For the past three months I've been extremely busy, so I haven't been posting very much. On October 10, 2009, 24 years to the day after I joined the U.S. Navy, I was elected along with Mike Adamske and Bob Lightner to represent North Carolina at the Continental Congress, more commonly known as CC2009. We the People Foundation's Bob Schulz, at great expense, along with various sponsors, numerous volunteers from We the People Congress, and volunteers from across America, brought together citizen-delegates from 48 states to form the first Continental Congress in over 220 years. (See "New Federalist Papers")

In the most honest election our nation has seen in at least 100 years, 105 delegates were elected by the citizens of their respective states with "notarized" voter registration forms and elections were held with paper ballots. Our great country should revert to that open and honest method. While many of you know me as the National Director of the FIRE Coalition, or more personally as the PatriotWatchdog, when I went to Pheasant Run Resort I became Jeff Lewis, 1st Delegate, North Carolina, the third such Continental Congress in U.S. history. Mr. Schulz was no longer the Chairman of the We the People Foundation, but Bob Schulz, 1st Delegate, New York.

From Veteran's Day, Nov. 11, 2009 thru Nov. 21, 2009, Delegates to the Continental Congress rolled up their sleeves and got to work in defense of the Constitution. Mr. Schulz and others had spent years trying to get a "redress of grievances" for violations of the Constitution by our servant government to no avail.

After spending over 14,000 delegate-hours in meetings listening to experts on a variety of subjects, committees, deliberating as the Committee of the Whole, and finally as the Continental Congress citizen-patriots debated and adopted what became the "Articles of Freedom." Over the next two months, the Styles Committee appointed by President Michael Badnarik, and a variety of delegates continued to finalize the documents.

This past Sunday, the Third Continental Congress officially adopted the "Articles of Freedom." While the CC2009 event is over, the work of the Third Continental Congress continues. The unalieanble right to life, education, the 14th Amendment, and other issues were left unresolved. Before leaving St. Charles, Illinois, the delegates also adopted motions to continue the work of the Third Continental Congress until at least Oct. 10, 2011.

On Feb. 02, 2010, in a meeting with the Executive and Administrative Committees, President Badnarik created two new committees, Bylaws and Civic Actions. Colorado Delegate Terry Dodd will chair the Civic Actions Committee. Wyoming Delegate Catherine Vandemoer will chair the Bylaws Committee. Chairman Vandemoer, also known as "Dr. Kate," called me later that evening to ask me to be Bylaws Vice-Chairman.

As Vice-Chairman of both the Administrative and Bylaws Committees, my work has just begun. If you haven't heard of the Third Continental Congress, you will. The "Articles of Freedom" are just the beginning. 

Jeff Lewis

National Director

FIRE Coalition

   Adoption of Articles of Freedom Webinar

Third Continental Congress

January 31, 2010

DOWNLOAD THE "ARTICLES OF FREEDOM" EVERYWHERE THE TRUTH IS TOLD

THIRDCONTINENTALCONGRESS.NET

www.defendmichael.com

On Dec. 2-3, 2009, FIRE Coalition Rhode Island Director Jeremy Doucet and I accompanied Band of Mothers founder Beverly Perlson and Vicky Behenna, (Lt. Behenna's mother) to Washington, D.C. for two days of meetings on Capitol Hill with numerous Members of Congress in both houses, and participated in a briefing with 13 additional Congressional offices regarding the plight of Army Ranger 1st Lt. Michael Behenna.

What does this have to do with immigration reform and enforcement, one might ask? Well, Lt. Behenna's predicament is a mirror image of the Ramos and Compean case, except now it is our military that are being thrown under the bus for political reasons.

There needs to be a change in the "rules of engagement" that our armed forces are required to work under, and that is in addition to getting this war hero out of prison.

The FIRE Coalition is not interested in any blame games, or punitive actions against the Army, DOD, or State Department leadership. We merely want to draw attention to his case, to get him out of prison, and to encourage a change in the rules of engagement our armed forces are required to follow that undermine their ability to accomplish their missions.

Below is the latest article from the Defend Michael website. Please send this officer and gentleman who joined our military AFTER 9/11/2001 a letter of support, and call, write, fax, AND visit your Congressman and Senators about the injustice done to Lt. Behenna. He should not be in prison for doing his job.

Merry Christmas to the many friends and supporters of Michael,

An update about Michael is difficult because this time of year is all about being together with family and friends.  While we will be able to see Michael over Christmas, our family will not feel complete until Michael is freed from Leavenworth.

Several things are happening toward that end and we are eagerly anticipating a favorable outcome.  Michael's appellate brief will be filed in December with the Army Court of Appeals and we know Michael's lawyers will make a powerful and compelling argument to reverse his conviction.  Please say a prayer for Michael's attorney's in their quest to present a document that will allow the Appellate Court to see the truth.  Also Vicki and some supporters traveled to Washington DC the first week of December to meet with numerous Congressmen and Senators.  The meetings went extremely well and some Congressmen and Senators are writing letters to the Clemency Board.   Some Congressmen are considering Congressional  hearings on the military's "detention and release" policy that is responsible for 77,000 out of 87,000 detainees being released back to the battlefield for our soldiers to fight again and again.  As one Lieutenant Colonel in the Marines told Vicki on her trip to DC, this policy has cost the lives of American soldiers.  It is imperative that we stop putting our soldiers in harm's way whether it is in the form of a terrorist's bullets and bombs or prosecutors who want to lock these heroes up for defending themselves in a war zone.

Michael's clemency hearing is January 7, 2010, and we will represent him at that hearing. The Secretary of the Army, John McHugh,  has the responsibility for clemency and has the power to reduce or eliminate Michael's sentence.  If you have not done so already, please consider writing a letter to the Secretary to give clemency to Michael. McHugh's address is:

Secretary of the Army John McHugh
1400 Defense Pentagon
Washington, DC  20301-1400

We also ask that you consider sending a quick note to Michael to let him know the support he has behind him and the groundswell that has begun to cast light on the current military policies that put our soldiers in harm's way. Michael can only receive written materials (letters, cards, books), but you can also send a money order to Michael which he can use to purchase some items with his commissary account.  Money can only be sent via MONEY ORDER and it must list the payee as  "MICHAEL BEHENNA #87503".  All correspondence and money orders should be sent to :

Michael Behenna
1300 North Warehouse Road
FT. Leavenworth, Kansas  66027-2304

Below is a link to a biggovernment.com article that hits right at the heart of Michael's case and has produced many inquiries :

http://biggovernment.com/2009/12/12/army-officer-kills-al-qaeda-operative-imprisoned-after-prosecutors-ignore-own-expert-witness/

Thanks again for your overwhelming support and may God bless your families this Christmas season.

Peace,

Scott & Vicki Behenna Proud parents of 1LT Michael Behenna
www.defendmichael.com

A General Introduction: “Unalienable Rights.”

“To a patriot, defending life and liberty is the pursuit of happiness.” – Publius

What are “unalienable rights?” Rights granted by our Creator are absolute, and inherent. Unalienable rights can only be denied to a people in bondage. Governments can only grant privileges, not rights. Our failure to give due diligence to keeping a watchful eye on our rights has allowed the government to encroach more and more on our lives, our liberties, our property, and our God-given right to pursuits of happiness.

The Founding Fathers knew selling the Constitution to the People was going to be a daunting task, because many simply did not trust any central government. Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison authored a total of 85 essays from October 27, 1787 – June 14, 1788 explaining the Constitution, and dispelling myths and rumors spread by its opponents. The essays were published separately for the most part using the pseudonym “Publius,” and then later compiled into two volumes, thereafter referred to as “The Federalist Papers.”

·         The First Continental Congress met from September 5 to October 26, 1774, producing the Association of 1774, which called on colonists to boycott British goods, and form committees to enforce the boycott.                          Journals of the Continental Congress

·         The Second Continental Congress ran from May 10, 1775, to March 2, 1789, producing the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, and U.S. Constitution.                                                                     Journals of the Continental Congress

·         The Third Continental Congress first convened November 11-22, 2009, producing the Articles of Freedom, which includes instructions to our public servants, and recommendations for peaceful civic action by the citizenry.      Third Continental Congress

On November 21, 2009, the 220^th anniversary of North Carolina ratifying the Constitution, the Third Continental Congress, 2009 Session, produced the Articles of Freedom, with instructions to our public servants in federal and state government, and impassioned pleas to the People of the United States to restore Constitutional governance through peaceful civic actions. The Articles of Freedom will be widely released to the public.

The “Articles of Freedom” are the result of over 14,000 Delegate-hours expended by the Third Continental Congress to address the Intolerable Acts of Congress, including the Patriot Act, the privately-owned Federal Reserve, un-Constitutional wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and a litany of other violations of the Constitution by the current and former Administrations over several decades, which have placed our unalienable rights, liberties, and freedom in grave peril.

