I’ve gone to a different template for the blog and switched the comments over to Disqus. I’m currently trying to import all the old comments into Disqus. Notice the word “trying.”
This is all part of attempting to rid this state of the annoying Pharma hack to which WordPress is apparently rather vulnerable. Later on I “get” to clean out the database. Oh what fun.
Looks like the boy’s in trouble again
Living much too close to the edge of sin
Now he finds himself where he should not have been
It’s been an interesting day, starting with snapping at several people first thing this morning on Twitter. The Brett Kimberlin and Neal Rauhauser as flesh incarnate Gog and Magog meme in which so many wallow got the better of me, and I snapped at the usual suspects, some of whom snapped back. I have no love for Kimberlin and/or Rauhauser, holding them in approximately 37.4% of the esteem I have for a pimple on a warthog’s butt. However, after a while the constant victimization cry wears thin, especially when it is conveniently accompanied by donation pleas. Please. Give it a rest and get a job already. Either you are giving these two jokers far more credit than they could ever possibly deserve, or you really ought to be cutting them a slice of the funds you are receiving given how they are the centerpiece of your every fundraiser.
Oh God why is Your peace so hard to find
And the answer to the questions that haunt my mind
Oh Lord Your ways are not like mine
Next came a spillover from the previous evening. The back story first. By now you’re doubtless familiar with the Lindsey Stone saga. Ms. Stone, during a recent company outing to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, thought it would be amusing to pose for a photo channeling to some small degree the late Lenny Bruce:
I rather doubt Ms. Stone knows who Lenny Bruce was, but that’s neither here nor there.
Anyway, as the story unfolds, unfortunately for Ms. Stone and her co-worker who took the picture it was noticed a couple of days ago by some who viewed it with less than a favorable eye. Said people started circulating the photo with Ms. Stone and her employer’s names attached. Before you can say “gone viral” the photo did go viral, with vitriol by the vat full hurled at both Ms. Stone and her employer. The former replied by deleting her social media presence; the latter responded to the howls for blood by firing Ms. Stone and her co-worker. Justice served; pound of flesh taken; scalp… scalped; Ms. Stone’s head hoisted on a cyberpitard. Everyone happy, right?
No, not really.
My initial reaction to the photo was a combination of revulsion that anyone could be both that disrespectful to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice in defense of Ms. Stone’s freedom to be disrespectful and astonishment that anyone could be so dense and self-serving as to think this was actually funny and a great photo op. Which is still my reaction. I would love nothing more than to give Ms. Stone a reading of the Riot Act that would forever be enshrined in academia and studied as a textbook example of how it is done, followed by dragging her by the ear to the nearest VA hospital for a lengthy tour so she could witness first hand the price paid for her enablement to be a jerk. If that didn’t provide her with the necessary clue she needed to get a clue I’d finish by handing her a copy of Jonathan Edwards’ sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” while telling her to never say she wasn’t warned, wash my hands and walk away. Period.
But here’s what I wouldn’t do.
I wouldn’t print her address and phone number.
I wouldn’t print her parent’s names, address and phone number.
I wouldn’t demand she be fired.
Why?
It’s something Jesus mentioned once. You know…
… let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone?
You see, God is still in the sin forgiving business. He still loves His creation. Even when it behaves badly. Sometimes very, very badly. Something to remember. Which, apparently, many on the right have failed to do. Having said all that, back to the original story.
Anyway, a conservative blogger saw an opportunity to score points by writing an open letter to Ms. Stone, verbally stoning her while throwing in some fat jokes for good measure. At which point I snapped — again — and wrote a snarky reply complaining bitterly about how the aforementioned blogger had time to do all this but apparently never had the time to offer condolences for my brother’s death this past August. At which point it was on. He fired back, I fired back to his firing back and several others entered the fray with no intention of discussing how to save a life.
