The Patriot's Trumpet

AMERICA WAS BETRAYED AND THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST WAS BETRAYED NOVEMBER 6TH—

Posted on November 16, 2012 by Richard Johnson

—By 20 million members of the body of Christ!

The test was defined in these two short videos. This one for Protestants:

And this one for Catholics:

“In generations past, the CHURCH has always been able to count on the faithful to stand up and protect her sacred rights and duties.” Twelve million of this generation of American Catholics did not. Eight million of this generation of Evangelicals did not. November 6^th they were put to the test. They failed to act to protect life. They failed to act to prevent the destruction of civilization through the “redefinition” of marriage. They failed to act to protect freedom—Freedom paid for on the cross on Calvary. Their vote has been recorded in eternity and is already having a destructive effect.

It is recorded in fire for eternity. “One shudders to think what lies ahead.” —Timothy Cardinal Dolan

Posted in 2012, Character, Christian life and service, This Present Darkness | Leave a comment

WHAT TO SAY AT YOUR FIRST THANKSGIVING IN THIS PRESENT DARKNESS

Posted on November 12, 2012 by Richard Johnson

60 million wards of the Democrat party voted for Obama.

Some are almost certain to show up at your family Thanksgiving celebration. Why not tell them what they voted for?

They voted for open, aggressive hostility towards and persecution of Christians and Christianity by your government. It is already happening.

They voted for exponential expansion of Shariah law and a complimentary government enforced constraint on freedom.

They voted for new regulations to restrict any action, speech or thought that might offend Muslims. Enforcement will very likely be carried out through the Affordable Care and Patient Protection Act because it is a nearly perfect vehicle for restricting individuals.

They voted to raise taxes on the middle class (and the poor). Much of this will happen through the 47 different applications of new taxes that will go into effect in the PPACA.

They voted for an exponential increase in racial strife. When anyone objects to the government’s heavy hand reaching into their pockets, taking the fruits of their labor, they will be labeled a racist. The new Alinskyite masters have had that in operation for nearly 4 years.

They voted for “free” abortion on demand any time. You are paying for some abortion now. Under the PPACA, you will pay for all abortions.

They voted for “free” birth control paid for by you.

They voted to make homosexuality a new American value.

They voted for punishing States that have right to work laws and to restrict businesses that try to move or expand there.

They voted to abandon Israel. Will she last four years?

They voted to ratify the United Nations Law of the Sea Treaty designed to transfer money from productive Americans to third world dictators.

They voted to turn the raising your children over to the United Nations (the Rights of the Child Treaty).

They voted to remove your right to bear arms under the power of the United Nations (the Small Arms Treaty).

They voted to subject your government and you to the United Nations Kyoto Protocols (global warming, you know).

They voted to give United Nations bureaucrats management authority over women (excluding Muslims, of course).

They voted to, step by step, turn American sovereignty over to the United Nations and other unelected international entities, most ominously, The World Court (ICJ).

They voted to continue to accept China’s cheating, stealing and ripping us off.

They voted to severely restrict American oil production. Hello $8 gasoline.

They voted to close coal power generating plants. Just turn down the thermostat.

They voted to increase people on food stamps far beyond the current 47.1 million. Any chance that program could reach all 60 million Obama voters?

They voted to “Tax the Rich.” Now doesn’t that make you feel better?

They voted to destroy the future for children in Godless government schools.

They voted to make it impossible for poor and near poor families to choose a good education for their children.

They voted for the belief (and soon to be reality) that we all belong to the government.

Perhaps they are your relatives. They are not your friends.

Update: Psalm 37: 1-2

Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious the workers of iniquity.
For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.

Posted in Lawless Government, Liberals Deatroying America, New Gay America, Obama, Obama Age of Darkness, Obama's America: Racism, The Cost of Democrats, This Present Darkness | Leave a comment

IN THIS PRESENT DARKNESS, HEAR THE INDICTMENT; PURSUE THE PROSECUTION

Posted on November 10, 2012 by Richard Johnson

A scathing indictment from Justice

Five were actually named by Jeanine Pirro in the indictment: President Obama, Vice President Biden, Secretary of State Mrs. Clinton, Secretary of Defense Panetta and Director of Central Intelligence Petraeus. The indictment was over the willful decision to sacrifice four Americans and America’s honor, September 11, 2012 at Benghazi, Libya, for the lie that al Qaeda was defeated leaving behind a religion of peace for the politics of the Presidential election.

