Why We Need Statesmen, Not Politicians

“I don’t get involved in politics.”

I hear that a lot from women around the country, especially women of faith. And what mother would want to engage in politics? We spend our whole day teaching our children not to do all the things politics promotes—arguing, name calling, back-biting, lying and so on.

Words have meaning and for a lot of women in America, politics has become a repugnant word that denotes unacceptable behavior. But we are confusing our civic responsibility with politics and they are not the same thing.

Defending liberty and virtue, respecting and honoring the Constitution—these things are not politics. They are our civic duty. Politics is simply a word people hide behind when they don’t have any principles or lack the courage to stand up for what’s right. We can’t talk about life because “it is political.” We can’t talk about God because “it is political.” We can’t talk about right and wrong and the 10 Commandments because, you guessed it, “it’s political.”

Just look at all the things that have been politicized today—life, religion, babies, healthcare, income, work,freedom—even America itself has become a political issue. It’s absurd.

We need to rise above the scum line of politics and realize being proud to be an American and willing to defend freedom is not political—it is our civic duty.

So how do we know the difference? The many years I spent dealing with politics and politicians led me to create some definitions to help us differentiate between the two.

Politics, as we see it today, is a product of pride, worldliness, and a lust for power. That is why so many of us cringe when we hear the word “politician” and look down our noses on the profession as beneath us.

Civic responsibility, on the other hand, is that duty which every American has as a citizen of this country, to respect the law, preserve the U.S. Constitution, be involved in our communities, safeguard the Republic, watch over our government, and seek out and elect good leaders to represent us.

Politics is the result of what happens when not enough of us fulfill that duty.

That leads me to the perpetrators of politics—the politicians!

A Politician is a person who lusts for power, is obsessed with self-importance, and motivated by greed. Politicians have been groomed in politics. They learn the artful craftiness of deceit; the clever tactics of scheming to get gain and win votes and the cunning methods of distraction, distortion, denial and blame shifting. Politicians will say and do whatever it takes to keep and add to their power. They are motivated by self-preservation and personal gain, and put their own interests above the people they serve.

Politicians will vote for anything they feel benefits them regardless of how their constituents feel or whether or not it is in the best interest of the country. Politicians are self-serving individuals who hold little regard for God or country and feel no loyalty or affection for the people they serve.

A Statesman, however, is a person of integrity and high moral character, who possesses a strong desire to serve others, recognizes his/her imperfections and strives to overcome them to be the best person he/she can be. Statesmen have been trained in humanity. They learn the moral code of right and wrong, the positive attributes of honesty, humility, patriotism, accepting responsibility, and the selfless standards of love thy neighbor, the golden rule, and country before self.

Statesmen are people of faith who believe in a supreme being and a future state of rewards and punishments. They research issues carefully and do their best to vote in the best interest of the Republic and the people they represent—even if it means losing votes. Statesmen cherish freedom and liberty, have a deep affection and concern for those they serve and feel a profound sense of duty and loyalty to their country. They live their faith, reverence God, and respect the faith of others. In short, they had good mamas!

Perhaps you feel I am oversimplifying in my definitions. Maybe you think I’m too harsh on politicians. That’s possible.

I am sure there are politicians who possess some of the characteristics of a statesman and I know there are statesmen who fall prey to politics but we must ask ourselves, are we willing to settle with mediocre? Is 80 percent statesman good enough? How would you feel about your husband or wife being 80 percent faithful? It is extremely unlikely we will ever get a 100 percent statesman because none of us are perfect but lowering our standard isn’t the answer. We need to set the bar high because one thing is for sure, we will never rise above the bar we set.

If we don’t separate civic duty from politics and politicians from statesmen our vision becomes blurry and we allow things like killing babies and gay marriage to turn into “freedom of choice” and “equality.” We allow politicians to seize power they haven’t been given and write laws they have no authority to pass.

A statesman thinks he belongs to the State, but a politician thinks the State belongs to him.

Do we want politicians serving in Congress? What about city councils and school boards, the media, or the teachers who teach our children? And most of all, what do we want to be ourselves?

Corruption doesn’t begin in Washington and it doesn’t end there either. We need statesmen in our schools teaching our children, in the media presenting the news and in elected offices serving the people. We need to be statesmen ourselves and it is imperative we teach our children how to be statesmen.

“The difference between a politician and statesman, said James Freeman Clarke, “is that a politician thinks about the next election while the statesman thinks about the next generation.”

