Why We Give Thanks

We all know that when Thanksgiving comes around, it’s time for turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, and numerous other foods. But what does Thanksgiving really mean? I’ve heard many outrageous claims to what Thanksgiving is how it came about, none of them even being close to the truth. In 1610, the settlers of Jamestown, Virginia celebrated a day of thanks for 3 days. They spent the days having a feast and thanking God for their safe passage to the New World. In 1621 at Plymouth Plantation, the settlers held a celebration for the great growing season that had resulted from the Wampanoag tribe’s help. A feast of food was created for 13 Pilgrims and 90 Indians. Thanks was given to God for his blessing of the amazing mass of food from their harvest.

Then in 1777, during the Revolutionary War, the Continental Congress issued a many days of thanksgiving over a few years. Their proclamation read as:

FOR AS MUCH as it is the indispensable Duty of all Men to adore the superintending Providence of Almighty God; to acknowledge with Gratitude their Obligation to him for Benefits received, and to implore such farther Blessings as they stand in Need of: And it having pleased him in his abundant Mercy, not only to continue to us the innumerable Bounties of his common Providence; but also to smile upon us in the Prosecution of a just and necessary War, for the Defense and Establishment of our unalienable Rights and Liberties; particularly in that he hath been pleased, in so great a Measure, to prosper the Means used for the Support of our Troops, and to crown our Arms with most signal success:

It is therefore recommended to the legislative or executive Powers of these UNITED STATES to set apart THURSDAY, the eighteenth Day of December next, for SOLEMN THANKSGIVING and PRAISE: That at one Time and with one Voice, the good People may express the grateful Feelings of their Hearts, and consecrate themselves to the Service of their Divine Benefactor; and that, together with their sincere Acknowledgments and Offerings, they may join the penitent Confession of their manifold Sins, whereby they had forfeited every Favor; and their humble and earnest Supplication that it may please GOD through the Merits of JESUS CHRIST, mercifully to forgive and blot them out of Remembrance; That it may please him graciously to afford his Blessing on the Governments of these States respectively, and prosper the public Council of the whole: To inspire our Commanders, both by Land and Sea, and all under them, with that Wisdom and Fortitude which may render them fit Instruments, under the Providence of Almighty GOD, to secure for these United States, the greatest of all human Blessings, INDEPENDENCE and PEACE: That it may please him, to prosper the Trade and Manufactures of the People, and the Labor of the Husbandman, that our Land may yield its Increase: To take Schools and Seminaries of Education, so necessary for cultivating the Principles of true Liberty, Virtue and Piety, under his nurturing Hand; and to prosper the Means of Religion, for the promotion and enlargement of that Kingdom, which consisteth “in Righteousness, Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost.

And it is further recommended, That servile Labor, and such Recreation, as, though at other Times innocent, may be unbecoming the Purpose of this Appointment, be omitted on so solemn an Occasion.

Then on October 8, 1789, then President George Washington issued a proclamation, creating the first Thanksgiving day by the federal government. It read as:

Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor, and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me “to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness. Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be. That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks, for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation, for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his providence, which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war, for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed, for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted, for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us. And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions, to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually, to render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed, to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shown kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord. To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the encrease of science among them and Us, and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best. Given under my hand at the City of New York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.

George Washington again proclaimed a Thanksgiving in 1795.

President John Adams declared Thanksgivings in 1798 and 1799. No Thanksgiving proclamations were issued by Thomas Jefferson but James Madison renewed the tradition in 1814, in response to resolutions of Congress, at the close of the War of 1812. Madison also declared the holiday twice in 1815; however, none of these was celebrated in autumn. In 1816, Governor Plumer of New Hampshire appointed Thursday, November 14 to be observed as a day of Public Thanksgiving and Governor Brooks of Massachusetts appointed Thursday, November 28 to be “observed throughout that State as a day of Thanksgiving.”

A thanksgiving day was annually appointed by the governor of New York from 1817. In some of the Southern states, there was opposition to the observance of such a day on the ground that it was a relic of Puritanic bigotry, but by 1858 proclamations appointing a day of thanksgiving were issued by the governors of 25 states and two territories.

In the middle of the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln, prompted by a series of editorials written by Sarah Josepha Hale, proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day, to be celebrated on the final Thursday in November 1863:

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle, or the ship; the axe had enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years, with large increase of freedom. No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and Union. In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the city of Washington, this third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the independence of the United States the eighty-eighth.” Proclamation of President Abraham Lincoln, October 3, 1863.

