VICKI:
Mom, I just did a Tea Party speech in Washington, D.C. I sang my song,
"There's a communist living in the White House!"
MOM:
Oh No! I don't want you to get shot!
VICKI:
You see what you just said?
That's the problem. "When the people fear the government its Tyranny. When the government fears the people, its liberty!
Thomas Jefferson
MOM:
What?!
VICKI:
When Bush was President they called him horrible names, every day on TV; they even
made a movie about him getting shot. No one was afraid. That was America; a rude,
disrespectful, mean America, but a Free one. Now, we are actually afraid of the Government,
and...
MOM:
Let me get your Dad on the phone...JJJIIIMMM!!
My best friend called me today and said, "I just got a call from Homeland Security?!
They didn't leave a message. What's that all about?"
I said, "I don't know."
At the 9-12 Tea Party in Westwood, a nice couple sort of followed me to dinner and kind of followed me home. I mean, I let them, but they kind of invited themselves, and they told me they were in the military! I said, "Oh! I love the military! Tell me all about it! You're my heroes!" They told me they were in "Intel" as in "Intelligence." I asked my husband what that meant and he said, "They are spies, Vicki."
Well, I have nothing to hide, so come on in. But, it's still strange.
My gym, LA Fitness quit playing Fox News on the overhead TV's about a month ago. I called the LA Fitness International Headquarters in Irvine, phone # 949-255-7200, and I was told that they have a cheaper cable plan that does not include Fox News. Hmm. So now we are all forced to watch the Liberal/Progressive News Channels? We aren't even allowed our one, little, partially-Conservative Channel? The airports only play CNN - the Progressive Propaganda Channel. Now, my gym. Next, my home?
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Need I mention FlagAtWhiteHouseDotGov? Last year, we were asked to turn in our friends and relatives who did not agree with Obamacare - report them to flag@whitehouse.gov. I reported myself twice. I was shocked and angered at the sheer audacity of an American administration that would do such a Communistic gesture! This slick attempt at the government control of our thoughts, quickly disappeared. Maybe the powers-that-be realized they were pushing the Communist agenda a little too quickly.
*******************
All around me I can feel my Freedom disappearing, and there are still people who are not paying attention. The Cubans are paying attention.
Tonight at my local Tea Party, I was sitting next to a Cuban couple. I asked them about the Peter Pan Program. (pedropan.org) They knew what I was talking about. I first heard of it April 15, 2010, from a Cuban stranger right after I had finished my Tea Party Express Tax Rally speech at Freedom Plaza in Washington, D.C.
In my speech, I had mentioned Cuba: "I know a little about Communism. I grew up in Miami. (The crowd laughed.) During my childhood, my town turned into Cuba. (The crowd chuckled.) Cubans were risking their lives coming to America for Freedom on rafts. (The crowd got silent.) When I was 15, I dated a boy named Angel Otero. I asked him where his father was.
He said, "He's in a jail in Cuba."
I said, "Why?"
He said, "Because he resisted Communism."
(The crowd was very silent.) I continued, "Then, I asked my neighbor once,
"What was it like to grow up in a Communist country?"
"What was it like to grow up in a Communist country?"
She said, "I'll tell you what it's like." The children in kindergarten are told to bow their heads, close their eyes, pray to God and ask Him for candy. When they open their eyes, there is no candy there. Then, they are told to bow their heads, close their eyes and ask Castro for candy. When they open their eyes, there is candy there."
I then continued my Washington D.C. speech, "I can smell Communism sneaking into my country. Obama is promising people free stuff so they'll vote for him. 50% of Americans pay taxes. The other 50% do not pay taxes. The 50% who do not pay taxes voted for him. And, they don't care if he raises taxes, because they're not paying any anyway! (The crowd cheered in agreement.)
After my speech, I was told that a man was waiting to speak with me by the roped off area. I went to him. He was a handsome, older gentleman with a thick Cuban accent. He grasped my hand, and said, "Thank you so much for mentioning Cuba." Tears started to fall down his face. He said, "When Castro took over, I was ripped away from my family and sent to an orphanage in America." He told me that his family had initially supported Castro because they were promised freedom and democracy, but that soon after Castro got into power he took over health care and the media and then everything. I grabbed my video camera and asked the man to repeat his story.
After the last Tea Party on Tax Day, my last night in Washington, D.C., I wearily shuffled down the street with my teenage daughter, my flags, and cameras, and my friend Chris. We were exhausted but high on the fumes of FREEDOM. We were not alone. There were millions, like us, who had not been duped by this arrogant 'drunk- with- power' administration. We caught a taxi.
Our taxi driver spoke in a thick Indian (from India) accent, "Where have you been?"
I responded, "The Tea Party!"
He didn't say anything pro or con, so my curiosity asked him, "What do you think of Obama?"
He began gushing his disdain for the policies of the current administration. We spoke about the surge of government control, the irresponsible spending, the rising taxes which will cripple small business, destroy the middle class, and collapse our already weak economy, the lies, elitism, disappearing Freedom...and the hope of the November election. We got to the hotel and began disembarking the taxi. I fumbled for my money.
Standing in the middle of the dark street, a street lamp lighting his face, the Indian taxi driver said, "It reminds me of the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego..."
I interrupted him excitedly, "I was just telling my daughter that yesterday! Shadrach, Meshach, and..." It's the story in Daniel 3 where Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, around 605 B.C., required every citizen to bow down and worship a golden image or they would be cast into the burning, fiery furnace. Three men refused to bow to the image, saying, "We do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up." They were placed in the fiery furnace to die. Strangely, they did not burn, and a fourth man appeared in the fire with them. Nebuchadnezzar said, "Look! I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God."
Lately these days, the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego often pops into my head. As a child, I wondered if I would have the guts to do what they did.
As the Indian taxi driver moved my last bag to the sidewalk, he looked me in the eye and said, "I would die for Jesus." Our eyes teared up. I said, "Me too." We hugged. Stranger to stranger. As he got in his car he shouted, "I will see you soon" and he pointed to the sky.
These are the times we are living in.
I've been thinking. Christian martyrs are different than Muslim suicide bombers. For one thing, Christian martyrs are murdered, they don't commit suicide. And secondly, they don't take innocent victims with them.
If we lose our freedom to worship, and Castro and his brother are finally dead, maybe us Americans will be the ones risking our lives on rafts to get to Cuba for freedom. Wait a minute... why am I even thinking this stuff?
These are the times we are living in.
These are the times we are living in.
