The Mojave Cross was erected in the Mojave Desert of California in 1934. It was set up by a group of World War I veterans to honor the over 50,000 U.S. soldiers who lost their lives in that war defending freedom. It became a place where veterans of WW I and all of the subsequent wars fought by our soldiers came to heal their wounds, both physical and psychological. It is a monument to the brave men and women who have sacrificed their all to preserve our country.

            Then it came under attack by the ACLU because it was on property owned by the U.S. Government and according to the left wing ACLU that was a violation of the Constitutional provisions that require separation of “church and state”. In fact, there is no such language in the Constitution. However, in order to protect this war memorial to our veterans the Congress of the United States acted several years ago to transfer the land that contains the cross to a private organization, the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW).

            Of course, the ACLU challenged this as unconstitutional and a Federal Court of Appeals ruled that the cross must be removed. However, since the case was being appealed to the United States Supreme Court, it was ordered that the cross be covered so no one could be offended by it while the Supreme Court considered the case. Then, this year, the Supreme Court ruled that the transfer was legal and sent the case back to the original District Court to modify its ruling. The cross was finally uncovered and veterans could again kneel in its shadow and remember their fallen comrades.

            This apparently infuriated those on the far left who despise our nation and the military veterans who have defended it. The cross has recently been torn down and removed by cowardly individuals who acted under the cover of darkness. The VFW has offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to the capture and prosecution of those responsible and has also vowed to rebuild the cross. The ACLU is already moving to prevent that.

            However, what I find most interesting is the response of the so-called national news media to this story. Most of the media has ignored the story with the exception of NBC, MSNBC, and ABC. Those news sources have speculated that the theft of the cross must have been done by “metal scavengers”. That is ridiculous because the few dollars that would be gained by the metal in the cross would not be enough to cause anyone to risk the destruction of a national monument and the possible repercussions.

            This matters little to the far left media that is intent on protecting anyone who would destroy the values that most Americans hold dear. Just take a look at what else has happened in this atmosphere of “Political Correctness”. On May 5^th, high school students in California were sent home because they wore patriotic clothing with the American Flag to school when the school was celebrating “Cinco de Mayo, a Mexican Holiday. The students were told that the depiction of the American flag might offend the Mexican students in the school. On the same day, a student in Houston, Texas took down a Mexican flag that was prominently displayed in his school. His mother had called the school to protest the fact that the flag was displayed but her calls were ignored by the school administrators. The student was suspended for his actions.

            Both of these incidents occurred in schools within the United States in schools funded by the people of the United States who pay for these schools with their taxes. Also, in the last few days the cities of San Francisco and Los Angeles, California have decided to punish the State of Arizona for enforcing Federal immigration laws against illegal immigrants. These cities have announced that they will void legal contracts with the state of Arizona because they have dared to enforce the law.

            Unfortunately, that is just the beginning of the attacks on our rights under the 1^st Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. A recent decision by the United States Supreme Court dealt a severe blow to the Obama Administration’s efforts to take control of the Internet. The decision basically said that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) had no Constitutional authority to regulate the Internet. Yet, the FCC is now moving to declare the Internet a “public utility” and regulate it anyway. This action would allow the FCC to decide what providers are licensed to provide Internet services and the ultimate goal is to eliminate most of the conservative websites on the Internet. In other words, the blog you are reading now and the link to my radio show, titled “Our Constitution” will disappear. You will only be allowed to access sites that support the Obama Administration’s efforts to turn our nation into a Socialist nation with none of our basic Constitutional freedoms intact.

            In the meantime, there are bills making their way through Congress that would provide Obama with other ways to not only control the content of the Internet, but also the content of television and radio broadcasting. Then, we have the statements by the President’s newest nominee to the Supreme Court, who has said that she supports limits on free speech when they contradict government mandates or leftist positions. A prime example is her efforts to ban military recruiters from the Harvard University campus despite the fact that this violated the law.

            When our founding fathers wrote the Constitution and then added the Bill of Rights it was not meant to be a “living document” that evolved over time and was subject to change at the whim of the President, Congress, or even the Courts. In fact, its provisions were set in stone so that the basic and inherent freedoms of the American people could not be altered. One of the most important mandates was the one that provided for a free press. It was believed that the press would always be there to question the actions of the Federal government and let the people of our country know when the government was trying to infringe our rights.

            Unfortunately, we now find ourselves in a situation where much of the so-called “mainstream news media” is siding with the current administration and only reporting what it is told to report. It is even calling for restrictions on those members of the media who dare to disagree with the Obama Administration. This is unprecedented in our history and we must respond. For example, the NBC television network and its affiliates such as MSNBC are effectively propaganda organizations for the left wing agenda. This is not just true in the news programming, but even the network’s entertainment shows are filled with anti-American propaganda. As a result, I don’t watch any programs on NBC and I encourage others to take the same position. The sponsors of this network will soon get the message. In fact, recent reports indicate that the network has severe financial problems.

            The bottom line is that since the American Revolution it has always been the people of the United States of America who have taking the definitive action to defend our Constitution and the freedoms that we hold dear. Many have done it, and continue to do so, by offering their lives on the battlefield as members of the military. Others have done it by speaking out on the home front and refusing to spend money with those businesses or groups that will ultimately use these funds to undermine our way of life.

            As Americans, we have always been in a position to control our own destiny. That must continue now in our defense of the 1^st Amendment that is under constant attack. We have the power with our votes, our money, and our right to disagree with those who seek to control us. We must exercise it aggressively in order to defend our Constitution.  

