LETTER: Don’t let our freedom slip away

Common sense tells us that you know a person by the company they keep. Like minded people tend to group together, this in undeniable and a major reason I have no use for mainstream media. They play it off like it's remotely possible that Obama's inner circle of Marxist revolutionaries could be one big coincidence after another. Does anyone really believe these clowns all slipped through the net accidentally or is it more reasonable to believe that they followed him to DC precisely BECAUSE of their ideology? We're at the point now where the RUSSIANS are talking about our slide to Communism, who next- the Chinese?

Gene, thank you for speaking out. It is completely out of hand.My wife went through a revolution where the people took back their country and it all started like it has here.We were all promised change and it isn't good what is coming. I know as a fact it is not the same great and powerful country I and many seniors fgrew up in. God bless America!God help America instead

Get a grip, people. Obviously you have been listening to Fox News and the other "Right Wing Wackos". Obama is trying to help keep the Middle Class, not destroy it. He is not a Marxist. The greedy corporations are destroying the middle class, and the gap between uber rich and the lower class is widening. He wants to help the people in this country that nobody has cared about. He wants people to have homes and prosper in the middle class. That's the key to keeping this country stable. That's not Marxism, it is from the tenets of Christianity. And don't even go there about the lies about him being a Muslim. He's not, but there are lots of Muslims who are very fine people. Fox is agitating people to hate each other instead of working together.

We would not have had the big financial crisis in this country if George W. Bush had regulated Wall Street and the large financial institutions. Instead, he gave us the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest people in the country and the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. The Iraq war was a war of choice. Iraq had no conntection to 911. If he had stayed in Afghanistan and finished what he started, we would not be in the situation we are today. George W. Bush had more czars than President Obama. Many previous presidents had czars as well. The Republican Party tries to act holier than thou, but when it comes to the middle income and working poor, they say they're looking for a handout. Forty-five thousand people die in the United States every year because they do not have health care. That sure makes us a Christian nation!!!While I'm at it, I also believe we need more handguns and assault rifles and more laws to carry concealed weapons. What's the matter with this scenario? We are not losing our freedoms. Government is not a dirty word. We all sure love our Medicare and Social Security. What?? Oh, yes, they're government programs. Surprise, surprise. Take a deep breath, America. Barack Obama is our elected president and a good one at that. He is a Democrat - not a communist. No matter what the nut case, Glenn Beck says. He has 3 more years actually probably 7 all togetherm since there doesn't seem to be any viable Republican leaders. They don't stand for anything anyway except themselves and big business. I say thank God we finally have a president who has a brain and actually uses it!!!

Mary,

I couldn't have said it better. Our GNP just increased by 3.5% thanks to Obama's stimulus plan, and they have received statistics from the recipients that 650,000 jobs have been saved or created.

The Middle Class really got slammed when Reagan started busting the Unions (and don't forget, he also raised taxes). I know there have been abuses in Unions, but if it hadn't been for the Unions there would be no middle class in this country.

My wife is a nurse and a Union Rep, and she worked hard for nurses to get decent wages. Thirty years ago, many nurses got lousy pay and no benefits at all, because the attitude was that their husbands would have benefits.

She's not a Marxist, she a Capitalist, and has worked hard as a public servant to build this country back into what it used to be, when a person could work hard and get a fair shake.

And for those of you who are bellyaching about Marxism, in case you don't understand, and I don't think you do, here is the scenario when you should be worried....when there is an uber rich upper class (who get the great tax breaks that they have paid their congressmen to write into law), no middle class, and the lower class is oppressed. That is when the Marxism/Leninism revolutions kick in.

The more jobs for the working class, and especially if everyone has health benefits and don't lose eveything when they get sick, the more they can educate their kids, maybe start their own business, and can spend their wages on houses, cars, vacations and consumer goods.

That, friends, is what Capitalism is about, and what Obama is about. Stop listening to those "shock jocks" who are getting millions of dollars by lying about Obama.

Do a little investigating and read about his real background, from people who are real journalists and biographers, not people who are writing lies to incite you and also make money off your fears.

