http://lanternsofliberty.us The Battlefield of Ideas Sun, 26 May 2013 07:44:22 GMT http://lanternsofliberty.us/images/battlefield.png http://lanternsofliberty.us http://www.lanternsofliberty.us/chrispilie.cfm?thread=0C2A56E6-123F-7491-A40FCED82A55E1BD As I sit in my $40 room, 2 miles from the Louisiana/Arkansas border in Lake Providence, Louisiana, reflecting on Day 1 of the Trey Roberts for Louisiana tour, I’m struck by something that I observed driving, stopping and talking to Louisianans all along the way: Louisianans are very spiritual people. I stopped off and met interesting people at places very urban like Baton Rouge and very rural like Tallulah. What five weeks has impressed upon me and today cemented for me is that truly what binds us together and that crosses over regional boundaries, racial divides and even political ideologies is the faith of the Louisiana people. There are churches EVERYWHERE in Louisiana! There are large, small, old, and new, fancy, plain, modern, and aged, many shapes, sizes and home to numerous denominations. They are the constant in every community. The fact that no matter where I’ve been or who I’ve been able to talk to, the connection that I’ve made with people is that I’m a Christian has been the most enjoyable part of this campaign. Today has renewed my sense of hope and optimism for the future of Louisiana because with so many problems and challenges facing families today and the debate of the role of government in solving those problems, I believe we can solve anything because the people of Louisiana are still hitting their knees. As long as we keep our faith as the most important part of the decision making process, WE, Louisianans, can and will solve everything that threatens the prosperity of many generations to come. Stick around for tomorrow’s reflection of Day 2 of the Trey Roberts for Louisiana tour; in the meantime, join me this week as I travel around our great state! Follow me on twitter @rockstarRVP… Follow me on Facebook @ Trey Roberts for Louisiana Go to our website and share it @ www.tr4la.com or www.treyrobertsforlouisiana.com Wed, 19 Oct 2011 05:00:00 GMT http://www.lanternsofliberty.us/chrispilie.cfm?thread=0C2A56E6-123F-7491-A40FCED82A55E1BD http://www.lanternsofliberty.us/chrispilie.cfm?thread=C1627894-123F-7491-A4D6A6DB497D449E As someone who lost everything and survived Katrina, I believe I can comment on the recent string of current and pending natural disasters. At our current time in history, many believe that acts of God would be the preverbal straw to the back of our camel. I beg to differ. I believe that Mother Nature is trying to do what Obama, Reid, Pelosi and those in Washington, D.C. have been unable to do; STIMULATE OUR NATION’S ECONOMY. Think about this string of events that I promise most people, including myself, have simply overlooked. The cry of many on the left has been that of Global Warming, Climate Change and environmental policy as the most pressing issue of our day, requiring massive regulatory legislation like that of Cap and Trade. We fought this at every level and although the fight in Congress has been successful, the fight against the EPA has not. But maybe we’re wrong and maybe the Democrats are right. If we allow the government to regulate every aspect of our lives through behavior controlling legislation like Cap and Trade, pollution would lower, the temperature of the earth would cool and we would immediately lessen the likelihood of earthquakes and hurricanes the likes of which we are experiencing now. This of course according to the settled science of the far left. But what happens if these acts of God don’t take place? We simply double dip. Into a recession. More proof that the Democrats are not interested in getting the nation back on track. But is Mother Nature trying to help us. Think of the contractors, the builders, roofers, carpenters, insurance companies, adjusters, appraisers, emergency responders and many more that would take too much space to mention that will be needed in lieu of the disasters that have taken place and those pending. Talk about irony. The fact that our economy is in need of widespread damage, disaster, pain and loss to give it a boost says more about this administration and its inability to get out of the way of the private sector than any Ivy League analysis of our economic woes. Pray for more hurricanes. Ask for more earthquakes. A couple of floods couldn’t hurt. At least not more than the broken, failed, inept policies of this administration and their effects on the economy. Tue, 23 Aug 2011 05:00:00 GMT http://www.lanternsofliberty.us/chrispilie.cfm?thread=C1627894-123F-7491-A4D6A6DB497D449E http://www.lanternsofliberty.us/chrispilie.cfm?thread=B29CA531-123F-7491-A430061067A651A7 November 2010 was truly a historic election. The people's house was returned to its rightful owners under the stewardship of the Republican Party. The liberal/progressive/socialist/Marxists that were in control had their ownership revoked. This was a Tea Party victory and a measurable success. By April of this year, it had become very clear that in six short months, the GOP was choosing to forget what had happened during the mid-term elections and decided to conduct business as usual. The deal that was achieved at that time was more like a raw deal than anything else. Let me be clear, GOP, you have no power or authority except for that which has been given to you by the Tea Party and grass root, liberty loving organizations across the country, better known as WE THE PEOPLE. We warned you after the historic midterm elections that if you do what’s right for the country, your political careers would be safe. If you do what you think is politically expedient instead of being principle lead, you may not survive 2012. For this reason, in April, we launched Project Two-Thirds. In looking once again to the Founding Fathers and their wisdom on how to fundamentally restore our country to its constitutional republican form of government, we rediscovered the 6 major principles of the Constitution: Separation of Powers, Checks and Balances, Limited Government, Federalism, Judicial Review and POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY. When the Founders created our current form of government, they intended for the power of the people to reside in the House of Representatives and therefore gave us direct election ability. Within the House of Representatives, they placed the power of the purse; the power to steward the People's money, OUR MONEY. With this power came great responsibility and the ability for the people of this nation to control and ultimately check the other branches of government, especially a potentially tyrannical Executive Branch. No other branch of government or part of any other branch was intended to be democratic in nature, in that we were not supposed to operate like a democracy. We are a Republic; where the President is elected by the Electoral College, judges are appointed and the Senate was picked by the individual State Legislatures. We must understand the Founders intentions and plans to keep power from consolidating to one individual or one branch if we are to understand how to get out of this mess. But, November 2010, should have been enough. The Founders gave us the power to refresh the House every two years. We can toss the entire house out on their butts every two years if they don't do right by the American people; who, by the way, are to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States against enemies both foreign and domestic. The Senate was an additional check both on the House, the Executive and the judiciary and protected the states from a huge federal juggernaut. If Senators didn’t do right by the people they would get their just dues, but so would the individual State Legislatures because of our direct involvement in government through elections at the state level. No citizenry would stand for an appointed Senator that would vote against the best interest of their individual state and its members; putting politics and parties over their people. We would hold the state legislatures accountable for appointing dopes to the Senate. However, as we all know, progressives in the early 20th Century amended the constitution, making us more democratic, as is their agenda, ignoring the warning of the Founders, to stay away from the volatile form of government known as democracy or “mob rule.” All you have to do is listen to the progressives of today to hear the familiar chant of democracy when they refer to the Middle East, our governmental processes or even the Union fights within the states. But, again, November 2010, should have been enough. So what's needed immediately? We need a check on the Senate and the White House and we need it now. You hear the call for "more Tea" in 2012. As if we didn't know that already. We need a Balanced Budget Amendment; we may need an override to a Presidential veto, especially if Obama gets re-elected. We need to fix the 14th amendment, term limits on Congress, immigration reform, citizen definitions, defining of "natural born citizenship," impeachment of judges, major tax reforms and most importantly, we need to close the door to progressive, socialist, Marxists from ever having access to our Constitution ever again. What is clear, is that all that needs fixing and mending is because these imperfections as Hamilton referred to are the very loopholes that Communists and Progressives for the last 100 years have used to circumvent the protections of the Constitution and fundamentally transform us into some sort of European Socialist nanny-state. So how do we do it? With a two thirds majority in both houses of Congress. It's really that simple. However there is nothing easy about it. Tea Party Patriots, Tea Party Express, Freedom Works and whoever else is out there claiming to be the national voice of the Tea Party is acting more like a federal bureaucracy; hob-knobbing with the GOP and the beltway establishment when they should be supporting the local Tea Parties and local efforts around the country. Like colonial days, states came to the aid of other states but maintained pride in their own state. This is a fight where the Tea Parties in California have very different fights than those in the South, then those of the East Coast, then those of the Mid-West. But the principles that we fight with and on, tie us together in a battle where the enemy is clear and unrelenting. The fights that can and need to be won that will lead to fundamental change nationally will originate in the states and therefore resources and supports should be focused there. 33 states have Senatorial elections coming up. Not every Tea Party has a Senatorial election coming up within their state. Why not lend a hand to a neighboring state to ensure that their state is represented by someone who is “more Tea-like?” The entire House is coming up for re-election. We must send more reinforcements to the House and possibly remove the current leadership of the GOP with a new breed of politicians; you know, ones that make policy and decision based on American principles and not political expediency. Oh yeah and don’t forget that 2012 is a vote against Obama. Because honestly, who wouldn't vote for a piece of shoe leather, if the GOP nominated one to oppose Obama? Shoe Leather, 2012. But here’s a thought; stop focusing on the Presidential elections and turn your focus to the branch of government where you power is. 2012 is more about the American people and its branch of government. Its time to get ALL of our power back, since for decades now, Americans have been giving more and more of it away. We can blame Washington all we want or we can choose to change Washington, once and for all. The Founders would be horrified to know that we, the American people, have allowed a small oligarch to form and the very forms of tyranny that they risked the lives, fortunes and sacred honors to get, we have planted the seeds for benevolent dictators to rise up and place the chains of bondage gently around our feet. We need to get this message to everyone that we possibly can. November 2010 wasn’t enough; although it should have been. But November 2012 can be more than enough; if we begin the hard work, NOW, that lies ahead. Everyone that considers themselves to be a leader within the Tea Party or anyone who hates tyranny and loves freedom, needs to see this message. This isn't another group trying to lead your local Tea Party, this is about empowering the most local of leadership in a meaningful way to bring about the change and give direction to the necessary work to fix the nation and ultimately save the Republic. Do you feel helpless? Would you like a real plan to move forward? Does your membership question where to go and what to do next? Are you looking for help and support from people that you know are in the same boat as you? Are you sick and tired of being sick and tired? Then it’s time for the Tea Party 2.O. It’s time to become a Two-Thirds-man! Visit http://www.project2thirds.com or http://www.projecttwothirds.com for more information and a better explanation about Project Two-Thirds and from the Project Two-Thirds website you can “Like” the Facebook page and continue to go there for all of the newest announcements and/or upcoming events. There will be a national conference call coming soon in the next few weeks, but we want and need a huge turnout on that call. We want everyone and anyone that is involved with your local grass roots organizations to join on the call. We will base the timing of that call on the amount of traffic to the Facebook page to measure the amount of exposure to the Project Two-Thirds message. We are available for meetings and/or conference calls to explain more and like you have no agenda but the truth and plans for the fundamental restoration of the United States of America. If there is anything that this debt deal should do, is to make everything that has been stated above, ring true in your heart. You know that this is the only way out of this. The path out is hard; so you know it’s the right path. Nothing worth working and fighting for is easy or without resistance. Politics, politicians, parties, personalities, personas, speeches, persons and business as usual in Washington, D.C., will only perpetuate the problems we are facing and only push back the opportunity to fix the nation now. Enough with compromising with unprincipled individuals! The Founders told us that for a people to be and remain free they must be virtuous and elect virtuous leaders. We can and must fix this. Now is the time. This is our hour. Join us now! Thanks and God bless you and God continue to bless the United States of America. Wed, 03 Aug 2011 05:00:00 GMT http://www.lanternsofliberty.us/chrispilie.cfm?thread=B29CA531-123F-7491-A430061067A651A7 http://www.lanternsofliberty.us/chrispilie.cfm?thread=7EADF524-123F-7491-A499567302D93293 Let's all just take a moment to take a few deep breaths. It is a well known fact that breathing deeply is really good for an individual's overall health. So I'm going to ask the nation and especially the Tea Party Nation to take a few breaths for the next few moments, weeks and/or months. CAN WE STOP WITH ALL THE NAMING OF OUR FAVORITE GOP PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES ALREADY!!! I'm sorry to be yelling, but I'm almost at my wits end. If anything has been proven since November 2010, is that many within the GOP are solidly part of the problem and not any part of the answer. We must be gentle as doves but wise as serpents. There is ONE thing that will dilute the Conservative movement and end the Tea Party as we know it. If we try to pick the next President of the United States, we're done and so is the nation as we've known it. We are all eager to elect the next President of the United States of America, many are anxious. But the next President of the United States of America is not the answer and will not solve our Nation's problems. But when the people of the United States of America wakeup, realize and truly understand the power that we have, the office of the President becomes less of an American Idol selection and more of a reflection of the American people. We turned to our founding documents and the words of our founding fathers when this movement began. We rediscovered the foundation of our great nation. We embraced the exceptionalism of our country's historical reasons for becoming. So to turn away from these things and to turn once again to men for "salvation," will destroy the movement and any hope for fundamentally restoring our Republic. STOP with all the Gingrich, Palin, Pawlenty, Trump, Huckabee, Romney, Paul, Cain, Santorum, Bachmann, Christie, West, Daniels, Rubio, DeMint, selling, pushing and talk. STOP sending around questions of "who's your dream team?" or "who do you like in 2012?" or "This guy can or this gal can't get elected crap." Its driving me up the wall. 2012 will take care of itself when WE THE PEOPLE, hold out the necessary concepts and principles and require the candidates to come to them instead of begging for us to jump on their bandwagon. We need to hold these candidates, whomever they are, to the principles of the Constitution. And in doing so, the right candidate for America will emerge. Be patient America. Listen to the MSM. They will identify the worse possible candidate for us, by telling us that "this one" could beat Obama. They will lush over and fawn over the candidate that either has no chance of beating Obama or the candidate that most closely represents their liberal/progressive beliefs. Our founders laid out a very clear plan for government to not become tyrannical; popular sovereignty. They placed the most power in the Legislative branch of government and specifically in the House of Representatives. This established the separation of powers. The Senate was selected by the State Legislatures, which were accountable to the people. This was federalism. The Executive branch of government was not supposed to be the most powerful branch of government, yet over the last 20-30 years and even back 100 years or so, we've seen a tremendous amount of power stripped from the Legislative branch and consolidated within the Executive branch. 2012 is our opportunity to restore our system of checks and balances. To return the power of the Legislative branch and therefore the power of the American people. Imagine if you will, a Congress were we hold 2/3 majorities in both Houses. What would be possible? What could be restored? What could be protected? What could be closed? What could be cut? What could be shut down? What amendments could be passed? What powers could be returned? WHAT WOULDN'T BE POSSIBLE? 2012 is truly important, but we must be clear on what is so important about it. In this one election, 100+ years of progressive momentum could be halted, but it won't be because of the next President. In this one election, the Constitution can once again become relevent, but it won't be because of the next President. In this one election, our children's and our children's children's future can be assured and insured with the sweat, blood and effort of this generation of Patriots, but it won't be because of the next President. Can we please, ease up on GOP Presidential speculation for just a few more moments and focus on things that we can effect now? We still need to call Congress, go to townhalls, attend rallies, educate ourselves and others, wake more up, get to our young and most importantly, understand that the answer has been in front of us all along. When we take 2/3s of Congress, we will take the next and most important step to FUNDAMENTALLY RESTORING THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA for ourselves and our posterity. Fri, 22 Apr 2011 05:00:00 GMT http://www.lanternsofliberty.us/chrispilie.cfm?thread=7EADF524-123F-7491-A499567302D93293 http://www.lanternsofliberty.us/chrispilie.cfm?thread=3AB4C8F3-123F-7491-A4C08FD27A36E8A4 In the UK, unemployment benefits have been known by the slang term 'the dole' since WWI. This derives from the 'doling out', i.e. 