Democracy at Work in Egypt

As the Egyptian president, Mohammad Morsi, is told by the military that his rule is over, millions of Egyptians celebrate in the streets. This, my friends, is what democracy looks like. Since his election, Morsi has consolidated more power to himself and his Muslim Brotherhood. The result has been less, not more freedom, in Egypt. And today the people of Egypt have risen up and declared that they will not allow authoritarian rule.

I have been shocked by the reporting of this by the Western news channels. Most are painting this as an illegal military coup that has stripped Egypt of democracy. Shep Smith even said that democracy didn't last long in Egypt. A CNN reporter said Israel will be upset with this, as will many Western countries. (Yeah, I'm sure Israel prefers the man who "Amen'd" a prayer to destroy the Jews to be ruler of Egypt) Most are upset because Morsi was democratically elected, and believe that the people of Egypt should just live him for 4 more years. Well let me clue you in on to what the Egyptian people would have to deal with. Christians imprisoned. Muslim minorities beaten to death. Freedom repressed.

To Americans and other Western countries, deposing an elected president may seem extreme. But you need to remember that in Egypt, there is no set Constitution laying out the laws of the land no matter who is in charge. After Mubarak was deposed, the laws of Egypt were open to change. And Morsi changed them to reflect a more extreme Islamic belief. His Islamic Constitution was not what the people of Egypt voted for and it was not what they wanted. His refusal to meet with and listen to Minority Groups was not what the Egyptian people expected. So yes, Morsi may have been democratically elected, but he was so based on the promises he made to listen to all the voices in Egypt, not just the extreme Islamic ones. And he failed to live up to those promises, and to make Egypt a better place to live. And so democracy in action is playing out in front of our eyes...and Morsi's oppressive regime is gone. Democracy is messy, but it is far better than tyranny. I applaud the Egyptian people on their stand for liberty, for one and all. Let the world take note: this is democracy!

The NSA and the Nazis: Lessons from History

The NSA spying program, recently revealed, is troubling on many levels. The most troubling, however, may just be Americans lack of concern over it.

A recent ABC News/Washington Post poll shows majority ok with NSA spying.

The most disturbing thing about the above poll is that in 2007, the same poll showed that a majority of Republicans/Conservatives favored domestic spy programs while a majority of Democrats/Liberals opposed them. So basically, it seems that Americans don't care if their government spies on their communications just as long as they support the person in charge. You know who else didn't care if their government spied on them? The Germans in 1933.

History is full of important tips for how we should handle our present...actually that's pretty much the point of recorded history. Unfortunately, too few people pay attention to history for it to make much difference. And most people decry any kind of historical point if it involves Adolf Hitler. It seems that most people think that Adolf Hitler was the worst human being to ever exist and so want to erase him from history, and our minds, entirely. I disagree. I think Hitler was the worst human being to ever exist and so I want to learn about the things he did so that we can prevent them from ever happening again. Forgetting Hitler is the first step to letting another one rise.

Still, as soon as many people hear a comparison to Nazi Germany they cry foul and chastise me for even making such a comparison. Here's why they shouldn't. And why every American (heck, every human) should be concerned about the NSA and other government programs designed to spy on citizens.

On February 27th, 1933, the German parliament building, called the Reichstag, was burned to the ground. To this day, no one knows exactly who started the fire. (Some claim the Nazis themselves did it.) But German Chancellor Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party leaders nonetheless blamed it on the Communists. They said that the Communists were planning a revolution against the German government and that the Reichstag Fire was supposed to be a sign to Communist terror cells all over the country to begin a wave of attacks. Within 24 hours of the fire, Freedom of the Press, Freedom of Assembly, and Freedom of Expression were all suspended. The majority of German citizens gave up these rights without a second thought. It was necessary, they said, in order to prevent the terrible attacks the Communists were planning.

School teacher Louise Solmitz justified it by saying, "[The Communists] wanted to send armed mobs into villages to commit murder and plunder. Hostages would be taken from the Middle Class. Wives and children of police officers used as human shields."

Brunswick resident Elizabeth Gebensleben added, "This ruthless intervention by the government may appear strange, but we must clean up. The Communists have to disappear."

