"As goes jobs, so goes Ohio"

That is what Selena Zito writes in Townhall, as she reports from Powhatan Point (Belmont County, on the Ohio River). Traditionally Democratic areas voted Republican in 2010, and are poised to do so again if our jobs situation doesn't improve.

Let me add my own warning. If President Obama is re-elected, the job situation will get worse, not better. He is owned by the New York bankers (further evidence). Our only recourse then will be independence.

Back again

My Toastmasters friends know that I have been extremely busy with planning and carrying out the District 40 Spring Conference that was held this weekend (link to YouTube Skype connection with two other districts) which has made my posting in The Ohio Republic rather sporadic and perhaps not as throughly prepared as usual.

The Conference ended very successfully today. After I do some followup reporting, my plans are to resume my blogging and to finish the book I have been working on for nearly a year, Governing Ourselves.

Same is true of Ohio...

From the Texas National Movement, via DumpDC:

by Cary Wise, Membership Director, Texas Nationalist Movement

Dear Governor Perry:

Once again Texas gets slapped in the face by the federal government and the Obama administration. Wow, Governor, it seems everyone in the nation can get federal disaster relief except for Texas. Nothing seems to matter as to the cause, as other States receive disaster relief from damage caused by tornados, floods, fire, snow, rain…you name it! It just seems strange to me that Texas can’t get federal relief for millions of acres that are burning, a border that is lawless and out of control, the halting of drilling operations in the Gulf of Mexico and the continuation of an environmental death match with the Environmental Protection Agency, an agency of the federal government responsible only to the President.

Well, Governor Perry, let me and the entire population of Texas clear this up for you…if you are having a problem figuring out what’s going on, that is.

This federal government and especially this administration are moving toward a one world government and a one world economy. Is that hard for you to believe? If so, I suggest you watch the world continue to buy gold by the TONS! I suggest you watch the news and listen to the “Left” now overtly call for a one world government and economy. I and the good people of Texas suggest you ask why ObamaCare has been ruled unconstitutional yet the process moves forward to destroy our State economically! The last thing I would like to suggest, Governor Perry, is for you to re-read Fed Up!…the book YOU wrote! You yourself laid out all the federal government problems in that book as well as the answers! Are you going to execute your plan or was it just a bone thrown to a desperate Texas populace?

The actual real answer, Governor Perry, is that one State stands in the way of Mr. Obama and the Progressive posse’s plans…and that is Texas! With that in mind, Texas will receive zero help from the government. Texas will continually be involved in litigation with federal agencies as they attempt to destroy not only our State, but our culture, our history, our economy, and our Texas independence state of mind!

I propose to you that it seems the only people who do not seem to be aware of this are those on both sides of the aisle now residing in our state capitol building!

Governor, quit making Texas drop to its knees and beg the federal government for handouts! You are making Texas and yourself look weak in the eyes of those who place Texas first! We here in Texas can go it alone and we ALL know it!

Governor Perry, it is time to begin discussing DIVORCE from this Union gone awry! It is time to become the leader for TEXAS! It is time to begin to represent the PEOPLE of Texas as you have pledged to support and lead!

We Texans are done with our politicians sitting on their hands with their mouths shut. We are tired of our leadership being “shocked” when again and again Texas gets slapped by this government! Stand up Governor Perry! Our only option left is Independence! (lest we spiral down into the pit that is being prepared for us and the rest of this nation! And if we do, all the politicians in Austin will be held responsible! Make no mistake about that!)

Governor, there are millions of us out here that have studied, planned and prepared for an Independent Texas. I ask you, as do my fellow Texas citizens, to engage with us in all urgency and begin immediately the discussion of the defense and future of Texas. You, as the chief executive of the sovereign state of Texas, MUST lead the counter-attack against federal tyranny and keep Texas sovereign and free! Believe me, Governor, if you do not act and lead, the people of Texas will. Your leadership and the rallying of the citizens around you is the way to go, so that a peaceful process from federal slave to free and sovereign state can be assured.

I, and millions of Texans, pray that you are listening and that you take the point as a true “Son of Texas”!

Respectfully submitted,
Cary Wise

 We do not have Texas's tradition of one-time independence, but there is no reason that we could not make it as an independent nation. Throwing off federal taxes and federal mandates will leave all of us better off, even after taking on our own national defense and foreign relations. We should make Ohio another block to one-world government and preserve the freedoms that are so well protected by our Ohio Constitution!

Governor Kasich, it's time to get "Fed up" and stand up for Ohio!

Please... I want to understand

At the risk of sounding like a wacky "conspiracy theorist," I can only find one explanation for all the nonsense that has been going on the last two years -- the federal government is intentionally impoverishing the American people. I suppose it has something to do with a global "redistribution of wealth," though the only redistribution I can identify is to certain individuals who are quite wealthy already.

If someone can rationally show me where I am wrong, providing facts to support their contentions, I would be much relieved to hear from them.

Prophecy of the decade

Ron Paul predicting the present from his speeches, 1998-2002. I agree with the conclusion, we should elect Ron Paul in 2012 -- if it won't already be too late...

Oath Keepers: Obeying the Constitution

Oath Keepers is an organization of active duty military and police forces who recognize that, upon joining, they have taken an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States (and in the case of police forces, that of the state in which they are working). In support of that oath, there are certain orders they will not obey. Here is the short list. Additional comments, made by Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, may be found at DumpDC.

1. We will NOT obey any order to disarm the American people.

2. We will NOT obey any order to conduct warrantless searches of the American people, their homes, vehicles, papers, or effects — such as warrantless house-to house searches for weapons or persons.

3. We will NOT obey any order to detain American citizens as “unlawful enemy combatants” or to subject them to trial by military tribunal.

