On Saturday, March 20th, Spring arrived in the northern hemisphere.

On Sunday, March 21st, Winter descended upon America and its economy.

The so-called “health care” legislation that was passed by the House of (Mis-)Representatives Sunday evening is the latest and “greatest” of the power grabs by the elite political class that believes it has the mandate to control every aspect of every American life.  Excepting, of course, the unborn life, which is preferably murdered inside its mother’s body.

There are no words to describe the feelings of despair I have for my country, my own future, and especially the future of my children.  Unless the unthinkable happens and the legislation is repealed or eviscerated (which is unlikely, since the Republican party hacks in the Senate and the House are, for the most part, too despicably cowardly to stand up for principle, ethics, or morality), this monstrosity of a government takeover will ultimately destroy our economy, our way of life, our fortunes (meager as they may be), and, ironically, our health.

What can someone like me do?  Armed rebellion is out of the question.  I could not dream of something as outrageous as committing a criminal act against the government or any elected official, no matter how despicable he or she certainly is.  I cannot refuse to pay taxes or withdraw from society, because the long arm of the government will just insert itself deeper into a very uncomfortable place.

There is something I can do.  I don’t want to do it.  I have an extremely difficult time doing it.  But it is the only thing I can do that can possibly have any effect on the matters at hand.

I can pray.

God commands me to pray for and to submit to those who are over me (see 1 Timothy 2:1-3 and Romans 13; Matthew Henry’s commentary on that chapter is most illuminating) whether I like it or not.  He has allowed the government in our country to exist in its current form and to make the laws that it is currently making.  This is all within His knowledge and His plan for me, my family, and all of His children.  We certainly cannot understand it, but by faith we can believe it and trust Him completely.  He knows what He is doing.

So I pray and try not to worry, get mad, or especially not to get even.  God will take care of me and my family, and He will take care of His enemies someday.

Now to control myself so I don’t think I have to help Him with something.

One positive thought:  since the health care legislation puts  the decision for end-of-life care into the hands of some nameless, faceless government hack, that means that I may get to heaven a bit sooner than I thought possible.  Interesting thought, that one.  Not necessarily what I would have wanted, but who am I to complain?

Tomorrow, January 4th, 2010, my wife’s stepmother will be having open-heart surgery.  The doctors say that she needs an aortic valve replacement and a bypass of a 100%-blocked blood vessel.  Shirley is 84 years old and not in the best of health.  But in order to give her a few more months or years she and my father-in-law have agreed to let her undergo this serious procedure.

We found out about this on Christmas Eve while we were up in Rockford, Illinois.  Shirley had a heart catheterization procedure while we were there, and it was then that her doctors determined this need.

Now, as I mentioned earlier, Shirley is 84 and not in the best of health because of recurring heart problems (congestive heart failure at least three time in the last two years).  Yet she can have major surgery less than two weeks after a diagnosis.

Hold that thought for a moment.

Last week our daughter Allison had a regular checkup with her doctor.  He detected something that could indicate a major problem (and those are all the details that I will give).  Scrambling to fit things into holiday schedules, we were able to get her to a hospital for testing the very next day.  Fortunately the testing proved that the indications were not serious, though Ally will need to undergo routine checking for problems for the rest of her life.

Here’s the common thread between the two incidents (besides being health-related):  in both cases we were able to make the decisions ourselves and seek immediate treatment for medical issues.  Under the so-called “health care reform” packages being forced through the government system at the moment, such decisions would have been in the hands of faceless bureaucrats who would have no real stake in the lives of these two people.  Shirley would probably either be refused treatment because of her age and condition, or she would have to wait for weeks or months to get her surgery, which would result in her death before such a procedure would be completed.  Do not doubt me on this.  This is the way that the Senate and House plans are structured.  This is the way it is done in England and in Canada, among others.  This is what our Democratic Overlords insist is best for us mindless sheep.

