Tag: Liberty

Day One

I believe the three previous Administrations overused the power of the Executive Order. Then again, the DEADLOCK in Congress forced their hand in many instances. In others, it was a usurpation of the Checks and Balances of our Constitution, and Congress has been more than happy to rid themselves of the POLITICAL BURDENS of endless war, as well as accountability for their actions.

Bottom line… IT ALL STINKS.

I see the Executive Order as a tool to deliver justice where it is obvious it should be done, and it is clear a court of law would eventually make it so.

The motivation for the President of the United States to issue an Executive Order must ALWAYS come from a desire to protect MORE Liberty for MORE citizens everytime they choose to do so. The beauty of our Constitution can also be its DETRIMENT. Due Process can take many years and ALL are entitled to that process…

And in the mean time, LIVES can be destroyed. Damage caused in people’s lives that can NEVER be undone… needlessly.

That is where the discretion of a LEADER, taking the pen and striking true, SHOULD be used. Never AGAINST, but in the interests OF, and for the sake of the people… especially for those with NO VOICE.

 

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My first official act in office will be the complete and total criminalization of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in the United States.

A crime punishable by 10 years imprisonment for performing the procedure, subjecting someone to the procedure, or participating in the act of subjecting someone to the procedure.

This will include the “vacation” procedures as well.

The Freedom of Religion, the Freedom of NO RELIGION… the LIBERTY to walk that path and find the TRUTH for yourself… THAT should be a guaranteed right for EVERYONE.

A belief can change. Once subjected to FGM, that can NEVER CHANGE.

So it must end.

 

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My second act as President will be to end the deployment of Armed Forces at our Southern Border.

The “crisis” is not at the Border. The “crisis” lies within the policies being implemented. The “crisis” is the corruption of our current leadership, and their inability to set aside pasrtisan politics to SOLVE THIS PROBLEM.

I believe we can solve this problem WITHOUT armed, boots-on-the-ground, military force.

 

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Our Rule of Law is what ensures our Freedom. To ignore injustice when it stares you in the face makes you COMPLICIT. That is why I have taken up the causes of Equal Rights for Women and protecting the Basic Human Rights of Children.

To be SILENT makes us COMPLICIT.

On DAY ONE, Barack Obama signed an Executive Order to Close Guantanamo Bay. EIGHT YEARS LATER he was still trying to get it done… WHY.

I cannot be the Commander-in-Chief of a nation that declares ALL MANKIND is created EQUAL and turn a blind eye to indefinite detention. I cannot turn a blind eye to violations of established international law. Laws forged by our great- and grand-parents at the end of the last World War. Laws that ensured THEIR children’s safety…

We must now re-affirm our commitment to those laws… for OURS.

 

I will issue an Executive Order closing Guantanamo Bay prison,

ordering all remaining prisoners be given Due Process in the American Justice System; and where the verdict requires, they will be secured within the Department of Corrections at a supermax facility. And if they are found innocent, they will be set free as required by our Constitution… because I believe in our Rule of Law, and I know JUSTICE must prevail.

 

Included with the closing of Guantanamo, will be the closing of every immigrant holding facility opened since 2016.

All migrants being held MUST be processed appropriately, in the sunlight, with the goal of ensuring individual security and national security, then RELEASED, to be fully processed at a later date.

Let us begin this process, to start the path to citizenship, and begin healing and repairing the damage that has been done.

 

As a nation, we are STRONGER than the fear and anger that tries to divide us. Walk a mile in their shoes, and consider what YOU would do if this were done to you…
I cannot let it STAND.

JC

Walking My Path.

You don’t wake up one morning and say “You know what? I don’t believe in god anymore.” It is a process. It doesn’t just happen. When you have friends, or know a family member with a story. And then you ask questions… about your faith, and yourself, then the people you trust.

I accepted Jesus Christ as my lord and savior on January 17, 1991, the evening operation Desert Shield became operation Desert Storm.

I was 12.

My best friend, Eric, brought me to a youth group event at his church. They were convinced this was it, this was the beginning of the events that foretold the return of Jesus, and I had to be “saved” right now.

To me, that argument seemed pretty sound!

So I prayed with youth group leaders, and friends in the congregation. And by the end of the evening I asked Jesus to wash away all my sins and began the moral life of a Southern Baptist Christian.

That evening was not the first time I had gone with Eric and his parents to Vista Baptist Church. They were involved with the congregation. Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays most weeks, unless special events were happening. Eric’s mom was a devout ‘fire and brimstone’ Christian… and she LIVED it!

