I am an American beyond the age of 65 and when I look back on the avenues that were open to me in my earning years, I have some regrets.  I worked in the private sector, paid taxes, and had little beyond what I earned to invest.  I served in the military and spent a year in Vietnam in 1967 and had little to show for it other than love for my country.  I received Jesus as my personal savior and acknowledged the call to preach and began my Christian journey in the late ‘60s and was unaware of some avenues open to me. 

What avenues?  Regarding Social Security as a minister, I could have opted out of the program but was unaware of that option until it was too late.  Would I have invested, or could I have invested as I needed had I done that?  I can only speculate but had I invested one-third of what I paid into Social Security I would be far better off than I am now.  On one hand, I justified my paying Social Security Taxes so that my parents and others like them could continue to receive their meager checks each month.  It was literally all they had to live on and was barely sustainable.  But, they, with occasional help from their children, survived and for that I am grateful.

Social Security is a poorly managed Socialism Program that many of us paid into without any real options.  We do not consider it an “entitlement” as the other so-called entitlements of the federal government.  However, it is something that we are ‘entitled’ to because we paid for it with our hard-earned money.  We earned it!  We paid for it with our lives because time and money are the results of the investment of our lives.  We are offended when someone lumps Social Security into the same basket as Welfare, Food Stamps, and the many other federal programs that are identified as ‘entitlements.’  WE PAID!

I recognize and acknowledge that Social Security is a Socialism Program and a means by which the government and politicians can manipulate the masses of seniors.  That disturbs me.  The mismanagement and ineptitude of our federal government in investing our ‘contributions’ into the program is criminal.  Even a low-skilled investor could have produced a far better result than our supreme federal government has accomplished.  The theft of the funds from that program by politicians has virtually destroyed the program and some in the future will find that what they contributed has been confiscated, wasted, and they are left abandoned.  That is tragic!  No, it is criminal!

I read an article recently that insisted that it is a myth to say that the government raided the Social Security Trust Fund.  The writer’s argument was based on the assertion that there never was any money stashed away in a ‘trust fund’ for politicians to pilfer.  However, to fully ascribe to his argument it would take some incredible mental gymnastics to not see the mismanagement and abuse by the Treasury over the years. 

The Social Security Program, throughout its history, has taken in more revenue than it spent.  Many are unaware that the excess revenue is given by the Social Security Administration to the Treasury, year after year, to ‘meet its current spending and meet other budgetary obligations, even though those funds were specifically ‘earmarked for Social Security.’  That is nothing short of legalized theft and although there may not have been a specific trust fund, the funds were there, and the government spent them for purposes other than their intended purpose.  That is, in my view, Criminal.

The monies that the federal government through the Treasury spent that was earmarked Social Security is not drawing interest as some assert. It has been spent.  How does the Treasury pay the ‘so-called interest’ on the Social Security Funds it spends?  In 2017, the SSA revealed that benefits were financed by $873 Billion in payroll taxes and $85 Billion in ‘interest’ paid by the Treasury.  But the Treasury concluded 2017 with a $666 billion budget deficit. 

So how did the Treasury pay the interest?  The federal government lawfully, not ethically, uses all its revenue sources to pay all its liabilities. They are supposed to do that even if that revenue was designated and promised to another purpose or before taking on new debt.  Neither of those comes into play for the politicians and they play fast and loose with our Social Security funds. 

Those funds were promised to us and were supposedly kept secure. So much for the government telling the truth and not pilfering from us.  In short, there can be no repayment of principal when there are no funds and the government has spent the funds.  Simply, it is fictional math that they use to repay what they have taken or borrowed from the Social Security Program.  That spells doom and disaster for the program.

The Country Group, The Tractors has a song that says, “We may not be broke, but we are badly bent.”  Some argue that Social Security is not going bankrupt it is simply running out of funds.  That sounds a wee-bit deceptive and my view is that if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and looks like a duck, it is most likely a duck and Social Security are being bankrupted by the politicians who steal our money to buy more votes in other areas.

Congress has no concern about the failing Social Security Program because they have lucrative Congressional Pensions and healthcare to rely on.  Social Security ‘benefits’ are an earned right that those of us who have paid into realize and want protected.  The problem we face is not whether some politician will fix the program but how they will destroy it. 

