A HOUSE DIVIDED

A HOUSE DIVIDED

For all the smoke the three leading Republican presidential candidates are blowing about their appeal to evangelical voters, they all seem to be overlooking a pretty straight-forward verse from the gospels which they claim to follow. In Mark 3: 23 we are told “And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand” (KJV). Given that they all claim to stand for Biblical truth and guidance, how can they continue to rip to shreds the house of the Republican Party? I know the Bible teaches us to love our enemies, but between the way the Republicans speak of one another and the way they speak of the Democrat candidates; it’s hard to tell who is supposedly on which team.

Granted, the opportunities have been ripe for the picking with so many of the debate “questions” being phrased like a junior high pot stirring; “So and so said such and such about you … what do you have to say about them?”. Ted Cruz did, early on, ask that the debates be about issues rather than personalities, and John Kasich recently declared the whole atmosphere crazy and nuts; but the leading three continue to sling more mud than a monster truck in a bog race. While they gently refer to the Democrat opponents as unqualified, socialist, and perhaps even dishonest, they have referred to the fellow candidates in their own party as being a liar, endorsed by the KKK, rumored to have a past of homosexual activity, doing business with the mob, writing checks to fund abortions, and there is likely more but I have not yet checked today.

Granted, the next political office I run for or debate I participate in will both be my first, but surely the candidates and those running their campaigns can see the bait being thrown at them. We hear a lot during the debates about Ronald Reagan, but I feel they would do well to follow the advice of Nancy Reagan and “Just say ‘No!’ ”. The moderators can ask the leading questions, but the time belongs to the candidate to express his views. Rather than swallowing the bait hook, line & sinker, the RNC and campaign leaders should encourage the candidates to answer more along the lines of, “(Name of moderator asking the pot stirring question), rather than indulge in trying to tear down my fellow opponent, I would rather tell you about myself and why I feel best qualified for this position”. With that, the candidate could address the issue of his choice, and each would get to more time to speak on the issues using the time currently being wasted on responses to attacks. Trump, Cruz and Rubio, please heed a principle dating back not as far as to the New Testament times, but to the 6th century slave Aesop, “United we stand, divided we fall”.

IT IS FIRST FOR A REASON

IT IS FIRST FOR A REASON

We all learned The Battle Hymn of the Republic while growing up, but as a child I never understood the whole thing about “He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored”. But even a child with modest understanding can clearly see the trampling going on today; not the Lord trampling the vintage which stores the grapes of wrath, but the United States government and her officials trampling out the constitutional right of Christians to live our lives in a way consistent with our religious beliefs. While I generally look for something more light and uplifting for Friday’s, this issue has again risen to the top and needs to be seen for the double standard being used today. The very first amendment to our Constitution, the first among the ten known as our Bill of Rights, reads in part, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”. Like most things in the U.S. Constitution; this seems very straight-forward, until people look to ignore what is says and try to tell us what they think it “means”. These amendments and the right granted through them were not thrown together in some random order, there is a reason these were all grouped together and placed first.

Meet Edie and David Delome, owners of Kern’s Bake Shop in Longview, Texas. The Delomes are devout Christians and active members in their local church; living their lives and operating their business according to their religious beliefs. That was all well and good, until Feb 17 when Ben Valencia and Luis Marmolejo asked the bake shop to make their wedding cake. Edie Delome told them, politely I am sure, “I am sorry, we don’t provide wedding cakes for homosexual marriages”. A model of consistency, the Delomes do not make cakes for anything to do with tobacco, alcohol, or anything deemed risqué’.

Edie offered to refer them to other bakeries which might could meet their needs, but they chose to leave. They chose to leave and run to the local newspaper to “tell on” the Delomes for discriminating against them. As a result, the Delome family has received numerous threats and their business has been attached in social media. If only Christians could have the same protection as Muslims? You will recall our Attorney General has declared she stands ready to vigorously prosecute anyone speaking against followers of Islam; why not followers of Christ? Does not our Pledge of Allegiance end with “liberty and justice for ALL”? Seems our present administration sees some as being “more equal” than others?

