Senator Barack Obama today touched again on his plan to withdraw American forces from Iraq if elected President during a round of questioning by CNN reporter. The Page has a nice excerpt from Obama's presser at a Pennsylvania Gas Station viewable here. The Senator becomes highly defensive after the reporter obvously doesn't buy into his dreamy plan to leave a few military personel in Iraq to watch over our "diplomatic forces" while we "redeploy" (run and hide). Taking a very clumsy tack, Obama then resorts to mis-quoting John McCain by stating that McCain would have us fighting in Iraq for 100 years!
What McCain actually said in remarks made before a Derry, New Hampshire town hall meeting that, is that he would be fine, "with Americans being in Iraq for 100 years. We've been in Japan for 60 years and South Korea for 50 Years or so; as long as Americans are not being injured or harmed or wounded or killed."
You can watch the video here:
In contrast to McCain's "stay as long as it takes to get the job done" position on Iraq in order to build a valuable ally in the region, Obama in this video taken while introducing Patrick Murphy to his advisory team goes into detail about how he would "redeploy" (abandon) Iraq to chase phantom enemies (we don't know who) in "that part of the world". Obama props himself between two veterans who happen to agree with him as he declares his intention to abandon that Iraq in its time of need and dependance upon the United States while it fights to stabilize itself from terrorists. What a hero!
Unfortunately for the Senator and the Democratic Party, Iraq has shown itself to be very resilient in defeating it's enemies with the support of the U.S. and the success of the troop surge architected by General David H. Petraeus.
Since the Democrats have been banking on the defeat and retreat of U.S. forces in Iraq for their own craven political purposes they have been quite inconvenienced and disappointed to say the least in their drive to blunt the success of the war in Iraq and to undermine funding for our forces during a time of war.
One wonders how they sleep at night worrying how their efforts to cast Iraq as a losing proposition, civil war, unwinnable, lost cause and all the other Soros inspired superlatives have collapsed all around them.
Pro-Troop Rally in Berkeley
Berkeley, California which had earned the scorn of those supporting our troops for the mayor's and city council's shameful treatment of the local Marine Corps recruiting office found itself in center stage for a pro-military pro-USA rally last Saturday. Veterans and patriots from around the Bay Area gathered in front of the Marine Corps recruiting office that had been subjected to city council approved harassment by the members of Code Pink and their proxies.
2004 Riecine CHIANTI CLASSICO (Tuscany, Italy)
This was an excellent, traditional-styled, restrained Chianti.
Eye: Dark crystalline ruby.
Nose: Needs a bit of air time to open up, but once it does, it's got a gorgeous, complex nose of brandy-macerated cherries, honey, and Tuscan earth (yes, the earthiness reminded me of Italy!).
Mouth: Soft, medium-bodied, but concentrated, it has flavors of cherries, old barrels, and minerally gravel. Great acid balance, and lots of soft tannin in the long finish.
Cellar or drink? This wine will last and maybe improve over the next 2-3 years in a cool cellar.
Score: 89.
Price/store: I have not seen this well-regarded estate in any Houston stores. I got this from Flickinger Wines in the Chicago area for $19.
Eye: Dark crystalline ruby.
Nose: Needs a bit of air time to open up, but once it does, it's got a gorgeous, complex nose of brandy-macerated cherries, honey, and Tuscan earth (yes, the earthiness reminded me of Italy!).Mouth: Soft, medium-bodied, but concentrated, it has flavors of cherries, old barrels, and minerally gravel. Great acid balance, and lots of soft tannin in the long finish.
Cellar or drink? This wine will last and maybe improve over the next 2-3 years in a cool cellar.
Score: 89.
Price/store: I have not seen this well-regarded estate in any Houston stores. I got this from Flickinger Wines in the Chicago area for $19.
2004 Zenato VALPOLICELLA (Veneto, Italy)
This was a good value, food-friendly Valpo.
Eye: Dark black ruby. Good color saturation for a regular Valpolicella, which usually don't have deep color saturation.
Eye: Dark black ruby. Good color saturation for a regular Valpolicella, which usually don't have deep color saturation. Nose: Distinctive nose of scorched earth, milk, and tangy boysenberries.
Mouth: Medium full, with a good, tight core of concentrated fruit accented with brambly undertones. Good balance, and a dry, clean, long finish.
Cellar or drink? Drink over the next year for its vibrant fruit.
Score: 87.
Price/store: Widely available at around $14 at all the Spec's stores, as well as some Richard's stores.
Friday Night with Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy & Junior Wells-Hoochie Coochie Man
Give it up for the incomparable Muddy Waters and the Hoochie Coochie Man!
Oh yeah!
Oh yeah!
Lionel Chetwynd's Open Letter to Barack Obama
Lionel Chetwynd is an award winning Writer, Producer and Director born in London and raised in Canada who like many have had some after-thoughts about Senator Obama's much publicized speech on race relations. Mr. Chetwynd's open letter to the Senator is published in Pajamasmedia and is a must-read.
Taking the Senator's admonition that the context of Reverand Wright's outrageous sermons can provide us with a "teaching moment" Mr. Chetwynd offers some insightful commentary on the Senators speech and gives the Senator a lesson in "context". Here are some excerpts from Mr. Chetwynd's open letter to the Democratic Senator from Illinois with parts of the text highlighted by me.
You tell me Reverend Jeremiah Wright’s horrendous remarks will take on a different meaning if I will but contextualize them and understand he has seen terrible things in his time, a burden shared by all African-Americans. A fair proposition; from Kant to Auden and beyond we learn we define by comparison and only by internalizing can we grasp true meaning. So I have done precisely that: looked inside myself to understand how hatred might need to be contextualized.
I did not have to look far. I remembered how, as a boy, I sat at the Passover Seder with my sister’s Polish-born husband and the remnants of his family. The remnants of five families to be precise, for the 12 weary souls around that table were all that remained of what had once been 300. The others – their loved ones, their sons, their daughters, their hopes and dreams – were gone, their lives consumed by zyklon-b gas, their mortal remains wisps of smoke from a Büchenwald chimney.
As he listens to the surviving members of his family speak in Yiddish about the betrayals of neighbors during the Holocaust the conversation turns to the particular criminality of the Germans during that time of infamy.
I was filled with a righteous hatred. Had I, in that moment, the power to end the life of every German on earth, I might have well done so. That is a shameful thought. I am humiliated by the memory. But perhaps, in context, you can understand my homicidal rage and forgive me, and should I have chosen to preach that doctrine in a place of worship and stir an audience to its feet as it cheered my righteous fury, I trust you would offer me the fig leaf of “context.”
As the Seder ended, my brother-in-law, seeing my rage, put his arm around my shoulder and asked what troubled me. I stammered the best explanation I could. He smiled, “Don’t be a fool,” he said, “the Germans left so many of us dead and stole the joy from so many that remain. So now you want to give them the final victory by allowing your own life to be consumed and twisted and deformed by the same hatred? Leave it to them. That’s why we, at this table, forgive. Not forget, but forgive.
A few years later, work on a particular film took me to Munich, and as I drove past the road signs to Dachau, past Hitler’s favorite spot, “The English Gardens,” to my suite at the Bayerischof Hotel (where The Fuehrer himself once stayed) I was physically ill. I couldn’t stand to hear the German tongue, nor bear to see Germans smile, and when I noticed a man in traditional Bavarian dress I again felt my homicidal anger rise. I survived that trip, came back to the safety of my blessed America, promising never to return to part of the world that was home to alien races who had destroyed so many people just like me.
Sometime after that, I was invited to participate on a panel on “Hollywood and Stereotypes” sponsored by the American Jewish Committee and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. It was against my instinct, but a good friend had asked I participate and so I did.
My first co-panelist to speak was a young woman, a German filmmaker. She spoke of how growing up as a German she felt ashamed and humiliated whenever it was necessary to admit her lineage and how her life was about working to ease her shame. It was pure self-hatred. Senator, by some strange alchemy I heard myself explaining to her the mantle of guilt did not fall upon the shoulders of her generation. In fact, I found myself describing Germany’s honest attempt to come to terms with the horrors committed in its name.
Mind you, Senator, the “new” Germans did not ask for forgiveness; they knew this was not within the power of humankind and could only be given by the grace of God. They acted out their atonement from pure understanding of what had gone before.
And in that instant I realized my hatred was unjustified. The “context” was false. I was nursing the anger for my own psychic advantage and not because the current state of humanity or my own experience gave it justice. And I shed my anger. And when another film project took me to Germany, my journey was completely different.
But I also understood the young Germans around me could not be held to that account. When one of my colleagues, also Jewish, made a derogatory remark I engaged him, and with surprising ease found he agreed it was time to let go. I threw away the comfort of context, spoke the truth to him. And it freed me. Now, this is not true for all Jews, Senator; some still dwell on that bitterness, and you would say, understandable, given the “context.” Perhaps. But they are not our soul or intent. They are a past generation and we do not look to them for leadership. We teach redemption. We try to hold them to some form of account.
That is the teaching opportunity I hoped you would evoke: not explaining Wright’s outrage to me, but explaining his outrageousness to him. That’s how we’ll reach the postracial era: by no longer justifying ourselves with what was, instead speaking to what now exists. Not deny the past, but recognize that’s what it is: past.
You say you are devoted to Reverend Wright because he brought you to Christ. I can only imagine how powerful a relationship that forges. But, my imperfect understanding of the Christian Faith tells me you can do him an equally magnificent service: You can help bring him back to Christ. Show him redemption and salvation lie not in the satisfaction of doing little dances in a pulpit while you slander good and decent people. Teach him that great leadership and Christian love abjures the very filth – and I pick that word deliberately – that he spews on an apparently regular basis. After all, Senator, you know our government did not invent the HIV virus to kill African-Americans. You know, Senator, this is not the United States of KKK America. You know the truth of 9/11. At least you should. Both you and Michelle have benefited mightily from the new spirit that has come to America in the last two generations. I thought you were part of that. I thought you were post-racial.
Lionel Chetwynd's letter is brilliant. You can read the text in its entirety here. I think if Mr. Chetwynd were not directing and writing films he would be a rabbi. And a darn good at that! Any congregation would be blessed to have him.
Taking the Senator's admonition that the context of Reverand Wright's outrageous sermons can provide us with a "teaching moment" Mr. Chetwynd offers some insightful commentary on the Senators speech and gives the Senator a lesson in "context". Here are some excerpts from Mr. Chetwynd's open letter to the Democratic Senator from Illinois with parts of the text highlighted by me.
You tell me Reverend Jeremiah Wright’s horrendous remarks will take on a different meaning if I will but contextualize them and understand he has seen terrible things in his time, a burden shared by all African-Americans. A fair proposition; from Kant to Auden and beyond we learn we define by comparison and only by internalizing can we grasp true meaning. So I have done precisely that: looked inside myself to understand how hatred might need to be contextualized.
I did not have to look far. I remembered how, as a boy, I sat at the Passover Seder with my sister’s Polish-born husband and the remnants of his family. The remnants of five families to be precise, for the 12 weary souls around that table were all that remained of what had once been 300. The others – their loved ones, their sons, their daughters, their hopes and dreams – were gone, their lives consumed by zyklon-b gas, their mortal remains wisps of smoke from a Büchenwald chimney.
As he listens to the surviving members of his family speak in Yiddish about the betrayals of neighbors during the Holocaust the conversation turns to the particular criminality of the Germans during that time of infamy.
I was filled with a righteous hatred. Had I, in that moment, the power to end the life of every German on earth, I might have well done so. That is a shameful thought. I am humiliated by the memory. But perhaps, in context, you can understand my homicidal rage and forgive me, and should I have chosen to preach that doctrine in a place of worship and stir an audience to its feet as it cheered my righteous fury, I trust you would offer me the fig leaf of “context.”
As the Seder ended, my brother-in-law, seeing my rage, put his arm around my shoulder and asked what troubled me. I stammered the best explanation I could. He smiled, “Don’t be a fool,” he said, “the Germans left so many of us dead and stole the joy from so many that remain. So now you want to give them the final victory by allowing your own life to be consumed and twisted and deformed by the same hatred? Leave it to them. That’s why we, at this table, forgive. Not forget, but forgive.
A few years later, work on a particular film took me to Munich, and as I drove past the road signs to Dachau, past Hitler’s favorite spot, “The English Gardens,” to my suite at the Bayerischof Hotel (where The Fuehrer himself once stayed) I was physically ill. I couldn’t stand to hear the German tongue, nor bear to see Germans smile, and when I noticed a man in traditional Bavarian dress I again felt my homicidal anger rise. I survived that trip, came back to the safety of my blessed America, promising never to return to part of the world that was home to alien races who had destroyed so many people just like me.
