Op/Ed on Iran: Mr Obama - Spin, rinse, repeat won't work this time

Recently, the P5+1 world powers  (permanent members of the United Nations Security Council  - the P5 -  namely China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States; plus Germany ) have agreed a deal with Iran that is supposed to limit Iran's access to nuclear weapons build up (but only for the next 10 years.)  An interesting chronology of the negotiations of the last few years here.

For the record, here is the US SECDEF official statement on this 'deal':

IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Release No: NR-273-15
July 14, 2015

Statement by Secretary of Defense Ash Carter on the Iran Deal

I'm pleased that Secretary of State Kerry and Secretary of Energy Moniz, along with our P5+1 partners, were able to reach a comprehensive, verifiable deal to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. As we implement this historic agreement, deterrence remains a major component of America's national security.

The Department of Defense is today, and will always be ready, to defend the United States and our interests. Our military -- including tens of thousands of U.S. forces in the Middle East -- are full speed ahead maintaining a strong presence in the Gulf. We remain prepared and postured to bolster the security of our friends and allies in the region, including Israel; to defense against aggression; ensure freedom of navigation in the Gulf; and check Iranian malign influence. We will utilize the military option if
necessary.

The men and women of the Defense Department comprise the finest fighting force the world has ever known and will continue to carry out these and all missions with excellence.

Iranian leaders claim a victory, while simultaneously maintaining their "Death to America.  Death to Israel" rhetoric.

However, Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry continue to insist   this 'deal' will be good for America,  and Obama holds a news conference to proclaim the historic event.

From Wall Street Journal:

‘That’s What Politicians Do’The president’s unsettling press conference

By James TarantoJuly 16, 2015

Perhaps the most telling moment in yesterday’s presidential press conference was this exchange with ABC’s Jonathan Karl:

Karl: Mr. President, does it give you any pause to see this deal praised by Syrian dictator Assad as a “great victory for Iran,” or praised by those in Tehran who still shout “death to America,” and yet our closest ally in the Middle East calls it “a mistake of historic proportions”? And here in Congress, it looks like a large majority will vote to reject this deal. I know you can veto that rejection, but do you have any concerns about seeing a majority of the people’s representatives in Congress saying that this is a bad deal? . . .

Obama: Let me answer the question that you asked. It does not give me pause that Mr. Assad or others in Tehran may be trying to spin the deal in a way that they think is favorable to what their constituencies want to hear. That’s what politicians do. [emphasis mine] I mean, you’ll recall that during the course of these negotiations over the last couple of months every time the Supreme Leader or somebody tweeted something out, for some reason we all bought into the notion, well, the Obama administration must be giving this or capitulating to that....

Much more here.

I admit I actually laughed at "that's what politicians do..."  I know Obama is touted as the smartest man in the room, but he seems to have missed the irony in his declaration.

The WSJ weren't the only media to take Obama to task about that news conference.  The Washington Post had this:

17 ridiculous things the president said at the Iran news conference
 
July 15 2015

 Jennifer Rubin

The president, for proponents of the Iran deal, gave a deeply disturbing news conference that suggested he does not know what is in the deal, does not have a grasp of the factual record and/or thinks he can get away with huge misrepresentations. And, to boot, he confirmed many of the serious criticisms of the deal. I imagine opponents of the deal will have a field day with these and other statements:

1. “With this deal, we cut off every single one of Iran’s pathways to a nuclear program, a nuclear weapons program.” Not true. After eight years, the precise restrictions end. Oops, he says it himself: “And Iran’s nuclear program will be under severe limits for many years [emphasis mine].”..

Yes, there is the rest of the 17 - and a video of the full news conference -  here.

 During his entire presidency Obama has weaved, bobbed and spun on just about every issue.  This latest would be funny if the consequences weren't so damn serious. But, I don't make the mistake of  under-estimating  Obama's  determination that this deal will stand.  He has said [he] 'will veto any Republican attempt to derail Iran nuclear deal'.  We have seen his disregard for the Constitutional process more than a few times during his tenure, and this Iran deal promises to be no different; this despite the fact that even a top Democrat is now expressing concern about this proposed 'deal.'  He is not alone.

Never mind that. the administration may want to appear to be respecting the process, Obama has declared - on the record - the threat of  veto in his determination to make the deal with Iran a done deal.  Indeed, he even sent the deal as written to the UN for their approval, BEFORE the US Congress had even been given the chance to debate the deal.