And author Sebastian Haffner described the attitude of most Germans with this: "All of [the people I talked to] are very interested in the question of who really started the fire, and more than one of them hinted that they had doubts about the official story. But none of them were bothered that from now on their telephones would be tapped, their letters opened, and their desks broken into." [Emphasis mine]

Thousands of people associated with the Communist Party were imprisoned across Germany, without evidence or trial. Simply being a member of that political party was enough to get you arrested, indefinitely imprisoned, or worse. Yet the majority of German people approved of the invasive measures of the Nazi government and applauded the round up of the Communists. After all, the government was only doing it to protect its citizens. And giving up some degree of privacy is worth it in order to be safe. Plus, as long as you weren't a Communist, you had nothing to worry about. The German people were ok with it.

All you have to do is replace the word communist with the word terrorist and you have the America of today. Shall we continue our view of history to see how it worked out for the Germans?

On the 23rd of March, 1933, the German parliament voted to pass the Enabling Act, basically making Adolf Hitler dictator. After all, it was a time of national emergency, and the Nazis would be better able to protect the citizens from Communist terrorists if Hitler didn't have to constantly go through the German parliament. Again, the German people applauded the move. One said, "We cry with happiness and joy! All traces of resistance have been eliminated. Enthusiasm grips the entire nation! We can hardly believe that our beloved Fürher stands alone at the head of the Reich!"

Sebastian Haffner described the following months like this: "Church bells ring; children wave flags. There are daily parades. The people have become used to cheering, even when there's no reason for it. It is reason enough that people who distance themselves from the Nazis are tortured to death daily with steel whips and electric drills."

The German people enjoyed a prosperous year. Most had high hopes for their future and the future of their children. They were unconcerned with reports of political dissidents being targeted by the police and government. They cared less about the government spying on their communications. They celebrated the arrests of the Communists and believed they were living in a better Germany than they had been a year ago. 1934 looked like it was going to be a good year. For some, it was anything but.

In 1934, the Nazis began their eugenics program. Weeding out "undesirable genetic traits" was a key to this. And so the German government began surgically preventing anyone with undesirable traits from breeding. Over 400,000 Germans were forcibly sterelized for such "genetic flaws" as blindness, deafness, epilepsy, homosexuality, mental depression, alcoholism, sexual promiscuity, and physical deformity, among others. Including suffering a nervous breakdown, as one factory worker explained to her friend: "I have been informed by writing that I am to be rendered infertile. I reject this decision. I cannot understand why they want to sterilize me since I've done nothing wrong. Anyone could have suffered from a nervous breakdown."

Suddenly, having the government listening to your phone calls and reading your mail didn't turn out to be such a minor thing. The government knowing private details about their citizens made it a whole lot easier for them to determine how to handle them. Accusing the government of crimes in a letter could get you arrested. Asking your sick aunt how she was doing over the phone could get her sterilized. There was no place to hide.

I know, I know...it couldn't happen here. Well do you honestly think that the German citizens thought that the things that happened to them would in 1933? Do you think that Germans with epilepsy thought that they would be forcibly sterilized? Do you think that German Jews thought that they would be slaughtered? They didn't, as author Erich Ebermayer explained in 1933: "We are having lunch with a law professor and his wife. They are both Jewish. The amazing thing is that this clever, charming woman is not at all opposed to the Nazis. On the contrary, she lectures us on the outstanding qualities of Adolf Hitler, on the greatness of the age which we are allowed to witness, on the national rebirth. And she is firmly convinced that no harm whatsoever will come to educated Jews in Germany."

What do you say, American? Firmly convinced that no harm whatsoever will come of the government spying program? Firmly convinced that "it could never happen here?" I hope and pray that you are right. But history tends to disagree.

Government Collecting Data on ALL Americans

I first saw this a few months ago, and really just filed it away. I don't believe everything I see on the Internet. But with today's breaking news that the NSA has been collecting phone records, emails, and Internet posts, this guy's story becomes not only believable, but credible. The government is watching you. And violating the Constitution of the United States of America. Now, will enough people care? That is the real question.

The Star-Spangled Banner by Madison Rising

I know the Marxists controlling our government are whittling away the greatness of our once proud country. But the reason Marxists attempt to squash religion is because little things can cause a great deal of inspiration. And a little bit of inspiration can be a powerful thing. While America is being destroyed by idiots on the West Coast and the East Coast (and by a few in the middle) the fire of freedom has yet to be extinguished in a great deal of Americans. And America will never truly die if She resides in our hearts, regardless of where this country heads.

To that effect I offer you perhaps one of the best renditions of our National Anthem, performed by a rocking young band who's goal is to fan the flames of American patriotism. Facebook even tried blocking this band's videos, claiming it was just a "glitch" when enough people rose a stink. Now, thanks to Facebook's liberal tendencies, many more people have heard about this band and are sharing their songs. This is Madison Rising with a rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner that will bring a tear to any patriot's eye. Enjoy, and God bless the USA!

