that ain’t my America... or is it?

I often joke around with a few of the guys at the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu school in Columbia Maryland were I train about who is to blame for things in the news that we don’t like. Usually us older guys say things to the younger guys like, “that ain’t my America”, “Don’t be mad this is the America you wanted” or “don’t blame me this is your America”. We are almost always joking and I rarely give much thought to the quotes. However occasionally I do encounter things that make me feel like the America I once knew is truly gone or at least fading. This Christmas Eve was on of those times.

On Christmas Eve I was driving with my family to visit my mother. To get into the Christmas spirit we decided to put on some Christmas music.

I went station by station until I finally found a song that sounded like a Christmas song. After listening to the words for a short time I realized that the song was actually an environmentalist song about how bad Christmas was. Saying things like how bad it was that we cut down trees to make cardboard Rudolph’s to put in our yards. I immediately changed the station and once again started the station-by-station search.

After going through many station I once again found what sounded like a Christmas song. Again I listed for a short time. The song started out saying nice things about Christians but then started talking about pagans. I was a little confused so I listened a bit longer. The gist of the song ended up being that Christians needed to be more sensitive to pagan views during Christmas. What the @$#%! At this point I was starting to get a little angry.

I continued once more through the channels. As I was looking for the music I starting to think that maybe I am getting old and out of touch with the new generation of Americans. Maybe this isn’t my America anymore. It was very depressing. Finally I reached another Christmas sounding song and literally only a few stations from where I started. I thought to myself “Please, please, please don’t be more liberal garbage on Christmas. I want to be happy!” The song that came on is below. I never heard this song before, nor is it the greatest thing in the world but it was just what I needed to get back in the Christmas Spirit!

I listened to Christmas music for the rest of the weekend on this station. It was a very nice holiday. I still didn't get to hear my favoit song (Oh Holy Night), although I did get listen to many classics and the entire family was happy!

Freedom!

Why are we so willing to allow the government to take are rights away?

Over the past year alone the federal government has been very aggressive in trying to limit our freedom. I have written several blogs about these issues. I have talked about the expansion of the “Obstructing a Police Investigation charge”, the new laws outlawing the video taping of police so no one can document their corruption, The Obama administrations attempt to read and confiscate private e-mail, and the regulations on what food we can and can’t eat. There have even been attacks on the toys in Happy Meals.

This administration has taken control over the auto industry and is fighting to mandate what heath care you buy.

We already have red light cameras everywhere and over the last year or so we have seen the rise of speed cameras. If you have ever been to Britain (where you do no have the right to privacy, or any rights for that matter) there are literally cameras everywhere. There, Big Brother is always watching and now he will be watching us a well.

When we go to the airport we get the option of letting them see us naked or having them feel us up. This has got to at least be a unreasonable search... right?

In more recent news there is a push by the feds to mandate blood test if you are suspected of drinking and driving. If the officer has no proof of a crime they say he should be able to force you to submit to a blood test to prove your innocence. Wow…

And now that the “Wikileaks” scandal has gotten all over the media you can rest assured that the feds will be placing heavy regulations on the internet.

The problem is that any one of these issues by themselves is not enough to get people mad. Also there is always a good face put on it weather its to make your life easier or to protect you from something. Big Brother only wants to take care of you! Politicians always use incrementalism when taking freedoms. If your rights are slightly taken away a little at a time there is no outrage.

It is seldom that liberty of any kind is lost all at once.
- David Hume (1711-1776)

People often forget that the Boston Tea Party was over a small tax of a good less then our sales tax here in Maryland. Now we pay 30% of our income, an additional 6% sales tax, plus tariff taxes on many goods, gas taxes, property taxes, etc. The point being this did not happen all at once but slowly over time.

The loss of liberty is a very slippery slope and unless we are willing to stand up for our rights we will continue to slide down that slope right into a totalitarian regime. If we do not stand up for ourselves who will? This reminds me of one of my favorite quotes.

In the beginning of a change the patriot is a scarce man and brave, and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him for then it costs nothing to be a patriot. - Mark Twain

Recently I was talking to a very close friend of mine that I train Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Columbia Maryland with. After discussion one of these issues, he started aggressively asking me questions about my thoughts on other issues like death penalty, abortion, etc. (maybe a topic for another blog). The thing is that I don’t know everything nor do I protest to but when I take a step back and look at all of the liberties the government has seized and/or is trying to seize it makes me very sad. Not just for my on freedoms but for the future of this county.

It seems like now days freedom is a foreign concept. I can only pray that they next generation wakes up. I will leave you with one last quote.

“Man is free at the moment he wishes to be.”
- Francois Voltaire

FamLI

This past weekend was very exciting. I got to go down to Virginia to see one of my close friends and teammate, Jon Delbrugge, fight in his second MMA Fight.
It was total domination from the very beginning. Jon came into the fight 1-0 and was facing an opponent who was 2-0 with decent stand up. Jon took him down almost immediately and ground and pounded him with devastating blows for the knock out in less then two minutes

I have been training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Columbia Maryland with Jon for a couple of years now and it is amazing how close of a bond you develop with your teammates. When you train hard every day for a long period of time the people you train with become your family. I cannot describe how excited and happy I was for him.