Many critics have pointed to some of the major flaws in this deal, and perhaps one of my favourite critiques comes from retired Lt. Col  and former Congressman Allen West.  West was at the protest against the Iran deal in New York Time Square last week.  Take a look:




He later followed that appearance up with a column on a 'Few points I left out of that Times Square speech.'  Go read that.

Israel's Prime Minister has been a loud and vociferous opponent of the Iran deal, and justifiably so.  He knows what any thinking person can see - even those of us without access to the full details.  (most of us!)  He rightly calls this deal 'a historic mistake',  Check out the more details in the Jerusalem Post report on Bibi's response. 


Even as Israel has continuously maintained that this is a bad deal, and that a better deal could/should  have been made, Kerry hits back with the claim that Netanyahu's 'Better Deal' is a 'Fantasy' , and keeps claiming that no alternative deal has been offered up by the nay-sayers.  The Times of Israel  disputes this: Countering Obama, Israel says it offered alternative to Iran deal

An Israel official had this to say, according to Israel National News:  Iran was on the verge of giving up Nuke Program but that Obama conceded too quickly.  There's a surprise - NOT!!!

As usual, Obama et al are playing their cards very close to their vests, as they spin, rinse, repeat,  but again as usual, as time goes by more details are dribbling out, from this most transparent administration ever.  What a surprise, apparently there are secret side deals that we - thus far - hadn't been told.  Washington Post has this:

Obama’s secret Iran deals exposed

By Marc A. Thiessen

July 27, 2015
President Obama promised that his nuclear deal with Iran would not be “based on trust” but rather “unprecedented verification.” Now it turns out Obama’s verification regime is based on trust after all — trust in two secret side agreements negotiated exclusively between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that apparently no one (including the Obama administration) has seen.
Worse, Obama didn’t even reveal the existence of these secret side deals to Congress when he transmitted the nuclear accord to Capitol Hill. The agreements were uncovered, completely by chance, by two members of Congress — Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.) and Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) — who were in Vienna meeting with the U.N.-releated agency....
[...]
Pompeo says they asked whether they could see those agreements. He says IAEA officials replied, “ ‘Oh no, of course not, no, you’re not going to get to see those.’ And so everybody on our side of the table asked, ‘Has Secretary Kerry seen these?’ ‘No, Secretary Kerry hasn’t seen them. No American is ever going to get to see them.’ ”
It turns out that only the two parties — the IAEA and Iran — get to see the actual agreements ...

Read the rest here, and try and control your surprise.  

Of course, Dick Cheney has a few words to share on this dangerous folly. WATCH this:


(If the link doesn't work, go here. It's a good one!)

 Doesn't give ME warm and fuzzies! "...Can be a few years down the road..." says Cheney...... He is not the only one to comment on that.  Check this out: With Iran deal, the U.S. just kicked the nukes can down the road: Yaron Sideman


As Obama continues to trumpet the good news of it all, it seems some Iranian generals are also not so enamoured as this administration would have us all believe.  Go read this: Iranian General:  We hate US 100 times more for the Nuclear Deal...

The vast concessions to Iran made in the nuclear deal last Tuesday, which ultimately allow the leading state sponsor of terror to be able to obtain a nuclear arsenal in ten years, are apparently not enough for a top Iranian general..


Brig. Gen. Mohammad Reza Naqdi, Commander of Iran's paramilitary Basij Force, said on Tuesday that the Iran deal will only make Iranians hate the US more, as quoted by the semi-official Fars News Agency.


"Any Iranian who reads the Vienna documents will hate the US 100 times more," Naqdi said.


The opposition is surprising given that the deal ignores Iran's key nuclear installations where its nuclear weapons testing is said to be being held, and likewise stipulates that the West will train Iran to block sabotage on its nuclear program. The deal also lifts the UN arms embargo on Iran and lifts sanctions against its top terror commander.



Iran has shown an increasingly open belligerent tone, with an aide to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamanei saying Tuesday that Iranwon't let international inspectors visit its covert military sites such as Parchin, where Iran's illicit nuclear weapons testing is thought to be occurring....

 Oh and of course, John Kerry NOW finds the Iranian vows to 'defy the US 'very disturbing' "...
 Sheesh, you think?  Doesn't sound as if they really like us, does it?