Britain is No Longer Free

"The sun never sets on the British Empire."

At the height of it's power, that phrase was used to describe the greatness of Britain and the vastness of it's Empire. Today, we are witnessing the sunset of British sovereignty. After the vicious murder of the soldier in a suburb of London by Muslim attackers who promised to never stop killing Brits until they get rid of their government (presumably replacing it with Sharia Law), the response of the British government has been quick and telling.

Two things shape my opinion. One, the British Prime Minister made a statement telling soldiers not to wear their uniforms in public. Just take a minute to think about what that means. In that situation, any normal leader should say, "We condemn this attack, we will not stand for it, and we won't allow it. We promise to keep our people safe here in our own country."
But he didn't say that. Sure he condemned the attack and said they won't stand for it...but he completely left out the part about Britain protecting it's citizens in their streets. In fact, he said the opposite, just not in so many words. By telling soldiers to not wear their uniforms in public, he was basically telling all of Britain that their government was now unable or unwilling to protect them, and that they should take proactive approaches to not become victims; namely, hiding from the enemy.

The other thing that confirms my fears is the story of the Newport shopkeeper who displayed a shirt in his store with the words: "Obey our laws, respect our beliefs...or get out of our country." This man quickly received a visit from the police telling him to remove the shirt from his store or face arrest. Apparently someone told the police that the shirt offended them, and so they forced the man to remove it because it offended racial sensibilities. Which is something since it said absolutely nothing about race whatsoever. Think about it for a second.
"Obey our laws."
Well isn't that what people are supposed to do?
"Respect our beliefs."
Well that could be called tolerance. Don't we live in a tolerant world now? Yet someone was offended at those basic principles of society...and so the police got rid of them.

And those two stories tell you all you need to know about the state of Britain. The government has admitted that it won't or can't protect it's citizens on their very streets and that their laws and beliefs won't be protected either. For almost a thousand years England stood as a sovereign nation, and the British Empire was perhaps the greatest the world has ever seen. But the sun is setting on Britain. And it's being replaced by a crescent moon. In ten years, Britain will be a Muslim country; complete with Sharia Law, women not being allowed to go to school or even leave the house without a male escort, and 12 year olds being married off to 50 year old men who will treat them worse than any animal. Its feckless government and foolish leaders have all but assured it, and it's ignorant populace won't realize it until it's too late. Their liberal policies and political correctness have led to their demise, and it's only a matter of time before the name 'Britain' serves only as a warning to the rest of the Western World. A warning that we would be wise to heed.

The Boys (and Girls) Who Cried Racist

In the very off chance that you don't know the story of The Boy Who Cried Wolf, I'll give you a brief rundown.

A long time ago, before cars and iphones, there was a boy who lived in a small village who tended the sheep for his family. One day, bored and lonely, the boy yelled, "Wolf! Wolf!"
The townsfolk came running out to the field to save the boy from the carnivorous beast. But there was no wolf. The boy had lied. The townsfolk were annoyed.
The next week, the boy yelled, "Wolf!" again. Again the townspeople came running out to the field. But again the boy had lied. The people were angry.
The next week the boy did it again. Only half the townspeople came out this time, and they were angry again.
The next week the boy did it again. Only his family ran out to the field this time.
The next week he did it again. Only his mom came out to help him from the fictitious wolf.
The next week, an actual wolf showed up in the field. As it charged at, attacked, and drug the boy away, his screams of "Wolf! Wolf!" were ignored by all.

When Barack Obama became president, the word "racist" suddenly became the most used word in the English language. (Well maybe, like, second. To the word "like.")
Anytime someone criticized anything Obama said or did they were accused of being racist. If you didn't think a community organizer had the qualifications to be president; you were racist. If you didn't think Obamacare was a good idea; you were racist. If you didn't think the murder of four Americans was because of an Internet video; you were racist.
Racist...racist...racist.
It went from the obscure, to the main stream, to the surreal. Chris Matthews declared the words "Chicago" and "urban" to be racist. Multiply nouns of every size, shape, and definition suddenly became "racist." Words that had been used in a non-racist way for hundreds of years suddenly became "racist."

