American Made Mutt

                            I know I am not the only person disgusted with the "two party" only system, which if one truly dissects it is really only a one party system. In my opinion ALL outlets of media are more to blame than the "kool-aid" drinkers are who so blindly cast their votes only because an R or a D follows a name.

                          How many times must we all hear or read that, "We HAVE to work within the two-party system?" Most who say this are usually the ones who scream at the top of their lungs about what our "founding father's" had in mind for our Republic. These are also the same people who call us a "democracy" instead of what our form of government is; A REPUBLIC! A "Representative Republic!"

                        How foolish of me to have believed that one of the many reasons our REPUBLIC was so painfully birthed was that we would have freedom of choices, including our political candidates. The only time we have seen any attention given to an (alleged) Independent or third party candidate is if some big name comes out for them, (and that will only happen if you still do the "walk step.") 

                       So, my question is why? Why do news stations, newspapers, talk radio, and of course even the cable news networks ignore third party candidates? What is their problem!!? Why are they all apparently in bed with the republicans and democrats? Somebody out there, please tell me! Hey! I REALLY mean that, I am truly baffled.

                        "We the People" should be demanding to know ALL of our political choices (before we go to the voting booth.) Maybe the all powerful media thinks we are a "democracy" too.  Maybe no one respects those who are running for an office as something other than in the behemoth two party/one party system. Well I got news for you, anyone who is willing to put themselves out there as a "human pinata" in the world of politics should garner respect and the same free media coverage as the two party/one party candidates who, in this writer's opinion have our REPUBLIC falling off a cliff.

                         By the way I have read nothing in our Constitution that says we MUST operate under a two party only system either. A little food for thought for those that are also screaming about our Constitutional rights. They might actually read it sometime.

                           Next we'll be opining on the "kidnappers" of the tea party movement.

There is a long lost and forgotten text book called the "Webster's Dictionary." Yes I know, it is an ancient text but one I personally still value. So, for those that are unclear as to what a true Independent is and many are as we will discuss further here is the Webster's Dictionary definition.

INDEPENDENT:

 a.)free from the influence or control of others; specifically, free from the rule of another;self governing.

b.) free from persuasion or bias; objective

c.)not adhering to ANY political party.

       Now that we have established what a "true Independent" should be we will talk about those that claim Independence. We hear of  "independent democrats," "independent (moderate) republicans," "independent conservatives," and even an "independent socialist." NONE of these types fits the "dictionary" definition! My problem these days with politicians is that in order to garner the big bucks and help from the organizations of either the Repubs or Dems is that they will not be who they REALLY are! I would have far greater respect for a politician that will just run as what he/she is. For instance; if you are a Libertarian run with an (L), if you are a Conservative run with a (C) if you are a Socialist an (S) etc. But stop running with R's or D's behind your name when you are neither! This to me shows that said politician DOES NOT STAND ON THE COURAGE OF THEIR CONVICTIONS!  

       Recently a person on one of my facebooks who is a self-proclaimed Libertarian and big Ron Paul supporter, and vice chair of a Republican County Party was asking every Republican to help defend their potential ousting for not being a "pure repub." This person was ousted and I personally lost all respect for said person.

       I personally was a very devout "kool-aid" drinking Republican for quite a time. Now I have been ex-communicated "officially" and sent to the political equivalent of the "island of misfit toys." I had already ex-communicated myself, but that was not good enough. Oh no! Now I am also a member of "the unwashed" not "pure" enough. The far right has already come after us in my run for Congress www.jackiemillerforcongress.com(check it out.)

      Constantly on my face book I will read how awful third party candidates are. The horrors! They divide the vote! These people who claim they want our Republic to get back to the principles of it's founding fathers. Yet these same folks lack the understanding that our founders warned of the dangers of "party's." Those of our supporters are excited that we are already being attacked as they make a great point that making enemies this soon must mean they are afraid of us. This makes sense as we are educating and offering do-able solutions. As usual the Repub and Dem candidates offer only "typical talking points." sadly though they will be the ones getting the big bucks. And that is okay. At least no matter what happens, come November 03, 2010 I will still be able to look at myself in the mirror as well as our supporters and say that "We stood on the courage of our convictions."

We as a nation seem always to be in search of perfection. The "perfect" car, the "perfect" city or state, the "perfect" business,
"the perfect" spouse, family,religious affiliation and now more than ever the perfect political candidate." IT DOES NOT EXIST!