But the matter goes far beyond Libya in this present darkness. Everything you are about to watch sheds light that pierces and defines the darkness. “Sheriamerica,” with David Wood, also indicts Senator Graham. Please consider it all carefully:

Wood asked, “Do you think Americans are … dull, ignorant, slowwitted and scatterbrained …?” Well, most Americans are not dull, ignorant, slowwitted or scatterbrained but 60 million of them clearly are guilty of actively working for the Prince of Darkness or passively accepting his rule.

It is now our responsibility to pursue the prosecution of each in the employ of the Prince of Darkness. We must start by speaking the truth. Pointedly the TRUTH.

Posted in Living in the Light, This Present Darkness | Leave a comment

DOES LIGHT SHINE IN THIS DARK AGE OF OBAMA?

Posted on November 9, 2012 by Richard Johnson

Darkness and light are Biblical terms. They are, in fact among the very first Biblical terms. A paradox is that God created light and He also is light. Darkness is where evil exists without God. In God’s light we can clearly see our work, our opportunity to serve and God’s hand in our lives. We also see our own sin and its disappearance in His forgiveness. None of these show up well, if at all, in darkness which is why those living in rebellion seek—must have—darkness. Let us use day and night as examples.

In the daylight we find the beauty and glorious detail in simple daisies.

We cannot even see the outline of a great mountain looming before us in the darkest night.

But on a clear night you can see forever. (Sorry the musical was wrong.) Those stars that inspire (our romance) are untold light years away.

Are you among the 58 million who voted for Romney? Take another look at those stars—those points of light. They represent us in this age of Obama darkness. Are you among those who commune with God in prayer? Be excited. Paradoxically, this is our time.

More on this is on the way. Watch for it here.

Posted in Celebrating America, Character, Christian life and service, Engaging the culture, Obama Age of Darkness | Leave a comment

THANK YOU 60 MILLION CHILDISH NARCISSISTS FOR INSURING DECAY, DECLINE AND DARKNESS FOR AMERICA

Posted on November 9, 2012 by Richard Johnson

Jack Finn writing in the Daily Caller thanked America for reelecting President Obama. He was really not thanking America. He was thanking 60 million self centered, spoiled, thug union controlled, childish narcissists. The 60 million included 14 million Catholics who voted against their faith and the exhortation of their church; up to 10 million Evangelicals who voted against their faith or just didn’t show up; 1.65 million Jews who, along with the Catholics and Evangelicals, voted against Israel’s future. Those 25 million voters would have meant all the difference for America’s future.

Finn uses the device, “Thank you America,” as he looks clearly into our bleak future in this well written critique. Remember, each time you see it, read “60 million childish narcissists.”

Thank you, America. Thank you for re-electing Barack Obama.

Thank you for solidifying Obamacare. Thank you for ensuring that my health insurance rates will rise to the point where my employer drops my coverage. Thank you for future higher prescription drug prices, for lower quality care, for long lines to see my doctor, and for allowing a board of 15 people to determine my fate. Thank you, America.

Thank you, America, for making sure our media will be taking a coffee break for the next four years instead of holding our elected officials accountable (unless they’re Republicans, of course). Thank you for making sure we’ll never find out about how we lost a brave border agent who was shot by a gun from a government gun-running operation. Thank you for making sure we won’t find out about why our president lied about the circumstances surrounding the death of an ambassador. Thank you for seeing to it that we won’t find out that the government’s response to Sandy was worse than its response to Katrina. Thank you, America.

Thank you, America, for making sure we’ll continue to have an education system that teaches children that you are bad while ignoring the genius of your Declaration of Independence and your Constitution; that teaches children about birth control and gender equality but steers clear of God; that teaches children to rely on the government for the things they need instead of on themselves. Thank you, America.

