A Eulogy…

April 5, 2009 ~ I do not think a day goes by without someone asking me why I always look so serious. It’s not that I am serious all the time, most of the time my mind is a thousand miles away, thinking about what I am going to write about next. However, there are times when that serious look is a symptom of something else entirely.

As a rule, I try to look at the bright side of things; unfortunately, there are days when I just can’t seem to find the silver lining, no matter how hard I try. On these rare occasions, I experience an overwhelming sense of sadness that penetrates to the very depths of my soul.

I do not suffer from depression, if that is what you are thinking. What ails me is a grief so overpowering it, quite literally, saps the life out of me. I grieve for my country, just as someone would mourn the passing of a loved one. I grieve because the country I grew to love no longer exists, it has long since died.

I grew up during a time in which our nation undertook a radical departure from the principles that made it great. This departure has taken us down a path that if not changed immediately, will result in our certain downfall.

To me, being an American means much more than just occupying space while I go about my life. Being American inspires in me a sense of great pride, as well as a desire to fight for the principles upon which this country was founded.

I wasn’’t born with this sense of patriotism; it is something that developed over the course of my life. However, I have witnessed far too many destructive changes take place in this country for me to sit idly by and what this nation self-destruct. Therefore, what started out as a simple desire to live up to the title of an American has turned into an all-consuming desire to prevent the demise of what I have grown to love.

I find it absurd that everyone thinks that America is such a great place to live, yet they are doing their damndest to eviscerate the principles, which made it so. People flocked to this country to enjoy the freedoms and opportunities that abounded here. We were a God fearing nation that enjoyed liberty unequaled by any other place on the planet, and that is why people came here by the millions. Nobody expected a free ride when they got here, only the chance to apply themselves, and to succeed or fail on their own. They sought liberty, something they did not have in their native lands, else why would they trade what they already had, for something uncertain halfway around the globe?

Everybody knows our national anthem, The Star Spangled Banner. The lyrics were from a poem written by Francis Scott Key in 1814, entitled Defence of Fort McHenry, and set to the tune of a popular British drinking song. (Bet you didn’t know that!)

In 1889 the Navy recognized the Star Spangled Banner for official use, and in 1931 it was codified, (36 U.S.C. 301), by a congressional resolution and signed by President Herbert Hoover, to become our national anthem.

However, I wonder how many people know the lyrics to the entire song? Most could probably recite the lyrics to the first verse by heart, having heard it thousands of times over the course of their lives. Yet there are four more verses to the song that very few people have are familiar with.

It is the last verse that I would like to draw people’s attention to. It goes as follows:

O, thus be it ever when freemen shall stand,
Between their lov’d homes and the war’s desolation;
Blest with vict’ry and peace, may the heav’n-rescued land
Praise the Pow’r that hath made and preserv’d us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause. it is just,
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Just take a moment to think about what that verse says, we were a heaven rescued land? Praise the Power which preserved us a nation? In God is our trust? Is that the same America that we live in today?

A little more history for you. I bet you didn’t know that before the Star Spangled Banner became our legal national anthem, there was another song that was considered the de facto anthem.

In 1831, a Baptist minister named Samuel Francis Smith wrote the lyrics to a song entitled My Country Tis of Thee, which became the unofficial national anthem until the Star Spangled Banner was adopted by Congressional resolution.

Since this song was worthy of being considered our national anthem, even for such a short period of time, let’s take a look at what made it so deserving of that title. The first verse goes as follows:

My country, ’tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing;
Land where my fathers died,
Land of the pilgrims’ pride,
From every mountainside,
Let freedom ring!

Freedom? Liberty? Once again I ask, is this the same America they are talking about? I ask, because according to former President Bill Clinton, “The purpose of the government is to rein in the rights of the people.” Our government has a proven track record of restricting individual rights, and liberty.

As with the Star Spangled Banner, I would guess that most people have heard the first verse of My Country Tis of Thee. However, the song contains more, and it is the last verse that I would draw your attention to now.

