“American history shall march across that skyline”

Posted on October 4, 2011

… So declared Danish-American sculptor, Gutzon Borglum, about his ambitious project in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Eighty-four years ago today, on October 4, 1927, the massive sculpture was begun on Mt. Rushmore.
While the monument is impressive in photographs, the awesome scale is truly breathtaking in person. (Next best thing; if you can’t visit, rent Hitchcock’s “North By Northwest”.)
 

“The purpose of the memorial is to communicate the founding, expansion, preservation, and unification of the United States with colossal statues of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt.”
~ Gutzon Borglum ~

 
Construction of the giant sculpture took 14 years. The original plans, which called for the presidents to be depicted from head to waist, had to be altered due to time and funding constraints. Although Borglum didn’t live to see his sculpture finished (he passed away on March 6, 1941), his son Lincoln completed the project on October 31, 1941.
The monument was put under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service in 1933. On October 15, 1966, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. And in 1991, President George H. W. Bush officially dedicated Mount Rushmore.

~~~~~~~~

Significantly, a bronze plaque on the visitor center’s viewing terrace, stands as a refutation of the Leftist lie that America was not founded as a Christian nation. Bracketing descriptions of several significant events in U.S. history, the following words are inscribed:
 

Almighty God, from this pulpit of stone the American people render thanksgiving and praise for the new era of civilization brought forth upon this continent. Centuries of tyrannical oppression sent to these shores, God-fearing men to seek in freedom the guidance of the benevolent hand in the progress toward wisdom, goodness toward men, and piety toward God…

~~~~~

…Now, these eras are welded into a nation possessing unity, liberty, power, integrity and faith in God, with responsible development of character and devoted to the performance of humanitarian duty.
 
Holding no fear of the economic and political, chaotic clouds hovering over the earth, the consecrated Americans dedicate this nation before God, to exalt righteousness and to maintain mankind’s constituted liberties so long as the earth shall endure.

 
This composition was written in 1934 by college student William Andrew Burkett, the winning of an essay competition. [Full text – as a Word document.]
 
It’s sad that we’ve forgotten, or re-written, so much of America’s wonderful history in the last eight decades. Yet Mt. Rushmore still remains as a tribute to our past and founding principles.
 

Posted in Comfort & Joy, Timeless Principles | Leave a comment

Banning Free Speech in Oz

Posted on October 4, 2011

“In times of universal deceit, telling the truth will be a revolutionary act.”
~ George Orwell ~

 
Last week in Australia multicultural intolerance won a decisive battle over freedom of speech ~
The assumed right of unfettered freedom of speech was trumped by laws protecting against racial vilification this morning after the Federal Court delivered its decision on the controversial “white Aborigines” case.
On Sept. 28th, a federal court in Melbourne ruled that Andrew Bolt, a prominent Aussie columnist, was in violation of the Racial Discrimination Act. His “crime” was to suggest that there are some Australians of mixed ancestry who self-identify as “Aboriginal” purely for personal advantage. Mark Steyn recaps:

…Andrew Bolt is Oz’s leading political columnist, in print, radio, TV (think George Will) and he commented on the striking number of extremely light-skinned Aboriginal activists of mainly Caucasian descent and appearance who choose to identify as Aboriginal for the purpose of accessing lucrative identity-politics gigs.

 

[Kind of like – hypothetically of course – a presidential candidate, with a white mother, deciding that he’s “black” – to boost his chances of getting elected.]

 
Bolt, the Herald Sun, and the Weekly Times were sued by 9 Aboriginals who claimed racial vilifiication over two articles Bolt had written back in 2009. The court’s judgement for the plaintiffs is essentially criminalizing open cultural debate, and will only lead to more divisiveness.
As Steyn had written prior to the verdict:

If the state creates a human right to be offended and extends it only to members of certain interest groups, it is quite naturally incentivizing membership in those membership groups…
…(Bolt) was struck by the very noticeable non-blackness of so many prominent Aussie “blacks”, and wrote a couple of columns on the theme of identity-group opportunism. He’s now been dragged into court and denounced as a “racist” – “racism” having degenerated into a term for anyone who so much as broaches the subject. But, if the law confers particular privileges on members of approved identity groups, how we define the criteria for membership of those groups is surely a legitimate subject for public debate.

 
Bolt’s written response to the court’s decision was published in the Herald the day after the verdict came down: Silencing me impedes unity, says Andrew Bolt.

