Is it time to double-down in Afghanistan? Is it time to send more of our fellow citizens to a long hard slog in a country whose synonym is Quagmire? As our economy is being outsourced, our debt monetized and our infrastructure crumbles will we meekly follow the leader deeper into a thankless nation-building campaign in the Little Bighorn of nations that’s resisted and foiled every empire from Alexander to Moscow? Or is it time to re-think America’s international military commitments? Though settled by European kingdoms seeking empires the United States wasn’t founded to become an empire. Individuals fought against the empire building tyrants until their determination and resolve won independence against all odds.
George Washington warned us to avoid foreign entanglements. Thomas Jefferson outlined the essential principles of our government which included this advice concerning foreign affairs, “peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations entangling alliances with none.”
The temptation to empire captured the American imagination in the 1890s, a time when Europe was rushing to gobble up the last places open for colonization or carving up those areas unsuited for colonies into spheres of influence. Under President McKinley the United States entered the scramble for colonies in the Spanish-American War winning Puerto Pico and the Philippines Continue reading →
September, 2009
28
Sep 09
Jettison the Empire to Save the Republic
21
Sep 09
Is This the News or a Comedy Tour?
Everyone routinely called them the Mainstream Media. Rush now calls them the State Controlled Media. I’ve called them the Mainstream Media, the Poodle Press, and the Lap-Dog Media. Whatever you’ve called them the time’s come to call them irrelevant? Out with the old and in with the new.
When news organizations consistently slant their coverage and ignore major stories because they don’t fit their template or further their agenda it’s time to re-evaluate what they are. They portray themselves as objective yet everyone can see they’re partisan publicists for a particular party and a particular radical left-wing of that party. Study after study shows the Corporations Once Known as the Mainstream Media are perceived by the public as advocates whose left-wing agenda is self-serving and deceptive. Instead of the fourth branch of government, honest brokers working to keep the public informed they’ve degenerated into craven corporate cheerleaders for Progressivism
Ever since Walter Cronkite denounced America’s commitment in Vietnam the corporate media have championed increasingly radical left-wing causes. They first joined the Democrat Party in all but name. Then they joined the extreme liberal wing of that Party. Now they’ve joined the Cavalcade of Czars in the statist campaign to re-make America. Continue reading →
14
Sep 09
It’s Not Over Until He Says So!
Jonah 3:1-3 NLT “Then the Lord spoke to Jonah a second time: Get up and go to the great city of Ninevah, and deliver the message of judgment I have given you. This time Jonah obeyed the Lord’s command…”
What an incredibly encouraging portion of scripture this is! Jonah ignored the Lord’s command the first time. How many times do we hear deep within our spirits that we should (or shouldn’t!) do a certain thing and just ignore or overlook it? Many times we find out later exactly why we got that warning and must pay the consequences for neglecting to pay attention.
Haven’t we all experienced that awful feeling that we’ve blown it big time. We were warned – we just didn’t listen. It’s too late now. But God.
Those are the two best words you can imagine. But God…always gives us second chances, and third and fourth and however many it takes to finally “get it.” He is so generous and so gracious. That is not to say we may not have to pay the consequences for disobeying the first time. But He doesn’t just give up on us as we so often do ourselves. Continue reading →
14
Sep 09
The BIG Speech
A mass email carried a message from President Obama after his address to Congress. He asked people to contact their representatives urging them to support his health-care plan. Since the Democrats have the votes in both houses to pass any legislation they agree upon why does he need our help to convince anyone of anything? Was he speaking to the nation or was he trying to rally his Democrat troops to toe the line and pass his bill?
The mass email also provides a link to President Obama’s bill. His bill isn’t a thousand pages long. It isn’t even one. It’s one half- page in three columns with bullet points which means Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and the Regulatory Czar will fill in the blanks. It “Offers a public health insurance option to provide the uninsured and those who can’t find affordable coverage with a real choice” No trigger. No equivocation. The President proposes a government option.
The plan limits several ways insurance companies have of making money while requiring them to perform certain services at no cost. And in the new Exchange these hobbled insurance companies have to compete with a non-profit government insurance company. How’s that going to work? Continue reading →
5
Sep 09
Follow the Leaders Rush, Glenn and Sarah
As usual it was Rush Limbaugh leading the way. He was the first political commentator with enough insight and courage to say what so many others were thinking, “I hope he fails.” If you listen to his program you know that this was immediately and repeatedly expanded to explain that he was referring to the President’s policies. He even clarified it further by saying, “Hey, I support the president. I just don’t support his policies.” He even went so far as to entitle the transcript that refers to these statements, “We Want the President’s Policies to Fail So Everyone Can Succeed.” Some may still find this shocking, why would anyone hope a brand new president’s policies fail? The original quote comes from an editorial Rush wrote on the Friday before the inauguration in which he said, “Folks, I do not want what Obama is doing to work. I don’t want more socialism in America, I don’t want more liberalism. Liberalism is what’s gotten us to the problems we have now. Why would I want more of it? I do not want him to succeed.” That was way back in January when polls showed that 70% of the American public wanted the new president to succeed. When many Republican officials eagerly lined up for a few moments of face time to parrot “I want the president to succeed.” They were saying the popular thing. Rush had the courage to swim against the tide and proclaim “I hope he fails.” Continue reading →