Since 1863, Thanksgiving has been observed annually in the United States. But as most holidays, it’s become another day off for people to east and forget what the holiday stands for. How many people actually give thanks on Thanksgiving day? How many people even know the history of Thanksgiving day and why it was created? Politics doesn’t fix the problems in America, learning who we are and where we came from will. We must reawakening of history in America today, and it must start with each and every one of us.

For those who don’t believe that faith was and still is an integral part of our country, they need to look at the founding of the country and the men and documents that created it. Divine Providence, God, Jesus, and many other references our made throughout our history in official documents, lawful documents. It is for this very reason they we can look past the politics and know that there is a bigger picture and a bigger plan then just one election or one political society. There is much more, and that is something to be truly thankful for.

The Next 4 Years

“THESE are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated.” -Thomas Paine, The American Crisis, December 23, 1776

Thomas Paine wrote these words on a drum head. It was the harsh winter of 1776. He was fighting alongside George Washington and other brave Americans. But the Revolution was going badly. The British were winning battle after battle, pushing the American force back farther and farther. The time to server that the American forces had signed up for was coming to and end. Soldiers were deserting because of the lack of equipment. A trail of blood stained snow could be seen following these troops as many had no shoes in the freezing snow. They were losing hope and were in need of some encouragement and a big victory. Thomas Paine knew this, and so he asked for the drummer’s drum and began to write. When he was done, he found a messenger and he told him to ride to and get this printed immediately. These words were spread across the country, read by millions of American who were fighting and others in their homes. Three days later, Washington and his troops crossed the Delaware River to take on the Hessians, German Mercenaries who were an equivalent of our Navy Seals. With this surprise attack, America had its first major victory and from that point, America changed the direction of the Revolution.

Last night I sat in awe as I watched my country was turning into something that it had fought against for centuries. Over the past 4 years we’ve worked so hard to wake people up, and millions have. But free stuff beat out freedom last night. Rather then getting your own fish, Progressives voted to steal that fish from someone else. I spent last night praying that we’ve been wrong, that things will not turn out as bad as we’re predicting. But I know that this mans actions and words say otherwise. We all know what is coming, Obama has told us what is coming time and time again. He told Russia that he would have more flexibility to do what he wanted after this election. And he does, without the worry of re-election, Obama can do whatever he wants and doesn’t have to worry about public opinion, not like he’s ever cared about it before.
But given all of that, I’ve tried hard today to see the bright things. I’ve looked at Thomas Paine’s words and how he said that Heaven will set the price for something so high as Freedom. Yes, Obama’s win and what it means for the next 4 years is depressing. And yes the fact that the dollar’s value fell dramatically after the election is depressing. We’re nearing an economic and financial cliff, it’s estimated that another $5 Trillion will be added to the debt over the next 4 years which will put us the same exact place Greece was when its financial crisis started. Our enemies will become our allies while our allies, Israel and England, will become our enemies. But our country was not founded on these things. Our country was not founded based on a numerical number of money or on who our allies were. It was created based on principles of Life, Liberty, and Property. It’s more than a country, a piece of land. It is a Constitution, it is ideals. We can not lose those.

We’ve survived 4 years of Obama by sticking to these principles and ideals. The next 4 years will be harder, but that just means that we have to hold on tighter and pray harder. To steal a phrase from Glenn Beck on the Glenn Beck Radio Program today, “God’s about a bigger picture than an election or a candidate. God is about the freedom of mankind. God is about the Constitution, which is a divinely inspired.” The plan is larger than an election or a candidate, we didn’t wake up and get involved because of an election or a candidate. We woke up because we saw something changing in the ideals and principles of this country.

The media is claiming a mandate election, course what do you expect from those who openly help campaign for Obama. This is odd considering Obama won by fewer Electoral and Popular votes then in 2008. In fact, as it stand right now, the reports are that only 117 million people voted this election when 131 million voted in 2008. And from what I can tell, those extra 20 million votes were in Obama’s direction last election. That means Obama couldn’t even get 20 million people who voted for him in 2008. We don’t know their reasons, maybe SEIU didn’t offer them enough money to go vote, but whatever it is, they didn’t. Sadly, these same people could have gone out and voted Romney if they were discouraged by Obama’s past 4 years.

