Patriots, take heart, there are still a few out there who put principle and freedom ahead of surrender to the monolithic state.

Consider the following from TPM DC, “Red States Hatch Plans To Block Obamacare Even If Dems Take Over,” by Dylan Scott, April 22:

“Republicans are taking no chances when it comes to Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion. They’re closing every possible door. Under bills passed in Georgia and Kansas recently, even if a Democratic candidate were to pull off an upset and take the governor’s seat, they would not be able to expand the program without the consent of the state legislature — which will almost certainly remain Republican.

“In other words, GOP lawmakers have taken steps to guarantee that many of their poorest residents will remain uninsured under the health care reform law, no matter what happens in the gubernatorial election.

“Georgia and Kansas have left a combined 487,000 residents uncovered under Obamacare because they refused to expand Medicaid.”

And by taking this courageous action, even after an upset defeat of the incumbent GOP governors of both states, those 487,000 would retain unabridged their precious right to avoid doctors and hospitals no matter their infirmity. Has freedom ever had a more glorious and inspiring expression? Where is our modern Patrick Henry to celebrate this victory over dictatorial government?

To further strengthen its claim as gallant leader in the neverending fight for freedom from government oppression, Georgia has taken another huge step forward, freeing its citizens from the tyranny of gun control laws. To the cheers of the National Rifle Association, the legislature recently passed the Safe Carry Protection Act, which will allow Georgians to “take firearms into houses of worship if the congregation allows it, into bars unless the owner objects, into non-secure areas of airports and into government buildings except past security checkpoints.” In short, any control under this legislation requires someone to take positive action to deny what is a presumed right. The law would also permit schools to arm staff members and would forbid the confiscation of arms during an emergency. Better a thousand guns in a thousand eager “enforcers’” hands than the tyranny of police and politicians.

Has there ever been a more inspiring expression of freedom than allowing weaponry in churches, where, presumably, differing interpretations of the Bible can have final resolution without those endless verbal battles that bore the entire congregation to death?

Shifting from that victory for frontier freedom to the fracking front, a disappointment: In a lawsuit brought by Bob and Lisa Parr against Aruba Petroleum — possibly the first fracking case to ever go to trial — the jury awarded the Parrs $3 million! Surely not!

The Parrs had sued Aruba Petroleum in 2011 for fracking operations that fouled the family’s 40-acre ranch property, their home and quality of life, and sickened them and their pets and livestock.

From the following September 2010 Daily Kos piece, “Fracked: Barnett Shale drilling chemicals found in blood and organs,” we read the litany of the Parrs’ woes under the reign of one of those fracking (you may substitute any “f” word you choose if it helps to clarify) operations:

“Bob and Lisa were told by their doctor to move out of their home within 48 hours because it was too dangerous for them to stay after they were diagnosed with drilling chemicals in their blood and organs.

“Lisa was treated by eight different doctors over the course of a year. A source of the sickness was never determined. In June 2009, after exhausting everything he knew medically, her internal specialist suggested that something in the environment might be causing her various ailments. In early fall 2009, she visited an environmental doctor who confirmed the presence of neurotoxins in her blood that matched chemicals used in natural gas production. Chemicals in blood: Ethylbenzene and m,p-Xylene. Chemicals in lungs: Hexane, Pentane, Dimethyldecane and Butane. Testing by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) found the identical chemicals emitting from a gas well near Lisa’s home. … Further, hydrochloric acid was not found in Lisa’s gut, where low levels of hydrochloric acid are normal. It is in the alveoli of her lungs. It is in the highest level her doctor has ever seen.”

The setting: “Some 6.5 million gallons of water and 6.5 million pounds of sand, along with 6,400 gallons of chemical additives, were pumped into the Barnett (Shale) under extremely high pressure to create fractures in the shale about 8,600 feet below the surface. In addition, 52,000 gallons of hydrochloric acid was injected beforehand.

“In all, the job involved 10 contractors and about 150 people on site at varying times. … Each well cost $2.5 million altogether — $1 million for drilling and $1.5 million for completion.

“At one point Lisa lost her ability to stand on her own and one side of her face was drawn up like a stroke victim.

“‘I started to get a little sick,’ she said. ‘I thought I was getting the flu. I was just tired and achy and started going through some little problems.

“‘Then I started breaking out in a rash. It literally covered my entire body — my scalp all the way down to the bottoms of my feet,’ Parr recalled. ‘I made multiple trips to the emergency room. I had six doctors working on me, and they couldn’t figure out what it was.’ Today, her arms and legs bear pock-like scars from rashes. …

“If you live in the Barnett Shale, it’s critical to your health and safety that you get to know your neighbors. Lisa and Bob knew their neighbors Tim and Christine Ruggiero, but they weren’t close until one day when Lisa saw Christine’s timeline of releases and spills at the Aruba Petroleum gas wells on their property. Lisa’s medical records match Christine’s timeline exactly.

“Bob Parr is 50 and until last year had only experienced a nose bleed about three times in his life. Now his nose bleeds regularly.

“Further, in the Barnett Shale, asthma rates are staggering. Like 25 percent of the children who live here, Emma Parr and Reilly Ruggiero have developed asthma. Previously, both were healthy and active.

“The saddest, most tragic part of this story is that when Bob Parr built their home — stone by stone — with his own hands, he made sure his home would have clean, renewable energy. So he installed a windmill that provides clean energy to their entire home, their heated pool and a very large barn and shop.”

And considering the reality that fracking rigs are multiplying like a case of geological measles, the piece concludes with the following: “Before you go all weird and start attacking Texas, have a look at this map and know that they are finding more shale areas every day, everywhere, all across the globe. Shale gas is the biggest scam ever played on the human race.”

And it is also, of course, the perfect solution to our energy problems! Surely, what could be more vital to our society than that?

Jerome Page is a Benicia resident.