

Obamacare, for example, was passed on a series of undeniable lies and is now faltering beneath its own weight of unsustainability, yet progressives are still telling us it’s working and that most Americans support it.

With so many lies never having been adequately addressed by the left, it’s the epitome of hypocrisy to rally behind destroying Donald Trump one month into his presidency!

Could this “rebel yell” to sabotage President Trump be an orchestrated one?

After eight years of “not” seeing the need to make this change, days before President Obama left the White House, he issued an executive order making it easier for the nation’s intelligence agencies to share information.

Per a “New York Times” report, in its final days, the Obama administration expanded the power of the National Security Agency to share “globally intercepted personal communications with the government’s 16 other intelligence agencies, before applying privacy protections.”

Obama’s timing is interesting, considering in the last few days, several intelligence insiders have come forward to describe a “shadow government” of sorts, purposely leaking classified information designed to derail the Trump presidency.

Last week, multiple news sources, including the The Washington Free Beacon, reported top members of the Obama administration national security team may have pre-emptively “launched a communications infrastructure” that would benefit them after leaving the White House, and have told reporters they’re using this network to “undermine Trump’s foreign policy.”

Last week, national security advisor, Michael Flynn, resigned following his apparent “misreporting” of his conversations with the Russian government, which were illegally exposed through information leaked from intelligence sources.

Could this have been the shadow government’s first victory?

The Beacon reported Flynn’s resignation was the result of a “secret, months-long campaign by former Obama administration confidantes to handicap President Donald Trump’s national security apparatus” per multiple sources in and out of the White House.

The notion that Barack Hussein Obama and his liberal conspirators would plan and orchestrate, for all intents and purposes, a coup d’tat, against the Trump administration is beyond the pale and could easily be described as traitorous, if it’s true.

How ironic that such an action is reminiscent of the failed Soviet Union, when it’s liberal Democrats now claiming it’s President Trump with insider ties to Russia.

This isn’t simply an attack on the Trump presidency. It’s an attack on our freedom!

If America ever needed the voices of patriots to be heard above the fray, we need to hear them now.

Mark Caserta is a conservative blogger, a Cabell County resident and a regular contributor to The Herald-Dispatch editorial page.

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Mark Caserta: Stand down and let the president do his job

17 Feb

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Mark Caserta:  Free State Patriot editor

February 17, 2017

wtc-2wtc

 

 

I’ve very concerned our nation is rapidly returning to a “pre” Sept. 11, 2001, mentality.

Every day, I see an increasing number of people lackadaisically living their lives with seemingly little knowledge of or concern over the threats our nation faces.

Some are even fighting against protecting our country.

Have we truly become so desensitized to terror and death that we’re willing to suppress the lessons of the past and expose ourselves to another attack, possibly even larger than we experienced on 9/11?

Granted, 15 years is a long time. Some millennials were simply too young to remember the frightening view of the planes flying into New York’s World Trade Center.

Some have been spared the horrific memory of innocent people leaping from windows, choosing to die from the fall rather than be consumed by the flames. They’ve no memory of the people screaming, scrambling in terror, on the streets below.

But, I’ll never forget. And neither will many of you. It changed us – forever.

Unfortunately, I believe that confirmation of U.S. vulnerability, combined with eight years of emboldening our enemies, has positioned us dangerously close to an attack unlike anything we’ve ever seen.

Now, progressives are sure to default to their conservative “the sky is falling” rhetoric regarding my statement. But that sort of irresponsible thinking will cost lives.

A February 2016 column in the National Review, co-written by R. James Woolsey, national security and energy specialist and former director of the Central Intelligence Agency, addresses our “nave reliance” on other country’s “transparent disavowals” potentially costing millions of American lives.

The column, entitled, “Underestimating Nuclear Missile Threats from North Korea and Iran,” revealed the White House had not recognized that North Korea already had demonstrated the ability to kill millions of Americans with an electromagnetic-pulse (EMP) attack.

The attack would involve detonating a small nuclear warhead, a hundred miles or so, over the United States creating an EMP leading to a nationwide blackout. The resulting societal chaos (especially in today’s environment) could lead to overwhelming death and destruction.

Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran, as President Trump has described it, is a disaster waiting to happen. Since signing the agreement in mid-2015, Iran has test-launched at least two ballistic missiles, despite a U.N. resolution prohibiting such tests. Every indicator suggests Iran is working diligently to become a formidable nuclear power.

We must remember the threat of nuclear attack from leaders who aren’t afraid to die is very real and very different.

A military standoff resulting from opposing nations being unwilling to be destroyed because they initiated a nuclear attack will not apply. These leaders do not subscribe to the “no-win” scenario.

Yet, liberals are fighting more for the rights of people who could potentially harm our nation than for protecting their own families here at home.

Sadly, we know all it will take is another devastating attack to quickly bring things back into perspective.

But, by then, it may be too late.

Stand down liberals.  You had your chance.

Let President Trump do his job and protect the U.S.

Mark Caserta is a conservative blogger, a Cabell County resident and a regular contributor to The Herald-Dispatch editorial page.

 

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Mark Caserta: Liberals trying to slow down the Trump train

10 Feb

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Mark Caserta: Free State Patriot Editor

February 10, 2017

trump-train

Winning the 2016 presidential election was possibly the single most important conservative victory in my lifetime, for many reasons. But paramount to the win is the pending balance of the Supreme Court of the United States.

Liberals, having been reduced to lamenting, ad nauseam, the election of Donald J. Trump, will no doubt seek to bog down the pace at which our new president is working to re-align our nation with our founding fathers’ original intent.

And look for them to do so using the federal court system.

The progressive movement has been notorious for attempting to fundamentally change interpretation of the U.S. Constitution for political gain. The assertion that “any” individual, regardless of religious affiliation, has a constitutionally protected right to enter our country illegally, without comprehensive vetting, is fundamentally and constitutionally unsound.

Citing the First Amendment as justification for violence, property damage and rioting in the streets is simply unabashed lawlessness and nothing short of domestic terrorism.

Understand, our nation’s top security leaders already have told us we don’t have an adequate system of vetting individuals from terror-ridden countries. Last year, FBI Director James Comey told a congressional committee that we could “query our database until the cows come home” but if Syrian terrorists have never been on the law enforcement radar, it won’t do any good.

As a candidate, Trump pledged to protect Americans through “extreme vetting” of people from countries representing significant terror concerns. His recent executive order temporarily banning travel from these countries was simply fulfilling a promise to the American people.

But despite the fact voters decisively elected a president willing to compromise Washington political correctness rather than the lives of Americans, some on Capitol Hill are willing to stay the course.

Last Friday, a federal judge in Seattle issued a temporary nationwide restraining order on Trump’s executive order, questioning its “rationale.” The Department of Justice is appealing the ruling, but this may be one of many such cases eventually decided by the Supreme Court.

Currently, the Supreme Court (operating shy one justice since the passing of Antonin Scalia) is fairly balanced. Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg are arguably extremely liberal, while Samuel Alito, John Roberts and Clarence Thomas are widely considered conservatives. Justices Stephen Breyer and Anthony Kennedy could be considered moderates.

But two of the justices (Ginsburg and Kennedy) are over 80 years of age, and Breyer is 78. The remaining justices range in age from 55 to 67. Besides the replacement of Justice Scalia, we could see any number of Supreme Court nominations by the current administration.

President Trump intends to nominate Supreme Court justices who will not attempt to “legislate” progressive views from the bench. And obviously, a GOP-controlled Congress and conservative-leaning Supreme Court would be beneficial to his cause.

Trump could, in fact, determine the court’s balance for decades!

So, while the left may be successful at “slowing down” the Trump train, Americans will ensure he succeeds.

Liberals can get on board, but they may have to “sit in the back seat,” just as President Obama suggested in 2010 that Republicans should do in likening running the economy to driving a car.

Mark Caserta is a conservative blogger, a Cabell County resident and a regular contributor to The Herald-Dispatch editorial page.

