“EXCEPTIONALISM … UNDER DAILY ATTACK”
(The excerpt below was adapted from a speech delivered to the Caffeinated Thoughts Briefing in Des Moines, Iowa on Oct. 31, 2015).
|| By RICK MANNING || Each of us knows that we are living in the most perilous times for our nation in at least 150 years. $19 trillion national debt, a devastatingly shrinking Navy, open borders, financial crises, stagnant wages, a rising Russia, China’s challenge are all big, but we can overcome them.
The biggest threat is the incessant internal gnawing at everything American here at home that seems to appear wherever we turn.
The news is full of head scratching events where the government and some of our people seem to have completely lost their moorings. And that is because they have.
America is the greatest nation to ever have existed in the history of the world. When I was in junior high school in southern California, my social studies teacher told us that there is no American culture because we are a melting pot of people. She was wrong.
There is an American culture, and a uniquely American DNA that makes us who we are, and it is that exceptionalism that is under daily attack.
The American DNA was identified by Thomas Jefferson and a band of brothers meeting in Philadelphia in 1776 when he wrote and they signed the
Declaration of Independence which begins using the following:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”
These fifty five words define the DNA of America. The very essence of what has made our nation the greatest that the earth has ever seen.
And it is these fifty five words that have come under unrelenting attack as those who despise liberty seek to redefine America by changing our nation’s genetic code. After all, you cannot fundamentally transform something without changing its DNA.
What do they find so offensive – how about everything.
“We hold these truths” – not opinions, loosely held beliefs or even facts, the Founders left no doubt that the definition of individual freedom is an absolute truth. Truths that are self-evident. Everyone knows this with no debate.
“that all men are created equal” – Created, not formed, not the result of random chemical reactions in some alleged primordial ooze. But created.
“that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights” – Yes, our nation was founded with the recognition that God Himself is the font of our rights which cannot be stripped away.
“that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” – No guarantees on the happiness part, but life and liberty are core to the American idea.
“That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” – Never let anyone tell you that you should not fight for freedom and to defend your inalienable rights for any reason – the entire moral rationale for the United States government is to secure these rights, and the just powers are gained from your consent.
Why is this important?
It’s important, because when someone tries to exclude God from the public square, they are denying the only source of our individual liberties.
Neither People nor the government they institute can convey freedom to others, government by its very design is a limiter of freedom, and the uniquely American concept is that government is only constrained by the recognition that our rights are derived from God.
Our Founders lived at a time when the Divine right of Kings was a popular justification for Monarchy, the founders made every person, a king in their own right instead of mere chattel depending upon their government masters to tell them what they could do.
Without the essential element that American citizen’s rights come straight from the Almighty, there are no rights at all.
And we see this reality playing out more and more every day. The Obama Administration has even gone so far in speeches to remove the words “by their Creator” from official readings of the Declaration of Independence, later claiming that it was a slip up.
And the results of this denial of what was “self-evident” is that we have seen the Obama Administration and incredibly the Democrats in the Senate engaging in wholesale war on the First Amendment and for those of you paying attention, most of them don’t seem to like the Second one very much either.
This is not hyperbole …
(To continue reading this column, click the link below …)
Rick Manning is president of Americans for Limited Government, one of the country’s most influential conservative organizations. Follow him on Twitter @RManning957. His column – reprinted with permission – originally appeared on NetRightDaily.
33 comments
This is not hyperbole”
To that I retort: BULLSHIT!!!!!!
Ever since the Y2K scare (and before…) {which was designed to scare the shit out of gullible rightwingers listening to talk radio and turning to rags like NetRightDaily for their daily fix} engaging in hyperbole is the one thing consistent with these types……
For me, it’s been downhill since OJ was acquitted, mid 90s ?
As far as I’m concerned the day the music died was October 1971 when Duane Allman was killed in a motorcycle accident……….
That and the fall of Saigon in May 1975 six months after I was discharged from the Army……..then there is the impending implosion of Iraq after three tours (2002,2003-2004 & 2005………). Saw it coming back in 2004 during the 2nd deployment
Kinda jaded but I ain’t buying that right wingnut jingoistic bullshit one damn bit……….
And if I can’t be in Australia I’m glad & thankful to be here!!!!!!!!
You’re a bit older, I was in the Corps in the early 80s. After the Beirut bombing, I left.
A tragic and royal fuck-up under Reagan for sure
Between seeing the “holy men” spitting on the remains of the guys who died during the Iranian Rescue attempt, The Beirut bombing and Kobar Towers (was billeted there during Gulf I), I get a knot in my gut every time I think about those situations—-those mother-fuckers spitting on the charred remains of those guys on the Iranian Rescue attempt really makes my gut knot up.
Sorry for ya, I had many a friend from boot camp that were pretty much vaporized.
I hear ya Bro…………..
If there was some of a working “death ray” on a walking tripod (like in the latest version of “War of the Worlds” flick) I know I’d be taking it on a little romp throughout the Middle East for some serious payback…………..On so many levels!!!
One of my neighbors was in some sort of special forces with no unit or group in Columbia. He would just disappear for about three weeks every now and then. He told me that he was always sent to Afghanistan.. He told me what it was really like over there for his guys and how things could go down and how ugly and scary it could be. They would be on specific missions which he didn’t explain.He was a cool dude, a black guy from Mississippi. He was the kind of soldier that had his head together – confident, calm, and cool….
