For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others. - Nelson Mandela

When I woke up today and read the headlines I was sad to learn Raif Badawi, a young father and husband in Saudi Arabia, has been sentenced to death for the "crime" of apostasy. Apostasy is the abandonment of one's religious faith, political party, principles or cause and in Saudi Arabia may result in the punishment of death. His crime was to question Islam and religious practices on his website Free Saudi Liberals. He has been in jail since June, 2012 and his troubles began right after he established his website in 2008. His other crimes were that he wrote about Valentine's Day which is a prohibited holiday in Saudi Arabia and he also questioned his own religion. He was sentenced to death on December 25, 2013. While little kids in our country were opening up presents from Santa there was a man who questioned freedoms prohibited by the Religion Police in Saudi Arabia being found guilty with the punishment of death for breaking immoral laws prohibiting freedom of speech and freedom of religion.

When you think about the United States you don't normally think of prohibitions against freedoms but when you wake up on January 1, 2014 you will be breaking the "law" if you do not purchase "Obamacare approved" health insurance. How could a country that was founded upon freedom turn into a fascist country where the government controls 100% of the privately owned health care system? Our Founding Fathers did everything they could to protect us from this day by clearly declaring in the Constitution and Bill of Rights that the Federal government's powers are to be limited ... but the Federal government kept growing and growing, slowly eroding our freedoms with the authority of a Supreme Court that did nothing to protect the individual from the powers of the State. We now live in a country with a President who views his own success on how many people he can get on food stamps and welfare and how much money he can extract from businesses with fines, penalties and regulations. How did we get here and where are the protectors of our freedom? Can the State do anything in the name of "fairness, welfare, protection and security?"

Just as Raif Badawi is treated like an infant who does not know what is good for him the American people have voted for a government that treats its citizens like infants that must be told what to do. The Saudi government doesn't trust its citizens to speak their minds and the American government does not trust its citizens to pick their own health plan. How many times have we heard that we have to pay more because the plans we have are not "good" plans and they don't have everything our central government thinks they should have? I want to point out that the President also said the average family would save $2,500 a year on insurance premiums (just another whopper of a lie our mathematically challenged and ignorant President repeated over and over and over again).

When will the time come to imprison those who speak out against a centralized government's health plan or is it already in Obamacare and we just haven't read it yet (a la the politically irresponsible and economically ignorant Nancy Pelosi)? Who elects these people? Do you really think you are getting something for free from the government?

Amnesty International has said Badawi's "is [a] clear case of intimidation against him and others who seek to engage in open debates about the issues that Saudi Arabians face in their daily lives." Our hearts and souls go out to Raif Badawi and we hope Amnesty International can stop this injustice.

Picture of Raif Badawi

Freedoms should not be taken lightly. Americans are beginning to understand that centralized government does not work and either through education or experience they will learn how bad things can get. Just as a child gets a state of euphoria opening up his present on Christmas morning, the Obama voters thought they were getting something for nothing but are beginning to realize that there really is no Santa. Someone has to pay for the "gifts" that are bestowed upon us from our crony politicians.

Has everyone all of a sudden stopped watching Dancing with the Stars and figured out that their votes were bought with broken promises that cannot be kept or are they just getting their new bills for their health care premiums? Obamacare subsidizes 65% of those with healthcare but even those making under $94,000 a year will see their premiums go up because under Obamacare there was nothing done to reduce the cost curve. There were better ways to help those with preexisting conditons get coverage than destroy our entire health care system and we need to discuss what should have been done to fix healthcare and what needs to be done to make things right. The next boondoggle may be what I heard today. I heard that the information that is being gathered by Healthcare.gov will be used for political purposes. We shall see if this comes to pass but with the leaky information problem with our government I am sure it is true.

There are many failed Democratic societies that have failed. We all know the ancient societies that have failed such as Greece and Rome. We also all know that personal sacrifice did not work out well for the Aztecs. More recently the Argentinians, once a very rich country, had the State take funds from their retirement accounts and replace the money with government bonds (that may or may not be worth anything). Castro promised Hope and Change and that he would not promote Communism and we all know how that worked out. I have a friend that fled Cuba who has a sister who still lives there who is a medical doctor. She picks vegetables in a field because that is what the government has mandated for her. There is a tremendous misallocation of resources in Cuba caused by central planning.

Earlier this last year Rasmussen did a poll on Hugo Chavez. Only 6% of Americans had a positive view of Hugo Chavez. I am surprised it is that high because central planning has caused widespread poverty and misallocation of resources in Venezuela. It is a country that can't even keep toilet paper on the shelves because of the central government's price controls and confiscation of productive resources.

One wonders why Americans who think the confiscation of private resources by the central government that has worked out so poorly in other countries will work out so well in our own country. There is no reason to have faith in Barack Obama and his Obamacare boondoggle is only going to get worse and never better ... regardless of what Obama believes and what he says. He can throw trillions at Obamacare (and he will because it is not his money) and it will never work out. Remember what Reagan said to Gorbachev about societies with central planning? He said, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall." The wall was the wall preventing freedom ... all freedoms including the freedom of choice and the freedom of association.

If you believe in freedom then you have to believe Obama does not have that priority at the top of his list. Obama has shown he does not care about laws which, when laws are moral, are necessary to be followed by all men and women including government officials and particularly top government officials like Presidents. He has changed his signature Obamacare law unilaterally so many times since signed into law that one cannot keep count. He has not been forthright and transparent in his handling of the Presidency and prevents discourse and discussion on his health care law. He attacks FOX News for questioning Obamacare when FOX is the only news organization asking real and hard questions. The rest of the news organizations need to wake up and get busy figuring out what is so wrong about this health care law, investigate health care navigators, and examine the special interest groups that have made deals to profit from this health care boondoggle.

What makes Obama dangerous are his beliefs. There is a very good chance his beliefs are quite a bit different than yours and mine. Dinesh D'souza wrote the book The Roots of Obama's Rage after reading an article in a London paper called The Telegraph titled, "Barack Obama's Lost Brother Found in Kenya." The article was about how the multi-millionaire Obama met his half-brother George Hussein Onyango Obama in Kenya in 2006. George lived in Nairobi and lived on less than a dollar a month. The Illinois senator mentions his brother in his autobiography, describing him in a passing paragraph as a "beautiful boy with a rounded head".

Dinesh sought out Obama's brother and raised thousands of dollars for him so he could start a repair business. Dinesh, who has a similar background to Obama, comes to the conclusion in his book that Obama thinks he is a anti-colonialist warrior and has the goal of reducing the United States position in the world to a socialist (level) playing field with the rest of the world. There should be serious doubts about a President who will not help out his own half-brother. Obama always says, "I've got your back" but talk is cheap. I learned a long time ago to look at what politicians do and not what they say because they will say anything for a vote. Just because someone is a great speaker doesn't mean they are moral or good leaders. Look up a list of the greatest speakers and you will see almost every great monster in the last 150 years on it.

I don't have a problem with Obama being an anti-colonialist warrior but when he uses the political process to limit my freedom of association and freedom of choice in my healthcare (which is precious to me) then I have to draw the line and step up to the plate and do what needs to be done. I have to talk politics with those who do not want to talk politics. I have to make those who do not care about freedom care. I have to spend my time educating when I would rather be exercising or playing golf. I have to take responsibility to bring back and protect freedoms that no other country in the world has ever had or seen and I have to be relentless in my battle against those who deny us our freedom. Freedom is like air ... without it you die.