-Winston Churchill

-Patrick Henry

- Alexander Tytler 1787

The following is reputed to be written by Ben Stein and then recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning. 




My Confession: 

I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish.   And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees, “Christmas trees.”   I don’t feel threatened.   I don’t feel discriminated against.  That’s what they are:  Christmas trees. 



It doesn’t bother me a bit when people say, ‘Merry Christmas’ to me.   I don’t think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto.   In fact, I kind of like it.   It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year.  

It  doesn’t bother me at all that there is a manger  scene on display at a key intersection near my  beach house in Malibu.   If people want a preacher, it’s just as fine with me, as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away. 



I don’t like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don’t think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians.  I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country.   I can’t find it in the Constitution and I don’t like it being shoved down my throat. 



Or maybe I can put it another way:  where did the idea come from that we should worship celebrities and we aren’t allowed  to worship God as we understand Him?   I guess that’s a sign that I’m getting old, too.    But there are a lot of us who are wondering where these celebrities came from and where the America we knew went to. 



In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different.   This is not intended to be a joke.  It’s not funny.  It’s intended to get you thinking. 



Billy Graham’s daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her “How could God let something like this (regarding Katrina) happen?”  Anne Graham (Lotz) gave an extremely profound and insightful response.    She said, “I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we’ve been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives.   And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out.   How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?”

In light of recent events … terrorists attack, school shootings, etc., I think it started when Madeleine Murray O’Hare (she was murdered, her body found a few years ago) complained she didn’t want prayer in our schools, and we said, “OK.”  

Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school.   The Bible says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself.   And we said, “OK.”

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn’t spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem.  (Dr Spock’s son committed suicide).   We said an expert should know what he’s talking about.   And we said, “OK.”  Now we’re asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don’t know right from wrong, and why it doesn’t bother them to kill strangers, their  classmates, and themselves.



Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out.   I think it has a great deal to do with “WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.” 

 Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world’s going to hell.  Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says.   Funny how you can send “jokes” through e-mail and they spread like wildfire but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing.   Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace. 



Are you laughing yet? 



Funny how … when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you’re not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it. 

 Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us. 



At the end of the email I received was this simple message:  

Pass it on if you think it has merit.  If not then just discard it… no one will know you did.   But, if you discard this thought process, don’t sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in.  



My Best Regards,  

Honestly and respectfully, 



Ben Stein 



Take a look at this!  What a great perspective on “The Bailout.”

EDITORIAL FROM THE RICHMOND-TIMES DISPATCH (NEWSPAPER) Thursday, Nov 13, 2008 – 12:09 AM

“ENOUGH”

Congressional Democrats and flunkies for the Big Three automakers are beating the bushes for more bailout money.  The bailout of the financial sector was a regrettable necessity.  The bailout of the auto industry would be a giant mistake.  Chapter 11 is the better route.

First, in an important sense the car industry already has been bailed out.  The rescue of the financial sector was designed to thaw the frozen credit market, a major component of which is — you guessed it — car loans, which dried up this year when the banking sector tanked.  What’s more, Congress has approved a $25-billion low-interest loan for the Big Three to help them retool.

Second, Washington bears a significant share of the blame for the banking collapse.  With congressional Democrats pimping for Fannie and Freddie, and Clinton-era changes to the Community Reinvestment Act driving banks to make risky loans, the subprime-mortgage mess was as much a creature of Washington’s creation as it was of Wall Street’s.

But the problems confronting America’s carmakers are largely of their own making — with a big assist from unions that have mau-maued the companies into ever-more-costly benefits and work rules.  The industry’s chief problem is that it makes inferior cars that buyers pass over on their way to a Japanese-car dealership.  (Management sometimes has been abysmal, too.)

The one major exception?  SUVs.  Until recently SUVs benefited from looser treatment under corporate average fuel-economy standards and became the replacements for station wagons that families used to buy.  SUVs generated huge profit margins and helped offset anemic revenue from small-car sales.  Then gasoline prices shot up — and SUV sales nosedived.