As election season nears we have the opportunity to decide the kind of leaders we will have. We might get lucky and find a statesman on the ballot but the most powerful influence we have will be found in the kind of leaders we raise in our own home and the kind of person we determine to be ourselves.

The Power of Christmas--Providing Community Answers to Social Problems

 

Christmas is a wonderful time of giving. It’s the one time of year we go out of our way to show gratitude for all we have by giving to others.

Our family has participated in many giving opportunities over the years and we always keep extra change to drop in the bright red Salvation Army bucket. It is very rare that we have the opportunity to directly interact with the recipients of our gifts. This year, however, we were blessed with such an opportunity when I met Gwen Easter, the founder of Safe Haven Community Center in Omaha, Nebraska.

I first met Gwen at a woman’s meeting through a mutual friend and was immediately impressed with her. Her story is one of those great stories of love, commitment and perseverance that rekindle your hope for humanity and vision of a better world. Maybe it’s just because I met Gwen at Christmastime or the fact that two days earlier I watched “It’s A Wonderful Life,” but her story sure sounded a lot like George Baily’s—Mr. Potter and all.

Gwen grew up in North Omaha in a low-income neighborhood. The house she lives in today is just blocks from where she grew up. Though North Omaha has had its share of crime, drugs, and gangs, Gwen remembers a time when it wasn’t like that. As Gwen grew up and witnessed the disintegration of her community she was moved to action. In 1998 she became an Americorps Vista volunteer tutoring children. Her volunteer work led her to begin hosting Safe Night Youth Rallies bringing families together in parks and indoor facilities for a safe night of fun, music, and activities; encouraging parents and youth to put God first in their lives and leave drugs, alcohol and destructive lifestyles behind.

Through her Safe Night events, Gwen began to see the many needs of the families in Omaha and sought ways to meet those needs. She started an early childhood preschool program and created curriculum to help prepare the children for kindergarten. Her KIDS CAN READ! Reading Tutorial Academy offered tutoring services to low-income children with dyslexia and other learning disabilities. Gwen was recently recognized byNebraska Governor Pete Rickets for her outstanding work helping dyslexia students in her community.

Gwen didn’t just help children. She had a desire to lift and support the entire family.

She had several ideas to do so but lacked the space, so Gwen began praying, asking God to provide her find a building big enough to house all her programs. God answered her prayers in 2001 when she came upon a house that seemed perfect. The woman on the porch invited her in and Gwen knew it was what she was looking for. A year later the house was hers and she opened her home to the community—literally.

Gwen’s home is shared between her daycare, and her non-profit organization, Safe Haven Community Center. Each floor has a designated purpose housing youth and adult GED and ESL classes, a daycare and reading center, Home Intervention Referral Services Center and the tiny two room apartment where Gwen lives.

For 15 years she has been serving her community from that little apartment—sharing her home with the community and loving what she does. In her 16 years of volunteering for her non-profit agency, Gwen rarely received pay for her time or work and she never used the donations she received to cover her mortgage because she felt since it was her home, it was her responsibility. Gwen used the income from her daycare to pay for the house and all the donations she received went to service her non-profit programs.

It all worked out fine until three years ago when Gwen’s mortgage company sold her loan and the new company began back-tracking her payments. Her daycare still kept things afloat but as Educare—a public school daycare partnership—moved into her neighborhood, things became difficult. One hundred and fifteen daycares closed in North Omaha over the last three years but Gwen held on. After three years of doing everything she could stay afloat, Gwen is now facing the very real possibility of losing her home. With no home, there is no Safe Haven Community Center.

“I’ve never tried to make this about money,” says Gwen, “I wasn’t looking for anything from our families. I just wanted them to do well with their kids and have a good life. If we could help them by giving them skills, job training, work experience, or the GED program we did that. If we could help them get housing, we did that. It was all about helping families.”

I can attest to Gwen’s character. Her compassion and desire is real. This year she wasn’t sure she would have a Thanksgiving but spent all her time making sure the struggling families in her community did.

Gwen took me on a tour of her community center and I was amazed at all she was able to fit in her house and the amount of time and thought she has put into everything she does. She has had an incredible team of teachers and volunteers to help over the years and Gwen is always quick to let people know she didn’t do this alone. The house has gotten a little worn over the last couple of years as she’s had to let staff go but it is clearly full of love.

After going through the numbers with Gwen, it came down to $2400.00. That’s all she needs to keep her home. I wanted to write a check right then and wished with all my heart I had the funds to do so. But I knew there must be something I could do. Then the idea came to me. The yard was full of leaves and there was no one to rake them. So I drove home, piled my family and a bunch of rakes in the van and we spent two wonderful hours raking and bagging the leaves at Safe Haven Community Center.

