Syria, War in the News and Honoring Veterans

War is in the news. 
 
The possibility of going to war with Syria is very unsettling, for this is an intrusion into a place where we do not belong. The thought that our leaders may blunder us into this is revolting. Nonetheless, many fine men and women will go if called. I personally honor them.

War has been a very real part of my life. I was born as my father headed to Europe for World War II. He came to the hospital to see me when I was hours old and didn't return until I was two. When he arrived home at last, my mom told me daddy had returned. She tells me I cried, "NO!" , ran to his picture, held it up and said, as I  pointed to the picture, "This is daddy!"

I sent my husband into the Vietnam War conflict when I was 7 months pregnant with our third child. He returned home when our son was 10 months old. Our two and four year olds, who had been very attached to their daddy, struggled in his absence.

The son born while his dad was gone survived the World Trade Center bombing on 9/11. Had that incident happened the week before, he would surely have been a casualty.

While war is always ugly and painful, it is sometimes necessary. I have the deepest respect for those who serve our country.

My husband and I spent 18 months in Italy, working with American troops at a large Air Force Base and a small Army garrison there. We saw the sacrifices of the troops, the community, and the families of soldiers who deployed downrange--into the war zone. I will always remember one 8 year old boy named Alex, whose father had been gone downrange for most of his birthdays. His only wish was to have his dad home on leave when he turned 8. His dad had promised to do all in his power to be home, and his commander had promised the same. Ten days before Alex's 8th birthday he learned that his dad's leave had been cancelled and he wouldn't be home for the birthday party. The hurt in Alex's eyes haunts me still. That 8 year old made huge sacrifices for his country.

While in Italy we attended the frequent memorial services for the members of the 173rd Airborne who had paid the ultimate sacrifice for their country. Each was a touching, painful time to reflect on the lives lost and the youth wasted by war.

Regardless of our feelings about these armed conflicts our country is unlawfully engaged in, we appropriately can honor the men and women who serve at their country's beck and call. They deserve our greatest respect.   Pam

The Game of Modern Politics like the world of Animals?

 Get it Right: Of Donkeys and Elephants, Lemmings and Rabbits

Donkeys and elephants are out. It's time to award new symbols to our two political parties. The old ones -- the smart, brave Democrat donkey and the dignified strength of the Republican elephant seemed to no longer work.
Andrew Jackson was the first politician associated with the now famous Democrat donkey. His opponents called him a jackass and he made the best of it on his campaign posters in the 1828 election. Newspaper cartoonist Thomas Nast took up the symbol, and it stuck. Nast also branded the Republicans with the elephant in an 1874 cartoon.
Our modern political scene demands new symbols that more accurately represent today's predominant political parties: the lemming and the rabbit.
The Democrats deserve the lemming, that animal which blindly follows its fellows -- seeing nothing but the tail in front, scurrying in long lines to its ultimate destination: the edge of a cliff. Impervious to reason, logic, or intellect, it willingly plunges to its death, just because everybody else has. (Never mind that this depiction of lemming behavior is refuted by scientists--the metaphor stands.) Lemming mass suicide accurately portrays those who unquestioningly follow popular opinion, in spite of obviously outrageous outcomes.
Thus, the Democrats. Impervious to the reality of a nation in dire peril as it hangs on the edge of financial and legislative disaster, they scurry forward with economic policies to take this nation over the edge of the fiscal cliff. In a nation struggling with a hemorrhaging job market, they propose health care that will bankrupt small business owners, gut jobs, and perform radical surgery on working hours. In a nation already suffocating from bureaucratic overload, they will heave 25,000 pages of new rules, with their enforcers, on society's stockpile. In a nation whose government should be wed to its founding document, they blithely flout the rule of law. They ignore laws they dislike, write self-serving new ones to replace them, and disregard the blood and tears "We, the People" paid when we signed our constitutional contract over two centuries ago.
That brings us to the rabbits -- Republican rabbits. It has a nice ring to it, don't you think? The symbol of timidity, rabbits are known to cower in fear when menaced. They live in groups and are fragile, hesitant creatures that startle easily. Docile by nature, when threatened they may make noise, lunge and occasionally even bite, but they do no harm. Rabbit lore is pitifully lacking in stories of dominant rabbits who stand up to their opponents.
Republicans have earned the rabbit as their identifying symbol. Their political role is to offer an alternative to bureaucratic overload, crippling taxation, and socialist agendas. Timid and inadequate, they cower before Democratic offensives, protesting impotently that the job is too hard -- it can't be done. They whimper ineffectually over the political advantage seized by their opponents, who bypass constitutional law in order to rewrite the country's national character. Courage and constitutional fortitude have been bred out of them as they crave the opiate called "I need to be re-elected." The art of compromise too often becomes the art of capitulation.
So, if the donkeys have become lemmings and the elephants have become rabbits, what have "We, the People" become? In times past we have soared like the eagles, with prosperity and freedom on our wings. Today we are the lambs, being led to the slaughter.

Where will you give Time or Money to Defeat Government Abuses?

NINE PIECES OF MAIL

Money talks and it speaks louder every day. Today I opened mail from 9 conservative groups pleading for money to fight the fed’s unconstitutional and illegal actions. Assaults on our freedoms are snowballing and concerned citizen groups are springing up everywhere to stand against the onslaught.

Remember Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways”? To government, we could say, “How do you deceive and plunder me? Let us count the ways.”