Another thing I’ve had to address today is Ron Paul and Gary Johnson supporters. I’ve seen them all saying, “You had a chance to pick a real candidate to save America, now enjoy the next 4 years of consequences.” Ron Paul and Gary Johnson supporters are just fine with letting the system collapse, in fact they think it will save America by pressing the reset button, but it won’t. The people in charge right now would only come out on top and with more power through a collapse. My response to these people has been this, “You also had a choice to pick a candidate for President that could turn things around. But instead you chose to sit around and whine. And heads up, you also will live through the next 4 years of hell.”

In House Speaker John Boehner’s (R-Ohio) response to Obama’s re-election, he made the statement that, “For purposes of forging a bipartisan agreement that begins to solve the problem, we’re willing to accept new revenue, under the right conditions. What matters is where the increased revenue comes from and what type of reform comes from it.” And so as we’ve known all along, the GOP establishment is ready to sell out the American people. It is even more important to put pressure on the GOP and all of DC. It is more important now to stand up and educate people as to what America truly is. We can not stop now, just because Obama has been re-elected. We knew that no matter who was elected, that we’d still have to watch, educate, and be informed. The only way to survive what is coming is to stick to our ideals and to stay together. You are not alone. We will make it through this, America will look different on the other side, but we will make it through together. United We Stand, Divided We Fall.

Fundamentally Transforming

“We are five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America.” – Presidential Candidate Barack Obama, 2008

For the past four years, we’ve been seeing the fundamental change that Obama has done to America. The change from a $40 Billion deficit to a $1 Trillion deficit. The change from a $10 Trillion Debt to a $16 Trillion debt. The change from 32 Million food stamp recipients to 47 million. The change from 13 million people unemployed to 22 million unemployed. A change from being able to go through airport security without getting groped to now having to go through airport security and get legally molested. A change from being the leader of the world in economics, military, and diplomacy to now being a second-rate nation that is laughed at in all three categories. A change from being very clear on where we stand with both allies and enemies to now negotiating with our enemies and ignoring our allies.

Even Obama himself can’t argue against these numbers and facts, we saw that in the Presidential debates over the past month. Obama has done more damage to the US economy in 4 years then Bush or anyone before him did in 8. If we continue on the path we are currently on, it is estimated that we will have a $22 Trillion Debt and 54 million food stamp recipients by 2016. Four years ago we had no knowledge who Barack Obama was, very little to go on what he stood for. In his 2004 speech at the Democratic National Convention, he spoke about coming together to continue the greatness that is America. But since 2008, Obama has done nothing but divide America. He has even managed to divide his own party between the Progressives, Socialist, and true Democrats who have watched their party get taken over for years. As many have said, “This is no longer your grandparent’s Democratic Party.”

In 5 days, we too will have a chance to fundamentally transform the United States of America. We will have the chance to return America to its founding principles of Life, Liberty, and Property. The ideal that, “…all men are created equal…” will return. Over the past 4 years, we have been educating ourselves and others of the true history of America. Of how we came to where we are, who truly stood for the rights of all people no matter their color or creed. That no matter where we came from or what we look like, we are all Americans. This is the choice we have in 5 days. A woman on Stanton Island in New York was shown on the news this evening asking her Senators, “When is the government coming?” Do you want to be like this woman, dependent on the government to survive, to live? Or do you want to be an American, able to survive on your own and able to tell the government to go away because you’ve got it covered? Which will you choose?

I wish that even with the choices above made, that this mess would be fixed in a second, but that can’t happen. It will take a few years, maybe more, to truly get this mess fixed. It has been created over 100 years and its going to take more than 4, 8, 10 years even to get it truly fixed. But, that doesn’t mean we should just accept it as it is. The clean up and fixing have to start somewhere. We’ve already begun the work over the past 4 years by getting the true power, the Citizens, ready. Now it is time to take that power and knowledge to fix the government.

“The power under the Constitution will always be in the people. It is entrusted for certain defined purposes, and for a certain limited period, to representatives of their own choosing; and whenever it is executed contrary to their interest, or not agreeable to their wishes, their servants can, and undoubtedly will, be recalled” – George Washington, 1787

It is our job to ensure that the United States continues on. It has always been our responsibility. “We The People…” created this government, we granted it limited power to ensure the civility and organization to protect our freedoms. And now, it has stepped outside those limited powers, and thus it is our job to push it back. On November 6th, you have 2 choices, to take responsibility and limit the government, or step aside and watch as the greatest nation goes down in flames. This is what you’re voting on. And remember, not to vote, is to vote.

