Glenn Beck,
I want to thank you for starting this web site - it was a wonderful idea with great potential. Unfortunately, it will not realize that potential due to 2 factors:
1. It is impossible to navigate (I don't have time to crawl through page after page trying to relocate an entry), and,
2. It is poorly moderated. Arguments that are totally beside the point are allowed to go on and on without end, further cluttering the site.

As a result, I will not be participating further - a decision I have in common with many others.

If any of you reading this want to participate in a serious conversation with me, I can be found at: http://www.troy.thoughtsaloud.com/

For those of you who are praying for my soul and/or warning of its certain incineration, please save your time and effort. Having learned to think for myself, I find it impossible to go back to a superstition-based world view. Thanks for your concern though.

Glenn, thanks again for trying. If nothing else, reading many of the contributions here should be giving you a better idea why the country is in this mess.

Most of the suggestions I see here would require the federal government to fix itself. THAT IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN! Any viable plan for saving the Republic must assume a hostile federal government. We the people, for all intents and purposes, have lost the ability to influence the federal government - in a word, they have their agenda and simply don't care what we want.

Like many of you, I also favor the FairTax, some form of term limits and all that good stuff. The problem is that such things are only practical AFTER we return to constitutional government -- they are NOT the means for bringing about that return.

IMHO, our best hope is to convince our respective state governments to act. Among other things, the states can become more adamant about their/our 10th amendment rights. Better yet, they can vote for secession and/or the dissolution of the Union, ergo dissolving the federal government.

Most important of all, we must recruit a number of high ranking military officers into our cause. Without this, we risk the probability of the military might of the United States being used against us.

If any of you think the power elite are going to change their plans just because a few of you are upset and write nasty letters to them, then you are naive beyond belief. Especially now when their goals are actually in sight.

I sincerely ask all of you to stop the bickering over God, put aside (for now) your dreams of a perfect government and start concentrating on, and cooperating toward, what WE OURSELVES can do to stop this surge toward socialism. Our freedom is at stake here and we had best use what little of it we still have left to try to get back the part we have already lost.

4-KEEP YOUR WEAPONS OILED AND READY.

"I can no longer watch our president speak on television because, to me, it's nothing but a Hollywood-type production. What happens in Hollywood? Acting, of course."

You are so right.

Glenn Beck offered up his 9 Principles. A good start, whether I accept all 9 or not. In that spirit, I offer my 8 Truisms... truisms

that I sincerely believe could help us focus our thoughts and efforts on the main task at hand which is restoring the United States of America to constitutional rule. Obviously, I expect all of you to challenge items on my list that you think (not feel - think) are not true, and to offer evidence to the contrary.

My 8 Truisms:

1. Ronald Reagan is dead and is not coming back to save us. We are on our own.

2. There is no rational or scientific way to prove or disprove the existence of a diety, by whatever name. Ergo, time, space and energy used arguing the point is time, space and energy wasted and a distraction from the main task.

3. The United States of America is NOT a Christian nation, a Jewish nation, a Muslim nation, or a (insert your religion here) nation. It is intended to be a Constitutional Republic whose laws are neutral on the subject of religion. The laws of mathematics provide that, at any given time, SOME belief system will attract the greatest number of Americans. That is a reflection of free choice being made but is not a basis for defining what kind of nation we are. Arguing this point merely detracts from the main task.

4. Barack Obama is the President of the United States of America. We may have differing opinions about his eligibility to be president and/or the means by which he was elected, but he IS the President and any near-term approach to repairing our nation must acknowledge that.

5. We currently have a federal government, all 3 branches, that ignores the desires of the people it was elected to represent. Ergo, for most purposes, we are under the rule of a dictatorship. Any near-term approach to repairing our nation must also acknowledge that.

6. Both Liberal Democrats and Conservative Republicans got us into this mess. Slinging mud at each other because of Party differences merely detracts from the main task. Whatever your political leanings might be, the simple fact is that you either want to return to constitutional rule or you don't. Those who do are our allies. Those who do not are our enemies.

7. The United States of America was not created to be a Democracy. It is intended to be a Constitutional Republic. The difference being that, in a democracy, whatever the majority wants is law. In a Constitutional Republic, there are rules (the Constitution itself) that seek to protect the rights of all, including minorities. Attempts to redefine us as a Democracy are merely aids to the implementation of socialism.

8. No Constitution, indeed no government can grant you your natural rights. These are yours by virtue of your existence. Governments impede the exercise of rights. Asking governments for rights is a willful surrender of your freedom.

Now, can we get to work on the main task??

More extensive essays on many of the points above can be found on my blog at: http://www.troy.thoughtsaloud.com/

Thanks for reading this.

"So, what have term limits to do with preventing the "organized plunder", Troy? " Nothing directly. Indirectly, term limits should serve to breakup the "game" such that new people, with new thoughts, might have a chance. With the current system, even those who might have other ideas are forced, by economic reality, to play the pork barrel game.

"They are all 'party aparachiks' before they ever get elected, anyway!" My point as well - except that I assume term limits would help stop this.

I agree with your last point, designing a law that would get to the root of the problem - except - those who will have the privilege of designing said law will be the same old gang playing the same old game! The FairTax would go a long way toward fixing things but there is 0 chance the existing power structure would do something to lessen its own power.

The word "God" is very interesting in the effect it has on people. There being NO universally accepted definition of "God", it seems that anyone reading or hearing the word automatically assume it refers to their own concept of a God when that may, or may not, agree with the author's concept. I submit that the word God, without supporting context, means nothing definite - only the general notion of a higher or originating power. To claim that such usage points to a particular religious dogma is a bit of a stretch.

I agree with an exception -- if they were in uniform when captured, then they should be considered POWs. If they were NOT in uniform but were engaged in the fighting, they should have been considered spies or partisans and should have been shot rather than taken prisoner. This is a long standing rule.

Sure, maybe some were innocent. What war has not involved the killing of innocents? War is a nasty business at best. People should remember that before they start them.

Ah, Dave - have you not figured out by now that the bible thumpers have something very much in common with liberals/socialists - they both want to use the power of government to change our behavior - mine, yours, and others like us.

Morningstar, our elected federal office holders have a taxpayer-funded health care plan that all of us would be glad to have. Ditto their retirement plan (full salary after only one term). And, they do not pay into FICA or Medicare.

It seems that, where their own well being is concerned, they have no problem whatever finding good answers!