Hello again, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to another episode of Freedom's Creed. I'm going to start off this episode by thanking every one of you who have downloaded my podcast, either one episode or multiple episodes. I am extremely appreciative of it, and I am frankly humbled by your support. So thank you very much. I also want to say that the impetus for this episode came from my hairstylist. She and I were having a conversation recently when I was getting a haircut. It was a rather spirited conversation to say the least, and I felt as though if we could address some of the problems in our society, we could have come to some conclusions that I think would have helped. Not an arrogant statement, just one of fact. That's all. I say that because I believe that most of the problems that we have in our society, not all, but most, can be solved with the implementation of some really simple practices. Being nice to people, treating people the way you'd like to be treated, etc., etc. So with that, let's get going on today's topic. I've got a lot to talk about. Why do we have sovereignty or borders in 2021? And really, why does any sovereign nation care about their border? Think about the yet unrealized consequences of an unprotected border, not just in the US, but in any sovereign nation. What are the current consequences of an unprotected border? The things that are going on right now, not the unrealized consequences, meaning we haven't seen what could potentially take place because of an unprotected border, at least not in the last few years. In this episode, I'm talking about borders, our border particularly, black markets and firearms. And as I go throughout the episode, I think you'll see the reason why I'm doing this. So, what are black markets? One can certainly find the definition of a black market anywhere they go on the World Wide Web. I actually went to a website that defines a black market like this quote: A black market refers to a marketplace or system of exchange that subverts official government regulations, often referred to as the underground economy. It is economic transactions that are illegal or are noncompliant behaviors within a set of rules or laws. What's the big deal? Why do we have to be concerned about a black market? I mean, if people can't get what they want through normal economic channels, then why not buy something on the black market, maybe get it cheaper? Sounds good, right? Well, not really. From investinganswers.com it says this quote, because regulatory constraints may increase the price of some goods and services, in some cases regulation can actually prompt the development of black markets. The presence of black markets all over the world is evidence that the laws of supply and demand are virtually impossible to defy. When regulation or taxation becomes too high, when supply and demand are way out of balance, or when competition has been too restricted, people will always look for a way to get goods or services cheaper, faster, or more easily. End of quote. This leads me to the third leg of the stool, that is the Second Amendment. I'm going to read it for each of you now, as I'm sure most of you already know what it says, but I want to kind of break it down a little bit, and my grandma read, who taught school for many, many years, would be proud of the English lesson that I'm about to give y'all. Quote A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. The amendment has some commas in it, and I want to focus on one of those commas. But first I'd like to read to you from Purdue University's online writing lab, which I took advantage of before the episode. It's actually under the heading of Quick Guide to Commas. One of the statements says this quote, use a comma near the end of a sentence to separate contrasted coordinate elements or to indicate a distinct pause or shift, end of quote. I've heard a lot of people in trying to dissect the Second Amendment that the right to keep and bear arms specifically relates to a militia only. Again, reading from the Purdue University online writing lab, it says quote, use commas wherever necessary to prevent possible confusion or misreading. With respect to the Second Amendment, where it says that a well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, comma, closed quote, I want to stop here to warn you that we had a comma and that a shift is about to occur. In other words, the beginning of the amendment talks about a well regulated militia, that it's necessary to secure a free state. Then there is a comma after state. So a shift is occurring here to mean that, quote, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. End of quote. It seems to me then that we have this comma that's used to separate contrasted coordinate elements to indicate that there's a distinct pause or a shift in ideas. Okay, so the English lesson is over. So if you happen to fast forward past that part, you might want to go back and check it out. It'll be beneficial in helping you to perhaps learn something about the Second Amendment that you didn't know before. So anyway, let's continue on. Now we're all aware that lawmakers, whether it's local or federal, have battled each other for decades, it seems, over this idea of gun rights. In spite of all of that, here's what I know. States with really strict gun laws typically have the worst types of crimes committed with a firearm. What about our porous southern border? Illegal border crossings need to stop. We have no way of vetting who is entering the country illegally. Are we that ignorant to think that the only people crossing the border illegally are those seeking a better life? That's completely naive. And I will tell you right now, we are setting ourselves up, we meaning the leaders of our country, not you and I as ordinary citizens. We're setting ourselves up for a disastrous terror attack if the present lack of enforcement continues on our border. Period. Now, to be sure, I have nothing against immigrants coming to this country for a better way of life. But the problem that I do have is with people who are doing it illegally. If you want to come to this country, then go to a legal port of entry. The Rio Gran River is not a legal port of entry. Plain and simple. It's just not. If you want to respect the laws of a sovereign nation, then come through the door legally. Don't swim over a river, not