The “New Federalist Papers” will consist of a minimum of 30 essays, authored by Delegates to the Third Continental Congress. Volume III, Essays 86-95 will address our God-given “unalienable rights,” and the development and ratification of the Bill of Rights. Volume IV, Essays 96-115 will explain the “Articles of Freedom.”

Thomas Jefferson wrote about the “safest depository,” stating,

"Who will govern the governors?" There is only one force in the nation that can be depended upon to keep the government pure and the governors honest, and that is the people themselves. They alone, if well informed, are capable of preventing the corruption of power, and of restoring the nation to its rightful course if it should go astray. They alone are the safest depository of the ultimate powers of government”.

"Enlighten the people generally, and tyranny and oppressions of body and mind will vanish like evil spirits at the dawn of day."

 Thomas Jefferson on Politics and Government

Hamilton, not sensing the need to include a bill of rights wrote,

“We may safely rely on the disposition of the State legislatures to erect barriers against the encroachments of the national authority.”

Alexander Hamilton, Federalist 85

Regrettably, the state legislatures have failed to protect the rights of the state, and the People. This must change. Introduce your state legislators to the 10^th Amendment. Demand they protect your state’s sovereignty, and your liberty.

The Founders stopped writing essays once the Constitution was ratified by the ninth state, New Hampshire. Publius never wrote any essays to address the nearly 100 unique amendments the states were proposing be added to the New Constitution. Had they continued writing the Federalist Papers, perhaps the Bill of Rights would have included even more protections against the tyranny of ambitious and arrogant men.

In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson wrote,

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”

-Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776, Library of Congress

On September 17, 1787, delegates to the Constitutional Convention signed the “New Constitution” which was sent to the 13 states two weeks later on Sept. 28, 1787. It would be four long years before the Constitution was ratified by all 13 original states.

In the Preamble to the Constitution, James Madison wrote,

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

-U.S. Constitution, Sept. 17, 1787, Library of Congress

The time is once again upon us to stand up against the tyranny, against traitors in our own government, and in defense of our unalienable God-given rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

In 42 B.C., Roman Statesman Marcus Tullius Cicero warned,

“A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious.  But it cannot survive treason from within.  An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly.  But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself.  For the traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their arguments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men.  He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist.  A murderer is less to fear. The traitor is the plague.”

Marcus Tullius Cicero, Roman Statesman, philosopher and orator, 42 B.C

Mr. William Lenoir, at North Carolina’s ratification debates said,

 “A constitution ought to be understood by every one. The most humble and trifling characters in the country have a right to know what foundation they stand upon.”

Vol. IV, Page 209, August 2, 1788, Elliot’s Debates

George Washington, in his Sept. 19, 1796 Farewell Address to the American People, warned,

“Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (I conjure you to believe me, fellow-citizens) the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake, since history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican government.”

(President George Washington’s Farewell Address, Sept. 19, 1796)

People in power rarely choose to give up that power, even for the greater good. History proves that over time, liberty yields to tyranny. Unalienable rights are reduced to mere privileges when the citizenry turn their backs on public affairs.

In 1820, Former President Thomas Jefferson wrote,

"I know no safe depositary of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education. This is the true corrective of abuses of constitutional power."

 -Thomas Jefferson to William C. Jarvis, 1820.

Some believe it is the job of the government to keep us safe. While that argument does have some merit, the primary job of the Federal Government is to protect our unalienable rights, and to keep us free. The Declaration of Independence was not merely a proclamation of freedom from the British Empire, but from all tyranny, foreign and domestic.

The U.S. Constitution is the “employee handbook” for our public servants. All elected officials take an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution. In the real world, an employee who fails to obey the employee handbook gets fired. We should expect and accept no less than a strict obedience by our public servants to keep their oath.

The Honorable Oliver Wolcott said it best on Jan. 7, 1788, during the ratification debates in Connecticut, when he stated,

“The Constitution enjoins an oath upon all the officers of the United States. This is a direct appeal to that God which is the avenger of perjury. Such an appeal to Him is a full acknowledgment of His being and Providence.”        (Hon. Oliver Wolcott, Jan. 7, 1788, Elliot’s Debates, Vol. II, Page 202)

While the New Constitution was not perfect, it did establish the framework for self-governance. The establishment of the Constitutional Republic of the United States of America was the first of its kind in world history.

The first five states to ratify the Constitution, namely Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, and Connecticut, did so without requesting or suggesting a single amendment. Maryland, the 7^th state to ratify the Constitution also offered no amendments.

Prior to ratifying the Constitution, several States expressed great concern that our unalienable rights were not protected by the New Constitution. Some states wanted it amended prior to ratification. Other states included a laundry list of changes in their ratification documents that they wanted made to the New Constitution that would protect life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness.

While the structure of the government was secured, the rights of the individual were not. Massachusetts was the first state to include a list of amendments, nine in total, as part of its ratification documents, partly on the promise that amendments to protect the unalienable rights of the people would be forthcoming.

New Hampshire embraced Massachusetts’ nine proposed amendments, adding three more of its’ own. In all, seven states added amendments to their ratification documents, or refused to ratify the Constitution until a bill of rights was included. They simply did not trust big government, and rightly so.

Jefferson wrote Madison about his desires for amendments to the Constitution, by an N.C. Delegate in August, 1788.

Mr. Willie Jones: “As great names have been mentioned, I beg leave to mention the authority of Mr. Jefferson, whose great abilities and respectability are well known. When the Convention sat in Richmond, in Virginia, Mr. Madison received a letter from him. In that letter he said he wished nine states would adopt it, not because it deserved ratification, but to preserve the Union. But he wished that the other four states would reject it, that there might be a certainty of obtaining amendments.”                                                    Elliot’s Debates, Volume IV, Page 226, N.C.

Both North Carolina and Rhode Island took Thomas Jefferson’s advice, and refused to ratify the Constitution until amendments protecting our unalienable rights had been accepted by Congress.

The remaining seven states submitted over 200 amendments to protect our “unalienable rights,” some prior to ratification of the Constitution, some after. 12 proposed amendments were sent to the states on Sept. 25, 1789.

James Madison, while serving in the House of Representatives in the 1^st U.S. Congress sponsored a series of amendments to protect individual rights. Twelve Amendments were approved by Congress and sent to states on Sept. 25, 1789. Ten were ratified, becoming the Bill of Rights on Dec. 15, 1791.

The first ten Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, commonly known as the Bill of Rights, became part of the Constitution on Dec. 15, 1791 when Virginia became the 11^th state to ratify them.

During Connecticut’s state convention, the Honorable Oliver Wolcott, debating in favor of ratification, stated,

“Mankind may be corrupt, and give up the cause of freedom; but I believe that love of liberty which prevails among the people of this country will prevent such a dire calamity.

So well guarded is this Constitution throughout, that it seems impossible that the rights either of the states or of the people should ever be destroyed.”  (Hon. Oliver Wolcott, Jan. 7, 1788, Elliot’s Debates, Vol. II, Page 202)

Although the Bill of Rights became binding when Virginia ratified them on Dec. 15, 1791, it would be another 148 years before Connecticut, Georgia, and Massachusetts would ratify the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution.

(Thomas Jefferson Papers Series 1, Pages 624-627, Library of Congress)

-Publius, Essay 86

December 7, 2009

LOOK FOR THE “NEW FEDERALIST”

WHEREVER THE TRUTH IS TOLD

USGS: National Oil and Gas Assessment

Everything you always wanted to know about our national oil and gas resources from official government site: Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey,

National Coal Resource Assessment (NCRA)

"The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) provides easily accessible geospatial information on the location, quantity, availability, recoverability, and economics of the highest quality American coal and assesses coal beds and coal resources for specific uses, such as carbon sequestration, synfuels, coalbed methane, potential National Park or Monument designtation, or BLM leasing."

"25 Times More Domestic On-shore Oil Than 1995 Estimate."

U.S. Geological Survey Released (4/10/2008)

"3 to 4.3 Billion Barrels of Technically Recoverable Oil

Assessed in North Dakota and Montana's "Bakken Formation"

"Significant Gas Resource Discovered in U.S. Gulf of Mexico."

U.S. Geological Survey Released (5/29/2009)

"We discovered thick, gas hydrate-saturated sands that actually represent energy targets,"

said USGS Energy Program Coordinator Brenda Pierce.

Brenda Pierce Phone: 703-648-6421

Timothy Collett Phone: 720-936-2372

Clarice Ransom Phone: 703-648-4299

Educate yourself. Then contact your Congressman and U.S. Senators to stop this insanity.

