Who is Piers Corbyn?

Who is Piers Corbyn?

  

I came across Piers Corbyn by accident.  I was casually watching FOX & Friends this past Monday morning when an interview with this somewhat eccentric looking man with uncontrolled hair (think Christopher Lloyd as Dr. Emmett Brown or Albert Einstein) came on the screen.  You may have seen a few professors who looked similar during your college days.

It turns out that Piers Corbyn is indeed a scientist, but not a mad one.  Here’s a bit of his bio taken in large part from Wikipedia…

He was born in Chippenham, Wiltshire and, at age 15, started recording weather and climate patterns and constructing his own observation equipment.  Corbyn received a first class honors degree in physics at Imperial College London.  He received a degree in astrophysics in 1979 at Queen Mary College, London, later examining the relationship between the Earth's weather and climate and solar activity.  Following some years of weather prediction as an occupation, he formed a company called Weather Action which sells its forecasts to those in industries who need an accurate long range weather prediction. 

Tom Standage of WIRED says of Corbyn…

“Another sign he's not your everyday weatherman: the conspicuously displayed photocopy of a check for £2,291 hanging on the wall.  Unique among meteorologists, Corbyn bets on his forecasts.  Unusual among bettors of any stripe, he wins regularly.  The check on the wall is a payout from London bookmaker William Hill on one of their monthly bets.”

Corbyn doesn’t just predict the weather a few days in advance.  In fact, he predicted the snowy, cold winter weather in London last May at the same time the Government’s Metrological Office predicted it would be one of the mildest winters on record.  The Met Office forecast is based on output from a new $50 million super computer using the Global Warming model.  Corbyn dismisses the model as basically “garbage in, garbage out.”  He says at his website (www.weatheraction.com)...

“Standard forecasters don't know what is hitting them this winter.  What is happening with weather extremes and climate change is caused by predictable solar particle and magnetic effects – called Solar Climate Change – and is nothing to do with the fiction of man-made and CO2 driven global warming/climate change; that is failed science based on fraudulent data.”

It was just about 10 years ago that a leading national UK paper, The Independent, ran the headline, “Snowfalls Are Now Just a Thing of the Past.”  Among the quotes from the article are included…

“The warming is so far manifesting itself more in winters which are less cold than in much hotter summers.”  —Dr. David Viner, senior research scientist at the climatic research unit of the University of East Anglia.  And…

“…within a few years, winter snowfall will become ‘a very rare and exciting event…’”—Dr. David Viner.  And finally…

“Children just aren’t going to know what snow is.”—Dr. David Viner

While I have a degree in engineering, I’m no climate scientist, but even if one has just a little bit of common sense and the ability to reason, it seems fair to conclude that Dr. Viner and his friend, Al Gore, just don’t know what they are talking about.

While climate alarmists continue to predict man caused global warming of the globe, Piers Corbyn (who puts his money where his mouth is by betting on his own forecasts) says the earth is in a 20 to 25 year cycle of cooling due to solar activity. 

Now tell me this.  If you had to make an important decision about the future and you had two advisors, both of whom claimed to be experts, who would you trust?  The one who depends for his living on government grants premised on a particular outcome, or the one who has to sell his advice in the marketplace to make a living and even bets his own money on his forecasts?

The government of the United Kingdom is betting on the folks that can’t shoot straight, the ones who said it was going to be a warm winter and that snow was going to be a thing of the past.  They have accepted global warming as settled science and are going forward with an energy policy that dooms their citizens to a “new normal” that will economically cripple their nation.

According to Iain Murray in The Washington Times…

“The policy is likely to raise electricity bills per household by about $800 per year by 2020 while reducing the capacity of the country to build reliable power plants.  The carbon tax could reach as high as almost $110 per metric ton of carbon dioxide.”

And the US isn’t far behind.  Although so called “Cap and Trade” (more accurately described as “Cap and Tax”) failed even in the disastrous 110^th Congress, President Obama is now pushing it forward as an administrative rule via the Environmental Protection Agency.  This is not just a possibility, it is reality.  The first restrictions on the use of carbon generated electricity, i.e. coal and petroleum electric plants, goes into effect in January 2011.  If such restrictions are applied across the board to all carbon based use, your energy bills will increase, on average, over $2,000 per year.

How ironic that while Government Motors (GM) has introduced the Volt as the first clean energy vehicle, it will depend for energy primarily on coal fired electric plants, the most dominant source of electricity in the United States.  In reality, GM’s Volt will be the highest polluting automobile in America.

Why should we be surprised at anything the government does?

Believing in global warming in the light of science makes just as much sense as believing the earth is flat.  The global warming hoax is a dangerous fantasy that is driven solely by political science, not hard science.  It has been totally discredited, yet the politicians press forward with one single goal—more control over your life and mine.

Let us hope and pray that the new Congress will listen more to real scientists like Piers Corbyn, than they do to junk scientists like Dr. David Viner or that self-styled climatologist, Al Gore (even though he did invent the Internet).  It’s time to put the brakes on the EPA before it’s too late.

What’s the Big Deal About Christmas?

What’s the Big Deal About Christmas? 

What is the big deal about Christmas?  Why all the fuss?  What’s the real “meaning of the season,” as people like to say?  Is it all about being together with family and friends?  Being with family and friends is really nice, especially at Christmastime, but that’s not the meaning of Christmas or the reason we celebrate Christmas.  Is it about the weight challenged guy in the red suit?  Of course not, giving and getting gifts is fun and enjoyable, but it’s not the reason for celebrating at Christmastime.  How about peace?  Is Christmas about peace—peace between enemies, peace on earth?  No, that’s not the reason or the meaning of Christmas.

Christmas is about celebrating the birth of Jesus. 

OK, so we get together and have fun as we celebrate the birth of Jesus, right?  Sure, it’s fun to go to a birthday party, but what’s so special about Jesus’ birth?  Yes, he was born dirt poor, in fact, he was born in a windy barn with all sorts of not-so-clean animals milling around in their stalls.  And Jesus was truly good.  But what’s with the worldwide celebration of Christmas?

Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus because his birth had been foretold for centuries and centuries.  In fact, it’s recorded in the book of Genesis that God promised Adam and Eve that He would send a Savior to save them from their sins.  And all throughout the Old Testament, many hundreds of years before Jesus’ birth, details were prophesied about his coming.  He was to be of the lineage of King David, and indeed he was.

The big deal is that you and I and everyone who was ever born and ever will be born, are born as sinners.  If we are honest with ourselves we know that we sin multiple times each and every day of our lives.  In Psalm 51:5, David said, “I was a sinner when my mother conceived me.”  Yes, not only was David a sinner, but all the “heroes” of the Old and New Testaments were sinners.  Perhaps Solomon said it best, “Certainly, there is no one so righteous on earth that he always does what is good and never sins.” (Ecclesiastes 7:20)  And in the New Testament Paul says in Romans 3:23, “Because all people have sinned, they have fallen short of God’s glory.”  What a self-delusional fool I would be if I believed anything else.  How can I deny my sinfulness?  It’s self evident every day, and your sins should be to you too.

So how is God going to allow sinful men and women to enter His perfect heaven?  No matter how hard we try, we can’t earn it.  We can’t wash away or deny our sins.  And we can’t quit sinning.  So how can we possibly get into heaven?  For God to let us into heaven the way we are would make heaven no longer perfect.  What a dilemma!

So God devised a plan, a perfect plan, so that sinful humans could enter His perfect heaven.  It did not and does not involve punishing us for our sins, but rather punishing His son, Jesus, for our sins.  Imagine, God the Father loves us so much He sent His only son, Jesus, to live a perfect life, and then take our sins upon himself on the cross so that we can enter heaven.  What love!  What sacrifice!  And then he rose in triumph that first Easter Sunday as the first to rise from the grave.  It was a sign and a promise that all who believe in Jesus will rise also to be with him in heaven forever.

That’s the big deal of Christmas.  The coming of the Messiah was promised in great detail for centuries and centuries and finally he was born to Mary in a humble stall in Bethlehem.  What a great reason to celebrate!  What a great reason to rejoice!  What a great reason to sing with joy!  The long promised Savior of the world has come to save us from our sins.  Hallelujah!

It is the birth of Jesus, and only the birth, life and death of Jesus, that gives any meaning whatsoever to our lives.  There is nothing else. 

More than 500 years before Jesus was born the prophet Isaiah wrote these exciting words:

“A child will be born unto us.  A son will be given to us.  The government will rest on his shoulders.  He will be named:  Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (9:6)

And of course the beautiful story of the birth of Jesus is told in the 2^nd chapter of Luke —

1 At that time the Emperor Augustus ordered a census of the Roman Empire. 2 This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 All the people went to register in the cities where their ancestors had lived. 4 So Joseph went from Nazareth, a city in Galilee, to a Judean city called Bethlehem. Joseph, a descendant of King David, went to Bethlehem because David had been born there. 5 Joseph went there to register with Mary. She had been promised to him in marriage and was pregnant. 6 While they were in Bethlehem, the time came for Mary to have her child. 7 She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger because there wasn't any room for them in the inn. 8 Shepherds were in the fields near Bethlehem. They were taking turns watching their flock during the night. 9 An angel from the Lord suddenly appeared to them. The glory of the Lord filled the area with light, and they were terrified. 10 The angel said to them, "Don't be afraid! I have good news for you, a message that will fill everyone with joy. 11 Today your Savior, Christ the Lord, was born in David's city. 12 This is how you will recognize him: You will find an infant wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger." 13 Suddenly, a large army of angels appeared with the angel. They were praising God by saying, 14 "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those who have his good will!" 15 The angels left them and went back to heaven. The shepherds said to each other, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see what the Lord has told us about." 16 They went quickly and found Mary and Joseph with the baby, who was lying in a manger. 17 When they saw the child, they repeated what they had been told about him. 18 Everyone who heard the shepherds' story was amazed. 19 Mary treasured all these things in her heart and always thought about them. 20 As the shepherds returned to their flock, they glorified and praised God for everything they had seen and heard. Everything happened the way the angel had told them.

What a great story this is.  What an even greater event was the birth of Jesus as the long promised Savior of the world.  Hallelujah indeed.  Kathi and I wish you and your family a wonderful, joyous celebration of the birth of Jesus our Savior.

Being Presidential

Being Presidential 

Ronald Reagan wouldn’t even remove his suit jacket when he was in the Oval Office at the White House.  That is how much he respected the office of President of the United States.  Bill Clinton, well that’s another story that does not bear repeating.  If a President wants to be treated like a President, he must honor the office and the country he represents at all times.  He doesn’t go on MTV and answer an impertinent question in regard to his underwear and he doesn’t demean or disrespect the office of President in any way.  In short, it is one of his responsibilities to set the public tenor in the land whenever he is in public and even after he leaves the office bestowed upon him by the American people.  As a former President, he must continue his responsibility to act presidential as has every President, regardless of party, from time immemorial with the stark exception of Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton.  A former President must stand above the fray encouraging and supporting the man or woman then in office, especially when the nation is in danger or at risk in any way.  A man or woman of character understands this.  He doesn’t accept a Noble prize on the condition that it trashes the current occupant of the office, and he isn’t the political mud slinger in chief.

Highly respected long time White House correspondent for Time magazine, the late Hugh Sidey (who I was privileged to meet on several occasions) served for a time as President of the White House Historical Association.  Always a gentleman, Mr. Sidey was very protective of the White House as a national treasure.  He was also concerned with the conduct of the occupant of the White House, especially in regard to the respect, dignity and honor which that person gave, or failed to give, to his high office.

