Now that the announcement has been made that he is backing the former Massachusetts governor, I’m a little more certain of my selection. He said his decision was based on his tough position on China and that old bugaboo of common sense, “electability”. Now we must keep in mind that electability is defined by the polls provided by the formerly mainstream media whose agenda is far different than those of us who love freedom and love our country. Need I add that it is an atheistic, socialistic formerly mainstream media we are turning to for electability measurement.

It is good to have a confirmation of the wisdom of my choice. Many others feel the same way. A FoxNews poll showed many of the same mind. Ten percent said his support would make the candidate more appealing while twenty seven percent said Trump’s endorsement would make them less likely to support a candidate. The rest just didn’t care.

We need to keep in mind that such endorsements have little to do with the quality of the candidate and more to do with revealing the perspective and priorities of the endorser. In this case, Trump sees China as a growing danger, and it is. But, so is the Federal Reserve, and so are the dictatorial courts, our southern border and militant Islam… and on and on. We need a leader with the wisdom of Solomon. Unfortunately I don’t see any in the current field with this quality.

Lacking anyone with such wisdom, we can only pray that the one selected as the Obama slayer, electorally of course, can, and is willing to, tap into the same source of wisdom that Solomon had and that he does not lean on his own (or his advisers) understanding.

The fact that most don’t care about such endorsements gives us some hope. Those among us who base their lives on the opinions of others have a wide selection of false prophets to follow… along with some leading us into the light. If we really have the need to look to others for our opinions and standards, we need to do more than just look to celebrity.

Peewee Herman was big in show business for a time, yet few would depend on his wisdom to guide their lives. Yet, many, for some unexplained and unexplainable reason, follow the wit and wisdom, or lack thereof, of Janeane Garofalo or Alec Baldwin… Sean Penn even.

We all need to pay a little more attention to whose thoughts we permit inside our heads. The Donald has actually accomplished much. He is almost as skilled at self promotion as Jesse Jackson in his heyday. Why else would there be such drama surrounding this announcement that is ultimately of minimal importance? He certainly has much more to offer than show business types who earn their living pretending to be someone they are not.

However, if we spend time looking into, and deciding who to follow as our opinion makers, wouldn’t it be far more productive to spend that time formulating our own opinions based on facts? Knowing what is going on in the world and knowing where I stand on various issues is the path to personal responsibility. That is the rub. For some reason personal responsibility is not all that attractive to some people. It’s easier to have Oprah or Whoopi do our thinking for us. The only problem is… they aren’t thinking.

James Dobson tugged at the heart strings, S.M. Lockridge spoke with passion. However, for me, the most memorable speaker, was Dr. Robert A. Cook from The King’s College in Briarcliff Manor, NY. – now moved to New York City. He was a delightful gentleman who had a way of putting things into perspective. He began his address by telling us that two days before, he talked to Vice President Bush, and just the day before, he talked to the President. Then, with a twinkle in his eye, he said. “But this morning… I talked to God.”

In his own, plain spoken way, the bow tied Dr. Cook showed an unusual understanding of the what was important and where the real power rests. As great a man as Ronald Reagan was, he could not walk on water or turn water into wine… and, even though this may come as a surprise to some, neither can the man who occupies his office now nor any of those seeking to replace him.

We are told to respect our leaders and pray for those in authority. This does not mean we are to blindly follow and not speak up when we see things are amiss. They are men… only men. We are privileged to live in country where we still have the ability to raise our voices when we see the train is headed off a cliff. With this privilege comes the responsibility to do so! After all, it’s not just about us. We are our brothers keeper.

As a practical matter, then, we need to stay in touch with our legislators, at all levels. We are not doing our jobs as citizens if we don’t and our complaints to others just become ineffective whining… and nobody likes a whiner. People respect those who take decisive action – even if they don’t agree with, or even like, you.

Today, we are governed by another ruling class who, at best, gives lip service to the Creator and, at worst, wants Him banned from public discourse, lest their humanistic lies be exposed. They are the ones who determine who is favored and who is shunned. They decide who deserves the good will of the state and who requires observation.

Here is where we run into the idea of the “protected class” of citizens. These are people who don’t always have an easy time of life. It could be that they have some physical situation, or some lifestyle choice situation that is different than most. However, the common denominator is that the Democrat Party has managed to create a dependency on government in these citizens and, pretty well, takes them for granted at the polling place… sometimes multiple times in a cycle. Foolishly, the other party bought into the compassionate sounding names they gave the laws and embraced them as well.

