DEAD BODIES, DECEPTION AND HONOR

By Marilyn M. Barnewall
May 29, 2011
NewsWithViews.com

Members of the military snapped to attention and saluted as they pushed my stepfather’s flag-covered body down the hallways to the morgue of the local Veteran’s Administration Hospital. His sacrifices for his country ended on March 23, 2011.

Chester Roy Brown (later changed to Roy Chester Brown) was his name and he was born January 5, 1920. Roy’s early years were spent in a Denver orphanage. He enlisted in the Army and was wounded in flight as a bombardier gunner over Europe. He loved his country. Roy’s burial was with military honors. Local veteran volunteers made sure the appropriate flags were waving softly in the breeze and that a 21-gun salute rang out over my peaceful Grand Valley that day. He would have been proud. I certainly was.

My annual Memorial Day article last year began by talking about how President Barack Obama went to Europe just before Memorial Day (2009) and apologized for America being American – and upset a lot of us. The history of Memorial Day is in that article and you can find it here.

On Memorial Day 2009, I wrote an article for European friends – about Obama apologizing for his country. At the time, I wanted to clarify how Americans feel about our nation (since the man elected to the Presidency seems unable). You can find that article here.

As I write this 2011 Memorial Day article, our President has just made an utter fool of himself (and embarrassed our country) while toasting – or, perhaps better said, attempting to toast – the Queen of England. Everyone stood and he began talking – and when “God Save the Queen,” the British National Anthem, began playing, he continued talking. “To the Queen…” he finally said, raising his glass. No one else moved – including the Queen. They were standing at attention for their country’s National Anthem.

In Ireland, Obama-ites didn’t even prepare well enough to know the Presidential Limo (fortunately it was the false flag limo) couldn’t “get over the hump.” He can’t travel without embarrassing his country. If this man doesn’t understand that he’s surrounded by idiots, he’s not smart enough to be President of the United States.

Those who have followed my articles over the years know that my Memorial Day articles always include photos of military cemeteries around the world, listing the number of our young men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice while fighting on foreign soil. The photos below are offered with the greatest respect for the sacrifices made.

But I want to say something first.

I believe the most damning thing one human being can do to another is use for personal gain the honest sacrifices made for our nation by others. Too many politicians try to enhance their personal images by linking themselves to the brave exploits of others. For example, according to an article in Veterans Today, the May 1, 2011 death of Osama (Usama, if you prefer) bin Laden was his second, not his first, death.

Gordon Duff is a Marine veteran who served in Vietnam. He is Senior Editor at Veterans Today. His career has included extensive experience in international banking along with such diverse areas as consulting on counter insurgency, defense technologies or acting as diplomatic officer of UN humanitarian groups.

Duff wrote a stinging article about the Obama Administration’s use of the “death” of Osama bin Laden. He points to the negative impact this event will eventually have on members of our military. He questions the death by pointing out that the CIA validated bin Laden died on December 15, 2001. I found the article of particular interest because a friend, Lee Wanta, is quoted. Many readers write to me with questions about Ambassador Wanta and they may find his insights of interest.

From Gordon Duff’s May 5th article bin Laden’s second death (link here):

“Either way, there is one victim for certain and that is the members of the military services of the United States who will be judged, not by the real facts but rather the political machinations of the increasingly bizarre stories released to the press on a daily basis.” …

“Worse yet, senior CIA officials from the Reagan/Bush I era claim bin Laden was and always continued to be “rock solid” as an American intelligence agent until his death, or at least one of his deaths.”

“STRANGE CIA TWISTS – INTERVIEW WITH EMIL LEE WANTA 5/15/2011"

“Emil Lee Wanta (Note: The correct name is Lee Emil Wanta, a natural born American citizen; history here – MB), the White House official designated to repatriate Stinger missiles still in Afghanistan and Pakistan after the Soviet withdrawal, first met ‘Tim Osman,’ the CIA code name for Osama bin Laden in 1989. Wanta, along with William Casey and Bill Colby (CIA Directors) made up the ISA (Intelligence Support Agency), a group tasked with eliminating rogue intelligence operations, CIA and others that had sprung up resulting from operations in Central America and the Af-Pak theatre.

