1-18 I keep hearing people in the media, around town, and even in my own house at times (!) talk about what a historic moment this is in America. We can be proud that we finally have a black president. He is a warm, friendly guy who has "reached across the aisle" and had a dinner with conservative columnists. What a wonderful guy!
Possibly. I tell my wife that Hitler was a nice guy, too. That was certainly a historic moment. Who cares that he killed millions of Jews and tried to take over the world? His election was historic!
Now, I'm not calling Prez-elect Obama a Hitler. What I am saying is that we need to take a close look at this man, nice or not. A good place to start is Illinois, Obama's home state, where Gov. Blagojevich is a hair away from losing his job. What horrible thing did Gov. Blago do? He tried to sell Obama's Senate seat to the highest bidder and apparently thought he'd have no chance of getting caught because 1. it's Illinois, mob capital of the U.S., 2. he helped Obama get elected in Illinois, and 3. he's a Democrat. Democrats always protect other Democrats. The only exception is when they step on another Democrat's quest for power.
Rahm Emanuel, Obama's right-hand man, told Blago who Obama wanted to fill the seat. Blago reportedly told Obama (using several juicy expletives) that he would make sure he got something out of it. He wasn't doing this for nothing.
Although Obama has publicly backed off from the Blago mess, he wanted to make a point to Blago and anyone else threatening to mess up his plans. Obama is responsible for the Illinois Senate that voted to impeach the governor and put pressure on him to quit. The press also continually makes calls for him to quit, most likely also prompted by Obama. (Is anyone else hearing bits from "The Godfather" right now?)
Look at another example, one that happened during the campaign. Joe the Plumber was an "ordinary Joe" until Obama strolled down his street, talking to people. Joe, who didn't like Obama getting away with all his flowery talk without hard facts, asked him about his tax increase if he were to start his own company. Obama's response was widely broadcast by Republicans and conservatives and eventually the liberal press: "We've got to spread the wealth around." That's the main tenet of Socialism!
And what happened to Joe the Plumber? It wasn't even twenty-four hours before Joe was being maligned in the press for his debts, divorce, and whatever other dirt they could dig up. Joe did not ask for the public attention! Joe did not even attack Obama! All he did was ask a question!
Nevertheless, Obama and the willing press did all they could to destroy Joe, even making it hard for him to continue working. He was not a public figure, not an elected official, just a common person. Yet Obama and many liberals did not want his point to be made and focused on the irrelevant background of Joe the Plumber.
The same will happen to anyone who questions King Obama or gets in his way. That is my honest assessment.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
My Grandma Gerig
1-14 I've taken a break from writing in my blog because of my grandmother's recent death. Everything else took a back seat because she has been a very important person in my life.
In her prime, she was a fiesty woman, a woman who put herself through college while raising four sons and went on to teach high school algebra, geometry, and other subjects I struggled with while in school myself.
She taught herself to play the piano and the organ. I remember her playing the organ in church when I was young, and she was very good. When she and my grandfather moved to Galion, Ohio, she was the regular organist in their church.
Grandma Gerig was my last living grandparent, and I will miss her very much. She was a very giving person who loved life and God and all of her family. She loved to joke and laugh and pull pranks on us. She would often give us pj's for Christmas with the sleeves and leggings sown shut. She loved to sing loudly, although she didn't always remember the words and wasn't always in key.
As I conclude this, I dedicate this post to her by using her favorite color for the font, orange.
In her prime, she was a fiesty woman, a woman who put herself through college while raising four sons and went on to teach high school algebra, geometry, and other subjects I struggled with while in school myself.
She taught herself to play the piano and the organ. I remember her playing the organ in church when I was young, and she was very good. When she and my grandfather moved to Galion, Ohio, she was the regular organist in their church.
Grandma Gerig was my last living grandparent, and I will miss her very much. She was a very giving person who loved life and God and all of her family. She loved to joke and laugh and pull pranks on us. She would often give us pj's for Christmas with the sleeves and leggings sown shut. She loved to sing loudly, although she didn't always remember the words and wasn't always in key.
As I conclude this, I dedicate this post to her by using her favorite color for the font, orange.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
WARNING: Religious content about Christmas
1-3 I've taken a break during the Christmas rush to avoid anything dealing with politics. It's been great, and as I ease back in, I wanted to review what Christmas means to me.
It angers me, first of all, that some were talking about "holiday trees" this year as an excuse to avoid offending anyone. Christmas is the name of the holiday! Maybe I'm mistaken. There may be a growing segment of the population who have New Years trees.
I also noticed on our local stations that fewer Christmas carols actually had anything to do with Christ than last year (and I'm including a Christian station in that list). The ones about Frosty, riding through a winter wonderland, and Rudolph are great classics, but what about the real meaning of Christmas?
