My Political views

Many of you have seen my blogs and remarks in regards to my political views. I have and will challenge the current administration and the Democratic Party even if some believe I am a true Republican because of my opposition. That just simply is not true.

Firstly and most importantly I am an American, born and raised in the 1950's. Raised up to believe in hard work and accomplishment being the 'only' thing that truly mattered to achieve success in America. I see that as an asset that took me so far in my Data processing career as a man. I taught those same values to both of my children and I am very proud of both of them today despite their inability to 'wrap their minds around' their father becoming a woman after all these years. My son is an Army Warrant Officer in command of and intelligence battalion currently stationed in Afghanistan. My daughter is currently studying for her Masters in Sociology at Missouri University. So you can see the values I instilled in them has made them understand that the ONLY path to success is hard work and dedication.

I am opposed to the current Washington Democratic Party because they are guilty of hijacking America and their own constituents through lies and deception, corrupt practices and illegalities Speaker Nancy Pelosi pledged to change. Most everything they have attempted has been rammed down our throats whether we like it or not causing a rising up in America with an outcry for a return to the Constitution and it's core values. These are the same beliefs that I was taught and believe in today.

Social Justice is a myth and many have bought into the lie that Politics and Laws will change this for the good for all those who feel oppressed. Dr. Martin Luther King did not believe this either, he believed in the process of making your voice heard and thereby changing the future for minorities. I could give you countless examples of successful minorities in our Country that simply saw America as a Country of opportunity for those who wanted to work and dedicate their lives to The Dream. And yet in the days I grew up minorities even scoffed and berated these individuals of turning their backs on their minority groups. Those that criticized them, I believe, were just not willing to work as hard as they did.

I believe in The Bill of Rights and it's core of 'Equality for all'. I am not a Republican or Democrat, I am an informed individual who looks at both sides of the issues at hand and derives the truth and I will not bend to either side who does not stand the test of truth.

But I have to tell you this Country is outraged at the 'abuse of power' from Washington Elites on both sides of the Party lines.

We the people demand that our Government give back what they have and are taking from us, our Freedom. I will vote my conscious whether the Candidate be Democrat or Republican I support. As a Transgender, people might say I should vote Democrat and shun the Republican views on gays, lesbians, Transgender or Bi-sexual issues. I would if that were the ONLY thing at stake this November, but it isn't. Our Country and the future of my children and their children is at stake because of 'the Fundamental Change' Obama has decreed since his Campaign began. I opposed him then and I oppose him now. I will not sell out the future because some might feel 'kinder' towards me as a Transgender.

This Country has fallen asleep when it comes to life values, not religion or tradition, but what our Forefathers left for us to protect and defend.

If you don't vote with the truth in your heart and only your selfish needs, I fear you will be disappointed with the results. Educate yourselves about the issues without bias one way or another and vote your heart, that's all we can ask of each other. But please do not just pull the ballot handle down without knowledge as I presume a majority of you will, you might find yourself on the losing end. The demise of the greatest Nation on earth today.

Study the Constitution, Bill of Rights and what our forefathers wrote in the documents leading up to the Declaration of Independence. You might be surprised that we are not headed in the right direction to sustain our Republic.

For those of you who say, my vote is worthless or it won't matter, you have lost already. Others will decide your future for you and you will only be able to exist in your own self pity and anger. To effect change you must ACT!

Thomas Paine - on National Debt

"But to expend millions … is unworthy the charge, and is using [our children] with the utmost cruelty; because it is leaving them the great work to do, and a debt upon their backs from which they derive no advantage. Such a thought is unworthy a man of honor, and is the true characteristic of a narrow heart and a peddling politician." 
Thomas Paine

~Freedom~

Little did we realize we would arrive at a moment in time when our very Freedom would be threatened by those we elected to govern us by our most precious Constitution and Bill of Rights. But we have.

In the past 100 years we have fallen asleep at the helm. Our very foundation of rule was founded on 'We the people, by the people, for the people' and yet we have allowed of governing bodies slowly, but surely, legislate our freedoms away. Most of us have to busy trying to achieve the 'American dream' which for some is just that a dream. We allowed our federal government to become too big and powerful which was not the intent. States rights along with individual freedom and voice have been belittled and even compromised by those we put in power in the highest offices of government.

Where do we go from here? How do we return the Sovereignty to our nation and it's people without a total recall and change in government? But it seems we have a vital need to pull the reigns of power from those who would subvert the very principles our great Nation was founded on by our forefathers.