As for our daughter, the tests that she underwent would not even be allowed for someone of her age.  She is, by most standards, too young to have such a problem. She would have to wait at least 25 years before she would be eligible for testing, much less for treatment.  This, too, is buried in the fine print in both bills that are under consideration and “reconciliation”.  Look it up for yourself if you don’t believe me.

I am getting fed up with a bunch of power-hungry animals grabbing for glory and doing their best to destroy everyone’s lives except their own.  At the very least they should enforce the same “care” upon themselves as they are forcing upon us.  But since they are so much better than us (according to themselves, their worshipers, and the fawning fools that call themselves “journalists”), we are supposed to sit back a vicariously enjoy their lives of privilege while we scrape by on the leavings.

One only has to look at history to see some parallels here with the monarchy in France before their revolution. King Louis and Marie have been replaced by King Harry and Queen Susan.  I shall not mention what position in the palace that our current president holds.

In Alabama we are blessed with two senators who are standing up for what is right.  In the house, the Congressman that represents my family is strong.  The neighboring Congressman just switched parties, though many conservatives don’t want him either.  I feel sorry for those states who have no representation for those who oppose this unconstitutional seizure of power by the Federal government.

I’m thankful for what I have in the way of health care and health insurance right now, thank you very much.  The current system is working fine, just as Rush Limbaugh pointed out after his incident in Hawaii last week.  We do not need, nor do the majority of us want, government-controlled health care, or even competition from government in the health care or health insurance fields.

Please leave us alone.

Please?

Rush Limbaugh was back in action today, and he was discussing the reaction to the story of one of the President’s “czars” who had resigned amid controversy.  The reaction on NBC News centered around the fact that the revelations of this guy’s past came from the Internet and not from “trusted” news sources.  Here’s a portion of Rush’s comments from today’s show, regarding statements by Thomas Friedman of the New York Times:

FRIEDMAN:  The Internet is an open sewer of untreated, unfiltered information, left, right, center, up, down, and requires that kind of filtering, by anyone.  And I always felt, you know, when modems first came out, when that was how we got connected to the Internet, that every modem sold in America should actually have come with a warning from the Surgeon General that would have said “judgment not included.”  That you have to upload the old-fashioned way, church, synagogue, temple, mosque, teachers, schools, you know, and too often now people say and we’ve all heard it, “but I read it on the Internet,” as if that solves the bar bet, and I’m afraid not.

RUSH:  So you people are idiots, you don’t have the capacity to understand what you read, whether it’s true or not, you need filters, you need the professionals, you need the experts like Tom Brokaw and Tom Friedman and so forth.  The Internet is an open sewer . . . So I guess it’s an open sewer for them, too.  They just can’t stand it.  Their monopoly is gone, they just can’t stand that they are not the ones anymore to get to determine what’s news and what isn’t.

You’re not supposed to have the opportunity to be this informed, that’s the real problem.  You know too much.  This is threatening democracy in their arrogant, conceited view.  Every modem sold in America should come with a warning from the Surgeon General?  Who uses modems anymore, for crying out loud?  Do you use a modem, Brian?  I’m sure some people do, but every modem should come with a warning from the Surgeon General that says “judgment not included”?  That’s right, and you’re not capable of making your own judgment.  We have to let Tom Friedman and Tom Brokaw make judgments for you.  They’re the ones that are qualified; they’re the ones that are highly trained; they’re the professionals.  You’re just a rube, an idiot.

Such is the elitist mentality of those who think they know better than others because of their “education” or their “position”.

Translate that same attitude into church and you get the elitist attitude that the “common” person in the pew cannot possibly understand Scripture without the “enlightened understanding” that can only come from one of the “educated elites”.  I don’t mean to paint with too broad a brush here, but many preachers I know and have read or heard possess this mentality.  They, and they alone, or others of their “intellectual level”, are the only ones truly qualified to read, understand, and interpret the Bible.  Those who attempt to do so on their own risk falling into doctrinal heresies such as befell several in the 1800’s who began spin-off denominations with some peculiar semi- or extra-biblical beliefs and practices.  I recently read something by a current seminary professor and some who agree with him that reinforces this attitude.

