Open Government Dialogue
« Back To OpenGov - Open Government Brainstorm

Nick Gerow

User Profile Image Nick Gerow
Member since : May-28-2009 (Verified)
1 Ideas, 4 Comments, 149 Votes

User Activity Stream

Ideas Posted

Reclaim America's Sovereignty! We are at the mercy of international banks due to decisions made without the American public's approval. The income tax, as it functions today, is a crime victimizing the poor and working class. The Constitution directly forbids a direct tax unless it is directly apportioned, meaning evenly distributed to every taxpayer. What do you think the first Revolution was fought over? Oppresive taxation! Audit the Fed to see what they do with our taxes, and be prepared to End the Fed if you find the kind of horrible things most people know you'd find if you could look. Find a fair way to pay off our debts to foreign nations. Stop policing the world; Jefferson knew we couldn't do that without being despotic, and he was right.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 4205 Ideas
12345678910….168169Next »

Comments Posted

Nick Gerow 9 months ago
"This Will All Go Away If You'll Just Prove Your Citizenship"? That means you're in charge of this spam project, right Joe Seales? You're not accomplishing anything other than greatly irritating real good-hearted American citizens trying to influence their crumbling government in any way they can.
And if you're as skeptical of Obama as you suggest, do you even really think he'll ever read a word of this site, let alone your spam?
Nick Gerow 9 months ago
Do you really believe that if nobody could prove they were American, we'd have no America anymore? I'm sorry if I offend, but I must say that telling everyone that we all "have to prove" anything just seems like a very impassioned but childish demand that has not been thought through all the way. Because that broad sweeping statement greatly oversimplifies the problem, it actually does violate specific Constitutional rights pertaining to the right to be secure in your effects against warrantless search & seizure. Nobody can demand anything of anyone who's done nothing wrong. And if you believe someone has done something wrong, we have a judicial system to deal with the problem fairly. And if the judicial system seems unfair, then there's a much bigger problem to focus on than the president's birth certificate. It's not an issue to blindly wave aside I'll agree, I admit I haven't voted either way on any of the birth certificate topics yet because I don't believe I will ever hold the proof in my hands one way or another, and anyway it really is just a waste of time to fixate on such petty things if you do believe there really is such rampant corruption running the nation aground this very moment.

The important thing to remember is that everyone's freedom extends only to the point where it would encroach on anyone else's. That includes Obama, the military, the police, you, me, and everyone. Anyway, the USA was not founded on "rights for those lucky enough to be born here", we were founded on a core belief that everyone in the world deserves the rights we fought to win for ourselves, whether or not any specific human can "prove" they're American. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to use this as an argument to convince people that we should let foreign-born people run for president while it's still against the law. I don't even think it would be a good idea to change the law. I just want to be sure that in your passion to expose a politician you believe is defrauding the nation, that you don't advocate un-American ends to justify American means. The same goes for torture advocates, anyone who claims to torture anyone in the interest of protecting Americans has already betrayed them, no matter how the results are spun in the corporate-sponsored mass media news(or "infotainment") programs.

I do agree that due to bad precedents we allowed previous presidents to set, the presidential pen now wields too much power and is absolutely corrupting. And no matter who takes office next, it will most likely be very difficult indeed to wrest that power back out of their(or any successive president's) hands. But those in power have effectively been above the law for years, there's nothing new going on here. Just entropy, which I agree is depressing and I do hope we all fight against it as long as possible. And I definitely agree that nobody should see Obama as a pure gleaming sacrificial lamb, because we must all remember he is only a politician. He will do exactly what we force him to do for us and nothing more, just like FDR or any president. He is not sending any messages to the public they haven't already got, if they've been paying attention. Politicians have been doing this much longer than anyone today has been alive. And of course I agree it's affecting the populace negatively to witness the death of accountability and transparency in government, even as the buzz words are constantly being paraded around us. But the sad thing is that we have no one Hitler to fight against, because of term limits. If you really want to know what I think, at this point the country really seems to be run by several Hitler-esque puppetmasters in the shadows( mostly international bankers and the like), and every 4 or 8 years they get a new puppet to dangle in front of everyone to keep them distracted. No president can be elected without submitting to their designs, so they are in effect running things. You're not going to stop them by demanding Obama's birth certificate, or demanding that everyone prove they're American. I believe you might have to go back to the drawing board, maybe spend more time studying effective grassroots movements to find achievable goals concerning your personal quest for "truth, justice, and the American way."

And if you really want to be accurate you'll have to admit that this country was founded by illegal aliens, meaning our founding fathers. This land was inhabited by several million native people living in relative harmony with their neighbors and their world, until we all but wiped out their societies so we could seize and capitalize upon the land's rich natural resources. But history books are written by the conquerors, so if you think about it who even knows what public schoolbooks will teach future children about our current society.

As for illegal immigrants refusing to become Americans, I think you oversimplify the situation. Knowing some illegal immigrants myself, and family and friends of illegal immigrants as well, it seems to me that most of them would love to become American citizens. But the process for achieving American citizenship is becoming more and more bogged down in red tape and fees, and less attainable for poor immigrants. Meanwhile, they need to work to eat, so companies take advantage of their illegal status to screw them out of fair treatment, just so their company can cut costs.