  FIRE Coalition National Director Jeff Lewis will lead the N.C. Delegation to the Continental Congress 2000, which begins on Veteran's Day, Nov. 11, 2009.

"The Constitution does not defend itself, freedom is not FREE, and Ignorance is not bliss!" - PatriotWatchdog

Visit the FIRE Coalition and these links below to learn more.

   

I sit at my desk, pondering this pickle We the People are in, and I don't like pickles. I realize things have to change. The diminishing returns of trying to fix this "pickle we're in" with traditional methods has failed. Let's talk about pickles for a moment. I can deal with a pickle on my burger once in a while, and if they get mine wrong, I don't always make them fix me a new burger. I'll just either eat it, or compromise, and de-pickle my burger myself. Nobody's perfect. We all make mistakes.

However, if I keep going back to the same fast-food restaurant, and they keep messing my order up, I'll eventually get tired of the poor service, and accept the fact that they either aren't listening to me when I place my order, or they don't care. Maybe it's not just the guy at the window today, cause this happened before, with a different employee working the drive-thru. Maybe it's the management.

I still don't say anything. I'm busy. Gotta run. But then I come back some time later, and it happens again. I had forgotten how poor the service was. "Oh, yeah." I tell myself. "This is that place they always screw up my order. I won't be back here anytime soon," I remind myself again," trying to mask my obvious insanity.

You see, Benjamin Franklin said "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting a different outcome."

I'm sick of pickles that I never order. Even when I tell them specifically, "NO PICKLES!" They get it wrong. So, I then start looking for options to resolve this "pickle" I find myself in... AGAIN!

More time passes. I like the food here, when they get it right. It's why I subconsciously block out the "pickle problem." Well, I'm not gonna give up just yet. I'll dine in next time. That way I can tell them face-to-face exactly what I want. Then they'll get it right. So, off I drive, thinking I've resolved the problem for next time.

Wrong. The same thing happens when I dine in. Pickles on my burger. Argggh! Sigh. I guess I'll vote with my dollar. I'll eat somewhere else, maybe then they'll start listening.  I fill out a customer service survey I found on the table, and drop it in the box on the wall, hoping to redress my grievances against the pickle. Customer service polling explains why sales have been dropping off. Poor service. The manager gives me a coupon for a free meal next time, if I'll just overlook this pickle problem.

They should listen to customers, the true employer. Ask any businessman. When people start courting their competition, they try to figure out why, and fix it, or make it better. But they don't fix the problem. Well. I still like their food. I'll just live with it, thus lowering my expectations. I grow to except that I get pickles when I don't want them, no matter what I do. I keep finding myself in a pickle.

After a while, I quit complaining even to myself about the pickle problem. I also don't eat there as often, but when I do, I've now learned not to expect much. Well, I don't get much either, and certainly not what I want, what I should be able to expect, especially since I'm paying for it. But wait, I AM paying for it. I'll vote with my dollar. I'm done with this restaurant. Drive thru sucks. Dine in sucks. The food sucks too now, because I'm disgusted with the futility of trying to get something as simple as a burger with "NO PICKLES, PLEASE!"

I do go back by at some point, and use my coupon for a free meal to make up for a service-connected disability with my burger. Just because it's free, doesn't make it better. It doesn't make it good. I still get a pickle on my free meal, and what's worse, since they know they aren't gonna make anything off this, they skimp on the lettuce and tomato, and my fries are cold, and the drink is flat. Arrgh! Okay. I give up, but you don't win. I do. I'm voting with my dollar, because I live in a free country, where I can do that. Or at least that's what I tell myself.

Once they miss my dollars enough, and those of the other customers who eventually got fed up, and ate elsewhere, justice will be done. They'll either straighten up, or go out of business. That's the free market. Competition in a capitalistic economy drives inovation, and encourages competitors to produce a better product or service. It goes back and forth over time. Each burger joint trying to keep their customers from going to the competition. Quality goes up all around. Satisfied customers tell their friends. More people eat at your burger joint. Business makes more money, and can pay its employees better. That makes them happy. Customers are happier too. They get burgers with no pickles, if that's what they want. Quality of life goes up. Successful pursuits of happiness achieved. Don't you love the simple logic of that?

Let's recap. I don't like pickles on my burger. If I can't get what I want in a hurry at the drive-thru, and can't get it inside, face-to-face, I vote with my dollar. Bad burger joint closes. Justice is served, and nobody's in a pickle, unless they want to be. I scratch my head. Seems like common sense to me, but I digress.

So, I'm sitting at my desk, going through my emails, and I run across one about the internet, and the plans for a new and improved internet. "Cool," I think to myself as I read further, I'm a techy. It seems the government has a new website to promote a new idea for the internet. It's called http://www.openinternet.gov. Nice looking site. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has a video posted, to "communicate" to me how a "federal commission" is going to make the internet the best thing since sliced bread.

This federal commission in charge of "communications" has this heartwarming message that I am part of something big. It says,

"Welcome to OpenInternet.gov. Together we can preserve a free and open Internet to promote greater innovation, job creation, and a more connected America."

Wow! That does sound like the best thing since sliced bread. We're together, free and open. It's gonna promote innovation, and create jobs, and best of all, make us a more connected America. Well gee. Who wouldn't want that? Sign me up. But wait a minute. This sounds too good to be true. I remember being in a pickle before, when I thought I was getting what was advertised; what I was paying for.

I was about to go throught the drive thru. This looks and sounds like what we need, but I've been in a pickle before because I took the drive thru. Maybe I should go inside, and dine in. So I watch the video of FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. Hmm...  sounds like the burger joint manager, who can't really explain why I keep getting pickles that I don't want. What the burger joint manager said sounded nice too, but didn't communicate anything that mattered. FCC Chairman Genachowski's video communicates NOTHING of substance. Well, ain't this a pickle.

Where's that customer service card? They had one at the burger joint.  Hey! They want me to join the discussion. So, I click on the button under the ridiculous video, under the heartwarming message. I type in my two-cents worth, and am about to hit send, but it won't. They want to know my email address. Why does the FCC need my email address to post a comment on a "free" and "open" internet. Isn't that like a poll tax, or something?

I remember the cash-for-clunkers fiasco, where you effectively gave the government "ownership of your computer, now and forever, and everything on it." NO PICKLES, PLEASE!  I've seen management at this burger joint in action before. If I give them my suggestion, and its the next best thing since sliced bread, then they can just take the message. Why do they need to identify the messenger?

If they were sincere, it wouldn't matter who the messenger was. They didn't ask me to join a mailing list. They asked for opinions. It won't let me just leave a message. Now, I've seen how this government treats people with views that are contrary to their agenda. Talk radio. Lou Dobbs. Glenn Beck. Fox News, in general. Even the insurance company Humana got a pickle they didn't want on their burger when they warned their customers about Obamacare.

Well, I don't need to post my message on their site. They won't like what I have to say. Besides, I might end up on their hit list for daring to point out the obvious. Keep your hands off the internet. You're obviously not qualified, or motivated to do what's in MY best interest. That's my free speech you're messing with. I don't trust you to control it. You've forgotten who the customer is: WE THE PEOPLE.

Gee, this sounds like my "single-payer," government-run VA Medical Care. You've heard of that right? It's for our veterans who find themselves in a pickle, that need healthcare. And if you're in a pickle, and go to the management, don't expect much. Read my blog entry titled "VA Leaves Combat Veteran Stranded 150 Miles From Home" further down, to get the full effect of what I'm trying to say here.

Our corrupt government doesn't even read the Constitution, their "employee handbook." I'll just post it on the FIRE Coalition Blog, or on my PatriotWatchdog blog at MySpace. I don't need their permission there. I don't have to give them my email address to speak my mind. I'm a free man with a Bill of Rights. I'm the employer, not the employee.

So, I go to log into our blog at http://blog.firecoalition.com, and what do I see? Not our blog. I see a big, scary window, warning me that "this might be an attack site."

Well, ain't this a pickle. Did I mention I don't like pickles? At the FIRE Coalition, we actually do "question with boldness," and we actually do "speak without fear." We hold our elected officials feet to the fire with our 1st Amendment right to free speech. We don't just take the drive thru, we go inside, and meet with our Congressmen, Senators, etc... You know them right? OUR EMPLOYEES? Our humble servants with "honorable" at the beginning of their names?

Over the past two years, since I took on the role of National Director, whenever the FIRE Coalition pressured the government too hard, or told too much of the truth about the "pickle" We the People are in, we get attacked. Like that "Where's Waldo" game, you could almost just assume that I was in D.C., because our sites, and emails would come under attack, crash, get hacked.

