A Sinner Saved By Grace 

One of the 59,054,087

Yes, four more years of great, moral leadership What is wrong with that?. And since you asked, I would be glad to tell you.

George Bush is a man of courage and conviction. He assesses the situation and makes a decision and then stick to the decision instead of waffling and wondering how everyone will react to it. Unlike his "gracious" opponent who has a position for every voter, George has shown his ability to provide steady, consistent leadership in terribly tough times.

More important, he is willing to confront evil as evil. These mindless terrorists are fanatics. They are determined to impose their view of the world on others, whether they like it or not. No amount of sensitive leadership is going to change that. You don't negotiate with evil. You wipe it out. IF Kerry had become President, Britain as you know it today would have been equally at risk. Your economy and way of life would hijacked for the political and social agenda of evil. You cannot negotiate with someone who does not value honesty, integrity, compassion and equality. These idiots are after your freedom, just like they after ours.

While you may have some valuable insights into American politics, you may have missed some of the nuances. Let me enlighten you.

First, Americans who voted for Bush are not dumb. They are not fanatics and they are not blinded by ideology. In fact, it is the liberal mindset who has been clouded by their fear and hatred. What do they hate? They hate anything that stands against immorality and the elimination of human rights. Unfortunately, they don't see it that way. They think being liberal is more enlightened. They are in fact slaves to their own ideology.

Second, make no mistake about it, this election was not about Iraq , US foreign policy or the domestic agenda. This election was about 30,000,000 murdered souls in America over the last 30+ years. It is about protecting the family and children from the homosexual agenda to have their lifestyle choices recognized and accepted as legitimate. It was about integrity and character.

Third, in th US, a small minority of advocates have managed to hijack the media. Through the inappropriate use of the media, they have convinced a large percentage of Americans it is ok to kill babies, that it is ok to do whatever you want whenever you want. This minority of social radicals believe they know what is best for everyone and are willing to go to any lengths to impose their standards of behavior and convictions on those who don't agree. And when someone disagress, these liberal changemongers call us stupid and tell us we are blinded by false ideology.

There is no limit to what they will do to get their way. They will blatantly lie. They will produce documentaries that are slanted and outright dishonest to prove their point. They will coerce and cajole anyone who shows weakness. All the while believing they are doing this for the good of America.

I am here to tell you, character does count. Winning through intimidation, lying and misrepresentation is not right. It will never work. Having a point of view and sharing it with others is what makes for interesting conversation. but when it becomes demagoury and becomes violent that is not ok.

Today, for these people, everything is not about self. They are self delusional and narcassistic. Their mindset says "I need to protect my self from everyone else." It has pushed well meaning people to make bad decisions. Britian's society as well as ours, is no longer focused on serving others. We are focused on grabbing the brass ring and going for the gusto.

What happened to caring for the widows and orphans? What happened to raising children in a sheltered environment until they were old enough to understand their choices. Today those choices are forced upon them by the time they 8 years old and perhaps younger.

What happened to civil disscussion? Why would your paper want to alienate 59,000,000 people by calling them dumb. Does that make you smart? Because you disagree, does that make your set of values, your worldview right and mine wrong. And becuase mine is wrong I am stupid?

Until your liberal cohorts learn to reason rationally, without name calling and creating rancor where it does not have to exist - there will be this divide. Why would anyone on the "stupid" side try to reason with you, since you are so intellectually superior? What would be the point?

If you want civil discourse, they you have to earn it. That would start by acknowledging your worldview is different than mine - but it does not make mine stupid. Calling 59,000,000 people stupid is immature and juvenile. And that is precisely why Kerry lost. I hope you have the courage to print this so your readers can see there is another point of view.

Now What Kerry?

Now that the Duelfer Report has shown the non coalition members were really the ones who were bribed and coerced, do you think W has earned the right to say "I told you so?"

One of the most telling arguments against Bush is the unwillingness to continue negotiating and seeking UN approval. The Duelfer Report shows the folly of trying to do anything significant through the UN - especially when they are co-conspirators in the charade.

If W and company had continued to seek China, Russia, Germany and France's approval - we would still be waiting. How much closer would Saddam be to having the WMDs no one can find? What is the likelihood he would have been funding Al Qaeda this whole time? How much harder would it be to dethrone him?

Based on the Duelfer Report, the US did exactly what it should have done for the right reasons. There was no benefit in waiting. It is never easy to do a hard thing. But it never gets easier the longer you wait. In fact, the pricetag only goes up. Rousting Saddam was exactly the right move, at the right time, for the right reasons.

