"The Extras on Life's Stage"

As I sit at lunch across from young people in their early thirties, discussing the reasons why Americans have lost patriotism and respect for their own country, I am reminded of Dr. Savage’s monologue describing the average American in New York City who goes about his daily business as “extras on life’s stage,” not unlike the average Roman who only cared about, according to a quote from Cato the Elder, “the pebble in his shoe.”

The young thirty-somethings’ opinions were rather interesting and I have paraphrased or directly quoted their statements as closely as possible to their original thoughts.

We have reached the tipping point where there are more America-hating voters who have been brain-washed by the school system for the last five decades than there are patriotic Americans.

Politics are so corrupt that nobody has any faith left in the rigged political system and its viability as separation of powers governance.

People realized that they are being slowly outnumbered and colonized by illegal aliens, who are flooding the country, brought in by our own government to vote Democrat in perpetuity.

We are losing our Christian faith in this country while experiencing a soft communist revolution and it seems futile to fight when people are going about their daily activities, watching sports, and the bread and circuses of “reality TV.”

Americans have full bellies and there are no shortages of food and basic staples; they are not experiencing despair and hunger like people in Venezuela or North Korea.

“We are now under total surveillance and police control and the military has been reduced to a dangerous point by those in power in Washington.”

The country is run by liberals in the classroom, in universities, in the publishing empires, in Congress, Hollywood, movies, television, press, the main stream media, that is who educates Americans into mediocrity, compliance and acceptance of progressivism, stifling of free speech through political correctness.

Have the media and Hollywood perverted reality to such an extent that the pop culture voters believe everything? Can we really have a country without borders? If we give away our sovereignty we no longer have a country, we are becoming a U.N. dependent pawn.

We are giving away our manufacturing sector through the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP); we will be left with a service economy. In that case, the best of America will be behind us. We are no longer a force to be reckoned with; we are now a force for good, at the beck and call of the U.N.

America has been fundamentally transformed into a soft tyranny. The border control laws are not being enforced, much less other laws in the country. A nation without laws and borders is not a nation. It invites all terrorists and illiterates, the “flotsam and jetsam of the world.”

We are run by crony capitalists and a handful of oligarchs who control Congress and issue legislation to benefit their cronies to the detriment of the American people.

We have created a permanent underclass of welfare recipients who no longer want to produce, to contribute to society, they just vote or protest as rent-a-mobs for a living. They drain resources while staying home and watching reality television all day and drinking beer or smoking pot.

The economy has shrunk to such a degree due to the EPA and other government-run organizations regulations that destroyed jobs. Other jobs were outsourced overseas. The green movement failed to create the promised jobs. Entry level jobs are scarce due to Obamacare costs and demands for a living minimum wage. Americans must now compete with illegal aliens for entry-level jobs and professional IT jobs. So people are sitting idle at home, or hiring themselves as rent-a-mobs for various progressive causes that aim to create civil and racial unrest.  

Millennials see these socialist romanticized countries in Europe as functioning well; they don’t know the level of debt, welfare, and unemployment; they want America to be the same.

Millennials regurgitate “news” from Steven Colbert and Jon Stewart, two comedians, while belittling and calling Donald Trump names, a successful billionaire businessman. Wild Bill said in a recent video that “Donald Trump is America’s middle finger” to corrupt establishment politicians.

Liberal academia brainwashes Millennials that America is shamefully ethnocentric, scared of the outside world, and demonize anyone who is patriotic. They tell us that we must fundamentally change and people clap and are robotically compliant. The social media, the MSM, Hollywood, and professors tell us that we must change and Millennials don’t ask if the change is good for them or the country. We are told we are backwards, still clinging to our guns, Bibles, and the Founding Fathers, but the same liberals support Islam that still functions by 7^th century theocratic rules. Hypocritical feminists say, let’s let women wear burkas because it’s their choice. We are supposed to be the savior of the world but labeled “ethnocentric” selfish people who don’t understand the rest of the world.

