Accused of Being a Christian

My parish where I attend Mass is a rather large one, particularly for an overwhelmingly Mormon state. To my knowledge, other than the Cathedral of the Madeline in downtown Salt Lake, my parish is THE largest in the state of Utah. With that being said, we have been blessed with additional clergy to help "tend the flock" of the local parishioners here.

Leading all of them is Monsignor Moore. Monsignor is a very kind and caring man who is extremely pastoral in his relationships with his parishioners. He came here many decades ago from Ireland, and let me tell you that there is something that just seems right in the world when your Mass is given by a priest having a little of the Irish brogue to his tongue.

Monsignor's homilies are often very good at tying together the scriptural readings of the Mass and making the point that the Church is trying to convey each Sunday. His homilies typically are good at keeping one's attention and connecting with the parish. They accomplish their intended task wonderfully.

Until late last summer, we also had a fellow Irishman, Father Jim, who would celebrate the Mass on the weekends too. Unfortunately, Father Jim's priestly order of St. Francis de Sales moved its priests from the confines of Utah's borders. Even more unfortunate is the fact that they had the audacity to take Father Jim with them. He is missed greatly by everyone in the parish accordingly.

Father Jim's homilies were always very personal, and often times emotional affairs. Father Jim was exceptional at connecting with the parishioners in this way, and his homilies were something that I never ever noticed anyone paying any less than complete attention.

Lastly, we have Deacon Paul. Deacon Paul is a very good man and is extremely busy in helping with the youth group and all manners of workings within the parish. Deacon Paul also will occasionally deliver the homily. Deacon Paul's homilies are typically a little more formal. They tend to be a little more dry and esoteric, not unlike a college lecture. This tends to place some people into a lull with their attention. That is truly sad, because often times there is some great points and thought-provoking questions asked by Deacon Paul in his homilies.

And all of this preceding writing was to introduce the thought that has been exercising my mind and conscience of late.

You see, Deacon Paul gave the homily a month or so back, and at the end of this well-done homily he asked the question. It is one I have pondered off and on ever since then. This is particularly so during this season of Lent as I have vowed to try and be a better servant of Christ and to do what His will is and not that of my own selfish interests. I wonder how often I measure up in answering that question positively and how many more times I fall short of it.

The question that Deacon Paul asked that Sunday was, "If I were accused of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict me?"

My Greatest Teacher

A little while back I joined Facebook. I did so for the same reason that millions of other people signed up for an account. I wanted to try and get in touch with long lost friends from high school, from my Navy days, and to find friends I had made and carelessly lost track of as I uprooted my family multiple times by moving them all across our country while following a career.

Well, today I noticed that one of my old high school acquaintances with which I am befriended on Facebook had sent a message to a teacher of mine that I had way back in junior high school. This teacher was someone that I have thought about from time to time over the decades since I last saw him. He was someone that truly inspired me and helped change my life for the better.

I know that is supposedly what all teacher are theoretically supposed to do, but few seldom seem to measure up to that goal. Truthfully, I cannot even remember most of my high school teachers' names, let alone my junior high teachers'. But this man was different in many ways.
Ironically he taught a class that many people would consider fun but not necessarily life-changing. He taught drama class.

I don't even really recall how I ended up in drama class in my 7th grade year. I was painfully shy and while I was a good student, this class was going to be difficult for me. I had just lost my father after a long fight with cancer, and if anything I was becoming more withdrawn and closing into my protective shell.

Then came "the class". I don't recall all of the particular assignments but I do remember the process as taught by this fantastic teacher was to build confidence in acting through the process of becoming in touch with your own emotions and then being secure enough in your person to be able to draw upon those emotions as required for whatever part you were currently playing.

This teacher began to draw me out of my sorrow, out of my shell that first year. Much to my surprise, I signed up for his other drama courses the next year and then the next. As I grew in my self confidence and inner strength, Benson came to me and suggested that I actually try out for the school play. It was entitled "Up the Down Staircase" and to my horror and happiness, Benson cast me in a lead part as a young rebellious trouble making kid that basically was good inside.

The part was fun because the character was so different than the good kid I was at the time. I did well, and went out for future plays. Each part I played, I got a little bit better, a little bit less self-conscious, a little bit more confident in myself.

