Hello again, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to another episode of Freedom's Creed. As always, I truly appreciate each of you tuning in to the podcast, and I enjoy being able to have this platform to share with you the beliefs that I have about liberty and freedom and how important that is. And it truly does supersede all else in our society. It supersedes politics, it supersedes religion. Every other aspect of our lives truly depends on the freedom and liberty that we have as American citizens. That's why people are still coming into this country because they want a piece of the American dream. Even if it's not promoted in media and in other areas of our society, it's still a fact of life. People want to come to America. Bottom line. And I believe that most of us have the desire to, when people come into this country, to have them go through the process legally. There is no other way around it. It must be done legally, or the foundations of our sovereign nation don't mean anything. There is never a shortage of something to talk about. If that ever is the case, then we are in trouble as a people, for sure. On October 21st, 2022, my podcast was about the importance of getting out of China. In my view, the Chinese Communist Party is not a friend to the United States. And in that episode, I talked about the importance of the fact that I have no beef with the Chinese people. My problem and my challenge is with the Chinese Communist Party. That's where I have a big problem. If you think about it, the Chinese Communist Party has the United States over a barrel. Think about all the things that are produced, manufactured in China, even elements of our food supply. I just read something yesterday actually that talked about the fact that there was a report of lead laced cinnamon being introduced or had been introduced into some kind of applesauce, I believe is what it was. And I thought to myself, what? Why are we getting cinnamon or whatever it takes to make cinnamon from China or any other country, be it Asian, European, whatever. And to be sure, the article that I read talked about China's potential involvement in this lead laced cinnamon, which had evidently caused some children to have lead poisoning. Think about this. That is not okay. I mean, it's one thing if we are doing it to ourselves in our own country, but it's quite another if indeed these allegations are true and we are consuming food products that are tainted because they came from another country? Please, that's just ridiculous. Things like this didn't happen 30, 40, 50 years ago. We didn't have to worry about food products coming into the country being contaminated or uh laced with something that was going to harm members of our population. It's unconscionable that this is going on now because of decisions, I suppose, that have been made by the top levels of people in our government. I don't know of any other explanation for it. Do you? Wow. It truly makes you wonder what else is going on in food production, the thing that is vital to every person's existence on the planet, to be able to eat, to live, to survive, and thrive even. But if we have to be concerned, and we should, about food products coming into our country that are not good, then that's a real problem. Now, another problem, and this is according to the US Geological Survey's website, the number of elements used, now listen to this, in computer chip technology has changed. So in the 1980s, there were twelve elements that were used in computer chip technology. In the 1990s, it grew to 16. By the 2000s, that number of elements grew to more than 60. Now, I don't know what's involved in making a computer chip. Apparently, a lot of different elements and minerals are used in the development of computer chip technology. The fact that this is happening is not a big deal, but the fact of where these minerals or elements are coming from is a big deal. It seems to me that if we are dependent on any other nation for these elements, and yes, even China, that makes us extremely vulnerable, don't you think? The thing you have to stop and ask yourself is not necessarily why there are so many elements used in the creation of computer chip technology, but why they are coming from other countries. That's the question we need to ask ourselves. Now, I don't speak for the government, nor am I a spokesman for any computer chip manufacturing technology or anything like that, but it just seems to me that it's not that we can't mine for these various minerals here. It seems that we won't because of the hypersensitive regulations due to the stringent climate-killing opportunities that exist in our country. We have to be thinking about national security. And there are so many things that go into making sure we are a secure, sovereign nation. And when we are vulnerable, when we are getting food, when we're getting chip technology supplies and things like that from other countries, especially countries that don't care for us very much, it's not a good thing. It puts us in a very, as I said, vulnerable position. It makes us weak and it makes us vulnerable to attacks from these countries that totally dislike us and would like to see us destroyed. And if that's something that people have a hard time hearing or believing, get used to it because it's the truth. We are putting ourselves in a very tricky situation when we become so dependent on these other countries. I mean, look at the national debt, for heaven's sakes. I did a podcast about that last year too. We are spending money we don't have. It's unbelievable and it's ridiculous. Now, with respect to