Our father’s God to, Thee,
Author of liberty,
To Thee we sing.
Long may our land be bright
With freedom’s holy light;
Protect us by Thy might,
Great God, our King!

Once again think about what was said in that verse. God is the author of our liberty, and we beseech Him to protect us, while proclaiming Him our King. That certainly does not sound like the America I see every day. So, either Samuel Smith was thinking about another country when he wrote that song, or this country has changed. I will leave it up to you to decide which.

If you ask me, I think this country has changed. It has changed a lot, and not for the better. In hearing people talk, I get the impression that they believe that it is their government’s job to take care of their every need.

This sense of dependence upon government for all our needs means that we no longer have to take responsibility for our own successes or failures. With all the entitlement programs and bailouts our government hands out, is it any wonder people feel a sense of entitlement?

Yet this same sense of reliance upon government is a double-edged sword. While our government will always be there to catch us if we fall, it also will be there to tell us what we can and cannot do. If we do not conform, they simply cut us off, leaving us to our own wiles. We would rather give up a few essential liberties, in return for a few paltry benefits, than to maintain our dignity and honor as a free people.

We have allowed our government to condition us into obedience. We are told that in case of emergency, dial 911 and cower in a room awaiting the police instead of grabbing a firearm and defending yourself.

We are told that instead of saving for our retirement we should spend all our money, and rely upon Social Security and Medicare. And now the government is ready to act again, restricting one more of our liberties.

The House of Representatives introduced HR 875, while the Senate introduced S 425. HR 875 is entitled the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009. It was introduced by Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, whose husband just happens to work for Monsanto, an agricultural company whose goal, it seems, is to control the production of the food supply for the entire world.

Thomas Jefferson once warned us that, “If people let government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny.”

Yet that is exactly what they are proposing with these two pieces of legislation. According to HR 875, Monsanto wants one of their own employees, Mr. Michael Taylor, to be named as Food Safety Tsar in a proposed new Food Safety Administration.

This bill would make it a crime to run seed banks, other than those owned by Monsanto of course. It would also mandate 24 hour GPS tracking of farm animals and impose industrial standards upon small, private farmers.

Monsanto is already in the business of genetically modifying seeds so that they cannot reproduce. That means, nothing you plant will produce viable seeds to save for the following years planting. Monsanto is on track to control a huge percentage of the food production for the entire world.

Would it then become a crime to grow my own garden if it does not meet industrial standards imposed upon me by some government appointed bureaucrat? Think back for a moment to the two national anthems I spoke of and ask yourself, does this sound like the land of the free or a land of liberty?

God gave us the bounty of the earth for our sustenance:

And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:11-12

In 2 Corinthians 9:10, the Scriptures say, “Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness…”

It was bad enough before that we had to obtain a government issued permit to hunt and fish for the food that God provided us to eat. Now they are going to give some corporate entity control over the rest of our God-given food supplies.

As I said, we have departed radically from the principles that made this country what I grew to love. We have forsaken God and the principles that He has given us. We have sacrificed the liberty that was, on so many occasions, protected by His might.

We have become a wretched people, beholden to government and special interests, whose evil plan is to enslave us all. I for one will not tolerate it. If you had any backbone, or personal integrity, neither would you.

Now I have explained why I look so serious all the time. What I have said, should distress anyone with even the slightest amount of pride in being American. I doubt that it will though. I do not think anyone really cares any more. I think that is why we will continue on the path we are on until our government destroys what little remains of the country sang about in those patriotic songs of old. Maybe our new national anthem will close with the words, “the land of the meek and the home of the slaves.”

Live your life in such a way that when your feet hit the floor in the morning, Satan shudders and says “OH DAMN!!…. HE’S AWAKE!!”

“Is life so dear, or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?”

April 5, 2009

~ The Author ~
Neal Ross, Student of history, politics, patriot and staunch supporter of the 2nd Amendment. Send all comments to: bonsai@syix.com.

If you liked Neal’s latest column, maybe you’ll like his latest booklet: The Civil War: (The Truth You Have Not Been Told). Life continues to expand for this prolific writer and guardian of TRUE American history.