 

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Mark Caserta: Trump continues to work for the American people

3 Feb

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2.3.2017

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“Political correctness” has seen its day in Washington. “America first” is the new defining vernacular on Capitol Hill, without regard to progressive disapproval.

Just as Donald J. Trump promised the American people, he is methodically addressing debilitating liberal policies which have been crippling our nation and making us increasingly vulnerable to terrorist attack.

Last week, President Trump continued his decisive approach to returning our nation to the rule of law by fulfilling his campaign pledge to fight illegal immigration, which arguably catapulted him into the GOP nomination and ultimately a monumental presidential victory.

 “We are going to restore the rule of law in the United States,” Mr. Trump told Department of Homeland Security (DHS) employees in a brief speech after signing the executive orders. “… A nation without borders is not a nation. Beginning today, the United States of America gets back control of its borders.”

Following the ceremonial swearing-in of Homeland Security Director, John Kelly, by Vice President Mike Pence, Trump’s pen immediately went into action, signing two more executive orders protecting our nation’s sovereignty.

The president’s first executive order called for the construction of a wall along our southern, U.S.-Mexican border. It also provided the DHS additional resources, including 5,000 additional border agents, to stop illegals from entering the United States without “inspection” or “admission.”

Following Trump’s executive action, Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted his praise of the president’s decision to build a wall along the border per a column in the Washington Post, by William Booth.

“President Trump is right,” Netanyahu wrote. “I built a wall along Israel’s southern border. It stopped all illegal immigration. Great success. Great idea.”

Trump’s second executive order bolstered the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) branch of the U.S. government and its ability to enforce existing immigration laws.

Multiple news agencies, including CBS News, reported Trump’s order reinstated the Secure Communities Program, which ICE “uses to target undocumented immigrants, directs the State Department to withhold visas or take other measures to ensure countries take back” illegal immigrants.

The order also strips federal grant money from sanctuary cities that harbor illegal immigrants, despite opposition from liberal mayors across the United States who vow to maintain their sanctuary city policies.

Liberals have no justification for allowing unvetted, illegal immigrants across our borders – period. And subscribing to the progressive mantra of “compassion” and “inclusion” is dangerously nave.

 Most Americans know this isn’t about inclusion, but rather about building a dependable voter base. Liberal Democrats have successfully manipulated the passions of Americans into believing they were the “party of compassion” for too long.

Sadly, this counterfeit compassion is largely responsible for borders which may have already been breached by a terrorist cell intending mass casualties within the U.S.

The inconvenient truth of the matter is that progressives are willing to “bet your life” just for a vote, and Americans have had enough.

Liberal Democrats and the GOP establishment had better take note of the resounding message voters sent last November.

There’s a new sheriff in town and he’s working for the American people.

Mark Caserta is a conservative blogger, a Cabell County resident and a regular contributor to The Herald-Dispatch editorial page.

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Mark Caserta: Team Trump shows it’s ready to go to work for Americans

27 Jan

Despite liberal obstacles…

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Mark Caserta: Free State Patriot editor

1.27.2017

 

 

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President Donald J. Trump wasted no time, following his inauguration, going to work for the American people.

Wielding his own version of a “pen and phone” legislative approach, President Trump signed his first executive orders in the Oval Office last Friday evening. His initial actions addressed national security, healthcare and, arguably, the economy.

Minutes after taking the presidential oath using two bibles, one presented to him by his mother and the other used by President Lincoln at his first inauguration, President Trump made his official entrance into the White House, where he commissioned Gen. James Mattis as secretary of defense and John Kelly as secretary of homeland security.

He also signed executive orders instructing federal agencies to “minimize the burden” of his predecessor’s signature healthcare law, essentially “stopping the bleeding” of Obamacare by preventing any further potential actions being taken to preserve the presumably outgoing piece of failing legislation. All this per CBS News live coverage of the Trump inauguration.

Understand, this sort of decisive approach is Donald Trump’s “brassy” way of setting the tone for his next four years as president. Skeptics have already begun mocking Trump’s “first 100-day plan” as overly ambitious. But, it’s apparent they don’t understand effective management skills and the art of networking, delegation and accountability.