Sometime after that, I was invited to participate on a panel on “Hollywood and Stereotypes” sponsored by the American Jewish Committee and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. It was against my instinct, but a good friend had asked I participate and so I did.
My first co-panelist to speak was a young woman, a German filmmaker. She spoke of how growing up as a German she felt ashamed and humiliated whenever it was necessary to admit her lineage and how her life was about working to ease her shame. It was pure self-hatred. Senator, by some strange alchemy I heard myself explaining to her the mantle of guilt did not fall upon the shoulders of her generation. In fact, I found myself describing Germany’s honest attempt to come to terms with the horrors committed in its name.
Mind you, Senator, the “new” Germans did not ask for forgiveness; they knew this was not within the power of humankind and could only be given by the grace of God. They acted out their atonement from pure understanding of what had gone before.
And in that instant I realized my hatred was unjustified. The “context” was false. I was nursing the anger for my own psychic advantage and not because the current state of humanity or my own experience gave it justice. And I shed my anger. And when another film project took me to Germany, my journey was completely different.
But I also understood the young Germans around me could not be held to that account. When one of my colleagues, also Jewish, made a derogatory remark I engaged him, and with surprising ease found he agreed it was time to let go. I threw away the comfort of context, spoke the truth to him. And it freed me. Now, this is not true for all Jews, Senator; some still dwell on that bitterness, and you would say, understandable, given the “context.” Perhaps. But they are not our soul or intent. They are a past generation and we do not look to them for leadership. We teach redemption. We try to hold them to some form of account.
That is the teaching opportunity I hoped you would evoke: not explaining Wright’s outrage to me, but explaining his outrageousness to him. That’s how we’ll reach the postracial era: by no longer justifying ourselves with what was, instead speaking to what now exists. Not deny the past, but recognize that’s what it is: past.
You say you are devoted to Reverend Wright because he brought you to Christ. I can only imagine how powerful a relationship that forges. But, my imperfect understanding of the Christian Faith tells me you can do him an equally magnificent service: You can help bring him back to Christ. Show him redemption and salvation lie not in the satisfaction of doing little dances in a pulpit while you slander good and decent people. Teach him that great leadership and Christian love abjures the very filth – and I pick that word deliberately – that he spews on an apparently regular basis. After all, Senator, you know our government did not invent the HIV virus to kill African-Americans. You know, Senator, this is not the United States of KKK America. You know the truth of 9/11. At least you should. Both you and Michelle have benefited mightily from the new spirit that has come to America in the last two generations. I thought you were part of that. I thought you were post-racial.
Lionel Chetwynd's letter is brilliant. You can read the text in its entirety here. I think if Mr. Chetwynd were not directing and writing films he would be a rabbi. And a darn good at that! Any congregation would be blessed to have him.
Skilled workers hard to find in U.S. says AT&T CEO
Reuters has a brief article up today quoting the CEO of phone giant AT&T bemoaning the fact that his company is having trouble finding enough skilled workers in the U.S. able to fill all of the 5,000 customer service jobs currently outsourced to India. In remarks made before a business gathering today AT&T Chief Randall Stephenson said only 1,400 of the targeted 5,000 jobs to be returned from overseas customer service centers in Bangalore, India had been filled by the company.
Stephenson blamed the lack of skilled workers in the U.S. as the main obstacle to filling the 5,000 slots AT&T pledged to fill back in 2006. The article went on to say that, Stephenson said he is especially distressed that in some U.S. communities and among certain groups, the high school dropout rate is as high as 50 percent.
If I had a business that half the product we turned out was defective or you couldn't put into the marketplace, I would shut that business down," he said.
Gone are the days when AT&T and other U.S. companies had to hire locally, he said.
How can U.S. citizens compete in a global economy when our educational institutions and local communities fail so many young people entering the workforce? Anti-free-trade and anti-globalization rhetoric from trade unionists and their Democratic vassals won't solve the problem of why Johnny can't answer the phone, do math and handle a computer in the 21st Century.
Our educational institutions from the smallest grade schools to largest centers of higher learning need to become conservatories of scholarship and achievement rather than warehouses for groupthink, speech codes and political correctness. This will be only be realized when parents, clergy, (yes clergy) educators, and business people band together with a common purpose to discard the feel-good curricula of lower expectations for our youth in exchange for real learning and sciences.
Stephenson blamed the lack of skilled workers in the U.S. as the main obstacle to filling the 5,000 slots AT&T pledged to fill back in 2006. The article went on to say that, Stephenson said he is especially distressed that in some U.S. communities and among certain groups, the high school dropout rate is as high as 50 percent.
If I had a business that half the product we turned out was defective or you couldn't put into the marketplace, I would shut that business down," he said.
Gone are the days when AT&T and other U.S. companies had to hire locally, he said.
How can U.S. citizens compete in a global economy when our educational institutions and local communities fail so many young people entering the workforce? Anti-free-trade and anti-globalization rhetoric from trade unionists and their Democratic vassals won't solve the problem of why Johnny can't answer the phone, do math and handle a computer in the 21st Century.
Our educational institutions from the smallest grade schools to largest centers of higher learning need to become conservatories of scholarship and achievement rather than warehouses for groupthink, speech codes and political correctness. This will be only be realized when parents, clergy, (yes clergy) educators, and business people band together with a common purpose to discard the feel-good curricula of lower expectations for our youth in exchange for real learning and sciences.
Obama's Slow Motion Pile-Up
Watching the Obama campaign is like watching a car wreck in slow motion. You feel a twinge of guilt as you're watching the frightful events unfold before your eyes but you just keep looking in morbid fascination to see what happens next.
To be sure Barack has navigated through some very tough hazards as he tries to navigate the rough road ahead to the Democratic Party convention in Denver this August. And this has been quite a ride. Here are some of the more memorable of twists and turns on the Obama trail:
His admitted alchohol and experimental use of drugs during his youth.
Questions about the authenticity of his professed Christian faith and whether he is a closet Muslim. The kerfuffle over the use of his full name, Barack Hussein Obama coupled with doubts about where his true allegiances lie with regard to the well being of the country he wants to lead.
His wife's clumsy statements such as, "For the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country." and that America is, "just downright mean."
Obama's association with former Weather Underground member and admitted Vietnam era bomber William Ayers.
Obama's past campaign support and fishy real estate deal with indicted Chicago fixer Tony Rezko.
During the Democratic candidates debate in Ohio, Barack along with Hillary slammed NAFTA while in the presence of voters and cameras until it was later revealed that a high-level Obama campaign operative privately assured Canadian officials that all the anti-NAFTA talk was just rhetoric.
His selection of top policy advisors such as former policy middle east policy advisor Samantha Powers who resigned early this month after calling Senator Clinton "a monster" during an interview with a reporter from a Scottish newspaper. Ms. Powers faux pas aside we have top foreign policy advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski and military adviser and national campaign co-chairman Merrill "Tony" McPeak who are decidedly anti-Israel in their views about the middle east coupled with misgivings about Obama's true stance on the nation's most loyal ally in the region.
The reported discovery of favorable references to Obama in letters extracted from the computers of assasinated FARC terrorist and spokesman Raul Reyes hiding in Equador along with the letter's references of meetings with people representing the candidate and implying these representatives were interested in meeting with the Columbian terrorists.
And the latest controversy revolving around the racist anti-American rants of his pastor and mentor of the past twenty years the Reverand Jeremiah Wright. Obama went before the cameras and wowed the talking heads of the mainstream media with his speech on "A More Perfect Union". Since then the media have played lap dog to Barack Obama and have clearly turned on the Clintons to smooth the road for Obama. The results of a poll released today by the Wall Street Journal and NBC News show that Obama's Pastor controversy hasn't had much effect on his contest with Senator Clinton.
Don't expect that the Clinton's are going to quietly sit by and retire to their milk and snicker-doodles while Obama is ahead in the delegate count. Can the media's charade to obscure the foibles of the their candidate while trying to shoo away the Clinton's be maintained all the way to the Democratic convention in August?
I doubt it.
To be sure Barack has navigated through some very tough hazards as he tries to navigate the rough road ahead to the Democratic Party convention in Denver this August. And this has been quite a ride. Here are some of the more memorable of twists and turns on the Obama trail:
His admitted alchohol and experimental use of drugs during his youth.
Questions about the authenticity of his professed Christian faith and whether he is a closet Muslim. The kerfuffle over the use of his full name, Barack Hussein Obama coupled with doubts about where his true allegiances lie with regard to the well being of the country he wants to lead.
His wife's clumsy statements such as, "For the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country." and that America is, "just downright mean."
Obama's association with former Weather Underground member and admitted Vietnam era bomber William Ayers.
Obama's past campaign support and fishy real estate deal with indicted Chicago fixer Tony Rezko.
During the Democratic candidates debate in Ohio, Barack along with Hillary slammed NAFTA while in the presence of voters and cameras until it was later revealed that a high-level Obama campaign operative privately assured Canadian officials that all the anti-NAFTA talk was just rhetoric.
His selection of top policy advisors such as former policy middle east policy advisor Samantha Powers who resigned early this month after calling Senator Clinton "a monster" during an interview with a reporter from a Scottish newspaper. Ms. Powers faux pas aside we have top foreign policy advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski and military adviser and national campaign co-chairman Merrill "Tony" McPeak who are decidedly anti-Israel in their views about the middle east coupled with misgivings about Obama's true stance on the nation's most loyal ally in the region.
The reported discovery of favorable references to Obama in letters extracted from the computers of assasinated FARC terrorist and spokesman Raul Reyes hiding in Equador along with the letter's references of meetings with people representing the candidate and implying these representatives were interested in meeting with the Columbian terrorists.
And the latest controversy revolving around the racist anti-American rants of his pastor and mentor of the past twenty years the Reverand Jeremiah Wright. Obama went before the cameras and wowed the talking heads of the mainstream media with his speech on "A More Perfect Union". Since then the media have played lap dog to Barack Obama and have clearly turned on the Clintons to smooth the road for Obama. The results of a poll released today by the Wall Street Journal and NBC News show that Obama's Pastor controversy hasn't had much effect on his contest with Senator Clinton.
Don't expect that the Clinton's are going to quietly sit by and retire to their milk and snicker-doodles while Obama is ahead in the delegate count. Can the media's charade to obscure the foibles of the their candidate while trying to shoo away the Clinton's be maintained all the way to the Democratic convention in August?
I doubt it.
Iraq War protesters disrupt Easter Services at Chicago Church
Six people identifying themselves as anti-Iraq war protestors disrupted Easter services at Chicago's Holy Names Auditorium.
The group identifying themselves as Catholic Schoolgirls Against the War stood up during the beginning of the homily delivered by Roman Catholic Cardinal Francis George and began disrupting the service by shouting and spraying fake blood around the parish hall.
Those arrested after the craven disruption of the Easter service were identified by Chicago police as; Donte D. Smith, 18; Ephran Ramirez Jr., 22; Ryane Ziemba, 25; Mercedes Phinaih, 18; Regan Maher, 25; and Angela Haban, 20.
The merry band of dimwits were all charged with felony criminal damage to property and two counts of simple battery for squirting the blood around the auditorium and onto worshipers' clothes.
More information on the Easter Sunday attack on the Christian worshipers can be viewed here and from Gateway Pundit who provides mug shots of the attackers here.
I hope they take the biggest book in the legal library and throw it at these self-righteous little cretins.
The group identifying themselves as Catholic Schoolgirls Against the War stood up during the beginning of the homily delivered by Roman Catholic Cardinal Francis George and began disrupting the service by shouting and spraying fake blood around the parish hall.
Those arrested after the craven disruption of the Easter service were identified by Chicago police as; Donte D. Smith, 18; Ephran Ramirez Jr., 22; Ryane Ziemba, 25; Mercedes Phinaih, 18; Regan Maher, 25; and Angela Haban, 20.
The merry band of dimwits were all charged with felony criminal damage to property and two counts of simple battery for squirting the blood around the auditorium and onto worshipers' clothes.
More information on the Easter Sunday attack on the Christian worshipers can be viewed here and from Gateway Pundit who provides mug shots of the attackers here.
I hope they take the biggest book in the legal library and throw it at these self-righteous little cretins.
Easter Wines (truncated, unscored notes)
It was a wonderful Easter celebration at our house. Joined by the Finleys and the Kevilles, we had the traditional Easter egg hunt, and later, for dinner, our friends Brian Jackson and the Murphys joined us.
