I suppose I should be flattered that people think I’m knowledgeable enough to ask my opinion on current events, but I never began this quest for knowledge to gain the respect of others, or to become someone they look to for answers; yet come to me for answers is what some people do. Even though people disagree with me sometimes they will come up and ask me what I think about this, or what my thoughts are on that; as if I am some wise man sitting upon a mountaintop in Tibet who is possessed with great wisdom.

Yesterday, however, took that cake because someone showed me this t shirt design they liked; and apparently thought I’d like too. The t shirt design stated: Maybe Trump ought to buy the Dallas Cowboys so he can make them great again too. I won’t repeat everything I said, but I will sum it up by saying I told this person that Trump ain’t gonna make a damned thing great again.

I think I may have pissed this person off, because they are a Trumpette; the nickname I have given to Trump supporters. Apparently he did not like my criticism of the President, but damn, this person showing me that thinking I’ll like it only tells me that all they know about me is that I’m interested in politics. It also shows me that they have never read a damned thing I’ve written, for if they had they would know that I am definitely not a supporter of government regardless of who sits in the Oval Office.

I’ve been doing this long enough to have noticed a pattern; when I criticize something the Democrats do my Republican friends cheer me on while my friends who are Democrat become angry at me, and vice versa; when I criticize the Republicans my Democrat friends pat me on the back and my Republican friends become angry, saying things like, “Would you rather Hillary was in office?“

To tell you the truth I’d almost wish Hillary was President, for if she were the Republicans wouldn’t have gone into hibernation mode and acted like their man Trump has things under control, no need to make sure he isn’t guilty of the same bullshit that caused such outrage among you when Obama was in office. At least with a Democrat holding the presidency the Republicans are only semi-comatose.

Listen, I’m all for making America great again; it’s just that my idea of what constitutes greatness differs from most peoples. The way I see it those on the right, meaning Republicans, believe that greatness comes when the economy is booming, taxes are low, and we have a strong military that is capable of trotting around the globe kicking ass and taking names. Those on the left view greatness when social justice prevails; meaning that government institutes programs that benefit those that form their constituency; gays, minorities, labor unions, and those who require government provided subsidies to survive.

What those on both sides fail to understand is that when government does things it always comes at a cost; that cost being either increased taxes or adding to the national debt, or at the cost of a loss of our liberty…sometimes both.

My idea of greatness simply means that government stays out of my life, and my wallet. Honestly, no matter which side of the political spectrum you fall upon, you seem to be saying that government can manage your life better than you can if you were left free to do it yourself. If that is a true representation of how people think, then this country is truly screwed and we will NEVER be great again; for it is not a big nanny state government that made it great to begin with, it was an abundance of individual liberty that made America so great.

I know that most people do not like, or care that much about history, but here’s a little history for you that might explain my thoughts on this. After the Constitution was ratified we had 12 years of government under Federalist control; meaning those who held the Presidency were of the belief that government should be strong, vibrant, and energetic. First we had 8 years under George Washington; who in my opinion was both a lousy president and was also a puppet that was manipulated and controlled by Alexander Hamilton. Then we had 4 years of John Adams; who thought he butted heads frequently with Hamilton still believed that the government should be superior to those of the States and do things to make the country strong…or great.

After 12 years of that shit the people felt a change in policy was in order, and Thomas Jefferson ascended to the Presidency. Jefferson was more of a strict constructionist than Washington and Adams had been; meaning he felt the government should do the bare minimum; leaving people alone. Jefferson’s political ideology is summed up best by something he said in his first Inaugural Address, “…a wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government, and this is necessary to close the circle of our felicities.”

That certainly doesn’t sound like anything candidates from either side of the political spectrum would say today, does it? Yet Jefferson was re-elected; and he wouldn’t have been had the people not been happy with his performance in his first term. I don’t know, I guess there must be something about government leaving people alone that is appealing to them, for Jefferson was re-elected, and when he took office for his second term he stated, “At home, fellow-citizens, you best know whether we have done well or ill. The suppression of unnecessary offices, of useless establishments and expenses, enabled us to discontinue our internal taxes. These, covering our land with officers and opening our doors to their intrusions, had already begun that process of domiciliary vexation which once entered is scarcely to be restrained from reaching successively every article of property and produce.”

However it is what he said next that I would like you to pay particular attention to, “The remaining revenue on the consumption of foreign articles is paid chiefly by those who can afford to add foreign luxuries to domestic comforts, being collected on our seaboard and frontiers only, and incorporated with the transactions of our mercantile citizens, it may be the pleasure and the pride of an American to ask, What farmer, what mechanic, what laborer ever sees a taxgatherer of the United States? These contributions enable us to support the current expenses of the Government, to fulfill contracts with foreign nations, to extinguish the native right of soil within our limits, to extend those limits, and to apply such a surplus to our public debts as places at a short day their final redemption, and that redemption once effected the revenue thereby liberated may, by a just repartition of it among the States and a corresponding amendment of the Constitution, be applied in time of peace to rivers, canals, roads, arts, manufactures, education, and other great objects within each State.”