An integral competency President Trump sought in his choices for cabinet members was the proven ability to manage people and resources. Frankly, this was an aptitude the Obama administration was sorely lacking and adversely consequential to his legacy and success. This faculty will play heavily in Trump’s execution.

I assure you, part of the Trump interview process included the candidate’s vision for formulating their teams and their detailed plans as to how they would achieve their respective goals.

Pursuant to fulfilling his promises to the American people, I believe the Team Trump has already begun laying the foundation for the major initiatives which got him elected to the presidency.

President Trump will waste no time addressing some “low-hanging fruit” and negating his predecessor’s executive orders, which largely ignored the wishes of most Americans. Eliminating government regulations unduly impacting American workers will be at the top of his list.

President Trump will rely heavily on his strengths as a businessman and negotiator and set into motion his intentions to renegotiate deals adversely impacting American jobs, such as NAFTA, or deals compromising our nation’s safety, such as the Iran nuclear deal.

I suspect engineers are finalizing plans for the wall he will build at the southern border. He will then circumspectly begin removing the more than 2 million criminal illegal immigrants from our country and canceling visas to foreign countries that won’t take them back.

Any day now, Trump will select a Supreme Court replacement for Justice Antonin Scalia, who will uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States.

Additionally, Trump’s first few weeks in office will be spent identifying his resources and providing clarity as to his expectations.

The stage is set and the wheels are in motion.

Team Trump is ready to “Make America great again.”

 

Mark Caserta is a conservative blogger, a Cabell County resident and a regular contributor to The Herald-Dispatch editorial page.

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Doug Smith: May “all those responsible” choose well.

22 Jan

doug-for-fsp

Doug Smith: Author, historian, patriot and lead contributor to Free State Patriot

 

Doug penned this column on January 20, 2017, before, during and after the Trump inauguration:

president-trump

 

This is the last article I will begin to write during the Obama administration.

Later today, Donald Trump will be sworn in as 45th POTUS, and the liberal progressive statist utopian leftists will be doing a lot of swearing as well.

But I digress.

Barack Obama leaves office today, causing many on the right to breathe a great sigh of relief, after being somewhat fearful 8 years ago that we might not survive him. Many on the Left are in tearful hysterics, certain we will not survive a pragmatic semi conservative succeeding a dedicated Leftist Radical. Everyone, just take a big deep breath. We survived 2 World Wars, are fighting a 3rd one, survived several Depressions, the Soviets, numerous economic downturns, and attacks on our way of life and our core institutions from within and without. The Snowdults (my own term, do you like it? These are folks over the age of 18 who apparently have none of the requisite skills or knowledge to function in the world as what were previously called adults, do, despite many their age pounding the ground with a rifle, driving a Submarine, or holding down 2 jobs to support a family.) retreat to color and play with puppies and weep inconsolably that things are not fair, like a 3 year old, but yet here we still are.

We have survived Barack Obama. We are about to start cleaning up his mess. We did not get the POTUS to do so that many wanted, but we did reject one who was more of the same, with less charm and more greed. I was not a Trump guy, but found him clearly and vastly preferable to HRC. I remain a conservative and patriot, believing in this country as truly exceptional and unique in history, and believing the values we have mostly espoused are those most likely to move us in a better direction.

As Ooopsicus, that 4th century Roman mostly remembered for his quotes, “Jupiter’s nose hairs, look at all the Visigoths! And, Honey, get the kids, we’re moving to Britannia. “once said “Goth Darn it, nobody is too big to fail. “

And so, I have a few observations on this day of transition, which will perhaps be a cusp in the history of our nation.

