Bloomberg article: EPA’s Carbon Decision Gives Obama Copenhagen Tool

I sincerely hope Mr. Efstathiou does not mind that I am copying his article into my blog, but I think it is vitally important that people know what our government is doing. It is yet another move on the part of those in power "behind the throne" toward their goals. Wouldn't it be delicious if we knew what all of those goals include? Some we can guess: one world government, one world currency; but others, well, we can only suppose and at long last, the conservatives are beginning (finally!) to realize that supposing isn't enough. We have been caught unawares while the progressives have been patiently, diligently working for well over 100 years to move our precious country from a republic to a socialist state. This move by the EPA is one more step in that horrible direction. I implore you, I beg you, get involved with the nearest Tea Party or 9/12 Project or some other conservative organization and help to take back control of the government before it's too late, if it isn't already. God bless America - but we have to do the work!

EPA’s Carbon Decision Gives Obama Copenhagen Tool (Update1)

By Jim Efstathiou Jr. and Daniel Whitten

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=email_en&sid=a6zu2IwpzrZs

Dec. 7 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency declared carbon dioxide a health hazard today, paving the way for new regulation of emissions from sources such as power plants, factories, cars and trucks.

The decision lets the agency develop rules to govern heat- trapping pollution that many scientists say may lead to irreversible climate shifts. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said in Washington that the decision is “overwhelmingly” supported by science.

The move, on the opening day of an international climate summit in Copenhagen, arms President Barack Obama with new regulatory powers that could help forge consensus in efforts to curb global warming. Obama also gains standing when asking other nations to make commitments for a new global climate treaty, said Kevin Book, a Washington-based managing director for analysis firm ClearView Energy Partners LLC.

“It’s exactly what you would want to have in your bag on the way to Copenhagen,” Book said in an interview today. “You can’t go and argue for other nations to make changes if you haven’t made any yourself.”

Obama plans to visit Copenhagen at the close of the talks on Dec. 18, when other world leaders will be there, rather than this week as originally planned.

Autos, Factories

The EPA decision puts the U.S. on a path to finding “practical” solutions to climate change and giving businesses and investors certainty in investments geared toward clean- energy technology, Jackson said. The rules won’t burden small businesses, Jackson said.

“It also means that we arrive at the climate talks in Copenhagen with a clear demonstration of our commitment to facing this global challenge,” Jackson said.

The Washington-based America Petroleum Institute, which represents oil companies, said today the EPA rules will be “inefficient and excessively costly.” The National Petrochemical and Refiners Association, also based in Washington, said the proposed new rules are based on “selective science.”

“The implications of today’s action by EPA are far- reaching,” Charles Drevna, president of the refiners group, said in a statement. “This is yet another example of federal policy makers failing to consider the long-term consequences of a regulatory action.”

The first regulations under today’s finding will be made final in March and cover emissions from cars and trucks beginning with model year 2012, said David Doniger, policy director for the climate center of the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group based in New York. Automakers signed on to that plan, announced in May.

Best Available Controls

Starting “next spring,” stationary pollution sources such as factories and power plants must begin using the best available emissions control technology when they build new facilities or expand existing ones, Jackson said. The agency has said it would regulate only facilities that produce 25,000 tons of CO2 a year or more.

Jackson dismissed claims by skeptics of man’s contribution to global warming that recently disclosed private e-mails among scientists show a conspiracy to manipulate findings about climate change. Phil Jones, a professor and director of the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, where the e-mails were stored on a computer, stepped aside temporarily last week pending a review.

Hacked E-Mails

“There is nothing in the hacked e-mails that undermines the science upon which this decision is based,” Jackson said. “We know that skeptics have and will continue to sow doubt about the science.”

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs announced on Dec. 4 that Obama will show up for the conclusion of the talks in Copenhagen, when about 100 heads of government are going, and help guide decisions. Earlier Obama had planned to stop by on Dec. 9. “There is progress toward a meaningful Copenhagen accord,” Gibbs said.

