Wednesday, March 11, 2009

WHAT I BELIEVE III




I included the video to add to my further reflections on my personal beliefs. I have spent the past couple of weeks looking into what I believe. I needed to take stock of what it is that guides my personal philosophy. When I was in college we had to write a paper in a philosophy class I was taking that set out our personal philosophy. My paper rambled on for 22 pages about everything I felt went into my thinking concerning my values, beliefs and generally what in my life had led me to what I felt were my personal truths.

The professor wrote a rather lengthy critique on my paper the gist of which was that he was surprised how conservative my beliefs were. Up to that point I never really took stock of these things and I certainly never thought about what I should call my beliefs. They were just values that were inculcated in me during my life from my childhood on. I had voted mostly for Republicans because I agreed with what they said. I didn't consider myself to be a hard core member of any party, in fact I had prided myself on voting for the individual not the party. That I usually came down on the Republican side was coincidental to me.

I have voted for a few Democrats in my day, but as I look back it was because they were good old fashioned midwestern conservative Democrats. Party designation was usually not so important. More, it was what they espoused and how it matched with my belief system that made me vote for them. The fact that I'm a conservative is more of a product of my life than it is a conscious decision arrived at after long careful study. I happen to agree with most everything conservatives espouse to be.

You'll notice I did not say Republicans. I feel the Republican party has left me and I am waiting to see if someone in the party will come to their senses and lead us back to the days of Reagan. I admired Reagan as a man who was comfortable in his own skin. He didn't feel the need to talk one way and act another. He came into office with an agenda based on his personal belief system and stuck to it as well as he was able for eight years.

My personal life experiences have in no way changed any of my beliefs. They are held so deeply that they are a part of my DNA. I have a set of beliefs and values that are as much a part of me as my heartbeat and breathing. In other words, I couldn't live without them.

I have always felt a strong need to protect. It moved me to join the military and become a police officer. In both jobs I was so strongly engaged in what I felt I had to do, I signed a contract with my life as collateral. That may sound dramatic, but those are the facts.

I received this video from my retired police union. The story of this lady is obviously moving. It should have shamed Schumer and the rest of his leftist/statist comrades, but I doubt if it did. Our government has become a menace to its own citizens. As John Locke said, we all have natural rights given to us by our creator and government exists solely to protect the rights of it citizens. It exists for no other reason. As Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence we "are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights, among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." Governments derive "their just powers from the consent of the governed." Further "that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government..." She ends this video with a perfect reminder for the legislators that the Second Amendment is meant to protect we citizens from our government.

We should not have to justify exercising our rights. The government should be made to explain its actions to us. Not the other way around. As we continue to spend money that doesn't exist, pump more money into the economy thereby devaluing it and bringing on rampant inflation, we need to demand an explanation as to why this course is being thrust upon us by our government. The government owes us an explanation for mortgaging our future. The government is spending wealth that hasn't even been created yet. WE NEED TO MAKE THEM STOP! As the lady in the video said, we need to protect ourselves from this unprecedented power grab that is going on now before it gets more out of hand.

I know what I believe and now I'm going to get involved in trying to bring a stop to this. There are many "tea parties" throughout the country, one in my vicinity. What I have spent my life believing is being mortgaged away by our government. I'm going to hold them accountable for protecting my rights. They are going to explain it to me.

12 comments:

Average American said...

WOW!! What a great American! How could any of those idiots not be moved by what that woman told them? Consider this stolen in the interest of spreading the word. That was one fantastic find L&O Teacher!

Law and Order Teacher said...

AA,
It was sent to me by my retired police union. I would vote for her anytime. I loved the last line. I bet that shrivled what are left of Chucky cajones.

Bloviating Zeppelin said...

LOT: I share many things with you. I am currently a Sergeant with my 2,500-contingent department on the Left Coast. I have been the department's Rangemaster and am currently its EVOC Supervisor. Prior to that, I worked for the FBI and the US Marshal. I have been in LE for 34 years, since 1975. I am, unfortunately, a Baby Boomer. Boomers have had so MUCH to do with killing this nation; I stand primordially embarrassed. I tend to believe that, in general, the sooner my generation dies the better.

I see you used to work for Dayton PD. I lived in Kettering for a time in the early 70s, and on WPAFB adjacent Fairborn.

And I too am a Conservative (capital C). I too believe the Republican party left me; I did not leave it. And, early on, I was a registered Demorat.

Come visit, if you will.

BZ

Z said...

She is such a hero and lived through such a nightmare.
I wonder if she's still fighting for this.

Joe "Truth 101" Kelly said...

I'm a supporter of the Second Amendment also LaOT. And my government has aduty to protect us. I think it's good semse to make sure gun owners are responsible and law adidin citizens. Automatic weapons purpose is to kill more efficiently. If somebody wants to carry around one I hope my government knows why and that he/she is not a mental case. We hear about nuts getting weapons. I see nothing wrong with making sure they don't get them. Who else other than government will do this?

Texas Truth said...

The restaurant was "Luby's" and it was in Killeen, Texas. Do not inquire how I know...I just know! It is a very good reason to allow people to carry concealed weapons. The libs do not and never will get it. This country was founded on the belief of self-reliance and individual freedoms. If the freedom of defending one’s self and one’s family and providing for them the best one cannot be paramount in an individual’s life and said freedom cannot be guaranteed, then how free and the individual and their family be? Life and existence cannot be any simpler than that.

Law and Order Teacher said...

Truth,
Thanks for the visit.
I don't see where the government is responsible enough the keep check of me or anyone when it comes to what they consider to be assault weapons. I'm not even sure what that term means. When the government can pick and choose what they can ban we are no longer free, but under the thumb of government.

I have worked in government jobs for many years. I have seen it up close and I'm not impressed.

Law and Order Teacher said...

Z,
I was definitely impressed with this lady. I don't know that I could get up there and testify to what she did without getting a little angry at people like Chucky. His smug expression was enough to make me want to... oh well. Thanks for the visit.

TT,
I agree. I don't want government to be the final arbiter of my freedom. I don't want to know how you know the restaurant or what happened there. Thanks for the visit.

Joe "Truth 101" Kelly said...

Who else can regulate and keep society safe if not government Law and Order?

Law and Order Teacher said...

Truth,
Thanks for the visit. I agree that it takes government to keep us safe. Police, fire, military etc. I don't trust government to regulate much of anything.

I certainly don't want government to quash the right of dissent to have teeth. An armed people is a free people. I'm with the founding fathers on this one. The government needs to respect the people. We are the government, not them.

Joe "Truth 101" Kelly said...

Your gun is safe Law and Order Teacher. The Democratic Party is chock full of people that feel as you do about the right to own firearms. Save your outrage for Obama if he fails to get our Troops out of Iraq.

Law and Order Teacher said...

Truth,
Thanks for the visit. I want the troops out of Iraq too. Getting them picked off isn't my idea of a good thing. But I do believe in the mission and from today's poll the Iraqis are feeling safer and more democratic each day.

As for outrage, I'm not sure that is the right word, but I'm certainly getting concerned. Again, I'm with the founding fathers on this one.