In the early days of the newly-formed Union, government was minimal and considered a necessary evil. Our ancestors did not look to government for anything. Far from playing a direct role in every citizen’s life, government instead held close to the tight restrictions placed upon it by the Founding Fathers. There was a respect for the newly written Constitution, and while first generation politicians fretted over large and heady issues, the population remained  far removed on farms, separated by large distances, working long, difficult days just to survive.

It was a wild frontier, filled with brave, hard-working, God-loving people from many countries. They had risked their lives and spent whatever money they had to reach our shores in the hope of a better life. These were not hyphenated Americans. There were no Italian-Americans, no Irish-Americans… Just Americans.

And amid the chaos there was also a raw, frontier logic that dictated a genuinely new kind of marketplace. It was a  fresh idea at the time. A market driven by supply and demand, not a centralized economy based on the whims and forecasts of an elite group of politicians. Free from government involvement, or any centralized planning for that matter, people were able to enter into business agreements only when both sides felt they profited. The snake oil salesmen and hucksters never lasted long, since quality of product, word of mouth, reputation and consistency of service determined winners and losers.

During these early days people were not looking for assistence from the government; indeed the “government” was a distant, vague notion to the early settlers. Nor did these frontier men and woman, who toiled 16 hour days in their fields have neither the time nor inclination to determine if they qualified for victim status.

They were too busy working their fields and trying to feed their families. The whole reason they had come to this country was because they were leaving behind a monarchy or some other oppressive and poorly functioning government that marginalized their ability to pursue their dreams and live the kind of life they so desperately desired. (This innate drive, this passion held inside the souls of men and women to be better, to excel, to out-perform, is the key ingredient fully omitted in the writings of Karl Marx, Engels and others. It is worth noting that given a chance, people would risk their lives to seek a better life rather than be a widget in a centralized grand plan).

It’s important to realize that this land of milk and honey was brutal back then. It was freezing cold in the winter and oppressively hot in the summer and mere survival was a challenge. But it was still far better than the countries these early immigrants had fled. These people were not seeking preferential treatment; they were seeking a chance to work their butts off to bring their dreams to life.

Now contrast those early days and that frontier attitude with our current situation. Government has grown far beyond the constraints placed upon it by the founding documents. Indeed, much of what government does today is, quite literally, unconstitutional. In fact, more and more the constitution is viewed as an historical, naive document, rather than the preeminent guiding principles of personal freedoms and limited government. 

Sadly, our government has never gotten smaller. It only grows. Whether run by Republicans or Democrats, the U.S. government has forsaken its roots and founding documents and morphed from a clear mission statement to unite and protect the colonies from outside invasion and internal power-struggles to a viral infection that brings out the worst in us.

Today one of our greatest threats comes not from a foreign country, but from within our own boarders, a constant refrain from progressives and the left that our country is fundamentally bad, that our way of life is incorrect, that somehow we have exploited, subdued and enslaved the world for our own benefit.

And the attacks continue unabated. Liberals have a laundry list of sins committed by the United States, and they selectively cherry-pick facts, dates and events to paint a picture that provides a horribly skewed version of America.

There was a time when a victim strove to become a non-victim, to rise above the obstacle in their path and prevail. Today victims have become Victocrats, lavishing in their very special color of oppression, and they form groups and assert themselves, not through hard work, but through embracing their victim status and proclaiming rights and reparations for their lack of success.

Consider today’s Victocrats, the disenfranchised, the downtrodden, who suffer with just one color TV, only one car and just one home, who must do their best to survive with but two cell phones and a single air conditioner, and think of our early settlers.

The stark comparison is both enlightening and embarrassing at the same time. We have come a long way, but did we follow the right path?

‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the House

all the Senators were voting, as forced by the Louse;

The amendments were snuck in the bill to ensnare,

In hopes that Americans would not care;

The Congress were nestled all snug in their beds,

While visions of Socialism danced in their heads;

And Pelosi in her ‘kerchief, and Reid in his cap,

Had just smugly laid down their trap,

When out on the mall there arose such a clatter,

they sprang from their beds to see what was the matter.

