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More American lives were lost in our civil war than any other war in history! It is unsettling to consider the nature of man that drives such a level of destruction. Our ancestors were aligned into two groups so opposite and angry they lined up and slaughtered each other. Looking at the current polarization in America, we have reason for concern and should contemplate several things that, if fixed, could prevent a melt-down. Media bias, complete with lies and omissions has been identified as a potential culprit! It is too easy for malicious propaganda to generate bitter anger. We bet everything on good voter discernment which is under the “GIGO” principle (Garbage In, Garbage Out). It is increasingly difficult to know what to believe. Much of what we hear is exactly opposite of other things we hear. There is an increasingly marked divide between those who take in a steady diet of mainstream news and those who are paying attention to many high-quality conservative news sources. The consequence of deductions being made from false information is people hating the wrong people for the wrong reasons. This insanity has not destroyed us yet because the majority of Americans still evidently know and generally embrace truth — the foundation of the rule of ultimate law— which the founders called “nature’s law”. We must, however remember, two murderous “sides” can congeal. Polarization is deceptively attractive and natural because group identity provides a false sense of security and righteousness to its members. Blind loyalty to either side can unwittingly grant license to hate, while nominally presenting an outward pretense of inclusiveness, love and equality. It is a critical consideration to decide when and where a line should be drawn between political groups.

In the civil war, the two sides were called the “North” and the “South”. Passionate division came from disagreement on the issues of slavery and federalism. Similar passions are still with us! The same issues are still with us… as well as defunding police, abortion, government overspending, the validity of Constitutional values, the Trump re-election… Fortunately, contrary to the plethora of news report frenzy, we do not yet have two sides in a no-holds-barred brawl.

If Americans abandon “E Pluribus Unum” (the wonder of “Out of Many, One”) we have reason to fear utter chaos. Therefore, do not hesitate to be unapologetically patriotic. America is built on values honoring fundamental human dignity… freedom before one God Almighty… one “Supreme Judge”! While promoting American values, however, be thoughtful when labeling your fellow-Americans who believe or promote lies. Be thoughtful, but, do not give an inch! If “We the People” are confident in our basic values, we allow protection for liars by ensuring freedom of speech to counter them. America bets everything on the electorate recognizing and embracing truth. Too many, especially in the media, appear to be endorsing lies by pretending to have false respect for the tolerance of fools! It is okay to be offensive (intolerant) when the offense is caused by standing up for truth. Don’t forget, we each have a built in “knowledge of good and evil”.  It is inevitable that we live our lives perpetually testing and analyzing what is good and what is bad.

The civil war killed off 2.5% of our population. To repeat history, this death rate would translate into us killing 7,000,000 Americans! When using worldwide, grossly inflated predictions and reports, the COVID-19 pandemic fades to insignificance by about 14 times! If you multiply every death report you hear by 14, the impact is staggering. You may think another Civil War could never happen, but current media reports of widespread rioting and burning seem to imply predominant unrest, frustration, and anger. If the media polarizes people into coalitions (two sides) with too many frustrated identity groups who conclude it is “My way or die…”, we are in danger of something far more sinister than COVID-19.

A friend sent me a YouTube recording of an old favorite song that elicited an unexpected visceral patriotic reaction. Merle Haggart in 1969 – It made me consider the significance of the “Fightin’ Side of Me”. At what point is it valid to start really swinging our fists?

I hear people talkin’ bad about the way they have to
Live here in this country
Harpin’ on the wars we fight, gripin’ ’bout the way
Things ought to be
I don’t mind them switchin’ sides and standin’ up for
Things they believe in
(But) When they’re runnin’ down our country, man, they’re
Walkin’ on the fightin’ side of me
I read about some squirrely guy who claims that he just
Don’t believe in fightin’
And I wonder just how long the rest of us can count on Bein’ free.
They love our milk and honey, but they preach about some
Other way of livin’
When they’re runnin’ down our country, man, they’re
Walkin’ on the fightin’ side of me…

This was also submitted as an article to The People’s Paper.