There was so much commotion and fun that I didn't have a chance to take good, critical notes, but here are my impressions of the wines we had.
Duval-Leroy "Rosé Saignée" CHAMPANGE -- This pale pink champagne had wonderful fruit and balance, with nice but unobtrusive acidity, good concentration and a lengthy, dry finish.
2006 Martin Schaetzel PINOT BLANC "Vieilles Vignes" (Alsace, France) -- A medium deep gold, this wine had wonderful, peachy fruit and a subtle minerally undertone. It seemed off-dry, and had a soft, voluptuous texture. Very nice (I love Alsace whites!).
2005 Thomas & Fils SANCERRE "La Crêle" -- Crisp, dry, and minerally, this wine had very refreshing appley, lemon-lime fruit.
2002 Vincent Girardin POMMARD 1er Cru "Les Grands Epenots" Vieilles Vignes (Burgundy, France) -- This was a terrifically fragrant, soft Pinot Noir. Fragrant with scents of cinnamon and sappy cherries, this wine had a soft -- almost ethereally soft -- texture, with a long, minerally finish that features excellent balancing acidity.
2005 Columbia Crest "Grand Estates" CABERNET SAUVIGNON (Columbia Valley, Washington State) -- The Murphys' younger son Kevin actually picked this wine out himself after doing research about what wines would best accompany the roast leg of lamb he knew I was going to prepare. I actually drank, liked, and reviewed a previous vintage of this wine (the 2002, reviewed here), and the 2005 Kevin picked out was equally good. This is a very well-balanced, fruit-forward Cabernet that features lots of cherry fruit and underbrush scents, and has a soft texture that makes for excellent current drinking. Nice choice, Kevin!
There was so much commotion and fun that I didn't have a chance to take good, critical notes, but here are my impressions of the wines we had.
Duval-Leroy "Rosé Saignée" CHAMPANGE -- This pale pink champagne had wonderful fruit and balance, with nice but unobtrusive acidity, good concentration and a lengthy, dry finish.
2006 Martin Schaetzel PINOT BLANC "Vieilles Vignes" (Alsace, France) -- A medium deep gold, this wine had wonderful, peachy fruit and a subtle minerally undertone. It seemed off-dry, and had a soft, voluptuous texture. Very nice (I love Alsace whites!).
2005 Thomas & Fils SANCERRE "La Crêle" -- Crisp, dry, and minerally, this wine had very refreshing appley, lemon-lime fruit.
2002 Vincent Girardin POMMARD 1er Cru "Les Grands Epenots" Vieilles Vignes (Burgundy, France) -- This was a terrifically fragrant, soft Pinot Noir. Fragrant with scents of cinnamon and sappy cherries, this wine had a soft -- almost ethereally soft -- texture, with a long, minerally finish that features excellent balancing acidity.
2005 Columbia Crest "Grand Estates" CABERNET SAUVIGNON (Columbia Valley, Washington State) -- The Murphys' younger son Kevin actually picked this wine out himself after doing research about what wines would best accompany the roast leg of lamb he knew I was going to prepare. I actually drank, liked, and reviewed a previous vintage of this wine (the 2002, reviewed here), and the 2005 Kevin picked out was equally good. This is a very well-balanced, fruit-forward Cabernet that features lots of cherry fruit and underbrush scents, and has a soft texture that makes for excellent current drinking. Nice choice, Kevin!
Happy Easter
He Is Risen (Luke 24:1-35)1 Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. 2 But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. 3 Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. 5 Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6 He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, 7 saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’”8 And they remembered His words. 9 Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. 10 It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles. 11 And their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them. 12 But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves; and he departed, marveling to himself at what had happened.
The Road to Emmaus
13 Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 And they talked together of all these things which had happened. 15 So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them. 16 But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him. 17 And He said to them, “What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?” 18 Then the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to Him, “Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things which happened there in these days?” 19 And He said to them, “What things?” So they said to Him, “The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him. 21 But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened. 22 Yes, and certain women of our company, who arrived at the tomb early, astonished us. 23 When they did not find His body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said He was alive. 24 And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but Him they did not see.” 25 Then He said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” 27 And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.
The Disciples’ Eyes Opened
28 Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and He indicated that He would have gone farther. 29 But they constrained Him, saying, “Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent.” And He went in to stay with them. 30 Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight. 32 And they said to one another, “Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?” 33 So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, 34 saying, “The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” 35 And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread.
(Text Courtesty of Bible Gateway.com)
2006 Cousiño-Macul RIESLING (Maipo Valley, Chile)
Cousiño-Macul apparently now makes two Rieslings -- this one, which just says "Riesling" on the label, and the "Doña Isadora" Riesling. Since I haven't yet had the Doña Isadora from the 2006 vintage, I don't know what the stylistic difference is (or may be). But this is a very nice Alsace-styled Riesling, and as usual for this winery's Rieslings, an excellent buy.
Eye: Bright medium gold with greenish glints.
Nose: Beautiful nose of apple blossoms, "gout de petrol" Alsace-styled minerality, and caramel.
Mouth: Fresh, round, and soft, with medium body, and flavors of apples and pungent minerals. In the long finish, notes of bitter grapefruit skin pop up, balancing the very slight residual sugar.
Cellar or drink: Drink over the next year.
Score: 88.
Price/Store: Was $12.62 at Spec's on Richmond, but I've seen this in other places as well.
Eye: Bright medium gold with greenish glints.
Nose: Beautiful nose of apple blossoms, "gout de petrol" Alsace-styled minerality, and caramel.
Mouth: Fresh, round, and soft, with medium body, and flavors of apples and pungent minerals. In the long finish, notes of bitter grapefruit skin pop up, balancing the very slight residual sugar.
Cellar or drink: Drink over the next year.
Score: 88.
Price/Store: Was $12.62 at Spec's on Richmond, but I've seen this in other places as well.
2004 Bogle "Phantom" (California)
This blend of 54% Petite Sirah, 43% Zinfandel, and 3% Mourvedre was fairly deep and nicely-balanced.
Eye: Dark garnet with ruby highlights.
Nose: Sweet-smelling, with high-toned, lemon juice-inflected cherries, gingerbread spice, and chalk dust.
Mouth: Very nice fruit and concentration -- black cherry, balsa wood, and smoky ashes. Fair amount of soft tannin still perceptible. Nice balance and length.
Cellar or drink?: Drink. While there's substantial tannin, the fruit is so mellow (as opposed to vibrant or youthful) that I think leaving this wine to allow the tannins to settle out will be at the expense of the nice fruit present now.
Score: 87.
Price/Store: $18.79 at Richard's on Richmond.
Eye: Dark garnet with ruby highlights.Nose: Sweet-smelling, with high-toned, lemon juice-inflected cherries, gingerbread spice, and chalk dust.
Mouth: Very nice fruit and concentration -- black cherry, balsa wood, and smoky ashes. Fair amount of soft tannin still perceptible. Nice balance and length.
Cellar or drink?: Drink. While there's substantial tannin, the fruit is so mellow (as opposed to vibrant or youthful) that I think leaving this wine to allow the tannins to settle out will be at the expense of the nice fruit present now.
Score: 87.
Price/Store: $18.79 at Richard's on Richmond.
Good Friday
Luke 23:13-49
13 Then Pilate, when he had called together the chief priests, the rulers, and the people, 14 said to them, “You have brought this Man to me, as one who misleads the people. And indeed, having examined Him in your presence, I have found no fault in this Man concerning those things of which you accuse Him; 15 no, neither did Herod, for I sent you back to him; and indeed nothing deserving of death has been done by Him. 16 I will therefore chastise Him and release Him” 17 (for it was necessary for him to release one to them at the feast).
18 And they all cried out at once, saying, “Away with this Man, and release to us Barabbas”— 19 who had been thrown into prison for a certain rebellion made in the city, and for murder.
20 Pilate, therefore, wishing to release Jesus, again called out to them. 21 But they shouted, saying, “Crucify Him, crucify Him!”
22 Then he said to them the third time, “Why, what evil has He done? I have found no reason for death in Him. I will therefore chastise Him and let Him go.”
23 But they were insistent, demanding with loud voices that He be crucified. And the voices of these men and of the chief priests prevailed. 24 So Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they requested. 25 And he released to them the one they requested, who for rebellion and murder had been thrown into prison; but he delivered Jesus to their will.
The King on a Cross
26 Now as they led Him away, they laid hold of a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, who was coming from the country, and on him they laid the cross that he might bear it after Jesus.
27 And a great multitude of the people followed Him, and women who also mourned and lamented Him. 28 But Jesus, turning to them, said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. 29 For indeed the days are coming in which they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts which never nursed!’ 30 Then they will begin ‘to say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!”’ 31 For if they do these things in the green wood, what will be done in the dry?”
32 There were also two others, criminals, led with Him to be put to death. 33 And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left. 34 Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”
And they divided His garments and cast lots. 35 And the people stood looking on. But even the rulers with them sneered, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ, the chosen of God.”
36 The soldiers also mocked Him, coming and offering Him sour wine, 37 and saying, “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself.”
38 And an inscription also was written over Him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew:
THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
39 Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.”
40 But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.” 42 Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”
43 And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”
Jesus Dies on the Cross
44 Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. 45 Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two. 46 And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, “Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit.’” Having said this, He breathed His last.
47 So when the centurion saw what had happened, he glorified God, saying, “Certainly this was a righteous Man!”
48 And the whole crowd who came together to that sight, seeing what had been done, beat their breasts and returned. 49 But all His acquaintances, and the women who followed Him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.
(Text from New King James Version, Gospel Communications BibleGateway.com)
Obama Campaign Removes Black Panther Endorsement from Website
Only one day after delivering his address on race relations to reporters and selected supporters in Philadelphia on Monday Senator Obama's website no longer contains an endorsement from the New Black Panther Party.
Hat Tips to Stop the ACLU and Gateway Pundit who cached the original website layout which appears here and here.
Gateway Pundit also links to Fox News which depicts the original page and provides quotes from the NBPP platform.
The Party, demands slavery reparations, the release of all black prisoners from American jails, trials of blacks only by all-black juries, an end to all black cooperation with police departments, exemption for blacks from the all-volunteer U.S. military and a separate country for African-Americans.
“We believe that Black People should not be forced to fight in the military service to defend a racist government that holds us captive and does not protect us. We will not fight and kill other people of color in the world who, like Black People, are being victimized by the white racist government of America,”
There are some slight exceptions but these sound like the talking points of the Reverand Jeremiah Wright.
Previously: Obama to make speech on race relations today
Hat Tips to Stop the ACLU and Gateway Pundit who cached the original website layout which appears here and here.
Gateway Pundit also links to Fox News which depicts the original page and provides quotes from the NBPP platform.
The Party, demands slavery reparations, the release of all black prisoners from American jails, trials of blacks only by all-black juries, an end to all black cooperation with police departments, exemption for blacks from the all-volunteer U.S. military and a separate country for African-Americans.
“We believe that Black People should not be forced to fight in the military service to defend a racist government that holds us captive and does not protect us. We will not fight and kill other people of color in the world who, like Black People, are being victimized by the white racist government of America,”
There are some slight exceptions but these sound like the talking points of the Reverand Jeremiah Wright.
Previously: Obama to make speech on race relations today
Obama and the Audacity of Damage Control
Senator Obama's "A More Perfect Union" speech yesterday in Philadelphia attempted to stem the tidal wave of negative publicity generated by the release of videos and audio of his Pastor's sermons, alternately damning America and slandering Whites and Jews. While the Illinois Senator's gifted oration is acknowleged without question, what remains unanswered is the effect that this speech will have on his campaign for the highest office in the land and the effectiveness it will have in distancing himself from the vile bloviations of his deranged cleric.
The full text of the Senator's speech is contained here.
It's guaranteed that Obama's flowery prose delivered in the City of Brotherly Love will be discussed, analyzed and re-analyzed by the media and its pundits over several news cycles. For me there are several things about the speech. I offer my humble impressions of the subtext to the Senator's message.
Obama starts out with a short history lesson about the founding of the country two hundred and twenty-one years ago by patriots who began our Constitution with the words, “We the people, in order to form a more perfect union.” made official their "improbable experiment in democracy." Obama tells his listeners that the Constitution, "was stained by this nation’s original sin of slavery, a question that divided the colonies and brought the convention to a stalemate until the founders chose to allow the slave trade to continue for at least twenty more years, and to leave any final resolution to future generations."
Obama's free ride for white supporters hoping to be absolved of the nation's original sin ended with that statement. Then Obama provides the listener with a way out from the burden of guilt by rightly pointing to the ultimate triumph over injustice.