“Let each citizen remember at the moment he is offering his vote that he is not making a present or a compliment to please an individual – or at least that he ought not so to do; but that he is executing one of the most solemn trusts in human society for which he is accountable to God and his country.” – Samuel Adams, 1781

And now to close, I would like to present my predictions on how the election will turn out. Based on how things have gone over the past few months and what the mood is like in every state, these are The Tea Revolution’s predictions on the outcome of the 2012 Presidential Election:

(Click to enlarge)

Do you give thanks on Thanksgiving?

We all know that when Thanksgiving comes around, it’s time for turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, and numerous other foods. But what does Thanksgiving really mean? I’ve heard many outrageous claims to what Thanksgiving is how it came about, none of them even being close to the truth. In 1610, the settlers of Jamestown, Virginia celebrated a day of thanks for 3 days. They spent the days having a feast and thinking God for their safe passage to the New World. In 1621 at Plymouth Plantation, the settlers held a celebration for the great growing season that had resulted from the Wampanoag tribe’s help. A feast of food was created for 13 Pilgrims and 90 Indians. Thanks was given to God for his blessing of the amazing mass of food from their harvest.

Then in 1777, during the Revolutionary War, the Continental Congress issued a many days of thanksgiving over a few years. Their proclamation read as:

FOR AS MUCH as it is the indispensable Duty of all Men to adore the superintending Providence of Almighty God; to acknowledge with Gratitude their Obligation to him for Benefits received, and to implore such farther Blessings as they stand in Need of: And it having pleased him in his abundant Mercy, not only to continue to us the innumerable Bounties of his common Providence; but also to smile upon us in the Prosecution of a just and necessary War, for the Defense and Establishment of our unalienable Rights and Liberties; particularly in that he hath been pleased, in so great a Measure, to prosper the Means used for the Support of our Troops, and to crown our Arms with most signal success:

It is therefore recommended to the legislative or executive Powers of these UNITED STATES to set apart THURSDAY, the eighteenth Day of December next, for SOLEMN THANKSGIVING and PRAISE: That at one Time and with one Voice, the good People may express the grateful Feelings of their Hearts, and consecrate themselves to the Service of their Divine Benefactor; and that, together with their sincere Acknowledgments and Offerings, they may join the penitent Confession of their manifold Sins, whereby they had forfeited every Favor; and their humble and earnest Supplication that it may please GOD through the Merits of JESUS CHRIST, mercifully to forgive and blot them out of Remembrance; That it may please him graciously to afford his Blessing on the Governments of these States respectively, and prosper the public Council of the whole: To inspire our Commanders, both by Land and Sea, and all under them, with that Wisdom and Fortitude which may render them fit Instruments, under the Providence of Almighty GOD, to secure for these United States, the greatest of all human Blessings, INDEPENDENCE and PEACE: That it may please him, to prosper the Trade and Manufactures of the People, and the Labor of the Husbandman, that our Land may yield its Increase: To take Schools and Seminaries of Education, so necessary for cultivating the Principles of true Liberty, Virtue and Piety, under his nurturing Hand; and to prosper the Means of Religion, for the promotion and enlargement of that Kingdom, which consisteth “in Righteousness, Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost.

And it is further recommended, That servile Labor, and such Recreation, as, though at other Times innocent, may be unbecoming the Purpose of this Appointment, be omitted on so solemn an Occasion.

Then on October 8, 1789, then President George Washington issued a proclamation, creating the first Thanksgiving day by the federal government. It read as:

Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor, and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me “to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness. Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be. That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks, for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation, for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his providence, which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war, for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed, for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted, for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us. And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions, to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually, to render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed, to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shown kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord. To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the encrease of science among them and Us, and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best. Given under my hand at the City of New York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.

George Washington again proclaimed a Thanksgiving in 1795.

President John Adams declared Thanksgivings in 1798 and 1799. No Thanksgiving proclamations were issued by Thomas Jefferson but James Madison renewed the tradition in 1814, in response to resolutions of Congress, at the close of the War of 1812. Madison also declared the holiday twice in 1815; however, none of these was celebrated in autumn. In 1816, Governor Plumer of New Hampshire appointed Thursday, November 14 to be observed as a day of Public Thanksgiving and Governor Brooks of Massachusetts appointed Thursday, November 28 to be “observed throughout that State as a day of Thanksgiving.”