CRUZ’N DOWNHILL FAST

CRUZ’N DOWNHILL FAST

The Ted Cruz needs to go back and take a refresher on basic geometry. In the 35 years since I sat in Mrs. Etheridge’s class at Austin High, I still remember that you need three points to prove a line; one is a point, two could be connected in various ways, but a true line will run through three points plotted correctly. In the instance of the Cruz campaign, there seem to be coming one after another “mistakes”. Once could be an accident, twice might be a coincidence, but three times is a pattern. I initially liked a good bit of what I heard from Ted Cruz, but his campaign’s actions have begun to overshadow his words with any regard to integrity. And the accidents are being labeled dirty tricks by his fellow Republicans.

We saw the first “accident” on caucus night in Iowa; Cruz supporters telling Ben Carson’s reporters that Carson had dropped out of the race and their votes would be wasted if they cast for him. Many feel that “accident” affected the outcome for at least three candidates. It was later explained as a misreporting by CNN. However, it appears that the Cruz folks ran with the initial report and neglected to follow up with the correction which came about a minute later. Cruz apologized to Carson, but you cannot unring a bell. Accident?

Next we saw the Cruz campaign apologizing last week to Marco Rubio for using a photoshopped picture depicting Rubio shaking hands with Barack Obama. Perhaps Rubio had hit a little too close to home when he said that Cruz lied about Carson before and is now just “making stuff up every day”? Accidents in consecutive weeks; coincidence?

This week begins with the Cruz campaign once again apologizing to Rubio, and firing their communications director. The “accident” this week was dubbing the sound of a video to portray Rubio as being disrespectful of The Bible. In the video Rubio walks past a Cruz staff person and Rafael Cruz in a hotel lobby as they are reading The Bible. In the Cruz version of the clip, Rubio remarks “Got a good book there, not many answers in it”. However, the actual statement made, according to a witness was “All the answers are in there”. Quite a difference? In resigning as communications director, Rick Tyler apologized and said “I posted in haste, I should not have done it. It was a mistake …”. Accidents in three consecutive weeks; pattern?

Error, mistake, goof, dropped ball, whatever you want to call it; a pattern seems to be developing and Cruz needs to reverse the direction before it comes to look all too much like, indeed, intentional dirty tricks. Luckily for Cruz this is an alection and not a baseball game, he already has three strikes.

HILLARY’S ALL-AMERICAN CAMPAIGN

HILLARY’S ALL-AMERICAN CAMPAIGN

How many times while growing up were we told, “You are known by the company you keep”? John Kuebler is quoted as saying “Show me your friends and I will show you your future”. Well, if either or both ways of wording this truth are to be taken to heart, I feel it worth pointing out the company and friends trying to get one Hillary Clinton into the White House.

In its now 100 year history, Planned Parenthood took a huge step this year with their first ever endorsement of a candidate in the presidential primaries. And Hillary, of course, proclaimed how proud she is of the endorsement! We all hear Planned Parenthood as the wonderful national organization to promote women’s health. I most certainly have nothing against women’s health; it is just that their focus on women’s health leaves at great risk the health of unborn children. It is reported that Planned Parenthood has performed 1,642,227 abortion procedures over the past 5 years. That is an average of 328,445 per year, 890 per day every day; no breaks for holidays or weekends. One has to wonder what is so very special about Hillary Clinton that she should be the only primary candidate Planned Parenthood has endorsed in their 100 year history? And when does wonder, one must be afraid!

As if any further evidence were needed to see the future with Hillary, the list of her public endorsers reads like a who’s who of what is wrong with America today; and a portrait of what Hillary must dream of America becoming. One expects the usual cast of idiots from the political and entertainment world; Barbara Boxer, Diane Einstein, Al Franken, Chuck Schumer, Tom Arnold, Rosie O’Donnel, Ellen DeGeneres, Farrah Abraham, 50 Cent, Lady Gaga, Kanye West. But Hillary has spread her “appeal” to many groups as well; including Equality California LGBT Rights, Lesbian Political Action Committee, NRAL Pro-Choice (not for the child) America, Moonlite BunnyRanch Brothel, Hookers for Hillary, and – on a related note – former president Bill Clinton.

Yep, that’s quite a picture and future for America isn’t it? There are hundreds more; as if you need even one more reason to do as Bill has done for years; choose anyone other than Hillary.