The list of government abuses is astonishing, from the bribery of Obamacare and the deceit about its costs, to Benghazi’s proof the administration abandoned Americans under attack to cover up illegal activities, to the planned billions in unearned benefits to those criminally in the country. Evidence suggests that election fraud put Obama in office, paired with the pesky citizenship issue of Obama’s eligibility for office that refuses to go away. These are the tip of the iceberg. America has never seen the intensity of scandal and dishonesty awash in the country today.

Don’t stick your head in the sand and hope this all goes away. It won’t. The arrogance and disdain of the progressive movement swells daily. Why not? They do unimaginable things and nothing happens but hot air. The unthinkable grows bolder, the contempt for law and order more brash until public opinion becomes a buzzing fly to offending politicians. You must ask yourself, “Where and when will all this stop?”

Complaints are rampant. Talk is no longer enough, folks; its time to put your money where your mouth is.

Without funds these freedom movements go away and we lose our constitutional republic. Mailouts and postage, office help and rental space. phone bills—all take money.  It’s expensive to fight treachery, and the big dollar guys live on the other side of the issues.

Why does Daddy Warbucks always back the freedom killing causes? The answer is simple: competition. Once you “gain the gold” you want to keep it and the freedom called competition can take it in a hurry. The new kid with the nifty idea takes your market and your greenbacks fly out the door like Southwest Airlines off the Denver tarmac. So the rich kill competition with federal control.

Put your money where your mouth is and contribute to organizations at work to hold back the progressive tsunami. The pretty something for your bookcase, the new golf clubs, the family vacation will go away permanently if we don’t douse the bonfire that’s burning liberty. Spend the money, instead, to secure the possibility you will have those niceties in future.

Get involved. Pick the threatened liberty closest to your heart, research it, contribute to an honest organization battling that issue. Contribute time if you can, but also contribute money to save liberty. While downtown beautification and the local soccer league are worthy causes, they won’t stop Obamacare. Continue wise local efforts, but give money to fight for freedom. You can’t afford not to.

We picked Liberty Council as a worthy donation point. I’m not recruiting or driving traffic, just giving an example.

Do something, folks—freedom is dying left and right around us. Listen; you can hear it gasp.

The Second Amendment: Gun Control?

Second Amendment: Granny Gatty and the Brewster Boys

Granny Gatty ran a gas station and used goods store five miles outside of town. She was an institution to the nearby townsfolk, all of whom had known her as Gatty since her little brother Tim, who couldn't say Gladys, had gifted her with the name. A widow for two decades, she was stubborn, independent, and openly admired by all who had watched her long, solitary fight to keep her business open and free of debt during hard times.

She had a few enemies, namely the two Brewster brothers, who had tried to take her place over for years. When they failed, they resorted to thievery. They had broken in several times, but Granny Gatty's legendary skill with the shotgun she kept loaded and ready had repeatedly driven them off. They were a constant worry, but she counted it one of the necessaries to stay in business.
She was visited one day in early summer by Frank, the local sheriff, who brought bad news.
"There are new laws afoot, Granny, that say ordinary people can't keep their guns; that the government is going to take them from us."
Disbelief flashed across Granny's face. "That's plain dumb, Frank", she cried, thinking of the Brewster Boys. "How can plain folk keep theyself safe without guns?"
"I don't know, Granny--it seems downright dumb to me, too. I'm hoping it's just a rumor."
"It has to be, Frank--no gov'ment would leave its people unsafe like that!"
The news continued as Frank visited throughout the summer, and it was not good. Granny's disbelief turned to fear and anger as she railed and stormed. "Frank, ain't there a law that says we got a right to our guns?"
"Yes, Granny, the Constitution says we do--it's called the Second Amendment."
"Well, then, they ain't no problem!"
"Yes there is, Granny--the government doesn't follow the rules anymore."
"This gun is my property, Frank! Nobody got a right to my property but me!"
"I know, Granny, but its building up to happen anyway."
"How am I agoin' to protect myself from thieves, like those Brewster boys? It's only my gun that drives "em away, Frank!"
"You'll have to call me when you need help, Granny."
"Call you?" she exploded. You cain't get here for 10 minutes, Frank! By then they'll empty the till and I'll be dead!"
"Granny, they plan to take everybody's guns, including the Brewster boys."
"Now you're talkin' plain dumb, Frank! Them boys is rascals! They ain't agoin' to give the gov'ment their guns! They'll find a way to keep "em, and I'll be the loser!"
Sheriff Frank told the truth. In the end, it was not the sheriff but federal agents that came to take Granny Gatty's gun. Stunned and furious, she refused, then protested vehemently, to no avail. With their authority, backed by threats of legal action, they took Granny Gatty's gun.
Three weeks later, Granny awoke to the sound of breaking glass and muffled footsteps in the hall. As her mind snapped into action, she rolled from her bed, her feet tangling in her white nightgown as she instinctively reached for the shotgun that always stood against the nightstand at night. In a flash of dismay she realized it was no longer there. Her gasp of anguish was cut short by shots from the hallway.
They buried her in the little cemetery up the hill from her store. On her tombstone they wrote:
Gladys Ruthy Osgood.
Killed by the men who took her guns.
• Pamela Romney Openshaw is a Utah Valley speaker and author of "Promises of the Constitution" and "Lessons of the Constitution for Family and Home School Study." She writes the weekly column "Get it Right" for the Daily Herald and for heraldextra.com/ To reach Pamela, you can contact her through her website, PromisesoftheConstitution.com or by email at promisesoftheconstitution@gmail.com.