Thank you, America, for ensuring that we will continue to run up huge deficits. Thank you for ensuring the continued abuse of the Fed, which will be free to print more money, eventually making it worth less than the paper it’s printed on. Thank you for piling that debt on my children, so they’ll have to work for your government and China’s, rather than for themselves and their families. Thank you, America.

Thank you, America, for making sure our military strength will be greatly reduced, in men and in supplies and equipment. Thank you for cementing poor relationships with our allies while coddling our enemies. Thank you for ensuring Iran gets a nuclear weapon, which it will not be afraid to use, probably resulting in another deadly global conflict down the road. Thank you, America.

Thank you, America, for ensuring that proposed regulations on oil drilling and coal mining will be implemented, which will cause gas and electricity prices to spike. Thank you for ensuring that we won’t be able to build new power plants and refineries. And thank you especially because these things will cause our everyday necessities, like food and transportation, to cost us more than ever before. Thank you, America.

Thank you, America, for ensuring that our religious institutions will be dictated to by your government, that they will have to provide services such as contraception and abortion even though doing so defies their most basic beliefs. Thank you, America.

Thank you, America, for making sure we will continue to further divide ourselves into groups and see ourselves only by our race, gender, age, sexual orientation and income, instead of seeing each other as Americans. Thank you, America.

Thank you, America, for the judges who will soon be sitting behind the benches in our courts, who will render decisions based on ideological social beliefs while ignoring the Constitution they’ve sworn to uphold. Thank you, America.

Yes, thank you, America, for all of these wonderful gifts you’ve given us by re-electing Barack Obama.

Of course, if I was bitter, I would have used another word besides “thank” in front of “you.”

Posted in 2012, Character, Israel, Lawless Government, Obama, The Cost of Democrats | Leave a comment

ELECTION 2012—WHEN 60,000,000 AMERICANS VOTED FOR DECAY DECLINE AND DARKNESS

Posted on November 8, 2012 by Richard Johnson

Observations One Day Later

Many blamed Mitt Romney. Forget it. There has not been a clearer, starker, easier contrast since Ronald Reagan faced Jimmy Carter.

We have heard Obama congratulated; offers made to unite with him. Now is not the time to pretend America is united. The people of America failed. Reach across the aisle to what? A hand? Whose hand? Harry Reid’s? I don’t think so.

12 hours or so after Obama won gas at the pump is up 10% and stocks are down 2.5%. How is the old 401K looking now?

Update–day 2: Dow down another 1%.

Watch the President explain in seconds what the election is really about:

60 million people voted for revenge.

60 million people voted for a National debt of $20 trillion (that’s a “T”) in just 4 years. Perhaps revenge is not what it was cracked up to be.

60 million people voted for America to bow before both violent and stealth Islamic jihad as it advances to destroy freedom. There is real revenge.

60 million people voted to submit America to the United Nations ending our sovereignty and “spreading the wealth” around the globe. That is revenge your old 401K will really feel.

They Voted For the Usurpation of Power

60 million people voted to insure that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) can never be repealed. Under Obamacare free health care is not free. Tax policy expert, Daniel J. Pilla wrote, “Medicare and Medicaid pale in comparison to the scope and power usurped by the federal government under the PPACA.” Here are some of the costs in only the portion touched by the IRS:

A few of your new tax hikes include:

New limits on your deductible medical expenses.
A new tax on all medical devices you buy.
A new tax on your prescription drugs.
You get taxed if you use indoor tanning services.
You get taxed if the government deems your medical policy to be “too good.”
You may find your Medicare payroll increase more than 30%.
You may be hit with a new tax on investment income if you sell your house.
Your health insurance premiums will increase to cover a new tax on health insurance companies.