KANYE VS CANCER

KANYE VS CANCER

At 53 years young, I am not quite yet qualified to recall “the good old days”; but I do remember when some things were so much different – and better – than today. Yes technology is grand, and my dear wife has more than one time voiced the phrase “You and your gadgets”. But the one thing I am mindful of today was back when names like Cronkite, Huntley & Brinkley, Wallace, and Kuralt took to the airwaves to bring us the news of the day. You know, the things which mattered, were of interest, and just might make a difference in the life of you or your fellow humans.

I was starkly reminded of this over the past week with the seemingly endless reporting of what the oxygen thief known as Kanye West has been up to; he of the wisdom to interrupt an award presentation to declare that his choice should have won as she made the best video of all time. He who apparently lacks the good sense to not find himself $53 million in debt, and tell it publicly. His lack of wisdom is perhaps only matched by his lack of dignity as he took to social media to ask wealthy folks to invest in him and his music. West took to Twitter and asked Facebook’s Mark Zuckerburg to “invest $1 billion into Kanye West ideas”. I would like to see him make that pitch in ABC’s Shark Tank. He finished out the week with a childlike tantrum on the set of Saturday Night Live. How, you might ask, do I know all this about someone about whom I care less than could be imagined? It’s simple; I read, watch, and listen to the news! What could there be to cover more important than this?

Well, I dug deep and found something which might be almost as important as Mr. West and his troubles. Doctors at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle report a new cancer treatment showing extraordinary success. While “extraordinary” could easily be over used; I think it is warranted here as trials have shown 94% of acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients saw their symptoms vanish with this T-cell treatment. Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma trials saw 80% of patients responding favorably and over 50% symptom free after treatment. Extraordinary indeed, yet seemingly hardly newsworthy.

Kanye vs Cancer, what to report? I think you’d agree the emphasis would have been reversed back when news was news and the broadcast ended with “That’s the way it is” or “Goodnight David, Good night Chet”; rather than “Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter, download our app, and contact us on Instagram”.

MONDAY MORNING SCOREBOARD

MONDAY MORNING SCOREBOARD

Lost amid all the Oscar controversy, latest eruption of Black Lives Matter, and a mobile shooting spree in Michigan, this weekend’s news cycle seems to have pretty well skipped over the weekly “compliance” by the State Department to release another batch of then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s emails. You remember her emails; the ones which she said did not exist at all, then existed only for personal use, and then certainly never contained any classified information, and then “walked back” that statement by saying they were not marked as “classified” when she sent them. Yeah … those emails.

Well, the latest batch has been released and it contains 562 emails, totaling 1,116 pages; bringing the total so far to 46,946 pages of emails which Hillary herself assured us did not exist. This massive amount of documentation is thought to be approximately 85% of the estimated 55,000 page total. Of greater importance and danger than the massive quantity of documents, is that the total now stands at 1,731 emails which contained classified information. Hillary’s lame excuse “they were not marked classified at the time they were sent” would not even hold up in traffic court where defendants are constantly reminded that “ignorance of the law is no excuse”. And in her case it is defiance rather than ignorance as her non-disclosure agreement signed by her hand the first day in office specifies that material need not be marked to be considered “classified”.

In other related revelations, it has not come to light that at least 12, and as many as 30, staffers had access to the emails o this “private” server; not to mention the foreign intelligence agencies who must have thought Christmas came early, and just kept on coming. Police recently arrested a 16 year old bot in England for hacking into our Department of Homeland Security as well as our FBI. If a 16 year old can hack our government agencies, what could hostile government agencies do with this private system?

General David Petraus served with honor from his graduation from West Point in 1974 to his resignation as Director of the CIA in 2012. He was sentenced to 2 years of probation and a fine of $100,000 for sharing classified notes with his biographer and revealed to girlfriend. If that is the standard for exposing classified information to one person, how is Hillary Clinton running for the White House rather than rotting in the Big House for exposing everything to literally anyone who cared enough to take a look?

RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS, POLICE STYLE

RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS, POLICE STYLE

I began the week with the tragic news of eight police officers having been killed already this year, seven just last week. Also addressed was the roar of silence from our current and want to be leaders. Only Donald Trump has really spoken out on the issue at all, saying our police men and women are the most mistreated group of people in our country. The media does all they can to feed the anti-police frenzy with questioning every action taken by an officer in a most accusatory manner; and rarely following up with equal attention given when the officer is cleared of wrong doing and found having done his or her job as trained. So, with that backdrop, let’s look at some things right about our men and women of law enforcement.

In my home state of Alabama last week, State Trooper Michael Kessler pulled over Danny and Shawna Lowe in Athens and was expecting to deliver them a ticket for speeding. Instead, he arrived at their vehicle to find they were speeding to the hospital as Shawna was in labor. Rather than delivering an unwelcome ticket, Trooper Kessler instead delivered them a most welcome gift in the form of their new son Barrett. He called an ambulance for the mother and newborn, and went with the father to the hospital where he later delivered cupcakes flowers, and a newborn starter kit.

The next day, in Seekonk, MA Officer Keith Perry encountered a lady during his shift on duty. Officer Perry found out that the lady was homeless and had not eaten for some time. Rather than using the all too often “not my job” excuse, he helped buy the woman some groceries and made sure she had a motel room in which to shelter from the impending storm. As his department posted online, “Perry epitomizes the meaning of public service”.

Later in the same week, back in my home state of Alabama and just down the road from Athens, Huntsville Police Officer Charles Draper encountered a lady trying to get her kids to school and herself to work when her car broke down. Rather than calling for a tow truck and leaving it at that, Officer Draper loaded the family into his car, dropped the younger child off to daycare with the gift of a stuffed animal, dropped the older daughter off to school, and then delivered mom to work on time. The lady, Johnni Chevonne Adams, posted online, “Thanks so much to Officer Charles Draper!!! What an outstanding, compassionate individual! … This guy is a class act. You can tell he truly loves to serve the community. I am so impressed. Thanks, Officer Draper! You rock!”

So, it would seem that the picture we are given day to day by our leaders is a very distorted one. While we are being told that we should not judge the entire Muslim community by the nut-jobs who commit acts of terror, we should also realize that it is equally unfair to judge the community of law enforcement by those who are even falsely accused of wrong doing. The police cars I see say “To protect and to serve”; please be mindful that typifies the vast majority of our men and women who serve us. For that protection and service, ladies and gentlemen of law enforcement, we thank you.

THE MATH AND LOGIC OF DEMOCRATS

THE MATH AND LOGIC OF DEMOCRATS

You may have wondered, as did I, why Hillary Clinton was so cheerful after being routed in the New Hampshire primary by a margin of 60.4% to 38%. New Hampshire, as well as some other states,  have a dirty little secret which prompted Clinton’s joy. New Hampshire has 32 delegates available, but only 24 are by vote of the citizens of the state, the other 8 “superdelegates” are state party officials who are free to support whomever they choose, despite the votes of the citizens of New Hampshire. One would think that it would be proportional to the vote, and one would be wrong. Bernie Sanders received 151,584 votes to Hillary Clinton’s 95,252. From those votes, Sanders proportionately got 15 delegates to Clinton’s 9. A similar division of superdelegates would give Sanders 5 and Clinton 3; a total of 32 delegates divided 20 to 12 for Sanders. But that is not true in Democrat math. With every superdelegate backing the Democratic machine’s candidate / queen; Hillary lost the state by over 56,000 votes and won the delegate allotment 17 to 15. After only two states, Sanders has lost one by two tenths of one percent, and won the other by over 22%, so naturally he is winning; except that this a DNC-run operation, thus his delegate total is a whopping 42, compared to Clinton’s 394. I remember “new math” in school, and actually did quite well with it. Can someone, anyone, explain to me this Democrat math?

I guess in order to do Democrat math, one must understand Democrat logic. Before a House Judiciary Committee for a hearing, Democratic Representative John Conyers gave testimony. Hailing from Detroit, a paradigm of all that is right in America today, Conyers is the longest serving member of Congress as he is finishing his 26th term in the House; so this is no rookie misspeaking. In his testimony, Conyers stated that immigrants crossing our border illegally have not committed an illegal act. He went on to say they are, instead, following the laws of our land by entering illegally. Huh???