Upon the defeat of President Carter in 1980 by Ronald Reagan, Mr. Sidey wrote a critique of the way Mr. Carter handled his official duties as President.  Although Hugh Sidey was a liberal, this particular article did not deal with issues, but rather with the decorum and etiquette of President Carter as our official representative and leader to the rest of the world.  Mr. Sidey was uncharacteristically critical of the outgoing President.  He was offended on day one by Mr. Carter’s decision to use his nickname, rather than his full name, James Earl Carter.  He was unhappy with a President of the United States making an address to the nation wearing a yellow cardigan sweater.  And he was particularly upset that Carter, during his term in office, chose to ignore established White House protocol and etiquette by seating his wife next to him during official state dinners, using poor wine, and toasting at the improper time.  Mr. Sidey, not Jimmy Carter, had the correct perspective on how a President should act, i.e. be presidential at all times.

I feel confident that if Hugh Sidey would have written about the behavior of Barack Obama that it would have been similarly uncomplimentary.  He would have disapproved of the classlessness of the President giving an iPod to the Queen of England containing his speeches.  And he would have understood that summarily returning the Churchill bust to the British Government during the first few days of his presidency was an affront to our closest ally.  He would have shaken his head sadly as the President went on his apology tour and he would have been shocked by this President or any President bowing to sheiks, kings, and tin horn dictators.

A President, especially while in office, has a responsibility to present himself in a presidential manner at all times.  He is, after all, the leader of all Americans and it is his responsibility to carry on his duties as President so that he brings respect and honor upon the office he holds, not just upon himself.

I recognize that President Obama is a young man with limited experience in the public arena.  He only served as a State Senator prior to being elected to the United States Senate.  He served in the Senate for less than two years (most of which time he was campaigning for President), and he has been President of the United States for only a short period.  Nevertheless, if he seeks the office, he must bear the responsibility of maintaining the traditions of the office.  When he does so, he not only strengthens our nation, but brings respect and honor on himself as well as the office of President.

It gives me no joy to say that President Obama has failed miserably in fulfilling this important responsibility.  I wish for his sake and for the sake of our nation that it was not so.  His latest news conference on the settlement he reached with the recently empowered Republican leadership in regard to the extension of the Bush tax cuts was just the latest example of a young man not being ready to lead our nation. 

Charles Krauthammer was understandably disturbed that the President did not thank or acknowledge the Republicans who participated in the negotiations for their cooperation and leadership.  As Mr. Krauthammer said, it is simple courtesy to do so.  A failure to act in a gentlemanly way hurts both the standing of the President, the office of the President, and ultimately, the nation.  Anger does not elevate Mr. Obama nor his standing with the American people.  Being President of the United States is not some political game.  It’s about being the leader of the free world and of the American people.  It’s about putting the good of the nation before yourself or even your political objectives.  It takes a big man to be a good President.

One is tempted to shout, “Grow up!” at the President.  Being President is not about you, Mr. Obama, it’s about the United States of America.  You are the President of every man, woman, and child in the United States.  Please act like a President at all times and follow the traditions of men who have served in that high office since its first occupant, George Washington.  You’re my President and I expect you to be the moral, dignified, and courageous leader of our nation.  It is my responsibility to honor you as you serve, for as Paul said in Romans 13:7, “If you owe someone respect, respect that person.  If you owe honor, honor that person.”  But also remember what Paul said to those in power, “People in the government are God’s servants while they do the work he has given them” (Romans 13:6b).

Read this Book!

Read this Book! 

How odd it is that two years into the presidency of Barack Obama Republicans and Democrats, liberals and conservatives are still trying to figure out Barack Obama.  This has never happened before.  Why are we still trying to decipher our President, to understand him, and most important, to identify what motivates him?  It is agreed by all that his demeanor is cool, almost detached, and his political philosophy somewhat of a mystery.  No one doubts his intelligence, yet no one really seems to know who he is.  Yes, he is a doctrinaire liberal, well educated in establishment liberalism.  No thanks to the news media whose job it is to honestly vet a candidate for president, we know he holds a number of out-of-the-mainstream, far left views.  We know that for more than two decades he attended the Reverend Jeremiah Wright’s church in Chicago, home to the infamous sermon that contained a wish that America be dammed.  But who is Barack Obama really?

He has made it fairly clear that he does not believe in what the late Seymour Lipset coined as “American Exceptionalism.”  Obama would like for America’s role in the world to be less than it has been in the past.  He wants to redistribute income from the more affluent to the “poor” of our land.  He has a special distaste for Britain which he has expressed in several ways, including the immediate return of the Winston Churchill bust upon entering the White House.  But what is it that really explains these and other actions such as bowing to dictators and Kings the world over?  What explains his apology tour of the world?

The answer is the new book by New York Times bestselling author, Dinesh D’Souza, The Roots of Obama’s Rage.  Well documented and researched, this book provides the best insight yet into understanding and predicting how our President will act and react in regard to situations domestic and international.

The thesis developed by D’Souza is that Obama sees America through the prism of a foreigner.  Although born in the United States, Obama was raised by a mother, Stanley Obama, who idolized his father, Barack, Sr., even after he deserted her, and even after marrying Lolo Soetoro, an Indonesian.  It’s no accident that while Obama barely knew his birth father, his first book is titled, Dreams From My Father.  It is the vision of his father, an anti-colonial, anti-neocolonial, African socialist, which is the driving force behind the often curious decisions and actions that our President takes.

Young Barack Obama spent four critical years in Indonesia before Stanley left Lolo because he had betrayed the anti-colonial vision he previously embraced.  Stanley feared that her son would not carry forward the vision of his father.  According to Obama himself, it was in Kenya that he finally embraced and understood the vision of his father and the importance of fulfilling his dream.  This, in a nutshell is the thesis of this eye-opening book.  I am convinced that you really can’t understand Obama until you read “The Roots of Obama’s Rage” and I urge you to not only buy a copy, but to buy multiple copies to give to friends and acquaintances. 