The Criteria for eligibility for any government benefit (Social Security included) could change on the whims of politicians at any moment.  I am 100% convinced that the pathway the political elite will use to ‘fix’ Social Security is through changes in eligibility and phase people out of the program due to the lack of funds.  Funds that are lacking because they have mismanaged or stolen them.  That is criminal!

There is the projection that only 76% of the current benefits will be available to retirees in 2035.  That may not be ‘bankruptcy’ in the strictest definition, but it will be devastating.  We need to move to a program where younger people can invest in their own retirement rather than trusting the political system to manage it for them.  History reveals how inept the government is in virtually everything, why would money and retirement be different?

I am pro term-limits for Congress just as there is for the President.  I am very pro-tax cuts because it is good for the economy and the Republic.  I am pro-Free Market Capitalism and opposed to Socialism.  In short, I am conservative, a constitutionalist, a Christian, a patriot, and one willing to fight for Faith, Family, and Freedom with my all.

God bless you and let’s keep America Free and stop the Leftists in 2020.

I am serious!  I sometimes feel like Diogenes of Sinope searching for an honest man as I pursue political sanity in America. I am more than a little troubled by the intense hatred being spewed out in America today.  I am deeply disturbed by the willingness of the biased blindness to pursue fabrications in an attempt to achieve a political objective.  I am dumbfounded by the lack of cognitive reason being displayed by a very large swath of Americans today, politically.  It seems that we have adopted the inane and borderline insane and tossed reasoned sanity on the trash heap.  That is not dangerous it is deadly!

When politicians such as Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, and others can take public positions, make open confessions, and demonstrate behavior that is, at best, borderline criminal and are ignored we are opening a dangerous can of worms.  When the very things those politicians on the Left do are used as allegations of ineptitude, incompetence, incoherency, and treason against the current president, we have abandoned sanity and reason.  That is not dangerous it is deadly!

In news cycles, any story that is more than a few days old is ancient history.  The ancient history story of the Ukraine Scandal has missed many important elements and ignored some pertinent facts.  I weep for my nation when those on the Right and on the Left, fraudulently, ignorantly, or willingly advance false narratives, hearsay, and unvetted ‘proofs’ of Trump’s guilt.  I weep because of their deviousness or ignorance and I weep because of the millions who believe the rhetoric without using a modicum of reason.  That is not dangerous it is deadly!

Joe Biden openly, on videotape, informed the world that he committed an act that should disqualify him from being president and possibly should result in an indictment.  That has been ignored and even justified by the media, the pundits, some Republicans, and all the Democrats in Washington.  Yet, they seek to impeach Trump over something far less egregious and the facts indicate it was not only within the scope of his office, our treaty with Ukraine, and benign.  But it was Trump and Trump must go, at least that seems to be their idea.  It sets a precedent that will destroy the office of President and make Congress the Ruling Power creating an unwanted Oligarchy!  That is not dangerous it is deadly!

Most ignore, do not know, or have forgotten the involvement of the DNC and Hillary in the elections seeking the aid of Ukraine to defeat and destroy Trump.  How has that escaped the media’s attention?  Oh, I know there was no room for it in their 24/7 rhetoric and agenda to destroy the evil Donald John Trump.  How short our memories are or how ignorant we are politically in America. 

There was the DNC Contractor or Consultant, Alexandra Chalupa who was hired to ‘solicit dirt’ on Trump’s campaign manager Paul Manafort.  That bit of information came directly from Ambassador Valeriy Chaly.  He reported, “Chalupa sought the Manafort dirt and hoped to get it before Congress.”  Chalupa later tried to arrange for Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to comment on Manafort’s Russian ties on a U.S. visit during the 2016 campaign.  Those efforts were rejected by the DNC appeal.  They said,“The Embassy got to know Ms. Chalupa because of her engagement with Ukrainian and other diasporas in Washington D.C., and not in her DNC capacity. We’ve learned about her DNC involvement later, The Embassy representatives unambiguously refused to get involved in any way.”