A thanksgiving day was annually appointed by the governor of New York from 1817. In some of the Southern states, there was opposition to the observance of such a day on the ground that it was a relic of Puritanic bigotry, but by 1858 proclamations appointing a day of thanksgiving were issued by the governors of 25 states and two territories.

In the middle of the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln, prompted by a series of editorials written by Sarah Josepha Hale, proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day, to be celebrated on the final Thursday in November 1863:

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle, or the ship; the axe had enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years, with large increase of freedom. No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and Union. In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the city of Washington, this third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the independence of the United States the eighty-eighth.” Proclamation of President Abraham Lincoln, October 3, 1863.

Since 1863, Thanksgiving has been observed annually in the United States. But as most holidays, it’s become another day off for people to east and forget what the holiday stands for. How many people actually give thanks on Thanksgiving day? How many people even know the history of Thanksgiving day and why it was created? Politics doesn’t fix the problems in America, learning who we are and where we came from will. We must reawakening of history in America today, and it must start with each and every one of us.

The Untold Christmas Story

With Christmas upon us, I thought it time for a classic Christmas story. Yes, you guessed it…The Crossing of the Delaware. Oh? Not your first guess? Well, then listen to the history.

December 1776 was a desperate time for George Washington and the American Revolution. The ragtag Continental Army was encamped along the Pennsylvania shore of the Delaware River exhausted, demoralized and uncertain of its future.

The troubles had begun the previous August when British and Hessian troops invaded Long Island routing the colonial forces, forcing a desperate escape to the island of Manhattan. The British followed up their victory with an attack on Manhattan that compelled the Americans to again retreat, this time across the Hudson River to New Jersey.

The British followed in hot pursuit, chasing the Americans through New Jersey and by December had forced the Continental Army to abandon the state and cross the Delaware into Pennsylvania. With New Jersey in their firm control and Rhode Island successfully occupied, the British were confident that the Revolution had been crushed. The Continental Army appeared to be merely an annoyance soon to be swatted into oblivion like a bothersome bee at a picnic.

To compound Washington’s problems, the enlistments of the majority of the militias under his command were due to expire at the end of the month and the troops return to their homes. Washington had to do something and quickly.

His decision was to attack the British. The target was the Hessian-held town of Trenton just across the Delaware River.

During the night of December 25, Washington led his troops across the ice-swollen Delaware about 9 miles north of Trenton. The weather was horrendous and the river treacherous. Raging winds combined with snow, sleet and rain to produce almost impossible conditions. To add to the difficulties, a significant number of Washington’s force marched through the snow without shoes.

The next morning they attacked to the south, taking the Hessian garrison by surprise and over-running the town. After fierce fighting, and the loss of their commander, the Hessians surrendered.

Washington’s victory was complete but his situation precarious. The violent weather continued – making a strike towards Princeton problematic. Washington and his commanding officers decided to retrace their steps across the Delaware taking their Hessian prisoners with them.

The news of the American victory spread rapidly through the colonies reinvigorating the failing spirit of the Revolution. The battle’s outcome also gave Washington and his officers the confidence to mount another campaign. On December 30 they again crossed the Delaware, attacked and won another victory at Trenton on January 2, and then pushed on to Princeton defeating the British there on January 3.

Although not apparent at the time, these battles were a decisive turning point in the Revolution. The victories pulled the languishing Revolution out of the depths of despair, galvanized colonial support, shocked the British and convinced potential allies such as France, Holland and Spain, that the Continental Army was a force to be reckoned with.

Now it’s obviously not a typical Christmas story of magic or Santa or even Rudolph, but it is a Christmas story with a miracle. Aside from the birth of Christ, the Crossing of the Delaware is perhaps the most important historical Christmas story of all time. Up to the point of crossing the Delaware, General Washington had lost every battle. His men were very tired and very ill supplied. It was said you could follow them because of the blood coming from their feet as they had no shoes.

Washington knew that if he didn’t act now, all hope was lost. So, in a move that very well could have ended the entire war, Washington lead his 2,400 men and crossed the Delaware. This move and battle proved to be the turning point of the entire war. It inspired the colonist to continue the fight for freedom and liberty. And what better day than Christmas Day. What better present then that of a free nation.