It even got to the point where I became an assistant to Benson for one of his beginning classes when I was a freshman. The class was small so he cast me as the fairy godmother in a version of Cinderella that the kids were doing in class. I was horrified at first, then decided to have fun with it. It was hard to believe in those three years how far I had come from the painfully shy and withdrawn kid I was.

Fast forward thirty years, and I look at the ease with which I can now communicate with others with my career, within my church, ... within my life! I have no qualms getting up and giving a talk to a group of people whom I do not know. I have that confidence in myself now, and when looking back where that came from, it is easy to point to the teacher of my junior high drama classes.

Its hard to believe that as an engineer, when I look back at my junior high schooling I find that indeed the most important life-altering class I took was taught by this inspirational man that had the wherewithal to either see some potential within me or perhaps just thought that he could possibly help some sad frightened boy discover the tools within to become a much more confident man someday.

Although I have not seen or spoken to Benson in so many decades, I have always considered the man one of the best teachers I ever had and more importantly a friend. I anxiously await his "confirming" my Facebook friendship request so that I can thank him for being the kind of person that he was, and evidently still is judging by his own blog, so many years ago.

I do not know, but I suspect that God knew the misery I was falling deeper into with my withdrawing from people. I further suspect He somehow steered me to that first drama class. He knew that a TEACHER and a good man was there to guide me at that point. My thanks to God and to Benson for that!

An Unlamented Death

I somehow missed the fact that a month ago General Ali Hassan al-Majid was put to death by hanging in Baghdad as punishment for his war crimes, crimes against humanity, and attempted genocide.

He was better known as Chemical Ali and was one of Saddam Hussein's most trusted and absolutely ruthless henchmen. He acted as the head of Saddam's secret police, as the military governor of Iraqi-occupied Kuwait leading up to and during the first Gulf war, and as the interior minister for Iraq.

It was in his role as interior minister that he crushed the Shiite uprising that occurred after the end of the Gulf War in 1991, because of the United States unwillingness to protect these people since our U.N. mandated goals had already been accomplished, so ordered George H.W. Bush.

Perhaps one of Ali's most evil accomplishments though was during the Anfal campaign to suppress the Kurdish uprising in their requests for more autonomy in the northern third of the country of Iraq. His men destroyed more than 4000 Kurdish villages and displaced one million Kurds by having done so. They killed all males old enough to offer resistance to Saddam's regime. By the time Chemical Ali was done, it was estimated that the number of Kurds killed numbered at 180,000 people.

At Chemical Ali's first trial, the prosecution played some recordings for the court. One from 1988 had this evil man heard telling some senior Baath party officials what he had planned for the Kurds prior to his campaign of genocide there. He is quoted as saying, "I will kill them all with chemical weapons! Who is going to say anything? The international community? F___ them!"

Well it took far too long but eventually the international community put together a coalition of the willing lead by the United States under George W. Bush's leadership and did capture this man, his president Saddam Hussein, and also killed Saddam's two vicious and evil sons in this just war. Millions of Iraqi's were liberated from the tyrant of Saddam and now last month a free and democratic Iraq meted out justice to this evil man, Chemical Ali.

The Cowboy Way

I always did like cowboys. Now, I don't mean the ones that dress up in their well-pressed Wranglers, put on a Stetson hat, jump in their pickup that has never ever left a concrete road, to go to the local honkey tonk to line dance in some downtown metropolis. I mean, I like real honest to goodness cowboys.

I admire and respect those men and women that have worked hard ranching. It would seem that there is something about having to be responsible for a herd of livestock's' well being and everything that it takes to do that that typically creates a man or woman of uncommonly good sense.

To this day, I cannot think of a single real cowboy or cowgirl that I have ever had the pleasure of meeting that has not exhibited this uncommonly good sense. A cowboy's sense of right and wrong, fair play, and justice is almost infallible. They are straight shooters and tell it like it is. They tend to see the world in more of the black and white shades that it often times truly is, rather than the myriad shades of gray that nearly all our politicians couch their positions in of moral relativism nowadays.