As we raked the leaves my son noticed one of the windows was broken and suggested one of our friends who installs windows might be able to fix it. Suddenly the end of “It’s A Wonderful Life” came to my mind, where everyone in Bedford Falls comes to the aid and support of George Baily who had given so much to his community. What if we did that? Painters, carpenters, contractors, people from all over the community pitching in to give back to Gwendolyn Easter, a woman who has given so much to her community and never expected anything in return.

This year our family bought gifts for veterans in a homeless shelter, dropped coins in red buckets all over Omaha and adopted a child on an angel tree. They were all great opportunities to share the power of Christmas. But the most significant thing we did was spend a cold winter day raking the leaves of an amazing woman’s house and wishing we could do more.

The Friendship Train--A Bright Light in America's History

“You’ve probably never heard of it. Most people haven’t.”

That’s how Dorothy Scheele, curator of the Friendship Train website, introduces one of the most amazing yet mostly forgotten stories from American history. It was Dorothy and another American, Earl Bennet Sr. (now passed on) who dedicated their lives to preserving this beautiful story.

I found out about it when Turner Classic Movies replayed old newsreels. I was so moved by the story I immediately went to my computer and began googling everything I could find on the Friendship Train. What I found were the websites of two incredible Americans who spent years collecting stories, photos, and news footage so the Friendship Train would not be forgotten.

The year was 1947. The people of the world were still recovering from the ravages of World War II. Europe was hit especially hard. Drew Pearson, a popular American journalist, while touring post-war Europe, noticed the Communists were being lauded for delivering a few carloads of grain and it deeply troubled him. He knew America could do better.

On Oct. 11, 1947, Drew Pearson opened his famous radio show with his vision of the “Friendship Train” a cross-country collection of food from the people of America to the people of Europe. This project would be much different than the proposed Marshall Plan which was government imposed and government regulated. The Marshall Plan was government-to-government. The Friendship Train would be people-to-people.

Pearson sent out the call asking Americans to donate food from their homes, kitchens, gardens, and fields. And the American people delivered. Immediately communities formed plans to collect food and send it to the Friendship Train. On Nov. 7, 1947, five weeks after Pearson’s announcement, the Friendship Train began its incredible journey across America, beginning in Los Angeles with a spectacular Hollywood send-off. All along the route ordinary Americans brought bags of flour from their homes, vegetables from their gardens and canned goods from their storehouses. It was amazing site.

Eleven days after leaving Los Angeles the Friendship Train arrived in New York City to great fanfare. Drew Pearson, who was there to greet the train, never could have imagined what he saw. The goodwill and compassion of ordinary American citizens far exceeded his expectations. The 80 boxcars he had hoped to fill grew to 270 boxcars filled with merchandise worth $40 million.

Every package on the train was labeled with the same message:

“All races and creeds make up the vast melting pot of America, and in a democratic and Christian spirit of good will toward men, we, the American people, have worked together to bring this food to your doorsteps, hoping that it will tide you over until your own fields are again rich and abundant with crops.”

No money was ever spent for the project: the food, trains, ships—everything was donated for the cause, even the unions participated. When this demonstration of brotherly kindness arrived in Europe on December 18, the people were overcome with gratitude.

The French people were so moved they organized a gratitude project—the “Merci’ Train.” Forty-nine boxcars were filled—one for each of the 48 states, the 49th shared between Washington, D.C. and the territory of Hawaii. The people of France had very little after the war, so they gave what they had—precious pieces of their lives. Despite their dire circumstances, over 6 million families contributed some 52,000 gifts which included things like children’s drawings, hand crocheted doilies, and 50 rare paintings. Also included were a jeweled Legion d’Honneur once presented to Napoleon, a Louis XV carriage and the bugle which signaled the Armistice signing.

By 1948 the boxcars were filled to capacity and loaded onto the ship Magellan. When the ship sailed from France, 9,000 gifts had to be left on the docks because there wasn’t enough room for them. When the ship arrived in New York, it was greeted by waves of Air Force planes, and a parade of boats, with the Magellan boldly displaying the message, “Merci, America!”

In the next several weeks, each state held parades and ceremonies as they welcomed their designated boxcar. Many of the states who received these beautiful gifts of gratitude still have their box car, and the items it carried, lovingly preserved and on display. North Dakota has an impressive interactive display of the 500 gifts they received. I wanted to drive to North Dakota to see their train, when I remembered that every state received one. I looked up the Nebraska Train, where I live, to find out where I could see it. What I found, however, was not at all what I expected.

