As we live in a world of milquetoast political leaders, we need to look back on a man who was not afraid to ruffle feathers and speak the truth. So many in office today are dwarfed by this man who could tell us the truth, help us love our country and guide us in the paths of freedom. Today’s political class is populated by moral midgets who have more concern for the next election and for the welfare of their constituents.
From time to time, it is good to not only read the words of Ronald Reagan, but to see the man and look him in the eye as we are called to greatness. Read, listen and grow… then act!
We the people tell the government what it is allowed to do.
Man is not free unless government is limited.
As government expands, liberty contracts.
America is freedom, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of enterprise. And freedom is special and rare.
Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and the rule of law under God is acknowledged.
God bless America!
And an added note… we need to be certain that America is blessable.
[Editors note: while we ran a story on this yesterday, this is an American tragedy that we should not simply set aside as one more guy gone off the deep end. We need to remember Joe Stack and learn from him.]
All of us are now aware of the Texas man who yesterday flew his private plane into a 7-story Austin office building. Apparently, he intentionally crashed his plane into the building to target the IRS offices that were housed inside the facility.
As I am writing this column just hours after the event took place, there has not yet been a lot of time for the major news media talking heads to spin the story. By the time this column is released on Friday, however, I’m sure we will all have been inundated with copious references to this man, Joe Stack, as being “off his rocker,” or similar assertions. Perhaps our friends at DHS will label Stack a “right-wing domestic terrorist.” However, Mr. Stack apparently left behind a “suicide manifesto” explaining his actions. After carefully reading Stack’s manifesto, I am quite convinced that he was not crazy, and he was not a “terrorist.” However, he was angry.
A lot of us are angry–and for many of the same reasons that Mr. Stack was angry! While I would certainly take exception to some of the things Stack says in his manifesto, he said things that many of us are feeling. Read more of this article »
When Joe Stack piloted his small, single engine plane into the Austin, Texas IRS building, it was the culmination of half a lifetime of fighting the organization and the government that controls it. Mr. Stack was not the only one to work at building something for himself and his family, then have it snatched away through ill-conceived government actions and policies. Yet he is the only one who acted on the impulses many have when dealing with an isolated, uncaring bureaucracy.
Reading his final thoughts, (available at http://www.politicalchristian.org/docs/joestack.pdf), one can’t help but feel the anger and frustration of a man who feels his life has been wasted and his dreams thwarted by a system designed and run by the powerful and self-indulgent. Some of his thoughts are beyond comprehension, but for the most part, one can sympathize with this man, while not agreeing with his solution. I, too, was hurt by Section 530 of the Revenue Act of 1978 that singled out computer programmers and engineers to not receive the same favorable tax treatment given to other professionals.
Regarding his treatment by the Internal Revenue Service, one can only look at the philosophy behind their charter. They, and their congressional masters, believe that the taxpayers money is their money and it is by their good will, that the taxpayer can keep any at all for themselves. Men of good will could argue that because of their possessive attitude and hostile treatment of the taxpayers, that there is not a single IRS office around the country that is undeserving of such an attack. Yet, we need to look at what was accomplished. Read more of this article »
“You don’t blow a bunch of cash in Vegas when you’re trying to save for college.” So goes the wisdom of Barack Hussein Obama as he speaks of frugality in the face of financial distress. This message doesn’t quite ring true as it falls from the lips of one whose only known solution to problems is to spend and spend some more of the taxpayers money in a vain attempt to raise a sinking economy.
On one hand, this utterance of truth is good advice. On the other hand, it reveals a pathology that should give us all pause. Yet, the advice makes sense and we all would do well give it serious consideration. With all the uncertainty, it would seem a smart strategy to not spend money we don’t have on things we really don’t need.
