MAKE ME AN INSTRUMENT OF PEACE

Sometimes I don't want to be peaceful. There is to be a spanish language version of "the Star Spangled Banner". I fly my flag on my home, though I do not follow proper flag ettiquete to the "T". I do not have a light on the flag at night. I do not take it in during inclimate weather or at night. But I have not changed the appearance or meaning of it. These interlopers have changed the words. That changes the meaning. These marches with a boycott and mangling of our National Anthem are not making me feel I have anything in common with these illegal immigrants. They broke the law to get here. Every day they are here it is in violation of our laws. However it is supremely difficult politically to remove them. BUT THAT DOES NOT MEAN WE SHOULD JUST ROLL OVER AND GO WITH THE FLOW!!! We need border enforcement legislation NOW!!! First things first!!
There are many things that interest me. Music for example. I played music professionally for most of my adult life. I was 17 when I played at my first dance. I'm pretty sure I was just shy of my 51st birthday when I played for my last dance. GOD wastes nothing. Today I produce the audio for First United Methodist Church here in
River City. Lots of music here. So I am not out of music. I just do something different with it. When I came home with the news that I had been asked to join my first Rock & Roll band my dad's reaction was " Who would pay to watch you play?".

Pretty much describes my relationship with the man that was to have so much of an influence on me. This coming Monday, May 1st, I am going to counter-protest this amnesty boycott. Just me. Maybe my dad. I don't know. He says he will take a bit of a stroll with me. He even said he will still go after I told him yesterday there will be at least one TV station there. I don't know what to expect. I believe he served our nation during WWII. I believe he worked hard in that cement mill, manufacturing the products that re-built Europe following its destruction during that war. But I also believe he made decisions that to this day I do not understand. Until the last few years I could not watch a John Wayne movie without seeing my dad in the lead role. I believed our estrangement was due to my lifestyle and choices. It has only been during these last few years I began to understand the gulf between us now is the same as it was when he did not come watch me play in the taverns and supper clubs though he had a bar in his basement. It is the same as it was when I was a scout and he did not take an active role in the progran I was so involved with. It is the same as it was when he quit his job, gave our house back to the bank, and moved home to his mom and dad's following his breakup with my mother. I believe his relationship with me has been tainted by that divorce my whole life. But if he goes through with this...

I pray every day to be an instrument of GOD's peace. I don't always live up to this ideal I strive for. I hope these marchers on Monday awaken this slumbering giant to the peril that lives among us and directly to our south.

Well I must finish this and once again retrun to the world to slay dragons for my fair maiden. First I must post the guard, repair the breach in our outer defenses, and clear the moat of bridging material.

This I Will Defend

When I was 12 I joined the Boy Scouts. My experiences in Scouting were all preparation for when I would be old enough to enlist in the Marine Corps. This would happen in February of 1969. By the grace of GOD and reasons unknown to me I spent my enlistment in the United States. I never went to Viet Nam though I volunteered for that duty on a number of occasions. When I returned to River City following my Honorable Discharge I could not find work with decent wages. In April of 1975 I enlisted in the Army. My reasons at this time were all economic. I really thought of myself a somewhat of a mercenary. In other words, decent employment was not easy to come by. Four years later I returned to River City to find that if things had changed at all they'd gotten worse. I wanted to remain here. This is my home. The bones of my ancestors going back to my grandfather's grandfather are here. My forefathers settled this state.
So I had to improvise. I worked at whatever I could find days and played music weekends. Usually made as much or more playing bass Fri. & Sat night as I could in 40 hours M-F. I do not care to see things returned to that state. Not for me, not for my kids, not for their kids, not ever. Have commitments this evening. That's why I get the big bucks. First I must make my security checks. Make sure the alarms are armed, the deadfalls set, the hounds loosed.

As a child I spoke like a child, I thought like a child. When I became a man I put a way childish things. This week congress is back in session. So far they haven't discussed border control. There is still hope...
I have called my representaives in the Senate and House. I have talked with the Police Chief here and there is no problem with me demonstrating in favor of border control on May 1. So maybe I will influence someone else... For now I must retrieve the hounds and post the guard. This is my land. I will watch over it and be a faithful steward. I must rest to be strong for the struggle ahead.