I used to use that as a litmus test. Hey, we must be doing something right. We're angering some powerful people if they can get past the well-managed security on our sites, and email accounts. But since I don't advertise where and when I go, it really narrows the list of possible culprits. Now, my philosophy is that there are only two groups of people that we should be talking to about what's wrong with our country: We the People, and the people we elect. Period.

What that means is that I don't waste my time trying to argue the merits of defending Article IV, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution with the illegal alien foreign national invaders who comprise the largest invasion in world history. They are not the solution. They don't have a seat at the table, or shouldn't. They don't respect our laws, our sovereignty, our culture, our language. Nothing. So who would know where I am, if I don't advertise ahead of time where I am, except maybe some of those government officials whose feet I hold to the fire.

When I was in the military, I took an oath, just like our Members of Congress do, just like the President. If I betrayed my oath, I would on the carpet in front of my commander. I'd have some explaining to do. I might even go to prison for betraying my oath. If honor, loyalty, and sense of duty to your fellow countrymen wasn't enough to keep your attention to detail, the threat of going to Levenworth might do the trick. Wouldn't that be a pickle?

Well America, our government is being run like a poorly managed burger joint, with employees that can't read their "employee handbook," (the Constitution), that keep trying to shove pickles down our throat, no matter how often, or how loud we tell them, "NO PICKLES, PLEASE!"

Our burger joint employees won't read the complaint box either, (we have no redress of grievances), or listen to the customer satisfaction surveys. Like a large number of the illegal alien employees that don't speak the same language we do, (at OUR burger joint), they don't even read the bills their special interest salesmen write to get us out of the latest pickle. A pickle, I might add, that we wouldn't be subjected to in the first place if management had upheld the "employee handbook."

They just offer us a free burger to appease us. We go away. They can sit back and live fat off the stockholders of the burger joint. Things have gotten so bad, our burger joint is going bankrupt. We need new management. We tried that three years ago, when the House and Senate swapped hands, and got a whole new fresh set of empty promises. We were already in a pickle. The "change" we got was more pickles! Are we insane? No. We are not.

We the People have something most of the rest of the world does not, "a sleeping giant" that hates koolaid, but loves sweet tea. White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel said, "Never let a crisis go to waste." Yesterday, President Obama declared the H1N1 virus a national emergency. If you listened to the donkey that's behaving like an ass, or the elephant who's lost his memory, you might have noticed the "triggers" that were put into place after 9/11/2001, and even more "triggers" when our poorly managed burger joint staff put the people in New Orleans in a pickle after Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast.

These "triggers" were just crisis management devices to solve a problem, but the real intent was to nibble away at our rights, our sovereignty, our Constitution, etc... After all, they gave us heart-warming rhetoric, to make us feel good about giving up a little liberty for a little more security.

Do not be so naive as to believe our President, Congress, and the rest of our burger joint employees at the top haven't read the Constitution, or the wisdoms left by the Founding Fathers. We the People advise each other that the Founders said, "Any people who will give up a little liberty for a little security will get neither. The traitors know that too. They also heard us advise each other about another Founding Father wisdom: When the government fears the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny.

The President and Mr. "Don't let a crisis go to waste" Emanuel want us afraid of them. They don't like us having liberty or freedom of choice. Foreign and domestic enemies of our Constitution and sovereignty create crises that will steer the sheeple towards the solution that will give them more power, and We the People less.

Eventually, if the foreign and domestic enemies of our Constitution get their way, we'll be too afraid to challenge them. Our apathy and pragmatic compromising have us in a real pickle. Our burger joint is in such a state of despair, with an ever-increasing onslaught of pickles we didn't ask for. They call tax increases an elimination of tax cuts. They call patriots racists. They call their customers potential domestic terrorists to both quiet the messenger, and marginalize the message.

When the formerly "sleeping giant" won't drink the koolaid, well gee, that's another crisis. They try to shut We the People up at every turn. Discredit the messenger, and you discredit the message. Nice try, pickle-pushers.

I have a question for FCC Chairman Genachowski. Who wrote that "non-communicative" koolaid commercial for you? George Orwell? Mr. Chairman, who crafted the imaginary crisis you aluded to, Aldous Huxley?

We the People can't survive on your animal farm, and this ain't 1984 either, no matter how much you may slobber over the concept. It's time for a stockholders meeting at "All-American Burger," to discuss the diminishing returns of the pickle-pushers before we have to shut down our burger joint. Wouldn't that be a pickle?.

By the way, here's what I would have contributed to your OpenInternet.gov site if it was the message you wanted, and not the messenger. 

The government can best preserve a "free and open" internet, whatever that means in government-speak, by keeping their hands off it.

If you really want to improve access and availability, how about holding those providers accountable that We the People gave billions in tax credits to, in order to help them expand their service to rural areas? They also got the benefit of expanding their business. That's how you sold it to We the People over a decade ago. But did you regulate or monitor our money? No. Did you make sure they kept their end of the bargain? No.

Can you explain why We the People should believe you this time? You attach words like "free" and "open" to give people a warm fuzzy while your real goal is to take control of the last bastion of free speech, fill the pockets of the "chosen ones" that will provide this new service, and goose-step that much closer to socialism and the total dissolution of the United States.

People used to vote with their dollar. What do you think they'll vote with when you take all their dollars?

Keep your hands off the internet. I watched the FCC video. FCC... stands for Federal Communication Commission. We the People would think that the Chairman of our FCC could actually "communicate" I'd be embarrassed. And because I believe Chairman Genachowski is a willing usurper, while we ARE at war abroad,

If the FCC can't even "communicate" using "common sense" language, with complete thoughts, and precise wording..., again, I have to ask, We the People should trust you why? We shouldn't. We don't. Mind your own business. Here's how you "play" with words:

Pretentious pickle-pimps pontificating pernicious propositions of peace and prosperity won't proselytize PatriotWatchdogs, Putz!

 

TRANSLATION: NO PICKLES, PLEASE!

I was watching C-SPAN2 today, as Members of the U.S. Sentate debated extending unemployment benefits. It is astonishing to watch Senators like Dick Durbin  and Patty Murray from Washington step to the podium, and give sob stories about Americans out of work.

Senator Durbin had the audacity to use "bankers" as his examples of why we should extend unemployment benefits. Senatos Durbin and Murray were two of the promoters of the Dream Act, and amnesty for millions of illegals. How can they with any credibility, argue for unemployment benefit extensions when they themselves are part of the reason so many Americans are out of work.

Today they may be listening to their constituents, but their aiding and abetting illegal aliens has been a driving motivator for more foreign nationals to illegally enter the United States and steal identities and jobs from Americans.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not suggesting they do or don't extend benefits to help previously hard-working Americans get by, but let us look at the big picture, and the real hypocrisy of these Senators.

If they care so much about the American worker, WHY are they still allowing over 1 Million foreigners to enter the United States each year? 

Why have they done NOTHING to stop the largest invasion in world history?

If they really care about American jobs, they will secure our borders and ports of entry, put a moretorium on foreign worker visas, end the VISA-Waiver Program, and enforce the immigration laws already on the books to rid our landscape of the tens of millions of illegal alien foreign nationals stealing jobs from Americans.

It makes me sick to see these sappy-eyed politicians pretending to give a damn about the American worker when everybody who's honest with themselves KNOWS these Members of Congress don't give a crap about America, the American worker, or the future or your children.

We the People must hold our elected officials accountable, and retire those Members of Congress who, like Durbin and Murray, have betrayed their oath of allegiance, their oath of office, and that have failed to exercise a wholesome discretion in their public service.

Extending unemployment benefits for un-employed Americans might be necessary, and it might be a good idea, but if we don't get a grip on legal and illegal immigration, this will only be more money thrown down the rabbit hole, further indebting your children and grandchildren.

With six workers competing for every available job, does it make any sense whatsoever to continue to allow millions of illegal alien foreign nationals to stay in the United States, or to import over 1.4 million foreign workers this year? Any sense at all? 

For years Congress, talking heads, and big business-funded think tanks inside the Beltway have pretended to get serious about border security, all the while filling their pockets with millions of dollars in taxpayer monies, and donations they could dupe you out of. In 2006, Congressman Peter King authored H.R. 6061, The Secure Fence Act of 2006. Border security advocates rejoiced. Finally Congress was getting serious about stopping the largest invasion in world history.

What happened next is indicative of a pattern of shell games Congress plays with the national security of the United States. They had "authorized" 700 miles of double-layer fence, but yielded to pressures from the Bush Administration, big business, unions, social progressive legislators, and the church.

In August 2007 I visited every 287(g) participating law enforcement agency in North Carolina, traveling thousands of miles, interviewing sheriffs, detention facility officers, and ICE agents. What I found was very interesting. Politics was so prevalent in the enforcement of our laws that many law enforcement officers were reluctant to even talk about the program.