And it pounds like thunder within my breast
All the anger all my humanness
And though I call You Lord I must confess
I’m a stranger to Your holiness
A stranger to Your holiness
Now, one thing you quickly learn in the blogging game is that every blogger with a following can count on at least some of their followers to immediately rise to their defense by heaping scorn on anyone who dares take the object of their fanboi or fangurl affection to task. This defense will range from everything from gentle rebukes to wannabe tough guys trying to call you out, calling you every name in the book because you politely decline to publish your home address so they can “pay you a visit.” I’m sure the FBI will be delighted to hear of such charming offers. But I digress. Anyway, all of the above quickly came down on me. A fine fun time for all involved, no doubt.
Well, actually, no.
Can we really be what we were meant to be
Jesus people living by the Spirit and living free
My heart longs to serve but wanders so aimlessly
Oh Lord You deserve every part of me
I realized in the midst of all this I was not heeding my own words: Be the better. Never become what you profess to oppose. I was behaving like a wounded pseudowarrior in the Battle of Butthurt. This was wrong, inexcusable and indefensible. Thus properly chastised (and don’t you hate it when you have to give yourself a stern lecture?), I withdrew from the battle, deleted my furious comments and apologized. Last time I checked the acid thrown my way was still there, but I’ll let God deal with these people even as He dealt with me today.
It pounds like thunder within my breast
All the anger all my humanness
And though I call You Lord I must confess
I’m a stranger to Your holiness
A stranger to Your holiness
That all said — and it needed to be said — I remain extremely disappointed with the conservative blogosphere. Here it had the opportunity to offer not snark, but sharp rebuke tempered by the knowledge that we, too, are but sinners saved by grace. Instead, we rose in self-righteous indignation, took our best cheap shots and then whooped it up over our “victory.” Victory? Really? Acting without grace and/or love is victory?
Hear my cry of desperation
As I see the wickedness of my ways
You alone are my salvation
And Lord I’ve learned this one thing to be true
Is that the closer I get to You
I see I’m a stranger to Your holinessDon’t want to be no stranger
And it burns like a fire
One can say Ms. Stone is responsible for her own misfortune, and be quite correct in doing so. One can also say she got what she deserved. Fair enough. However, stop and think. How many times in our lives have we not received what we deserved as just punishment for our sins? How many times have we really, really screwed up, hurting ourselves, God, and others by our actions and/or words, and not been taken behind the woodshed and thrashed within an inch of our lives? Yes, we bear the consequences of our sin. Yet even those are ofttimes kept away from us by God’s hand and by His grace.
Are we genuinely better than Lindsey Stone? No. We have presumably not yet posted our sin on Facebook for all the world to see. That doesn’t make us sinless.
We need to open our hearts to God and our eyes to ourselves. We need to love as Jesus loves us. I failed miserably at that today. That doesn’t preclude me from saying that many others are also failing miserably. We don’t have to be such failures.
We can stop being a stranger to holiness.
And it pounds like thunder within my breast
All the anger all my humanness
And though I call you Lord I must confess
I’m a stranger to Your holiness
A stranger to Your holinessDon’t want to be no stranger oh no
Don’t want to be no stranger
Don’t want to be no stranger
Looks like the boy’s in trouble again
Thanksgiving is this Thursday. It’ll be a somewhat melancholy one for me; first holidays without are brutal and this will be the first one without my oldest brother. Nevertheless, I will give thanks for what I have been given. Which is quite a bit, actually.
I was thinking about giving thanks while preparing next week’s Cephas Hour. It occurred to me that the debt I and so many owe these artists for not only taking the road less traveled, but building it even as those who should have supported them either ignored or jeered their efforts, is indeed great. While the book and the show are in no small part my way of saying thank you, it should be said more often.
Below is a list of all the artists on this past Sunday’s show and, where available (or at least known by me), some social media information for them. This Thanksgiving, if their music and ministry ever meant anything to you please take a moment and thank them personally, directly. Let them know their efforts were not in vain and are still bearing fruit even today. I have no doubt they will appreciate it.