Away to the cloakroom they flew like a flash,

Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow

Gave the lustre of mid-day to Patriots below,

When, what to their horrified eyes should appear,

But a miniature sleigh, and eight mighty Conservatives to fear,

With a wise ringleader, so lively and quick,

they knew in a moment it must be Glenn Beck.

More rapid than eagles his pundits they came,

And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;

“Now, Hannity! now, Coulter! now, Limbaugh and Levin!

On, Malkin! on Ingraham! on, Gingrich and Palin!

To the top of the rotunda! to the top of the dome!

Now blog away! talk away! Send the traitors home!”

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,

When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,

So up to the White House the pundits they flew,

With the sleigh full of Tea Partiers, and Glen Beck too.

And then, in a twinkling, Pelosi & Reid heard on the roof

The mocking and laughing of each little spoof.

As they drew in their heads, and were turning around,

Down the chimney Glenn Beck came with a bound.

He was clinging to his Bibles and his guns,

And all ready for the sneaky Liberals to run;

A bundle of Constitutions he had flung on his back,

And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.

His facts how they twinkled! his research how merry!

His chalkboard like roses, his red phone like a cherry!

His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,

And the quickness of his grin was as white as the snow;

The silvery flash of a mic he held tight in his hands,

And Democratic lies flew out to meet his demands,

He had a broad face and a little round belly,

That shook, when he cried like a bowlful of jelly.

He was chubby and plump, a right Patriotic old elf,

And they screeched when they saw him, in spite of themselves;

A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,

Soon gave them to know, the bill should be dead;

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,

He rallied the people; then turned with a jerk,

And laying his finger aside of his nose,

And giving a nod, up the rotunda he rose;

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,

And away they all flew like the shot of a missile.

But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,

We’ll see you in 2010 for the fight of your life!

As adapted & written by Lady Libertas

In our current political climate of socialist legislation and administrative policies that are by any measure or poll clearly out of step with the majority of voters, it is no wonder that this political petrie dish has spawned a vocal minority claiming, without a nod to either the Constitution or any founding document, that health care is a right and not a privilege.

Indeed, having to argue or debate that health care for all is a privilege is obviously an unpopular position to take, especially in a country that is temporarily taken by facile notions of economic justice and a decidedly negative position in all matters concerning free markets and private enterprise.

But here lies the folly of any socialist endeavor. It begins with good intent and vocal assertions about equality and social justice, but, as history has shown, is never, ever effective in “delivering the goods”. We are fortunate to live in a world choking on examples where socialism has been tried in many flavors and always to the same general ends: the poor remain poor, a small cadre of officials enjoy the wealth, and the band plays on. *Note to Liberals: If U can point to a single, successful, socialized country that is larger than New Jersey and half as culturally diverse as the U.S., please do let me know.

So, to the issue of health care being a right and not a privilege, you must keep in mind that the word “privilege” brings with it no small amount of baggage. There is the “privileged elite” for example. It conjures up notions of the upper crust enjoying personal bedside doctor care while the masses are dying on the streets, exempt from such treatment.

But as we know that is not the case in this country. Between Medicaid, SCHIP and a plethora of other federal and state-specific programs, not to mention the ever-present emergency room, everyone in this country, including those who are here illegally, receive health care.

The Constitution took a very non-partisan, frontier attitude regarding that which should be guaranteed. It states simply that we are given the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Furthermore, these rights are bestowed to us by God, so they cannot be taken away. That’s it. That’s all there is. Anything beyond that is merely an effort to rewrite history, or simply repeat a lie long enough until it is believed.

