President Reagan's Christmas blessing

Congress is out of Session and the President is off on his multi-week, multi-million dollar vacation, which means our remaining liberties are safe for the moment. As I often do let turn to the words of one of our modern American heroes to wish all of us a Merry Christmas:

 

Good evening.

At Christmas time, every home takes on a special beauty, a special warmth, and that's certainly true of the White House, where so many famous Americans have spent their Christmases over the years. This fine old home, the people's house, has seen so much, been so much a part of all our lives and history. It's been humbling and inspiring for Nancy and me to be spending our first Christmas in this place.

We've lived here as your tenants for almost a year now, and what a year it's been. As a people we've been through quite a lot -- moments of joy, of tragedy, and of real achievement -- moments that I believe have brought us all closer together. G. K. Chesterton once said that the world would never starve for wonders, but only for the want of wonder.

At this special time of year, we all renew our sense of wonder in recalling the story of the first Christmas in Bethlehem, nearly 2,000 year ago.

Some celebrate Christmas as the birthday of a great and good philosopher and teacher. Others of us believe in the divinity of the child born in Bethlehem, that he was and is the promised Prince of Peace. Yes, we've questioned why he who could perform miracles chose to come among us as a helpless babe, but maybe that was his first miracle, his first great lesson that we should learn to care for one another.

Tonight, in millions of American homes, the glow of the Christmas tree is a reflection of the love Jesus taught us. Like the shepherds and wise men of that first Christmas, we Americans have always tried to follow a higher light, a star, if you will. At lonely campfire vigils along the frontier, in the darkest days of the Great Depression, through war and peace, the twin beacons of faith and freedom have brightened the American sky. At times our footsteps may have faltered, but trusting in God's help, we've never lost our way.

Just across the way from the White House stand the two great emblems of the holiday season: a Menorah, symbolizing the Jewish festival of Hanukkah, and the National Christmas Tree, a beautiful towering blue spruce from Pennsylvania. Like the National Christmas Tree, our country is a living, growing thing planted in rich American soil. Only our devoted care can bring it to full flower. So, let this holiday season be for us a time of rededication.

Christmas means so much because of one special child. But Christmas also reminds us that all children are special, that they are gifts from God, gifts beyond price that mean more than any presents money can buy. In their love and laughter, in our hopes for their future lies the true meaning of Christmas.

So, in a spirit of gratitude for what we've been able to achieve together over the past year and looking forward to all that we hope to achieve together in the years ahead, Nancy and I want to wish you all the best of holiday seasons. As Charles Dickens, whom I quoted a few moments ago, said so well in ``A Christmas Carol,'' ``God bless us, every one.''

Good night.

Note:  President Reagan  spoke at 9 p.m. from the Oval Office at the White House. December 23, 1981The address was broadcast live on nationwide radio and television.

 

Have we lost the country?

I have found it necessary to take a week or two off following the election. Not just because I was despondent but because I simply couldn’t figure out what next. It’s difficult for instance to think that Boehner who compromised away the conservative momentum of 2010 is going to make a stand now on the “fiscal cliff” or debt ceiling. Before the election I said on numerous occasions “we can win the election and still lose the country but I doubt we can lose the election and still win the country”. How do you come back from that? Maybe we don’t, but let’s consider carefully before we give up.

 

One of my greatest reasons for optimism has always been my seemingly unshakable belief that the people of the country were largely still American. By that I mean flawed but descent, hardworking men and women who valued liberty above all else, people who largely accepted the traditional Judeo-Christian values and would die to defend freedom of religion. This election shook that belief to its very core. Gay marriage where legal has always been instituted by courts and legislatures over the objection of the people now in Maryland and Washington the people were given the chance to once again stand up for family and decency and they chose not to. The basic moral underpinning of society is crumbling far more than I gave consideration (note to pastor- you were right) and now we have election results to prove it. John Adams pointed out why moral decay would spell the death Nell of liberty all the way back in October of 1798 his words: we have no government, armed with power, capable of contending with human passions, unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge and licentiousness would break the strongest cords of our Constitution, as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.

 

Or in this excerpt from an 1814 letter to friend and rival Thomas Jefferson: As long as Property exists, it will accumulate in Individuals and Families. As long as Marriage exists, Knowledge, Property and Influence will accumulate in Families.

 

Ah Mr. President who would have dreamed a mere 198 years later we would no longer even know the definition of marriage! All government, even our own which was helped in its establishment by the Almighty, are constructs of man, the family is a construct of God and it is not within the purview of man to alter it, especially not to include what God calls and abomination.

 

For weeks I’ve sought opinion and insight to see where to go next and the answer is sobering. We have lost the Federal government to a large degree, and reclaiming the Federal judiciary is probably out of our grasp for some time to come. We have a Republican house but we do not have the leadership on the national level to make an effective stand. While we still need to fight on the national level we cannot concede anything without a fight, we need to hold Neville Chamberlain… I mean John Boehner, to the fire and limit the Obama Monarchy to as little damage as possible. If only our leadership would learn a lesson from the other side, when they win elections or when they lose they never cease to push their big government anti-constitutional agenda, if we fought as hard for freedom we’d never lose an election. Still the house speaker seems far more effective at fighting conservatives than he is at defending freedom, this goes for the entire Republican establishment. At this time no viable leader can give us the hope of victory at the national level so what do we do?

 

Our last line of defense are the state and local governments thus far 24 of the 30 (yes 30 and the vast majority of them are not weak kneed RINOs) Republican governors have refused to implement Obama-care. We need these governors to stand strong and more to join them. We need states to refuse Federal monies and with it sever the chains of control they impose especially in education, where Federal mandates cost more than the funds that states are rewarded with for their fealty.  The EPA must be opposed and private property defended. We will not regain our liberty without a series of very unpleasant confrontations between the state and Federal governments. I don’t predict at this time that force will be used as it was in 1861 but think of it this way: in the greatest constitutional crisis the country ever faced the states fought for sovereignty over the Federal and lost, then it was the states that were attempting to deny freedom. 150 odd years later the same type of crisis is emerging only now it is the Federal that is crushing liberty and the states who are defending it. May God give freedom the victory once more! I wonder when King Obama compares himself to Abe Lincoln was he hoping his policies would lead to a civil war level crisis?