In my sincerest opinion this search for perfection has added to the divisiveness in our country. Every organized religion claiming that their belief system is the only way. Political party's claiming that they too are the only way to believe. Whatever in the world has happened to the 'free-thinkers' and 'critical thinkers' of the world. When did this happen? How do we as a nation stop this madness of people who in the most vicious of ways attack those who are of a mind of their own? I honestly don't know the answer to when it all began except to look back into our history of the ages and see that mankind has always in some form or another attempted to impose their will on others.

How narcissistic of we as human beings to believe that our way is THE ONLY WAY!

When I was a young girl one of the gifts my Father passed on to me from his was the FREEDOM to make up my own mind in regard to both religion and politics. Something rarely given to our children, friends, family and spouses. This is a wonderful gift. He pounded into my head to be "A leader not a follower." While in the course of hitting a hard bottom in life I may have temporarily forgotten those gifts, they became strong for me once again, actually thanks to the "Twelve Steps" and a great deal of private counseling those gifts have come back even stronger over time.

Now, I find myself both saddened and disgusted with those who claim to follow the teachings of Jesus. I ended up being taught to have an ongoing and ever forming "relationship with God," not a relationship with a religion. Disgusted by political party's that ask us to either "walk lock step" with them or get out! All the very same types of people who say they are angry at the direction of our country and indeed our world. Yet not for a moment do they dare to look deep within to question as to whether they might just be part of the problem.

The very same folks who claim they only want what is best for our country have faltered in respect to looking for the "perfect candidate." Here's the truth! There is NO such person! We will NEVER agree 100% with anyone, and if you can claim this, I say you are NOT a "free-thinker." In politics many a good candidate has been tossed by the wayside over some "litmus test" question although they were on top of it in all other respects. In religion many have chased away those who truly need guidance from a "Higher Power."

I will close with something a Catholic Priest once said. "Religious is for those attempting to buy a ticket out of hell, Spirituality is for those of us that have already been there." I have been there, as some of you also probably have. (Please share your story on this blog if you have been there too.)

In regard to politics, a little something from Thomas Jefferson. " I never submitted the whole system of my opinions to the creed of ANY party of men whatever, in religion, in philosophy, in politics, or in anything else, where I was capable of THINKING FOR MYSELF. Such an addiction is the last degradation of a free and moral agent. If I could not go to heaven but with a party, I would not go there at all." Thomas Jefferson 1789.

This is something that has been on my mind for quite a time, and as usual with my writing will NOT be politically correct. First let me state that the following is not just my opinion, but is one only shared secretly.We need to start speaking up because it is my sincerest belief that this is one of many reasons our Republic is in such a state of madness.Too many have forgotten our priorities and that GOD is missing now in our country.

We have been hearing on the news for the past several days about how many retailers will be open today. Thus, my question is, how many people will be out shopping instead of spending the ENTIRE day giving "thanks and praise to God" for our bounty. How many really have studied the true and accurate history from the first Thanksgiving. A hint; it was also considered a "Sabbath Day" by the pilgrims, (short version.) Which brings us to our next point of contention, to which we offer up one BIG question. No doubt it will anger many. Too bad!!

The question is: How many self proclaimed Christians actually "Honor the Sabbath Day and keep it Holy" anymore? As an ex-food server and retail employee, the answer is not very many. How many of you out there will go to a restaurant after church and even for Thanksgiving and not at least take EXTRA good care of your food server and treat them with respect, understanding their sacrifice, because there is no longer an honor for the Sabbath Day or the original intent
of Thanksgiving? As for me I get to have the privilege and honor of being of service to a young Iraq war veteran and this is an incredible gift on this Thanksgiving day to be able to serve him! So, God Bless all of our Veterans from all wars, and a special blessing to those currently serving both here and abroad. Now, back to our cooking.

An open letter To Congressman Jim Cooper, All of Congress and the press.

Let me state for the record that I am an Independent not some “kool-aid” drinking partisan as has been portrayed in the press. I gave up last year when they passed the original TARP against the will of the people as they continue to do. When I awoke from my partisan coma I realized that our founding document is called “The Declaration of Independence.” Not the “Declaration of the republicans and democrats.” The two party system is broken and corrupt!

We the people protesting are from all over the political spectrum. To be fair maybe there are a few bad apples as even I do not appreciate some of the signs I have witnessed. Sadly it takes away from our core message. And now the far left are bringing in big union thugs and ACORN which is adding to the problem. Dear Congress and press, as an ex counselor with continued studies in psychology let me explain the anger “We the People” are feeling. Our anger with Washington D.C. has been being stuffed down and festering for years now, and the health care sham is just the proverbial cherry on the banana split.