In a meeting in March 2016, Chalupa told Telizhenko that the DNC wanted to collect evidence that Trump, his organization and Manafort were Russian assets working to hurt the United States.  She suggested to the Ukrainian Ambassador that they hoped to find anything they could introduce to Congress in September 2016.  Could they have been hoping for an ‘October Surprise’?  They stated their hoped to have Trump removed from the Ballot at that time.  Of course, that would have guaranteed the Democrat win because no Republican could be presented with enough time to fully launch a campaign.  That is devious and diabolical.  That kind of action and attitude is not dangerous it is deadly!

Ukraine has issued information that reveals President Barack Obama attempted to pressure their government to drop the investigation.  He told the Ukraine prosecutor general that he did not need to investigate a supposed anti-corruption group, the Anti-Corruption Action Centre (AntAC), and the misuse of $4.4 million in U.S. aid to fight corruption.  Instead, Obama gave them a list of people they should prosecute!  Wait, doesn’t that go far beyond any suggestion by Trump to investigate? 

Ukraine understood the message to be clear.  It was a warning, “Don’t target AntAC in the middle of an American presidential election in which George Soros was backing Hillary Clinton.”  A Ukrainian official said, “We ran into a buzz saw and got bloodied.”  How is that okay but Trump’s actions the most-vile in history?  That mindset and pathway is not dangerous it is deadly!

America, if we allow the Liberal Leftists, the Socialist, Progressives, and Globalist to reclaim the White House and the Congress in 2020 we do so to our own destruction.  We are walking on very thin ice and on very dangerous grounds politically, constitutionally, and our Freedom and Liberty is hanging in the balance.  No, Trump is not America’s greatest threat, the Democratic Agenda is!   WAKE UP AMERICA!

God bless you and God bless America!

I have long wondered what the millennials and liberals truly believe and stand for.  I think I have, with the help of others, discovered what makes them tick or what doesn’t tick at all for them.  America was formed as the Free Constitutional Republic and for almost 240 years the prevailing sentiment in America was America.  Rather, it was a sense of patriotism and our core values were rooted in religion or the Bible and a strong sense of family.  That has changed dramatically, at least among certain sectors of our society. 

The generations of my parent and grandparents and mine were largely committed to the American ideal and embraced a deep sense of loyalty and devotion to America and all she stood for.  The millennials of today do not espouse those views and seem to care a lot less about patriotism, religion, or the core family unit.  That is troubling for this American and I see some very dangerous political realities springing forth as a result.

Wall Street/NBC News began a survey about 21 years ago when they began asking Americans which values were the most important to them.  The majority two decades ago responded, “principles of hard work, patriotism, commitment to religion and the goal of having children” were at the top of the list.  Those were considered critical components of our American society and makeup. 

When the same question was asked of today’s millennials the response revealed a shift.  Although somewhat surprising, ‘hard work’ remained at the top of the list, there were some significant shifts in values.  Patriotism, commitment to religion and family and children dropped dramatically.  Patriotism being ‘very important’ dropped 9%.  Religion decreased by a disturbing 12% and children and family fell the most decreasing by 16%.  That is powerfully expressive of where we are as a society.

When people 55 and older are asked that question Patriotism weighs in at 80% compared to 42% of those 18-38.  That embodies both the millennials and the older members of Gen-Z.  Interesting, but to the dismay of the liberal left, most were satisfied with the economy.  I’m sure that will inspire a new push to cripple our economy by the Left to make the pathway to victory more difficult for Trump.  The survey indicated that Democrats have changed their views far more than Republicans and are less patriotic, embracing of religion and family.

I am a Vietnam veteran and served in war and in honor of our country I am troubled when people do not value our heritage.  I am troubled by the incessant push to revise, rewrite, and purge our history of those facts and figures that the liberal left finds objectionable.  History is history and if we sanitize it, we fail to learn from the mistakes or gain the benefit from the successes or the overcoming of those mistakes.  History should be a schoolmaster, not a taskmaster and not fluid.  What happened, happened and nothing we can do will change that.  We learn, move forward, and make any necessary adaptations to become better.

