[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Good Afternoon (Page 1 of 3)
Posted: 9/14/2006 9:00:22 AM EDT
|
My Fellow Americans: I am Marcus Cicero and I am here to talk about your life… But I have some quick questions I want you to think about. How much is your life worth to you? The lives of your family? Can you even begin to express the nuances of the question? How much are your freedoms worth to you? Do you have any freedoms left? I look back at some movies and TV and see the World Trade Center standing tall and proud. Then a sickness starts welling up in my gut. A sadness that slowly turns to rage. My heart is sickened. I feelings that well up inside of me that are hard to control. So I ask myself, “how did we get here?” How have we become this apathetic nation of couch potatoes? We are like Icarus, warned about getting too close to the sun and yet we do not listen. We have fallen several times, once harder than the rest. Yet, we still trod forward in our apathy. Our Founding Fathers would be so proud to see us bastardize their creation, their child if you will. We corrupted it. Our inaction as men has allowed our once great nation to become weak and fat. As a child, my friends all knew this joke. One would say “Which is worse, ignorance or apathy?” The other would say “I don’t know and I don’t care.” It’s humorous (if not sickening) to see the joke of children come true. We are a people, so blinded by ourselves; we can no longer see a common, greater good. John F. Kennedy once stated “ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” Where did that spirit go? This country needs a change. All around us are people. Sheep, if you will. The phrase gets used too much sometimes, however it is applicable. People choose to ignore the reality of the world, they choose to be spoon-fed information and they choose to do nothing. We all work, well those of us that are reading this. We all have hopes and dreams and needs. We all have things that are more enjoyable to do. But we should not let these things consume us. We can not be sucked down the slippery slope of ignorance and apathy. We have to make these people understand that our current lethargy is unacceptable. This is OUR country. We have to take it back. We have to implement changes now. You have to become involved. Start with your children. Have you read what the teachers are trying to pass of as history? History is no longer fact, its fluid; it changes with the wind of PC. I’m sorry to break it to people. History is not PC. You cannot make the murder of over 4 million Jews PC. You cannot make the enslavement of a race a PC thing. Think of all the murder and mayhem that has taken place throughout history. If you were to look at your child’s history books, you will find change. Yet most parents are not teaching their children, they let the schools do their job for them. No one is counteracting the misinformation and bias these children are taught. We are allowing our children to believe everything they learn in school is the truth. This is unacceptable. We are allowing our children to become sheep. Well Baa baa little children, enjoy your school today. Learn well, the path to a failed United States. What can we do, you ask? We need to remind the powers that be, that we the citizens of this once great country gave them the power they so crave. We need remind the Government that we have rights, inalienable rights, which we choose to flex. We shall not allow SCOTUS to remove these rights as they see fit. We will not allow the Judicial Branch of our government to legislate law anymore and we will not allow SCOTUS to uphold these unconstitutional laws. These elected officials need to understand that the power they wield comes from us, We The People. All three branches government (Executive, Legislative and Judicial) have become too strong to bend to the will of the people. They have told us they will not be controlled. I am not advocating hostile intent or action; I am talking about votes at a minimum. Did you know that more people voted for last season’s American Idol than voted in the last presidential election? Apathy, at its finest. Let’s move on and speak of the Executive Branch. I believe that both the Democrat and Republican Parties have run their respective courses. They are polar opposites and will NEVER draw the people together. Therein lies the problem, we are not a people united. We have been attacked in our home and yet still 5 years later, the Republicans and Democrats refuse to work together. We cannot afford the inaction of the weak foreign policy (nor the weak morals) in the Clinton era and yet we also cannot afford the totalitarian and unconstitutional laws created under the GW Bush campaign. We need to find a middle ground or we will be destroyed. Our founding Fathers were brilliant men, perhaps we should listen to their example. We cannot have government agencies create, and then enforce their own laws. The BATF&E and IRS are perfect examples of something gone terribly wrong. While these agencies take billions of our dollars to create and enforce illegal laws against us, there are other needed agencies that are struggling because their perceived need is less… Take the U.S. Border Patrol for instance. I am against illegal immigration. I am not a racist. Our country should be closing the gaps in our border, not because of innocent people wanting to make a better life for themselves and their family, but because if some 20 million people who just want to work can come into this country so can 100 terrorists. If closing the borders inconveniences illegal workers, so be it. We have provided legal ways to immigrate to this great country. The U.S. Border Patrol is one of the most utilized and yet under funded government agency we have. Yet the IRS spends its budget trying to find ways to send you and me to jail and/or forfeit our property. They create such verbose and unintelligible rhetoric in their rules it takes a tax degree to get it right. Unfortunately, most taxpayers are not degreed in tax law. The IRS does not want you to be able to comply easily. They would much