'handing out' of charitable gifts of food or money. This dates back to at least 1919, when it was recorded in The Daily Mail: "You won't draw your out-of-work dole of 29’s this week." The "dole" has been killing liberty for almost 100 years, the "dole" has been the way of evolving American society into a European Socialist State and getting Americans of every class, age, race and status, off the "dole" will be the key to fundamentally restoring America, its Constitution and the prosperity that leads the world. This is the hard work ahead of the Tea Party movement. This is the direction and the place that pressure needs to be applied. These are the areas that need education, compassion and the most cuts. We need to lead the way, when it comes to getting off the "dole." This is an opportunity to lead and believe me when I tell you that the line is short. There will be no waiting in the line to get off the "dole," but this will also be the work that NO ONE is or will be willing to tackle. Now, so as not to confuse ANYONE, let’s be clear about who's on the "dole." (And if you read this and find yourself on the "dole," don't get mad at me, but let's start talking about to fix that.) Not to sound like Jeff Foxworthy, but you might be on the government "dole" if you use... • Adoption Assistance • Adoption Tax Credit • Benefits and Government Assistance Eligibility Tool • Child Care Locator and Information • Child Care Tax Credit • Children's Health Insurance • Child Support Enforcement in Your State • College Student Loans and Grants • Crop and Livestock Insurance • Disability Resources • Disaster Assistance for Victims • Earned Income Tax Credit • Employment and Training Assistance • Farm Ownership and Operating Loans • Federal Retiree Benefits • Food Stamps and Other Nutrition Assistance Programs • Government Benefits – Check Your Eligibility • Government Jobs • Government May Owe You Money • Government Online Services • Government Sales and Auctions • GovLoans.gov - Find the Right Loan for You • Grants.gov – Find and Apply for Government Grants • Head Start Program Locator • Home Energy (Heating and Cooling) Assistance for Low Income Households • Home Mortgage and Housing Assistance • Home Rental Assistance • Human Trafficking – Assistance Available to Victims of Human Trafficking • Laid-Off and Dislocated Worker Assistance • Legal Assistance • Loans for Agriculture, Business, Disaster Relief, Education, Housing, and Veterans through GovLoans.gov • Locators For In-Person Services Near You • Medicaid Consumer Information • Medicare • Medicare Card Replacement • Medicare Prescription Drug Plan Finder • Mortgage Assistance Programs • Native American Benefits • Pension Insurance and Benefit Guaranties • Railroad Retirement, Disability, and Unemployment Benefits • Refugee Resettlement Programs • Renter's Assistance • Runaway Youth National Switchboard • Rural Assistance Center for Health and Human Services • School Lunch and Breakfast • Senior Citizen Community Service Employment Program • Small Business Financial Assistance • Social Security • Student Grants for Study Overseas • Student Loan Consolidation • Student Loans • Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Food Stamps) • Supplemental Security Income • Tax Counseling for the Elderly • Telephone Assistance Programs for Low-Income Households • Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (Welfare) • Unemployment Insurance • Vaccines for Children • Veterans' Benefits • Weatherization Assistance • Welfare (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) • Youth Education and Training Assistance ...and I bet you could add a few more. As a matter of fact, add some that maybe weren't listed above under the comment section of this note. My point is, that Progressives and Socialists and Communists alike have fed us little bit by little bit, bigger and bigger government. We've got to get real about shrinking the footprint, size and scope of government. Are we, who use these programs so much and so often, going to be able to cope and/or adjust to life without Uncle Sam providing the services that we use today? Will we have the courage and the ingenuity to innovate our way out of this and wake up the private sector and Free Enterprise to solve many of the challenges and voids that would be created as a result of not having Uncle Sam to lean on? Most importantly, are we still the people that would come to the aid and help of our fellow citizens, our fellow Americans if and when our current unsustainable system comes crashing around us? I can honestly say, that I don't know the answers to these questions but I do know that there is a time quickly coming where we had better have the answers or someone else who you and I both don't agree with, will claim to have the answer and then liberty will truly be dead. The transformation will be complete. But I hope that you're like me. I got involved with this movement to lead and not follow. To restore and not transform the nation. To preserve and not throw away. These and many more conversations need to happen now, often and sustained for the near future. We need to push our politicians and elected officials to not "kick the can" down the road for future generations to take care of. We need to solve these problems now, for future generations. The admiration that we will receive for generations to come cannot even be imagined. To be a generation thought of much like the Founders are thought of today is truly rare air. But the call is out and the need is great. Make no doubt about it; the challenge we face today is restoring the self-reliant, self-motivated, entrepreneurial spirit that made this nation great, continues to make the nation great and will be the only thing to maintain this nation's greatness. Our common enemy is he/she that wants this spirit dead. That wants to kill not just the body, but the SPIRIT as well. Our battle truly is spiritual. Not necessarily in the religious sense but in the common spirit of liberty and freedom that the human soul needs to reach its fullest potential. Potential that for many, many generations has been destroyed and brought about feelings of hopelessness and despair for many, many years. That common enemy for you and I and our posterity is the "dole." "Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it." ~Thomas Paine. "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." ~Benjamin Franklin. Are these just words? Is this just "fortune cookie" wisdom and advice? Or do these words still carry weight? Do they still mean something to you? What about future Americans? Does their shot at freedom mean anything to this generation? Will you lead? Or will we just wait for someone else to come along with a good idea, while we take what was promised to us, even though, we've known all along that the promises made to us by elected officials of the pass were undeliverable and never going to happen? We've got to get off the "dole," we've got to change our paradigm of entitlement and we've got to lead by example. Right now, all that means is to make ourselves ready to give up our part of the "dole." Make yourself ready. The Republic is at stake. Fri, 18 Feb 2011 06:00:00 GMT http://www.lanternsofliberty.us/chrispilie.cfm?thread=3AB4C8F3-123F-7491-A4C08FD27A36E8A4 http://www.lanternsofliberty.us/chrispilie.cfm?thread=6EBAA948-123F-7491-A4D9EDAE09C1BF18 Tenor? Rhetoric? Vitriol? Hate? I can’t think of a time in recent past that I could compare to the frustration and the anger that I’m feeling at this very moment. I absolutely cannot believe that we still live in the United States of America. What has happened to the Democrat party and more importantly and probably more scarily, what has happened to the main stream media of America. We have truly reached a horrible place in American history. Over the past 18-24 months, there have been 1000’s of rallies, protests, gatherings, town halls, meetings and many other sorts of get togethers by 100’s of Tea Party, 9/12, patriot, freedom loving, liberty protecting grassroots organizations from every state in the Union. What hasn’t been at any, not a single one of these gatherings is violence. Except that from the likes of SEIU, other union thugs, environmental extremists, black panthers, etc, etc, etc. Yet with so many opportunities to commit such horrific acts, we haven’t. And this is what every media outlet, every brain-dead liberal progressive doesn’t get. THAT KIND OF BEHAVIOR ISN’T US! How many cowardly, suicide-murders will it take? How many liberal professors will it take? How many single engine planes flown into government buildings will it take? How many David Duke loving, White Power joining, anarchy dreaming, drug using, mind altering, constitution hating, fundamental transformation loving, liberal/progressive/communists openly calling for violent revolution will it take for people to realize that is the Democrats and their base that house the most extreme fringe minded people in our country and that it is the Democrats that continue to give sanctuary to violent, radical, revolutionaries who have no desire to see America remain the bastion of freedom that she has been over the last 235 years? I am angry but I am not surprised. Many of us have predicted this. We all know that this is what liberals and progressives and socialists have wanted for a very long time. Here’s another crisis in which to rob law abiding Americans of more of their individual liberties. Here’s another opportunity to politicize an absolute crazy person and gain power and votes. Anyone and I mean anyone who would use death, injury and assassination for any type of gain is the most despicable and disgusting of human beings that walk the face of the earth. To blame, entertainers and pundits of any bend for the decision of one crazy person is the definition of reckless and inhumane. Tea Party, do not flinch. This gunman doesn’t represent you or me in any way shape or form. We cherish our freedoms and we love the battlefield. The battlefield of ideas. We understand that this revolution that we are currently enthralled in, a revolution to fundamentally restore the republic, can and will be fought without a single shot being fired and will be won in the halls of our nation’s governmental buildings, at the ballot box and in the hearts of everyone that understands that change comes from within and without fundamentally changing our own lives, there truly is no hope for the Republic. We know who the enemy is. We don’t need a talking head to define the enemy for us. It is clear, who loves freedom and liberty and who does not. Outside influences as well as domestic influences may try to sway our fortitude, but we will remain resolute. There is nothing to question, there is nothing to debate. What happened in Arizona is a decision made by a horrible person and nothing else. If ideology influenced him, it’s beyond clear whose ideology was behind the insanity. Mon, 10 Jan 2011 06:00:00 GMT http://www.lanternsofliberty.us/chrispilie.cfm?thread=6EBAA948-123F-7491-A4D9EDAE09C1BF18 http://www.lanternsofliberty.us/chrispilie.cfm?thread=81C63A21-123F-7491-A47FB8EFEF2DB2F4 If you've decided to read this article thinking it would be a ringing endorsement for President George W. Bush or a verbal thrashing of President Barack Obama, think again and you probably don't want to read any further. This article is simply to pay tribute to the man who created the Tea Party. I know you're probably thinking, "isn't he talking about President Obama?" Nope! This is about the father of the Tea Party movement, George W. Bush. See, the total Bush deficits, $5.0 trillion; total Bush spending, $20.5 trillion; total inflation-adjusted increase of the Federal Budget, 42%; numbers that are stagering and horrid. And as if these numbers don't tell it all to you, let me go a little further: * No Child Left Behind * 80% increase in the farm subsidies * The Patriot Act * Medicare Drug Entitlement * The most expensive Highway Bill in American History * Record Pork Project Spending * TARP I * The unconstitutional McCain-Feingold campaign finance bill * Sarbanes-Oxley * Steel tariffs * Filed a Supreme Court brief supporting affirmative action * Tried to nominate Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court * Proposed amnesty for illegal aliens * Created the Department of Homeland Security * Added 100,000 federal employees * Iraq and Afghanistan wars These are pretty much the highlights of the "W" presidency. These and other domestic policies of the "W" administration were far more liberal than that of President Clinton and maybe even President Carter. In fact, it is doubtful that an Al Gore presidency could have accomplished as many liberal objectives as "W" did. And for this reason, the Tea Party has integrity and credibility in the political arena: WE HATED THE SPENDING AND PROGRESSIVE GOVERNING THEN AND WE'RE SICK AS HELL OF IT NOW!!! So many people not associated with the Tea Party movement today and even those who stand against the Tea Party today are some of the same people who either didn't say anything during the eight years of the "W" adminstration or publically did speak out but now, like the cowards that they are, sit on their hands and bite their tongues, doing and saying nothing about our first half-white president and his plan for spending/governing. The latter makes me sick! According to President Obama's 2010 Budget, it proposes over the next 10 years to: * spend $45 trillion * push the debt held by the public to 90% of GDP; more than 2x its current level * raise taxes by $3 trillion * raise taxes on small-business owners and upper-income taxpayers by an average of $300,000 over the next 10 yrs * borrow 42 cents on every dollar spent * add an additional $74,000 of debt per household President Obama was highly critical of the $3.7 trillion in deficits that "W" ran up over his eight years in office -- and he was right to be. Yet "O's" budget proposal call for borrowing $7.6 trillion should he remain in office for the same amount of time that "W" did. If that comes to pass, Obama would have added more to the national debt than every president before him...[b]COMBINED[b]. Pull your head out of your "hope and change," live in reality and facts and put the country ahead of political party or even ideology; we cannot sustain the path we're on...we know it and you know it. This difference is, we're trying to do something about it and you're standing in the way. And you wonder why we're working so hard to take back our country? Thu, 25 Nov 2010 06:00:00 GMT http://www.lanternsofliberty.us/chrispilie.cfm?thread=81C63A21-123F-7491-A47FB8EFEF2DB2F4 http://www.lanternsofliberty.us/chrispilie.cfm?thread=EA8911E1-123F-7491-A4907B49E7D09DAF The story of the people of the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans is one that most in the country are familiar with. People, devastated by Hurricane Katrina, the levy breeches and people struggling to put their lives back together. As is the case here, many people effected by Hurricane Katrina have had two options. They can wait on the government for aide, money, services and resources or they can move forward themselves and begin putting the pieces of their lives back together. Neither option is easy, but today showed which option is better. The Lower Ninth Ward has become the second largest and/or frequented tourist attraction in New Orleans; second only to the French Quarter. But what has become a tourist attraction, to many members of this community, outsiders are simply coming to gawk. People want to see a house off of its slab, the now infamous marks of the first responders and the grass, trees, bushes and shrubs that have been unkept, but now hold the sad secret of a house and a family that once populated its dilapidated walls. Many of the people of the Lower Nine, have waited and waited and waited for city, state and/or the federal government to come to their rescue, but to no avail. The outcry for the people of this area seems to fall on deaf ears at times. “Is anyone listening?” “Is anyone out there who can help?” This has been the sound heard from the families of the community that care seems to have all but forgotten. That’s where Gerod Stevens, morning radio host for WBOK, 1230AM in New Orleans comes in. WBOK has touted itself as the voice of the community and in doing so, grew tired of playing the waiting game and took matters into their own hands. It is social networking at its finest hour. Mr. Stevens sent out a facebook status update, calling for anyone who had equipment, ability and wherewithal to want to help folks in need in the area of cutting and clearing lands that have become more than just an eyesore but a poke in the eye of what’s wrong with “government.” As Mr. Stevens addressed the crowd in the early morning, he said, “Today, you’re gonna upset some officials. You might even make them mad. Because you’re doing the job that they’re supposed to be responsible for. But you’re gonna do a lot of good today. And so thank you, for giving up your day off to make a difference in your community.” So today at the crack of dawn, 50-75 citizens of New Orleans and the surrounding areas, met up to begin planning the attack on Chaffin Ave. People from local churches, community organizations, the NAACP, the Greater New Orleans Tea Party, WBOK, blacks, whites, Asians and Hispanics, male and female, old and young gathered in the early morning and worked into the early afternoon clearing one street. Making a difference in one area; one day at a time. Political differences aside, everyone came with effort, intentions, equipment and abilities to do for themselves and the people of the Lower Nine what up to this point, government has failed to do. This was a moment that the founders would be proud of. This was a moment that every media outlet should take notice of. This was an event that most people in 2010 think doesn’t, can’t and wouldn’t happen. But it did. People came because there was a call. People helped because there was people that needed helping. People served because service was demanded. And people worked together because of a common goal. There were no bureaucrats there, telling people what they could or couldn’t do. There were no city officials, no state officials, no federal officials; just concerned, willing citizens, working to make a difference in the life of another citizen. Just We the People. Did some grass cutting and weed eating heal all the wounds of racial and political strife in New Orleans? Of course not. But did it plow up some ground that most people have all but given up on even trying to plant on? Absolutely. There are already plans for the next citizens day out and/or Grass-a-thon for the people of the Lower Nine and you can bet, that all of the groups mentioned above will absolutely reload and come with a bigger effort so that the result can be a greater effect for the City of New Orleans and the people of the Lower Nine. Mon, 06 Sep 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://www.lanternsofliberty.us/chrispilie.cfm?thread=EA8911E1-123F-7491-A4907B49E7D09DAF http://www.lanternsofliberty.us/chrispilie.cfm?thread=BC64791B-123F-7491-A4D463BAEF66285A So here we are, almost to Atlanta, driving back from Washington, D.C. and the Glenn Beck, Restoring Honor Rally. Seventeen and a half hours up and seventeen and a half hours back; tired as I’ve ever been and I wouldn’t change a thing. A little over a month now, I’ve been talking about the Spiritual Awakening that is taking place all over America. From within the Tea Party movement, this hasn’t necessarily been a well received message. The Tea Party’s 3 legged stool stance of restoring America has attracted a huge number of members from all parties, ideologies and beliefs, but it has left America vulnerable. Progressivism knows no boundaries. There isn’t a segment of society that it doesn’t want to fundamentally transform. Not schools, not churches, not government, no where. The 3 legged stool stance of the Tea Party has left Progressivism unchallenged and in no danger of being defeated in too many areas of American society. As I have said in the past, you cannot read the Declaration of Independence and/or the Constitution without reading about the authors of those documents and you cannot read about the authors of those documents without reading their words and you can’t read their words without learning about the importance of faith in their lives. This chain reaction of education and discovery has left many Tea Party members questioning the role of faith in their own lives and Glenn Beck today drove the final nail into the coffin. 