I have worked all my life and paid taxes.  I have never felt that anyone owed me anything that I did not earn and when employed always attempted to give a good day’s work for a day’s pay.  My parents taught me the value of a dollar and the requirement of being personally responsible and accountable in life.  They inspired and instilled in me a sense of pride in accomplishing and providing for my own rather than being dependent on anyone else other than God. 

For some time, I’ve attended gatherings where the national anthem would be played and watched as some, mostly those of the younger generation, showed no respect.  I acknowledge that some my age failed to respond and continued doing whatever they were doing with no recognition of the flag.  My sentiment toward the flag is rooted in my love for this country and my respect for all those who have served and died for her.  That will never change!

I am not surprised at the change in values with two-generations or more of liberal progressive brainwashing that has been transpiring in public education, especially at institutions of higher learning.  The hippies and anti-establishment crowd of the ’60s are now the professors along with their disciples in most of our universities.  We are now paying and will pay a very high price for our actions over the past few decades. 

Let’s fight for Faith, Family, and Freedom and keep America Free and the Representative Government our Founders gave us.  Vote for America in 2020 and vote against the push for progressivism, liberalism, and socialism.  America is too valuable to allow to be destroyed!

God bless you and God bless America!

I am fully cognizant that individuals interpret the same thing differently.  In life, we do not all agree on everything.  Politically, morally, economically, socially, and spiritually we have different perspectives and beliefs.  The differing opinions could and should be used to facilitate discussion and debate seeking common ground and genuine solutions to real problems. 

Tragically, in today’s world, deliberative reasoning seems to be destined for the trash heap of life.  I fear that our Republic has reached such a partisan and ideological divide that reasoning together has become a Utopian Fantasy. 

I have tried to have a civil discussion on differences with some followers of the Democratic ideology and agenda.  I attempted to hear their arguments but when I presented factual data, that came from various sources, not just conservative think-tanks, they went into the attack mode.  I was called a bigot, racist, misogynist, suffering from some phobia, Xenophon, hater of the poor, and other derogatory labels.  When I tried to brush aside those attacks and ask for the definitive basis of their beliefs and views, the attacks became even more violent and the vitriol more intense.

Our Republic, the United States of America, a representative system of government, requires open discourse and common ground to survive and thrive.  It is the earmark of tyrannies and oligarchies to squelch free speech and suppress any views other than the authorized government view.  We are not a Grecian Style Majority Rule Democracy but a Representative Republic.  This design affords us a buffer to protect us against knee-jerk spur of the moment reactions.  It is vital to the preservation of our Liberties and Freedoms.

When the view that the government can and should provide everything for everyone prevails, Liberty is Lost.  No government will provide without demanding a level of control.  The more the government provides the more it demands control. 

If the government provides free healthcare, it will ultimately become the decision-maker in what, when, how, and how much care is given and to whom that care is given.  That sounds like a Pandora’s box to me and opens a door that is a direct threat to Freedom and Liberty.  What has our government done, in its history that makes us trust them to control healthcare?  Let reason prevail, please.

When the view that the government is obligated to provide housing, food, clothing, transportation, and education prevails, Liberty is Lost.  Where is the money coming from to pay for those ‘freebies’?  The envious idea that ‘taxing the rich’ is the solution to everything fails when reason is applied. 

The obvious result of over-taxation of the rich is that the rich will use their resources to hide their money, cease investing and creating jobs, etc.  The result is that the government gets less revenue and has to expand their taxation to the next level and the next level until they have taxed everyone and everything.  With the history of our government’s ineptitude and waste, who would believe they have the wisdom to successfully manage those programs and the money required to operate them?  Let reason prevail, please.

In history, some not too distant examples are visible of the inherent dangers of allowing our Constitutional Freedoms, Liberties, and Rights to be stripped from us.  When speech is suppressed and opinions that differ from the authorized government dictum are reclassified as ‘hate speech’ not simply ‘opinion,’ Liberty is Lost.  When the inalienable and constitutional right to ‘keep and bear arms’ is rescinded or infringed the incredible danger of tyranny and despotism enjoys an exponential rise.  We only have to refer to the last century and Nazi Germany to see that danger. 

