Hello again, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to another episode of Freedom's Creed. Today is March the sixteenth, twenty twenty-two. One year ago today, I published my first podcast episode. And here we are, fifty episodes later. I can't believe it actually. In the lead up to the publication of the first episode, I wasn't sure how things were going to go from that point because it's something that I'd never done before. There were months of preparation. As a matter of fact, I started in the fall or late summer probably of 2020. We all know what happened in that year. So it was interesting that that's when I started the preparation for the podcast, but didn't actually get the first episode in the books, as it were, until March 16th, 2021. So as I said, it seems a bit surreal to me that we're one year later. And I suppose all I can say about that is to borrow the cliche that time certainly does fly. I don't know where the last year, I don't know where it went. It flew by. And it seems like the older we get, the faster the time goes, even though that doesn't happen. It just seems that way. I can certainly tell you that I did tons of research into how I was going to produce the podcast, what company I was going to use as sort of the staging area for the podcast. There's just a lot of things that I never really thought about before starting the podcast. And it's it's been a learning experience to say the least. And it's been something that I've enjoyed tremendously. And certainly what I hope to do is build upon this first year and make the podcast the best that I can make it produce the best quality content that I can. That's what anybody does who does a podcast. Let's be real. It's not about just, well, I shouldn't say this, but there are podcasts, I suppose, that are just about nothing, kind of like the Jerry Seinfeld uh show when they did the the spoof in the in the show of going to the studio and telling the producers there's a show about nothing. Well, I certainly hope that my podcast has been a little better than than that. And no offense to Seinfeld and and the folks over there. But anyhow, let me go on. My quest in starting the podcast in the first place was to defend liberty and freedom, to expound the virtues that are found in the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, because those documents have been relegated to, well, way beyond the backseat. Let's just put it that way. So I wanted to be able to make sure that I was a voice for the truth about the Constitution, the truth about these founding documents that preserve the liberty and freedom of not just myself or people that I know, but every single person in the United States of America, whether they were born here or came here by some other means. I don't want those liberties and freedoms to go away. And I don't think any of us want that. But there are certainly a lot of things happening in the country today that are leaning towards getting rid of these liberties and freedoms that we have enjoyed and that our ancestors enjoyed ever since the founding of the country. All of this to say, ladies and gentlemen, I will continue to produce the podcast as long as I am able. And I appreciate the fact that many of you have listened to it uh regularly and have commented to me about it, and I appreciate beyond words the fact that you have done that, and I hope that I can continue to earn your trust and loyalty when it comes to listening to my podcast. So I must say thank you very much for that. As I mentioned previously, time does have a way of slipping past us without us even really recognizing that sometimes. Time is a very elusive thing. We all have the same amount of time a day, that's 24 hours. And in the last year, since the podcast began, to say that a lot has happened in this last year would be a serious understatement, that's for sure. So what I'm doing today is I'm going to take some time to chronicle some of the things that I have noticed over the last year or so, and to characterize some of these events or things as being a comprehensive list. Believe me, that would be far from reality, because in my view, there would be a ton of things to talk about. But anyway, I have limited time and I know you do too, so let's get with it. There is no particular order to these items that I'm going to discuss and bring up at this time. So I want you to know that. And I'll start by saying that the first thing I thought about was for the most part, it seems that most of the world has kind of moved on from COVID. And I think that's a great thing. And the more that that takes place, I think the better off it's going to be for society. Certainly, it remains to be seen how this insatiable desire for power and control that many have in the government, you know, how that's going to play out going forward, uh, as I said, it remains to be seen. So hopefully uh cooler heads will prevail and the ability for people to make decisions on their own about their health will be left out of the government's purview. We have a president who appears to be weak and frail. Frankly, if this was any other person from another party, it would be all that the media would talk about. You know it and I know it, but it's not happening. It's disgusting, really, that they're just ignoring his frailty and his inability to put together a coherent sentence half of the time. It's disgraceful. And