It comes down to Jesus, born of a virgin, lying in a manger. This same Jesus lived a perfect life and died an unjust and cruel death.
However, the most important and incredible part of Jesus' life is none of what I just mentioned. It's that he rose from the dead. No other religion can claim this, and this is what gives Christianity it's vitality. Jesus is alive and seated in Heaven next to God the Father.
That is why so many try year after year to take Christ out of Christmas. When you explore Jesus' life, beginning with his incredible conception and birth, we have to come to the conclusion that he was no ordinary man. Even if you ignore his claims of deity, he was not ordinary.
When I think of our great nation after this Christmas, I hope people remember Who holds it all together.
It angers me, first of all, that some were talking about "holiday trees" this year as an excuse to avoid offending anyone. Christmas is the name of the holiday! Maybe I'm mistaken. There may be a growing segment of the population who have New Years trees.
I also noticed on our local stations that fewer Christmas carols actually had anything to do with Christ than last year (and I'm including a Christian station in that list). The ones about Frosty, riding through a winter wonderland, and Rudolph are great classics, but what about the real meaning of Christmas?
It comes down to Jesus, born of a virgin, lying in a manger. This same Jesus lived a perfect life and died an unjust and cruel death.
However, the most important and incredible part of Jesus' life is none of what I just mentioned. It's that he rose from the dead. No other religion can claim this, and this is what gives Christianity it's vitality. Jesus is alive and seated in Heaven next to God the Father.
That is why so many try year after year to take Christ out of Christmas. When you explore Jesus' life, beginning with his incredible conception and birth, we have to come to the conclusion that he was no ordinary man. Even if you ignore his claims of deity, he was not ordinary.
When I think of our great nation after this Christmas, I hope people remember Who holds it all together.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Rick Warren--leader for our times or a sellout?
12-19 Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church in Texas, has been chosen by President-elect Barack Obama to give the invocation prayer at the inaugaration on January 20, 2009. Some on the right and the left are having a cow over this.
Gay-rights activists are livid at Obama because they consider this a sellout move. Rick Warren goes against everything they believe. Members of the right are upset at Warren because they think he's rubbing shoulders too much with Obama, who stands against much of what they believe.
CBN senior political correspondent David Brody has listed some of the posts about Warren on his blog “The Brody File,” which includes the following:
“I just lost a lot of respect for Rick Warren. How can someone who professes to be a Christian put himself into a situation where other Christians would question him?”
“This is terrible; this man calls himself a Christian?”
“When I first saw this headline, I thought it was a joke. For a man like Rick Warren to give the invocation for a man that has pledged to sign the Freedom of Choice Act is beyond the pale.”
I would personally advise these conservative Christians, of which I am one myself, to hold off on the attacks against Pastor Rick Warren. Pastor Warren will probably never hear from Obama again unless he gets into trouble like President Clinton did with his sexual liaisons and needed religious leaders to help give the image that he was getting his life into proper order. Other than something like that happening, Rick Warren will only be another face in the crowd to Obama.
However, I would like to address the first comment from Brody's blog that rips into Warren. Does this person ever go out in public? Unless one is a monk or nun hidden away from the world's influence, we will inevitably be put in a place where we will be questioned. Jesus talked alone to a Samaritan woman at a well and was questioned by people. It happens!
I think the world is in the mess it is in because Christians (and conservatives) have not been more a part of our culture. We have not tried to shape the culture; we have only resisted it. Pastor Warren has written several books, the most popular one being "The Purpose-Driven Life." In that book, he talks about the ways in which we can follow God. This is not the talk from someone trying to cater to "the other side," and I don't think he is doing that now. He is trying to engage someone who (from what I can tell) will eventually not listen to the populace but put into place legislation and taxes that will hurt all Americans.
But Pastor Warren is trying, and for that I give him credit.
Gay-rights activists are livid at Obama because they consider this a sellout move. Rick Warren goes against everything they believe. Members of the right are upset at Warren because they think he's rubbing shoulders too much with Obama, who stands against much of what they believe.
CBN senior political correspondent David Brody has listed some of the posts about Warren on his blog “The Brody File,” which includes the following:
“I just lost a lot of respect for Rick Warren. How can someone who professes to be a Christian put himself into a situation where other Christians would question him?”
“This is terrible; this man calls himself a Christian?”
“When I first saw this headline, I thought it was a joke. For a man like Rick Warren to give the invocation for a man that has pledged to sign the Freedom of Choice Act is beyond the pale.”
I would personally advise these conservative Christians, of which I am one myself, to hold off on the attacks against Pastor Rick Warren. Pastor Warren will probably never hear from Obama again unless he gets into trouble like President Clinton did with his sexual liaisons and needed religious leaders to help give the image that he was getting his life into proper order. Other than something like that happening, Rick Warren will only be another face in the crowd to Obama.