According to the Merci’ Train website, Nebraska’s boxcar was “shunted from place to place…first to the state historical society, then to the Nebraska Forty and Eight Society, and finally to a playground in Lincoln. In 1951, an attempt was made to return it to the historical society, which did not want it. So it was sold to an Omaha junkyard for $45. [There] its wheels and metal parts were pounded into scrap and its body converted into a storage shed. Its humiliation finally ended in 1961 when the junkyard was relocated and the box car was demolished.”

My heart sank as I read the story of the fate of this priceless gift given to the people of Nebraska. I thought of all those families who showed up by the thousands at train stops across our state to give what little they could to their brothers and sisters across the sea. What would they think of how we treated this precious gift?

It reminds me of what is happening in America today. Generations ago, families sacrificed everything to give us the precious gift of freedom. They signed their lives away when they put their names to the Declaration of Independence; and they dedicated their lives to the creation of a more perfect union with the United States Constitution. And just like the Nebraska Train some carelessly dismiss it as old, out of date, and discard it as scrap.

At this time of year when we contemplate our blessings and consider all we have to be grateful for, I am deeply grateful for two people who decided keeping the story of the Friendship and Merci’ Trains alive was worth their time. I am thankful to live in this great country. And I am immensely grateful for the thousands of Americans who know that, in spite of everything our country now faces, it is still the freest place on earth and something worth holding on to.

What Democracy Means to Me

Democracy seems to be the new buzz word in the world today, but do the countries currently mulling around the idea of democracy really understand what it means? Do Americans even understand what it means?

In this revival of liberty we are experiencing in our country today, I think these are questions every American should be asking themselves.

I think Benjamin Franklin defined democracy best when he said, “Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote.”

Our Founding Fathers realized the oppression of a Monarchy, but they were also aware of the failings of a Democracy. And while the world looks to America as a symbol of democracy, it is the combination of self-governance and representative leadership that is the secret to America’s success.

America is not a democracy, it is a Democratic Republic—the perfect combination to promote freedom and protect individual liberties.

If we are to have a discussion about what Democracy means, we must first understand what it is and what it is not. The American experiment is much more than a form of government, it is an ideal. It is the belief that man can, in fact, govern himself and if he will not, then the experiment fails. But our Founders fervently believed if ever there were a people who could do it, it would be us.

Many people are blaming the predicament our country is in on the president, his administration, Congress, and the government in general, but in reality, those are all just symptoms of the problem.

The real problem is that Americans are not acting American—we are not embracing our divine heritage of liberty, we don’t know our magnificent, providential history, and we are not fulfilling our civic responsibility. The harsh reality is, if we don’t like what’s going on in our nation today, we only have ourselves to blame.

We are a government of the people and by the people not just for the people.

If we the people are not “by the people,” if we are not willing to do our civic duty and watch over government then corruption will take root and consume our nation until we the people are strangled right out of existence.

If we the people are not willing to be “of the people” and run for elected office then there will be plenty of self-serving, power-hungry individuals who will.

If we are not fostering a love of liberty in our own homes and our own hearts then we will never understand and embrace the principles of liberty our nation was founded on.

If we are not willing to sacrifice our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor to preserve liberty and sustain the Constitution then freedom in America will cease to exist.

We are the reason we are in the state we are in. And we are the only ones who can pull us out of it.

It is true, there have been many forces working against us feverishly trying to destroy this last bastion of hope for the world; but in the end, we are the keepers of the flame, not the schools, not Congress, not the media.

If our schools aren’t teaching our children about America’s history and heritage, then we need to be. If the media is not going to present truth and facts, then we need to. It is not the government’s job to raise and teach our children it is ours. We cannot count on others to do our job for us and we cannot legislate our rights and responsibilities away and expect liberty to simply sustain itself in the name of democracy.

If our children are patriots it is because we raised patriots in our homes. If our children know and understand the Constitution it is because we taught them. If our children embrace freedom and love their country, it is because we instilled that love in them through our own examples.

Democracy is the embodiment of self-reliance, self-governance and self-sacrifice; which, simply stated, means the American experiment can only succeed when we are able to govern ourselves in righteousness. As Alexis de Tocqueville so aptly stated, “America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great.”

It is not our government, our wealth, or our rich soil that ensures our democracy, it is our goodness. And if American’s cease to be good, the American experiment will have run its course.