Initially, I thought it was because of the massive disinformation that was being spread by open-borders lobbyists such as the SPLC, ACLU, NCLR, LULAC, MALDEF, EL PUEBLO, and others. The impression 287(g) participants were giving was the less public scrutiny of the program, the better. It was as if they thought "no news is good news," and they would be better enabled to protect their citizens from criminal illegal aliens if their participation wasn't showcased.

What was the number one complaint that officers shared, most on the condition of anonymity? JUDICIAL ACTIVISM.

Officer after officer confided their frustration with activist prosecutors and judges who would plea down charges against criminal illegal aliens to avoid mandatory deportation. You see, if a foreign national is convicted of certain crimes, regardless of whether or not the local law enforcement were participating in 287(g), a detainer and deportation hearing was required.

If the  prosecutors entered into plea agreements, and the judges accepted them, they could avoid deporting thousands of criminal aliens, many of whom worked for industries and businesses that funded their respective campaigns. Federal judges are appointed, as are the prosecutors. Most state judges and prosecutors are elected.

The legal citizenry get caught in the middle between the politicians, vying for funds for their campaigns, and the businesses that knowingly hire illegal aliens, and more Americans are raped, robbed, murdered, and pilaged as a result.

The corruption isn't just at the state level. The feds are to blame as well. While much attention was placed on the plight of Border Agents Ramos and Compean, or Deputy Sheriff Gilmer Hernandez, very few people even heard of the plight of ICE Agent Cory Voorhis. Like Ramos and Compean, Agent Voorhis had an exemplary resume which included active duty military service prior to joining law enforcement.

Veterans are now considered potential domestic terrorists by Homeland Security. Really? Why is that. Former Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano undermined Sheriff Arapaio's ability to enforce the law when she was governor, and now as Secretary of Homeland Security, Jaded Janet has an ever bigger bully pulpit to aid and abet illegal aliens and the businesses that profit from them.

ICE Agent Cory Voorhis exposed the corruption of activist Denver District Attorney Ritter when he ran for governor in 2006. 241 criminal aliens were given sweetheart deals by then-District Attorney Ritter. Unlike the officers I spoke with in the summer of 2007, U.S. Navy Veteran, ICE Agent Voorhis didn't just grin and bear it. He spoke out. The timeline is a bit backwards, but when I found out about what my fellow Navy Veteran Voorhis had been subjected to, I understood why the law enforcement officers in N.C. and elsewhere were so reluctant to say publicly what they confided to me in private.

It wasn't just state and local judicial activists undermining the enforcement of our immigration laws. It was DHS itself, and the Justice Department of Bush 43.

Ramos and Compean were in prison for stopping an illegal alien drug smuggler, receiving over a decade in prison for simply trying to uphold the law. Deputy Sheriff Hernandez received a year and a day in prison for protecting the citizens of a small Texas town when he stopped a carload of illegal aliens late one night.

Agent Voorhis was tried twice, and acquited. The Bush Justice Department was sending a clear message: Enforce the law at your own peril.

In December 2007, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson (TX) attached an amendment to the 2007 Omnibus Appropriations Bill to strip the funding from the Secure Fence Act. While most Americans were checking their Christmas shopping list twice, Congress was yet again playing politics with our national security.

Secure Fence Act author, Peter King, voted for the Appropriations Bill that stripped the funding from the Secure Fence Act. His excuse was that there was more good in the appropriations bill than bad. He compromised on principle, and de-fanged a good start towards securing our southern border.

At the same time, Border Agents Ramos and Compean were fighting for their freedom after being railroaded by the Bush Administration's Justice Department. Senator Diane Feinstein gave a heart-wrenching speech during the July, 2007 Senate Judiciary Hearing about how the 924c section of the criminal code had been misapplied in the Ramos and Compean case, but she did NOTHING to undo this travesty of justice.

Agents Ramos and Compean rotted in solitary confinement while Congress and the President made excuses for their failure to uphold their respective oaths of office.

Deputy Hernandez after serving 1 year and 1 day was released. Lesson learned.

Agents Ramos and Compean saw their sentences commuted on the last day of the Bush 43 Presidency.

Agent Voorhis spent 2 years in the sights of DHS and ICE officials in bed with big business and corrupt politicians.

None of these honorably discharged veterans are protecting our country from foreign or domestic enemies any longer.

The message is clear: Do your job. Enforce the law. Go to prison.

When DHS was called out for the outrageous Right Wing Extremist report they put out earlier this year, what did Jaded Janet do? She apologized, not for the report, but because veterans were offended by it. She stood alongside the American Legion leadership as if she apologizing for the implication, which she did not do.

Under the Obama Administration and the Democrat-controlled House and Senate, 287(g) is being neutered. Border Agents are being reduced in numbers. E-Verify is on shaky ground as well. Politicians are giving lip-service to enforcement, and doing everything they can to undermine the ability of state and local law enforcement to actually protect the lawful residents and legal citizenry in their jurisdictions.

What are "supposed" champions of law enforcement doing to sound the alarm? Very little.

In January, 2009, Congressman Walter Jones, (N.C.-3) re-introduced the Illegal Alien Crime Reporting Act of 2009, H.R. 150. One might notice this is a bill you can actually read. It's only 4 pages, but I digress... This legislation would mandate that law enforcement agencies across the country add "legal status" and "nationality" to the crime reports state and local law enforcement are already required to submit to the FBI and Justice Department.

With the exception of the Chairman, only two members of the Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus started by former Congressman Tom Tancredo have stepped forward to co-sponsor this bill. TWO!!

Indiana Congressman Dan Burton and North Carolina's Sue Myrick. The American Legion, the largest verterans group in the country, with 2.7 million members, has yet to endorse Congressman Jones' legislation. Talk is cheap. Pamphlets are cheap. Having met with Legion leadership in Indianapolis twice in the past 2 years to discuss these issues, even the American Legion seems to be dragging their feet on supporting tracking illegal alien crime.

Colorado native and author of "The Dark Side of Illegal Immigration," Peter Wagner, was told by the Justice Department that the reason they are not tracking illegal alien crime is because, and I quote, "...because Congress hasn't told us to."

Members of Congress have taken an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution, but apparently, only give lip service to actually doing it.

I met with Legion leadership in July. No fruit. I requested a meeting with Mr. Riley, who heads up the National Security Division at the Legion in August and September about garnering their support for H.R. 150. No joy. Not even a returned phone call or email. Hmm...

The National Sheriff's Association, which boasts 3085 sheriff offices across the country, also dragging their feet about even granting a meeting to discuss their support for this legislation. Why is that? At the current rate of implimentation of 287(g), it would take 600 years to just to reach all the sheriff's offices, let alone the thousands of municipal police forces.

Law enforcement agencies, elected officials, prosecutors, judges, and affiliated non-profits are all yielding to pressures applied by big business, unions, the church, and others who profit from the largest invasion in world history by illegal alien foreign nationals into a sovereign nation.

One hand washes the other, once the 30 pieces of silver slide into the pockets of those betraying their oaths, and Americans continue to die at the hands of the illegal aliens invading our country. 

Those honorable law enforcement officers like Sheriffs Arapaio (AZ), Mack (AZ), Johnson (NC), Jones (OH), Hernandez (TX), and federal agents such as Ramos, Compean, Voorhis, Brugman, and others have been victimized by the cancerous corruption that has infiltrated our political system from the top down.

When will YOU stop accepting excuses from elected officials for failing to uphold the Constitution?

When will YOU stop supporting the leadership in your party, your industry, your church, and your community that are selling America down the river?

Will you stop when they come for me? Will you stop when they come for YOU?

Even Glenn Beck, Fox News' newest golden child, is calling illegal aliens "modern-day slaves," and suggesting we should secure the border, but open the gate wider. Really? Wider?

What about the millions of Americans who are out of work? There is no "common sense" to the argument that business can't find qualified employees amongst the 30+ million unemployed American citizens to help their companies prosper.

Do the math. 300 million Americans x 9.8% unemployed = 29.4 million Americans out of work.

Consider the actual percentage of unemployed Americans, which includes those who have given up looking for a living wage job, the percentage is closer to 17%.

Do the math. 300 million Americans x 17% unemployed = 51 million Americans out of work! 

Does "widening the gate" make any sense at all?

Is Congress serious about enforcing the law, and upholding Article IV, Section 4, which guarantees us protection against invasion?

Do veterans groups "really" walk the walk of the talk they talk on securing our borders?

Does the Department of Homeland Security reward brave agents, or punish them as an example to other law enforcement officers to "go with the flow?"

Does the President intend to keep his oath, or will he like Bush, just give lip service to securing our borders?

Does Glenn Beck have a clue? Is his "Arguing with Idiots" the whole story, or is he one of the idiots we should argue with?