To villify poor people just struggling to provide for their families also definitely seems un-American. "Give me your poor, your hungry..." sound familiar? I know, I'm breaking out all the standard cliches here. You're probably going to call me a naive youngster again. But if you can't live up to the noblest American ideals, you could at least stop hate-mongering about waves of foreigners allegedly sucking our nation dry, when they're just trying to eke out a meager living and feed their families doing jobs you'd never want to do. Poor migrants keep this country running without a word of thanks, and all while getting the s*** end of the stick concerning wages, quality of life, and life expectancy rates. Are you protecting our founders' ideals about inviolable human rights, or are you protecting the relative privelege you were born into simply because luckily for you, your ancestors thoroughly screwed their ancestors over?

You and I both reference the Constitution as the basis for our argument, and I hope you can see why I do because I can see why you do. It's just that in my opininon, you're not thinking about the WHOLE Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Declaration, the Spirit of '76 and so on. Yes our world is very different from that of our founders', but they had seen the kind of tyranny we're seeing now and they tried to defend us from it with the various founding documents. But even they knew tyranny finds loopholes.

Outside Independence Hall when the Constitutional Convention of 1787 ended, Mrs. Powel of Philadelphia asked Benjamin Franklin,
"Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?"
With no hesitation whatsoever, Franklin responded,
"A republic, if you can keep it."

That doesn't mean "if you can keep it from usurpation by poverty-stricken foreigners" or "you should probably instruct the police to demand a person's papers if they look foreign." It just means that liberty is a constant struggle, which may never be permanently secured because power corrupts. Powerlessness does not corrupt, it actually seems to keep one honest. The poor you demonize don't even have sufficient resources to be significantly harmful to your way of life, but if they all disappeared you'd definitely be screwed. You might be surprised, but many illegal immigrants actually hold the traditional American ideals nearer their hearts than many "provably" American citizens who continue to take our remaining rights for granted. None value liberty more highly than those who have had just a small taste of it.

Suffice it to say, I really don't think the usurpers destroying our country are to be found in poor neighborhoods barely getting by, without fresh food and water. The healthiest, richest, most beautiful people in the world are more to blame for literally usurping disproportionate amounts of everything, if you want to be precise. The selfishness, hoarding, and greed of the elite ruling class are the biggest vampires currently draining our once-great nation.

I know it currently seems nearly impossible for regular citizens to run for office, or even to affect the actions of those already in office when it comes to specific issues(barring those few issues that can still threaten a candidate's electability, of course), but there are still venues out there to take. Sadly though, the big picture does look like an open society that's closing, similar to Germany in the '30s. If we really want to salvage our founding fathers' experiment, now is definitely the time to act. Get as many people together as possible united under similar principles, go to a local government function of your chosen party, and take over. It's been said before that this is how regular people can create a new system. Not by fighting the old model, but by making a new model that renders the old one obsolete.

So I am of the opinion that it's a despicable waste of time to get people caught up in a "birth certificate" movement online, when if you really believed what you were saying you should be rallying everyone to a much larger cause. You're not going to win any wars if you keep spending so much time & energy fighting such small battles. You have to choose your battles wisely, and focus energy where it actually has a chance of doing some good. If you simply wanted to spread awareness of this issue by flooding this site with petitions about it, then congratulations you've achieved that goal. I think it's safe to say the seed of doubt has already been planted in any minds that might possibly have been receptive to it. So what's your next move? Word of advice: you'll catch more flies with honey. Don't be so antagonistic, if you don't civilly welcome sincere debate your odds of winning anyone over are slim. You're not just here to try and force your views on everyone, are you? That tactic probably won't work, unless you're significantly wealthier than "O" and can afford to put more PR on the idiot box than he can ;)

Do you still really think Obama is a narcissist Hitler in the making, and that the buck stops at his desk? If you already believe that much I can't see how it's too much of a stretch to entertain the idea that the problem could reach far beyond Obama. If you can't concede that much, I would at least question your sincerity and at most stop talking to you, as you'd be beyond the grasp of reason.

Don't you realize that even if you did get Obama out of office, the man who took his place would just turn into another windmill for you to joust? Do you really expect to eventually beat the real puppeteers by continuing to fight each of their successive puppets? If you really want to improve things, become active in your community and encourage others to do so. Your circle of influence will grow over time to a considerable reach, and you might accomplish much. Also keep an open mind and consider every point of view. Remember that no one person(or group of people) has an exclusive lead on ultimate truth. It is up to each of us to eliminate divisive usage of race, class, age, nationality, sex, and all similar obstacles that spread hate and hinder our sacred quest for universal liberty and harmony. Humanity's greatest strength is in cooperative diversity, the practice of dividing people is only useful to those who would try to conquer them and we don't need any more conquerors.
Nick Gerow 9 months ago
I disagree with the broad, sweeping statement made in the title of this topic. To me, being an American means I don't have to prove it. We've always stood up against the kind of fascism that demands you "show your papers" or else. Of course it's different if you're the President, but if Obama doesn't have a real BC and he's gotten this far without it, that is a huge deal. If you feel with deep conviction that someone really should take him to court about it, then maybe you should make it happen yourself. Until you try to, you're not really spreading consciousness of your cause as much as you think by participating in online smear campaigns. You're mostly just frustrating honest citizens who are making a sincere attempt to take part in the legislative process, an effect I hope you weren't aiming for.
And anyway, it's been proven that "online activism" is important, but real world action is much more effective when you can accomplish it. And that's a fact everyone should try to remember, no matter the issue they promote.
Nick Gerow 9 months ago
Before I vote on this I just want to be clear, aren't you basically recommending a solution where we pump more fiat money into a system suffering from a problem created by fiat money in the first place? Isn't that just like taking a faster road to inflation and economic collapse? If I misunderstand the key argument I sincerely apologize, either way please illucidate.