Why is it America’s responsibility to fix the bad economies in the tin pot dictatorships all these illegal aliens fled from? Why are we supposed to take care of them financially while they stay home and keep having “anchor babies” who immediately become Americans, claiming the extended very large families as permanent residents? Why is the American taxpayers’ responsibility to support with welfare each of the four wives of a “Muslim refugee” from Somalia in Michigan?

Liberals counter with such feigned passion that we are “lucky” to have been born in this country and who are we to deny the economic poor of the world to come here? But it was not luck; it was hard work and rejecting dictators. If other nations from whence these illegals come would fix their countries and replace tyranny with relative freedom, they could make a success in their countries. Instead, they come here to reap the fruits of our hard labor while they hate our country and make no efforts to assimilate, to make America better, adapt to our laws, or become part of its fabric.

There is an insane, senseless leftist adulation of primitive cultures that are supposed to be better than us and wonderful, yet entire tribes in Africa are being raped, enslaved, tortured, killed, wiped out off the face of the earth by the religionists of peace and the MSM is generally silent about it because it does not fit their narrative of “primitive cultures are superior to ours.” “Westboro Baptist, as bad as they are, does not behead people.”

People are ignorant as to what change means. We’ve been cultured since childhood that stagnancy is bad, you get nowhere in life without change. Same with the economy but it does not work the same way.

Certain wheels that have been set in motion by our Founding Fathers still work just fine today as long as the law applies equally to everyone.

We are demonizing police officers. Soon nobody is going to want to go to police academy. We’ll have that national police force, springing all the criminals out of jail as recruits.

We have a mob mentality and go after people’s jobs.  Why give so much power to mob rule? Pressuring a person into a corner without any facts is irrational. Arguments are not based on logic; they are based on ad hominem attacks and accusations of racism and bigotry, devoid of logic.

“Millennials are driving the problem, they are dumb, they are entitled, they are going to college to get a classics degree in Latin or in Social justice, or Study of…, and they are the ones on television. They are privileged and whiny, the squeakiest wheels. They do not understand the ramifications of what they are fighting for. They don’t get the power and money it takes to implement what the president proposes.”

“Taking money away from the military, why would you do that, why would you weaken our national defense? The borders need to be secured now more than ever. Every incident in America happened when we had a weak military. Look what happened after the drawdown in Iraq. If you leave a vacuum behind, someone is going to step in to fill it.”

Hollywood is now sponsoring ads that say, making a deal with Iran, giving them the power to make a nuclear bomb, is going to make us safe. On what planet and with what logic does that happen when Iran threatens constantly to wipe Israel off the map and the “Great Satan” U.S.? They’ve been chanting “death to America” in the streets for decades now. Nobody knows what is in this deal but Hollywood knows it’s good. Secretary Kerry testified that he has not read the agreement personally, he has been briefed.

We are worried about someone’s sex change operation and women want equal entry in the military even when they cannot perform physically on the same difficulty level as men; standards then must be lowered. Political correctness stifles our freedom of speech and divergent opinions are immediately labeled into silence. That is how progressives vilify and marginalize people, putting them in a corner on the defensive; the rationale of the discussion is lost.

We worry about NSA spying on all citizens but we voluntarily give up information on social sites, releasing every personal demographic and activity, giving them permission to track you every moment of the day.

“We are going to have a hippie, pot smoking, trust everybody until they screw you over generation.” Is progressivism good, or is it communism? This is not our problem, it is happening somewhere else. It is not the “pebble in my shoe.” Millennials have no memory of bad things happening. They were five years old when 9-11 happened. “

“Young people are so ignorant, technology has dumbed them down, they can’t think for themselves, they can’t function; they are tethered to a device. They are told by people like Michael Moore that government did it, or Bush did it, we bombed our own country. One chick said it was the Jews. Never mind that a large percentage of the people who worked in the World Trade Center were Jewish, it’s New York City. Academia is blaming the church as a whole for the Holocaust. Millennials rely on pseudo-facts and backing someone into a corner, typical Saul Alinsky's rules for radicals’ tactic.”

