Our Nation is known rightly in this world as the only nation that has successfully changed power many times without violence. Over the last 44 transitions we have used some combination of ceremony, pomp, circumstance and frivolity to encourage each of our new leaders to speak their mind, share their insight and lay out their road map for the future of this Country.

This has no equal in any part of the world and it is a wonderful and joyous event that occurs every 4 or 8 years, adjusted for the occassional mishap or tragedy.

Another transition occurs at this instance in many events. In some of these vaunted events those of us who enjoyed a majority find ourselves in opposition to the current majority. This is not cause for violence, nor cause for grief. Instead, it is simply a change of position. I find myself in this position today, though I feel I have been in this position for a number of years, since perhaps Ronald Reagan was in office. Conservatives are truly now and for much of the last 20 years or so, the minority view in our Nation.

Many of our founding Fathers understood that for the Eagle to balance, she had to have an equal left and right wing. Two opposing political philosophies that balanced one another. That of the conservative on the right, holding our Nation to the original defining principles, and that of the liberal on the left, moving into new and uncharted things, moving our Nation into the future.

Our job as conservatives is a hard one. We have to stand strong on the principles that have made our nation. The natural laws that are ours to conserve and protect are important to define at these moments, so that we can all understand that which we stand to protect.

It is important to note that our founders did not list all of our rights in the Declaration of Independence. Instead they were cautious to list that “that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Among These… There are a number of other rights that our founders believed in. Here is a more complete list:

The right of self-government.

The right to bear arms for self defense.

The right to own, develop and dispose of property.

The right to make personal choices.

The right of free conscience.

The right to choose a profession.

The right to choose a mate.

The right to beget one’s kind.

The right to assemble.

The right to petition.

The right to free speech.

The right to a free press.

The right to enjoy the fruits of one’s labors.

The right to improve one’s position through barter and sale.

The right to contrive and invent.

The right to explore the natural resources of the earth.

The right to privacy.

The right to provide personal security.

The right to provide nature’s necessities - air, food, water, clothing and shelter.

The right to a fair trial.

The right of free association.

The right to contract.

ED: If you would like more information about these natural law rights and why they are applicable, I highly recommend that you purchase a copy of “Five Thousand Year Leap” from the National Center for Constitutional Studies. http://www.nccs.net/ftyl.html (I’m not endorsing this link because of monetary concerns. Instead it is because I agree with their principles and ideals.)

The natural rights listed above provide an excellent framework by which our Nation reached the success that it has seen. In order to encourage the future of our success, we need to ensure that these tenets are followed.

During the inauguration ceremony, Mr. Obama spoke one amazing truth that will ring strong with conservatives.

“In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned.”

This truth is self evident. Each and every conservative understands this. Much of the remainder of his speech is both pretty, and potentially true, if followed by action appropriate to his words.

“But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions - that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.”

For this, I withhold judgment. Truly we do not need to protect narrow interests. Truly we must make hard, but correct, decisions. The loyal opposition always awaits a request that is not appropriate, prior to standing in opposition of a policy.

When Mr. Obama spoke today, he also stated at least two items that I must quote, and then strongly disagree with.

“Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control - and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our Gross Domestic Product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart - not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.”

Our Nation has not practiced true Free Market Capitalism for nearly 100 years. It is time to give Free Market Capitalism the opportunity to return. What Mr. Obama speaks of here is true. Again the words must meet the actions of allowing Free Market Capitalism to exist. The favoring of the prosperous is currently only defined by those willing and able to use the government as a coercive force to obtain prosperity. Truly and completely this is NOT free market capitalism by any stretch of the imagination.

“As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience’s sake.”

You cannot reject as false the choice between safety and ideals. It is simply not possible. The simple ideal of liberty makes this impossible. Liberty is NOT won nor maintained by safety provided by another. Safety is the slavery by which socialism is sold. For you to entrust your safety to that of another, is to be in debt to that person in the future.

These are the initial items that I must stand as loyal opposition to. Providing a reasoned argument in counter to Mr. Obama’s wisdom is the correct and appropriate response for now. What items would you stand in loyal opposition to?

Posted on January 20th, 2009 by lloyd
Filed under: Activism, politics