“REDACTED WANTA MEMO"

“Wanta was originally named by Reagan as Inspector General of the Department of Defense, eventually slated to take over as Defense Secretary from Casper Weinberger (later convicted during Iran Contra and pardoned). That appointment was blocked by Secretary of State George Schultz.

“Wanta, then working out of Vienna, was approached by Osama bin Laden, the CIA’s prime intermediary with both Saudi Arabia and resupply operations in Afghanistan, with replacing Stinger missiles claimed to have been expended in combat with both Soviet forces and those of the Afghan government. Wanta describes his meeting with ‘Tim Osman,’ Osama bin Laden’s ‘working identity,’ along with James Chi, the then station chief in Islamabad.

“‘Stinger missiles had been found for sale in the Peshawar arms bazaar, offered to any and all takers. The first order of business was to recover these weapons before they fell into the hands of real terrorists, those not in the employ of the CIA.’

“Wanta and Chi put out a ‘buy order’ and repurchased several missiles for cash. They then met with bin Laden. They confronted bin Laden with the fact that some of the missiles they recovered bore the serial numbers of units listed by bin Laden as ‘expended.’ Bin Laden then indicated that the remainder of the Stingers were stored in Peshawar." (Note: Pakistan -- MB.) “‘Bin Laden was very specific on how he was to be paid and more specific on how unpleasant things would get if money wasn’t forthcoming.’

“Payment was arranged directly to bin Laden who had the missiles loaded on trucks. Bin Laden is described as in traditional garb, shod in sandals and very unkempt. Meetings were held in English.

“The bin Laden Stinger inventory, 116 missiles, were flown into Frankfurt, Germany and turned over to Customs and Treasury there. Secretary of State Schultz complained that the use of Germany in this transaction violated the prerogative of Secretary of State and filed a formal complaint.” (Brief break in the Veteran’s Today story.)

(BARNEWALL NOTE: Ambassador Wanta mentioned bin Laden to me long before Obama’s attack on the Pakistani “bin Laden compound.” He said bin Laden died at Tora Bora on December 15, 2001. As the plane carrying the Stinger missiles was en route to Frankfurt, the agents Wanta wanted on the ground to take possession of the missiles weren’t available. He believed a double-cross could be in the making. The plane, originally scheduled to deliver the missiles at Frankfurt Main, Germany, was diverted by Lee Wanta, mid-flight, “from Frankfurt Main to Wien” (Vienna, Austria). He immediately flew the agents he wanted to Vienna to meet the plane. Air traffic control along with State Department diplomats were put off balance by the mid-flight change of destination, but the Chancellor of Austria assisted and the plane landed safely in Wien, the missiles were recovered.)

(Back to the Veteran’s Today article:) “Wanta reports that bin Laden was considered the CIA’s most trusted and reliable asset. That relationship continued, part of the complex interaction between the Bush family, the bin Laden family and their son, Osama bin Laden. At no time was Osama bin Laden ever considered ‘rogue’.” (End of Veterans Today article quote.)

In his article, Duff raises a most interesting – or, damning – question: Is the reason for the mysterious “at sea” burial of Osama bin Laden necessary because his body had been frozen for ten years? Duff’s article quotes numerous Intelligence Operatives.

There is no excuse for a Commander in Chief to willingly put troops at risk for no reason other than to gain polling points. Gordon Duff has credibly raised an issue that, if true, is a slap in the face to the brave men and women we honor this Memorial Day weekend… people who, by law, must respect any orders given by the President of the United States as “Commander in Chief.” This must be investigated!

Article continues after the pictures.

