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God Bless the USA

…I’m proud to be an American
where at least I know I’m free,
And I won’t forget the men who died
who gave that right to me,
And I gladly stand up next to you
and defend her still today,
‘Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land
God Bless the U.S.A.


The Stars and Stripes Forever

The emblem of the brave and true
Its folds protect no tyrant crew;
The red and white and starry blue
Is freedom’s shield and hope…
Sing out for liberty and light,
Sing out for freedom and the right.
Sing out for Union and its might…


America, My Country, Tis of Thee

Our fathers’ God to Thee,
Author of Liberty,
To thee we sing,
Long may our land be bright
With Freedom’s holy light,
Protect us by thy might
Great God, our King…

In unity sublime [of the highest moral or spiritual value]
To broader heights we climb,
Triumphant over Time,
God speeds our way!…
The hope of all the world,
In peace and light impearled,
God hold secure!

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Here are excerpts of our songs of hope that have been
sung every day by someone in this country for over two
hundred years. Some date back to the 1700s; making our
nation ever-present before God:





God Bless America,

God bless America,
Land that I love,
Stand beside her and guide her
Thru the night with a light from above…
God bless America,
My home, sweet home.
God bless America,
My home, sweet home.


America the Beautiful

America! America! God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!…
America! America! God mend thine ev’ry flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control…
Thy liberty in law!
America! America! May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness,
And ev’ry gain divine!,…


Battle Hymn of the Republic

Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
His truth is marching on…

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For many years, however, I had resigned myself to working at a polling place on election day and processing the decennial census. It was my way of contributing as a citizen with relative ease. But the ease is gone.

So, why was I singing America‘s songs with apparent sorrow in my heart? — The USA PATRIOT Act.

Our government passed a law in 2001 which allows it to legally spy on its citizens. Federal law enforcement agencies can enter your home or business without your permission or the permission of the judicial system., search and seize your personal or business property, and leave you wondering. They can confiscate your phone records from your carrier and your library records from the county without your permission or knowledge. An unscrupulous guy could send his official buddy after you or any member of Congress who doesn’t vote as expected, if he so chooses. It doesn’t matter that he’s no longer in an official capacity in government or that they are violating the Bill of Rights. It smacks of unrestrained power, doesn’t it?—a renegade on the loose.

Why would Congress pass such a bill? Were they so paralyzed with fear that they couldn’t think clearly? Nevertheless, those who voted for the bill and the subsequent reauthorization of it should give an account to the American people as to why they voted for a bill that is in clear violation of the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America; the right to privacy. (See Chapter 5, "Our Companion in Democracy,” for more information on the USA PATRIOT Act). If our Congress makes laws that are contrary to the Constitution, and if our judicial and executive branches of governance trample the rule of law because they feel preeminent; it will set a precedence that will continue until it eventually runs into a wall of citizens’ resistance.

I had finally found the source of my anguish—a major constitutional breach in our country had gone unnoticed and unchallenged by most. How could such a major impact on our lives go unnoticed? This act defines the scope of our task of restoration into the next decade.

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Not even the administrators could tell me, or would not tell me, the reason for the sudden change. After years of checking out books, suddenly, I had been stripped of the privilege. Consequently, I refused to provide additional information and they refused checkout. I returned the ten or twelve items I had checked out previously and left. As I walked out I felt the loss of a personal experience and liberty that I had enjoyed most of my life. Who or what was responsible for this? Orwell’s 1984 came to mind—is big brother h-e-r-e? Never mind being tracked by satellite twenty-four hours a day or being monitored by camera moments after I exit my home; this was different. It was cloaked. The intensification of my patriotism was actualized at that moment.

Peace and security in my homeland had been a constant state of being to that day. The Constitution—unchangeable except by great contemplation and extended consideration—somehow had been circumvented to intrude on my privacy and freedom. But how? That single act by the county library represented a fundamental shift in the structure of our democracy. It seemed unreal. Yet, it was.

As I went about my daily activities after that day, America’s songs began to pop into my head more and more. And without conscious thought, I began to sing them aloud. Months turned into years as I pricked my ears for the outcries against the constitutional violations that were assaulting American citizens. But there was only deafening silence. There was no revolt; not even an inkling of one. It was as though everyone was in total denial—the “what do you have to hide” psychology had worked. An affront to our civil liberties was met with submission. Was it the beginning of a “clear and present danger?”

