<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0" xmlns:itunes="http://www.itunes.com/dtds/podcast-1.0.dtd" xmlns:googleplay="http://www.google.com/schemas/play-podcasts/1.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[An Independent Opinion]]></title><description><![CDATA[Current events, culture, politics, religion]]></description><link>https://www.anindependentopinion.com</link><image><url>https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!vA7j!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F82f268bf-daec-43e7-8615-c3930eddab80_1275x1275.png</url><title>An Independent Opinion</title><link>https://www.anindependentopinion.com</link></image><generator>Substack</generator><lastBuildDate>Tue, 19 May 2026 04:34:00 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://www.anindependentopinion.com/feed" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><language><![CDATA[en]]></language><webMaster><![CDATA[anindependentopinion@substack.com]]></webMaster><itunes:owner><itunes:email><![CDATA[anindependentopinion@substack.com]]></itunes:email><itunes:name><![CDATA[Gary Russon]]></itunes:name></itunes:owner><itunes:author><![CDATA[Gary Russon]]></itunes:author><googleplay:owner><![CDATA[anindependentopinion@substack.com]]></googleplay:owner><googleplay:email><![CDATA[anindependentopinion@substack.com]]></googleplay:email><googleplay:author><![CDATA[Gary Russon]]></googleplay:author><itunes:block><![CDATA[Yes]]></itunes:block><item><title><![CDATA[Opposition to Biden and the Democrats is Righteous]]></title><description><![CDATA[The Democrats current talking point is obvious: If you oppose Biden, his policies, his ideology, his regime, and efforts, then you are called and labeled a &#8220;threat to Democracy.&#8221; The memo has gone out and like good goose-steppers the Left falls in line.]]></description><link>https://www.anindependentopinion.com/p/the-democrat-party-is-the-threat</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.anindependentopinion.com/p/the-democrat-party-is-the-threat</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Gary Russon]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 27 Dec 2023 05:00:36 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!95QY!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffb45e6d8-dcfb-4fb5-98a6-426b9be0af08_621x680.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!95QY!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffb45e6d8-dcfb-4fb5-98a6-426b9be0af08_621x680.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!95QY!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffb45e6d8-dcfb-4fb5-98a6-426b9be0af08_621x680.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!95QY!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffb45e6d8-dcfb-4fb5-98a6-426b9be0af08_621x680.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!95QY!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffb45e6d8-dcfb-4fb5-98a6-426b9be0af08_621x680.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!95QY!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffb45e6d8-dcfb-4fb5-98a6-426b9be0af08_621x680.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!95QY!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffb45e6d8-dcfb-4fb5-98a6-426b9be0af08_621x680.jpeg" width="347" height="379.96779388083735" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/fb45e6d8-dcfb-4fb5-98a6-426b9be0af08_621x680.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:680,&quot;width&quot;:621,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:347,&quot;bytes&quot;:39817,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!95QY!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffb45e6d8-dcfb-4fb5-98a6-426b9be0af08_621x680.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!95QY!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffb45e6d8-dcfb-4fb5-98a6-426b9be0af08_621x680.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!95QY!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffb45e6d8-dcfb-4fb5-98a6-426b9be0af08_621x680.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!95QY!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffb45e6d8-dcfb-4fb5-98a6-426b9be0af08_621x680.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.anindependentopinion.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.anindependentopinion.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p>The Democrats current talking point is obvious: If you oppose Biden, his policies, his ideology, his regime, and efforts, then you are called and labeled a &#8220;threat to Democracy.&#8221;&nbsp; The memo has gone out and like good goose-steppers the Left falls in line.</p><p>Of course the claim is a lie and fraudulent but everything that comes from the Left is a lie.&nbsp; And I mean everything.</p><p>Calling all those who oppose Biden and the Democrats as &#8220;threats to democracy&#8221; is effective to the ignorant and fellow true believers. It is one of the skills of the Democrats to distort and twist words and phrases into a deceptive pretzel.&nbsp; The Democrats stole the term &#8220;liberal&#8221; and applied it to themselves and nothing could be more ridiculous.&nbsp; Constricting freedom and expanding control is not liberal.</p><p>Biden&#8217;s totalitarianism and authoritarianism is not democracy, it is tyrannical and Communist.&nbsp; The Communist lie of a &#8220;workers paradise&#8221; and the use of &#8220;the oppressed and the oppressor&#8221; to incite conflict and unrest to thereby seize power is exactly what is going on here in America.</p><p>Those who are labeled a &#8220;threat to democracy&#8221; or &#8220;an enemy to democracy&#8221; thus become enemies of the State, enemies to the nation, which surely can lead to horrific ends.&nbsp; If someone is deemed an enemy of the State by those in power, anything can be justified to eliminate them, such as financial ruin, harassment, imprisonment or worse.</p><p>Reading some accurate history of the Russian revolution and communist horrors inflicted upon the populace to establish utopia is enlightening.&nbsp; I recommend, <em>The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression</em>. &nbsp;It is staring all of us in the face.</p><p>All those who oppose Biden and the Democrats are righteous because they oppose the iron fist, subservience, central planning, and despotism. Their cause is just because they revere and uphold freedom, individualism, constitutionalism, self-determination, and diffused power and authority.&nbsp; God is on their side.</p><p></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.anindependentopinion.com/p/the-democrat-party-is-the-threat?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.anindependentopinion.com/p/the-democrat-party-is-the-threat?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share</span></a></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Perpetual Mindless Repeat]]></title><description><![CDATA[I recently read an Instagram post from someone I know and she said that in the future the MAGA hat will be considered the same as the swastika and the Confederate flag.]]></description><link>https://www.anindependentopinion.com/p/perpetual-mindless-repeat</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.anindependentopinion.com/p/perpetual-mindless-repeat</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Gary Russon]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 05 Oct 2023 21:40:23 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!AykI!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2903dd2b-1d37-4512-83a6-acd377bd070d_1275x796.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.anindependentopinion.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.anindependentopinion.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!AykI!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2903dd2b-1d37-4512-83a6-acd377bd070d_1275x796.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!AykI!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2903dd2b-1d37-4512-83a6-acd377bd070d_1275x796.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!AykI!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2903dd2b-1d37-4512-83a6-acd377bd070d_1275x796.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!AykI!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2903dd2b-1d37-4512-83a6-acd377bd070d_1275x796.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!AykI!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2903dd2b-1d37-4512-83a6-acd377bd070d_1275x796.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!AykI!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2903dd2b-1d37-4512-83a6-acd377bd070d_1275x796.jpeg" width="594" height="370.84235294117644" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/2903dd2b-1d37-4512-83a6-acd377bd070d_1275x796.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:796,&quot;width&quot;:1275,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:594,&quot;bytes&quot;:443409,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!AykI!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2903dd2b-1d37-4512-83a6-acd377bd070d_1275x796.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!AykI!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2903dd2b-1d37-4512-83a6-acd377bd070d_1275x796.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!AykI!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2903dd2b-1d37-4512-83a6-acd377bd070d_1275x796.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!AykI!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2903dd2b-1d37-4512-83a6-acd377bd070d_1275x796.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>I recently read an Instagram post from someone I know and she said that in the future the MAGA hat will be considered the same as the swastika and the Confederate flag. So in other words, those of us who voted for Trump are Nazis and supporters of slavery.</p><p>Such claims are tired and easily refuted, in fact they are ridiculous. But she and others like her are dictated by emotion.&nbsp; Facts and history have no sway. Conversing with them and trying to change their minds is like giving medicine to the dead.</p><p>Those of us who voted for Trump believe in the principles expressed in the Declaration of Independence: unalienable rights, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.&nbsp; We uphold the Constitution, limited government, separation of powers, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of the press. We support free enterprise and free markets and the right to acquire and control private property. &nbsp;And we oppose vehemently communists, socialists, authoritarians, and tyrants.&nbsp; And so if in her mind this is Nazism, then she can&#8217;t be helped.</p><p>And apparently she is unaware that it was her Democrat Party that waved the confederate flag and fought the Civil War to maintain and perpetuate slavery. It was her Party that supported segregation, poll taxes, and the KKK.</p><p>Her views reveal a Leftist mindset and are merely two of the &nbsp;Leftist dogma. Thus it is no surprise that she supports and wraps herself in the rainbow flag which represents and celebrates immorality, decadence, perversions, lies, and unreality.</p><p>She was also a staunch advocate for mask wearing and the jab, despising and condemning all those who would not comply and calling them threats to society. She was of course a loud supporter and proponent of the authoritarian mandates.&nbsp; And now that her stances on the jab and mask wearing have wholly been proven to be wrong, do you think she has apologized or renounced her support of government authoritarianism? Of course not.</p><p>And if you were to have a conversation with her about abortion she would habitually repeat, &#8220;I&#8217;m pro-choice and reproductive rights.&#8221;&nbsp; But that baby in the womb IS a baby, &#8220;I&#8217;m pro-choice and reproductive rights.&#8221;&nbsp; But you are going to kill a baby, &#8220;I&#8217;m pro-choice and reproductive rights.&#8221;&nbsp; Don&#8217;t you care about the baby and the sanctity of life? &#8220;I&#8217;m pro-choice and reproductive rights.&#8221; She, like others, remains fixed on perpetual mindless repeat and in a trance that cannot be broken.</p><p>But this is the state of our society. Falsehood is truth, authoritarianism is liberty, sin is righteousness, wrong is right, feelings over reality, and government is God.</p><p></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.anindependentopinion.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.anindependentopinion.