1. The American Cemetery at Aisne-Marne, France; 2,289 American soldiers buried here

2. The American Cemetery at Ardennes, Belgium; 5,329 American soldiers buried here

3. The American Cemetery at Brittany, France; 4,410 American soldiers buried here

4. Brookwood, England American Cemetery; 468 Americans soldiers buried here

5. Cambridge, England; 3,812 American soldiers buried here

6. Epinal, France American Cemetery; 5,525 American soldiers buried here

7. Flanders Field, Belgium; 368 American soldiers buried here

8. Florence, Italy; 4,402 American soldiers buried here

9. Henri-Chapelle, Belgium; 7,992 American soldiers buried here

10. Lorraine, France; 10,489 American soldiers buried here

11. Luxembourg, Luxembourg; 5,076 American soldiers buried here

12. Meuse-Argonne; 14,246 American soldier buried here

13. Netherlands, Netherlands; 8,301 Americans buried here

14. Normandy, France; 9,387 American soldiers buried here

15. Oise-Aisne, France; 6,012 American soldiers buried here

16. Rhone, France; 861 American soldiers buried here

17. Sicily, Italy; 7,861 American soldiers buried here

18. Somme, France; 1,844 American soldiers buried here

19. St. Mihiel, France; 4,153 American soldiers buried here

20. Suresnes, France; 1,541 American soldiers buried here

This partial count of American soldiers buried at these European cemeteries totals 104,366. This does not include Arlington and all of the other veterans’ cemeteries around America, Europe and elsewhere. Many, like my stepfather, are buried in private cemeteries. God bless them all.

What can you do to more actively support your military?

Visit militarytimes.com and remember the 57 American soldiers killed in the Middle East last month and that each has a name and a family. To date, there are 6,013 Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom casualties confirmed by U.S. Central Command. You are able to watch your evening news – or, perhaps better said, your evening indoctrination session – because of these soldiers.

Find out about Project Hope. Over 1,000 WWII vets die every day. We speak English rather than German or Japanese today because of these men and women. Project Hope is made up of people – like my friends, Kent and Rose – who accompany elderly WWII veterans so they can visit the Memorial built for them in Washington, D.C. Most are frail and require assistance – it is a wonderful project!

"You will never know how much it has cost my generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you make good use of it." John Quincy Adams.

© 2011 Marilyn M. Barnewall - All Rights Reserved

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Marilyn MacGruder Barnewall began her career in 1956 as a journalist with the Wyoming Eagle in Cheyenne. During her 20 years (plus) as a banker and bank consultant, she wrote extensively for The American Banker, Bank Marketing Magazine, Trust Marketing Magazine, was U.S. Consulting Editor for Private Banker International (London/Dublin), and other major banking industry publications. She has written seven non-fiction books about banking and taught private banking at Colorado University for the American Bankers Association. She has authored seven banking books, one dog book, and two works of fiction (about banking, of course). She has served on numerous Boards in her community.

Barnewall is the former editor of The National Peace Officer Magazine and as a journalist has written guest editorials for the Denver Post, Rocky Mountain News and Newsweek, among others. On the Internet, she has written for News With Views, World Net Daily, Canada Free Press, Christian Business Daily, Business Reform, and others. She has been quoted in Time, Forbes, Wall Street Journal and other national and international publications. She can be found in Who's Who in America, Who's Who of American Women, Who's Who in Finance and Business, and Who's Who in the World.

Web site: http://marilynwrites.blogspot.com

E-Mail: marilynmacg@juno.com

BANKSTERS, PRANKSTERS AND SANDY HELL HOLES

By Marilyn M. Barnewall
May 22, 2011
NewsWithViews.com

As I write this, Saturday, May 21, 2011, it is Armed Forces Day… a day too many people who say they appreciate our military all too often forget. This isn't the topic of my article, but it raises an interesting question, asked below.

The following paragraphs came from Lt. Col. (Ret.) Bob McConnell, the guy who should be my Congressman and who publishes a newsletter with information you can trust. Both Col. McConnell and I spoke at the Pueblo (CO) Liberty Action Tea Party group on May 12th.

"Today is Armed Forces day," Col. McConnell's newsletter told me. "President Truman created the holiday in 1950. It marked the conclusion of one of the hardest battles of his presidency. The deeply entrenched and proudly separate War Department and Navy Department had been combined into one Department of Defense. This is a classic story of how the feds solve a problem. Post-war hearings in Congress were chaired by none other than Senator Lyndon Johnson. Great military leaders including Ike, Nimitz, Halsey, and Bradley testified that the Army and the Navy needed to learn to talk to each other so there would be no more Pearl Harbors. The goal was to train and fight as one team. Pressure, compromise and intrigue were all part of the deal. It included the mysterious death (a theme which continues in DC until the present day) of the first Secretary of Defense, the former Secretary of the Navy, James Forrestal. Was Forrestal's death suicide, or not?"