Amir Basiri seems to agree that despite Obama's rose coloured glasses - you know. the ones he would have us all wear - that this historic deal won't change much between Iran and the US.  Writing in Forbes back in March, this Iranian human rights activist says (in part):

A Nuclear Deal Will Not End Iran's Hostility
U.S. President Barack Obama has long perceived a deal—perhaps any deal—with the Iranian regime over its illicit nuclear program as a “silver bullet” that, once inked, will magically solve the multitude of problems that the U.S. is dealing with in regards with the rulers of Tehran.


In this respect, the continuation of the nuclear talks has taken priority over all other matters in Obama’s Iran and Middle-East policy, to the extent that he is willingly ignoring the damage that Iran is dealing across the region and the host of threats that it is posing to U.S. interests and national security.

By all accounts, Tehran’s deadliest weapons are the ruling mullahs themselves (along with their outdated ideology of Islamic fundamentalism) and while they remain in power, the region—and by consequence the U.S.—will never be safe. Add to that the capability to produce nuclear bombs and a hegemonic role in the region (both of which Obama is willing to recognize), and the only outcome can be inevitable disaster, a time bomb that will go off sooner or later and plunge the region and the world into further chaos and turmoil.


Among Obama’s miscalculations is the misplaced belief that the Iranian regime has common interests with the U.S. and can eventually become an ally of the West in establishing peace and stability in the region....

He seems to be suggesting that Obama is delusional, but with nicer words.  GO read and decide for yourself.

Quite apart from the billions of dollars Iran stands to gain from this deal, and the lifting of sanctions, and pretty much control over when and how the most flaunted 'inspections' will occur, there is a critical issue that negotiators seem to have overlooked.


Today, at the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Congressman Jeff Duncan had this:

Americans still being held in Iranian prisons are on my mind as Secretaries Kerry, Lew, and Moniz testify about the Iran nuclear deal in the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Wanted to remind them of who they left behind.

Tom Cotton also was asked his response on the US hostages who were not even included as part of this Obama legacy-making deal.  Go watch and listen to him here.

Regarding John Kerry testifying  here he is.  These were his introductory remarks, and other clips of him I have seen,  show that he did get quite (ahem) 'testy' !  Where's James Taylor when you need a friend?





Be all that as it may, now, more than ever, we all need to educate ourselves and then make our voices heard..

FACT:  No matter how much Obama - the great orator (???) - or something -  spins, rinses repeats, this deal doesn't, and will not,  wash.  Not now, not ever.


PAY ATTENTION, folks.

Related:(Yes, we did read every one of these, and all very interesting - Honest!!! )

The nuclear deal with Iran: Highlights  (with links to the 'complete' text - or not!!))

 Deal Leaves Behind 3 Americans Cruelly Imprisoned in Iran

Inspection regime in Iran informed by lessons from Iraq experience

  Iran nuclear deal: Is it statecraft or surrender?

Kerry: Iranian Access to Billions Won't Affect World Terror

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action “kicks the can down the road”: How to prepare for the day when the can finally lands

David Cameron says ‘we have no starry-eyed naïvety’ about Iran

Surprise!  The States can reject the Iran deal

Netanyahu: Khamenei's words prove nuclear deal will not stop Iranian terror machine

West to Teach Iran How to Block Israeli Nuclear Sabotage

Kerry Warns Israel: Strike on Iran Would Be 'Enormous Mistake'

Steinitz Slams Kerry: No One Has Authority to Threaten Israel

Hollywood 'experts' chime in: WATCH: Jack Black, Morgan Freeman, and Jordan's Queen Noor urge Congress to OK Iran nuclear deal

This just in:  Khamenei's Aide Rejects Iran Deal Arms Limitations

OBL's death aftermath: 9/11 Families for a Safe and Strong America respond

Debra Burlingame: Obama’s bin Laden photo and burial decisions ‘play right into’ enemy’s hand

by Tim Sumner May 5, 2011

Debra Burlingame, the sister of pilot Charles “Chic” Burlingame III whose plane was hijacked and flown into the Pentagon on 9/11, discussed with Neil Cavuto today President Barack Obama’s decision to not release Osama bin Laden’s death photos and to give him a respectful sea burial.

Before watching the video, consider this: America is allegedly at war against al Qaeda and its violent affiliates; Obama (and Bush before him) is not at war alone against this enemy. Killing bin Laden was a major tactical victory and we, America, needed to use it to demoralize the enemy towards total victory. And we needed to exploit whatever intelligence that was gathered during the operation. So, what did this adminstration do? They bragged about the kinds of intelligence gathered at the scene for the sole purpose of domestic political popularity and undermined the intelligence value of what was gathered. Obama and his administration deserve condemnation for putting their political aspirations ahead of the interests of protecting the American people and defeating the enemy...

