These are the times that try men's souls

“THESE are the times that try men's souls.” The rest of that quote is; “The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country.”
That quote from one of our founding fathers, Thomas Paine, in his writing, “The Crisis” which was the sequel to his writing of “Common Sense” is as apposite today as it was back in the winter of 1777-1778. They were written in Paine's pamphlet 'American Crisis' during the winter of Valley Forge as a way to encourage soldiers and the public to continue to fight in the Revolution despite the many severe hardships the war was putting everyone through. In these times we face different obstacles. They may not be as physical but are nonetheless trying. We must now continue the fight to get our country back from the Washington elite, the panjandrums of the beltway. They have lost sight of the fact that we sent them there to do our bidding. They work for us, we don’t have to step and fetch for them the way it has been for all together too many decades.

The second shot heard round the world was fired in Massachusetts once again since April 19th 1775.
That phrase is in the opening stanza of Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Concord Hymn" 1837, and describes the impact of the Battle at the Old North Bridge in Concord Massachusetts, on April 19, 1775. Emerson wrote the "Concord Hymn" for the dedication of a battle monument very close to his family's home, and the words are meant to emphasize that a critical event happened at this location that triggered something of global importance. The entire stanza is: "By the rude bridge that arched the flood, Their flag to April's breeze unfurled; Here once the embattled farmers stood, And fired the shot heard 'round the world."

I figured since all the talking heads and mind numb politicians are spouting oh such wonderful platitudes, I should expand on their cherry picking of words and maybe fill in some of the gaps left by their liberal education. I’m sure most of them never research what they say. They just regurgitate what they are given and sit there looking so damn smart. How about they all get over themselves and do what they are supposed to be doing.

Now we find the people of Massachusetts have spoken for all of us with their vote and that speech would include the words, “We the People”. We must all do our part no matter how small to keep the momentum going to take back our country from the solons that have gone astray. These self aggrandizing self proclaimed doyens think it’s all about them. Do we need all the reform they are talking about? I’m sure some of it is necessary. Isn’t it just too bad that they don’t put as much effort into illegals entering the country, or the care of veterans, the homeless, etc. The strange thing is that a lot if not all of these problems plaguing our country can be solved with common sense and not just throwing piles of money at a problem. Case in point; the “war on poverty,” without going into too great detail suffice it to say the “war on poverty” is nearly 50 years old and has cost 7 trillion of our hard earn dollars and the outcome as we all know is depressing and has been basically ineffectual. So let’s see if we can’t persuade our representatives to use some common sense, take the time to actually read the bills and act accordingly. With our urging perhaps we can actually get them to do the right things.