But I ask you, where would it end? Let’s say health care is indeed a right. It’s a feel-good position that is easy to argue. But those who think this way surely could not allow anyone to be cold in the winter, right? So, would not “heat” be a right? Shouldn’t people have the “right” to a warm home in the winter, and for that matter a “cool” home in the summer? Would it not be cruel to deprive one of the right for quality propane, oil or air-conditioning?

It is a very small step from a “right” to health care to proclaiming a right to a home. How could you possibly deny anyone in this country the right to their own home! And if you expect people to get to work and be productive, surely you would agree that everyone have a “right” to personal transportation.

While we are at it, you must also agree to a right to basic food essentials. How can a civilized society expect its citizens to not be guaranteed basic food stuffs. So of course you would agree that it is a fundamental right that every American citizen be provided a weekly supply of food, because food is so very basic to survival.

Well you see where this is going. The moment you disrespect the founding documents, once you re-imagine the English language, once you remove God from courts and schools, you have to replace it with something, and that would be the State. The State becomes the highest power, and unlike God’s inalienable rights, the State can take your rights away.

The entire argument, while foolish on its face, is instructive because it has been played out so many times, in so many countries, and it never ends well.

If you still remain unconvinced, just consider the simple math involved in maintaining an entitlement society where no one escapes the gifts of the State and , in time, no one aspires for anything more than the basics.

Remove the incentive to excel, or, to put it another way, penalize those who dream and risk their own money for something more than mere survival, and you are left with masses of people who feel entitled, not inspired.

Economic Justice is a euphemism for we-all-suffer-equally-in-the-collective-pain-of-the-state.

The election of 2008 showed record numbers of young people coming out to vote in the Presidential election with 23 million young Americans under the age of 30 voting.  This was an increase of 3.4 million from 2004 and an 11% percentage point climb from 2000.  Barack Obama was the candidate of choice with the 18-29 year old bloc voting a 2/3 majority in favor of Obama.  Young people identified 45% as Democrats, 29% as Independent or “something else” and 26% Republican.  They did not just vote for Obama, 52% voted for Democratic candidates versus 43% for Republican candidates.

Young voters are also more likely to self identify as Liberal – 32% – while only 22% of the general voting population defines themselves as a Liberal.  The numbers flipped a bit for Conservatives, showing us that as Conservatives we need to do a lot more work with our young people.  Of the general voting population, 34% self identify as Conservatives, while only 26% of the 18-29 bloc identify as Conservatives.  (source: www.civicyouth.org)

To the end of supporting our Young Conservatives, Lady Libertas had the delightful honor of spending 2 hours on a phone interview this weekend with the Founding Members of the Conservative Youth Project.

As Lady Libertas (@ladylibertas93) on Twitter, I have known Cole (@paidgophack), virtually, since I have been on Twitter and through him I was also following Jackie (@soccersealusa), Ian (@pard68) and Ashleigh (@ashlabee).

Cole has always behaved so impressively on Twitter – he tweets good information, tangles with moonbats without being rude and has a great sense of humor.  To my delight, I found the same was true across the board with all four of them.

So what makes them unique?  They are all 18 or under.  They have all made a very conscious decision to become involved on the internet and in person in the Conservative movement.  They have also named themselves publicly as Conservatives at a time when doing so can create very tense situations.  These young people blog, tweet, attend tea parties and are deciding what campaigns they are going to volunteer for as we approach 2010.

Since I was a politically active young Conservative, I was extremely interested in finding out what was going on with these young people that made them engage in politics and not only engage, but jump into a highly charged arena with both feet.

Interview with the Conservative Youth Project – Part One!

The Founders of Conservative Youth Project:

Cole (@paidgophack) is 14 years old, lives in Missouri and attends a private school without a religious affiliation.  His Twitter bio self-describes as: Christian, Conservative, American, Astroturf, Cable News/Talk Radio Junkie, Water Polo Player, co-founder of http://thecyp.com, Teenager.  Cole’s blog is “The Handwriting on the Wall” where he blogs and also has several other contributors.