She was inspiring. The entire church was! The love and faith that pours from a Southern Baptist Church is beautiful! It moves people to stand and raise their arms to the sky. It fills the air with love and praise. Being in a service on Sunday with a good servant of the Lord, recounting the gospel’s word to hundreds of families of faith… you can’t help but sing!

The welcome feeling of love and faith was appealing to a kid from a single parent home. It was closer to the TV reality I grew up watching at home, than home REALLY was.

Eric and I participated in a religious version of Boy Scouts called AWANAS. We would receive awards based on bible memorization and understanding of different messages. Some of the kids wore the uniform and had badges and pins. It was quite involved if you really wanted to get into it. At that time, Eric and I were in Boy Scouts. It did not excite me to the same extent.

I did enjoy going to the Large music events. The organization that sprang up in the early 90s called “See You at the Pole”, where Christian youth would gather at the flagpoles before school and pray before classes started, also involved large concerts with Christian artists. I saw Carmen twice. I saw a Christian death metal band. A couple Christian boy bands. Sadly, I never got to see Amy Grant. I had her “Heart in Motion” album and I STILL know the words to the songs even though I haven’t owned that album since I was 16. One of the songs popped up on the music at Walgreen’s one day and all of a sudden I’m singing along with a B-side track off of an Amy Grant album, in the middle of the afternoon… in 2018.

I spent a lot of time going to events and being a good Christian Solider, spreading the word to as many as I could. I felt the word of Jesus and shared it with everyone. I felt a connection, and it showed. I brought my Aunt Marty to Jesus shortly after my grandfather died. I know it helped her through a difficult time in her life, as that period in time was difficult for all of us.

Less than two years later, grandma would be gone, too. It was comforting to believe there was purpose to the loss. That, even though it was not seen, there was a reason for the madness. And though we could not see it, in time, we would know… we just had to have faith.

As I got older, as is inevitable, I started asking questions. Science and math have always been my favorite subjects outside music, and a good scientist always asks questions! The answers were always the same… you just have to have faith.

I remember meeting a devotee of the Krishna Conciseness movement, and I asked him about their view of Jesus. He explained that they saw Jesus as a messenger. Jesus told the people, in that place, at that time, exactly what they needed to hear. The only way to salvation is like THIS. The kingdom of heaven lies through ME.

So, I bought a copy of the “Bhagavad Gita… as it is” with a full interpretation of the text. To help put it all into context. It was the first time I contemplated another religious text and not the bible, and it would not be the last.

Modern religions. Historical religions. Ancient religions. ALL carry similar stories. ALL teach LOVE for our fellow Man and PEACE comes from understanding. I would never claim to be a religious scholar, but every religious text I have read shares a compelling story about love. The WORDS they teach give COMFORT to families who grieve, they proclaim the ceremonies of Unions are CELEBRATIONS, and these texts anoint the new generation, when those Unions so decide. But as I grew older I could see the hypocrisy. The WORDS of Men seemed pure, but their DEEDS were pure evil.

… and it is NOT just to be thrown upon religious establishments. Unfortunately, it undermines EVERY aspect where power over weaker individuals creates profit. It just so happens this continues to this day.

I believe in the power of the SUBATOMIC. I believe in a balance of power. I believe that my actions HERE, can DIRECTLY effect someone on the OTHER SIDE of the planet… It’s spooky almost!

But I also believe that on a subatomic level, when we consider what each and every atom actually IS, that we are made up of mostly EMPTY SPACE, and yet I sit here and CONTEMPLATE… YES, don’t tell my ‘Atheist Brethren’, but some days I would call myself “agnostic”… but only SOME DAYS. Agnostic suggests someone who’s “on the fence”. No… pick a side, then let’s Move On!

Each religion, from historical to modern, shares stories that share common themes within common narratives, yet their origins are separated by thousands of years. Wise men recorded these stories to share knowledge with future generations. What elders learned in THEIR years that kept them alive, inspired by the WORD of the Creator, Universe.

As I have walked my path, seeking the answers, walking as FAR AWAY from religion as possible, I found… the answers lie within creation itself!

It can never be as brilliant as the LIGHT, it is only a spoken representation, The WORD of Universe… and We are ALL a part of it.

So, in other words- I will continue to walk my path. I continue to want to know ALL I can. I want to learn ALL I can from every religious text. I want to know the story so I can compair that with other stories, and find the commonality that lies within ALL our shared history!