The U.S., the world’s second-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, is in the spotlight at the talks in part because lawmakers haven’t approved legislation to set a mandatory limit on carbon-dioxide gas that many scientists say could lead to dangerous climate shifts if left unchecked.

“To have this come out now is another concrete sign that the Obama administration is joining the fight on global warming,” Doniger said of EPA rules.

Chamber of Commerce

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the nation’s biggest business-lobbying group, says EPA regulation of carbon would be “burdensome” to businesses and hurt the economy. Chamber President Tom Donohue has said the Washington-based agency, whose top administrator is chosen by the White House, was basing its proposed finding on “shaky, cherry-picked data.”

The U.S. House passed legislation in June to cap carbon emissions and set up a market for the trading of pollution allowances. The Senate has yet to act.

A climate bill from Congress remains the best way for the U.S. to develop clean energy sources and fight global warming, Jackson said. Rules the EPA can enforce under the Clean Air Act complement Congress’s efforts, Jackson said.

The EPA move “hopefully encourages people in the Senate and House” to move forward with legislation,” U.S. Senator John Kerry, a Democrat from Massachusetts, said in an interview in Copenhagen where he is attending the climate summit. A bill better takes into account the needs of various parties, Kerry said.

Lack of Guidance

Lack of guidance from the Senate, the only U.S. body authorized to ratify treaties, left Obama’s negotiators in Denmark without firm guidelines on how to proceed.

The administration’s use of the EPA to regulate greenhouse gases under existing law provides a “primary catalyst” for Congress to act, Book said.

The EPA’s action today “cites the inevitability that we’ll be living in a carbon constrained world,” Richard Sandor, chairman of Climate Exchange Plc, owner of emissions markets in London and Chicago, said today in an interview.

To contact the reporters on this story: Jim Efstathiou Jr. in New York at jefstathiou@bloomberg.net. Daniel Whitten in Washington at dwhitten2@bloomberg.net Last Updated: December 7, 2009 15:48 EST

Short & Not So Sweet

I have been given information in the past couple of weeks that just scares the dookey outta me. If you thought all of this talk about climate change and global warming was just focused on the weather or pollution, think again. It is very much a part of a much deeper, much darker plan to change the world forever, and not for the better.

No, I'm not a conspiracy nut. I don't want to believe any of this, but the evidence is not only overwhelming, it is coming out - more like oozing out - from so many sources, it cannot be ignored.

Please watch these two videos very carefully. The first is circulating via email and you may have seen it, but if it's been a few days or weeks, you might want a refresher before moving to the next video. You can't call it crazy theory when it's really pieces falling into place. It's a very scarey puzzle and one, when finished, we are not going to like.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddQvhdCyhe4&NR=1

http://soldierforliberty.wordpress.com/2009/10/21/the-crown-jewel-of-understanding-agenda-21-and-the-club-of-rome/

If you are at all spiritual, pray, please not just for our country, but for the preservation of freedom. Pray, and get ready to fight.

Time is Growing Very Short...

During the couple of months since my last post, I've been watching, listening and striving to understand the movement which is apparently intent on destroying our familiar American way of life. I have watched as Congress tries to jam a healthcare program down our unwilling throats that will not only ruin what healthcare we have, but also includes several measures to limit and completely inhibit our personal freedoms. I won't reiterate those here as we've all seen and read them ad nauseum, and "nauseum" is mostly what we feel afterward.

No, I decided to "question with boldness," as Glenn Beck advises, and tell you what I believe. I've debated making this available for public consumption, but if I don't stand up now, who will stand up for me later?

I've heard repeatedly, both from friends and TV commentators, that there doesn't seem to be anything to be gained personally by President Obama if we pass healthcare, increase taxes higher than in the history of the country, or impose any or all of the vast number of other proposed legislative measures. I've heard that it simply doesn't make sense to leave our borders open and exposed, to allow illegal immigrants to not only remain here, but to also provide them with the ways and means to do so, including free healthcare, driver's licenses, and food stamps. People have shaken their heads and rhetorically asked, "Why would anyone want to do this? What does he [Obama] stand to gain?"