Jackie (@soccersealusa) is 17 years old, lives in Michigan and attends a private Christian High School.  Her Twitter bio self-describes: Christian, Conservative, Soccer Player, Bible, Constitution, Patriotic, Sarah Palin Fan, One Nation Under God.  Jackie recently had an absolutely amazing experience of being interviewed by Norah O’Donnell of MSNBC as Jackie was waiting in line to meet Sarah Palin at a book signing in mid November.  Please check out her blog to hear about her awesome journey these past few weeks!  Jackie’s blog is “Red, White & Conservative”.

Ian (@pard68)is the eldest at 18 years old.  He lives in Connecticut and is a Senior in public school.  His Twitter bio self-describes as:  An average Conservative/Libertarian(core values) American 18 year old. Support Israel. Abort abortion. Legalize freedom. I’m here to save my future, watch out.  Ian’s blog is “17 pages – Words of the Founders.  Echoed by the Youth.”

Ashleigh (@ashlahbee) is 18 years old and lives in Nevada (Harry Reid Watch Out!).  She graduated from public high school in 2009 and her Twitter profile tells us: Christian & Conservative. I LOVE AMERICA!! This is the greatest country ever!! We are the Youth of the Nation, this is our country too!  Ashleig’s blog is “That’s My Cue”.

All of the CYP Founders have been raised with Conservative parents and have the full support of their parents.  YAY Mom and Dad!

The Conservative Youth Project has been formed as a ning group and us old folks can join too – Cole kindly gave designations like Youth Mom for the not so youth-filled (lol) that would like to show support.  Please make sure you join and support:  The Conservative Youth Project – Mix and Mingle with what I have no doubt are our Future Leaders!

Lady Libertas:  What are the goals of CYP?

Jackie: “I want to figure out a way for it to be more appealing to teenagers because when you bring up the topic of politics to a teenager nowadays they could care less.  They think it is stupid boring old people stuff.  What I think that the Democratic Party did a really good job of this election was appealing to younger people    and so I think Conservatives really need to work on the way they appeal to the younger generation.  I’d like to see our website do that and also educate younger people because I think – I mean I don’t go to public school but from what I’ve heard, books I’ve read, things I have seen on tv, it’s almost they almost like they teach you that America is this weakened country but I think it’s about teaching young people what America was founded on.”

Ashleigh: The goal is to find more Conservative youth out there and give them a place to share their ideas and their beliefs.  I have never had friends who are Conservative so what I found cool is that there are other youth out there that I have met and that share my beliefs.

Cole: I think it would be cool – this would be a long way away but – if we could get a lot of members and (young people) could use it as a platform to meet Conservatives in their area and they can go door to door like the Young Republicans or the Young Democrats of St. Louis. To go around and really help a real Conservative candidate get elected.  It could be a springboard for that.  That would be great.

Ian: For me the image of the United States has been skewed so badly.  In my school,  I go to school pretty urban and it’s almost a bad thing to call yourself an American or a Patriot at points.  Nobody stands up for the pledge, nobody understands what it means.  I just think if people can learn what America is about or what Conservatives are about and what we’re founded on and that we’re not – especially the rest of the world too – that we’re not power hungry and we don’t want to absorb your country and we don’t want to fight you for your oil.  We just want what’s right for the  world and we want what’s in our Constitution.

Lady Libertas was interested to hear about where they got their inspiration – who are their heroes, role models?  And which of the Founders of our country are a source of motivation for them?

Cole and Ashleigh both spoke of Glenn Beck as a current role model.  Jackie is firmly in Sarah Palin camp and Ian claimed the French philosopher Voltaire. For the Founders, in the vein of Voltaire, Ian said that he was partial to Benjamin Franklin.  Jackie is a “big fan” of George Washington and John Adams.  Ashleigh and Cole decided to reserve comment as they are both busy doing reading and research on the Founders.  WOW.  Lady Libertas’ jaw dropped – Young People who are doing research and reading outside of school?!  YAY!

