Lest we forget

The star spangled banner ~ Francis Scott Key

Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more!
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!


And let us never forget that our country was founded "One nation, under God!"
The day that we lose sight of our history is the day that the future is marred forever.

HR 3200

One of my greatest concerns regarding the healthcare bill remains not so much the issue of the extreme price tag on the bill as the greater issue at stake that tends to be hidden behind the price tag.
Money is not the sole issue here. Certainly, it is an important issue, and one to be considered with all discernment. Yet Americans today are riled because this healthcare bill attacks our freedom.
The freedom that our founding fathers fought and died for is being siphoned away through bills like this that tend to slip under our guard. We have had enough of it!
The problem with the healthcare bill is that it takes away the peoples right to decide whether they need healthcare or not, whether they want a large family or not, whether they want elderly family members to die by natural death or assisted suicide. Those issues will be decided by a “committee.”
We, average American citizens, want our voices to be heard. We do not want this bill. It is not “free” to the people. It will cost us heavily in our personal wallets, and it will cost us our independence.