8/28, Restoring Honor, was all about God and faith in the lives of individuals, our families, our communities, our government and our nation. The question now is will the Tea Party embrace this charge? I believe many of the individuals that attended and/or watched the event will embrace a greater role of faith in their lives. I know that the embrace of faith will overflow into other areas of people’s lives and the people in the lives of these same individuals. The train is officially heading now on a course that ends at a full blown revival in America. Today was a pivot point for hundreds of thousands if not millions of Americans around the country. Today was the day that it became cool again to embrace God in the public sector. Today was the day that Americans gained the courage once again to do the hard work in the face of persecution and humiliation. Today was the day that America became one nation, under God in name and in deed. But if there is anything that the founders have taught us is that the nature of man doesn’t change. The one thing that can stop the momentum spiritually that was created today, the one thing that can prevent America from really turning back to God and nothing really changing for the better, is us. What every individual does after today will make all the difference. We have become the nation of doers of the last twenty-four months. We don’t just complain and talk anymore, we do something about it. I hope that we continue to be the type of people do and not just hear. That we apply faith, hope and charity in our own lives and the lives of those we touch. As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord. Sun, 29 Aug 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://www.lanternsofliberty.us/chrispilie.cfm?thread=BC64791B-123F-7491-A4D463BAEF66285A http://www.lanternsofliberty.us/chrispilie.cfm?thread=1D38C8C7-123F-7491-A4B19CF5B45E442F In case you don’t know or you have forgotten who the liberals are, I humbly submit this little informational reminder to you. Hillary Clinton was asked if she considered herself a liberal in the 2008 Democratic Presidential Primary debate. Her answer was interesting. She said that she didn’t consider herself a liberal, but more of a modern progressive, much like the progressives of the early 20th Century. So Hillary isn’t a liberal. Huh? What then is a progressive? If you were educated by the American educational system, you probably remember something in either Civics or American History about the progressive era and all the great things that happened during that time. Unfortunately, you’ve been a victim of the American Progressive, three-fold plan to fundamentally transform America. What progressives of the early 20th century did was: first, create an image of the founders that they were racists, bigots and totally secular, secondly, get Americans away from the Constitution by democratizing the country, lastly, push God and Christianity out of every aspect of American society. I could explain in detail how they planned and accomplished this, but we’ll save that for an essay at a later date. What was included in the progressive era was eugenics, propaganda, a progressive income tax, the Federal Reserve System, the 17th Amendment, Prohibition, re-segregation of the military, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Margaret Sanger, John Dewey, Walter Lippman, Edward Bernays, Herbert Hoover, interment camps for Americans who disagreed with the President, FDR, the New Deal programs and much, much more. What progressives are best at more than any other thing is their desire to control the political language. As European Socialists left Europe and came to America during the early 20th Century, Socialism wasn’t popular in America and would not be readily accepted. So they changed the verbiage. Socialism became Progressivism. America’s system of government went from being a Republic to a Constitutional Democracy and/or a Representative Democracy. Because of the horrid nature of eugenics and the plans for eliminating minorities, the Nazis learning propaganda from the Wilson administration, the expansion of government, the growth of bureaucracies and the introduction of government entitlement programs, Progressivism became a very dirty word. So what did they do? They changed the language. They co-opted liberalism. Now what was a liberal around the 1940’s? If you were a liberal in the classical sense, you resembled the modern day libertarian. Autonomy of the individual, motivation by self-interest, government is to protect individual rights, emphasis on the rights/powers of democratic citizenship, citizens are legal entities, equality of possession of natural rights, active participation in civic and political life is good for both the betterment of the community and the individual, participation helps to ensure that the government is doing a good job of protecting individual rights, etc. Now think for a moment…does this sound like an individual that considers himself or herself a liberal today? No. Absolutely not. So, as Hillary told us, liberals today are the progressives of the early 20th Century. To understand what a liberal/progressive is all one needs to do is compare their primary beliefs to that of the founders. The Founders believed that the purpose of government is to protect the God given, inalienable rights of the individual, whereas the progressives believed that the purpose of government is to give rights to its citizens, thereby creating individuals. The Founders versus the Progressives is simple: protect individuals versus create individuals. Liberal/progressives don’t agree with the founders, they hold the Constitution in contempt, they want to democratize our government to point of majority rule becoming mob rule and they don’t respect life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. These are the liberals that must be removed from every aspect of our government as is humanly possible. From President of the United States to local dogcatcher, liberals must go and our first opportunity to do so is in November. Understanding who and what liberal/progressives are, what they believe and what they have in store for America is not only important, but also necessary to fundamentally restore America. Thu, 29 Jul 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://www.lanternsofliberty.us/chrispilie.cfm?thread=1D38C8C7-123F-7491-A4B19CF5B45E442F http://www.lanternsofliberty.us/chrispilie.cfm?thread=A591FB1C-123F-7491-A41D620428976A32 A year and a half ago or maybe a little longer, the Tea Party emerged as a group of individuals asking, “How did we get here?” What many of us didn’t know, was where the answer to that question would take us. We knew the government was spending money like a drunken sailor, no offense to drunken sailors. We suspected spending of the nature we were witnessing was unsustainable, but we had no idea of the diabolical nature of it. What started as a movement to slow the growth of government and the spending of our tax dollars, has metamorphisized into something so much more. What has come about is a movement that discovered the root cause of all bad government. What is happening now, is the movement is discovering what must now take place to ensure this enemy never takes hold of the country again, neutralize its power base and begin restoring the damage done by Progressivism. Keep in mind that the goal of Progressivism for the last 100 years has been threefold. First, rewrite history in a way that Americans either know little to nothing about the Founding Fathers or what they do know, is false. Secondly, disconnect America from the Constitution by teaching case law and passing legislation that is ambiguous and unconstitutional and held up when challenged in the courts. Finally, push God out of the public sector. What Progressives have known all along, is that you can’t have a discussion about the Founders without discussing their faith. You can’t have a discussion about the Constitution without discussing the Founders and therefore their faith. And the bottom line is, Progressives cannot afford to have a discussion about God, the Creator or Divine Providence because He takes away their power of being the ones to give and take away rights. Starting with the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, you can’t help but begin reading the words of the men who penned both documents. There it begins. Their words seem limitless as to the role that their faith played in their lives. The role that God played in their lives and the influence God had on them at the time of the founding. You simply cannot ignore the faith of the Founders as described by the Founders themselves and in reading their words, Americans have begun to question the role of faith in their own lives and the role of faith within the political realm. We are nowhere near a national revival, but we are in a place that Progressives absolutely have tried to avoid: a spiritual awakening. This couldn’t be more needed or at a better time. Tea Parties around the country are now facing a unique crossroads within their own groups. The members are beginning to question the role of the Tea Party within its unofficial agenda. What many people thought the Tea Party was only about, fiscal issues, are now beginning to question why wouldn’t the Tea Party also get involved with the social issue. Understandably, since the Founders knew for the Republic to survive, its people had to be virtuous, elect virtuous leaders and maintain accountability based on the values and principles that were derived from the Bible. Whether or not the Tea Party evolves into the leader of the next great American Revival is still to be seen, but the nation can absolutely thank the Tea Party for bringing faith back into the national discussion and Progressive all but know that for their fundamental transformation of America to be complete, they must do everything to stop the Tea Party. Because what they know is, this train doesn’t stop at moral relativism, human secularism or behavior psychiatry. It stops at love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, kindness, faithfulness and self-control. NEXT STOP…the Great American Revival. Mon, 05 Jul 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://www.lanternsofliberty.us/chrispilie.cfm?thread=A591FB1C-123F-7491-A41D620428976A32 http://www.lanternsofliberty.us/chrispilie.cfm?thread=FAC1A87A-123F-7491-A4C5C7592F732751 There is just so much fuss about this illegal immigration business in Arizona. It really is amazing to see Americans arguing against the rule of law, supporting anarchy and lawlessness, making claims of racism and racial profiling towards supporters of this law. This law and laws like it are supported by roughly 70% of the American people and 51% of Californians support the Arizona law. Imagine that? In the state where the Los Angeles City Council want to boycott Arizona, its fellow citizens by a simple majority, support the Arizona law. What’s even more interesting is that California has a law on its books that is almost exactly the same as the one in Arizona. In the Arizona law, there are four specific places in the bill that prohibits any type of racism, racist behavior and/or racial profiling. This law, besides strengthening and supporting the already established Federal law, this law puts more protection into law for law abiding American citizens who should never have their Civil Rights violated as supported by the Constitution. In fact, the portion of Arizona’s immigration law which liberals in California and for that matter nationwide are choking over is essentially the same as California law. The Arizona law states: WHERE REASONABLE SUSPICION EXISTS THAT THE PERSON IS AN ALIEN WHO IS UNLAWFULLY PRESENT IN THE UNITED STATES, A REASONABLE ATTEMPT SHALL BE MADE, WHEN PRACTICABLE, TO DETERMINE THE IMMIGRATION STATUS OF THE PERSON. (2) THE PERSON’S IMMIGRATION STATUS SHALL BE VERIFIED WITH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT PURSUANT TO 8 UNITED STATES CODE SECTION 1373(c). IF AN ALIEN WHO IS UNLAWFULLY PRESENT IN THE UNITED STATES IS CONVICTED OF A VIOLATION OF STATE OR LOCAL LAW, ON DISCHARGE FROM IMPRISONMENT OR ASSESSMENT OF ANY FINE THAT IS IMPOSED, THE ALIEN SHALL BE TRANSFERRED IMMEDIATELY TO THE CUSTODY OF THE UNITED STATES IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT OR THE UNITED STATES CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION. The California law states: (1) Every law enforcement agency in California shall fully cooperate with the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service regarding any person who is arrested if he or she is suspected of being present in the United States in violation of federal immigration laws. (b) With respect to any such person who is arrested, and suspected of being present in the United States in violation of federal immigration laws, every law enforcement agency shall do the following: (2) Attempt to verify the legal status of such person as a citizen of the United States, an alien lawfully admitted as a permanent resident, an alien lawfully admitted for a temporary period of time or as an alien who is present in the United States in violation of immigration laws. The verification process may include, but shall not be limited to, questioning the person regarding his or her date and place of birth, and entry into the United States, and demanding documentation to indicate his or her legal status. And let us not forget that Arizona deliberately modeled their enforcement law after federal immigration law…the one the Feds haven’t for the most part bothered enforcing in decades. But if the hypocrisy, yet again, of liberal/progressives isn’t enough to show you where to pledge your allegiance to, just look at the facts and figures that liberal/progressives will never bring up, never talk about and don’t want you to see. They yell and scream about the cost of war, clean energy, the war on poverty, blah, blah, blah. But let’s look at some real facts and figures as they pertain to and solve the illegal immigration debate. Between $11 billion to $22 billion is spent on welfare to illegal aliens each year by state governments. http://www.fairus.org/site/PageServer?pagename=iic_immigrationissuecenters7fd8 $2.2 billion a year is spent on food assistance programs such as food stamps, WIC, and free school lunches for illegal aliens. http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.HTML $2.5 billion a year is spent on Medicaid for illegal aliens. http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.HTML $12 billion a year is spent on primary and secondary school education for children here illegally and they cannot speak a word of English! http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANscriptS/0604/01/ldt.0.HTML $17 billion a year is spent for education for the American-born children of illegal aliens, known as anchor babies. http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANscriptS/0604/01/ldt.01.HTML $3 million a DAY is spent to incarcerate illegal aliens. http://transcripts.cnn.com/%20TRANscriptS/0604/01/ldt.01.HTML 30% of all Federal prison inmates are illegal aliens. http://transcripts.CNN.com/TRANscriptS/0604/01/ldt.01.HTML $90 billion a year is spent on illegal aliens for Welfare & social services by the American taxpayers. http://premium.cnn.com/TRANSCIPTS/0610/29/ldt.01.HTML $200 billion a year in suppressed American wages are caused by the illegal aliens. http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSC%20RI%20PTS/0604/01/ldt.01.HTML Illegal aliens in the United States have a crime rate that's two and a half times that of non-illegal aliens. In particular, their children are going to make a huge additional crime problem in the US. http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANscriptS/0606/12/ldt.01.HTML%C2%A0 In 2006 illegal aliens sent home $45 BILLION in remittances to their countries of origin. http://www.rense.com/general75/niht.html The Dark Side of Illegal Immigration: Nearly 1 million sex crimes committed by Illegal Immigrants in the United States. http://www.drdsk.com/articleshtml%20w.drdsk.com/articles.html The total cost is a whopping $338.3 billion a year and if you’re like me having trouble understanding this amount of money; it is $338,300,000,000.00 which would be enough to stimulate the economy for the CITIZENS of this country. Don’t be fooled by the liberal/progressives and their agenda to fundamentally transform America. Stay tuned for the next post that will expose the secret agenda of the left to co-opt our Immigration System very similarly to the efforts that were made to keep the institution of slavery a legal system in America. Wed, 02 Jun 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://www.lanternsofliberty.us/chrispilie.cfm?thread=FAC1A87A-123F-7491-A4C5C7592F732751 http://www.lanternsofliberty.us/chrispilie.cfm?thread=DCED341F-123F-7491-A46197C3197EB3F0 This is an excerp of a speech, called "African Slavery: Cornerstone of the Southern Confederacy," given by Alexander H. Stephens, the Vice-President of the Confederate States of America in 1861, 3 months after the Democratic South suceded. "...But not to be tedious in enumerating the numerous changes for the better, allow me to allude to one other though last, not least. The new constitution has put at rest, forever, all the agitating questions relating to our peculiar institution African slavery as it exists amongst us the proper status of the negro in our form of civilization. This was the immediate cause of the late rupture and present revolution. Jefferson in his forecast, had anticipated this, as the "rock upon which the old Union would split." He was right. What was conjecture with him, is now a realized fact. But