August 5th Primary Day
by Bruce McLellan on 08/03/10
Well, another primary campaign season draws to a close here in the Volunteer State. Are you happy with the Congressional candidates who appear to be leading? It was just a matter of time before the masks came off and they jumped into the mud-pit with negative ads and personal attacks, allowing their true nature and character to finally surface for all to see. Instead of YOUR best interests at heart, talking about the issues and even bothering to try and come up with any useful solutions to our nation's problems, they decided to end their campaigns with one big "food fight". Careful boys and girls, your greed for the office and its pot of gold is beginning to show! And you can't help but begin to wonder if its such a good idea to be replacing one politician with yet another politician and expect to see much of a difference.
Aren't we tired yet of the same old, same old? Wouldn't it be nice to just teach these cats a lesson. Ahh, wait! I just thought of a way. There is still a candidate out there who still maintains he's a "citizen's representative" of the people and best of all he has never been a politician, but who has a background that makes him uniquely qualified for Congress. You can take his words to the bank, and he wouldn't mind getting a chance to go to Washington and thump some heads. And while the other candidates were spending their huge bankrolls on signs, ads and commercials that said nothing, this candidate was at home doing his homework and research coming up with ideas and solutions to this nation's biggest problems to get this economy turned around and the job market to come back. He's PROVEN he does have your best interests at heart.
Just something to think about.
Are We There, Yet?
by Bruce McLellan on 08/03/10
At what point do we throw up our arms and shout, "Enough is enough!"
And as the song goes, Clowns to the left, jokers to the right, here I am stuck in the middle again. They're coming at us from all sides, folks. They're relentless!
Washington (AP) -- Five environmental groups want the EPA to ban lead in ammunition and fishing tackle, arguing that millions of animals are dying from eating lead-shot pellets or carcasses contaminated with lead. The American Bird Conservancy filled a 100-page petition with the Environmental Protection Agency, Tuesday, seeking the ban under the Toxic Substances Control Act. The petition includes hundreds of scientific studies which the groups say demonstrates the harm lead does to wildlife. The National Shooting Sports Foundation, a trade group, called the petition an "anti-hunting attack on traditional ammunition." It said there is no evidence lead ammunition is having an adverse impact on wildlife populations.
All I can say is, if I get to Washington, this is just one of the many federal agencies that are "on my list"!
What Happened to the Right of Privacy?
by Bruce McLellan on 07/26/10
U-S Constitution's Fourth Amendment-
"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cuase, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized." Basically, the right to privacy, the right to be left alone.
Did you know...that Congress has recently passed legislation that makes it not only permissible, but as a matter of law, mandatory, that all the major on-line businesses such as eBay and Amazon, and the like, provide the government a record, through data collection, for every purchase you as an American citizen make, and someone in Washington is keeping a record of your purchases online?
Did you know...that Congress has recently passed legislation that makes it not only permissible, but as a matter of law, mandatory, that your credit card companies provide a record of your credit card use and purchases, through data collection, and someone in Washington is keeping a record of your purchases of goods and services?
Did you know...that Congress has recently passed legislation that makes it not only permissible, but as a matter of law, mandatory, that your banks now provide your records, through data collection, of all your savings and checking activity. And each and every one of the checks you write and to whom and for what, is now being kept by someone in Washington?
Did you know...that Congress has recently passed legislation that makes it not only permissible, but as a matter of law, mandatory, that any buyer or seller of gold, whose purchase or sale is in an amount in excess of $600, an IRA 1099 must be filed with the government so they have a record? (this was sneaked through in the healthcare law)
Did you know...that Congress has recently passed legislation that makes it not only permissible, but as a matter of law, mandatory, that all medical records of American individuals be placed on-line, to provide the government, through data collection, all of your private medical history, treatments, procedures and drugs, and someone in Washington is keeping a record of your private medical files?
So just how safe and secure does all this make you feel, knowing federal bureaucratic drones somewhere in Washington have a hold of copies of your most important and private information and records. And when they're not busy earning their $100,000 salaries by using most of their days on government computers visiting porn sites and in personal chat rooms, they could easily turn their mischief over to your personal files. With Identity Theft easily the number one growing problem which destroys people's lives, doesn't it make you feel safe and secure, knowing that all of your most sensitive, confidential and personal information is now in countless computers in Washington's most trusted work environment?
Okay, here's the tough part, boys and girls, so put on your thinking caps. Can anyone come up with a good, legitimate reason for our government to be collecting all of this personal, private information from every law-biding American citizen?
Let's review- "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated...."