Well I’ll be damned, when Jefferson was first elected he promised to do very little for the people, leaving them free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and within 4 years tax collection had almost vanished entirely and the debt was being paid off.

Gee there must be something to this idea that government do very little, for not only did the people like what was happening under a Jefferson administration, it was working to free the people from the shackles of burdensome taxes and an oppressive debt.

Yet Jefferson was not opposed to using our military to protect and defend our interests either. Jefferson was the first American President to go up against Muslim’s in the Middle East when he sent the newly formed United States Marines to go up against the Barbary Pirates who had been attacking and capturing the crews of U.S. merchant ships, then demanding ransom for their release.

However, Jefferson did not send our troops over there to cause a regime change, occupy the countries along the Barbary Coast, replace their systems of government with democracy, or build U.S. military installations in them; he simply sent the Marines there to take care of business and then come home; which is the proper use of our military if you ask me.

Yet I would be willing to bet my life upon the fact that if Jefferson were alive today, and if he were running for President, he would be treated worse by the two parties, and the media, than Ron Paul ever was; and that very few people would vote for him.

What does that tell you about our government today, seeing that we are restricted to the two party system; neither of which give a damn about limiting, or reducing the size of government; the only difference between them being the direction the government expands its powers. What does that say about the people of this country when they continually flip flop back and forth between the two extremes of Statism and don’t give a rats ass about defending the liberty this country was established to secure to all those who live in it?

You know what it tells me; it tells me that America will never be great again because the people living within it don’t know where true greatness comes from. Greatness is not something that is handed down by legislative decree from a system of government, greatness comes when the people are free to live their lives and they please, and they achieve it by their own efforts, resourcefulness, and determination.

As a president I’m not a huge fan of Theodore ‘Teddy’ Roosevelt, but he did say certain things that I happen to agree with. One of those things parallels what I just said about greatness, “If an American is to amount to anything he must rely upon himself, and not upon the State; he must take pride in his own work, instead of sitting idle to envy the luck of others. He must face life with resolute courage, win victory if he can, and accept defeat if he must, without seeking to place on his fellow man a responsibility which is not theirs.”

If I were to ask you what the American Revolution was all about, would you be able to answer? Oh, but Neal, that’s easy; it was about independence. Yes, but why would a people who had lived peacefully under British rule for over 150 years suddenly up and decide they wanted independence? There must have been a compelling reason for them to do so, especially when doing so involved such great risk to them. I can give you a clue to help you if you like; it’s a one word answer.

LIBERTY

The Colonists had lived peacefully under British rule for over 150 years for one simple reason; their government had pretty much left them alone to regulate their own internal affairs. It was when the government began levying taxes upon them, or passing laws or ordinances that denied them the right to regulate their own internal affairs, to bind them in all cases whatsoever, that they rose up against the established authority and sought their independence.

Those we call our Founding Fathers, those whose acts and deeds we honor every July 4th were lawbreakers, tax evaders, and riotous protesters who rebelled against the laws being imposed upon them which they believed violated their liberty. They were outspoken critics of their government, and they backed their words up with action; that action being either the destruction of government buildings, or shooting at those who would take away their right to keep and bear arms.

Yet their own government, and those who loyally supported it, called them treasonous; which perhaps they were. But as many of them felt, it was their duty to resist tyranny; even if it meant being labeled treasonous. As Patrick Henry said, “If this be treason…make the most of it.”

Most Americans at least know the basic story of the Boston Tea Party; of how a band of patriots dressed as Indians rowed out to the ships anchored in Boston Harbor and dumped 342 chests of British tea into the bay. Can you imagine how such an act of civil disobedience would be spun by the government, and their lapdogs in the media, today?

TERRORISTS STRIKE IN BOSTON, the headlines would read. Or ANTI GOVERNMENT EXTREMISTS DESTROY PUBLIC PROPERTY would be the cry of all Statists, I mean government loyalists.

Yet the Boston Tea Party was relatively tame as far as acts of civil disobedience go; no person’s were harmed, and the only damage was to the pride of the British and the profits of the East India Company.

These patriots who we honor on July 4th did far worse than dump a few chests of tea into Boston Harbor. I can only imagine the outrage, how appalled people would be today if angry mobs threatened government officials with hanging, or destroyed their homes or government buildings. If you don’t believe me, just look at the reaction to Timothy Mc Vie who purportedly exploded a bomb at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.

Hell, just ask people their thoughts on Edward Snowden if you want to get a clear picture of how loyal people are to government. All Snowden did was release information proving our government is/was guilty of committing a crime by its widespread spying upon the American people. Yet Snowden had to flee America when all he did was expose the crimes of our own government.

Make America great again! Give me a fucking break! If Trump really wanted to make America great he could begin with by pardoning Snowden and welcoming him home to a heroes welcome, while at the same time dismantling the agency that is actually committing a crime by spying upon you and I.