Justice Bromberg also said I’d used “derisive” comments “that have little or no legitimate forensic purpose to the argument”.
 
His Honour cited a long list of these bad comments of mine, such as “seeking power and reassurance in a racial identity is not just weak” and “it is also divisive, feeding a new movement to stress pointless or even invented racial differences”.
 
FOR expressing such views, in such language, I have lost my freedom to put my argument as I did.
 
And be warned: use such phrases as those yourself, and you too may lose your right to speak…
 
…I feel that writing frankly about multiculturalism, and especially Aboriginal identity, yesterday became too dangerous for any conservative. It’s simply safer to stay silent, or write about fluffy puppies instead.
 
And so the multiculturalists win. They win, because no one now dares object for fear of what it will cost them in court.

 
Once a society starts to shut people up because they’ve violated someone’s mythical right not to be offended, where does it end? Nowhere good Comrade.
Chilling.
 

Posted in Cultural Erosion, Unvarnished | Leave a comment

ObamAgenda: Fueling the Recession

Posted on October 3, 2011


 

“The actions and policies of President Obama and his Administration to
block, prevent, delay, hinder, revoke, tax, and drive up the cost
of American-made energy is simply mindboggling.”
 
Congressman Doc Hastings(R-WA),
Chairman, House Committee on Natural Resources

 
Remember Interior Secretary Ken Salazar’s announcement last October that the administration was finally lifting the moratorium on oil drilling permits in the Gulf of Mexico – “we’re open for business”? I recall feeling cautiously optimistic at the time, but…turns out it was just another sham. One year later, drilling permits have slowed by 86%. As usual with the Obama Administration, the rhetoric may impress, but the reality tends to depress.
 
In his post at the American Thinker; Obama’s Interior Chokehold on America, Jim Adams explains:

Eleven months after the Secretary’s announcement, drilling in the Gulf remains near a standstill. The government has used every stall tactic imaginable to delay permits and other administrative approvals that would help our economy and put hundreds of thousands back to work.

 
In what Americans for Prosperity(AFP) is calling the “Permitorium”, applications for drilling permits are bogged down by complex new regulations and endless bureaucracy. While taxpayer dollars are being flushed down the green energy toilet, our oil rigs are operating at half capacity.
 
ODS(Offshore Data Services) -Petrodata monitors world-wide oil rig operations and reports the weekly “fleet utilization rates”. For the week of September 23rd, the rates were:
• 51.7% – U.S. – Gulf of Mexico
• 80.5% – South America
• 87.9% – Europe/Mediterranean Sea
• 77.8% – West Africa
• 85.7% – Middle East
• 82.1% – Asia/Australia (excludes India)
 
With rigs barely running at 50% of their potential, we can only wonder what would happen if Sec. Salazar’s Bureau of Ocean Energy, Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) were closed for business.
 
It would be bad enough if the harmful effects of the “Permitorium” were localized to the Gulf, but of course they impact our entire economy. Adams cites a study by Quest Offshore Resources:

The study’s authors found that for every industry job tied to operations in the Gulf, three non-industry jobs are reliant in sectors such as manufacturing, construction and real estate. And for every three Gulf Coast workers, there’s one American employed elsewhere — in New York, Michigan, California, Oklahoma, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois and nearly every other state.
 
The Quest study also came to a distressing conclusion: Had the Administration truly lifted the moratorium last October, the industry would have created nearly 190,000 more jobs in the U.S. over a three-year period. That would have meant 8,500 additional jobs in California, where unemployment currently flirts with 12 percent; 10,000 more jobs in Pennsylvania and Ohio, manufacturing-dependent states; and in the President’s home state of Illinois, a total of 3,000 jobs.

 

Compounding the economic disaster is the loss of state and federal revenues that would otherwise be generated if the oil drilling industry were allowed to operate at full capacity. As The Foundry reports:

Not only is the anti-drilling agenda costing jobs and economic hardship in the Gulf region, but it’s preventing billions of dollars from coming into the federal government’s coffers because of decreased royalties, lease sales, and rent fees. Yesterday(9-28-11), Senator David Vitter (R–LA) wrote to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and BOEMRE director Michael Bromwich urging the need for more action in the Gulf:
 

“We would like to bring to your attention the steep decrease in revenue from bonus bids that result from zero Outer Continental Shelf lease sales in FY2011. In FY2008, revenue from bonus bids on offshore leases was approximately $10 billion. For FY2011, the amount is $0.”