It has already been serialized in Forbes magazine to the consternation of the White House.  In fact, White House Press Secretary, Robert Gibbs, called in the Washington, DC staff of Forbes insisting that they had not fact checked the book and demanding that Forbes retract the entire article.  Free speech doesn’t seem to mean too much to the White House who reacted as one of the apparatchiks in Russia might react to criticism of Putin.  Forbes did not retract, the book had been fact checked carefully.  It was apparently the simple fact that the White House did not and does not want you to read this book which shines the light on who Barack Obama really is.

Get a copy anyway.  Read it.  Pass it along.  It could be the key to toppling Barack Obama in 2012.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving 

Thanksgiving is a uniquely American holiday.  The original Presidential declaration was based on the special day of thanks that the Pilgrims held to thank God for preserving them and for blessing them with a bountiful harvest.  Aided by Squanto, they learned how to harvest oysters and how to survive in the New Land.  It was an all day affair with food of all kinds prepared by both the Pilgrims and by the Indians.  But the centerpiece of the day was a focus on the God from whom all our blessings flow.  They knew that they would not have survived the previous winter or the winter to come without the guiding hand of Divine Providence.

There was actually another Thanksgiving celebration held years earlier in Virginia which had a similar complexion.  Again, the Virginia Colony gave thanks to God for preserving them, watching over them, and blessing them with a great harvest.  The Virginia Colony had gone through rough times.  Initially they established a socialist system in which all would share equally in the crops, the hunting results, and the fishing harvest.  But, not surprisingly, it failed.  The aristocrats felt themselves too good to work in the fields and spent their time idling away or searching for gold.  As a result of this disastrous system, many of the colonists died the first winter from starvation. 

Finally, Captain John Smith instituted a free market system and after that the Virginia Colony flourished.  And so it was that they gave thanks to God for their barns being filled to the brim before the winter came upon them.  They re-learned a powerful truth from the Bible that, "If a man will not work, he shall not eat." (2 Thessalonians 3:10b)  It was the slogan adopted by Captain John Smith and thereafter the Colony prospered.

Today our nation is going through what we consider to be hard economic times and indeed a large number of our countrymen and women are out of work.  It’s my prayer that everyone who has the capacity to do a job of any kind will find a job to do.  I don’t think that I can appreciate the desperation of being out of work and unable to find a job.  We need to keep all these Americans in our prayers.

I was delighted that the Eberle Communications Group team showed their generosity this year by underwriting 1,310 Thanksgiving dinners for the poor and hungry in the Washington, DC area.  This was true compassion.  It was charity in the best sense of the word, for after all, the meaning of charity is love.  And God commands us to care for and love our fellow man.  Well done, folks.

Now, let me encourage you to have a wonderful 2010 Thanksgiving celebration, thanking God for our abundance, the blessings of freedom, and hope that only He can give.  Like you, I plan to enjoy the turkey and the football, but I also plan to take some time to thank the Lord for my many blessings.  A nation on its knees in Thanksgiving knows its priorities, its heritage, and its hope for years to come.  Kathi and I wish you and your family all the best at Thanksgiving and in the years to come.  May God continue to bless America as the land of the free, the faithful, and the home of the brave.

7 Events That Made America America

7 Events That Made America America

  

I just finished reading the book, 7 Events That Made America America: And Proved That the Founding Fathers Were Right All Along, by Professor Larry Schweikart.  What a fun, interesting, and informative book to read.  I highly recommend it.  Professor Schweikart is the co-author of the #1 New York Times bestseller, A Patriot’s History of the United States, a 700+ page tome that I am about 75% finished with.  I’ll certainly review that one when I’m finished, but I interrupted the reading of it with this shorter book of just 216 pages.

What are the 7 events that Professor Schweikart argues that have made America America?  Let’s look briefly at a couple of interesting chapters.

The first chapter is a brief study of little noticed United States President Martin Van Buren, father of the modern Democratic Party.  Schweikart identifies Van Buren as America’s first liberal (or progressive) President.  As an aside, I wish those on the left would settle on one title because, as Shakespeare said, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”  Van Buren was, in today’s vernacular, a consummate politician.  He was the nightmare that Alexis de Tocqueville forecast in his 1830’s book, Democracy in America.  De Tocqueville said, “When those in power realize that they can perpetuate themselves in power through taxing, spending, and electing, your democracy will be dead.”

That formula pretty much sums up Martin Van Buren.  Van Buren astutely recognized that if the Democrat Party could utilize the government treasury to provide jobs and benefits to the masses, he could seduce them into supporting anything.  Van Buren didn’t stop there.  Systematically he began to set up newspapers across the United States that were controlled and in most cases owned outright by the Democratic Party.  Believe it or not, these papers were even more biased and slanted than many of today’s papers.  And a number of them still exist.  Almost all carry the name Democrat in their title, such as the Arkansas Democrat Gazette.

Chapter three is about the Jamestown Flood of 1889 which caused a dam to break above Jamestown, Pennsylvania and release 20 million gallons of water on the unfortunate inhabitants of this steelmaking community.  To quote directly from the book, “The destruction was near total:  over 2,200 people were killed, and the waters caused $17 million in damage.  It constituted the worst single loss of civilian life in America prior to 9/11.  The flood destroyed the railroad, along with 1,600 homes and four square miles of Johnstown proper.  After the damage had been done, at least 27,000 people needed care, shelter and food.”

This is just the beginning of the chapter.  Professor Schweikart proceeds to tell the amazing story of the recovery effort that took place without the assistance of FEMA or any other entity from the Federal government and he contrasts the effectiveness of the effort with that of Hurricane Katrina.  It is a surprising and captivating story.

Other chapters are just as interesting.  They carry titles such as “Ike Has a Heart Attack, Triggering Dietary Nannyism” and “A Steel Guitar Rocks the Iron Curtain.”