Kerry would still be waiting to pass the global test. How would he ever know if he did? And if he was still waiting, what would he do now that a conclusive report has shown Saddam was buying off the enemies of the US?

Why Kerry Cannot Lead

John Kerry is no leader. Leaders are visionaries. Leaders have strength of character and convictions to the core. But more important, leaders are wise and can balance pragmatic action with wisdom.

John Kerry demonstrated his leadership skills, keen sense and foreign policy savvy early in his career. Watch the debate with John O'Neill (Swift Boat Vets for Truth) on the Dick Cavett Show aired in 1974. O’Neill was there to confront Kerry on his anti war efforts and statements. Cavett asked Kerry what would happen to the South Vietnamese if the US pulled out of Viet Nam. In essence, Kerry said that nothing bad would happen. Life would go back to normal. It would be live and let live. You can find it in the archives of CNN. It happens in the last 5 minutes of a 60 minute show.

It is a historical fact. Millions were killed by the brutal North Vietnamese in retribution. It was a blood bath. Kerry's assessment and recommended course of action was totally wrong. His strategy and approach was foolish, to say the least. John O'Neill told him so on that show.

But Kerry does not get it. He did not phantom the cruelty or hatred that existed among these people for each other. Kerry demonstrated that in 1974, but more important, still holds to those same beliefs and philosophies today. And worse, his arrogant, nuanced lack of understanding, if implemented, would hurt the US, our troops and our ability to cope with these Middle eastern madmen for years to come. Why would any sane American want Kerry at the helm of America? Kerry's belief we can try to reason with this inferno of hatred is not only naive - it is stupid.

The idea we (the free world) can negotiate with terrorists and appease them is pure nonsense - that we can convince them to be nice and play fair in the world playground - is nothing but fantasy thinking. Just as Kerry's "I have a plan" ruse denigrates the intelligence of right thinking Americans, his lack of foreign policy savvy threatens the safety and wellbeing of everyone here and abroad.

While it is certainly appropriate to believe the US can do things better - Kerry's Monday AM QB roll takes no skill or understanding. The Democratic whine is nothing more than a power grab on their part. If the Dims really believe what they say - they should consider long term psychiatric therapy.

Real wisdom and analytical skills are shown during the "game", on the playing field. This is when you have to make decisions that counts, knowing you will be 2nd guessed and could be wrong. It takes strength of character to do what is right in a principled and value based manner. Kerry has proven many times over, he has no strength of character or values.

Kerry has also proven he can do nothing but 2nd guess others. His 20 year track record in the Senate proves this. What true leader could go 20 years in a cauldron of change and political punditry and not author at least one piece of meaningful legislation? Kerry's whole role is to wait and see which way the wind is blowing and then sail with it. Funny he is a wind surfer, isn't it? He does not seem to possess the skills or ability or the courage to lead.

Why should the American people give him a chance to test his arcane theories of economics and foreign policy that have proven historically worthless and impractical? As the popular bumper sticker has espoused - "Flush the Johns."

Democrats Need to Grow Up.

The article at the end of this blog supposedly is the enlightened answer to Zell Miller's rap on the Dems. Typical of most Dem retorts, there was nothing specific or edifying. It was the typical liberal rail on conservatism. What is so interesting about the writer's ability to chain together some big words which shows his erudite ignorance?

This writer is obviously a liberal intellectual who thinks Bush is an ignorant, idiot. While I have known a few people who would agree with that assessment, I have don't see it in the interviews I have heard him hold on TV and radio.

There is no doubt W is not an intellectual, but he certainly seems to have common sense and goodness about him I find endearing. Most of all he has convictions and is willing to stand by them. This is more than we can say about Flipper. Besides, anyone who follows politic knows most of what happens in Washington is not in the President's control anyway. He is often relegated to being an observer of events.

I am sure those who won't vote for Bush have some good arguments. But do those reasons justify voting for someone who has voted consistently against the strategic defense of America and wants to socialize America? Let's assume for a moment he is of the highest integrity (which is still an issue for me) - how can abortions, gay marriage, and a tax the rich philosophy be good for America?

We do have two Americas as Edwards suggests - those who are capitalists and those who are socialists. Those for abortion and those against. Those for gay rights and gay marriage and those for protecting family values. Let the gays have legal relationships to protect their legal rights- but why does it have to be called marriage?

The down trodden in America need our help - but that is accomplished in much better ways than through social legislation that inhibits the creativity of the business class. Where is the incentive if 45%-50% of your income goes to pay taxes? I would rather pay a flat tax of 10% and give away 40%.

Bush made some specific proposals in his convention speech. I think they merit investigation.