 

We can no longer concede education to the left. The dumbing down of the electorate has placed every aspect of the republic at risk. Home schooling and alternate education have given us some hope, but the vast majority of kids are indoctrinated in anti-American and anti-free market propaganda. We simply cannot allow this to continue then hope to win them back later. Reason does not easily overcome conditioning. This corruption took generations to achieve and it will likely take generations to defeat but refusing Federal funds and the controls associated is a good place to start.

 

Further we cannot concede the culture, thus we cannot abandon social issues. When was the last time a candidate won as a Republican who was not strong on the social issues, and especially life?  Ever since Ronald Reagan embraced the Christian right no Republican has won without them. They didn’t turn out for Dole McCain or Romney; they did for Reagan, Bush 41 and Bush 43. Let me put it this way for you establishment morons, the Christian right will only support a candidate they believe is sincere about life and family values and as much as you hate those voters you will never win a damned thing without them.

 

During the revolutionary war it was thought that if New York fell to the British then all was lost. Later the same reasoning seemed to apply to the crucial port of Charleston, SC. Both fell, but the war continued on new battle fields and eventually the forces of liberty overcame the tall odds and won the day. One small victory in one small fort in Trenton turned the tide of those two major crushing defeats because this kind of war is won by the side that won’t quit. Dearest God let that be us!

 Maybe Michigan will be our crossing of the Delaware!

Next time we will make the argument for lower taxes that our national leadership is too afraid to make. Until then keep on the firing line!

Courting Kim Kardashian: Reflecting on the Presidential election of 2012

 

It has been a little better than a week since Barack Obama was reelected and the democrats maintained control of the Senate. First let me remind you of this quote: "The Only Way for Evil to Triumph is for
Good Men to Do Nothing". (Edmund Burke) to the millions of Christians and conservatives who sat out the election because Mitt Romney wasn’t your first choice, Evil says “Thank You!”

Look at the election this way, two suitors were pursuing the same woman.  One man was Gov. Romney, the other President Obama.  (Appropriate given the emphasis on the woman’s vote). Governor Romney was courting Ann Darrow. For those of you not familiar with classic films let me remind you who Ann Darrow was, she was the heroine of the original King Kong (RKO 1933) one of the greatest movies ever made. Made during the depression Ann Darrow says a lot about how the country saw itself in that difficult time. Ann was an aspiring actress put out of work when the studio she did extra work for closed, we first see her hungry ragged and tempted to steal and apple, she doesn’t but gets accused of it anyway. Talk about being down and out!  Despite all her hardships Ann maintains her dignity and her integrity. When offered a job by filmmaker Carl Denham she won’t accept until it is clearly understood that there will be no “funny business”.  Ann proves to be hardworking, courageous, fiercely loyal, and full of the good ole American spirit of adventure, as well as being quite a looker! (She’s played by the beautiful Fay Wray.)  Ann’s journey is not without trials (mostly in the form of a 35’ tall ape who takes a shine to her) but all she needed was a chance and given that nothing was going to stop her.  This was the 1930’s American version of a Princess, and it is what America was at the time, down and out but just needing one break to be great again that is who Governor Romney thought America still is.

Sadly he was mistaken.

President Obama on the other hand was courting Kim Kardashian. It may be that Ms. Kardashian is not so superficial and hollow as her public persona implies, but it is that persona to which I refer. Obama offered nothing of substance in his campaign, he just made vague promises he never meant to keep. He steals from her, puts her in poverty, destroys her job, and regards her as nothing more than a sex object, but he says he cares so she takes him. He says Romney hates dogs and women and wants the poor to starve, and (gulp) he won’t pay for her birth control and abortions! So even if it means losing her freedom she accepts it, after all the bill of rights is a small price to pay for free contraception!  She just doesn’t have the intellectual capacity to understand that Obama will bankrupt every entitlement, and that sticking it to the rich will result in less economic activity therefore less revenue to government not more, and will worsen not lessen the deficit. Besides, Obama gave her a phone. Obama-care has free stuff in it, that’s all she cares about, so it will destroy the healthcare system and lead to massive unemployment, doctor shortages and rationing of care. Perhaps when she needs lifesaving care but is deemed not cost effective, so she gets a pain pill instead, she’ll reconsider. Of course then it’s too late.

This is who America is now.  I won’t make any friends with this opinion, but let’s face it, Governor Romney ran an honorable campaign and though he didn’t press some issues as hard as he should have the choice was clear, prosperity through hard work, freedom of religion, support for Israel, and a strong defense or free stuff.  We the people of the United States chose to sell 236 years of the finest Republic in the history of man for trinkets.

Sadly this is not the worst result of the election of 2012. Next time we will discuss the transition from a Judeo-Christian nation that had gone astray to a non-Christian nation.

I said before the election that we could not lose this election and save the country. We lost the country in the sense that we no longer fight to preserve the freedoms of the constitution, we must now fight to reestablish lost freedoms against the growing Federal tyranny. It is a much harder fight, and the chance of victory lesser than ever. Rather we fight as winners or as martyrs matters not. We fight just the same.

So until next time, keep on the firing line.

PS sometime when the country’s not at risk I would love to write a whole post on why the original King Kong was great and both remakes failed to live up to the same standard!  Hint: the remakes were about the ape- the original was about the girl.

 

 

 

Good bye liberty

I wrote this for my son when the election was lost, but i decide that a young fellow in boot camp didn't need any more trouble so i will share it with you and write a personal letter to him when the bitterness has died down a bit.

Dear Son,

I sit here on election night stunned. I am so sorry that my generation has lost the liberty that should have been yours; I only pray that you and yours can recapture it. It won’t be easy, Obama-care will stand and health care will be a disaster, taxes will increase, the economy will continue to suck, but hope is not lost. I know you are busy now but don’t lose heart, our hope is and will always be in the Lord, God can still save this nation but nothing else can. Among the things that gave me the most hope is how fervently gay marriage had always been rejected when the people voted, now we have embraced the abomination,   God forgive us.

God has given us over to a reprobate heart, we have voted for our own demise. I didn’t do enough, that for which men have died is given away and I have shed no blood in its defense, alas the night is young.

