What is the biggest issue facing America today? I can only imagine the variety of answers I would receive if I asked that to all our readers right now. I know some would say the national debt, the role of the Fed, the NSA, the IRS or terrorism. They are all very important issues but today I would like to speak to you about a problem that I have not seen discussed a lot. I wrote a column a couple of weeks ago discussing Ron Paul’s new project which is to get 25% of kids home schooled. I love all feedback on my columns and that day I firstly got a text from a friend who said “I never thought I would see the day you writing a column on Ron Paul” and another friend on Facebook kept focusing on comments he made in the past about Chris Kyle and Israel.
So time to lay all my cards on the table… I have never been a big Ron Paul fan and I doubt I ever will be as a politician, however I do agree with about 95% of his domestic policy including abolishing the Fed. At that time he made so much sense and I agreed 100% with this policy of encouraging parents to home-school their kids and avoid the public system at every possible opportunity. That day was really weird for me because when I got the text, all I wanted to do was reply – what do my personal feelings for Ron Paul have to do with this policy? Am I supposed to act closed minded and only discuss policies from people and politicians I like and support (That would be one very small circle). Then when I discussed it with a friend on Facebook, she would not discuss the actual policy with me and started every reply with, “Yeah, but ……”and would launch into something else he said or done in the past. However one must focus on the individual issue and the individual’s reaction / response to the issue in question, admire their stance and sometimes you have to leave party out of it. That is what makes great politics better – having an open mind and respecting what is right no matter what source it originates from.
Today America is more divided than any time I can remember in my lifetime or any other time in American history (A strong case can be made for the Civil War). For example just look at all the different strands of politics America has at the minute – on the right you have Republicans, Conservatives, GOP, RINO, Tea Party, Constitutionalist, Constitutional Conservative, Libertarian to name but some. Looking at the left you have Democrat, Liberal, Progressive, Statist, Marxist, Blue Collar Democrat again to name but a few, (I apologize if I have forgotten any). With all these labels, I feel Americans have forgotten what they are before all these terms – you are AMERICAN!!!! So today every American citizen has a choice and it’s not as simple as you might think. Do you choose the easy path and continue to be divided and look on with envy of what others have. Or do you choose the harder and more painful path and unite on issues with anyone where you can agree and come together as a people. After all if something is right and correct, it is right and correct regardless of who says it, whether that is Barack Obama or George Washington.
Sadly, America is on the path to destruction or Utopia and not even the politicians could stop it even if they wanted to. One of the many reasons I love America is because the REAL power has always been in the hands of the people, even at times like today when it seems to have been forgotten. Only YOU, the American citizen can decide which path to follow. However I know if you choose the hard path, you cannot be closed minded of who your allies are and continue to say Yeah, but….. about the person. It is time to get real serious about the issues, have an extremely frank conversation and come together with solutions and then let DC and politicians play their assigned roles.
I believe now is the time to stand with your most unlikely ally and embrace freedom at every opportunity. I believe now is the time you forget who the individual is and what they may have done in the past or how they stand on other issues and concentrate only on what they say and what they do now. After all which is more important? Your personal feelings or the idea that changed the course of the world because there are signs the light is breaking through the dark if you just look for them.
For example what would you think if I told you Freedom Works and the ACLU were working together and planning a joint march on Washington a couple of years ago? They are two organizations which you would never expect to agree on anything. Right???? WRONG. Several weeks ago they marched on Washington against the NSA wiretapping of the American citizen. You may disagree with everything else the ACLU stands for but they are right on this issue.
Lastly there are certain sayings that will stick with me all my life and hold special meaning but one phrase that I keep coming back to was said by Ronald Reagan in 1964 when he said, “There really is no left or right, but there is an up or a down”. America needs to unite on the founding principles of America, the principals that were and are self-evident. These principals made America and altered the course of human history at your founding. While things are incredibly tough and hard, I still fully believe in the greatness of the American people and I know if you decide to unite, America can once again alter the course of human history.