Of course, the answer to the slavery question was already embedded within our Constitution – a Constitution that had at is very core the ideal of equal citizenship under the law; a Constitution that promised its people liberty, and justice, and a union that could be and should be perfected over time.
And yet words on a parchment would not be enough to deliver slaves from bondage, or provide men and women of every color and creed their full rights and obligations as citizens of the United States. What would be needed were Americans in successive generations who were willing to do their part – through protests and struggle, on the streets and in the courts, through a civil war and civil disobedience and always at great risk - to narrow that gap between the promise of our ideals and the reality of their time.
The Senator transports us back to the unfulfilled promises of equality and the days of the civil rights movement.
This was one of the tasks we set forth at the beginning of this campaign – to continue the long march of those who came before us, a march for a more just, more equal, more free, more caring and more prosperous America. I chose to run for the presidency at this moment in history because I believe deeply that we cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together – unless we perfect our union by understanding that we may have different stories, but we hold common hopes; that we may not look the same and we may not have come from the same place, but we all want to move in the same direction – towards a better future for of children and our grandchildren.
Obama now tells his listeners that his candidacy has been about race and views it as an extension from the days of the civil rights movement in the fifties and sixties. Obama has here-to-fore run as the post-racial candidate but now reveals that when he looks at America he sees great racial, ethnic and economic divisions in the country and states that the country does not have enough of the freedoms that have made it great. The country needs more justice, more freedom, more caring and gosh-darnit, more prosperity.
Coming from the leading candidate of a party which has worked long and hard to capitalize on, magnify and create strata upon sub-strata within our society of different identity groups these are strange words indeed. First, remind people of their differences, then present yourself as the unifier of the masses.
The Senator goes on to flatter his listeners by stating that he has, unyielding faith in the decency and generosity of the American people. But it also comes from my own American story.
Obama then goes on to present his bona fides as a uniter based on his unique view of the world begining with his mixed heritage and moving on to his extended family, life experiences in being raised in a poor country and educational experiences that take him to the pinnacle of academic and professional achievement.
Then the Senator gets to the crux of the matter; Jeremiah Wright.
I have already condemned, in unequivocal terms, the statements of Reverend Wright that have caused such controversy. For some, nagging questions remain. Did I know him to be an occasionally fierce critic of American domestic and foreign policy? Of course. Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in church? Yes. Did I strongly disagree with many of his political views? Absolutely – just as I’m sure many of you have heard remarks from your pastors, priests, or rabbis with which you strongly disagreed.
But the remarks that have caused this recent firestorm weren’t simply controversial. They weren’t simply a religious leader’s effort to speak out against perceived injustice. Instead, they expressed a profoundly distorted view of this country – a view that sees white racism as endemic, and that elevates what is wrong with America above all that we know is right with America; a view that sees the conflicts in the Middle East as rooted primarily in the actions of stalwart allies like Israel, instead of emanating from the perverse and hateful ideologies of radical Islam.
The Senator tries to equate the hate-filled remarks made by his confidant and Pastor with spiritual disagreements you may have with your Minister, Priest, Rabbi or Imam. Nice try Senator but the detestable rhetoric spewing forth from Reverand Wright has little to do with the niceties of Liturgical interpretation.
Obama then refuses to disown Jeremian Wright and his crazy outbursts and even goes so far as to equate Wright's racist advocacy from the pulpit before thousands with the uneasiness he claims his elderly grandmother confessed to him when passing black men on the street. The Senator however omitted the context for his sainted grandmother's angst. Sweetness and Light quotes from Obama's first book, "Dreams from My Father" on page 46.
I took her into the other room and asked her what had happened.
“A man asked me for money yesterday. While I was waiting for the bus.”
“That’s all?”
Her lips pursed with irritation. “He was very aggressive, Barry. Very aggressive. I gave him a dollar and he kept asking. If the bus hadn’t come, I think he might have hit me over the head.”
I returned to the kitchen. Gramps was rinsing his cup, his back turned to me. “Listen,” I said, “why don’t you just let me give her a ride. She seems pretty upset.”
“By a panhandler?”
“Yeah, I know — but it’s probably a little scary for her, seeing some big man block her way. It’s really no big deal.”
He turned around and I saw now that he was shaking. “It is a big deal. It’s a big deal to me. She’s been bothered by men before. You know why she’s so scared this time? I’ll tell you why. Before you came in, she told me the fella was black.” He whispered the word. “That’s the real reason why she’s bothered. And I just don’t think that’s right.”
Obama omitted the part of the story where his grandmother had been bothered by aggressive panhandlers in the past while waiting for the bus. The woman obviously wasn't a racist since she loved and cared for him and his mother during the time of his mother's illness. Very convenient if you're trying to run your campaign as the "great uniter" of the masses.
Barack Obama has a disturbing habit of saying one thing before cameras and privately working against it in private or twisting events to suit the construct of political correctness and personal expediency. Barack refuses to disown his lunatic Pastor and completely disassociate himself
with his divisive church. One can only surmise that despite his public "denunciations" of "the statements in question" that the Senator implictly endorses the anti-American and racial world view of his Pastor of twenty years.
The Senator has defended Jeremiah Wright in the past and in essence his viewpoints and can be expected to continue to defend him in the future.
The full text of the Senator's speech is contained here.
It's guaranteed that Obama's flowery prose delivered in the City of Brotherly Love will be discussed, analyzed and re-analyzed by the media and its pundits over several news cycles. For me there are several things about the speech. I offer my humble impressions of the subtext to the Senator's message.
Obama starts out with a short history lesson about the founding of the country two hundred and twenty-one years ago by patriots who began our Constitution with the words, “We the people, in order to form a more perfect union.” made official their "improbable experiment in democracy." Obama tells his listeners that the Constitution, "was stained by this nation’s original sin of slavery, a question that divided the colonies and brought the convention to a stalemate until the founders chose to allow the slave trade to continue for at least twenty more years, and to leave any final resolution to future generations."
Obama's free ride for white supporters hoping to be absolved of the nation's original sin ended with that statement. Then Obama provides the listener with a way out from the burden of guilt by rightly pointing to the ultimate triumph over injustice.
Of course, the answer to the slavery question was already embedded within our Constitution – a Constitution that had at is very core the ideal of equal citizenship under the law; a Constitution that promised its people liberty, and justice, and a union that could be and should be perfected over time.
And yet words on a parchment would not be enough to deliver slaves from bondage, or provide men and women of every color and creed their full rights and obligations as citizens of the United States. What would be needed were Americans in successive generations who were willing to do their part – through protests and struggle, on the streets and in the courts, through a civil war and civil disobedience and always at great risk - to narrow that gap between the promise of our ideals and the reality of their time.
The Senator transports us back to the unfulfilled promises of equality and the days of the civil rights movement.
This was one of the tasks we set forth at the beginning of this campaign – to continue the long march of those who came before us, a march for a more just, more equal, more free, more caring and more prosperous America. I chose to run for the presidency at this moment in history because I believe deeply that we cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together – unless we perfect our union by understanding that we may have different stories, but we hold common hopes; that we may not look the same and we may not have come from the same place, but we all want to move in the same direction – towards a better future for of children and our grandchildren.
Obama now tells his listeners that his candidacy has been about race and views it as an extension from the days of the civil rights movement in the fifties and sixties. Obama has here-to-fore run as the post-racial candidate but now reveals that when he looks at America he sees great racial, ethnic and economic divisions in the country and states that the country does not have enough of the freedoms that have made it great. The country needs more justice, more freedom, more caring and gosh-darnit, more prosperity.
Coming from the leading candidate of a party which has worked long and hard to capitalize on, magnify and create strata upon sub-strata within our society of different identity groups these are strange words indeed. First, remind people of their differences, then present yourself as the unifier of the masses.
The Senator goes on to flatter his listeners by stating that he has, unyielding faith in the decency and generosity of the American people. But it also comes from my own American story.
Obama then goes on to present his bona fides as a uniter based on his unique view of the world begining with his mixed heritage and moving on to his extended family, life experiences in being raised in a poor country and educational experiences that take him to the pinnacle of academic and professional achievement.
Then the Senator gets to the crux of the matter; Jeremiah Wright.
I have already condemned, in unequivocal terms, the statements of Reverend Wright that have caused such controversy. For some, nagging questions remain. Did I know him to be an occasionally fierce critic of American domestic and foreign policy? Of course. Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in church? Yes. Did I strongly disagree with many of his political views? Absolutely – just as I’m sure many of you have heard remarks from your pastors, priests, or rabbis with which you strongly disagreed.
But the remarks that have caused this recent firestorm weren’t simply controversial. They weren’t simply a religious leader’s effort to speak out against perceived injustice. Instead, they expressed a profoundly distorted view of this country – a view that sees white racism as endemic, and that elevates what is wrong with America above all that we know is right with America; a view that sees the conflicts in the Middle East as rooted primarily in the actions of stalwart allies like Israel, instead of emanating from the perverse and hateful ideologies of radical Islam.
The Senator tries to equate the hate-filled remarks made by his confidant and Pastor with spiritual disagreements you may have with your Minister, Priest, Rabbi or Imam. Nice try Senator but the detestable rhetoric spewing forth from Reverand Wright has little to do with the niceties of Liturgical interpretation.
Obama then refuses to disown Jeremian Wright and his crazy outbursts and even goes so far as to equate Wright's racist advocacy from the pulpit before thousands with the uneasiness he claims his elderly grandmother confessed to him when passing black men on the street. The Senator however omitted the context for his sainted grandmother's angst. Sweetness and Light quotes from Obama's first book, "Dreams from My Father" on page 46.
I took her into the other room and asked her what had happened.
“A man asked me for money yesterday. While I was waiting for the bus.”
“That’s all?”
Her lips pursed with irritation. “He was very aggressive, Barry. Very aggressive. I gave him a dollar and he kept asking. If the bus hadn’t come, I think he might have hit me over the head.”
I returned to the kitchen. Gramps was rinsing his cup, his back turned to me. “Listen,” I said, “why don’t you just let me give her a ride. She seems pretty upset.”
“By a panhandler?”
“Yeah, I know — but it’s probably a little scary for her, seeing some big man block her way. It’s really no big deal.”
He turned around and I saw now that he was shaking. “It is a big deal. It’s a big deal to me. She’s been bothered by men before. You know why she’s so scared this time? I’ll tell you why. Before you came in, she told me the fella was black.” He whispered the word. “That’s the real reason why she’s bothered. And I just don’t think that’s right.”
Obama omitted the part of the story where his grandmother had been bothered by aggressive panhandlers in the past while waiting for the bus. The woman obviously wasn't a racist since she loved and cared for him and his mother during the time of his mother's illness. Very convenient if you're trying to run your campaign as the "great uniter" of the masses.
Barack Obama has a disturbing habit of saying one thing before cameras and privately working against it in private or twisting events to suit the construct of political correctness and personal expediency. Barack refuses to disown his lunatic Pastor and completely disassociate himself
with his divisive church. One can only surmise that despite his public "denunciations" of "the statements in question" that the Senator implictly endorses the anti-American and racial world view of his Pastor of twenty years.
The Senator has defended Jeremiah Wright in the past and in essence his viewpoints and can be expected to continue to defend him in the future.
The Dismantling Of America
In the 1950's and 1960's there was a great fear in this country that Russia would destroy us with nuclear weapons. Some of you may remember the somewhat humorous "duck and cover" campaign to protect us from nuclear blasts.
My grandmother always warned me about a much greater threat to our country than a nuclear holocaust. She always said [paraphrased], "They will destroy us from the inside." She is now 90 years old and has lived long enough to see it happening. However, she was only half right.
The "they" she was referring to were other major powers - Russia, China, Japan, Germany, etc. However, the real "they" that are destroying this country from the inside like a cancer with a voracious appetite are liberals. Liberalism has taught us to reject The Golden Rule, that morality is a subjective concept, and that your welfare is someone else's responsibility.
We have devolved from a nation of proud people to a collection of individuals who are hellbent on "getting theirs". The "land of the free and the home of the brave" has become the land of the free lunch and the home of the cowardly. Don't any of you take that out of context. That statement has nothing to do with our military or our veterans. It doesn't even apply to those who understand why the United States has to defend itself in foreign lands like Iraq and Afghanistan. It is directed at those who refuse to serve in our military, those who protest against our soldiers, and those cowards who attack recruiting offices in the dark of night.
Liberals have done this primarily through our public educational system. I read a story today that says 50% of 17-year-olds in this country cannot correctly identify George Washington as the father of our country, or James Madison as the father of our Constitution, or many critical documents to the founding of this nation. At the same time, they have no trouble identifying modern "celebrities".