However, I would like to address the first comment from Brody's blog that rips into Warren. Does this person ever go out in public? Unless one is a monk or nun hidden away from the world's influence, we will inevitably be put in a place where we will be questioned. Jesus talked alone to a Samaritan woman at a well and was questioned by people. It happens!
I think the world is in the mess it is in because Christians (and conservatives) have not been more a part of our culture. We have not tried to shape the culture; we have only resisted it. Pastor Warren has written several books, the most popular one being "The Purpose-Driven Life." In that book, he talks about the ways in which we can follow God. This is not the talk from someone trying to cater to "the other side," and I don't think he is doing that now. He is trying to engage someone who (from what I can tell) will eventually not listen to the populace but put into place legislation and taxes that will hurt all Americans.
But Pastor Warren is trying, and for that I give him credit.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
The rich are people too!
12-17 New York's raising taxes!
Get those evil, rotten, rich few that still live in New York! Make them leave! Everyone knows that the world would be a better, happier place if everyone was poor. Who needs evil corporations that only pollute the world and create global warming that someday will burn us up into ashes!
(Of course, the ugly little fact that the world has been cooling since 1999 can't get in the way. Global cooling isn't near as exciting as heating up into a burning planet of flame. Not to mention that we can't expect people to believe environmentalists after they've been crying about global warming for the past decade and suddenly say, "Oops! The world is getting colder, not hotter. My bad!")
Evil corporations are also responsible for hiring innocent, naive, hard-working people who would surely quit if they realized what their evil corporations were doing to the planet, but so what? Punish the rich! Make them as poor as everyone else! But if that happens, who takes over?
Hmmm. Let me think a moment. Wait! I got it! The federal government can take control of meeting everyone's needs! Yes, that's it!
It doesn't matter that Russia (the former Soviet Union) tried that and is the "former" Soviet Union. Or that Cuba has done that. How many cars can be bought from Cuba? When is the last time (other than "War and Peace") any relevant literature or culture came from Russia?
Socialism doesn't work! Communism doesn't work! Letting the free market work is the best way. Yeah, you get some dumb things like disco and the Dixie Chicks, but they never stay for long! You need a variety of people, rich included, to get a well-rounded country that works.
Get those evil, rotten, rich few that still live in New York! Make them leave! Everyone knows that the world would be a better, happier place if everyone was poor. Who needs evil corporations that only pollute the world and create global warming that someday will burn us up into ashes!
(Of course, the ugly little fact that the world has been cooling since 1999 can't get in the way. Global cooling isn't near as exciting as heating up into a burning planet of flame. Not to mention that we can't expect people to believe environmentalists after they've been crying about global warming for the past decade and suddenly say, "Oops! The world is getting colder, not hotter. My bad!")
Evil corporations are also responsible for hiring innocent, naive, hard-working people who would surely quit if they realized what their evil corporations were doing to the planet, but so what? Punish the rich! Make them as poor as everyone else! But if that happens, who takes over?
Hmmm. Let me think a moment. Wait! I got it! The federal government can take control of meeting everyone's needs! Yes, that's it!
It doesn't matter that Russia (the former Soviet Union) tried that and is the "former" Soviet Union. Or that Cuba has done that. How many cars can be bought from Cuba? When is the last time (other than "War and Peace") any relevant literature or culture came from Russia?
Socialism doesn't work! Communism doesn't work! Letting the free market work is the best way. Yeah, you get some dumb things like disco and the Dixie Chicks, but they never stay for long! You need a variety of people, rich included, to get a well-rounded country that works.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
12-11 I just wrote a wonderful piece about the Fairness Doctrine and its misleading title and then just censored myself and accidently deleted it. Well, maybe it's all for the best.
What I wrote concerned something I heard on the Glenn Beck program this morning. Apparently, the mayor of Toledo, Ohio, is upset with WSPD radio for not allowing him access to defend himself on their station. This comes, of course, after he got upset with comments they made about him and he demeaned them, their sponsors, and their listeners. He made a statement Monday that we need the spirit of the Fairness Doctrine to prevail in this situation. He needs access to defend himself on WSPD, he said.
The Fairness Doctrine, as it existed in the 1970's, was anything but fair. It only addressed political speech and it only applied to talk radio stations, not TV or newspapers or magazines. What the Fairness Doctrine did was make radio stations present opposing points of view when someone called objecting to what they had heard. This had the effect, after being beseiged with calls, of making stations eliminate all discussion programs and made AM radio very boring. I remember in the 1970's hearing a couple country stations, sports stations, and religious stations on AM and thinking that AM radio wouldn't last long.
President Reagan did away with the Fairness Doctrine, and now AM flourishes with all kinds of open discussion programs, and people like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Glenn Beck are able to enlighten people to things going on in our government that the mainstream media were able to cover up for decades.