Religion is passé; atheism is in, worshipping Gaia. Communism is a religion, climate change is a religion. It is trendy to be anti-Christianity, to be a Holocaust denier, to trash your country’s treatment of slaves even though Islamic countries around the world keep slaves now and sex slaves exist.

Millennials worry about sex change in the military. They don’t see any urgency; they see social issues because they are low information voters. They do not see the big picture; they see the small picture, what is important to them such as getting abortions. They are totally in agreement with infanticide and the selling of baby body parts but organize to stop tribal whaling, or the hunting of sharks, or the tribal killing of seals, or protection of a tiny minnow to the detriment of crops and our vegetable and fruit crops failing for lack of water because the minnow must live at all costs.

Oxford, MS just voted to take down the Mississippi flag at the courthouse for fear that it would offend progressives, race baiters, and atheists. History is being revised and changed at an alarming rate.

Detrimental change is happening at such an accelerated pace that, if nobody is standing up for our country, its borders, and its history, we will soon live under a dictatorship ruled by progressive mobs funded by billionaire oligarchs. And people will be going to jail for expressing divergent opinions, sent there by the thought police.

There was a German song, “Die Gedanken sind frei,” (thoughts are free) but I am not so sure anymore this is true, given the current NSA spying technology that Americans like Jeb Bush think it does not go far enough. Somehow humans will adapt and accept their fate.  Those who refuse to apologize for being white will be demonized and punished.

Perceived or real privilege is hard work, thousands of study hours, learning, taking the opportunity given in a free market and turning it into success instead of a perennial welfare mentality.

 

 

Historical Paradise in Virginia

Virginia is a paradise of history and gardens. Lush forests and gardens worthy of the Garden of Eden are found in every direction. Even the congested northern part of Virginia, so close to Washington, D.C., is covered in natural parks and dense woods populated by critters and vermin.

I often wondered how liberals have captured the most beautiful places in the country and turned them into bastions of progressivism. There is little trace of the former America-loving glory, save for the historical sites that draw thousands of conservative visitors who come to pay their respects to the forefathers who established America, fought for its existence and its freedom, making it an exceptional place for two and half centuries.

My brief journey started on the first highway going south. As the congested and metropolitan northern part of Virginia faded into my rear-view mirror, the landscape became hillier and rural. Corn, soy beans, and dairy producing farms dotted the countryside, mixed with the occasional gentrified, multi-million dollar, well-manicured horse farms with mansions on the hill. Acres and acres of land with expertly mowed grass and few horses in sight were surrounded by white picket fences. No actual agricultural activity was visible, nothing to spoil the picturesque view, worthy of a town and country magazine cover. These were the “penny loafer” farmers who use and rent horses for exercise and pleasure. Closer to Charlottesville, beautiful vineyards with grapes ripening on the vines, advertised wine tours.

South of Fredericksburg, I encountered the first historical sign commemorating the Campaign of 1781 of the Revolutionary War. The Marquise de Lafayette marched through the Wilderness Run to meet with Brigadier General “Mad Anthony” Wayne. They camped south of Wilderness Bridge on June 3, 1781 not far from Ellwood. He reconnoitered the area the next day before marching south, across the Rapidan river. During his Grand American Tour, Lafayette retraced his campaign and visited the Wilderness twice. In November 1824 Lafayette attended a reception at the Wilderness Tavern and in August 1825 had breakfast in Ellwood. 

From highway 3 turning left to VA 20 south, dubbed the Constitution Highway, several markers and historical places from the Civil War stood out: the Wilderness Battlefield in Orange County and Chancellorsville Battlefield. Tall grasses and weeds slowed my steps across the field.