7 Events That Made America America is an interesting, sometimes humorous book that is well worth reading.  And when you get to the Professor’s last chapter titled, “Conclusions,” he provides some insight into the intentions of the Founders and why they were bent upon limiting the power of government over the citizens of America.  There’s no doubt in his mind that “…if the government had ever tried to meddle in the private affairs of individuals the Founders would have fought against it.”  He goes on from there to explain the flawed rationalization for the vast expansion of government over our lives.

For example, reference is often made by liberals to the phrase “promote the general Welfare” in the United States Constitution.  In fact, this phrase does not appear in the Constitution, but only in the preamble, and no preamble is ever considered to be a part of the document itself.  It has no power or force in law.  What an incredible stretch.

The second door that liberal judges and their supporters use to expand the enumerated powers of the Constitution is the “necessary and proper” clause found in Article I, Section 8.  It reads:

“The Congress shall have Power—To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.”

Professor Schweikart observes, “Note that the clause refers to the ‘foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution.’  Therefore, the so-called elastic clause cannot apply to any powers exercised outside the narrow definitions of the Constitution.  Unless the actions themselves are delineated in the Constitution, they are illegal.”

What the good professor is pointing out is that the Founders would have been aghast that the Federal government of the United States would think it had any legal power to tell us what to eat, how to get our medical services, what kind of car to drive, whether we can drain a swamp on property we own, what kind of light bulbs we choose to use in our home, etc., etc.

As I said, this is a fun book to read.  It’s highly entertaining and provides a strong reminder of how far we have traveled from the enduring principles established for government by our Founders.  Please read and pass along to a friend.  It’s time for the re-education of Americans in the values that made the United States of America the greatest nation in the history of the world.

I’d even recommend it for our President, Barack Obama.  He’d learn much.

The Root of Racism in America

The Root of Racism in America 

What is racism?  Put simply, it is denigrating any individual solely on the basis of their race.  Such demeaning can take many forms—the written word, the spoken word, a law, a policy, a rolling of the eyes, or an inappropriate shrug of the shoulders.  It’s a sin.  At its core is hatred of another individual—again, solely on the basis of their race.

Here’s a simple test to identify if someone has made a racist statement.  If the terms black, white, Asian or Hispanic are used, simply reverse the words.  For example, in the Jim Crow days, Southern whites said, “Blacks should sit at the back of the bus.”  That was clearly a racist statement and a racist law.  If a law or someone said, “Whites should sit at the back of the bus or Hispanics should sit at the back of the bus” that statement or law would be equally racist and equally repugnant.

Our President spent more than 20 years sitting in church, listening to the racist rantings of his Pastor, Jeremiah Wright.  Not only did he not leave that church, he dedicated his autobiographical book, The Audacity of Hope, to Pastor Jeremiah Wright.  He was married by Wright, his children were baptized by Wright, and Wright christened their home.  This is old news, but it’s pertinent.

Shortly after Barack Obama became President, he interjected himself in a local police matter in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  The story line is rather simple.  A college professor (who incidentally happened to be black) returned from a trip and did not have his key, so he decided to break into his home.  You and I would have probably done the same thing.  A neighbor called the police, thinking that a neighbor’s house was being broken into by a burglar.  The police arrived and asked the professor for identification.  It was a perfectly reasonable and understandable request, but one that was responded to with loud shouting and personal attacks on the police officers as racists.  After continued refusal to provide identification, the professor was hauled to jail whereupon he finally provided identification, was released and returned to his home.  End of story?  Not quite.

Without any knowledge of the facts or the circumstances, President Obama said before the cameras, “The police acted stupidly.”  Now apply the racist test to the same situation if the professor had been white.  Would our President have interjected himself in a local police incident?  Would he have said that, “The police acted stupidly” or would it never have come to his attention?  Our President assumed the worst of the police because they were white and the professor was black, not because he had any information, whatsoever, in regard to the facts of the matter.  His statement was a knee jerk, racist reaction.

In the President’s Marxist view, the story of the world is a struggle of class warfare.  It is black vs. white, rich vs. poor, Hispanic vs. white, workers vs. owners, men vs. women, and the intellectual elite vs. the average American.  He loves to lecture others on their failings.  “Americans cling to their guns and their religion” he famously said to a group of San Francisco liberals during the 2010 campaign.  He complains that Americans “just don’t understand” or that they can’t “comprehend” the true genius of his socialized medicine program.  “If they only understood…” he likes to say, but they just aren’t smart enough or well educated enough.  The poor average American is just dumb.

In Obama’s view, Republicans and Tea Party members are rich, white racists.  Just before the election, he said in a clear reference to Jim Crow laws, “Republicans can sit in the back of the bus.”  You can’t get much more racist than that.

Of course his view of the Republican Party, and especially the Tea Party, is wishful thinking.  Tens of thousands of African Americans are seeing through the ideologically rigid approach that President Obama is taking to remaking America as a nation with entitlements instead of opportunity, a land of apology, instead of pride, a land of injustice instead of equal justice.  Our President is a divider, not a unifier.  He seeks retribution, not forgiveness and harmony.  He is an angry racist.

He has done much damage to our children’s future, regardless of race, economic status, or background.  He has mortgaged their future through reckless spending, overreaching government, and out-of-control political correctness.  He has no understanding of why the Founders sought to limit the power of government because he has a flawed understanding of human nature. 

There is no one race or segment or group in our society or any society that is morally superior to any other group.  We are all sinful human beings, all cursed by the fall of man.  We are all not only susceptible to sin, we all succumb to sin.  We break all of God’s laws and, sadly, we do it every day.  That’s the reality of the human condition. 

Any ideology built on the concept that there is a certain class of men and women who are smarter, better and morally superior to their fellow man and woman is fatally flawed.  No matter how good the intentions, the result will be the same, less freedom, more corruption, less prosperity, less justice, and more inequality in the distribution of wealth. 

That’s why the Founders sought to limit the power of men in government.  They understood the frailty of human nature and thus they knew that the concentration of power in the hands of one or a few always leads to despotism.