I am constantly criticized by government loyalists for my criticism of government…and the document that established it. Yet my actions pale in comparison to those committed by the brave men who risked all to obtain liberty and independence. If I am criticized for condemning government I can only assume that I’d be crucified, (figuratively speaking that is), if I were to turn my words into action.

That only shows me that the people of this country, of the most part, (and I’ll get to that in a moment), don’t have the foggiest idea of what greatness is, or how it is obtained. Greatness comes when the people of a country are united together in defending the rights and liberty of their fellow man, and greatness is stifled when government steps in and tries to do things that are not its responsibility to do.

America became great because there were men who had the understanding of what liberty was, and the courage to stand up against those who would deny them their liberty. Had the Loyalists prevailed we would not have gained our independence, and there would be no July 4th holiday; it would instead be a day that is denigrated as an act of treason against the government; much like how the former Confederate States of America are denigrated by historians and the unenlightened public, if you want my honest thoughts on that.

Billings Learned Hand was a Supreme Court Justice who, in 1944, delivered a speech in New York’s Central Park where over 1.5 million people were in attendance. In that speech Hand told the audience, “I often wonder whether we do not rest our hopes too much upon constitutions, upon laws and upon courts. These are false hopes; believe me, these are false hopes. Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can even do much to help it. While it lies there it needs no constitution, no law, no court to save it.”

But for liberty to survive it must be nourished, it must be defended; often at the cost of the lives of both patriots and tyrants, as Jefferson said back in 1787, “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure…“

For the longest time I have felt that the spirit of liberty had pretty much died in America; being scattered along the wind to small isolated pockets of patriots; who were, more often than not, a very small percentage of the total population. Then along comes Virginia, the patriot State of men like Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry, and I see that the spirit which led our Founders to rise up and resist tyrants still lives.

I won’t go into all the details, but I’ll sum it up by saying that the Democrats in Virginia had assumed control of the State Government and had threatened to enact a new round of gun control laws; one of which was so offensive that even Bernie Sanders declared it to be unconstitutional.

Seeing as how they were stuck with a centralized government in Richmond that cared little about their rights and liberty, the counties began declaring themselves to be 2nd Amendment Sanctuary Counties; meaning they would not enforce any State laws that violated the people’s right to keep and bear arms; with some of them saying they would use force against any State officials who came into their county to try and enforce such laws.

Now whether it will happen or not is unsure, but there has been talk of the National Guard being called upon to enforce any gun control measures enacted by Richmond. Again, that, for the time being, is just speculation; although it is something that has been suggested by Virginia Congressman Donald McEachin has offered as a means for the Virginia Governor to enforce the laws upon the people of Virginia.

This is history repeating itself right before our very eyes, only this time instead of it being Boston, (or Lexington and Concord in particular), it is Virginia; a powder keg waiting for a spark to ignite it. If the government in Richmond forces the issue, or resorts to actual force, we could see the resulting explosion spread across all 50 States; with the possible exception of California, whose people have their heads so far up their asses that they won’t even hear the explosion.

Yet how many of you even know about what’s going on in Virginia right now? Possibly even more important, how do you feel about what I’ve just told you? Are you saying to yourselves, “These damned gun owners are only going to get themselves killed. Why don’t they just obey the law?” If that describes you, then had you been alive in 1776 you would not have been among those who fought for your independence and your liberty, you would have been among those who bent over and let jolly ole King George shove his tyranny right up your backside…and thanked him for it afterwards.

On the other hand, if you are almost giddy with excitement, then possibly you can count yourself among the ranks of men like Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Adams, John Hancock and Patrick Henry; men who raise their middle finger to government, to King George, and told him, “We will be free, or we will die fighting for our freedom.”

Make no mistake about it, I fully understand what could happen if what is going on in Virginia turns into open confrontation between patriots and tyrants, I fully realize that there could, and very well will be blood spilled. I also understand that the violence could spread outwards, consuming the entire country as those who love liberty have had just about all the tyranny they can stomach, and have been just waiting for someone to lead the way and rise up against the established system.

We are, and have been on the brink of such an event for a long time, but people have been far too focused on which tyrant gets elected to office to notice. If/when it happens they will ask why and they will condemn those who have resorted to violence to regain their lost liberty.

But I ask you, if you are among those who would react that way, how much must people submit to before they begin fighting back? How much tyranny and loss of liberty must we be asked to stomach before we plant our feet firmly in the ground and say NO MORE!!!

Those we call our Founders didn’t have nearly the patience, apathy, or cowardice that we’ve exhibited, they rose up and fought tyranny with acts of civil disobedience and destruction from the get go, and maybe now they are up there in heaven saying, “It’s about damned time!!!” I fear if this moment passes us by, and we do not rise up and join our brethren in Virginia in standing united against tyranny, we may never see liberty again, and you can forget about America ever being truly great again.

December 16, 2019

~ 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.