Without individual freedoms , as guaranteed to us, we become puppets of a cruel and misguided puppet master, the Federal government. This just simply cannot continue or we will be unable to return control to the People where it was intended to stay.

For those who believe they have been unfairly treated in our society, I say take a hard look at your individual responsibility and accountability for your own life. That is where the fault lays, not in any unfair act from anyone or anything else. Millions of people have walked through the gates of America and found opportunity to build great lives through hard work and perseverance. Social Justice is just a term to cover those who have not or will not act on their own behalf.

Today we find our own elected President telling us what to believe and not to believe, in his words it becomes a distraction for us to question the wisdom of his administration and it's policies and ideals. This might seem to please some, but those are not the majority and in this country 'the majority rules' or it was intended to be that way. We have lost sight that this has become the greatest nation on this earth and only 'we the people' can sustain that achievement.

Abandoning the most sacred principles of 'democracy' and 'free enterprise system' will only send us down a fast road to a second or third rate country. Where has pride in our achievements been trumped by a wholesale onslaught to vilify our economic system for a few legislators that believe we are out of control and only legislation to 'hammer' the masses with massive debt to favor those who feel disenfranchised?

Is becoming like other countries in the world by following their failed policies the right thing to do for this America?

If you starve an engine of fuel it will cease to run. Economic policy changes that unduly laden the individual with debt to cover entitlements will achieve that very end, the economy will cease to run. Individuals with dreams of producing new ideas will find no incentive to move forward with those ideas which make our country grow in technology, education and the will to continue.

Why do we listen to such nonsense because a few have not embraced the dream of America? Instead they have embraced this concept that the government is here to care for us, that is just not true and never has been true.

Mr. President, if you wanted to create that kind of society, I for one wish you had chosen another country to experiment with, not my America. You do not seem to possess or understand what our Constitution and Bill of Rights mean. Please stop now and examine your own concepts of Freedom before you subvert this Country any further.

Signed;

A Free American that will never ever bow to these misguided beliefs you have chosen to 'sneak' through and made the Law of the land.

Becoming what we pass on.

~~The 12 Laws of Karma~~

~The Great Law~
As you sow, so shall you reap.
This is also known as the Law of Cause and Effect.
Whatever we put out in our Universe is what comes back to us.
If what we want is Happiness, Peace, Friendship, Love….
Then we should be Happy, Peaceful, Loving and a Friend.

~The Law of Creation~
Life doesn't just Happen, it requires our participation.
We are one with the Universe both inside and out.
Whatever surrounds us gives us clues to our inner state.
BE and DO yourself….
Do what you want to have in your life.

~The Law of Humanity~
What you refuse to accept, will continue for you.
If what we see is an enemy, or someone with a character trait that we find to be negative, then we ourselves are not focused on a higher level of existence.

~The Law of Growth~
Wherever you go, there you are.
For us to grow in Spirit it is We who must change and not the people, places or things around us.
The only given we have in our lives is OURSELVES and that is the only factor we have control over.
When we change who and what we are within our heart our life changes too.

~The Law of Responsibility~
Whenever there is something wrong.
There is something wrong with us.
We mirror what surrounds us and what surrounds us mirrors us.
We must take responsibility for what is in our life.

~The Law of Connection~
Even if something we do seems inconsequential, it is very important that it gets done as everything in the Universe is connected.
Each step leads to the next step and so forth and so on.
Someone must do the initial work to get job done.
Neither the first step nor the last are of greater significance.
They were both needed to accomplish the task.
Past, Present, Future.
They are all connected.

~The Law of Focus~
You can't think of two things at the same time.
When our Focus is on Spiritual Values it is impossible for us to have lower thoughts as greed or anger.

~The Law of Giving and Hospitality~
If you believe something to be true, then sometime in your life you will be called to demonstrate that truth.
Here is where we put what we SAY that we have Learned into Practice.

~The Law of Here and Now~
Looking back to examine what was, prevents us from totally in the HERE AND NOW.
Old thoughts, old patterns of behavior, old dreams….
Prevent us from having new ones.

~The Law of Change~
History repeats itself until we learn the lessons that we need to change our path.

~The Law of Patience and Reward~
All Rewards require initial toil.
Rewards of lasting Value require patient and persistent toil.
True Joy Follows.

~The Law of Significance and Inspiration~
You get back from something whatever you've put into it.
The value of something is a direct result of the energy and intent that is put into it.

knowing a person is knowing what that person wants you to know.