Our founders, almost to a man, feared a hostile and rogue government morphing into tyranny, oligarchy, or dictatorship.  They believed that it was imperative that the people be allowed to have the means to protect themselves from predators of all kinds including their own government.  The 2^nd Amendment had nothing to do with guns but with the people’s right of ‘self-defense.’  It does not specify style or type of arms but that it was “the right of the people” to keep and bear them.  When anyone is rendered defenseless, they become open targets and prey for predators and Liberty is Lost. 

When the borders of a nation or erased and there is open ingress and egress to and from that nation into any other region of the world, that nation no longer exists as a sovereign nation.  If we adopt the idea, as is advanced by some on the Left, that we are merely citizens of the world and borders are immoral, Liberty is in grave danger of being lost.  If we have no means of knowing who is a legal citizen and who is not, how will we know who can legitimately decide the political fate of the community, the state or the nation? 

It is my prayer that ‘reason’ will be restored and that all sides of every issue will rediscover the ability and willingness to have an open, rational, and honest discussions.  We will not all agree on everything, our founders did not.  The framers of the American Constitution did not all agree.  The Bill of Rights is an amazing accomplishment of those men with sharp disagreement finding common ground and reaching a viable and workable solution to those disagreements.  Today’s political climate in America is devoid of that quality, and when reason fails, liberty is lost.

God gave us the ability to think, rationalize, and reason, let’s not squander that gift.  God made us different not so that we would war with each other and seek to annihilate any differing opinion but because none of us has the capacity to house all the wisdom needed for a functioning society to successfully survive and thrive. 

He could have made us mere puppets and pulled our strings, but He did not. He created us in His image and likeness but gave us the ability to reason and make choices.  We all have preferences, desires, and are motivated by different stimuli.  We are each unique but as a society, our individual uniqueness must be blended with all other uniquenesses.  Without reason, we will become sectarian, divided, alienated, and adversaries and Liberty will be lost.  Let reason prevail, please.

I realize that this is more a personal rant than a tool of persuasion for many, but I hope it resonates with you and you introspectively examine your willingness to engage in productive reasoning.  Liberty is a prize too valuable to lose and Freedom, to be preserved requires the ability to hear all sides of the matter and find common ground.  God help us to become people who truly recognize and respect that “All men are created equal and have certain inalienable rights.”  May we become a people who desire that everyone is treated fairly and equally under the law and see true liberty and justice for all.

I do not see that in the modern Democrat Party and because I desire Freedom, Liberty, and the preservation of the Republic I reject the candidates ascribing to the Progressive, Socialist, Globalist, Leftist view.  I am voting for and fighting for Faith, Family, and Freedom in the only way I know.

God bless you and God bless America!

How’s that for placing a target on my back?  I guess I didn’t learn the lesson of how to win friends and influence people.  I am a preacher but that will count for little with those who find what I am saying objectionable.  They will argue that I am confused or simply wrong, and that’s okay with me.  I believe that I am on solid ground morally, ethically, constitutionally, and biblically in my position. 

This is still America, the land that is supposed to embrace Freedom of Speech which includes Freedom of Religion and Thought.  Our Founders did not all agree on everything, but they believed in those inalienable rights and in open and honest discussion of all matters.  Tragically, many today no longer believe in that principle.

But back to my title and why I would make that assertion.  I am referring to the speaker at the DNC who claimed that the Bible and the Constitution are both Socialist Documents.  Seriously?  Yes, that’s what he said.  The he of which I speak is the Right Reverend William Barber, the president of the North Carolina Chapter of the NAACP. 

It was nothing more than a political stump speech.  He offered the typically used Liberal Talking Points and ignored the abandonment of the Left regarding economic liberty.  He ignored their attempts to make the United States another Venezuelan cesspool economically.  But, then, he is a Leftists and he must amend the Bible and the Constitution to fit his ideology. 

He argued, wrongly, his view.  He said, “When we embrace moral language, we must ask does our policy care for the least of these?  Does it lift those who are most marginalized and dejected in our society?  Does it establish justice?  That is the moral question.”  (No argument from me thus far, but he continued.) 