But goodness has not ceased in America. It is here, rising up in homes all across America.

The spirit of America is alive; it just needs to be awakened.

And that should be our personal quest—to wake up the American people and infuse the light of liberty in their very souls.

Every American we convert to Liberty and the Constitution is one American closer to securing a free nation. It is very probable that the day is not that far off when our economy will collapse and our government will crumble—but America never will, because America isn’t a president or a Congress, it is us!

It is We the People. And We the People will rise from the ashes waiving the standard of liberty to the world. Every American who understands and internalizes the principles of liberty will rise up, holding the Constitution firmly in their grip and lead the people of this nation to freedom.

What does Democracy mean to me? It means hope. It means believing in something greater than yourself. It means personal responsibility. And if we don’t take that responsibility seriously, instead of explaining to our children what democracy is, we will have to explain what happened to it.

Can We Really Blame Planned Parenthood?

If you found the story of Planned Parenthood selling infant body parts contemptible and appalling this article is for you. If, however, you thought it represented just another day in paradise don’t bother reading on. You won’t get it.

Prior to Independence Day one of Matt Walsh’s readers asked him if he could write something upbeat for Fourth of July to remind us of just how great America is. Matt in turn, wrote a brilliantly articulate article as to all the reasons why he felt our country wasn’t great.

Selling body parts of aborted babies would have definitely made the list.

I must admit, however, as I read through his article I found it quite depressing. Don’t get me wrong, it needed to be said. What’s missing is the fact that there are a large number of Americans who are in direct opposition to at least most, if not all the things Matt listed—and many more would be if they had any clue any of it was happening. What they don’t know is what they can do about it.

So, for those of you who, like me, wake up every morning wondering just how much worse can things get, let me introduce a little perspective.

The Book of Judges in the Bible tells of one of the darkest times in the history of God’s chosen people. The Israelites had turned against God and his commandments to the point where the law was completely ignored. Anarchy, debauchery, murder and treachery abound. The entire book of Judges is distressing right up to the last chapter describing just how horrible things were. But then, on the very next page, is the Book of Ruth which begins, “In the time of the Judges.”

What a powerful message of hope that is!

Ruth was a ray of light in a dark, dismal time. She didn’t crawl under a rock and hope things would get better. She didn’t look to someone else to solve her problems. She didn’t join the darkness or allow it to overtake her. She simply decided to be good, and spread that goodness in her own little sphere of influence. I doubt Ruth knew how many millions would be touched by her example of pure love. But someone felt her story powerful enough to include it in the Bible and I’m glad they placed it where they did.

My purpose in sharing this story is not to say “things have been bad before and they’ll be okay again.” To be honest, I don’t know if things will be “okay” again. It all really depends on us.

There are a couple of things we can take from Ruth’s story. First, it demonstrates that no matter how bad things get, we, individually, can stand for truth and promote goodness. Second, it shows how a seemingly insignificant life can have a powerful influence for good.

Building a nation is like planting a garden. It begins with the seeds we plant in the hearts of our children. The harvest is simply the result of the seeds we planted. If our children are being raised with the belief that killing babies is a woman’s right; and the remains can be discarded at a woman’s discretion because it came from her body, why would we expect any different outcome than a woman flippantly discussing the sale of infant body parts over a casual lunch, between bites of romaine lettuce?

Neil Postman, in his book “The Disappearance of Childhood,” writes, “Children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see.”

What message do we want to send? Do we want to send one that reflects Matt Walsh’s list of our current state, or do we want to send something better? I, for one, hope for much better.

Another interesting thing about the Book of Judges is that those dark ages began just one generation following the Golden Age of Joshua. We are never more than one generation away from abandoning everything we hold dear; everything that makes us a free, virtuous and prosperous people. The only way to prevent this from happening is for every generation to teach its children well.

The generational change works both ways. That’s the good news! If we can go from good to bad in one generation, then we can go from bad to good in one generation too. If we don’t like what America has become, we are only one generation away from completely turning it around. It all depends on the seeds we plant in our children’s hearts. But we need to remember we aren’t the only ones planting seeds.

We can’t assume our children are being taught the same principles and standards in government schools that we are teaching them at home. In fact, we should assume the exact opposite because that is usually the case. It’d be like the Jews fighting against the oppression of the Roman Empire and then sending their children to Roman schools to be taught. It makes no sense. I’m not suggesting a mass exodus from government schools (although it certainly couldn’t hurt) but I am saying we need to be at least as much an influence in our children’s lives as everyone else is. If we aren’t we may not like the results of the harvest.