“Safety Net” – Daniel Amos
In addition to an official Facebook page for the band, Terry Taylor, Greg Flesch, Jerry Chamberlin, Ed McTaggert and Tim Chandler have their own Facebook pages.
“Burn Up In The Fire” – Andy Pratt
Andy is on Facebook. Discover his music if you haven’t already.
“Johnny’s Cafe” – John Fischer
John is on Facebook.
“Breakdown Love” – Sweet Comfort Band
In addition to a band Facebook page, Randy Thomas has his own Facebook page.
“Stranger To Holiness” – Steve Camp
Steve has a Facebook page.
“Take It In” – Stephen Crumbacher
Steve is on Facebook.
“Add Up The Wonders” – Michael Omartian
Michael is on Facebook.
“Scars” – Farrell & Farrell
Bob and Jayne Farrell are both on Facebook. There is also a Facebook page for Farrell and Farrell, but it is not interactive.
“The Glory Road” – The Lost Dogs
In addition to the band’s Facebook page, Terry Taylor, Mike Roe, Derri Daugherty and Steve Hindalong have their own Facebook pages.
“Spend My Life With You” – Phil Keaggy
Phil has a fan page on Facebook to which he posts.
“The Great American Novel” – Larry Norman
There is a page dedicated to Larry on Facebook.
“In The Garden” – Bob Dylan
There is an official Bob Dylan page on Facebook, but somehow I doubt he does much posting there.
“Caught In An Unguarded Moment” – 77s
There’s the Facebook fan page Occupy Rock & Roe, a 77s Facebook page, Mike Roe, Bruce Spencer, Mark Harmon, and I’m sure I’m missing one or more people and/or pages.
“He Said Love” – Barclay James Harvest
John Lees, who wrote “He Said Love,” has a Facebook page for his version of the band.
To all of you… thank you.
While riding through Oakland yesterday on the way home from work, I noticed the massive cranes at the Port of Oakland silhouetted against the sunset, the trucks hauling containers shipped from all over the world to be unloaded by these modern metal dinosaurs rumbling alongside me on the crowded freeway. Which, if you have seen the tax rates out here, you will know is anything but free. But I digress.
Oakland is a blue collar town. It’s not much on upscale dining and trendy boutiques downtown. Gertrude Stein was not altogether inaccurate when she said there is no there there. Especially in City Hall. Yet Oakland survives, an unapologetic collection of concrete and steel built by and inhabited by people who do the work.
While I have zero affection for the modern labor movement and its money grabbing, power seeking, no longer needed to protect workers rights, economically illiterate ways, I have always respected the actual workers themselves. That is to say, those who actually do work rather than slough off hiding behind inane union contracts. The people who fit pipe, weld, hammer together buildings or forge iron and steel and copper; the people who stock the shelves and answer the same question fifty times a day without losing their minds; the people who till the land and harvest the crops; the people who stay home all day with the kids — these are people deserving honor and praise, for without them life as we know it would immediately stop.
Although I’m in the office world now, I put in twenty years at different retail outfits. I grew accustomed to the customers snide comments about my position in life and the looks from relatives wondering when I was going to actually do something with myself. I understood. It is ingrained into our culture that there is a strictly adhered to caste system, one where manual laborers and retailer workers share the bottom rung. Because, obviously, there is something wrong with either your work ability or ethic, otherwise you’d be in a white collar gig.
This came to mind last night while spending some time on Twitter. I noticed unrepentant former pornographer Lee Stranahan was on one of his philosophical/societal musing jags. Whatever. However, this tweet, part of a lengthy dissertation on how the left views labor, stuck out like the proverbial sore thumb:
I am wrong in thinking that a person who works as a pipe-fitter their whole life was less ambitious than someone whose career ascended?
He then added:
I said hard work is a virtue. It’s honorable. Beats welfare scams by yards. Don’t expect me to worship at alter (sic) of menial labor, though.