whether he fully comprehended the great truth upon which that rock stood and stands, may be doubted. The prevailing ideas entertained by him and most of the leading statesmen at the time of the formation of the old constitution, were that the enslavement of the African was in violation of the laws of nature; that it was wrong in principle, socially, morally, and politically. It was an evil they knew not well how to deal with, but the general opinion of the men of that day was that, somehow or other in the order of Providence, the institution would be evanescent and pass away. This idea, though not incorporated in the constitution, was the prevailing idea at that time. The constitution, it is true, secured every essential guarantee to the institution while it should last, and hence no argument can be justly urged against the constitutional guarantees thus secured, because of the common sentiment of the day. Those ideas, however, were fundamentally wrong. They rested upon the assumption of the equality of races. This was an error. It was a sandy foundation, and the government built upon it fell when the "storm came and the wind blew." "Our new government is founded upon exactly the opposite idea; its foundations are laid, its corner- stone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery subordination to the superior race is his natural and normal condition. This, our new government, is the first, in the history of the world, based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth. This truth has been slow in the process of its development, like all other truths in the various departments of science. It has been so even amongst us. Many who hear me, perhaps, can recollect well, that this truth was not generally admitted, even within their day. The errors of the past generation still clung to many as late as twenty years ago. Those at the North, who still cling to these errors, with a zeal above knowledge, we justly denominate fanatics. All fanaticism springs from an aberration of the mind from a defect in reasoning. It is a species of insanity. One of the most striking characteristics of insanity, in many instances, is forming correct conclusions from fancied or erroneous premises; so with the anti-slavery fanatics. Their conclusions are right if their premises were. They assume that the negro is equal, and hence conclude that he is entitled to equal privileges and rights with the white man. If their premises were correct, their conclusions would be logical and just but their premise being wrong, their whole argument fails. I recollect once of having heard a gentleman from one of the northern States, of great power and ability, announce in the House of Representatives, with imposing effect, that we of the South would be compelled, ultimately, to yield upon this subject of slavery, that it was as impossible to war successfully against a principle in politics, as it was in physics or mechanics. That the principle would ultimately prevail. That we, in maintaining slavery as it exists with us, were warring against a principle, a principle founded in nature, the principle of the equality of men. The reply I made to him was, that upon his own grounds, we should, ultimately, succeed, and that he and his associates, in this crusade against our institutions, would ultimately fail. The truth announced, that it was as impossible to war successfully against a principle in politics as it was in physics and mechanics, I admitted; but told him that it was he, and those acting with him, who were warring against a principle. They were attempting to make things equal which the Creator had made unequal." Stephens admits that the majority of the Founders were antislavery because of their view that whites and blacks WERE IN FACT EQUAL. This irrefutably, undoubtedly and self-evidently proves the GREATNESS OF AMERICA and the great lie that has been passed down by Progressives to gets whites and blacks and Americans of any race to hate the Founders, hate the Founding, hate the Constitution and hate God. BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!! G A M E O V E R Thu, 27 May 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://www.lanternsofliberty.us/chrispilie.cfm?thread=DCED341F-123F-7491-A46197C3197EB3F0 http://www.lanternsofliberty.us/chrispilie.cfm?thread=CD6127C8-123F-7491-A4DDF0951D371AFD One can only speculate what things would be like if they had happened differently. One can look into the rear view mirror of life and try to guess what might have been if this event had turned out different or that battle lost or that decision changed. But history gives us irrefutable proof of what happened, how it happened, who was involved and what was the outcome. That is of course if the history we’re reading was written accurately and in its proper context. Of all the aspects of American History, Black History is the most unknown and of what is known, misconstrued, misinterpreted and maligned. There has been an intentional attempt at rewriting American History and especially Black History because the Marxist, Progressive, Socialists need to fundamentally transform this nation to see their agenda met. They know that they cannot do this if the citizenry is attached and aware of its history, the goodness of its founding and its exceptionalism that makes it the envy of world. Starting in the late 1800’s and into the early 1900’s, Progressives began making moves to fundamentally transform the United States of America. They argued that the Constitution was an outdated document. They argued that the ideas of the Founders were for their time and not for a time of such industry and progress. The problem was that the American people still knew the words of the Founding Fathers. Schools still taught the principles and the values that this nation was founded upon. People still went to church and learned about the incredible faith that the Founders not only had but needed in order to establish the only true bastion of freedom that mankind had ever known. The American people were a problem for the Progressive movement. As is the trick of Satan in the Bible, the Progressives knew that a divided nation was easier to change than one that stood together in principle. A people who were ignorant of the rights given by the Creator and a people who lacked a relation with the One who had given life, liberty and the right to property were easier to dominate than a people who knew of their rights and were willing to make the ultimate sacrifice. As the saying goes, “If you don’t know where you’ve been, you won’t know where you’re going.” That is exactly what has happened. Over the last 18-24 months many people have stumbled upon question, “How did we get HERE?” A question that can only be answered by tracing your steps back, step by step, until you arrive at the path that you should have been on all along. We’ve strayed so far off the path that even finding the path is a challenge that most people will unfortunately give up on. Black History will fix America because America’s legacy is not evil. It’s not built on racism and bigotry. It’s not simply a history of a fortunate few taking advantage of an unfortunate many. America is full of stories of victims and real pain and suffering and what Progressives have attempted to write out of the history books is that human beings with unchecked power will dominate and as was the case for over 3000 years of recorded history, enslave their fellow man. The Emancipation Chronicles will explore historical facts that are not found in today’s history books. The E. C. will profile Black Patriots in every era of American history. You will discover that many Black Americans understood that the ideas of the Founding Fathers, in spite of reality of racism in day to day life, were the one true way to experiencing freedom and opportunity that otherwise would never be met. The E. C. will challenge you to think and relearn history without the color bias and to simply except facts as facts, leaving opinion at the door and to follow the facts where ever they might lead. Join us as we rediscover everything Progressives didn’t want you to know and in knowing everything you need to take back your family, your life, your government and your country. God bless you for taking this journey and God bless America. Mon, 24 May 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://www.lanternsofliberty.us/chrispilie.cfm?thread=CD6127C8-123F-7491-A4DDF0951D371AFD http://www.lanternsofliberty.us/chrispilie.cfm?thread=947F962A-123F-7491-A446E4ACFC080672 It seems odd today that our government is giving us so little choices in our personal lives today. They are at the same explaining what is happening within our country by invoking some not so nice character traits. These traits are greed and envy. Now, I’m no rocket scientist, but, these don’t seem to be very nice things to aspire to be or become. So then the question arises, why, why explain America today with these qualities? Let me explain further. To understand the financial crisis and the banking crisis and the jobless crisis and any other systemic crisis that we have recently faced, are currently facing or may face in the future is a direct cause of greed. Wall Street must have been too greedy, it is too greedy and we know that in the future they will be all too greedy, so THEY MUST BE STOPPED. We, as some in our government today believe, will regulate and protect Main Street from the greed of Wall Street. We must take control of these financial institutions and these risky financial products so that the American economy and our way of life can never again be in jeopardy, like it was due to the lack of regulations under previous administrations. This view that average Americans need to be protected from the greedy Wall Street fat cats is another hidden agenda to control industry, amass more power and absorb more individual freedoms. There isn’t a society now or at any time in the history of mankind that hasn’t run on greed. And what is greed anyway? This world runs and for most of her history, America has run on individuals free to pursue their own self interests. America was established to protect individual’s freedoms to pursue happiness. But happiness is a choice. It’s a decision. This disconnect between things and happiness is the second hand in the battle against big government, envy. If you don’t like your current status in life or you aren’t happy, it’s probably because some greedy person has stuff that rightfully deserves to be yours. So envy is pushed as the trait that one needs to become politically active and motivated. Americans are regularly duped into becoming envious and I think our Founders would understand it to be covetousness and would therefore repudiate any attempt on the part of any politician or public servant that would prey on the lowest part of human nature. The most common attempt at this strife is class envy or class warfare. We know this is classic Marx. Creating an ever present system that works only on haves and have nots. If life were only as simply as being greedy to make all your desires come true and if only it were as easy as making people envy their fellow man to inspire them to action, America would perfect itself. Our fallen nature is drawn to this type of manipulation. Politicians who would stoop to such low levels to gain power are the lowest of the low and they are the problem. The answer is simple. The Founders told us that to remain free, we must be educated and we must be virtuous, otherwise, we don’t deserve to be free. Be virtuous in your own life and teach virtue to you children and your grandchildren. Beware of those who cloak themselves under the veil of good intentions and protection; hiding only so long as necessary to gain power. America is yet still free and you are still yet free to choose. Choose this day to be greedy or envious or virtuous, but not choosing is still a choice and the outcome of that choice may result in your destination in life being at a place you never would have chosen to be. Thu, 13 May 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://www.lanternsofliberty.us/chrispilie.cfm?thread=947F962A-123F-7491-A446E4ACFC080672 http://www.lanternsofliberty.us/chrispilie.cfm?thread=22F369A9-123F-7491-A43A0C6445A47FE8 I was just thinking how important it is to always be thankful and even President Obama said we ought to be thanking him for all he’s been doing for us. So here it goes… Thank you for lifting the ban on federal funding of overseas abortions. Thank you for apologizing to the Muslim world on behalf of this country. Thank you for defending the Ft. Hood terrorist. Thank you for telling the world we're not a Christian nation. Thank you for blowing over a trillion dollars on a failed stimulus package. Thank you for allowing Iran to proceed with uranium enrichment. Thank you for more than doubling the national debt. Thank you for spending more money on the census than any other president. Thank you for humiliating the Israeli Prime Minister and treating him like an enemy. Thank you for hijacking 1/6th of our economy and taking over our healthcare system. Thank you for continuing to blame Bush for all your shortcomings. Thank you for considering shutting down Gitmo and bringing the world’s worst into America. Thank you for giving enemy combatants the same rights as American citizens. Thank you for bowing to leaders of countries that we owe a ton of money to and others we don’t. Thank you for surrounding yourself with Marxists, Communists and radicals and for taking their advice. Thank you for taking over GM and Chrysler. Thank you for spreading the wealth around. Thank you, President Obama’s mother, for accepting your punishment when you made a mistake as a young woman. Thank you for canceling a national day of prayer at the White House. Thank you for renaming the White House Christmas Tree, the Holiday Tree. Thank you for distancing yourself from Rev. Jeremiah Wright and recruiting Rev. Jim Walis as your new spiritual advisor, who believes that the Gospel of Jesus Christ calls for the absolute and immediate redistribution of wealth. Thank you for necessarily higher energy costs if your cap and trade plan becomes law. Thank you for being all up the butt of the Gay-rights activists. (Sorry for the bad pun.) Thank you for fundamentally transforming the United States of America. Thank you for viewing the Constitution as a series of negative liberties and that really the Founding Fathers didn’t say what government should do for its citizens. Thank you for believing that the Warren Court wasn’t radical enough and that the court didn’t really go far enough, during Civil Rights, when it came to redistribution of wealth. Thank you from 95% of Americans who got tax cuts this year minus the 47% of Americans who don’t pay any income taxes at all. They thank you as well, just for different reasons. Thank you for raising the Tobacco Tax for all the poor people that it disproportionately affects. Thank you for ending the DC Voucher program and killing Black parent’s school choice and Black children’s opportunity to get a good education and make something of themselves. Thank you for demonizing our military for “bombing citizens and air raiding villages.” Thank you for lessening our nukes and making us less safe in a very dangerous world. Thank you for beating up Wall Street after regulating them into utter devastation. Thank you for supporting and working for and taking advice from ACORN and brushing aside the absolute corruption of the organization. Thank you for teaching our young people at the college level about the Rules for Radicals. Thank you for avoiding FOX, where you might get a real question to answer. Thank you for nationalizing our 6 biggest banks and AIG. Thank you for 17% real unemployment, of which 7% are just no longer looking and getting used to unemployment at about 10% for a long time. Thank you for growing the government bureaucracy and taking over the student loan industry. Thank you for telling our enemies when we’ll be leaving and for handicapping our Generals on the ground. Thank you for cutting the funding to NASA and letting the USA ride shotgun on other country’s bottle rockets. With so much to be thankful for, I guess I just overlooked all the things that President Obama has done for us and if you can think of anything else please feel free to add what you’re thankful for. Wed, 21 Apr 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://www.lanternsofliberty.us/chrispilie.cfm?thread=22F369A9-123F-7491-A43A0C6445A47FE8 http://www.lanternsofliberty.us/chrispilie.cfm?thread=D50A4361-123F-7491-A4C8AB29CB553076 Has there ever been a time in your life where the concept of government, on every level, taking care of our every want and need being as prevalent in our society as it is today? I just had a birthday and as I think back just over three decades, I don’t remember a time even remotely close to this. What we are facing is more than a political or philosophical debate. What we are facing is really a moral debate. It’s a debate for the very soul of our country and our country’s future. At stake are the very freedoms that generations of Americans have enjoyed for over 225 years, freedoms that can no longer be taken for granted otherwise they’re freedoms they may not exist in the not so distant future. This great moral debate is really more like a disease that reaches beyond race, class, sex, age or status in life. This disease is “something-for-nothing” and all must inoculate themselves and everyone that we can otherwise we will lose our country. Now I know what you’re probably thinking when I say “something-for-nothing.” You’re probably thinking about citizens and their government entitlement programs. And although this is one of the groups that will be included in the discussion of the epidemic of “something-for-nothing,” it isn’t the only group included and you might be infected yourself and don’t even know it yet. See it’s easy to point out the people who are caught in the “cradle-to-grave” policies of liberals and progressives. You see them in government run clinics, living in government housing, their children going to government sponsored schools, collecting government money and eating government food and taking advantage of one government run program after another. Many of the people on these programs are on them not out of necessity but because they’ve bought into the lie that this is their only way. That they are indeed victims and the only way to survive is to admit the status of victim and allow someone else to be responsible for them, abdicating control of their future and enrolling into the government sponsored life on Uncle Sam’s plantation. These are the one’s who have “learned helplessness.” They’ve been diagnosed with “never going to amount to anything” syndrome and therefore must be experimented upon to hopefully discover a cure that doesn’t require personal responsibility, morality, hard work, persistency and faith. Good luck with that one. Although, these may be the most severe cases of the disease and the easiest to diagnose, I want to spend more time on the other forms of the disease and some of the not so obvious symptoms. There are people as we speak that are infected and don’t realize it and beware because they are contagious. There are some that aren’t currently or directly on the government dole, but will be one day because of who they are dependent upon today. Many people are employed by someone currently and have abdicated their