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Of the Politicians, By the Politicians, For the Politicians]]></title><description><![CDATA[we work for them]]></description><link>https://www.anindependentopinion.com/p/of-the-politicians-by-the-politicians</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.anindependentopinion.com/p/of-the-politicians-by-the-politicians</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Gary Russon]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 15 Feb 2023 20:51:52 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/2c3913af-01ce-4109-a363-b3b9bb1912aa_441x295.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!p716!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F69de0d36-5bac-4a53-87a6-937e8cf4bd19_441x295.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!p716!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F69de0d36-5bac-4a53-87a6-937e8cf4bd19_441x295.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!p716!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F69de0d36-5bac-4a53-87a6-937e8cf4bd19_441x295.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!p716!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F69de0d36-5bac-4a53-87a6-937e8cf4bd19_441x295.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!p716!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F69de0d36-5bac-4a53-87a6-937e8cf4bd19_441x295.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!p716!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F69de0d36-5bac-4a53-87a6-937e8cf4bd19_441x295.jpeg" width="441" height="295" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/69de0d36-5bac-4a53-87a6-937e8cf4bd19_441x295.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:false,&quot;imageSize&quot;:&quot;normal&quot;,&quot;height&quot;:295,&quot;width&quot;:441,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:441,&quot;bytes&quot;:37521,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!p716!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F69de0d36-5bac-4a53-87a6-937e8cf4bd19_441x295.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!p716!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F69de0d36-5bac-4a53-87a6-937e8cf4bd19_441x295.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!p716!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F69de0d36-5bac-4a53-87a6-937e8cf4bd19_441x295.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!p716!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F69de0d36-5bac-4a53-87a6-937e8cf4bd19_441x295.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.anindependentopinion.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.anindependentopinion.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p>&#8220;We do it for the people.&#8221; This is the common trite phrase spewed by politicians and it is a load of rubbish.&nbsp; I don&#8217;t buy it for a second. Most politicians primarily operate for themselves. Their policies and regulations and laws are intended to provide them and their friends with wealth, power, and fame. It is raw selfishness and narcissism.&nbsp; Most benefits to us are crumbs from the table or a buy-off for our subservience and silence.</p><p>Somehow we ignore the fact that politicians and bureaucrats are flesh and blood human beings with flaws and ambition and prejudices.&nbsp; We have become pathetically complacent and passive and have allowed ourselves to become playthings and social experiments. When these people are elected or nominated or appointed they are not instantly and miraculously anointed divine beings with greater knowledge and judgment than the rest of us.</p><p>The truth is we exist and work for the Elite, the well connected, and the bloated Federal government and bureaucracies. &nbsp;&nbsp;Every aspect of our lives has been infiltrated and is managed in one way or another by them. They manipulate us with regulations and the tax code.&nbsp; They take more and more of our money and property and spend it on things they deem worthy. And if we want to keep our own hard earned money and spend it on what we deem best they call it greed. Or even more ludicrous, they say that if we want to keep our money we are actually taking the governments money. They dictate which businesses are essential and which are not.&nbsp; They mandate we must wear a mask, stand 6 feet apart, and take an unproven so-called vaccine. They declare they are the ones that determine misinformation or falsehood or what is settled science and what is not. They impose social engineering by dictate and intentionally race-hustle and stoke class warfare and division. They want hate and contention because such social commotion can be exploited by them in such a way as to present themselves as saviors with all the answers and cash. They unite with big tech oligarchs and companies to limit, manipulate, and censor speech and to promote their agenda and views. And they conspire to affect elections. And the FBI, DOJ, and CIA, which must be unbiased, have become their intimidation and enforcement entities. And they too help manipulate elections.</p><p>Abraham Lincoln&#8217;s phrase<em>,</em> a &#8220;government of the people, by the people, for the people,&#8221; is a fond American ideal but is no longer true.&nbsp; It is now more accurate to say we have a government of the politicians, by the politicians, for the politicians.&nbsp;</p><p>Here in America politicians and bureaucrats were never intended to become our masters and overlords.&nbsp; We have surrendered ourselves and our property and continue to foolishly shower them with inordinate adoration.</p><p>As Thomas Sowell perfectly expressed it: &nbsp;&#8220;It doesn&#8217;t matter what rights you have under the Constitution of the United States, if the government can punish you for exercising those rights. And it doesn&#8217;t matter what limits the Constitution puts on government officials&#8217; power, if they can exceed those limits without any adverse consequences. In other words, the Constitution cannot protect you, if you don&#8217;t protect the Constitution with your votes against anyone who violates it. Those government officials who want more power are not going to stop unless they get stopped.&#8221;</p><p>The Constitution is our sacred banner and was created with divine wisdom.&nbsp; Its purpose is to protect us from the exact government we have now.&nbsp; We must reclaim and insist on the Constitution with its protections and principles.</p><p>We must regain our self-respect and individuality and throw off the shackles of government imposed collectivism. Silence is unacceptable.&nbsp; Knowledge, truth, morality, ethics, civility, and tradition are mandatory.&nbsp; We must apply pressure, expose the government and bureaucratic corruption, and clearly detail their narcissistic motives.&nbsp; We must shame them and force them to hear.&nbsp; And our efforts must be relentless, fearless and unending.&nbsp; We have only one choice, victory.</p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[LGBTQism: America's New National Religion]]></title><description><![CDATA[and you will comply]]></description><link>https://www.anindependentopinion.com/p/lgbtqism-americas-new-national-religion</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.anindependentopinion.com/p/lgbtqism-americas-new-national-religion</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Gary Russon]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 13 Dec 2022 06:23:28 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!YxAT!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5f0b1b66-f808-411a-a7f8-25b6d636e5da_1275x759.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.anindependentopinion.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.anindependentopinion.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!YxAT!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5f0b1b66-f808-411a-a7f8-25b6d636e5da_1275x759.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!YxAT!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5f0b1b66-f808-411a-a7f8-25b6d636e5da_1275x759.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!YxAT!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5f0b1b66-f808-411a-a7f8-25b6d636e5da_1275x759.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!YxAT!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5f0b1b66-f808-411a-a7f8-25b6d636e5da_1275x759.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!YxAT!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5f0b1b66-f808-411a-a7f8-25b6d636e5da_1275x759.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!YxAT!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5f0b1b66-f808-411a-a7f8-25b6d636e5da_1275x759.jpeg" width="530" height="315.50588235294117" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/5f0b1b66-f808-411a-a7f8-25b6d636e5da_1275x759.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:759,&quot;width&quot;:1275,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:530,&quot;bytes&quot;:342831,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!YxAT!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5f0b1b66-f808-411a-a7f8-25b6d636e5da_1275x759.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!YxAT!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5f0b1b66-f808-411a-a7f8-25b6d636e5da_1275x759.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!YxAT!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5f0b1b66-f808-411a-a7f8-25b6d636e5da_1275x759.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!YxAT!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5f0b1b66-f808-411a-a7f8-25b6d636e5da_1275x759.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>The definition of religion usually carries with it the idea of faith in and the worship of a supernatural being. But religion in a general sense is &#8220;a pursuit or interest to which someone ascribes supreme importance.&#8221; And so by this general definition the LGBTQ movement is a religion.</p><p>And it is obvious to those who wish to see, the LGBTQ movement, or LGBTQism, or the Alphabet Church, is now the official religion of the United States of America. Through legislation and fiat on the national and State level, the Alphabet Church has rapidly&nbsp;become&nbsp;by law the&nbsp;sanctioned and privileged national religion.</p><p>The Alphabet Church is praised in the halls of Congress and State houses. It&#8217;s promoted and praised at Children's theme parks, in corporate board rooms, at universities and colleges, in professional sports, in music, on social media sites, and on so-called family friendly television shows and movies. The Alphabet Church has its own flag which waves in front of federal and state buildings and at US embassies worldwide. This new national religion has a month-long celebration while at the same time other national holidays are trashed and ridiculed and ignored.</p><p>The Alphabet Church actively proselytes and seeks converts in the very young and teenagers. Drag queens now perform&nbsp;in front of&nbsp;little children and minors.&nbsp;Butt plugs and dildos&nbsp;and the discussion of&nbsp;queer sex&nbsp;is given to high schoolers.</p><p>And the core philosophy of the Alphabet Church is simple, anything goes and whatever a person thinks or believes or wants to do is okay and is the truth because it is their truth.</p><p>&nbsp;Yes the first Amendment in the Bill of Rights declares that &#8220;Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.&#8221; &nbsp;But the LGBTQ movement is not viewed as a religion and never will be. In fact LGBTQism is seen as superior to religion.&nbsp; A cunning play indeed to skirt the constitutional protections.</p><p>And because the Alphabet Church is the new national religion, and therefore the political preeminent religion, all those in that community are seen as a privileged and special class.&nbsp; They can almost do anything they wish, which usually garners praise and justification and little criticism.</p><p>Freedom and religion in America has always meant that everyone can believe and worship how, where, and what they may, or choose not to believe in anything at all. Not anymore.&nbsp;LGBTQism accepts religion and belief only insofar it agrees with and supports its ideology.&nbsp;</p><p>The intentions of the national Alphabet Church are a clear threat to every religion, church, and individual. It does not believe in freedom of religion, rather it demands subjugation to its ideology. LGBQism seeks to rule all religions, culture, and society. &nbsp;</p><p>We can ignore the intentions of the Alphabet Church and be passively accepting or willfully blind, or we can fight back. If we don't fight back, the Alphabet Church will dominate and dictate religious worship and practice, and America as a free nation will end.</p><p>This is not hyperbole. LBGTQism is not tolerant or inclusive, just listen and watch. The Alphabet Church will go as far as we allow it to go. It will not restrict or limit itself or reach.