I have lived many views of life, boy, girl, man, woman and each one of them has given me insight into many experiences. Today I watched 'The Secret' twice and will watch one more time before I go to bed for the night. I highly recommend it to everyone it will change the way you think, it has mine.

"Every thought of yours is a real thing -- A force." ~Prentice Mulford~ (1834 - 1891)

I have talked about this so many times before and I will continue to try to explain and share my thoughts. We all are unique individuals with unique life's experiences, no one person is the same as the next. We were raised in different demographics, value systems, educational institutions and social and economic environments that affected us uniquely as individuals. The one thing we all have in common is thought and we only control our thoughts. During childhood until leaving home we have been influenced by all of those factors in a unique way. Some may not have had a parent or parents, maybe one or both were there but did not, either by omission or commission, give us proper or incomplete guidance. The end result is who we have become today, it was our interpretation of those influences that set our mind to it's current thinking.

The movie 'The Secret' illustrates how all things have an energy that emanates all around us from others and ourselves as we interact. We are bound together in so many ways that it is impossible to act without an equal action occurring whether it result in a positive or negative. Albert Einstein's 'Theory of Relativity' opens up quantum physics to include the very cohesiveness and symbiotic relationship that energy plays in everything. In that same mode we, all of us, exist in the same cohesiveness and symbiotic relationship.

As for reason I chose the title of this blog, as we matured in life we made adjustments in our thinking. Make no mistake, these adjustments are positive or negative depending on how we were affected by our experiences. But these adjustments were our responsibility and we are accountable for what we reaped. Many things became hidden from others in preference to decisions we make to adapt ourselves to our current life. We only allow others to know what we want others to know.

Historically speaking for the most part we are a race of violence and suppressors of the masses and I wonder if we can ever break that most evil of intents, greed.

In my life I have served youth because youth is always our future and what we do now determines what they think and do in the future. That, in the most urgent of ways, puts each of us responsible and accountable for what we leave them. In our head long race to 'get' we leave a void for them to understand and that is that there is a law of thought. That law is called 'attraction'. We attract what we think about most.

~Dr. Joe Vitale~ 'Metaphysician, Marketing specialist, and Author'
"Thoughts are sending out that magnetic signal that is drawing the parallel back to you."

~ Charles Hannel~ (1866 - 1949) 'The master key system'
"The predominate thought or the mental attitude is the magnet, and the law is that like attracts like, consequently, the mental attitude will invariably attract such conditions as correspond to it's nature."

~Dr. Joe Vitale~ Metaphysician, Marketing specialist, and Author'
"You are a human transmission tower, and you are more powerful than any television tower created on earth. You are the most powerful transmission tower in the Universe. Your transmission creates your life and it creates the world. The frequency you transmit reaches beyond cities, beyond countries, beyond the world. I reverberates throughout the entire Universe. And you are transmitting that frequency with you thoughts!"

~ Charles Hannel~ (1866 - 1949) 'The master key system'
"The vibrations of mental forces are the finest and consequently the most powerful in existence."

If we evaluate 'history' it is plain to see if we intend our thoughts to mold and create the future, we have an important need to agree and understand just what that future should be.

~Bob Proctor~ 'Philosopher, Author, and Personal coach'
"The law of attraction is always working, whether you believe it or understand it or not."

~Lisa Nichols~ 'Author and Personal empowerment advocate'
"you are the designer of your destiny. You are the author. You write the story. The pen is in your hand, and the outcome is whatever you choose."

One last thing, opportunity is what you make of it, seize it or pass it by, a personal choice. And finally the words of one of the most successful and important figures in American history.

~Henry Ford~ (1863 - 1947)
"Whether you think you can or think you can't, either way you are right."

***** All excerpts and quotes were read into this blog from the book 'The Secret' by ~Rhonda Byrne~ *****

My recent visit to my case manager

have an appointment each week with my mental health case manager on Wednesdays. This is a service that is billed at $100/hr and had been covered by my Medicare and State Medicaid until now. My household "gross" income rose over the acceptable amount, so I'm on my own. First let's talk about 'the ability to pay' part, in a downturn of the economy my town has suffered heavy layoffs and manufacturing and retail closings leaving us with very few jobs available in proportion to the unemployed. As a result for the last year my household has swelled to 13 people which for the most part beyond food stamps left me and my wife paying all expenses. I won't elaborate here except to say we do not have 'the ability to pay' anymore than we are capable. My decision here is one of two things, continue with my case manager mounting debt that I will pay out of pocket or discontinue and save what money I can towards my HRT treatments and savings for SRS.