I could write for hours and give example after example of how liberals have tossed patriotism in favor or multiculturalism. How they have tossed morality for immorality. Factual history for distorted history. True achievement for false self-esteem. Christianity for secular humanism. Science for social agenda.
I fear that it may be too late. As our economy falters and as the U.S. dollar plummets around the world, I see a nation of spoiled brats who don't have a clue what freedom means or what is costs. If we don't find someone who can lead us out of this mess we may find ourselves starting over.
Obama to make speech on race relations today
In what his campaign is referring to as a "a major address on race and politics" Senator Barack Obama plans to address head-on his relationship with his Pastor Jeremiah Wright and the controversy that generated by his Pastor's over-the-top rhetoric regarding America and Whites. Obama will use as his backdrop the National Constitution Center near Philadelphia's Independence Hall. It was at this site in 1787 that the nation's founders counted each slave as three-fifths of a person during the period Southern slave holding states were joined by Northern free states in order to draft the U.S. Consititution and form a Union between the former British colonies.
Mr. Obama whose mother was a white anthropologist from Kansas and whose father was a Kenyan government bureaucrat has billed himself as being a new kind of candidate in a post-racial era. After the thunderous and incendiary pronouncements made by Obama's Pastor of 20 years, the Illinois Senator from Chicago's south side has chosen to meet the roiling controversy about the Reverand Wright's outlandish sermons and his own knowledge or professed lack of knowledge of his Pastor's viewpoints head-on.
As a result of the negative publicity surrounding his church and its Pastor, Obama has seen his favorability rating among likely voters drop from 53% to 47% in only a few days according to the latest Rasmussen poll released this weekend . In one of his ear-popping sermons, the Reverand Jeremiah Wright declared, "No, no, no, not God Bless America, God damn America for treating our citizens as far less than human.". In another sermon delivered just five days after the 9/11 attacks the Reverand Wright blared that the nation's "chickens were coming home to roost" and that "we nuked far more than the thousands in New York and the Pentagon,".
Obama has steadily distanced himself from his one-time spiritual mentor and advisor, revoking an invitation to have him speak at the announcement for his candidacy, at some points calling his Pastor's statements "provocative" and at others likening him to a "crazy old uncle" and finally dropping him from the campaign altogether. Expect to hear Obama consign his Pastor and his ideas to the realm of 1960's activism and acknowledge that while these ideas had their place in history it it now time to move on to a brighter, more promising tomorrow. Obama has certainly moved on in his affiliation with Jeremiah Wright now that this association has become a major liability. In his own eloquent way Barack Obama will declare that Jeremiah Wright and his ideas are yesterday's news.
He may want to reconsider that ringing endorsement from the New Black Panther Party on his website.
Mr. Obama whose mother was a white anthropologist from Kansas and whose father was a Kenyan government bureaucrat has billed himself as being a new kind of candidate in a post-racial era. After the thunderous and incendiary pronouncements made by Obama's Pastor of 20 years, the Illinois Senator from Chicago's south side has chosen to meet the roiling controversy about the Reverand Wright's outlandish sermons and his own knowledge or professed lack of knowledge of his Pastor's viewpoints head-on.
As a result of the negative publicity surrounding his church and its Pastor, Obama has seen his favorability rating among likely voters drop from 53% to 47% in only a few days according to the latest Rasmussen poll released this weekend . In one of his ear-popping sermons, the Reverand Jeremiah Wright declared, "No, no, no, not God Bless America, God damn America for treating our citizens as far less than human.". In another sermon delivered just five days after the 9/11 attacks the Reverand Wright blared that the nation's "chickens were coming home to roost" and that "we nuked far more than the thousands in New York and the Pentagon,".
Obama has steadily distanced himself from his one-time spiritual mentor and advisor, revoking an invitation to have him speak at the announcement for his candidacy, at some points calling his Pastor's statements "provocative" and at others likening him to a "crazy old uncle" and finally dropping him from the campaign altogether. Expect to hear Obama consign his Pastor and his ideas to the realm of 1960's activism and acknowledge that while these ideas had their place in history it it now time to move on to a brighter, more promising tomorrow. Obama has certainly moved on in his affiliation with Jeremiah Wright now that this association has become a major liability. In his own eloquent way Barack Obama will declare that Jeremiah Wright and his ideas are yesterday's news.
He may want to reconsider that ringing endorsement from the New Black Panther Party on his website.
McCain marks 35th Anniversary release from Hanoi Hilton
John McCain is one of the few men who have endured genuine torture from the enemy during time of war. March 15th marks the 35th Anniversary of McCain's release from the infamous North Vietnamese prison known as the Hanoi Hilton.
This video provides a glimpse into the personal travails of the man target for "special treatment" while he was a guest of the Communists.
This video provides a glimpse into the personal travails of the man target for "special treatment" while he was a guest of the Communists.
Obama nods in agreement as Wright decries the "United States of White America"
Update: NewsMax goes squishy on claim that Obama was present as Wright declared the "United States of White America". NewsMax backed away from a reporter's claim that Barack Obama nodded in agreement when his Pastor launched into one of his tirades against White America. Other reports put Obama in Chicago during that day. NewsMax reporter Jim Davis says he attended services at Mr. Obama's church all that month and maintains that during one of the services he attended the Senator sat through the entire service. Later on the day in question the Senator made a speaking engagement in Miami before La Raza's annual convention in Miami Beach, Florida.
In contrast of Senator Obama's statements that he deplores "the stataments in question" that stirred a major controversy this week The Autonomist uncovers Barack Obama nodding in agreement with the inflamitory bombast of his deranged "Pastor".
Quoting from a reporter's article about his visit to Wright's racist church The Autonomist reveals, Wright laced into America's establishment, blaming the "white arrogance" ofAmerica's Caucasian majority for the woes of the world, especially theoppression suffered by blacks. To underscore the point he refers to the countryas the "United States of White America." Many in the congregation, includingObama, nodded in apparent agreement as these statements were made.
The sermon also addressed the Iraq war, a frequent area of Wright'sfulminations. "Young African-American men," Wright thundered, were "dyingfor nothing." The "illegal war," he shouted, was "based on Bush's lies" and is being "fought for oil money.
"In a sermon filled with profanity, Wright also blamed the war on "Bushadministration bulls--t." Those are the types of statements that have led toMSNBC's Tucker Carlson describing Wright as "a full-blown hater."
In contrast of Senator Obama's statements that he deplores "the stataments in question" that stirred a major controversy this week The Autonomist uncovers Barack Obama nodding in agreement with the inflamitory bombast of his deranged "Pastor".
Quoting from a reporter's article about his visit to Wright's racist church The Autonomist reveals, Wright laced into America's establishment, blaming the "white arrogance" ofAmerica's Caucasian majority for the woes of the world, especially theoppression suffered by blacks. To underscore the point he refers to the countryas the "United States of White America." Many in the congregation, includingObama, nodded in apparent agreement as these statements were made.
The sermon also addressed the Iraq war, a frequent area of Wright'sfulminations. "Young African-American men," Wright thundered, were "dyingfor nothing." The "illegal war," he shouted, was "based on Bush's lies" and is being "fought for oil money.
"In a sermon filled with profanity, Wright also blamed the war on "Bushadministration bulls--t." Those are the types of statements that have led toMSNBC's Tucker Carlson describing Wright as "a full-blown hater."
Obama talks to Fox News about Jeremiah Wright
Barack Obama appeared on Fox News to explain his association with his Pastor, the Reverand Jeremiah Wright. Reverand Wright teaches his congregants an eclectic mix of America-bashing coupled with damning the nation of his birth, hatred of Jews and White people followed by black nationalism mixed in with "doing good works". This delightful mix is otherwise known in "progressive" religious circles as Afro-centric "liberation theology".
And here I thought Jesus said something like; "And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” John 12:32, and "He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad." Matthew 12:30. But I guess it would take a "respected biblical scholar" like Reverand Wright to explain away those verses.
But I digress.
Here Senator Obama is interviewed by Fox News correspondent Major Garrett on Hannity and Colmes. You see the glow from the Senator diminish as he stumbles with his answers and bobs his head as he's speaking. I kind of feel bad for him. Barack Obama is very bright and well-spoken and seems like a nice guy on a personal level. It's sad that he chose to associate himself with Wright.
And here I thought Jesus said something like; "And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” John 12:32, and "He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad." Matthew 12:30. But I guess it would take a "respected biblical scholar" like Reverand Wright to explain away those verses.
But I digress.
Here Senator Obama is interviewed by Fox News correspondent Major Garrett on Hannity and Colmes. You see the glow from the Senator diminish as he stumbles with his answers and bobs his head as he's speaking. I kind of feel bad for him. Barack Obama is very bright and well-spoken and seems like a nice guy on a personal level. It's sad that he chose to associate himself with Wright.
Obama in Spin Mode over Pastor's Hate Sermons
The airwaves have been humming for the past three days over lunatic rantings made from the pulpit by Barack Obama's Pastor and Mentor the Reverand Jeremiah Wright. Here is a sample of the Reverand Wright's greatest hits. (Against America and White people)
Warning - Strong Language (The Reverand is merely trying to be provocative)
After waiting two days before responding to a mounting wave of blistering reaction on radio, television and the blogosphere to the Reverand Wright's scurrilous rants before his Trinity United Church of Christ congregation in Chicago's south side, the Illinois Senator issued this statement.
The pastor of my church, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, who recently preached his last sermon and is in the process of retiring, has touched off a firestorm over the last few days. He’s drawn attention as the result of some inflammatory and appalling remarks he made about our country, our politics, and my political opponents.
Let me say at the outset that I vehemently disagree and strongly condemn the statements that have been the subject of this controversy. I categorically denounce any statement that disparages our great country or serves to divide us from our allies. I also believe that words that degrade individuals have no place in our public dialogue, whether it’s on the campaign stump or in the pulpit. In sum, I reject outright the statements by Rev. Wright that are at issue.
There's no denying that Mr. Obama has an elegant legal mind. He writes, I vehemently disagree and strongly condemn the statements that have been the subject of this controversy.....I reject outright the statements by Rev. Wright that are at issue. Senator Obama deftly steers away from the specific content of his Pastor's venomous rants while leaving open the possibility that there are other issues with which he finds himself in agreement with his declared Mentor. (Brilliant!)
Citing his own writings the Senator continues, I first joined Trinity United Church of Christ nearly twenty years ago. I knew Rev. Wright as someone who served this nation with honor as a United States Marine, as a respected biblical scholar, and as someone who taught or lectured at seminaries across the country, from Union Theological Seminary to the University of Chicago.
....Rev. Wright preached the gospel of Jesus, a gospel on which I base my life. In other words, he has never been my political advisor; he’s been my pastor. And the sermons I heard him preach always related to our obligation to love God and one another, to work on behalf of the poor, and to seek justice at every turn.
In these passages Senator Obama tries to establish his Pastor's credibility by citing his bona-fides as a member of the cloth and one who has served in the military and then cites his personal belief (again) in Jesus and social causes to dispel any lingering questions as to his faith.
The statements that Rev. Wright made that are the cause of this controversy were not statements I personally heard him preach while I sat in the pews of Trinity or heard him utter in private conversation. When these statements first came to my attention, it was at the beginning of my presidential campaign.
Obama excuses himself by claiming to have no knowledge of the deranged statements or views of his Pastor and close confidant of 20 years and parses the timeline of his association with Reverand Wright by stating that he was not in attendance when the offensive statements were being made. By making such a claim the Senator leaves himself open that someone will place him in church at a time when his Pastor was engaged in one of his bombastic diatribes.
When these statements first came to my attention, it was at the beginning of my presidential campaign. I made it clear at the time that I strongly condemned his comments. But because Rev. Wright was on the verge of retirement, and because of my strong links to the Trinity faith community, where I married my wife and where my daughters were baptized, I did not think it appropriate to leave the church.
Again Obama claims ignorance of his Pastor's rants and maintains that he "strongly condemned" Wright's comments. The Wall Street Journal recalls that, (m)eeting with Jewish leaders in Cleveland on Feb. 24, Mr. Obama described Mr. Wright as being like "an old uncle who sometimes will say things that I don't agree with." Hardly a stinging rebuke that qualifies as "strongly condemned". The Journal continues, (a)s for Mr. Wright's repeated comments blaming America for the 9/11 attacks because of what Mr. Wright calls its racist and violent policies, Mr. Obama has said it sounds as if the minister was trying to be "provocative." Please Senator, you're being far too harsh on this "respected biblical scholar"!