GO - read the rest of this one, watch the MUST SEE video here.

As their site says: "We Remember." And yes, we WILL remember how BHO has behaved, is behaving, come election time. No more needs to be said from me.


(H/T Diane)

9/11 Families Respond to BHO support for Ground Zero Mosque

BHO last night came out strongly in support of a mosque at Ground Zero, and made a statement from the White House, the people's house. This despite Robert Gibbs previously sticking to the line that the administration does not get involved in 'local issues.'

I am speechless at the gall, but the 9/11 families are not. Their press release this morning:

August 14, 2010

Debra Burlingame: 9/11 Families Stunned by President’s Support of Mosque at Ground Zero

by Tim Sumner @ 8:29 am. Filed under 9/11, Barack Obama, Debra Burlingame, Ground Zero, Shariah, mosque

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
9/11 Families for a Safe & Strong America
Statement of Debra Burlingame, Co-founder of 9/11 Families for a Safe & Strong America, in Response to President Obama’s Remarks about the Ground Zero Mosque

911 Families Stunned Presidents Support of Mosque at Ground Zero

New York, NY, Aug. 14 — Barack Obama has abandoned America at the place where America’s heart was broken nine years ago, and where her true values were on display for all to see. Since that dark day, Americans have been asked to bear the burden of defending those values, again and again and again. Now this president declares that the victims of 9/11 and their families must bear another burden. We must stand silent at the last place in America where 9/11 is still remembered with reverence or risk being called religious bigots.

Muslims have worshipped in New York without incident both before and after the attacks of 9/11. This controversy is not about religious freedom. 9/11 was more than a “deeply traumatic event,” it was an act of war. Building a 15-story mosque at Ground Zero is a deliberately provocative act that will precipitate more bloodshed in the name of Allah. Those who continue to target and kill American civilians and U.S. troops will see it as a symbol of their historic progress at the site of their most bloody victory. Demolishing a building that was damaged by wreckage from one of the hijacked planes in order to build a mosque and Islamic Center will further energize those who regard it as a ratification of their violent and divinely ordered mission: the spread of shariah law and its subjugation of all free people, including secular Muslims who come to this country fleeing that medieval ideology, which destroys lives and crushes the human spirit.

We are stunned by the president’s willingness to disregard what Americans should be proud of: our enduring generosity to others on 9/11–a day when human decency triumphed over human depravity. On that day, when 3,000 of our fellow human beings were killed in barbaric act of raw religious intolerance unlike this country had ever seen, Americans did not turn outward with hatred or violence, we turned to each other, armed with nothing more than American flags and countless acts of kindness. In a breathtakingly inappropriate setting, the president has chosen to declare our memories of 9/11 obsolete and the sanctity of Ground Zero finished. No one who has lived this history and felt the sting of our country’s loss that day can truly believe that putting our families through more wrenching heartache can be an act of peace.

We will honor the memory of our loved ones. We will protect our children, whose lives will never be the same. We will not stand silent.

There is really nothing I can add to this which you can find here.

Like many, I am stunned by this latest pronouncement of BHO, and yes, I WILL have more to say on this - later. I also will not stand silent.

Barack Obama: the best thing to happen to America

No, no! I really have NOT lost my mind. Bear with me. Barack Obama may just be the best thing to happen in a generation for a number of reasons. In the many years I have been watching American politics - from a distance - he has done more to engage, awaken the American people than any other president. Oh sure, when George W. Bush was in office, certain pockets of America were afflicted with Bush Derangement Syndrome, which perpetuated oft-repeated demonstrations and slogans: Bush Lied, They Died; or No War for Oil, blah blah, followed by 'all in good fun and taste' posters that made any decent person cringe. Mostly though, while the fringe elements (aided and abetted by the mainstream media, of course,) were making asses of themselves, regular Americans were busy raising their families, earning a living, pretty much secure in the knowledge that America was safe from outside attacks.

Now we have Obama, and I see a conscious decision on the part of many Americans to be engaged in the protection of their country, that I had not witnessed before. Yes, I also see a huge divisiveness since the election of the silver-tongued senator who promised to unite America. This community organiser, who campaigned on the slogans of "Change you can Believe in" and "Yes, we can!" is discovering that Americans who feel the most basic fabric of their country under threat, are not willing to sit idly by, and allow ANYONE, foreign or domestic, to tear apart the communities that ARE America.