4. We will NOT obey orders to impose martial law or a “state of emergency” on a state, or to enter with force into a state, without the express consent and invitation of that state’s legislature and governor.

5. We will NOT obey orders to invade and subjugate any state that asserts its sovereignty and declares the national government to be in violation of the compact by which that state entered the Union.

6. We will NOT obey any order to blockade American cities, thus turning them into giant concentration camps.

7. We will NOT obey any order to force American citizens into any form of detention camps under any pretext.

8. We will NOT obey orders to assist or support the use of any foreign troops on U.S. soil against the American people to “keep the peace” or to “maintain control” during any emergency, or under any other pretext. We will consider such use of foreign troops against our people to be an invasion and an act of war.

9. We will NOT obey any orders to confiscate the property of the American people, including food and other essential supplies, under any emergency pretext whatsoever.

10. We will NOT obey any orders which infringe on the right of the people to free speech, to peaceably assemble, and to petition their government for a redress of grievances.

Oath Keepers understands that the purpose of the military is to protect the lives, liberty, and opportunity of a free people, not to crush them. Now, if we can get the American people and their elected officials on the same page...

Terrorists and tyrants

Charlie Earl offers us a clear explanation how people who originally loved liberty come to enslave themselves, from his post in littlestuff-minoosha. (This is a large excerpt, but not the entire post)

Fear is a powerful thing. Many people fail to take risks because they fear failing. Despots know this and utilize fear to control others. Evil flourishes when people allow their fear to subvert their desire for liberty. Fear overwhelms our rational thought and drives us toward making choices that are contrary to our best interests. Choosing to live a life that is marinated in fear as opposed to living in liberty is somewhat like a tiger preferring the cage to the wild. You are alive, but are you truly living? People who are free dare to dance. People who are fearful scurry for hiding places. Psychologists tell us that negative reinforcement and positive reinforcement are useful for manipulating behavior, and fear clearly fits into the negative mold...

Here in the United States we have experienced an interesting phenomenon. Our leaders of our REPUBLIC have used our fear of terrorists to advance the rule of tyranny. Our desire for greater safety has led us to accept the early vestiges of enslavement... True, the federal government is mandated to protect and secure our nation, but it has a greater responsibility to protect and defend our liberty. Our fear of outside threats has seemingly given the government carte blanche to run roughshod over our personal freedom. For our liberty to prevail, we must resist tyranny as forcefully as we denounce terrorism. There is no such thing as freedom from fear. The minds of people are fertile enough to imagine monsters of every type under our beds. Liberty can only survive when we reject fear as a lifestyle….and it does not matter what the source of our fear is.

The fear that is used by terrorists and tyrants springs from the same root. Sometimes fear can be a healthy thing for people because it may restrict our compulsion to act stupidly by taking unnecessary risks, but fear is more commonly manifested as paralysis. Liberty is too precious to be sacrificed on the altar of fear and indecision. We can never allow our fear of half-baked loonies to cause us to run to the momentarily safe arms of tyranny. The New Hampshire motto says it best: “Live Free or Die.” Freedom is fleeting, and death is inevitable. Why not live for liberty? It is better to live in freedom and die while pursuing a glorious purpose than it is to die slowly while bound in chains.

Southern Poverty Law Center puts Jason Rink on hate watch

Until now, I have had no quarrel with the Southern Poverty Law Center.

However, to put Michael Boldin at the Tenth Amendment Center and my friend Jason Rink (Foundation for a Free Society) on the Hatewatch list is... is... well, there is no word to convey just how ridiculous this is. The Hatewatch site also watches "anti-government" and militia sites, and is associating the TAC and Mr. Rink with them.

I have always been careful about the people I associate with in the liberty movement -- and there is no question in my mind that neither of them deserve this kind of treatment. They are not racists, and they have never advocated overthrow of the United States government by any means. To my knowledge, neither Mr. Boldin nor Mr. Rink are even secessionist.

The SPLC's modus operandi seems to be to find people with whom they disagree and to contrive a series of arguments and guilt-by-association tricks to persuade their followers that such people are dangerous racists or neo-Nazis.

I agree that some organizations on the Hatewatch list do indeed need to be watched. The SPLC likes to deride the John Birch Society for looking for Communists behind every bush, while ignoring the fact that they themselves are desperately searching for racists behind every bush. But to go after people who seek to change our country through lawful and peaceful means suggests that the SPLC is pursuing an agenda that is not limited to identifying hate groups, and the way they link those who favor lawful means to nullify federal laws to highly marginal militia groups ought to expose them to a libel suit. Or at least draw some hard questions from contributors who are concerned with the genuine hate groups.

Update May 3: Jason Rink comments with wit and style in The Liberty Voice.

Quotation of the day

"Things look so bad that I'm considering moving back to Iran."

-- Benjamin Ahdoot, on Charlie Earl's Facebook page

It is time for us to wake up and smell the espresso. America isn't the draw it used to be, because we civilians are too ignorant and cowardly to stand up for freedom, which fueled the economic growth that drew others to this country.

Osama bin Laden is dead

... but don't expect that to change anything.

The "war on terror" will not end until we decide to end it, because as I explained (through a quote by George Orwell) April 12, it is too profitable to produce goods and then waste the production.

The "war on terror," by design, will last forever, because it will always be possible to use it to stir up the fears of the people, so that they will continue to sacrifice their labor to the gods of war.

Update 5/2: Pro Libertate has published an analysis of Osama bin Laden's impact on the United States and the world. Their conclusion, with which I agree: Bin Laden won, because his objective was to destroy the economy and the moral fiber of the United States. We are seeing evidence of that now.