"Question with boldness," Glenn says. Hmm...

The Mormon Church was instrumental in pressuring Congress to include the un-Constitutional section 141C in the SAVE Act in 2007. Glenn's not talking about that.

Even NumbersUSA founder Roy Beck promoted this un-Constitutional legislation in 2007/2008, when it was a bi-partisan bill. He did this knowingly.

And now, the SAVE Act is back, and Roy started encouraging citizens to reach out to their Members of Congress to support this bill before it was even available for the citizenry to read by Members of Congress at Thomas, the official legislation web site hosted by the Library of Congress.

The devil is in the details. How can we complain as citizen activists about Members of Congress voting for legislation they haven't read, when some of the biggest supposed champions of secure borders encourage Joe and Jane Citizen to pressure Members of Congress to support legislation that is unavailable to be read.

The video linked above is in Roy's own words, dated July 20, 2009. The legislation did not show up on Thomas for even the House version for another three days, and even longer for the Senate version. I love Roy's gumball video. It is by far the best explanation of why we need to end illegal immigration and reduce legal immigration to levels that are in the best long-term interest of the American people.

That doesn't give Roy a free pass to promote un-readable, and un-Constitutional legislation. That is what happened. Glenn Beck says "question with boldness." Really?

I did that Glenn. I questioned Roy and NumbersUSA in 2007/2008. I questioned Shuler's office, and Bilbray's. I met with numerous Members of Congress, their staffers, and the "inside the Beltway" crowd trying to get to the truth. 

People drinking Roy's koolaid and the leadership of the RNC/DNC crowd didn't want to believe they would do such a thing as knowingly promote un-Constitutional legislation, yet they did, and continue to do so.

Glenn Beck doesn't want to talk about the Mormon Church's involvement in pressuring Congress to sponsor and promote this un-Constitutional legislation. Why is that Glenn? Too close to home? Don't want to believe it? WHY?

Why is Homeland Security watering down the 287(g) program?

Why are veterans and patriotic Americans being labeled potential domestic terrorists and hate groups?

Why is even Glenn Beck drinking the koolaid that illegal aliens are the victims in all of this, instead of the tens of thousands of Americans killed by illegal alien invaders?

This veteran would like to know. This citizen activist would like some answers. I don't have a fancy red phone like Glenn for the White House to call, but I have been sending him information for months that he has thus far refused to consider. Why?

The Campaign for Liberty was hijacked by agent provocateurs. The same can be said about the tea party grassroots movement. Gee, Glenn's been an active agent in talking about that too, but has only skimmed the "safe" surface.

I'm not interested in destroying the credibility of Roy, Glenn, or anyone else. I do want the American People to know the truth. Expect some video and audio in the coming weeks that will further explain all of this.

Why would Glenn Beck have Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) pundits on his show as "experts," when everybody KNOWS they are one of the biggest global federalist institutions in the country working to undermine our sovereignty and the Constitution. Is Glenn arguing with idiots, or a useful one himself?

There's much more to this story, including the mysterious call I got today from Missouri, from a number that is disconnected, and not in service.

And the threats I received from Washington insiders that I would "fall on my sword" if I didn't get with the program. Really? Yes. Really. If Glenn wants to talk about this, he need look no further than his inbox. I've been sending him information for over 2 years, information he says he wants. Time will tell.

This "sleeping giant" woke up 4 years ago, accepted his complicency in his complacency that has allowed our country to fall into such a state of despair. When will YOU wake up, stop arguing with idiots, and start replacing them with altruistic patriotic Americans who won't sell out for money or power?

When will YOU start holding the pundits of the rule of law and the groups that claim to champion defending our sovereignty and the Constitution accountable for their ongoing failure to accomplish anything besides them fiddling (getting rich) while Rome (our liberties and Constitution) burn?

I don't like bringing up that I'm a combat veteran, generally; not because I'm ashamed of it though. Compared to the price some patriots have paid in service to our country that share that distinction, my service pales in comparison, and I'm not worthy to polish their shoes. God bless them. But, having said that, I do bear that label, and I have something to say about health care for all those who think ObamaPelosiCare is God's gift to mankind, let me tell you, you don't have a clue, and better wake up, and wake up fast and stop this socialist, communist crazy-train we are on before you find yourself in my shoes.

I suffer from many of the Gulf War Syndrome illnesses, including being a stage 4, aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma cancer survivor, my third bout with cancer since my return from the Persian Gulf in 1991. If you think H.R. 3200, or any other "public option" is what you want, or that revamping our entire health care system with 1100 pages of bureaucratic, big government solutions is the answer, then I hope you have as much self-control as this combat veteran who is at the mercy of government-run health care.

Two days ago, Sept. 1, 2009, I had an appointment with my cancer doctor at a VA medical center, not just any old medical center, but one which can boast doctors and nurses from one of the premier medical training hospitals on the planet. The VA Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina is directly across the street from Duke. While I'll save my nightmare stories about the outlying centers that don't have Duke University Medical to lean on for excellence in patient care for another time, I am so mad right now about what happened Tuesday, 150 miles away from home, that, well... I'm fighting mad, and when I'm done spitting nails, I'm going to have some choice words for Congress that will make what the Communist Van Jones said about Republicans sound like a marriage proposal.

I won't go into the depth and breadth of my medical issues caused by my service to my country, it's academic to what I want to share. Suffice to say that I am by all qualifying parameters a combat veteran in a government-run healthcare system entitled to travel assistance, (travel pay) to assist me in seeing the specialists that are monitoring my cancer, which is in remission, that work at the VA Medical Center in Durham, N.C., 150 miles from my home.

Those of you who know what I do as the PatriotWatchdog, and as the National Director of the FIRE Coalition already know I do what I do for free, as my health, energy, and funds allow. On Tuesday, I had a 3:30p.m. appointment to see my cancer doctor, a specialist from Duke Medical School that sees veterans across the street from Duke at the VA Hospital.

Because I live 150 miles away from my "government-run" health care provider, the VA, and am basically indigent, with no source of income, I really need that travel pay just to make it back and forth for the plethora of appointments I have that I can't go see a local doctor, or local specialist to treat like I did when I worked at NASA, and had insurance I paid for through my employer, a contractor who worked for the government.

The way that the bureaucrats in big government run things, one hand doesn't know or care what the other hand is doing, and the red tape to fix even the simplest of issues the "free market" healthcare would NEVER allow to happen, happens all the time at the VA, and this shining example of government-run health care left me stranded, at the mercy of others, 150 miles away from home.

Here's the short version: My appointment ended at around 4:30pm, the same time the travel office closes. I knew I needed the travel pay to get back home, but I didn't cut my visit with my cancer doctor short to rush over to the travel office to satisfy the "red tape czars" so I could collect my "gas money to get home" from the cashier window before it closed.

I remembered a heart-warming sign outside the travel office window which stated that after 4:30, veterans with travel needs should go see the AOD, Administrative Officer of the Day, so I finished my consultation with my cancer doctor, reviewed the CT-scan, blood work, etc... from the previous week's trip, and discussed things that a patient discusses with their doctor in private, without bureaucrats driving the conversation.

So, when my consult ended about 4:32, and I went to the travel office to get the "gas money" to go home, the gentleman was finishing up with another veteran who was filing his travel claim, but paused long enough to tell me "We're closed." I looked over my shoulder, saw the cashier window was already shade-down and dark, and felt nervous. I was 150 miles from home. I had not approached my family this time for help on this particular 300 mile doctor's visit trip, even though they had offered before when my funds were short with enough funds to make sure I had "insurance" against something going wrong, and my not being able to rely on that "travel pay" to cover the costs of the 300 mile round-trip. I should have listened to my mother. Lesson learned.

When I found the AOD office, I found out that they don't actually take care of travel pay after normal hours the way the sign implied, they only did the paperwork. 

By now, I'm starting to worry. How will I get home? I don't know anybody, or have any family nearby to call. What will I do? Well, the AOD, a very nice lady advised me that they did have a social worker on staff at the hospital, and advised me that she had an emergency "gas voucher" fund for such occasions. 

I exhaled with a sigh of relief. I wouldn't have to sleep in the car, or stand on the corner and beg for help like I'd seen veterans in the past do at various intersections across the country holding up cardboard signs, their dignity in their throat, their hand out to an ungrateful public, like a homeless bum.

Now, if you saw me on the street, you'd have no idea what I go through to get the health care I was promised, fought for, blah, blah, blah, by politicians and slick-tongued devils who promote government-run healthcare to the public when they are campaigning for office, or trying to win the votes they need for the next greatest government-run program. You wouldn't know my financial plight, that I get no money from the government whatsoever, except for the gas money. My family, a typical middle-class American family takes care of its own, me, in my time of need. That I finally gave in, swallowed my pride and applied for a VA disability earlier this year is a whole other story, but looking at me, like many veterans, you'd never know just how dire my situation is unless you asked me, or knew me. 