computers and that kind of technology, we don't seem to have any problem receiving these same minerals or elements in the finished product of computer chips that come from these other countries. And specifically, I'm talking about China. And again, I have no problem with the Chinese people. The problem that I have is with the Chinese Communist Party. They rule everything to include business. You don't do anything in China unless it gets the blessing of the CCP. Period. End of discussion. End of story. I'd truly like to know what the thought process is in all of this. It seems to me right now that there's actually not a whole lot of thought going into this, or if there is, it is nefarious, especially if it's something that is going to ultimately harm the American people. And when our government has an opportunity and when business can get together with government and make these things better for us, then maybe we can sleep a little better at night knowing that the government and big business has our best interests at heart. Okay. Yeah, I just said that. Okay, whatever. Let me go on. Ladies and gentlemen, it just seems to me that we don't think rationally anymore because we're too busy crushing progress. We care more about pretending that we're doing something significant to quote unquote save the planet, uh, potentially at the cost of our national security. So we care more about what the planet's doing and what we're doing to the planet than we do about our national security. And here's a dirty little secret. My personal belief is that the planet has taken care of itself for I don't know how many billions of years. Do you think puny mankind and doing what we are doing is going to ruin this planet? The planet was created to be able to withstand the puny efforts that we put forth to somehow sabotage it, to somehow ruin it. It replenishes, it takes care of itself in spite of what we do on a daily basis. The planet is not some feeble sheltered and little tiny orb that needs our help. It can take care of itself. Now, having said all that, do I say let's just do whatever we want to the planet? Of course not. That's stupid. I've always advocated for the fact that we need to be good stewards of the planet. We're here for a short time in our existence. Why not take care of the place where we live and try to do sensible things that will aid in that process? That's all I'm saying. Do you think China gives a flying bit of fairy dust about the planet and about their need to somehow make climate change a central part of what they do? Palaise. Let me stop there on that topic and move to the Constitution. The Constitution is not political in the sense that it advocates for a political party. It doesn't. There is no political party mentioned in the Constitution. You can look, you won't find it. Now, when discussing any aspect of the Constitution, it must be from the perspective of liberty and freedom, not from the standpoint of what a particular political party actually stands for. In other words, the Constitution trumps political party ideology, period, end of discussion. But for the longest time, we have elected people to Congress and to the executive branch that have the notion that somehow political party trumps the Constitution or political ideology trumps the Constitution. It doesn't. I want to talk briefly about the three coequal branches of government. Article one of the Constitution speaks to the legislative power. There's no mention of Democrats or Republicans. None. You won't find it. Article II, the executive power. Same thing. No mention of political party. Weird, right? You'd think that by the way our legislators act, that there must be some particular mention of political party in the Constitution. Well, no, there's not. And not to be left out, the judicial powers that are set forth in the Constitution have no mention of Republicans or Democrats there either. Wow, shocker. Therefore, it would seem that blind loyalty to a political party will be the downfall of our country. Think of it. If people are so concerned about loyalty to a particular political ideology without any concern or without deference to the Constitution, that cannot be good. What do I mean by blind loyalty? Well, let's take the impeachment process, for instance. Political party blind allegiance clouds judgment, which interferes with rendering a verdict concerning an impropriety. If political parties care only about retaining power, you think they give a rat's rear end about honesty, about getting to the truth? No. All they care about is holding on to their power, and they'll do anything, they'll look the other way to do that. It's plain and simple. It happens all the time. Article two, section three states that the president, quote, shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed, end of quote. Every one of us needs to judge for ourselves whether or not that is happening today. And yes, the silence was purposeful. Article two, section four states that quote, the president, vice president, and all civil officers of the United States shall be removed from office on impeachment for and conviction of treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors. Please take care and note that the statute does not specify timing. Well, what do I mean by timing? In other words, it would seem that regardless of when the alleged offenses or offense occurred, removal from office is the prescribed consequence if one is convicted, not just impeached, but actually convicted. Hmm, what I'm thinking of, I think if there's been a time in our country where a sitting vice president did some things and made