At which point, an anything but shrinking violet conservative named Becca had her Popeye moment (for the benefit of you young’uns, this refers to the moment in most every Popeye cartoon when he would exclaim, “That’s all I can stands, I can’t stands no more!”, open a can of spinach, and then open a can of whoop ass on Bluto) and fired back:
(M)enial labor? How can you be SO condescending? Trust this: it’s harder to be a welder than a corporate executive. I’ve been both.
At which point the two exchanged a few tweets, Becca noting how she has skills:
I have a bachelors in communications. I chose to go back to school to study welding because I hated corporate life.
And was far happier as a welder than she was in the previous ten years spent as a cubicle warrior in marketing (gulp). Meanwhile, Stranahan was being… well, Stranahan. Becca’s parting shot was a classic:
(T)his would be like me calling you a sex fiend, demented pornographer, objectifies women, will do anything for money… Etc. see?
I’m not seeing them exchanging Christmas cards this year.
No, Lee, people who do the work aren’t lessers. In any sense of the world. People who treat others condescendingly because of their profession, however…
PS: A final note. Employment in a lower ranked profession does not always indicate lack of ambition. I know a young woman who works at Walmart who in her spare time the past few years has assembled a team to create a sports blog so ambitious and well received the sport’s governing body has granted it status equivalent to that of any traditional media branch. So there’s that.
PPS: Okay, one more final note. Paul made tents for a living. Jesus was a carpenter. ‘Nuff said.
We can’t all be Lightning McQueen. Some of us have to be Mater. And, frankly, some of us prefer it that way.
In reading all the handwringing and mournful cries about how could we have possibly lost this election, the overriding theme is that there is no overriding theme as assorted pundits cry every which way. We didn’t address social issue enough. We’re too socially conservative. People are still scared to not vote for the black guy for fear of being labeled a racist. We were too soft on Obama. We weren’t clear with our message. And on and on and on.
Despite the multiple gallons of electronic ink that has been poured into the postmortems, one point has been either missed altogether or given short shrift. This stems from the “can’t see the forest for the trees” phenomenon mentioned yesterday. Pundits and political junkies are so overly wrapped up in Beltway thinking they forget that for the vast majority of Americans politics is not the be-all and end-all of their lives. They’d rather think about something else. What little political knowledge they have is far more likely to be of the hand-me-down variety from those who actually do watch the news than watching or reading the news themselves. Simply put, they do not care. The bulk of people in this country do not pay attention to a public political event unless it is catastrophic, one of such power such as 9/11 it can’t help but to be noticed, or is a moment personally affecting them.
An illustration of this from the state y’all love to hate, namely California. Remember when Arnold Schwarzenegger was elected governor in 2003? It was when then-governor Gray Davis was recalled. Why was Davis recalled? Because his ineptitude in handling the state’s electricity crisis led to rolling blackouts throughout the state. But for this, there never would have been a recall. Davis was kicked out of office because an event transpired directly affecting people, namely their power going off and on, under his watch. There was no other reason. None.
Taking this to the just-concluded election, even with chronic deep unemployment and underemployment, massive debt, the looming trainwreck that is Obamacare and a hot mess of a foreign policy most Americans are sufficiently untouched by these things to pay them much heed. Certainly the entitlement class, those who believe that by birthright, be it skin color, inherited economic status (which by the way includes middle to upper middle-class suburban kids who have no grasp of what a work ethic looks like) or what have you are owed a living, are feeling no pain and will continue to feel no pain as long as Uncle Sam keeps cutting them checks. For the rest, while they have a feeling that despite what the filtered media reports they may be catching are telling them things aren’t quite right, there is no sense of urgency; certainly not enough of one to warrant changing presidents.
One can detail the fallacies of the left’s financial policies – the belief “they” have an inexhaustible supply of money and rich people can not only afford to, but pay for everything everyone else needs — until they drop. They can explain the broken window fallacy in action, using government as the hoodlum throwing a brick through the baker’s window, to the nth degree. They can demonstrate how money spent on taxes does not go to create jobs or be spent on goods and services provided by others, but instead stifles job creation and economic growth through free enterprise, all the day long. It will not matter to others until it hits them directly.