As we wait for the Obama Administration and the Democratic leadership in Congress to make their next moves to force unconstitutional legislation like “Health Care Reform” and “Cap and Trade” down the throats of Americans there are other battles dealing with our Constitutional liberties that need to be addressed. Many of these assaults on our Constitution, our traditions, and even our history are occurring at the local and state levels and in our educational institutions.

            It is most often being done under the guise of “political correctness” a movement that has rapidly evolved from trying to encourage individuals to be more polite to each other and more sensitive to the use of language that might offend someone to an attempt by the far left to control the speech, thoughts, and actions of the American people. These blatant attempts to turn us into unthinking drones who only parrot the ideas that are deemed correct by the PC movement are aimed almost entirely at those who support the American way of life and the freedoms that most of us cherish. The effort has proven to be far reaching with PC edicts being enforced not only on public property but in private areas such as business offices and even homes.

            Some of the more recent examples include:

            A pastor and his wife in San Diego County, California were ordered by the county to stop inviting friends to their home to have dinner and engage in Bible study unless they pay thousands of dollars to the government for a permit to hold a “religious assembly”. It should be noted that the school district in this same county has set aside special times during the school day for Muslim students to engage in prayer on school property. No students of any other religions are granted the same privileges.

            In May of 2009 a woman who worked in a hospital in Mansfield, Texas proudly put up an American flag in her office prior to Memorial Day in order to honor the service of her husband and two sons who had served in the U.S. military and her daughter that was currently serving in Iraq as a combat medic. However, the flag did not stay up long because when she came into work one morning she found that the flag had been removed, wrapped around its pole, and unceremoniously tossed onto the floor in a corner.

            The lady in question, Debbie McLucas, learned that the flag had been declared offensive by another woman who worked in the office, an immigrant from Africa, and therefore the hospital had ordered it removed. When the media picked up on the story the hospital responded to the public outcry by letting Mrs. McLucas put the flag back up.

            During that same week a disabled Marine and a veteran of the Vietnam War was ordered by the President of the Homeowners Association where he lived to remove bumper stickers form his car that supported the Marine Corps. They were deemed to be “unacceptable advertising” and he was told that if they were not removed his car would be towed and he would be fined for any further displays.

            There are many more examples of this type of action around the country yet they almost pale in comparison to what is happening in our institutions of public education from elementary schools to universities. The so called “progressives” have taken almost complete control of many of our schools and are enforcing their version of political correctness on students and teachers and even trying to rewrite textbooks to alter American history to make it more politically correct.

            One of the most extreme examples involves a battle in the State of Texas where the 15 member Texas State Board of Education is currently considering changes to the American history textbooks used in the public schools. These same textbooks will be used not just in Texas, but in school districts throughout the United States. Radical left wing organizations such as the Texas Freedom Network, which is the state affiliate of the People for the American Way, and other similar groups, are demanding that all mention of American heroes like Nathan Hale, Daniel Boone, and General George Patton be removed from the history books.

            They are also insisting that any references to Columbus Day, Independence Day, and Christmas be removed. Other actions include replacing the term American with “global citizen” and replacing the reference to “expansionism and free enterprise” with “imperialism and capitalism’. In fact, many of the changes are designed to portray the United States as an evil force in the world. However, as outrageous as this is, the demands go even further. The progressives actually want to rewrite some of our most revered documents to make them politically correct. For example, has been proposed that the wording of the Declaration of Independence be altered.

            According to Mat Staver, founder of the Liberty Council, one of the most important portions of the Declaration will be eliminated in these textbooks. The section that states: “We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life liberty and the pursuit of happiness” will be changed by removing everything in that sentence following the phrase “that all men or created equal”. In other words, American school children are to be prohibited from reading any reference to our “Creator” in the Declaration of Independence. As I write this article, the vote by the board is considered too close to call.

            Of course, these efforts to serve up political propaganda to our students in the public schools is exactly in line with what has been happening for years in many of our institutions of higher education. Many universities have managed to eliminate most professors who do not adhere entirely to progressive ideas being promoted on the campuses. There are a growing number of cases where universities are attempting to force groups of Christian or politically conservative students off of the campus entirely.

            In addition, left wing professors are openly attacking students in the classrooms who profess beliefs contrary to the beliefs espoused by these so called educators. Students are either being forced to go along with the left wing ideology they are being fed or risk receiving failing grades and in some cases denied their hard earned diplomas. Nowhere is this more evident than in a recent action being considered by the administration at the University of Minnesota.

            The university has formed a “Race, Culture, Class, and Gender” Task Force that has proposed that any student applying to get an education degree from the university will be screened to make sure they comply with the political and ideological views of the Task Force that are of course far to the left of the mainstream of America. If it is found that students do not conform to these “politically correct” beliefs they will either be denied admission or forced to attend “remedial” education courses to correct their beliefs. If they still refuse to conform they will be denied a diploma. In other words, freedom of speech, thought, and action protected under the 1^st Amendment of the U.S. Constitution will be officially eliminated at this taxpayer funded institution. If this takes hold I suppose we can all look forward to the “reeducation camps” that have always been a way that communist countries dealt with those who disagreed with the established order.

            It is time for Americans to stand up and proclaim that we are not willing to let our Constitution die for the sake of political correctness or any other catch phrase that will deny us the liberties that the members of our military have fought and died to defend for so many years. Our fight for the preservation of our heritage of freedom does not begin or end in the halls of Congress or the confines of Washington D.C. It must be fought in the State Legislatures, in the City Councils, and even in the local school boards. It is a fight we can’t afford to lose. It must be fought for our sake and those of our children.