The pursuit of “justice” is a constant, inescapable, quest of humankind. We naturally fear consequences of injustice for ourselves and others. We insist life must be “fair”! Ensuring justice is the cornerstone purpose for any authentic government exercising authority over humans. The thing is, logically, justice cannot exist without a Divine standard to judge by. The quality of “justice” delivered by government is directly proportional to the quality of the standards (laws) used! The Ten Commandments of the Bible, and the “law written on men’s hearts”, (the “Natural Law” of the Declaration) are ultimately the basis for the “gold standard” for American justice authority. There is an undeniable, amazing correlation between Biblical concepts and the Principles of Liberty established by the Founders (freedom, prosperity, and peace). According to the Pew Research Center, every state constitution references God or the Divine. I don’t think anybody would argue; People suffer when government “justice” is based on bad laws. It stands to reason; if government intends to be the source of justice, it has a vested interest in finding, understanding, and maintaining perfect laws. Government “justice” deteriorates when those with the authority to write, execute, and interpret laws (the three branches) lose their focus, or intentionally undermine, the “gold standard”.

I challenge you to try to defend any authoritative alternative or standard to justify any government court sanction you can think of – without using Biblical principles! All of history confirms existence of “laws of nature and nature’s God” referenced in the Declaration of Independence. On what basis could you, for example, demand sentencing for murder without the standard “Thou shalt not Kill”? Or, violation of property rights without the standard “Thou shalt not steal” and “Thou shalt not covet your neighbor’s house…”? Or, punishing anyone who is not complying with a contract without “Thou shalt not bear false witness? The entire Bill of Rights springs from God’s laws/ values we inherited in our Judeo- Christian heritage. Our founders anticipated our nation’s laws would be written by legislators who would be elected and re-elected by an electorate that embraces the “gold standard”. They believed a truly free, educated, people would give preference to God’s perfect law. History had clearly demonstrated to them how laws based on any given monarch’s human intellect/ or wisdom, as opposed to the Divine standard, leads to oppression and injustice. It is all spelled out in the Declaration of Independence including grievances against the king. We may be about to find out if the founders were correct or naïve’ to trust a free electorate depending on how individual Americans sort out our response to the current dramatic challenges (rioting, unwise Covid response, media lying and manipulation, campaign and political cheating …).

The “rule of law” is a great way to govern… assuming the laws are “gold standard” laws. Unfortunately, we seem to have fallen for a twisted perspective, a lie. Government endorsement of our Judeo-Christian heritage is NOT prohibited, is not oppressive, nor is it the establishment of religion! Removal of the Ten Commandments from our schools, court rooms and other public buildings is a declaration of the intent of some to deny the Source of moral absolutes with some vague value given to naïve’ tolerance. It is truly anyone’s right to reject the ancient standard, ironically because of the very standard being rejected. Religious freedom (including freedom to reject) is inherent to humanity, and the founding fathers’ governmental blueprint when creating America. To reject the ancient standard is to reject freedom. What is the United States of America without freedom?

Beyond ensuring our governing representatives have a valid perspective on the source of authority to ensure justice, there is little we can do except get into humble self-examination and reaffirm our own submission to God’s sovereignty. “Repentance” for the pride and selfishness that may reveal itself is absolutely appropriate. There is an open question whether this will happen on a wide enough scale. The source of justice in American government must emanate (originate from) a free, moral, and religious electorate. If the majority of Americans will not, (cannot) comply, the future is truly dark indeed!

This was also submitted as an article to The People’s Paper.

Over time, government has become a cause of prejudice, discrimination, and antagonism in human relations! The base cause, of course, is the dark elements of human nature, but government has become a generating catalyst! We decry “racism”, yet our government actually incentivizes the evils defining racism! How? … Government agencies routinely endorse arrogant, pandering, programs and policies to favor politically-endorsed “sub-groups”, thereby causing resentments in anyone who believes others are slighted and don’t get their “fair” share. Funding levels are determined using increasingly subjective rules drifting farther from the foundational moral absolutes on which our Rule of Law depends.