Now, maybe it's just me, but I think our government has now entered our most personal and most private areas of our lives. They no longer have a need to come into our homes for they now know everything that's in there through all our credit card purchases and banking and checking records. They also know how much money we make, how much we save, how much we spend and where we spend it. They even know if we're buying gold or not. And if all that is not personal enough for you, they now will have all your medical records, and with it, all of your problems and all of the reasons for employers not to hire you or insurance companies not to insure you. I'm sure that will never get abused. Just like I'm sure the 77-million Baby-Boomers never thought Congress would rob their Social Security trust funds!
Have I made my point, yet? My council of town idiots are all nodding their heads in the affirmative, Even they get it.
2nd Amendment
by Bruce McLellan on 07/19/10
I just don't understand what's so difficult about our 2nd amendment rights and the people who have problems with interpreting the words. I heard just today that if the bubbly Elena Kagan gets voted into the Supreme Court then we're only one Justice away from getting the 2nd amendment banned. What?
I'm sure just recently you heard of the Supreme Court's ruling on whether poor old Mr. McDonald, a resident of Chicago, had the right to own a gun. What? It seems that Mr McDonald had lived in his house all his life, but his neighborhood had transitioned from a nice friendly place into one of drugs and street gangs. He had already been burglarized three times and he feared for his very life! But the fair-minded Democratic leaders of the windy city said he didn't have such a right and barred him from getting one. Fortunately the Supreme court ruled in his favor but unfortunately, it was not a unanimous decision. But wait, it gets even better.
Remember Sotomayor's confirmation hearings and how she told the Senate, quote: "I understand the individual right, fully, that the Supreme Court gave Heller." And, "I understand how important it is to bear arms for many, many Americans." Uh-Huh...but in the 5-4 McDonald decision she helped write the dissenting opinion, which stated, "In sum, the Framers did not write the 2nd amendment in order to protect the right of armed self-defense." WHAT?
Okay, so let me see if I got this right. Sotomayor, a judge, goes into the sacred chamber of the U-S Senate, takes an oath to tell the truth in her confirmation hearings and then brazenly lies to the Senators' questions with answers they want to hear. She gets confirmed based on those lies, and figures to dance to the light of the silvery moon for the rest of her life on the bench of the highest court in the land, to base her rulings on the letter of the law which is founded on the U-S Constitution, and in her first legal ruling as a Supreme Court Justice, she goes against that same U-S Constitution. I know this would be asking for too much, but it would only take one member of the House of Representatives to file impeachment proceedings against Sonia, baby, and then a majority of Representatives to indict and hand her back to the Senate for her Impeachment trial, where she can then try and explain how she lied to their faces, broke her solemn oath to tell the truth, and while she was at it, explain the difficulty in intepreting the Second Amendment. Not a stellar way to start off as a new member of the Supremes.
Sonia, baby, let's see if I might be able to help you out. Here's the Second Amendment: "A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." If you need help with interpreting those 27 words, might I suggest you listen to the man who wrote them..."I ask, sir, what is a militia? It is the whole people. To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them" - George Mason, Co-Author of the 2nd Amendment, speaking to the Virginia Convention to ratify the Constitution - 1788 ...need more help in determining the mood of the time when the words were written?
"Firearms stand next in importance to the Constitution, itself. They are the American people's liberty teeth and keysone under Independence...from the hour the pilgrims landed to the present day, events, occurences and tendencies prove that to ensure peace, security and happiness, the rifle and pistol are equally indispensable...the very atmosphere of firearms anywhere restrains evil interference - They deserve a place of honor with all that's good." George Washington, First President of the United States.
Boy, you can't get any clearer than that. So let's get back to Old McDonald in Chicago, and how the city reacted to the High Court's ruling. Why, they first kicked dirt in the direction of Washington and then immediately passed new laws banning the sale of guns and ammunition inside the city. Just what part of "Shall not be infringed" do you NOT understand? This is just another great illustration of how they keep trying to chip away at our liberty and freedoms. And if you haven't noticed it yet, it always seems to be coming from the Democratic side of the aisle.
Assault is a behavior, not a device. 80-million firearms owners killed no one yesterday! Gun ownership is at an all time high. Coincidentally, new FBI figures out show Violent Crime at a 35 year low; Murder at a 43 year low. States with right to carry laws have lower violent crime numbers, on average, that those states without right to carry laws.
In Liberty and for Freedom's sake-
Bruce McLellan, Republican Candidate for Congress - 6th District
Obituary printed in the London Times
by Bruce McLellan on 07/07/10
Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.
He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:
-Knowing when to come in out of the rain; -Why the early bird gets the worm; -Life isn't always fair; -and maybe it WAS my fault.
Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge)
His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-yr old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspending from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.
Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disiplining their unruly children. It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotions of an aspirin to a student, but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.
Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims. Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.
Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement. Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents, Truth and Trust, by his wife, Discretion, by his daughter, Responsibility, and by his son, Reason.