</p><p>Sadly, the charity and tolerance of religions and churches has been used against them by the Alphabet Church. But in many cases religions have simply been derelict and asleep. In an effort to be tolerant and accommodating, religions have allowed the Alphabet Church to rise to power and gain a position of domination and control.&nbsp;</p><p>And of note, the sad irony is that traditional religions, Christian and otherwise, have embraced the very movement and ideology that intends to censor, control, or eliminate them.</p><p>Of course these sentiments will be called violence, and I will be judged and condemned as a homophobe, bigot, and hater.&nbsp; But it is fully expected because tolerance is a one way street when it comes to the Alphabet Church. Everyone is expected to tolerate and accept LGBTQism but the Alphabet Church is immune from tolerating anyone else.&nbsp; This is a central tenet of the official national Alphabet Church.&nbsp; Everyone is expected to yield and comply or risk being castigated or cancelled, even by force by the federal government if necessary.</p><p>This is the condition we are in as a nation.&nbsp; If we continue down this road it will not end well.&nbsp; Disciples of the Alphabet Church occupy positions of political power and therefore must be removed and replaced. Many churches have been passive to the imposition of LGBTQism ideology so we must raise our voices in those churches and insist they raise their voices in opposition. And all of us have allowed the culture to be hijacked by the Alphabet Church so it is belatedly past time for us to raise our voices and use our influence and spend our money in the fight to take our culture back.&nbsp; This must be done with the urgency and seriousness it demands.&nbsp; Our nation, our morals, our traditions, our civilization, and our individual and religious freedoms depend on it.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.anindependentopinion.com/?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=share&amp;action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share An Independent Opinion&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.anindependentopinion.com/?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=share&amp;action=share"><span>Share An Independent Opinion</span></a></p><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Speak Up and Speak Out]]></title><description><![CDATA[Silence leads to subservience]]></description><link>https://www.anindependentopinion.com/p/speak-up-and-speak-out</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.anindependentopinion.com/p/speak-up-and-speak-out</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Gary Russon]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sun, 02 Oct 2022 22:04:17 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!TNGp!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2f258104-e721-4614-8373-de4c34003465_1078x652.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.anindependentopinion.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.anindependentopinion.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!TNGp!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2f258104-e721-4614-8373-de4c34003465_1078x652.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!TNGp!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2f258104-e721-4614-8373-de4c34003465_1078x652.jpeg 424w, 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srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!TNGp!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2f258104-e721-4614-8373-de4c34003465_1078x652.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!TNGp!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2f258104-e721-4614-8373-de4c34003465_1078x652.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!TNGp!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2f258104-e721-4614-8373-de4c34003465_1078x652.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!TNGp!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2f258104-e721-4614-8373-de4c34003465_1078x652.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>&nbsp;&#8220;The King of America &#8230; reigns above.&#8221; (Thomas Paine, Common Sense)&nbsp;God established America and has called us and our nation to be a city upon the hill and to be an example of righteousness, liberty, freedom, and salvation to the world. As Thomas Paine also wrote, &#8220;The cause of America is in a great measure the cause of all mankind.&#8221; (Thomas Paine, Common Sense) Or as Ralph Waldo Emerson expressed it, &#8220;Our whole history appears like a last effort of the Divine Providence in behalf of the human race.&#8221; (Ralph Waldo Emerson, American Civilization)</p><p>This assertion does not imply or mean that American citizens are superior to anyone else. But what it does mean is that we as citizens of this divinely appointed nation are under obligation to fulfill God's purposes. We will be protected and upheld if we proclaim his will and do his will. It is my belief that Jesus Christ is the God of this land and for our own well-being and protection and prosperity we must worship and follow him.</p><p>It was God who endowed us with unalienable rights and inspired the writing of the Declaration of Independence. It was God who inspired the Revolutionary War and provided ultimate victory. It was God who inspired imperfect but well-intentioned men to write the Constitution of the United States. And it was God who established this constitutional and representative Republic in protection of freedom and liberty and to be a light to the world. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>Thus it is the duty of all of us, especially those who are Christian and believe in God, to speak up and by our actions defend and uphold and maintain the Constitution, our Republic, American principles, truth, and virtue. We are called to be bold and to express the principles of the gospel, freedom, and defend what is right.</p><p>We are told by Leftist politicians and woke elitists that we can believe and live our religion but it must be in a limited way and out of the general body politic. Far too many of us have yielded to these totalitarian and evil forces and have become timid and silent. Our acquiescence has allowed immorality and evil to abound. Traditional values, morality, virtue, civility, the family, reality, truth, our children and their innocence, the unborn, and our basic unalienable rights given to us of God are all under assault because of our cowardice and reticence.</p><p>Enough is enough. At the core of Americanism is religious freedom and expression. America was founded upon the right of free exercise of religion in our homes, our churches, and in society and the public square. In 1830 <a href="http://www.ourrepubliconline.com/Author/136">Alexis de Tocqueville</a> wrote of America in his book <em>Democracy in America</em>, &#8220;There is no country in the world where the Christian religion retains a greater influence over the souls of men than in America.&#8221;</p><p>We have allowed anti-God and anti-religion forces to be our masters. But it is time to regain our heritage and courage and speak up and be active and aggressive. We can do this civilly, kindly, and with persuasion, but we must not be silent and passive. We must open our mouths and be heard in word and in deed and with our votes.</p><p>Our future will be subservience if we fail to act now. As Benjamin Franklin wrote, &#8220;Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become more corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.&#8221; (Benjamin Franklin, Letter to Messrs, the Abbes Chalut, and Arnaud, April 17, 1787) God will protect our nation from the evils of totalitarianism and authoritarianism if we defend Him and His principles. But even more ominous, if we fail to uphold God&#8217;s values and defend divinely inspired American principles, then the judgments as outlined in the scriptures will be our ultimate fate.</p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Tyrant]]></title><description><![CDATA[On September 1, 2022 Biden spoke to the nation and called me, my family, friends, and millions of Americans, extremists and a threat to America.]]></description><link>https://www.anindependentopinion.com/p/tyrant</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.anindependentopinion.com/p/tyrant</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Gary Russon]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 15 Sep 2022 05:08:25 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!eDVM!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe6eff5eb-ff3e-49d4-83e0-20245959e27e_618x463.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.anindependentopinion.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.anindependentopinion.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!eDVM!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe6eff5eb-ff3e-49d4-83e0-20245959e27e_618x463.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!eDVM!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe6eff5eb-ff3e-49d4-83e0-20245959e27e_618x463.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!eDVM!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe6eff5eb-ff3e-49d4-83e0-20245959e27e_618x463.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!eDVM!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe6eff5eb-ff3e-49d4-83e0-20245959e27e_618x463.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!eDVM!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe6eff5eb-ff3e-49d4-83e0-20245959e27e_618x463.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!eDVM!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe6eff5eb-ff3e-49d4-83e0-20245959e27e_618x463.jpeg" width="618" height="463" 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https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!eDVM!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe6eff5eb-ff3e-49d4-83e0-20245959e27e_618x463.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!eDVM!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe6eff5eb-ff3e-49d4-83e0-20245959e27e_618x463.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!eDVM!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe6eff5eb-ff3e-49d4-83e0-20245959e27e_618x463.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>On September 1, 2022 Biden spoke to the nation and called me, my family, friends, and millions of Americans, extremists and a threat to America. He said we are &#8220;destroying American Democracy&#8221; and threatening the &#8220;very foundations of our republic.&#8221;&nbsp; Previously he had called us fascists.&nbsp; Essentially Biden has labeled us the enemy.&nbsp; It is despicable and vile.&nbsp; By calling us threats, Biden openly made himself a threat to all of us.&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;As a proud American citizen with the unalienable right of free speech, it would be cowardly not to address the tyrannical and despicable assertions made by Biden. &nbsp;When Biden spoke in front of Independence Hall in Philadelphia, he stood as a tyrant and a bully and defamed me and half the country. &nbsp;He essentially declared war on me and half the country.&nbsp; It was language Biden doesn&#8217;t use toward Putin, the Ayatollahs, or his communist buddy Xi.&nbsp; What little respect I&#8217;ve mustered for Biden as President is now annihilated. Biden does not deserve any honor or deference from me or anyone else he has verbally attacked and called subversive.</p><p>Let&#8217;s not be naive, Biden used those words purposely.&nbsp; They were used precisely to dehumanize and denigrate individuals and to justify their cancellation and elimination. It was to give cover for whatever actions he and his administration seek to do. Such language justified our 10 year global war on terror and involvement in other conflicts.</p><p>Biden stained that holy place where the Declaration of Independence was signed and the Constitution constructed. He stood at the podium looking and sounding like a tyrant and dictator. Biden is the antithesis of the principles written in those documents. Biden is a blot upon the presidency and upon this Nation and he has betrayed his oath of office by his actions and words. What kind of fool proclaims war on its citizens while at the same time asking for unity?</p><p>And Biden imitated the Father of lies with lie after lie after lie. His characterizations of me and my family, and millions of other Americans, has no basis in reality. It was all disgusting lies.&nbsp; Those of us he defines as MAGA Republicans are in fact the disciples of and followers of Washington, Madison, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Franklin.