The inability of American liberalism to understand human nature is the blindness that dooms all their policies and programs to failure.  Are African Americans any better off today than they were prior to the Great Society?  Has their view, that the United States is just another nation, led to greater peace around the world?  Has their repeated efforts to appease the enemies of America worked?  Has their substitution of a new morality for God’s fixed moral laws made for a kinder, gentler society?  Have their higher taxes, increased regulations, and vast spending outlays created prosperity for all Americans? 

American liberalism, progressivism or any other name they invent means the same thing.  It is a failed philosophy based on the flawed premise that there is a group of elites in society who are morally and intellectually superior to their fellow man and woman.  They mistake intelligence and education for wisdom. 

Where does wisdom come from?  “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”—Psalm 111:10.  Indeed.  “For the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.”—Proverbs 2:6.  God is the source of all wisdom.  “For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength.”—1 Corinthians 1:25.  While man struts and pontificates and prides himself in his own wisdom, God laughs. 

Any effort or venture or government based on the superiority, intelligence and wisdom of man is now and will always be a failed enterprise.  Man proposes, but God disposes.

Election Update: Broader & Deeper Yet

Election Update:  Broader & Deeper Yet

  

In my first update on the 2010 election, I observed that the election results were very broad and deep.  As information on the lower races continues to come in, that analysis is not only confirmed, but in fact the depth of the conservative success continues to be astounding.  The day after the election I learned that the GOP would pick up five to seven state legislatures, in addition to the other victories at the top of the ticket.

For a thorough recap of the down ticket success of the Republican Party, just listen to the following excerpts from an editorial in the November 4, 2010 issue of the Washington Examiner:

“Republicans took control of at least 19 additional state legislative bodies Tuesday for a total of 26 in which the party controls both chambers, compared with 21 for the Democrats and with three still up for grabs.  Among these are legislatures in Alabama and North Carolina that had not seen elected Republican majorities since the Reconstruction elections of 1876 and 1870, respectively.  Those that argued just two years ago the GOP was in danger of becoming a Southern regional party were proved resoundingly wrong as state legislative chambers in New Hampshire, Maine, Wisconsin and Minnesota flipped to GOP control.  Republicans even made major inroads and could end up on top of legislative bodies in Oregon and Washington [state].  Republicans won 16 of 30 races for state attorney general, taking five such offices away from Democrats…

“The GOP also won 17 of 26 secretary of state races, a gain of six, giving the party a 25-22 edge…

“Republicans now will play a role in redrawing the boundaries of a whopping 314 congressional districts.”

All told, the Republicans now have control of both houses of the state legislature in 25 states.  This encouraging news, coupled with the fact that the Republican Party also won 25 governorships on Tuesday, including 12 states where a Republican is replacing an incumbent Democrat, again shows the depth of the electoral sweep by the party of Lincoln and Reagan. 

This means that the GOP bench for future presidential campaigns is deep and substantial.  Not since 1928 has the Republican Party been so strong up and down the ticket.  But 1928 signaled the end of the long reign of the GOP, while the 2010 election signals the potential beginning of long Republican dominance in American politics.

The question, however, is the one posed by United States Senator-elect, Marco Rubio, who said, “Tuesday’s election was not a mandate, it was a second chance.”  Rubio has it exactly right.  If the Republicans stick to their conservative principles of limited government, which translates into smaller government, less taxes, less government intrusion into the lives of its citizens, and a strong national defense, their success at the ballot box will continue.  If, on the other hand, they become a faint shadow of the Democratic Party, they are doomed to failure.  This is the second chance for the GOP.  Will they muff it?  Or will they be faithful to the ideals of those who founded this great nation?  Only time will tell.

A Good Start!

A Good Start!

  

On Tuesday, November 2, 2010, the Republican Party won a great victory that was broader and deeper than any election victory since 1928.  Going back to January of 2008, the pundits predicted that with far more Republican seats at risk in the US Senate than Democrat seats, it was likely that the GOP would make no gains in 2010 and that the governorships would hold constant.  Understanding that situation provides great perspective to the political earthquake that took place on Election Day.

Although the final count is not yet in, some 60 seats have changed hands in the United States House of Representatives and the GOP picked up at least 5 seats in the United States Senate.  Equally important, those elected to the Senate, like Rubio, Paul, Johnson, Lee, Toomey, and possibly Buck and Rossi, will put a new face on the Republican Party, one of principle and integrity rather than Republican opportunism as personified by Lisa Murkowski.  The man who deserves the most credit for the election of these principled conservatives is United States Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina, head of the Senate Conservatives Fund  (www.senateconservatives.com).  Thankfully DeMint will also have much say as to who the Republican nominee for President will be in 2012.

But it is the emerging picture of the depth of the election that makes it even more amazing.  The Republican Party picked up control of at least five additional state legislatures and possibly as many as seven, giving the Party control of more state legislatures than it has held since 1928.  And when the final tale of the tape is read, I’m sure we will find that the GOP won more mayoralty races, more city and more county council races than it has for more than 70 years.

Of course, the amazing election success of the Republican Party in winning state house races in Ohio, Florida, Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania is a 2012 storm warning sign for the White House.  Unless, like Bill Clinton, President Obama makes strong course corrections, he will not survive the political hurricane which is brewing.

While the name on the back of the jerseys of those elected to Congress may say Democrat or Republican, this was not a Republican victory.  In fact, as Speaker-elect John Boehner made clear, the Republicans blew it the last time they gained power in 1994.  Their spending policies were virtually indistinguishable from the Democrats who preceded them.  The Republicans lost not because the Democrats had new ideas (when was the last time you have ever heard of any new idea coming from the Democrats?), but because Republicans abandoned their traditional commitment to limited Constitutional government. 

What the GOP has now is an opportunity.  It is an opportunity to prove that they have limited government principles and convictions that determine their course of action, not political expediency that is solely self-serving.  We can and should be encouraged by the victory statement of Speaker-elect John Boehner.

