No. 49 – August 7, 2010
FOLLOW UP TO THE “RELIGIOUS” ARTICLE
I have received a ton of private e-mail (many people not even wishing to express their opinions in the open) regarding the last edition of THE AMERICAN TELEGRAPH.
Some were so afraid that they followed up with a phone call to make sure I would not “mention their name.”
I was somewhat saddened by this response, because it showed me how the American Spirit is dwindling into a Nation of Cowards.
This is not to say ALL Americans fall into this category. But too many do, and that is a National Tragedy.
For if there were a “Call to Arms,” like there was in 1776, I wonder how many of our Good Americans would take up the challenge?
My thanks to all those who did have the courage to write on the blog – and sign their names. I know it takes guts to stick your neck out. Please look up the origin of that idiom and you will see what I mean.
So, instead of trying to “force” my Cultural Christian beliefs down anyone’s throat, I thought I would simply close this discussion with a few video links, which you can download – and decide for yourself if you wish to finally stand up and be counted – or eventually singled out – and dealt with in the appropriate manner.
The decision is totally up to you.
The following two “references” have not been completely “verified” but if you wish to continue your own personal study, they might be a good place to start.
If you have already seen these sites, then my full apologies for the redundancies.
1. The Study of Political Islam – Very Long, Very Interesting:
http://www.politicalislam.com/blog/the-study-of-political-islam/
2. Three Things about Islam – These Points are Up for Debate:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ib9rofXQl6w&feature=player_embedded
If you REALLY want to get a handle on what is happening in this “on-going religious controversy,” I strongly suggest that you, at least, read/listen to this subject matter.
I leave it to the individual reader to make up their own mind – and act accordingly.
Many thanks to Doc and Richard for sending the bulk of this information to me for publication. Much appreciated.
DEMOCRACY OR A REPUBLIC
There has been a tremendous amount of confusion regarding what America really is – a Democracy or a Republic.
I am continually amazed at how many Americans simply do NOT understand that America is a Republic – and NOT a Democracy.
The worst form of government is a Democracy – for it is simply a euphonious term for LEGALIZED, MOB RULE.
In essence, Democracy means that the majority has the ultimate authority. That’s it. If 51% want to have a certain thing, whether it is right or wrong, and 49% vote against it – the MAJORITY RULES.
That all sounds fine – until you realize that there is no SYSTEM OF WRITTEN LAW that constricts this method of conduct.
And in a nutshell THAT is the difference.
A Republic is organized on a system of WRITTEN LAWS – a CONSTITUTION – in which a legal system is set in place to “adjudicate” all claims set forth by the citizenry of a Republic.
Please bear in mind: THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION is separated in to THREE distinct parts:
The Legislature – House of Representatives and the Senate – these people make the laws.
The Executive Branch – The President (The White House/The Administration) – this person signs the Legislature’s decisions – and thus sets it into LAW. The President DOES NOT make the laws. He merely signs them into effect, once they are presented to him for his signature.
The Judicial Branch – The Courts of America (Municipal, State and Supreme Court) – these people decide whether the laws that are passed by the Legislature and signed by the President are constitutional – ACCORDING TO THE CONSTITUTION.
Thus, if you want to carry this to the extension of the meaning of the words themselves:
Democrats believe in a Democracy – or Mob Rule. This has been very apparent with regard to the way Obamacare was bullied through.
Republicans believe in a Republic – or Rule of Law.
The following video reference will explain in detail how the system is meant to work. I suggest you check it out and make up your own mind, which political philosophy you wish to be associated with.
As a side note – and something most Americans are totally unaware of – is that our Founding Fathers actually abhorred the concept of a pure Democracy.
Mob Rule was the last thing they wanted – so much so, that you will not find the word Democracy – even once – in either the Declaration of Independence, nor the Constitution of the United States of America.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPlBoe7kilw
“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
My thanks to Charles for forwarding this youtube site to me.
PAUL AKERS FOR UNITED STATES SENATE
For the past couple of months I have been following Paul Akers and his campaign. He is articulate, very well focused on what he intends to do and seems intent on helping America change the course that it is presently on.
Paul Akers has taken a lot of heat for the amount of money he has invested into his campaign – much the same as Meg Whitman has, here in California.
But I tend to look at this as a positive – not a negative development.
Without hesitation, Mr. Akers has put his money where his mouth is. But the real essence of this is that it is his money – not anyone else’s.