Unless Congress repeals the PPACA, the force of this legislation will change your life in ways we now can only imagine. Speaker Pelosi’s secret panel of special interests didn’t address the negative impact on private individuals and businesses that will last forever. For example:

The IRS will now be the permanent face of your health care.
You will have to deal with the IRS to resolve problems about your health insurance.
There is a massive, permanent expansion of the power and reach of the IRS into your life and business.
You and your business (or employer) is subject to 47 tax-related provisions that impose tremendous compliance costs and nightmares.
You will be subjected to more rule-based decisions about your health and health care without any personal contact.
Because of the vast scope of the information needed to enforce and administer the act, your privacy is a thing of the past.
You may be subjected to “Health Care Audits” by the IRS.
Given the scope of the PPACA, the tentacles of the IRS will sink deeper into the fabric of your life, your family and your business (or employer) than you ever imagined.
Your personal and family financial and health information will be disclosed to an army of government agencies.
You will have to make regular reports to government agencies about changes in your personal life, such as marriage or divorce, child is born or leaves home, etc., etc.
The mountain of rules and regulations produced by government agencies may require you to hire legal experts just to buy health insurance.
You may be among those who lose their job if your company downsizes to avoid the onerous penalties imposed on employers.
Your company might have to cut your income to make up for the onerous costs and penalties imposed by the IRS.
You will face IRS penalties if you don’t buy government-approved health insurance.
You may have no appeal rights if the IRS charges you with penalties.
Your company (or employer) will face IRS penalties if you don’t buy government-approved health insurance for all your employees.
The IRS will grow in terms of budget, equipment and employees to the most powerful and invasive government agency on earth.
It will be impossible for you keep up with the mountain of rules and regulations produced by government agencies about your health care.
The new definition of the “income” in the tax code will make your tax return preparation even more complicated than it is now.
You will have to report to the IRS the income of your entire family, including anybody living with you.
The IRS can keep your tax refund to pay penalties you might owe for not having government-approved health insurance.

Just a taste of their revenge one day later.

Posted in Character, Lawless Government, Obama, The Cost of Democrats | 1 Comment

THE AMERICAN 2012 ELECTION—WHERE CHARACTER FAILED

Posted on November 6, 2012 by Richard Johnson

Voting is only now commencing in America’s most western precincts. We do not yet know how we American voters will fare in our character test. We do know how the fraud media (sometimes called the mainstream media) scored. Their grade was so low, failing is an inadequate description.

Proprietors of the increasingly indispensable Daily Caller, Tucker Carlson and Neil Patel, got to the point beautifully in their piece, “Wave goodbye to the Obama media.” We join them as the first to mark the end of a centuries old communications model in America. The pronouncement could not be summarized better than this:

“Their moral authority has evaporated. So has their business model. Wave them goodbye on the way out.”

Here the perfectly timed piece in its entirety:

By tomorrow night [written Monday] we’ll likely know the name of the next president. But we already know the loser in this election cycle: political reporters. They’ve disgraced themselves. Conservatives have long complained about liberal bias in the media, and with some justification. But it has finally reached the tipping point. Not in our lifetimes have so many in the press dropped the pretense of objectivity in order to help a political candidate. The media are rooting for Barack Obama. They’re not hiding it.

Consider Benghazi. An American consulate is destroyed and a US ambassador murdered at a time when the president is boasting at every campaign stop that he has crushed al-Qaida. In an effort not to disrupt this narrative, the White House and the Obama campaign spend weeks claiming the incident was merely a protest over a video, rather than a real terror attack. Then intelligence surfaces showing just the opposite: The killers in Benghazi were no street mob, and Obama knew as much from the beginning.

Imagine if George W. Bush, or even Bill Clinton, had tried something like this during a re-election campaign. The howls from journalists would have been deafening, and unceasing. Instead, Obama has enjoyed every benefit of every doubt from the press every step of the way. Candy Crowley even broke character in the middle of a presidential debate to defend him. From their retirement, former presidents must be looking on in envious bewilderment.

For Obama, treatment like this is standard. Remember his last press conference? On August 20, the president made a rare appearance in the White House briefing room. (Obama has held fewer press conferences even than George W. Bush.) The first question went to Jim Kuhnhenn of the Associated Press. Here’s what Kuhnhenn asked, in full and unedited:

“Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you for being here. You’re no doubt aware of the comments that the Missouri Senate candidate, Republican Todd Akin, made on rape and abortion. I wondered if you think those views represent the views of the Republican Party in general. They’ve been denounced by your own rival and other Republicans. Are they an outlier or are they representative?”