And I want that opportunity to exist for ALL MANKIND, forever. Each person’s spiritual path is just that… THEIR OWN!

It is my belief, whenever someone decides to ask questions about their humanity, they should be guaranteed access to the answers… ALL OF THE ANSWERS. To make the best informed decisions… After all, on that day of judgement, there will be no one there to answer for your actions… but YOU. We all follow the path, together, the LIGHT showing us the way.

… but I am just an Athiest! I don’t have all the answers. Nor would I ever be so arrogant to claim that I did.

There’s only one way to find out for sure.

JC

 

 

 

 

 

 

Where Do YOU Stand?

What is OUR story? What is it that WE will create? I’ve been searching for an inspiring message from Historical figures, listening to Martin Luther King Jr, John F. Kennedy, and Robert F. Kennedy, and some are so timeless, it is as if they were written this morning.

But still… I’m STILL left wanting…

I am a younger man. I have an abbreviated frame of reference, but it is of the SAME events that my grandparents have witnessed, and that somehow makes my conclusions different. Or somehow makes their conclusions more just. I believe the worst part of getting older, especially now in our Digital Social Society, is the development of an INABILITY to forget.

A five year old child tries to steal a cookie from the cookie jar, the parent sternly says “No!”, and the child snaps his hand back startled, with concern for having upset their parent… but with a smile, the child turns and chases a cat.

We have Leaders today who bear grudges born by their Fathers. We have Leaders today who do not forget the grudges held by the Founders of this Nation. Today, in the Executive Branch of the United States Government, Leaders who bear the grudges born by men, alive at the time of Jesus, hold public office.

And these are their fights, not OURS. The fights and arguments of dead men rule over Our lives ON LINE. Now, if THAT doesn’t sound upside down…

What makes Our system of governance ‘good’ and ‘just’ is the promise of a second chance, rehabilitation, “… time served.” When a man is sentenced to life in prison, and dies incarcerated, his sentence has been served. He can be interred as a free American, no less than you or I.

And be it true or not is just an opinion, but Americans MUST remember this magnificent system of justice is what EVERY human being seeks to be a part of. The VAST majority of people who dream of escaping oppression based on ancient beliefs, or enslavement based on gender. Our Constitution stands for hope for ALL people who still harbor some hope, that one day, THAT Liberty can become THEIRS.

Idealistic… maybe. UNTRUE….?

The system set by the Vision of Free Men can be thought of as the first successful computer program. All programs, in essence, are ‘ones and zeros’, ‘on or off’, question gates for an electron answering ‘yes or no’, millions per second, running through a predesigned systematic layout, to produce a desired end product.

Predesigned, systematic, to produce an end product.

What do WE want that end product to be? WHAT should that end product look like? And for whom has this product been created?

FOR ALL MANKIND.

We celebrate our Constitution, NOT because it is OURS, but because it is a document worthy of Celebration! And it is only successful because of the ability to Amend the Laws, CORRECT problems, find bugs in the lines of code. It IS difficult, it is tedious, but it IS POSSIBLE, and it MUST be done.

In this new digital landscape we traverse daily, to navigate successfully means we allow ourselves to become part of a machine. To buy movie tickets, to look at cat videos. YOU allow it. And as with OUR Constitutional Government, so too with our digitally projected self-image-

We MUST take PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY.

We must not forget misdeeds and condemn them to the PAST, instead we must understand exactly how and why an injustice is allowed. The ‘Origin Story’ of the outcast devils that are STILL haunting the halls of Congress. THAT is how we prepare for the future.

By understanding the root of our ills. By OPENING UP and demanding an end to what is CLEARLY NOT how Our system should be. When the sign on the door says “Equal Justice Under Law”, we can NO LONGER ALLOW ‘selective service’. America must BECOME that ideological entity NOW, because we most certainly are not ANYWHERE near it today. And, if we continue down it, history stands as guide to show you how far this path really leads…

So OUR Story begins HERE. Do we continue to fight, or do we decide to conclude the discussion, and ratify these decisions?

If we pause, and examine what fuels our passions, what makes us ‘wild’, the root of the problem is SOLVABLE! It CAN be solved, and it SHOULD be solved. Because the VERY ABILITY to have a debate like this is under attack as I write these words. To characterize it as a “civil war” is a false narrative. It is as if our collective ant farm is being shaken from the outside.

… put down your sugar cube, we have to defend the Hill.

With Liberty and justice for ALL is NOT a reality show tag line. It is a blood-oath sworn, that we are called upon again to STAND UP for. Not with GUN IN HAND… with HEART AND MIND. We have envisioned, for more than 200 years, what we want for our monument, to stand through time immemorial. It is Our Constitution.