And there is the difference. He is not drawing a “pension” from past government positions and claiming to be donating to his own cause.
Paul is digging deep into his own pocket – because of his love for America and his dedication to serving this great country of ours.
He is a very successful businessman: He doesn’t really NEED to run for public office.
However, his desire to be of service to America, his continual statements for fiscal responsibility and his defense of the United States Constitution has convinced me that he is the best person to represent the great State of Washington in the Senate.
I urge all Washingtonians to vote for this courageous and dedicated individual.
For more information, please visit his website – and get involved!
http://www.akersforussenate.com
ROB WOODALL FOR CONGRESS
The following is a bio sent to me by my brother, David Klepinger, who has been working tirelessly on Mr. Woodall’s campaign. I personally support Rob Woodall for Congress – and urge all readers in Georgia to do the same.
Together, WE THE PEOPLE can make a positive change.
From David Klepinger:
Meet Rob Woodall, Republican Candidate for the 7th District of Georgia, U.S. House of Representatives.
The second of two children, Rob Woodall was born in Athens, GA. He attended both public and private schools, ultimately graduating from Marist in 1988. Rob attended Furman University where he graduated in 1992, and enrolled in law school at the University of Georgia that same year.
During law school, Rob spent summers working on energy and health care issues at a Washington, D.C. law firm. During those two summers, 1993 and 1994, the Clinton Tax Bill and the Hillary Health Care Plan were the top items on the legislative agenda.
Frustrated by these proposals, and consumed with a need to do more to defeat them, Rob dropped out of law school after the summer of 1994 and began his public service in Washington with his hometown U.S. Representative, Congressman John Linder. Rob ultimately finished law school attending at night, graduating with a University of Georgia degree in 1998.
In Congressman Linder’s office, he began as a Legislative Correspondent, was soon promoted to Legislative Assistant, then Legislative Director, and in 2000 Rob was named Chief of Staff. Working from both the Washington Office and the Georgia Office, he has committed to making constituent service the foundation of the Linder Staff.
In 1999, Rob began the push for the FairTax with Congressman Linder. In 2005, he assisted Congressman Linder and radio talk show host, Neal Boortz, in crafting The FairTax Book, and when the duo decided to write the second book, FairTax: The Truth, they enlisted Rob as a partner and co-author, resulting in a second New York Times #1 Bestseller in 2008.
When Congressman Linder decided that he would retire at the end of 2010, he encouraged Rob to run for his seat. In the first round of the GOP primary race on July 20, 2010, Rob came in first among a field of eight candidates by a full 10-point margin. He faces a run-off on August 10th.
He has recently been endorsed by 2008 presidential candidate, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, also a huge proponent of the FairTax.
Rob Woodall believes in the Constitution and the continued sovereignty of the United States of America.
For more information regarding Rob Woodall, please visit his website below:
As you can see, I am very proud of my younger brother getting involved in politics and trying to make America a better place to live. I guess it runs in the family.
I encourage every reader to make some sort of sacrifice to help set America back on the right track – before it is truly too late.
You can wave signs, go door-to-door, hand out literature, put bumper stickers on your cars, allow campaign signs to be put up in your yards, call everybody in your personal telephone book, get involved in a campaign phone bank – but do something. Time is of the utmost essence.
That is it for now.
Best wishes and REMEMBER NOVEMBER – 87 DAYS AND COUNTING!
Lawrence Klepinger
Editor/Publisher
THE AMERICAN TELEGRAPH
Doc Dolan Says:
Larry,
I cannot tell you how many times I have argued the point of America NOT being a true Democracy – by definition. I like to use the analogy of a group of people playing a game. What are the rules? Who makes them? Do they change or get “re-voted on” every single time the game is played and new players are added? If NOT, then it is not Democratic!
Once you put in a group of set down rules, (or even make one rule)and ONE ADDITIONAL PLAYER JOINS THE GAME agreeing to follow the already decided rules … it is NO LONGER Democratic! It is a Republican game because the person or persons who agreed to be governed by the rules set down by other than themselves, made it a Republican game. It is no longer Democratic as the new players never got a chance to vote the rules up or down, like they would have if it was a true Democratic game.
Sounds convoluted I know … but those are the pure unadulterated facts! I am sure your readers can follow it. I have often heard it explained that “Democracy can only be truly practiced in small groups whose members never change! Because once a person joins, or leaves the group … all things must be re-decided and voted on again.”