I’m sorry, but I have to totally reject that position.  As a member of the “royal priesthood” (1 Peter 2:9) I have unfettered access to my Heavenly Father with intercession by His Holy Spirit, who, according to the Lord Jesus, was sent specifically to “guide [me] into all truth” (John 16:13).  Granted, without prayerful consideration of the Book, and without careful study of the context, the history, and the meanings of the original words behind the translations, it is possible for *anyone* to fall into error.  Studying is certainly easier now with the availability of many fantastic online and computer-based study tools (I like e-Sword and Bible Explorer).  With such fine study helps, with a prayerful and reverent attitude, and with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, anyone can understand what God has to say in His Word.

But, like Mark Twain, many reject the Bible for personal reasons.  Twain reportedly said, “It ain’t what I don’t understand in the Bible that bothers me, it’s what I do understand in the Bible that bothers me.”  So the choices are to ignore it, reinterpret it to say something else, or change your opinions to match what is written.

I’ve made my choice.  What’s yours?

Today, August 29th, was the funeral for Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts.  I don’t need to recap any of the history, both good (what little there may be, from a public standpoint) and the bad.

The overriding feeling that I have is sadness.  Here was a man who had a lot of what this world has to offer.  He had money.  He had a famous family.  He had political power.  He was able to frequently get out of trouble for which most “regular” people would spend time in jail, or at least see a great reduction in power and influence.  But he was able to maintain all of the things that so many people desire.

Now he is dead.  What did the power, money, and influence get him, beyond a few extra months of life, such as it may have been?  He is just as dead as anyone else.  His eternal destiny is sealed.  I know he claimed to be a Catholic, but his lifestyle denied much of even the most liberal of his church’s teachings.  I do not and can not know anyone’s heart or spiritual condition but my own.  I suspect that his eternity will not be a pleasant one.  One can hope that there was some time, some place, some how that he actually trusted Christ rather than himself, his name,  his money, his power, or his church.  We will know someday.  He knows now.

He could have been such an influence for good.  He could have promoted restrained government.  He could have used his money for actually helping those in need, rather than taking from others (the US taxpayers) and forwarding it to those who did not earn or deserve it.  He could have used his name for something larger than himself, like his sister did with the Special Olympics.  But he did not.

I guess those with conservative principles can be the saddest at the loss of such a great opportunity, not just in the instant of his death, but in the last 47 years of his political service, or even the longer period of his life.

Was the course of his life the best one?  Only he can tell us that now, and he is beyond reach.

Yeah, I know, most of mine are.  But this one is different.  Sort of.  Maybe.

The government is taking control of 2 of the 3 major US automobile manufacturers.  From whence is all of the money coming to keep them afloat?  From you and me, the typical unclean American taxpayer.

However, once each year (for many of us), the government returns some of that money in the form of tax refunds.  That money could be put to better use in the car companies, don’t you think? (I speak as a fool – or a Democrat, which is the same thing.)

So, what if, instead of a refund check, the government sends each of us a voucher for a discount on a brand new Government Motors “Obamobile Custom Croozer” car?  You would be unable to use the voucher on a Ford or any German, Japanese, or other foreign make.  You could only use it to buy an “appropriate”, “approved” vehicle for your particular situation.  SUV’s, pickup trucks, and large luxury cars would also be prohibited, of course.

Such is not that far from possible, unfortunately.

I’d start riding my bicycle more, except that it will probably be fitted with an official government GPS to inform them of the miles I’ve ridden so that they can tax my road usage.

CREATURES OF EARTH!  WE HAVE NOW BECOME YOUR RIGHTEOUS LEADERS!  YOU MUST IMMEDIATELY END ALL OPPOSITION TO THE MASTER PLAN AND PERMIT US TO CARE FOR YOU IN YOUR IGNORANCE!