over a river, but in a river, and expect to come into the country with no problem at all. It's illegal, or it's supposed to be illegal. Now, we've all heard about the Hamas terrorist attack on October the 7th, where up to, I think I've heard, up to 1,400 people were killed, maybe more, maybe less. I'm not sure. I've seen different numbers. But this radical ideology of Hamas is never going to change. There's not going to be this mass come to Jesus moment for those guys. There's just not. It is a radical ideology, and it will not change. There may be some who have left the organization, if you can call it that, and have said, you know what, I'm renouncing it, or whatever. They've converted to Christianity or they've just given up. Most of the people who are part of Hamas are going to be there until the day they die. End of story. I want to read a couple of quotes from an article written by a lady named Barry Weiss. She wrote this back in early November, and it's an article about ending DEI or diversity, equity, and inclusion. In speaking about DEI, she said this in the article quote, Over the past two decades, I saw this inverted worldview swallow all of the crucial sense-making institutions of American life. It started with the universities. Then it moved on to cultural institutions, including some I knew well, like the New York Times, as well as every major museum, philanthropy, and media company. Then on to our medical schools and our law schools. It's taken root at nearly every major corporation. It's inside our high schools and even our elementary schools. The takeover is so comprehensive that it's now almost hard to notice it because it is everywhere. End of quote. We seem to be more concerned about the feelings of people and their sensibilities or their choosing to be offended at something than we care about the safety of our country, aka the southern border, and every other place where someone could come into the country illegally. Miss Weiss goes on to say, quote, but DEI is not about the words it uses as camouflage. DEI is about arrogating power. It calls itself progressive, but it does not believe in progress. It is explicitly anti growth. It claims to promote equity, but its answer to the challenge of teaching math or reading to disadvantaged children is to eliminate math and reading tests. It demonizes hard work, merit, family, and the dignity of the individual. An ideology that pathologizes these fundamental human virtues is one that seeks to undermine what makes America exceptional. I've talked about American exceptionalism before, and I've said that it's not that we think we're better than anyone. We just live in a country that started out as an idea to be free, to have liberty. And I've talked about this before too, that at the time these documents were penned, they didn't apply to everyone, unfortunately. But in twenty first century America, I defy anyone to try to tell me that these ideals are not applicable to everyone. They indeed are applicable to everyone in this country who comes here legally, and for that matter, even for people who don't come here legally, they reap the benefits of being in this wonderful country. Or else why would people continue to come here? Well, Miss Weiss concludes by saying this, quote, DEI is undermining America and that for which it stands, including the principles that have made it a place of unparalleled opportunity, safety, and freedom for so many. Fighting it is the least we owe this country. I read an article about the terrorist attack in Israel back on October 7th, where the government of Israel relaxed the gun laws and actually armed citizens. Imagine something like that happening here in the United States. I hate to imagine that actually, because as I said before, we're letting people into this country that we haven't vetted. We don't know where they've come from. The government can say all they want about, oh, it's just people from Mexico and Central and South America looking for a better way of life. Well, guess what? How many people who have ill intent to harm the United States who are from other countries, and I won't even mention these other countries, but you know what I'm talking about, who have come into those countries and who have made their way to our southern border and who are now, undoubtedly, here in this country, making plans to wreak havoc wherever they can. It's not a very pleasant thought. But if we're not thinking that way, then as I said earlier, we are naive. I understand that Israel had some pretty strict gun laws. In fact, the Israeli defense forces actually confiscated a lot of guns back in 2018. And now we have a situation where Israel was attacked by Hamas, and essentially these Israeli citizens only had pistols to defend themselves against the weaponry that Hamas actually had on that day and going forward. The article that I read said, quote, according to the Times of Israel, on October 10, National Security Minister Itamar bin Gavir, if I'm saying his name incorrect, I apologize, announced a plan to arm civilian security teams in towns near the country's borders. The report explained that the Ministry of National Security is purchasing 10,000 rifles to arm civilian security teams, specifically those in towns close to Israel's border around the country, as well as mixed Jewish, Arab cities, and West Bank settlements. End of quote. Again, can you imagine that this kind of thing would happen here in this country? If it did, it would mean that it was getting pretty deep and it was time to arm citizens to defend the country. Israel's national security minister went on to say, quote, we will turn the world upside down so that towns are protected. I have given instructions for massively arming the civilian security teams to provide solutions for towns and cities so as not to leave towns unprotected. End of quote. And then a few years later, we have this terrorist attack, and the citizens of Israel, not in the military, but the citizens, had no way of really defending themselves. What a travesty. I find it interesting that a lot of people are blaming Israel because of their occupation of Gaza. Well guess what? Israel has not occupied Gaza for at least a decade. Guess who does occupy Gaza? Yes, you're right. It's Hamas. And because of the actions of October the seventh, many thousands of people have now died because of it, and many of whom Hamas