When he graduated from Columbia University with a major in Political Science and International Studies, he got a job in an investment firm in New York and worked there a year, but his heart was in community service, and he worked in Harlem for awhile, and then got an offer to work as a public servant in Chicago with Christian Churches who were helping the poor after the steel companies shut down.

When he graduated from Harvard, he had over 600 firms on Wall Street panting after him. Because he was the Editor of the Harvard Law Review, he could have had a very prestigious job as a clerk with the US Supreme Court leading to a lucrative job in a high end law firm.

Instead, he went back to Chicago and again became a public servant. He worked again with the poor and taught Constitutional Law at the University of Chicago. He sets a great example for us guys as a great family man. Jim Daly, president of "Focus on the Family" said he found Obama's family life exemplary.

He is trying to lift people up so we can have a true Middle Class again. His service as President is that of a true Public Servant. He was handed a mess, and is doing a great job.

Last two sound like broken records hitting all the good comrad talking points. As badly as Bush managed the checkbook Barky's math is several times worse. Let's keep those jobs leaving the country by the millions and continue absorbing illegals by the tens of millions, makes good fiscal sense to me but hey, at least the guy has a heart.

Gary, your letter reminded me of the health bill----yakaty, yakaty, yakaty, but say nothing. So 600 hundred firms on wall street wanted Mr Obama huh? He saved 650 thousand jobs? How do you know when you save a job? The GNP rose 3 !/2% in the third quarter? Yes, thanks to giving away millions in the stupid clunker program. Please, we don't want to hear about all those wonderful things he and you think he is doing, just tell us one.

Just some examples of obama's Marxist feelings. Shortly after the election, a democrat congressonal caucus travelled to Cuba and praised the Castro brother's leadership & system.
Disgraced Van Jones was HIMSELF on Video bragging about being a communist while in jail for inciting the Rodney king riots.
Annita Dunn was quoted in May this year bragging about how her fav philosopher is Mao Se tung. he killed 65 million chinese citizens for disagreeing whith his revolution.
Ron Bloom (Obama czr manufacturing) he said that the free market system is a joke and that real power comes from a barrel of a gun.
And you Obama supporters dont seem to mind the loss of freedom as long as uncle Sugar pays your medical bills and any other bills you can come up with.

BTw Mary
John Mccain & the R's TRIED TO come down on fanny may mortguage company when it appeared the mortguage bubble was growing, but Sen Harry Reid & Barney Frank stopped them in thier tracks. It was your hero Bill Clinton who pressured banks to give loans to poor people so it would be a more "fair" in society or be charged with racism. When Alan greenspan left loan rates too low too long, it poured fuel on the fire. BTW where was the personal responsibility for consumers in buying said homes? the bankers did NOT hold a gun to their head to buy a home with an adjustable rate loan when the prime rate was 1% knowing full well their payments would multiply as the fed raised rates in the future. Years ago there was a financial talk show host named BRUCE WILLIAMS who told people to get a lawyer to help them through the home buying process. It may cost them a few hundred $ but save them thousands in the long term.
Also Mary when it comes to guns there are PLENTY of laws on the books. You cannot just walk into a gun store and buy a handgun. You have to go to the county sherrif and fill out a form and have a background check run on yourself. ONLY after passing a background check and purchase a permit can you buy a handgun. Even then you cant take it with you anywhere. To do that you have to go through a second round of checks for a Conceal & Cary permit. To get that you have to take a gun class from a certified instructor. And that is ONLY if you live in a state that permits one to carry a handgun.
As for assault rifles, that is myths by hollywood. A 30.06 deer hunting rifle has more power than a military rifle. Think about it, a full grown deer can weigh up to 1000 pounds. A human 200 average. Here is a history lesson.
In WWII most major powers' infantry carried basically militarized deer rifles averaging .30 caliber. After the war studies were made of the gunfights between armies. It was discovered that most battles were fought at close range of less than 400 feet and therefore not necessary to carry such large rifles. What soldiers wanted was lighter guns and ability to carry more ammo. Most armies decided to switch to lighter guns with higher rate of fire. The Korean war came too soon for changes to be made so that war was fought with WWII era rifles & weapons except jets & helicopters. By Viet Nam the US M16 was in service. It fired a 5.56mm bullet which is slightly larger then a 22 rifle bullet. The SKS and its replacement by communist naitons' AK-47 fires a 7.62 round,larger then the M16 but still smaller than the 30.06 average bullet used by deer hunters. If you go to youtube you can find videos of people shooting off the various size rifles and see the impacts of the hits.
BTW true machine guns have been banned at the federal level since the 1930s when the Al Capone Mobs were fighting FBI & other law enforcement agencies. All "assault rifles" sold in America are semi-automatic meaning it fires 1 bullet with 1 trigger pull. Military version weapons like the AK-47 or the M16 can be fired on full auto meaning it fires as long as the trigger is pulled. But these are NOT legally sold in the US to civilians and simple posession of them by a civilian is a federal offense and they take gun crimes seriously of that matter. In this same tribune paper, recently it was reported that a guy was sent to prison for simple posession of a sawed-off shotgun which is minor compared to a "full-auto" gun.
So while the right to bear arms is garanteed by the second amendment there are PLENTY of gun laws and regulations out there. Plus IF a person has a felony convition of any kind, they are banned from gun ownership or posession.
BTW Gary, Its funny, the left has spent years slamming christianity any way they can. Lawsuits to get rid of public prayers, ten commandment decorations, nativity scenes on public property at christmas. But when you liberals want somehting like medical care or a more socialist economic system you suddenly decide christianity works for you. One way or another--cant have it both ways.