The election in 2010 will be the first opportunity for Jackie and Ashleigh to vote.  Ian made his first vote in the 2008 election!   Cole will be our secret weapon in 2014 midterms, especially if he continues on this path.  For Ian and Ashleigh, they are in states that may be ready to remove Senator Dodd and Senatory Harry Reid.

Lady Libertas:  What are your plans for 2010?

Ashleigh:  I am really  excited about 2010!  I get to vote against Harry Reid and I finally get to vote for the first time.  That will be fun!  We have Sue Lowden – I am interested in helping out in her campaign when the time comes around.

Ian: I found a candidate that I like to replace Dodd – not a fan of McMahon (she supported the Clinton’s) as she is a RINO.  I  signed up and joined the website for Peter Schiff who is running against Dodd and made some contact.  Schiff seems to be very core values Conservative – I would like to help him campaign.

Cole: My Congressperson is Todd Akin and he is awesome he is really Conservative – he is great.  In 2010 I will support him.  In 2012 we have Sen Claire McCaskill – I don’t like her.  She needs to go.  I am going to campaign with my Mom against Claire – We talk about going door to door and I am going to do that.

Jackie: I’ll be out of state for college so I’ll be doing the bulk of my “campaigning” this summer.  For me, a new governor will be huge for Michigan.  My hope is to help out Pete Hoekstra this summer.   I see him as the best choice for Michigan!  So fighting for a new governor will be my main focus for 2010!

At an age where peer pressure and fitting in become top priorities, standing up for what you believe in can be tough at best, especially when it may not be a popular stance with many people.  We all agreed that we are all too familiar with the negative (I am being kind) reaction that Conservatives get on Twitter. 

Lady Libertas was very curious about what kind of pushback if any is coming from friends, other students, and teachers.  What kind of response are they getting?

Ian: I have learned, if I want to have a normal school life, I just tend to not talk about politics which is really simple because it is never really brought up in school.  There is the gay rights issue (I stay quiet on it) and there are a couple other issues that have gone around school but I tend to stay quiet.  The Conservatives stay quiet while the Liberals stand up. That is one thing that I am really trying to work on because we need to stand up as much as they do.

Cole: Two days ago, because of my Facebook status, I got – “Don’t you know that being Conservative is evil?  They hate black people and they only like rich people.” People are just so clueless.  I have to explain to them that’s not what we’re about – We’re about limited government.  The teachers are no better – this week a teacher told me Dick Cheney was the real President.  They made fun of Sarah Palin.  It’s ridiculous.  The kids at school don’t really know what we are talking about.  I think if they really knew what we were talking about, they would be part of it.  They think we are a bunch of old white guys who hate blacks and hate poor people and want money for ourselves.

Ashleigh: With my government teacher – we could not tell what he was.  I describe him like a Bill O’Reilly Type.  He would play off both sides.  I have friends that are not interested in politics at all and don’t like to talk about it which is fine with me.  I just don’t talk about it.  I have another really good friend who is a Liberal even though she swears she is not but she is in Forensics and debate and she really knows how to debate well.  We don’t talk politics either because we don’t agree on anything.

Jackie: I am in a private Christian School where everybody is Conservative for the most part so I don’t have to argue with my teachers or classmates or anything.  I just have to tell my classmates that there is alot more to an argument against Barack Obama than he is an idiot. It extends beyond that.

Stay tuned for the next Installment in Lady Libertas’  Interview with the Founders of the Conservative Youth Project!

We will talk about George Bush, “Jesus is a Socialist” as an argument and what is on a Young Conservatives Christmas List!

I want to express my most sincere thanks to Cole, Jackie, Ashleigh and Ian for spending their Friday evening with me and suffering most graciously through my technical difficulties.  You all ROCK & Lady Libertas cannot wait to cast her ballot for one of you one day!