Thursday, April 30, 2009

Letter to President Obama



April 29, 2009

Dear President Obama:

On this occasion of your 100th day in office, I have been reflecting upon my situation. In spite of all of your promises made before and after your inauguration, I discover no positive change in my personal financial situation. My retirement portfolios remain well below the value they had prior to your inauguration. Happily, I have not been downsized or subjected to pay cuts at this time, but I see that many of my fellow Americans are still being subjected to this malady. I note that in spite of your promises to change Washington, D.C., the members of Congress who created this financial quagmire remain in office while others who have not been elected now serve in your administration.

However, I am not writing to merely point out the problems that remain and the promises that have yet to be fulfilled. Like most hard working Americans, I work and strive for solutions. Therefore, I offer this solution so that you can expedite to me your promised assistance. Simply provide me with the routing and account numbers to your checking and/or saving account. I will take care of the rest. I promise you that I will not deplete your account; I am only seeking what you have promised to be my fair share of the American pie. Since I know how sincerely you have made these promises, I feel certain that you will not mind providing me your personal assistance in this matter.

Thank you for being the greatest president since... well... ever!


Sincerely,
Charles Layne
American citizen

P.S. A young college student broke down in tears at a John Edwards' campaign rally as she pleaded for the help she needed. Mr. Edwards proceeded to tell her and everyone else that this is why he needed to be elected as the next president. He promised that she and all other Americans in crisis would receive the assistance they so desperately needed. Upon learning of this event through our faithful media, Mr. Rush Limbaugh made the effort to discover the identity of this suffering student, personally contact her, and personally provide her the financial assistance she needs to complete her education. Since Mr. Limbaugh is using his personal resources to accomplish this act of compassion, no American taxpayers are hurt in the process.

I feel certain, Mr. President, in my heart of hearts, that you are no less compassionate than Mr. Limbaugh and would willingly assist your fellow Americans, who you so humbly serve, by making available your personal resources. I look forward to your reply - especially the routing and account numbers I previously requested. Thank you!

Friday, April 24, 2009

Snatching Defeat from Jaws of Victory


This guy is dead set on ruining our national security.

*****
Obama administration to release photos showing alleged abuses by U.S. troops


While fearing backlash, White House to release images in May

By Peter Wallsten, Greg Miller and Julian E. Barnes Washington Bureau
April 24, 2009

WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration agreed late Thursday to release dozens of photographs depicting alleged abuse by U.S. personnel during the Bush administration of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan.At least 44 pictures will be released by May 28, making public for the first time images of what the military investigated at facilities other than the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.Defense Department officials would not say exactly what is contained in the photos but said they are concerned the release could incite a Mideast backlash. -- Chicago Tribune, 4/24/09

*****

Actually, there would not be as much a backlash if, when released, BHO told the world that this is what awaits captured enemeies of America. One of the under-reported effects of Abu-Ghraib was that terrorist recruiting was down until the libs got hold of the "atrocities" and said they had to stop. Funny... the terrorists agreed! The American left and terrorist recruiting have this amazing capacity to go hand in hand.

But never fear, they are patriotic. (I will leave it to the interested reader to figure out who the "they" refers to.)

Monday, April 20, 2009

Prepare for Hate Mail


Here comes the thought police. Carrie Prejean, Miss California, was asked in the Miss USA pageant if she believed in gay marriage. Her answer: "We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite. And you know what, I think in my country, in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there, but that's how I was raised." I hope she is prepared for hate mail & hate speech.

You can imagine how the tolerant left and homosexual communities are taking this. They cannot imagine how anyone not slobbering over homosexual marriage "rights" could be crowned Miss California. "
Keith Lewis, who runs the Miss California competition, tells FOXNews.com that he was 'saddened' by Prejean's statement.'As co-director of the Miss California USA, I am personally saddened and hurt that Miss California believes marriage rights belong only to a man and a woman,' said Lewis in a statement." Now will it be a requirement for all Miss California contestants to sign an affidavit of support for homosexual perversity?

******
Miss California's answer sparked a shouting match in the lobby after the show. "It's ugly," said Scott Ihrig, a gay man, who attended the pageant with his partner. "I think it's ridiculous that she got first runner-up. That is not the value of 95 percent of the people in this audience. Look around this audience and tell me how many gay men there are." (FOX News, 4/20/2009)
******

News flash for Mr. Ihrig: Miss California was asked if she "believes" in homosexual marriage, not you. Are you suggesting that your immorality is to be imposed on Miss Prejean?