Third, bailing out the auto industry opens the door even wider to more bailouts down the road.  Where does it end?  Should Washington bail out Circuit City?  How about The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, and other newspapers that have faced daunting financial problems of late?

Finally, as Ugandan journalist Andrew Mwenda recently remarked with regard to the financial upheaval, governments invited to intervene in the marketplace at a moment of crisis have a tendency to overstay their welcome.   The troubles facing Detroit’s automakers are disruptive and dismaying.   But the troubles that would arise if Washington steps in could be even more disruptive and dismaying, and last far longer.   The best way Washington can help businesses is to keep taxes low — and get out of the way.

The Reid-Pelosi-Obama (RePO) Team Vs. The Rest of America

On July 31, 2008, the Wall Street Journal had an article titled, “Where’s The Outrage?’ 

 Really?  I can tell you where the outrage is.  The outrage is here, in this middle-aged, well-educated, upper-middle class woman.  The outrage is here, but I have no representation, no voice.  The outrage is here, but no one is listening – for who am I?

Soros

 I’m not a billionaire like George Soros that can fund an entire political movement. 

 I’m not a celebrity like Barbra Streisand that can garner the attention of the press to promote political candidates.

Barbra

Al Gore

 I am not a filmmaker like Michael Moore or Al Gore that can deliver misleading movies to the public. 

 The outrage is here, but unlike those with money or power, I don’t know how to reach those who feel similarly, in order to effect change.

 Why am I outraged?   I am outraged that my country, the United States of America , is in a state of moral and ethical decline.   There is no right or wrong anymore, just what’s ‘fair’. 

 Is it fair that millions of Americans who overreached and borrowed more than they could afford are now being bailed out by the government and lending institutions to stave off foreclosure?   Why shouldn’t these people be made to pay the consequences for their poor judgment? 

 When my husband and I purchased our home, we were careful to purchase only what we could afford.   Believe me, there are much larger, much nicer homes that I would have loved to have purchased.   But, taking responsibility for my behavior and my life, I went with the house that we could afford, not the house that we couldn’t afford.  The notion of personal responsibility has all but died in our country.

 I am outraged, that the country that welcomed my mother as an immigrant from Hitler’s Nazi Germany and required that she and her family learn English, now allows itself to be overrun with illegal immigrants, and worse, caters to those illegal immigrants.  

 I am outraged that my hard-earned taxes help support those here illegally; That the Los Angeles Public School District is in such disarray that I felt it incumbent to send my child to private school; that every time I go to the ATM, I see “do you want to continue in English or Spanish?”; that every time I call the bank, the phone company, or similar business, I hear “press 1 for English or press 2 for Spanish.”   WHY?   This is America , our common language is English and attempts to promote a bi- or multi-lingual society are sure to fail and to marginalize those who cannot communicate in English.

 I am outraged at our country’s weakness in the face of new threats on American traditions from Muslims.   Just this week, Tyson’s Food negotiated with its union to permit Muslims to have Eid-al-Fitr as a holiday instead of Labor Day.   What am I missing?   Yes, there is a large Somali Muslim population working at the Tyson’s plant in Tennessee.  Tennessee, last I checked, is still part of the United States.   If Muslim’s want to live and work here they should be required to live and work by our American Laws and not impose their will on our long history.

 In the same week, Random House announced that they had indefinitely delayed the publication of “The Jewel of Medina,” by Sherry Jones, a book about the life of Mohammed’s wife, A’isha, due to fear of retribution and violence by Muslims.   When did we become a nation ruled by fear of why at other immigrant groups want?   It makes me so sad to see large corporations cave rather than stand proudly on the principles that built this country.