Why I wont support Obama.
This is out of Obamas own mouth not Glenn Becks or Alex Jones.

"If you look at the victories and failures of the civil rights movement and its litigation strategy in the court. I think where it succeeded was to invest formal rights in previously dispossessed people, so that now I would have the right to vote. I would now be able to sit at the lunch counter and order as long as I could pay for it I’d be o.k. But, the Supreme Court never ventured into the issues of redistribution of wealth, and of more basic issues such as political and economic justice in society. To that extent, as radical as I think people try to characterize the Warren Court, it wasn’t that radical. It didn’t break free from the essential constraints that were placed by the founding fathers in the Constitution, at least as its been interpreted and Warren Court interpreted in the same way, that generally the Constitution is a charter of negative liberties. Says what the states can’t do to you. Says what the Federal government can’t do to you, but doesn’t say what the Federal government or State government must do on your behalf, and that hasn’t shifted and one of the, I think, tragedies of the civil rights movement was, um, because the civil rights movement became so court focused I think there was a tendancy to lose track of the political and community organizing and activities on the ground that are able to put together the actual coalition of powers through which you bring about redistributive change. In some ways we still suffer from that."
Barack Obama

dosent matter if its d's or r's. their all crooks and liars. if you think back to all the crap that came out of the politicians mouths about how they will make this country better, and look at the shape the country is in now, DUH?????????????
dont you think we need to clean out washington and start over? i mean from the president all the way down to the house,senate, and these so called experts in the pentagon. what a bunch of clowns. oh well the blue hairs and idiots/morons in this country have and will keep these clowns in office because they cant stand change. good luck united states, you will need it especially when we start seeing more and more chinese businesses. china pretty much owns us already.

Brian,

Since you think you know all about guns, did you know you can go to a gun show or garage sale and purchase a gun without a background check? Also assault rifles may be semi automatic, you can put a 30 round clip on it and shoot 30 bullets fairly quickly. Also I'd like to see this 1000 pound deer you speak of, what a trophy!

OH Mandi, your not one of those people who think the second amendment is about hunting are you?

One again I will look to the founders of America not Communist, Marxist, Socialist dictators for my answer.

"The strongest reason for people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government." -- (Thomas Jefferson)

"Firearms stand next in importance to the Constitution itself. They are the American people's liberty teeth and keystone under independence ... From the hour the Pilgrims landed, to the present day, events, occurrences, and tendencies prove that to insure peace, security and happiness, the rifle and pistol are equally indispensable . . . the very atmosphere of firearms everywhere restrains evil interference - they deserve a place of honor with all that is good" (George Washington)

"What country can preserve it's liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance. Let them take arms." (Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, Dec. 20, 1787)

"Americans have the right and advantage of being armed - unlike the citizens of other countries whose governments are afraid to trust the people with arms." (James Madison, The Federalist Papers #46 at 243-244)

I could go on all day long.