I'm not a whiner, or a bum. I don't have a retirement, because I didn't stay for 20+ years, but I AM a combat naval veteran, in a government-run healthcare system, and as such, I am at the mercy of those same government bureaucrats that are trying to sell the rest of America a pig-in-a -poke in the march towards communism that we are on. Back to my story...

I go see the social worker who has this "emergency gas voucher fund" almost in tears, because prior to getting laid off from NASA in the fall of 2005, I had always been self-sufficient, took care of myself, and paid my own bills. Now, I'm walking towards a social worker to ask for gas money to go home; me a grown man who just celebrated his 47th birthday three days earlier... a patriotic American, who believes in America, and the Constitution, and who, in his current situation still fights for what is right, fights for his country as a civilian, who remembers his oath of office didn't expire with his honorable discharge in 1994.

I swallow my pride yet again, and hold back the tears that are welling as I ride the elevator to the 8th floor because the first place I'd been directed was also closed. Damn, I thought, even the social worker is gone. What will I do now? What has happened to my country? My anger swells, and drives back the tears as I reach for the door the sign on the first floor social worker's office directed me to if no one was available. I had tried the door, but it was locked, and so was this one. A nurse saw me from down the hall and asked if she could help. I told who I was looking for, and she responded, everybody's gone for the day.

My heart sinks again. Okay, so I go back downstairs to social worker office #1, and knock again. This time, the lady opens it. She was with someone, and will be with me in a few minutes. I wait in the hall, feeling like a bum. A few minutes pass, and the door opens. I go in, heart in hand, and tell her my plight. She offers me a "gas voucher" as promised by the AOD, but then that second sigh of relief quickly evaporated when she told me it was only for $10.00.

"$10 bucks," I say. "That won't get me home. Can you make it $20.00," I asked? "No," she replied, "The funds are limited, and I'm only authorized to give a $10 dollar gas voucher."

"Can you make it $20 bucks, and deduct it from my travel pay?" I asked.

"No," she replied, "That would be double-dipping?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, swallowing my growing anger, and wanting to not take it out on her, thus, "killing the messenger" of bad news. It wasn't her fault.

"Well," she explained, "I couldn't get a gas voucher, AND collect my travel pay.", and she wasn't authorized to give me the $20 bucks and deduct it from the $107.00 I was supposed to receive for this 300 mile round-trip to see my cancer doctor at a government-run health care facility as a combat veteran in need.

"You'll have to give up your travel pay to get the gas voucher, Mr. Lewis," she replied.

"Let me get this straight. I have to take 10 cents on the dollar, to get help from the social worker the Admin Officer of the Day referred me to after the travel office closed before I finished my cancer doctor visit at a government-run health-care facility as a combat veteran," I thought to myself as my anger grew. I sighed, took a deep breath, and then told her "No thank you." I may be over a barrel, and at your mercy, but the bureaucrats in Washington who set up this government-run health care program aren't going to cheat me out of the travel pay I am entitled to as an honorably discharged combat veteran in dire financial straits caused by my service to my country. Not today. You may have me over a barrel, but that's the final straw. I'm done. 

"Thank you. I'll figure something else out," and went back to the AOD office to pay homage to the red-tape czar so that maybe in 6-8 weeks I'd get the $107.00 bucks I so desperately need." I still have other doctor's visits to go to, and I hate having to keep asking my soon-to-be 80 year old Dad for gas money like a teenager wanting to go to the movies with my friends.

Not this time. Not ever again. I took the gloves off in the fall of 2005, and threw them away, and have been doing what I could do to fight illegal immigration... to fight the largest invasion in world history that was befalling my country that I care so much about. I took some skin off today of an empty out-reached hand-left-wanting two days ago, and the health care issues the nation is consumed with debating right now and other issues are moving to the forefront of the "good fight" I'm trying to fight for God & Country.

What put me over the edge to make decisions I made Tuesday afternoon was yet to come. 

As I'm talking to the nice lady printing out my travel claim form so I can sign it, I'm asking her questions about how this could happen. No disrespect to her, but the absurdity of the answers she gave were compounded as the social worker entered the room and the conversation.

You see, the AOD and social worker don't work for the VA Medical Center in Durham, N.C. directly. They work for another government agency. I think they said it was HHS, Health and Human Services. Seeing how dejected, beaten, and hell, pick an emotion, I was feeling it... the social worker volunteered that she wished she could do more, but the "gas voucher" fund was from donations they receive, NOT from the government, but from other veterans, and citizens who are already in a government-run health care system, and know what veterans go through just to get the health care bureaucrats boast and brag about is so wonderful.

Now, I'm really mad. All this red-tape bureacracy bull crap, and I'm out of luck. I thanked them for their efforts, overwhelmed with every emotion any veteran who fought for this country ever felt when the country they put themselves in harm's way for lied to them yet again, and left them out in the cold. No other options were offered to me.

I went back to my car in the parking garage, said a few prayers, and proceeded to dig all the change out of my console, out from under the seats, in the crannies, etc... I had spent my last dollar buying a couple of cheese burgers at Burger King on the way to Durham. I came up with $2.60. That was it. I went to the BP gas station a block away and bought ONE GALLON OF GAS. Now I had about an 1/8 of a tank.

I got out on the interstate before I called my brother, a retired Air Force veteran. He lived about half way home, slightly out of the way, but at least I didn't have to call home, and worry my elderly "Greatest Generation" parents with my problems yet again. They didn't deserve this. They introduced me to God & Country. They didn't beat me in the head with the Bible or the American flag, but they sure did introduce me to them, and then walked the walk of their convictions my entire life.

They were why I was putting myself through all this personal sacrifice the past four years. Everything they taught me that was worth believing in was falling apart. I had to honor my father, and prove to him "I got it, Dad. What you believed in was worth fighting for."  But that was then, four years ago, when I woke up from my apathetic coma and realized that my duty to God & Country wasn't done yet.

So I call my retired veteran brother, who, knowing I had been to see my cancer doctor at the VA Hospital, asked me "How'd it go?" I took a deep breath, followed by another sigh before I started explaining why I was calling. 

"Well," I started, "When I get done spitting nails, I'm going to have a mouth full of (edited for decency sake) choice words for some people in Washington when I go there next week. This un-Constitutional, socialized "public option" health care bill and communist agenda the progressive socialists are Hell-bent on driving down the throats of the American people has just gotten a new vocal opponent."

"Well, good" he responded, knowing my resolve and what I've been doing in the illegal immigration fight for the past few years.

"I need your help," an embarrassed and humbled me began, as I explained what had just happened.

"Head this way. If you don't make it, I'll bring you some gas," he offered, one veteran to another, one brother to another. 

The good Lord smiled on me, and I made it most of the way to Goldsboro, where my brother lives. In fact, the good Lord smiled on my brother as well, so my plight didn't pull him away from his family at dinner time but for just a few minutes. 

I ran out of gas literally one mile from his home. I coasted into a parking lot, called my brother and within 5 minutes he was there, and before I even realized he had arrived, (being on the phone letting another compatriot know I had made it to a safe location, and help was on the way), he was tapping on my bumper, gas can in hand, asking me to pop my gas tank door.

He followed me to the nearest gas station, topped off my tank, and I went and had dinner with him and his family before driving the last 60 miles home.

The VA may have left me stranded 150 miles from home, and my car may have ran out of gas as I reached a safe harbor, but the blood in my veins boils as I type this. If you think government-run health-care and progressive socialist un-Constitutional big government is the answer. Think again.

I'm nobody, just a simple country boy who found himself a stranger in a strange land. I thought I lived in the land of the free, the home of the brave. And the second set of gloves, (the liners I guess) came off Tuesday, and the PatriotWatchdog is coming to Washington next week to talk about health care.

I now know many people in powerful positions in govenment now, Congressman, Senators, caucus leadership, staffers, presidential candidates, many on a first name basis because of the work I've been doing to fight illegal immigration the past four years. I've NEVER asked any of them for anything to help "Jeff." EVER.

I'm no Jimmy Stewart, or Mr. Smith, but if you're one those elected officials that know me who took the same oath to God & Country that I took, and you see me on Capitol Hill next week, I want to talk to you, and it ain't just about illegal immigration anymore with my usual Constitutional undertone.

I'm madder than Hell, and I need help for me, for all the other veterans in the VA Health Care system, and the rest of the American citizens who you swore you would represent. I don't care what your party wants you to say about the health care reform bull, I am demanding you keep your oath!