The words of Reagan, the brilliance of the founders and the blood of many soldiers are wasted. I honestly believed today would be a new day, a brighter and better day. I am wrong, the dark days have begun and judgment is upon us.  My heart is broken in ways I did not think possible. The greatest experiment in human liberty of all time has been sold for free condoms.

God will hold my generation accountable for what we were given and have squandered, I cannot even find it in my heart to request his mercy. Our freedom of religion is lost; the secretary of HHS now decides what rights religious institutions have. Freedom of speech is lost; we can now imprison filmmakers for offending the prophet Mohamed.  The Obama-care mandate means that government’s power to intrude in our life is unlimited.

I won’t give up, but we have to start over and reestablish freedom from scratch, and how do we do that with a nation that would vote to reelect a man who seeks to destroy it? Men and woman who love freedom are no longer the American majority and American exceptionalism is no more, and that by design. 

Free men and women come join me, as we weep and lament our defeat, then we get up and stand shoulder to shoulder in the Alamo, where we make our final stand.

But remember this, the Lord said “I will never leave you nor forsake you” and for this reason we have hope, by this alone we will endure the terrible trials to come and we will emerge faithful to our principles, though we may not emerge with our lives.

God have mercy on our souls for our nation will be judged exceedingly.

However bad it is we have hope and trust in the Lord that he who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we ask or think will perform his work in us until the day f Christ Jesus.

Perhaps my son America will stand strong again, as a Godly and free nation, but only if your generation is far superior to the greatest generation. With God all things are possible.

Love Dad.

A final appeal to the swing states- SAVE OUR COUNTRY

 

I hope God answers partisan prayers.  I am praying for a Romney-Ryan victory, not a close one either, I pray for a 40 state land slide that will serve as a mandate against the Liberal/socialist agenda of the left and give us momentum going forward.

I am also praying for a Republican takeover of the Senate, 55 seats is the specific number I am praying for but 51 would do. Without the Senate we may defeat Obama but the ability to repair the damage he has done will be terribly limited.

Consider this quote from Harry Reid "Mitt Romney's fantasy that Senate Democrats will work with him to pass his 'severely conservative' agenda is laughable,"

 

So swing states if you elect Romney and keep Harry Reid as Senate majority leader, you set up 2-4 years of partisan wrangling, you keep Obama-care, sequestration and taxmegedon in place, then you can listen to the liberals blame Romney for the diabolical work of Reid’s Senate, until the liberals regain control and finish what they have begun. I beg of you don’t let this happen.

 

West Virginia: if you send Joe Manchin back to Washington instead of John Rease then Harry Reid blocks every attempt that Pres. Romney makes to obtain energy independence through coal production. You say “but Joe Manchin is a friend of coal”, but I say if you believe Manchin will oppose his own party and defy Reid I have some real nice swamp land in Arizona for you…speaking of

Arizona: if you should choose to send Richard Carmona to the senate over Jeff Blake you are voting to allow the rape murder and lawlessness along your own border to continue. Even before I was committed to Romney his immigration stance was appealing and one of his strong points, but Harry Reid has vowed to prevent Romney from doing a damn thing to fix the border. You need Flake to save the border and give Gov. Brewer a chance like Massachusetts needed Scott Brown to stop Obama-care…

 Massachusetts: you sent Scott Brown to Washington to stop Obama-care, thank you it would have worked if Harry Reid had any respect for the law or an ounce of integrity in him. Now if you elect the liar Elizabeth Warren to the Senate Obama-care stays as does Reid. Please don’t abandon the future for my kids, and the security of our nation like this! Speaking of security…

Virginia: are you really considering voting for Tim Kaine? The DNC chair for Obama-care and reckless spender to boot, Kaine pretends to be a moderate for 10 minutes going into the election and you would buy it? The only spending cuts Kaine will support are in defence, so our nation will be weaker, still broke and the northern Va. Employment picture will be decimated. We need George Allen, the way Mitt Romney needs Ohio…

Ohio: Josh Mandel is everything we need in the US Senate and a vote for Romney must also include a vote for Mandel or the Romney agenda is stalled before it starts, like Pennsylvania steal and coal…

Pennsylvania: you can decide everything, you can end Obama’s reign and destroy Reid’s tyrannical hold on the Senate, how about a Romney-Tom Smith sweep for the love of God and country… speaking of God…

Maryland: are you really willing to sacrifice religious freedom for free contraception? Support for Obama-care means just that, Daniel Bongino will defend your religious freedom Ben Cardin will not. Does that mean anything to you? If you love liberty show me….

Missouri: Todd Akin believes in life liberty and the pursuit of happiness, Claire McCaskell stands for abortion, regulation and the pursuit of graft. You can show the nation and the Republican establishment that you love the former by voting against the corrupt incompetent McCaskell. While we’re sticking it to the establishment…

Indiana:  Richard Murdoch won the primary fair and square, we conservatives are always told to support the moderates for the good of party and country when they get nominated but we see the spoiled brat attitude that the RINO”S have when they lose in the disgraceful conduct of Richard Lugar, who would see the country go to hell in a hand basket rather than support conservative Murdoch. We saw the same with Scozzafafo in New York and Murkowski in Alaska. Let’s show the establishment just whose country this is!  Remember how well Scott Walker did in the recall in Wisconsin? We need to reward true conservatives…

Wisconsin: agriculture cannot survive Obama’s EPA. Romney cannot fix it without the Senate. If you give us Tommy Thompson instead of Tammy Baldwin we have a real chance for the future, or you can vote Democrat and drive the final nail in the coffin of the family farm and support the death tax all in one fell swoop.

 

A reminder, we may win the election and still lose the country, but if we cannot win the country if we lose this election.

Next time we will lament freedom lost or rejoice in hope renewed, until then keep on the firing line!

 

A personal stake in the election

For many years I’ve watched my kids walk through doors.  Ever since they were old enough to walk into dance class or Tai Kwon Do on their own I always watch to make sure they are safely inside before I pull off.  In recent years I have seldom had to take my son anywhere, since he has been driving himself, but yesterday I dropped him off at the Army recruiter and said goodbye. From the recruiter he went to MEPS then off to basic training. Even though he hasn’t been a child for a while, this was the last time I will ever watch him walk through a door as my little boy, he is a man now, he has made the choice to serve his nation as a soldier and I say God bless him. He is a fine man and my best friend, the little boy that used to look up to me has now become my hero.