An interesting question: After you read the material below, is America in its currently dysfunctional state of fraud and corruption (with no Constitutional Rule of Law) worth the lives of our young? If not, what are we going to do about it?

CORRUPTION NUMBER ONE:

Anyone who watches the news has heard about the rape charges filed against Dominique Strauss-Kahn, former director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and rumored to be the French Socialist Party's favorite to replace Nicolas Sarkozy as President of France. Beyond the sensationalist rape charges, however, are you aware of why this is an important story?

Dominique Strauss-Kahn (DSK, as he is called by the mainstream media) should be better known for ulterior motives involving the globalization of American, European and Japanese banks – but thanks to our well-paid-under-the-table media, he is not known for that.

DSK was born 25 April 1949 and on 28 September 2007 became Managing Director of the IMF. He resigned on 18 May 2011 after the rape allegation was made. On 14 May 2011, shortly after noon, a hotel maid in her early 30s says she entered Strauss-Kahn's Sofitel Hotel suite In New York City to clean it and that DSK came out of his bathroom naked, ran after her, and attempted to forcibly have intercourse with her. Other forced sex acts not involving intercourse occurred and DSK was arrested, then released on a $1 million bail plus a $5 million bond guaranteeing he not leave the State of New York. He now resides in an apartment where he remains, under guard.

The Rest of the Story:

Under the aegis of the IMF, Strauss-Kahn made known as early as December 2009 his new international currency plans to use a "Green Energy Fund" (most Tea Party members recognize this as code for the United Nation's Agenda 21 and Sustainable Development) to fight climate change in low-income nations around the world. The funding for "Green Energy" would come from the IMF's own printable money – special drawing rights - starting at the equivalent of $ 100 billion. You heard me right. The IMF wanted to print its own money to fund "Green Energy." There's something green here and it's called IMF envy of American currency.

Strauss-Kahn said an expanded role for special drawing rights (which enabled the IMF to print its own currency) could help stabilize the international monetary system. Sure it could! To shorten a long story, this was a Soros-friendly socialist method of destroying the U.S. dollar, a topic discussed at Bretton Woods II which was sponsored by George Soros the first week of May 2011. The IMF action was part of "the China plan" to replace the U.S. dollar with a "basket of currencies" and to absorb the Federal Reserve into the IMF (as I reported in an article a month ago).

Between 2009 and the current time, several IMF plans were presented to replace the dollar as the international currency of trade – which, in turn, would send the U.S. economy over the edge of a cliff. It hovers there daily (some days I think it's beyond recovery).

There are a lot of questions to be answered about this "story." Why did DSK go to New York instead of flying directly to Berlin from Washington where he was scheduled to meet with Chancellor Merkel of Germany? Was he perhaps in New York meeting with the Too Big to Jail Banksters he so graciously assisted with unlawful and otherwise fraudulent acts?

Why did Strauss-Kahn leave his cell phone in his hotel room – a resource any investigator would find of great interest. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman currently has a Grand Jury investigating Wall Street irregularities. Why did the maid enter an occupied room to clean it – especially when it was known the occupant would be checking out that day? Considering his wealth, why was Strauss-Kahn imprisoned at Riker's Island? Why wasn't he held at the local police precinct jail until arraignment the morning after his arrest? Very strange!

Dominique Strauss-Kahn was very involved with Hank Paulson, former Secretary of the Treasury when the Too Big to Jail Banks failed. He wanted to dissolve the U.S. dollar and he wanted a global currency controlled by the IMF. And there is no doubt that Strauss-Kahn is a major player in trying to bring down the U.S. dollar. He's up to his armpits in a plan designed to absorb the Federal Reserve System and the central banks of Europe and Japan into the International Monetary Fund. This has been obvious since politicians around the world began supporting compatible international banking regulations. As I have said many times, once a world economy is established, creating world government is child's play.

So, perhaps the most interesting question to ask is: Was Strauss-Kahn led into his merry adventure by those trying to save the United States – or by those who are trying to destroy it? Or, does this just exemplify the dwindling sexual prowess of an aging man who confuses power of job with individual power? Is this an "I did it because I could" power story gone awry?

