Comments on Fred and Fred's Principles

Comments on Fred and Fred's Principles

Last night on Chris Byrne's blog “The Anarchangel” was a video link to Fred and his comments to the people of Iowa. Although he looked about as interested as a four day corpse at a Thanksgiving Dinner, I truly did enjoy his comments.

In today's political landscape I doubt there is a single candidate that shares the same ideals I do, but that is part of what makes our nation the best on the planet. Fred has the chance of 'being another Reagan' for us, providing clear leadership and maintaining a more center of the road position of conservative values.

As I listened to Fred's speech to the people of Iowa I was hit by a simple realization about what Fred had to say. As a conservative Fred believes in empowering the people of the nation. A true conservative does not see the nation as an uneducated gaggle of victims in need of nurturing, but instead as the beautiful and engrossing potential of being much greater than the sum of our collective selves.

From what I have seen and read about the man, he is very much for reasonable common sense usages of government. He wants to put the idea of serving the nation back into government. Each payday we are serviced by our government and he may be able to back that down a bit.

Items I disagree with from Fred's statements are social items that will take time to balance out and the President is NOT the person to force the balance. For example, his statements regarding his religious beliefs. More power to you Fred, but not all of us are Tennessee Church of Christ Christians. I'm all for a person seeking wisdom from a higher power, but that wisdom still needs to meet the basic tenants of our Constitution and our Bill of Rights. Keep your Bible in your desk drawer, Fred. Fred is Pro-life and he is welcome to that philosophy. With a 100% Pro-Life record I believe Fred may be over looking a few things about personal responsibility and personal freedom. Fred is also against gay marriage. Again that is his personal choice and philosophy. Neither of which belong in a law restricting people's basic and fundamental right to the pursuit of happiness.

Positives of Fred's principles, now that the trash is out and being considered, are very much in line with what I personally believe. Below are excerpts from his website with my comments following each excerpt.

Individual Liberty . As Jefferson spelled out in the Declaration of Independence, our basic rights come from God, not from government, and that among these inalienable rights is the right to liberty. We must allow individuals to lead their lives with minimal government interference.

And Jefferson had it right. More right than Fred may be willing to admit. The Declaration of Independence stated 'Creator' NOT God. This permits and opens the nation and individuals to follow believe and worship as they wish. Perhaps Fred's wording was chosen due to the higher percentage of Christian fundamentalists in the for Right side of the Conservatives.

Personal Responsibility . The corollary to liberty is responsibility. No society can succeed and thrive for any duration unless free people act in a responsible way. All of us must take responsibility for our actions and strive to improve our own lives and to contribute to building a better society.

There can be no true liberty nor true freedom if people are not held responsible for their actions that impinge upon the freedoms of others. Whether the issue is a matter of accepting responsibility in a car accident to being responsible citizens and raising children to be the same. From the small and petty to the major and life altering, to be free, we must be responsible. “Responsibility is the yoke we all bear to enjoy our freedoms” is a comment my high school civics teacher used often, particularly when someone complained about something not being 'fair'.

Free Markets . Free people are best equipped to order their own affairs, and the common interest benefits from and is improved by the aggregate success of all. We must reform our tax system, encourage investment, support entrepreneurial spirit, open markets abroad to American goods, and minimize burdensome government regulations to continue to expand the economy and bring increased wealth to all Americans.

Wow! What a concept. Americans competing within and without, openly and transparently. 'The People' should be the one's determining reasonable prices by their decisions on what to buy, when. Support this with the opportunities for inventors and entrepreneurs to compete fairly with the 'big boys'. Sometimes the little guy is closer to the solution than the mega-corp entities that do so much to control congress. Just imagine if all the different engine designs of the last 50 years were unlocked and made available to the open market? Imagine a Ford Explorer SUV getting as much as 50 MPG on the open highway.

Limited Government . Government must be strong enough to protect us, competent enough to provide basic government services, but limited by the delineated powers in the Constitution.

