I am always looking for positive motivation or inspiration. I like to dwell on the positive because I have found that what you seek you will find. Each day as you search for and find small tidbits of positivity you improve your life and contribute to the well-being of others. Even small drops of positive inspiration can provide the missing ingredient to fuel your day. A positive mindset will help you overcome an obstacle or renew your strength to reach higher. While I believe you can find inspiration anywhere you look, today I want to turn to a personal example of mine from the world of music. A verse in a song I first heard while at Baldwin Wallace College in the 1970’s encourages me to stand up for what is right. I want to encourage you during this campaign for the future of these United States.
I remember it as if it were only yesterday. “Milby,” (a Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity brother of mine), and I had just made the trek from Finney Stadium to our Fraternity section in Ernsthausen. Weary from football practice I had only one thought in mind, rejuvenate with Genesis, (the rock band, not the book in the Bible). I told Milby to come up to my room for some tunes. Which Genesis album would be the selection for this afternoon? As I entered my room I immediately went to a Lawsons milk crate where I stored my albums. It seemed that everyone I knew at BW had a Lawson’s milk crate in their room. As I look back I wonder if the financial cost of replacing all those missing milk crates contributed to Lawson’s closing their stores? I hope not, I loved their French-onion chip dip and would feel terrible if I contributed to a world without Lawson’s chip dip.
I found the perfect album, “Trick of the Tail.” I placed the album on the turntable as Milby entered my room. We sat back and were soon enveloped by the Prog Rock sounds of Mike Rutherford, Tony Banks, Steve Hackett, and Phil Collins blasting out of my speakers. On that afternoon, a verse from their song, entitled “Squonk, ” resonated with me. As Phil Collins sang the lyrics…”If you don’t stand up…You don’t stand a chance,” my thoughts turned to the current Political Science and History classes I was attending at BW.
As the short lyric finished, I began to see the faces of all the patriots and selfless heroes who gave their lives standing up for their belief and hope in something called “The United States of America.” I saw a small band of men in San Antonio in 1836 who went to their deaths defending a broken-down mission, known as the Alamo, against overwhelming odds. They stood up for their belief and hope in something called Texas.
Those thoughts of patriotism and selfless heroics were imprinted in my mind and linked forever to that one lyric. Little did I know that over 45 years later, those words from Squonk would reignite my passion for these United States during the 2024 presidential campaign.
Fast forward to this past Sunday evening, (September 15, 2024), My wife and I were watching concert videos on YouTube. We do this almost every Sunday evening as a way to unplug. Watching concerts and listening to music provides us with a chance to escape from all the noise of life. This noise, is actually an endless cacophony of stimuli competing for attention and crowding out our thoughts. This particular evening, we were watching Steve Hackett, the former lead guitarist with Genesis, perform with his band at a concert in England, in 2017.
On this video, Hackett’s band was playing their version of a song I recognized immediately, “Squonk” from “Trick of the Tail.” The very same song I listened to with Milby all those years ago. Was it just a coincidence my wife and I watched this concert video? I don’t think so. Seeing that concert video and hearing again the inspirational song lyrics I internalized all those years ago reignited my belief in and desire to defend this experiment called The United States of America. It is time for me to stand up… “If I don’t stand up I don’t stand a chance.”
The 2024 presidential election puts us at a crossroads in the history of the United States. One road continues down the path blazed by patriots for over 200 years to preserve and protect our Constitutional Republic with rights given to us by All-Mighty God. The other road has the potential to lead us down the path to a more totalitarian state. A Marxist regime with centralized control in Washington D.C.
A new Marxist U.S. I fear will curtail the freedoms we now enjoy. I foresee an America where Marxist central powers will determine what car we drive, what we cook our meals on, or what we can access online, read in our books or newspapers. Could we be sent to prison for speech? That may be happening already.
The upcoming presidential election can be viewed as if it is a GPS in your car. You have two options to enter your destination:
Donald Trump. To continue our Democratic Republic fueled by capitalist free market forces.
Kamala Harris. To take the next step towards a Totalitarian state with increased centralized control using Marxist economic policies.
My GPS destination is #1. It is time for very citizen who loves this Republic and enjoys the freedoms we have to “stand up and vote Trump, so we stand a chance.”
One final note. The constantly repeated vitriol and incendiary language emanating from Democrat politicians and media pundits must stop. I have been watching CNN, MSNBC, and other mainstream media outlets so I can get my news firsthand from the sources and not depend on conservative media outlets for my political news. I was shocked by what I saw with my own eyes and heard with my own ears. These talking heads and Democrat politicians see nothing wrong with spewing hate by spreading propaganda in an attempt to scapegoat former President Trump. Two of the most heinous Democrat “calls to action” are listed below:
Comparing Trump to Hitler or Mussolini, two of the worst mass murderers in history.
Calls to “Eliminate Trump by any means possible to “Save Democracy.”
There is a big difference between insulting someone by calling them “Comrade Kamala” and calling for the “elimination of former President Trump.” Is it a surprise to anyone that crazies are emboldened to assassinate former President Trump when they hear calls to “Save Democracy” by these self-anointed Trump hating “Saviors of Democracy?”
When confronted with their own words, these dogmatic politicians and pundits spewing hate attribute their comments for “Trump’s demise” as simply “campaign rhetoric.” I don’t believe them! They are employing nothing more than the Machiavellian tactic, “the ends justify the means.” I won’t stand for this! I will stand tall and support our American traditions of choosing our leaders at the ballot box not at the end of a gun. I hope you will stand with me. I think we would all be better off, no matter who we support, if we took an oath to the following “Five Common Sense Election/Campaign Principles:”
1. Spirited debate on the issues facing the electorate without personal attacks.
2. Candidates take an oath before each election to preserve our Constitution.
3. Campaign transparency. Who are the Donors, how campaign money is spent, and policy platform.
4. Fair and honest elections. Updated clean voter rolls, voter I.D.’s, only citizens vote, and limited verifiable mail in voting.
5. Remember, we may disagree on who we vote for, but we are all citizens of the United States of America who must peaceably coexist after every election. Citizens have the right to vote for who we want without condemnation or retribution.
I hope you enjoyed my little “rant.” I am calling on all Patriots to turnout the vote and let us make Trump’s victory “too big to rig.” "If we don’t stand up…we don’t stand a chance.” With God’s help we can stall the Marxist takeover another four years.
DISCLAIMER: The Blog above is my personal opinion and interpretation of a lyric in the song “Squonk.”. In no way do I imply an endorsement of my beliefs by anyone, past or present, associated with the band Genesis and their music.
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