The plan has failed – this time. They'll be back. But eventually someone is going to be held accountable. I also said, long ago, that George Soros moved too fast with his socialist agenda after the 2007 derivatives/real estate bubble burst at Lehman Brothers. Soros was raised in communist Hungary under the old Soviet system. Perhaps that makes it make it difficult for him to evaluate the impact Americans have when they've had enough political corruption, do things like start Tea Party groups, and set about changing things – including who represents them.

Perhaps Mr. Soros will eventually need to answer to those who provided his original funding to de-stabilize America's economy.

MORE CORRUPTION… and it is huge.

Everyone shakes their head about the lack of Wall Street prosecutions when so much evidence exists as to the unlawful conduct of so many people. Well, a 650-page report has just been released by a Senate Subcommittee on Investigations.

Oklahoma Republican Senator Tom Coburn and Michigan Democrat Senator Carl Levin serve as co-chairs and their recently-released report provides evidence of a Wall Street crime spree.

Senator Levin has requested federal prosecutors to review the possibility of bringing perjury charges against Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein, along with present and former employees who gave Congressional testimony last year. Hopefully, Levin will be more successful than his past history evidences in getting more than a slap on the wrist for Wall Street Investment Banksters.

After a two-year investigation, Senator Levin says Goldman Sachs lied to clients regarding securities investments tied to real estate deals. The fraudulent behavior by Goldman Sachs focuses on collateralized debt obligations (CDOs).

What is a CDO?

In the old days, we had prime bank guarantees which had maturities of ten years plus one or 20 years plus one and paid 7.5 percent interest annually. All of the yields were based on credit card interest rates which were, generally, 18 percent. Investors bought prime bank guarantees and they, the investors, earned 7.5 percent. The bank made money by selling the credit card debt to investors and, in the process, reduced its potential for loan losses. CDOs – or collateralized debt obligations – replaced prime bank guarantees. Today CDOs may contain high yield bonds or credit card loans, aircraft loans, car loans – yes, even mortgage loans. Investment banks buy different types of loans from financial institutions at a discounted rate and mold them together, layer upon layer (tranches), into CDOs.

Why do you need to know this?

Because this is core of the problem. It is the venue used to try and bankrupt your country – and, concurrently, to turn you, the American taxpayer, into a slave for a handful of elitists. If you're going to be – had – I hope you want to know by whom and why.

It gets back to the need to stop letting issues divert you and solve the problems that enable and allow the issues in the first place. What we are discussing here is problems, not issues.

A year ago, Goldman Sachs CEO Blankfein denied under oath that his company had taken "short" positions against the housing market – you remember mortgage-backed derivatives that drove our real estate values into the tank? He testified: "Much has been said about the supposedly massive short Goldman Sachs had on the U.S. housing market.

The fact is, we were not consistently or significantly net 'short the market' in residential mortgage-related products in 2007 and 2008. We didn't have a massive short against the housing market and we certainly did not bet against our clients."

I see what Senators Coburn and Levin mean by "perjury."

Here we go with another term the average person doesn't understand. "Shorts." No. It's not something clean a man puts on after a shower; not in the world of investment banking.

When one invests in "shorts," one bets something is going to take a loss. If I think the price of silver is going to drop, I'll buy silver shorts – like Bear Stearns did, for example. Only silver didn't go down, it went up, up, up. When Bear Stearns failed and was purchased, the silver shorts were inherited by J.P. Morgan Chase. JPMC was facing a multi-billion dollar loss until about two weeks ago – and, like magic, silver began dropping in value. Now there's something to look into, Senator Levin.

A point needs to be made here because it references information I have presented to you before and which can now be clearly seen to have been not only important, but critical.

Well over a year ago, I wrote a series of three articles about Ambassador Lee Emil Wanta. In that series, I referenced the offers he made to the Bush Administration to purchase Lehman Brothers and, later, Bear Stearns.

