He is risen!
He is risen!
“When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go and anoint Jesus’ body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, “who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” But when they looked up they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away.” (Mark 16:1-4 NIV)
“But when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood before them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he is risen!” (Luke 24:3-6 NIV)
Fettered Freedom
How strange now, looks the life he makes us lead; So free we seem, so fettered fast we are–Robert Browning
Fondness it were for any being free, to covet fetters, though they golden be–Edmund Spenser
We, as Americans, have always prided ourselves on our freedom. But the truth is Americans have not been free, as I define the word, in many, many years. I am not talking about the government gradually stealing all of our rights from us and selling them back to us as privileges–such as having to pay to hunt or fish, or to practice the second amendment, needing permits to protest or gather, or even of the idea of taxation being theft–all of these things being true.
What I am talking about here is the idea of being free to walk away from it all and to live your life free from interference. Freedom is more than being able to go to a ballgame on your day off or maybe going to a movie. Freedom as defined: “the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint.” If you were to walk away from your job how long could you live on your own? Would you have to find another job to survive? If so you are not free, because you have a master, but it is not quite slavery either because you can change your master. I call this state of mankind “fettered freedom” and this is the freedom the vast majority of Americans live in today.
But as I look around today I see we are on the verge of losing even this fettered freedom and I am shocked at how easy it has become and how willing the American people are willing to submit to authoritarianism. You have probably figured out that I am referring to COVID-19 and how easy it was for the states to basically shut down our lives, giving us the freedom only to buy food, water, and other essentials.
Our lives have been upended by the combination of an invisible menace and a government which is always ready and willing to push the limits of power to see how far the American people will let them go. This of course is not the first time the government has used a crisis to take away our rights.
Do I even need to mention the PATRIOT Act? But we also saw something after the Boston marathon bombing which had me worried at that time and that was the shelter in place order and the stories of police ripping people out of their homes and searching the people and their homes without warrants. All under the guise of security…
Not only did the people accept this without question but they cheered the actions of the police state. The complacency of the people frightened me more than the actions of the police, or should I say just as much as the police, because this showed us the majority of Americans have grown soft and do not understand what freedom and the Constitution mean or stand for.
If you go to the store today and as you see police outside telling you whether or not you are free to enter the store yet, or if you see police inside telling you to stand back or to stop, or if the store you would like to go to is shuttered because the government told it to close, and as you see people walking around with fear and trembling longing for the government to protect them, ask yourself if this what it means to be free? I do not think so.
Basically the government is letting people work and eat and this is about all, but the government is not even letting all people earn a living because the government has determined they are non-essential. How demeaning is that term? All jobs are essential to the people who have them, and all businesses are essential to the people who own them. These people did not lose their jobs or their businesses, they had them taken from them by the government. These people are only allowed to eat. However we know how totalitarian governments treat people who consume more than they produce…
This, like all other crises, is a test run. A test by the government to see how far they can push the American people and frankly while I am not surprised at the government I am stunned by how many people are willing to take it without question. If these restrictions are eventually lifted (I am sure they will let Americans go back to work to be productive but socially will things ever be the same again?) and life returns somewhat to our normal state of fettered freedom, does anybody believe this will not become more and more routine, and for longer periods with even more restrictions, until we reach the point where we have lost everything and we actually long for the day when we at least had fettered freedom?
malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium
Above All
Today is Good Friday and I thought I would share with you some verses from Mark and a video which I feel is a great reminder of what we are remembering today.
22 And they bring him unto the place Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, The place of a skull.
23 And they gave him to drink wine mingled with myrrh: but he received it not.
24 And when they had crucified him, they parted his garments, casting lots upon them, what every man should take.
25 And it was the third hour, and they crucified him.
26 And the superscription of his accusation was written over, The King Of The Jews.
27 And with him they crucify two thieves; the one on his right hand, and the other on his left.
28 And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, And he was numbered with the transgressors.
29 And they that passed by railed on him, wagging their heads, and saying, Ah, thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days,
30 Save thyself, and come down from the cross.
31 Likewise also the chief priests mocking said among themselves with the scribes, He saved others; himself he cannot save.