 
And then there’s the expense of a fill-up – which directly affects each and every one of us. With the price of gasoline tracking down along with the drop in the stock market over the last week or so, it’s easy to forget that the cost per gallon has doubled since 2009. Higher fuel prices drive up the bottom-line operating costs for every business. And those higher costs are unavoidably reflected in higher prices for all consumer goods and services.
 
And yet, as AFP reports: “the Congressional Research Service says the United States has the world’s largest endowment of recoverable oil, natural gas, and coal.” Just. Sitting. There… While the economy tanks.
 
Hey Mr. President!
Want to create jobs and grow the economy? “DRILL HERE; DRILL NOW!”
 
~~~~~~~~~~~
Related:
Some good news out of ~
North Dakota ~ Where a recent oil boom is fueling job growth, and confidence in Obamanomics is way down. Yesterday’s LA Times article, “North Dakota isn’t feeling the slump”, reports the following:

This state epitomizes a problem the Obama administration may face even if it is able to turn the economy around by 2012: People have suffered in this recession, and even when back on their feet, they have long memories of what they lost along the way.

 
And Alaska ~ Alaska Oil Creates Pennsylvania Jobs. A great example of how energy production can fuel job growth in other business sectors.
 

Posted in Fruits of Their Labors, Unvarnished | 1 Comment

Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)

Posted on October 2, 2011

Wonderful video by Chris Tomlin. Beautiful autumn visuals, interspersed with clips from the film “Amazing Grace” (William Wilberforce story) ~ highly recommended, if you haven’t already seen it.
 

 

And he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you,
for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”
~ 2 Corinthians 12:9 ~

Posted in Comfort & Joy | Leave a comment

Saturday Shorts 10-1-11

Posted on October 1, 2011

Random links of interest, concern or curiosity from the past week or so, that deserve at least a SHORT mention:

 
Constitutional Mythbusters ~ No, the Constitution isn’t racist, indecipherable, or living and breathing. The Foundry clears things up for the misinformed.
 
Mom stops school sex survey ~ Proof that each one of us can have an impact, if we just have the courage to take a stand.
 
Flash Mob Home Break-In Edition: Philly Mob Busts into “White Mother-F**ker’s” House – Beats Him With Pipes (Video) ~ The guy was only trying to help two young teens get away from the mobsters. This story would have been front page news if the skin colors were reversed. Can you say “Hate Crime”?
 
“God Made Me This Way” ~ Same old sin; different song. Thoughtful piece by Regis Nicoll at Breakpoint. “When a person claims that an unbiblical desire is part of “how God made me,” they are conflating a dysfunction with their design.”
 
Report: Ford pulls bailout ad after criticism from press, questions from White House ~ Caving in to Obama’s Bully Brigade.
Rep. Darryl Issa (R-CA), who chairs the GOP House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, is looking into possible “White House interference”. Good luck with that.
 
Teen girl’s cards help charities ~ 19 year-old McKenzie Howard hasn’t let Down’s Syndrome or other health issues deter her from her love of art. She’s selling greeting cards featuring her colorful abstract designs and donating the profits to charity: Kards by Kenz Pretty cool! 🙂
 

Posted in Everything Else | Leave a comment

Running Out of Refuge

Posted on September 29, 2011


If you were subjected to revisionist history in school, you may not be aware that America was founded primarily by people fleeing from religious persecution in Europe. Pilgrims, Puritans, Quakers, Huguenots, Catholics, all left their homes in the Old World behind, seeking refuge on these shores.
 
It was the Christian worldview, held in common by these people, that was to form the basis of our government and culture for centuries to come. We are rapidly losing that wonderful heritage. And the freedom of religion guaranteed under the 1st Amendment, is increasingly at risk.

~~~~~

The latest institution attempting to marginalize Christianity, Vanderbilt University, has decided that out of some 300 student groups on campus, about a dozen, including five religious groups, are in non-compliance with Vanderbilt’s nondiscrimination policy. (How Orwellian of the college; using their own “nondiscrimination” policy to discriminate against Christians.)
These groups were all placed on “provisional” status, meaning comply – or risk being permanently suspended. ~ Professor Says Vanderbilt Suppressing Christian Student Groups Amid Shutdown Threats
 
The Christian Legal Society is one of the five groups singled out because their constitution requires that the organization’s leader be – (gasp!) Christian.