I can’t really blame Planned Parenthood for what they’re doing. After all, it is the fruits of the seeds we planted for generations.

“Perhaps,” suggests KrisAnne Hall, “our job is not necessarily to win this fight, but to prepare the ground, to make the soil fertile, and sow the seeds so that liberty may thrive when the battle is done.”

If we don’t like the fruits of the last four decades, it’s time to plant new seeds.

Reclaiming Our Children's Heritage

Rush Limbaugh posed a very interesting question on his July 2 radio show. Curious about the lack of public protests regarding the Supreme Court decisions he asked his listeners:

“Are any of you surprised by the utter lack of any public protest? What is your reaction to the apparent public acceptance of all of these seemingly overnight shifts in our culture and society?”

As someone who has been very involved in the preservation of our traditional culture over the last 30 years I have some insight I can offer—as a mother. I work with other mothers and I can assure you that acceptance is not what they are feeling. They lack hope and are desperately seeking direction and wondering what they can possibly do about it. It is anything but “acceptance.”

Religious leaders are opposed to it, families are shocked by it. So where is the public outcry? Where are the protests, marches, calls and emails to Congress?

The answer is simple—we’ve already done all those things and where has it gotten us? There is a mammoth assault on our country and we’re starting to realize just how far and deep it goes. A million of us marched on Washington, D.C. so Congress would hear us.

But our cries fell on deaf ears and the president said he didn’t even know we were there. We looked to the Supreme Court and they disregarded the Constitution. We turned our hope to the presidential election and were shocked by the outcome. So we start organizations, using our own hard-earned money, to fight the oppression and we became the target of the IRS because we have “freedom” in our name.

Where do we turn now? Who will champion our cause? We elect people who say they will fight for freedom and protect our rights but they abandon us almost as soon as they place their hand on the Bible.It isn’t acceptance you’re seeing following the Court’s decision on same-sex marriage; it is a profound sadness and a sense of loss.

It looks pretty bleak for America. But I want to offer a ray of hope, because I know the answer.

Rush Limbaugh said we have to do more than win elections if we want to restore the founding ideals of this country. I couldn’t agree more. We spend a lot of energy talking about winning elections but very little time talking about how they are won.

I’ve been studying the enemies of liberty and virtue for a long time. They come in all sizes, colors, religions, incomes and political parties. They are very good at what they do. They are united, organized, ruthless — and very patient. They appeal to the emotions and pass their agenda on to their posterity like some kind of inheritance. They’re everything we aren’t.

We deal in facts and can’t understand why people don’t get them. We are individuals who often act individually, and we have very little patience. We just want the government to leave us alone so we can get back to our lives. But the government did leave us alone for decades while the destroyers of liberty worked their silent destruction behind closed doors, slowly dismantling everything we hold dear.

If we want to win this fight, if we want to know how to restore virtue and secure freedom then we need to look at what the destroyers of liberty are doing to destroy it. Where do they concentrate their energy?

They have distorted our history, vilified our Founding Fathers and purged our schools of the stories that promote values and instill patriotism. They have made every effort to discourage women, devalue motherhood and belittle the role of the homemaker. They attack God, the 10 Commandments, the Bible and religion. They have redefined family, replaced fathers with government, and made marriage meaningless.

That is how they’re winning. They’re stealing the hearts of our children and they’ve been patiently, systematically doing so for a 100 years.

If we want to turn the tide, we need to do the exact opposite. We need to strengthen our homes and families. We need to reverence God, live the commandments and teach them in our homes and churches. We need to read the stories of our history and heritage with our children and nurture liberty and virtue in their hearts.

We need to honor the divine role of mother and return the role of homemaker to the respected place in society it once was. We need to make the Bible a daily part of our lives and read it together as a family. We need to honor our marriage vows—stick it out, make it work, and put our families first in our lives.

Yes, these principles are simple, so simple we have overlooked them for decades. But they are the answer. If they weren’t the Destroyers of Liberty wouldn’t be spending so much time and money on them.

Frederick Douglass said, “It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.”

We may not be able to fix the broken men in government, but we can certainly train the next generation of leaders, teachers, media, and voters in our own homes today. As a mother, I believe that is the greatest contribution we can make in securing the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity.

So in answer to Rush’s question. No, we are not accepting. We are not retreating. We’re just redirecting. We’re focusing our efforts where it matters most, where we have the greatest influence on our nation—in our home and family. Because we know when we start there, everything else will work out and if we don’t focus our efforts there, nothing else we do will matter.