I liked Bush's plan to revamp the tax code. A 10% flat tax would bring reason to our economy. Get rid of all this tax nonsense and bring rational thinking to investments and planning. Most Americans would go for this. The only ones against it would be Tax attorneys and CPAs.

Freeze social security for the younger people and let them have individual social security accounts that can be invested in America. This quantifies the pension obligation for those who have the greatest stake in Social Security - the Baby Boomers and older. But it freezes the cost and allows the US to amortize those costs over the next 40 years.

Create HSAs to fund medial expenses. This allows people to fund their health benefits through individual, portable accounts. In today's mobile environment, we need better solutions to health care.

Stop the proliferation of lawsuits sponsored by attorneys who use the system to their betterment. This is going to be a huge fight because there are many wealthy attorneys who will see their meal tickets disappearing. The biggest hurdle is the lawyers who are serving in Congress. They have a conflict of interest on this issue.

I have not heard any specific ideas from Kerry. Are there any? All I have heard him say is I will the same thing Bush will do, but I will do it better than Bush. That is not an acceptable platform for me.

Most of my friends who are against Bush fall into three camps - No WMD, the tax act and the economy.

No WMD is certainly not Bush’s fault. Both the House and the Senate saw the same info Bush did and voted on it as if it was true. Plus Saddam did have WMD - he used in on the Kurds. What’s the problem? There seems to be some evidence the WMDs got shipped to Syria. That story is not over yet.

More important - the choice is simple - fight the war here or there. To wit - Russia's problems of late. Fighting Saddam stirred up a hornet's nest of reaction, no doubt - but it was just a matter of time. People say if we were going to go after anyone - it should be Iran. Well, Iran is in the axis of evil the last time I checked. They may be next, unless they pull a Gaddafi.

The Tax Act - is a philosophical argument - but both the House and the Senate passed it. It is not like Bush did this all by himself. Dems always hate tax cuts that are across the board. They think the wealthy should always pay the highest percentage in taxes. This is part of the two Americas. Those who want to tax the "rich" and those who want a fair tax rate across the board. Besides, who is rich? With the school system in such disarray, four children costs nearly $50,000 after tax. The number of people who are really rich number very few.

The Economy - the Clinton's administration left the economy in a complete mess when they left office. March of 2000 was made in the USA by 8 years of Clinton policies. It was exacerbated by 9/11 and the War. So to blame Bush for a failing economy is pure nonsense.

At any rate, all the economic evidence shows the economy is in full recovery. The GDP is up, employment is the lowest percentage in 15 years, production is up, inflation is down. The benefits of this will trickle down over time.

So I am confused. Enlighten me. How can any right thinking American want higher taxes, less defense and more social programs when we can barely afford what we have?

The two Americas is about power - those who have it today and those who don't. The ones who don't want it back - and based on all the evidence they will do anything, including lying and degrading the loyal opposition to get it. There is no such thing as fair play in politics. It has just gotten uglier and uglier. Most of the Dems sound like spoiled children on a yelling "He hit me." And then turning around a kicking the kid when the teacher is not looking.

I have but one thing to say to the intellectual snobs - grow up.

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Culture: August 26, 2004

We're Not in Lake Wobegon Anymore

How did the Party of Lincoln and Liberty transmogrify into the party of Newt Gingrich's evil spawn and their Etch-A-Sketch president, a dull and rigid man, whose philosophy is a jumble of badly sutured body parts trying to walk?

By Garrison Keillor

Something has gone seriously haywire with the Republican Party. Once, it was the party of pragmatic Main Street busi-nessmen in steel-rimmed spectacles who decried profligacy and waste, were devoted to their communities and supported the sort of prosperity that raises all ships. They were good-hearted people who vanquished the gnarlier elements of their party, the paranoid Roosevelt-haters, the flat Earthers and Prohibitionists, the antipapist antiforeigner element. The genial Eisenhower was their man, a genuine American hero of D-Day, who made it OK for reasonable people to vote Republican. He brought the Korean War to a stalemate, produced the Interstate Highway System, declined to rescue the French colonial army in Vietnam, and gave us a period of peace and prosperity, in which (oddly) American arts and letters flourished and higher education burgeoned-and there was a degree of plain decency in the country. Fifties Republicans were giants compared to today's. Richard Nixon was the last Republican leader to feel a Christian obligation toward the poor.