Barack Obama has appointed a goon to chair the FCC (I am not aware of his name) who worked with the FCC in the 1970's and is very comfortable with the Fairness Doctrine. Most likely, he will try to reintroduce the Fairness Doctrine. If liberals try to silence this free speech (guaranteed by the First Amendment), it will be to their detriment.
I value freedom and free speech, and that is the primary reason I started this blog. I know I am primarily writing to myself right now (and my dog Sasha who wholeheartedly agrees with me), but I do this in fear of the time when blogs and Internet speech may be all that stands up against government corruption and violation of the Constitution.
What I wrote concerned something I heard on the Glenn Beck program this morning. Apparently, the mayor of Toledo, Ohio, is upset with WSPD radio for not allowing him access to defend himself on their station. This comes, of course, after he got upset with comments they made about him and he demeaned them, their sponsors, and their listeners. He made a statement Monday that we need the spirit of the Fairness Doctrine to prevail in this situation. He needs access to defend himself on WSPD, he said.
The Fairness Doctrine, as it existed in the 1970's, was anything but fair. It only addressed political speech and it only applied to talk radio stations, not TV or newspapers or magazines. What the Fairness Doctrine did was make radio stations present opposing points of view when someone called objecting to what they had heard. This had the effect, after being beseiged with calls, of making stations eliminate all discussion programs and made AM radio very boring. I remember in the 1970's hearing a couple country stations, sports stations, and religious stations on AM and thinking that AM radio wouldn't last long.
President Reagan did away with the Fairness Doctrine, and now AM flourishes with all kinds of open discussion programs, and people like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Glenn Beck are able to enlighten people to things going on in our government that the mainstream media were able to cover up for decades.
Barack Obama has appointed a goon to chair the FCC (I am not aware of his name) who worked with the FCC in the 1970's and is very comfortable with the Fairness Doctrine. Most likely, he will try to reintroduce the Fairness Doctrine. If liberals try to silence this free speech (guaranteed by the First Amendment), it will be to their detriment.
I value freedom and free speech, and that is the primary reason I started this blog. I know I am primarily writing to myself right now (and my dog Sasha who wholeheartedly agrees with me), but I do this in fear of the time when blogs and Internet speech may be all that stands up against government corruption and violation of the Constitution.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
12/10 I am already sick of hearing about president-elect Obama, and he hasn't even been sworn in yet! He scares me. People said they wanted change--well, is this the change you wanted? The government in control of health care? The government in control of big businesses and Wall Street? Where does it end?
This is what I meant by the world being turned upside down. Personal freedoms and personal motivation and incentive have all but disappeared in a short period of time. During the election season (which lasted two years too long, in my opinion), I heard a commentator say that the pendulum seems to be swinging further from far right to far left. I disagree. The pendulum is swinging further left and not as far right as it used to.
Conservatives who represent the Republican Party, like George W. Bush, are not true conservatives. A true conservative would never have agreed to a bailout of banks and other businesses. If they fail, let them fail. They will learn from their mistakes and return to fight another day. If the "Big Three" fall, let them. Other auto makers will step in to take their place and we will get better cars in the process. If people were stupid enough to get mortgages they couldn't afford and banks were stupid enough to let it happen, let them both pay the consequences. We are all paying for it, either way. Our economy is in the tank as a result of people's stupidity.
But you know what? The only way people learn to stay out of the fire is by getting burned. It hurts but they learn.
This is what Barack Obama will do: discourage personal freedoms and growth and encourage big government and our dependence on government. As a result, we will get lazier, our freedoms will continue to erode, and prosperity will continue to decline. If you think it's bad now, just wait! The return of the "misery index" is imminent!
This is what I meant by the world being turned upside down. Personal freedoms and personal motivation and incentive have all but disappeared in a short period of time. During the election season (which lasted two years too long, in my opinion), I heard a commentator say that the pendulum seems to be swinging further from far right to far left. I disagree. The pendulum is swinging further left and not as far right as it used to.
Conservatives who represent the Republican Party, like George W. Bush, are not true conservatives. A true conservative would never have agreed to a bailout of banks and other businesses. If they fail, let them fail. They will learn from their mistakes and return to fight another day. If the "Big Three" fall, let them. Other auto makers will step in to take their place and we will get better cars in the process. If people were stupid enough to get mortgages they couldn't afford and banks were stupid enough to let it happen, let them both pay the consequences. We are all paying for it, either way. Our economy is in the tank as a result of people's stupidity.
But you know what? The only way people learn to stay out of the fire is by getting burned. It hurts but they learn.
This is what Barack Obama will do: discourage personal freedoms and growth and encourage big government and our dependence on government. As a result, we will get lazier, our freedoms will continue to erode, and prosperity will continue to decline. If you think it's bad now, just wait! The return of the "misery index" is imminent!
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