&nbsp; We uphold the principles of the Declaration of Independence, we believe in life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, we uphold the Constitution of the United States and believe in limited government.&nbsp; We sustain the separation of powers and federalism. We uphold the right of free speech, freedom of religion, the right to bear arms, freedom of the press, and the right to assemble. We defend liberty and therefore free markets and free enterprise.&nbsp; We seek to maintain the American way of life and traditional American values.</p><p>When Biden claims that he and the Left are upholders of the Constitution and of American ideals and the Declaration of independence he is spewing falsehood. Big government authoritarianism is wholly incompatible with our American principles and documents. Biden and the Democrats are totalitarians and their ideology has no connection to our founding principles, the Declaration of Independence or Constitution.</p><p>But Lies coming from Biden and the Left is not surprising considering they are coming from a person and a party that proclaims a man can be a woman and a woman can be a man and a man can have a baby.</p><p>Yes Biden is an old man with a deteriorating brain but it is a mistake to let him off the hook and make an excuse for him. He knows what is going on and he's fully cognizant of the radical totalitarian agenda. Biden is fully aware and willfully leading the effort to implement an authoritarian police state.<br><br>American constitutionalists and patriots chose Trump, he did not choose them. And we did so enthusiastically because Trump supports the principles and values of America and fights for them. And we support any leader or politician who supports American principles and fights for them. If they don't we reject them.</p><p>The truth is all those who reject Biden and his authoritarian vision and effort are deemed the enemy.&nbsp; He lies and twists reality to deceive and justify his vitriol, but it&#8217;s really that simple. Disagree with Biden, the Left, and the Marxists and you are classified a fascist, extremist and worthy of elimination.&nbsp; Anyone who believes in the sanctity of life and the rights of the unborn baby in the womb, and rejects abortion on demand at any time in a pregnancy, According to Biden and the Left you are an extremist. If you reject the moral degradation overwhelming our culture, then you are now a threat to America. &nbsp;According to Biden and the Marxist Left, differences of opinion are not tolerable anymore.</p><p>All of this should not happen in America, but when a President and a Party are united to foreign totalitarian idea&#8217;s and practices, and total power is the aim, this is what we sadly and dangerously get.&nbsp; In fact Biden is bragging about his hate and intentions almost every day as well as many in his Party. But at least it&#8217;s clearly now in the open. We are in an open cold Civil War.&nbsp; &nbsp;If you don't see it, take the blinders off and wake up before it&#8217;s too late.&nbsp; Biden and the Left are out to destroy their enemies and control every aspect of American life.&nbsp; The sooner we understand and get on the right side of things the sooner we can defeat it.</p><p>Contrary to their rhetoric, Biden and the Left are not interested in Americanism and traditional American values, government, liberties, sovereignty, and citizenship.&nbsp; They have international and global intentions. &nbsp;They are aligned with global Elites who want to control the world and that includes America.&nbsp; They wish to subordinate us and America to some ridiculous and evil world government order. Why all the subordinating and capitulating alliances with International entities and Global interests? Why the effort to eradicate our borders? What do you think the global climate agenda is all about?&nbsp;The relentless and vile effort to eliminate Trump and us is because we stand in their way.&nbsp; We love America and seek to maintain our sovereignty and preeminence in the world, but Biden and the Left stand with globalist aspirations and international aims.</p><p>Mussolini, the original fascist, said: &#8220;The mass will simply follow and submit.&#8221;&nbsp; Essentially this is what Biden said in his speech at Independence Hall in Philadelphia and continues to say to this day.&nbsp; And many in the Democratic Party declare the same trash.&nbsp; They mean it and we should be wise enough to acknowledge it.&nbsp; But we should be even wiser and act and fight back.&nbsp; We must get out and vote and take others with us, and defeat every Democrat and Leftist, and begin the reclaiming of America and securing of our liberty.&nbsp; These are serious times for our freedom and nation.&nbsp; Biden and the Left are playing for keeps, are we?&nbsp; Remember; remember, according to Biden, you are a fascist, an extremist, a clear and present danger to America, a threat to our Republic.&nbsp; If this doesn&#8217;t engage you, along with inflation and recession, nothing will.</p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[What is happening???]]></title><description><![CDATA[Why are we affirming this madness?]]></description><link>https://www.anindependentopinion.com/p/what-is-happening</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.anindependentopinion.com/p/what-is-happening</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Brynn Whitchurch]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 14 Jul 2022 01:09:07 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/5d117a01-951a-4619-9e7c-83535c13968f_1024x682.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.anindependentopinion.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.anindependentopinion.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p>I went to dinner with a few of my high school friends and of course when we&#8217;re together we talk about our families and kids. My friend was telling me how there are kids in her daughter&#8217;s high school who are &#8220;furries&#8221; and the school has put litter boxes in the bathrooms for these kids! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!? Apparently the &#8220;furries&#8221; have been relieving themselves on the floor of the bathroom so the school felt they needed to take care of the problem by putting a giant litter box on the ground. Pick your jaw up off the floor; this is really happening.</p><p>My first thought is where the hell are the adults in the room? Why on earth are we affirming this kind of behavior? These are not toddlers playing make believe; these are 14-18 year olds with obvious mental and emotional issues at play. Just because someone tells you they are a cat DOES NOT MEAN YOU TREAT THEM LIKE A CAT! </p><p>My second thought is how disgusting and unsanitary this behavior is. There&#8217;s no way the health department would sign off on this, right? And who is assigned to clean the human-sized litter boxes? There are so many things wrong with this picture.</p><p>You&#8217;re probably thinking this is occurring in some left-wing, liberal, blue State but reality check; this is happening in one of the most conservative states in the country: Utah! PLUS, it&#8217;s happening in one of the most conservative counties in the State. This madness is happening everywhere and nowhere is safe anymore.</p><p>If someone wants to dress up like a cat and go to school in costume I don&#8217;t really have a problem with it. I would think it&#8217;s a little odd but in reality it&#8217;s not hurting anyone. However, I do have a problem with this asinine belief that we can never offend anyone and heaven forbid we don&#8217;t affirm someone&#8217;s identity; even if that identity is an animal! The adults are failing these children. The adults should know better and yet they&#8217;re standing by and watching this happen. Just because a child hisses at you does not mean you put a collar on their neck and give them a litter box. I can&#8217;t believe we&#8217;re at the point where that needs to be stated clearly. What the hell is happening to our children?</p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Do You Have an American Mind?]]></title><description><![CDATA[In a letter to Henry Lee in 1825, Thomas Jefferson forever informed us that the intention of the Declaration of Independence was not to express &#8220;new principles&#8221; or &#8220;say things which had never been said before,&#8221; but rather was written to plainly represent the general thought of the time and &#8220;to be an expression of the American mind.&#8221;]]></description><link>https://www.anindependentopinion.com/p/the-declaration-of-independence</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.anindependentopinion.com/p/the-declaration-of-independence</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Gary Russon]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 01 Jul 2022 17:49:40 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!LSdS!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F34162251-f2c1-418b-927b-25580c8b6ffe_600x400.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!LSdS!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F34162251-f2c1-418b-927b-25580c8b6ffe_600x400.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!LSdS!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F34162251-f2c1-418b-927b-25580c8b6ffe_600x400.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!LSdS!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F34162251-f2c1-418b-927b-25580c8b6ffe_600x400.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!LSdS!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F34162251-f2c1-418b-927b-25580c8b6ffe_600x400.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!LSdS!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F34162251-f2c1-418b-927b-25580c8b6ffe_600x400.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!LSdS!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F34162251-f2c1-418b-927b-25580c8b6ffe_600x400.jpeg" width="530" height="353.3333333333333" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/34162251-f2c1-418b-927b-25580c8b6ffe_600x400.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:400,&quot;width&quot;:600,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:530,&quot;bytes&quot;:137044,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!LSdS!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F34162251-f2c1-418b-927b-25580c8b6ffe_600x400.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!LSdS!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F34162251-f2c1-418b-927b-25580c8b6ffe_600x400.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!LSdS!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F34162251-f2c1-418b-927b-25580c8b6ffe_600x400.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!LSdS!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F34162251-f2c1-418b-927b-25580c8b6ffe_600x400.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 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href="https://www.anindependentopinion.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p>In a letter to Henry Lee in 1825, Thomas Jefferson forever informed us that the intention of the Declaration of Independence was not to express &#8220;new principles&#8221; or &#8220;say things which had never been said before,&#8221; but rather was written to plainly represent the general thought of the time and &#8220;to be an expression of the American mind.&#8221;&nbsp;</p><p>The principles succinctly expressed in the Declaration of Independence are the ideas and principles and philosophy of Americanism.&nbsp; They are the immovable foundation of America. Believing in these principles and upholding and defending them is what it means to be an American and to have an American mind.</p><p>All of us are created by God and therefore by nature equally free and independent individuals. &nbsp;No one is created to be subservient to someone else and no one is born to rule and reign and dominate others.</p><p>Every person is endowed by God in our creation with certain inherent, innate, unalienable rights. These rights are neither created by nor granted by other men and cannot be divested or deprived by others though we join in a social agreement and civil society.&nbsp; Of course our unalienable rights can be trampled and abused by tyrants but they cannot take from us what God has given.</p><p>Our God-given inherent and unalienable rights are namely the right to the enjoyment and protection of life, liberty and freedom, and the autonomy to pursue whatever course of life we desire and to acquire, possess and manage property in all its forms.</p><p>The principles expressed by Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence are self-evident truths.