America has a Republican form of government, always has and hopefully always will … as a true Democracy never works for a country – nor could it! Because every waking minute, every time a child turned ‘legal age’, every time a new citizen was made a citizen … EVERY LAW OF THE LAND would need to be re-voted on! At the current size of even VERY SMALL countries … no one would have any time to actually work as they would ALWAYS be voting! That problem in and of itself FORCES either a Republican form of government … OR a Socialist one!
THE TIME IS NOW AMERICANS !!!!!
CHOOSE WHICH ONE YOU WANT !!!!!
Then get off your collective duffs … and make it happen! If it is all you can do, then it is all you can do. But you MUST do something!
REMEMBER IN NOVEMBER … THE CHOICE IS STILL YOURS!
WILL IT STILL BE YOURS (AND MINE) IN NOVEMBER 2011 ?
WE ALL GET TO DECIDE …
August 7th, 2010 at 5:46 pmDoc Dolan Says:
To Brother David …
Keep fighting the good fight! Kudos!
August 7th, 2010 at 5:48 pmAndrea Says:
Larry, I like Akers but I also like Didier. I like what both have to say and what both hold dear. I think Rossi is just more of same of what we already have and don’t want anymore of. And bless you for knowing that we ARE indeed a Repbulic, which most of our elected officials don’t seem to be aware of. And as for knowing about Islam, if anyone is a member of ACT for America founded by Brigitte Gabriel or follows the website “Atlas Shruggs”, you will discover everything you ever wanted to know and so much you are afraid to know about the “religion” of Islam.
August 7th, 2010 at 7:05 pmJohn Says:
A God! Seems as long as we know history, there is evidence of humans worshipping a God. However, the books this world today uses as their “Bible” was written by people, the a God. Next everyone who reads those books takes those words and decides what they mean and defines their life style to live by.
Now the tone of this article is exampling the types of Governments. No matter which government you talk about there is a rule of people but without regard to a “Bible” but of some type of law, not matter who enforces it.
So the peoples of the world each have a life and some form of government, but yet they want to build weapons and fight others. Some on the basis of the their government priorities, others based on thier religious beliefs.
The USA is based on a Republic, govenered by law. It was our forefathers who also stated to keep state and religion separate. Is that happening today?
August 7th, 2010 at 8:43 pmDoug Says:
Larry
Quoting: “Republicans believe in a republic – or rule of law.”…
seems you missed out “EXCEPT WHEN THEY DON’T”.
Bush WAS a Republican I believe
Bush was manipulated into office by the supreme court without an actual vote count majority
Bush DID literally hurl the nation far right (as if 50/50 gave him a mandate ) without the slightest concern for the 50% of voters who were against him. (I was NOT against him then.)
The whole set of political gangsters and assorted unsavory cronies (Cheney… Hove… DeLay..etc) put into effect your “rule of law” to crush the opposition and 50% of the public.
You state with certitude (not devoid of spin..I would opine) that the democrats were a party of “Mob rule” (A less biased attitude would have used the words “majority rule”.) This one phrase alone painted your true color on politics
Your “word magic” sends me scurrying to support “mob rule” as having some justification if it blocks the rampant dictatorship mindset and power politics of a GOP ideology on the rampage.
Today your cast in cement dedication to GOP seems waterproof as there is ALWAYS a putdown of some level or another whenever you mention democrat.
Sorry Sir your Republicanism is part of you. Therefore your journal is bound to speak without balance. Please unsubscribe me since bias is not a key to credibility.
In judging the worth of MY comment please remember that my credibility is that after many many years of leaning right my direction was changed 8 years ago. I was always so anti union that Reagan won me by firing every union flight controller. I also supported impeachment of Clinton
Nowadays I see unions as necessary to fight off the evil of the uncontrolled cult that Republicanism became under your “rule of law”
spin
In politics and religion: middle of the road man ! There sanity has a chance. North and South is the horror of what I call “IDIOTOLOGY”
Without rancor Bye Bye Larry. We had some interesting exchanges wish you had admitted that your political beliefs had very few, if any, shades of grey
Doug
August 7th, 2010 at 9:54 pmMichael Kruse Says:
Hi Larry
Putting the cat among the pigeons as usual! You have a deceptive method of argument, which is to push the meaning of a word beyond what it would normally be understood to mean, and then treat it as though that IS what it is normally understood to mean.