Good questions. I think all of these link together to form a road leading to something so different from anything most of us can imagine, that it takes a real effort to connect it all. Stay with me, please, because I think I'm on to something, even if only in part. If I tell you what I've pieced together, maybe as events unfold you can then think about them from a different perspective and see things I've missed. I'm sure there are many, many things I've missed or haven't become aware of, and I would love to hear what you discern in the next few months.

So, here's what I've come up with, so far. These may seem like random ideas, but they tie together, so please bear with me:

Remember way back at the beginning of this administration (was that only January?), shortly after the inauguration, President Obama said that he thought it would be a terrific idea for the U.S. to become part of the European Union? Remember that? Well, Timothy Geitner also said, not too long after that little pronouncement, that he would not be opposed to the U.S. going to the Euro instead of the dollar. In an article dated March 26, 2009, entitled, "Judd Gregg: U.S. Too Broke for EU," W. James Antle, III writes:

"Sen. Judd Gregg, the New Hampshire Republican who nearly became President Obama's secretary of commerce, said today that the United States couldn't join the European Union because our deficit and debt levels are too high:

"'We won't even be able to get into the EU if we wanted to,' the Hill quotes Gregg as saying on MSNBC, 'because our government is so large and so huge.'

"'The European Union's Stability and Growth Pact requires a budget deficit of less than 3 percent of GDP and a national debt of less than 60 percent. The Congressional Budget Office is forecasting larger deficits than this under the Obama budget in the coming years.

"'We've been lectured by France on the fact that we're not fiscally responsible right now,' Gregg said. In other words, the United States has managed to go broke even before adopting a European-style welfare state." http://spectator.org/blog/2009/03/26/judd-gregg-us-too-broke-for-eu

When I read this, my first thought was that Sen. Gregg had to have been responding to the possibility that we might join the EU. Why bring it up otherwise?

So, are Obama and those supporting him behind the scenes, the financiers of his work - not just his campaign, but his work - bringing our economy down to the point where it will be able to join the EU?

Everything I can find right now shows that the U.S. economy still ranks slightly higher than the EU, but, the way we are going, I doubt that will last much longer. If the healthcare bill passes, we will then have basically the same healthcare here that is currently available in the European Union member countries. There may well come a time in the not too distant future that Obama, et al, can say to us and the EU, "Hey, we've already got everything in place, so why don't we just join the EU and be one big happy group?" It makes sense.

That's one part. Another is this: during the Bush administration, there was a lot of talk, and too much action, to create the North American Union. Currently, President Obama is contining that work, if quietly, by not closing our borders or taking care of the illegal immigrant problem, etc. Remember the handshake with Hugo Chavez? Remember what Fidel Castro said in January of this year? As reported in PressTV:

"Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro has praised the new US President Barack Obama, calling him 'a living symbol of the American Dream.'

"'The intelligent and noble face of the first black president of the United States since its founding... has transformed itself under the inspiration of Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King to become a living symbol of the American Dream,' he wrote ..." http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=83390&sectionid=351020702

Wouldn't it be great for Obama if he could not only unite North America, but all of the Americas into one great big, wonderful American Union? Let's see the EU refuse that!

Well, they'd have to have a leader, wouldn't they? Who better to lead than the man who brought them all together? Barack Hussein Obama, President of the World!

It may sound farfetched, or even crazy, but you must admit, it makes sense. Why else would he be working so hard for so little personal gain? Surely, it's not for the country because to do everything he's proposing is unconstitutional and will destroy the country as the Founding Fathers intended it to be. Why else? Kinda makes you wonder, doesn't it?

Still, Barack Hussein Obama and wife, Michelle, may appear to be the chosen ones to lead the world into a Utopian existence in the future, I do not believe they will be in that enviable position. For the third part of this picture, Enter George Soros. In his many years of quiet manipulation, Soros has single-handedly ruined the financial stability of numerous countries around the globe. His goal? Power. Plain and simple. He has no moral compass, no compassion, no ethics, no scruples; nothing that governs you and me in our daily dealings with each other exists in this man. His sole purpose in life is to control, well, everything. He does not, however, want to be in the spotlight - at least, not yet. So, he uses others to accomplish his goals. Those others include our president and his wife. I believe they have been promised greatness. I truly believe they have been promised that when the work is finished and the Americas are united, which in turn will lead to the merging of an American union with the European Union, which, it follows, will either absorb the remaining countries, or crush them on all fronts (including China and Russia, which will either join or have to be dealt with militarily), then we will be united into one big happy Earth family under one world government, and Soros will be king. I think that only then will he step out of the shadows, drop the puppet strings of those he's controlled up to that point, and he will take his rightful, paid in full place as President of the World. Not Obama. George Soros.

