Memorial Day - Time to Renew the Spirit of America

The National Holiday Act of 1971 destroyed Memorial Day.  It did so by making it a floating day to ensure a 3 day weekend.  Memorial Day once served as solemn day to commemorate those who gave there last full measure of devotion to our republic.  Today it is an empty excuse for carpet and appliance sales.

We are the beneficiaries of hundreds of thousands of servicemen and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice for our country.  Let us remember them, and let us renew our commitment to ensuring that that their sacrifices were not in vain. We need to deepen and renew the Spirit of America by defending our way of life, our Constitution, and our freedoms and liberties. 

I fear we will never reverse this trend of the commercialization of our civic calendar, which is why Patriot Week is so important.  We can honor our sacred dead by relearning our Founding First Principles and history, and ensuring that those in power do the same.

For more on our founding First Principles and history, visit:www.AmericasSurvivalGuide.com. for more Patriot Week, visit www.PatriotWeek.org.

Jonathan’s and Washington’s Example: A Few Make All the Difference

“Perhaps the Lord will help us, because it is no more difficult for the Lord to grant victory through a few than through many.” 1 Samuel 14:6.

Jonathan, the son of King Saul, uttered these words to his armor bearer as the two alone proceeded to attack a small enemy outpost.  Within a few minutes they had slain 20 enemies, and the outpost panicked.  That panic lead to a full scale retreat of large army that vastly outnumbered the Hebrew forces led by Jonathan and Saul.  Israel proceeded to gain an enormous victory over their enemies.

Jonathan's courage foreshadowed the courage of our Founding Fathers and other great Patriots who have led the fight for freedom and liberty here and across the globe.  The British Empire should have overwhelmed the ragtag army barely held together by Washington (the indispensable man), but by perseverance and divine intervention, we won our freedom.  Likewise, we survived other threats by holding fast and true to our ideals - and each other - in the face of adversity.

When someone tells you that "it can't be done," you are outnumbered - remember Jonathan, and the Founding Fathers - you will be in good company.

Freedom is Not Free

On the 175th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, President Harry Truman remarked:

Some things have not changed at all since 1776. For one thing, freedom is still expensive. It still costs money. It still costs blood. It still calls for courage and endurance, not only in soldiers, but in every man and woman who is free and how is determined to remain free.

Indeed, President Truman's words continue to ring true today.  The challenge of American liberty lies at our feet.  We are responsible for its preservation - or demise.  That's why efforts like Patriot Week are so vital.  But so are so many other efforts to preserve our liberty - the wars, the soldiers, the treasure, the teaching. For all those working so hard to preserve our republic - I salute you. For the rest of you, get it together or lose freedom's last best hope. Truman was right - it takes every man and woman to keep our freedom.

Judge Warren and Leah Testify before MIchigan Legislative Committee About Bill to Permanently Recognize Patriot Week

http://www.rochestermedia.com/oakland-judge-and-daughter-testify-about-patriot-week/

"It is not the critic who counts. . . The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena . . . ."

The Man in the Arena - April 23, 1910 - Theodore Roosevelt Speeches- Roosevelt Almanac

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

"Citizenship in a Republic,"
Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910

“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” Abraham Lincoln.

Lincoln's statement is simply profound. Today, it has become nearly commonplace to learn  about how certain individuals have overcome adversity - be it broken homes, illness, job losses, poor schools, physical ailments, addictions, and other maladies.  Those people are rightfully applauded for becoming successful by overcoming their challenges.  They are exemplars and should be emulated.


What you don't read about often is about the men and women who wield power and decline to use or abuse it. Of course, too often we learn about abuses and corruptions of power.  Some such "leaders" are across the globe - witness North Korea, Cuba, Libya, and elsewhere; some are too close for comfort - witness Detroit's ex-mayor and the disgraced former governors of New York and Illinois.


What we should keep in mind - and they are indeed a vanishing breed - are the men and women who are given great power, and use it responsibly - or even more rarely - refuse to exercise it - to allow for liberty to flourish. 


America was founded on the premise of limited government - that men and women are endowed by their Creator with unalienable rights, and that the purpose of government is to protect those rights. We must remember that the power to do good is also the power to do evil. That sometimes the most courageous exercise of power is to refuse to wield it. That sometimes people must be allowed to go their own way; that the spark of freedom is in much having the ability to strive and fail than anything else. As Lincoln said, the true test of character is to see what one does - or does not do - with power.


Don't forget to visit Patriot Week

Jamestown: The Spirit of America Sets Sail

Today marks the 404th anniversary of the departure of the Discovery, Godspeed, and Susan Constant to what eventually became Jamestown.  The 104 colonists that arrived in modern day Virginia eventually founded Jamestown -  the first permanent English settlement in North America.

Dr. Joseph Warren, a leading Patriot in Boston with John Adams, Samuel Adams, and John Hancock, eloquently explained what motivated the Jamestown and subsequent settlers:

Our fathers having nobly resolved never to wear the yoke of despotism, and seeing the European world, at the time, through indolence and cowardice, failing a prey to tyranny, bravely threw themselves upon the bosom of the ocean, determined to find a place in which they might enjoy their freedom, or perish in the glorious attempt. Approving heaven beheld the favourite ark dancing upon the waves, and graciously preserved it until the chosen families were brought in safety to these western regions.

As we know, the going at Jamestown was miserable, and many lost their lives.  Eventually, however, their persistence in the face of famine, disease, and clashes with Native Americans led to success and a thriving colony.

This spirit of determination for liberty eventually paved the way for the creation of the American republic.  We are now the ark of freedom for the world.  And we owe it to those who came before us to secure the ark for future generations.