Senator Obama concludes, (w)ith Rev. Wright’s retirement and the ascension of my new pastor, Rev. Otis Moss, III, Michelle and I look forward to continuing a relationship with a church that has done so much good. And while Rev. Wright’s statements have pained and angered me, I believe that Americans will judge me not on the basis of what someone else said, but on the basis of who I am and what I believe in; on my values, judgment and experience to be President of the United States.
The Senator explains that Reverand Wright is being ushered off the stage and replaced by a younger more reasonable Pastor who won't embarrass him anymore. And while the Senator thinks his old Pastor's unhinged comments may have hurt and offended the majority of Americans, he hopes all the bad publicity will stop and the public will just forget the whole thing and hurry up and make him President.
Does that sum it up pretty well Senator Obama?
Oh, and about the statement that the Senator was out of town all those times Pastor Wright was engrossed in another one of his delirious bloviations? Well it seems Rich Lowry came across his musings as he sat in church while Pastor Wright was delivering his sermon titled, “The Audacity of Hope” the sermon title that inspired Barack Obama to write his second book.
Lowry came across the passage in Senator Obama's book "Dreams of My Father" as he notes, Barack Obama wrote (an achingly good) memoir. In the book, Obama makes it clear that Wright when he first got to know him was pretty much the same Wright we're getting to know now (the one that Obama is at pains to say is on the verge of retirement). Wright was striking some of the same notes, saying racially venomous things and attacking the bombing of Hiroshima.
In an excerpt from the book written 10 years before he thought of running for President Obama writes; The title of Reverend Wright’s sermon that morning was “The Audacity of Hope.” He began with a passage from the Book of Samuel—the story of Hannah, who, barren and taunted by her rivals, had wept and shaken in prayer before her God.
The sermon starts on an even keel and then decends into the familiar crazed absurdity we have become all-too-familiar-with when the Reverand rails against this fallen world, “It is this world, a world where cruise ships throw away more food in a day than most residents of Port-au-Prince see in a year, where white folks’ greed runs a world in need, apartheid in one hemisphere, apathy in another hemisphere…That’s the world! On which hope sits!”
And so it went, a meditation on a fallen world. While the boys next to me doodled on their church bulletin, Reverend Wright spoke of Sharpsville and Hiroshima, the callousness of policy makers in the White House and in the State House. As the sermon unfolded, though, the stories of strife became more prosaic, the pain more immediate. The reverend spoke of the hardship that the congregation would face tomorrow, the pain of those far from the mountaintop, worrying about paying the light bill…
The Astute Bloggers call it for what it is and say the Obama bubble has burst.
Warning - Strong Language (The Reverand is merely trying to be provocative)
After waiting two days before responding to a mounting wave of blistering reaction on radio, television and the blogosphere to the Reverand Wright's scurrilous rants before his Trinity United Church of Christ congregation in Chicago's south side, the Illinois Senator issued this statement.
The pastor of my church, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, who recently preached his last sermon and is in the process of retiring, has touched off a firestorm over the last few days. He’s drawn attention as the result of some inflammatory and appalling remarks he made about our country, our politics, and my political opponents.
Let me say at the outset that I vehemently disagree and strongly condemn the statements that have been the subject of this controversy. I categorically denounce any statement that disparages our great country or serves to divide us from our allies. I also believe that words that degrade individuals have no place in our public dialogue, whether it’s on the campaign stump or in the pulpit. In sum, I reject outright the statements by Rev. Wright that are at issue.
There's no denying that Mr. Obama has an elegant legal mind. He writes, I vehemently disagree and strongly condemn the statements that have been the subject of this controversy.....I reject outright the statements by Rev. Wright that are at issue. Senator Obama deftly steers away from the specific content of his Pastor's venomous rants while leaving open the possibility that there are other issues with which he finds himself in agreement with his declared Mentor. (Brilliant!)
Citing his own writings the Senator continues, I first joined Trinity United Church of Christ nearly twenty years ago. I knew Rev. Wright as someone who served this nation with honor as a United States Marine, as a respected biblical scholar, and as someone who taught or lectured at seminaries across the country, from Union Theological Seminary to the University of Chicago.
....Rev. Wright preached the gospel of Jesus, a gospel on which I base my life. In other words, he has never been my political advisor; he’s been my pastor. And the sermons I heard him preach always related to our obligation to love God and one another, to work on behalf of the poor, and to seek justice at every turn.
In these passages Senator Obama tries to establish his Pastor's credibility by citing his bona-fides as a member of the cloth and one who has served in the military and then cites his personal belief (again) in Jesus and social causes to dispel any lingering questions as to his faith.
The statements that Rev. Wright made that are the cause of this controversy were not statements I personally heard him preach while I sat in the pews of Trinity or heard him utter in private conversation. When these statements first came to my attention, it was at the beginning of my presidential campaign.
Obama excuses himself by claiming to have no knowledge of the deranged statements or views of his Pastor and close confidant of 20 years and parses the timeline of his association with Reverand Wright by stating that he was not in attendance when the offensive statements were being made. By making such a claim the Senator leaves himself open that someone will place him in church at a time when his Pastor was engaged in one of his bombastic diatribes.
When these statements first came to my attention, it was at the beginning of my presidential campaign. I made it clear at the time that I strongly condemned his comments. But because Rev. Wright was on the verge of retirement, and because of my strong links to the Trinity faith community, where I married my wife and where my daughters were baptized, I did not think it appropriate to leave the church.
Again Obama claims ignorance of his Pastor's rants and maintains that he "strongly condemned" Wright's comments. The Wall Street Journal recalls that, (m)eeting with Jewish leaders in Cleveland on Feb. 24, Mr. Obama described Mr. Wright as being like "an old uncle who sometimes will say things that I don't agree with." Hardly a stinging rebuke that qualifies as "strongly condemned". The Journal continues, (a)s for Mr. Wright's repeated comments blaming America for the 9/11 attacks because of what Mr. Wright calls its racist and violent policies, Mr. Obama has said it sounds as if the minister was trying to be "provocative." Please Senator, you're being far too harsh on this "respected biblical scholar"!
Senator Obama concludes, (w)ith Rev. Wright’s retirement and the ascension of my new pastor, Rev. Otis Moss, III, Michelle and I look forward to continuing a relationship with a church that has done so much good. And while Rev. Wright’s statements have pained and angered me, I believe that Americans will judge me not on the basis of what someone else said, but on the basis of who I am and what I believe in; on my values, judgment and experience to be President of the United States.
The Senator explains that Reverand Wright is being ushered off the stage and replaced by a younger more reasonable Pastor who won't embarrass him anymore. And while the Senator thinks his old Pastor's unhinged comments may have hurt and offended the majority of Americans, he hopes all the bad publicity will stop and the public will just forget the whole thing and hurry up and make him President.
Does that sum it up pretty well Senator Obama?
Oh, and about the statement that the Senator was out of town all those times Pastor Wright was engrossed in another one of his delirious bloviations? Well it seems Rich Lowry came across his musings as he sat in church while Pastor Wright was delivering his sermon titled, “The Audacity of Hope” the sermon title that inspired Barack Obama to write his second book.
Lowry came across the passage in Senator Obama's book "Dreams of My Father" as he notes, Barack Obama wrote (an achingly good) memoir. In the book, Obama makes it clear that Wright when he first got to know him was pretty much the same Wright we're getting to know now (the one that Obama is at pains to say is on the verge of retirement). Wright was striking some of the same notes, saying racially venomous things and attacking the bombing of Hiroshima.
In an excerpt from the book written 10 years before he thought of running for President Obama writes; The title of Reverend Wright’s sermon that morning was “The Audacity of Hope.” He began with a passage from the Book of Samuel—the story of Hannah, who, barren and taunted by her rivals, had wept and shaken in prayer before her God.
The sermon starts on an even keel and then decends into the familiar crazed absurdity we have become all-too-familiar-with when the Reverand rails against this fallen world, “It is this world, a world where cruise ships throw away more food in a day than most residents of Port-au-Prince see in a year, where white folks’ greed runs a world in need, apartheid in one hemisphere, apathy in another hemisphere…That’s the world! On which hope sits!”
And so it went, a meditation on a fallen world. While the boys next to me doodled on their church bulletin, Reverend Wright spoke of Sharpsville and Hiroshima, the callousness of policy makers in the White House and in the State House. As the sermon unfolded, though, the stories of strife became more prosaic, the pain more immediate. The reverend spoke of the hardship that the congregation would face tomorrow, the pain of those far from the mountaintop, worrying about paying the light bill…
The Astute Bloggers call it for what it is and say the Obama bubble has burst.
Mascots Battle at ORU - IUPUI Summit League Championship
And you thought the battle of the Dems was bad!
Check out this KOTV News story about the beat-down between ORU Mascot Eli the Eagle and IUPUI Jawz the Jaguar at the 2008 Summit League Championship.
ORU students say Eli the Mascot was acting in self-defense but the word from IUPUI fans is that Eli messed with an IUPUI cheerleader and the fight was on!
The audio signal strength is a bit weak so you may have to bring your volume up to hear the report.
Check out this KOTV News story about the beat-down between ORU Mascot Eli the Eagle and IUPUI Jawz the Jaguar at the 2008 Summit League Championship.
ORU students say Eli the Mascot was acting in self-defense but the word from IUPUI fans is that Eli messed with an IUPUI cheerleader and the fight was on!
The audio signal strength is a bit weak so you may have to bring your volume up to hear the report.
Kerry confronted on phony Winter Soldier Testimony
Democratic Senator John Kerry of Massachussetts was confronted by Jason Mattera of Young America's Foundation in this YAF/Hot Air TV clandestine interview in the halls of the Capitol Building in Washington D.C.. During the January 31st 1971 "Winter Soldier Investigation" staged before an eager press corps, John Kerry along with Al Hubbard told bold faced lies about the actions of U.S. servicemen during the Vietnam war. Kerry along Al Hubbard who falsely claimed to be an Air Force officer wounded in the war, told horrific stories of U.S. military personnel burning villages, gang-raping women and using defenseless Vietnamese as targets before an astounded nation as the cameras rolled.
The "Veterans" who testified in "Winter Soldier" were later proven to be fakes who never served in Vietnam with most having never served in the military at all! After returning from only six weeks of duty in Vietnam, John Kerry joined the Vietnam Veterans Against the War and later along with antiwar celebrities staged this media stunt which resulted in a Congressional investigation later that year. Although the "Winter Soldier" "witnesses" who testified about these alleged atrocities were later discredited, the organizers achieved their objective before the world press in portraying American servicemen as unruly, loutish savages with no regard for human life. Between the media's own campaign against the Vietnam war and the "Winter Soldier Investigation" the American public had finally had enough of Vietnam and lost the will to fight Communist aggression in that part of the world which resulted in a great triumph for Hanoi.
John Kerry, Jane Fonda and other antiwar activists were later honored by the Communist regime in Vietnam with their photos proudly displayed in in the Vietnamese Communist War Remnants Museum (formerly known as the "War Crimes Museum") in Ho Chi Minh City (the former Saigon; capitol of South Vietnam). The photographs of Kerry, Fonda and other antiwar noteables appear in a section of the museum honoring foreigners opposed to the war against the Communists.
Now a new group of dedicated Leftists, Socialists, Communists and Anarchists is staging their own version of Winter Soldier with the formation of Winter Soldier Soldier II to be held Thursday through Sunday of this week. If you're in the D.C. area show your support for the troops and don't let the usual suspects slander and defame those who are defending our country.
Vets for Freedom, Gathering of Eagles and Move America Forward will be there to show the useless hippie leftovers that we won't be fooled again.
The "Veterans" who testified in "Winter Soldier" were later proven to be fakes who never served in Vietnam with most having never served in the military at all! After returning from only six weeks of duty in Vietnam, John Kerry joined the Vietnam Veterans Against the War and later along with antiwar celebrities staged this media stunt which resulted in a Congressional investigation later that year. Although the "Winter Soldier" "witnesses" who testified about these alleged atrocities were later discredited, the organizers achieved their objective before the world press in portraying American servicemen as unruly, loutish savages with no regard for human life. Between the media's own campaign against the Vietnam war and the "Winter Soldier Investigation" the American public had finally had enough of Vietnam and lost the will to fight Communist aggression in that part of the world which resulted in a great triumph for Hanoi.
John Kerry, Jane Fonda and other antiwar activists were later honored by the Communist regime in Vietnam with their photos proudly displayed in in the Vietnamese Communist War Remnants Museum (formerly known as the "War Crimes Museum") in Ho Chi Minh City (the former Saigon; capitol of South Vietnam). The photographs of Kerry, Fonda and other antiwar noteables appear in a section of the museum honoring foreigners opposed to the war against the Communists.