As you may recall, Lehman Brothers had become one of the largest financers of mortgage loans in the nation when, a year or so earlier, it owned mortgage companies that wrote over $100 billion in sub-prime and liar loan mortgages. That way, the company could package worthless derivatives and sell them worldwide. It was one method Lehman Brothers used to save its neck from the financial chopping block. It needed a huge number of mortgages to put into derivatives so they could be sold and Lehman Brothers could financially survive another day. This was a major portion of the derivative base, sold internationally, that went sour and sent real estate values down the tubes globally. The United States real estate market isn't on its way to recovery even yet as a result of this unlawful activity.

Had President George W. Bush given Wanta access to his own funds – funds the Court had decided were his and that were being unlawfully withheld from him by the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department – he could have, as he offered to do, bought Lehman Brothers. An audit would have been required. The audit would have identified the problem – and that is damning evidence of a cover-up at the highest levels, not just on Wall Street but in Washington, D.C. That audit could have saved all of us years of economic deprivation.

The same is true of Bear Stearns. Ambassador Wanta offered to buy that company – all he needed was access to his own money. It was, however, being otherwise used… perhaps hypothecated and invested by the investment banks and government agencies that hold it in accounts in his name. Again, the audit he would have required would have identified the silver shorts problem… but when you're involved up to your neck in something unlawful, you can't let someone find the problem.

Lee Wanta offered to buy these companies in writing… I have a copy of the offer. He was ignored. (I also have a copy of his offer to buy Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae who are still bleeding us dry!)

But back to my story about Goldman Sachs…

In essence, Goldman Sachs bought loans from financial institutions, put them into CDO investment products, made sales commissions selling them -- and shorted the investment. In other words, Goldman Sachs bet against the success of its own product -- but that didn't keep them from selling it to everyone else.

In one product called "Timberwolf," Goldman Sachs invested 36 percent in shorts on a billion dollars, part of this CDO's assets. Over one-third of the company's investment in its own product was that it would fail. And Blankfein said they had no remarkable "short" position in the real estate market? They not only had a significant short position, they shorted their own product! Perjury, indeed!

Goldman Sachs made $330 million on the shorts at, according to the Senate report, "the direct expense of the clients to whom Goldman had sold the Timberwolf securities."

Bear Stearns was failing and Goldman Sachs agreed to buy back $300 million of the Bear Stearns investment in Timberwolf – but at 96 cents on the dollar. It was a loss at a time the Bear couldn't afford one.

There is no doubt it takes time to tear down the rot that appears synonymous with "Wall Street" today.

I know this article is hard for most people to read. It's difficult to learn new terminology so you can follow what's happening – and it's hard to write about complex financial issues in limited space.

Is it important for you to know these things? As I say in my Introduction to my new book, Flight of the Black Swan, it's only important if you don't want your children and grandchildren to be slaves to the criminal elites of the world.

These are only two incidents of many that occurred this past week.

The question I asked in Paragraph #4: Is this a nation for which young people should be sent to die on foreign soil so our politicians can engage in nation building and investors can prosper in black gold – oil? The poppy (opium) crop was bringing Afghanistan $8 billion a year when we began opposing the Taliban in that nation. According to reports, it now brings in $93 billion a year.

You have your answer to the question. I have mine. And that's the way it should be.

© 2011 Marilyn M. Barnewall - All Rights Reserved

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Marilyn MacGruder Barnewall began her career in 1956 as a journalist with the Wyoming Eagle in Cheyenne. During her 20 years (plus) as a banker and bank consultant, she wrote extensively for The American Banker, Bank Marketing Magazine, Trust Marketing Magazine, was U.S. Consulting Editor for Private Banker International (London/Dublin), and other major banking industry publications. She has written seven non-fiction books about banking and taught private banking at Colorado University for the American Bankers Association. She has authored seven banking books, one dog book, and two works of fiction (about banking, of course). She has served on numerous Boards in her community.

Barnewall is the former editor of The National Peace Officer Magazine and as a journalist has written guest editorials for the Denver Post, Rocky Mountain News and Newsweek, among others. On the Internet, she has written for News With Views, World Net Daily, Canada Free Press, Christian Business Daily, Business Reform, and others. She has been quoted in Time, Forbes, Wall Street Journal and other national and international publications. She can be found in Who's Who in America, Who's Who of American Women, Who's Who in Finance and Business, and Who's Who in the World.