In the years between Nixon and Newt Gingrich, the party migrated southward down the Twisting Trail of Rhetoric and sneered at the idea of public service and became the Scourge of Liberalism, the Great Crusade Against the Sixties, the Death Star of Government, a gang of pirates that diverted and fascinated the media by their sheer chutzpah, such as the misty-eyed flag-waving of Ronald Reagan who, while George McGovern flew bombers in World War II, took a pass and made training films in Long Beach. The Nixon moderate vanished like the passenger pigeon, purged by a legion of angry white men who rose to power on pure punk politics. "Bipartisanship is another term of date rape," says Grover Norquist, the Sid Vicious of the GOP. "I don't want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub." The boy has Oedipal problems and government is his daddy.

The party of Lincoln and Liberty was transmogrified into the party of hairy-backed swamp developers and corporate shills, faith-based economists, fundamentalist bullies with Bibles, Christians of convenience, freelance racists, misanthropic frat boys, shrieking midgets of AM radio, tax cheats, nihilists in golf pants, brownshirts in pinstripes, sweatshop tycoons, hacks, fakirs, aggressive dorks, Lamborghini libertarians, people who believe Neil Armstrong's moonwalk was filmed in Roswell, New Mexico, little honkers out to diminish the rest of us, Newt's evil spawn and their Etch-A-Sketch president, a dull and rigid man suspicious of the free flow of information and of secular institutions, whose philosophy is a jumble of badly sutured body parts trying to walk. Republicans: The No.1 reason the rest of the world thinks we're deaf, dumb and dangerous.

Rich ironies abound! Lies pop up like toadstools in the forest! Wild swine crowd round the public trough! Outrageous gerrymandering! Pocket lining on a massive scale! Paid lobbyists sit in committee rooms and write legislation to alleviate the suffering of billionaires! Hypocrisies shine like cat turds in the moonlight! O Mark Twain, where art thou at this hour? Arise and behold the Gilded Age reincarnated gaudier than ever, upholding great wealth as the sure sign of Divine Grace.

Here in 2004, George W. Bush is running for reelection on a platform of tragedy-the single greatest failure of national defense in our history, the attacks of 9/11 in which 19 men with box cutters put this nation into a tailspin, a failure the details of which the White House fought to keep secret even as it ran the country into hock up to the hubcaps, thanks to generous tax cuts for the well-fixed, hoping to lead us into a box canyon of debt that will render government impotent, even as we engage in a war against a small country that was undertaken for the president's personal satisfaction but sold to the American public on the basis of brazen misinformation, a war whose purpose is to distract us from an enormous transfer of wealth taking place in this country, flowing upward, and the deception is working beautifully.

The concentration of wealth and power in the hands of the few is the death knell of democracy. No republic in the history of humanity has survived this. The election of 2004 will say something about what happens to ours. The omens are not good.

Our beloved land has been fogged with fear-fear, the greatest political strategy ever. An ominous silence, distant sirens, a drumbeat of whispered warnings and alarms to keep the public uneasy and silence the opposition. And in a time of vague fear, you can appoint bullet-brained judges, strip the bark off the Constitution, eviscerate federal regulatory agencies, bring public education to a standstill, stupefy the press, lavish gorgeous tax breaks on the rich.

There is a stink drifting through this election year. It isn't the Florida recount or the Supreme Court decision. No, it's 9/11 that we keep coming back to. It wasn't the "End of innocence," or a turning point in our history, or a cosmic occurrence, it was an event, a lapse of security. And patriotism shouldn't prevent people from asking hard questions of the man who was purportedly in charge of national security at the time.

Whenever I think of those New Yorkers hurrying along Park Place or getting off the No.1 Broadway local, hustling toward their office on the 90th floor, the morning paper under their arms, I think of that non-reader George W. Bush and how he hopes to exploit those people with a little economic uptick, maybe the capture of Osama, cruise to victory in November and proceed to get some serious nation-changing done in his second term.

This year, as in the past, Republicans will portray us Democ-rats as embittered academics, desiccated Unitarians, whacked-out hippies and communards, people who talk to telephone poles, the party of the Deadheads. They will wave enormous flags and wow over and over the footage of firemen in the wreckage of the World Trade Center and bodies being carried out and they will lie about their economic policies with astonishing enthusiasm.

The Union is what needs defending this year. Government of Enron and by Halliburton and for the Southern Baptists is not the same as what Lincoln spoke of. This gang of Pithecanthropus Republicanii has humbugged us to death on terrorism and tax cuts for the comfy and school prayer and flag burning and claimed the right to know what books we read and to dump their sewage upstream from the town and clear-cut the forests and gut the IRS and mark up the constitution on behalf of intolerance and promote the corporate takeover of the public airwaves and to hell with anybody who opposes them.

This is a great country, and it wasn't made so by angry peo-ple. We have a sacred duty to bequeath it to our grandchil-dren in better shape than however we found it. We have a long way to go and we're not getting any younger.