32 Let Christ the King of Israel descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe. And they that were crucified with him reviled him.
33 And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.
34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
35 And some of them that stood by, when they heard it, said, Behold, he calleth Elias.
36 And one ran and filled a spunge full of vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink, saying, Let alone; let us see whether Elias will come to take him down.
37 And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost.
38 And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.
39 And when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God.
(Mark 15: 22-39 KJV)
Here is a song entitled “Above All” sung by Michael Smith with a video with scenes from The Passion of the Christ. I know it is hard to watch but I feel it is important.
Democrat to refer Donald Trump to Hague for ‘crimes against humanity’ Hydroxychloroquine advocacy
There is a liberal conspiracy going around that claims the reason Donald Trump is advocating for the use of Hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19 patients is because he is invested in the drug. These people may not admit it but they are routing for the drug to fail because this will give them what they believe is a twofold victory: if the drug fails it means Donald Trump will lose money and more people will die. If more people die it lessens the chance of Donald Trump winning in November and this is collateral damage they are willing to take.
Now one Democrat is threatening to refer Donald Trump to Hague for crimes against humanity because of his avocation of this drug, here is what Tavia Galonski from Ohio tweeted:
But she either conveniently forgot or she does not know that the FDA has already approved the drug for emergency COVID-19 treatment and it appears to be having some good results, as New York Governor Cuomo recently affirmed.
But those facts do not matter to her or to any of the other liberals who are out there who want to see the President brought up on charges and the use of a possibly life-saving treatment to be halted for their political agenda.
Sunday, April 5th open thread: ‘By and By’
“This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24 KJV)
Here is this week’s open thread. Please feel free to post links to interesting articles and to discuss whatever issues arise during the course of the day. Nothing is off-topic here.
You can subscribe to America’s Watchtower to receive email updates and you can also follow America’s Watchtower on Facebook and Twitter by clicking the links on the right.
Here is CAAMP performing “By and By” live from last year, enjoy:
Joe Biden flip flops on China travel ban
It makes sense that when you are the leader of a country and you hear through your intelligence that there is a potentially deadly virus in a country that you would restrict travel to and from that country. It also makes sense that if it were bad enough you might just come right out and ban travel to that country and not let flights come into your country from China that country whatsoever.
It is also predictable that when your opponents oppose everything that you say or do that they will also oppose you taking precautions to help protect the American your people, this means they will act reactionarily to oppose a travel ban.
And that is exactly what happened in this thinly-veiled reference to COVID-19 and Donald Trump’s reaction to the threat. Instead of coming out in support of a tough decision the Democrats claimed the President was a racist, and a bigot, and a Xenophobe while condemning his decision. Compounding their obviously politically motivated befuddlement at the President’s action was the fact that this was an election year and these are accusations the left has been trying, unsuccessfully, to pin on Donald Trump since he announced his candidacy several years ago.
Nobody was more vocal in opposition than Joe Biden, who said:
“In moments like this, this is where the credibility of a president is most needed, as he explains what we should and should not do,” he said. “This is no time for Donald Trump’s record of hysteria and xenophobia, hysterical xenophobia, to uh, and fearmongering.”
According to Joe Biden this travel ban was “hysterical Xenophobia” and “fearmongering” but that was then and this is now. Good ole Uncle Joe has quietly changed his position and is now supporting Donald Trump’s travel ban. Here is more:
“Joe Biden supports travel bans that are guided by medical experts, advocated by public health officials, and backed by a full strategy,” Kate Bedingfield, Biden’s deputy campaign manager, told CNN. “Science supported this ban, therefore he did too.”
Apparently Donald Trump was not being reactionary or Xenophobic, nor was he fearmongering at the end of January when he imposed this travel ban, it was Joe Biden who was being the reactionary one, for now according to Joe Biden science actually supported the ban and it did all along. If you are a Joe Biden supporter and want to defend your candidate by saying he did not have all the information about the virus when he made the earlier statements in opposition about the travel ban you are probably right but that is another reason why he should have kept his mouth shut.
