I blame stupidity, not a conspiracy.  But it is amusing (or sad) that if there were a conspiracy, the story would be written the exact same way!

I have faith that thinking people interpret the press (whether Fox or CSM or whoever) as being irrelevant. I'm not concerned with what I cannot control. What I can do is stay involved and make the case for freedom. Whether it sticks is up to everyone else. 

I like to think these two CSM articles are an example of the last breath of a dying drone generation.

Yesterday on Meet the Press they reviewed the declining prospects for the Republican Party.  And the conclusion was that no one can revive the G.O.P and challenge Barack Obama in 2012.  They assessed the prospects of all the possible candidates...

But there was one glaring omission.  Guess who? 

The one man who predicted the economic collapse. The one man who suggested that the Federal Reserve needed an audit itself. The one man who warned that electing Obama or McCain was the same thing, because there would still be a war where we don’t need one, the lobbyists would still rule, and the government would still intrude. The one man who was first to recognize and announce that Republicans had lost their way, their heart, their soul. The one man who raised $32 million. The one man who would shake Capitol Hill to their foundations.

He is not dead, much as the press would have you believe. Tim Russert is dead. Michael Jackson is dead.  Farrah Fawcett is dead.  Ron Paul lives.
 

I was disappointed by my church who asked me to spend Memorial service honoring the volunteerism of soldiers who risk their lives 'so we can be safe'. I am not comfortable that my church is preaching the 'idealism' of war. 

War does not create peace. And it is the opposite of Christianity teachings: love and peace. But it is no wonder as God of DoubleThink is the prevailing attitude of the day. For example:

"I just want you to know that, when we talk about war, we're really talking about peace." - George W. Bush

"The role of the military is to fight and win war and, therefore, prevent war from happening in the first place." - George W. Bush

Unbelievable these times and how perverse our thinking. That these thoughts are commonplace and spun as somehow logical.

I suggest we truly help soldiers by challenging whether foreign occupation and torture is necessary, and whether the fallen have died in vain; and question the Federal Reserve system that creates the financial incentives for all of us to participate in war. (We are all soldiers.)

And anyway, we cannot call our forces an 'all-volunteer military'. Our military is paid. Soldiers are seduced by (Federal Reserve) money.

There is no other instance where we are paid for work and referred to as a volunteer. 

From the dictionary:

volunteer - a person who works for an organization without being paid.

What percentage of soldiers would continue to 'volunteer' if the government stopped paying? Describing our military as 'volunteer' is a perversion of words. It's the only accepted application of the word 'volunteer' to describe a paid position. I'm curious as to the origin. We must have been told this by some authority so many times that we started believing it.

Soldiers should not be judged for acting in their own self interest (it's no different than paying income tax); but lets not confuse enlisting with volunteerism or even idealism. Instead of idealism inspiring universal soldiers, idealism could inspire universal champions of liberty.

And what about soldiers who later discover the principles of peace and love? Why are the volunteers required to commit to 8 years? If they voluntarily enter the service, why can they not voluntarily leave?

Nothing will end war unless the people themselves refuse to go to war.” -Albert Einstein

And where do soldier checks come from? Every hour spent working in the private sector, a certain percentage is given to the military. So as civilian producers, we are just as much a soldier as any enlistee! A civilian's choice is to risk jail and further forced property loss for not paying for war. Yikes! This doesn't sound voluntary.

What to do
I can't be alone in feeling extremely troubled by the moral decision this presents me. I want to serve man, and my self interests, and make the most of the talents blessed to me; but I also want to stop working because of how my productivity is being applied to support foreign occupation. The choices forced upon us have nothing to do with freedom. This is slavery.

I am responding under duress with a bit of compromise. I continue to produce, and then direct my gained resources towards efforts to end eternal war. Campaign For Liberty is an effective group who shares my goal, and uses their resources with wisdom and care.Members of Campaign for Liberty in Austin are using Memorial Weekend as an opportunity to support a soldier outreach program.  

Soldiers tell volunteers how the military completely screwed them in one way or another.  They say the army made promises that were never meant to be kept.  It's amazingly depressing.  It's no wonder that our current group in uniform are undergoing some of the worst rates of suicide ever in the military.

The program includes a network of doctors and lawyers, many working pro bono, as well as moral support and guidance.  They also offer a support system for active duty resisters from soldiers who have already done it. 

Many of the soldiers are drinking heavily or doing drugs to cope with being back from deployment. We've seen behavior start to heal because they have a place to get help instead of being thrown in the brig.  Several soldiers are there almost every day.

The outreach helps soldiers take a stand against being deployed to war when they discover it is immoral and illegal. Soldiers learn they can do something positive with their situation and act on it.

The outreach is a donation-only non profit group.  When you walk in, it's warm, inviting and a refuge from the depressing reality of every day life at Fort Hood.

Campaign For Liberty members are there to show their support for the soldiers at Fort Hood, to show the soldiers they do have the right to speak out against the war, and to show their commitment to peace.

I am thankful that my church encourages me to speak openly, and does not pressure me to be someone that I am not. Regardless of what was said during service on my behalf, no soldier is participating in foreign occupation for my safety. For whatever is happening around me or to me, I am free.

-Owlin