“Each officer is expected to lead Bible studies, prayer and worship at chapter meetings.” CLS President Justin Gunter (said), “We come together to do things that Christians do together. Pray, and have Bible studies.”

 
Gee – prayer and bible studies – pretty radical stuff.
 

Oddly enough, like the vast majority of American colleges, Vanderbilt University has a Christian history. According to the University’s website, it was founded 1873, and…
…for the first 40 years of its existence, Vanderbilt was under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.

 
Guess they got too smart for God.

~~~~~

This incident is part of a growing trend in western countries, as the secular state continues to shove Christianity out of the public square. Right Side News recaps the most recent occurrences of multi-cultural intolerance: 18 Examples Of How Christians Are Being Specifically Targeted By Big Brother
 
Read through the list. And ask yourself how long before we can no longer speak the name of “Jesus” in public – unless it’s part of a curse? (Mustn’t be “intolerant” of profanity.)
 
Yet we in the west are only witnessing the early signs of persecution. For millions of Christians in the rest of the world, oppression is already a harsh, stark, ever-present reality. They face harassment, fines, detentions, beatings, incarceration, torture – even death.
 
Last week’s To the Source newsletter reported on what is becoming a “global humanitarian crisis”: Hearing Their Cry. And a December 2010 article* at the(Toronto)Star.com, didn’t sugarcoat: Christianity arguably the most persecuted religion in the world.
 
The facts are stunning:

Virtually every human rights group and Western government agency that monitors the plight of Christians worldwide arrives at more or less the same conclusion: Between 200 million and 230 million of them face daily threats of murder, beating, imprisonment and torture, and a further 350 to 400 million encounter discrimination in areas such as jobs and housing. A conservative estimate of the number of Christians killed for their faith each year is somewhere around 150,000…

For a little perspective, that’s like an entire city the size of Savannah – or Chattanooga – being wiped out in one year.
 

~~~~~

Last week, the story of the two misguided Americans, freed after being held in Iran for more than two years, was front page news. An anonymous donor(s) coughed up the $1,000,000 bail for their release. But where are the international concern and resources for Christian Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani?
 
Youcef (also spelled Yousef) was arrested in Iran almost two years ago for “protesting.” Charges against him were later changed to “apostasy”, or abandoning Islam, and evangelizing Muslims. He’s just been convicted on those charges and faces execution at the hand of the Iranian government any day. The Persecution Blog at Voice of the Martyrs has regular updates on his precarious situation. And Open Doors reported yesterday:

The hearings on Monday (Sept. 26) and yesterday lasted just 30 minutes, long enough for Nadarkhani to refuse to recant Christianity.
 
The source said Nadarkhani’s 30-year-old wife is very apprehensive about what the courts might decide this week. They have two children: Joel, 7 and Daniel, 9.
 
“The wife is under depression and worried; we can say his wife is very worried,” he said. “It is difficult for all his family, it is difficult for us.”

 
But you won’t catch any coverage of Youcef’s plight on the network news.
Because, as the “To the Source” article explains:
 

Amid the rapid growth of Christianity and persecution of believers around the globe, many American Christians are largely unaware of the extent of suffering their brothers and sisters are enduring, says Thomas Halstead, a professor and chair of the Department of Biblical Studies at The Master’s College in Santa Clarita.
 
“I believe that American Christianity is too comfortable, and concerned about affluence and leisure, rather than the Gospel,” Halstead says. “Having traveled to a number of other countries, it is sad to see the general passivity of American Christianity.

 

~~~~~

Christians facing persecution during the 17th and 18th centuries were fortunate to find sanctuary in the New World. Today we’re running out of options. If 21st century Christians don’t stand up for religious freedom around the world – and in our own cities, towns and universities – eventually there will be no refuge left.

 

When they persecute you in this city, flee to another.
For assuredly I say to you, you will not have gone through the
cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
 ~ Matthew 10:23 ~

~~~~~~~~~~

 
To learn more about world-wide persecution of Christians, please visit these sites:
 