In spite of the thick woods that offered good cover, Confederate Lieutenant General Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson was wounded on May 2, 1863 by three musket balls that destroyed his left arm. Treated at a field hospital at Wilderness Tavern, five miles back, the general did not fare too well. Doctors had to amputate his arm the next day. Transported 26 miles to Guinea station, Gen. Stonewall Jackson never made it to the train to Richmond. He died of pneumonia on May 10, 1863 on a plantation. He is buried in Lexington, VA. As General Robert E. Lee said, “He has lost his left arm, but I have lost my right arm.” A granite marker on the Ellwood plantation memorializes simply, “Arm of Stonewall Jackson, May 3, 1863.” A boulder and a granite column remind visitors of the Chancellorsville Battlefield where Stonewall was wounded. Another marker was erected near the building where he had died. Although bugs are biting me viciously, I walk gingerly on the hallow ground soaked with the blood of many soldiers. There is no rain that can ever wash away their ultimate sacrifice.

Half a mile west of Roger’s Farm on Middle Hill, Gen. Robert E. Lee kept his headquarters from Dec. 1863-May 1864. His army guarded the south side of the Rapidan River. In Culpeper County, Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and Major Gen. Gorge G. Mead trained the Army of the Potomac for Spring Camp. I tried to picture the encampment, the tents, and their daily lives.

Luisa County formed in 1742 and named for the Queen of Denmark was residence to Patrick Henry for several years. The cavalry battle of Trevilians was fought in this county in 1864.

In a thick corn field, a sign reminds travelers who care to stop, of Maury’s School, a classical school led by Rev. Maury, rector of Fredericksville Parish from 1754-1769. Thomas Jefferson was one his students. Maury’s grandson was Matthew Fontaine Maury, “The Pathfinder of the Seas.”  

Matthew Fontaine Maury devised a system of recording data from naval vessels and merchant marine ships which was adopted worldwide. He published in 1855 the first textbook of modern oceanography in 1855, The Physical Geography of the Sea.

Close to a rural airport there was a sign indicating the location of the Bloomsbury estate of the pioneer James Taylor, ancestor of Presidents James Madison and Zachary Taylor. James Taylor was a member of Spotswood’s Expedition over the mountains in 1716.

General Sumter, born in this region on August 4, 1734, was a member of the Virginia militia during the French and Indian War, and served as a lieutenant colonel in the Continental Army (1776-1778) during the Revolutionary War. He was associated with the Civil War because Fort Sumter was named after him. As a Brigadier General, he helped defeat the British in the Carolinas. He served as a Congressman and as Senator.

A stately road flanked by very old trees leads to Ash Lawn-Highland, the home of James Monroe, fifth president of the United States. James Monroe and his wife Elizabeth purchased in 1793 1,000 acres adjoining Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello. The plantation was called Highland and eventually grew to 3,500 acres. Highland was the main residence for James Monroe and his family from 1799-1823; it was enlarged and renamed Ash Lawn-Highland by subsequent owners. The estate is now owned by Monroe’s alma mater, the College of William and Mary.

A highly accomplished American, James Monroe is best known for the foreign affairs “Monroe doctrine.” He was also Governor of Virginia for four one-year terms, U.S. minister to England, France, Spain, U.S. senator, and secretary of state and war.

Not far from Monticello, the residence of Thomas Jefferson, our third president, is the Montpelier estate of James Madison, our fourth president, and his wife Dolley. President Madison and his wife were frequent visitors at the Monticello plantation. Because their home was twenty miles from Monticello, they often spent the night in one bedroom reserved especially for them in the Jefferson’s mansion.

Thomas Jefferson and his beloved Monticello deserve a separate description. On the day I retraced history and his genial imprint on America, a two-hour thunderstorm prevented visitors from reaching the top of the hill. Fear of lightning strikes and insurance policies forbade access to the estate and plantation.

Not far from our capital is another historical wonder, Mount Vernon, the estate of George Washington, our first president, an architectural jewel overlooking the Potomac River. I wrote a column about my visit to Mount Vernon in the spring. (http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/45854)

I walk through history often (http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/42829)

It is a source of comfort, happiness, and pride to learn and discover new things about my adopted country, retracing steps of great men and women.

I am an American by choice and I never consider patriotism an inconvenience. I do not take for granted our wonderful nation and the freedom and opportunities that it provided me. I owe a debt of gratitude that I cannot possibly repay to all Americans that came before me. I can try to make America a better place for our children.

