July 4, 2011

Dear Friends:

July 4^th is our uniquely American holiday. America’s heritage is one of freedom, prosperity, and exceptionalism – the “American Dream.” Our Constitution was a miracle granted by Divine Providence and unlikely to be repeated. If we lose it, if we abandon our roots and throw our heritage away, it’s our own fault, and a curse on future generations. This newsletter will discuss such topics.

Recently Discovered Family History

My wife, Pat, inherited her mother’s records which have now been in storage for many years. Her stepfather led a long, productive life, but one that started badly. Born in the dark years of the Great Depression to abusive parents, he ran away from home many times, but was always returned. Until one time he got far enough away that a kindly farmer took him in and fed him. Time passed, and finally, lying about his age, he enlisted in the army and served in China in the 1930s, and, later, in the Army Air Corps in the China/Burma theater as HQ staff during all of WW II. He retired from the military to become a teacher who specialized in helping troubled children. He was a good man, and I knew him. Pat inherited many things, from his military records to collectable Chinese art.

Pat (who still has her adult kids’ grade school work) is going through these relics. Lovingly tucked into a protector, she recently discovered an old, yellowed page typed on an archaic mechanical typewriter. It starts off, “File this away. It will be prized in years to come as an index to the goofiest period of America’s history….” It warns of the socialism that led to a Great Depression and World War and lists ten points that “mean so much”:

1.       You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.

2.       You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.

3.       You cannot help small men by tearing down big men.

4.       You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.

5.       You cannot help the wage-earner by pulling down the wage-payer.

6.       You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income.

7.       You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.

8.       You cannot establish sound security on borrowed money.

9.       You cannot build character and courage by taking away man’s initiative and independence.

10.   You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do themselves.

A long-deceased citizen-patriot from Texas (whom I’d never heard of – E.F. Biggers) apparently produced these. The back side closes with, “These folders were supplied free until the burden became too heavy for me to bear alone. I was compelled to set a price of $1 per hundred, to cover printing, postage, and mailing.”

This is a warning message across the ages, and, I fear, one we’ve forgotten. America has forgotten so much and our time is running out. The current Administration is, of course, violating all of these principles (both parties have, but the excesses escalate). In the process, the Administration demonstrates deep disdain for our Constitution, our Unalienable Rights, and our Republic, calling publicly for “Transformational Change,” but admitting privately this will require the collapse “of all existing paradigms.” It is using all the tools in its power to achieve this end. (Most notably: constant crisis, demagoguery, “gunwalkers,” economic sabotage, executive orders, unaccountable Czars, global governance frameworks, the UN, radical/leftist/socialist/communist/jihadist/illegal agitators, litigation, voter intimidation, the race card, and lapdog media.)

Obama’s policies are bankrupting us, destabilizing the world, and leading to class warfare and economic collapse. Mankind has been conned this way before. The false promises of socialism, which has never worked anywhere, turned the world to flames in the 1930s leading to the Holocaust and a World War. Peggy Noonan had a recent WSJ column in which she noted that Clare Booth Luce once said Presidents could be summarized in a single sentence. She may be right. Can you name the President?

"He fought to hold the union together and end slavery."

"He brought America through economic collapse and a world war."

“He made it worse.”

What to be thankful for on this 4^th Of July?

Be thankful for our military. Obama has declared the War on Terror to be over, but we have now four draining wars that he is funding with money we don’t have for reasons he can’t articulate. We live in dangerous times. Europe is on its knees, the Mideast is destabilized, and violent Leftist coalitions are again active.  Obama alienated our allies, apologized to Islam, and threw Israel under the bus. (It is significant that Obama asked permission from both the UN and the Arab League – but NOT Congress – before going to war against Kaddafi in Libya to support... who? The Muslim Brotherhood? Al Qaeda? Hamas? We don't know. Obama won't say.) The media is complicit.

In the midst of this chaos our SEALS were finally allowed to deal with OBL, and they did it superbly. For an instant we felt proud. God Bless our troops and our veterans.

Ponder point # 1

Long ago, when we were small and weak, America moved effectively to protect our vital interests. We summarily hanged pirates and sent Marines to the Shores of Tripoli.

Obama did something astonishing. He issued the OBL kill order! On some ten other occasions, other American Presidents had  declined, apparently bowing to the UN, international law, and a tangle of rules that went all the way back to Jerry Ford. Consider how different America and the world might be today if, say, either of the Bushes, or Clinton, had given an OBL kill order instead of invading countries and starting wars. When Obama did this, there wasn’t a peep from the UN or the media. The American public cheered. Think about it.

Ponder point # 2

Who was it that got Osama? Who deserves the credit? Think about it. Here’s a hint.

Ponder point # 3

Why is Obama at war with the CIA? It is still (look about 3 minutes into this clip) under an intense criminal investigation by Obama’s DOJ. Why do we still want to close GITMO? Why do we seek to criminalize those who did their jobs and found OBL’s hiding spot? Think about it.

A Personal Announcement

Some 2 ½  years ago, I shifted my newsletters to a focus of alerting America of threats to freedom, capitalism and our Nation. It’s been a wild ride and a struggle against  the odds. I’m proud to report that Americans are waking up and coming together. My lists have grown to where I’ve had to increase my server capacity 500% in the past few months!

Obama can no longer get his  progressive/socialist legislation through Congress, so the Soros funded Center for American Progress has directed a different strategy. Now he moves though  his Czars, bypassing Congress and the Constitution to implement all those things that were crippled or blocked. (Energy control, suppression of first and second amendment rights, Agenda 21, ObamaCare, Social Justice, Open Borders, wealth redistribution, etc.) My role has shifted from research to becoming a news aggregator. By the time I become aware of a new attack, others – including Members of Congress – have discovered it and are responding. Our emerging leaders deserve support and respect.

They will need it, as the next phase will be ugly. The only hope now is confrontation: harshly capping spending, balancing the budget, removing Czars and officials for misconduct, preventing unconstitutional actions, and ensuring Obama does not get a second term. (Obama might not even seek a second term. His designated role might be collapsing the system, not getting reelected, but we’ll see.)

In any case, it’s time for me to move on. Obama space is negative energy; it drains life and energy. What I love to do centers on innovation, freedom, and prosperity. I will not be adding new people to these mail lists, and I will be phasing down this newsletter to only a few times a year, perhaps quarterly. I will leave www.trudelgroup.com up for consulting and energy policy issues, but have removed the auto responders. Most of my work these days has been pro bono and only for a few selected clients.

"America needs God more than God needs America. If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be a Nation gone under."