My Take on the Ashton Kutcher Video

On August 13 Ashton Kutcher delivered a speech at the Teen Choice Awards that caused quite a stir among conservatives. From Glenn Beck to Rush Limbaugh to Sean Hannity, everyone was singing the praises of this unlikely hero. I did not watch the awards show, but after seeing the video of the speech posted on virtually every conservative site, I reluctantly played it for myself.

 

I must admit that I was surprised to hear what Kutcher had to say on the subjects of “opportunity”, “being sexy”, and “living life”. The advice was mature and well-thought-out. If a young person were to take it to heart, he or she might make better decisions that would, ultimately, result in a better life for that individual. I do, however, see a few problems with Kutcher’s speech. The first is that the “Two and a Half Men” star obviously did not write the speech, which was clearly a shout-out for Kutcher’s new movie, “Jobs”, that was released within days of the Teen Choice Awards. Of course, there is nothing wrong with using a speech writer; it would be ridiculous for us to expect a celebrity appearing on a national show to write his own dialogue. It was a very good speech and accomplished exactly what it was intended to do (even including direct references to Steve Jobs), and Kutcher’s delivery was spot on.

 

Nevertheless, I am amazed that some of the smartest people on the planet are buying into the notion that Ashton Kutcher sent America’s young people a message straight from his heart that lines up perfectly with old-fashioned American values. Kutcher began with opportunity saying, “I believe opportunity looks a lot like hard work.” That statement is well put. In fact, it is such a good comment on opportunity that it has been around in various forms since the early 1900s and is frequently attributed to Thomas Edison who is credited with saying, “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” Now, I am not suggesting that the comment should not have been included, but I would have liked to see him credit the source.

 

Kutcher then moved on to “being sexy”. He said, “The sexiest thing in the entire world is being smart and thoughtful and generous. Everything else is crap.” I am certain that parents everywhere leapt to their feet and cheered when they heard this statement, but I had a hard time believing that Kutcher meant a word of it. If he believes what he says, why did he and Demi Moore tweet a photo of themselves in bed together on their fifth wedding anniversary? If “everything else is crap”, why did he appear naked on Ellen DeGeneres’ show on September 11, 2011 to promote his role on “Two and a Half Men?” By Kutcher’s own definition those actions would be nothing more than “crap”.

 

Finally, Kutcher moved on to “living life”. He said, “When you grow up, [you accept that] the world is the way it is. Your life is to live your life inside the world.” Then he went on to encourage America’s youth to build a life for themselves outside the mainstream instead of simply accepting the life that someone else may think is good enough. Very good; very Steve Jobs.

 

In a time when we see so many celebrities promoting the most foul behavior, Ashton Kutcher’s speech was a breath of fresh air. I have no doubt that he has applied the virtues of hard work and seizing opportunity to his personal life. I do wish, however, that he would practice what he preaches about “being sexy” and set an example for his young fans with his actions as well as his words.

 

Joyce Swann is the author of Looking Backward: My Twenty-Five Years as a Homeschooling Mother co-author of The Chosen, a dystopian novel about the battle of one U.S. family to restore the Constitution and stop the indefinite detention provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act. For more information, visit her website at http://www.frontier2000.net.

Why Would Anybody Want to Be an American?

As an American-born citizen whose parents and grandparents were also American-born citizens, I cannot imagine why anybody would NOT want to be an American. I grew up in an era where patriotism was the norm. School children would lock arms and walk around the school grounds chanting, “Hey, hey, get out of our way; we belong to the U.S.A!” Our elementary public school song books included “America the Beautiful”, “My Country Tis of Thee”, and “The National Anthem”, as well as the official songs for each branch of our military. As a third and fourth grader I would feel my chest swell with pride as I, along with my fellow students, sang these songs to the top of my lungs.

 

We all knew that it was the greatest thing in the world to be an American. As I grew older, I still believed that being born an American is a gift like no other. Often, I would feel an overwhelming sense of awe at having been so privileged. At the same time, however, I understood that while people from other countries might appreciate many things about America, they also had ties to their own countries. Even if they chose to live here, they might want to retain their citizenships from the countries of their births. Yet, there are many who want not only the privileges of living in America but who also want to BE Americans.