Dante said that the hottest place in Hell is reserved for those who in time of crisis remain neutral, so I have spoken my piece, and thank you, dear reader. It's a beautiful world, rain or shine, and there is more to life than winning.

Moral Clarity

Listening to Dick Morris opine on the Clinton legacy and other politically relevant topics has become a fun past time. He was interviewed on H&C the other evening and was asked what it was about Bush that people admired – his answer was simple – his “moral clarity.” I took that to mean that Bush is very clear on what is right and what is wrong.

When Morris was asked why the hatred for Bush was so vociferous and constant – his answer was … “moral clarity.” There is the divide in America – isn’t it. Those who hate the light and will do anything they can to extinguish it.

I hope Christians are getting it. I hope they are seeing that we are not in a culture war – we are in a spiritual battle. The forces of good and evil are drawing clear lines in the sand. My fear is that the moral clarity of Christians in America and elsewhere may not be as clear as it needs to be to stand against these forces.

Morris also opined on the two Clinton Books – Hillary’s and Bills. He said that Hillary’s book is by a relatively sane person who is trying to cover up her misdeeds. While Bill’s is by a very dysfunctional person who is inadvertently disclosing his insanity. I would take this a step further. I have always seen Bill as an egomaniac who needs to be worshipped and idolized. But as fairly benign. Hillary on the other hand, seems to much more calculating in her motives. I have a number of friends refer to as evil. Regardless, neither of them seem to a firm grip on moral clarity.

Algore is also slipping rapidly down the hill of personal destruction. His repeated attempts to rewrite history have damaged any creditability he might have had. It is amazing to think how close he came to being the 911 President. Can you imagine where we would be today if he had been elected. That election is a clear example of God’s sovereignty expressed in 1 Chronicles 29:12 Riches and honor come from you alone, for you rule over everything. Power and might are in your hand, and it is at your discretion that people are made great and given strength.

Again, I point to moral clarity being the issue. I can not find moral clarity among the Democrats. I am sure there must a be a strong, Born Again Christian in the group – but it is not evident in anything that is said. Their politics of scorched earth and personal attack is unrelenting and pervasive.

It is my prayer the true Christians in America will go to prayer. Will pray from the Christian leaders and will be unrelenting in their efforts to not allow the lies to become truth. If there are only 5%, they can influence the 95% and turn the tide. But it begins with a few who are committed to this cause.

Pray you and I will be strong and courageous in this onslaught of personal destruction.

American Idol

Do you think the hoopla about American Idol is indicative of the state of mind of many citizens. I read many of the emails on the BLOG. It was not nice. There was real hatred and anger evidenced by a high percentage of the writers. There were, of course, many who sounded sane and expressed positive thoughts. But the level of degradation and angry was extreme in my opinion.

Much of it was racist. Name calling, rude remarks, cruel assessments were the norm. None of them stopped to think about what it would be like to receive these barbs. And fewer still had any appreciation for what it would be like to be a participant and be under the same scrutiny.

One in particular expressed alarm and real malice towards Fantasia. At age 19, she is a single mother who has risen to stardom through the AI competition. The bloggers point was that she was somehow undeserving because she had a child out of wedlock. That she should have been disqualified to be considered an idol. The presumption was others would now want to get pregnant so they too would have the sympathy and get the votes. Duh!

As I thought about it, I was struck by this oddity. Here the bloggers are, criticizing Fantasia for overcoming her mistakes and striving for her "gold medal." I ask - would it have been better to have killed the baby (abortion) and then lived with the secret? She could have then appeared on AI and no one would have been the wiser. So being honest and saving a life gets her skewered by some percentage of the public - while being and hypocrite and killer would allow her to have the facade of purity.

This would seem to be a microcsm of the political world today. W seems to be losing big time as the left bombards him with criticism about his policies. Lacking real evidence, the best they can do is accuse, tarnish and maul him for the decisions he has made. There seems to be no awareness or caring about the impact this has on the soldiers, the enemy or our "allies." This is just about winning back the White House. (Not sure why they want it after the last guy took everything out.)

We live in a world of no grace. Cut, chop, pillor - smoke and destroy. So many of the commentators have cast aside any semblance of reasonableness and decided to just gore W and the rest of the GOP. I listen regularly to Hannity and Colmes as well as O'Reillly and Dennis Miller. I am in awe at how consistent the liberal message is (and predictable.) It is almost laughable. I keep hoping I will hear authentic analysis and thought. But all I hear is rethoric. Wouldn't it be nice if someone would answer a question withou equivocating?

Enough of this for now. But I do want to thank you for reading. Please write me if you have time.