What is citizenship?

What does it mean to be a citizen? Citizenship is not simply legal status in a country or state. Citizenship status in a democracy or republic such as ours requires much more from us. It demands becoming informed about the issues that affect our daily lives, our futures and that of our children and grandchildren.

Throughout history, governments have been ruled by elite men and women who made laws and legal judgments with little or no input from their citizens. There are nations today all over the world that still exist under this philosophy. The rights of the “common man” are granted or denied to them by the government.

The founders of this nation, however, believed that there were certain inalienable rights that men and women were born with, and it is governments job to protect those rights. They also recognized that rights can be taken away and governmental powers can grow beyond reasonable limits. Without the proper limitations, government would begin to work for it’s own interests instead of the peoples. In an effort to prevent this from happening, they actively sought to limit the powers of government and make it work within the consent of the governed.

In order for such an approach to work, citizens must become aware, knowledgeable, and active in their communities and throughout the nation. A democracy requires ACTIVE citizenship. Voting every few years for representatives is simply not enough. Citizenship in a republic demands that that an individual use their own mind, voice, and actions to preserve their freedoms and liberties from an overreaching government. In the words of Thomas Jefferson: “The price of liberty is eternal vigilance”.

We have all probably heard apathetic Americans complain that; “My voice doesn’t matter”. There can be only one response to such a statement. “When was the last time government heard your voice?” If as citizens of a republic, we would have security for our rights, we must take responsibility for preserving those rights. While no single person can change the world, we can all do what’s possible within our sphere of influence.

This is the spirit behind the often maligned Tea Party movement. Citizens across the country have joined together in a collective voice to remind governments at all levels that we are “citizens” and not “subjects“. It is “We the People” who control government, not the other way around. It is time we became less concerned with the American Idol and more concerned with the American President.

In 1941, after the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Japanese Admiral Yamamoto commented that “We have awakened a sleeping giant and have instilled in him a terrible resolve“. Almost 70 years later, it is not bombs and rockets that threaten the security and future of our nation, but the irresponsibility of our own government. Once again though, the American people are waking up. All of us together must begin to act now to preserve the future for us, our children, and our grandchildren.

Ronald Reagan said it best in 1964 while campaigning for Barry Goldwater. “We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we’ll sentence them to take the last step into a thousand years of darkness.”

“Liberty, once lost, is lost forever” — John Adams

Fed up with politicians..

This past weekend a friend sent an E-mail to me containing a letter written to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi by North Carolina attorney Dennis Guthrie. The anger of Mr. Guthrie is evident in the letter and I believe it reflects the anger felt by many Americans across this great country. With the gracious permission of Mr. Guthrie, I am happy to re-post his letter here.

Dear Ms. Pelosi;

I write to you out of utter disdain! You are as despicable and un-American as the traitor Jane Fonda.

I am a soon to be 65 year-old who has voted in every state and local election since 1966. I have voted for both Republicans and Democrats alike. I have worked on campaigns for both Republicans and Democrats, white and black. I served the country that I love in Vietnam, as my son did in the middle east. I was awarded two bronze stars. I have been involved in politics since age 6 when my father was the campaign manager for a truly great American Congressman, Charles Raper Jonas, who worked for his constituents and his country, and who was admired, unlike you.

You obviously haven’t read the Constitution recently, if ever, the Federalist Papers, or even David McCullough’s book on John Adams. You ought to take the time while riding around in your government provided luxury executive jet to do just that. You represent socialistic and even Marxist principals that our founding fathers tried to avoid when setting out the capitalistic republican form of government represented by our Constitution.

I find it interesting that you and your husband are multi-millionaires with much of your fortune being made as a result of your “public service”. You have controlled legislation that has enhanced your husband’s investments both on and off shore. At the same time you have redistributed the wealth of others. Our system of a free market economy is being destroyed by the likes of you, Harry Reid, and now our President. You ride around in a gulf-stream airplane at the tax payer’s expense while criticizing the presidents of companies who have produced something for the economy. You add nothing to the economy of the United States; you only subtract there from.

I would like to suggest that you return to the city of fruitcakes and nuts and eat your husband’s canned tuna and pineapple produced by illegal immigrants and by workers who have been excluded from the protection that 90% of the legal workers in the United States have.

I await your defeat in the next election with glee.