So True it shall stand, so flexible no earthquake shall bring it down.

It is to these ideals, Liberty and Equality we should ALL aspire. And it is to the same, we should STAND for and pledge our lives, or take a knee and show HUMILITY for,

The ideals of Equal Justice Under Law.

JC

…with respect and humility.

Our grandparents touched evil. Our great-grandparents knew what it meant to have families separated. Their innocence was lost and their reality was threatened by true evil.

Evil so hideous, that it would brainwash a mother to jump to her death with child in her arms, than suffer at the hands of Allied Forces in the Pacific Ocean. Evil so potent that it could convince others a race of humanity was the cause of their misfortune. That the solution to the ills of the economic world would be the total demise of the culture and beliefs, of a People, who brought forth to the world Jesus of Nazareth. And to THAT end, would they not have eventually seen the followers of Jesus himself as part of their ‘solution’?

After defeating the Axis Powers, our Great and Grandparents tried to tell their children of the dangers they knew. They warned them of how this evil rose to power. How the coward is the courter of the devil, and that No Appeasement should be given.

This Far, and No Farther!

That men Of Peace know not of the World War that raged before. Education being the remedy, they taught steadfast courage and adherence to the rights of Humanity were the ONLY solution, come what may.

Men of Courage were born of that war. Bush, Reagan, Kennedy… Eisenhower knew that war was not the weapon of choice. And we know it solves nothing. It only eliminates our Brothers, as sure as our enemies tried to kill theirs.

But, would we trade, if offered in a genuine sense, this that we know, for the past to be changed and war to be avoided? At first thought, I want to say Yes. Of course the avoidance of a World War as all-encompassing as the second was would be amazing! Just in the scores of families that would not have been destroyed. the countless souls who died because of the beliefs of others. The inhumane losses born by citizens neglected in times of crisis.

But I hesitate. Only because I realize the gains humanity has enjoyed because we stood for the liberty of others. The Civil Rights Movement may not have taken flight. As soldiers came back to a segregated America, they were inspired to create the freedom they enjoyed abroad, here. The Women’s Movement may not have risen. After enjoying equality in sports, in manufacturing, in Society while the men fought overseas, it was degrading for them to be forced back into servitude as the men came home.

The Technological Revolution we are all a part of NOW, was fully funded and encouraged during the war for counter espionage. breaking codes, tracking ballistic missiles beyond the horizon, aerial photography from the edge of space, knowledge that lie at the heart of the atom itself…

And so many more advances we take for granted today. Open markets across the planet, human rights expanded to countries that oppressed their people, the knowledge and confidence to go to the MOON was born from the horrors of war. The cost of every life lost was paid IN FULL by our grandparents, and it is not given to us today as if it were our inheritance. It was won, hard fought by them, so we could have a CHANCE to fight for it AGAIN. Today. So it is, that EVERY generation must make that choice.

Because the Choice is ALWAYS Ours.

So we balance these questions on a razor’s edge today. As sure as people were in the streets in the 1960s, we see it today. As sure as napalm leveled the jungles of Vietnam, the drones fly high in the cradle of civilization, devoiding the desert of humanity.

The lessons learned are not forgotten. For those with eyes to see, the fight is as fierce as it was then. And the stage is set for a fight today that NO ONE wants to see. That NO ONE wants to start. That is so potent, I fear it may have already started…

But NOW we have a choice. The choice has always been with Us. It is NOT the in the leaders’ hands. It is NOT in our enemies’ hands. It is in OUR HANDS. The Liberty to choose our own destiny is NOT ours alone, we are a small part of a LONG line that stood before us, and the line that stretches off into the unknown infinite, but we are given the righteous responsibility to defend it NOW, as it has, and will be given again.

NOW, our war is rhetoric. Our injustice is only an injustice of Words. NOW, we see how powerful the pen can be, because the Words of ONE MAN have put back into motion the mechanisms that enabled evils, now only remembered. NOW, the words produced by a leader and his men, have started down a path we ALL know too well.

And we will ALL OWN IT…. come what may.

DO NOT spark the powder kegs! DO NOT injure like they would encourage. But NEVER BE SILENT. ALWAYS stand firm and SPEAK LOUDLY. Proclaim where you stand NOW, for when they try to take that freedom from you, and they ask you “Where do YOU stand?” we will ALL know. The people around you, the people behind you, and the people you didn’t even know could hear how LOUD your voice was… can hear you, too.