Fuck the death Ray. Launch the nukes. I was a little crazy then and the same now. If we keep getting into the middle east it will be the only choice. THERE AIN’T NO FRIENDS THERE !!!
No doubt there are no true friends in the Middle East(maybe not even Israel……)
Only thing is every time there are a bunch of rabid ragheads shouting “Death To America!!!!” a few blocks from the demonstration there’s some poor schlub baking flat bread in a damn mud oven………(I’ve seen the miserable bastards doing just that…..)
As much as I occasionally want to lay waste to the entire region, many innocent would get vaporized as well.
Would I really “push the button” to vaporize the entire region? – probably not. But IF I had a death ray I’d be first in line to drive the tripod and zap every fucker that remotely deserved to be “zapped”….starting with those “holy men” who spit on the charred remains of the airmen killed in the Iranian rescue attempt. Those fuckers would be the first to go……..
True Story: A Marine sergeant
assigned to our embassy told me, when I mentioned that he seemed too old for
not having more stripes, his interesting story.
When he was stationed at Camp Lejeune he was complaining to some buddies
that he was so tired and uncomfortable when they had (I don’t remember the
exact term) to gear up and fly around for about two hours before landing. Some kind of combat ready drill. A guy told him to buy another back pack and a pillow and use that – so he did. Their next drill when he awoke he found that two hours had passed and they were still in the air. Questions with no answers, and the guys began to grumble. Hours pass and they’re still in the air. Finally they got the word they were landing. They landed all right — in Beirut!
He was busted down to nothing. But he later gave it some thought and decided he wanted to make the Marine Corps his career. He changed his attitude and
wanted to be the best, sharpest Marine he could be. So he finally got into becoming an Embassy Marine (?). He was a good friend and had the respect of all of us. We were glad he made it.
It’s been going downhill since the government TOOK GOD OUT OF THE SCHOOLS!!!!
…or maybe when they put “Under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Maybe even since The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.….
A good uplifting point you made. Check YouTube for a song, by Rebel Son. Bury me on southern ground. Gives me me goosebumps. I know the time is long ago – but when I die, I’ll be in a cemetery that has 20 Confederate soilders.
Why stop questioning at “Under God” when discussing the Pledge?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=618U-_8o31k
The history of the Pledge itself is dubious.
We should replace the pledge to a government becoming increasingly hostile to us with a pledge to fellow citizens.
Then Manning should have no problem with every creator someone believes in.
“…America, the greatest…in the history of the world…” What blind, nationalistic bullshit!
“a devastatingly shrinking Navy”
“a rising Russia, China’s challenge”
What the fuck Rick? The 80’s called and wants their cold war back, along with the VHS tapes of “Top Gun” and “Red Dawn” you never returned either you prick.
???
As libertarian as these guys try to be, they can’t help but salivate at the thought of defense spending and warmongering. There are a few other topics these goons have let their mask slip over regarding “limited government” and every time it just shows how little they stand apart from the rest of the Republicans.
“This is not hyperbole …”
lol…yes it is
Hyperbole tinged with narcissism. America is the greatest country in the history of the earth because I live here. The end times are nigh because surely Jesus wants to return during MY lifetime. Me, me, me…
I read that the Holy Roman Empire was pretty awesome.
lol, does anyone think the US of A is lasting 950+ years?
Jefferson’s words were taken from John Locke’s Second Treatise on Government.
Obama is not the problem, only a symptom. The real problem is a country so sick it would elect an Obama in the first place. Our once great country has been going down the broad path to hell since 1964. The country turned from what it’s founders gave US to “free lunch” socialism. I fear it will never turn back as there is now a voting majority that think the hand out is the right form of govt. The herd mentality has taken over.
I blame The Beatles.
Or Rock and Roll in general. It made white kids act black, the Baptist preachers of the time told America.
Yep, I’ve seen the old newsreels of the preachers bitching about that……..
Sure put the “kibosh” on Rock & Roll didn’t it????
“The herd mentality has taken over”
Shit, elephants (the symbol of the GOP and the moniker of the poster you are replying to) exist in a herd to survive!!!!!!
So much for symbols of the right wingers!!!!!
8 years of Bush, the Republicans choose McCain, the guy that originally lost to Bush, to run after him, and McCain picks Sarah Palin as his veep.
Clown car primary in 2012 yields Romney, the guy that originally lost to McCain, to run after him, and Romney says some pretty stupid shit about 47% of the population.
Clown car primary in 2016 shows a 4x bankrupt businessman and a neurosurgeon who says some incredibly stupid shit as their front runners over a bunch of the same old shit politicians and other nobodies. Rest assured their veep will be a bad pick and they will also say incredibly dumb crap to alienate voters.
At this point the Republican party is good as dead but they keep the two party system going, guaranteeing Democrat victories where it matters most. The country would not be sick if the GOP infection would finally die off so a new, better party could arise and all you sick little wingnuts could get flushed out with the rest of the pus and putrid blood.
Will we be a nation of laws where the consent of the governed reins, or a nation of men who dole out bite sized freedoms so long as they are allowed to rule?
TBG is chomping at the bit to see the answer.
Ha! Nicely done. Would you like an apple or a carrot?