After many years of watching America the beautiful on the world stage, I now see an underbelly of America that is ugly, with a president who travels the world in fine style (what about the carbon foot print?) and apologises to the world for the stellar reputation that America has enjoyed as a leader.

From the government taking over the car industry, to the banking industry, to cap and trade, the American health care industry, and most egregiously, now encouraging neighbour to report on neighbour if they dare to argue, even in 'casual conversation' against policies doomed to failure, Obama and his union thugs are finding out decent, hardworking Americans are mad as hell.

To hear some tell it, this groundswell of anger is led and paid for by the Republican party. Tell that to the protesters who get roughed up at Town Hall meetings. The 60 year old woman in Texas - whose husband has fought for his country - wasn't paid a dime by anyone to attend a townhall meeting, from which she was evicted, and made to stand on a hot sidewalk all by herself, protesting. Is she a mob, such as some of the Democrats are so afraid of? She calls herself "A mob of one"; go read what happened to her at Canada Free Press here.

The main stream media hardly covers any of the Town Hall meetings, or the Tea Parties. Why? Because to do so, and report honestly, they would have to show who are the real mobsters: the union thugs, who strong-arm any nay-sayers who oppose the Obama vision. These encounters have been caught on video by attendees at the confrontations; confrontations obviously encouraged by Obama and his "when they push, push back harder" hired hands. These thugs do more than push back when their leader says, on national television: "But I don't want the folks who created the mess to do a lot of talking. I want them to get out of the way so we can clean up the mess. I don't mind cleaning up after them, but don't do a lot of talking." (see the YouTube here) Of course, he is forgetting to mention that the Dems - his party - had control when Fannie Mae et al were in the initial downward spiral. Never mind!

To a chorus of sneers from some of those politicians (your employees, need I remind you?) the regular Americans show up at these tea party and other protests, and Town Halls - determined to be heard as Obama and his lemmings run mindlessly over the cliff, dragging America with them; these Americans so well dressed in their Brooks Brothers suits they are obviously being paid and encouraged by big money. Not so much. I have seen all over the internet (but not in the msm) where working Americans are taking unpaid leave from their jobs, or attending protests in their lunch hours, because the path America is on, is too important to ignore.

Remember when Obama promised to do something about getting America back to work? Ironically, the work Obama is setting his American cronies to is paid activism/lobbying for his own pet projects. Think I'm kidding? While Mr and Mrs America are toiling diligently at their every day employment, Obama and crew are now advertising to hire paid help. Via Red State, in a piece called "Let's talk Astroturf," it seems Craigslist (a site that anyone can advertise on, for free) is being used to recruit paid muscle. Meticulously documented, there are ads that read:

***Help Pass Obama's HealthcarePlan and Earn $350-500 per week*

**
Or

***Help Build Public Support for Obama's Plan and earn $9-14 per hour***

There are paid positions for Global Warming Campaigns as well as "$350-500 a week working for Obama's Progressive Agenda" (direct quote, and all on the Sacramento Craigslist referenced here.)

I did a search of the Los Angeles Craigslist using the words "Obama" and "Jobs" and came up with this:

**Help Pass Obama's Clean Energy Bill!! (10-15/hr) (MidWilshire)

The text that follows that is almost unbelievable. Go see for yourself here.

I suppose that by hiring union "brothers and sisters" - as one politician recently called the hired thugs who attend Town Hall meetings and beat up on any old ladies or men who might want a say - no training dollars need to be spent teaching strong arm "in your face" tactics.

Let's not forget ACORN who are employed in so many ways, not least of which will be the next US census data collection. No skills required, other than being an intimidating bully of course! So, as unemployment stats reached 9.8% last month, Obama spins that by reminding, on his daily tv appearance, that the almost quarter of a million jobs lost in July was "less than expected." I wonder if that statistic takes into account all the new - and recurring - employees on the 'Organising for America' payroll? I also do have to ask where all the money to pay these unskilled employees is coming from? Maybe from all those emails where they tell you to "Donate $5 for America."???

On the official ongoing campaign site "Organising for America: Healthcare Action Centre" (coincidentally "Powered by Hope and People like you" and "paid for by the Democratic National Committee",) we are told "Visit your local congressional office for health reform.