threats and talked about quid pro quos and got a prosecutor fired if they wanted to get the money. Ah, a little foggy here. How did that go again? Um, gosh. Well, anyway, if that was to happen, you know, when a vice president rolls into office as part of a party ticket, I guess you could say, and then proceeds to do some things that are questionable, I guess you could say. Yet, you know, since it happened so long ago, and there's probably a statute of limitations that would protect this individual from prosecution, should they ever be elected to political office again or serve as an officer in the United States government of some kind, wow, could they be convicted of such things? In my view, absolutely yes. Does political party have anything to do with things like this? Well, technically, no, they shouldn't. But unfortunately, they do. It's unbelievable that we have to vote on party lines with respect to the commission or the alleged commission of high crimes or misdemeanors. And it's funny in a sick kind of way, where you look at things that have happened in the past, and the only relevant thing in all of it is political party. It doesn't matter if there is evidence that is plain as the nose on your face. It doesn't matter if we have video evidence of somebody doing something or saying something, or not just video evidence, but audio evidence of someone doing something or saying something. None of that matters. None of it matters because political parties rule in our country. It's sickening to me. When political parties, which I think they have now, trump the Constitution, we're in big trouble. We're in serious trouble. And the only way that we can get out of this mess is to have full faith and allegiance to the Constitution, not to political parties, to make sure that the Constitution survives this madness and that liberty and freedom that are enshrined in the Constitution continue to bless the lives of people born here and people who come here legally and become citizens of this great and wondrous nation. That's the only way. And political parties be damned. It doesn't matter about political party, yet unfortunately, that is what is foisted on us on practically a daily basis when we immerse ourselves into the news or try to listen to something objective. It just doesn't happen anymore. It's sad and pathetic. But what's not sad and pathetic is the wondrous Constitution. Ladies and gentlemen, it is a document of liberty and freedom for all people in 21st century America. That's it. There is no other. There is no what can we do to change this? Or how can we start all over? No. Let's continue to build on what we have and make it better for not just a certain group of people, but for every people, for every culture, for everyone, no matter what they look like. It has nothing to do with freedom and liberty anymore. Now, if you have listened to my podcast, uh even one or two episodes, you know that I always strive to have a parting positive thought, as it were. And today is no different, of course, but this particular thought is not a quote. It's not something that somebody has said or something that I really like. This was something that I experienced. I have a bicycle and I tend to ride as much as I can. Well, coming back into my neighborhood after a ride, on a certain stretch of the street, I saw one day a shiny object. It looked like a quarter. That was my first instinct, my first thought. And I thought, eh, it's a quarter, who cares? Well, this went on for several rides. I don't know how many, probably eight to ten, twelve, maybe. As I entered back into my neighborhood on this stretch of street, I would pass this quarter. Past it every time. And then one day I said, All right, if I see this quarter, I'm gonna stop and pick it up this time. Well, next time I came by, I saw the quarter, I stopped. I picked it up. It was beat up, it was disfigured from its original form. But after all the disfiguring and the beat up nature of it, and it was scuffed up and misshapen, it's still worth 25 cents, a whole quarter of a dollar. The funny thing about it was when I got home that morning, I left it in my shorts, in the pocket of my shorts, and it eventually was washed, I presume, and then I had forgotten about it. But mysteriously, I say mysteriously because I had totally forgotten about it, it was in the pocket of a pair of shorts that I had on, those same shorts. And I thought, oh wait, that can't be right. So I put my hand in my pocket and there it was. Pulled it out and it's on my desk right now. As I was preparing to do this episode, I started thinking about that beat up quarter and how it's analogous to our lives in many ways. No matter what happens to us, how we sometimes feel beaten down, left alone, ignored, and on and on, we can stop, take some time to lift someone else up, to pick someone else up, to let someone know that they have value. No matter how scuffed up and beat up and misshapen this quarter is right now, it's still worth 25 cents. And no matter how beat up or misshapen or how much bowl we have to take from some people sometimes, we're still valuable in the eyes of God. We have value. And to me, that is the most important thing to remember that just like this quarter, it has value within our monetary system, even though it looks the way it does. And each of us have value in our society, irrespective of the way we look and how much we've been beat up or taken advantage of. We still have value. And I want you to know that today that you are a person of value and you matter. And with that, if you can think it, you can plan it. If you can plan it, you can do it.