Open Doors
Voice of the Martyrs
Compass Direct
 
Take action: You can send an email to Sec. of State Clinton, asking her to petition the Iranian government on Youcef’s behalf, through American Family Association.
~~~~~~~~~~
*This article includes a statement by Michael Horowitz, “a U.S. Jewish activist”, which stands out as patently false. I’ve corrected it:
“And given the Christianity’s well-documented history of brutality by people deceptively calling themselves Christians, modern-day elites are more conditioned to think of Christian believers as the persecutors, not the victims.”
 

Posted in Good vs.Evil, Unvarnished | 5 Comments

Be strong and of good courage…

Posted on September 28, 2011

Here’s the latest from one of my favorite groups, Casting Crowns.
“Courageous”, is featured in a movie of the same name, scheduled for release this Friday, September 30th:
 


“…a powerful reminder of the impact fathers have on their kids…and the legacy they will leave for future generations.”

 

Posted in Comfort & Joy | Leave a comment

Love Ya Back Shirl!

Posted on September 27, 2011

Here she goes again: Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) to conservative bloggers: ‘Shut up!’
Boy, this is one bellicose babe.
 
During an interview yesterday with Travis Smiley on PBS, Shirley was all fired up at the right-wing blogosphere:
“…to all the (conservative) bloggers – shut up and stop playing racial politics…”
 
“It’s the old-style politics of pitting us against each other.”
 
Although, a minute later, she asserted that “‘Buy American’ (should be) ‘Buy African-American.'” 🙄
 
 
She finished up with: “Federal dollars should not be played with.”
(Well hey – even a blind squirrel…)
 
Jackson-Lee herself would never think of resorting to racial politics: Pol Says Obama Disrespected On Debt Because He’s Black. Racism? Wonder how she explains this?
 
Could she be suffering from RDS (Reality-Detachment-Syndrome)? Back in June, she was all fired up about Christian Terrorists; Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee Warns About Christian Terrorists at Radical Islam Hearing
As Gateway Pundit pointed out at the time, she must of missed this:
In the last 24 months 126 people were indicted on terrorist-related charges in the United States. All of them were Muslim.
 
Even her own congressional staff can’t deal with the irrational rants. The Huffington Post – no “conservative” blog – posted this article back in June: Sheila Jackson Lee, Worst Boss In Congress? Goes Through 11 Chiefs Of Staff In 11 Years ~

Jackson Lee regularly appears on Washingtonian magazine’s list of the “Best and Worst of Congress” as the “meanest” member of House of Representatives.
 
The Daily Caller has described Jackson Lee as a “a boss from hell.”

 

So be warned ~ if you’re a Caucasian, Christian, conservative, better back off baby!
 

Posted in Unvarnished | Leave a comment

Dear Rev. Willcox

Posted on September 27, 2011

This post is in response to a letter published Sunday, September 25th in the Muskegon(MI) Chronicle titled: “Will the tea party kill U.S. compassion?” It was written by one Rev. W. Brewster Willcox.

Among other insightful commentary, the Rev. opines:

This is most disconcerting to me, a Christian clergy person. I have always assumed being Christian meant being compassionate for the weak and vulnerable. And especially those who are vulnerable through no fault of their own. For as Krugman (that would be Paul Krugman, who believes America would benefit from an alien invasion) points out, most uninsured Americans either have low incomes and cannot afford insurance or are rejected by insurers because they have chronic conditions. The tea party attitude, evidently from the audience response last week, is let them wither and die.
 
So, the lack of compassion has become a matter of principle for tea party members.
 
It is a truly radical movement that is angry and organized to overturn the kind of society that we have enjoyed in the past, a society that tries, with the help of government, to ease some of the hazards of life through programs like Social Security, unemployment insurance, Medicare and Medicaid.

Dearest Reverend,
 
I must say I found your recent letter published in the Muskegon Chronicle, to be quite puzzling. Considering your position as a “man of the cloth”, one would presume that your concept of “compassion” is firmly based in scripture. However, after careful examination of the several editions of the Holy Bible in our home, I cannot find the “Book of Collectivism”. Perhaps you could send me a copy?
 
You see, our Bibles don’t have anything in them directing Christians to petition their government to steal money from its citizens and pass it around to cronies, lobbyists, bloated bureaucracies, abortion clinics or any other greedy, morally-bankrupt organizations. Nor can I find any mention of putting our faith in the “god of big government” for housing, health or our daily bread. Perhaps the following verses missing from your copy(s)…
 
