GoodOldDaysDoug (@GoodOldDaysDoug)

The initial death knell for MY country, the United States of America, was sounded by the 34th congress (1855-1857) when they voted themselves an annual salary of $3,000. This action had MANY, far reaching and disasterous consequences, one of which was that it was the root cause of the so-called, "civil war." Anyone who doesn't KNOW that, simply cannot connect the dots. The FINAL death knell for MY country was sounded in 1917, when the, "government," illegally declared (in direct contradiction of the Constitution) that it had the authority to begin STEALING money from hard working American citizens under the guise of, "taxes." These two actions have led to the contemporary DESTRUCTION that is taking place. All one has to do to realize this, is to... connect the dots. I AM a conservative, patriotic, American who loves the country of my birth. I am not, by any stretch of the imagination an Historian, but I am a student of History, of the world in general, and America, in particular. When I go to my grave, I will take with me the knowledge that NONE of this was necessary, but was ONLY the product of human GREED! The God of the Universe GAVE us a chance, and... we blew it! I am not a fatalist, I will not give in, I will not submit, I will fight in any way open to me, but the bottom line remains the same; we were given the opportunity, and... we blew it!