In other words: Just how horrible are your opponents? That’s not a question. That’s an assist.

Most telling of all, nobody in the press corps seemed to find Kuhnhenn’s suck-up remarkable, much less objectionable. Reporters who push Obama for actual answers, meanwhile, find themselves scorned by their peers — as we discovered the hard way when our White House reporter dared ask Obama an unapproved question during a presidential statement in the Rose Garden. Months later, longtime Newsweek correspondent Jonathan Alter confronted us on the street and became apoplectic, literally yelling and shaking and drawing a crowd, over the exchange. His complaint: our reporter was “rude” to Obama.

Yep. Good reporters occasionally are impolite, especially to people in power who refuse to answer legitimate questions about their own policies. We don’t hire for table manners. We hire for persistence and toughness and the ability to spot a story among the fluff. We’re traditional that way. It’s the legacy media that have changed.

Earlier this year, we caught the left-wing nonprofit Media Matters coordinating with the White House to attack news organizations, among them Fox and The Daily Caller. We discovered internal Media Matters memos detailing plans to harass reporters, including at their homes. You’d think some in the media would recognize this for what it was — an attempt by politicians to subvert the press — and express outrage. You’d be mistaken.

Last month we found previously unseen video of then-Senator Barack Obama accusing the U.S. government of racism in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Even before our story appeared, liberal reporters tried to minimize and discredit it. Sam Feist, the Washington bureau chief at CNN, even boasted that his network had had possession of the tape for years, apparently unaware that some might wonder why they had never aired it.

We could go on. The point is that many in the press are every bit as corrupt as conservatives have accused them of being. The good news is, it’s almost over. The broadcast networks, the big daily newspapers, the newsweeklies — they’re done. It’s only a matter of time, and everyone who works there knows it. That may be why so many of them seem tapped out, lazy and enervated, unwilling to stray from the same tired story lines. Some days they seem engaged only on Twitter, where they spend hours preening for one another and sneering at outsiders.

By the next presidential cycle most of these people will be gone. They’ll have moved on to academia or think tanks or Democratic senate campaigns, or wherever aging hacks go when their union contracts finally, inevitably get voided. They’ll be replaced by a vibrant digital marketplace filled with hungry young reporters who care more about breaking stories than maintaining access to some politician or regulator.

All of this was probably inevitable, but it came faster than expected. Through their dishonesty the legacy media hastened their own end. Their moral authority has evaporated. So has their business model. Wave them goodbye on the way out.

Posted in Character, Old and Done Media, Reclaiming and Restoring America | Leave a comment

TOMORROW, NOVEMBER 6, 2012, IS THE CHARACTER TEST FOR WE THE AMERICAN PEOPLE—BE READY

Posted on November 5, 2012 by Richard Johnson

For these past seven weeks I have returned time after time to the importance of this election tomorrow. I have called it a character test for we American voters. So, what is to be tested? Many teaching locations on the Internet site these six pillars of Character: Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring, and Citizenship. In fact, these outstanding traits are not the source of character, they are the result. The source of character is honesty and integrity based on Biblical values.

Character is accumulated over a lifetime and left behind as well as going with the departed soul into eternity. A week ago, calling it a test of fire, I posted YOUR VOTE WILL AFFECT THE FUTURE AND BE RECORDED IN ETERNITY.

Laying the foundation for the 2012 Liberty List, I wrote this post on character—our National character. In it I said, “It is time. We must show the character America needs and we must step forward now.” As you prepare to vote, you may find that essay revealing and helpful. Here is the full post:

THE 2012 LIBERTY LIST—RECLAIMING OUR NATIONAL CHARACTER AND REESTABLISHING TRUE AMERICAN PRINCIPLES

Posted on July 9, 2012

Our Character; Our National Character

Many are questioning Chief Justice John Roberts Character after reading his majority opinion in National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius (Obamacare). They are right. It took a deficiency in character to actually take unto himself the power to rewrite a law. But, defending himself, Chief Justice Roberts pointed out that “We the People” are the ones who bear the responsibility. Paraphrasing, he said we voted for members of the political branches that said they would fundamentally transform America and when they did we expected him (the court) to bail us out.