Economically, there will continue to be no sense of urgency until either Obamacare’s reality in the form of slashed Medicare coverages starts adversely affecting a multitude of families, the tax burden for all who actually pay taxes becomes onerous or the government stops handing out money. If the first two happen, they happen. The latter is far less likely to take place unless it is forced, and the only way that can happen would be if House Republicans refuse to pass any more appropriation bills, thus shutting down the government, until a genuine deficit reduction program is installed. That said, it’s doubtful the GOP has the guts to turn off the money spigot and shut government down, no matter the pain it causes, until Obama and the Democrats agree to genuine financial reform. However, nothing else short of another massive terrorist attack or full blown war on American soil will get the public’s attention.
One way or another, it’s going to take a storm before the general public listens to reason shouting, “Can you hear me now?”
Picking up on a point from yesterday’s post, that being the need to monitor the media, an additional thought on the subject needs to be made.
Far too often, when examining liberal media — or any media for that matter — conservatives fail to see the forest for the trees. We become so enamored with waiting for that moment over which we can cry havoc and let slip the dogs of “see I told you they’re biased” yapping we don’t bother actually listening. And that is a pity.
We should monitor the media not to achieve the next triple O of outrageously outrageous outrage, but rather for the overall tone and tenor. Study what they say. Discern from where their talking points arise. Then, respond accordingly, disproving their theorems with knowledge and perseverance. Neither of which, by the way, are byproducts of becoming outraged.
There is an unfortunate obsession with offensiveness on the right. Far too many live for it. More than a few among us make a nice living out of being offended, be it by media failures or personal attacks. How many times have we seen hackles raised, troops gathered and colors flown over poor little so-and-so being called a bad name by some nameless, faceless, meaningless troll? These folk must be living inside Groundhog Day, as their knee-jerk reaction to jerks proclaims that, for them, every day is their first one online and they are utterly innocent as to the Web’s wicked, wicked ways.
The alleged big boys and girls play the aforementioned game. Bit players have their own version, consisting of howling about the unfairness of the big kids retweeting a hundred insults aimed their way while not spending one second on so much as acknowledging the low ones on the totem pole. Not fair not fair not fair.
In both cases, be it from the high rollers or the serfs, the core message is the same: pay attention to me. If you don’t I am going to raise hell; never mind that the resulting flames will burn me far more than they scorch you as I make myself look like either a weakling or a whiner.
Taking offense is as pointless, vapid and meaningless an action as expecting respect for your anger. Everyone with a sliver of common sense knows better than to believe everyone else will kowtow to their whims for the simple reason that they are blowing their top. Why, then, should we expect others to respect our being offended?
Again, this ties in to what I wrote yesterday. To my fellow underlings as judged by the self-appointed Smart Set I say this. Build your community one person at a time; expand your community one person at a time by treating every person in your community properly as an individual worthy of respect and attention. Never become what your profess to oppose. Expect nothing from those whose entire method of operation is shining a spotlight on themselves. Right now they are the equivalent of the point guard on a basketball team that just lost by forty points turning to the starting power forward as they walk off the court and saying, “It’s your fault we lost because you didn’t play hard enough!” Uh, you got your ass beat too, buddy.
A personal illustration. A few years ago, I was fortunate enough to get press credentials to cover a NASCAR race in Southern California. After it was over, I realized I could approach my experience in one of two ways. I could either be upset that I didn’t score some terrific exclusive interview with Dale Earnhardt Jr., or Tony Stewart or Jeff Gordon or Jimmie Johnson or any of the sport’s other superstars. Or, I could be satisfied with being the only reporter I knew of who spoke to Robby Gordon about whether he had any plans for running in that year’s Indianapolis 500, this coming at the prompting of a friend who is a huge IndyCar fan who had heard rumors about this and wanted them checked out. As big or as splashy a story? No. But it meant a lot to the Robby Gordon fans out there.