If NO ONE stands SILENT then the MINORITY BELIEFS will not corrupt the Truth. Fear cannot silence TRUTH when we stand United. We speak out when Law is subverted because without Law, we cannot find TRUTH.

Equal protection Under Law.

When enforcement of the Law is detrimental to the citizens that established it, The LAW MUST CHANGE. Seeking to craft Legislation that reflects the values that ALL Americans share, those that are taught to every generation in the ancient texts of every caring religion on Earth, is why people established Our Government in the first place- it is the “Just Patriotism” George Washington spoke of in his Farewell Address. Our Constitution isn’t celebrated because it is OUR Constitution, it is celebrated because it is a document worth celebrating!

Pride in our Law, in Our Constitution is expressed clearly when we speak in unison, and demand an unjust law be repealed immediately.

Long Live The Constitution!

Long Live the OFFICE of the President of the United States!

Keep your head UP!!

JC

It’s All Connected…

I wanted to speak about Wilson Montenegro and his cousin Jerrell Frazier. I graduated from Olathe North High School class of 1998. On September 14, 1995, Wilson and Jerrell were shot and killed in a drive by shooting while playing football with some friends on school grounds.

It was Homecoming weekend. I remember on Friday, the football game was the first time I got to dress out and play live with the marching band. It was the beginning of a new year at a new school for me with new friends. Then, later that weekend…

I never got to meet Wilson. We didn’t have the same classes. I saw him only in passing between class. But his life touched all of us. The Monday after, as we walled the halls… silence. No one spoke. No one knew what to say. And we all understood the danger was real.

The things we do make a difference in other people’s lives. It’s a ripple effect. As words leave our lips and reverberate through air, like rocks cast into still waters, what we do touches more than we can see. What we do each day, matters.

Have you ever taken a dandelion gone to seed and blown the seeds into the wind? Have you ever taken a dandelion gone to seed and blown the seeds off up wind of someone with seasonal allergies?

What we do matters and effects people around us.

Like an intricate placement of dominoes, a single motion creates havoc long after you influence the system. And whether done by accident or with intent, once started the result is almost certain.

I have decided to share with you memories of a young man I have never met. Motivated to do so, by a bunch of children from Florida who know the horrors of war. Those children who mourn the loss of friends and family, seek legislation through OPEN and HONEST debate, to ensure this doesn’t happen again, and GROWN MEN say “leave the governing to the adults.”

Adults, who on one hand say ALL LIVES MATTER, but then they don’t raise a finger to seek justice for the family of a child, shot and killed, by a man with a badge and a gun. Or they teach Pro-Life concepts to a teenaged girl carrying her abuser’s child.

Our country, seemingly, is NOT as it once was. Our country, STARVED of leadership, now finds it in the words of children not old enough to be elected to office. We currently have a leader who seeks to protect our country from, FAMILIES, who have humbly asked for assistance and protection. Women and children with nothing, asking for a chance at NOT DYING… for their children’s sake at the very least. Yet, our current elected officials cannot even do that without causing harm.

So we now see what springs from the seeds of dishonesty sown… More of the same.

As a father of two young boys, I write these words with nothing in my pockets, but asking for everyone to lend me your ear. These words may not seem to have much effect here, today, but they will certainly shake the cornerstones of buildings miles away, tomorrow.

Great wealth does NOT a good leader make, but a great leader is more precious than gold. Right now our Country knows what a great President looks like because we have seen what a cheap, morally bankrupt President looks like. Presenting LIES as TRUTH. Protecting GUNS more than CHILDREN. Celebrating the wealth of Our nation as his accomplishment, and unable to spend time nor treasure to save 5,000 lives in Puerto Rico.

“Heck of a job there,” Sir.

But from this dark corner of our Shared history, I want to offer hope. Its currency diminished, its appeal not quite “universal” anymore… but that “… and a prayer” are all I carry on-hand nowadays.

No matter our political affiliations. No matter the State we live in. We ALL bleed for one flag, and that flag stands as a symbol, and ONLY that. What it symbolizes as it flies, is more than what makes it fly. Just as it is with the scripture, it is the “Word” of god, and because it is by the hand of Man, it is NOT god, though it may be OF god.

Our flag symbolizes our commitment to Liberty and Justice, and our dedication to the protection thereof. Up to and including the destruction of that very symbol!

Yes… THAT is worthy of taking a knee, and showing HUMILITY for, our Constitution, OF the People.

Keep your head UP!!

JC