 

One of the last things he did before taking his journey was to vote. As are many soldiers, he is of course a conservative Republican who loves the nation and the freedoms we have been entrusted with.  He is praying that he won’t do his first hitch in the service with Barak Obama the Bungler of Benghazi as his commander and chief.

Would you want your son to serve under a President who watched in real time an American consulate being attacked for seven hours and did nothing? He will not answer a question but was more than willing to erroneously blame some goofy internet video and the guy who made it ends up in jail. This is the America I want my son to defend? The cover-up of Benghazi makes Watergate, Monica Lewinski, and Iran Contra combined look like a traffic violation yet our media is not only quiet but complacent in the cover-up. If we are a nation that would reelect the President of the Benghazi affair, we deserve what we get.

My son’s oath will be to the constitution of the United States which Barak Obama ignores, he issues executive order to replace legislative action, He ignores laws like DOMA which he doesn’t like, he sent guns to Mexico to sway public opinion on gun control and as a result Federal agents as well as hundreds of Mexican citizens are dead.  He sabotages every attempt to produce our own energy and wastes BILLIONS on phony energy programs. He has acquired layers of debt my grandkids will be saddled with.

The President opposes religious freedom, as with his Obama-care mandates and battles tirelessly to kill as many babies through abortion as possible, (including infants born alive in failed abortions). The security of the country will fall into disrepair, freedom will be at the discretion of the secretary of HHS, and the only spending cuts that will be made in the cycle of debt and spending which will continue unabated, will be trillions from the defense budget. Don’t think however that the military will be used less, or that the Navy the size of the pre WW1 navy will be taxed any less.

The free enterprise system will be crushed and the pursuit of happiness will be denied my son’s sons. Poverty will grow and the middle class will shrink, the land of opportunity will be just an also ran.

I am not offering any new thoughts today, only a reminder of what is at stake in this election. Will we have Life Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness or not.  For me its personal, my father and his shipmates spilled blood into the briny Pacific in 1944 to leave us a free nation, my son risks his life to preserve it and my generation is on the verge of losing it.

Keep on the firing line for the sake of the soldiers!

 

 

 

Mountaineers were once free

 

 

As the election draws near our hopes of regaining the White House seem to grow with each Presidential debate, but with two weeks to go our chances of taking a conservative majority in the Senate seem precarious.  One state which appears to be a likely hold for the Democrats is West Virginia (God forgive us if so!), so for my fellow mountaineers allow me to sound a political alarm clock.

Two things will crush the mountain state if the status quo is maintained, Obama-care and the coal-crushing policies of the EPA which has begun to institute a defacto cap and trade policy. Remember it is the stated goal of the Obama administration to make “building a coal fired plant so expensive you’ll go broke”. Obama also says that under his cap and trade plan energy rates would necessarily sky rocket. No sweat, West Virginia will not go to Obama, but we seem Hell-bent to send fellow Democrat Joe Manchin back to Washington.  No, Manchin isn’t a radical lefty who pushes for limits on free speech, like oh... Jay Rockefeller Dem. WV and he did make a stand with Republicans to object to the sprawling power of the EPA and he made one of the all time great political adds by shooting the national Cap and trade bill with a hunting rifle, but consider this: As governor Joe Manchin pushed for and signed Cap and trade legislation in WV. I said: As governor Joe Manchin pushed for and signed Cap and trade legislation in WV. (http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=hb103%20ENR.htm&yr=2009&sesstype=1X&i=103)

In West Virginia we have this thing called “friends of coal” but with friends like Joe Manchin Coal needs no enemies!

From Manchin’s opponent John Raese: Our nation is at a crossroads. This November, the future of West Virginia is at stake.

We need a President and a Senator who not only defends coal in West Virginia, but more importantly in Washington, as well.

The Manchin-Obama economic policies are crushing West Virginia.

Coal power plants are going out of business. Coal companies like Patriot are filing for bankruptcy protection. Coal stocks are at an all-time low. And West Virginians are losing their jobs.

At the end of 2008, there were 264 coal mines producing coal.

As of May 2012, the Manchin-Obama War on Coal has reduced that number to 174.

Can you imagine what Joe Manchin and Barack Obama would do in the next four years when Obama doesn’t have to worry about running for reelection?

West Virginia can’t afford to find out the answer to that question.

And it’s not enough to just throw Obama out of office. If President Romney is going to be successful he will need a Republican Congress and a Republican Senate.

As important as the White House and House of Representatives are, and believe me no one is more committed to making Barack Obama a one-term president than I am, the real action is in the Senate.

If we are going to correct all the disastrous policies that Barack Obama and Joe Manchin have implemented, it’s going to take 51 Republican Senators.

If we send 51 Republican Senators to Washington in 2012 we can kill Obamacare and save coal.

(http://www.raeseforsenate.org/index.php/2012/08/savethecoal/)

Raase is likely to carry the Eastern Panhandle, the only part of West Virginia that’s not coal-based in its economy. Why does the rest of our great state seem so intent on cutting its own throat? I warn my fellow West Virginians keep sending these Democrats to Washington and our motto will need to be changed to “Mountaineers are always broke”!

Then there’s Obama-care, and the greatest single assault on freedom in the history of our nation. Manchin gripes about aspects of the bill but opposes repeal because there are some good things in it. That is comparable to the French arguing in 1941, “sure there are problems with the German Occupation but we like German bread and Volkswagens so let’s just try to fix the occupation not end it."

Here again is Raese’s take: Besides robbing your family of basic medical care choice, the new Obamacare health plan passed by the Democratic Congress is expected to employ thousands of new IRS agents to track down Americans for payment of healthcare taxes. The cost of the greatest social spending program in the nation’s history is still under debate, but since the inception of Medicare in 1965 the cost of the program has grown 2.7% faster the economy and should reach 20% of America’s GDP within the decade.

Here’s an example. An employer with a number of chain restaurants employs nearly 1,000 full time and part time workers. Each worker generates $58,000 in revenue and that works out to a $3,000 profit per employee when salary, taxes and overhead are deducted. Under President Obama and Senator Manchin’s new government mandated healthcare program, Obamacare, this employer will be forced to pay between $7,000 and $10,000 more per employee. You don’t have to be a mathematics genius to understand this will just not work – and will cost jobs. In fact, the Congressional Budget Office now believes Obamacare will cost the economy more than 800,000 jobs!

