Hello again, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to another episode of Freedom's Treaty. Ladies and gentlemen, it feels so good to be back behind the microphone. I have been out of pocket, as it were, for about three weeks. I spent about a week or so being ill. I had bronchitis. Eventually, that's what I found out. I had to go through the process of COVID testing and all that, like we all do. But it was just bronchitis, so no worries, everybody. Um we're okay. But it's been, like I said, three weeks since I have been able to publish an episode. I was out of town for a couple of weeks with my wife, and we were doing some things together, and she doing some things for her work. And so it is nice to be back here and uh at home and actually uh getting ready to uh publish this episode of my podcast. So thank you so much for tuning in. And please spread the word if you like what you hear, and if you don't like what you hear, spread the word anyway, because I'll take all comers, lovers or haters. Today is a somber occasion, however. It is the 20th anniversary of the 9-11 terrorist attacks on our country. And I don't like this kind of anniversary. I I will choose to refer to it as a memorial. And if I make the mistake of saying anniversary, feel free to correct me whenever you get the opportunity to do so. But it is a day of memorial, it's a day of remembering those who gave their lives in the cause of freedom, and certainly that day, the people who went to work, like every other day, could have had no idea that that's what they were doing, giving their lives in the defense of freedom of our way of life, and the subsequent soldiers and others who have dedicated their lives to preserving this freedom and who have paid the ultimate sacrifice in defending that freedom. So here we are, 20 years later, and my question is, or statement rather, is if the government can justify leaving American citizens in Afghanistan and then pretend that the Exodus was a success, we have a real problem, people. It's like staring at the magnitude of the water rolling over Niagara Falls and then deceiving yourself into believing that it's nothing more than a puddle, harmless enough to let a child play in. I mean, it's ridiculous, ladies and gentlemen. It really, really is. It's beyond ridiculous. It's it's insulting. Listen, as a Christian, I firmly believe in being kind to others, even though I fail at that on occasion. But there's a fine line between kindness and taking action to defend our way of life. I wholeheartedly support the extinction of anyone or any group of terrorists hellbent on destroying the lives of free people the world over. We're not just talking about our country. We're talking about a free people or people who aspire to be free no matter where they live. I'll tell you what, though, it makes me want to puke when I hear members of the media and others referring to groups of terrorists as Al-Qaeda, the Taliban, ISIS, ISIS K, whatever. I don't care if all these groups experience civil unrest amongst themselves. Let them fight each other. I don't care. They're all terrorists. And unless they change their ways, which is highly unlikely, then we should aggressively pursue them and destroy the crud out of them. End of discussion. And to some of the younger members of the listening audience, that may sound a little harsh, but again, I don't care. This is one case where we cannot kill them with kindness. It's gonna take a lot more than that. Now, I didn't lose any family members or friends on that fateful day, but God bless all the families who are memorializing their fallen loved ones, whether from 9-11 or the subsequent war against terrorists, which by the way is still going on, whether people want to believe it or not, it's just something I don't think one can ever really get over. I mean, twenty years. I still remember how I felt, like it was yesterday. Extreme sadness, like part of my soul was being ripped out of me. Profound anger that anyone could commit such a heinous act. Everyone seemed to kind of come together. People were more kind, forgiving, loving, empathetic. Even politicians seemed to come together, and that's saying something, but it's true. If you're too young to remember it, then go read a history book, one that actually might have the truth contained therein. So what's happened in 20 years? Or perhaps a better way to say it is a lot has happened in the last twenty years. Where are we now? We seem to be more divided than ever. Every aspect of living is political or politicized. And if that seems strange to you, well, let's take a virus and the subsequent vaccine that have been hijacked by politicians and ordinary citizens, even. They want us to believe the science when it comes to so-called climate change, yet throw science out the window when it comes to abortion and a new vaccine that has not gone through the rigor and scrutiny that a new vaccine ought to be going through. I don't know, it's just some thoughts that I have about it. But when you mention any of these other topics related to so-called science, then there are a lot of people who just don't want to talk about it, which to me speaks volumes of truth. It seems like all of the good, and I really think that there was good that existed after 9-1101. I really do. How long it lasted, well, that's up for debate. But it seems that all of the good that took place then that was genuine, or at least I want to believe that it was genuine. Maybe I'm naive, but all of that good seems to be gone. It's evaporated. We are so divided as a people. It's unfortunate. Why is that even why is that a thing? Why do we have to be so divided? Can't we just simply disagree with one another and continue to live our lives in a way that we see fit for ourselves and our families? No, no, no. That that can't be. If you disagree with something that is perceived to be mainstream or that is pushed to be mainstream, then somehow you're a kook and you're a denier. You have no business living, you have no business going to the hospital if you've not been vaccinated, if you have some sort of trouble, I don't know, like a stroke or a heart attack or something. How did we get to this point in our lives, people? It's it's I'm beyond trying to explain it or to try to understand it, it's just so confusing to me. I just don't understand it at all. You would think that an act of abject evil, like the attack on 9-1101, would really galvanize a nation for generations to come, much like what Pearl Harbor did. But has it? You can be the judge, but in my opinion, whatever galvanization that may have taken place after the terrorist attacks seems to be long, long gone, unfortunately. I'm curious too. Why does time have to make it so that people seem to forget about what happened and the way that we came together as a nation, the way that our military and others took aggressive action against terrorists who thought they were somehow magically going to destroy our way of life and bring us to our knees. I'll grant you that there was a brief time where that seemed like it happened. I mean, people didn't go to work, the stock market closed, all these things took place that were inconceivable prior to 9-1101. But you know what? We have come back strong