He said, “If someone calls it socialism, then we must compel them to acknowledge, that the Bible, then, must promote socialism.”  (Whoa Nellie, now he is bordering on very dangerous and erroneous ground.)  He continued, “Because Jesus offered free healthcare to everyone and he never charged a leper a co-pay.”  (Talk about stretching the Bible to say what you want it to say.)

He continued his diatribe saying, “You want to have…it is time for us to say, if you want to have a moral debate, bring it on baby.  The Bible says a nation will be judged by how it treats the poor and the sick and women and immigrants.”  (Wow!  Where could he be going with this?  He is partially correct but the elastic in his doctrine is stretching.)  He continued, “The Bible says that God makes it rain on the just and unjust alike.  If you want to call caring for folks’ socialism, then the Constitution is a socialist document because it calls us to promote the general welfare and establish justice.” 

Yes, Reverend it does but not in the way you describe.  It is not in embracing socialism but in allowing people the opportunity to pursue happiness and work.  The Bible also says that a person who does not provide for his own is worse than an infidel. It also says that if any person would not work that person should not be given food to eat.  I guess those are to be ignored but then this is where we seem to be in the minds of those embracing liberalism, socialism, and the entitlement mentality. 

This is heretical balderdash, in my view, and must not go unanswered.  This is not new and will continue long past the current era of political wrangling, but it is dangerous.  We are called to help those in need, but that is on a personal and individual basis.  You cannot use the Bible to prove that Jesus taught that the government was to take care of the poor, but the people and the church were to do so. 

The Bible’s directives regarding charity do not include a mandate that we send our money to the government to dispense as it sees fit.  There is no mandate to fill the coffers of the government so bureaucrats can live high on the hog off what was designed for the poor. The Clinton’s Foundation comes to mind here. 

In the Bible ‘tax collectors’ were equated to harlots and viewed as thieves, not social justice warriors to be lauded with praise.  That might give a small inkling of how the government of man was viewed in the Bible.  But, those on the left following the toxicity of liberalism and socialism will never acknowledge that.

The Reverend Barber may be a wonderful man and a great preacher, but he seems to know little about Christian theology or the Bible.  He knows even less about the Constitution.  It is assuredly not a collectivist document as he seems to believe.  The Bill of Rights is a direct challenge to his view.  A view that is eerily familiar in the New York Times 1619 Project. 

The Bible warns against covetousness and the Reverend and his cohorts seem to be steeped in that condition wanting the government to be afforded coercive power to steal from the people to redistribute to those of their choosing.  I call him a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

If the State where to seek to provide everything, absorbing everything into itself, it would ultimately become nothing more than a bureaucracy incapable of guaranteeing the very thing it purports to supply.  Everybody truly needs love and personal concern.  However, we do not need, and the Constitution does not offer a State which regulates and controls everything. 

The idea of the bible is that charity and charities are the work of individuals and Churches, not governments.  People need more than ‘bread’ and when the government provides it demands control.  We should be very wary of that reality.

I pray that we will all become concerned about the poor and the truly needy and take personal steps to alleviate all the suffering we can.  However, I also pray that we will maintain our understanding that the federal government is not our source and supply. 

I pray that we will recognize personal accountability and personal responsibility.  I pray that we will never allow the liberal leftist to transform America into a third-world Socialist cesspool economically and a tyrannical entity governmentally.  God help us to remain the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave.  May we never give up our inalienable right to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.

God bless you and God bless America!

I don’t know about you, but I consider defending our Constitutional Rights and Freedoms a prime objective.  Any politician who is willing to bypass the Constitution and strip us of our inalienable rights is not a friend of mine.  Any politician that attempts to sell the ‘snake oil’ solution of giving up liberty in hopes that the government can issue an edict that will keep us safe, is not my friend or a friend of the Constitution. 

Every politician who is elected of national office is required to take an oath to both protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America.  They are not afforded the luxury or privilege to cherry-pick which part of that document they protect or defend.  They are required by the Constitution and by moral decency to honor all of it whether they like what it says or not.  That is how we have survived for over 240 years and how we will continue if we do. 