&nbsp; They are not supposition or evolving or transient.</p><p>The purpose and role of government is to secure, protect, and uphold our inherent and unalienable rights, not the limiting or trampling or curtailing of these rights. Government does not exist to manage our lives or redistribute wealth.</p><p>And Government derives its power from the consent of the governed. Politicians work for us; they are not above or beyond us the people.</p><p>The Constitution of the United States was inspired by and crafted to protect the principles elucidated in the Declaration. The Constitution devised a form of government, with its checks and balances and firewalls, to stifle ambitious tyrants and despots, and protect we the people in our freedoms and unalienable rights.</p><p>Of course Leftists and Marxists attack Thomas Jefferson because he is one of America's great founders and leading expounders of American Liberty and freedom and individualism. The Left knows that if they can successfully defame Jefferson then the principles he advocated would be tainted and thus vulnerable for rejection. So we can expect the Left to relentlessly do all in their power to destroy Jefferson and his reputation, and misrepresent his life and his intentions.<br><br>Interestingly, attacks on Jefferson and the Declaration of Independence are not a new effort. Abraham Lincoln confronted it in his day. And his answer to those who sought to dismiss the Declaration and Jefferson must also be our answer, &#8220;we must repulse them, or they will subjugate us.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;The principles of Jefferson are the definitions and axioms of free society.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;All honor to Jefferson - to the man who, in the concrete pressure of a struggle for national independence by a single people, had the coolness, forecast, and capacity to introduce into a merely revolutionary document, an abstract truth, applicable to all men and all times, and so embalm it there, that to-day, and in all coming days, it shall be a rebuke and a stumbling-block to the very harbingers of re-appearing tyranny and oppression.&#8221; (April 6, 1859: Letter to H.L. Pierce)</p><p>And to all those who have apostatized from the principles of the Declaration, Abraham Lincoln also offers this invitation:</p><p>&#8220;My countrymen, if you have been taught doctrines [that] conflict with the great landmarks of the Declaration of Independence; if you have listened to suggestions which would take away from its grandeur and mutilate the fair symmetry of its proportions; if you have been inclined to believe that all men are not created equal in those inalienable rights enumerated in our charter of liberty, let me entreat you to come back. Return to the fountain whose waters spring close by the blood of the revolution...Come back to the truths that are in the Declaration of Independence&#8230;The Declaration&#8230;was formed by the representatives of American liberty from thirteen States. (it) was their majestic interpretation of the economy of the Universe. This was their lofty, wise, and noble understanding of the justice of the Creator to His creatures&#8230;. They grasped not only the whole race of man then living, but they reached forward and seized upon the farthest posterity. They erected a beacon to guide their children, and their children&#8217;s children, and the countless myriads who should inhabit the earth in other ages.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;Wise statesmen as they were, they knew the tendency of prosperity to breed tyrants, and so they established these great self-evident truths, that when in the distant future some man, some faction, some interest, should set up the doctrine that none but rich men, or none but white men, were entitled to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness, their posterity might look up again to the Declaration of Independence and take courage to renew the battle which their fathers began &#8211; so that truth, justice, mercy, and all the humane and Christian virtues might not be extinguished from the land; so that no man would hereafter dare to limit and circumscribe the great principles on which the temple of liberty was being built.&#8221; (<em>From a Speech at Lewistown, Illinois</em>; August 17, 1858)</p><p>The principles of Thomas Jefferson and the other founders and framers as expressed in the Declaration of Independence, are in fact independent and broader than all of them.&nbsp; Important as they were to the foundation of America, they were merely God inspired instruments in proclaiming and establishing eternal truth. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>So the question we must answer individually is do we have &#8220;an American mind?&#8221; Do we believe in life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? Do we believe that all were created by God to be equally free and independent? Do we believe in the truths expressed in the Declaration of Independence? If a majority of us say yes, then America will survive; but if not, our nation is doomed.&nbsp; This is the hinge upon which the door of freedom swings open or shut.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.anindependentopinion.com/p/the-declaration-of-independence?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.anindependentopinion.com/p/the-declaration-of-independence?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share</span></a></p><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Take Responsibility]]></title><description><![CDATA[Sorry to tell you, but actions have consequences]]></description><link>https://www.anindependentopinion.com/p/take-responsibility</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.anindependentopinion.com/p/take-responsibility</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Brynn Whitchurch]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 29 Jun 2022 23:05:27 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!_JIY!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fda3089a2-9dde-4d73-971c-2a6931737311_1600x1600.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.anindependentopinion.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.anindependentopinion.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p>We are living in a consequence free environment; at least that&#8217;s what the liberal progressives would have you believe. Their philosophy is &#8220;as long as you&#8217;re living your truth there can be no bad outcomes.&#8221; Those of us with clear, functioning brains know this is absolutely not true.</p><p>For example, let&#8217;s look at the abortion argument. We&#8217;ve watched liberals and Democrats lose their collective minds over the past few days after SCOTUS thankfully overturned Roe v Wade. I&#8217;m truly flabbergasted over some of the arguments I&#8217;ve seen: like claiming that thousands of women are now being sentenced to death or that ectopic pregnancies and miscarriages are the same thing as abortions. Again, anyone with a clear, functioning brain knows this is not true. </p><p>Another ludicrous argument is that pregnancy is only possible because of the man&#8217;s sperm so abortion is 100% a man&#8217;s fault. Last time I checked it still takes two to tango so if you choose to have sex with someone there is the possibility you will get pregnant. But sadly this basic pillar of sexual education gets swept under the rug because it doesn&#8217;t tow the party line. Instead, what&#8217;s being taught is there are no consequences to unprotected sex and if a pregnancy magically appears out of thin air you&#8217;ll just abort it. In the pro-choice argument no one is responsible for their choices and certainly no one should be expected to deal with the consequences. </p><p>The consequence-free life is a cornerstone of the Democrat party. Don&#8217;t worry, someone else will pay your college loan even though you agreed to pay it back when you signed the paperwork. Don&#8217;t worry, you can give children extreme hormone drugs that are &#8220;100% reversible and have no long-term effects.&#8221; Don&#8217;t worry, you can commit multiple crimes in the same city and you won&#8217;t need to spend any time in jail. Don&#8217;t worry, don&#8217;t worry, don&#8217;t worry.</p><p>In reality, there is a lot to worry about. We cannot pretend that a consequence-free life exists. It is a fantasy that cannot be realized, has the ability to destroy a society and it always catches up to you. </p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!_JIY!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fda3089a2-9dde-4d73-971c-2a6931737311_1600x1600.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!_JIY!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fda3089a2-9dde-4d73-971c-2a6931737311_1600x1600.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!_JIY!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fda3089a2-9dde-4d73-971c-2a6931737311_1600x1600.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!_JIY!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fda3089a2-9dde-4d73-971c-2a6931737311_1600x1600.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!_JIY!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fda3089a2-9dde-4d73-971c-2a6931737311_1600x1600.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!_JIY!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fda3089a2-9dde-4d73-971c-2a6931737311_1600x1600.jpeg" width="230" height="230" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/da3089a2-9dde-4d73-971c-2a6931737311_1600x1600.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:1456,&quot;width&quot;:1456,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:230,&quot;bytes&quot;:232526,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!_JIY!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fda3089a2-9dde-4d73-971c-2a6931737311_1600x1600.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!_JIY!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fda3089a2-9dde-4d73-971c-2a6931737311_1600x1600.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!_JIY!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fda3089a2-9dde-4d73-971c-2a6931737311_1600x1600.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!_JIY!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fda3089a2-9dde-4d73-971c-2a6931737311_1600x1600.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div></div></div></a></figure></div><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Covid in New York]]></title><description><![CDATA[It wasn't what I expected]]></description><link>https://www.anindependentopinion.com/p/covid-in-new-york</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.anindependentopinion.com/p/covid-in-new-york</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Brynn Whitchurch]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 20 May 2022 20:06:21 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/1eaa3c75-9929-434d-b536-1f74d4e5b29b_3869x1551.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.anindependentopinion.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.anindependentopinion.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p>I spent the last few days in what many call the greatest city in the world: New York City. This was my first time in the Big Apple and I loved the different neighborhoods, the beautiful grounds in Central Park and of course, the food. I didn&#8217;t know what to expect concerning Covid protocols, especially since I was traveling from a state with basically no Covid restrictions. We all know New York is a very liberal state so I expected things to be super strict and for the people to be very stringent in following all the protocols. To my surprise, I was very wrong.</p><p>Upon landing in New York it became very apparent that while social distancing and mask policies are still posted everywhere throughout the city (subway stations, shops, restaurants, etc.) the majority of people are not following the policies. At least 90% of people are not wearing a mask. We saw the most masks on subway trains but even then, it&#8217;s only about 30% of people wearing them. Even in places where announcements are made that masks are required, no one is wearing them. Mask policies were strictly enforced in only three places we visited: getting on a ferry (but only while you are inside the ferry), a small bakery that had the best cronut on the planet Earth, and inside all Broadway theaters. </p><p>Unfortunately Covid policies are still negatively affecting businesses and popular tourist attractions. We were extremely disappointed to discover New York landmarks like the Natural History Museum and the 9/11 memorial are closed 2-3 days per week and have very limited hours. As with most Covid policies the protocols that are keeping these places closed are extremely outdated and it&#8217;s ridiculous to still have them in effect over 2 years later.