According to the Heritage Foundation new taxes, penalties and fees resulting from Obamacare will decrease the amount of investment in the economy. That reduced investment will in turn lead to a decline of productivity causing the economy to produce $706-billion dollars less in goods and services.

Despite election year statements to the contrary in 2010, Senator Joe Manchin had an opportunity last year to repeal Obamacare but voted NO in lockstep with President Obama.

John Raese stands in direct opposition to Joe Manchin and would vote to repeal Obamacare as a United States Senator.

If Obama Care stands that motto will be “Mountaineers were once free”

That’s no joke.

Please West Virginia: Get on the Firing line!

 

Concerning the “lesser of two evils” at the poling place.

 

I have always favored the expression “lesser of two evils” as it was one of my father’s favorite sayings. In honesty though I am more likely to use it to the least unpleasant of two undesirable options, i.e. spend the money to repair the steering on an old tractor or to spend more money to acquire one that would be an upgrade. Neither option is truly evil in the moral sense. It is also common to use this expression to describe the choices on the election ballet. Recently though a friend who is unfailingly pro-life, shared some voter information attempting to promote a third party candidate over incumbent Republican Shelley Moore Capito, because of her stand on abortion, in the margin of the photocopied paper he had scrawled in big letters “Capito is evil.” Some argue that the lesser of two evils is still evil, and that as Christians we must demand that our candidates unfailingly support our views on social, or as I prefer to say moral issues, or we should not support them regardless of who they run against, leave the ballet blank or vote third party even if doing so gives the advantage to an extreme liberal who opposes everything we stand for. I would look to the following quote from Abraham Lincoln to counter that point of view:

"The true rule, in determining to embrace or reject any thing, is not whether it has any evil in it; but whether it has more of evil than of good. There are few things wholly evil or wholly good. Almost every thing ... is an inseparable compound of the two; so that our best judgment of the preponderance between them is continually demanded."

 

With that in mind I would like to deal with some of the issues where some conservatives are hesitant to support Romney over Obama.

Romney used to be pro-choice. To summarize the evolution of the Romney position early in his political career Mitt was personally pro-life but policy wise was pro-choice. Over time Romney’s public views have changed to be more reflective of his personal views or to quote Gov. Romney “when I became governor I laid out in my view that a civilized society must respect the sanctity of life. And you know what? I’m following in some pretty good footsteps. It’s exactly what Ronald Reagan did. As governor, he was adamantly pro-choice. He became pro-life as he experienced life. And the same thing happened with George H. W. Bush.” Presidents Reagan and Bush 41 certainly were pro-life stalwarts but if that is not enough for you consider who he is running against.

Barack Obama is the pro-abortion dream president. He is far beyond the pale as it relates to abortion and is literally not pro-choice but pro-death. I say this without reservation.  “Obama has consistently refused to support legislation that would define an infant who survives a late-term induced-labor abortion as a human being with the right to live. He insists that no restriction must ever be placed on the right of a mother to decide to abort her child.

On March 30, 2001, Obama was the only Illinois senator who rose to speak against a bill that would have protected babies who survived late term labor-induced abortion. Obama rose to object that if the bill passed, and a nine-month-old fetus survived a late-term labor-induced abortion was deemed to be a person who had a right to live, then the law would "forbid abortions to take place." Obama further explained the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment does not allow somebody to kill a child, so if the law deemed a child who survived a late-term labor-induced abortion had a right to live, "then this would be an anti-abortion statute."

Source: Obama Nation, by Jerome Corsi, p.238 , Aug 1, 2008” (http://www.ontheissues.org/2012/Barack_Obama_Abortion.htm#Voting_Record)

Also the President has: Voted against banning partial birth abortion, Voted NO on defining unborn child as eligible for SCHIP, Voted NO on prohibiting minors crossing state lines for abortion, Voted YES on expanding research to more embryonic stem cell lines, Voted NO on notifying parents of minors who get out-of-state abortions, Voted YES on $100M to reduce teen pregnancy by education & contraceptives, been Rated 0% by the NRLC, indicating a pro-choice stance, and has a 100% positive rating from NARAL. Furthermore it is not enough to outlaw any restrictions on abortion or even support situational infanticide the President insists that not only abortion but all forms of contraception MUST be provided by insurers providing services for religious groups which oppose as part of their firmly held beliefs those practices. If that is not enough he appointed 2 of the most radical leftist activist judges ever to sit on the US Supreme court, and you can bet they will never “pull a John Roberts” and betray their liberal ideology.

To summarize: Obama wants to gut the 1^st amendment and make religious freedom subject to the discretion of the secretary of HHS, Romney does not.

Obama wants infants who survive abortion to be tossed in the trash or killed by a second doctor, Romney does not.

Romney’s position on abortion has evolved into a pro-life stance but Barack Hussein Obama has never wavered from his radical ant-life position.

Who holds a position we might reasonably call evil? So even if Romney is only the lesser of the two it is the pro-lifers duty to stop Obama at all costs.

 

The second concern is Romney-Care. To be frank this is the key reason I initially supported Rick Santorum or Michelle Bachman in the primaries. While Romney’s argument that states have the authority to reform healthcare any way they wish, but that the federal government does not have the authority to do the same is correct. Still it is possible that we won’t agree with all of Pres. Romney’s proposals to replace Obama-care after it is repealed, but if Romney is President with a Republican house and senate, it will be repealed. Romney did propose and sign bad legislation in Massachusetts, but he is not so narcissistic as to believe that he knows best what Texas or West Virginia should do in their own unique and sovereign states.

 

If you want 2,000 pages of a freedom crushing anchor around our necks as we drown in a sea of tens of thousands of pages of regulations and billions in new taxation, then sit out the election, or leave the top slot blank. Better yet aid Obama by voting third party.

To use Lincoln’s litmus, when it comes to healthcare reform with who does the preponderance of evil lie? Barack Hussein Obama.

Finally some hesitate to support Governor Romney because he has stated a belief in manmade global warming in the past. It is reasonable that the Governor has over time saw the fraudulent science and as a result seen the light.