Soros, himself, has said: “The main obstacle to a stable and just world order is the United States.”

Please read this article which explains his character, or lack of it, and ambition much better than I ever could. http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/14700 I think you will see that we are already in a war to preserve not only our country, but the very nature of things in the world! As Soros, and those who work with him, continue to strive for one world government, a "world order," they are chipping away - sometimes in large chunks - at the very foundation of what makes our country great: our freedoms, our morals, our ethics, our uniqueness. This is not a battle between political parties, nor is it a battle between governments. It is a battle for our survival as a planetary community! If Soros and those who support him are successful, there will be no boundaries, no demarcation, no separate cultures, no individuality. The very things that make this country the "melting pot" of civilization will be gone because we will all be exactly the same. Individuality will be outlawed, as will religion, spirituality, cultural differences, all of which make us unique and wonderful! Under one "world order," we will conform or, well. I don't like to think what the "or" might be, but it won't be good, I can tell you that.

Please, don't be distracted by the minutiae of Kanye West or the vilification of distraught senators. Don't let the mainstream media wave a shiney object around so you follow it and ignore the big picture. The big picture is this: healthcare, ACORN, SEIU, Apollo Alliance (contributing authors of the stimulus package, an organization funded by Soros), the economic structure of all countries, but our's in particular as we seem to be the target of the Soros campaign now. To allow the Constitution to be tossed out the window is to pave the way for a steamroller to smoothe our way of life into one mushed up mess of uniformity. Any time we are asked to allow a government based anything is another step away from individuality and that will be our undoing.

Think! Please, think! Vote! Get your friends and neighbors to vote. Make a total and complete nuisance of yourself and work tirelessly to protect our way of life, even for those who don't yet know it's in peril. If we do it right, they never will. If we do it right, Soros and his gang (founders and supporters of ACORN, SEIU and the various splinter organizations, as well as the corrupt in Washington, D.C. who legislate and raise our taxes to support these organizations, the czars, and themselves rather than their constitutents) will be exposed for the crooks they are! If we do it right, the crooks will either serve time or be out of a job after the next election.

The time is now. It is up to us. The future of America, and the world, depends on the work we do today.

July 4, 1776 - 2009

Thoughts on Independence Day, 2009

When I was a little girl, my mama bought a book for me entitled "Family Book of Best Loved Poems." It was filled with the most wonderful poetry and I read it from cover to cover several times. There was a section in the book called "American Poetry" that I found myself turning to it several times during the year, especially around the fourth of July. At that time in my young life, I didn't have the vocabulary or the reasoning power to understand the tightness in my chest or the tear in my eye, but I felt it was something deep and important. It was instilled in me by both of my parents, but especially my dad who had served in the Navy during WWII and had an abiding love for this country. I remember watching him say the Pledge of Allegiance or sing the "Star Spangled Banner." I would look at him out of the corner of my eye and see his eyes glistening with restrained tears. There was always a look of fierce pride, and as a kid, and because I did love my daddy, I would puff my chest as big as possible and lift my head a little higher and try my best to let my dad know that I could feel that emotion, too, even if I didn't yet understand it.

As I've grown and matured, or at least gained a little wisdom, I recognize that emotional display as a sign of intense patriotism. It saddens me that we don't see it as often or as openly as we once did. It seems that people aren't educated anymore in the protocol of saying the Pledge or singing our national anthem. I'm not even sure they know the words. I could get terribly cynical about it all, but today, I've decided not to indulge in that waste of time. Instead, I'm going to focus on the greatness of our country and on the thousands of people who do, indeed, still know that protocol, understand the feeling of patriotism and would nod and agree with that fierce pride on my dad's face; those patriots who would understand the tear in his eye, the lump in his throat and would share that emotion with him - and with me, as the child and as the woman grown.