Rhetorical question, I know.

(Photo: Miss Carrie Prejean, Miss California)

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

The Left's Darling



Here we go with another unsurprising consequence of handing government more & more power. And another unsurprising consequence of liberalism. One of the left's latest darling thugs, Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, has had enough criticism.

******
After Chavez vowed on national TV to throw Rosales in jail, the government filed corruption charges against the 56-year-old mayor. Two weeks ago, Rosales dropped out of sight. Supporters say he is hiding — from an enemy who now has the power to crush all opposition. (FOX News, 4/14/09)
******

I'm willing to bet that it is not former President Bush that Chavez's opponents are calling "el diablo." I just have a sneaking hunch.

Thursday, April 02, 2009

Yikes!!!


I do not know who is going to end up ruling us, but these world governments are taking a nasty turn...

*****
G20 leaders and ministers sat down to hammer out new rules for world financial markets today after a warning from France and Germany that a London summit should declare an end to the unfettered capitalism that has plunged the global economy into recession. (G20 leaders begin talks to 'bury' free market, 4/2/2009)
*****

What frustrates and angers me most is the willing complicity of Big Media to report such nonsense with no critical analysis at all. I dare any of them to find "unfettered" capitalism anywhere, especially in these nations blaming free markets for their economic woes. It is government interference in the free market that has created these woes. A free market would never condone the poor business decisions that politicians have imposed upon businesses over the past few years.

Well, as if this is not silly enough, take a look at the type of folks who are demanding the demise of capitalism...

*****
Police officers came under attack while they tried to help a dying man at the G20 protests in the City last night. (Police were attacked... 4/2/2009)
*****

What idiots - both inside & outside the meeting.

Thoughts on the Christian Faith


This one will be long. I was looking for a past letter to the editor and ran across a couple of "blasts from the past." Actually, I found quite a few great letters - no bias here.

Since we are approaching the solemn remembrance of Holy Week, I decided to reprint a couple of my letters stressing the role that the Christian faith can have and the positive impact it can make in a culture wandering far from God and wondering how it can ever extricate itself (short answer: it can't; it takes God's mercy, forgiveness, and love to make us whole).

Here goes...

*****
January 2007
Dear Editor,

Two articles on the Kokomo Tribune Opinion page of January 2nd tell us much about our culture. In a reprint from The Herald Bulletin of Anderson, a writer asks, “Have girls gone wild?” Latching on to recent scandals with the Miss USA contestants and others, the writer expresses concern about the direction that girls and young women are heading. We read, “The lure of celebrity and fame, strong throughout history, seems to be almost the driving virtue of many young people. Constantly in touch with some kind of media, young people see themselves in others and the more traditional influences - parents, churches, schools - cannot compete with the glitter and fun of celebrities at play.” Their point is that young women and men are making poor decisions for immediate gratification and ignoring the long-term effects that these decisions can have on their lives. The article ends tepidly, “We hope young people searching for role models to emulate find some who embody values beyond themselves.”

The other article printed on the same page offers an excellent solution. Pat Fagan of the Heritage Foundation writes that “…a powerful resource is quietly and far more effectively contributing to the common good in myriad ways: religious practice.” Mr. Fagan informs us in his report that regular attendance at religious services is linked to healthy, stable family life, strong marriages, and well-behaved children. Regular worship attendance is linked to reduced incidents of domestic abuse, crime, substance abuse, addiction, and other social diseases. He delineates other advantages gained from regular worship attendance.