Ahmadinejad - The Dictator of Iran

 I am outraged because appeasement has never worked as a political policy, yet appeasing Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is exactly what we are trying to do.    An excellent article, also published recently in the Wall Street Journal, went through over 20 years of history and why talking with Iran has been and will continue to be ineffective.  Yet talk, with a madman no less, we continue to do.  Have we so lost our moral compass and its ability to detect evil that we will not go in and destroy Iran ’s nuclear program?  Would we rather wait for another Holocaust for the Jews – one which they would be unlikely to survive?   When does it end?

 As if the battle for good and evil isn’t enough, now come the Environmentalists who are so afraid of global warming that they want to put a bag tax on grocery bags in California; to eliminate Mylar balloons; to establish something as insidious as the ‘recycle police’ in San Francisco.  I do my share for the environment – I recycle, I use water wisely, I installed an energy efficient air conditioning unit.

 But when and where does the lunacy stop?   Ahmadinejad wants to wipe Israel off the map, the California economy is being overrun by illegal immigrants, and the United States of America no longer knows right from wrong; good from evil.  So what does California do?   Tax grocery bags.

 So, America , although I can tell you where the outrage is, this one middle-aged, well-educated, upper middle class woman is powerless to do anything about it.   I don’t even feel like my vote counts because I am so outnumbered by those who disagree with me.

 Alisa Wilson, Ph.D.

Beverly Hills, California

Explored and then conquered by France and then Great Britain, Canada became a “federal dominion” in 1867.  It is now a federation of 10 provinces and 3 territories, and its government is best described as “a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy, with Queen Elizabeth as its head of state.”

Why bring up Canada?

Because one day soon, the USA may look very much like her – minus the Queen.  Much of what Canada is and does WORKS.  No doubt about it.  It’s a wealthy nation.  It has low unemployment.  Its socialist leanings are similar to or the same as Great Britain’s.  Canada works … for Canadians.

Generally speaking, the things Canadians enjoy we Americans enjoy.  Ask Canadians if they are free and they’ll tell you, “Yep.”

But Canada isn’t America.  (You Canadians … don’t take this wrong …)  Canada is not as great, prosperous, generous, strong, or entrepreneurial.  No one would consider Canada the “leader of the free world” or the biggest bull in the financial china shop.  One reason is Canada’s population is about 32 million, give or take.  That’s only 1/10th of the population of the USA.  So … Canada is bigger geographically, and much smaller when it comes to population.  With all the natural resources within its borders, Canada has a lot going for it … but it isn’t America.

Personally and practically, I don’t want to pay the taxes Canadians do.  And I don’t want to buy into their medical program.  Canada WORKS … but not for me.  I love to visit Canada, but I don’t want to live there.

With all that up front – in my opinion America is headed … NOT TOWARD THE CANADIAN SOCIALIST MODEL – the model that works up there, but toward a much more dangerous model of socialism.  We’re heading toward a more controlling/dictatorial form of government, where a very few will control the lives of multitudes.  The USA is headed backwards … toward 1984.  Big Brother.  A propaganda machine run by an elite media. 

Oh, brother.

Think about it.  Any comments?

His address:  http://thewritesideofmybrain.com/

One service man today understands just how much GWB brings to the table.  He writes about it on the Eielson Air Force Base web site.  (Go to http://www.eielson.af.mil/The Value of Service and then go to News.  Check the archives for stories for August, 2008, and finally check out the August 15th story.  If you’re not that energized you can read the article in question below.)

Commentary by Lt. Col. Mark Murphy
354th Maintenance Group deputy commander8/15/2008 - EIELSON

AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska – I learned a big lesson on service Aug. 4, 2008, when Eielson had the rare honor of hosting President Bush on a refueling stop as he traveled to Asia. 

It was an event Eielson will never forget — a hangar full of Airmen and Soldiers getting to see the Commander in Chief up close, and perhaps even shaking his hand. An incredible amount of effort goes into presidential travel because of all of the logistics, security, protocol, etc … so it was remarkable to see Air Force One land at Eielson on time at precisely 4:30 p.m.–however, when he left less than two hours later, the President was 15 minutes behind schedule. 

That’s a big slip for something so tightly choreographed, but very few people know why it happened. Here’s why. 