I feel blessed and am in absolute awe that in an area of approximately 100 miles from my home, there is so much history of our country. Virginia’s soil was literally soaked with the blood and sweat of so many famous and ordinary Americans who have shaped who we are as a nation.

Fear and Anxiety Replaced "Hope and Change"

There is palpable fear and anxiety blanketing the souls of hardworking Americans who get up every day and go to work hoping with increased trepidation that things will improve. The MSM and the President are telling them that the economy is doing well when reality paints a different picture.

In light of the forced passage of Obamacare, there is fear of loss of health insurance, of the best health care in the world, of doctor shortages, of the dreaded 15 bureaucratic death panels appointed to deny as many procedures as possible, and of shortages of medications. There is anger at the loss of $700 billion from Medicare funds now earmarked to help implement the socialist Obamacare, substituting one socialist program for a disastrous one.

There is fear stemming from the loss of jobs and involuntary reduced work hours. Almost 14 percent of the labor force is unemployed – the Bureau of Labor Statistics massages the data monthly to keep it at the media reported 8.3 percent level, but everyone knows the real numbers.

College graduates cannot find jobs much less the six-figure salary employment that academic advisors promised. Instead, they are moving back with mom and dad, gladly crashing in the basement for free.

There is a real fear of punishing success and rewarding sloth under the guise of social justice, fitting in the grand scheme of the world elites of redistribution of wealth from the haves to the have-nots, those who like to stay home and draw welfare checks and benefits in exchange for a vote for those who promise more welfare.

There is fear of confiscation of property under eminent domain, by EPA fiat regulations, and re-zoning rules of the UN Agenda 21’s smart growth, green growth, sustainable growth plans designed to save mother Earth, Gaia, from human activity. Farming, the family, private property, recreation, mobility, the car, suburbia, traditional education are not sustainable under the global elite’s master plan. Everything must follow an environmental design carefully laid out in the 40 chapter document titled Agenda 21 of the Rio 1992 Treaty.

There is fear of government, of police, of loss of freedom, of drones, of FEMA camps, TSA molestation at airports in the name of supposed safety, and unwarranted immigration checks. TSA agents are now at metro stations, train stations, interstates, stadiums, political events, bus terminals, and truck stops. States are being sued by our government because they are trying to enforce the law that the federal government refuses or fails to enforce.

Many government agencies are ordering hollow point bullets by the millions and Americans are anxious. Should they not protect our borders first?

When more soldiers commit suicide than those killed in combat in Afghanistan, there is a problem. Some of them have never been in a war zone. What is so frightening to them?

There is anxiety over the ever-rising government corruption, lack of any indictment for highly publicized crimes swept under the rug, and for the billions of dollars stolen from the American taxpayers. The law now sends only little people to jail, just like under communism.

There is fear of losing free speech and anxiety over the concentrated racial hate stoked from many directions and the never-before seen utter divisiveness among Americans. There is fear of loss of freedom. Many books have been written about the perceived tyranny by the few.

There is anxiety over possible shortages and rationing of food, fuel, electricity, given this summer’s wide spread drought. We are the world’s biggest exporter of corn and many nations depend on us for their food supply. Yet we are still turning corn into ethanol.

We are fearful of the jihadis infiltrating our country and our levels of government since 9/11. Americans are afraid of jihadi schools that preach hate against the infidels instead of peace and love. We are afraid for our faith and cry for the loss of Christians slaughtered or crucified in Egypt. We are outraged at the senseless killing of Sikhs, a peaceful religion. Yet the only way citizens show displeasure is by showing up en mass to support a restaurant chain under assault for its Christian values.

Americans are anxious over possible bank runs, loss of pensions, of their life’s savings, their homes, the weakening of the dollar, the endless printing of currency by the Fed (monetization), borrowing from China, outsourcing the manufacturing sector, and the general never-audited secretive policy of the Federal Reserve to manipulate the money stock and interest rates.