future to someone that, although they aren’t government, still uses them as a means to their end. They use other’s time, other’s efforts, other’s creativity, other’s energies and other’s lives to increase and benefit their bottom line. Because this parasite comes in so many different forms, we’ll just call them Corporate America. If you are currently and have been for some time now, working for someone else, whether a large company or a small business, if it isn’t your company or your business or your idea, you are infected with “something-for-nothing” disease. When our country was founded, 90% of citizens were entrepreneurs and/or business owners and 10% of the population worked for the other 90%. Today 90% work for the 10% of businesses/entrepreneurs. At the average job, most work just hard enough so they don’t get fired and they pay you just enough that you won’t quit. And there in lies the infection, dormant. Until sometime in your later years you wake up one day only to realize that you’ve given away 20, 30, or 40 of your best years to a company or companies only to realize that all you have is a pile of pay stubs to show for your time. You then realize you’re infected and now look to the government with the look of entitlement, justified that you’ve paid into the system, to take care of you now with government sponsored healthcare and retirement. For all those years, you thought you had escaped infection only to realize that you’ve been infected all along. You wanted a check weekly, or bi-weekly or monthly whether you worked or not, simply because you showed up. You got upset when they cut your benefits to increase the company’s bottom line. You felt cheated when you didn’t get the raise you thought you were due because you’d been there for a certain number of years and at the same time increased your hours. You were entitled, or so you thought. Now with full blown “something-for-nothing,” you complain about the quality of care, the cost of care, the lack of funds and ability to do things and all this after you’ve put in your time. Oh, how sad to see someone manifest, full blown “something-for-nothing.” There is yet another group, that is even less obvious and until recently even more difficult to see the symptoms of “something-for-nothing.” Many of the groups out opposing our out of control government claim to stand for limited government and fiscal responsibility and our founding principles. Yet many of these same people depend upon the government now for many of the programs in the aforementioned paragraphs. Our founders wouldn’t have proposed the Federal Reserve System, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the Veterans Administration, the Department of Education and the like. But they have become staples in American society. We’ve become used to them, we like them, we use them, we need them; or so we believe. We oppose this current government and yet our system’s short term fix to this current government is to simply elect another party, based on our two party system, but this is simply a band-aid on a problem that requires surgery. We use government to the extent we want to and then we want it limited. We go through an emergency situation and the first group we look to for help is the Federal Government. We by pass the local and state government and go directly to the great infector, Uncle Sam, who eagerly and gladly infects us with aid that will cause most to become addicted to his help and when we need a little fix, he knows we’ll come running back to get a little more. In an article I recently read, the clearest, easiest diagnosis was made and the cure was provided. The article said, “In Matthew 10:28 Jesus warned His disciples: “Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” He was warning them about Satan and temptations—nothing else could destroy the soul of a man but the temptation to disobey God. And the temptations Jesus Himself went through in Matthew 4:1-10 had one common theme: Get something for nothing. Make bread out of stones. Have safety without precaution. Get power without obedience. So easy, so attractive. You shall become gods. You shall become invincible and immortal by just eating this little fruit. “Get something for nothing” is the greatest soul-killer in history. And Jesus warned against it by His own example. We must be aware and stamp out every attempt by our government and/or any group that tries to enslave any of our fellow citizens on the government run plantation of “something for nothing.” There is a final group that I want to address. This is a group that I know well and in whom I will probably find the most disagreement. They are the Patriots everywhere that have risen up in Tea Party movements, 9-12 groups and liberty loving, freedom toting groups. Many of whom don’t even realize that our work hasn’t even begun. Many libertarians and conservatives find it quite easy to oppose liberal and progressive ideology and policies. The contrast of ideas is startling and often effortless to identify. Where the real work will begin will be if and when the Republican Party regains control of our government. Will we be courageous enough to monitor, rally, protest and voice those whom we thought had our country’s best interest at heart when we sent them to Washington? Our vigilance and voices will become even more important, with our credibility on the line as we maintain a desire for real limited government. We have seen and history is clear, that Republicans in large part have been infiltrated by progressive ideology and this manure is the fertilizer for the growth of government. Growth of government and therefore the loss of more of our individual freedoms is the trend that needs to be reversed. The letter before the name of the candidates matters not if what they believe is contrary to the founders and their original intent for the American government. Our real work begins as our government changes hands from the current party of power to the other one. We cannot afford to be infected by the “something for nothing” illness that is plaguing our country. You might be asking how that even compares to the “something for nothing” of this piece. I’d say that’s a great question. We, more than any other group of Americans, must understand that the vigilance of our freedoms will be required long after most of us are long gone and no matter who is the party of power. They have proven to us that none are capable of handling the responsibility that power calls for; the humility to govern as the Founders intended. This calls for even more education than ever, for ourselves and those closest to us. Thomas Jefferson said is best when he hammered home the necessity of an educated electorate, "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." Have you been infected? Are you concerned about your children and grandchildren becoming infected? What needs to be done to prevent infection and to cure those of us already infected? We must awaken the Spirit of America. The Spirit of entrepreneurs and creativity that founded this great nation. The Spirit of exploration and discovery; of problem solving and leadership. The Spirit of individual greatness and purpose to fulfill the destiny set forth by our Creator. I am confident that the sacrifices that must be made and the work that must be done will get done. I am confident in the Spirit of the American people. I am confident in the Patriots everywhere that have stepped out from among the crowds, to lead this country back to the path of growth and greatness. I am confident in the Divine Providence that this country was founded upon and confident in the stewardship of the freedoms given by Divine Providence. I am not naïve, however, about the amount of work ahead, the toughness of the work and the time needed to accomplish what needs to be done. I hope you are confident, willing, able and ready for what is ahead. Know that this is the time that future Americans will look back to, proudly touting the stand that we took and efforts that we made to preserve the greatest country God ever gave mankind. Pray for strength, wisdom and discernment and move forward with boldness. God bless you and God bless America. Tue, 06 Apr 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://www.lanternsofliberty.us/chrispilie.cfm?thread=D50A4361-123F-7491-A4C8AB29CB553076 http://www.lanternsofliberty.us/chrispilie.cfm?thread=4AAE8CE1-123F-7491-A43458CA5A6D4C7F Be clear tonight about what you witnessed in MA. What you saw tonight will be spun every-which-way to Sunday. It will be a victory for the right, the GOP, conservatives, the Tea Party movement, etc. It will be a referendum on the administration, a defeat for the left, the liberals, the Democrats, etc. But as our young president likes to often say, "let me be clear," these are all wrong. Tonight was the people of MA, like Americans all across our fruited plain, declaring with their voting voice, the loudest, clearest and most emphatic way they knew how, "NO!" to the progressive agenda that for over a hundred years now has threatened to fundamentally transform our nation into something other than what we were founded to be. A free Republic. Be confident that the painstaking work that you've been doing in standing up for our freedoms, is starting to pay off. "Do not grow weary in well doing, for in due season, you shall reap a harvest." The protesting, the phone calls, the faxes, the emails, the letters, the meetings, the videos, the audios, the books, the studying, the classes, the yelling and the being yelled at...are all paying off. You are making a difference. You are reconnecting the American electorate to our founding. The agenda of the progressives has always been to attempt to disconnect you from the founding fathers and the reasons they founded our great nation and principles upon which they based those reasons. Continue to awaken your friends, family and neighbors. With boldness and a confidence that your efforts will pay off as you have bared witness to this evening. Beware though of those who will try to confuse this historic moment. Beware of those, who seeing the power of an awakening electorate, will try to use the Tea Parties to gain power. Beware of the progressives, where ever they are. They are in both parties and must be exposed and rooted out for GOOD. Beware of those progressive republicans especially. Those republicans that will now run "right" knowing they're not. Their time is coming and soon. America, through MA, spoke tonight. We will not just turnover and die. We will fight for our freedoms. We will fight for our country. We will stand together, republicans, democrats and independents, to protect the Constitution. We will honor the sacrifice of so many that have gone before us. We will not allow the progressive agenda fundamentally transform the United States of America. Make no bones about it, our work has just begun. But the impossible, now seems possible. What seemed lost, may just be found. Let us continue in the spirit of our founding fathers, aware of our adversaries, confident in our work and clear of what we believe. Until the Republic is restored, God Bless America! Wed, 20 Jan 2010 06:00:00 GMT http://www.lanternsofliberty.us/chrispilie.cfm?thread=4AAE8CE1-123F-7491-A43458CA5A6D4C7F http://www.lanternsofliberty.us/chrispilie.cfm?thread=FC221B3D-123F-7491-A41CB22F57279246 Well, I’ve been feeling like a little bit of a conspiracy theorist lately, except for the fact that everything I believed was going to happen, has happened in the past and is once again happening, at least openly. In fact, if it weren’t for the digital age that we live in and the many ways we can capture speeches, statements, debates and arguments, we wouldn’t have their own words to use against them. I am trying to be a little tongue and cheek, funny even, if what has recently been uttered weren’t so true and so scary and so revealing as to what’s coming our way. If you haven’t heard, Senator Tom Harkin recently made the following statement. “What this bill does is we finally take that step. As our leader said earlier, we take that step from healthcare as a privilege to healthcare as an inalienable right of every single American citizen.” This may very well be the scariest thing ever uttered in American history. The founding fathers understood very clearly, looking at history, that man left unto himself, without proper restrictions, specifically those of Judeo-Christian principles and values, would wax worse and worse and eventually become tyrannical over other members of mankind. This is the reason that the founders specifically used the wording in the Declaration of Independence, “unalienable rights.” They knew that rights, if derived from man, the same man could then take them away or limit them to only certain people. If our rights are given to us by some other or greater source, then no man could ever limit or separate us from them. They went even further by saying that these unalienable rights were “endowed by their Creator.” It wasn’t wording by accident or happens-stance, this was specific and fundamental to the country that would become the United States of America. What has separated the American experiment and our prosperity from the rest of the world throughout all of history, has been the fundamental aspect of our entire founding. Mankind derives its rights of life, liberty and property from God and therefore no man can limit or deny an American citizen those rights. Here we have a United States Senator, admitting that the healthcare bill, upon becoming law, moves healthcare into the category of an unalienable right. That it can never be given away, taken away or separated from the citizenry. Healthcare is not an innate thing or service. It cannot stand on its own. Understanding Judeo-Christian principles, God has not promised us, given us or endowed to us the unalienable right to healthcare. This is however, my greater challenge with Sen. Harkin’s comments. Our government has officially moved into the business of determining, granting and defining the rights of American citizens. They have moved into the role that the founding fathers reserved for God. Government has grown so arrogant that they really believe that they are God. Historically speaking, the idea of rights, government and the individuals has always been a topic of controversy and debate. In the 1700’s, it was believed that God, gives all authority to the king and that the king dispenses them to the individuals. This was widely accepted by many, but not the founders. In 1776, the founders changed the flow of rights from God to the individuals and the individuals establish government to protect the God-given rights. In the late 1800’s, with the emergence of the progressive movement, progressives stated that there was no God, therefore all rights rest with the individual and government is established by the individuals. Then the people within government began to question who the individuals thought they were and moved to grow and seize power from the individuals. The progressive movement was to try to mesh Marxism with the American concept of liberty. In our current day, God has been replaced with the planet because of its “bigger ness” than our individual existence. To some, there needs to be government established to restrain the individual and then the individual is at the mercy of a planetary government. We are more similar today to the flow of rights of the 1700’s than any other point in the history of mankind. Who we are and why are we here? Why is society the way it is and what’s wrong with mankind today? How do we solve the ills of society and what is our plan of redemption? These are the fundamental questions that our founding fathers answered and the answers were found in the Christian Worldview. Every other “-ism” is a fraudulent attempt to redefine the Christian Worldview and gain power, control and to refuse individual responsibility for our station in life. The people who are in charge of our government today want a “classless” society, but they want class warfare like that of the “New Deal” days. They want the “have’s” and the “have not’s” fighting like never before. For if they can get true class warfare, they can usher in Marxist policies, like healthcare, cap and trade, card check, etc. and fundamentally transform our country from the bastion of liberty that we have been into the Marxist utopia that they desire. Heaven on earth does not, cannot and will never exist, but this is foreign in the mind of the progressive. American’s today are not tied to the founding fathers like we were 70+ years ago. The progressives have been successful in their “slow march” toward progressivism in American society. The American electorate has been dumbed down to the true principles, detailed in our founding documents and what this great country was founded upon. This dumbing down is now being exploited by our government and unless Americans are awakened and educated, the “slow march” towards a progressive utopia may become the new America. This is the mission of 2010: the refounding of the United States of America. Stand up fellow patriots, pledge to defend the Constitution from enemies both foreign and domestic, for indeed it is under attack and we cannot let our country be hijacked anymore. This is the year that we take our country back from progressives, liberals, Marxists, communists and any other group that does not believe in individual freedoms endowed by God. As our founders did then, we too find these truths to be “self-evident.” Mon, 04 Jan 2010 06:00:00 GMT http://www.lanternsofliberty.us/chrispilie.cfm?thread=FC221B3D-123F-7491-A41CB22F57279246 http://www.lanternsofliberty.us/chrispilie.cfm?thread=4989CF37-123F-7491-A40A3A1C0497434A We are in the midst of the greatest scientific scandal/hoax of our age and I haven’t foundvery many people that are even aware of it, least of all understand it. Let me be frank, what is unravelling before our very eyes is a cover up of deception of a global proportion. Let’s begin with global warming/climate change. Incidentally, isn’t it a sign of losing the debate when the thing that you’re debating changes mid-debate (ie. health care reform to heath insurance reform)? But I digress. Climate is change is about two things: redistribution of wealth (seems to be the buzz word now a days) on a global scale and global governance. In looking at the implications of redistribution of wealth, what happens as more legislation and regulation gets passed by the largest of the industrial countries (ie. Cap and trade) is that the economies of those countries, like the U.S., are destroyed. They are brought down several notches closer to the less industrialized countries. Rather than promoting freedom for these less industrialized nations, which happen to have some of the most tyrannical governments on the planet, thereby raising those countries to higher levels on the global playing field, control is maintained and the playing field is still leveled only at the expense of countries like ours. Understand this, every American will be faced with the penalizing affects of climate change efforts. In the U.S., the poorest among us are part of the richest 1% to the rest of the planet. So this isn’t a rich vs. poor thing or a republican vs. democrat thing or a conservative vs. liberal thing. This is about power, grabbing as much money as possible from industrialized nations and redistributing it throughout 3rd world countries all in the name of “humanity” and “saving