My mom and my mentor were such strong activists in the political process that I had a natural inclination to politics at a very young age. Long before I was able to vote I could “talk politics.” It was exhilarating to me as a teenager to participate
in political debates. Back then there was no personal ridicule associated with the process; political opinions were respected and opposed politely.

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“Few will have the greatness to bend history; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation ... It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.” Robert (Bobby) Francis Kennedy, University of Cape Town,South Africa, “Day of Affirmation” Speech, June 6, 1966

Americans are people of hope. It’s not a confidence we’ve aspired to in a presidential election year, but a part of the natural fabric of our country; galvanized by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. We’ve spoken words of hope more during the 2008 Presidential Election season, than at any other time in our generation, as a testament to our resolve to reverse the moral and economic deterioration we are facing in our nation today.

The heightened sense of patriotism we have experienced in the first decade of the twenty-first century allows us, in small measure, to understand the intensity of the passion, strength, power, and force that our forefathers garnered to stand against a
mighty empire—a dynasty who claimed them as its own from distant shores—to establish a government in which every man could rule himself according to the principles of God. They sought a model to ensure God’s humanity to all people throughout all generations. It is evident through history, that they came to know, as we do today, that such a nation is a work ever in progress. And our greatest challenge is choosing leaders who believe in the tenets of our Constitution and Bill of Rights, who understand and are willing to undertake the process of perfecting the union, and who honor God and serve the people.

Tens of millions of us enjoy the ceremonial splendor of the Fourth of July, our nation’s birthday, because it revitalizes and fortifies the American spirit and connects us to our hope of peace, security, prosperity, and freedom in this generation. It’s the time when we are reminded that some of America’s songs are prayers; communion with God on behalf of our nation. These prayers have been voiced daily in our country for generations — contributing to the high blessings and favor
we have received from above. But what would happen if we, as a nation, no longer
sought God and his ways of doing things? What would happen if we began to pervert the Constitution and the Bill of Rights which is evidently rooted in scripture?

On a Saturday morning back in 2004, I made my weekly trip to the public library as usual. I browsed for an extended time, chose items, then joined the checkout line. When I arrived at the counter the clerk informed me that my library card had been cancelled. “It’s a mistake,” I assured him, “just swipe my card again.” But it wasn’t a mistake. The library had indeed cancelled my card within the seven-day period of my last visit. I was told I had to provide more information for reinstatement. And as patron after patron complied, I resisted. I sought an answer, but none was given.

The 2008 Presidential Election Handbook and Commentary: The Connection to Hope

The 2008 Presidential Election Handbook and Commentary: The Connection to Hope evolved from a 2004 experience at a Las Vegas Public Library at the first covert application of the USA PATRIOT Act to the Las Vegas Library District. The 107th Congress failed the American people in 2001 when it passed the USA PATRIOT Act (Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act) in the dead of night, without reading or debating it. Their lack of due diligence has nullified our fourth amendment rights and caused the American people great anguish. Every elected public official swears to uphold the Constitution of the United States of America. Did they? Even more telling, the citizens of this great land have not arisen to correct this injustice.

Shall the USA PATRIOT Act continue without a formidable challenge to its right to exist by the citizens of this country? Without such a challenge, "we the people" will have failed in our responsibility to self-govern.

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”— Preamble to the Constitution of the United States of America

A McClatchy piece by William Douglas reports, "Opponents of the USA Patriot Act say that a congressional move to consider temporarily extending three key provisions that are due to expire at year's end opens the door to try to alter or eliminate some of the national security strategies implemented by former President George W. Bush and embraced by President Barack Obama..."

Congress has met the USA PATRIOT Act at the crossroads of change several times before, but has not altered or eliminated any section that would restore our fourth amendment rights. We have given them eight years to correct a mistake which many of them acknowledge making. True-blue Americans are all for stopping terrorism, but we are not for minimizing our Bill of Rights. Benjamin Franklin, a great American who worked on a committee of five to draft the Declaration of Independence and signed our Constitution, once said, "Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."

So let the eradication of terrorism be done within the parameters of the Constitution of the United States of America and previous existing laws. (see http://www.mcclatchydc.com for the complete story by William Douglas).

Read Chapter 5 of The 2008 Presidential Election Handbook and Commentary: The Connection to Hope for more information and to become active in this cause. Available at www.healthylivingusa.com/theconnectiontohope and amazon.com or pick it up at your local bookstore.