 

In order to gain some insight about why people from other countries want to be Americans, I have turned to those who have recently been awarded the privilege of American citizenship. Here are some of my favorites:

 

A couple of years ago I heard about an East Indian man who was asked why he had chosen to come to America. He replied, “I wanted to live in a country where the poor people are fat.” I cannot imagine any American-born citizen ever giving this response because it is so removed from our way of thinking. But to him it made perfect sense.

 

A CNN interview on July 4, 2011, with some American citizens who had been sworn in that same day at ceremonies held in cities all over the United States is especially insightful. I was surprised to discover that an inordinate number of them held doctorate degrees and could have made a good living almost anywhere in the world. They had not chosen America because they were “poor immigrants” who hoped for an opportunity to leave poverty and squalor behind. They had chosen America for reasons far beyond the dream of becoming rich.

 

One man from Iraq said that after he had been in this country for only a few weeks he saw someone walking his dog. The dog was wearing socks, and the Iraqi asked the dog’s owner why he had put socks on his dog. The owner replied that the sidewalk was hot and the socks would keep the dog’s feet from being uncomfortable. The Iraqi was astonished. He said that he could not imagine living in a country where people wanted even their animals to be comfortable. He finished by saying, “People would rather be a dog in America than a human in Iraq.”

 

A Nigerian man who has his PhD said that he had wanted to become an American citizen because in his country people do not even have clean water. He said that he wished Americans would travel to other countries and see the way the rest of the world lives so that “we would appreciate what God has given to this country.”

 

Yes, God has blessed America far beyond anything that anyone could have dreamed of 237 years ago. As a result, we owe Him a great deal. Because we have been given much, much is required of us, and most of the time we have done pretty well as a nation in responding to problems in the rest of the world. We are, by far, the leader in sending missionaries to other parts of the world. We have given trillions of dollars in foreign aid, and we are the first to send relief in times of natural disasters. We are a giving, generous people. Nevertheless, some of our best-known politicians and religious leaders apologize for America. They have proclaimed that we are to blame for most of the world’s ills. Whether it is AIDS in Africa or the consumption of too many natural resources, America is to blame. We are told that we are a greedy, selfish, spoiled, pampered and altogether bad people who owe the world an apology; they then add insult to injury by offering an apology on our behalf.

 

I, for one, am tired of being vilified by these men who have received so much from what is undeniably the greatest country on earth. God has blessed us, and we, in turn, have blessed others. I hope that anyone who has ever felt guilty because America has so much will remember from whence those blessings came. We must always acknowledge that God is the author of our story, and we must always live our lives to honor Him and to show others the same kindness and generosity that He continues to show us. People who have lived without clean water, sufficient food and a just system of government know exactly why they chose to come to America. You never have to ask the guy who would rather be a dog in this country than a human in the country from which he came, “Why would anyone want to be an American?”

 

Joyce Swann is the author of Looking Backward: My Twenty-Five Years as a Homeschooling Mother co-author of The Chosen, a dystopian novel about the battle of one U.S. family to restore the Constitution and stop the indefinite detention provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act. For more information, visit her website at http://www.frontier2000.net

Why I Don’t Advocate a Third Party

We are hearing more and more talk about why conservatives should leave the GOP and form a third party—a Rino –free zone where genuinely conservative policies will dictate the party platform. On the surface this is a very tempting strategy. I, for one, would love to leave the Karl Roves, Jeb Bushes and Chris Christies so far back in the dust that they would become only vague memories. I would love to belong to a party where the likes of Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Ken Cuccinelli, Mike Lee and Sarah Palin are making the policies; however, when I look at our current situation through the lens of reality, I must admit that such a party would be doomed before it began.

 

The United States has always had a two-party system. Of course, we have the occasional professional presidential candidate who, although he has zero chance of winning, runs every four years until he either runs out of other people’s money, becomes so much an object of ridicule that he is no longer taken seriously by anyone, or both. Remember Lyndon LaRouche, Ralph Nader and Ross Perot? While LaRouche was considered a nut job by pretty much everyone until he finally went to prison for charging thousands of unauthorized dollars to donors’ credit cards, Nader and Perot both garnered small followings and might have been able to make serious runs if they had worked to secure the nomination as candidates within one of the major parties.