as a nation like we always will, because freedom and liberty is an idea and it's available to all people if they seek it and they stop trying to destroy that opportunity and that idea. And that's something that the terrorists will never get. I listened to some comments by some young people recently who were either babies, toddlers, or maybe not even born when the terrorist attacks took place in 2001. To hear them talk, it was hard to listen to because they were referring to something that seemed like fiction to them. They seemed to care more about the perceptions that Americans have about Islam and American exceptionalism than they did about the fact that these people who attacked us were extremists. They weren't mainstream Islamic, they were radical. And no offense to any young person out there, but if you want to be perceived as being intelligent or knowledgeable about a particular topic, then you should probably make sure that every other word is not like. Like we should uh not be so critical like of other religions, like, you know, and like try to make sure that we're like uh being like, you know, kind to everybody, like, you know. That's what it sounded like. It was pathetic, it was embarrassing to listen to. And I'm sorry, but no, I'm not sorry. I'll call it out. It's if you like I said, uh you don't have to be a genius. I mean, look who's talking right now. But if you use out of context a certain word, and that word is like, then you should probably take a look at how you phrase things and the way that you convey the meaning that you're trying to give to people. And if you use the word like with every other word or close to it, then you're just going to be perceived as someone who is not very intelligent. And if that's cool for you, then hey, this is America, live your life how you want. Like, you know what I'm saying? Like, yeah. I'm certainly on board with people having their own opinions, but to be so ignorant about what happened on 9-1101 and to not place blame where it rightfully belongs on radicalism is a dangerous slope to be on. Parents, teachers, and others need to be responsible about the way they teach young people and what they feed them because the minds of young people are very impressionable, and they will latch on to something even if it's the wrong thing, and they'll run with it because that's what they're being fed. People aren't taught how to critically think in our society today, and that's dangerous. It's very dangerous. Now, there's plenty of blame to go around as to why young people and many other people too seem to have a soft spot for the kind of evil that took place 20 years ago today. I admit, I was uncomfortable with the premise of the Patriot Act, and I get why some people thought it was a good idea. However, at what point do we say enough's enough? To have our liberty and freedom encroached upon flies in the face of the Fourth Amendment and even the Fifth Amendment as well. But look at what is happening today. The government is justifying their mandate of a vaccine. If this is not encroachment and a downright violation of civil liberties, then I don't know what is. But I'm not an anti-vaxxer. I've received many vaccines in my life, as well as have my children. What I'm against is the heavy hand of government enforcing such actions by fining businesses whose employees choose not to get the COVID vaccine. That is un-American and it's unconstitutional. On a day and at a time when we should be memorializing the victims of the terrorist attacks in September of 2001, we have a government that is busy with thinking that domestic terrorism is somehow more important and a existential threat to the American citizens and others than the threat from radical terrorists. It's turned upside down and it's frankly, it's beyond troubling. In my opinion, this government has seriously overstepped its bounds. As I've said, they seem to care more about so-called domestic terror than they do about terrorists who now run Afghanistan. They seem to care more about enforcing a vaccine at the peril of people's livelihoods. They don't seem concerned at all about the people crossing our borders illegally, who I might add, we have no way of knowing if they've received a COVID vaccine or not, or that they may have some other contagious communicable disease for which they haven't received a vaccine. And I might add also that vaccines that have experienced the rigor and the scrutiny that a vaccine should experience. Years of testing, years of trial and error, years of getting it right. And we all of a sudden are going to jump on a vaccine that came out in less than a year. I mean, I I applaud government officials for spearheading it, but this is out of control. It's beyond anything that any of us could have ever imagined that a political party, that political parties could take this and run with it and say, hmm, look what we can do. Look how much control we can have over the citizens of our country. All we have to do is threaten them with punishment of some kind if they don't do what we say. Now, if that is not troubling to you, then your pulse is really weak. This day is a sad day. It's a day that we have hopefully spent memorializing those who lost their lives on this day twenty years ago. It ought to cause us serious reflection about what is going on in our government right now. It's unconscionable that any of us should accept these mandates that the government is trying to apply to our lives. I remember back in the day, and suppose that you may remember this as well, that for those who professed and who actually were anti-vaxxers were lauded. They were lauded as free thinkers. They were lauded for their independence and their liberty to be able to choose to do what they wanted with their own body as well as their minor children. And now we have a president who thinks that children should be vaccinated if they're 11 years old or younger. Now, I may be wrong that the president thinks this, but I can tell you I know that it's someone within government or his administration that has said this. Maybe it's that doctor who we all know, whose name starts with an F, and get your mind out of the gutter. It's not what you're thinking. It's an actual name and not a derogatory term. In any case, we're going to believe as the gospel truth the things that come out of the mouths of politicians and unelected bureaucrats. That's scary, people. It is really scary. And if it doesn't trouble you, then I don't know what to say. What I will say though is that I'm sure I'll have a lot more to say about these topics and other topics going forward, but that's enough for today. I'd like to close this episode with three really great quotes from Thomas Jefferson. The first is this he said, quote, I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them. The second one is quote, trade liberty for safety or money and you'll end up with neither. Liberty, like a grain of salt, easily dissolves. The power of questioning, not simply believing, has no friends, yet liberty depends on it. The third is this rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add within the limits of the law, because law is often but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the right of an individual.