THE TRUTH

A friend of mine sent me this video.  As painful as it is to hear, it's true.  The "NEA" statement at the beginning refers to the National Education Association.  That's the union I'm compelled to belong to because my state isn't a right to work state.  I refused to join the union but I still must pay dues.  That I'm compelled by the government to pay dues to a union that I feel does not represent my best interests is the essence of tyranny. 

The actor in the video is Jeff Daniels.  He's played many parts including George Washington in a movie called "The Crossing" about the crossing of the Delaware in preparation for the attack on Trenton in 1776.  It's one of my favorite movies. 

Please listen and I'm interested in hearing comments about the statements in the video.

WHY DO WE WATCH FOR GOVERNMENT TYRANNY?

For those of us who have blathered on about government tyranny and been derided for it, this week has proven what the founding fathers knew.  Man can't be trusted with power unchecked.  The founders built checks and balances into the Constitution.  Not because they were worried about the form of government they chose but that they didn't trust the humans who would control it.  History is rife with evidence that humans can't be trusted with power.  The Roman Empire, the German Empire, the Persian Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, the Russian Empire; need I name more? 

That being the case, the prescience of the founding fathers is absolute.  They understood that as Madison said, "if men were angels, no government would be necessary."  But lest you think that the founding generation were big government people you are sadly mistaken.  As president, Madison vetoed the "American  System" in 1816, which was a plan for the federal government to fund state public works projects using federal tax money.  He felt the use of federal tax money to fund projects within states was unconstitutional.  What did Madison, the "Father of the Constitution," know?

The founders understood that humans needed a government to assure that they could survive as a common entity.  However, they needed freedom to thrive.  It was this balance that the founders strove to achieve.  Our form of government is the least evil form of all governments.  Most assuredly, government is evil if left unchecked.  Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely.   

George Mason, a Virginian who was respected second only to George Washington, refused to sign the Constitution because it didn't include a Bill of Rights.  When he was told by others that the rights of Americans were included in the text, he stated he wanted them explicitly written for all to see.  We would do well to exercise his skepticism about "implied rights."  Of all the rights enumerated in the Bill of Rights, two are extremely important.  The Second Amendment is the one that ensures all others will be obeyed by putting the ultimate power in the hands of the people and the Tenth gives the power to the states that they reserved to themselves.  After all, the states formed the federal government, not the other way around.  The Founding Fathers understood this.  It's time we did too. 

That brings us to the IRS.  The most intrusive and potentially the most evil of all government agencies.  As the opinion in the  court case, McCulloch vs. Maryland in 1819, states, "the power to tax is the power to destroy."

The progressives will profit from Americans accepting that more government is good for humans.  In reality it is the opposite.  The more powerful the government, the less the people thrive.  That's to the benefit of those among us who feel they are better fit to make decisions for us than we are for ourselves.    

It's time we all wake up and check the power of the government.

STANDARDIZED TESTS

I wanted to give my students some credit because recently we had our round of standardized tests.  In Ohio, sophomores take the Ohio Graduation Test (OGT).  I have three classes of sophomores and we prepared for three straight weeks for this test.  The students didn't love it but they were diligent in their preparations.  It was tedious for them and me.  Well, the results are in.  Out of the three classes everyone passed except one student who barely missed.  He'll pass the next time.  That's 55 out of 56.  I'm proud of them and I'm relieve for them.  They don't have to test again.  I'm not a fan of these tests not because I disagree with tests.  I don't like that they are written by people other than teachers.  Some of the language is so stilted I spend time teaching the vocabulary of the tests rather than the concepts they need to know. 

Additionally, my Advanced Placement students took the AP US history test today.  After talking to them they feel they killed it.  We spent a lot of time reviewing and studying together to get it done.  They were very confident they beat the test to death.  BOOM! 

Sometimes it good to be a teacher. 

NOW IT'S THE PRESS THEY'RE AFTER. A LOVER SPURNED?

I think you could keep busy just cataloguing the scandals in the Obama administration as they unfold.  Well, now they've gone and done it.  They pissed on the press.  After all the adulation and unconditional love from the press,  the Obama crew has grabbed the phone records of the Associated Press.  How dare they!

Will the press take on the part of the scorned lover?  Will they, like the abused spouse, finally call the police and prosecute?  Or will they take their lover back and give him and his minions another chance.  After all, he represents everything they love.  They gave up their career for him.  He may have stepped in it this time.

This administration is dangerous.  Someone needs to watch it.  Did they finally awake the sleeping dog?
 

BIAS? NOTHING TO SEE HERE. MOVE ON.

I think the story of the day is the I.R.S. suppression and harassment of conservative groups.  For these conservative groups to accuse the I.R.S. of harassment is one thing.  It's an entirely different thing to have the I.R.S. admit it.  I was appalled when the D.H.S. list of potential right wing groups to watch was published and I was on it.  I'm a retired police officer and a military veteran.  They should certainly watch me because my life is proof that I have no allegiance to the U.S. government. 