 

As we look at the Republican Party of 2013 it is difficult not to be discouraged. When Obama chooses two of our senior senators as his emissaries to Egypt we naturally shake our heads in discouragement knowing that the men who should be leading the conservative charge are too busy making kissy face with a left wing president who is focused on driving the country over a cliff to get this country back on the right track.

 

So, what do we do? Do we buy into the “lesser of two evils” propaganda and give up our dream of a party led by conservatives? No! We do not. We treat our party the same way we treat our homes.

 

Imagine that one day a family purchases their “dream house” complete with polished wood floors, gleaming granite countertops, high end kitchen appliances, and spa-like bathrooms that remind them of a five-star hotel. Every day they wake up feeling like the luckiest people in the world as they enjoy the beauty and comforts of their home. But one day some distant cousins come for a “visit” and simply move in. Since they are family, the homeowners tolerate the cousins for several months. Then one day as the homeowners survey their surroundings they realize that the cousins have taken over their beautiful home. Because the cousins do not value the home, it has become dirty. The floors are covered with dusty tracks; the granite countertops are sticky with fingerprints and spilled food; the appliances need a good cleaning, and the luxury bathrooms are covered with soap scum and water spots. At that point the homeowners have two choices: They can settle for living in a house that has fallen into a disgraceful state as they surrender more and more square footage to the cousins, or they can evict the cousins and take back their house.

 

Our party is like that house; it has everything it needs to be just about perfect. However, we have allowed it to be taken over by those who do not value the Constitution and do not share our belief in limited, conservative government. We have allowed it to become soiled with liberal thinking and liberal policies that have rendered it unfit for our conservative family. In this case, however, we do not have the luxury of even considering living in it as it is. The Rinos have now decided to throw us out of our own house. They want us to walk away and leave our equity in their pockets. They have taken our beautiful house and covered it in filth, and now they want to drive us out into the night with nothing.

 

If you love the Constitution and value liberty, I hope you will join me and “just say no” to all those who have hijacked our party. It is time to evict them, clean house, and reinstate the Constitutional principles that made this country great. We can do this, but if it is to be done, we must do it now. If we hesitate, we will lose our party, but we will also lose any hope of ever having a voice in our government because the United States will always be a two-party system.

 

 

Joyce Swann is the author of Looking Backward: My Twenty-Five Years as a Homeschooling Mother co-author of The Chosen, a dystopian novel about the battle of one U.S. family to restore the Constitution and stop the indefinite detention provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act. For more information, visit her website at http://www.frontier2000.net

 

A Few Good Men

In the 1970s a Marine recruiter came up with the slogan that would forever define the U.S. Marine Corps in the minds of all Americans as a fighting unit so elite that they did not accept the unexceptional; they were interested in only “a few good men”. The Marines have the right idea. Battles have never been won by virtue of numbers of boots on the ground. They have been and always will be won by a few good men who are willing to stand their ground and fight for the principles they believe in—even when they stand alone.

 

Today our nation is embroiled in a battle for freedom on a scale that is unprecedented. Our battle, however, is not fought with guns and tanks; it is a battle of ideas that spring from a deep and abiding belief that ours is a unique country, ordained and blessed by God to stand against the evil forces that would enslave not only Americans but would bring every nation into subjection to a one-world tyrant.

 

It would appear that everyone would oppose such a plan, but that is not the case. Many people embrace the idea of a New World Order that would take away national sovereignty and abolish those rights specifically stated in the first ten amendments to the Constitution. They believe it would be easier to live with a dictator’s heel on their necks than to take responsibility for their own successes or failures. They would rather exist in a government-issued hovel eating government-issued rations than accept the responsibility for providing for themselves.

 

Margaret Thatcher said, “First you win the argument; then you win the vote”. We have a vitally important election coming up in 2014 that will impact on the future of our country as few other mid-term elections have. The time has come for those of us who want to remain free to take action and define the Freedom vs. Bondage debate in a way that will send the message to the average American in a clear, concise manner. If we don’t win this argument, we will not win the vote.

