Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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4 APRIL 23-29, 2014 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Warning! Notice to Readers: This article was conceived and written in good faith and, within the guidelines and framework of the U.S. Constitution as adopted by the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787. It officially became the law of the land on March 4, 1789. More specifically, I refer to the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights. That being said, the reader must be cognizant and confident that it was thoughtfully and respectfully composed without regard to race, religion or political affiliation. Any attempt to misdirect or misconstrue the intent of this editorial will be viewed as un- American and as a provoked and unwarranted attack on me personally as a domestic terrorist. The penalties could ultimately be severe for all Americans. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada has produced a near perfect example of how people are using political correctness, threats and personal condemnations to suppress the views, rights and free speech of ordinary hard working Americans. It matters not what political party you support, this is a First Amendment threat and this kind of blatant, intolerant, illogical, venomous and disrespectful behavior on the part of our government should be a major concern of all American citizens. The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution states: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. In this specific case, Senator Reid berates Nevada rancher, Cliven Bundy and those who rallied to support him domestic terrorists. Unbelievable. Terrorist? Are you kidding me? Our government didn't even call Nidal Hasan a terrorist after he shot and killed 16 people and injured 30 at Fort Hood in 2009. That horrific ordeal was merely politically correct workplace violence. Fast forward to last month when yet another uniformed soldier, Ivan Lopez, murdered three people and injured more than a dozen people again at Fort Hood. Neither of these psychos were terrorist. Oh yeah, we didn't even have terrorist in Benghazi, yet, a capitalist cattle farmer with a century old family business of attending and herding cows in Nevada's basic wilderness is labeled a threat to America and a domestic terrorist? Really? What danger is the United States in? How unfortunate that Bundy must defend decades of family tradition from out-of-control government regulations and overreach. And, when literally hundreds of Americans came to Bundy's support and confronted the officers of the Bureau of Land Management who had been harassing Bundy and his family to the point they actually confiscated his cattle and killed several valuable bulls out of spite. Hmmmmm? Well, do you think Bundy's supporters were motivated? Yes. Were they fighting mad? Yes. Were that armed? You bet. Were they willing to shoot it out with the BLM and perhaps die in a range war over grazing rights. I honestly believe so. Luckily, BLM backed down and shortly thereafter released his cattle. No doubt from Reid's comments, he was disappointed. This incident could very well serve as a warning that our national government is pushing the American people too far and in the wrong direction. As I stated earlier, it makes no difference what color your are, what your religion is or what political convictions you have, the threat is real and the perception that government is becoming evil and our tangible rights as Americans are gradually dwindling away is widespread. This incident reflects the severity of the situation. It could also serve as a warning. Currently, our government, 535 voting members of Congress has an approval rating of 9 percent. And, according to Gallup Polling that's the lowest rating in 39 years. Why? Because of corruption, misplaced priorities and irresponsible leadership in a time when our nation is struggling with some major concerns and situations like: Russia, Syria, Edward Snowden, Benghazi, the IRS and NSA scandals, a failed immigration policy, the ongoing controversy over the disruptive Obamacare rollout and, last, but not least, $14 trillion in public debt. Knowing this, how do you justify sending out armed government agents to suppress an American cattle farmer, steal his cows and then accuse those who resist and speak out of being domestic terrorists. How un-American. Shame, shame, shame on Harry Reid and the people in Nevada who elected him. It is out of control. This being the case, Congress should be lucky they have 9 percent. Our lives will only improve when life in America improves. Poor, leadership affects us all. We need heroes. We need people of character, compassion and common sense running for office. As Americans, we get what we vote for, and, this is what we got! Will Clive Bundy's Battle for the Cattle escalate in Nevada? We'll see; however, one thing we do know, this incident has demonstrated that our fellow Americans are willing to take a stand and even lock and load against a governmnet that has forgotten it gets its power from the people. Political Correctness: Ruining America, Part 2 by BILL BOWMAN STAFF INSIDE PUBLISHER'S PEN PUBLISHER Bill Bowman Bill@upandcomingweekly.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Janice Burton editor@upandcomingweekly.com OPERATIONS OFFICER Jerred Sanders accounting@upandcomingweekly.com EDITOR Stephanie Crider stephanie@upandcomingweekly.com ART DIRECTOR Alicia Miller art@upandcomingweekly.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS D.G. Martin, Pitt Dickey, Margaret Dickson, John Hood, Erinn Crider, Shanessa Fenner, Heather Griffiths DISTRIBUTION MANAGER/ OFFICE COORDINATOR Laurel Handforth laurel@upandcomingweekly.com MARKETING/SALES Linda McAlister Brown linda@upandcomingweekly.com Kristy Sykes kristy@upandcomingweekly.com Beverly Pone beverlypone@upandcomingweekly.com ––––––––––– Up & Coming Weekly www.upandcomingweekly.com 208 Rowan Street P.O. Box 53461 Fayetteville, NC 28305 PHONE: (910) 484-6200 FAX: (910) 484-9218 Up & Coming Weekly is a "Quality of Life" publication with local features, news and infor- mation on what's happening in and around the Fayetteville/Cumberland County community. Up & Coming Weekly is published weekly on Wednesdays. Up & Coming Weekly welcomes manuscripts, photographs and artwork for publication consideration, but assumes no responsibility for them. We cannot accept responsibility for the return of unsolicited manuscripts or material. Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. The publisher reserves the right to edit or reject copy submitted for publication. Up & Coming Weekly is free of charge and distributed at indoor and outdoor locations throughout Fayetteville, Fort Bragg, Pope Air Force Base, Hope Mills and Spring Lake. Readers are limited to one copy per per- son. 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