It could be said that this free nation was the greatest gift ever to be given on Christmas Day. A true act of God and a clear sign that we were founded on the firm belief of a Creator and of the Judeo-Christian beliefs. With Washington’s firm belief in God, he knew that freedom could be obtained, and thus he acted.

So when we have these so-called “Wars On Christmas” and people sit by and let it happen without saying a word, then we are doomed to end up in a Socialistic nation. We must stand up for these small battles for they make the greatest difference. If we don’t stand up now when the battle seems so small, then when will we stand up. When we live in a Socialistic nation? When they kill people over the issues?

They came first for the Communists,
and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew.

Then they came for me
and by that time no one was left to speak up.

We must stand up now or else we will find ourselves alone and facing a tyrannical power. As Ronald Reagan said, “If not us, then who? And if not now, then when?” Now is the time to fight these battles not just within our community but communities all across America. If we don’t do it now, then there will be nothing left, and no one left to stand up.

What It All Comes Down To

“The power under the Constitution will always be in the people. It is entrusted for certain defined purposes, and for a certain limited period, to representatives of their own choosing; and whenever it is executed contrary to their interest, or not agreeable, to their wishes, their servants can, and undoubtedly will, be recalled” – George Washington 1787

George Washington understood, as many of the Founding Fathers did, that We The People hold the power. That our Representatives, both House and Senate, were our servants, that they served us. Something I’ve begun to do is no longer call the positions in DC “jobs”. If we continue to call them jobs, then we continue to grow career politicians. Instead, we must get back to the founding ideals of public servitude. Our Congress members are our servants, and as George Washington pointed out, when they do not follow the Constitution, the people will vote them out. Well, welcome to November 2, 2010.

For the past 3 years, we have woken up to the fact that our country isn’t what we thought it was. We’ve woken up to legislation called TARP and the government taking over businesses and bailing out others that have been deemed too big to fail. We awoke to the fact that the Democratic party wasn’t what it used to be, that it had been consumed by a force called the Progressives. It took us about a year and a half to realize the hidden agenda of this force, but we found it and fought it.

Now, the time to start the restoration is upon us. If we don’t make the stand here and now, who knows when we’ll have the chance again, if ever. Although the Constitutions Conservatives could take over the House and possibly the Senate, they will still have to deal with a Progressive President for 2 more years. This means that a lot of votes will take place to overturn vetoes. And they will most likely make it through the House, but the Senate will be the challenge if it is not taken back.

I do not advocate for Republicans, Democrats, or Independents. I advocate for Constitutionalists. For those who believe in the founding ideals and the same principles that guided our founders. Fiscal responsibility, limited government, and the individual. Many believe that with November 2nd, we’ll be closer to the end of this fight, but on November 2nd, it’s only beginning.

We must hold our elected officials feet to the fire more than ever, even those who have run on the Tea Party message. In fact, those deemed “Tea Party Candidates” will have their feet held to the fire a little more than others because they have run on those ideals and have made that commitment to bring that back to DC.

The ballot is your weapon. We are a peaceful revolution and we fight with our voices and our votes. Many people have made the claims that they don’t need to vote because so many others will turn out. Well let’s imagine if everyone had that same thought, no one would vote. Every vote counts, because all of those people who believe their vote counts, they all add up. Others make the claims of voting for the lesser of two evils. Although this can be true, then take that lesser of two evils and let them know that they’re being watched. That they will be seeing a lot of you, and that you will support them when they are right, and vigorously oppose them when they are wrong.

“If we lose freedom here, there is no place to escape to. This is the last stand on Earth.” – Ronald Reagan 1964

Do not let the last stand on earth die. Don’t let the shining city on a hill fall away from existence. Between now and November 2nd, educate people, as many people a day as you can. Don’t tell them how to vote, but inform them about the issues and the candidates. Give them places they can go to research. And then tell them to tell someone else. We can not have that uninformed electorate that John Kerry spoke of. We have educated ourselves over the past 3 years. Now let’s put it to good use and get America back and restore it.

Restoring Honor

This weekend I was at the Restoring Honor rally in Washington DC. As many know, the media is missing the point or skewing the facts. From what I saw, there was no politics discussed. There were no fights or arrests. There were no arguments. There was only people coming together for one common cause, God.

