And so we begin. With this post, I christen and initiate the “My View From The Eagle’s Perch” Blog as a forum wherein I can post my thoughts and opinions concerning my little corner of the world. My primary intent is to post my take on major and minor current events, news of the day items of interest to me, and the potential impact all of these events may have on our future as a nation. But, as an insatiable student of History, I will also, from time to time, post a few thoughts on historical events and how I believe those events have brought us to where we find ourselves today.
You may ask yourself, and rightly so, “Who is this guy “Eaglebeak” and what qualifies him to write with any authority on any subject? Both questions are equally valid. Sgt. Eaglebeak is a nickname that I acquired during my military service in the U.S. Air Force as a Survival Equipment Specialist and Parachute Rigger, from 1975 until 1983. When I began posting on message boards and blogs in the early 1990’s, I resurrected the pseudonym in order to maintain and protect my privacy, as well as to develop a persona through use of the name. I decided to continue the use of that persona when I decided to set up this blog as a means of recognition for those with whom I regularly conversed and sparred on those other forums who might wish to post here also.
By way of a thumbnail biography, I am a 52 year old heterosexual male, happily married to the love of my life and soul mate for nearly 33 years. I began an intensive self-study of American history about 4 years ago, focusing primarily on the period just prior to the Civil War through the early 1900’s progressive era presidency of Theodore Roosevelt. Politically, I am a life-long registered Republican, best described as a fiscal conservative and a social libertarian. With the exception of 4 or 5 elections, I have voted in every election since registering to vote nearly 35 years ago. I am an avid spectator of the so-called blood sport of politics.
With regard to my qualifications for posting my view on any topic I so choose, I am no more, nor any less, qualified than anyone else who has an opinion to express. AS I stated earlier, I have done so for many years on other forums. I am an observer of the world around me and as a result, have developed a few beliefs that color my view of that world. My posts on this blog will be largely drawn from these core beliefs.
My Beliefs:
1. All life is sacred and, as such, should be protected and defended. And that means ALL life! No other qualifiers are needed. The status of sacred applies to both pre-natal and post-natal, gay and straight, non-Caucasian and Caucasian, or any other subdivisions of human life you might care to offer as a qualifier.
2. Whatever your current status in life may be – socially, morally, culturally, economically, et al – that status is the result of the decisions, and choices, you have made over the course of your lifetime. You and you alone, bear the responsibility for whatever circumstances you find yourself in today. With each choice and decision you have made in your life, you placed yourself on a particular pathway to your life status today. Granted, not all of the available choices may have been good options, but the choices and decisions were ultimately yours. You chose to be where you are today.
3. It is a useless waste of my mental and physical energies, as well as my time, for me to worry and stress about those things in life over which I have either no control or influence. At best, worry and stress over such things and events negatively impacts my physical and/or mental health. At worst, it diverts my attention from those things over which I do have control and influence. I have learned that the list of things I can’t control far exceeds that list of what I can control. I believe that my time and efforts are better served focusing on what I can control or influence and leaving the stress and worry to others. That leaves me far more time to enjoy life and far lower blood pressure readings. Plus, it seems to really stress and worry other folks that I don’t stress and worry.
4. As a people living under the principles of government set forth in 1781 with the ratification of the U.S. Constitution, we are bound to observe, honor, and abide by those principles until such time that we, as a people, either amend, supplant, or replace that Constitution with another set of principles. The U.S. Constitution enumerated the form, functions, and responsibilities of every level of our government, placed restrictions on that government’s powers, and forever enshrined the fundamental rights of we, the people, who live under the protection of its guaranties. It must either be accepted, interpreted, and defended, according to the original intent of the framers. We cannot pick and choose those passages we approve of, or agree with, and disregard, or ignore, those passages we don’t approve of or agree with. It is not a living, breathing, evolving document that changes subject to the mood of the times. The original intent of its words is clear and unmistakable.
While we may, from time to time, discover topics on which we do not agree, I suspect that there will be more than a few on which we can find some degree of common ground. Whichever the case may be, I welcome your comments and input, with the proviso that all comments remain civil and accepting the possibility that, on some topics, we may simply have to agree to disagree. In any event, I welcome your point of view. I promise not to shy away from mine.
That’s my view……..what’s yours?