E-Mail: marilynmacg@juno.com

MATURITY AND MOTHERHOOD

By Marilyn M. Barnewall
May 8, 2011
NewsWithViews.com

Mother’s Day defines the word “change.”

Once a young woman has a baby, everything changes… from her most basic bodily functions to her life priorities. Mothers learn that the child, not themselves, is the center of the universe. Mothers change their priorities with an eye to making the world a better place. As mothers, women grow and mature… usually.

Motherhood is a reflection of God’s universal laws. One of the most basic is: All things live to maturity, level off and die unless injected with new life and new blood. The world and society are no exception. Universal law applies to everything and everyone.

And that’s the topic for this special day: living, maturing, and injecting the world with new life and new blood.

Do you ever stop and think about who’s running the country these days? I don’t refer here to specific people – like Barack Obama or Joe Biden or Valerie Jarrett. I refer here to a group.

Think back… go back to the 1960s. The Hippies carried, sang or preached a message. Do you remember what it was? They wanted to burn down the rotten establishment. They sang “Come Together.” And then the joke of life occurred (age) and they became the establishment they wanted to tear down. The very thought of all those little grubs turning into establishment hacks makes me laugh! But it’s not funny. Not really.

They weren’t all wrong, you know. They saw early on the rot that had already begun to permeate our government, corporations and institutions of “higher learning.” I use quotes because I know too many young people who graduate from high school and university today who are more indoctrinated than educated.

Some, like Bill Ayers and his fellow former Weather Underground terrorist wife, Bernardine Dohrn, told the world to "Kill all the rich people. Break up their cars and apartments. Bring the revolution home, kill your parents, that's where it's really at." There are a lot of ways to kill rich people… including taxing them to death. The Ayers of the world figured out the best way to destroy this Great Nation: Instead of blowing up government buildings from the outside, they figured out how to do it from the inside.

They created progressive liberalism so closely affiliated with socialism.

Reality is a dangerous place to live your life if you’re a person who really can’t do much of anything. With reality comes risk. Why? Because to change anything means risking what you have today for something better… the only way to change things.

Some people’s fight or flight buttons got permanently turned to “flight” at a very young age. When risk presents itself, they view it as something that must be “taken” – like a nasty dose of medicine. They do not understand that most people are comfortable viewing risk as something to manage. It usually requires hard work, but the learning experience is very fulfilling.

When the concept of risk intimidates you, the natural result is to avoid doing things. It’s the only way to avoid risk. So the sign carriers from the 1960s became the “I never really learned to do anything, but I’m very smart and can advise anyone about how to do just about everything” people.

And that’s the group of people now running our government and our economy. Think about it. What does a “community organizer” do? He organizes things. How do things get organized? The organizer tells other people what to do. Has he ever done the things he’s recommending? Oh, good heavens no! He has, however, been taught by a very intelligent socialist professor – like Professor Bill Ayers – how to solve problems.

One of the reasons we live in an age of administrators, one of the reasons President Obama can’t seem to make a decision without a committee of educated people who really have never done anything in life like run a business and thus can’t “do things,” is because the era of the 1960s is upon us. The anti-establishment people who never really learned to do things – especially they never learned to manage risk – now hold the reins of power. If anyone questions the truth of that statement, I urge them to look at the business experience of the Obama Cabinet and other advisers. Totally inexperienced – except they learned to be administrators and organizers. They learned from a text book, you see, to tell others what to do and how to do it. It matters not that they don’t know what they’re talking about and have never done anything but advise others.

And that’s why this administration is so far out of touch with the American people. In no place on earth are there citizens that provide so much “know how.” In Obama’s world, people provide “know who” and “know what.” They really do not understand the concept of “know how.” They’ve never done much other than tell others what to do. That’s their line of work. No wonder the President doesn’t understand how to create jobs in the private sector! No wonder Dr. Ben Bernanke understands economics but not the importance of day-to-day commercial banking!

