By DR. LARRY MOSES

No one asked me but… Senator Harry Reid is back in the state and the message he has brought with him is twofold: 1.) This is no time to stop the spending; and 2.) the Republicans are trying to bring down the government.

He stated that Republicans are terrorist holding the American people hostage.

Excuse me Senator, was it not you and your party who objected to radical Republicans using incendiary rhetoric during the last election? What is this calling your fellow Americans terrorist because they disagree with you?

If not now, one must wonder when the time to stop spending is? When there is no more money to borrow? It reminds me of the drunk who will stop drinking as soon as this bottle is empty or the smoker who will quit when this pack is gone. It’s like your old Uncle John who will stop spending when the rest of the family finally refuses to give him any more handouts. It is time to stop the spending.

As far as radical Republicans wanting to bring down the government: what about your party’s Joint Chief of Staff standing before troops in Afghanistan and telling them that they may not get paid? Did that not send chills down your spine as you watched Admiral Mullin stand before a large group of camouflaged Marines saying they would be required to go on with the mission but he could not guaranteed they would be paid as of August 3?

Does he realize what he is doing? Here is a large number of highly trained, well armed men, who are being told they are expected to go into harm’s way even while their families may lose their homes and their children may not be feed. Not a good idea, Admiral.

The question that cropped up in my mind was: Do we really want nearly two hundred thousand well trained, combat experienced men, and their officers brought back to America, cashiered out of the army, and placed into an economy that promises no jobs or future? If the Democrats are worried about a few right wing radicals overthrowing the ineffectual government in Washington, D.C., they might want to consider that scenario.

The old leaders of Rome understood the dangers of a large standing army and they did not allow the army to come back to Rome. When the French put together their Foreign Legion, they did not allow them to come on French soil. Our founding fathers who had watched England with its large army engage itself around the world, warned the United States citizens of the dangers inherent in a large standing army.

That is the heart and soul of the Second Amendment. By not instituting a large federal army, America was to be defended by citizen soldiers. The operative word is defended.

The Founding Fathers never saw the United States as an aggressor nation. I understand the argument that we are defending ourselves in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and the other almost two hundred nations we have American troops in. Not sure I buy it, but I understand it.

Each and every American citizen was to maintain “arms” with which to defend the nation and was to be trained to do so. The term “arms” is a military term not a term referring to hunting and target weapons.

Most of the attention to the Second Amendment has been on the second part,.. “the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” However, the first clause which states, “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free state,…” is more important. Without the first clause, the second is meaningless.

The reason a well-regulated militia is necessary, in the minds of the Founders, was there would be no large profession army. The country would maintain a cadre of professionals who could be called upon to lead the citizens in an emergency.

Since the Korean War, the United States has maintained a large Army and we have found one place or another to use it.

There is little doubt in my mind that the spending must stop and there is little doubt in my mind that revenue must be increased. We are in a desperate situation and it calls for sacrifice on all sides if we are to salvage this country we all hold dear. It is time to stop calling people names and get the job done. There is going to be some pain in the short term, but if the pain is not bourne now the future results may be terminal.

No one asked me but… Who ever lost his or her cats, report to my house. They have taken up residence.

I am sure no one would be so unkind as to dump a young mother cat and her two kittens in our neighborhood. However, a week or so ago a very small rather non-descript mother cat and her two kittens showed up under my oleanders.

They disappeared for a couple of days and I thought well, the cats are gone. My wife came in this morning and informed me they are back.

The kittens seem to believe my garage is home. One kitten is like the mother cat mostly gray and black, the other is a calico.

Now if that lady who was so concerned about my lack of care for cats wishes she can come over, trap them, and take them home.

I have put out cat food and water for them, but they are wilder than March hare’s. You would think they would be grateful enough to allow me to pet them since I provide them food and water. But, no they are cats. There is no way they are going to come near anyone.

While I have no desire to own cats, if anyone can say they own cats, I will not see them go hungry. We have a number of cats that seem to roam the neighborhood and I know the neighbors feed them. I have no problem with that, and if the cats wish to live in my oleanders, so be it. But I am not real thrilled that they think my garage is a Motel 6.

Thought of the week… Doctors bury their mistakes, lawyers send their mistakes to prison, and teacher’s mistakes end up running the country.