Now I went to a school in an inner city Pennsylvania town. I had friends of every race, creed, denomination, and disposition. Racism, to me, is one of the stupidest things on the planet. Judging someone based on a purely physical characteristic that they had nothing to do with (People don't choose what color they're born as. If so, I wouldn't be pasty white) is completely asanine. So to suddenly be called racist for my political beliefs, or hatred of Chicago style pizza (Seriously, toppings go on the OUTSIDE of the pizza. That's why they're toppings, and not innings) upset me. I was incredulous that believing the Constitution should be followed was racist. I was distraught that believing Marxism would only lead to tyranny was racist. I was angry that believing the death of Osama bin Laden should be credited more to the Navy Seals that actually did the killing than to a president who sat comfortably drinking bottled water on the other side of the world was racist.

When someone said my beliefs were racist, I reacted. I read the articles, listened to the newscasters. I didn't wanna be called racist, because I'm not racist.
Five years later....and the word "racist" has as much meaning to me as the word "wolf" did to everyone in that town. I saw a headline today declaring that criticism of President Obama has its roots in White Supremecy. I didn't even bother to read the article. The word "racist" has no effect for me anymore. And it has no effect anymore for millions of Americans who used to hate being called racist because they weren't. Now it's just a sad, pathetic exclamation for people who have no other ways to protect their sad, pathetic ideas. The boy who cried wolf was destroyed by his lie. And the credibility of the boys and girls who cry racist is being destroyed by their idiocy. So go ahead and call us racist. Because the more you do, the less people will pay attention to you.

Of Intolerance and Bravery

In the event that you live under a rock, a monumental and momentous event occurred a few days ago: an NBA player announced he was gay. Not being a die hard NBA fan, I had never heard of Jason Collins before two days ago, as I'm sure few did. He is a 34 year old free agent that has played for 6 different teams and is currently unsigned. Basically, he's a mediocre player who's playing days may have come to an end. Now I don't mean to treat his accomplishments lightly; anybody who plays professional sports is in a very low percentage of a very talented group. I just wish to paint the picture as adequately as I can. In over 700 games, he averaged 3 points and 3 rebounds a game. He was no superstar, to which everyone can agree.

Yet despite his obscurity as an athlete, once he announced that he was gay, he became instantly famous. His name is in every newspaper (or more likely nowadays, website), he's being talked about on all the news channels, and the social media world is exploding with his story. As the first professional athlete from the "Big 4" (football, baseball, hockey, and basketball) to announce he's gay, he is being hailed as a hero. Some are comparing him to Jackie Robinson. He even got a phone call from the president, who is proud of him. He is the new American hero; cited for his bravery, courage, and personal strength.

I'm certainly not going to denigrate Mr. Collins. I don't know the man and so won't speak about his personal character. By all accounts, he's a nice guy. And I would speak out against any vile or negative remarks made about him if that were poured upon him. But just as he doesn't deserve insults, he also doesn't deserve this effusive praise being heaped upon him. I don't know his personal reasons for saying he's gay, but I do know that he has become an instant superstar. He's probably received a few book deals by now, he's been invited for countless interviews, and he is being raised upon a pedestal. Was Jackie Robinson given that? Jackie Robinson was personally and publicly reviled; he received death threats in every town he played in. He was given hatred. Jason Collins is receiving very little, if any, of that. Does it take courage to become a public hero? Or to receive praise and compliments? How brave does one have to be to announce that they are gay in a society that openly approves and applauds the gay lifestyle? I doubt Mr. Collins was unaware of the fame his announcement would bring him, just as Jackie Robinson was aware of the infamy his decision would bring him. And predictably, any who refuse to applaud Mr. Collins' choice of bedmates are being verbally butchered as intolerant bigots. Chris Broussard may lose his job over it.

Yet there is another American, who this very day sits alone in an Iranian prison cell, possibly suffering from internal bleeding due to severe beatings he has gotten from the guards, simply because he refuses to denounce his Christian faith. Saeed Abedini is very far from his wife and children, treated worse than any animal, because of his religious beliefs and for no other reason. This man, an American citizen, rotting in solitary confinement because of his God given right. You see, when the U.S. Constitution was written, the Founding Fathers said the rights protected by it are God given. Which means that all people are given them...not just Americans. Other countries may not choose to recognize those rights, but all people are given them by God Himself. And so today, as Jason Collins is treated like a hero and his detractors villified as intolerant, Saeed Abedini is being tortured to death because he refuses to give up his God given right. And as President Obama is making speeches about and phone calls to Jason Collins, he is doing nothing for Saeed Abedini. So I ask you, what takes more bravery? Where does the true intolerance lie? Is it with the man praised for an announcement, or for the man dying for his faith with little fanfare far away from his home? Today, who is the real hero?