I figured out a long time ago that my purpose in life was to find my purpose in life. It was to determine what I was capable of and to set out to achieve it. I took risks and I thrived on it… most people do. Were there failures along the way? You bet there were! There were also some pretty significant victories. Both stimulated personal growth. I learned. I matured. One of the biggest lessons I learned is that failure taught me nothing about how to succeed. Doing something wrong often teaches us little or nothing about how to do it right.

And that’s what worries me most this Mother’s Day about the political and economic situation that faces this country I so love.

Most people think the greatest loss that comes from communism is the loss of property and freedom. Both are great losses. But the greatest loss is what happens to the creative drive when it is overly protected from the reality of “doing things.” The imagination becomes lazy because under socialism, no imagination is required. Imagination is required to “do things” or to invent or change today’s horror into an American Dream. That’s why for so many years we led the world in innovative thought and discoveries.

When government takes over the responsibility for cradle to grave care, telling you where you can live, what your career will be, when you can have medical care and who will give it to you – even when you will die – you have no need to find solutions. Your creative drive dries up. Your imagination is stifled and suddenly it’s difficult to perform creative acts. It becomes impossible to conceive of a loving God because before faith imagination must do its job… and before imagination must come the freedom to imagine.

That is a significant thought to keep in mind as the importance of Mothers is honored today. Government is not a worthy mother and it never will be a good replacement.

When people talk about freedom, they frequently don’t think of what the word really means. They think of it in terms of freedom of religion or freedom to live where they want or to be rewarded for the 80-hour weeks they worked to build their own business. But before faith can be generated within us, we must first be able to imagine the concept of God… of a Creator. That’s why God can only be worshipped as a matter of choice in a free nation. Our forefathers and mothers were willing to lay down their lives so we could have freedom. We may have to make similar decisions. One thing motherhood teaches us is that the only real security lies inside of each of us, not in government.

That is what makes the battle for freedom worthwhile. No matter what else you do, do not let the administrator and organizer do-nothings change you to their form. Do not think for one moment things will remain relatively the same under a socialist form of government because they will not. The greatest change will be in the character of the people living in this country. We’ve already lost a lot of that battle and our young people suffer the lack of character that results.

It’s true that the rate of productivity in America has increased, but that’s because of technology, not creative energy. As the former has gone up, the latter has gone down. Productivity is dependent upon our ability to do things, not tell others how to do something we’ve never done.

Productivity is dependent upon business owners having confidence that the freedom to be creative will be here not just next year, but ten years after that. If not, a lack of confidence will prevent the risk of investment dollars in business and job growth.

And that is why this Administration cannot stimulate business and job growth.

It’s like having a child. You are no longer the center of the universe – which implies a certain growth that motivates humility. We certainly have not seen this kind of maturity – the kind that results in humility and realizing one’s smallness in this vase universe – in the White House for some time.

In the end analysis, the greatest gift government can give to honor Mothers this day is an environment free of government administrators and organizers who have never really achieved anything in their lives and whose bothersome presence prevents free enterprise from making the world a better place to be.

All things live to maturity, level off and die. Motherhood usually helps achieve maturity. So, too, does the Presidency. Nothing, however, is certain in life.

© 2011 Marilyn M. Barnewall - All Rights Reserved

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Marilyn MacGruder Barnewall began her career in 1956 as a journalist with the Wyoming Eagle in Cheyenne. During her 20 years (plus) as a banker and bank consultant, she wrote extensively for The American Banker, Bank Marketing Magazine, Trust Marketing Magazine, was U.S. Consulting Editor for Private Banker International (London/Dublin), and other major banking industry publications. She has written seven non-fiction books about banking and taught private banking at Colorado University for the American Bankers Association. She has authored seven banking books, one dog book, and two works of fiction (about banking, of course). She has served on numerous Boards in her community.

Barnewall is the former editor of The National Peace Officer Magazine and as a journalist has written guest editorials for the Denver Post, Rocky Mountain News and Newsweek, among others. On the Internet, she has written for News With Views, World Net Daily, Canada Free Press, Christian Business Daily, Business Reform, and others. She has been quoted in Time, Forbes, Wall Street Journal and other national and international publications. She can be found in Who's Who in America, Who's Who of American Women, Who's Who in Finance and Business, and Who's Who in the World.

E-Mail: marilynmacg@juno.com