Tandem Vincitur

Amy Goodman’s editorial today is somewhat confusing. Her article generally espouses her leftist leanings but she ends the article with a warning against the leftward shift in America.

The article titled, “Swedes Confront Shift To Right,” begins with recounting the origin of the Nobel Prize and the current celebration in Sweden. Then, she continues with support for and quotes from anti-war activists in that country. She praises those who do damage to property under the guise of, as she says, “the biblical prescription of Isaiah 2:4, turning ’swords into plowshares’.” In this, she dramatically misuses the Scriptures because this is not a “biblical prescription.” It is a prophesy of Christ’s reign on earth, that He will bring peace and nations will then turn swords into plowshares.
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by David Crowe RestoreAmerica.org

For several decades Hollywood has depicted pastors, preachers, evangelists, and priests as mushy brained, out of touch, backward, and ignorant fools, but in the last few years, the God haters in America have come out of the closet in open hostility to Christ, Christians, and the institutions of Christianity.

Depiction of Christ in urineIn 1989 a photograph titled “Piss Christ” by American photographer Andres Serrano depicting a small plastic crucifix submerged in a glass of the artist’s urine, won an award in which the author received $15,000 in tax payer money through the National Endowment for the Arts. The left in America defended the ‘work of art’ as “an issue of artistic freedom and freedom of speech.”
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A few days ago, I received an email that was forwarded with a message from a pastor. I do not remember his name, so we will call him Pastor Salvation Only. His message was he never gets involved in political issues because his mission is the gospel of Jesus Christ. According to him, the people sent a message loud and clear in this 2008 election, they are looking for Jesus Christ. He gave two examples, one was we have abused credit and now the people voted for Obama in repentance for their financial excesses. The other example I do not remember. He then went on to rebuff pastors that get off the track of preaching salvation through Jesus Christ and that now, because the people are truly looking for Jesus Christ, that is our only mission.

Pastor Salvation Only is very wrong. In fact, he is part of the problem. The Bible tells us clearly that man is not looking for God, as Pastor Salvation Only claims (Isa 64:7, Rom 3:11). While there are several admonitions to seek after God, the Bible tells us man may tip his hat to God while seeking his own way (Isa 58, Jer 7). Pastor Salvation Only is wrong, in that this election was not a declaration that man is looking for Jesus Christ, or looking for repentance. This election was a declaration that man is looking for a messiah, a rock star, a leader who will make them feel good about themselves, a leader who will bring change, without requiring them to change their lifestyles - or repentance.
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By Dennis Justice

Went to the Portland gun show Friday, 11/21.  Hadn’t been there for several years. So there things were a bit different than I remembered.

On the scene at 11:15 AM.  Ticket windows weren’t open until Noon.  Was just about to leave to find some coffee.  Turned around, looked, and the lobby was PACKED with people.  About that time a security guard had us split up into 3 lines.  Finally got tickets, went outside to have a smoke.  By then the line waiting to get in was not only out the door, but all the way to the next building and beyond.

This show isn’t as big as it used to be.  But there was a LOT of stuff there.  Quite a bit that I wasn’t expecting.  Manufacturers of AR15s, FALs, etc. cannot keep up with the orders they are taking.  So was surprised at the quantity available.  And the prices hadn’t gone through the roof as expected.  That probably won’t last.

There are a couple outfits that sell lots of hand guns at this show.  They were selling LOTS of hand guns.  Lines of people waiting to do paperwork.Reloading components were there, but much thinner than years past.  I didn’t see what I specifically was looking for.  Glad I didn’t really need anything.

The big news was the ammo sellers.  Three outfits with BIG displays.  Didn’t even try to see what they had early on.  They were MOBBED.  Ammo was leaving that show by the hand truck and 4 wheel dolly load.  Interestingly, the guys buying the most ammo were my age (59) and older.  Must be the 3 percenters.

When the doors opened at noon, people flooded the place.  You could move down the aisles, but it was crowded.  By 3:00 half the crowd was gone with most of the ammo.  By 5:00 the ammo vendors were calling their suppliers hoping to replenish stocks.  Remember, this was the first day of a 3-day show.  A Friday.  A work day.