These favored sub-groups are “boxes” into which government places various vulnerable, demeaned, and abused human beings. Lobbying for funds to address the needs of most of these groups is a normal part of the perennial budget process. There can be bitter competition between the sub-groups solidly endorsed by our society— not to mention the controversial ones. Generalized group identities are useful for the lobbying, justification, and tracking of public money.

We have normalized this grouping but it is time to re-think! Over 2/3 of our Alaska budget is spent maintaining these groups, most of them in, or in contract with, the Department of Education and Early Development (DEED) and the Department of Health and Social Services (HSS). This spending has become legal “entitlements” for people solidly in particular boxes. Another problem; many “boxed” Americans have come to believe government spending is the source of their security (as if government was capable of being “god”)! Lastly, under the guise of “tolerance”, the number and scope of group identities is increasing. It doesn’t take a lot of imagination to realize prejudice, discrimination, antagonism, and abuse are to some degree similar to racist by-products of the resentments created in allocating funds based on infirm qualifications. Addicts, for example, have been legally re-defined within the last 20 years to have insurance benefit parity with non-self-induced disease! Then we have the emphasis of group identity of the two human genders… not to mention LGBTQ and related sexual choice identities. These identities are so politically “hot” they cannot be rationally evaluated in spite of evidence. All humans, no matter the cause of their identity and choices are worthy of love and care, but not necessarily by “government” that must maintain a standard of justice. This is why our constitution went so far to ensure a LIMITED role that does not mandate federal charity. We have many generations of special government provision for children, the family, seniors, abused, sick and poor, so the path back to decreasing government’s “nanny” role is a difficult challenge.

Government employees and contractors are most often noble-minded and genuinely care deeply about the identity group they serve. Most are merely conscientiously striving to fulfill their authorized job descriptions. The problem stems from bad laws more than bad public servants. We have endorsed “entitlements” (rights) far beyond the original rights expressed in the Declaration and Bill of Rights. Among the additions are the right to an income (minimum wage), guaranteed free education, free health care, quality housing, etc.…). A consequence includes entitlement expectations that may or may not be satisfied in the end – if our government cannot sustain them. Inherent rights (life, liberty, property) are ours in spite of the government we are born into. Our government uniquely identified them as ours because we are human… not because government created them.

Several weeks ago, I overheard one side of a loud cell-phone conversation that made me uncomfortable and makes my point. The call was outdoors, in public, with no detectable concern over who was listening. The caller was an attractive young Alaska Native woman who was clearly agitated because someone felt qualified for some unknown government handout, and she didn’t believe the other person qualified. It became obvious that race was the criteria of the identity group. She felt she was honorably qualified and the offending party was not. She adamantly and explicitly declared she was “entitled” to get the money because of her native blood and the money shouldn’t go to non-natives. Her meant-to-be-heard indignation caused me self-examination. Do I presume “entitlements” I feel are inherently mine because of my self-identity? I know I have some rights I am entitled to that are clearly described by our founders, such as the right to own and defend property (“pursuit of happiness”), the right to self-defense (life), the right to express my opinions (free speech)…Do I expect special treatment because I am a mostly healthy, white male with a mostly adequate retirement income – one I put in the work time for? Do I feel entitled to government largess for reasons beyond my being a human being? Some founders opposed passage of the Bill of Rights because they worried the list creation would miss something. I doubt they anticipated government would “play god” to create entitlements that are not inherent by definition. Government’s role is to ensure justice, not a base-standard of livelihood. Have you ever considered why Lady Justice wears a blindfold?

This was also submitted as an article to The People’s Paper.