As far as the new 'Health Care Reform', for me it will not be useful. Not only will it not be available until 2014, in all likely hood it will not cover the only thing that remains important to me as I am in excellent health, my transition to womanhood.

The interesting part of my session began at the very beginning when she was praising the passage of the new bill in Congress. Over the next hour I posed her questions about the bill. Her answers were both amazing and troubling to me. She absolutely new 'nothing' about the bill or it's intents, underlying taxes and negative incentives for individuals and businesses alike. This I don't believe is an isolated event, but if a verbal questioning of the majority who support this change were to occur, the results would be every bit as frightening.

Ignorance of what your Government calls 'good for America' without acquiring knowledge of what it is being offered is like signing a blank check from your personal account. No one would do that, would they?

John Adams, 2nd Prestident of the United States

American History; John Adams,
our 2nd President's Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of the United
States. 1989., was very concerned about State's power and authority over the Federal Government.

http://www.bartleby.com/124/pres15.html

In his speech he was appealing to honorable men to keep the Federal Government or anything that might amend The Constitution to swing power to Federal Government and Limit State's Authority over the Executive branch.

John Adams gave us warnings and I wonder, in 113 years have we validated or violated what his warnigs were to this Republic.

Create a third party.

After watching the political machine at all levels, it has become obvious that we need two changes to create an effective ethical governmental system. First; leave the majority rule for passing legislation the way it stands. Second create a law that prohibits special interest groups, lobbyists and add on spending items to any spending bill illegal, punishable by removal from office. Two; Empower the Judicial Branch sole authority over adherence to the laws.

Pursuit of your dreams

All of my life I have seen the future as an blank blackboard ready to be written with your own hands. Even in the worst of times I felt the call of the future never believing I was to be handed anything. My future laid in my own hard work, education and persistence. Our new generations are being taught to wait on a parachute thrown to them by others. This over the years of my life has equated to a handout from the government. Some say life is too hard to achieve the "American Dream", I say that is not true and never has been for tose who understand that only you determine if you fail or win. Private corporations and small businesses take a risk everyday that decisions or markets will fail and yet they persevere through hard times. Why then do we need a bigger Government handing out entitlements and bailouts instead of promoting Education, Equality, Honesty, Ethics and Opportunity instead of Enabling our newest generations.

We need pro-active action not a hand out of excuses to depend on someone else for our existence. We have strayed from our founding fathers intents. They fought and died to create a free society where we could do what was necessary to achieve our highest dreams. I see little to nothing from our Educational system except the drive to collective bargain their way to better salaries at the expense of not teaching values that will motivate them to reach out for each of their chosen paths with self assurance. Unions have priced us out of marketplaces and whine that corporations outsource manufacturing to other countries to assemble our own products we use everyday.

As our President laid out the future to the American people I did not hear the words to inspire confidence in the future, instead a future laden with effort to keep even with Federal spending. These actions will further alienate our generations from competition in the workplace and in world economics. Collective bargaining only achieves two things, it lines the pockets of those in the group and it's administrators while increasing labor costs for our products which increases prices that prevent us from being competitive in world markets. The same can be said of Education dollars, denying more and more from attending good universities because of higher costs. These actions cripple America and turn us towards becoming a second rate Country in innovation while these generations wait for what they are Due.


Not one of us is or should or have been guaranteed our "American Dream", it is our pursuit of the dream that makes us strong. Do I promote a pipe dream or an ugly reality we have wrought upon our future generations? Teach values that put the fight back into our young generations, our President speaks nothing of these intrinsic values I was taught.

An open letter to president Obama

Lou Pritchett is one of corporate America's true living legends- an acclaimed author, dynamic teacher and one of the world's highest rated speakers. Successful corporate executives everywhere recognize him as the foremost leader in change management. Lou changed the way America does business by creating an audacious concept that came to be known as "partnering." Pritchett rose from soap salesman to Vice-President, Sales and Customer Development for Procter and Gamble and over the course of 36 years, made corporate history.
AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA

Dear President Obama:

You are the thirteenth President under whom I have lived and unlike any of the others, you truly scare me.

You scare me because after months of exposure, I know nothing about you.

You scare me because I do not know how you paid for your expensive Ivy League education and your upscale lifestyle and housing with no visible signs of support.

You scare me because you did not spend the formative years of youth growing up in America and culturally you are not an American.

You scare me because you have never run a company or met a payroll.

You scare me because you have never had military experience, thus don't understand it at its core.

You scare me because you lack humility and 'class', always blaming others.