Don’t ever use the term “un-American” again for protesters who love this country and are exercising their rights upon which this country was founded. By the way, while I served in the Army, I was spit on by the same type of lunatics who support you and who you probably supported in the 60’s and 70’s. You are an embarrassment to all of us who served so that you would have the protected right of free speech to call us un-American. But at the same time, I have the right to write you to notify you that I consider you to be un-American, as do the majority of the people of this formerly great country. You are a true disgrace to most of the people who served this country by offering themselves for public service in the United States Congress.

I feel certain your aides will not share this letter with you, but I intend to share it with many.

Sincerely,

Dennis L. Guthrie

　

I’d like to again thank Mr. Guthrie for the passion in his letter. In everything he has said, there is only one thing that I would have to disagree with. He refers to the United States as a ‘formerly great nation’. Though we have fallen a long way from what the founding fathers intended for us to be, I still believe this to be the greatest nation to ever exist on the face of the planet. I don’t often quote former President Bill Clinton, but he got at least one thing right when he said “There is nothing wrong with America that can not be fixed by what is right with America.”

Taken as a whole, the American people are the most honest, decent and hard working people in the world. The majority of us understand that while the Constitution seeks to guarantee life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, it is up to us as individuals to make it happen. Government can only provide the opportunity, primarily by getting out of the way. The rest is up to us.

If we the people of this great land continue to be apathetic about the affairs of our government, then we can continue to expect our leaders to look out for their own self interests above the interests of the nation. On the other hand, when the majority of Americans get as angry at our government as Mr. Guthrie is, and are willing to turn that anger into action, we will once again be the great country that we were always intended to be.

The Long Countdown

The successful launch of the space shuttle Atlantis on Monday marks the beginning of the end of the American space shuttle program. The final seven missions are to be dedicated almost entirely to transporting spare parts to the International Space Station.  When shuttle Discovery returns from space next September, Americas ability to put men and women into space will be over for the foreseeable future. NASA’s Constellation program, the successor to the space shuttle, faces critical problems and will not be operational until at least 2015.  During this time, we’re going to be completely dependent on Russia to get American astronauts into space. International cooperation is a fine thing, but it’s more than a little disturbing to think that as of 2011 the U.S. will have the same access to the Space Station that we built as does Brazil or Mozambique.

 

NASA’s “big plan” is to purchase seats on Russian Soyuz rockets for the next few years in order to keep an American presence in space until the completion of the Constellation program. Russia has been giving tourists rides into space for a couple of years. Computer software executive Charles Simonyi has paid Russia $25 million a trip for two trips to the International Space Station aboard Soyuz rockets. Russia’s space agency chief has now said there is no more room for space tourists, likely because they are going to get a better deal from the American taxpayer. Apparently due to inflation it will cost the United States a bit more than $25 million for the same ride.

In May of this year, Alexei Krasnoy, director of manned flight programs at Roscosmos told the Novasti news agency, “We have reached an agreement with NASA to increase the price for a single seat on Soyuz space craft for US astronauts traveling to the ISS to $51 million.”

This is simply really bad planning on the part of our government. When the decision was made by the Bush Administration in 2004 that we would discontinue the shuttle program, provisions should have been made to keep the shuttle flying until a replacement had been fully developed instead of relying on ’allies’.

 There are voices that warned us of potential trouble ahead.  In an E-mail that was leaked to the Orlando Sentinel in August of 2008, NASA administrator Michael Griffin stated “My guess is that there is going to be a lengthy period with no U.S. crew on the ISS after 2011.”

He also added that Russia’s Federal Space Agency could operate the $100 billion space station without the U.S. “Practically speaking, the Russians can sustain ISS without the U.S. crew… We need them, they do not ‘need’ us.”

 

Imagine what could happen if there is some political ‘falling out’ between Russia and the United States sometime in the next couple of years. There will be nothing in the world stopping them from telling us that we are no longer welcome to ‘bum a ride’ on their rockets.  America will have carried most of the weight in building this $100 billion station and then simply abandoned it due to a lack of forward thinking and planning.

 

The newest shuttle in the fleet is Endeavor, which is 17 years old.  The other two, Atlantis and Discovery, are 24 and 25 years old respectively.  We should keep Endeavor flying one or two missions a year to ensure that America maintains a presence in space.  It would also give the United States a certain amount of leverage in dealing with nations who MAY, but most likely DO NOT have the best interests of the United States at heart.