And to the self-appointed powers that be, given the totally awesome job you did over the past four years winning over hearts and minds to the conservative cause, so successful in this regard that Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan got fewer votes than John McCain and Sarah Palin in 2008, two words: grow up. You want to be the big shots, you accept the potshots aimed in your direction by big mouths with little brains on Twitter and elsewhere. Don’t like it? I’m sure there’s a Walmart somewhere that’s hiring. I, and I suspect many others, are tired of you attempting to manipulate us into feeling sorry for you because you’re getting the very thing you live for and many of you live on: attention. Try making yourself the center of attention by actually accomplishing something other than preaching to the choir and seeking the spotlight 24/7.
Assuming you have the ability to do so, that is.
Let’s lose the obsession with offensiveness. Now.
ADDENDUM: Thanks to The Pirates Cove for the link.
So where do we go from here?
First, please note the sun came up this morning. God still reigns. Have faith. All is not lost.
That said, please also note now is a time for repentance and purification. The revival of our country does not start with politicians or politics. It begins within each of us examining our lives and, seeing what is within, kneeling at the foot of the Cross seeking forgiveness for our own sins. All of us have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. All of us need to restore the connection between God and ourselves. We are responsible for our own actions. Let those actions be built on the solid rock of faith in Christ as not only Savior but also Lord. Let His words shape ours. Let His actions serve as our guidelines. Leave pride, selfish ambition and conceit as actions for others to marinate. You, me, all of us — let us serve the Lord in deed and not solely word. Those who refuse to do so are not allies.
Arm yourself with knowledge, for knowledge is not only power; it is also ammunition against evil. Read the Constitution; dig into the laws of the land; familiarize yourself with the words of our founding fathers. Study basic business and economics. Read Hayek.
Educate others even as you educate yourself. As Paul wrote, “Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” Speak kindly, politely and calmly; leave the histrionics to those attempting to cover for having nothing to say. Ignore trolls on both sides; they waste irreplaceable time.
Monitor the media. It is not your friend, it never will be your friend and those who attempt to make it their friend are fools. Becoming upset over the media, or deluding yourself into believing that new media will shortly conquer the old guard, misplaces energy needed elsewhere. Monitor. Note what it is saying. Remember most people get their information not directly from the media but filtered through others, sometimes several times, who did get their information from the media. Learn how to answer the misconceptions thus formed with simple, straightforward truth. Source your arguments.
Live charitably in public and be charitable in private. In the public eye, be it social media or in person, pay attention to people. Treat them as you wish to be treated. Remember that the ability to broadcast an opinion neither elevates nor validates said opinion. Think, speak and act from and for the heart, not your wallet. Answer your emails every time, all the time. And never — never — become what you profess to oppose. You say you hate traditional media for its snobbery and aloofness. Do you treat others with snobbery and aloofness? You say there should be zero tolerance for criminal activity in politics. Do you turn a blind eye to it on your side of the aisle? You say the ends never justify the means. Do you then act in a manner that says this is not true?
Choose carefully anyone to whom you pledge allegiance. Embrace those who lead by example while steering clear of those who lead because they say they do. Rewatch The Undefeated. Natural leadership by action. Forming an organization claiming to be a tea party leader? This is not leadership. This is self-glorification.
Be unafraid to call failures a failure. Did all the talk, all the speeches, all the seminars and workshops and conferences and conventions the past four years gain a single victory? No. Send CPAC and FreePAC packing. Call BlogCon what it is — a con. Tell RightOnline it is wrong and needs to disconnect pronto. Let the pundits who trade in being outrageously outraged over the latest outrageous outrage, the Dana Loeschs and Michelle Malkins, know you are finished being outraged over trifles and vapid Internet slurs and they need to start focusing on matters of substance. Inform FreedomWorks they did not work and are no longer welcome. We do not need these people. They are failures, preaching the need for cultural infusion and relevancy yet in the final analysis doing nothing but promoting themselves. Again, we need leadership, not self-appointed leaders. We need God leading us.
