The message below was written by a long time family friend, the Reverend Dr. James Brettell. Dr. Brettell met my dad in 1962 on the island of Trinidad. At that time, both of them were in the Navy. My dad was the Chaplain on the Navy base in Trinidad, Dr. Brettell was a Navy Corpsman. Dr. Brettell became a believer in Jesus Christ under my dad's ministry.
Dr. Brettell prefers to be addressed as Dr. Jim.
Dr. Jim wrote the message below. Please read it. I pray that everyone who reads it will comprehend the truth of what he writes.
Beloved friends,
Enough is enough. I have sent the following e-mail to my Congress-persons. Many in Congress have gone to Web-mail rather than e-mail, and some you would like to send to cannot be reached. If you are not in their district it’s nigh impossible to contact them without going through the U.S. mail, calling them by phone, or faxing them. My e-mail follows. It represents my thoughts as a citizen, who just happens to be a Christian and a Pastor.
Resting in Him,
Dr. Jim
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Beloved Congress-person:
I am 74 years old. I am a born-again Christian, a Pastor-Teacher, teaching God’s Holy Word to any who will hesitate long enough to listen. However, I write to you as a citizen of the United States. I am neither a Democrat nor a Republican. I am a conservative by choice. I am not persuaded by conservative talk-show hosts. I am an independent thinker. I need no one to tell me what to think or how to think. I am able to do that on my own. I have done so; I am doing so; and I’m quite disturbed.
I have given 9 years of my life in service to my country in the United States Navy. I served at the Naval Hospital in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, about a quarter of a mile from the now infamous prison. I have been inside that prison as a free-world sailor – but back around 1959, and that was before our President, Barack Obama, was born.
Barack Obama is my President. I will honor him as such, but I reserve the right to disagree with him – and contrary to popular opinion, if I happen to disagree with him, that does not make me a racist.
In addition, you, too, are an elected official responsible to represent your constituency. You were not elected to “vote your conscience,” although that idea is stated by many in your position. You are there to represent me and/or your constituents.
Are you blind? Do you suffer from spiritual myopia? Can you not see where this nation is headed? To this latter question, it appears that the answer is “No.”
If there is any truth to the following paragraph, I am overwhelmed with grief. I am not a violent man. I have not ulterior motives; but two weeks or so ago, I told my wife that I believe we are headed for a tax rebellion in this country. Lo, about a week later I learned that someone was being interviewed on the radio in the State of Arkansas and the one being interviewed had already collected 2,000 signatures in support of a tax rebellion. A few days later, I heard of another person somewhere on the east coast doing the same thing. Get it clear in your mind, there is opposition mounting out here at the grass roots level the likes of which you are not going to appreciate. It’s beginning. It’s here. It’s on the scene, and those of you in position of leadership had better get your eyes open and your heads on straight. You are either politically and economically naïve – I would hate you use the word ignorant – however, if that word describes you as an individual as someone who “just doesn’t get-it,” I suppose it would not hurt to use it.
Let's review some of our President’s most recent actions since he was inaugurated:
* His first call to any head of state as president was to Mahmoud Abbas, leader of Fatah party in the Palestinian territory.
* His first one on one interview with any news organization was with Al Arabia television.
* He ordered Guantanamo Bay closed and all military trials of detainees halted.
* He ordered all overseas CIA interrogation centers closed.
* He withdrew all charges against the masterminds behind the USS Cole and 9/11.
* Now, we learn that he is allowing hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refuges to move to and live in the US at American taxpayer expense.
On another thought -- throw-in the following:
“H.R. 40: Commission to Study Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act”
You’ve got to be kidding me. I have read the entire text of H.R. 40. I had nothing to do with slavery in this country. No one alive today had anything to do with slavery in this country; and you are going to spend 8 million dollars to study whether or not the U.S. Government should apologize for slavery that ended in 1865. Excuse me. How ignorant do you think I and others are out here at the grass roots level? And you’re going to consider whether people alive today should receive some form of remuneration for something that ended in 1865. Excuse me once again.