President Reagan was often called a cowboy by his critics. He returned to his ranch in California as often as he could when he was president. Perhaps that is why I liked and respected the man so much. I suspect it will take another cowboy sitting in the oval office to clean up the mess that the current goat-roper will leave us.

With this being said, an old Navy buddy who lives in Texas forwarded this short video to me. It kind of gives you an idea of why I like cowboys. Too bad the breed seems to be a lot harder to come by these days when we really could use a lot more to keep us all grounded in common sense.

The Warning We Failed to Heed

Hey, from idiot extraordinaire, Maxine Waters own words told us what the Democrats/Socialists/Liberals/Progressives were going to do if they won the White House and consolidated their power. We didn't listen and voted for a man-child for president anyway. Now every piece of legislation that comes out of committee has to be fought tooth and nail to ensure that the
"government doesn't take over" our private companies. I think that most people get it now, but just in case, we do have an opportunity to fix things later this year. Lets make sure we do so by adding fools like Maxine Waters to the unemployment rolls.

The Redundancy of Olbmerann and Arrogance

I saw this terrific video from multiple sources, including at Free's blog, John Galt for President. http://free0352.blogspot.com/ It was excellent at pointing out, once again, how pompous, arrogant and factually challenged that MSNBC buffoon, Keith Olbermann is. Watch the short video to see what I mean. I truly love the Texas spirit! Most Texans do indeed "get it"!

With Breathless Anticipation...

It's Obama's Economy Now

New economic figures came out just the other day and it would appear, despite the state-controlled media's spin on it, that the economy is continuing to degrade. Unemployment is "unexpectedly" up again and there now are signs that high inflation is on the horizon.

Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernake has stated that he might not be able to leave interest rates where they are in the near future. If inflation continues to rear its ugly head, he will surely have to raise rates to combat it.

The problem is that the financiers of our national debt also know this frightening little fact. This is a huge reason why China not only stopped buying T-Bills to help finance us, but they actually dumped huge quantities of these treasury bills this last week. By doing so, China is no longer the largest foreign financier of America's debt. That dubious honor now belongs to the long stagnant economy of the country of Japan.

And yet, despite all of this bad economic news, President Obama has proposed a budget for the coming year that will add 1.6 TRILLION dollars more to our national debt. Needless to say this is asinine in the extreme and only pushes us closer to the edge of that abyss. President Obama cannot keep blaming all of the economic woes he faces on the past administration of George W. Bush, when every policy he enacts only exacerbates the problem by an order of magnitude.

Its time to be a leader, Mr. President. No more blaming others. Step up and lead with proven economic policies; not failed socialistic and Keynsian economics.

Here is an idea to help get you started on the right path. Your current 1.6 trillion dollar deficit adding budget you are proposing... scrap it. Start by an across the board 5 to 10% cut in spending for all departments except the Department of Defense. Next, 2/3rds of the $787 billion dollar stimulus is still unspent. DON'T spend it! Use it to reduce taxes for the rich and middle class so that it can stimulate the economy and job growth. Lastly, take the $500 billion dollars in TARP money that has been repaid and do the same thing. Do not spend it or reinvest it in other failing banks.

Businesses refuse to hire people and the economy continues to decline accordingly because they are scared to death of the future tax burdens you intend to place upon them should your plans come to fruition with card check, cap & trade, and health care legislation. When businesses know that they won't have to face these huge future expenditures, they will more likely take what profits they make into growing their businesses and thereby adding new jobs.

This exact same tactic worked when John F. Kennedy cut taxes and it worked again in spades when Ronald Reagan followed suit. Now is your chance to step up and pull us out of the ditch we are in, sir. If not, in 2012 your successor will do so... if it is not too late by then.

Obama's National Monuments

I heard it reported this morning that Utah's Governor Herbert is heading off to Washington D.C. this weekend so that he might have a chat with officials at the Department of the Interior. It seems that it was accidentally leaked that the Department of the Interior was considering making two places in the state of Utah into national monuments, the San Rafael Swell and Cedar Mesa. Further, this was not disclosed to Utah's governor, senators, or any elected officials from the state. In fact, it would seem the plan is to make fourteen different places throughout the west into national monuments.