Government is strongest when it is small, tight and efficient. Fewer laws, equates directly to more liberty for all. Simplification laws and processes would make it possible for American's to actually KNOW that they are or are not in violation of the laws of the land. I am hoping this would include actions to remove laws rules and regulations that keep the government as the ultimate provider for a variety of services. Welfare comes to mind.

Federalism . Our Constitution innovatively guarantees our liberties by spreading power among the three branches of the federal government, and between the federal government and the states. In considering any action by the government, we must always ask two questions: is the government better equipped than the private sector to perform the task and, if so, what level of government (federal or state) ought to do it. Washington is not the seat of all wisdom

WOOHOO! “Washington is not the seat of all wisdom.” I love that line. It is so perfect. So many politicians are always showing the 'doyouknowwhoIam' attitude, putting on a face of being omnipotent of what is and what is not 'right' for Americans. If it is not defined as a responsibility of the federal government, identify it should be. Otherwise pass it to the individual states. If the states are not the correct location for such a rule, as the federal level is not, then there is no need for the rule because it will negatively impact the liberties of the majority.

Protecting our Country . The first responsibility of the federal government is to protect the nation and the American people. There is no more important task. We must have a strong and effective military, capable intelligence services, and a vigorous law enforcement and homeland security capacity.

The FIRST responsibility. The federal government is constitutionally charged with protecting the people and the American way of life. Noted difference between Liberals and Conservatives: Liberals would coddle and shelter the populace, taking liberties in exchange for less personal responsibility. Conservatives push for the people to be an active part of any and every form of national protection. From the volunteer military forces to actually being responsible for our individual actions.

Traditional American Values . A healthy society is predicated on belief in God; respect for all life; strong families centered on the institution of marriage—the union of a man and a woman; and self-respect and tolerance of others. While we are all free to live our lives in the pursuit of our own happiness, the government has a responsibility to respect the right of parents to raise their children and to promote the values that produce the strongest society.

Fred, the health of a society is not determined by how many of the people attend church on Sunday Morning. But the society's respect for life, personal liberty as well as personal responsibility as well as the foundation of healthy people, self-respect and tolerance of those with a differing perspective. Bring on the freedoms and liberties, Fred. I was brought up in a Christian based household, but I was also encouraged to find my own path through life. So long as a person stays true to themselves and true to the simplest principles of our our Nations foundations, they will rarely go wrong or offend others of differing beliefs but similar principles.

The Rule of Law . We protect our liberty, secure our rights, and promote a just and stable society through the rule of law. We owe to ourselves and our fellow citizens our own adherence to the rules, but tough law enforcement and punishment for those who do not. A free and independent judiciary that interprets the law by adhering strictly to legal text and respects its limited role in our system of government is essential to our security and freedom, and we need judges who understand that role if we are to preserve our republic and freedom.

The judiciary is to determine the legality of a law, based upon the constitutionality of the law. Their personal beliefs have no place on the bench. For examples of this look into the 9^th Circuit Court in San Francisco.

Conserving Our Nation’s Resources . Each of us is put on Earth for a limited period of time. We must always strive to ensure that the resources we use to lead our lives are here for future generations to enjoy and use as well.

Go Green, America. Go Green! Ha. Nice thought and an honorable goal. But to pull it off, the mindset of American's will need to change from the instant and immediate gratification crew to one of progressive planning and determined management of the planet as a whole, not just our nation. We can not, as a government tell another government what to do with it's national resources. However, as a people, as a nation of independent thinkers and responsible citizens we have the power to deliver the same message to others that our government can not legally influence. We have the power to avoid supporting that nation by purchasing the products of other nations.

All in all, I agree with and like Fred for my candidate of President. If only he would awaken from his chrysalis, spread his wings and let the world know he was there. Reagan stepped up to the mike and was active. He moved when he spoke. He insured that people understood he was a force unto himself. Freddy you wanna be considered a Reagan Era Conservative? Then step into Ronnie's shoes, boy. Show us what you got.

P. Blacksmith