You scare me because for over half your life you have aligned yourself with radical extremists who hate America and you refuse to publicly denounce these radicals who wish to see America fail.

You scare me because you are a cheerleader for the 'blame America ' crowd and deliver this message abroad.

You scare me because you want to change America to a European style country where the government sector dominates instead of the private sector.

You scare me because you want to replace our health care system with a government controlled one.

You scare me because you prefer 'wind mills' to responsibly capitalizing on our own vast oil, coal and shale reserves.

You scare me because you want to kill the American capitalist goose that lays the golden egg which provides the highest standard of living in the world.

You scare me because you have begun to use 'extortion' tactics against certain banks and corporations.

You scare me because your own political party shrinks from challenging you on your wild and irresponsible spending proposals.

You scare me because you will not openly listen to or even consider opposing points of view from intelligent people.

You scare me because you falsely believe that you are both omnipotent and omniscient.

You scare me because the media gives you a free pass on everything you do.

You scare me because you demonize and want to silence the Limbaughs, Hannitys, O'Relllys and Becks who offer opposing, conservative points of view.

You scare me because you prefer controlling over governing.

Finally, you scare me because if you serve a second term I will probably not feel safe in writing a similar letter in 8 years.

Lou Pritchett

Impeachment the Criminality Issue

I'm was just wondering what criteria can bring about a call for the impeachment of a sitting President. I googled "Presidential impeachment criteria" the search results were varied historical Impeachments, but one was titled "Constitutional Grounds for Presidential Impeachment, Provisions in the Constitution that are Relevant to Impeachment and Past Impeachment Inquiries". The link is http://www.cftech.com/BrainBank/SPECIALREPORTS/impeachment.html I followed this path "Exceeding the Powers of the Office in Derogation of Another Branch of Government" and read the paragraph "Criminality Issue" it was informative and I was struck by this one sentence "The framers intended that the impeachment language they employed should reflect the grave misconduct that so injures or abuses our constitutional institutions and form of government as to justify impeachment.". Given our given circumstances in our government, I am reminded of a quote "If ever a time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in Government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin." Samuel Adams, 1776

You can read this same information and more, I chose to use this part in this blog.

The phrase "high Crimes and Misdemeanors" may connote "criminality" to some. This likely is the predicate for some of the contentions that only an indictable crime can constitute impeachable conduct. Other advocates of an indictable-offense requirement would establish a criminal standard of impeachable conduct because that standard is definite, can be known in advance and reflects a contemporary legal view of what conduct should he punished. A requirement of criminality would require resort to familiar criminal laws and concepts to serve as standards in the impeachment process. Furthermore, this would pose problems concerning the applicability of standards of proof and the like pertaining to the trial of crimes.
The central issue raised by these concerns is whether requiring an indictable offense as an essential element of impeachable conduct is consistent with the purposes and intent of the framers in establishing the impeachment power and in setting a constitutional standard for the exercise of that power. This issue must he considered in light of the historical evidence of the framers' intent. It is also useful to consider whether the purposes of impeachment and criminal law are such that indictable offenses can, consistent with the Constitution, be an essential element of grounds for impeachment. The impeachment of a President must occur only for reasons at least as pressing as those needs of government that give rise to the creation of criminal offenses. But this does not mean that the various elements of proof, defenses, and other substantive concepts surrounding an indictable offense control the impeachment process. Nor does it mean that state or federal criminal codes are necessarily the place to turn to provide a standard under the United States Constitution. Impeachment is a constitutional remedy. The framers intended that the impeachment language they employed should reflect the grave misconduct that so injures or abuses our constitutional institutions and form of government as to justify impeachment.
This view is supported by the historical evidence of the constitutional meaning of the words "high Crimes and Misdemeanors." That evidence is set out above. It establishes that the phrase "high Crimes and Misdemeanors" -- which over a period of centuries evolved into the English standard of impeachable conduct -- has a special historical meaning different from the ordinary meaning of the terms "crimes" and "misdemeanors." "High misdemeanors," referred to a category of offenses that subverted the system of government. Since the fourteenth century the phrase "high Crimes and Misdemeanors" had been used in English impeachment cases to charge officials with a wide range of criminal and non-criminal offenses against the institutions and fundamental principles of English government.
There is evidence that the framers were aware of this special, non-criminal meaning of the phrase "high Crimes and Misdemeanors" in the English law of impeachment. Not only did Hamilton acknowledge Great Britain as "the model from which [impeachment] has been borrowed," but George Mason referred in the debates to the impeachment of Hastings, then pending before Parliament. Indeed, Mason, who proposed the phrase "high Crimes and Misdemeanors," expressly stated his intent to encompass "[a]ttempts to subvert the Constitution."
The published records of the state ratifying conventions do not reveal an intention to limit the grounds of impeachment to criminal offenses. James Iredell said in the North Carolina debates on ratification:
 