This is a reply to "Gary" whose post is shown below. First of all, Obama can be seen on many YouTube clips discussing how he found solace in the works of Karl Marx while in college. He, also, references this sentiment in his book ("Dreams from my Father" - 1995). So, Gene and FOX news viewers are not making up names to call him...Obama is and surrounds himself with self-proclaimed Marxists. And if you want to discuss the tenets of Christianity then you need to remember the Bible verse 2 Thessalonians 3:10 which states "He who does not work shall not eat." Christ did not travel the land to preach "He who takes out a mortgage he cannot afford should get to keep his house." Nor did he preach, "He who doesn't feel like working hard or making the most of opportunities should take away the bounties of the people who did work hard and reaped the rewards." There is NOTHING Christian about communism, Marx and Stalin considered religion "the opiate of the people." And government takeover of private banks, businesses and, worst of all, health care is nothing but unadulterated communism...nothing Christian about it. This country enjoys the BEST health care, the BEST standard of living and THE GREATEST opportunities. Gary, do you realize that the #1 problem faced by the "poor" in America is OBESITY??!! Other countries still have people dying of hunger and our poorest people are TOO FAT! The poorest in this country have cars, TV's, and modern conveniences. This robust standard of living was made possible by the free markets and capitalism. Why do you think we are the envy of the world? We are not socialists or communists. We have achieved this prosperity through liberty and the American way.

Van Jones was ousted for his self-avowed Marxist beliefs...he had been appointed by Obama. Anita Dunn (also appointed by Obama as White House Communications Director) is on video from June 5, 2009 stating that "two of (her) favorite political philosophers are Mao Tse Tung and Mother Teresa! The number of people who died at the hands of Mao is estimated between 14 and 20 million between 1958 and 1961. Communism in USSR is estimated to have cost 35 million people their lives between 1918 and 1958 (due to starvation-their economy was wrecked by the "utopian society"- and the gulag system of the Soviet Union).

Today, all of the major news stations have been celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Berlin Wall coming down and talking about the Fall of Communism. And you seem to want to follow in the footsteps of such a murderous and corrupt system? Look at how China has flourished in the past 10 years as they continue to open their markets and allow their citizens to keep the rewards of their labor and investments. My brother's wife grew up in a one room apartment in Shanghai in the 70's with no hot water; she didn't ride in an automobile until she came to the US as a student. Now her parents live in a 3 story house with a car.

When you say the "middle class" that no one cares about...what on earth do you mean? Do you even know where the government gets its money? It's not a business...it doesn't generate revenue. It gets the majority of its revenue from EVIL corporations...you know...the ones that GIVE PEOPLE JOBS!!! When the government gets involved in ANYTHING it goes bankrupt (Medicare, Medicaid, the Post Office). Look at "Cash for Clunkers!" For the number of cars that were turned in for rebates, a whopping $24,000 per car was paid out! Do you think that was all administrative and overhead? No. That was bureaucratic ineptitude and corruption. They couldn't even keep their books clean for that relatively short and small program! And you think they can run our health care system? If I wasn't going to suffer the consequences, I would wish everything upon you that Obama has planned, but unfortunately it will affect us all.

Do you realize that with about $35 billion of the unspent Stimulus money the truly uninsured could be covered lavishly? Obama is not interested in helping the uninsured he is interested in breaking this country until it is the only means of assistance. And that is how Hitler and Stalin both got their footholds.