Some have accused me of being a Trump Cultists and a Trump apologist and insist that I never criticize anything he does.  That is blatantly false and today I am going to question an action that this administration, like administrations before him, is pursuing. The push by the federal government for tech companies to give the government ‘backdoor access’ to encrypted applications is, in my view, questionable.  I am concerned about the violation or potential violation of our constitutional right of protection from ‘unreasonable search and seizure.’ 

Some will argue, but if it keeps us safe from one terrorist attack then it is worth it.  That is the same argument for ‘gun control’ but rejected when it comes to abortion or the border.  It is somewhat cherry-picking and the words of Benjamin Franklin echo in my mind.  He said, “Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.”  I know the word deserve is a bit harsh, but the truth is that if we give up liberty hoping for safety, we will end up with neither.  The country and the constitution will suffer as a result.

Encryption is the process used to encode data to prevent unwanted third parties from accessing a user’s personal profiles.  The algorithms for encryption are many and varied, but their intended purpose is to protect you and me for the nefarious intrusion into our privacy and personal information.  Smartphone and computers utilize encryption to permanent lock our data in case of theft or if an unauthorized individual attempt to access our devices. 

Of course, those are not always successful, and hackers also use algorithms to break the codes and steal our personal data.  Viruses such as the infamous Ryuk ransomware has been used by hackers to successfully encrypt the files and steal information from hundreds of businesses around the world. 

I can appreciate the government wanting to protect us from Terrorist and I want to them to be able to do just that.  However, if they ignore the privacy of law-abiding citizens and violate our constitutional rights, is that the right approach?  Terrorist organizations use apps like Telegram which features end to end encryption to communicate between each other and disseminate their radical propaganda.  That is dangerous and must be addressed.  Hackers and drug dealers also use that application for their diabolical purposes to communicate and safeguard their information.  If it is documented that there is criminal activity then a warrant from the courts could and should be used, but not blanket access by the government.

The 2015 terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California is an example of the dilemma and difficulty posed for the government and citizens.  The Islamist Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife Tashfeen Malik took 14 lives and injured 22 more in their attack.  During the investigation the FBI recovered Farook’s work phone, the iPhone 5C, but were unable unlock the device.  They requested Apple to create software that would allow them to access the iPhone of Farook.  Apple refused to do so, and a third party helped the FBI unlock the iPhone, but the information retrieved was limited. 

Apple’s refusal escalated the discussion of where the line is to be drawn between National Security and Consumer Privacy.  That is a very important line and one that is not always easily distinguishable.  I am very much interested in protecting against terrorist and very determined to maintain our Constitutional Rights.  That is the kind of issue that could keep me awake at night.  Being torn is an understatement. 

Edward Snowden leaked information about the expansive and extensive government surveillance.  I am not trying to defend him, but the revelation was troubling and the extent to which ‘big brother’ is watching is concerning.  With the immense arsenal of the federal government to spy on citizens the encryption issue may sound almost moot but is it? 

The loss of privacy by law-abiding American citizens should always be a concern.  Let me offer a possible scenario and you decide how far you think the government should be able to go in their quest for information.  If the government can deem that it has the right to all personal information and private communications for national security purposes what is next?  Could that not also argue that they have the right to control and determine what technological devices and technology we are allowed to utilize?  Could they not seek to be allowed to audit all your personal files on your home computer, tablet, or any other encrypted device at any moment for any reason.  All in the name of national security?

The conundrum is that we, as private citizens, want to be safe and protected but we also want to maintain our constitutional right to privacy.  Our current legal system is based on the premise and idea that any person is innocent until proven guilty.  I fear that allowing unfettered access by the federal government to backdoor encryption will violate our personal privacy to the point that we will find ourselves not only unsafe but under the thumb of the tyrannical elitists in government who want total control.  I do not want America to become another China or any other despotic country where people no longer have true freedom.

Yes, I am perplexed and troubled.  However, I continue to stand for the Constitution and our inalienable rights and freedoms.  I also stand staunchly for discovering any criminal and terrorist and prosecuting them to the full extent of the law.  It is a perplexing situation and one that is not easily answered but with the push of the Left toward Total Control and Socialism, I fear for the personal freedom of all citizens. 

God bless you and God bless America is my prayer.  Lord, please keep us free while keeping us safe!