 

Fortunately, we have a few good men in the private sector and in both houses of Congress who are working to define the argument so that we will not only win the argument but we will also win the election. Today I would like to share some information that you may not know about four of these men.

 

Jim DeMint: After fourteen years in Congress Sen. DeMint (R-SC) resigned to take over as President of The Heritage Foundation. DeMint has spent most of his life building and running his own research and marketing firm. His experience as a market researcher and strong conservative leader led him to write in the Washington Post, “Conservative policies have proved their worth time and time again. If we’re not communicating in a way that makes that clear, we are doing a disservice to our fellow citizens.” DeMint is working to reach all Americans with “bold, positive ideas” that will further American conservative principles.

 

Ken Cuccinelli: Cuccinelli became Attorney General of Virginia in 2010 after serving in the Virginia Senate and working as a private practice attorney from 2002 until 2010. In his private practice Cuccinelli served as a court-appointed attorney for people with mental illness in Virginia’s involuntary civil commitment process. As a state senator he passed legislation that provided for more humane treatment of the mentally ill. Cuccinelli is a champion for Virginian’s property rights, sponsoring a law and helping to write and pass a constitutional amendment to dramatically curb Virginia’s eminent domain power. This law made it much more difficult for the state to take homes, farms, and small businesses under eminent domain and give them to another private entity for development solely to increase tax revenues, economic development, or private gain. He also brought more transparency and accountability to the citizens of Virginia by writing a law that requires that the state budget and expense details be posted online in a format that is easy to access and easy to understand. Cuccinelli is currently running for Governor of Virginia in a race that will be decided in November.

 

Ted Cruz: Elected in 2012 as the 34th U.S. Senator from Texas, Ted Cruz’s name has already become a household word. Even though he had never before held elected office, Cruz won decisive victories in both the Republican primary and the general election. According to the Washington Post, it was “the biggest upset of 2012…a true grassroots victory against very long odds.” Before being elected to the Senate Cruz served as the Solicitor General of Texas. He was the nation’s youngest Solicitor General and Texas’ longest serving Solicitor General. He authored more that 80 U.S. Supreme Court briefs and argued 43 oral arguments, including nine before the U.S. Supreme Court. His landmark national victories include successfully defending:

 

• U.S. sovereignty against the UN and the World Court in Medellin v. Texas
• The Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms
• The constitutionality of the Texas Ten Commandments monument
• The constitutionality of the Texas Sexually Violent Predator Civil Commitment law
• The Texas congressional redistricting plan

 

Rand Paul: In 2010 Dr. Paul was elected U.S. Senator for Kentucky. Paul is an outspoken advocate for constitutional liberties and fiscal responsibility and has worked tirelessly against government overreach. His first legislative proposals included cutting $500 billion in federal spending and a plan for balancing the budget in five years. Paul is also a vocal advocate for term limits, a balanced-budget amendment, a Read the Bills Act, and an audit of the Federal Reserve. In 1995, as a practicing ophthalmologist, Paul founded the Southern Kentucky Lions Eye Clinic, which provides eye exams and surgery to needy Kentuckians. As a U.S. Senator, Paul continues to provide free eye surgery to Kentuckians in need of care.

 

Our list of a few good men includes many others—Justin Amash, Ron Johnson, Mike Lee, to name a few, but these few are fighting the many world-wide who advocate the Agenda 21 New World Order that will usher in a one-world government. These men need your help if they are to succeed in protecting our freedoms. If you can do so, please donate to their campaigns—even if they are not from your state. The time has come to cross state lines in supporting conservative candidates who will protect our constitutional rights. After you give, remember to pray. Pray for all those who are working to defend our liberties because few good men supported by millions of prayers can accomplish anything.

 

 

 Joyce Swann is the author of Looking Backward: My Twenty-Five Years as a Homeschooling Mother co-author of The Chosen, a dystopian novel about the battle of one U.S. family to restore the Constitution and stop the indefinite detention provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act. For more information, visit her website at http://www.frontier2000.net