I am demanding here and now, before God and everybody, I don't care how well you "think" you've been upholding that oath prior to today, I'm going to demand you do more, and I damned well want you to know that I am taking "Not on MY WATCH" to a new level. If you're one of those Members of Congress that think you've been doing all you can to uphold the Constitution and protect us from foreign and domestic enemies, I've got news for you. With all due respect, it ain't good enough.

Whatever slack I've cut you in the past because I knew some of you were like chum in a sea of sharks, trying to do the best you could. It ain't good enough any more.

NO MORE EXCUSES!

God as my witness, your days in office are numbered if you don't start being statesmen, and honorable men and women. The PatriotWatchdog has had it!

If you're among the 2.7 million veterans who are also Legionaires and you've been sitting on your butts allowing this treason and insurrection to go on after you put yourselves in harm's way to keep your oath to God & Country, let me tell you, you ain't doing enough either. Your oath didn't expire. Your duty to your country isn't over yet. It still needs you, more now than EVER.

If leaving combat veteran cancer patients hanging out to dry 150 miles from home gives you a warm fuzzy, keep drinking the socialist koolaid. You'll get your turn once you learn to goose-step, but don't expect it to be any better than the current bureacratic-managed health care systems.

If you get excited about waiting in lines, then get in line behind the TWO MILLION VETERANS in line already waiting for their disability claims to be processed. I'm not asking to jump in line, but I am in line somewhere. See me? I should shut up? It's only been nine months?

Oh, and if you're in line at the Social Security office as a combat veteran who waited 3 years to file a SS disability or assistance claim only to have it denied because rather than jump at the first opportunity to slop at the public trough, exhausted all your personal assets FIRST before even applying and then only gave in under pressure from friends and family to swallow your pride, ask for the help you "earned" only to be told you waited too long, sorry can't help you. Yes, I'm in that line too. 

But hey, what do I know. I'm just a simple country boy. I'm no lawyer. I don't have a PhD. but like Glenn Beck, I'm a thinker, and I can read, and my Constitution says a lot of things that 1,314,000 of my compatriots died to preserve over the past 233+ years are under attack by more domestic enemies than foreign, and that must end, before our country runs out of gas.

Confessions of a PatriotWatchdog

How to Save Your Country On A Shoe-String Budget

Spring, 2010

Colorado Patriot Coalition Workshop Links

                      http://blog.firecoalition.com

http://patriotwatchdog.com/PalmettoResolves09.pdf

  http://firecoalition.com/docs/SlingsandArrows.pdf

  http://firecoalition.com/docs/RockyMountainHigh.pdf

  http://firecoalition.com/docs/ColoradoFirst.pdf

  http://firecoalition.com/docs/TREASON.pdf

  http://firecoalition.com/docs/OhioHB184.pdf

  http://firecoalition.com/docs/HR150.pdf

  http://firecoalition.com/docs/SLLIMEDIAPACKET.pdf

  http://firecoalition.com/docs/TellCongressNo.pdf

  http://firecoalition.com/docs/GAOSTUDYKING.pdf

  http://firecoalition.com/docs/DHSRightwingExtremism.pdf

  http://firecoalition.com/docs/AmericaFirstFINAL.pdf

  http://patriotwatchdog.com/LIEOFTHESEA.pdf

  http://youtube.com/firecoalition

  http://youtube.com/patriotwatchdog 

http://blog.myspace.com/patriotwatchdog

http://blog.myspace.com/patriotwatchdog

The legislative process is all messed up. Some of the same people who criticize Members of Congress for voting for the Stimulus Bill without reading it first are promoting the latest verstion of the SAVE Act by encouraging citizens to call, fax, write, and sign petititons to their Representatives and Senators in Congress to support the SAVE Act before the text of the bill is even available to be read.

Regretabbly, over 100,000 koolaid drinkers have already fallen for this "Greatest Show on Earth" and signed petitions delivered to Members of Congress before the bill is even available to be read.

How can we expect Congress to behave better when we ourselves promote legislation we haven't read?

The 2007 version of the SAVE Act contained changes to Title 8 that not only gave religious organizations immunity from prosecution for commiting the felony act of aiding and abetting illegal aliens, but that was fundamentally un-Constititutional. 

Many Members of Congress and the public who take the word of others about legislation, oftentimes "sight unseen" jumped on the bandwagon of support for the SAVE Act without ever having read it.

The FIRE Coalition tried diligently to get the sponsors of the bill to remove the un-Constitutional parts of the SAVE Act, and to get pundits inside and outside the Beltway to give due diligence to vetting this bill thoroughly before promoting it. 

FIRE Coalition researchers spent over 300 hours digging through the 109th Congress version of the SAVE Act, H.R. 4088, and the existing statutes it would modify before reaching the conclusion that it was very flawed, and worst of all un-Constitutional. Many of those who had jumped on the bandwagon of support for this bill refused to even consider they had been duped yet again by the legislative process and Washington insiders.

I was personally patronized, ostricized, and threatened if I did not "get with the program" and support the SAVE Act. I was told I didn't understand "the legislative process." What I understood then, and now, is that we shouldn't be supporting or endorsing un-Constitutional legislation no matter what justification is given, or what promises are made to correct it later, which by the way, never materialized.

I don't have an opinion yet on this year's version of the SAVE Act, but I am deeply concerned that the same dog-and-pony show is afoot. I would encourage everyone to withold their support for the SAVE Act and ANY legislation until they have the opportunity to read it themselves.

Former 1st Lady Nancy Reagan had some great advice for us all: "READING IS FUNDAMENTAL."

When the actual text of the SAVE Act is available, the FIRE Coalition will analyze it and formulate an INFORMED opinion, koolaid-free. We suggest you do the same.

If Shuler's H.R. 3308 and Pryor's S. 1505 versions of the SAVE Act mirror the 2007 version, then you can find the bulk of our concerns in the FIRE Coalition analysis of the 2007 SAVE Act at http://operationbodycount.com/SAVEACT2.pdf.

Don't be one of the suckers born every minute slurping the koolaid at the "greatest show on Earth." Call, fax, write, and visit your Congressman and Senator, and tell them to start reading the bills before they vote on them, and tell the pundits promoting legislation to have open, honest dialogs with the American people about what is in legislation, and to stop promoting bills we can't even read ourselves.

In 1986, the SAVE Program was passed to remove incentives that draw illegals, to crack down on employers who hire them, and prevent tax-payer funded programs from benefiting illegal aliens. This compromise was used by illegal alien sympathizers to get bipartisan support for amnesty.

The SAVE Program was never funded, promoted, or enforced, and the flood of illegal aliens increased.

In 1996, 287(g), the Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) Delegation of Immigration Authority Program was created as part of a bipartisan effort to crack down on illegal aliens to garner bipartisan support for another amnesty.

287(g) was not funded adequately, nor promoted nor enforced at all for ten years until the illegal alien sympathizer groups started gearing up for another amnesty. Even then, at the current rate, it would take 600 years for all 3085 sheriff offices in the country to participate. The flood of illegal aliens increases each time there is an amnesty in the hopes of getting in the country before the next amnesty.

In 2006, the Secure Fence Act was passed, under the guise of securing our southern border, and getting tough on illegal alien invaders to garner support for yet another amnesty. The American people saw through that ruse and successfully killed the two amnesty bills put forth in 2007.

In 2007, a bi-partisan bill was put forth, the SAVE Act, in the opinion of many to remove the illegal alien invasion from the 3rd rail of politics leading into the 2008 elections. Despite the fact that this bill contained un-Constitutional changes to existing statutes, Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle supported it, some without every realizing what was in it. The people behind the scenes writing legislation intentionally craft convoluted bills thick as phone books so that even a conscientious Member of Congress doesn't have time to find the devil in the details, and has to rely on overworked staffers and special interest-funded think tanks to advise them on the merits of legislation.

Even Secure Fence Act author, NY Congressman Peter King voted for the 2007 Omnibus Appropriations bill that stripped funding from the Fence Act.

Considering that we are indeed in the worst economy since the Great Depression, with millions of American businesses suffering, we really need to rethink how legislation is authored, promoted, and passed.

Say no to yet another amnesty! We do not need the flood of illegals to increase yet again if sterile-enforcement legislation is passed but never enforced.

We need a President and Members of Congress with backbones, not forked tongues. We need to secure the borders, enforce our immigration laws, and to uphold the Constitutionally-guaranteed protection against invasion that Article IV, Section 4 provides.

Tell your elected officials to start honoring their "employee handbook," the Constitution, or start looking for another job. Ask individuals and organizations promoting bills you can't read yet why you should sign a petition, fax, or call.

Think people. Stop drinking the koolaid when you don't know what's in it. Would you sign a contract to buy a house or car without reading it? Use some common sense please. Your children and grandchildren deserve better than this. Don't be the "sucker born every minute."