The crowd was enormous and it was packed with people. You were getting close to someone didn’t know. It was fairly hot and you basically had to give a little nudge to move the line. Now you would expect arguments and fights to break out. For people to have bad attitudes and make comments. The fact is, everyone was very polite and even helped each other to get through the crowd.

One story from some people on our bus was that they had sat back by the Washington Monument and that it was just grass between them and the World War II Memorial. By the end of the event, the grass had disappeared and it was all people. As an eye-witness, I have to say that there was at least a million people at the event.

Another story was that some people met some foreigners from France who had no idea about the event, what was going on, or even who Glenn Beck was. The people had to explain in about 5 minutes what was going on in the country, who Glenn Beck was, and what the rally was about. The foreigners understood since their country is very much in the same state.

The event was about coming back to God and to restore the honor within ourselves and by doing so, within our country. The event wasn’t about politics or even about Glenn Beck. It was about individuals looking within themselves and coming back to the realization that it all starts with us. As John Adams said:

“We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a religious and moral people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other.”

The reason we face the out of control government, the Progressive agenda, and the elitist politicians is because we have gotten away from that religious and moral people. We’ve lost sight of God and what is important. We’ve focused on money, power, and corruption for far to long. The point of this weekend was to come to together and get back focused on God and our principles. To get our country back not by political means but through moral and virtuous means.

We can continue to focus politics and work through the Constitution, but all of that work will be for nothing if we don’t focus on God. Thomas Jefferson and the founders gave us the clue at the end of the Declaration of Independence:

“With a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”

They told us that we must look to God. That we must stake our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor on him. That if we ever stray away, that all we have to do is look back to him and come to the realization that through him all things are possible. That if we look to him and within ourselves, that our country and government will restore its honor.

Our Stamp Act

In 1913 the states ratified the Sixteenth Amendment. This amendment brought about what we call today, the Income Tax. The income tax taxes people’s incomes based on how much they make. In the Presidential election of 1912, the 3 candidates, Woodrow Wilson(D), Theodore Roosevelt(Progressive), and William Howard Taft(R),  all supported the income tax. Support for the income tax was strongest in the western states and opposition was strongest in the northeastern states.

In 1765, the British Parliament passed an act to impose a tax on all legal documents, permits, commercial contracts, almanacs, newspapers, wills, pamphlets, and playing cards in the American Colonies to pay for the Seven Years War. This act was known as the Stamp Act. The colonists were against this tax as they had no representation in Parliament to vote on this act and thus the cry “NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION”. It was the first tax imposed on the colonies without their consent and the American Colonies began boycotting English goods that came into the colonies.

During this uproar in the colonies, Benjamin Franklin was in England as the Pennsylvania Assembly’s agent to the Crown. He was much opposed to the Stamp Act. Parliament didn’t know why the colonies were so angry, they held many sessions questioning experts on American affairs. Finally, they called upon Benjamin Franklin. The following is a few exerts from “The Examination of Doctor Benjamin Franklin to the Repeal of the American Stamp Act“.

Q.  You say the Colonies have always submitted to external taxes, and object to the right of Parliament only in laying internal taxes; now can you show that there is any kind of difference between the two taxes to the Colony on which they may be laid?

A.  I think the difference is very great. An external tax is a duty laid on commodities imported; that duty is added to the first cost and other charges on the commodity, and, when it is offered for sale, makes a part of the price. If the people do not like it at that price, they refuse it; they are not obliged to pay it. But an internal tax is forced from the people without their consent if not laid by their own representatives. The Stamp Act says we shall have no commerce, make no exchange of property with each other, neither purchase nor grant, nor recover debts; we shall neither marry nor make our wills, unless we pay such and such sums; and thus it is intended to extort our money from us or ruin us by the consequence of refusing to pay it.

Q.  Then no regulation with a tax would be submitted to?

A.  Their opinion is that when aids to the Crown are wanted they are to be asked of the several assemblies according to the old-established usage, who will, as they always have done, grant them freely, and that their money ought not to be given away without their consent, by persons at a distance, unacquainted with their circumstances and abilities. The granting aids to the Crown is the only means they have of recommending themselves to their sovereign, and they think it extremely hard and unjust that a body of men in which they have no representatives should make a merit to itself of giving and granting what is not its own but theirs, and deprive them of a right they esteem of the utmost value and importance, as it is the security of all their other rights.