This may have been the real election day of 2008.

The 12 November issue of Adam Wilson’s blog at The Olympian begins with, “If you want a pick-me-up do not read the latest state revenue report. It’s a smorgasbord of negative numbers.” Then he continues with a list of lowered collections for Washington State tax revenues. I am sure he speaks for the majority when he expresses his concern over State monies. Not long ago, I would have thought the majority of people were more concerned with their own financial condition than they were with the State, but now I am having second thoughts.

You can see almost anything you want on YouTube. Most of us have seen the video of the Obama supporter who was elated with the election results because now she does not have to worry about how she is going to pay for her gas and her mortgage.
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He was known as the Tuba Man. The bearded man in the glasses and funny hat who played the Tuba for fans outside the city sports arenas. When the team won, the tunes were cheerful; when they lost, he played a dirge. He had his own fans too; people that looked for him after the games. Some brought him food, some brought trinkets and souvenirs. My sister was one of them. She always made sure he had some money.

Edward McMichaels was in my sister’s class at King’s Garden. The class of ‘73; the year after mine. He was the slow-going guy with the unique drawl. Sometimes we razzed him for it and he played along with us. I don’t think he took himself too seriously. He remembered everything and wherever he went, he had a pile of books in tow - or a tuba.

Ed and I played in the band together. We were the only players in the high school band who were in the junior high - and we were to only ones playing tubas. Ed played bass tuba and I played the sousaphone - that’s the one that wraps around the player. I was a ninety pound kid playing a fifty pound tuba and we both received plenty of razzing from the other members, but I think they were jealous because we were so young.

Just after midnight, on October twenty-fifth, a handful of young thugs surrounded Ed, kicking and beating him with the intention to rob him. I don’t think he had much money. His greatest wealth was his love for people, but the thugs weren’t looking for that. After spending a couple days in the hospital, he went home - and died.

It would be nice if I told you I had kept touch with him all these years and that his death will be a great loss to me. But I have kept in touch with few from my high school days - and I don’t go to games. Nonetheless, his death is a great loss to me because I know Ed touched many lives for good and even though I have not seen him in years, all my memories of him are good and I cannot reconcile the waste of kicking this man to death for the spare change and the power of brutality.

Ed, I hope you stood firm in your faith in Jesus Christ all these years and I hope to see you in heaven.

Yesterday, a friend stopped by the shop to visit. He has four sons and a daughter, all are high school age and above. These are smart kids; they work hard, they study hard and they make good friends. They were home schooled, for the most part.

He told me a story about his eldest son, who is in college and has befriended a Muslim. One day, his son and the friend  were visiting the multicultural center at the Muslim’s request. Of course, everyone in the center, working or visiting, is black. His son was the only white face to be seen.

While traveling on the elevator, the son and the Muslim were debating the presidential campaign and the son conceded McCain was the lesser of two evils. At that point, the elevator stopped and six burly black guys came aboard.

As the door closed, the Muslim asked the son, “So, you really think Obama is evil?”
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By Cory Miller

Mr. Obama,

Given the uproar about the simple question asked you by Joe the plumber, and the persecution that has been heaped on him because he dared to question you, I find myself motivated to say a few things to you myself. While Joe aspires to start a business someday, I already have started not one, but 4businesses. But first, let me introduce myself. You can call me ‘Cory the well driller’. I am a 54 year old high school graduate. I didn’t go to college like you, I was too ready to go ‘conquer the world’ when I finished high school. 25 years ago at age 29, I started my own water well drilling business at a time when the economy here in East Texas was in a tailspin from the crash of the early 80’s oil boom. I didn’t get any help from the government, nor did I look for any. I borrowed what I could from my sister, my uncle, and even the pawn shop and managed to scrape together a homemade drill rig and a few tools to do my first job. My businesses did not start as a result of privilege. They are the result of my personal drive, personal ambition, self discipline, self reliance, and a determination to treat my customers fairly. From the very start my business provided one other (than myself) East Texan a full time job. I couldn’t afford a backhoe the first few years (something every well drilling business had), so I and my helper had to dig the mud pits that are necessary for each and every job with hand shovels. I had to use my 10 year old, 1/2 ton pickup truck for my water tank truck (normally a job for at least a 2 ton truck).
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From: Michael Master
To: Barack  Obama,

The New York Times carried a story on Saturday, October 4, 2008 that proved you had a significantly closer relationship with Bill Ayers than what you previously admitted.   While the issue of your relationship is of concern, the greater concern is that you lied to America about it.