He is right. At the same time that we in America have the finest military force in all of history, we have become soft and irresponsible as a people. We do not just have a deficit in character in places like Hollywood, New York and elsewhere fill our screens and our music with trash and lies, we buy that trash as accept those lies. We have too often filled our State and Federal legislatures with representatives of low character on the promise of somehow getting something for nothing. We have allowed schools to debase our heritage and help degrade our culture and too often we live our lives without real purpose. Chief Justice Roberts is right. It is time. We must show the character America needs and we must step forward now.

We think, talk and write about the federal budget deficit, budget deficits in several States—deficits here and there—deficits everywhere. The truth is we have spent a generation or more expecting everything to be perfect, comfortable and easy. But shortsightedly we were not willing to see the looming challenge that is now upon us. We were not willing or ready to anticipate the hard work and character that would be required of us. But countries, like people, do not grow on the mountaintops they grow in the valleys. We are in a valley. It is going to be tough and hard but it is the environment for that can produce the growth America needs now.

I speak as one who found a deficit in my own integrity; my own character some 25 years ago. Through prayer, determination and God’s grace, I worked on my integrity (say and do the same) day by day. Could years of living with integrity actually build character? Yes, it works that way. I corrected my integrity and have been adding to my character for many years.

There are many who have a similar story. They have been prepared for this present darkness. I expect you are one—a man or woman of character. But how did you get it and how did you build it up? I submit it is from living in your faith—especially time in prayer. As “We the People” restore America, we face, and will continue to face, fierce opposition. If I am right, we need (and will continue to need) to feed our character through regular, personal, intimate prayer.

You can now see people in your own family, living or dead, have deposited character —some more than others. It’s the same with people in your community. This is profound. It means we have George Washington’s Character. It means we have Adam’s, Jefferson’s, Franklin’s and Lincoln’s character with us as well. We have Billy Graham’s character and John Paul II’s. Don’t forget Edison and Einstein. And above all, we can and will not forget the character of those who have fought for Liberty from the Shores of Tripoli to the mountains of Afghanistan.

Now it is time to reclaim our national character. The Liberty List is a way to locate and support men and women of character who are willing to fight and win tough campaigns and then join the likes of Jim DeMint, Michele Bachmann and Paul Ryan in the very hard work of restoring our government, our Constitution and our National Character.

Most who come to this work are solid authorities on the principles we need. We only need to recount those core national principles here. Surely anyone who may need to brush up on one or two will act and “get ‘er done.”

Our Guiding National Principals

We are all created equal—equal in the eyes and the Judgment of God. That equality is not to be infringed on by the governments of men. Therefore, we are and should be equal before the law. The current false doctrine of kings (government) that give more equality to favored identity groups is not new but ancient.

The fundamentals for our principles are in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution for the United States of America.

We are endowed by our Creator with unalienable rights (among these are life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness). Enumerated or not, this is the only source of rights. Let us be as clear as Jefferson, “The God that gave us life, gave us liberty,” and every other Natural Right specifically including traditional marriage. Governments take rights—they cannot give them. Period. Did Rousseau declare, “Whoever refuses to obey will be forced to be free.”? Yes, I think he did. Now, there’s a hard one for Mr. Obama to top!
We the People, in order to enjoy specific benefits of order, consistency, safety, and security, grant governments certain carefully restricted powers. Senator Obama was correct, the Constitution of the United States of America is a negative document. The Bill of Rights does not grant rights to We the People, it places them off limits to restrictions by Congress, i.e. “Congress shall make no law . . .” “Congress shall make no law . . .”

These are the principles that will guide the selection and election of the 2012 Liberty List:

God given Liberty
Equality before the law
Natural rights
Consent of the Governed
Religious Freedom
Private Property
The Rule of Law
Constitutionalism
Self-Government
Independence.