Mandi

Nick B had a good reply to your post so i wont repeat any of his remarks.
As for the garage sale/gun show sales, as i stated in my first post, a crimminal will not pass a background check. IF a crimminal is caught with said firearm purchased anywhere they are in deep trouble regardless of where/how they bought it.
As for deer 1000 pounds is probably pushing it, but you cannot deny the largest deer or other big game are still far heavier then the average human which was the point the military went to smaller guns in the first place after WWII.
When I was in 8th grade back in 1981-2 school year, the 7-8th grade took three days off of regular classes so a classmates father could teach hunter safty class. He was a certified instructor at the time. Shortly after completing the class my dad bought me a 22 rifle. Just to see if the huting bug would take off. It did not and the .22 collected dust in my closet for 5 years when I sold it to a freind of mine. (years later fremont people voted this freind of mine to the city council!)
The 22 rifle was a semi-auto.
That 22 had a magazine that held around 20 rounds in a tube under the barrel. So that 22 in theory could be just as deadly as the assault rifle you & Mary hate with so much passion but its NOT an assault rifle. In fact my relatives put full grown crippled cattle down with their 22s when the situation applies.
Btw I dont claim to be a gun expert. I have a sister living by herself in a southern border state. Literally out in the sticks so to speak with a long response time by emergency personel IF something happens. So her freinds and co-workers have beenn nagging her for years to take steps to learn self protection or other means including buying a gun. After Obama became president they have been really aggressive b/c D's are soft on crime and the fear of D's making it as tough as possible for law-abiding citizens to get guns. So she has been e-mailing me gun questions for my gun freinds. So actually specific gun laws were unfamiliar to me until this year.
BTW If I were to put political lables on my freinds i have a mix of both C's & L's. All of them agree & disagree with parts of BOTH parties and vote with whatever party has the most of what they desire. However when it comes to the second amendment & gun rights issues, they ALL are in favor of the right to bear arms by law-abading citizens. My best freind of over 36 years is a big liberal but he feels his hunter father & brothers should NOT be punished because of the inner city gang/drug violence. Which is the excuse liberals use to try to do evrything possible to clamp down on gun rights.
You liberals could be honest and admit the real reason you hate gun owners & the second amendment with so much passion is that gun people mostly lean to conservative in their voting so to go after the second amendment is to punish them more then make the streets safe. When guns are banned in an area, the crimminals know that law-abbiding people give up their guns and therefore easy targets for crime, after all they cant shoot back. Crimminals dont care about gun laws b/c the simple logic is that they are going to be crimminals anyway and the risk of getting caught with a gun is less then the punishment then with burglary, rape, car jacking, drug dealing, or murder so they dont care about simple gun laws anyway.

Brian,

Thanks for putting words in my mouth. I never said I didn't like guns. My family hunts deer and pheasants every hunting season. I have no problem with guns as long as they don't end up in the wrong hands. I also think people should be able to carry a hand gun if they feel the need, my brother has a permit.

What blows my mind is people can't think of anything to respond so they have to use others quotes to back their arguments. I think Brian and Nick B need to go back to school and learn how to spell and express their feelings!

Which Ammendment to the Constitution is more important to you
A. The Second
B. All the rest

If you answered A you are Republican
If you answered B you are American

What is it with Liberals and expressing there feeeeelllings. If they would look at facts instead of feeeeelllings we would all be much better off. Whats wrong with quoting our for fathers somebody has to the cronies in the White House wont there to busy sucking up to Chavez and Mou. I have permits for guns to lots of permits.

MARK,

Conservatives respect ALL of the Amendments, Far more then Liberals.
They feel the Constitution was written by old white people and is outdated in the world of political correctness.
Nancy Pelosi laughed at a reporter recently who asked her if it was constitutional for Gov to run healthcare. Robert Gibbs was asked about what the white house thought about the constitutionally of health care and he replied that the White House is NOT CONCERNED about the Constitutionality of running health care.
The reason they fight for the second is because they HAVE TOO. When Hitler, Stalin, Mao Se tung & other dictators took over nations one of their first thing was to outlaw private gunownership so then they had a nation of sheep to control and millions were easily slaughtered for simply expressing opinions against their governments.
Mandi, spelling or typing errors do not in any way cancel out the point a comment a poster is making and pointing to spelling is nit-picking and taking away from the topic at hand.

Who cares about hunting deer or anything else with firearms, the founding fathers not only intended but said that the purpose of the right to bear arms was to safeguard all of our other rights from a tyrannical government...period. Once you start giving ground in this argument it is already lost as it now becomes a question of what is sufficient to shoot a pheasant or a moose rather than what is needed to defend home, property and right to due process. To answer Mark's hokey little analogy none of our rights are more important than the others because if you start chipping away at one then attacks on others will ensue- one example is the push to limit free speech by so-called liberal organizations. Bill Clinton making a show of duck hunting (has he done it since?) isn't what the second amendment was about.