I just wanted to post something about the marches we do participate in. This one involved something like 76 trombones and 110 cornets. or so. Something like 50,000 people came to watch 15 or so high schools march down State street with accomanying fire engines, cars, floats, clowns, and assorted merry makers. We gathered in the park for further festivities involving souped up automobiles with 60's music in the background, concerts at the bandshell, consession stands, and one heck of a lot of people celebrating being American. Celebrating our children. And celebrating music in the park. On May 1st there is supposed to be another demonstration of "Latino Power". A day without immigrants. I intend to walk from Veteran's Memorial in Central Park to City Hall, then to the US Post Office with my American flag. I don't know if anyone will join me....
My ancestors did not claim this land from wilderness and tame its bounty for us to just give it away to a bunch of squatters. I do not doubt things are rough in Mexico. I'm sure they "just want a better future for their children". So do I. This is my country. It belongs to me and my fellow citizens of the United Stated of America. There are several billion people in the world today. A lot of them would think the Mexicans are rich. If these marchers want to protest against a government's policies, why do they not march in Mexico? Their problem isn't really whether or not they are treated well in the United States anyway. The problem lies in the corrution deep in the heart of Mexico and its ruling elite. If we give in to these threats of anarchy we will end up just like any third world country. A very small wealthy ruling elite with a large poor underclass. We have striven too hard to allow this to come to pass. The sleeping giant I heard referenced during the LA march was not the masses of illegals shouting slogans in spanish demanding undeserved rights. The sleeping giant rousing from slumber is the same one Admiral Yamomoto Isoroku awakened on December 7, 1941.
Over 70% of the American people want nothing to do with guest workers and 90% believe border control should come first. Then lets discuss any other issues. Immigration cannot be reformed if it is not controlled. Immigration cannot be controlled if the borders are not controlled. Period.

Sunday morning @ 1st Church

Have a little time beteween services. I was trying to find on-line photos to include with this post but nothing appropriate seemed to catch my eye. There are other topics that interest me besides the controversy surrounding illegal immigration. Right now, though it seems a subject much ballyhooed in the press. The subject did peak my interest in the history of my family though. There was much talk of "we are all immigrants" in the summer of 2001 here in River City. The Governor was promotng his plan for our future. "New Iowans" he called them. His plan was for three model cities. These cities would be provided with $50,000 in seed money to develope welcoming programs for these "New Iowans". It would invlove streamling home ownership, education, banking, and so on. The idea was to make the transition to living here as smooth and welcoming as possible for these "New Iowans". The thing about this was, though,all the brochures and so on were to be published in spanish. The police and fire departments were to be given grants to learn spanish. What the heck is going on here Governor. The problem is wages. We spend tax dollars to educate our children in our schools and colleges. After graduation they need to relocate to find decent employment, and you want us to spend more tax money to make these people who are replacing our children feel welcome? There were a number of townhall meetings where he heard the opposition to his scheme, and it was stopped in it's tracks. That was in July. In September everything changed. Now it is not quite so politically incorrect to insist on boder control. In point of fact it is becoming more patriotic to believe our way of life is woth protecting.....

Well, well home again....In any case when I became active in protesting this "New Iowans" program there was much made of "We are ALL immigrants". However I don't agree with that. I don't agree with that at all. I know some are newer arrivals to this country than others. But it is my belief the argument "We are ALL immigrants" is not relevant. The problem is NOT immigration. It is ILLEGAL immigration. Where the Governor and I disagreed with the most was he was seeming to ignore the "Original Iowans" in his scramble to attract new ones. I am one of the "Original Iowans". As is my father, as are my children, as are their children.

We can be a very generous, open and welcoming community without turning our back on our own to welcome those who truth be told do not belong here in the first place. As a young soldier I was stationed in Northern Italy. Not many Americans in Northern Italy so if I wanted to talk with someone different I needed to speak Italian. Which I did. Probably not the best at it, but I didn't expect them to learn english to cater to me. When my wife needed to spend a week in Il Ospedale Civile di Pordenone I took a week's leave so I could interpret for her. I did not expect them to learn english to treat her. And I paid my bill when we left.