I guess it all makes sense now; if crossing the border illegally is not illegal, why should a cumulative vote deficit of 22.2% not yield a delegate count 352 in excess of the supposed “winner”? I am made to think of the old TV commercial; “This is your brain, this is your brain on Democrat”

SOMETHING SMELLS ROTTEN IN THE STATE OF IOWA

SOMETHING SMELLS ROTTEN IN THE STATE OF IOWA

The people of Iowa are generally considered good, hard working, salt of the earth people. Iowa is not typically seen as a hot-bed of crime, scandal or controversy. In fact, the democrats deem it a “fly-over state”; one in which you campaign tirelessly until the caucuses are held, then then you just fly back and forth over it to get from one coast to the other. But Iowa does hold a place of prestige in American politics, their presidential caucuses are the first time American voters actually get to register a voting opinion as to who should be president. That is, it was that way until two weeks ago when the formal process began towards the coronation of Queen Clinton. The primaries were to be a mere bothersome formality; the DNC saw no need for many, or any meaningful and widely viewed, debates. Let’s just go through the motions and crown our queen. But then something happened which was not in the script; Bernie Sanders virtually tied Queen Clinton for the state, and many are saying it wasn’t even that close – that he actually should have won.

Two days after the caucuses, the state’s largest newspaper, The Des Moines Register, called for an audit of the results; stating “something smells in the Democratic Party”. With the supposed margin of victory being two tenths of one percent, an audit should be an automatic procedure, right? With several precincts reportedly decided by coin tosses, all the more reason for an audit? In a Woodbury County precinct, Keane Schwartz was the only voter; he says he voted for Sanders, but the delegate from that precinct. Perhaps Iowa is trying to change its image and become more like Chicago and its politics?

When the audit was proposed, state Democratic chair refused to do so, or even release the vote totals. Hmmm . could that have anything to do with that state chairperson being Dr. Andrea McGuire, a long time Hillary supporter? McGuire has donated over $7,000 to Clinton’s various campaigns, and drives a Buick with a license plate which reads “HRC 2016”. Surely no favoritism there.

Thankfully the Sanders campaign has found a remedy for getting “Iowa-ed” again; in New Hampshire they won by a mere 224 tenths of a percent. Something indeed still smells in Iowa, and it’s not fresh corn.

LEST WE BE “BERNED”

LEST WE BE “BERNED”

There is a term in the world of exercise, “Feeling the burn”, which means your muscles are being worked and progress is being made. There is a term being used today, “Feeling the Bern”, meaning that folks are embracing the radical – to say the least – ideas of Sen. Bernie Sanders for president. While certainly not one who could be accused of regular workouts, I would much prefer the “burn” to the “Bern”!

Until last week Sanders was seen as the crazy old neighbor always yelling at the kids to get off his lawn, but he was yelling “come onto the porch and sip of my freshly brewed kool-aid of socialism”. It was all dismissed as the ramblings of a man put on stage so Hillary would have someone with whom to debate, albeit on a very limited schedule. Then a funny thing happened on the way to her coronation; Sanders virtually tied her in Iowa, and then he went on the next week to humiliate her in New Hampshire by a score of 60.4% to 38%. So what is this ranting, self-proclaimed socialist all about; and why are so many embracing it?

His calling card is to appeal to the minorities; he can hardly answer a question without framing his question to include an appeal to the communities of Muslims, Latinos, and African Americans. His stated solution in the debate to combat the disproportionate incarceration of African Americans was less policing to catch criminals. I guess his cure for cancer is to have doctors quit testing for it?

With regard to illegal immigrants (a term which is illegal to say in a democrat forum) he described illegals who are tearful and fearful of being deported. Perhaps the most obvious parallel here would be a likewise criminal who broke into a business or resident and is scared of being found and removed?

Addressing the hyped-up epidemic of rogue police forces, he said the police forces should be stripped of their military grade equipment and look like the communities they serve. That is all well and good …. If he has a guaranteed plan to strip the criminals they confront of the automatic and assault weapons with which they defend themselves while committing their crimes.

Free college for all, citizenship for anyone who ever set foot on US soil, free health care for all, total government funding of abortion; and the rich will pay for every bit of it! Hopefully not many will continue to “feel the Bern”, or else our nation will be left in ashes.