  1. There have been several cusp events in the last century that shaped us. Kennedy and Vietnam, Carter and Iran, Reagan and Russia, Bush and 9/11 key among them. These were significant emotional events, and shaped how we perceive and act. This could be one of those. We shall see.
  2. When you’re in command, Command! When you win, act like you’ve won. Don’t apologize for governing differently than your opponents. People elected you based on what you said you believed, and they expect you to act reasonably like it. When someone like the GOP tries to win with one idea, then move away from it because their opponents talk badly about them for it, their friends and supporters will play a trump card. ( I couldn’t resist)
  3. “The Crown must not only act generously, the Crown must be seen to be acting generously. “ In short don’t let your enemies or your adversaries control the narrative. The biggest mistake the Bush 43 administration made was the choice to “ Stay above the fray, “ and not respond to the lies and character assassinations of the opponents on the Left. Conservatives have paid the price for that for over a decade, as the Left got away over and over with characterizing him as an incompetent fool of a cowboy. Even today, after years of recounts have shown that Al Gore did, indeed, get thumped in 2000, despite trying to suppress military votes (No, Big Al, we have not forgotten that), despite using the courts, which are the ballot box of choice of the Left, and spending millions, and even the NYT conceding quietly that Gore lost, Bush won, Lefties will still parrot the narrative. So, despite the jokes and shaking heads about Trump Twitter, he should not let the Left control the narrative.

 

As I continue this article, Donald Trump is now the 45th President of the United States. Regarding the Liberal Women’s marches this weekend, a few notes.

  1. Conservative women or women’s groups were systematically disinvited from the march.  But it is all about women’s rights. And Donald Trump’s mouth. Sure.
  2. Most who marched voted for Hillary or Jill. Typically, they don’t accept the results of the election, and so they march. Screaming in the streets is not how we distribute power. If they voted, their votes were counted, and that is that. (But what of the ones who marched in other countries? Answer? I don’t care. It is not your country. You don’t get to pick our leaders, or our policies.)
  3. I note that there were no marches in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Libya, or Nigeria. I note that none of the crowd from this weekend marched against Boko Haram, who quite literally captured schoolgirls and forced them into slavery. But at least they held up some signs on Twitter. Thank God for their help. Otherwise, all those victims would still be in slavery. Oh, wait…
  4. So, since we are debating numbers who attended the Inauguration, are there more or less women protesting the boorish behavior of Donald Trump than there were protesting the boorish behavior of Bill Clinton? Oh wait, that’s right. Leftie women went on the talk shows to insist that they would take the place of the objects of his peccadillos. As long as he voted right. Or rather, left. Hypocrisy, anyone?
  5. Also on the subject of how many attended the Inaugurations of Trump vs Obama, remember all the threats of violence, protests, and violence actually perpetrated around Obama’s weekend? Of course you don’t. But you know what, keeping Andrea Bocelli from singing at the event (Classy, Lefties, very classy. You made death threats and threatened to end the career of an enormously talented blind man. Oh well done. Bask in the pride of your accomplishments.) doesn’t change one thing. Maybe it is high time we got away from having the Hollywood A-listers involved. But with or without Celine Dion, Bruce Springsteen, or Meryl Streep, Donald Trump is still President of the United States. Maybe he will get back to a Teddy Roosevelt tradition, a day a year on the lawn with a lemonade just chatting with the folks who want to come and greet their President.
  6. Since I have been politically aware, and able to vote, we have had Reagan, Bush, Bush, and Trump. It seems, according to the Left, that they all wanted to kill grandma, starve children, enslave minorities, start a nuclear war, and take the vote away from women. Evidently they all fell short, in that women, and minorities, and grandmas continue to flock to the US, not away from it to the socialist utopias of Russia, or Cuba, or even Venezuela. The US is still, 8 years of damage by Obama s radical leftism notwithstanding, the best place in the world to live regardless of your race, or sex, or class. Rosie O Donnell has not, and will not, keep her promise to leave the country if her favorite liberal is not elected because there is no better place to go. I remember all too well the hysterical lies and misrepresentations of the left when, under Clinton, the Dems proposed increasing the amount spent on school lunch programs, and the GOP countered with a smaller increase. HORROR! The GOP wants to cut school lunch programs. Please, I can’t learn if I’m hungry. Don’t make me go to school hungry. Disgusting, and typical Lefties.  Thus has it been, and thus is it still.