This is not to say we should ignore our neighbors with physical disabilities. On the contrary, we need to look out for the welfare of our neighbors as we do our own families. However, to make such consideration a mandate from the government opens the door to all sorts of graft, corruption and cronyism.

Consider for a moment the outrageously priced child safety seat for cars. They are a great product and my grandchildren all had them. My kids had this flimsy little thing that hung on the back of the front seat. It would have been useless in a crash. However the mandate did not come until someone had a product they want to sell and the connections to have a law passed. Viola! An instant market of millions of new parents. I want to make clear that just because something is a law does not mean it’s a bad idea – just that we need to be aware of the whole story.

Now consider the whole new industry centered around “compliance”. It encompasses the fastest growing segment of the software industry all the way down to companies that pedal properly worded posters instructing employees how to behave so as not to offend one or more of the ruling party’s constituencies. Those with connections are making multiple millions because of these government regulations, while the rest of us are boxed in more tightly every day by people with no natural authority telling us “you must say this” or “you can’t say that”.

Some of the problems addressed actually had some basis in reality. Sometimes we Americans can behave boorishly, not thinking about the people around us. Yes, even Christians do the same thing. It may not be as overt at times, but we, too, can get caught up in our own concerns and forget the people around us. We are told that true religion is to look out for the least among us, so we are, in deed, our brothers keeper.

It is because we, as a group, have failed to be the salt and light in society, taking care of those in need that we opened the door for opportunists to come in and replace true compassion with the mercantile approach of trading favor for votes. Some of our own number, who claim the name of Christ, have fallen into the trap of attempting to meet their neighbors needs through a political organization that is essentially godless and corrupt.

We cannot escape the blame for allowing this to happen. We have been too wrapped up in our own concerns. These concerns could even include our own church activities. We have not been seeing the needs around us. Not seeing, we have not been responding… and the enemy has moved in with a false solution that takes away freedom and destroys souls.

Recently Allen West has attracted a strong and loyal following.  He has the courage to speak the truth and stand against the prevailing political winds.  Many of you are already fans of what may be a modern day Patrick Henry.  He has been so effective at stirring up the populace that the powers that be in the Florida Republican Party are working at redistricting him out of his seat in congress so he would no longer be the standard by which they are judged.

Using Lt. Col. West as the standard for judging congress is not really a bad idea, yet there are few who would benefit by the comparison.  So for those of you know about the man already… enjoy.  For those who are not familiar with him… enjoy!

This is kind of the spirit of what we heard when Barack Hussein Obama declared, “With or without this congress, I will keep taking action…” during the State of the Union message. For a President to say this of the entire legislative branch of our government shows a complete contempt for our constitution and the separation of powers the founders built into our nation’s fabric.

This is the man who considers the constitution that was designed to protect rights of individuals through restraint of government to be a hindrance to the implementation of his schemes to change the world for the good of us poor, ignorant folks who still cling to our God and our guns. That is, those of us who are too dimwitted to know any better. Never mind that we have other plans for our money, resources and our lives. The anointed one and this minions are people who know how we should live… and we should just just quietly follow them.

Many years ago, C.S. Lewis noted, “Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive”. We have been told that expansion of the national government power is for our own good. We are told that the power of government will keep bad things from happening. We are told that the government can give us better health care if only we are willing to sacrifice our potential well being for the good of the overall society.

Unfortunately, it is the power of government that keeps good things from happening. It is the excess of regulation and interference that has destroyed not only jobs, but entire industries. It has turned happy, prosperous cities into towns struggling with despair and joblessness. The President’s answer to this problem is to expand the unemployment insurance. This is indicative of the myopic approach to all our problems… just think about it. If city after city lands on the skids and survives on the unemployment insurance that former Speaker Nancy Pelosi says creates jobs, will there not come a point when more cities are taking than giving and driving the rest into poverty? How about us as individuals – when more of us are surviving on resources of those who earned them?

In the The Treasure of Sierra Madre, the impersonators came to a bad end. They pretended to be people with authority and power to protect the people. They were not people with authority and power to protect the people. They were liars and thieves. They paid the price and suffered the fate of an imposter. What will be the price that Barack Hussein Obama pays for the destruction of America… both now and forever.

Congress? We don’t need no stinkin’ congress!

As Barack Hussein Obama kicked off his presidential campaign with a State of the Union message.  The Prevaricator in Chief tried to sound much more mainstream than his actions have shown him to be.  We shall look at any proposals that may actually have both merit and potential for execution at a later date, however for now, let’s look at what American patriot, Thomas Paine might tell him.