So, in honor of July 4, 2009, I have printed here a very special poem from the book my mama gave me. It is written by that most famous of writers, Unknown, aka Anonymous. I wish I knew who did write it. I'd love to track them down - or their descendants - and tell them how much this poem has meant to me for most of my life. I long ago memorized the final stanza and, believe it or not, I think of it more often than I can say. It just pops into my head when I'm watching the news or when I hear certain music, there it is, repeating quietly in the background of my mind. I hope you enjoy it, too. More than that, I hope it remains true long after blogs or Twitter or the internet make it possible to communicate it. I hope, for all of us, it never dies.

Happy, safe July 4th, friends. Enjoy!

Independence Bell - July 4, 1776

There was a tumult in the city
In the quaint old Quaker town,
And the streets were rife with people
Pacing restless up and down-
People gathering at corners,
Where they whispered each to each,
And the sweat stood on their temples
With the earnestness of speech.

As the bleak Atlantic currents
Lash the wild Newfoundland shore,
So they beat against the State House,
So they surged against the door,
And the mingling of their voices
Made the harmony profound,
Till the quiet street of Chestnut
Was all turbulent with sound.

"Will they do it?" "Dare they do it?"
"Who is speaking?" What's the news?"
"What of Adams?" "What of Sherman?"
"Oh, God grant they won't refuse!"
"Make some way there!" "Let me nearer!"
"I am stifling!" "Stifle then!
When a nation's life's at hazard,
We've no time to think of men!"

So they surged against the State House,
While all solemnly inside,
Sat the Continental Congress,
Truth and reason for their guide,
O'er a simple scroll debating,
Which, though simple it might be,
Yet should shake the cliffs of England
With the thunders of the free.

Far aloft in that high steeple
Sat the bellman, old and gray,
He was weary of the tyrant
And his iron-sceptered sway,
So he sat, with one hand ready
On the clapper of the bell,
When his eye could catch the signal,
The long-expected news to tell.

See! See! The dense crowd quivers
Through all its lengthy line,
As the boy beside the portal
Hastens forth to give the sign!
With his little bands uplifted,
Breezes dallying with his hair,
Hark! with deep, clear intonation,
Breaks his young voice on the air.

Hushed the people's swelling murmur,
Whilst the boy cries joyously;
"Ring!" he shouts, "Ring! Grandpapa,
Ring! oh, ring for Liberty!"
Quickly, at the given signal
The old bellman lifts his hand,
Forth he sends the good news, making
Iron music through the land.

How they shouted! What rejoicing!
How the old bell shook the air,
Till the clang of freedom ruffled
The calmly gliding Delaware!
How the bonfires and the torches
Lighted up the night's repose,
And from the flames, like fabled Phoenix,
Our glorious liberty arose!

That old State House bell is silent,
Hushed is now its clamorous tongue;
But the spirit it awakened
Still is living-ever young;
And when we greet the smiling sunlight
On the fourth of each July,
We will ne'er forget the bellman
Who, betwixt the earth and sky,
Rung out, loudly, "Independence!"
Which, please God, shall never die!

- Unknown author

Dazed and Confused

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

I can't tell you how often I've started to add to this blog page, but have stopped because I don't know where to start. There is simply too much happening too quickly, and it's very hard to comprehend it all. I marvel that people who are truly trying to report the news, the changes and the new legislation can sleep at night. I would imagine their brains are constantly whirring. I know mine is, but maybe that's just the sound of confusion and desperation.

I'm confused about the vast amount of legislation the government is imposing in areas where it has absolutely no jurisdiction.

I'm confused that nearly every day a new bill is being passed that on its surface may look beneficial, but just beneath the surface, one more of our rights is being taken from us.

I'm confused that our representatives in Congress, the ones we personally voted into office, are so carefully, correctly hmm-ing about these bills instead of posting themselves in front of President Obama's desk and screaming at him.