The election results were a great victory for the common sense conservative movement which has most recently manifested itself in the form of the Tea Party.  The Tea Party itself is fueled by ideas.  Rather than being “know nothings,” as the mainstream news media would have us believe, the Tea Party movement is at its core an intellectual movement.  The leaders and participants in the Tea Party understand the principles of limited government.  They don’t just blindly believe that freedom in a society cannot exist without an economic free market, they understand why that is the case.  As witness to this fact, consider that the classic economic primer on free market economics, The Road to Serfdom, by Friedrich von Hayek, which was written and published prior to World War II, reached the New York Times best seller list in the last 12 months.  The Democrats bragged that they did not read the more than 2,000 page bill that was Obamacare, but the Tea Party members did.  And while Democrat candidates and legislators have limited knowledge of the United States Constitution, Tea Party members distribute and read it carefully.  The Tea Party, for the most part, consists of good Americans who care about others, respect the law, teach their children good manners, have a strong moral code, are well educated, and worship the God of their forefathers.

On the other hand, today’s Democratic Party is, in general, the real “know nothing” Party without intellectual depth, historical perspective, common sense, or faith or belief in anything but gaining more power over the people and personal aggrandizement.  The Democratic Party is not based on principles, but rather on cobbling together support from a bunch of special interest groups that they keep in line by handing out largess supplied by American taxpayers.  It is a Party that has sold its soul by appealing to the most base instincts of the American people.  They set poor against rich, black against white, men against women, workers against employers, young against old.  For the most part, its leaders are bereft of personal compassion, love of country, and respect for the Founders’ principles that provide for a free and just nation.  They see America as the source of evil, not the good, generous and great nation that it really is.

When Barack Obama was elected to the White House by a slim majority of 53%, he became the President of a divided nation.  He promised to be a healer, a unifier, a President to all Americans.  Instead, he became a divider, an antagonist, who looked upon the broad swath of hardworking middle class Americans as his “enemies.”  Instead of building up the nation and bringing Americans together, he chose to govern against the clear wishes of the people.  He set about not to improve and rebuild America, but to “remake it” into something entirely foreign and distinct from the Constitutional limited government created by Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Adams and the other Founders.  He appointed powerful Czars like Van Jones, a self proclaimed Communist, who worked outside the framework of government to implement a far left agenda.  He bowed to dictators.  He kowtowed to tyrants.  Without Constitutional authority, he took over banks and major segments of the economy.  His Attorney General made a sham of equal justice under the law.  Obama apologized for the United States.  He became a willing puppet of the union bosses.  With a complicit Congress he spent money we didn’t have on a stimulus that created no jobs, but served only as a payoff to loyal politicians and union bosses.  With his leftist cohorts in Congress, Reid and Pelosi, He rammed through a socialist health care law that, if left in place, will destroy the greatest health care system in history and that will place a financially unsustainable burden on generations yet unborn.

The response of the electorate was predictable.  The election on November 2nd was a full, deep, and broad repudiation of the progressive/liberal agenda put forward by an overreaching Democratic Party that has been captured by leftist ideologues.  And this victory is just the beginning.

It’s not only the White House that is up for grabs in 2012, but the Democrats also face a dismal picture when it comes to the races for US Senate that year.  Of the 33 seats that will be contested in 2012, 20 are currently held by Democrats.  Of those 20 seats, 11 states were carried by the McCain-Palin ticket.  In other words, the Democrats had better brace for yet a second tidal wave of the size of the 1932 elections which swept Franklin D. Roosevelt to President.  Only this time, the winners will have a different title on the back of their jerseys.

Yes, it was a great election victory.  More important, it is just the beginning. 

The bloodletting will soon commence in the Democratic Party.  The far left radicals think Obama didn’t go far enough left.  The career Democrats who saw their Party decimated are angry and out for blood.  They know that Obama, Pelosi, and Reid unnecessarily led their Party down this path to a massive defeat.  It’s not a question of if Obama will have a primary opponent, but rather who that opponent will be.  It’s not a question of if there will be bloodletting internal fights within the Democratic Party, but rather who will come out the victors.

Now is not the time to sit back and relax or celebrate our victory.  It is the time to press on with resolve and determination to return our nation to the principles and ideals that made this the greatest nation in the history of the world.  It is the time to donate, to work, and to spread the message that limited Constitutional government is the only framework that secures freedom and prosperity for this and future generations of Americans.

May God continue to bless America!

The Coming Political Tsunami

The Coming Political Tsunami

In 1928, the Republican Party assembled in Kansas City, Missouri to choose their candidate for President of the United States.  Calvin Coolidge had announced the previous year that he would not be a candidate for President in 1928.  The GOP turned to a man who had never previously run for political office, Herbert Hoover, who had been appointed as US Secretary of Commerce by Coolidge.  Hoover was nominated on the first ballot.

The Democrats held their first national nominating convention in a Southern state since the Civil War and they selected Alfred E. Smith, Governor of New York.  Smith was a product of the Tammany Hall machine, a Roman Catholic, and backed repeal of the Prohibition amendment to the US Constitution.  Meeting in Houston, Texas, the convention chose as Smith’s running mate a Southerner, Senator Joseph T. Robinson of Arkansas, a “dry.”

The 1928 election marked the first extensive use of the medium of radio by national political candidates.  Hoover was elected in an overwhelming landslide, receiving more than 58% of the popular vote.

In 1929, the Stock Market crashed and the economy spun downward.  The situation was exacerbated when Hoover signed the strong protectionist Smoot-Hawley tariff bill in June 1930.  With the economy struggling, the Democrats made strong gains in the 1930 off-year elections, but failed to take control of either the US House of Representatives or the US Senate.

With the economy in a tailspin by 1932, the Democratic Party nominated New York Governor, Franklin D. Roosevelt, as their presidential nominee to run against Herbert Hoover.  In a dramatic turnaround, Roosevelt received 57.8% of the popular vote.  His victory was both wide and deep. 