So here are the questions this brings to mind about this flip-flop to the right position after a couple of months of thinking about it: How long as President would Joe Biden have been frozen in the grips of political correctness and how long would he have been afraid to act for fear of offending people before he finally came to the realization a travel ban to and from China was in the best interest of protecting the American people? How many more people would have died because of his paralyzation? And how much worse would this already bad situation be if Joe Biden were at the helm?
malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium
NRA sues New York for closing gun shops during pandemic
For the most part the people are lying supinely on their backs and hugging the delusive phantom of hope as the government uses the coronavirus pandemic to wipe its feet on the Constitution.
But there is one organization which is fighting back against this long train of abuses and usurpations and that group is the NRA. The NRA is already fighting California for using the pandemic as an excuse to shut down gun shops and now they are suing New York for the same. Here is more:
The NRA explains that the suit centers on the closure of gun stores resulting from “Executive Order 202.8, issued by Gov. Cuomo on March 20, 2020, in response to the COVID-19 health crisis.”
The NRA claims the gun store closures “effectively and indefinitely suspended a key component of the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution – shutting down all gun stores in the State of New York, including federally licensed gun stores, by deeming them ‘non-essential’ businesses.”
NRA CEO and Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre said:
There isn’t a single person who has ever used a gun for self-defense who would consider it nonessential. This is clearly another assault by Gov. Cuomo on the NRA, on the rights of New Yorkers to defend themselves and their families, and on our Second Amendment freedoms. The NRA will continue to fight all such attacks until Gov. Cuomo recognizes that constitutional rights are for every New Yorker and every American – and not just for politicians and their privileged friends.
These two lawsuits are most likely not going to be settled before this crisis is over but this is still important because now that the government has seen how easily the people rolled over and how willingly they accepted this abuse of power we are going to see more and more of this and for longer and longer periods of time. This is only the beginning…
malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium
The Justice Department has already admitted that there were several mistakes made in the application for approval to spy on Carter Page, in fact they actually admitted that two of the FISA warrants were not even valid.
This raises questions about how widespread the problem is and it turns out the process is not being followed properly in many cases. Here is more:
A Justice Department audit of the FBI’s use of secret surveillance warrants has found widespread problems with the law enforcement agency’s process for ensuring that facts are backing up the claims made to judges when seeking a warrant.
The finding of broader failings in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act program came in a review launched by Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz after an earlier inquiry found numerous errors in applications to monitor former Trump campaign foreign policy adviser Carter Page. In a bid to assess whether the faults in the Page’s surveillance process were an aberration or a chronic problem, Horowitz’s audit team zeroed in on 29 applications for surveillance of U.S. citizens or green-card holders over a five-year period.
Horowitz found an average of 20 errors in each of the applications.
For each of the 29 applications, Horowitz’s team reviewed whether the “Woods procedures” for justifying an application were properly followed.
“We do not have confidence that the FBI has executed its Woods Procedures in compliance with FBI policy, or that the process is working as it was intended to help achieve the ‘scrupulously accurate’ standard for FISA applications,” Horowitz wrote ina “management advisory” addressed to FBI Director Chris Wray.
One troubling finding in Horowitz’s ongoing audit: the files providing detailed support for four of the 29 applications reviewed were missing.
“We could not review original Woods Files for 4 of the 29 selected FISA applications because the FBI has not been able to locate them and, in 3 of these instances, did not know if they ever existed,” he wrote.
That is very troubling indeed, especially the finding that in a few cases they could not even determine if the proper documents for requesting a FISA warrant ever existed.
The FISA court is unconstitutional in the first place and it should not be reauthorized even if there was no abuse, but the abuse makes not reauthorizing the FISA court a no-brainer to anybody in the government who values liberty and freedom. But of course there are not many…
malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium
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