". . . the person convicted is further liable to a trial at common law, and may receive such common-law punishment as belongs to a description of such offences if it be punishable by that law." (Emphasis added)
 
Likewise, George Nicholas of Virginia distinguished disqualification to hold office from conviction for criminal conduct:
 
"If [the President] deviates from his duty, he is responsible to his constituents.... He will be absolutely disqualified to hold any place of profit, honor, or bust, and liable to further punishment if he has committed such high crimes as are punishable at common law." (Emphasis added)
 
The post-convention statements and writings of Alexander Hamilton, James Wilson, and James Madison -- each a participant in the Constitutional Convention -- show that they regarded impeachment as an appropriate device to deal with offenses against constitutional government by those who hold civil office, and not a device limited to criminal offenses. Hamilton, in discussing the advantages of a single rather than a plural executive, explained that a single executive gave the people "the opportunity of discovering with facility and clearness the misconduct of the persons they trust, in order either to their removal from office, or to their actual punishment in cases which admit of it." Hamilton further wrote: "Man, in public trust, will much oftener act in such a manner as to render him unworthy of being any longer trusted, than in such a manner as to make him obnoxious to legal punishment."
The American experience with impeachment, which is summarized above, reflects the principle that impeachable conduct need not be criminal. Of the thirteen impeachments voted by the House since 1789, at least ten involved one or m e allegations that did not charge a violation of criminal law.
Impeachment and the criminal law serve fundamentally different purposes. Impeachment is the first step in a remedial process -- removal from office and possible disqualification from holding future office. The purpose of impeachment is not personal punishment; its function is primarily to maintain constitutional government. Furthermore, the Constitution itself provides that impeachment is no substitute far the ordinary process of criminal law since it specifies that impeachment does not immunize the officer from criminal liability for his wrongdoing.
The general applicability of the criminal law also makes it inappropriate as the standard for a process applicable to a highly specific situation such as removal of a President. The criminal law sets a general standard of conduct which all must follow. It does not address itself to the abuses of presidential power. In an impeachment proceeding a President is called to account for abusing powers which only a President possesses.
Other characteristics of the criminal law make criminality inappropriate as an essential element of impeachable conduct. While the failure to act may be a crime, the traditional focus of criminal law is prohibitory. Impeachable conduct, on the other hand, may include the serious failure to discharge the affirmative duties imposed on the President by the Constitution. Unlike a criminal case, the cause for the removal of a President may be based on his entire course of conduct in office. In particular situations, it may be a course of conduct more than individual acts that has a tendency to subvert constitutional government.
To confine impeachable conduct to indictable offenses may well be to set a standard so restrictive as not to reach conduct that might adversely affect the system of government. Some of the most grievous offenses against our constitutional form of government may not entail violations of the criminal law.
If criminality is to be the basic element of impeachable conduct, what is the standard of criminal conduct to be? Is it to be criminality as known to the common law, or as divined from the Federal Criminal Code, or from an amalgam of State criminal statutes? If one is to turn to State statutes, then which of those of the States is to obtain? If the present Federal Criminal Code is to be the standard, then which of its provisions is to apply? If there is to be new Federal legislation to define the criminal standard, then presumably both the Senate and the President will take part in fixing that standard. How is this to be accomplished without encroachment upon the constitutional provision that "the sole power" of impeachment is vested in the House of Representatives?
A requirement of criminality would be incompatible with the intent of the framers to provide a mechanism broad enough to maintain the integrity of constitutional government. Impeachment is a constitutional safety valve; to fulfill this function, it must be flexible enough to cope with exigencies not now foreseeable. Congress has never undertaken to define impeachable offenses in the criminal code. Even respecting bribery, which is specifically identified in the Constitution as grounds for impeachment, the federal statute establishing the criminal offense for civil officers generally was enacted over seventy-five years after the Constitutional Convention.
In sum, to limit impeachable conduct to criminal offenses would be incompatible with the evidence concerning the constitutional meaning of the phrase "high Crimes and Misdemeanors" and would frustrate the purpose that the framers intended for impeachment. State and federal criminal Laws are not written in order to preserve the nation against serious abuse of the presidential office. But this is the purpose of the constitutional provision for the impeachment of a President and that purpose gives meaning to "high Crimes and Misdemeanors."
 