There is fear and anxiety in the hearts of those who make this country great through hard work. They are more and more resentful of the welfare class that votes to fundamentally change this country without questioning what kind of change that would be, and what would happen when they run out of other people’s money? Would the benevolent government still support them? Americans are resentful of those in power who no longer represent “we the people” but the interests of the rarefied elites and the banking powers of the world.

My Trip to the Liberal Zoo

I took a patriotic trip today to visit one of the places that have defined American knowledge, literature, science, music, architecture, creativity, ingenuity, learning, and achievement since 1897 – the Library of Congress, a place dedicated to preserve the immediate and long-term future of this nation.

I planned to drive to the metro station, park, and ride several trains to the Eastern Market then walk to the Library of Congress along Pennsylvania Avenue. As soon as I exited the coolness of the underground metro, the bright sun and humidity enveloped me. At the top of the escalator, an elderly lady with spiky white hair was sporting a black t-shirt with the words “green festival.” The back of the shirt had three lines, “sustainable economy,” “ecological balance,” and “social justice.” I immediately saw red, literally and figuratively.

This “green” festival she was advertising on her t-shirt will be held in the area at the end of September. Suddenly, the day became oppressive for me. How could I tell this stranger that she was supporting the communist United Nations Agenda 21 of “spreading the wealth” to third world dictatorships by eliminating private property, sovereignty, and personal freedom in the western world in the name of “greening the earth?” Perhaps she knew that already and did not care.

Walking along Pennsylvania Avenue, I was struck by the many mom and pop shops and restaurants, dingy in exterior appearance, in stark contrast to the very expensive townhouses, townhomes, and apartments lining the avenue.

I watched pedestrians, dressed very casual, with worn-out tennis shoes. Many locals were riding bicycles to and fro ignoring the heavy three lane traffic in both directions. The sidewalks were dirty, in spite of the proximity to downtown. There was an air of granola liberalism about the storefronts advertising organic this, natural that, save the environment, and the Obama t-shirts and hats that a lone vendor was selling.

A pizzeria with its doors opened wide in Italian style invited in both patrons and flies. It was hot, expensive, $4 per slice, and it came with an environmental surcharge added to the bill. I love planting trees and caring for the environment, but I hate when people force me to do something by charging a fee to my bill when I am not paying attention and calling it optional online. It reminds me of the involuntary “volunteer” work forced by the communist party on us every month in the country of my birth.

A gas station along the avenue sold regular gas for $4.59 a gallon, a good $1 more than in Virginia, a few miles down the interstate. Democrats must love the “change” in the price of gasoline since President Obama took office – it was $1.79 per gallon then. They still “hope” that everyone adopts their liberal lifestyle along Pennsylvania Avenue with easy bike rides, walking, and condo existence for a mere $3,000 a month for a one-bedroom. 

I finally made it to the Library of Congress. The Thomas Jefferson Building is the main tourist attraction and it remains exactly as it was in 1897 when it opened.  The other two buildings are modern concrete, glass, and steel, utilitarian behemoths with stacks and stacks of books.

Employees and visitors must submit to bag screenings, entering and leaving. In the past, selfish individuals have ripped rare art pages from books, which were then found for sale in Boston and other towns. Since then, everyone must submit to visual checks of purses and backpacks.

The Thomas Jefferson Building, a majestic example of Italian Renaissance-style with 75 feet ceilings above the marble floor, was the first structure constructed with electricity installed. Its architectural style and decorative interior include a plethora of symbolism relating to learning, knowledge, literature, creativity, and intellectual achievement. The Roman goddess Minerva, in a gold leaf and marble mosaic, protects civilization and knowledge. An owl, the symbol of wisdom, and the statue of Victory flank Minerva who holds a scroll listing fields of study important to civilization.

Books, scrolls, and torches represent scientific discovery and learning. Stained-glass skylights, royal staircases, and triangular vaults with names of leaders, writers, and thinkers adorn the Great Hall. Small children represent occupations and the symbol of various trades such as an electrician with a phone receiver, or an entomologist with a butterfly; globes represent four continents: Africa, America, Europe, and Asia.  A large rose brass inlay on the marble floor depicts the twelve signs of the Zodiac.