Why does this matter? Well, when the federal government declares an area as a national monument, that area must be kept pristine. It cannot be developed in any way whatsoever in perpetuity. It cannot even be used for grazing of animals. And it certainly cannot have any natural resources contained therein to be exploited. Lastly, since these areas are to remain pristine and untouched by man, they lose any potential for taxation for use of these lands by their respective states.

What do these fourteen areas under consideration have in common? Well it would seem that they all have a very high potential for large deposits of oil, coal, and natural gas smack dab in the middle of each area that President Obama's Department of the Interior wishes to make into national monuments.

Making the designation of these areas as national monuments was not something that was discussed with the various governors of the states where these future monuments were being proposed. This is not something that our elected representatives in congress had proposed legislation to do. This is something that Obama was considering implementing via executive order.

The last time that such a dastardly and nefarious act was committed regarding the state of Utah, President William Jefferson Clinton was the perpetrator in chief. You see, there is this very beautiful area in southern Utah that is called the Grand Escalante Staircase. One of its features is the fact that it has one of the two largest deposits of low-sulfur clean burning coal found thus far in the entire world. The other large deposit exists in Indonesia.

Well, if you will recall from the good ol' days of the Clinton administration and the uproar caused by his illegal campaign fund raising, you might recall that a foreign national by the name of James Riatti made some rather sizable illegal contributions to the Clinton campaign. While accepting such monies from a foreign national is itself illegal, it would seem that there was more to this. You see, Mr. Riatti was from Indonesia and had ties to that one other large deposit of clean coal. Somehow after having received this contribution, President Clinton saw fit to make the Grand Escalante Staircase a national monument, thereby ensuring that this huge deposit of coal lying beneath it would never be tapped. Of course this makes the Indonesian coal deposit all that much more valuable.

Now I am not for the wanton destruction of all of the beautiful places God has created in this country. I am not suggesting that we strip mine every deposit of coal that we find; however, there are definitely technological ways to extract the resources we need without despoiling the beauty of some of these areas that our President would declare off limits. Which begs the question: Why would Obama make it so that we cannot utilize our own natural resources so that we might become less dependent upon foreign sources of energy? Is that not what he claims that he wants? His actions surely don't show it.

It has been reported that Governor Herbert is furious over the Obama administration's Department of the Interior attempting to enact this status over Utah state lands by federal fiat, especially without his knowledge thereof. He intends to make his displeasure known and do what can be done to ensure this does not come to pass.

All I can say is give 'em both barrels, Governor! Knowing the tenacity of Governor Herbert, I suspect when he is finished in Washington D.C., they wont' know whether they are snake bit or powder burnt, and hopefully will have learned not to poke the bear way out here in the west anymore. Bears don't like being poked, Mister President!

Iran Can Not Be Allowed to Acquire Nukes

Time is quickly running out as Iran gets ever closer to developing a nuclear weapon. Never mind that they claim their nuclear program is strictly for power generation purposes. Nobody with any sense bought that ridiculous claim to begin with considering their country is floating on a sea of oil. The intent all along has been to develop weaponry.

The problem is that our country, under both the Bush and the Obama administrations, have dithered and done nothing of consequence to halt Iran's nuclear weapon program's progress. Both administrations have talked to the U.N. and threatened to enact sanctions in order to gain Iran's compliance with nothing to show for these efforts to date. President Obama's olive branch of talking to Iran without preconditions garnered nothing but contempt from Iran.

Iran could care less about sanctions. Their mullahs that make up the country's leadership, their psychotic president Ahmadinejad, and their Revolutionary Guard military are all very much in favor of acquiring nuclear weapons regardless of sanctions or world condemnation.

While reading comments on a posting at the blog Major Conflict, it was suggested by one of the commenters that certainly Iran would not actually use nukes for fear of being retaliated against in a mutually assured destruction scenario. The commenter reasoned that this had managed to keep the balance of power with the Soviets and every other nuke-possessing country since the advent of these weapons. Let me say right not, MAD will not deter the Iranians, should they be allowed to build a working nuclear bomb.

Why? Well, as Iran's President Ahmadinejad has stated unambiguously and repeatedly, he wants to destroy Israel and "wipe it off the map". He believes, as does the rest of Iran's leadership, that this will hasten the end of times and the coming of their 12th Imam to unite the world under the Islamic religion and Sharia (Koranic) law.