Where do we go from here?
It is up to us to decide. And then act.
P.S. Listen to the words:
And now that it is over; now that the votes no matter how peculiar have been cast and nothing has really changed, what do we do?
I suggest we look within and ask ourselves some hard questions.
Why do we build phone booth kingdoms and believe they encompass the globe? We dash to and fro our little gatherings, counting the days until and saving our pennies for the next CPAC, FreePac, BlogCon and what have you where we will huddle together, safely ensconced in our belief occupying the hotel bar equals occupying the general public’s hearts and minds. We give ourselves awards, claiming to embody Andrew Breitbart’s spirit when in deed we are fragile shadows of the man. We speak to only each other and only when doing so increases the odds of grabbing a larger slice of a stagnant pie. We argue among ourselves over which of us is the greatest in the kingdom of the Konservative Kool Kidz Klub, all the while firmly believing we are preaching the conservative message to the masses. No, no we’re not.
Why do we claim God’s blessing should be upon us when we not only harbor, but herald those doing the devil’s work? We cherish hardcore pornographers and give grifters emphatic support. We turn a blind eye to adulterers. We speak loud and long about the sins of the other side while either pretending we have no sin among us or excusing the actions of any among us who are on “our side.” But of course. The definition of a brother in arms is one who spits in the face of Christ on the cross provided they also pat us on the back. Gee, who knew.
As long as we glorify ourselves and not the message; as long as we spend far more time helping ourselves to more political ego tripping junk food than we do helping others; as long as we practice the principle of believing our actions, no matter how reprehensible in God’s sight, are sanctified by how fervently we preach to the choir…
… we wonder what’s gone wrong?
Really?
Ah… really?
This failure is ours and ours alone. We were the ones tempted and tantalized by the sweet candy of pride. We were the ones who denied we could ever become addicted even as we shot up time and again, each time seeking a bigger and stronger dose of that which we most craved — power among and praise from our perceived peers. We called it taking back our country. In fact it was nothing other than taking ourselves and placing ourselves above all; making out of ourselves a cyberspace Ozymandias boasting of our great works even as they were revealed to be sand castles in a storm. We were called to speak to others about breaking the seductive bonds of unaffordable entitlement. Instead, we strove to build our own entitlements of prestige and glory in a most unholy mutual admiration society.
Political junkies have no one but themselves to blame for the needle and the damage done.
I had a dream last night. I was a journalist doing a special with the Obamas. In the dream, we talked at great length about our different backgrounds growing up and how they’ve influenced us, discussing our political and philosophical differences in the light of from whence they came. The entire conversation was relaxed, respectful and warm. At the end we hugged each other as friends.
Yes, I am voting for Romney when I get home from work. However, the dream stays with me; the notion of seeing past political differences, the belief that the power of Jesus Christ in a person’s life can overcome unfortunate upbringing and incorrect, even evil influences to turn a person’s heart not necessarily toward conservatism, but toward Him, casting aside all malice and duplicity.
It was an intellectual, gentle dream. I pray today and tomorrow will be the same.
When you read posts like this, you realize sitting it out isn’t much of an option:
The con is in place and ticking along nicely. Keep up the pressure by bringing in as co-signers other innocent conservative bloggers to keep sounding the alarm and generating cash-flow, defrauding as many conservatives as possible of their hard-earned money, rinse and repeat on a daily basis. When a nosy-Parker like Jerry Wilson, myself, Brooks Bayne or anyone else questions them or reveals parts of the con, go on the attack using Ali, Lee Stranahan, etc. as bully boys to silence the questioners. Get the deceived choir to go along and shut-down questions “until after the election” when the financial scam will be forgotten and the thieves vacation and begin planning their next con.
This isn’t about politics so much as it is about fundamental honesty and honor. If we allow those who claim to be one of us yet practice deceit, dishonesty and duplicity to flourish and be praised, what does that say about us?