The Democrats not only won the White House and both houses of Congress, but also captured control of a majority of state houses and state legislatures for the first time in several decades.  They won city council races, mayor races, county government races—almost everything from coast to coast and border to border.  It was a wipe out.

History is about to repeat itself next Tuesday. 

In the most dramatic turnaround in political sweepstakes since 1928 to 1932, the Republicans, with the critical help of the Tea Party, are about to achieve the most dramatic election victory of the last 75 years.  It will be both broad and deep, reaching from the Congress to counties to city councils across the nation.  The Republicans will end the day in control of more state houses and state legislatures than they have had since 1928.

Barack Obama came into office winning nearly 53% of the national vote and was buttressed by enormous good will.  All America celebrated the election of its first African American President. 

The race itself was lackluster on the Republican side.  Vietnam War hero John McCain appeared old and unimaginative.  His policies were Democrat light.  In the mold of Willkie, Dewey, Ford and other losing “moderate” Republicans, the outcome of the election was a foregone conclusion.

Unfortunately for the Democrats, Obama, together with Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, decided to govern against the wishes of the American people.  Obamacare was rammed through the Congress, trillions of dollars were spent, and political shenanigans abounded as the Democrats drove the nation to the brink of bankruptcy.

Predictably, the American people revolted.  A spontaneous Tea Party erupted nationwide in a hundred different variations but with a simple theme—stop the spending, repeal Obamacare, shrink government.  Instead of listening, the Democrats plowed forward with the most radical agenda in American history.  They ignored polls showing that the electorate as a whole was much more conservative than liberal.  They even ignored the election of a Republican governor in New Jersey and incredibly the election of Republican Scott Brown to fill the US Senate seat formerly held by Edward Kennedy.

Today, just a few days before the election, they face the wrath of the voters.  Sure, they may win the New York Governor’s race (just as FDR did in 1928) and the Senate races in Connecticut and Delaware, but it’s going to be slim pickings for the Democrats on election night.

It looks fairly certain that the Democrats will lose at least 60 seats in the US House of Representatives and possibly as many as 75 or even 90 seats depending on how the undecided vote falls.  While the GOP may not win control of the US Senate, it’s likely that they will not only pick up nine seats, but equally important, elect a number of principled conservatives to replace establishment Republican candidates.  New Republican stars will emerge such as Rubio in Florida, Paul in Kentucky, Lee in Utah, Johnson in Wisconsin, Buck in Colorado, Raese in West Virginia, Toomey in Pennsylvania, and Rossi in Washington State.  The GOP will also pick up other US Senate seats in Illinois and California.

It’s going to be a great night for America and for the ideals of America’s Founders.  Obama has taken the nation to the brink of disaster but Americans are rising on November 2^nd to say, “No more!”

Now get out and vote and make sure it happens.  It’s a critical first step in restoring America to greatness.  Let’s make sure that 2010 was the high water mark of American liberalism, progressivism or whatever would be American socialists call themselves today.  The name changes, but their game is the same—more government, less freedom.

Patricius of Ireland

Patricius of Ireland 

I just finished reading the book, St. Patrick of Ireland, by Philip Freeman (Simon & Schuster), and I highly recommend it to you.  This biography of the man known in history as St. Patrick is well written, well-documented, and tells an inspiring story of one of the greatest Christian missionaries in world history.  The book is based primarily on the letters of St. Patrick, Letters to the Soldiers of Coroticus and Confession.  These letters, combined with excellent research by Professor Freeman, give us a reliable picture of the man and the times in which he lived.  The story separates fact from legend, yet the picture it paints is no less inspiring and exciting.

I don’t want to ruin the story for you, but just imagine a 15 year old boy born into nobility in Roman England just prior to the turn of the 4th century AD who is seized by Irish raiders in the dead of night and forced into slavery in a brutal, pagan land with little hope of escape.  It is a story of a world turned upside down, a story of re-energized faith in God, and a story of dedication to the will of God.

It was a hard and brutal world into which Patricius (Patrick) was born, even though he was the son of nobility.  Slavery was present everywhere – in England, in Ireland, and throughout the world.  It was considered to be a “natural state,” even by church leaders.

Patrick, however, had, for his day, a bright future in front of him.  Listen to this description by Patrick himself from one of his letters…

“My Father was Calpornius, a deacon of the Church, and my grandfather was Potitus, a priest.  His home was the village of Banna Venta Berniae, but he also had a country estate nearby.”

He would be well-educated in learning and would live a privileged life.  But that was not God’s plan for Patrick.

As early as 55 B.C. Roman warriors crossed the English Channel in an attempt to subdue the Celtic tribes who then ruled England.  Although that attempt failed, in 43 A.D. Roman legions cross the Channel again and this time the effort was successful, although the conquest of England, Wales, and Scotland was not completed until 84 A.D.  It was into this Roman England that Patrick was born. 

But he was thrust from this world of peace and privilege into a life of slavery in Ireland.  While such an event might have led you and me to be bitter and angry at God, Patrick looked around him and saw the devastation that a life without faith in Jesus created.  He was not angry, but instead he took pity on his captors and drew closer to God. 

His incredible escape from slavery and his even more incredible call to return to Ireland as a missionary is a story that will captivate and amaze you.  This imperfect vessel of clay was used by God to do great things for the people of Ireland and for the world.  It’s not an exaggeration to say that the world is a better place today and that tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, took the path to heaven thanks to Patricius of Ireland.

You know the legends and the stories, but I encourage you to take a couple of enjoyable hours to read the facts about the amazing life of Patricius of Ireland.  It’s a story that will inspire, amaze, and encourage you.  Wherever the Gospel is told, and whoever God is pleased to choose as His instrument in sharing the Gospel, it is always a story worth reading.  It’s a great story of love and compassion and grace.  It is story that gives hope and life to those who embrace it.