They do not care if they are attacked in retaliation. These fanatics do not fear death, and in fact welcome it if they can kill the "enemies of Allah" in doing so. By this way, they become martyrs and will live in paradise, so if destroying the small Satan of Israel is the cost of their martyrdom and the ushering in of the 12th Imam and world-wide Islamic law, then the ends justify the cost in their minds.

This is why negotiations will not work here, not that they worked with North Korea either. By going through the motions of diplomacy, we only allow Iran more time to come to fruition of their evil intentions. The years wasted to date on diplomacy has gotten us no closer to a favorable solution then when we first started the process.

Further, if Iran is allowed to attain nuclear capability, the rest of the Arab world will actively be trying to attain nukes to maintain the tenuous balance of power there. It is certain that largely Sunni Saudi Arabia will want nukes to protect it from the Shite Iranian regime. Egypt also will likely seek nukes to offset Iranian power from it and its puppet state of Syria.

It is time for an ultimatum to be issued. Iran allows international and U.S. inspectors in to any and all suspected nuclear facilities to oversee the dismantling of the program, or we will militarily destroy these facilities.

Admittedly this is not a good option, and Iran will almost certainly not relent and allow us to dismantle their program. As we have allowed them to advance to this late stage in their program, we really do not have any good options.

Attacking Iran's nuke facilities will have serious repercussions. Not attacking them, and allowing them to achieve nuclear status will have far greater repercussions for the world. This MUST be addressed right now and yet I am quite certain the Obama administration will not step in and prevent this from happening until it is way too late. This puts the region, and indeed the entire world in an extremely precarious situation if we do not act NOW. Please Mr. President, do not dither any longer on this issue!

Ash Wednesday

Fat Tuesday was yesterday, and I imagine the party in New Orleans has not stopped since the Saints impressive victory in the Super Bowl. But, like all good things, that Mardi Gras celebration must end, at least outwardly, as we officially enter into the season of Lent.

Today is Ash Wednesday and it marks the beginning of the forty weekdays until Easter Sunday.

Lent, for me, is a beautiful time in many ways. It is also a physically difficult time in other ways.

As a Catholic, I am asked to be aware of my Lenten spirituality. This means that, while I should always try to the very best of my abilities with God's grace to live a good and Christian life, I must be particularly aware of this during Lent. This is not always easy for me as I have a tendency to be selfish and put myself before others, including our Lord. Further, that whole fasting thing is very difficult for a fat man such as I am.

Lenten spirituality involves much prayer, alms-giving, and some degree of self sacrifice in the form of fasting and the abstention from meat on Fridays and Holy Days such as today.

In the past, I have given up soda as my personal sacrifice. I know this sounds ridiculous and trite, compared to the sacrifices of others... especially that of our Lord's. This is something that is a challenge for me though as I am a Mountain Dew addict. I stop just shy of pouring it on my Lucky Charms instead of milk. Several years back my beloved Jewish brother-in-law thought of me and brought me my first Mountain Dew on Easter morning. To me, that was a very Christian act! Yep, Ken is a fantastic guy indeed!

The point of a personal sacrifice is to bring one closer to God in prayer. The thought is that when whatever item or behaviour you gave up becomes a temptation for you during this time, you are to turn in prayer to God. Admittedly, I was dubious about this at first, but it does indeed work when done in sincere earnestness.

This year, instead of something as seemingly frivolous as soda pop, I am going to be giving up a lot more of my personal time in the service and love of others. As I noted before, I tend to be a selfish person and am very jealous of my personal time, so this will indeed be a very good thing for me and hopefully for those with whom I spend this time.

I anxiously wait the coming of Holy Week and its culmination on Easter Sunday. It is a great time of the year as Spring comes and the physical rebirth of the world begins anew. It is even greater because of the rebirth and strengthening of my faith in my heart and soul for my Lord during the Lenten Season. Hopefully it is for you too! May He bless you!

The Humor of Ronald Reagan

Some laughs from the greatest president in my lifetime. How I wish we had someone in that same mold to lead our troubled nation right now.

A Few Thoughts Before the Weekend

Observation number 1:

Remember when Ronald Reagan was president?