“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” ~ Matthew 6:31-33 ~
 
Further, I suppose you may be forgiven for your little attempt at deception in accusing the Tea Party of wanting to let people die (although I’m pretty sure it qualifies as “bearing false witness”). I’m sure you can recall President Obama, while pitching his healthcare program, telling a woman at a Q & A session that maybe her 90 year-old mother should just get a pain pill instead of a pacemaker. (And then there’s that little death panel provision in Obamacare.)
 
Your letter states; “I have always assumed being Christian meant being compassionate for the weak and vulnerable.” I agree. What exactly have you personally done for the weak and vulnerable? Again, there is no mention of collective salvation in any of our Bibles; Jesus Christ is my personal Redeemer. I am called to help my neighbor, not to force him to help his neighbor.
 
Now I would assume that, as a pastor, you are compassionate about:
• The most vulnerable among us; the unborn. So you stand up for them? Counsel young women to keep their babies? Do you oppose the President’s position on partial birth abortion?
• The millions of fatherless children and broken lives, and the poverty resulting from the disintegration of the nuclear family.
• Saving souls. Are you committed to spreading the gospel as Christ commissioned you to do? Do you oppose the continued efforts of the state to marginalize Christianity?
 
“But Jesus answered him saying, ‘It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word of God.’ ” ~ Luke 4:4 ~
 
True compassion does not mean robbing Peter to hand out free stuff to Paul. Unless, perhaps, your ”Book of Collectivism” includes a chapter about Jesus appropriating funds from the tax collectors and redistributing them to the poor.
 
True compassion does not tell a man that he’s incapable of taking care of himself and therefore he and his descendants must be dependent on the government for evermore. It does not diminish his sense of self-worth by devaluing personal responsibility. Would you raise a child with that philosophy?
 
No, true compassion is aimed at changing hearts,souls, minds and futures. True compassion is what motivated the Christian founders of organizations like the Salvation Army, Focus Hope, Samaritan’s Purse, Prison Fellowhip, and the Center for Neighborhood Enterprise.
 
If you would like to see compassion in action visit World Magazine and check out the nominees for their Hope Award for Effective Compassion. This award was established to recognize ministries that offer challenging, personal, and spiritual help to those in need in their local communities. True compassion, with lasting results.
 
God bless, and may you someday come to know Jesus Christ as your personal Savior.
 
Designs on the Truth
P.S. You failed to mention which denomination you’re affiliated with… Since you’re playing so fast and loose with scripture, I assume it’s the Faux Temple of Fuzzy Theology.
P.P.S. If you sincerely want to know what the Tea Party is all about talk to Lloyd Marcus.
Posted in Pieces of My Mind | Leave a comment

Irresistable Smiles

Posted on September 26, 2011

Operation Smile brightens the face of a little girl in Brazil ~ Before and after cleft lip surgery…
 

 
Can’t help smiling huh? 🙂
This video reminds me of the up-beat “I Smile” by gospel singer Kirk Franklin. Guaranteed mood lifter ~
 
I can almost hear it playing in the background…
 

Today’s a new day, but there is no sunshine.
Nothing but clouds, and it’s dark in my heart
and it feels like a cold night.
Today’s a new day, but where are my blue skies.
Where is the love and the joy that you promised me
tell me it’s alright.
 
(I’ll be honest with you)
 
I almost gave up, but a power that I can’t explain,
fell from heaven like a shower now.
 
(When I think how much better I’m gonna be when this is over)
 
I smile, even though I hurt see I smile,
I know God is working so I smile,
Even though I’ve been here for a while
I smile, smile..
It’s so hard to look up when you look down.
Sure would hate to see you give up now.
You look so much better when you smile, so smile.
 
Smile.. for me
Can you just smile… for me.
Smile.. for me
Can you just smile… for me.
 
(look in the mirror)
ohohoh, you look so much better when you smile
 
I just want you to be happy..
I want you to have joy ’cause can’t nobody
take that away from you.
I see you.. SMILE!!

 

Posted in Comfort & Joy | Leave a comment

Cain Gaining Momentum

Posted on September 25, 2011

Well HELLO!

 

ORLANDO — From the bottom of the polls to the top of the pack, businessman Herman Cain won a surprise victory at the Republican Party of Florida’s nationally watched presidential straw poll Saturday in a sign that front-runner Rick Perry is in deep trouble.

 