Four recent news stories have helped bring us to the point where South Carolina could help define the future of the Republican Party and the United States of America. When it was needed to give Romney a boost toward ultimate victory, the powers that be in Iowa found the votes to give him a thin, eight vote, victory of Rick Santorum. Now, with time to reflect and review the ballots, it seems that the Pennsylvania senator now has a 34 vote lead – long after the news cycle that declared his nicely coiffed opponent the winner.

To make matters more interesting, these results may not be certified since eight units can not even find the material to verify their initial counts. Come on guys! Stolen elections and dishonest counts are a time honored tradition in the Democrat Party. When it comes to the GOP, I would like to attribute it to incompetence – given their unique ability to consistently snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, yet, even that is not very comforting. If I am wrong, however, it confirms our worst fears that those running the party care just as little about the will of the people as do the donkeys. Whatever the ultimate reason, if we ever learn it, the whole situation just does not pass the smell test.

The next story to make the news was Rick Perry’s decision to drop out of the race. This comes as good news, not because he is a bad candidate or would make an awful president. On the contrary, I believe he would have done an admirable job in the White House. However, with diminishing finishes, and sinking poll numbers, it was plain this is not his time. This action shows the kind of wisdom and concern for his country that is needed to bring our country out of the sinkhole of Obamaville.

Perry’s disappearance from the debate platform in some ways diminishes the party, yet it is a step toward a final positive resolution. The four, or so, percent of the vote he laid claim to made no difference to the final outcome other than the prevention of the accumulation of sufficient votes to place a man on the ballot who represents the people rather than the party. It is to his patriotic credit that he recognized his duty to give up the dream, suppress his ego, and do what is best for his country.

Next, two endorsements represent an artificial divide between groups with very similar values, but with different conclusions. Recently a group of evangelical leaders got together and decided to support Rick Santorum, a man strongly dedicated to his Roman Catholic family values. Word is also circulating now, that tea partiers are rallying to support Newt Gingrich. Each of these patriotic Americans is following their world views and priorities. In spite of the apparent differences in the evangelical and tea party endorsements, the actual policies of the Santorum and Gingrich administrations would be very similar.

Rick Santorum is a good, even tempered man, while Newt Gingrich is more of a fireball, prone to speak the truth as he sees it, to the delight of Americans looking for a modern day Patrick Henry and the dismay those loath to rock the political boat. With all the pablum and lies coming out of the District of Columbia and the formerly mainstream media, we, the people, are longing for someone to speak the truth to our oppressors and inspire us to action.

With Ron Paul holding a stable cadre of supporters, and Mitt Romney, boasting a following of believers in their party, the victory can be gained when the supporters the former congressman and senators unite to defeat the corporatist and the sincere libertarian who sometimes takes things a little far. What is more important, I would ask: victory for our nation, or pride of being right, but finishing in second place?

On a final note, I would be remiss if I did not address the hubbub about the former Mrs. Gingrich’s alliance with the major television network dedicated to the downfall of any of Barack Hussein Obama’s opponents. With the timing of the televised interview, the political motivation is obvious. With the lack of investigation into the non-existence of the President’s former girlfriends and his relationship with Larry Sinclair, among others, we see an effort devoid of moral motivation, dedicated to preserving the power of the ruling class.

With the lapse of time and the claimed religious conversion of the former speaker, we really have to consider if the allegations have any impact, even in the doubtful case they are proven true. The Bible says we are to forgive our enemies… even the progressives destroying our country. Should we not extend the same attitude toward our friends? Permitting ourselves to be manipulated by these sowers of discord, puts us in the same category of those kept on the progressive plantation by threats that they would have to work for a living – which they are told they incapable of, if the government stopped robbing the productive to support the unproductive. We are better than that.

Essentially there are two primary ways of viewing the world around us. C.S. Lewis called it the “Great Divide”. Do we live our lives with the recognition of the supreme being, or do we consider ourselves (man) to be the supreme being? There is even a perversion of the secular humanist thinking that sees man as the supreme underbeing and Mother Earth is the deity to be worshipped… in the way that these unusual people shall specify for us.

In any case, the culture war that currently engulfs our country is one that most who would claim the God centered world view are blissfully unaware of. So many, like their secular neighbors, are absorbed in their own lives and problems. They have been distracted by the small acts of goodness they can do, and totally miss the bigger picture that shows the Christian viewpoint being shuffled off to the side. Many of us have been majoring in minors, as the saying goes… fighting over hymnbook content or carpet colors.