With members of Congress back in town this month, it’s extremely important that folks like you speak up in support of real health insurance reform.

Enter your address to find your representatives' district offices.

After you've found the closest office to you, click the Visit This Office link to schedule your visit.

That must be for unemployed insiders, because any American I know a) has a job they need to be at, and b) historically the office doors are closed to any but sycophantic admirers. I told the story last year of my friend Don, who kept trying to speak with Harry Reid. Not able to get hold of Reid on the phone, Don went down to the office, in normal office hours, only to find the door locked, on more than one occasion. Leaving a note under the door with his contact information and asking Reid to call him, more than a year later, Don still hasn't heard from Reid. Maybe Harry is too busy dodging the Marines. Just more of that open and transparent government we hear so much about.

To those people being promised $350-500 a week to work for Obama's agenda, this administration really may be the best thing to happen to them - for now; no matter the long term consequences for America.

Americans who have been raised with a true work ethic, and who have put themselves through school to learn a trade, or gone to night school as they provide for their families; for those Americans who have never looked for a hand out, I suggest to you, that Obama is the best thing that has happened to them also. Oh I do know that right now it really doesn't appear that way, as Obama declares to the world that America - the country that has "In God We Trust" on their currency - is not a Christian nation, as he genuflects to the muslims. To hardworking, patriotic Americans, and especially the military, Obama is seen as the worst thing to happen to America as he opines that he is not looking for Victory in Afghanistan.

However, as Obama has continued to undermine the principles, the philosophical underpinnings of what America is, the usually silent America I know, has reared up and said "Enough!"

What the dawning of "The Age of Obama" has done, unintentionally, is inspire millions of Americans to really think about this land they love. With every passing day, each Obama attempt to reshape America in his own ideological image, Americans from coast to coast have started paying attention in ways they - perhaps - hadn't needed to before. As Obama suggests the Constitution on which American was based is no longer relevant, Americans in small towns and big cities have stood up and said "Hell, NO!" In the face of Obama's insistence on changing the foundations of their homeland, Americans have taken pause, reflected on their country that they always took for granted. Upon reflection, millions of Americans, in every community, and with NO political organisation/affiliation - or from every point on the political spectrum - have chosen to speak up, and joined with other patriots to preserve that which they hold most dear in their birth-land. Obama's emergence may turn out to be America's "finest hour," as Americans, with no huge political party money behind them, become involved at the ground level as they take their country back.

While Pelosi says that the "mobs" of protestors use Nazi tactics ("methinks she doth protest too much",) Americans who have never attended ANYthing political in their lives, are now finding Tea Parties, and Town Hall meetings to stand with their neighbours. Despite what the msm may have you believe, none of these neophyte protesters go with violence in their hearts or on their agenda. Not a one, and if you watch any video on YouTube, or read any first person account by these patriotic Americans, it is the paid goons who are violent as they attempt to silence any rational, reasoned enquiry about this "new America". I have received many emails, and read many pieces on the internet, of people who did NOT vote for the kind of changes Obama is trying to implement.

Many groups have sprung up as Americans, with a burning desire to protect the Constitution and their Christian country, are rallying together.

They are ready to act, to protect all they hold most dear.

During the election campaign, an American friend and I have been exchanging emails. He sent me this, at the beginning of what he calls "this Summer of Madness." These are questions that he asks of Americans:

Benjamin Franklin once answered when asked what type of government had the Continental Congress agreed upon; "We have given you a Republic, if you can keep it." ~1787~

Do you believe the statement by Franklin was a challenge...a dare?
Do you love America?
Do you believe the Constitution is a valid document?
Do you believe America should govern by Constitutional Law?
Do you believe the founding fathers gave us the gift of a Republic?
Do you believe you have an obligation to protect and defend this Republic?
Do you believe you have unalienable rights as a citizen in this country?
Do you think this country is headed in the wrong direction?

If you answered yes to all this then I ask, what are you prepared to do?
What are you as a citizen willing to sacrifice for your country?
Are you as a citizen willing to stand up for your beliefs?
Are you willing to give up your life for your beliefs?
What will you do when all of your rights have been taken by the government?
Will you stand with other patriots in defense of liberty or will you capitulate and live your life as a slave on your knees?
The proverbial line in the sand has been drawn.
Which side will you be on? Those that stand and fight or those that kneel and submit?