 

You know, after a while, it stops resonating with a lot of people. The Left, like Nancy Pelosi weep about how many are going to lose insurance when Obamacare is repealed, but never admit how many have lost, or given up as unaffordable the insurance they had because of Obamacare. They tout the low unemployment, but ignore that 90 plus million not working, the much higher percentage of jobs that are part time, temporary, and lower wage than they were before. They ignore that the average Joe has not seen a real increase in take home pay in a decade, but has lost ground. They point to the handful of cherry picked successes, and ignore the larger, broader failures.

But when it comes to “kitchen table issue”, the folks trying to pay for food, and insurance, and medicine, and rent, and energy, the folks know how it is for them.  The folks know how it is for their neighbors. The folks no longer have much interest in what liberal millionaires have to say about how great things are.  The folks are not impressed by rioters, and the same old stuff of the Left. They shake their heads and think, Wow, these guys really miss the 60s, don’t they?  Then, they look in their bank accounts, and their refrigerators, and they know.

And they say so. And Said so. They said so in 2010, 2012, 2014, and last November. They said, you guys are not getting it, and we are going to vote for a change from what you are doing.

Obama s administration was a failure. It damaged the country. It damaged the Democrat Party. And the very vocal ones, the ones who get on TV, continue to double down on the same bet, and shriek and weep for the Halcyon days of Obama.

So we as a nation, and the GOP as a party, and Trump as a President have a moment of real opportunity. It has taken 3 elections, but the legacy of Obama has been decimating the Democrat Party and giving Trump the Presidency. The hard Left is still hysterically trying to reclaim what has been resoundingly rejected in 3 successive elections. 4, if you count the fact that the Clintons in the person of Hillary have now been rejected twice.

If they continue as before, and I’m sure they will, and if the GOP and Trump take the message of these elections and govern according to the promises they have made, they have a chance to prove the validity of ideas of limited government, individual responsibility and liberty, American exceptionalism, strong defense, and identifying and hitting hard at our enemies, and being the greatest friend to our friend.  If they are true to their promises, the country can bounce back and be even stronger than ever. A President Trump can ask in a debate in 2020, Are you better off today than you were 4 years ago, and get the answer on Nov 8, absolutely!  The Democrat Party, having cast its lot as the party of fringe interest groups, and abandoning its traditional constituencies of working class Americans, and failing most of the groups it claims to support, is poised to be marginalized for a generation.

It is a time to choose wisely, and consider what is truly important to us as Americans. That is true for the GOP, the POTUS, and we, the people. In 2008, Barak Obama had the White House and both Houses of Congress. He made choices with that political capital, and we are where we are.

The people have spoken, and now here we are.

Choose well, Mr. President.

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Mark Caserta: Liberal fear of Trump isn’t for the country

20 Jan

me

Mark Caserta: Free State Patriot editor

  • 1.20.2017

trump-contract

Since the election of Donald J. Trump, nearly every liberal columnist, pundit or commentator has expressed some sort of panic, fear or distress over the thought of this multimillionaire businessman becoming our next commander in chief.

Allow me to cut through the veneer of compassionate concern and tell you what I believe progressives are really afraid of.

Liberal Democrats are afraid of losing nearly every progressive step they’ve taken over the past eight years – in the first 100 days of the Trump administration.

And frankly, the liberal national media attempts to unfavorably brand the forthcoming changes by the Trump administration are welcome ones. Conservatives recognize the American people are ready for a change.

Yes, conservatives welcome a media distinction from progressives. It may be the single most valuable service they’ve provided in years! Americans have seen what eight years of progressivism can do to a nation. It’s time, once again, to employ Reagan conservatism.

Shamefully, liberals hypocritically focus on creating a narrative which engenders the alleged conservative disenfranchisement of those benefiting from progressive fundamental change, while totally disregarding the millions of people harmed by it.

Obamacare is a perfect example. Liberals are quick to misemploy the statistic of individuals who could potentially lose their insurance under the repeal and replacement of the health care law, but never factor in the thousands of families who’ve already lost their policies or have seen rates skyrocket under the pressures of an unsustainable program.

And I’m still waiting on any progressive to adequately address the multiple lies told to the American people enabling the passage of Obamacare.

The concocted jobs numbers are another example of how liberals are willing to sell the American people down the river, simply to maintain power.