the planet.” Secondly, there was a time when if someone mentioned things subjects like “New World Orders” and “Global Governance” or “One World Governments” you were labeled a “nut-job” or a “conspiracy theorist.” However, now a days, these people, that freedom loving human beings all over the planet, have been ranting about for all these years, are openly honest about their intentions. New European Union President Herman Van Rompuy, recently said in a speech that “2009 is also the first year of global governance with the establishment of the G-20 in the middle of the financial crisis. The climate conference in Copenhagen is another important step towards the global management of our planet.” Do I really need to even comment on that? Now that the term “Climategate” has become mainstream or at least electronically mainstream with Google reporting that the word “climategate” is listed over 9 million times on the internet. If you haven’t heard, which you may not have, the University of East Anglia’s Climatic Research Unit (CRU), recently had some emails hacked into and leaked to news organizations all over the planet. Incidentally, there were thousands of emails that were leaked. What these emails contain are the “smoking guns” that many opponents of climate change have suspected and until now couldn’t prove. The earth is not warming at an alarming rate, in fact, we’re in a cooling period that could last for several decades to come. Sorry former Vice President Gore. These emails were from many of the academic elites in this field to each other and three purposes in these emails have been uncovered. First, valuable data that would show the decline in surface temperatures were purposely hidden and many of the emails advised to delete large chunks of data that would show declines and at the least, manipulate the data. Secondly, complex computer programs that deciphered the data collected, became so complex that no matter what was collected, past temperatures would always look cooler and recent temperatures would always be moving upward in order to convey the “impression” of an accelerated warming. Lastly, these academic elites were ruthless in the attempts to silence any “expert” that questioned or dissented towards the findings of the CRU or reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The effects of this global hoax stand to affect everyone and anything that has embrace what was thought to be settled science, but now proved to be anything but. From all of journalism, all of science in this field, all universities that created entire departments specifically for this issue and the professors involved, every global government that has passed laws that were sold to their people as “sacrifice good for the planet,” almost every politician on both sides of the isle, every company or corporation that has moved in the green direction, and every environmental group nd/or movement. Every single one of the aforementioned groups and people are now simply “discredited.” Intentions aside, we’ll address them in the future, but facts be told, the science that these groups based their stance from is anything but a solid foundation. As a matter of fact the cience is turning out to be nothing more than an opportunity to grab serious dollars from all parts of the globe. CRU director Phillip Jones, between 2000 and 2006 was awarded (or co-awarded) over $19 million in grants, which is six times what was awarded to him in the entire 1990’s. The more the CRU’s science supported policies of the left, the more money seems to have rolled in. Science became what e call a vested-interest. The science of the CRU is crucial because the IPCC doesn’t make a recommendation without consulting with the CRU, the sacred cow of foundational science for the climate change hoax. As this unravels, so many jobs, careers and reputations will be destroyed. Some deservedly so, but some not. One of the biggest proponents of climate change/global warming government interventions, is the group, the Apollo Alliance (AA). The AA is a coalition comprised of true believers with an absolute belief that government is the solution to all “social and economic” problems, allied with labor unions, subsidy seeking companies and global warming/weather control advocates. AA also played a key part of crafting the $787 billion stimulus bill, where they earmarked $86 billion for “clean energy and green collar jobs provisions,” $11 billion for the Smart Grid and $100 million for provisions for job training for the Smart Grid. See, what this “Climategate” is doing more than anything else, is it’s giving us some keen insight into the mind of the progressive, Marxist, liberal, communist, Fabian-socialist, extreme left wingers of our planet and their agenda, power and control through a global government and transformative redistribution of wealth on a grand scale. “Climategate” is not about science, its about ideology and its about stripping people of their liberties, their property and if necessary, their lives. Tyranny must be stopped and we must sound the alarm and must continue sounding the alarm until everyone is awake and darkness is exposed and freedom is preserved. I urge you to follow this story closely over the next several weeks and months. Liberty is under attack and now is the time to destroy tyranny, global tyranny. Tue, 01 Dec 2009 06:00:00 GMT http://www.lanternsofliberty.us/chrispilie.cfm?thread=4989CF37-123F-7491-A40A3A1C0497434A http://www.lanternsofliberty.us/chrispilie.cfm?thread=280BAC9E-123F-7491-A4B94C92B6CE13C0 Everything happens for a reason. I've always believed that, but never more than I do now. I've been reading, listening and learning so many wonderful things over the last few weeks and months about politics, history, our country, our state and especially God. From conversations with fellow tea party members to our nations leading black conservative pundits, all roads seem to lead back to God. I don't believe there's any irony in that. When you begin doing any amount of research into the organizations, groups, unions and individuals surrounding our President, you’ll find the trail always leading back to the ideologies of some of history's worse philosophies: communism, Marxism, progressivism, collectivism, Maoism, socialism, just to name a few. Without looking at the devastating affects that these philosophies and ideologies that historically they've had on mankind and without finding one historical example of these ideas creating a society that can be modeled in the future, let us look at the tie that binds them. What they all have in common is that their world view is from a secular humanist perspective. Many people do not realize that in 2009, as it has been for the last 200+ years, the battle is between Christianity and the secular humanists and their many other names. Without boring everyone to sleep, let's briefly explain the difference between the two. Secular humanists believe that man is the supreme being of the universe. They reject the existence of God and the supernatural. They see moral values as relative and changing and varying from person to person. A Christian world view is best summed up by Colossians 2:8 "See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ." A Christian world view is relative today because it touches every aspect of everyone's life everywhere, due to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. What's interesting about this topic and the battles we face is religion’s role in this war. Religion and its history, doesn't always bring about a rosy picture of humanity. As a matter of fact, many religions could easily be compared to the collective governments that ruled tyrannically over their people. With a fallen nature, that of mankind, mix us in with anything "good" and we'll find a way to mess it up. So my friend asked me, "Who speaks for God?" Understanding his question and the nature of religion, I heard, "How can man speak for God?" The answer is simple. We can't. Thankfully though, God spoke for Himself when He gave us His Word, the Bible. The very principles and values that America were built upon came from the words written within that book. Man, however has made God into a collective state, used to control and manipulate people, exercise to gain power. That is the nature of religion. I love liberty and hate tyranny, but I had never made the connection in my distain for religion and my disgust for collectivism. I love God, don't get me wrong, but I never viewed my relationship with Him as a collective relationship. I’ve never desired to worship Him because others were. I view my relationship with God as a personal one. I know that He formed me in my mother's womb, that He was thinking about me since the creation of the universe, that He personally created a plan of salvation for me because He wanted to be able to spend all of eternity with Him in right relationship. See, without calling Him it, I always new God was a personal God, an individualist. I know He knows the exact number of hairs on my head, or in my case, the lack of. I know He knows the plans He has for me, plans to prosper me and to watch over me. I know that by accepting Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior that the future is taken care of. God's always been interested in the individual. No two people on earth are exactly alike, not even twins. Even science cries out to the individual uniqueness that each of us possess. Most importantly, the founding fathers recognized this as well when they acknowledged that we have been given certain unalienable rights from our Creator. An artist never creates two of the exact same pieces of art, the musician never composes the same piece of music and God always creates individuals, with individual gifts, talents and abilities, with individual purposes, uniqueness’s and vision. This Truth is so well known by the collectivists that secular humanists have always tried, as one of their top agendas, to eliminate God, not religion, from society. Secular humanists actually like religion because of its collectivist characteristics and desire for the control of their followers. But the Bible says that "Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is FREEDOM." True liberty comes from knowing your Creator and knowing that He's totally interested in a relationship with you. Attempt to push out the "Spirit of the Lord" and all you'll find is tyranny and bondage. Conservatives have nothing to fear, by embracing God. All Americans should embrace God, even if simply to understand why we're free. From the foundation of the world, God never intended to limit or herd our potentials. Only to see them thrive and continue to give Him glory. And why shouldn't we as individualists want our lives to give Him glory? He is of course, the original individualist. It’s been His idea all along. As a Christian nation, we will overcome the secular humanists because united, not collected, we stand, but divided we fall. We are more united as a country than we have been in a long time and are getting more united by the day. But beyond race, creed, sex and color, what we can unite around is that we're free, not because of any man or government, but because of God. Take some time to thank Him and during this Thanksgiving holiday, thank Him especially for our country and commit to preserving the country, founded on Him, rooted in liberty and requiring effort to maintain. For whom much is given, much will always be required. Tue, 24 Nov 2009 06:00:00 GMT http://www.lanternsofliberty.us/chrispilie.cfm?thread=280BAC9E-123F-7491-A4B94C92B6CE13C0 http://www.lanternsofliberty.us/chrispilie.cfm?thread=9C78673D-123F-7491-A4EE0C4B7ACCD263 I am going to talk of controversial things. I make no apology for this. It's time we asked ourselves if we still know the freedoms intended for us by the Founding Fathers. James Madison said, "We base all our experiments on the capacity of mankind for self government." This idea? That government was beholden to the people, that it had neither source of power is still the newest, most unique idea in all the long history of man's relation to man. This is the issue of this election: Whether we believe in our capacity for self-government or whether we abandon the American Revolution and confess that a few intellectual elite in a far-distant capital can plan our lives for us better than we can plan them ourselves. You and I are told we must choose between a left or right, but I suggest there is no such thing as a left or right. There is only an up or down. Up to man's age-old dream-the maximum of individual freedom consistent with order or down to the ant heap of totalitarianism. Regardless of their sincerity, their humanitarian motives, those who would sacrifice freedom for security have embarked on this downward path. Plutarch warned, "The real destroyer of the liberties of the people is he who spreads among them bounties, donations and benefits." The Founding Fathers knew a government can't control the economy without controlling people. And they knew when a government sets out to do that, it must use force and coercion to achieve its purpose. So we have come to a time for choosing. Public servants say, always with the best of intentions, "What greater service we could render if only we had a little more money and a little more power." But the truth is that outside of its legitimate function, government does nothing as well or as economically as the private sector. Yet any time you and I question the schemes of the do-gooders, we're denounced as being opposed to their humanitarian goals. It seems impossible to legitimately debate their solutions with the assumption that all of us share the desire to help the less fortunate. They tell us we're always "against," never "for" anything. We are for a provision that destitution should not follow unemployment by reason of old age, and to that end we have accepted Social Security as a step toward meeting the problem. However, we are against those entrusted with this program when they practice deception regarding its fiscal shortcomings, when they charge that any criticism of the program means that we want to end payments.... We are for aiding our allies by sharing our material blessings with nations which share our fundamental beliefs, but we are against doling out money government to government, creating bureaucracy, if not socialism, all over the world. We need true tax reform that will at least make a start toward restoring for our children the American Dream that wealth is denied to no one, that each individual has the right to fly as high as his strength and ability will take him.... But we can not have such reform while our tax policy is engineered by people who view the tax as a means of achieving changes in our social structure.... Have we the courage and the will to face up to the immorality and discrimination of the progressive tax, and demand a return to traditional proportionate taxation? Freedom has never been so fragile, so close to slipping from our grasp. If all of this seems like a great deal of trouble, think what's at stake. We are faced with the most evil enemy mankind has known in his long climb from the swamp to the stars. There can be no security anywhere in the free world if there is no fiscal and economic stability within the United States. Those who ask us to trade our freedom for the soup kitchen of the welfare state are architects of a policy of accommodation. They say the world has become too complex for simple answers. They are wrong. There are no easy answers, but there are simple answers. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right. Winston Churchill said that "the destiny of man is not measured by material computation. When great forces are on the move in the world, we learn we are spirits-not animals." And he said, "There is something going on in time and space, and beyond time and space, which, whether we like it or not, spells duty." You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we will sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness. If we fail, at least let our children and our children's children say of us we justified our brief moment here. We did all that could be done. 45 years ago today, Ronald Reagan gave this speech for Presidential Candidate Barry Goldwater. The choices at the time were Goldwater or Johnson. Not since FDR, but now only before Obama had a President spent more of tax payer dollars for the "good" of those in "need." President Johnson, after signing the Great Society into law, stated that this was the completion to the work that FDR had started 3 decades earlier. Progressive, Constitution usurping policies during the time of FDR, carrying further by LBJ and now it 4th and goal, ball on the one yard line, 1 second left on the clock and BHO is undercenter. As was the case both times in the past, the need for a goal line stand has never been more important. I would have loved to have taken credit for the eloquency of the words in the beginning of this post, but Reagan's stump speech and its relavence today, is an erry reminder that the liberal/progressive agenda doesn't change, it doesn't let up and it knows no limit to the amount of power it desires and the liberties it desires to strip from the American people. We are in the midst of an attempt to fundamentally transform the United States of America and institute world wide redistributive wealth transfers, ushering in socialism. As Pastor Broden declared, "We must push back and push back and when we are tired of pushing back, we must push back some more." Let us not grow tired in well doing, knowing that in due season, we will reap a harvest. For our children and our children's children, let us remember the words of Reagan, 45 years ago, an envoke the spirit that founded our great country and changed the world into a place that gave mankind an opportunity to be free. Wed, 28 Oct 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.lanternsofliberty.us/chrispilie.cfm?thread=9C78673D-123F-7491-A4EE0C4B7ACCD263 http://www.lanternsofliberty.us/chrispilie.cfm?thread=6E96190A-123F-7491-A48DB859F28756A4 You can also go to youtube and type in "Obama NOLA Townhall Outside" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHF8PJn6b9s and watch several smaller videos from the event. Tue, 20 Oct 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.lanternsofliberty.us/chrispilie.cfm?thread=6E96190A-123F-7491-A48DB859F28756A4 http://www.lanternsofliberty.us/chrispilie.cfm?thread=7060647A-123F-7491-A458F86A99D6590C Recently, I've met some of the most incredible human beings on the planet: Pastor Stephen Broden, Arnold M. Culbreath and Dr. P.P. Job. These men live in Texas, Ohio and India respectively. I am so thankful for the opportunity to meet these men and my meeting them is mostly because of the awakening of America. Although these men are not all American, they are all pro-life. I've always been against abortion, but after meeting with these men, there can be no doubt, abortion is wrong and must be stopped. As a graduate of Southern University at New Orleans, an HBCU, and the only white athlete to play four year of college basketball there, I've always had a burden for my brothers and sisters in the black community. The last 2 weeks or so have connected so many dots and I'm convinced that what we do to attempt to preserve our Republic, especially affects the African-Americans of our country. I first listened to Pastor Stephen Broden give a speech at a 9-12 event in Texas. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUre-TwijR0 This is a two part video. He then came and spoke at a Greater New Orleans Tea Party meeting and I was able to escort him around the metro area the next day. The following week, I attended a luncheon where Arnold M. Culbreath, Urban Outreach Director for Protecting Black Life, (www.protectingblacklife.org) and Dr. P.P. Job, founder of the Michael Job Center in India (www.drjobsmission.org) and often called the Billy Graham of India, were the keynote speakers. All three men are incredible and what is unique is that they are all veterans and giants of the pro-life/anti-abortion movement. Dr. P.P. Job is a pastor/evangelist and his story is remarkable to say the least. The short version is that he has preached in over 129 countries around the world and because of his faith, both of his sons were martyred. His youngest son Michael was killed by Hindu fanatics and his oldest son John was murdered by Muslim extremists. In India over 5 million baby girls are aborted in government run hospitals simply because girl babies are not as desirable as boy babies. Many Christian parents are murdered simply for being Christians and if the child is a girl they are often left behind with no parents to tend to them. Dr. Job since the death of his first son adopted 501 girls. Most of the girls that Dr. Job adopted have been abandoned or whose parents have been killed because of their faith. Dr. Job also started the Michael Job center. The Michael Job Center is a kindergarten to Ph.D. school for girls for both theology and secular degrees. What the enemy meant for evil, Dr. Job, by the grace of God has turned to good. Pastor Stephen Broden and Arnold Culbreath are both part of a landmark educational DVD, called MAAFA 21. You can watch the trailer at www.blackgenocide.com or at www.protectingblacklife.org. I'm going to share some facts about abortion and especially about abortion in the black community that I've recently learned from these men. Many people believe that abortion is an issue that is only a concern to conservative White people. In reality, abortion affects people of all ethnicities. For people of various faiths in the African American communities, it has rapidly become an urgent problem that needs to be addressed. Between 1882 and 1968, 3,446 African-American were lynched in the United States. That number is surpassed within 3 days by abortion. Abortionists snuff out the lives of approximately 1,275 African-American children every day. This is what Pastor Broden and Mr. Culbreath call "womb-lynching," or the implementation of Black genocide. Since abortion was legalized in 1973, over 14.5 million Black babies have been killed. Black women have 37% of the abortions, while making up only 13% of the U.S. female population. 425,000 Black babies are aborted per year. A little history on how we got here. The founder of Planned Parenthood, Margaret Sanger, was an avowed racist who advocated eugenics and selective population control. She implemented the "Negro Project" to woo unsuspecting ministers to help reduce the colored population. The Negro Project is still in operation today. Guess where a majority of abortion sites are located. Whenever someone has wanted to keep the population of colored people down, they disguise themselves and their agenda. The KKK did it by wearing white sheets and hoods while pretending to promote Christian beliefs. They lynched those they did not consider to be equal human beings like themselves. Across this nation, the hoods that groups like PP use to hide their agenda are Black neighborhoods. They are notorious for disguising themselves as medical healthcare facilities. What they push is abortion. Abortion is not healthcare; it's "death and don't care." Planned Parenthood is the largest abortion business in the country. As far as I am concerned, they have brought "womb-lynching" to America. Americans, Christians, conservatives, countrymen. Dr. King once said, "The Negro cannot win if he is willing to sacrifice the futures of his children for immediate personal comfort and safety." I now believe that although Blacks vote in the 90 percentile for the Democratic Party and Planned Parenthood primarily supports Democratic candidates at every level of government, Planned Parenthood has a specific agenda: the elimination of the non-white races. When you consider that 60+% of all PP clinics are in Black neighborhoods and when you combine Hispanic neighborhoods, the number surges to over 75% of facilities in Black or Brown neighborhoods. It is time for pro-lifers to take a stand. If Dr. King's dream is to have true meaning, the babies' civil rights must also be respected. Although Dr. King once accepted an award from PP, his positions on non-violence would lead us all to question the violence of abortion and to indeed cry out today, "We Shall Overcome...Abortion." Another interesting angle toward abortion is the comparison of abortion to slavery: Roe v Wade vs. Dred Scott, two landmark cases that have and continue to affect African-Americans beyond most people's awareness. Simply put, Dred Scott in 1857 was decided 7-2 and Roe v Wade, in 1973, also decide 7-2. In the Dred Scott case, Blacks were considered a "non-person." In Roe v Wade, the unborn is considered a "non-person." In Dred Scott, the slave was "property of the owner." In Roe v Wade, the unborn is "property of the owner," the mother. In Dred Scott, the slave owner was protected to "buy, sell or kill" the slave. In Roe v Wade, the mother gets to choose to keep or kill her baby. Abolitionists were told that they should not impose their morality on the slave owner. In Roe v Wade, pro-lifers should not impose morality on the mother. Because of Dred Scott, slavery was found to be legal. Because of Roe v Wade, abortion was made legal. Interesting, huh? So what can and must we do? Protecting Black Life has 7 action steps. 1. LEARN the facts about abortion and how it affects families and the community. 2. ASK your pastor, church leaders and community leaders to speak out on this issue. 3. INVITE a pro-life speaker to your church, clubs and civic organizations. 4. START a pro-life group within your church or community. It’s easier than you think. 5. SUPPORT abstinence based programs that encourage youth to save sex for marriage. 6. ENCOURAGE women facing an unexpected pregnancy to seek help from a local crisis pregnancy center that cares about her and her baby. 7. EDUCATE legislators about the devastating impact abortion is having on the African American community. Never underestimate the impact your feedback can have on your elected officials. PRAY for people you know who have had abortions. PRAY for people you don't know who have had abortions. PRAY for people who may be thinking about having an abortion right now. Everyone must do something! Everyone can do something! Tue, 20 Oct 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.lanternsofliberty.us/chrispilie.cfm?thread=7060647A-123F-7491-A458F86A99D6590C http://www.lanternsofliberty.us/chrispilie.cfm?thread=4DFD524D-123F-7491-A4A57C39927123DD Right vs Left. Republican vs Democrat. Capitalism vs Socialism. Liberty vs Tyranny. Everyone of these arguments are smokescreens and distractions from the real truth of the argument. Truth is absolute because of whom it comes from. Just as our rights cannot be taken away because they are endowed by the Creator. To turn our backs on God and our heritage would be fatal to the future of America and there are those that know it. Right on Mary!!! Sun, 18 Oct 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.lanternsofliberty.us/chrispilie.cfm?thread=4DFD524D-123F-7491-A4A57C39927123DD http://www.lanternsofliberty.us/chrispilie.cfm?thread=476339E1-123F-7491-A4CCD8162F57D52D Spending the other morning with Pastor Broden was way more enlightening than I could have imagined. As many of you may or may not know, Pastor Stephen Broden, is a minister in Dallas, TX, and recently came to prominence after giving a speech at a local 9-12 Group meeting. The speech was recorded and uploaded to YouTube and went viral. Glenn Beck saw the speech and called Pastor Broden to be on the show and off to the races he went. Calls from all over the country started coming in to have him speak for patriots across the fruited plain. This national prominence propelled him into the spotlight and has thrust him into the political arena for the people of South Dallas. I learned a lot from Pastor Broden in his talk to us, but I learned infinitely more from spending time with him. Pastor Broden came from a working class family in Flint, Michigan. His parents divorced at an early age, however, his father remained close enough to get his hands on him and close enough that Broden could reach out to his father. Pastor said that he was definitely a “daddy's boy.” Pastor described his father as a praying man and recalled his father sharing a dream that he had with Pastor Broden when he was in the 12th grade. The dream consisted of Pastor Broden walking with Jesus in Dallas. Mind you Pastor Broden was just 17 years old at the time, not a pastor and living in Michigan. Pastor Broden's father had been given a vision, by God, of his son and the work that was to come. Pastor Broden attended and graduated from the University of Michigan with multiple degrees and later attended seminary. After moving to Dallas to attend seminary, Pastor Broden decided to remain in Dallas where he planted his church, raised a family and has pastored in Dallas and specifically in the inner city for over 22 years. He recalled many of the social policies and governmental programs that he has witnessed destroying the African American family over the last 40+ years. Kicking the fathers out of their homes and bastardizing the African American family. For the last 18 years, the Congressional representative in his church's and his community's district has run pretty much unopposed and according to Pastor Broden, hasn't done much to improve the situation in her district. This lack of responsiveness and ineffectiveness on the part of his representative motivated him to run for Congress in the 2010 elections. I picked up Pastor Broden and brought him to Slidell where he met Cindy Collins, who owns and run the Pregnancy Crisis Center, a women's counseling facility that advises women on options contrary to abortion. Cindy also owns and runs Slidell's local 103.7FM radio station. Cindy interviewed Pastor Broden for a podcast. Pastor Broden, in the context of the many years spent in the prolife movement, relayed many of the parallels of the politics of the African American community, the lies and intentional turning away from protecting African American children, by the Democratic Party and what he called "black genocide" and "womb lynching", abortion. In the video Maafa 21, in which he is featured, a direct line from the emancipation of the slaves to the emergence of the eugenics movement to the political support of democratic candidates by Planned Parenthood is drawn to show the modern day extermination plans for the African American community by the liberal left. I had opportunity to play devil advocate with Pastor Broden and asked him a very specific question. As an African American, teaching, quoting and believing in our founding documents, one might question his loyalties to documents that some would say weren't intended to include people of color. His answer was simple and to the point. Because our founding principles and values were divinely inspired by the Creator, the imperfection and hypocrisy of the founders, all be it a different time in our nations history, as it pertains to slavery, should never be looked to or judged for their contribution to our founding documents or any attempt to make our Constitution and Declaration of Independence flawed. You never look to the people to judge the institution but rather to the principles and values it aspouses. Judge the content of the character and not the color of the skin. Judge Christianity by Christ and not by the Christians. Simple, wise and profound. This is the answer to the chaos that surrounds us. We must remain principled and virtuous. We derive our rights from the Creator and not men therefore we must protect those rights because they've been given to us and are not derived from us. I also asked Pastor Broden about the Civil Rights movement. From the reading and research that I had done, it seemed as though the movement was hijacked or changed its course. Pastor Broden confirmed that many of the "Black Leaders" and leaders of the movement bought into the lie, primarily perpetrated by the Fabian socialists, that capitalism was the cause of the plight of the black community. As a result, many of the black leaders were attracted to socialism, Marxism, black liberation theology, Black Nationalism and even communism. The "slow march" was working and eventually that “slow march” overcame the righteousness and the goodness of the movement. The biggest thing I gained from Pastor Broden was his unwavering confidence. Confidence that we all must have in these times that we live in. He explained that his confidence was 100% in Christ. His relationship with the Creator enabled him to stand in the most treacherous of moments and situations. The inspiration that moved our founding fathers to start this country is the same inspiration that he taps into now and we must all tap into moving forward. People that try to refute the divine touch of God's hand upon this country, the secular humanist, are ineffective when faced with people who are principled and respect the values of our Judeo-Christian heritage. This is the battle lines that have been drawn. From this rampart we must push back. They will call us evangelical lunatics, fringe and/or irrelevant. But if that were true, they wouldn't fear us as they do. They misquote us, misrepresent us, lie about us and why? Because the Bible says, "And the truth shall set you free" and "where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." They don't want us to be free, they want control. They don't want us working together as gifted, unique and purposeful individuals, they want collectivism. They would rather see the America we've known and love fail and some utopian, Marxist, nanny state to emerge. I am hopeful, that the movement of awakening patriots will produce many more Stephen Broden's. I'm thankful that more re-founders are stepping forward everyday. I'm mostly thankful to God for the country He's given us and for this debt of gratitude we must never tire of and know that in due season, change will come and restoration is possible. Now is the moment we were all born to be a part of. For such a time as this, God chose you and me, just as He chose the founding fathers. To protect and ensure freedom for all mankind. It's now time for us to rediscover the words of Dr. King and work to the day where we can all hear, "Free at last, free at last! Thank God Almighty, we're free at last!" Mon, 12 Oct 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.lanternsofliberty.us/chrispilie.cfm?thread=476339E1-123F-7491-A4CCD8162F57D52D http://www.lanternsofliberty.us/chrispilie.cfm?thread=0936101C-123F-7491-A4098D708D3E00C5 Many of our largest denominations of organized religion are no longer teaching and preaching the gospel. They're not lifting up Jesus. They're not teaching the real Jesus. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life." We are watching the results of people taking their eyes off of Him and onto men. Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood, knew that the formula for purging the world of "lower races" was not actively pursuing extermination, it was voluntary suicide. Is this not what we are seeing in every large city in our country? Children are killing children, infantcide being marketed in lower socioeconomic neighborhoods, drug and alcohol abuse, crime, families under attack, unwed-teen pregnancies, etc. Sanger knew, that you could corrupt the church and therefore society, as most fabian marxist (fm) and transformational marxist (tm) believed, by putting a few outgoing, social service backgrounded preachers on their payroll and when the more rebellious members of their churches and communities figured out what the real agenda was, these pastors could quench their anger and their plan for extermination of the races could stay hidden. The agenda of fm and tm was to infultrate churches, universities, schools, media and entertainment, deny absolute truth, remove God from family and culture and call it the "slow march" to change: a battle for the mind and culture. That's what we have to reverse. It's taken them 75+ years to get to this point, but we can, must and will stop it thereby reversing the progress they've made and do so in a shorter period of time. We must start as individuals, put aside our differences and find some common ground on which to stand. I believe anyone can be against any number of things, but to be for something takes courage, confidence and a completely different mindset. A mindset of belief that our lives do count for something and that our lives can make a difference. I believe one area of common ground to be for, is our children. There isn't a republican or democrat, blue or red, conservative or liberal that doesn't want a better future for their children. That's what moved me so much about the Chicago mob video. I'm a parent. Those children in the video have parents. There are parents today, who won't get to experience the life of his/her child ever again. Our children are being slaughtered in our large American cities by both violence and abortion-on-demand. The first right endowed to all of us by our Creator is life. Without a value for life, you won't respect the life of others or believe that yours is worth something. That you were put here for a specific purpose. We know the things that haven't worked and don't work. Entitlement programs don't work. Policies that attempt to "level the playing field," don't work. Strategies for equal results instead of protecting our equal rights destroys the God-given gift of becoming all that we were created to be. To just settle, just because, isn't what God had in mind and its definitely not the America that our founding fathers envisioned over 2 centuries ago. President Kennedy even told us that the entitlement mentality was not American when he encouraged us to find some way to help the country instead of expecting the country to help us. We have to expose the people, politicians, pastors, preachers, public figures, organizations, associations, groups, foundations, etc., that are killing our citizenry, this country, our futures, our liberties and our children's opportunities. We must learn about the relationships between unions (labor, teachers, etc.) and politicians, their agenda to maintain jobs and not benefit our children or the workers. There are those who understand that an uneducated electorate is easier to win votes from, than an educated one. So they incentivise failure and mediocrity by throwing dollars at schools and school systems that underperform. Groups like the NAACP speak of structual injustices and institutional racism that ultimately perpetuate a victim mentality and instill learned helplessness. Our children grow up thinking that "no I can't" instead of "yes I can." We must face facts head on, whether we like them or not, whether they support what we believe or root out our own erroneous beliefs and/or opinions. Facts can no