My proclamation

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A secret combination that seeks to overthrow the freedom of all lands, nations, and countries is increasing its evil influence and control over America and the entire world. (Ezra Taft Benson, November 1988.)
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Since:
1. He didn't clarify or elaborate,
2. He never really said anything else about it in the remaining 5 years of his presidency,
3. No prophet in the almost two decades that came after him said much of anything of that nature,
4. We can assume that the leadership of the LDS church has not been subverted by said secret combination,
5. Not everything that comes out of a prophet's mouth, even in a General Conference address, is scripture, or even inspired counsel,
6. The former Soviet Union remains weakened, fragmented, at each other's throats, and most of last era's communist/socialist/facist elements in American society have retooled themselves into weaker forms of militant environmentalism and far leftist progressives,
7. Rhetoric set forth by people these days, trying to convince me that the bad guys won and I currently have no freedom, is severely lacking in many foundational building blocks of common sense and logical reasoning,

Therefore:
As a completely free, rational, thinking individual, in mostly full posession of his wits and sanity;

With no short list of examples of hearing things I don't want to hear, and dealing with things I don't want to deal with, and refusing to ignore things I've desparately wanted to ignore;

I hereby declare that I am not only free to, but supported by common sense when I, interpret his counsel in one of the following ways:

1. We beat that particular evil, whatever it's nature, and won.
2. It was some non-sensational, non-xfilesesque, non-melodramatic secret combination along the lines of the porn industry swiftly moving into the internet, or the rise of militant Islamic terrorists, or any number of real, well understood, well documented evils that have indeed attempted (and sometimes succeeded) in robbing us of some of our freedoms.

Let the entire online community of approximately two and a half dozen people who read my blog or this thread bear witness that this is my official proclamation on the matter, and it ain't likely to change any time soon, no matter how good the x-files music is at awakening my emotional state.

L the heck M