Now a new group of dedicated Leftists, Socialists, Communists and Anarchists is staging their own version of Winter Soldier with the formation of Winter Soldier Soldier II to be held Thursday through Sunday of this week. If you're in the D.C. area show your support for the troops and don't let the usual suspects slander and defame those who are defending our country.
Vets for Freedom, Gathering of Eagles and Move America Forward will be there to show the useless hippie leftovers that we won't be fooled again.
Blue Man Group - How to be a Megastar 2.1
Enough politics!
Let's talk about really important stuff like, How to be a Megastar version 2.1 with Blue Man Group.
Crank it up!
Stomp your feet! -------- Clap your hands! --------
Let's talk about really important stuff like, How to be a Megastar version 2.1 with Blue Man Group.
Crank it up!
Stomp your feet! -------- Clap your hands! --------
2006 Borsao "Tres Picos" GARNACHA (Campo de Borja, Spain)
This was an AMAZING wine for the money!
Eye: Very dark ruby/mulberry with violet highlights.
Nose: Gorgeous and exuberant nose of spiced, oozing raspberry syrup, sweet cream, and baked stones.
Mouth: Focused and densely-fruited, but with a sense of lightness and balance, this wine features rich, salty, minerally raspberry flavors. The finish is like a dry port, with great length, and full body, and showing a bit of heat and tannin (but in a good way!).
Cellar or drink?: This is drinking phenomenally well now, but my guess is that it wouldn't hurt to leave it a year or two in a cool cellar.
Score: 92.
Price/store: Was $15 and change at Spec’s on Smith.
Eye: Very dark ruby/mulberry with violet highlights.
Nose: Gorgeous and exuberant nose of spiced, oozing raspberry syrup, sweet cream, and baked stones.Mouth: Focused and densely-fruited, but with a sense of lightness and balance, this wine features rich, salty, minerally raspberry flavors. The finish is like a dry port, with great length, and full body, and showing a bit of heat and tannin (but in a good way!).
Cellar or drink?: This is drinking phenomenally well now, but my guess is that it wouldn't hurt to leave it a year or two in a cool cellar.
Score: 92.
Price/store: Was $15 and change at Spec’s on Smith.
2005 Chateau de Lancyre PIC SAINT-LOUP "La Coste d"Aleyrac" (Coteaux du Languedoc, Soutjwest France)
This Grenache-Syrah blend really needs lots of air (decant it a few hours), but then is very nice.
Nose: Exceedingly earthy-meaty at first, with increasing air time these characteristics were replaced by lush black raspberry scents, with undertones of walnut oil and earth.
Mouth: Ripe and concentrated, with very nice earthy-saline and blackberry flavors, leading to a long, slightly tannic finish, though the tannins are soft. Excellent balance, and medium-full body.
Cellar or drink?: Drinking well now (with air), this wine should improve over the next 2-3 years.
Score: 88.
Price/store: Was $13.50 at Spec’s on Smith.
Nose: Exceedingly earthy-meaty at first, with increasing air time these characteristics were replaced by lush black raspberry scents, with undertones of walnut oil and earth.
Mouth: Ripe and concentrated, with very nice earthy-saline and blackberry flavors, leading to a long, slightly tannic finish, though the tannins are soft. Excellent balance, and medium-full body.
Cellar or drink?: Drinking well now (with air), this wine should improve over the next 2-3 years.
Score: 88.
Price/store: Was $13.50 at Spec’s on Smith.
2006 "Bitch" GRENACHE (Barossa Valley, Australia)
Immediate gratification personified: Very fruity and hedonistic, but with virtually no structure for aging.
Color: Medium-light ruby garnet. Mouth: Broad, voluptuously soft, and ripe, this had richly fruity raspberry and black cherry flavors, framed by hot, gravelly tones and a bit of a peppery alcoholic bite. No tannin whatsoever to speak of.
Cellar or drink?: Drink now. I mean it.
Score: 88.
Price/store: Was $10 and change at Spec’s on Smith.
Ferraro resigns from Clinton campaign
Former Democratic Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro stepped down from her position on Hillary Clinton's campaign finance committee late this evening according to ABC News. Ferraro's racially charged comments about Barack Obama's successes as a Democrat presidential front-runner in the race for his party's nomination this August were at the center of the most recent controversy between the rival camps.
In a written statement to Clinton Ferraro wrote: "Dear Hillary, I am stepping down from your finance committee so I can speak for myself and you can continue to speak for yourself about what's at stake in this campaign. The Obama campaign is attacking me to hurt you. I won't let that happen. Thank you for everything you've done and continue to do to make this a better world for my children and grandchildren. You have my deep admiration and respect, Gerry.”
Don't expect this will quiet the rancor between the Clinton and Obama teams for long. There's enough matter-anti-matter combustion between these two opposing forces to fuel the Star Ship Enterprise.
Don't beam me up just yet Scotty.
In a written statement to Clinton Ferraro wrote: "Dear Hillary, I am stepping down from your finance committee so I can speak for myself and you can continue to speak for yourself about what's at stake in this campaign. The Obama campaign is attacking me to hurt you. I won't let that happen. Thank you for everything you've done and continue to do to make this a better world for my children and grandchildren. You have my deep admiration and respect, Gerry.”
Don't expect this will quiet the rancor between the Clinton and Obama teams for long. There's enough matter-anti-matter combustion between these two opposing forces to fuel the Star Ship Enterprise.
Don't beam me up just yet Scotty.
Geraldine Ferraro - If Obama Was A White Man...
Geraldine Ferraro's comments that Barack Obama is winning primaries because generates buzz in this CNN news analysis.
Full: Barack Obama in Columbus, MS
Obama won Wyoming on Saturday and will cruise to an easy victory in Mississippi during that state's upcoming primary. Senator Obama skillfully swats down the repeated Clinton line that he would make a good V.P. when he rightly points out, "Why should the one who's in first place settle for second place?" Obama is very likeable and charismatic but then goes on to explain how he will not pursue the policies of President Bush, i.e. won't fight our enemies or confront Iran. Despite his many personal merits, from an issues standpoint an Obama presidency would be a disaster.
Man In the Arena
Great Ad for John McCain. This draws the comparisons between John McCain and his two Democrat rivals. Hill and Barack the Dems talk the talk but McCain walks the walk.
Oklahoma Civil Rights Initiative – The Signature Blocker
An irate race-baiter in action last year. People quietly gathering signatures for a petitition to end racial preferences in Oklahoma encounter the face of the ugly racisim that fuels racial preferences and quotas. (Otherwise known as institutionalized racism.) Personally I would have called the cops on a character like this if that person tried to badger me while I was quietly going about collecting signatures for a ballot initiative. - Note to race-mongers, we have something called the 1st Amendment that prohibits the kind of intimidation that you put on display for the benefit of the cameras. "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances." These people were peaceably assembling to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
Obama wins Mississippi
Senator Barack Obama handily won the Mississippi Democratic primary today carrying 90% of the black vote and only 25% of the white vote. Obama was expected to take Mississippi and trounced his opponent with a decisive 61 - 37% win in the overall vote. The AP reports on the racially polarized contest between the two Senators while recalling remarks made during an interview with Torrance, California periodical the Daily Breeze, by prominent Clinton supporter Geraldine Ferraro. During the interview Mrs. Ferraro said that, "If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. (Competing as a front-runner) And if he was a woman - of any color - he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept,".
After the comments were aired, the Obama team hit back hard with calls for Ferraro to be dismissed from any active participation with the Clinton campaign. "The bottom line is this, when you wink and nod at offensive statements, you're really sending a signal to your supporters that anything goes," said Obama senior advisor David Axelrod. The strategist for the Obama campaign added that people view Mrs. Clinton as a "divisive and polarizing force."
With 2025 delegates needed to win the Democratic party Presidential nomination, Senator Obama leads Mrs. Clinton with 1,374 delegates to 1,226 according to the AP while the New York Senator leads in super delegates 247-211. Democrat party bosses fear an all out fight on the convention floor if a clear winner is not decided in time for the party's convention in Denver this August. Activists fear a deadlock going into the convention could result in a back room deal by the Clintons to persuade super delegates to move for Clinton and take the nomination away from Obama. A behind the scenes deal by the Clintons to take away super delegates from Obama would backfire badly. Barack Obama has led the popular vote among the party faithful and has won more than twice the number of states as the former first lady in Democratic primaries and caucuses. Obama has been able to attract standing-room-only crowds for his speeches while the Clinton's play to half-empty venues. A majority of the party rank and file have flocked to hear the Illinois Senator speak of a new hope in auditoriums, gymnasiums and union halls across the land. A move by the Clintons to rob Obama at the convention would split the party and irreparably damage African-American support for the Democrats not only in this election cycle but in future elections for years to come.
But if there's anything the Clintons know, it's a good fight and they give nothing up without an all-out battle. In bare knuckles contests like this, the Clintons can count on the support of feisty allies like Mrs. Ferraro who is not one to shy away from a fight or to start one if need be as Ben Smith reveals in a Ferraro flashback to 1988. Referring to then presidential candidate Jesse Jackson's radical views Mrs. Ferraro said, "If Jesse Jackson were not black, he wouldn't be in the race,". Like the old vaudevillian Al Jolson once said, "Hang on folks, you ain’t seen nothing yet!" I expect we'll hear more broadsides exchanged between the rival camps on the road to the big stakes primary coming up in Pennsylvannia.
Get set for a wild to Denver this summer.
After the comments were aired, the Obama team hit back hard with calls for Ferraro to be dismissed from any active participation with the Clinton campaign. "The bottom line is this, when you wink and nod at offensive statements, you're really sending a signal to your supporters that anything goes," said Obama senior advisor David Axelrod. The strategist for the Obama campaign added that people view Mrs. Clinton as a "divisive and polarizing force."
With 2025 delegates needed to win the Democratic party Presidential nomination, Senator Obama leads Mrs. Clinton with 1,374 delegates to 1,226 according to the AP while the New York Senator leads in super delegates 247-211. Democrat party bosses fear an all out fight on the convention floor if a clear winner is not decided in time for the party's convention in Denver this August. Activists fear a deadlock going into the convention could result in a back room deal by the Clintons to persuade super delegates to move for Clinton and take the nomination away from Obama. A behind the scenes deal by the Clintons to take away super delegates from Obama would backfire badly. Barack Obama has led the popular vote among the party faithful and has won more than twice the number of states as the former first lady in Democratic primaries and caucuses. Obama has been able to attract standing-room-only crowds for his speeches while the Clinton's play to half-empty venues. A majority of the party rank and file have flocked to hear the Illinois Senator speak of a new hope in auditoriums, gymnasiums and union halls across the land. A move by the Clintons to rob Obama at the convention would split the party and irreparably damage African-American support for the Democrats not only in this election cycle but in future elections for years to come.
But if there's anything the Clintons know, it's a good fight and they give nothing up without an all-out battle. In bare knuckles contests like this, the Clintons can count on the support of feisty allies like Mrs. Ferraro who is not one to shy away from a fight or to start one if need be as Ben Smith reveals in a Ferraro flashback to 1988. Referring to then presidential candidate Jesse Jackson's radical views Mrs. Ferraro said, "If Jesse Jackson were not black, he wouldn't be in the race,". Like the old vaudevillian Al Jolson once said, "Hang on folks, you ain’t seen nothing yet!" I expect we'll hear more broadsides exchanged between the rival camps on the road to the big stakes primary coming up in Pennsylvannia.
Get set for a wild to Denver this summer.
Ferraro to Obama: Don't Antagonize Me
Touchy, touchy. The Democrats deal with the back and forth blowback from Mrs. Ferraro's earlier comments that Senator Obama wouldn't be in the favored position he has in the primaries if he were not black. The 1984 Democratic Vice-Presidential nominee explains the context of her earlier comments and finishes with a stern warning to the Junior Senator from the Land of Lincoln, "Don't antagonize me!"
The party that prides itself in majoring in identity politics finds itself stuck in the mire of pitting one identity group against another and the results aren't pretty.
The party that prides itself in majoring in identity politics finds itself stuck in the mire of pitting one identity group against another and the results aren't pretty.
Late Night Blues - Still Crazy
Cross posted on my personal blog, this is just too delicious not to share. I don't know whom I love more in this: the keyboardist, tenor sax, or the horn with that fabulous sweet high note. And always a favorite of mine, Paul Simon.