I'm confused that our economy, which has always been a tremulous thing, is now completely buried under mountains of debt. The phrase used most often to describe it is that our "grandchildren are now in debt." The phrase has been used until no one hears it anymore, but doesn't make it less true. I have no children, but I have godchildren and I don't want them or their children to have to pay for this stupidity and greed, and that's all in the world it is. But they will and until the spending stops, their debt mounts daily.

I confused by the total lack of respect for and adherence to the Constitution by this administration and many before it. If anyone in this administration or Bush's administration had even read the Constitution, they might have realized that everything that's been done in the past 100+ days - and many things done in the years preceding - are illegal! This is government gone wild. It would make a great title for the horror movie. "Government Gone Wild! See gavels pounding as legislation is passed! See screaming in the streets! See brains explode!" Don't you sometimes feel like your brain is simply going to explode with frustration and panic?

I'm confused that a sitting President would even consider appointing "czars" to head posts newly created by him and who report only to him, and I'm confused that Congress would allow him to do it! We have a system of government set up that does not include czars, dictators or any other department heads outside of those mandated by prior legislation. The czar system gives the President total control over areas of government that already have departments in place, and that's illegal! It's called "checks and balances," folks. What part of the Constitution does President Obama not understand? Oh, sorry. I forgot. He hasn't read the Constitution so how could he know? Maybe it's time one of our congressional representatives told him. Y'think?

I'm confused that the Supreme Court has somehow finagled its way into a position where, rather than enforcing the Constitution, it interprets the Constitution. This ain't the Bible, folks. It's not open to interpretation. It states clearly what the law is and how it should be executed. Nowhere in the Constitution is the Supreme Court given the right to ignore contract law. Nowhere does it state that if a company goes bankrupt, the Supreme Court can mandate how its creditors will be paid. The bankruptcy and subsequent sale of Chrysler to Fiat is a farce, plain and simple.

I'm confused how the leader of our country has the audacity of deceit to stand before us and state that his ideas for healthcare will not mirror the systems in the U.K. and Canada, and then, then!, to state, straightfaced and unblinking that it's going to help us get better healthcare in this country. It's a lie. Yes, I'm saying that the President of the United States of America is a liar. (If I disappear, you'll all know why.) If you'd like to read a draft of this new gem of a healthcare plan, you can see it at:

http://www.modernconservative.com/metablog_single.php?p=3472. It is a draft, so make a note of the parts that are marked for revision.

I could go on and on and on, but I won't. The desperation is rising in the back of my throat again and I'm having to choke it down. I, like so many others, look at our wonderful country and see the changes, as promised, that are happening. I don't like it. I don't like to watch people monitor their speech so they don't accidentally offend some overly sensitive person, race, group or religion.

I don't like the fact that our, yes our, congressional representatives are either part of the multitude of problems that plague us, or are not making a big enough stink to cause a solution to the problems.

I don't like the fact that I now feel better after I spent an afternoon doing target practice with my husband and a friend. It's not that I fear a junkie or just a plain ole burglar breaking in, but I fear my own government and the direction it so obviously is taking. I fear that one day, I may need to know how to defend my home against our own military, or against my neighbors who may join forces against me. That frightens the hell out of me.

I don't like seeing the changes happening all over the world either. When I read stories about kids stomping innocent animals to death, or torturing each other because it looks like fun, I get a little worried, y'know? When I hear about someone breaking into a museum and killing a guard and shooting up the place, I worry. When I read stories about rapes and murders of women and children in Muslim countries, I worry. When I see news stories about Muslim leaders instructing their students how to get anthrax into this country undetected with the intention of killing a few thousand of us, I worry.

Gone are the days of civility in the general population. We can persist among ourselves, but society at large grows increasingly rude and lewd and, what at one time was, socially unacceptable. Now, it's all acceptable. I don't know if there's a way to ever get that back, especially when the leader of our country is so ill mannered as to return honored gifts to Britain or give an IPod to the Queen of England. Good God. How embarrassing.