We also had Bob Hope and Johnny Cash....

Now we have Obama, no hope, and no cash.



Observation number 2:

It is absolutely amazing that after only one year in office, President Obama can take something that was in terrible, terrible shape and manage to bring it back from the brink of absolute disaster; The Republican Party.



Observation number 3:

Are you better off than you were four trillion dollars ago?



And finally, observation number 4:

The other bill that congress never reads is the Bill of Rights.

Congressman Ted Poe

A buddy of mine from my Navy days now lives in Texas and has Congressman Ted Poe representing him in the House. He forwarded this video to me, which I found to be quite amusing. I was unaware of the existence of Congressman Poe, but if this is typical of him, then I am a fan!

Texas Textbook Selection Could Effect The Country

I have heard from several people lately about how the right wants to indoctrinate our children in schools with religion etc.

More often, especially in light of the powerful leftist National Education Association, it seems that our children are being more and more subject to a secularist and politically correct education in our public schools.

Here is a point in the case with this video clip. The state of Texas is considering buying new history text books. The purchase of which text book is determined by a fifteen person panel; therefore, a majority of eight would determine the books to be purchased.

The problem is that, along with California, Texas is the biggest purchaser of text books in the country, so what eight people decide to buy will likely have huge ramifications on what is bought by school districts throughout the nation. That is a lot of power when it comes to educating our children.

This would be okay, if done responsibly, however, when those sitting on this board have a left-wing agenda, the consequences for our children and our nation could be very bad indeed.

Watch the short video to see what I mean....

The Continuing Lies on Global Warming

Evidently the uncovering of more lies from those invested in the false religion of man-caused global warming are still leaking out, despite their best efforts at damage control regarding earlier leaks of emails and correspondence from "scientists" that had falsified some data and ignored contradictory data that failed to support their global warming agenda.

As Fox News reported on Monday 2/8/2010:

The U.N.'s controversial climate report is coming under fire -- again -- this time by one of its own scientists, who admits he can't find any evidence to support a warning about a climate-caused North African food shortage.

The statement comes from a key 2007 report to the U.N., and asserts that by 2020 yields from rain-fed agriculture could be reduced by up to 50% in some African countries thanks to climate change.

But this weekend, a key author of the team behind that report told The Sunday Times that he could find no evidence to support his own group's claim. The revelation follows the retraction by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) of a claim that the Himalayan glaciers might all melt by 2035, dubbed 'Glaciergate' by commentators.

The newest controversial claim could become a very important error in the IPCC's reporting, because it comes not only from the IPCC's report on climate change impacts -- called Assessment Report 4, or AR4 -- but is also repeated in its "Synthesis Report." That report is the IPCC's most politically sensitive publication, distilling its most important science into a form accessible to politicians and policy makers.

Unfortunately, there are those in powerful positions throughout the world that rely upon this science to either further this false religion's agenda intentionally or are naive enough to be duped into accepting this discredited "science" as being real.

Fox News continued:

Its lead authors include IPCC chairman Rajendra Pachauri himself, who has quoted it in speeches, as has U.N. secretary-general Ban Ki-moon.

Speaking at the 2008 global climate talks in Poznan, Poland, Pachauri said: "In some countries of Africa, yields from rain-fed agriculture could be reduced by 50% by 2020." In a speech last July, Ban said: "Yields from rain-fed agriculture could fall by half in some African countries over the next 10 years."

Speaking this weekend, Professor Chris Field, the new lead author of the IPCC's climate impacts team, said: "I was not an author on the 'Synthesis Report,' but on reading it I cannot find support for the statement about African crop yield declines."

This sort of claim should be based on hard evidence, said Robert Watson, chief scientist at Defra, the U.K.'s department for environment food and rural affairs, who chaired the IPCC from 1997 to 2002.

"Any such projection should be based on peer-reviewed literature from computer modelling of how agricultural yields would respond to climate change. I can see no such data supporting the IPCC report," he said.

The danger of these falsified and misleading reports based on bad "science" is that world leaders are reliant on what they assume are objective and critical-thinking scientists and their work to determine what should be done to stem such predicted calamities.