The Main Reading Room ceiling with a cupola 160 feet tall, is covered with rosettes (some contain a sprinkler system added in the 1980s’ renovation) and a story of the evolution of civilization as understood in 1897, starting with Egypt for written records, Judea for religion, Greece for philosophy, Rome for administration, Islam for physics, Middle Ages for modern languages, Italy for fine arts, Germany for the art of printing, Spain for exploration, England for literature, France for emancipation, and America for science. Eight semi-circular stained glass windows with images of the 45 states and three territories adorn the ceiling. Alaska and Hawaii had not joined the union in 1897. The first six states to join the union, beginning with Delaware, are also depicted in stained glass lunettes in the mezzanine. Only serious researchers with a pass are allowed on the main reading room floor and can use the 236 desks and the library’s vast collections.

Because the British burned in 1814 the initial collection of 740 books and 3 maps used by Congress, President Thomas Jefferson offered his personal library as replacement. Congress appropriated $23,950 to purchase Jefferson’s collection of 6,487 books as a starting foundation for today’s vast library holdings of over 150 million items, books, photographs, sound recordings, maps, music sheets, print materials, manuscripts, and motion pictures. The Thomas Jefferson Library exhibit is found on the second floor. The new “Congressional Library” opened on November 1, 1897 and is considered a national monument.

The most valuable items in the Library are the Gutenberg Bible and the Giant Bible of Mainz. The Gutenberg Bible is the first printed material from moveable type, invented by Johannes Gutenberg. Printing enabled ordinary people who knew how to read to own a Bible.  Johannes Gutenberg’s three volume Bible was printed in 1455. The 42 lines per page text is the Latin translation known as the Vulgate, meant for ordinary people.  Each page’s initial letter and heading are hand painted in color. St. Jerome made the translation in the fourth century.  “The Library of Congress’ copy is printed on vellum and is one of only three perfect copies known to exist.”

The Giant Bible of Mainz is composed of 459 vellum skins of 16x22 inches each. The text was written by a scribe in columns. The scribe wrote the Bible from April 4, 1452 until July 9, 1453. The entire labor of love and beauty took 15 months to complete. The Giant Bible of Mainz was gifted to the Library of Congress on April 4, 1952 by Lessing J. Rosenwald, 500 years after the manuscript was begun.

Most interestingly, five lunette paintings by Elihu Vedder are found in alcoves by the elevator, depicting Government; over the door on the left, the paintings show Corrupt Legislation and Anarchy; on the right are Good Administration, and Peace and Prosperity.

Currently, the Library of Congress is hosting four exhibits:

-          Hope for America, a salute to performer Bob Hope, Politics, and Pop Culture (available online at www.loc.gov/exhibits)

-          Exploring the Early Americas, an ongoing exhibition of 3,000 rare maps, documents, paintings, prints, and artifacts

-          The Armenian Literary Tradition (April 19-September 26, 2012)

-          Books That Shaped America, exhibits with titles that have had a profound effect on American life as chosen by “curators and experts of the Library of Congress”

“Some of the titles on display have been the source of great controversy, even derision, yet they nevertheless shaped Americans’ views of their world and often the world’s view of the United States.” (June 25-September 29, 2012)

I left the Library of Congress full of hope and enlightenment. As I finally reached the metro station where I parked the car, I was happily exhausted. My patriotic roots had been renewed and I was lulled into an optimistic sense of reality until I saw a table of two women in the middle of the metro hallway. A young college age female and a middle aged woman were tending to a voting registration booth with a huge sign in Spanish. My heart sank. I asked why Americans are being registered to vote with a sign in Spanish and not in English. The college girl answered quickly, “English is not the official language of the United States.”

Should English not be the official language of the United States? Rep. Steve King thinks so and urges people to contact their Congressman to bring H.R. 997, the English Language Unity Act to a vote. Dr. Rosalie Porter, who testified before the U.S. House of Representatives, said, “This legislation is essential to the unity of our country.  Making English the official language of the United States would reaffirm the melting pot ideal and provide a powerful incentive for new immigrants to learn English.”