What Mitt Romney will not do is to use the EPA as a pseudo legislature to enforce his radical socialist policies. Romney does not want the price of energy to skyrocket (Obama does and has said so).  Romney will not order the EPA to reinterpret “the navigable waterways act” to include mud puddles and drainage ditches as Obama has. Romney does not want to destroy the coal industry and force the closure of hundreds of coal fired power plants as Obama has, helping to create power shortages in numerous states. (These plants have the boilers fouled so they cannot easily be restarted) Ohio and Pennsylvania coal miners can you see this?  Farmers, Obama may promise not to cut subsidies but the EPA now has the authority to order the same spill containment regulation for milk as they do for oil in the Gulf.  If you have a pond, then Obama wants the authority to tell you what you can and can’t do with your land. Not to mention the price of fuel.

I can’t guarantee that Mitt Romney won’t propose some bed environmental policy, what I can guarantee  is that Barak Obama will continue to use the power of regulation to crush industry and agriculture, to control the liberty of each citizen and funnel billions in tax payer monies to green energy scams.

 In a second term I cannot bring myself to imagine the abuse of power and usurpation of liberty we will see. Romney is what we got, personally the choice of Ryan for VP, his support of free speech following the Benghazi attacks, and his debate and convention performances have set me at ease and lead me to the conclusion Romney may be as good a President as Ann Coulter says he’ll be. The bottom line though is that no one else can defeat Obama. If we the people, and it falls to us ultimately, are going to save our country, electing Mitt Romney has to be step one. A conservative house and senate are equally important.

Don’t crush the hopes and dreams of generations of Americans past and future because Romney wasn’t your first choice.

To my friend, I make the same argument in favor of Shelley Moore Capito. We should  engage in the primary races to get the best candidates we can, then in the general election we may necessarily have to support a candidate who is misguided on some issues, even important ones like abortion, in order to keep true evil at bay.

Until next time, keep on the firing line!

PS I constantly pray that God will open Mrs. Capito’s eyes and that she will repent and embrace a true pro-life stand.

 

 

 

 

Liberalism and Radical Islamism- Two Peas in a Pod

 

 I used to wonder why liberals were so violently opposed to conservatism and hostile toward Christianity but so tolerant of radical Islamism. Why do liberals cite the medieval terrors of the inquisition and the crusades as proof of the immorality of Christianity yet ignore the contemporary, murderous oppression of the Mullahs and the Taliban? Why do liberals point to the Salem Witch Trials (1692-1693) to prove Christianity’s disdain for women yet poo poo the flogging and imprisonment of Muslim women convicted of committing “forced adultery”?  I don’t wonder any more however, I know the answer Islamism and liberalism are basically the same thing.

 

1)      Both love big government.  In order to impose a coercive agenda, government control is essential.  Limited government by its very nature is not capable of nor does it seek to impose an oppressive set of controls on the individual. Limited government recognizes the sovereignty of the individual, big government denies individual sovereignty. You cannot be trusted to make up your own minds, to decide what religion to follow, what light bulb to use, what clothes to wear what food to eat, when and where to pray, what to listen to on the radio, or what conduct you should or should not find acceptable. You can take every one of these examples and find a case where they apply to either liberals or Islamists (except Islamists don’t necessarily care about light bulbs).  Both systems “bet the farm” on the idea that governmental authority can create a new and Utopian society if only the decisions are removed from the prevue of the individual and placed in the hands of masterminds (or Mullahs).

2)      Both are intolerant of dissent.  Once you establish that the good of the society is best served by the theocracy/bureaucracy, than opposition to those institutions becomes harmful to society. If a woman wears pants or doesn’t cover her head then society is threatened. Likewise anyone who rejects gay marriage or doesn’t drink the climate change “cool aid” is a threat. For a despotic regime to be successful then uniformity of the masses must be achieved, individualism must be suppressed, except when the individual is useful to the state. In Islamist countries they have the full power of law to deal with descent; liberals have it harder at least for the moment. They have to settle for name calling bullying and intimidation. Who wants to oppose the powers that be if they have to be put through what the Palin family has?  How many men have the courage to bear up under the lies and accusations that Clarence Thomas did? Have you not noticed that any and all opposition to Obama is racism, that any lie about Romney is OK, i.e. Romney killed my wife, or Paul Ryan wants to take Medicare away from seniors, but Obama can lie endlessly about creating millions of jobs, or cover up a deadly scandal like fast and furious and hardly receive one tough question about it? Next time a liberal claims to believe in tolerance we should meet that claim with scornful laughter.

3)      Neither cherishes freedom of speech. Of course the liberals love to claim the 1^st amendment to protect crucifixes submerged in urine, or any form of pornography, but those fit the liberal utopian model.  However, let speech that is inconvenient to them be spoken and they are up in arms. If liberals truly loved free speech they would never have pushed for a fairness doctrine that would silence conservative talk radio, they would not have attacked private citizens like Rush Limbaugh from the Senate floor nor would the President’s lackeys probe Sean Hannity and Fox News. This is the work of despots not statesmen. In Pakistan a young mother named Asia Bibi sits upon death row, her crime: she made the following statement, “My Christ is alive.” (for more info and to sign a petition on her behalf please visit http://www.callformercy.com/)  Liberals do not as yet have the power of the death penalty but they have certainly come to an important consensus with the Islamists in recent weeks. Somebody made a video that offended Muslims (what doesn’t?)  So as is their want they went on a killing rioting rampage. What is interesting is that both Islamist dictators and liberal pundits agree: the problem is not that the mobs are killing each other over some cheesy video, no the problem is too much free speech. Obama and Clinton have gone out of their way to make sure everyone knows it is the fault of the video not the bloodthirsty mobs, we feel their pain, though officially we think the murders are going a little too far. We apologize over and again, our Egyptian embassy apologized, see how that placated the mob? We are currently spending 70,000 taxpayer dollars to produce and air apologies in Pakistan. Compare these quotes: “We, as Americans, have to put limits and borders [on] freedom of speech,”  and “A permissive approach to hate speech is not a prerequisite to functioning democracy, On the contrary, our European friends would argue that democracy is better served by banning such material." The first quote is from radical cleric Mohammad Qatanani, who leads one of the largest mosques in New Jersey the second is from liberal pundit Peter Spiro.  Point made. At least Mitt Romney had the guts to stand up unapologetically for free speech, so hopefully we will again have a President who believes in the 1^st amendment come January.