Granted, this was Orlando, where the local Tea Party has been an active, engaged movement since its inception, still:

Cain’s landslide victory, with 37 percent of the vote, exceeded the combined total for Perry and Mitt Romney, who only garnered 15 percent and 14 percent, respectively.

 
Pretty impressive!
One thing’s fairly certain, Cain’s not the GOP establishment’s guy. The Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) hosted the straw poll yesterday in Orlando. Their website, enthusiastically promoting Presidency 5 as “History in the making…” featured a live webcast of the event ~

The crown jewel of Presidency 5 is the Florida Straw Poll, featuring the participation of more than 3,000 Florida Republican delegates. Those candidates who perform well at Presidency 5 this September will launch their campaigns to the forefront of the race to replace Barack Obama in the White House.

 
However, the day after the straw poll, suspiciously absent from the RPOF site, is any mention of the results. As of 4:00 pm today the “Newsroom” page was still blank. Cue the crickets:

 
And yet, true to their billing, history was made last night; a conservative entrepreneur who’s never held public office, scored a stunning upset over the GOP frontrunners. Mighty curious that the RPOF doesn’t find that historic or even newsworthy…

 
Well, too bad about the GOP One-Step-Behind-the-Socialists Establishment.
 
Although I’m still ABO (Anyone But Obama), I’m starting to like Herman Cain more and more. It was especially encouraging to see the classy way he dealt with Morgan Freeman’s name-calling earlier this week; Herman Cain, GOP presidential candidate, hits back at Morgan Freeman for calling Tea Party ‘racist’
Freeman, in typical leftist fashion, simply flings mud at the opposition to obscure the truth, claiming that the Tea Party mindset is “Screw the country, we’re going to do whatever we can to get this black man out of here…It is a racist thing.”
Asked by Neil Cavuto (video 9-23-11) how he felt about Freeman’s comments, Cain responded:

“I doubt if Morgan Freeman, with all due respect – he is a great actor – has ever been to a Tea Party. Most of the people that are criticizing the Tea Party about having a racist element, they have never been to a Tea Party… I’m not offended by it, I just think it’s sad that they’re so short-sighted… Name-calling is something that’s going to continue in this because they don’t know how to stop this movement.”

 
Incidentally, if the Democrat drones were capable of rational thought, they’d realize that the lame accusation of racism is totally refuted by the strong Tea Party support of of Herman Cain.
 
If he can keep the momentum going, who knows – maybe America’s 2nd Black President can save the country from the disaster created by the 1st one!
 

Posted in Comfort & Joy, Unvarnished | 1 Comment

Saturday Shorts 9-24-11

Posted on September 24, 2011

Random links of interest, concern or curiosity from the past week or so, that deserve at least a SHORT mention:

 
LightSquared: The next Obama pay-for-play morass? ~ by Michelle Malkin. Yet another scandal to add to the growing list of the Obama Administration’s corrupt schemes. The “Chicago Way” endangering national security. See Michelle’s update as well: LightSquared: Obama’s Dangerous Broadband Boondoggle
 
Arabs Allegedly Throw Rocks at 20-Month-Old Israeli Baby’s Face ~ Religion of Peace “strikes” again. Appalling!
 
Psychotherapy: Needs Reboot? or Just Boot? ~ Yale professor acknowledges that, after all this time, psychotherapy has failed to solve the rather serious problem of mental illness in the United States. Looking for answers in all the wrong places.
 
Pope Says Catholics Cannot Accept Gay Marriage and Religion Must Not Be Banished From Public Life ~ Couldn’t agree more (and I’m not even Catholic). “Again and again in history, keen observers have pointed out that damage to the church comes not from opponents, but from uncommitted Christians,” (the Pope) said. How can we be the “salt and light” if we’re only lukewarm?
 
Obama: Incompetent or Malevolent? ~ If I didn’t know better I’d think David Solway at Israpundit was inspired by my concept; Stupid, Ignorant or Simply Malevolent? :mrgreen: His answer to the question? A combination of both.
Also at Israpundit: Take your secret Saudi threats and shove ‘em ~ by Ezra Levant. Love this guy – no fear!
 
Taking Down Socialist ‘Tax Fairness’ Rhetoric ~ by Mark Alexander at the Patriot Post. Exposing the fallacy behind the Left’s class warfare rhetoric:

The essence of “fairness” is outlined in our Declaration of Independence, which states, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” The operative words here are “created equal” (not equalized by government redistribution) and “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights” (not granted them by the state).

 

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