YOU MUST NOW WORSHIP ONLY THE ONE, THE MERCIFUL, THE IMMACULATE,  THE ALMIGHTY O-BAMA, THE UNQUESTIONABLY PERFECT ONE, THE SAVIOR OF ALL HUMANKIND AND THE LEADER OF ALL INTELLIGENT BEINGS.  THE RELIGION OF THE DONKEY IS THE ONLY PERMITTED RELIGION.  ALL FOLLOWERS WILL BE REWARDED.  ALL DENIERS WILL BE MOCKED, TORTURED, AND REMOVED FROM CIVIL SOCIETY.

YOUR LIVES BELONG TO US.  YOUR WORK BELONGS TO US.  YOUR PROPERTY NOW BELONGS TO US.  YOUR CHILDREN BELONG TO US.  WE ARE THE RULERS.  YOU WILL OBEY OR SUFFER TERRIBLE CONSEQUENCES THAT YOU CANNOT IMAGINE.  WE KNOW WHO YOU ARE.  WE KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE.  WE KNOW WHERE YOU WORK.  WE KNOW WHERE YOU PRETEND TO WORSHIP SOME DEITY OTHER THAN THE GREAT AND POWERFUL WIZARD OF “O”.  AND WE WILL FIND YOU IF YOU TRY TO HIDE.

SPEAKING OR WRITING OR BROADCASTING ANYTHING IN OPPOSITION TO THE ALMIGHTY OOO-BAMA OR HIS RIGHTFUL, JUST, AND WORSHIPFUL FOLLOWERS IS NOT PERMITTED.  YOU WILL CEASE FROM ALL SUCH ACTIVITY OR BE PUNISHED.

ALL MUST NOW BOW TO THE ALMIGHTY EEEUUU-BAMA AND HIS FOLLOWERS IN THE PARTY OF THE DONKEY.  FIERY FURNACES, BOARDS OF WATER, AND ENDLESS RERUNS OF “SURVIVOR”, “OBAMACAN IDOL”, AND “HARDBALL” AWAIT THOSE WHO DEFY OUR RIGHTFUL POWER.

BWAH HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH …

Let me be politically incorrect for a moment, if not downright insensitive.

The entire premise of evolution is that those who are the “fittest” are the ones who survive to procreate and to continue the genetic line.

The big story for the last couple of days has been the “swine flu” that has broken out in Mexico and has been reported in a few cases in the US.

So, applying the “survival of the fittest” principle to this, are not those who succumb to the disease “less fit” than those who do not?  And if they are weaker and “less fit” to survive, then why are we so concerned about the “evolutionary process” at work here?

If evolution and its precepts were totally followed to the letter, we would end up with something like “government-run health care”.  That way, only the “fittest”, or most easily swayed by the powers of the “elite” who will run things, will survive to perpetuate the species called “Americans”.

Just something to ponder while struggling for your next breath.

Swine.

Actually, I feel pretty disgusted.

I hope all of you brain-dead Obamabots who voted for this guy are happy.  I hope those of you who are too stupid to think past the “Democratic Party” label are satisfied.

All I know is that I feel what little money and future I have evaporating quickly.  It wouldn’t be so bad, maybe, if I was going to be the owner of a high-speed rail line between Los Angeles and Las Vegas.  Maybe if i opened an office to “study” this so-called “climate change” or “global warming” or “tooth fairies” I would be happy that uncountable zillions of dollars are going to be painfully extracted from hard-working, decent Americans and given to those who have curried favor and paid huge sums of bribe money (sorry, “campaign contributions”) to certain politicians.

Instead, I see the wonderful economy of our great land of opportunity being wrecked whilst the wreckers take their “winter break”.  Sorry, folks, but I have to work 6 days each week to keep up.

At least the newly-elected representative from our district was one of the 7 who voted against it in the House.  Maybe there’s hope for him.  Or maybe he had “permission” so that he could demonstrate to us “common people” that he is really independent of the party.  But his vote made no difference one way or the other, so my money (what little is left now) is on the pragmatic side.

If the next 2 years are going to be like this, can conservative, thinking men and women get elected so that they can begin putting the brakes on this nonsense?

We can only hope.

I wrote a post on Monday about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech.  The key phrase in that speech, to many people is the line in which he states that his dream is that his children will “not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

Dr. King was the 1st president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.  From 1977 to 1997 Rev. Joseph Lowery was president of that organization.