Consider: If you were born in America circa 1750, would you have been a loyalist to King George or would you have been a revolutionary rebel? Would you have been appalled by the vandals who dumped 342 chests of tea into the Boston Harbor, or would you have been one of the protesters? If you were a Christian you would have had to deal with, among other things, a rather specific Biblical directive (Romans 13): “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which is from God. The existing authorities have been appointed by God…”. Because you would have been born under the King of England, he would be the “governing authority” you would have technically needed to obey. However, there is still good reason for you to ponder. Two prominent Christian Apostles (Peter and John) who explicitly demonstrated a Biblical duty to disobey government when obedience to government is in tension with obedience to God (Acts 4). There is good reason to ruminate before declaring you would have been a “left wing” or a “right wing” colonist. It is even interesting to mull over why either side would be left or right and why….

We face similar human dynamics and passions in Twitter and facebook feeds, email, and mainstream TV/radio news. A rebellious attitude toward the American government seems vogue right now. Is it a case of, “what goes around, comes around…” or just ignorant irony? We have openly socialist Congress members, a socialist candidate for President, a recent presidential apologizing for America, and now rioting, tearing down statues, protesting the police, resentments by self-centered, far left, and minority identity groups… The Boston Tea Party seems tame by comparison. It is not necessary to explain the shock and confusion modern “right wing” conservatives are feeling. The fear I have is, many Americans are indeed choosing whether they are “rebels” or “patriots” in modern America, without acknowledging historical American roots. Our founding fathers were also rebels, but with a very big difference! It doesn’t seem to even occur to the new “rebels” most of us were born into a democratic republic instead of under a king!

The human “sovereignty” of authority and power that once belonged to a monarch, now belongs to us … (“We the People”)! America transformed the “divine right of kings” to the “divine right of the electorate”. This means; if you are an American citizen, you inherit the right and responsibility to use your power to govern like it or not! No amount of ignorance or stupidity can remove your responsibility to be “political”. Being political looks like voting, knowing your political candidates and representative, running for office yourself, engaging personally in Constitutional efforts to amend the highest law of the land, and keeping yourself informed. You are stuck with the task BECAUSE of your American citizenship. If your sovereignty is overthrown, history will put you down as irresponsible or worse.Sovereigns (kings) of old were graded as “evil” or “good” based on failure to provide “justice” – a very big word. We will be judged evil or good based on whether we governed to maintain inherent human freedom, something only accomplished by political action.

Relate this to my original question. If you were “free” in 1750, did you have any justifiable thing to rebel against? Can any free human have a rebellious attitude? By definition, if there is no authority over you, there is nothing to rebel against! When our forefathers ratified the Constitution, they enthroned, as best they could, a representation of the majority of informed citizens, which is not the same as a “pure” democracy. There simply was no precedent or simple way without a complex system, which divided the rule making, rule enforcement, and the judiciary into three separate branches. The catch may turn out to be simply: totally free humans tend to deny the need to put checks on fallen human tendencies. The “rule of law” is meaningless if the law is polluted.

America truly is the greatest experiment ever, related to human governing authority. History records our stunning prosperity. Will America be recorded as resilient against the cognitive dissidence of the electorate rebelling against itself?

In the context of deciding if you are a “rebel” or a nationalist, reflect on the words of Declaration of Independence, adopted 244 years ago: “When in the course of Human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the posers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them…” This is the very act I am calling “rebellion” in this editorial. Whatever the religious/moral elements of your contemplation, “We the People” are in charge and will be judged harshly if we allow the misguided “Antifa” madness to prevail! Only fools presume America is a fascist nation.

This was also submitted as an article to The People’s Paper.

“My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.” JFK, January 20, 1961, this is history I remember as a freshman in high school. Kennedy was elected by a narrow margin in an allegedly tainted election. In that election, the new State of Alaska cast its first three electoral votes for Nixon, Kennedy’s opponent. Consider his message in this inaugural speech. This is a bold alignment of a famous Democrat with a prominent, radical, constitutional value, “the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God.” (JFK – from the same speech). This constitutional value is the cornerstone of the Declaration of Independence and was the consensus for supporting the American Revolution. Kennedy’s words confirm it was still standing tall in 1961. Do today’s “far left” issues violate the value? We do seem to be in some kind of “relapse”, but our Constitution still stands supreme and “we the people” still have the option of exercising the sovereignty it grants us. We can reaffirm original intent, if we will. The alternative is unthinkable.