"I ask, Sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people. To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them."
George Mason
Co-author of the Second Amendment
during Virginia's Convention to Ratify the Constitution, 1788

"The constitutions of most of our States assert that all power is inherent in the people; that … it is their right and duty to be at all times armed; … "
Thomas Jefferson
letter to Justice John Cartwright, June 5, 1824

"Firearms stand next in importance to the constitution itself. They are the American people's liberty teeth and keystone under independence."
George Washington
First President of the United States

"The people never give up their liberties but under some delusion."
Edmund Burke
British Statesman, 1784

The Bill of Rights is as applicable today as it was 200+ years ago. I read on another topic someone pointing out many of the founding fathers were slave owners and hypocrites. they were products of their times with revolutionary ideas when many people in Europe were under the bondage of serfdom.

Serfdom abolished:

Scotland - 1799
Spain - 1837
Savoy - 1771
Baden - 1783
Schleswig-Holstein - 1804
Bavaria - 1808
Hanover - 1831
Saxony - 1832
Württemberg - 1817
Russia - 1861
Austro-Hungary - 1841
Prussia - 1807
Estonia - 1816
Bosnia - 1918

The Bill of Rights is a rather simple straightforward document and all that is needed to interpret it is the framers own words. There are no hidden meanings embedded in it, duck hunting isn't mentioned one time by a founding father but an armed citizenry being able to defend itself from it's own leaders is mentioned again and again.

Hey Kim,
the reason the poorest of America are the most obese is that good healthy food is more than they can afford. Let's see 3 boxes of mac & cheese for $2 or 2 chicken breasts for $7, not much of a decision when you are poor and trying to make a food budget stretch. Even food boxes given to the poor have food that is filling but not necessarily nutritionally sound. So dont' equate obesity with hunger, they are two different issues. However hunger does happen in this country every day. Children doing without daily as we send our money over seas or past the borders to help out but neglect our own. The USA needs to put Americans first and foremost, we need to make sure no child goes hungry, no person goes without health care and that our borders are secure and people crossing illegally are procecuted as the laws our incompentent government already has on the books but refuses to enforce. They have to make sure the greedy corporations get their slave labor, that they in turn get their support for their corrupt political ambitions. Time to look to American and make it better!

Brian and Nick B: Weren't our founding fathers speaking of their feelings and beliefs when they spoke the lines that you quoted? Also, I do think that spelling and grammar matter because it tends to reflect on the way people look and think of you.

Mandy! Mandy! Mandy!
You are trying to play chess in a town full of checker players. Remember you are dealing with conservatives here, everything spiritually related ended when the bible was written. Everything politically related ended when the Constitution was written. By the way do you think the early Christians and the founding fathers were conservative or liberal? Can't you just hear the conservatives now,ranting how the treasonous founding fathers should follow the rules of good King George

Mandi,
Typos, spelling or grammar mistakes are ONLY brought up against people who's comments disagree with the person bringing up those type of mistakes. I have NEVER read a comment by someone stating:"Great post and I agree with you 100% HOWEVER since you mispelled or mistyped a word the post is WORTHLESS!!" Bringing up spelling or typing mistakes is just an attempt to slam a disagreeing opinion when one has no other logic or point to make in a debate.

Mark, refering our founding fathers as conservative or liberal in their day compared to our day is two different things. If they were alive today they would be shocked at not only the new technologies of our time compared to over 200 years ago, but also at the idea that half the people in this once great nation are demanding the gov to take care of them from cradle to grave and that how big the federal gov has grown. When they wrote the constitution, they wanted most political power at state or local level, not a large centralized federal gov. Thomas Jefferson would be rolling in his grave if he saw the Federal Reserve system now and the debt load our nation has.
BTW we conservatives know that the constitution was written over 200 years ago, but the core beliefs of personal freedom, and the personal responsibility that goes with it and the Bill of Rights protecting those freedoms & that gov should be limited in its powers is NEVER out of style.
The constitution was written to protect our citizens from oppressive governments like Communists of the 1900s or a theocracy like the Fascist muslim nations of the Middle East of today. I dont care if the US is 200+ years old or 1000 years old, our rights & freedoms should NEVER be out of style.
Btw in response to your sarcastic checkers/chess remark, I play Chess on occasion.