In the first article, one of many social problems is plainly laid out, but no useful answer is given. In the second article, evidence of the practical good of religious worship provides the necessary antidote to the problem described in the first article. Sadly, while our children and young adults are frequently taught their freedoms to choose immorality, the moral, ethical, and values-forming lessons from religion are squeezed out of the public arena. So we are left with lots of problems and no solutions. Men and women in our culture today can see that there are major problems and crises, and they can tell us that people are suffering, but when God’s everlasting love is given as the answer to cultural problems and suffering, American elitists go to work to keep the truth from being made known.
*****

*****
January 2007
Dear Editor,

In the article printed on 1/12/07 (Kokomo Tribune, p. A5), Lewis Diuguid shares comments about the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., made by Clayborne Carson, director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Institute at Stanford University. Writes Diuguid, “King was an ecumenical religious leader, accepting that ‘each religion is a path to the truth,’ Carson said.” If this is true of the Rev. King, then born-again Christians must reject this particular teaching as false. While there are many solid reasons to celebrate and honor what the Rev. King accomplished for us, Christian believers cannot accept any teaching that would replace the Lordship of Jesus Christ with any other religious belief, doctrine, or principle. “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me,” declares Jesus in John 14:6. For the Christian believer, there is no other religion that is a “path to truth.”

This does not mean that Christians cannot work with other faith groups to accomplish shared goals for the public good. As a military Chaplain endorsed by a Christian denomination, I worked freely alongside men and women of a variety of faiths to accomplish community relations projects in overseas and domestic ports we visited. I worked with Commanding Officers to ensure that all of the men and women under their commands were free to practice their religious belief within the guidelines set forth in Department of Defense policy. It did not mean, though, that I compromised my own faith by participating in worship services that did not recognize the exclusive truth of the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Nor did anyone else have to compromise their faith by participating in worship services that violated the tenets of their religious doctrines.

I also take exception to Diuguid’s and Carson’s comment that fundamentalists are using religion for power. Since there is no distinction made concerning which religious “fundamentalists” they refer to, I draw the conclusion that the authors make no distinction between so-called Christian “fundamentalism” and any other religious fundamentalism. I will not go into the obvious inaccuracies of lumping all religious practices into the religious equivalency argument. I do note, though, the hypocrisy of addressing favorably the Rev. King’s legacy of preaching a “social gospel” engaging Christianity in economic justice which can be used to shape public (and political) policy while, at the same time, denouncing “fundamentalists” for “using religions for power.” If it is commendable for the Rev. King, as a minister of the Christian faith, to specify political and economic racial prejudice as immoral and then to seek to address and redress those concerns through appropriate legislative and judicial channels of our government, then it is equally appropriate for ministers of the Christian faith to continue to define, address, and seek to redress other forms of immorality in our free public arena of politics and policy. To celebrate one form of legislated morality as commendable and then accuse another as an abuse of “religion for power” smacks of the grossest of hypocrisies. When brought to the public arena within the boundaries of our Constitution, then all expressions of concern confronting and correcting culturally ingrained immorality are commendable and worthy of celebration.

It is unfortunate that the contemporary celebrations of the legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., have become attempts to belittle and diminish the Christian faith which provided the strength, courage, and motivation for Rev. King to seek justice in the face of what appeared to be overwhelming odds. It is an affront to all Christians of every race who have subsequently sacrificed to expand upon the gains made by the Rev. King and to continue to confront the sad consequences that all forms of immorality have upon the societies and cultures upon which they are practiced.
*****

May God's blessings be with you.

I Am Genius

Read my April 1st entry, "Overloaded," then return to the editorial cartoon here which was included in my copy of the Kokomo Tribune on 4/2/2009.




I am genius!!! -- except Mr. Bob Lang was no doubt compensated for his effort. **sigh**

Wednesday, April 01, 2009

Overloaded


I have to get an April 1st entry. Don't want it to slide by without me making a post. So...

I have been thinking lately how overloaded the news for my commentaries is. I thought that things would take a breather after the election. After all, the candidates are no longer going after each other.

Wrong!!! There must be more alarming news now than ever before. I find some article in my local paper (which ain't humongous by any stretch of the imagination) every day over which I raise my eyebrows. President Obama has turned into Obama, Inc. He and his non-tax paying cronies are intent on taking over and running private business. They have no regard for owners, stockholders, boards of directors, or anyone else who runs a company. Now Obama, Inc. is going to dictate to GM how to run an auto company. This would be a hoot if it were in another country. These people (uh, liberal Democrats) are going to spell disaster yet.

I wish I could wake up tomorrow, find that someone has posted a big APRIL FOOL for America, and then we get back to normal.

PS I know that the photo is not President Obama, Inc., but it is a Democrat (Sen. Harry Reid), and he does symbolize what they are doing to America. :)