Good financial advisors are counseling people to get out of debt and save their money. Unfortunately, this type of behavior is not the kind of thing that will rejuvenate our troubled financial world. Businesses need customers, people need to spend less money. This is an awkward situation… one that might be remedied if the good citizens felt more confident in their futures and our government were not quite so intent on snagging so much money form their pockets. Read more of this article »
Take former Clinton Secretary of Labor, Robert Reich. As Henny Youngman used to add, Please!! Reich, or Reisshhh as Rush Limbaugh calls him, is so consumed by vile, sick venom that he sees a Fox under every bed. Not a red fox or a Megan Fox or a Redd Fox but that most vicious of all foxes, the Fox News Channel.
Now, Mr. Reich is a brilliant man, or so we’re told. We’re also told Paul Krugman is a brilliant man, Barack Obama is a brilliant man, and Bill Clinton is a brilliant man. In fact, just about all liberals are brilliant men, even VP Joe Biden who manages to conceal his remarkable brilliance better than most.
Mr. Reich, writer, politician, academic, political commentator, and multi-degreed professor currently serving in the belly of the beast, UC Berkeley, suffers from the tunnel vision that afflicts most lefties, the tunnel vision that sees only the skewed liberal perspective, a redundancy. Read more of this article »
I was led to Christ at the tender age of 5 while sitting on my mother’s lap. I was raised in a devout, churchgoing Christian home. I have been in Gospel ministry all of my adult life (I am 57 years old). I have attended or have degrees and/or diplomas from 4 fundamentalist/evangelical colleges or Bible schools. I have been the Senior Pastor of a local Independent Baptist congregation for 34 years and counting. I have spoken in churches and Christian gatherings all over the country. I say all of that simply to provide my Christian credentials (in much the same way that the Apostle Paul provided his Jewish credentials in Philippians 3:5,6). As such, I believe I know something about the attitudes, conduct, philosophy, mindset, etc., of America’s Christians. I am not an outsider; I speak as one within the conservative/fundamentalist Christian camp.
As it relates to the rightful understanding of following Christ’s instruction that we are to be “salt” and “light” (and what that means for us Americans), and properly rendering to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s (and knowing the difference), there are basically 2 groups: those who sincerely want to help America maintain its foundational principles and those who, frankly, are too preoccupied (or cowardly) to give much thought to it one way or another. I would say that the first group is slightly larger than the second group. The problem is, among the first group, there is a vast void of understanding regarding exactly how we are to implement and carry forth the principles of Christian liberty–which are the principles upon which America was built, of course.
As I see it, there are two glaring obstacles that keep today’s Christians from being truly effectual and influential in helping to restore America’s freedoms and founding principles. And let’s be honest enough to admit that, for the most part, today’s Christians (including our pastors) are ineffective and irrelevant in providing any meaningful solutions to America’s many problems. Sadly, more often than not, we are little more than gullible pawns, which wily and wicked politicians use to advance their own nefarious agendas. Read more of this article »
A lot has already been written about President Obama’s State of the Union message. With all due respect to pundits like Chris Matthews who “forgot he was black for an hour”, how can so much be written and discussed about so little? To be sure, high sounding words poured forth from the ever present teleprompters. Unfortunately, these words failed to combine themselves into coherent sentences that would work for the benefit and safety of the American people.
People are seeing problems like a crumbling economy and near misses in terrorist attacks. They are looking for answers from their leaders, but as Congressman Randy Forbes (VA-4) noted, “The President had a great opportunity to answer the call. He just missed it.”
Yet even if he said the right words… told us the right things… to many of us it would not have mattered. It would be even harder for him than Arthur Fonzarelli, to say he was wrong. So can we really believe the man? In the past, Joe Wilson was roundly criticized by both parties and the press for stating the obvious. Later is words were vindicated by the President’s own actions. This time around Supreme Court Justice Joseph Alito let the world know, in less audible tones, that the teleprompters words were false. Read more of this article »
The White House Office of the Press Secretary released a report on the White House web site titled “President Obama Signs Executive Order Establishing Council of Governors.” According to the press release, “The President today [January 11, 2009] signed an Executive Order establishing a Council of Governors to strengthen further the partnership between the Federal Government and State Governments to protect our Nation against all types of hazards. When appointed, the Council will be reviewing such matters as involving the National Guard of the various States; homeland defense; civil support; synchronization and integration of State and Federal military activities in the United States; and other matters of mutual interest pertaining to National Guard, homeland defense, and civil support activities.”