Forget the “red state -v- blue state” labels for a moment and consider whether popular “far left” issues are viable. This consideration is impossible, of course, if you refuse to read the text of the Declaration, Federalist papers, Bill of Rights, and the Constitution to reconfirm what the founding values are. If you aren’t a reader, Hillsdale College and other organizations provide excellent free on-line courses and learning aids. If you need some motivation, read some historical stories of slavery and government oppression… the supply is almost unlimited. This is more than an academic/educational exercise – it is our American civic duty. You can only declare issues “right” or “wrong” after you have a mature world view with measurement scale ranging from “far right” (constitutional conservative) to “far left” (no official national standard). As I have pointed out before, this is not even possible without getting “religious”. Political party platforms are intended to give you choices on the spectrum of possible conclusions, but they are worthless if you deny the use of a measuring stick.

“What can government do for ME?”, has become THE question driving government! Strengthening the case for a series of unconstitutional “far left” “solutions”! When someone gets hungry, food stamps for all! When jobs are lost, government paycheck protection for everyone! If someone doesn’t earn enough, higher minimum wages for all, while disdaining free enterprise, capitalism, and profits— even defying the right to own property! When someone gets sick, universal government health care, even insisting on free, unlimited, government education and day care systems! Demanding Americans pay to provide for anyone on the globe (open borders) regardless of citizenship and tax contributions. This “far left” bubble of imagination holds the government responsible for natural causes – earthquake, a hurricane, or a COVID 19 plague – as though it were “god” and could prevent or fix anything! This is clearly delusional, at some point, this will be revealed as the nonsense it is; preferably before more undue pain and suffering is caused.

After 10+ years of experience in the Alaska legislative branch, I view Alaska to be in a bad spot. Virtually all legislative energy is spent trying to pay for this “what can government do for me?” mentality. Not just Alaska, the federal government openly and brashly incentivizes far left values and jumping in to be the ultimate “nanny” government liberally bribing with “federal matching funds”, extorting more and more control in exchange for the misplaced trust of citizens. In my opinion, Alaska may be one of the worst, as demonstrated by the Alaska Legislature’s expectation to use Permanent Fund earnings as if they were surplus tax revenue. This action rejects the approved legal system to convert it to private property under a trust model. Alaska’s founding values prevent any legislature from allocating any funds for spending beyond the current budget year, so perennial diligence is required to keep the permanent fund earnings for PFD’s as a trust-model payment. “Emergency government need“ can always be generated (ex: COVID 19 response). Legitimate government revenue is to be generated using only the constitutional use of the power to tax! If the Permanent Fund earnings are merely more government revenue to be fought over in budget politics, we are simply an unconstitutional welfare state. I don’t believe Alaska’s citizens should have to fund the Government’s poor budget emergency. Unless we turn this around, the entire earnings reserve (lots and lots of money) will be pursued with every ounce of lobbying energy to fund too many “far left” programs.

For what it is worth, I recommend:

• Support Governor Dunleavy because deliberately reducing spending is the constitutional approach. Do what you can to destroy the phony recall effort generated by “far left” lobbyists.
• Make very sure your elected legislators actually represent you and not “far left” ideology. Believe it or not, many of them simply need your support and strength to empower them do the right thing. Some do represent the “far left” and need to be replaced, but the majority will do the right thing with constituent support. If, on the other hand, you support far left programs, they will likely give you what you want so they can keep their place at the governing table.
• Seriously consider your constitutional amendment options! Some changes are needed— including those proposed by my Senator (Senator Showers). He simply does not have the political influence needed to generate a 2/3 vote unless Alaskan voters turn up the heat on other legislators. His proposals are “spot on” to comply with the JFK directive.

The majority of this article was submitted to The People’s Paper as an editorial.