</p><p>If you listen to the news and to government officials you&#8217;d think New York is back to lockdown and strict restriction mode. In reality the people are over it. It was very apparent the majority of people are done with the restrictions and they have moved on. If only the bureaucrats and government officials would do the same.</p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Joe Brandon Biden]]></title><description><![CDATA[As the saying goes, &#8220;if you can&#8217;t say anything nice, then don&#8217;t say anything at all.&#8221;]]></description><link>https://www.anindependentopinion.com/p/joe-brandon-biden</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.anindependentopinion.com/p/joe-brandon-biden</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Gary Russon]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 19 May 2022 22:30:10 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!rsLl!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6656bff8-a34c-4971-b9a5-82a64fc4227d_445x349.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.anindependentopinion.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.anindependentopinion.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!rsLl!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6656bff8-a34c-4971-b9a5-82a64fc4227d_445x349.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!rsLl!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6656bff8-a34c-4971-b9a5-82a64fc4227d_445x349.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!rsLl!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6656bff8-a34c-4971-b9a5-82a64fc4227d_445x349.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!rsLl!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6656bff8-a34c-4971-b9a5-82a64fc4227d_445x349.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!rsLl!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6656bff8-a34c-4971-b9a5-82a64fc4227d_445x349.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!rsLl!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6656bff8-a34c-4971-b9a5-82a64fc4227d_445x349.jpeg" width="385" height="301.9438202247191" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/6656bff8-a34c-4971-b9a5-82a64fc4227d_445x349.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:349,&quot;width&quot;:445,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:385,&quot;bytes&quot;:55025,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!rsLl!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6656bff8-a34c-4971-b9a5-82a64fc4227d_445x349.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!rsLl!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6656bff8-a34c-4971-b9a5-82a64fc4227d_445x349.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!rsLl!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6656bff8-a34c-4971-b9a5-82a64fc4227d_445x349.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!rsLl!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6656bff8-a34c-4971-b9a5-82a64fc4227d_445x349.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>As the saying goes, &#8220;if you can&#8217;t say anything nice, then don&#8217;t say anything at all.&#8221;</p><p>In regards to Joe Biden,&#8230;</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The end.</p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[6 Principles to Follow When Confronting Leftism]]></title><description><![CDATA[The Left has turned our culture upside down and they seek to remove God, morality, and tradition. Their sole aim is to cancel, vilify, and censor all those who oppose or disagree, and thru authoritarianism and tyranny force to us accept and live in the irrational and absurd world they have concocted.]]></description><link>https://www.anindependentopinion.com/p/6-principles-to-follow-when-confronting</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.anindependentopinion.com/p/6-principles-to-follow-when-confronting</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Gary Russon]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 17 May 2022 01:56:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!23Od!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Feda29943-7e42-4210-9fae-a4108e82f1b3_900x675.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!23Od!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Feda29943-7e42-4210-9fae-a4108e82f1b3_900x675.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!23Od!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Feda29943-7e42-4210-9fae-a4108e82f1b3_900x675.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!23Od!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Feda29943-7e42-4210-9fae-a4108e82f1b3_900x675.jpeg 848w, 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srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!23Od!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Feda29943-7e42-4210-9fae-a4108e82f1b3_900x675.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!23Od!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Feda29943-7e42-4210-9fae-a4108e82f1b3_900x675.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!23Od!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Feda29943-7e42-4210-9fae-a4108e82f1b3_900x675.jpeg 1272w, 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12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.anindependentopinion.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.anindependentopinion.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p>The Left has turned our culture upside down and they seek to remove God, morality, and tradition.&nbsp; Their sole aim is to cancel, vilify, and censor all those who oppose or disagree, and thru authoritarianism and tyranny force to us accept and live in the irrational and absurd world they have concocted.</p><p>The following are 6 principles to follow when confronting Leftist madness and seeking to defeat them.&nbsp;</p><p>1. Follow the admonitions of Christ: &#8220;Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.&#8221; (Matt. 5:44) And &#8220;Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.&#8221; (Matt. 22:37-39)</p><p>At the same time lawfully and civilly defend freedom, family, country, rights, and religion.</p><p>2. Reject the Leftist, Democrat Party, and mainstream media narratives. Trust in common sense and experience, and do not ignore what is clearly before our own two eyes. &nbsp;</p><p>3. Truth and reality is the opposite of what the Leftists, Democrats, and mainstream propaganda media declares and promotes. And if they ignore, bury, or censor something, be assured it has validity.</p><p>4. Clearly understand that Leftists do not think like or view the world as traditional Americans do.&nbsp; This is absolutely necessary in dealing with them.</p><p>Acknowledge that Leftists are not interested in or respectful of our Constitutional republic or traditional American values.&nbsp; They reject the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence and the preeminence of American liberty, limited government, and free markets. To the Left this is all out of date and America is to be redone.</p><p>Their guiding force is not experience, logic, rationale, honesty, facts, or fairness; instead, they are guided by emotion and a utopian vision that is built on impossibilities and concepts foreign to our American principles and values.&nbsp;</p><p>And Leftists are willing to do whatever it takes to implement their impossible fantasies and irrational Utopia.&nbsp; The effort to implement the New Green Deal is a perfect example.&nbsp; If we must suffer as an individual or family, or if our nation must become weaker and poorer, according to Leftist central planners this is the necessary sacrifice we must be forced to make for their vision. The Left&#8217;s vision of central control by government of all things is not new, in fact it is as old as the history of the world, and it fails every time.</p><p>5. Do not acknowledge, or give credence to the Leftist nonsensical concepts, claims, labels, and positions. Just don&#8217;t do it, their religious-like emotional zeal prevents them from considering reason, facts, and history. &nbsp;So simply disregard and mock their ideas for the nonsense they are. In fact call it what it is, absurdity. And then relentlessly fight to defeat them in every way and on every issue.&nbsp; Compromise with Marxists and totalitarians is not an option.</p><p>6. The cause of liberty, freedom, and American principles is moral. It was God who established America and endowed us with unalienable rights. It was God who established our Republic and set our course. Thus confidently act accordingly and unafraid and unapologetic.</p><p>The words of Thomas Paine in 1776 are as applicable now as then: &#8220;THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives everything its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated.&#8221;</p><p>It is not a time to shrink from the Leftist onslaught, but rather we must serve our country and be bold like our Revolutionary Founders and conquer the absurdity and tyranny we are confronting. &nbsp;Ultimately and finally it is up to us the American people and we must declare that enough is enough and make a stand.&nbsp;</p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Assault on Women]]></title><description><![CDATA[The left is trying to erase women]]></description><link>https://www.anindependentopinion.com/p/the-assault-on-women</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.anindependentopinion.com/p/the-assault-on-women</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Brynn Whitchurch]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 09 May 2022 21:03:45 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/43e9a14d-92d4-4cfb-9e90-ab32f2e553be_1300x782.webp" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.anindependentopinion.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.anindependentopinion.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p>Yesterday I celebrated Mother&#8217;s Day with my husband and my three beautiful children. Being a mother is the hardest, most challenging and most rewarding job all wrapped up in one exhausting package. The experiences of a mother, and of women in general, cannot be overlooked and duplicated. I&#8217;m sick and tired of women being treated as if we are an &#8220;idea&#8221; and not what we are: amazing, beautiful creatures and the creators of life. </p><p>There is this strange movement right now in which no one will define the word woman. The &#8216;Daily Wire&#8217;s&#8217; Matt Walsh is producing an entire documentary on it. The new Supreme Court nominee, Ketanji Brown-Jackson, said she can&#8217;t define &#8216;woman&#8217; because she&#8217;s not a biologist. When did saying the word &#8216;woman&#8217; become controversial? Why are we pretending like women don&#8217;t exist? We are being fed this lie that anyone can be a woman and it&#8217;s extremely offensive.  </p><p>A woman is someone who suffers through a very inconvenient and oftentimes painful reminder of her womanhood each month. She will deal with this irritating experience from the time of adolescence all the way until late adulthood, enduring the ugly side effects of raging hormones, excruciating cramps and the total nuisance of it all. She will go about her daily life, quietly suffering through this lovely little &#8220;gift&#8221; each month, knowing it is an innate part of her. </p><p>A woman is someone who discovers she is pregnant and for 9 months feels a human growing inside of her. She feels every movement and every ache and pain that comes with it. She pushes her body to a limit she doesn&#8217;t even know she had in order to get that baby here safely. She feels the immense and immediate love when the baby is placed on her chest and she experiences the discomfort and extreme pain of recovery after childbirth. Her body is no longer her own and the resulting aches and scars will last a lifetime. She also knows her life will never be the same. </p><p>A woman is also someone who puts her body through ruthless and unrelenting medical treatment in order to have the opportunity to bring a child into this world. She is poked and prodded and gets daily shots of hormones and medications. She too pushes her body to the limit and will gladly suffer through any pain if it means she will be a mother. She experiences loss that is too immense for words and she carries that grief daily. Then she starts all over again because she is strong and brave and relentless.  </p><p>A woman knows what others need before they even know it themselves. She puts everyone&#8217;s needs above her own and she doesn&#8217;t think twice about it. She comforts, loves, cries when others cry and suffers when others suffer. She is so much more than an &#8220;identity&#8221; or a &#8220;state of mind.&#8221; She is what makes the world go round and she deserves to be celebrated, praised, honored, and acknowledged, not erased.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.anindependentopinion.com/p/the-assault-on-women?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.anindependentopinion.com/p/the-assault-on-women?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share</span></a></p><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Look In The Mirror Joe, You're The Extremist]]></title><description><![CDATA[Biden recently said that &#8220;This MAGA crowd is really the most extreme political organization that&#8217;s existed in American history.&#8221;]]></description><link>https://www.anindependentopinion.com/p/look-in-the-mirror-joe-youre-the</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.anindependentopinion.com/p/look-in-the-mirror-joe-youre-the</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Gary Russon]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 06 May 2022 19:07:54 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!_3y-!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff0c5e76f-feaa-418b-beca-27e82670ae1f_1200x1200.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.anindependentopinion.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.anindependentopinion.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p>Biden recently said that &#8220;This MAGA crowd is really the most extreme political organization that&#8217;s existed in American history.&#8221;</p><p>Isn&#8217;t that wonderful.&nbsp; A President of the United States classifying and denigrating millions and millions of patriotic, freedom loving Americans as the worst extremists in the history of our country.&nbsp; Absolutely pathetic.</p><p>And yes, Biden was speaking to me. But honestly it doesn&#8217;t surprise me, Biden has always been a slimy and nasty politician. The &#8220;moderate, lunch bucket Joe&#8221; mantra has always been a lie and I never fell for it.&nbsp; When many were saying Biden would unite us, I knew that wouldn&#8217;t happen. And his destruction of America is not a surprise to me at all.</p><p>And so I would ask Biden, is it extreme that Antifa and BLM caused $2,000,000,000 in damages and carnage along with violence, assaults, and death? Is it extreme that Democrats fought for slavery? Is it extreme that the KKK was connected to the Democrat Party? And what about the Marxist and Socialist Party&#8217;s, are they extreme?&nbsp; And sincerely, isn&#8217;t it extreme to sanction and fight to allow the killing of a baby right up to the moment of birth? Isn&#8217;t it extreme to ban a President from a social platform? And isn&#8217;t it extreme to censor millions of other Americans who disagree with Leftist policies and views?&nbsp; Isn&#8217;t a Ministry of Truth extreme?</p><p>And Joe, do you think that these wonderful expressions from fellow Leftists are extreme?</p><p>&#8220;I almost want to get pregnant with Trump&#8217;s baby and let it go full term just so I can rip it halfway out and cut its fucking head off&#8221; (Amanda Duarte)</p><p>&#8220;I do wonder how these white supremacist lawmakers would feel if their little white daughters were raped and impregnated by black men.&#8221; (Amanda Duarte)</p><p>&#8220;Christianity is a cult. Conservatives are gross. Fetuses look like alien bugs &amp; you don&#8217;t need to feel sorry or guilty about aborting mission motherhood.&#8221; (LZA, @lainthecut_)</p><p>&#8220;Interesting real life&#8230;problem in America now. If you had the chance to kill Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, the two oldest right wing Supreme Court judges, should you do it while Biden can get his nominees to replace them confirmed?&#8221; (Simon Gwynn)</p><p>&#8220;Time to go to war.&nbsp; For our mothers, sisters, and daughters.&nbsp; We will not stand by and allow a group of white Christians to turn America into the dark ages again.&nbsp; Not this time. (Rabbi Mike Harvey)</p><p>Truth be told, Joe Biden would agree with and condone, or deflect, or lie with everything I just listed. Talk about extreme.</p><p>Those of us who believe in the American way of life and American principles of liberty and individualism and traditional moral values, are not extreme and we are not &#8220;right wing&#8221; or &#8220;far right&#8221; or &#8220;center right&#8221; or any other classification.&nbsp; We <em>are </em>Americans.&nbsp; We <em>are</em> America. We are what America is and should always be.&nbsp; We are the standard.</p><p>So anyone who goes against American principles and founding documents and traditions, and who seek to impose authoritarian big government rule are the extremists.</p><p>Look in the mirror Joe, you&#8217;re the extremist.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!_3y-!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff0c5e76f-feaa-418b-beca-27e82670ae1f_1200x1200.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" 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12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Abortion]]></title><description><![CDATA[A battle between good and evil]]></description><link>https://www.anindependentopinion.com/p/abortion</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.anindependentopinion.com/p/abortion</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Gary Russon]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 04 May 2022 16:30:15 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7ixw!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7bfa5b6e-7d5d-4081-baa2-effc6c66b61d_493x335.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7ixw!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7bfa5b6e-7d5d-4081-baa2-effc6c66b61d_493x335.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7ixw!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7bfa5b6e-7d5d-4081-baa2-effc6c66b61d_493x335.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7ixw!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7bfa5b6e-7d5d-4081-baa2-effc6c66b61d_493x335.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7ixw!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7bfa5b6e-7d5d-4081-baa2-effc6c66b61d_493x335.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7ixw!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7bfa5b6e-7d5d-4081-baa2-effc6c66b61d_493x335.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7ixw!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7bfa5b6e-7d5d-4081-baa2-effc6c66b61d_493x335.jpeg" width="493" height="335" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/7bfa5b6e-7d5d-4081-baa2-effc6c66b61d_493x335.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:335,&quot;width&quot;:493,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:103115,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7ixw!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7bfa5b6e-7d5d-4081-baa2-effc6c66b61d_493x335.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7ixw!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7bfa5b6e-7d5d-4081-baa2-effc6c66b61d_493x335.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7ixw!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7bfa5b6e-7d5d-4081-baa2-effc6c66b61d_493x335.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7ixw!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7bfa5b6e-7d5d-4081-baa2-effc6c66b61d_493x335.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.anindependentopinion.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.anindependentopinion.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p>Abortion was not banned when Roe v. Wade was overturned. The ruling returned the issue back to the individual States. So those who still wish to kill a baby in the womb and your State allows it, this ruling does not prohibit it. If however you live in a State that disallows abortion or has limits, you will need to go to another State that does allow abortion. And so abortion genocide continues throughout our nation.</p><p>Of course lies and doomsday misrepresentations regarding the ruling are spewed by pro-abortionists and the Left.&nbsp;They lie and fearmonger and exploit emotional dupes to gin up fury, enthusiasm, and disciples for their Marxist agenda and utopia.&nbsp; The Left uses the killing of babies in the womb to garner election support.</p><p>This ruling is also being used by the Left as an excuse to demean and vilify the Constitution and our Constitutional institutions.&nbsp; After all, the Left hates our Constitutional Republic and will use any means necessary to destroy it.&nbsp; And of course once it is destroyed the Left intends to build some utopian Marxist despotic fantasy.&nbsp;</p><p>What is clear in regards to abortion is that we are at war, a war between good and evil, right and wrong.&nbsp; This isn&#8217;t about policy, this about the soul and moral compass of our nation.</p><p>What is intentionally ignored or dismissed by the Left and pro-abortionists is the innocent, pure, dependent baby in the womb.&nbsp; Abortion is not just about the woman and her right to choose.&nbsp; It involves another entity and their right to live.</p><p>The right to choose was exercised when the woman had sex.&nbsp; And when the natural and biological consequence occurred, the equation changed, and it became about two individuals.</p><p>Terminating life as a birth control method and thereby categorizing it with a condom, diaphragm, cervical cap, contraceptive sponge, and spermicide is sick and grotesque.</p><p>What have we become?&nbsp; It is truly sad and demonic that the most innocent life is terminated for personal and social convenience. This mindset and behavior is truly an indication of decadent selfishness.</p><p>I endorse the words of Spencer W. Kimball, former President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: &#8220;Abortion is a growing evil that we speak against. Certainly the terrible sin of premeditated abortion would be hard to justify. It is almost inconceivable that an abortion would ever be committed to save face or embarrassment, to save trouble or inconvenience, or to escape responsibility. How could one submit to such an operation or be party in any way by financing or encouraging? If special rare cases could be justified, certainly they would be rare indeed. We place it high on the list of sins against which we strongly warn the people.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;Abortion must be considered one of the most revolting and sinful practices in this day, when we are witnessing the frightful evidence of permissiveness leading to sexual immorality.&#8221;</p><p>As a believer in God and Christ, and in the sanctity of life, I vehemently oppose abortion. I cannot think of anything more deplorable than the willful termination of a defenseless, voiceless, developing baby.&nbsp; God will not and cannot look upon this with allowance.&nbsp; Our nation will suffer the consequences of disregarding the laws of God.&nbsp; May we find morality and change course. Lord have mercy on our nation.</p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Why I Can't Be Silent]]></title><description><![CDATA[My journey into the craziness]]></description><link>https://www.anindependentopinion.com/p/why-i-cant-be-silent</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.anindependentopinion.com/p/why-i-cant-be-silent</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Brynn Whitchurch]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 03 May 2022 19:52:47 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/05a6e176-7b10-4849-ad54-7c3321ecd5a4_1200x628.webp" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>My entire adult life I have stayed away from politics. I wouldn&#8217;t watch the news because it all felt too depressing and I didn&#8217;t pay attention to what any of my local or national politicians were doing. I always fulfilled my civic duty and voted in elections but in all honesty I never researched the candidates. The inner workings of congress, the Senate and the House were not important to me. All of that changed two years ago.