longer be ignored. We must stop relying on others solely to form our opinions and take the step of faith, speak our beliefs with boldness and stand ready to be challenged, looking forward to the challenge. (that's where being informed comes in handy) Whites need to call out whites, blacks need to call out blacks, republicans republicans, democrats democrats and we all need to call out whoever and whatever is acting in a way that is opposite of the values and principles of our Constitution. We cannot tolerate the mentality of "give me free stuff" and "you pay for it." (Marx) We must hold our elected officials to a higher level of accountability and make them fearful of us. They must know that we're watching, they must listen to us, do what's right by us and know that if they don't, they will be voted out if they even so much as cast one vote to expand government or misrepresent us. We are not interested in furthering any longer anyone's political career. The "old boy" networks have to be challenged. These networks and partnerships between, special interests and corporations or politicians and churches or any mixture of the lot, have to be exposed, disbanded and this will, of course, not be easy. It will not be easy because there are people who will not want to voluntarilty give up their illigitimate power. Power gained by backroom agreements, under the table contracts and manipulation of people in actual need. This is our call to arms, but our weapons are not carnal. Just like King David asked for volunteers for battle and a few said "I'll go!", the rest didn't say they wouldn't go, they just didn't say anything. Those that said "I'll go!" became David's mighty men. Those who said nothing are never heard from again. It will not take much to become a might man or woman, but it will cost much. I know that price is only an issue with the abscence of value but I am hopeful that many are seeing the price as worth it and are viewing the price more like an investment, expecting a bountiful future return, if not in this life, definitely in the next. In 2009, we are talking about and studying 56 men, from many different backgrounds, who came together, not agreeing on everything, but in principle and on values, almost 250 years ago, because the stood together, believed together, deferred to one another, with a common vision of an unlimited future. They may not have seen us, but through the lens of history, we can see them clearly because of what they stood for and although we may not see our posterity 250 years into the future, what will they see in us as they look back at us through the lens of history? Will they look back with the clarity that we look at our founding fathers with or will their view of us be blurred by the inaction and apathy plaguing us today, all while our future was being murdered in the streets? I pray that we continue to stay vigiliant and continue to wake others to the vigilance necessary to protect our freedoms and I pray that our nation return to the open boldness of acknowleging our Creator, for in Him is our hope and in Him is our life and in Him alone is our liberty. Tue, 29 Sep 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.lanternsofliberty.us/chrispilie.cfm?thread=0936101C-123F-7491-A4098D708D3E00C5 http://www.lanternsofliberty.us/chrispilie.cfm?thread=AD458281-123F-7491-A401E9ADED15990B It's really amazing how far we've gone from September 11th, 2001. I was looking at pictures of ground zero just hours after we were attacked. I was especially reminded and consequently moved, when I saw the pictures of police officers and firemen risking life and limb to rescue their fellow Americans. No one had to prompt them to do it. No one had to pursuade them to action. No one asked what was their political affiliation or bend. No one asked if they were racist. No one asked what was their religion. No one asked what was their sexual preference. When our government officials, together in unity, prayed publicly and sang "God Bless America" openly on the steps of the Capitol, no one questioned the seperation of church and state. We didn't really know who had attacked us, but no one questioned if we should pursue with every resource available to the United States, our attackers. The point is, is that something just took over in most Americans. It was like someone had flipped a switch, kind of an autopilot. We, as Americans, just knew to unite, gather, pray and in general, come to the aid of fellow Americans in need. How far we have gone from those days immediately following 9-11. Today, there seems to be several different Americas. A right, center and left America. A liberal, conservative and moderate America. A black, white and others America. So many special interests. So many people, countries, organizations, association and agendas, all wanting as much of the American tax dollar as they can get. It almost seems impossible to find people that you can share some commonalities with. But as I look back over the last 8 years, since radical Islamist declared war on us, I now understand why I see the America of 2009. It's been intentional. They've purposely tried to divide us. Quite frankly, they almost did it. But this moment in our nation's history, has brought about a fire, a passion if you will, in people like never before or at least like nothing since 9-11. See, the way we were on 9-12 and 9-13 and the days and weeks after 9-11, brought about a patriotism and spirit of unity that only Americans can relate to. This is what the Tea Parties have done. We no longer need some tragic act of war to come to the aid of our country. We no longer need some great injustice to rise up and fight. The rediscovering of our founding and the understanding of our history and the recomitting to living the principles and values that made our country so great, now, at this hour, for such a time as this, allow us to unite in one voice and in one cause. The noble cause of defending our Constitution from enemies both foreign and domestic. We are once again, acting from that place that doesn't need prompting, convincing or motivation. Its there, again, as it was 8 years ago, burning brightly. And let those who might try to stand against us be put on notice. We will not get tired, we will not back down and you will not win. America will stand, be better tomorrow than it was today and will remain the greatest country God ever gave to mankind. Sat, 12 Sep 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.lanternsofliberty.us/chrispilie.cfm?thread=AD458281-123F-7491-A401E9ADED15990B http://www.lanternsofliberty.us/chrispilie.cfm?thread=82C0EEA2-123F-7491-A412AC88ED5507FB The last 12 months have been some really interesting months out of my still young life. I am thankful though for every day of every month of the last 12. I don't know, if not for President Obama, that I'd be as enlightened as I am today. There have been so many things that I either didn't really know about my country, goverment and politics or just simply didn't care to know. I hope it was the first. As much as we didn't want Hillary or Barack or John for that matter, for most of us voting was a "lesser of two evils" decision. I believe, however, that President Obama should be thanked. He should be thanked for running and winning an incredible campaign. He should be thanked for running under a truly historic pretense. Mostly, though, he should be thanked for the overall effect he has had, is having and will have on the future of our country. Speaking for myself, President Obama has made me rediscover my history, my country's founding, the people envolved with and contributors to the founding, the principles and values upon which this great country was built, true American pride, real brotherhood, a greater appreciation for the Creator, an increased sense of patriotism, a desire to protect life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and most importantly my responsibility to protect our Constitution from enemies both foreign and domestic. I know that many Americans hadn't read as many books prior to the '08 campaign as they have since or had the motivation to get more educated about the political process coupled with involvement, but for that, President Obama should be thanked. For the future of our country, never again will someone be able to sneak up on us and attempt to transform our country into something that we're not or something that we would never want. Never again will we just sit idly by and watch from the sidelines as our country changes around us and since we know our enemies and are dilligent in identifying them, we cannot again afford to. For this, our President should be thanked. We have rallied together to protect and steward what was given to us by our forefathers and although we may have fallen asleep at the wheel, we are awake and we are aware and with gratitude we thank President Obama. A sense of community and individualism unlike anything before, has been brought out and can be seen in the gathering of the citizenry at rallies and meetings and protests because of President Obama. So we thank him. Everything that this country was started for, has stood for, stands for and will continue to stand for has a fresh coat of paint on it. The dust has been blown off of these things and its shine has been renewed. Most, if not all of us that gather together, have fallen deeper in love with our great country and with compassion for all Americans and their children and their children's children, we fight to maintain everything that we believe in. So for these things, we owe our new President a debt of gratitude. For these things we proudly say thanks. We will fight, educate and defend with our very lives, the United States of America. So thank you President Obama. Thank you for awakening a sleeping giant. The American people. By awakening us in the manner by which you have, you have ensured that no one ever, like you, will ever get into power again. President Obama is the best thing to ever happen to America and I just want to give credit where credit is due. Thu, 03 Sep 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.lanternsofliberty.us/chrispilie.cfm?thread=82C0EEA2-123F-7491-A412AC88ED5507FB http://www.lanternsofliberty.us/chrispilie.cfm?thread=13F4F5E0-123F-7491-A434026DE154AB57 To those who fear government take over of the healthcare system, and rightfully so, Rep Cao made the point last night that this bill isn't a government take over of the current healthcare system, however, it is a structure being built that could eventually lead to a government healthcare system. This is our concern. Intelligence and foresight tells us that the end game is nasty to say the least. Rep Cao said that he would not vote for the bill if it increases the government, cost more from a deficit stand point, includes government funded abortion and doesn't provide better healthcare at a cheaper cost. In listening to Mr. Cao, his opinion of whether to support or oppose the "Obamacare Bill" is backed by what most Americans want, which is less government, better care, cheaper cost and letting the unborn live. Fortunately, we know that the left cannot come through with all four criteria. We must continue to support Mr. Cao, believe him at his word and stay educated with all of the healthcare bills that come to the floor of Congress so we can hold him accountable for his promise to vote it down when the bill doesn't meet his criteria. Tue, 01 Sep 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.lanternsofliberty.us/chrispilie.cfm?thread=13F4F5E0-123F-7491-A434026DE154AB57 http://www.lanternsofliberty.us/chrispilie.cfm?thread=4B574B7E-123F-7491-A44AE9A63C401CA1 Good evening fellow Patriots! I wanted to start with a quote from Thomas Sowell, “Vigilance is the price for freedom.” Thank you for being vigilant and for being here today! Thanks to everyone who organized this event and events in the past. A special thanks to Mary Kass for her leadership and all the other elected officers. I want to start with some reprimands. Shame on you Republicans for opening up doors that should’ve never been opened, for not securing our boarders, for enlarging entitlement programs, for implementing the first round of bank bailouts and for abandoning your conservative, founding principles. Shame on you Democrats for giving your party over to the control of the radical, extreme left, for leaving the principles of “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” Shame on you current Executive and Legislative branches of government for trying to ramrod liberal, non-mainstreamed policies on a country that is still overwhelmingly conservative. Finally, shame on us, shame on Americans for waking up now and for being asleep for this long while our country was being hijacked from under us. But here’s a news flash, WE ARE AWAKE AND WE ARE AWARE!!! I am a graduate of the Jefferson Parish Public School and Southern University at New Orleans, where I played four years of college basketball and was the only white player to play there for four years. That is however the only record that I hold, because when it comes to points, assists or rebounds, you won’t find my name there, but white kids to play there four years. And no one can beat my record. Like many of you, over the last 12-18 months, I’ve been doing some reading, but specifically from authors like Thomas Sowell, Walter E. Williams, Larry Elder, Michelle Malken, Harry Jackson, Jr. and Starr Parker to name a few. Now for some of you, these names will sound familiar but for most of you they will not. Why, you might ask, have I been reading these particular authors? Because they don’t look like us, but they speak like us, think like us and believe like us. They are all African American and conservative. I knew that arguing against a government led by Barak Obama would first be about race and then about policy and I wanted to get past the first argument and truly be able to judge policy and person by the content of their character and not the color of their skin. These authors speak with an authenticity and credibility that, look around, we can’t. Simply put, where there is more government there are less freedoms. We are here today, defending everyone’s and all American’s freedoms. We are here attempting to prevent the enslaving of many millions of our fellow Americans over the next many years. As we battle an ever expanding government and its agenda, we will be called many horrible things: racists, bigots, republicans, Nazis, mobster, and rednecks, by the media and those that oppose us. But we are conservatives and we are Americans and when any enemy, either foreign or domestic attacks our fellow Americans, we will rise up and fights with our very lives in defense of liberty and freedom for us and our posterity. Larry Elder said, “Blacks don’t need the Democratic party. It’s the other way around and the Democratic Party need blacks to believe that racism is and will continue to be the primary issue in America today. At a rate of 90+%, blacks vote Democratic, but at one time, 100% of blacks were Republicans at a time when Republicans were conservatives and the foundation of the party was abolition. This healthcare debate is about the building of a structure that ultimately enslaves Americans, especially minorities and creates a voting base that becomes an irreversible amount of unlimited power and we all know that absolute power corrupts absolutely. Whether it’s the founding of the Republican party in 1854 on the abolition expansion movement or the founding of the Texas Republican Party in 1867 or the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation by Republican President Lincoln or the Civil Rights Amendments passed in the 1870’s by Republican Congresses or New Civil Rights laws passed for the first time since the 1870’s by Republican Congresses or the support of the 1964, ’65, and ’67 Civil Rights, Voting Rights and Fair Housing Rights overwhelmingly by Republicans by a greater percentage of their voting Congressmen or the 1970’s quotas and affirmative action legislation signed into law, all of the aforementioned history was either started by, supported by, enacted by or pushed through by the Republican Party. The Democratic Party has little to no historical data to deserve the support of African Americans in the numbers that they do. Except that they have been the overwhelming recipients of entitlement programs and I propose that these programs have hurt our African American brothers and sisters and their children and their families. As far back as the early 1900’s long before the “Civil Rights” movement and any legislation or policy implementation, great Americans, like Nannie Helen Boroughs wrote, “The 12 Things the Negro Must do for Himself.” None of these included dependency on the government or anyone else for that matter. Great advice intended for blacks but advise never more applicable to every American than in our present day. We are and always have been and if left up to us, always will be a nation that was founded on the acknowledgement of our Creator and that our Creator is the source of true freedom and true rights. Government does not give us our rights and therefore cannot take them away for to even limit them to the extent that they already have and to the extent that they are trying, this is tyranny. You may try to legislate the Creator out of our schools, workplace and families, but as long as the words of our founding fathers remain alive, they truth can never be put asunder. We do not want more government. We do not want a bigger bureaucracy. We did not elect you to make a career for yourself. We did not sign off on wasting our hard earned money. We didn’t ask you to mortgage our future prosperity. We did not ask you to put our children and grandchildren into bondage. We do not look to you to solve our problems. We only ask to you to stop creating more of them. We say “REMEMBER THAT YOU WORK FOR US!” We demand that you listen to our voices and just know that when you ignore us, YOU WILL HERE US! We say return to our founding principles. We say not to government run healthcare! We say reform social security and Medicare and the like! We say no to higher taxes and not to more entitlements! We say no to Cap and Trade and we say stop lying about global warning, climate change or whatever description fits our agenda. We say give us back our country! We must continue to educate both ourselves and our neighbors. We must stand for the ignorant, for those who oppose us, for those who haven’t found their voice, for those who have no voice and for all Americans. We must not grow weary in well doing and we must never again sit idly by. I hope that history one day records this period in American History, as “the Great Awakening.” The period where these generations rediscovered what made America the greatest country ever given to man. That our founding principles become once again our ways of life vs. just words on paper and that we fought, in this generation, for our country, for our families, for our freedoms and liberties and for all Americans and that we all once again unite around the fact that we truly have been endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights and that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. May God continue to bless you and may He continue to bless the United State of America. Thank you. Mon, 24 Aug 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.lanternsofliberty.us/chrispilie.cfm?thread=4B574B7E-123F-7491-A44AE9A63C401CA1