The government is a totally reactive agency.  By that I mean that it is totally out of character for government bureaucrats to think outside the box and make independent decisions.  Government workers are almost totally risk averse.  They will not jeopardize their jobs.  That's why schools have zero tolerance policies about violence and sexual harassment.  I mean really, little kids are getting suspended for kissing teachers and playing war on the playground.  My friends and I wouldn't have survived if we couldn't have played war, cops and robbers, and cowboys and Indians on the playground.  We played tackle football on the asphalt for God's sake. 

I can come to no other conclusion than that these drones were ordered to seek out these groups.  A supervisor or some other boss told them to do this.  It didn't just spontaneously occur.  Government drones don't think that way.  This is without a doubt a political attack on a group that the government perceives as a threat.  This is an attempt to silence critics and intimidate political opponents (enemies?).  The question is will the MSM finally get on board and report this story?

Think of this.  This administration has hired thousands of I.R.S. agents to enforce Obamacare.   
This administration is dangerous.  Will someone watch them?

Positively Nixonian, eh?

COURAGE?

Collins

I'm sorry but I have a problem with the latest hero of the MSM.  Jason Collins is the newest, bestest hero of the media.  In case you haven't heard, Jason Collins is Gay!!  Well, Jason is an ex-NBA player who has recently "come out" as gay.  For this the MSM has lavished praise on him using the words "brave" and "courageous" to describe his pronouncement.  That's great.  I think it needs to be pointed out that Collins, by any objective measure was a journeyman player.  Despite his journeyman status he made about $33 million during his pedestrian career spanning about ten years. 

What is my problem?  Well he didn't feel the need to "come out" at any time while in the "prime" of his career.  That possibly would have put his earning potential at risk.  Additionally, he had a girlfriend for the last eight years and was engaged to be married.  For Collins to "come out" at this time is really very convenient for him.  After all, what happens if no NBA team wants to sign an aging journeyman player who is past his "prime?"  Imagine the outrage in the MSM if no team offers an openly gay player a contract.  This is all too convenient for me.  Call me cynical.

Brave and courageous?  Our military fit that description.  Police and Fire officers fit that description.  A washed-up basketball player who really was a "never was?"  Not really. 

TRUST

I was visiting my friend's blog, GeeeeeZ . She had a post about trusting government and it made me think about my evolution as a person.  Over the years I have become more and more distrustful of government.  I began to think about how this happened.  I don't consider myself to be a conspiracy theorist but as I thought it hit me that my experiences have greatly influenced me.  Let me explain.

When I was 18 I graduated from high school.  I went to Catholic schools all my life and I felt imbued with a spirit of responsibility for myself and my fellow man.  So I joined the military because I genuinely felt it was the right thing to do.  I wanted to serve my country and keep our country safe.  When I went through basic training I learned all the things I needed to know to protect myself and my fellow airmen, including an advanced course in killing.  I never thought I would use it but I bought into the need to protect my country from the enemy.  Who was the enemy?  I didn't give it a lot of thought. 

When I went to SE Asia I was ready to do what was necessary to fulfill the mission.  Whatever it took.  As I spent time there I was kind of surprised to find out that nobody really knew why we were there.  It then became a matter of survival.  That was the first time my trust was in question.

I came back and became a police officer.  Why?  To serve and protect my fellow citizens.  As I graduated from the police academy I was fired up and instilled with the spirit of service.  Sound like BS?  To me and my fellow graduates it wasn't.  As my career rolled on I began to think that this wasn't what I thought it was.  I found that the police were nothing but political pawns of the city's politicians.  Their career was much more important than the welfare of the citizens.  It was all about them.  I lost more trust throughout my career.

Then I retired and fulfilled a lifelong ambition to be a teacher.  On a personal level I love my job.  I look forward to going to work everyday and I often say it's the best job I've ever had.  The interaction with the students is what is the most important.  But I've seen over the years that politicians and government slugs really don't care about the kids, they care about their phony, baloney jobs.  It's all about self-aggrandizement.  It's disheartening to see the crap that's passed down from on high for teachers to do in class.  The union is a major piece in the charade that is played on the citizens on a daily basis.  It cares nothing about the teachers in the classroom because it's all about the dues.  What a sick joke the whole system is. 

Why doesn't any one of the groups ask us what works.  We're taking care of business everyday in the classroom.  We engage kids who don't care, we make their stupid rules work, and we teach the kids to pass their stupid tests.  I read some of the questions and I know that any classroom teacher could write a more relevant question on these tests.  Instead, no one asks us.  I don't have a problem with testing.  I have a problem with bureaucrats who write tests that don't have any connection to what the kids need to know in their daily lives.

I teach Advanced Placement US history.  My kids learn at a very high level and pass the AP test which is hard as hell.  Not because I'm a great teacher, but because I care about them and I know them enough to get them to learn.  It's about what happens in the classroom, not about all the government jazz that politicians spit out. 

Do I trust government?  To do so would go against everything I've learned and experienced over many years.

The government forfeited my trust $17 trillion ago.

Watch this video.  Taylor Mali is a great spokesman for teachers.  If you like "slam poetry," and I do, you"ll like this.