</p><p>In the Spring of 2020, in the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, I was listening to a podcast about a Utah man who had been unlawfully arrested and detained in Venezuela for months. In one of the podcast episodes the host was describing what Venezuela used to be: a rich, vibrant, thriving country and an enviable tourist locale. The host described Venezuela&#8217;s fall from grace and it all started with politicians promising everything for free. This struck me because I realized I had heard this before right here in the United States. The Democrats always offer everything for free: free healthcare, free schooling, free welfare checks, etc. This is when I started paying more attention.</p><p>As the summer of 2020 progressed I watched in horror as my country was being destroyed and burned to the ground. In the fall of 2020 I watched election laws be unconstitutionally changed in order to oust a sitting President. In January 2021 I watched people be led by security into the US Capitol building only to then be arrested and held in jail for months. I watched my children be forced to wear masks for 6-8 hours per day in the name of &#8220;science&#8221; no matter the consequences to their emotional and mental health. I also watched my children&#8217;s school curriculum focus on &#8216;social and emotional learning&#8217; which included teaching my 8th grader about what to do the first time he has sex and how his mom and dad don&#8217;t always know best. I&#8217;ve watched women&#8217;s sports be destroyed and even the word &#8220;woman&#8221; be treated like it&#8217;s some strange, unique term that cannot be defined. Unless of course you&#8217;re talking about abortion and then of course, it&#8217;s all about women&#8217;s rights. I&#8217;ve watched the price of everything go up. I&#8217;ve watched people be kicked off social media because they said something that wasn&#8217;t in line with the narrative. And I&#8217;ve watched the media continue to villainize any strong, conservative voice all while staying silent to the fact that our current President doesn&#8217;t even know what day of the week it is.</p><p>I can no longer stay silent. I can&#8217;t ignore what is going on in my country and I will no longer ignore what politicians, the media and the rest of the corrupt swamp are doing to our lives. Now is the time to get loud. </p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.anindependentopinion.com/p/why-i-cant-be-silent?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.anindependentopinion.com/p/why-i-cant-be-silent?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.anindependentopinion.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.anindependentopinion.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[A Ministry of Truth in Amerika]]></title><description><![CDATA[Do you want liberty or a Police State?]]></description><link>https://www.anindependentopinion.com/p/a-ministry-of-truth-in-amerika</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.anindependentopinion.com/p/a-ministry-of-truth-in-amerika</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Gary Russon]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 29 Apr 2022 16:32:10 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!sQVK!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F37efe063-81db-4fe7-a04f-f35ad0038bb0_1200x630.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Elon Musk comes along and buys Twitter with the intent of making it a platform of free speech for all. Any honest person knows that Twitter has banned, censored, suspended, and limited conservative viewpoints and content.&nbsp; Banning the President of the United States is not freedom of speech. Musk has made it clear that he has no intention of limiting Leftist users but that now he will allow conservative voices equal access and usage.&nbsp; And this stated change has created a Leftist uproar. And what do we immediately get from the authoritarian Biden regime, a Ministry of Truth.</p><p>If you oppose freedom of speech and support the creation of a governmental ministry of truth, you are an authoritarian to say it nicely and to be more brutally honest, a Stalinist or Fascist. And no, it&#8217;s not debatable.</p><p>So is this another plank in the Build Back Better agenda?&nbsp; This will make a kinder America?&nbsp; This will bring us together? The creation of a Ministry of Truth is just another layer of totalitarianism being imposed by the Biden regime and Leftists.&nbsp; Welcome to the Orwellian 1984.&nbsp; If you haven&#8217;t read the book or have seen the movie, do it.</p><p>As Benjamin Franklin said: &#8220;Freedom of speech is a principal pillar of a free government: When this support is taken away, the constitution of a free society is dissolved, and tyranny is erected on its ruins.&#8221; Boom!&nbsp; Nailed it.</p><p>Is there any question now that the Left hates and ignores the Constitution?&nbsp; In the recent past the Democrats passionately defended the 1st Amendment and free speech, not anymore.&nbsp; And it&#8217;s all under the ruse of protecting us from &#8220;misinformation&#8221; and disinformation.&#8221;&nbsp; Like all good totalitarians their tyranny and oppression is for the good of the people.</p><p>So what is &#8220;misinformation&#8221; and disinformation&#8221; and who gets to define the terms? As of yet we have not been given precise definitions, but it&#8217;s a fair assumption it will be anything that goes against Leftist dogma. And as to the definers, of course it&#8217;s the &nbsp;Leftist partisan government masterminds.&nbsp; The same people who declared and lied that Trump was a Russian operative, that Hunter&#8217;s lap top was Russian &#8220;disinformation,&#8221; trespassing is insurrection, and vaccines will prevent Covid infection. No worries.</p><p>And since when did we want the Government telling us what is true or false, accurate or inaccurate, what we can and cannot read? It is not the prerogative of politicians and bureaucrats to tell us what information we can consume and accept.&nbsp; Good hell, it&#8217;s unfathomable we even need to confront this.&nbsp; Obviously this tyranny will be challenged in the courts and most assuredly will lose.&nbsp; But you never know with the state of our judiciary and Judges ruling by ideology and not law.</p><p>America was founded upon freedom of thought and freedom of speech.&nbsp; This is what America is and A Ministry of Truth and literal thought police is an absolute line no true American can or will accept.&nbsp; This is not about Party; this is about the survival of America and Americanism.&nbsp; Do you want liberty or do you want to live in a police state? This sadly has become a far too familiar theme under the Biden Presidency.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!sQVK!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F37efe063-81db-4fe7-a04f-f35ad0038bb0_1200x630.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!sQVK!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F37efe063-81db-4fe7-a04f-f35ad0038bb0_1200x630.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!sQVK!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F37efe063-81db-4fe7-a04f-f35ad0038bb0_1200x630.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!sQVK!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F37efe063-81db-4fe7-a04f-f35ad0038bb0_1200x630.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!sQVK!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F37efe063-81db-4fe7-a04f-f35ad0038bb0_1200x630.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img 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srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!sQVK!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F37efe063-81db-4fe7-a04f-f35ad0038bb0_1200x630.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!sQVK!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F37efe063-81db-4fe7-a04f-f35ad0038bb0_1200x630.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!sQVK!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F37efe063-81db-4fe7-a04f-f35ad0038bb0_1200x630.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!sQVK!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F37efe063-81db-4fe7-a04f-f35ad0038bb0_1200x630.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Left Despises Me (And Probably You As Well)]]></title><description><![CDATA[Throughout the Trump Presidency, the 2020 election, and the past 14 months of the Biden regime, the Democrats and Leftists have made it abundantly clear that they despise everything about me.]]></description><link>https://www.anindependentopinion.com/p/the-left-despises-me-and-probably</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.anindependentopinion.com/p/the-left-despises-me-and-probably</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Gary Russon]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 28 Apr 2022 20:55:41 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!01p7!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1d30bb7a-6e8c-44c8-8281-ede44045c06c_800x1200.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Throughout the Trump Presidency, the 2020 election, and the past 14 months of the Biden regime, the Democrats and Leftists have made it abundantly clear that they despise everything about me.</p><p>Is despise too strong a word? By definition it means to look down with disrespect or aversion, to regard as worthless or distasteful. So no, it perfectly describes how Leftists view me.</p><p>Here are my sins for which the Left seeks to cast me into outer darkness. I am a white male. I believe in God and in His Only Begotten Son, the Savior of the world. I believe in traditional values, traditional marriage and the traditional nuclear family. I acknowledge only 2 genders. I drive a truck.&nbsp; I believe in the 2nd Amendment and own a Glock, an AR-15. and a shotgun. I believe in private ownership and management of property. I think America is exceptional. I cherish and uphold the Constitution of the United States. I think Thomas Jefferson and George Washington and James Madison were great men. I think the Declaration of Independence is one of the greatest documents ever written. I believe in free enterprise and free markets. I believe in free speech, freedom of religion and a free press. I believe CRT is racist. I believe BLM is a Marxist movement and anti-American. I abhor infanticide and abortion. I believe in American sovereignty. I believe in borders and legal and orderly and managed immigration. I think Iran and Russia and China are grave threats. January 6th was not an insurrection. And I voted for and would vote again for Donald Trump.</p><p>For these sins the cabal of Democrats, Leftists, and Marxists have declared war on me and my way of life. If it was a tolerant difference of opinions it would be no big deal. But it is more serious and sinister. The Left not only despises me because of my views but they wish to silence and manipulate me.&nbsp; Their disdain leads them to force and control. They want to tell me what I can think, and what I can believe, and how I should worship, and how much money I can make, and how successful my business can be, and what I can eat, and what I can drive, and what Healthcare I can purchase, and on and on and on.</p><p>Some will read this and dismissively think I&#8217;m exaggerating. Of course such individuals will be Leftists themselves, devoid of any self awareness and completely blinded by ideology.&nbsp; Reading the New York Times and the Washington Post, and watching CNN, MSNBC, NBC, ABC, and CBS will distort reality and cloud the mind.</p><p>This effort by the Left to silence and crush me is despicable and un-American and I intend to fight, engage, confront, proclaim, and vote in order to defeat them in every way.&nbsp; I will not yield.&nbsp; To ignore the intentions and actions of the Left is foolishness and fatal.</p><p>Unfortunately, for us who are Constitutional conservatives we also have to deal with individuals like Mitch McConnell, Mitt Romney, Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, and other never-Trumper&#8217;s and RINO&#8217;s who willfully ignore the actions and intentions of the Left and refuse to fight.&nbsp; These fools are useful idiots of the Left who seek to transform every aspect of American governance, life and culture. And just like my intentions toward the Left, these cowards likewise must be exposed and defeated.</p><p>I presume millions and millions of other Americans have observed and experienced and think exactly as I do. And I&#8217;m confident they are fully committed to the fight and preservation of the American Republic and way of life.&nbsp; It certainly is my hope.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!01p7!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1d30bb7a-6e8c-44c8-8281-ede44045c06c_800x1200.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!01p7!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1d30bb7a-6e8c-44c8-8281-ede44045c06c_800x1200.jpeg 424w, 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