the vice president, she's not much further behind, or ahead, however you want to say that, when it comes to cognitive challenges. But in any case, why isn't the media reporting on this? Why aren't they holding him and her accountable for the things that they do? Well, it's clear to me why they're not. They have a certain agenda, they embrace false narratives, and they use that to advance their agenda. And big tech, their brethren over there, wherever they are, they've usurped the speech and expression that's guaranteed by the Constitution. And if they don't agree with what you have to say and any form of expression that goes against their narrative, well, that's it for you. You're done. Wow. Why? Well, if the president had his way, it's Putin's fault. Speaking of which, what about gas prices? Some of the gas prices that we've seen are the highest we've ever seen. And I don't see those gas prices coming down anytime soon. I hope they do, but I'm not seeing anyone do anything that would cause gas prices to come down. And that's very troubling because it trickles into other aspects of the government, no doubt. But these issues that I've just mentioned, and many other issues for that matter, seem to be mere drops in a lake to some politicians and their partners in the media. They act as if it's no big deal. Oh, gee, aren't we glad that we're in a position to be able to pay for higher gas prices? It's the stupidest argument I've ever heard. It makes no sense whatsoever. And who gets caught in the crosshairs with these kinds of things? It's the people living from paycheck to paycheck. And they are the people that a lot of bleeding heart leftists always seem to talk about at election time. But once the election is over, the rest of us don't hear anything else about it, and then they just do everything they can to destroy the liberty and freedom that we hold so precious in our lives. It's just Well, I can't describe it in words that would be appropriate as far as the Federal Communication Commission is concerned. What about Russia? Russia is in the process of their invasion of a sovereign nation, and for no apparent good reason. It's totally and utterly senseless. I don't understand it at all. It puts the rest of the free world in a bind because we have to go to the aid of these countries, or we generally do, because if we don't, then we'll end up having a repeat of what we had in World War II and how we got involved in the Second World War. And I don't think any of us want that, but at the same time, you got an evil dude in Russia invading a country that he has no business invading because he wants to take things back to the old USSR. What a piece of work that guy is. He's still living in KGB times. He's despicable. He's, well, he's a child of God, and I'm a Christian, but I can't say anything more positive about the man, to be honest with you. Which leads me to the bureaucracy of our own government. It's out of control and totally unaccountable to the people. Don't believe it? Well, here's just one example. Look at what happened to the computer repair shop owner who was given Hunter Biden's computer by none other than Hunter Biden himself, as I understand it. Were this any other person or family, and the information that was passed onto the FBI regarding that person or family, they'd already be doing time in a federal penitentiary because the investigation, the indictments, the trial, all that would be over, and those people would be rotting in some penitentiary somewhere. But instead, the computer shop repairman has been harassed, had to close his business, is nearly bankrupt, and has had to deal with the IRS and other corrupt people in our bureaucracy. The reality is they should be the ones coming to his aid. It's disgraceful all because they're going to protect one family. It's just beyond belief. Let me move on. The silence of all the whiners and complainers that existed during the prior administration have seemingly become, I don't know, extinct. Why? I used to see it all the time. I'm sure you probably did too. Complaining day after day after day on social media, and all of a sudden we have a change in the presidency to someone that they think is nicer, more kind, more benevolent than the last person. And then suddenly, magically, all of the complaining and everything just became lollipops and rainbows, and oh yeah, unicorns. Give me a break. Yet again, where is the complicit media in all of this? Oh yeah, you guessed it. Frickin' AWOL. And that's absent without leave for all you non-military types out there. Just a little PSA from your host. Here's another one. Do an internet search about something that is outside the narrative of the mainstream press and politicians. Oh man. Good luck with that. Because you're gonna have a hard time finding anything about it. Even the computer repair man that I talked about a little bit ago, difficult to find anything from the mainstream press about this guy, which is I'm sorry, that is almost unforgivable. The manipulation of data, information, or anything else, be it by big tech or the government or the mainstream press, any other source, it's big business nowadays. Because unfortunately, sensationalism sells. What about the numerous examples of rioting that we saw a couple years ago? It was utter anarchy in some locations. Yet the january sixth, twenty twenty one capital breach was