You must be an American citizen, natural born or naturalized, to vote in any election. To be a naturalized American citizen under the age of 50, you must be able to speak English. Why then are we registering illegal aliens to vote in the D.C. metro? These women were representing the Democrat party’s desperation to win at all costs. They were not rooting for America; they were rooting for illegal aliens to provide convenient Democrat votes in exchange for welfare dependency promise paid for by the unwilling American taxpayers.

There is so much history and achievement that defines American exceptionalism yet it is now in the middle of the liberal zoo.

Farewell to the Unsung Heroes

Liquid sunshine is caressing this morning thousands of marble headstones at Arlington National Cemetery. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is visible on top of the hill as we drive to Ft. Myer. I am reminded of the altruistic sacrifice of thousands and thousands of soldiers who came before my husband, some who have made the ultimate sacrifice and some who still serve our country. They are the quiet heroes who made possible the freedoms many Americans take for granted every day. I appreciate everything because I have lived through tyranny.

We are silent. My inner melancholy reflects on my husband’s usually stoic face. He proudly served in the Armed Forces of the United States of America for 27 years. Today, he will be honored with 33 other soldiers whose collective service represents 796 years of faithful duty. The Commanding General of the U.S. Army Military District of Washington, D.C. will review the officers and non-commissioned officers who have honorably served and retired.

The pomp and circumstance will be highlighted by the 3^rd United States Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) and the United States Army Band (Pershing’s Own). The Eagle Squadron, the Sabre and Spurs, and the National Spirit will dazzle the audience with a pre-ceremony concert.

I am glad that the usual outdoor ceremony is moved inside, not so much for everyone’s comfort, although temperatures were predicted to reach a scorching 100 degrees today. Not far from our celebration, sailors dressed in white are honoring a fallen hero from the U.S. Navy.

As a military wife and American patriot, the playing of the National Anthem and the presentation of our Flag is not just a customary salute of respect. The rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” is deeply felt. It is a tearful mixture of pride, joy, and blessings for the luck and privilege to live in the United States, the best place on earth.

Thirty-four men and women wore their uniforms today for the last time in an official capacity. No civilians can understand or appreciate the places these soldiers have traveled to, the hardships they’ve endured away from their families, the sacrifices they’ve made, the number of nights they’ve slept under the stars, in the sand, in their Humvees, in tents, in tanks, and all the special moments in the lives of loved ones they have missed. They were exposed to the elements, thirsty and hungry at times, dirty, eaten by bugs, injured, alone sometimes, unprotected, under fire, yet seldom complained.

Soldiers volunteer to serve our country because it is the right thing to do – it is about duty, honor, courage, valor, and sacrifice in the defense of our republic. Thousands of faceless and nameless heroes came before my husband, a monolith of men of unparalleled courage and devotion to a common cause that few civilians understand. We owe them a debt of gratitude for what they do for the rest of us. However, few Americans acknowledge, understand, or respect a soldier’s duty and role in our country until their peace is threatened. As one wise soldier once said, “You reside under the yoke of freedom which I provide. Have a nice day!”

“The Americans are coming” has been uttered across of the world, sometimes in fear, sometimes in relief, and every time, it was a nameless, faceless soldier, someone’s husband, son, or brother who rose to the occasion of freeing a nation or punishing evil around the world.

Many American soldiers rest in cemeteries around the world, their sacrifice forgotten, save for the headstone and the occasional wreath. Vandals sometimes deface their tombs.

My husband and I carried home his retirement certificate, encased in an embossed green holder, a letter of appreciation from the Commander in Chief, and a carefully folded American flag which I held like a priceless possession.

I know how much soldiers give up to save people they don’t even know who often don’t appreciate nor are grateful for their help. Soldiers do not ask questions, they are duty and honor bound to do what they are told. For their valor, courage, and fortitude, God bless the American soldiers who make the peaceful existence of the United States of America possible every day!