4)      Both see religious freedom as a threat. In addition to character assassination and misrepresentation there is a strong push to extend hate crimes laws to include many forms of noncompliant behavior (IE homosexuality is a sin in the eyes of God and therefore morally reprehensible- by some proposed standards that statement would make me a criminal not that that would stop me from saying it.) Canada already has this type of hate crimes legislation.in our own country the most sacred of all American rights and the first amendment to our constitution has been cast carelessly aside in the name of healthcare reform. By ordering Catholic and other religious institutions to provide health care plans covering contraception and abortive agents, the God given right of religious freedom was made subject to the whim of the secretary of the Department of Health and Human services. Thanks to John Roberts and the guys on the US Supreme Court we may well look to the onset of Obama-care as the end of religious freedom. Of course Islamist countries deal with this by having a state religion, Islam, and banning all others Liberals are content to do away with Christian practice and symbols. Compare these stories: KABUL - Ignoring an international outcry, Afghanistan's puritanical Taliban Islamic militia began demolishing statues across the country on Thursday, including two towering ancient stone Buddhas. Taliban Minister of Information and Culture Qudratullah Jamal told AFP the destruction of scores of pre-Islamic figures, designed to stop the worshipping of "false idols," had begun throughout the country. He said militiamen started wrecking the almost 2,000-year-old Buddhist masterpieces in the central province of Bamiyan, including the world's tallest standing Buddha measuring 50 meters (165 feet), after sunrise. (http://www.commondreams.org/headlines.shtml?/headlines01/0301-04.htm) and WASHINGTON — The 40-foot-tall cross rises above the nearby shopping centers and neighborhoods, a local landmark that for more than 80 years has served as a gateway to the Maryland communities of Bladensburg and Hyattsville. The Memorial Peace Cross honors 49 men from Prince George’s County, Md., who lost their lives during World War I. Now the American Humanist Association, a Washington-based group that represents atheists and others, is calling for the cross’ removal, arguing that a religious image on public land violates the constitutional principle of the separation of church and state.
Read more here: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2012/09/15/2272594/debate-erupts-over-wwi-monument.html#storylink=cpy. You will get the point.

5)      Both devalue human life. Islamists murder apostates and Christians, they erupt into riotous bloodthirsty mobs at the drop of a hat, they measure tactical victories by innocent deaths, and they strap bombs on kids and blow them up in crowded theatres.  Liberals consider any restriction on the murder of the unborn as crime against woman, support euthanasia for the elderly and handicapped (Terry Schiavo was murdered on these grounds) and assisted suicide.

6)      Both disrespect women. There is little doubt that women in Islamist countries are second class citizens or worse. In some countries woman can’t legally drive, some cannot testify in court cannot ride a bus without a male relatives permission go out unescorted, can be convicted of crimes at the testimony of a man, can be flogged for wearing pants or getting raped. However we are told that Democrats OWN women’s issues in this land. Let me be blunt ladies, liberals believe you to be so stupid and such sex objects that you don’t care about the economy or defense, you’re not worried that national debt is crushing your children’s future, woman do not care about those who wish to stay home and raise their babies but are compelled to work due to crushing tax burdens or the inability of the husbands to find gainful employment.  No, Ladies your votes can be bought by free abortions and $9 worth of contraception. To the Islamist you are chattel to the liberals you are useful idiots.

7)      Both prosper in times of economic chaos. The poverty of the Middle East plays into the hands of the Islamist, just as the culture of dependency plays into the hands of the liberals. Dependency is key, men lack the strength to fight against the hand that holds the bread and controls the flow of water and electricity. It does not behoove the Islamist for the people of the middle east to leave their quasi 14^th century existence, but it does behoove the American liberal to stifle economic progress and to retard the creation of wealth, to devastate the healthcare industry until panels of bureaucrats make all healthcare decisions until 51% are too afraid to oppose the hand that feeds them and thus keep and vote always for the party that controls their dependency.  If the liberals win one more election we may well reach the point of no return.
 

Two forces threaten American liberty and the foundation of the civil society. If we are to save it, then we must defeat both. One we must fight with our armies, the other with our votes. If we lose to either we lose it all.  If I sound not politically correct, well more than usual, it’s because time is short and I am angry at what is happening to my country.

 

Next week I am probably going to lose friends but we must press on as I address the concept of voting for the “lesser of two evils”.

 

Until next time,keep on the firing line 

September 11th Outrage- Again!

 

Where were you when the World stopped turning that September day?  The title of the great Alan Jackson song about the terrorist attacks on September 11^th, 2001. I’m like everyone else in that I will never forget the way that day affected me. I mourned that day more than I did for the loss of my parents. Never have I felt the urge to wring my hands and cry out, “what did we do wrong?”, rather I have always been more prone to cry, “Let’s get the b……..”  In addition to writing and amateur political blog and a few unpublished novels I have written lyrics to a couple of dozen gospel songs. (Southern Gospel, 4 part harmony, aka the good stuff) but I never wrote one about 9/11 for one simple reason, you can’t put profanity into a gospel song. The Evil of radical terrorism that befell our nation 11 years ago should inspire unrepentant anger. I settle for giving an amen to Toby Keith’s lyric “We’ll put a boot in you’re a.., it’s the American way.” If anger has no place in the Christian life than I read my Bible wrong. While God does not desire us to seek personal vengeance, we should be angry at the murder of innocents done in the name of Allah. We should be angry when we see the oppression and suffering of the people of the Middle East and the persecution of Christians and anyone who refuses to accept not only Islam but a particular sect of Islam. 