Many also site II Timothy 2:4 that tells us “No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs – he wants to please his commanding officer.” We are told this as they, many with sincerity, attempt to go about the business of the Lord. The problem with this thinking is that it fails to recognize that a major part of the battle has moved into the public arena and the forces of secular humanism have been winning by default. The other problem with this thinking is that many of the Lord’s “soldiers” are AWOL from the fight entirely.

Many also take Paul’s admonition to heart that we need to endure hardships and the implementation of a secular based government with no concept of the creator endowed rights to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” is just something we will have to live with.

This all well and good except they are missing the main point: IT’S NOT ABOUT US! Our convenience and ease of life are not the issue. The issue is the millions of children going through the public schools immersed in Darwinism. The issue is the millions of babies killed in the name of convenience with no concept of consequences. The issue is the gay and lesbian clubs in the same public schools that now call Christmas Vacation a Winter Break. No, it is not about us. It’s about permitting a culture that devalues the God of the Bible and promotes the idea that our puny logic can figure out what is right and wrong based on our circumstances… and it’s about the tragic consequences to those misdirected by our culture.

An example of how one’s world view determines their actions and impact on those around them is the slavish allegiance of academic biology departments at all levels to the evolutionary thinking of Charles Darwin. They understand there are gaps in the theory, but they have faith that eventually, their knowledge will be filled. Why is this, as the facts can’t substantiate their position? To understand this, let’s go back to the basic divide in world views. One says there is a creator God and the other denies this fact.

Most academicians in their ivy covered world with inbred social and work life circles publicly proclaim that they have never been able to see or measure God, therefore, he must not exist. With this background they HAVE TO embrace Darwinism since it meshes with their world view. There is no way they can even admit Creationism is a valid alternative. They deride Intelligent Design as simply an attempt to insert religion into science.

Ben Stein showed the foolishness of this position in his film Expelled when he interviewed a distinguished professor who could accept the possibility that a superior race from another solar system could have set life in motion on earth, but could not accept that we were created by a deity. These people are people are teaching our young and we are letting them!

Books could be, and have been, written about the effect of the secular humanist philosophy on our society as a whole and on us individually. Basically it has only led to increases in crime, suicide and poverty. The secularized society has proven it is not the paradise envisioned in John Lennon’s Imagine any more than the former Soviet Union produced the workers paradise it touted around the world.

Consider your world view. Compare it to the programs and pronouncements coming out our Washington and your state capitol. Don’t just think about the impact they will have on your life. Think about what they will do to the people around you and society as a whole. Many are trying to buy you off with trinkets as they steal and corrupt the soul of our country.

Now, let’s think about this for a moment. Is there any candidate, front runner or back marker, who fits this stereotypical image many hold of the GOP? I’ll give you a hint. He has really nice hair. He, along with others, bought companies – made some successful and sold others just for the assets, leaving the workers to find their own way to the unemployment office.

This is not necessarily an attack on all of the practices of Bain Capital, but we really need to look past the “electability” issue the press and Republican establishment keep pushing in our faces. Is this a time for anyone so removed from the average American to run for the presidency? In some ways, it’s a lot like the question, no matter what you think of his qualifications, is it the time for Jebb Bush to run for the office?

We have an environment where the president is running against any sort of success, viewing it as only producing resources to be looted for the benefit of his constituents. He is only to happy to point out the evils of capitalism. Something he and many see Mitt Romney as the chief exponent of.

Paradoxically, these are same people who have no problems when they cozy up to wealthy supporters like George Soros and Jeffrey Immelt. Never mind that one uses his wealth to destroy national economies, including our own, and the other ships American jobs overseas. Sometimes their selective indignation is astounding.

Unfortunately, the formerly mainstream media is helping perpetuate Obama’s distorted narrative with Keynesian economic fallacies. Also, unfortunately, there is a gullible and economically illiterate public ready to eat up the class warfare rhetoric.

Running a candidate who fits the narrative of an evil, money grubbing business man, particularly in view of some of the practices of Bain Capital, is giving the imposter in the White House a gift he does not deserve. He wants to face off against Romney because he fears the former governor less than some of the more outspoken candidates.

It is too easy to take shots at a man born with a silver spoon in his mouth and a record that includes putting people out of work to make a profit. The fact is, that despite the consensus of “electability” and the pre-campaign polling, this man does not really fit the bill.