According to the report, the Council will be composed of “ten State Governors who will be selected by the President to serve two year terms . . . Once chosen, the Council will have no more than five members from the same party and represent the Nation as a whole.”
The press release also states that “Federal members of the Council include the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, the Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Engagement, the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense and Americas’ Security Affairs, the U.S. Northern Command Commander, the Commandant of the Coast Guard, and the Chief of the National Guard Bureau. The Secretary of Defense will designate an Executive Director for the Council.” Read more of this article »
When the American people chose the candidate who promised to fundamentally change our country in November of 2009, many did not really understand what they were signing up for. We have seen during this intervening year since his inauguration, unprecedented (to use an Obamaism) attacks on individual freedom and our economic well being. One has to consider why this tragedy has come upon us.
In the days of ancient Israel, there were times when the people were ruled by good kings and times when they were ruled by bad kings. Often the kings reflected the spiritual condition of the people. Things got so bad by 586 BC that the people of Judah were conquered and carried off to King Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon. This was nothing new as the people, since long before the kings, had up and down spiritual relationships… noted as far back as the book of Judges where, “In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in their own eyes.” (21:25 KJV)
To those paying attention, that verse could pretty well describe our own situation… except now we have one who would be king. In Nubuchadnezzar’s time, it was common practice to carry off the population of a defeated land to be resettled for the benefit of the king. In our time, this is not usually the case, but there are still plenty of negative consequences to ungodly rule, both individually and corporately, for going our own way. In both cases, however, when God’s people lose their way, they also lose their freedom. Read more of this article »
Many of cheered announcement of Senators Chris Dodd and Byron Dorgan, that they would not seek re-election this year – actions brought about by declining… no make that nosediving,,, polling numbers for two men that some actually call “The Honorable” with a straight face. In a way it is good to see the rebellion of the tea party movement removing some of the worst of the worst from the Senate… with more to come. However, before we get too excited about the political demise of these dynamic Ds, lets look at this a bit closer.
As incompetent as the Democrats are in their leadership of the country, they are consummate politicians. As badly as the bungle ruling, they understand how to get elected and retain power, which is their sole purpose in life. Maybe it’s just finely tuned political instincts or prompting from the dark side, but these two dropping out of their respective races was a stroke of pure genius.
These two… with others to come… didn’t have snowball’s chance in hell of holding on to their seats. By dropping out now, they have removed the focus of public hostility for their personal corruption and incompetence, and the party now has the opportunity to run a fresh face who can lie to the public telling them that he wants nothing to do with Obama’s plans and schemes. They believe the people have such short memories and are so gullible as to believe campaign promises from the Obamessiah’s henchmen. It is our job to see that this does not happen. Read more of this article »
A friend of mind got hold of a document prepared for the Democrats as they hash out the differences between the House and Senate health insurance plans. If I were writing an opinion piece it would have to be that both plans are destructive to our economy and physical well being. However, because of the complete lack of openness in the process, it would be good to have this information disbursed as widely as possible.
You may want to ignore the first page as it’s just internal propaganda to rally the troops. Beyond that, there are comparisons of one atrocity after another. It is instructive to look into the various areas they think government interference can improve… or is it areas they wish to control? Check it out!
A FaceBook friend of mine recently commented that there used to be a time when bribery and corruption were done behind closed doors. Now they hold press conferences to announce their price. She is right… and we’ve just witnessed the most recent proof as Democrats struggled to squeeze their Senators to get Barack Hussein Obama’s health insurance scheme passed.
An unapologetic Harry Reid commented, “A number of states are treated differently than other states. That’s what legislation’s all about: compromise.” Meaning those that held out were had even more taxpayer money redistributed to their states. As usual, those standing against the government takeover got the shortest end of the financial stick while those rolling over to the pressure from above reaped the rewards of their treachery.