 

Following the September 11^th attacks America went to war. President Bush did not make every decision correctly, (what successful wartime president has? Roosevelt? Wilson? Lincoln? Of course not) but success is measured in results. In spite of dealing with a political party that was willing to undermine the US military in the field to harm the president politically, the war on terror from 2001 until 20012 was unquestionably successful. There were no more successful terror attacks in the US mainland, two crucial safe havens were  lost to the radicals ,Afghanistan and the ruling Taliban were first, than Iraq and its support of terror and capacity to manufacture weapons of mass destruction.  (Stockpiles that the world universally agreed that they had were not found but camps dedicated to training Al-Qaida affiliated groups in their use were found along with remnants of chemical weapons) Iran briefly stopped its nuclear program seeing that the US meant business, Libya disarmed, and the entire force of Al-Qaida was dedicated to trying to stall the US victories in those aforementioned nations. When Iraq was finally lost to them, they continued to stir up trouble in Afghanistan finding hiding places in Pakistan. Osama Bin Laden survived but being the number two man at Al-Qaida became the job with the shortest life expectancy in the world. God only knows how many special ops raids  went off without the public ever knowing.  Meanwhile the US ran political interference for Isreal so they could deal with Hamas in Lebanon,   a successful venture that would have been an overwhelming victory if not for Prime Minister Omert’s lack of decisiveness. Bin Laden’s “paper tiger” was devouring his cause while he hid out in his Pakistani complex.

 

• Enter Barack Hussein Obama. Quote:

---

I truly believe that the day I'm inaugurated not only does the country look at itself differently, but the whole world looks at America differently.

If I'm reaching out to the Muslim world they understand that I've lived in a Muslim country, and I may be a Christian, but I understand their point of view.

My sister is half Indonesian. I traveled there all the way through my college years so I am intimately concerned with what happens in these countries and the cultures and perspectives these folks have.

And these are powerful tools for us to be able to reach out to the world, and when you combine that with my work on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on everything from immigration to issues of genocide, then I think the world will have confidence that I am listening to them and that our future and our security is (sic) tied up with our ability to work with other countries of the world.

And that will ultimately make us safer. And that's something that this administration [Bush] has failed to understand.

What arrogance! What naivety! Obama’s foreign policy is based on the belief that the evil people who murdered 2,753 Americans are going to like us now because Barak Obama likes them!  Thanks to an intelligence trail that began with the Bush administration (largely gathered by methods and programs Obama opposed) Bin Laden is dead- but Al-Qaida is alive! Now they have two new countries to stage in, Egypt and Libya. Prior to the Arab Spring Hosni Mubarak ruled in Egypt. According to Vice President Biden:” Mubarak has been an ally of ours in a number of things and he's been very responsible on, relative to geopolitical interests in the region: Middle East peace efforts, the actions Egypt has taken relative to normalizing the relationship with Israel. … I would not refer to him as a dictator”. Of course Obama through Mubarak overboard like a racist white grandmother as soon as public opinion went against him, and now Egypt is in the hand of the Muslim Brotherhood, granddaddy of all Islamist terror groups. I am sure that other world leaders who might be on the fence will think twice about allying with us after that.  Libya was worse, as Obama committed American military forces to aid in the overthrow of the malevolent but controlled Momar Gadhafi without the slightest clue of who we were giving the country to.  This decision is directly responsible for the attacks on our embassy that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens, Sean Smith, Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty. While these attacks were planned well in advance a cheesy you-tube video was used to whip up the frenzied crowd which provided cover for the military assault that killed our men, but more importantly caused Obama to delay a fund raising trip by one hour. Obama’s response?  “Too bad about Stevens sorry to have offended you folks with that movie, maybe we can get you-tube to take it down”. Of course there was some nonspecific reference to bringing the killers to justice, just as Bill Clinton did with the bombing of the USS Cole.

 

I have more to say but I found someone to say it better, here is the “controversial” statement by Mitt Romney. “Good morning. Americans woke up this morning with tragic news and felt heavy hearts. As they consider that individuals that served in our diplomatic core were brutally murdered across the world.

This attack on American individuals and embassies is outrageous. It’s disgusting. It breaks the heart of all of us who think of these people who have served during their lives the cause of freedom and justice and honor. We mourn their loss. And join together in prayer that the spirit of the Almighty might comfort the families of those who have been so brutally slain.

Four diplomats lost their life. Including the US Ambassador, Jay Christopher Stevens, in the attack on our embassy at Benghazi, Libya. And of course, with these words, I extend my condolences to the grieving loved ones who have left behind as a result of these who have lost their lives in the service of our nation. And I know that people across America are grateful for their service. And we mourn their sacrifice.

America will not tolerate attacks against our citizens and against our embassies. We’ll defend, also, our constitutional rights of speech and assembly and religion. We have confidence in our cause in America. We respect our constitution. We stand for the principles our constitution protects. We encourage other nations to understand and respect the principles of our constitution. Because we recognize that these principles are the ultimate source of freedom for individuals around the world.

I also believe the administration was wrong to stand by a statement sympathizing with those who had breached our embassy in Egypt instead of condemning their actions. It’s never too early for the United States government to condemn attacks on Americans and to defend our values.

The White House distanced itself last night from the statement saying it wasn’t cleared by Washington. That reflects the mixed signals they’re sending to the world.

The attacks in Libya and Egypt underscore that the world remains a dangerous place. And American leadership is still sorely needed. In the face of this violence, America cannot shrink from the responsibility to lead. American leadership is necessary to ensure that events in the region don’t spin out of control. We cannot hesitate to use our influence in the region to support those who share our values and our interests.

Over the last several years, we stood witness to an Arab Spring that presents an opportunity for a more peaceful and prosperous region. But it also poses the potential for peril if the forces of extremism and violence are allowed to control the course of events. We must strive to ensure that the Arab Spring does not become an Arab Winter. With that, I’m happy to take any question you may have. Steve?”

Reporter: [beginning inaudible] … statement you referred was very toughly worded statement last night. Do you regret the tone at all given what we know now?

Romney: The embassy in Cairo put out a statement after their grounds had been breached. Protesters were inside the grounds. They reiterated that statement after the breach. I think it’s a terrible course for America to stand in apology for our values. That instead when our grounds are being attacked and being breached that the first response by the United States must be outrage at the breach of the sovereignty of our nation. An apology for America’s values is never the right course."

I know I can only vote once (not being an illegal immigrant or dead Chicago Democrat) and I have always intended to vote against Obama, but with this statement I have changed my mind: I now intend to vote FOR Mitt Romney!

 

You see I don’t think it was inappropriate at all for Romney to act presidential in the midst of this crisis, after all someone had to.

Until next time, keep on the firing line!