I was born September 17, 1949 in Caldwell, Idaho. Like Idaho's climate, I have a dry sense of humor. It may be a result of faulty genetics, but I come from sturdy stock. My great grandfather once served as a postmaster right on the line between Camas and Elmore Counties and is buried on what was once his land. According to research my only sibling has done, we generally agree that he started his westward trek in Indiana sometime after 1838 and died of pneumonia in 1911. If Google earth is correct, there are at least 2.5 million average steps between Ripley County, Indiana and his gravesite.

Food for Thought

Posted Tuesday, February 28, 2012, at 10:44 AM

The fellow in the middle was a resident of Mountain Home who served in the Civil War.

This is content of an e-mail from a trusted source who does HIS homework before sending e-mail. I can assure you that the words are meaningful to him and he trusts that they will not be lost on me.

My hope is that they point out the precarious position the "best intentions" of the documents this nation was built around faired in the course of history:

" In 1887 Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the

University of Edinborough, had this to say about the fall of the

Athenian Republic some 2,000 years prior:

"A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist

as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to

exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote

themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment

on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the

most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every

democracy will finally collapse over loose fiscal policy, (which is)

always followed by a dictatorship."

"The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the

beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During those 200

years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence:

From bondage to spiritual faith;

From spiritual faith to great courage;

From courage to liberty;

From liberty to abundance;

From abundance to complacency;

From complacency to apathy;

From apathy to dependence;

From dependence back into bondage."

The Obituary follows:

Born 1776, Died 2012

It doesn't hurt to read this several times.

Professor Joseph Olson of Hamline University School of Law in St.

Paul, Minnesota, points out some interesting facts concerning the

last Presidential election:

Number of States won by: Obama: 19 McCain: 29

Square miles of land won by: Obama: 580,000 McCain: 2,427,000

Population of counties won by: Obama: 127 million McCain: 143

million

Murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by: Obama: 13.2

McCain: 2.1

Professor Olson adds: "In aggregate, the map of the territory McCain

won was mostly the land owned by the taxpaying citizens of the

country.

Obama territory mostly encompassed those citizens living in low

income tenements and living off various forms of government

welfare..."

Olson believes the United States is now somewhere between the

"complacency and apathy" phase of Professor Tyler's definition of

democracy, with some forty percent of the nation's population

already having reached the "governmental dependency" phase.

If Congress grants amnesty and citizenship to twenty million

criminal invaders called illegal's - and they vote -

then we can say goodbye to the USA in fewer than five years.

If you are in favor of this, then by all means, delete this message.

If you are not, then pass this along to help everyone realize just

how much is at stake, knowing that apathy is the greatest danger to

our freedom."

Now, having said all of that, I remind you that ours is a REPUBLIC, not a true democracy.

So unless the ancient cultures whose calendar ends in December of 2012 are correct, there may be time left on ours.

Comments

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Hope IS perhaps the operative word CJW.

-- Posted by wh67 on Tue, Feb 28, 2012, at 11:21 AM
Great thoughts and all so true. The technology may be different, but the nature of man is and always will be prone to pride, greed and apathy.

Great Leaders inspire us live beyond ourselves and to do noble things. We haven't seen that for a very long time.

Thank you for the reminder. No matter what the statistics say, history has told us over and over again, how hard and fast we can fall if we become prideful and greedy.

-- Posted by KH Gal on Tue, Feb 28, 2012, at 11:22 AM
Buckshot,

I think most have seen the message and few want to accept it.

Warren

-- Posted by wh67 on Tue, Feb 28, 2012, at 11:40 AM
Quite frankly, I believe we should be at the Impeachment stage. Not only for the president/vice president, but for a majority of his administration. And don't forget a huge number of supposedly "appointed for life" judges, from the Supreme Court on down. These judgeships are appointed not only for life (Supremes), but for times of good behavior. I've witnessed a fair amount of "bad behavior" from some on the bench. Hopefully, as Zook would say, we also need to get rid of a multitude of congresscritters.

-- Posted by Idaho Al on Tue, Feb 28, 2012, at 11:53 AM
I have hope. Always have hope. I even have hope that IF Obama wins a 2nd term, that he will "see the right way" and lead us to a better United States, as our Fore Fathers saw it.

This was a great read. I just hope that whatever presidet has the next term, He has the BEST for everyone in his heart and mind

-- Posted by jessiemiller on Tue, Feb 28, 2012, at 11:59 AM
This is all so true. I think we're closer to being around the stage where we'll go from dependence back into bondage. It's too bad people can't learn from history. People who haven't lived through bondage and loss of the freedoms they have taken for granted have no idea how bad life can be. To keep being free requires constant vigilance, but we are too lazy and complacent to stay on high-alert. I hope we can muster enough of a resistance that our kids can enjoy being free for at least part of their lives.

-- Posted by Second Wind on Tue, Feb 28, 2012, at 12:21 PM
I too hope that we can exact an exception to history for the sake of our offspring.

I firmly believe that the technology we use to communicate with each other will play a role in whether that exception becomes a reality.

But it will take a concerted effort to communicate the message to those "insiders" in capitals around the world.

Take a few moments to search for your current elected officials in D. C. or Boise.

Subscribe to the newsletters from congressional members that have them.

Pick an issue that rankles your hackles.

Send them an e-mail that states "I SUPPORT/OPPOSE" issue blah.

FOLLOW it with a POST CARD with the same message.

SIGN YOUR NAME TO IT.

Break the SILENT MAJORITY image those "scoundrels" that SOMEBODY sent to office believe is the norm.

-- Posted by wh67 on Tue, Feb 28, 2012, at 1:12 PM
Nice Read Its been circulating the internet since 2000.

-- Posted by MsMarylin on Tue, Feb 28, 2012, at 1:23 PM
Maybe there's a faction of people out there who would actually feel more comfortable with someone else running their lives. These people might not be too motivated and are uncomfortable with choices and taking their own direction through life. Maybe they need someone telling them what they will do, how they will plan their day, what work they will do, etc. and then given a little stipend to live on. Kind of like career criminals who really don't mind prison because they get three squares a day, a bed to sleep on, and someone is directing what they will do each day. These people might be attracted to the socialist way of life. There might be more of these kind of people than we're willing to admit. It could be one reason why socialism and dictatorships seem to take route so easily in societies.

-- Posted by Second Wind on Tue, Feb 28, 2012, at 1:25 PM
So right. We keep shoring up the ditch bank with termite-ridden boards. Well some of us are shoring them up with the rotten boards.

The others are at the lumber store getting the proper materials.

I just had to add that. I am sick of this too.

-- Posted by KH Gal on Tue, Feb 28, 2012, at 2:33 PM
If there are any of you Paulbots, Paulistas or whatever out there, there will be a group meeting at Moxie Java's this Sat. (Mar 3) at 2:30 to pass out pamphlets and info about Ron Paul's message.

-- Posted by Second Wind on Tue, Feb 28, 2012, at 5:47 PM
Election results 2008 by state, by electoral counts and popular vote counts.

http://www.npr.org/news/specials/election2008/2008-election-map.html#/president?...

You will notice these are not projections. I counted 28 states. Obama won by roughly 9 million votes. The red states generally have fewer people per sq. mile from the looks of the results. That is usually an indicator of crime statistics. If I get time I will research the FBI crime statistics. Just got home from a very long day on the road.

Good evening CJW.

-- Posted by royincaldwell on Tue, Feb 28, 2012, at 6:34 PM

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