Conclusion [Return to Top]
Impeachment is a constitutional remedy addressed to serious offenses against the system of government. The purpose of impeachment under the Constitution is indicated by the limited scope of the remedy (removal from office and possible disqualification from future office) and by the stated grounds for impeachment (treason, bribery and other high crimes and misdemeanors). It is not controlling whether treason and bribery are criminal. More important, they are constitutional wrongs that subvert the structure of government, or undermine the integrity of office and even the Constitution itself, and thus are "high" offenses in the sense that word was used in English impeachments.
The framers of our Constitution consciously adopted a particular phrase from the English practice to help define the constitutional grounds for removal. The content of the phrase "high Crimes and Misdemeanors" for the framers is to be related to what the framers knew, on the whole, about the English practice- the broad sweep of English constitutional history and the vital role impeachment had played in the limitation of royal prerogative and the control of abuses of ministerial and judicial power.
Impeachment was not a remote subject for the framers. Even as they labored in Philadelphia, the impeachment trial of Warren Hastings, Governor-General of India, was pending in London, a fact to which George Mason made explicit reference in the Convention. whatever may be said on the merits of Hastings' conduct, the charges against him exemplified the central aspect of impeachment - the parliamentary effort to reach grave abuses of governmental power.
The framers understood quite clearly that the constitutional system they were creating must include some ultimate check on the conduct of the executive, particularly as they came to reject the suggested plural executive. While insistent that balance between the executive and legislative branches be maintained so that the executive would not become the creature of the legislature, dismissable at its will, the framers also recognized that some means would be needed to deal with excesses by the executive. Impeachment was familiar to them. They understood its essential constitutional functions and perceived its adaptability to the American context.
While it may be argued that some articles of impeachment have charged conduct that constituted crime and thus that criminality is an essential ingredient, or that some have charged conduct that was not criminal and thus that criminality is not essential, the fact remains that in the English practice and in several of the American impeachments the criminality issue was not raised at all. The emphasis has been on the significant effects of the conduct -- undermining the integrity of office, disregard of constitutional duties and oath of office, arrogation of power, abuse of the governmental process, adverse impact on the system of government. Clearly, these effects can be brought about in ways not anticipated by the criminal law. Criminal standards and criminal courts were established to control individual conduct. Impeachment was evolved by Parliament to cope with both the inadequacy of criminal standards and the impotence of courts to deal with the conduct of great public figures. It would be anomalous if the framers, having barred criminal sanctions from the impeachment remedy and limited it to removal and possible disqualification from office, intended to restrict the grounds for impeachment to conduct that was criminal.
The longing for precise criteria is understandable; advance, precise definition of objective limits would seemingly serve both to direct future conduct and to inhibit arbitrary reaction to past conduct. In private affairs the objective is the control of personal behavior, in part through the punishment of misbehavior. In general, advance definition of standards respecting private conduct works reasonably well. However, where the issue is presidential compliance with the constitutional requirements and limitations on the presidency, the crucial factor is not the intrinsic quality of behavior but the significance of its effect upon our constitutional system or the functioning of our government.
It is useful to note three major presidential duties of broad scope that are explicitly recited in the Constitution: "to take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed," to "faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States" and to "preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States" to the best of his ability. The first is directly imposed by the Constitution; the second and third are included in the constitutionally prescribed oath that the President is required to take before he enters upon the execution of his office and are, therefore, also expressly imposed by the Constitution.
The duty to take care is affirmative. So is the duty faithfully to execute the office. A President must carry out the obligations of his office diligently and in good faith. The elective character and political role of a President make it difficult to define faithful exercise of his powers in the abstract. A President must make policy and exercise discretion. This discretion necessarily is broad, especially in emergency situations, but the constitutional duties of a President impose limitations on its exercise.
The "take care" duty emphasizes the responsibility of a President for the overall conduct of the executive branch, which the Constitution vests in him alone. He must take care that the executive is so organized and operated that this duty is performed.
The duty of a President to "preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution" to the best of his ability includes the duty not to abuse his powers or transgress their limits -- not to violate the rights of citizens, such as those guaranteed by the Bill of Rights, and not to act in derogation of powers vested elsewhere by the Constitution.
Not all presidential misconduct is sufficient to constitute grounds for impeachment. There is a further requirement -- substantiality. In deciding whether this further requirement has been met, the facts must be considered as a whole in the context of the office, not in terms of separate or isolated events. Because impeachment of a President is a grave step for the nation, it is to be predicated only upon conduct seriously incompatible with either the constitutional form and principles of our government or the proper performance of constitutional duties of the presidential office.
 