Some of the highest paid people in this country are African-Americans – just check the pay-checks of contemporary athletes.
What about black advancement in all arenas of life: The President of the United States, Congressmen and Congresswomen, Supreme Court Judges, Cabinet Officers, Governors of States, Mayors of Cities, professional athletes, college professors, school teachers, military officers at the highest level, radio and television personalities, and we could go on and on. Give me a break, sirs. Don’t talk to me about discrimination. Life is tough, and then you die. The problem in our country is not discrimination. We have a morality problem – and it’s rampant among all races and permeates our entire society from the halls of Congress to the streets of the smallest city in the U.S. Shall we begin by listing some examples in the halls of Congress? Oh, excuse me. I forgot. Government leaders forget, and are absolved of guilt. It’s me that goes to jail for the same “oversight.” Sorry, a mental lapse on my part. Is it any wonder that government official’s approval rating is so low – and plummeting about as fast as DOW Jones.
The housing crisis and the banking crisis in this country was not caused by that “fumbling/bumbling” George Bush. You’ll find the source of the problem with the “group” that forced banks to loan money to people who didn’t qualify and could pay. Hhhhmmmmm???? I wonder who that “group” that was?
I have a prediction – and we’ll see just how free my speech really is. The present liberal bias in our country will last four years – just long enough for President Barack Obama and our present liberal Congress to completely destroy the freedoms of the people they were elected to serve. Keynesian economics will destroy capitalism and the free-market economy. Government will seek to control every area of our lives. The conservative element in our country will react with such things as tax rebellion and strong rhetoric that the liberals of this country will seek to put-down or silence – by legislation or other means. It won’t work. There are those out here who will once again die for their personal freedom. I am one of them. Death is the only way to completely stifle personal freedom and shut the mouths of opposition. Don’t think for a minute that the thought of being put to death to preserve the personal freedom guaranteed by our Constitution is a hasty and irrational thought. I had already penned this thought, and lo, just yesterday, I learned of a popular blog site where someone had written a statement that went like this: “How can we get rid of them?” – meaning the conservative element in this country – not the ones who hate government or hate government officials, but the ones that loathe government and government officials whose mind-set seeks control.
Here’s my prediction: You will see a rise of rhetorical opposition to Presidential and Congressional liberalism. That opposition will come from the conservative side of America. The liberals will be thrown-out of office in four years and supplanted by renewed and vigorous conservatives, and when the political and economic pendulum swings back toward conservativism, the liberal element of America will head for the streets in revolution that will approximate civil war. I’m talking about blood in the streets – not invasion from outside, but American against American – freedom haters against freedom lovers. Can you not see it coming? Or don’t you really care?
I am opposed to the so-called “stimulus” bill. I refer to it as “economic Viagra” – a poor substitute for the real deal.
I am asking you to consider the Constitution that you swore to uphold, and you can begin by voting to get government out-of-the-business of the peoples of America. You are sworn to protect us, not from ourselves, but from outside aggressors. GET OUT OF OUR BUSINESS. The ship-of-State is sinking, and those of you in Congress are a huge part of the problem. Get-it-together or you’ll sink with the ship you are sinking.
I, as a citizen of the United States, will support you when I believe you are right, BUT I, as a citizen of the United States, will oppose your thinking when I believe you are wrong. I will pray that God will give you the moral courage to stand against Congressional decisions that oppress the freedoms of the grass-roots American – people just like me.
In closing, you ought to see what has happened to my wife’s 401K after 40 years of work in the corporate world – and George Bush is not and was not the problem. Perhaps Congress needs to look in the mirror.
Respectfully,
Jim Brettell
(private citizen)
P.S. And please, do not have one of your staff members respond with a computerized response that does not address anything I have said in this e-mail. Thank you for this consideration.