Sgt. Eaglebeak
You may ask yourself, and rightly so, “Who is this guy “Eaglebeak” and what qualifies him to write with any authority on any subject? Both questions are equally valid. Sgt. Eaglebeak is a nickname that I acquired during my military service in the U.S. Air Force as a Survival Equipment Specialist and Parachute Rigger, from 1975 until 1983. When I began posting on message boards and blogs in the early 1990’s, I resurrected the pseudonym in order to maintain and protect my privacy, as well as to develop a persona through use of the name. I decided to continue the use of that persona when I decided to set up this blog as a means of recognition for those with whom I regularly conversed and sparred on those other forums who might wish to post here also.
By way of a thumbnail biography, I am a 52 year old heterosexual male, happily married to the love of my life and soul mate for nearly 33 years. I began an intensive self-study of American history about 4 years ago, focusing primarily on the period just prior to the Civil War through the early 1900’s progressive era presidency of Theodore Roosevelt. Politically, I am a life-long registered Republican, best described as a fiscal conservative and a social libertarian. With the exception of 4 or 5 elections, I have voted in every election since registering to vote nearly 35 years ago. I am an avid spectator of the so-called blood sport of politics.
With regard to my qualifications for posting my view on any topic I so choose, I am no more, nor any less, qualified than anyone else who has an opinion to express. AS I stated earlier, I have done so for many years on other forums. I am an observer of the world around me and as a result, have developed a few beliefs that color my view of that world. My posts on this blog will be largely drawn from these core beliefs.
My Beliefs:
1. All life is sacred and, as such, should be protected and defended. And that means ALL life! No other qualifiers are needed. The status of sacred applies to both pre-natal and post-natal, gay and straight, non-Caucasian and Caucasian, or any other subdivisions of human life you might care to offer as a qualifier.
2. Whatever your current status in life may be – socially, morally, culturally, economically, et al – that status is the result of the decisions, and choices, you have made over the course of your lifetime. You and you alone, bear the responsibility for whatever circumstances you find yourself in today. With each choice and decision you have made in your life, you placed yourself on a particular pathway to your life status today. Granted, not all of the available choices may have been good options, but the choices and decisions were ultimately yours. You chose to be where you are today.
3. It is a useless waste of my mental and physical energies, as well as my time, for me to worry and stress about those things in life over which I have either no control or influence. At best, worry and stress over such things and events negatively impacts my physical and/or mental health. At worst, it diverts my attention from those things over which I do have control and influence. I have learned that the list of things I can’t control far exceeds that list of what I can control. I believe that my time and efforts are better served focusing on what I can control or influence and leaving the stress and worry to others. That leaves me far more time to enjoy life and far lower blood pressure readings. Plus, it seems to really stress and worry other folks that I don’t stress and worry.
4. As a people living under the principles of government set forth in 1781 with the ratification of the U.S. Constitution, we are bound to observe, honor, and abide by those principles until such time that we, as a people, either amend, supplant, or replace that Constitution with another set of principles. The U.S. Constitution enumerated the form, functions, and responsibilities of every level of our government, placed restrictions on that government’s powers, and forever enshrined the fundamental rights of we, the people, who live under the protection of its guaranties. It must either be accepted, interpreted, and defended, according to the original intent of the framers. We cannot pick and choose those passages we approve of, or agree with, and disregard, or ignore, those passages we don’t approve of or agree with. It is not a living, breathing, evolving document that changes subject to the mood of the times. The original intent of its words is clear and unmistakable.
While we may, from time to time, discover topics on which we do not agree, I suspect that there will be more than a few on which we can find some degree of common ground. Whichever the case may be, I welcome your comments and input, with the proviso that all comments remain civil and accepting the possibility that, on some topics, we may simply have to agree to disagree. In any event, I welcome your point of view. I promise not to shy away from mine.
That’s my view……..what’s yours?
Sgt. Eaglebeak
2 comments:
My view is that I'm your very first commenter. Looking forward to reading :)
I've told your neices all their lives, "Life is about choices. And, choose your friends, choose your future."
Looking at the narrowed field that we will be choosing (or sitting on our duff and letting others choose for us)from, I'm truly afraid of what will be done to our Constitution and our personal liberties.
Looking forward to seeing your take on both current and historical events.
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