somehow worse. Please. All the powers of the federal government were employed to try and oust a duly elected president. Stories fabricated to impeach, and irrespective of political leanings, no one in America should have been okay with that. The flip side of all that, of course, was that a candidate for president, as well as a political party, and the big whigs in the party actually made up a phony set of circumstances to try and win an election, and they failed miserably. So the last resort for them was of course, we gotta fabricate stuff, make up stuff to try to bring the person who was duly elected down. Wow. And we think other countries have election issues. Please. Here's a very simple question, ladies and gentlemen. Where is accountability in all of this? Well, I'll tell you where it is. It's hiding under a rock somewhere. It's not allowed to see the light of day by the people who prop up and support these leftist institutions. It's disgusting. And it goes from government all the way down the chain. Then you have educators, so-called, who think it's okay to teach little children about sexual orientation, transgenderism, or any other aspect of sexuality, as well as critical race theory, and the rest of us are supposed to simply accept this as reasonable for children who are as young as kindergarten? That's just unacceptable. We shouldn't stand for it. What about the militant way various school districts go after parents who want to have a voice in what their children are being taught? My goodness. I'll tell you what, though, one of the positives that came out of COVID and this whole pandemic is that it lit a fire under parents that will hopefully never ever go away. Because there is this insidious pursuit by many different entities to control every fabric of our lives. We must never allow that to happen, ladies and gentlemen. Those of us who voice opposition to the prescribed narrative are labeled as haters, racists, anti-vaxxers, and a number of other less than flattering labels. But there's come a time in our country where you're seeing it play out all the time. People are fed up and they're not going to stand for it anymore. They're going to proactively be involved to make sure that our freedoms and liberties are protected. And I love that. Like crazy, I love that. I think it's great. I think we should all do that in our own way and the best way that we feel comfortable doing it. We've all seen the wokeness of cancel culture. It's a disgraceful way to claim victory in an otherwise unwinnable position, all things being equal. If you can't win in the arena of ideas and debate those ideas, then the next best thing is you try to cancel people so that the rest of society, because of social media, will also cancel that person. It's a disgraceful thing that's happening in our tech culture. And it's to me, it's a very negative thing. It's something that I think most of us probably never ever thought would happen, but here we are. Unfortunately, we have witnessed an intense coarsening of society. I think man's inhumanity to man, the unwillingness of people to be more compassionate, to be more forgiving. And yes, I'm talking to myself when I say this. I get excited about things that I talk about on the podcast, and for good reason. I think it's we're seeing things play out that I think many of us never ever thought in our wildest imaginations would ever take place. And it seems to be acceptable by more and more people to see this coursening take place in our society. Well, we must do all we can to protect, sustain, and defend the Constitution. You can best believe I will continue to produce this podcast for that very purpose. We cannot afford to be on our heels playing defense. We have to take this to the people in a respectful and in a non-combative way. We need to teach it to our children and to others. And clearly, evidently, it needs to be taught to many members of our Congress and the executive branch as well. And well, why leave out the judiciary? Let's teach it to them too. Okay, folks, that's it for this episode. And as always, I'd like to end with a quote. This comes from none other than James Madison from the Federalist Papers number forty seven, the topic of which is the particular structure of the new government and the distribution of power among its different parts. He said this quote The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny. Let me stop there. Listen to what James Madison was saying. He was saying that all of this power that's whether it's in the hands of many in a in a sort of a tight-knit group, it could be many people, but they could all have one goal in mind. Or if it's a few, whether it's hereditary or self-appointed or even elective, that those things define what is tyranny. Think about that for a minute. We cannot afford to let the powers of government be isolated or reside in the hands of a few and a particular political party, because if we do, we have the makings of tyranny. Listen to how Madison ends this quote. He continues by saying, were the Federal Constitution, therefore, really chargeable with the accumulation of power or with a mixture of powers, having a dangerous tendency to such an accumulation, no further arguments would be necessary to inspire a universal reprobation of the system. End of quote. And with that, if you can think it, you can plan it. If you can plan it, you can do it.