At the inauguration of President Obama, Rev. Lowery closed his prayer with these words:

Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from there labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get back, when brown can stick around, when yellow will be mellow, when the red man can get ahead, man, and when white would embrace what is right, let all those who do justice and love mercy say amen.

In that long sentence, Lowery totally repudiated everything that Dr. King and the organization that he once led claims to support and desire.  He does not judge ANYONE based on their character.  It is ONLY skin color that matters.  We MUST judge people by their race, not by their accomplishments, their abilities, their actions, their beliefs, or their character.

When are people going to wake up and see this clearly?  Apparently it won’t be anytime soon, if you read some of the comments and the attacks on those who see the same old revolting racism on display here.

Racism is alive and well.  It always will be, as long as there are differences in human anatomy.  The best thing is to ignore its extreme forms while punishing those who impede the life and liberty of those who are physically different than they are, while not overreacting by classifying everything as a “hate crime” if it merely offends rather than causes actual damage or harm.

Case in point:  on Monday (Jan.19th) some idiot left a Confederate battle flag at a black church here.  Local “leaders” are screaming that this is a “hate crime” and demanding action.  The local “newspaper” today says that the FBI has been asked to get involved in the investigation.

Someone please tell me what “crime” has been committed here.  Yes, someone has been extremely insensitive and stupid.  To do something like that on a day that honors someone whom the black community holds in highest regard is a deliberate act of meanness and provocation.  But a “crime”?  Who got injured or killed?  What property was damaged or destroyed?  What irreversible loss was caused?  I don’t see any.

Do I agree with whoever did this? Absolutely not!  Not a single bit!  I think he or she should be taken out to a nice quiet place and “re-educated” with a few sharp blows to the head, shoulders, and butt.  Then that person should be made to publicly apologize to the church specifically and to the community at large.  But charging such a person with a crime is a gross overreaction.

All this incident does is further deepen the racism felt and practiced by many OF ALL INVOLVED RACES.  The news media fans the flames by their breathless “reporting”, and city and law enforcement officials further incite hostility with their revolting “statements” and “apologies”.

Get over it.  Stop defining anyone strictly by their national, ethnic, or planetary origin.  And don’t get mad at me if I judge you based on a ridiculous “prayer”, speech, article, or behavior that only reinforces the same old stereotypes.

Thus began the most famous speech by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Today is the Federal holiday celebrating his birthday, which was actually on the 15th.

Reading through or listening to that line and the ones that follow, it is hard to disagree.  Someday it would be the fulfillment of a dream to have all Americans judged “not…by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

However, that day is NOT today.  Nor is it tomorrow, the inauguration day for America’s first black (or partly-black) president.  Because of the abuses of the system by many of those with grievances, and because of demagoguery by so-called “leaders” who supposedly followed in Dr. King’s footsteps, our nation is more racially polarized than ever.  And it shows signs of continuing to be so.

I have a fear:  that President Obama will not live up to the lofty expectations of many of those of African descent.  That fear will turn into anger, the anger into rage, and the rage into open hostility towards him and towards the country in general.

Many fear that “white supremacists” will try to physically attack the new president.  I have a greater fear of black activists who begin to view him as a “sellout”.  Either way, this country cannot afford a physical attack on the new president.

Agree with him or not (and in almost all cases, I don’t), he still deserves respect as the duly elected leader of the United States of America.

And may God have mercy on us for the next four years.

I must switch off the pessimism gene for just a moment here.  It is entirely possible (but not likely, IMHO) that the Obama presidency will actually result in a lessening of racial hostility and animus from both sides, but especially from the black side where it simmers beneath the surface, ignored for the most part by all others in the country.  Such would be the ultimate enduring legacy of his administration, not the grandiose schemes to forcibly socialize much of our economy and make virtual slaves of us all.  Let us pray that it happens that way and that Dr. King’s dream ultimately comes true.

But that will only happen with Divine intervention.  Which is always possible.