Now since Congressman Cooper and the likes of him are “hiding under their desks,” I will give my own “town hall” of sorts in print and not just about health care. I will answer the questions on issues that our alleged representatives refuse to answer ever since the last administration and with the health care issue have been getting buried. Trust me I have really made the effort to get answers as well as, offer some “common sense” solutions. At the end I will give you the one and only true answer to all of what ails our now broken republic.

Question one: The credit card bill that passed is a joke. It made it worse on all of us especially small business. We the people “bailed” them out to the tune of trillions of our dollars and what did those of us who pay our bills on time get for it? Loan shark interest rates and reduced credit lines which have facilitated a worsening economy and layoffs and no new employment, not too mention has our fico scores nose-diving. So Congress why did you not make the new laws effective immediately? Why did you not cap interest rates so we could all pay our debt down quicker? Why have you lied about SBA loans that approximately fifty to sixty percent of smaller businesses can not qualify for after you read the fine print? You also held off on this and most of the “porkulas” bill until next year so you could play the heroes during election time. This bill will actually tighten credit even more and will not help any of us in the throes of the loan sharks.

The answer; the pockets of congress are lined with money and favors from the multi billion dollar lobbies of the “too big to fail” fat cat banks. So they decided to give them a full year to take more of our hard earned money. When they rebut me they will say they didn’t want to play with our free market society. A heads up Congress you screwed it up the minute you voted for TARP. Again their standard answer “Well if we didn’t pass TARP it would be worse.” This is blatantly false as there is not one iota of evidence to prove this. And further more another bad joke on all of us is that the exact same idiots that got us into this mess are the same ones in charge now. The only thing that makes me feel better every time I write my checks out to the loan sharks is to put in the memo area “loan shark payment.” I suggest you all do this as well. They do not care but it will make you feel better.

Question two: The “cap and trade” bill, which is actually the “cap and tax” bill. This is no doubt a tax on the poorest of our republic and an all out assault on the middle class. This bill has absolutely nothing to do with the environment. I won’t go into yet another 1000 plus page bill. Not only will this bill raise our utility rates and gas prices, and don’t buy into the false statistics they are giving on the extra money we will pay, but if you want to sell your home the federal government will have to come into your home and determine how much needs to be done to “green” it up before you will even be able to put it on the market. I could go on and on. So Congress why do you want to impose more taxes on us and invade our privacy? The answer: Yet again the powerful lobbies for companies like GE that stand to make multi billions of dollars off this hoax. By the way of which Congressman Cooper has received donations from. They refuse to do an “all of the above” approach to getting us away from foreign oil. There is absolute proof from other countries that the system of “cap and trade” simply does not work. It only makes the “fat cats” fatter!

And lastly the “health care” bill: They say it is not “socialized” health care. However what they will not tell you is that it is a “path” to socialized medicine. There is absolute documented proof of many of the members of Congress on the far left that have said this, as well as our own president. This bill will really hurt our seniors. Shame on you AARP! For the record my husband is a senior and a well educated one that knows how to read a bill. This bill will really hurt small business. This bill will ultimately kill human beings. Please trust me on this. So Congress why won’t you allow us to buy our health insurance across state lines? We can buy car insurance on line from a lizard for Pete’s sake. That is free market at its finest. Why do you not want frivolous lawsuit reform? Why won’t you deal with the massive fraud issues throughout the systems we already have in place that by the way I have witnessed first hand? The answer: Here we go again, the huge multi billion dollar health insurance lobbies and lawyer lobbies, not too mention union lobbies.

The bottom line answer to all of the questions and concerns of “We the People,” is simple. It is all about power, greed (for campaign coffers) and most importantly and most dangerously, control. So, shame on you Congress, and shame on you in the press who have also forgotten the important role our constitution gave you in being the “watch dog” for the folks and that includes you too fox news whom I begged for help since last year. This, Congressman Cooper and the rest of you are what we really want to say and how we really feel about you now. We have lost trust in ALL of you on both sides of the aisle. So dear sirs and madams, that’s my “town hall,” I cannot wait to hear and read all of your ‘canned talking points’ that your focus groups claim will work for you.

In conclusion, please read the “Declaration of Independence” thoroughly it clearly states that it is “our duty” to stand up to government when we know they are clearly destroying our republic. Read the constitution thoroughly and you will see how our Congress has been abusing it for decades. And most important hit your knees daily and pray for our republic. But, don’t forget that God helps those who help themselves. Next November let us begin to strangle the broken and corrupt two party system and start giving third party candidates, the independents, libertarians, federalists etc. a chance to be of service to “We the People.”

Sincerely,

Jackie Miller
Mt. Juliet, TN.