I'm stopping now as I sense I'm beginning to rant. We can't have that. It would only add to the chaos. In closing, let me say this: pray. If you've got a spiritual connection to anything at all, fall on your knees and pray like you've never prayed before. There's a battle coming. It will be here sooner than you, or I, expect. I wish very deeply that I was just paranoid, but I am hearing the same thing being said from many quarters. As Dr. Johnny Fever said on that classic TV show "WKRP in Cincinnati": "When the whole world's against you, paranoia's just good sense."

Pray, watch and be very careful.

May 25, 2009 - Memorial Day

The fact that I'm writing this is an irony only I can fully appreciate. I have for most of my life thought that, with few exceptions, people don't pay too much attention to what I have to say. This is probably due to my ego or self-esteem, whether too much or too little is hard to tell from my perspective, but there it is. So, for me to actually create a blog is paramount to shouting my views at the non-listeners, something I've tried very hard not to do or have found futile over the years. Still, there are things happening in this country that I can no longer watch without voicing my opinion. If you agree, good; if you don't, ok, but no matter what your judgment of my opinion, I hope it will cause you to think and to ponder what to do within your own circle of listeners.

The thing that pushed me to start this blog is, on its surface, simple: On Saturday, my husband bought a motorcycle. Nothing fancy, but nice enough for us to ride and enjoy on sunny days. We decided to go for a ride on Sunday afternoon. As we climbed on and got in riding position, he turned to me and asked, "So, where do you want to go?" I thought about it for a moment and chose a little two-lane highway leading south of town, and we were off.

The day was perfect. The sun warmed us and shadows from the fluffy clouds cooled us and the wind was just right. Riding a motorcycle can be a very solitary thing, even with two on the bike. It gives you time to think, to look at the scenery, to catch the scents and inhale them deeply into your lungs. I looked up at the many layers of clouds and between them, saw the deep blue of the sky. The land is nearly level in West Texas and as far as you can see is as far as you can see. I like that. I get clausterphobic in the mountains, but the open plains speak to me. I thought about that and how much I love this place. Some would say there's nothing out here, but they are looking with their eyes, not their heart. To someone who's not a Texan, it's very hard to understand how a Texan feels about Texas. Think of it like school spirit, only 100 times more intense, and you'll have a glimpse.

So, we're riding and I'm studying the land and the sky and thoroughly enjoying myself. "This," I thought, "is freedom. The choice to travel on a motorcycle on the sunny Sunday with my favorite person in the world, going any direction we choose, for as long as we want, with no one demanding anything from us. This is freedom." And it was, too. It wasn't just the ride or the day. As I pondered, I realized it was the ability to ride, to go or not to go, to go north or south, east or west, to not have a government telling us we must go a certain way, or work on a certain day, or stand in line for food or clothes or medicine. We had a few hours when we could forget the nuttiness in the world, or not, but it was our choice, and that's freedom.

I thought about the Tea Party Movement, about Glenn Beck, about the many people I'm getting to know and respect on Twitter because of their love for the country and their intense concern about the direction it's going. I thought I had some things to say about that, too, and if I was going to find a venue where I could share my views, it was going to have to be through a blog. If they were alive today, the founding fathers would all be on Twitter and Facebook and they'd all have blogs! "Common Sense" would appear as a blog, as would the "Federalist Papers." Hard to imagine, but you know it's true.

Then, I thought about what we have to fight for today, and it occurred to me that I was doing it at that very moment. Freedom, and all that the word includes. Freedom of choice, harming none, total freedom to be whatever we make of ourselves and our country. What if we didn't fight for it? Well, then we'll lose our history. We'll lose Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, John Adams, Abigail Adams, Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie, Paul Revere, Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant, Ronald Reagan, Dolly Madison, Patrick Henry, Andrew "Ol' Hickory" Jackson, Lewis and Clark, and countless others who helped shape this great country. It will all have been for nothing, if we don't fight for it now because there are changes happening right now that threaten to take it all away, and we're the only ones who can stop it.

I thought about my husband's question: "So, where do you want to go?" and it occurred to me that it was a perfect question for our country. Where do you want to go?