Progressives know the current jobs numbers don’t include individuals who’ve given up looking for work or are severely underemployed. Yet they continue to paint a false narrative of jobs growth with meaningless government numbers, while families across the country suffer.

Lies just don’t seem to matter to liberals if they’re advancing their agenda.

This sort of false hope and dishonesty propagated by liberal Democrats is the reason Donald Trump will become president at noon today.

 The notion of “fake news” is also being bantered about as being influential in the defeat of Hillary Clinton in the presidential election.

But when the news involves the character assassination of Donald Trump or a nominated Cabinet member, the national liberal media seems eager to err on the side of falsehood.

The recent decision by the website Buzzfeed to publish a series of dated memos alleging inappropriate sexual conduct by Donald Trump, without a shred of evidence, (as reported by multiple news agencies, including the New York Post) is a display of how far some will go to delegitimize Trump’s presidency.

And the fact that CNN also made the decision to run with this defamatory information is very telling, indeed.

So, if “making America great again” elicits fear in liberals, let not your heart be troubled.

It isn’t fear for the country, it’s fear for progressivism.

Mark Caserta is a conservative blogger, a Cabell County resident and a regular contributor to The Herald-Dispatch editorial page.

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Mark Caserta: Democrats’ chickens have come home to roost

13 Jan

me

Mark Caserta: Free State Patriot editor

  • 1.13.2017

Like it or not, President Obama’s signature healthcare plan is living on borrowed time.

Obamacare will be repealed and replaced by the Trump administration, honorable members of the GOP and possibly as many as 10 Senatorial members of the Democrat Party up for re-election in 2018.

Expectedly, progressive pundits are already “building a wall” around any such Republican initiative. Some have unofficially labeled any GOP plan as “Trumpcare,” even though the official Republican plan isn’t yet on the table.

I’ve even heard House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and others attempt to pervert Trump’s campaign phrase, “Make America great again” into “Make America sick again.”

Liberals are so creative.

Frankly, the name “Obamacare” had nothing to do with the healthcare plan’s implosion. President Obama actually became quite fond of the moniker and often said so during his presidency. I believe he envisioned the name enshrined in his presidential legacy.

And so, it will, but more like an eulogy than a legacy.

Obamacare failed because it was a poorly planned initiative based on an unsustainable foundation of political deceit of the American people. And it’s preparing to go down as one of the single largest, most embarrassing failures of any presidential administration.

And remember, Democrats alone are to blame for this “repeal and replace” mandate voters have given President-elect Trump and the GOP-led 115th Congress. While the 2016 presidential election was clearly a referendum on Obama’s multiple failed policies, his healthcare plan was right at the top of the list for consideration.

And as far as “making America sick again,” Americans couldn’t be any sicker than they are now of the deception and economic foolhardiness the Obama administration employed in attempting to fundamentally change our country to align with the president’s apparent rancorous view of the United States.

For perspective, let’s “metamorphically” go where no liberal has gone before and reminisce how Democrats passed Obamacare.

During Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign, he repeatedly (eight times per a 2010 New York Post column by Clemente Lisi) promised that health care negotiations “will be on C-SPAN” and “the public will be part of the conversation and will see the choices being made.”

Never happened.

In March 2010, then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said of the Affordable Care Act, “But we have to pass the bill, so you can find out what is in it, away from the fog of controversy.”

 Voters surely paid for this sort of dereliction of duty.

In 2013, Obama gave us the “PolitiFact ‘Lie of the Year'” when he made his healthcare promise to Americans, “If you like your healthcare plan, you can keep it.”

And maybe the “crme de la crme” denoting the progressive path of prevarication enabling passage of Obamacare happened when, in 2014, the so-called “architect” of the federal healthcare law said the “lack of transparency” and the “stupidity of the American voter” helped Congress approve Obamacare.

The disregard Democrats have shown for the American people is flabbergasting!

Allow me to borrow a familiar idiom.

“Democrat’s chickens have come home to roost.”

Mark Caserta is a conservative blogger, a Cabell County resident and a regular contributor to The Herald-Dispatch editorial page.

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