prefer you to make some minor mistake and pay penalties and interest when you do. If you make a mistake, the IRS gives you fines, penalties and interest that can be MANY times the value of the mistake. However if the IRS makes a mistake you are lucky to even get your money back let alone any interest. The IRS has made it perfectly clear, you don’t count. They only care about the money the IRS says you owe. If you want fair tax, abolish the IRS. Save BILLIONS of dollars. Install a flat tax. Simple, easy and no multibillion dollar agency to support. While we are abolishing government agencies, we need to cut the BATF&E. They serve NO purpose. The job they do now could be easily handled by the U.S. Marshals or the FBI. The BATFE was a tax enforcement agency, now however they have been reassigned to the Justice Department as a group of thugs. The BATFE regularly oversteps constitutional law to create their own policies that they then enforce. Didn’t our founding fathers start a war over something similar? BATFE, gone. U.S. Marshals can do the same job (or more importantly, the job the BATFE was supposed to do) more efficiently, cheaper and within the bounds of the Constitution. Another bloated government agency gone with billions saved as a result. How about the Department of Education? Wow, what a joke. Ok, here’s an example: the Seattle Public Schools receive 9% of their annual budget from the DoEd. However in order to receive the roughly $39,330,000.00 (9% of $437,000,000.00) the school district has to spend 11% of their budget ($48,000,000.00) proving to the DoEd that they are spending the money in accordance with DoEd policy. What good does the DoEd do? The SPS LOSE $8,670,000.00 just to get the honor of receiving the DoEd cash. Why? Private schools have long been the better educators of our children and they do it without federal dollars. Hmmm correlation or causation? Ignorance or Apathy? DoEd, Gone. Well not gone, but GREATLY reduced in size. Again, with BILLIONS saved. Really, let the DoEd set the minimum standard, maybe make policy changes that actually help educate kids. Billions saved. I don’t care about education you say, wrong. SPS would have $8,000,000 dollars MORE than before and then they don’t have to jump through any hoops. Maybe they could spend more time and money actually educating our children. How many other Federal offices and programs can be reduced or eliminated with no loss of services and probably better service to us. Novel concept. Reform, Reduce and Eliminate. This will start us on the path to recover our great nation. Our founding Fathers gave us the power. They gave us the direction. "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." said Thomas Jefferson. "In the beginning of a change, the patriot is a scarce man and brave and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot." said Mark Twain [email protected] |
I'm sorry, maybe because I am new here, but I am missing the nuance of your quote. |
I got this in an email several days ago. Luke warm reception for one of the smartest posts in a long time... Jeez people, you actually might find it interesting. Part of the post was about the laziness of Americans. 
|
My sources are an administrator within the Seattle Public Schools that wishes at this time to remain anonymous and the Seattle Public Schools website. You are right to believe whatever you wsih, however when the time comes, the anonymous source will become public. |
|
After reading a few paragraph headings it sounds like you are preaching to the choir. This is a "gun board" where the vast majority of participants are strong supporters of the 2nd Ammendment, and we don't support it based on "sporting use" grounds. The luke warm reception you see (so far) to your post is due most likely to a "So what else is new?" attitude rather than rejection. Yes, our government is bloated and has grown beyond all reasonable bounds. A significant portion of our population LIKES it this way. Few here do. Standing around the water cooler and wipping ourselves into a lather has become rather old & tired and only occasionally amusing (BTDT). Stick around. We may all learn something. BTW - Welcome to ARFCOM 
|
|
Yeah, I find it funny as well that no ome wants to read the well written post about apathy and laziness. MarcusCicero, I agree with your sentiments, if there are others like me, I'll say what they won't. we want to take our country, we're just not sure how to go about it. on the one hand there are the courts, writing letters to our representatives and voting, but I think they stopped listening before I was even born. Openly supporting armed revolt here will get you in trouble, which is understandable, the owners of this site do not want to deal with the legal consequences of having a member spout off. It's also sad at the same time that we are afraid to excercise our freedom of speech because it could cause legal trouble for others and for ourselves. So, while I agree with you, I don't know how to do it, and I am probably one of many who wants to take back this great nation but does not feel capable of leading such an undertaking. So we are waiting for someone to show us the way. |
Thank you. |
|
I do not support armed revolt of our govenment. If that ever has to become an option, we shall not be discussing it over a website for there will be no open lines of communication between non-military/non-government people. As for not being able to enjoy our 1st Amendment Right to free speech, that right does not apply at ar15.com. This is a privately owned website and therefore the rules are set by the owners. No Shirt No Shoes No Service. |
I assure you kind sir that I am the true author of these posts. I am the one who created the email that was posted here and in the original email, "Tillius" was not in the text. I apologize if that has caused confusion. |
|
Nice post....good points, nothing I disagree with... So what....I see no proposals of methods to fix the problem...except start with your children, which those of us of like minds with children I am sure are doing.... But other than that where's the fix? I have some ideas, but don't think I could post them, the problems are becoming to great to fix in any way but a few, unfortunately.... |