On Dec. 10, 2006, our son, Shawn, was a paratrooper deployed on the outskirts of Baghdad. He was supposed to spend the night in camp, but when a fellow soldier became ill Shawn volunteered to take his place on a nighttime patrol–in the convoy’s most exposed position as turret gunner in the lead Humvee. He was killed instantly with two other soldiers when an IED ripped through their vehicle. 

I was thinking about that as my family and I sat in the audience listening to the President’s speech, looking at the turret on the up-armored Humvee the explosive ordnance disposal flight had put at the edge of the stage as a static display. 

When the speech was over and the President was working the crowd line, I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to see a White House staff member. She asked me and my wife to come with her, because the President wanted to meet us. 

Stunned, we grabbed our two sons that were with us and followed her back into a conference room. It was a shock to go from a crowded, noisy hangar, past all of those security people, to find ourselves suddenly alone in a quiet room. 

The only thing we could hear was a cell phone vibrating, and noticed that it was coming from the jacket Senator Stevens left on a chair. We didn’t answer. 

A short time later, the Secret Service opened the door and President Bush walked in. I thought we might get to shake his hand as he went through. But instead, he walked up to my wife with his arms wide, pulled her in for a hug and a kiss, and said, “I wish I could heal the hole in your heart.” He then grabbed me for a hug, as well as each of our sons. Then he turned and said, “Everybody out.” 

A few seconds later, the four of us were completely alone behind closed doors with the President of the United States and not a Secret Service agent in sight. 

He said, “Come on, let’s sit down and talk.” He pulled up a chair at the side of the room, and we sat down next to him. He looked a little tired from his trip, and he noticed that his shoes were scuffed up from leaning over concrete barriers to shake hands and pose for photos. He slumped down the chair, completely relaxed, smiled, and suddenly was no longer the President – he was just a guy with a job, sitting around talking with us like a family member at a barbeque. 

For the next 15 or 20 minutes, he talked with us about our son, Iraq, his family, faith, convictions, and shared his feelings about nearing the end of his presidency. He asked each of our teenaged sons what they wanted to do in life and counseled them to set goals, stick to their convictions, and not worry about being the “cool” guy. 

He said that he’d taken a lot of heat during his tenure and was under a lot of pressure to do what’s politically expedient, but was proud to say that he never sold his soul. Sometimes he laughed, and at others he teared up. He said that what he’ll miss most after leaving office will be his role as Commander in Chief. 

One of the somber moments was when he thanked us for the opportunity to meet, because he feels a heavy responsibility knowing that our son died because of a decision he made. He was incredibly humble, full of warmth, and completely without pretense. We were seeing the man his family sees. 

We couldn’t believe how long he was talking to us, but he seemed to be in no hurry whatsoever. In the end, he thanked us again for the visit and for the opportunity to get off his feet for a few minutes. He then said, “Let’s get some pictures.” The doors flew open, Secret Service and the White House photographer came in, and suddenly he was the President again. We posed for individual pictures as he gave each of us one of his coins, and then he posed for family pictures. A few more thank yous, a few more hugs, and he was gone. 

The remarkable thing about the whole event was that he didn’t have to see us at all. If he wanted to do more, he could’ve just given a quick handshake and said, “Thanks for your sacrifice.” But he didn’t – he put everything and everyone in his life on hold to meet privately with the family of a Private First Class who gave his life in the service of his country. 

What an incredible lesson on service. If the President of the United States is willing to drop everything on his plate to visit with a family, surely the rest of us can do it. No one is above serving another person, and no one is so lofty that he or she can’t treat others with dignity and respect. 

We often think of service in terms of sacrificing ourselves for someone in a position above us, but how often do we remember that serving someone below us can be much more important? If you’re in a leadership capacity, take a good look at how you’re treating your people, and remember that your role involves serving the people you rely on every day. 

Have you prayed for Dubya today?  Have you thanked God for his leadership over the last seven years?  Maybe you should think about it, and then do so.