Increasingly, Americans that I know are asking themselves questions like this, and have emphatically declared that they DO believe in America, and they DO believe America is worth fighting for. Does that mean they plan on becoming violent mobs run amok across America? No, of course it does not. BUT they are forming together, and are determined to stand FOR America, and reclaim their country.

ACTIVE is one such group to emerge from the maelstrom:

ACTIVE Mission Statement

Active, The American Constitution and Capitalism Defense Front, is a permanent and enduring organization of American citizens dedicated to maintaining the foundational principles of the United States of America, as initiated by its Declaration of Independence and realized by its Constitution and economic system of free-market capitalism.

These founding documents and this economic system define the United States, and as such, there is no United States without them.

The changing tides of time allow for the development of threats capable of abolishing both, either through overt attack or the processes of slow erosion and unconstitutional change. The principles of free-market capitalism are eternal, and the only legitimate process to change the United States Constitution is that which is prescribed within it.

As such, it is a moral imperative for each and every loyal American to dedicate a sufficient amount of their blood, sweat, and tears to the preservation and defense of both the Constitution and free-market capitalism.

United we stand, divided we fall. Upon this eternal truth we hereby declare that it is incumbent upon the people of this great land to come together in broad union to demand that the freedoms granted to us by God, protected by our Constitution, and given wings by our self-chosen labors, are left intact.

We are the people by which the government is of and for. We are the grantors of the power that the government wields. We are the people who can recall that power from the government at any time of our choosing. We are the citizens of the United States of America. We are the defenders of the greatest nation in the history of man, and we are hereby responding to the call to become ACTIVE.

They now have chapters across America, and even as they are well organised, the State Captain in California emphasises this:

Whatever you do make certain people understand this is a peaceful protest. We WILL NOT advocate, support or otherwise condone any violence whatsoever.

The non-violence really needs to be stressed. Our purpose is not to hurt anyone or destroy anything. The intention is to get the attention of the fools in DC...

To find out more about ACTIVE, and your closest chapter, go to their main site here.

This group is mobilising. They now have a show on Blog Talk Radio:

“The Jihadi Killer Hour” will run Sunday through Wednesday at 7 PM PST, and the new show “Cold War Zone”, will run Thursday through Saturday, 8 PM PST. “Cold War Zone” will be hosted by ACTIVE’s new National Vice Chairman, John DeFrees, known to many of you as “Johnny Doe”.

They have also released a short audio PSA:



Some of the emails I have received from American friends have been full of despair. I have been pointing them to the ACTIVE site here, as one option to getting involved. You should check that site regularly, or go to Pat Dollard's site here for further news.

This group, and many others, are planning into the future, America's future. One event is happening on November 4th :

Liberate America: Get ACTIVE.

I’ve got your election-day anniversary celebration, right here buddy.

ACTIVE is mounting a full-blown, nationwide, general strike against the dictator. Specific street actions, not mere protests, will go down.

Calling all the clans: Representatives of all allied organizations are asked to contact us, and we will be contacting them.

No one is to go work. No one is to go to school. Shopowners are to keep their doors closed. Spread the word. The mobilization has begun…

And the strikes will continue with disturbing regularity, and ever-growing numbers. We are going to shut this country down, and force them to back down.

Repeat: this is not a one-day event. We are going to shut this country down.

You heard about “A Day Without A Mexican”? Try a day without an American. And bear in mind that an American is not defined as an American citizen. An American is an American citizen who is an ardent, and therefor duty-bound supporter of the US Constitution.

The Revolution has begun. Stay tuned for details. (Pat Dollard here)

In a recent response to one of my American friends, I wrote (in part):

I know that the history of America WILL be rewritten in the next little while. I feel it so strongly. BUT I also see this time (and Obama) as a huge gift to America. Before you slap me... I have come to know that when our faith is most tested by things and people around us, it is ALWAYS a gift/opportunity to re-examine our hearts, our faith. I always come out stronger having gone through that process...

I totally believe that it is ALL a gift - and Obama is here at this time, for a very specific reason for America, and NO, it is not what he, or his minions, think. Great days ARE ahead for America. As Churchill would call it: your "finest hour".

Faith. It is all about faith.

I am reminded of what JFK said: Ask not what your country can do for you. Instead ask what YOU can do for your country. I fervently believe that for many patriotic Americans, NOW is the time when the answer to that question must be: Take your country back.

God bless America.

*[Also published on Family Security Matters here]*