Posted in 2012, Character, Liberty List 2012, Proud and Humble Americans, Reclaiming and Restoring America | Leave a comment

“A HOUSE DIVIDED AGAINST ITSELF CANNOT STAND”—CAN AMERICA COME BACK?

Posted on November 3, 2012 by Richard Johnson

Our divided situation appears to be dire. Will American voters take power from President Obama and reverse his course towards tyranny? My friend, Lee, said, “We’re down but we will get back up.” We can have confidence along with Lee. America has been in tougher darker circumstances before. America was born in circumstances far more dire than we face.

Just 25 days before Reverend Clarke and the minutemen stood against the British, in Massachusetts at Lexington and Concord, Patrick Henry delivered his famous, “. . . give me liberty of give me death,” speech in Virginia. In it he addressed the concerns of our time:

Americans must not trust the smile or the kiss. Americans must see the emptiness and falseness of words such as, “We don’t leave anybody behind.”

Like the minutemen of 1775, Americans must act. Please pray for the next 4 days; pray for America; volunteer for Get Out the Vote calling if you can; then show your character with your vote Tuesday.

That “Son of Thunder,” Patrick Henry had much in that speech for our time. Here is the entire speech given March 23, 1775. Enjoy:

Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death

No man thinks more highly than I do of the patriotism, as well as abilities, of the very worthy gentlemen who have just addressed the House. But different men often see the same subject in different lights; and, therefore, I hope it will not be thought disrespectful to those gentlemen if, entertaining as I do opinions of a character very opposite to theirs, I shall speak forth my sentiments freely and without reserve. This is no time for ceremony. The questing before the House is one of awful moment to this country. For my own part, I consider it as nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery; and in proportion to the magnitude of the subject ought to be the freedom of the debate. It is only in this way that we can hope to arrive at truth, and fulfill the great responsibility which we hold to God and our country. Should I keep back my opinions at such a time, through fear of giving offense, I should consider myself as guilty of treason towards my country, and of an act of disloyalty toward the Majesty of Heaven, which I revere above all earthly kings.

Mr. President, it is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be of the number of those who, having eyes, see not, and, having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst, and to provide for it.

I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past. And judging by the past, I wish to know what there has been in the conduct of the British ministry for the last ten years to justify those hopes with which gentlemen have been pleased to solace themselves and the House. Is it that insidious smile with which our petition has been lately received? Trust it not, sir; it will prove a snare to your feet. Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss. Ask yourselves how this gracious reception of our petition comports with those warlike preparations which cover our waters and darken our land. Are fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation? Have we shown ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled that force must be called in to win back our love? Let us not deceive ourselves, sir. These are the implements of war and subjugation; the last arguments to which kings resort. I ask gentlemen, sir, what means this martial array, if its purpose be not to force us to submission? Can gentlemen assign any other possible motive for it? Has Great Britain any enemy, in this quarter of the world, to call for all this accumulation of navies and armies? No, sir, she has none. They are meant for us: they can be meant for no other. They are sent over to bind and rivet upon us those chains which the British ministry have been so long forging. And what have we to oppose to them? Shall we try argument? Sir, we have been trying that for the last ten years. Have we anything new to offer upon the subject? Nothing. We have held the subject up in every light of which it is capable; but it has been all in vain. Shall we resort to entreaty and humble supplication? What terms shall we find which have not been already exhausted? Let us not, I beseech you, sir, deceive ourselves. Sir, we have done everything that could be done to avert the storm which is now coming on. We have petitioned; we have remonstrated; we have supplicated; we have prostrated ourselves before the throne, and have implored its interposition to arrest the tyrannical hands of the ministry and Parliament. Our petitions have been slighted; our remonstrances have produced additional violence and insult; our supplications have been disregarded; and we have been spurned, with contempt, from the foot of the throne! In vain, after these things, may we indulge the fond hope of peace and reconciliation. There is no longer any room for hope. If we wish to be free– if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending–if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which we have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the glorious object of our contest shall be obtained–we must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight! An appeal to arms and to the God of hosts is all that is left us!

They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. The millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable–and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come.

It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace– but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!