Most everyone is aware of the $300 million Louisiana Purchase of Mary Landrieu and the Cornhusker Kickback that showed Ben Nelson unworthy of being referenced as “The Honorable”. Those are but two instances of Harry Reid falling into the Chicago thugocracy practice of buying off their obstacles to their plans. It is possible they avoided the far worse fate of a “suicide” in Fort Marcy Park… not that that ever happened in the nation’s capitol. Read more of this article »
Yes indeed, contrary to the stories we tell our children, there are things that go bump in the night. It is particularly scary, or at least it should be, when they go bumping around the White House like they did on the night of December 16, 2009. That is the night that Barack Hussein Obama issued Executive Order 12425 that eliminated many Reagan era restrictions on INTERPOL, the international police force populated by many of the same types of people that make the UN so hostile to American values and sovereignty.
The conservative/libertarian blogosphere is all atwitter about this abdication of United States authority, and they are correct. However, I believe they are missing one critical point. These are the same people who were prepared to arrest Israeli leaders in Great Britain under claims from Palestinian states. These are also the same people who would love to get their hands on CIA operatives and American soldiers who were simply doing their jobs… in the way they were trained.
One of the major affronts to our sense of justice and rights of the accused are immunity from the restrictions of our Fourth Amendment which states: Read more of this article »
William Wilberforce is a hero in the eyes of most of us in the pro-life movement. He’s an inspiration to all of us.
However, his work against slavery in Britain is often cited (by incrementalists) as proof that “incrementalism works.” This claim not only mistakes the lesson we should take from his astonishing life, but also denigrates the true values that he held dear – those based upon a conviction in the God-given Rights to Life and Freedom.
The growing Personhood Wing of the pro-life movement holds that “any law which says ‘do this, and then you can kill the baby (or own the slave)’” is an evil regulation Christians should never support. Did Wilberforce support such laws during his nearly half-century of crusading? Yes. Have many sincere pro-lifers done so, even those who now support Personhood? Yes. The problem is not the person – it’s the naïve, emotional position they hold for a time.
Most supporters of Personhood once supported laws such as the Partial Birth Abortion Ban, or waiting periods. Some didn’t, but they are few. The intellectual path from incrementalism to abolitionism is a long, hard one. We can’t condemn someone for not “getting the concept” right away. All we can do is ask them to consider, and to learn. Read more of this article »
According to Rasmussen Reports, “Seventy-one percent (71%) of voters nationwide say they’re at least somewhat angry about the current policies of the federal government. That figure includes 46% who are Very Angry.
“The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that only 27% are not angry about the government’s policies, including 10% who are Not at All Angry.”
The report goes on to say, “The data suggests that the level of anger is growing. The 71% who are angry at federal government policies today is up five percentage points since September.
“Even more stunning, the 46% who are Very Angry is up 10 percentage points from September.”
The report also states, “The latest numbers show that only nine percent (9%) of voters trust the judgment of America’s political leaders more than the judment of the American people.” It further states, “Seventy-one percent (71%) believe the federal government has become a special interest group that looks out primarily for its own interests. Sixty-eight percent (68%) believe that government and big business work together in ways that hurt consumers and investors.” Read more of this article »
Years ago, a cartoon appeared in a Russian newspaper picturing a fork in the road. One path was labeled freedom; the other path was labeled sausage. As we might guess, the path to freedom had few takers; the path to sausage was crowded with footprints.
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[Editors note: while we ran a story on this yesterday, this is an American tragedy that we should not simply set aside as one more guy gone off the deep end. We need to remember Joe Stack and learn from him.]
When Joe Stack piloted his small, single engine plane into the Austin, Texas IRS building, it was the culmination of half a lifetime of fighting the organization and the government that controls it. Mr. Stack was not the only one to work at building something for himself and his family, then have it snatched away through ill-conceived government actions and policies. Yet he is the only one who acted on the impulses many have when dealing with an isolated, uncaring bureaucracy.