has killed themselves. In other words, many of their own people, meaning fellow Arabs, who do not share their radical ideology. Listen, to be sure, war is an ugly reality of our fallen world, but tying the hands of law abiding citizens is not the answer. A healthy respect for human life, however, is the answer. A willingness to treat others the way we want to be treated is the answer. Defending the constitution of our country to ensure that it will always bless the lives of the people is the answer. The freedom and liberty of all Americans is worth our best efforts to preserve. So what is the answer for us for here in the United States? Well, the answer is to secure our border. Monitor every single mile of the border where there's no legal crossing. Deport every person who enters the country illegally. It's not that hard. We need to publicize the fact that if you're looking for a better life and you want to come to America, do it legally or you won't be allowed into the country. Now, when I say publicize, I mean from the executive branch on down, make it known by your speech and your actions that you are not about to let people into this country illegally, whether that's walking across the border in a place where you're not supposed to, or swimming across the border in a place where you're not supposed to, as if to say that you can swim across the border in a place that's okay to swim across the border. No. You cannot come into this country unless you come through a legal port of entry. End of discussion, end of story, period, exclamation point done. If there are people who think that that's a harsh stance to take, so be it. I won't apologize for it. None of us should have to apologize for it. We want this country to be safe. We want people who live here to be safe. We want people who immigrate here legally from another country to be safe and to have the opportunity to progress, to grow, to develop in every way possible that is allowed here in the United States. And what makes that all possible? You guessed it, the Constitution and the defending of this, I think, most sacred document. And if you disagree with that, that's your right. We live in America, you have the right to disagree. I don't have any problem with that. It is indeed unfortunate that these founding documents did not apply to everyone when they were pinned. I've said this repeatedly before on previous podcasts, and I'll likely say it again. It is a travesty. It was a travesty. But here's the thing. I don't care what you look like, I don't care what your skin tone is, I don't care what sex you are, you can do anything in this country if you're willing to work hard enough to get it. It shouldn't be handed to you. And certainly the government should not stand in your way of your ability to do something that you want to do. You have the liberty and the freedom to do it. If you bust your butt and you make it happen, then I will always applaud you and be proud of you and happy for you. Not envious, but happy for you, knowing that if I want to do something and I want to make something of myself, whatever that is for me, I can do it because I've seen thousands of people, millions of people do it. That's the beauty of our country, ladies and gentlemen. I've also said this before, and I'll say it again. We must hold politicians accountable for their time in office. I don't care what party they are from. If they uphold the Constitution and their efforts are not about Usurping the Constitution, then they have my support. Now, I may differ with certain politicians because the things that they believe or the ideologies that they have do not mirror my own or don't align with my ideals or objectives, but that's okay. That's America. We can disagree. We can have debates about our disagreements, but we shouldn't be shouting at each other and demonizing each other because we believe differently. That's stupid. And it needs to stop. Period. I trust that I've given you some things to think about in this episode, ladies and gentlemen. That is my ultimate goal for every episode that I produce. I want to provide content for you that perhaps causes you to maybe rethink a position or evaluate where you stand. And if we still disagree at the end of that, that's perfectly fine. And one final thought with respect to the Second Amendment that I meant to talk about earlier but did not. And that is it is foolhardy at best to think that if we have severely strict gun laws in this country, that somehow that will eliminate guns in America or on the streets. But here's the truth concerning that one. The black market is rife with tons of guns and will always be. So no matter how strict our gun laws are, it's not going to eliminate guns from the streets. What it's going to do is it's going to eliminate guns from law abiding citizens. That's the way it always works. You think people who get guns in the black market care about any of the laws we have about guns? Please don't insult me. Thanks, as always, for indulging me. I appreciate it. I'd like to end this episode, ladies and gentlemen, with a quote from Ronald Reagan, which he gave at his first inaugural address. He said this quote We hear much of special interest groups. Well, our concern must be for a special interest group that has been too long neglected. It knows no sectional boundaries or ethnic and racial divisions, and it crosses political lines. It is made up of men and women who raise our food, patrol our streets, man our mines and factories, teach our children, keep our homes, and heal us when we're sick, professionals, industrialists, shopkeepers, clerks, cabbies, and truck drivers. They are, in short, we the people, this breed called Americans. We're a nation that has a government, not the other way around, and this makes us special among the nations of the earth. Our government has no power except that granted it by the people. It is time to check and reverse the growth of government, which shows signs of having grown beyond the consent of the governed. Now, so there will be no misunderstanding. It's not my intention to do away with government. It is rather to make it work, work with us, not over us, to stand by our side, not ride on our back. Government can and must provide opportunity, not smother it. Foster productivity, not stifle it. Ladies and gentlemen, if you can think it, you can plan it. If you can plan it, you can do it.