But, some would say, he is an fine example of capitalism. Only in an elitist fantasy, is he the fine example. Mitt Romney is much more of corporatist who has little in common with a guy with a dream who starts a small business and struggles to keep it alive in a hostile economic environment. He watches guys like that fail and buys out their assets for almost nothing, or watches them succeed and convinces them to sell by overwhelming them with competition they cannot afford to meet.

The Republican Party has an opportunity to respond to the fears of the American people who see a government with its sites set on everything they have to redistribute it to their political allies. The party needs a candidate the Joe Lunchbox can relate to… and a candidate that can relate to them. For those of us who thought the days of the Rockefeller Republicans were over… we need to take another look.

As I was growing up, hearing about the speeches and marches of Martin Luther King, much of what I heard was that he was stirring up trouble where he had no business. In the rural northeast there was little knowledge or understanding of the situations he was fighting against. There was only one black student in my high school graduating class and she was kind of cute and fit in with everyone, so I could not comprehend what the fuss was all about.

It was only later, after Dr. King was gone, and I saw grown men with dark skin addressed as “Boy” and saw pictures of segregated facilities that I began to grasp the struggles of freedom fighters like Martin Luther King Jr and others like Medgar Evers.

Our Declaration of Independence enshrined the words “all men are created equal”. Correctly it does not specify all men of a certain color, a particular economic class or those connected to the “ruling class”. It says all men are created equal. It does not say that some are only three fifths equal as some in congress specified so as to obtain congressional representation, yet not recognize the humanity of some citizens.

In so many ways, the projected rights some feel they have to lead, based on their skin color is just as repulsive, perhaps even more so, than the projected right to lead of the English royalty that our founding fathers threw off. It has been my personal observation that those who look down on others because of some external characteristic like skin color have the least reason to look down on anyone.

It may be for this reason that they are the most defensive and most violent in keeping what they consider to be their God-given dominance. History tells us that the Democrat Party rose to power in the Reconstruction south, partly through the efforts of its terrorist wing, the Ku Klux Klan that intimidated black voters and often left them hanging high in trees as a warning to others.

It is against this backdrop that Dr. King took his struggle to the streets in the 50’s and 60’s. The old racist thinking hadn’t changed much, but it had developed a veneer of sophistication and pleasantry. The north was little better as many, lured by the promise of jobs, migrated north to less hospitable climates. Most making the move “knew their place” and created an underclass of cheap laborers who basically did what they were told.

Our country is not what it should be, but great strides have been made in the direction Dr. King was working. Our black friends owe him a great debt of gratitude for his inspired leadership. The rest of us do also. He opened the eyes of many of us to situations we did not see or chose not to see.

What can we learn from this man of God who stood against established social norms? First thing we see was his commitment to non-violent protest. I believe it was part of his spiritual DNA. It also was a matter of practicality as he represented a minority group surrounded by many who would be only too happy to return violence with greater violence. Today many are questioning whether we can right the wrongs of the current administration peacefully. Dr. King, following in the footsteps of Ghandi, showed what can be accomplished by single-minded dedication to one’s goal. Unfortunately, his life ended when someone, seeing white dominance threatened, chose the violent route to a temporary victory.

Our government was not so powerful and pervasive at the time. It was not as immune to citizen concerns. King’s phones were tapped, but he did not have an empowered Department of Homeland Security breathing down his neck. We need to hope and pray that such an approach can work in our situation. If it does not, we need to decide, like our founding fathers, how much we value our freedom and what price we are willing to pay to keep it for ourselves and our children.

The non-violent approach he used was not a non-confrontational approach. Martin Luther King Jr. and his followers sat down in lunch counters that refused to serve them. The closed down streets. Together they raised their voice, letting the world know they would not be denied. The non-violent approach was not an easy road as King told the people they had to stick together. They had to work together, they had to pray together, they had to march together. They at to get arrested together. Whoa! Did he say get arrested together?

Sit ins at lunch counters, while conceived as peaceable, did not always end peacefully. Protesters were hauled off to jail for trespassing. Sometimes overzealous police, protecting the old value system, cracked some heads or crosses were burned in the night. Some working for freedom suffered the same fate as King and Evers… some simply disappeared forever.

We may be up against a more pleasant speaking opponent, but Chicago style thuggery can be just a vicious. The question for us is how far is each of us willing to go in pursuit of the freedom and justice that used to be the United States of America. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is rightly a heroic figure in the black community – and the rest of our country. But, we can all learn from his life, his mission and his dedication. Thank you, Dr. King.