“You don’t blow a bunch of cash in Vegas when you’re trying to save for college.” So goes the wisdom of Barack Hussein Obama as he speaks of frugality in the face of financial distress. This message doesn’t quite ring true as it falls from the lips of one whose only known solution to problems is to spend and spend some more of the taxpayers money in a vain attempt to raise a sinking economy.
Take former Clinton Secretary of Labor, Robert Reich. As Henny Youngman used to add, Please!! Reich, or Reisshhh as Rush Limbaugh calls him, is so consumed by vile, sick venom that he sees a Fox under every bed. Not a red fox or a Megan Fox or a Redd Fox but that most vicious of all foxes, the Fox News Channel.
I was led to Christ at the tender age of 5 while sitting on my mother’s lap. I was raised in a devout, churchgoing Christian home. I have been in Gospel ministry all of my adult life (I am 57 years old). I have attended or have degrees and/or diplomas from 4 fundamentalist/evangelical colleges or Bible schools. I have been the Senior Pastor of a local Independent Baptist congregation for 34 years and counting. I have spoken in churches and Christian gatherings all over the country. I say all of that simply to provide my Christian credentials (in much the same way that the Apostle Paul provided his Jewish credentials in Philippians 3:5,6). As such, I believe I know something about the attitudes, conduct, philosophy, mindset, etc., of America’s Christians. I am not an outsider; I speak as one within the conservative/fundamentalist Christian camp.
The White House Office of the Press Secretary released a report on the White House web site titled “President Obama Signs Executive Order Establishing Council of Governors.” According to the press release, “The President today [January 11, 2009] signed an Executive Order establishing a Council of Governors to strengthen further the partnership between the Federal Government and State Governments to protect our Nation against all types of hazards. When appointed, the Council will be reviewing such matters as involving the National Guard of the various States; homeland defense; civil support; synchronization and integration of State and Federal military activities in the United States; and other matters of mutual interest pertaining to National Guard, homeland defense, and civil support activities.”
When the American people chose the candidate who promised to fundamentally change our country in November of 2009, many did not really understand what they were signing up for. We have seen during this intervening year since his inauguration, unprecedented (to use an Obamaism) attacks on individual freedom and our economic well being. One has to consider why this tragedy has come upon us.
Many of cheered announcement of Senators Chris Dodd and Byron Dorgan, that they would not seek re-election this year – actions brought about by declining… no make that nosediving,,, polling numbers for two men that some actually call “The Honorable” with a straight face. In a way it is good to see the rebellion of the tea party movement removing some of the worst of the worst from the Senate… with more to come. However, before we get too excited about the political demise of these dynamic Ds, lets look at this a bit closer.
A friend of mind got hold of a document prepared for the Democrats as they hash out the differences between the House and Senate health insurance plans. If I were writing an opinion piece it would have to be that both plans are destructive to our economy and physical well being. However, because of the complete lack of openness in the process, it would be good to have this information disbursed as widely as possible.
A FaceBook friend of mine recently commented that there used to be a time when bribery and corruption were done behind closed doors. Now they hold press conferences to announce their price. She is right… and we’ve just witnessed the most recent proof as Democrats struggled to squeeze their Senators to get Barack Hussein Obama’s health insurance scheme passed.
Yes indeed, contrary to the stories we tell our children, there are things that go bump in the night. It is particularly scary, or at least it should be, when they go bumping around the White House like they did on the night of December 16, 2009. That is the night that Barack Hussein Obama issued Executive Order 12425 that eliminated many Reagan era restrictions on INTERPOL, the international police force populated by many of the same types of people that make the UN so hostile to American values and sovereignty.
William Wilberforce is a hero in the eyes of most of us in the pro-life movement. He’s an inspiration to all of us.
According to Rasmussen Reports, “Seventy-one percent (71%) of voters nationwide say they’re at least somewhat angry about the current policies of the federal government. That figure includes 46% who are Very Angry.