The Chicago Sun reported on May 8, 2008 that FBI records showed that you had a significantly closer relationship with Tony Rezko than what you previously admitted.   In the interview, you said that you only saw Mr. Rezko a couple of times a year.   The FBI files showed that you saw him weekly.  While the issue of your relationship is of concern, the greater concern is that you lied to America about it.
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This is a statement written by Arthur Coday, Jr., M.D. You need to read this before voting on I-1000. Here is an excerpt:

A look at recent American history shows progression in the killing of innocent human life.  It started with the legalization of abortion on demand in 1973 and progressed to the legalization of physician assisted suicide in Oregon in 1998.  If legalized generally in America, the proponents of death will call for euthanasia of increasingly broader groups of people, starting with the most vulnerable.  This would potentially include the permanently disabled and the mentally incompetent.  The proponents of death will deny that killing these people is euthanasia.  Instead, they will say it is assisted suicide, because these vulnerable persons would have wanted to die if they were rational, as their lives were not worth living.  Killing them would be nothing more than acting on their behalf.  And so the wave of death will continue to spread out concentrically across society until the latter collapses.
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WASHINGTON, D.C. - For the second time this week, Congressman Bill Sali cast a vote against a $700 billion taxpayer-funded economic bailout.

H.R. 1424, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, passed by a vote of 263-171 and is now headed to President Bush, who is expected to sign the bill into law. Sali released this statement after the vote:

“These are urgent times that demand wise and decisive action.  The notion that Congress must do ‘something’ cannot be substituted for the obligation for Congress to do the right thing.  This bill was not the right prescription to fix our current credit crisis and I could not support this landmark and terribly mistaken legislation. (more…)

This week, the Supreme Court of the State of Washington is listening to the case of the constitutionality of a fifteen year old citizen initiative. What is the constitutional issue? Does the law violate rights? Does the law oppress a minority? Well, it depends on where you sit.

According to Lisa Brown, the Democratic Senator from Spokane and Senate Majority Leader, I-601 is unconstitutional in that it violates the rights of the lawyers, or the legislature, to strip the people of their assets through higher taxes. That is not exactly how she put it. She says it violates the rights of the legislature. According to The Olympian, she claims if the Supreme Court does not strike the supermajority provisions of the law the peoples’ initiatives could be used to create supermajority votes affecting civil rights and property rights.
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Yesterday’s post reviewed the appointment of Sarah Palin as John McCain’s VP choice and running mate. She is a true leader - and we excerpted from her acceptance speech what she said about leadership and how most politicians nowadays are not willing to take risks.

Today, I was mulling through some old documents, looking for an article, or some thoughts to post. I ran across a letter I wrote to the editor of the Seattle Times. It is from 1998 and is in reference to the state legislature sitting on their hands on Partial Birth Abortion.

A man’s principle goes beyond words, it goes to the core of what he is willing to fight for. It is disquieting to the Republican grassroots to watch their “leaders” melt into a sea of facilitation and administration. We have a majority party that is unwilling to lead. Is it surprising to see an ever-increasing exodus from the Party by principled people? No, it is not. And to the extent the Republican “leadership” is more concerned with self-esteem than leading, the exodus will increase exponentially.

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This is from our friends at Restore America:

Having watched and re-watched the spectacle at Invesco Field in Denver as Barach Hussein Obama accepted his party’s nomination to become the next President of the United States-and ostensibly the most influential person in the entire world-several observations were unavoidable for thinking Americans.
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This just in - and it goes along with what we have been talking about the last couple days. There is no substance in the public arena, everything is perception and how we feel.

John Edwards was banned from making a speech at the 2008 Democrat convention for having an affair and lying about it. Bill Clinton and Ted Kennedy spoke in his place.

We are a nation of fools. But at least we feel like someone cares - and isn’t that the important thing?