|
I personally agree with you, but sadly, too many "americans" do not. Of course, they certainly do NOT deserve to be called Americans, but I think we already agree on that. The problem is that this garbage has gone on for WAY too long, and now it's become commonplace and pretty much acceptable to the average person, that our government walks all over us and legislates at it's every whim and fancy. Peck peck peck peck..... Little bits yes, but eventually there's little LEFT. They know damned well what they're doing and have always done. To think they're stupid, is folly. We need RADICAL change in the amount of "power" the government is allowed to wield, but that isn't going to happen so easily. Might not happen at all...... |
|
Marcus, I appreciate your heartfelt message but have one issue. You speak so highly of freedom but then you talk of a “flat tax” – how can one be free if they are subject to a tax where ever they go in this country? This is a most serious question. Besides, in what form must this tax be made? You might think USD but how can one be free when they are forced to purchase and use a currency that has a completely artificial and highly manipulatable value associated with it? How can you judge what percent of a slave (the rate of the tax) citizens are to be to this flat tax when they work and trade in a medium that has no connection to USD or other controlled currency? People are losing their freedoms and life because others are forcing them to pay taxes regardless of where they go or what they do. Where on Earth can one move where there is arable land where they can be free of someone controlling them under their “jurisdiction” and make them pay taxes to their power structure? This whole planet is becoming a prison. I hope you will reconsider your support for a flat tax or any other forced tax based on arbitrary jurisdiction boundaries. One can note that if you review your concerns it can be seen that a good handful of the problems will be solved if we eliminate forced taxation. Per JFK- what am I doing for my country? I’m trying to free the people from tax slavery. |
I can assure you sir, I chose my words carefully. Its not that President Bush is wanting a totalitarian government, however government officials misusing power of the laws that have been proposed and/or passed could be used to go FURTHER down the slippery slope of Totalitarianism. Remember always, the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. |
And which exactly are these laws that our President has put in place that happen to be leading us toward totalitarian doom? Describe for me this "balance" you speak of. I personally find the democrat imposed gun laws of the 1990's to be a far greater step towards the ultimate loss of our freedoms than anything Bush has called for or supported. |
|
I am not hacking on the OP. I read nicely worded dissertations like this quite often. Unfortunately they offer no new answers. I think we all agree there is a problem. The thing is nobody can offer a solution or if they offer a solution it is something that will get your butt socked in the pokey. It is one thing to say the sky is falling and another thing altogether to engineer a means of supporting the aforementioned sky. Again no offense to the OP. |
Well said, however in times of change, sometimes one must choose the lesser of two evils. I agree that a flat tax is not a perfect answer. However is it better than the system we have now? Yes. We as a country still have to defend the country. We use national freeway and interstate systems for our pleasure and to move goods across the country. That cost should be spread around to everyone who benefits from those services. Our forefathers fought for no taxation without representation. They understood that some tax was necessary. I do congratulate you for taking a stand however. We need more people like you. |
Well to be honest, the GCA 1934 was FAR more damaging than all of the others combined because it started the slippery slope.
Because one side is evil does not make the other side good. The Patriot Act is an abomination to our country |
None taken. Just like with building ANYTHING, you must first have a discussion. You talk about your needs. You converse with the builder what your goals are and what his expectations are from you. Thats where I am right now. |
Yes, the old one from 1934 is a clear infringement on the RKBA. But does that justify the 1994 AWB? Or any other gun control since then? No. I'm sure bin Laden agrees with you about the patriot act. Now tell me, how has the evil patriot act violated your rights, personally? And you have yet to describe your call for "balance". In your mind, what is "balance"? |
simple sentences and no crazy vocab words will go a lot farther... that or a spark notes version no really, well thought out. good read.
|
Nothing justifies going from bad to worse. Please dont argue the slippery slope, its a losing battle either way. The Patriot Act is JUST as evil as GCA 1934. The tip of the iceburg some might say. What they do with it now vs. what they can bastardize it into tomorrow are two different things. Balance is easy in this context, protect our country from outside forces without infringing upon the rights of the citizens within the country. |
I respectfully say you are wrong about this. The two party system has had us voting for the lesser of two evils for decades, and look where it has gotten us. The majority American voters don't demand anything more than choice A or B, and that is what we all get. Their apathy has been a burden I am sick and tired of carrying. |
Don't make excuses for infringements on the RKBA. If people are making calls to suspicious figures overseas, we need to know about it. What if it is members of our own society that pose a major terrorist threat, as in Britain? The British just recently broke up a major terror plot that would have killed thousands by using similar tactics. Just how would one acheive this "balance". |