Franklin made it quite clear that taxing the people based on what they make or create would destroy them and the economy. The idea was much like Redistribution of Wealth, taking what people have worked and earned and giving it to others. He also made clear that the colonies were a giving people and that if asked, they would gladly give.

The Income Tax and the Stamp Act are much the same in the fact that they both tax the people based on what they make or create. The American Colonies fought against the Stamp Act and it was repealed in 1766. The Sixteenth Amendment was ratified and passed by 42 of the 48 states. This was under the beginning of the Progressive movement and their first act against the American people and the history of the founders.

Unlike the Progressives of today, the Progressives of the 1900s actually followed the Amendment process. And thus, the only way for the Sixteenth Amendment to be repealed is by another Amendment to be passed. They have chained us down with this curse and now it is up to us to stop this and many other acts that they have and are committing.

Where are you?

With the results of the Primaries here in Oklahoma, it is quite obvious why we are in the situation we are in now. With only 23% of voters showing up, it is obvious why we are on a road to socialism. People wish to sit and complain about the problems but then don’t get up off the couch to cast a vote to stop it.

Our founding fathers assembled an army of farmers and business men. An army that had very little skill compared to the British Army. They knew that if they didn’t stand up and do something, their children and grandchildren would never have a good life of freedom and liberty. They knew that if they didn’t make the stand, the world would never see freedom and liberty.

“Every American Officer and Soldier must now console himself for any unpleasant circumstances which may have occurred, by a recollection of the uncommon scenes in which he has been called to act, no inglorious part; and the astonishing Events of which he has been a witness–Events which have seldom, if ever before, taken place on the stage of human action, nor can they probably ever happen again. For who has before seen a disciplined Army formed at once from such raw Materials? Who that was not a witness could imagine, that the most violent local prejudices would cease so soon, and that Men who came from the different parts of the Continent, strongly disposed by the habits of education, to despise and quarrel with each other, would instantly become but one patriotic band of Brothers? Or who that was not on the spot can trace the steps by which such a wonderful Revolution has been effected, and such a glorious period put to all our Warlike toils?” – George Washington’s Farewell Address to the Army, 1778

As Thomas Paine said in The Crisis:

“THESE are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated. Britain, with an army to enforce her tyranny, has declared that she has a right (not only to TAX) but “to BIND us in ALL CASES WHATSOEVER” and if being bound in that manner, is not slavery, then is there not such a thing as slavery upon earth. Even the expression is impious; for so unlimited a power can belong only to God.”

We must not just remember November but focus on the Primaries. For if we don’t focus on the Primaries, we’ll be stuck with the lesser of two evils in November. We can not let our men and women in the armed forces fight and die in vain. We must exercise our god given right to vote. But not only to vote but get involved. We can not site and say it’s to inconvenient. We must get up and start fighting before it’s too late to fight at all. For those who don’t, they’ll wonder what happened and why someone didn’t do something. Well, some did, but you were too blind to see that we needed your help. For if we don’t fight together, we fall apart.

Our July 4th

This weekend is the Anniversary of the greatest Nation on Earth being created. It is the Anniversary of Freedom, in full force, being brought to the World. No Nation has ever been created like America. No idea like America had ever been thought of until the Founding Fathers came together and took the history and philosophies and came up with the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

Now we face an enemy that wishes to destroy that very ideal. Many enemies have tried to destroy it over time but this time it is from within. We face the Progressive enemy which wants to take our liberties from us and rule our lives. We are already seeing Congressmen acting like King George and laughing at the idea of actually following the Constitution and defending the American people.

234 years ago, our Founding Fathers came up with an idea so great that they thought it fit to risk their lives for. And they told the King exactly how sincere they were about it by stating the following:

“And for the support of this Declaration, with firm Reliance on the Protection of the divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.”

We must do the same today. First, we must pray. Pray for our country, our government, and our candidates. Secondly, we must get involved. We must get involved in the campaigns as well as our government, local and federal. Thirdly, we must donate. Donate to those causes and campaigns you think are best for you and our country. And last, we must not be silent. We must go out there and tell people who we support and why.

This is our revolution. We are fighting the same oppressing power our founders did 234 years ago. But, because of their sacrifice we don’t have to use violence. They gave us a system so that we would never have to do that again. They gave us safe guards. We fell asleep and allowed these Tyrannical officials into our government. But this year we will fix much of that. This year we are once again Declaring our Independence from Tyranny.