"Confusion has it's Cost"
I hesitate using the lyrics from a song I deeply love for this post, but the more I listened to "Helplessly Hoping" by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, the more apparent it was that I had no choice: "Helplessly hoping, her harlequin hovers nearby..." there are just too many inferences in this song to the current seppuku being waged between Hillary and Obama. Not that the Democrats have a corner on the short sword market...the Republican talking heads are doing a pretty good job of disemboweling their own too - more on that anon. First, let me address the issue of "hope."
"Hope" has become the almost cultish rallying cry for the followers of the young Senator from Illinois. Frankly, it creeps me out to watch the people behind him fawning in adoration like young girls at a Beatles concert when he gives a speech. Here's the weird part...he says...well... nothing. I guess he just says it so damned well. If you go to his website, there is a quintessentially Barack quote: "I am asking you to believe in change; not only the change I can bring in Washington, but change in yourself." What is this guy? Politician AND Self-help guru? What is change? Well - scratch a little deeper into the website and you can pull out the "Obama Blueprint for Change." A 50 some odd page download that is chock full of change all right...change you can believe in. Change like: "Obama believes the disparity between sentencing crack and powder-based cocaine is wrong and should be completely eliminated. " Or how about this stem-winder: "Obama’s retirement security plan will automatically enroll workers in a workplace pension plan. Under his plan, employers who do not currently offer a retirement plan, will be required to enroll their employees in a direct-deposit IRA account that is compatible to existing direct-deposit payroll systems." This is the stuff that Socialists dream of - on the one hand micro-managing the sentencing requirements to distinguish between powder and crack cocaine and on the other hand imposing pension plan requirements on employers. Make no mistake about it - at the intersection of change and hope is the loss of freedom.
I guess that's why my local chapter of the H.O.G.S. (Hillary's our Gal Society) was so happy last week when Hillary made a brief come back with Ohio and Texas. The math is definitely against her right now, but I think (and I can't believe I am typing this!) that she would be the saner candidate for the Democrats to field. It may be too late, but I sense the gild is off the Obama lilly a little bit. What a delicious irony that it took venerable Saturday Night Live to shame the press into finally asking some real questions. Click here for the video that got the ball rolling.
Call me crazy, but I honestly think that a contest between Hillary and McCain will bring out a sharper discussion of the issues than one between Barrack and John. The latter contest would degenerate into a media full court press (pardon the double entendre) for any indication that RACE was being used by the Republican candidate in the race. It would be tough enough for the Republicans to run against a woman, but everyone knows Hillary and despite a tear or two on the campaign trail, we all know she can take it - just ask Ken Starr. And now more than ever it is imperative to discuss the course of our nation because the contrasts between the two parties couldn't be sharper.
Let's start with the economy. Multiple choice question: In an economic environment of slow growth and potential recession you should a) Raise taxes b) Raise taxes and add numerous new Federal mandates to small businesses c) Reduce taxes d) Reduce taxes and reduce onerous Federal regulations on business. My guess is that if you answered "a" or "b" you are not a regular member of the Rumblings post.
Let's try a foreign policy question. To defeat a fanatical enemy that offers their own children as suicide bombers you should a) Retreat immediately, apologize and offer reparations b) Declare "we've lost" and publicly excoriate high military officials c) Expand a successful strategy to prevent a nation from falling into chaos d) Continue to take the fight to the enemy while offering economic and political liberty. Well, you get the picture.
Hillary is the devil we know. I say this to my Democrat friends - be careful of the one we don't know. A messianic message of hope straight from Paul's letter to the Corinthians 13 is one way to get followers and appeal to the values vote, but the "faith hope and love" Paul spoke of is in affiliation with the Divine, not the Executive Branch of the Federal Government. Remember Jimmy Cliff's great refrain: "the bigger they come, the harder they fall."
Now, to my rabidly self-cannibalizing Republicans wailing from the walls on the ascension of John McCain, let's all take a deep breath. Look, I'm not happy either - I was rooting for the man from Tennessee who exited after South Carolina. I know the recitation of the Crimes of McCain: global warming nut, assault on free speech, Democrat loving cross dresser etc. etc. But let's look at the alternative. Do you really believe that the judges McCain will put forth would be worse than the ones put forward by a President Obama or Clinton II? Do you really think our economy would be better with Democrat policies that are to the left of Jimmy Carter - ahh, the good old days! Do you really feel we will be safer surrendering the Middle East to Islamo-nut jobs bent on murdering as many infidels as they can? McCain's record on the issue of abortion is damned near spotless.
I hear a couple of arguments being made from the Red side of the color spectrum on this matter. The first goes like this: better to elect a Democrat and let everything go to hell so we'll have someone to blame it on. I am not crazy about this "cut your nose off" strategy. As I wrote in a recent post, the times are too critical to gamble with our economy and our security right now. The second argument I hear is "I can't vote against my principles." While I respect the fact that you have principles, I would humbly submit that you have a higher calling, one of duty. It is the duty of every citizen to express their freedom through voting. Certainly, staying home is one way of exhibiting that expression, but I believe your country needs you and you should not ignore that call. It may be the lesser of two evils, but it is the lesser nevertheless.
Even our most iconic conservative President, Ronald Reagan, wasn't perfect. The Lebanon operation was botched and probably laid the foundation for subsequent terrorist attacks - the message given to the Middle East was that we were squeamish at the sight of blood and would retreat when it was extracted. The reality is, Reagan rightfully knew that the key battle of the era was the engagement with the Soviet Union and that our lives and lucre needed to be pitched against that truly "Evil Empire." This is the sense of realpolitik that the Conservative movement needs to embrace as we put John McCain forward.
I've been listening to a terrific podcast lately that is a weekly installment on the History of Rome. It's a great way to get a little extra learnin' in while I'm on the Nordic Trac out in the basement. A couple of weeks ago, the lecture was focused on the Samnite Wars. In the first war, the vaunted phalanx of the Roman legion was badly mauled in several engagements because of the hilliness of the terrain in Samnium and the dexterity of their light infantry and cavalry. The Romans adjusted their battle lines and fought on. After the engagement at the Claudine Forks where the Romans were humiliated, the Samnites wrongly thought that they had taught the Romans a lesson and that they would be left alone. The narrator of the podcast made the point though that "the Romans never quit." I miss that about our country. The United States that fought the Revolutionary War, Civil War and World War II were spiritual kinsmen of the early Roman Republic...they didn't quit. In many ways we have become soft and more than willing to sacrifice our freedom for temporary comfort, how do you say "Universal Healthcare?" Freedom is too precious to be trifled with and at the crossroads where we will stand in November there must be no confusion; the cost is entirely too dear.
"Hope" has become the almost cultish rallying cry for the followers of the young Senator from Illinois. Frankly, it creeps me out to watch the people behind him fawning in adoration like young girls at a Beatles concert when he gives a speech. Here's the weird part...he says...well... nothing. I guess he just says it so damned well. If you go to his website, there is a quintessentially Barack quote: "I am asking you to believe in change; not only the change I can bring in Washington, but change in yourself." What is this guy? Politician AND Self-help guru? What is change? Well - scratch a little deeper into the website and you can pull out the "Obama Blueprint for Change." A 50 some odd page download that is chock full of change all right...change you can believe in. Change like: "Obama believes the disparity between sentencing crack and powder-based cocaine is wrong and should be completely eliminated. " Or how about this stem-winder: "Obama’s retirement security plan will automatically enroll workers in a workplace pension plan. Under his plan, employers who do not currently offer a retirement plan, will be required to enroll their employees in a direct-deposit IRA account that is compatible to existing direct-deposit payroll systems." This is the stuff that Socialists dream of - on the one hand micro-managing the sentencing requirements to distinguish between powder and crack cocaine and on the other hand imposing pension plan requirements on employers. Make no mistake about it - at the intersection of change and hope is the loss of freedom.
I guess that's why my local chapter of the H.O.G.S. (Hillary's our Gal Society) was so happy last week when Hillary made a brief come back with Ohio and Texas. The math is definitely against her right now, but I think (and I can't believe I am typing this!) that she would be the saner candidate for the Democrats to field. It may be too late, but I sense the gild is off the Obama lilly a little bit. What a delicious irony that it took venerable Saturday Night Live to shame the press into finally asking some real questions. Click here for the video that got the ball rolling.
Call me crazy, but I honestly think that a contest between Hillary and McCain will bring out a sharper discussion of the issues than one between Barrack and John. The latter contest would degenerate into a media full court press (pardon the double entendre) for any indication that RACE was being used by the Republican candidate in the race. It would be tough enough for the Republicans to run against a woman, but everyone knows Hillary and despite a tear or two on the campaign trail, we all know she can take it - just ask Ken Starr. And now more than ever it is imperative to discuss the course of our nation because the contrasts between the two parties couldn't be sharper.
Let's start with the economy. Multiple choice question: In an economic environment of slow growth and potential recession you should a) Raise taxes b) Raise taxes and add numerous new Federal mandates to small businesses c) Reduce taxes d) Reduce taxes and reduce onerous Federal regulations on business. My guess is that if you answered "a" or "b" you are not a regular member of the Rumblings post.
Let's try a foreign policy question. To defeat a fanatical enemy that offers their own children as suicide bombers you should a) Retreat immediately, apologize and offer reparations b) Declare "we've lost" and publicly excoriate high military officials c) Expand a successful strategy to prevent a nation from falling into chaos d) Continue to take the fight to the enemy while offering economic and political liberty. Well, you get the picture.
Hillary is the devil we know. I say this to my Democrat friends - be careful of the one we don't know. A messianic message of hope straight from Paul's letter to the Corinthians 13 is one way to get followers and appeal to the values vote, but the "faith hope and love" Paul spoke of is in affiliation with the Divine, not the Executive Branch of the Federal Government. Remember Jimmy Cliff's great refrain: "the bigger they come, the harder they fall."
Now, to my rabidly self-cannibalizing Republicans wailing from the walls on the ascension of John McCain, let's all take a deep breath. Look, I'm not happy either - I was rooting for the man from Tennessee who exited after South Carolina. I know the recitation of the Crimes of McCain: global warming nut, assault on free speech, Democrat loving cross dresser etc. etc. But let's look at the alternative. Do you really believe that the judges McCain will put forth would be worse than the ones put forward by a President Obama or Clinton II? Do you really think our economy would be better with Democrat policies that are to the left of Jimmy Carter - ahh, the good old days! Do you really feel we will be safer surrendering the Middle East to Islamo-nut jobs bent on murdering as many infidels as they can? McCain's record on the issue of abortion is damned near spotless.
I hear a couple of arguments being made from the Red side of the color spectrum on this matter. The first goes like this: better to elect a Democrat and let everything go to hell so we'll have someone to blame it on. I am not crazy about this "cut your nose off" strategy. As I wrote in a recent post, the times are too critical to gamble with our economy and our security right now. The second argument I hear is "I can't vote against my principles." While I respect the fact that you have principles, I would humbly submit that you have a higher calling, one of duty. It is the duty of every citizen to express their freedom through voting. Certainly, staying home is one way of exhibiting that expression, but I believe your country needs you and you should not ignore that call. It may be the lesser of two evils, but it is the lesser nevertheless.
Even our most iconic conservative President, Ronald Reagan, wasn't perfect. The Lebanon operation was botched and probably laid the foundation for subsequent terrorist attacks - the message given to the Middle East was that we were squeamish at the sight of blood and would retreat when it was extracted. The reality is, Reagan rightfully knew that the key battle of the era was the engagement with the Soviet Union and that our lives and lucre needed to be pitched against that truly "Evil Empire." This is the sense of realpolitik that the Conservative movement needs to embrace as we put John McCain forward.
I've been listening to a terrific podcast lately that is a weekly installment on the History of Rome. It's a great way to get a little extra learnin' in while I'm on the Nordic Trac out in the basement. A couple of weeks ago, the lecture was focused on the Samnite Wars. In the first war, the vaunted phalanx of the Roman legion was badly mauled in several engagements because of the hilliness of the terrain in Samnium and the dexterity of their light infantry and cavalry. The Romans adjusted their battle lines and fought on. After the engagement at the Claudine Forks where the Romans were humiliated, the Samnites wrongly thought that they had taught the Romans a lesson and that they would be left alone. The narrator of the podcast made the point though that "the Romans never quit." I miss that about our country. The United States that fought the Revolutionary War, Civil War and World War II were spiritual kinsmen of the early Roman Republic...they didn't quit. In many ways we have become soft and more than willing to sacrifice our freedom for temporary comfort, how do you say "Universal Healthcare?" Freedom is too precious to be trifled with and at the crossroads where we will stand in November there must be no confusion; the cost is entirely too dear.
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