This I Believe

As this is Independence Day, I've been thinking about some of those things in which I believe as an American Conservative:

I believe that when our nation goes to war, it should do so after a Congressional Declaration of War and not after some nebulous "resolution" which authorizes the President to employ our armed forces at his discretion.

I believe that when our nation is at war, the people should be mobilized in order to maximize their support of the war effort and our military should be permitted to wage war in such a way as to utterly defeat the enemy's forces and completely destroy his will to fight.

English should be made our country's official language.

I believe in free and fair elections in which the ballots are written in English and all votes are honestly tabulated and only those citizens who are capable of presenting sufficient identification documents are permitted to vote.

As Thomas Jefferson once famously said, "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms," I believe in the Constitutional Right of peaceful and law-abiding citizens to freely keep and bear the firearms of their choice.

As welfare for individuals is fundamentally counterproductive, so too are subsidies and special tax-breaks for certain politically well-connected special interests.

I believe that marriage is between one man and one woman.

No federal, state, or local court has the right to make law, but to see that laws are enforced fairly, and that all persons receive their Constitutional right to Due Process; legislation is the Sacred Responsibility of the People's duly-elected representatives.

The United States Supreme Court should base their opinions on the original intent of the Founding Fathers and that the Court's habit of issuing judgements based upon its self-proclaimed doctrine of "evolving standards" is little more than a subterfuge to increase this appointed-for-life body's powers beyond those given it by the Constitution.

If freedom is the absence of restrictions imposed by others, I think that the government should stay out of my home, off my telephone line, and away from my personal belongings unless it has secured the warrant that the Constitution requires.

I believe that crime should not pay and that lawbreakers should not financially profit from their law-breaking.

I also believe that stupidity should not be made to pay in the form of lawsuits that award the stupid for their stupid behavior. (Such as the notorious case of Stella Liebeck, who was the woman that spilled hot coffee in her lap and then sued McDonald's for selling it to her.)

Those who have been duly convicted of breaking our laws should serve the punishments that have been legally given them. However, their rights to a fair appeal of their conviction must be preserved.

Contrary to recent practice, our elected and appointed government officials should be held to a higher legal and ethical standard that that of private citizens. When officials they do choose to break the law, they should be punished accordingly.

Governors and presidents should only pardon those individuals whose guilt is in doubt or have been victimized by demonstrably corrupt or inept judicial proceedings.

The U.S. Constitution says nothing about a woman's so-called "right" to an abortion.

I believe those who have broken our laws in order to immigrate to this country should be punished with jail time and then deported as soon as practicable. Those who have sheltered illegal immigrants or given them employment are guilty of a criminal act, punishable at law. When employers are held accountable for their actions, many illegal immigrants will leave of their own volition.

A child has a right to a free and appropriate public education, but no child has the right to disrupt, disturb, or deny any other child's right to a free and appropriate public education.

Our country should engage in fair and open trade with those countries that also permit our business interests to compete on a level playing field.

The Constitution is the fundamental law of the land. It is not written in stone, but is a living document that we should not be afraid to amend from time-to-time.

As Americans, we should never forget that all of us owe a debt of gratitude to those persons, living or dead, who have sacrificed so much to ensure that we continue to enjoy the freedoms that so many now take for granted. ------------------------------------See our latest entries.