He is survived by his four stepbrothers - I Know My Rights, I Want It Now, Someone Else To Blame, and I'm A Victim.
Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone, and the younger generation had never heard of him.
On This Date - 234 Years Ago
by Bruce McLellan on 07/04/10
When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with cenrtain unalienalbe Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness - That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed - That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. - Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies, and such is how the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained, and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people unless those people would relinquish the right of Represenation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable and distant from the deposity of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assnet to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us.
For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these States
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world.
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent.
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury.
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences.
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies.
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments.
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Gvernment here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging Wat against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation, and tryanny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the excecutioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms. Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people/
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement there. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces out Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representiatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the recitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all poitical connections between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do - And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutally pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.
234 years ago, to the day, 56 men stepped forward and signed their names to this parchment, and today I have presented it to you. For some, this may have been the first time you have read it. As you were reading the long list of grievances our Founders provided, did you not feel a cringe or two as you undoubtedly compared a few of them with what is happening in our country today?
If you'll let me, while it's still fresh in your head, here is a ten minute video on the Nine Key Concepts you should know about the Declaration you just read, and in doing so, you will end up with a knowledge that 90% of Americans don't know.
If you'd like to go the extra mile and see not only how the Declaration of Independence and the U-S Constitution fit together hand-in-glove, but that they were designed to work together, view this four-minute video.
Happy Birthday, America...and God Bless.
Bruce McLellan
Memorial Day (Decoration Day)
by Bruce McLellan on 05/23/10
Friends and Neighbors -
Well, we're about to walk through the gateway into another summer. Memorial Day always seemed to be the gateway for me, just as Labor Day signaled the end. It seems that everytime I get serious about starting another diet, along comes a holiday weekend and with it childhood memories of friends, family, cookouts and great food. Drat! It just seems to me downright unamerican to go into this weekend munching on celery stalks and carrot sticks when an outdoor grill beckons with summer holiday delicacies! The smart money is betting against me getting through this weekend without a major, yet admittedly tasty "slip". My picture might take a little bit longer at getting onto this website.
On a more somber note, let's not forget what this weekend is all about, as we make our way to gravesites to place flowers and adornments for those no longer with us, and for the soldiers that gave the ultimate sacrifice. I'll never forget the time I traveled to Arlington on Memorial Day and witnessed all those gravesites with American flags in all the rows ... the silent guard at the tomb of the Unknown ... the flickering flame at John F. Kennedy's grave. You can't help but be moved forever by the experience.
Please have an enjoyable, memorable and safe holiday weekend, and please remember to stand with hand on the heart during the parade when the flag passes by.
Your candidate for Congress
Bruce McLellan
Greetings and Salutations
by Bruce McLellan on 05/23/10
Hello to my friends, neighbors and fellow Tennesseans,
My name is Bruce McLellan and I'm running to become your representative in Washington, in the sixth Congressional seat. Talk about a whole slew of 'firsts' for me, as I never ran for anything before. I'm just so hoppin' mad I can no longer see straight! I've spent the last several years on my computer, pestering the daylights out of all my friends over how this country is going to hell in a handbasket, that I finally decided I had to do something about it if no one else would, and so here I am pestering the daylights out of you! The first thing you're going to notice with my website is that there is a lot of stuff on it, compared to other candidates' websites. That's because I got into this race a bit later than the rest and since they are already well heeled in campaign funds, and I'm still trying to manage this thing on a shoestring, that I had better use this website to try and get some of my personality across as well as a touch of my humor, along with not only where I stand on the issues, but letting you know that I have some actual SOLUTIONS in mind. I know, what a concept, someone who is actually willing to give more than a 20-second soundbite or a two minute answer in a debate that I was never invited to. That's okay, I'll do more with this website than any 15 minute public appearance would do. Make no mistake about it, there is a reason for everything I've put up on this website, as I think it will tell you not only who I am, but what I am, what makes me tick and what made me into the person I am today. In other words, I'm giving you a "window" into my world. I don't hedge around topics and issues and you'll know rather quickly where I stand and if it's where you stand, too. So, hop aboard and do some reading and some window shopping, using your mouse as a guide. Hint- there's even stuff hidden behind the flags!
I've experienced other "firsts" as well. Being somewhat computer ignorant, I can't believe I actually learned how to construct a website. I mean I did all of this on my own, which is one of the reasons why it wasn't up sooner. And the last of the "firsts" is - asking people for money. I've never in all my life ever asked another person for money. And if anything is going to sink this ship, it may be over that one thing as I am having a hard time bringing myself into doing it. So, I'll just part by saying that if you like what I have to say, or you've enjoyed your visit on my website watching the videos, listening to the music and getting that old patriotic feeling back, then you know what you can do to help out.
Talk to you soon,
Bruce