Provisions in the Constitution that are Relevant to the Subject of Impeachment [Return to Top]
 
ARTICLE I
Section 2.......................................
[5] The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment.
 
Section 3.......................................
[6] The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present.
[7] Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust, or Profit under the United States: but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment, and Punishment, according to Law.
 
Section 9.......................................
[3] No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.
 
Section 10. [1] No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligations of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility.
 
ARTICLE II
Section 1
[8] Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
Section 2 [1] ....................................
he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.
Section 3. He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper; he shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the officers of the United States.
Section 4. The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.
 
ARTICLE III
Section 1 The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour, and shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services a Compensation, which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office.
Section 2. [1] The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and Treaties made, or which shall he made, under their Authority; -- to all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls; -- to all Cases of admiralty and maritime Jurisdiction; -- to Controversies to which the United States shall be a Party; -- to Controversies between two or more States; -- between a State and Citizens of another State; -- between Citizens of different States; -- between Citizens of the same State claiming Lands under the Grants of different States, and between a State, or the Citizens thereof, and foreign States, Citizens or Subjects.
[2] In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be a Party, the supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases before mentioned, the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make.
[3] The trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, shall be by Jury; and such Trial shall be held in the State where the said Crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State, the Trial shall be at such Place or Places as the Congress may by Law have directed.
Section 3. [1] Treason against the United States, shall consist-only in levying War against them, or, in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.

Stae of the Union Address

I fear tomorrow's State of the Union address will be more rhetoric and certainly meaningless words backed by corruption and hidden agendas.

Constitution

The danger in America is we listen to only those words we want or need to hear from our elected leaders. Oratory has brought this country to a time of decision. What are we going to leave for our grandchildren? Can we accept the invert of the intent of the Constitution to limit Federal Government not allow it to grow in power over the individual States of the Union?

Positive decisions become a destiny

I'm not talking about the destiny in the sense of where we are. "This is my destiny." thinking will trap you to the same thought pattern everyday of your life until you see destiny differently. There is always a future destiny that awaits us all if we could just see. Each positive decision to alter your destiny's past gets you one step closer to that destiny we all so fervently desire for our lives.

Take each decision that brought you to this present destiny and change the experience to a positive experience and watch a different destiny loom in your future. Do it every day as you pass among those that you meet. One altered destiny can become another and another, soon you will find your destiny.


We are all travelers on the same road, become a positive force and others will follow you.

Federal Government enablers

In this social-economic spiral we are in at this time, it is easy to surge forward for any change that will help each of us in our struggles to maintain our dreams and hopes.

That same want and need has the potential, as we already are seeing manifest, to make the American masses Federal Government enablers. We cry for help and that gives them the right to create, modify or scrap any entitlements or protections we have from tyranny in Legislation of the Law of the Land.

If that is where it ends, we reap whatever we allow to grow.

"We the people, by the people, for the people" are still the hallmarks of Freedom and Democracy. The originak Constitution of the United States intended that Federal Government power over the States would be limited, not the opposite.

It is time, this time in American History, to rise up and put the Constitution to the test. It is not a "living document" given to us to alter or distort. It is the claim for each State and Individual to cry out against this very intrusive invasion into our lives.

If an Entitlement is warranted and lawful, any budget line item expense should be able to stand alone or it should not be honored. Caps on Federal Government spending should be set and adhered to without referendums to the states being ratified. Corruption and lobbyist should be monitored and dealt with by the Judicial Branch with the same impunity we receive as an American Citizen.

And finally limit Executive Powers from assigning so called czars or directors to some maxim of integrity we expect from the Executive Branch of the Federal Government. Further define powers and oversight presence for each position, so as not to overstep authorities.

Create a cohesive communications grid that shares information at each level.

Limit authority of the Federal Government over each State of the Union. The States granted limited power of the Federal Government.

2010

As we enter this year it would be remiss of me if I did not wish everyone a Happy New Year. I think it would also be appropriate and needful to focus on a positive path for the United States of America.

Our leadership is embroiled in politics as usual with the only transparency they can muster, corrupted thoughts and actions.

This is not something we, as the American People, should be condoning in any way. Rather we should be fixated on the removal of each of these corrupted leaders not excluding a sitting President.

What right do they have to live above the very same laws each of us recognizes in our own lives.


Take a Positive stand for America and find real leadership we can believe in when they are elected.