Back to the "we are all immigrants" nonsense. It got me interested in tracking my family history. What I discovered really surprised me. I new that my gramdfather was born in Nora Springs. His father was born in South Dakota, his grandfather was born in Indiana. What I had thought prior to my genealogical foray was that grampa Peter, my grandfather's great grandfather had come from Scotland. What I learned was grampa Peter was born in Ohio and his father was born "about 1770 in Pennsylavania". At what point do we cease being "immigrants". My family has lived in this country for over 236 years. We have been Americans since before American was free from British rule. My grandfathers moved west as this nation expanded and wrestled a world power from wilderness. There was no welfare for them. They worked or starved. There was no free education, they either paid their teachers or went to work. There were no emergency rooms for free health care. If they got sick they would either pay for their healthcare or not get well.

I believe I am not the only person who has history here. There are many of us. In addition to those of us whose ancestry goes back generations there are those among us who have immigrated legally, played by the rules and waited in line. Well it has been a real long day. There is still a moat to care for. The drawbridge needs repairs, and the guards think they need a day off....

More for today

I just wanted to add a bit more for today. Congress reconvenes tomorrow after their two week hiatus for Easter. There have been demonstrations of masses of people marching in American cities under foreign flags, shouting slogans in foreign tongues, demanding rights they are not entitled to. There have also been e-mail, snail mail, and phone campaigns to let OUR representatives know how we, the American taxpaying citizenry, feel about this. Guest worker with "earned regularization" equals AMNESTY period. The 20,000,000 illegal aliens are already here. AND YES THEY ARE ILLEGAL. They come across our border 3,000 to 8,000 per day. AND YES THEY DO TAKE AMERICAN JOBS. There is no such thing as jobs Americans won't do. I don't know where our so called President gets such nonsense. Every time he utters that phrase he insults every one who has ever toiled to help make this country the best place in the world to live. He insults my father, his father, and every one of my ancestors back to when Grandpa John was born in what was then the colony of Pennsylvania. That phrase "work Americans won't do" is a threat to my children, their children, and their grandchildren to come. There have been over 2,400 Americans killed pursuing non-existant weapons of mass destruction and Bin Laden is still thumbing his nose at us. That phrase "work Americans won't do" is a threat to every one of our gallant soldiers engaged in this war with Islam. If we are in a war, why on earth is our southern border so porous? Why do the containers coming in to our ports not get inspected? Why are there no soldiers protecting US? What in the world is he thinking calling those brave people in the Minuteman organization "vigilantes"? What is it going to take to get his attention? The only hope I believe we have is for the Democrats to take back control of Congress. If President Clinton could be impeached for lying to his wife, President Bush is guilty of so many things it would be hard to sort it all out. We could start with lying about WMD and go on from there. How about treason? He seems to want his buddy Vincente to invade.
Mostly though I am sick and tired of his "work Americans won't do". I can't think of much I haven't done at one time or another. Some work I liked. Some I did't. Mostly though, if there is work I don't choose to do it is because the wages are too low. For some reason work is not valued in our society. It is going to be up to us, the American citizen taxpayers, to finally say ENOUGH!! WE ARE MAD AS HELL AND WE ARE GOING TO TAKE THIS NO MORE!!!
Well I am running out of time to blog. There are other chores I must tend to. 1)Make sure the moat is full. 2)Raise the drawbridge. 3)Inspect the guard....

This is my first attempt on my first day on my first blog. Many firsts. I wanted to blog because I hope to meet others who belive as I do that we are no longer being served by those elected to represent us in Congress. I also believe our President has no credibility when it comes to national security. We the American taxpayer are being bled dry by the policies our government sets forth allowing manufacturing to be moved overseas to cheap labor markets and the importation of cheap labor through H-1b visas and illegal immigration. It is my hope that through blogging I may influence some to action or meet others who are already active. I did not serve my country in my youth just to see it being sold this way.
My father served in the Navy during WWII. During the Viet Nam War I enlisted in the Marines. We are descended from a long line of settlers and pioneers. This country belongs to us and those like us who have staked a claim for our children, their children, and their children. My ancestors forged a nation out of wilderness. My father helped to defeat tyranny, I believe I helped stop the spread of communism and assisted in bringing down Mr. Gorbechev's wall. My son-in-law is presently serving in Iraq. Our nation is being over run by cheap labor and I can not believe the same kind of people who hi-jacked those planes on 9-11 haven't figured out how to utilize these hordes of line-jumping job thieves to infiltrate our country. The Berlin wall was meant to keep people in, not out.