You’re fond of dictionary definitions, so here’s one from the Online Etymological Dictionary:
republic
c.1600, “state in which supreme power rests in the people,” from Fr. république, from L. respublica (abl. republica), lit. res publica “public interest, the state,” from res “affair, matter, thing” + publica, fem. of publicus “public”
Of course America is called a republic. So is France. So was the USSR (remember what the R stood for)? So was East Germany. So is China, so is North Korea, so is Taiwan. Got a lot in common, have they?
No they haven’t… And, duh! The difference is democracy.
OF COURSE, America can be called a democracy. It is not a “pure” democracy; it’s too big for that to be tenable. But ask any political scientist and he or she will tell you: the US can legitimately be called a representative democracy. And it’s still mob rule. The US is NOT governed by consensus – which is the only truly republican alternative to mob rule (bearing in mind what “republic” means – “res publica” in Latin, a “public thing”).
The US is governed by mob rule. The mob vote for their representatives, and then the representatives follow the mob rule pattern: 51% says yes, the 49% who say no are screwed. In the case of constitutional amendments, I believe it is approximately 68%, 32%… But that’s just a bigger mob. All US laws, including the constitution, can be changed by the mob. What do you think “We the people…” is supposed to mean? The will of the people underwrites the laws and the will of the people is, by definition, the will of the mob. Of course, the Founding Fathers had a well-founded fear of demagoguery just as they had of arbitrary dictatorship, and the Constitution is a finely crafted instrument that is designed to mitigate the more pernicious effects of either tendency, but it is, in modern terms, a democratic constitution nonetheless.
There is nothing that says a republic cannot be a democracy. And there is nothing that says that a democracy cannot be ruled by law. The nearest thing to a pure democracy was probably ancient Athens (although their economy was dependent on slaves so we may be cynical about this), and their proudest boast – contrasting themselves with the Imperial Persians, for example – was that they were free, because they enjoyed freedom under the law. They were governed by law; other states were governed by the arbitrary will of kings etc. The point of a law is NOT that it cannot be changed; it is that no-one is ABOVE it.
I’m sorry Larry… I’ve often wondered about the differences between the two main US political parties, but it isn’t anything like what you’ve suggested here. That’s just playing with words.
Of course, one could be cynical and argue that the US is not really a democracy because it’s effectively governed by the same tiny group of powerful cliques, and that the illusion of “people power” is just that – an illusion. But in that case, the US isn’t a republic either – it’s an oligarchy.
Perhaps it is an oligarchy at that.
August 7th, 2010 at 10:45 pmAlma Arthur Says:
Dear Readers,
August 8th, 2010 at 12:58 pmIf any of you happen to be from Connecticut, there’s a great, honest, knowledge man who’s also digging into his own pockets, to try to win the senate seat from that state. He is articulate, and knows finances backward and forward; the reason he’s running is because he doesn’t like the current state of affairs with all the bailouts, and favorable treatment of banks, Wall Street, & other powerful global companies. He feels the taxpayers are overburdened with taxes that need not be, that their children & grandchildren will pay the price of all the “Monopoly” money being printed. PETER SCHIFFwants & believes he can make a difference & the only way his rational voice can be heard is to be elected to the Senate. Personally, I’d like to go back 100 years and start over. By the way SCHIFF is not an incumbent; he is an underdog, but gaining rapidly. Watch for his star is rise!! Alma Arthur
Bill Malone Says:
Larry,
I met your brother a month or so ago at a Fair Tax meeting. However, I have been working with him on the Woodall Campaign for the last 2 or 3 weeks (seems like a lifetime). He’s a good man. He stands up and can be counted on. In your first article, you wonder about the American Spirit…I can tell you, even though you probably know…that it is alive and well in your brother.
He and I have the same conviction when it comes to Rob Woodall. Rob will also stand up and be counted and will fight for our nation and the people of the 7th District. Both Dave and I know, there is no other motive when it comes to Rob…he is there for us..a true citizen servant.
August 9th, 2010 at 1:40 amDavid Klepinger Says:
Dear Larry and Doc,
Thanks for your kind words. I’ll report back to you tomorrow night as soon as we know the election results. It’s been a lot of hard work during a very hot summer, but after 7:00 tomorrow evening, as one of my neighbors likes to say, “It’ll all be over except the crying!” Hopefully, the only tears in my eyes will be tears of joy.
Dave
August 9th, 2010 at 6:50 am