When the "science" behind anthropogenic global warming is dubious at best and largely discredited at worst for them, one wonders why the vilification and denouncements of those questioning this by those claiming this is a true phenomenon. The purpose of science is to find the truth; not to manipulate data to support a conclusion upon which one has already arrived.

Considering the scores of billions of dollars spent, businesses destroyed, and economies severely weakened all in the name of anthropogenic global warming, I think this con-game should be called what it is. Those that knowingly contributed to falsifying data and perpetrating this hoax should be prosecuted, fined, and thrown in jail for the rest of their natural lives. This "science" has affected untold millions of people throughout the world. Justice for those that have had to pay the price for this false religion by its false prophets should be given.

John Murtha's Legacy

It was announced yesterday that Congressman John Murtha of Pennsylvania passed away due to complications of gall bladder surgery. Now it is certainly not very Christian of me to speak ill of the dead, and the Supreme Judge of Creation is the only one that Mr. Murtha has to answer to now. With that being said my sincere and heartfelt condolences go out to John Murtha's family.

However, my own personal opinions, based on the facts that I have seen presented over the years, suggest that Congressman Murtha was the very embodiment of the problems that have plagued our federal government for years.

He was hyper-partisan in a caustic and abrasive manner. He also had the appearance of being corrupt on many levels. To my mind though, Congressman Murtha's greatest transgression was that of accusing Marines in Iraq of being cold blooded killers without evidence. These Marines in question were later exonerated of all charges, and Congressman Murtha refused to apologize to them.

Being a former Marine himself during Viet Nam, Mr. Murtha certainly did not give the benefit of the doubt until the facts were examined. For this and for his refusal to offer any sign of contrition when the Marines in question were found innocent, I regret to say that I have no respect nor honor for the man, despite his passing.

Senator Sherrod Brown, accordingly, put together a petition to decry the fact that the Secretary of the Navy under the Obama administration was awarding Murtha the highest non-employee honor for service rendered. The petition sums up Congressman Murtha's most egregious lack in judgement in my humble opinion.

http://www.petitiononline.com/usmc2009/petition.html

The petition reads:

To: Secretary of the Navy

On March 5, 2009 Congressman John Murtha was awarded the Department of the Navy Distinguished Public Service Award by the Secretary of the Navy, Donald C. Winter. From the press release: It is the highest form of public service recognition bestowed by the Department of the Navy for a non-employee. According to the Department, nominations for this award will be limited to those extraordinary cases where individuals have demonstrated exceptionally outstanding service of substantial and long term benefit to the Navy, Marine Corps, or as Department of the Navy as a whole.

The Citation reads:

Congressman Murtha's selfless devotion to the Nation's Sailors and Marines ensured they were provided the resources necessary to effectively conduct the Global War on Terrorism. His courageous leadership, vision, and loyalty to the men and women of the Department of the Navy greatly contributed to their quality of life and helped create the most modern and highly trained fighting force in history. As Chairman of Subcommittee on Defense of the House Appropriations Committee, Congressman Murtha's tireless advocacy helped maintain the Navy and Marine Corps team at the highest levels of combat readiness to meet the challenges of the 21st century. With grateful appreciation for his outstanding contributions to the Nation and the Navy and Marine Corps, Congressman Murtha is awarded the Department of the Navy Distinguished Public Service Award.

John Murtha deserves no such award. He has routinely and deliberately undermined the United States military, slandered servicemen serving in combat, and caused irreparable damage to our international reputation. While serving as a Representative from Pennsylvania, Murtha called Marines from 3d Battalion, 1st Marines "cold blooded killers" who "murdered innocent civilians." Before an investigation into the Haditha incident was even conducted, Murtha went on numerous television news programs and announced that the Marines "went into houses and killed women and children." He said, "There's no question in my mind about what happened here. There was no gunfire, they killed four people in a taxi...24 people were killed." When asked specifically if he claimed that innocent civilians were intentionally executed by Marines, he said, "That's exactly what happened." Not content to slander those Marines directly involved, he went on to claim that if these Marines were not punished, "other Marines would say well I'll do the same thing." Murtha then continued to use this incident to lobby for the immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq, citing it as evidence that our military was incapable of winning the war.

Eight Marines were originally charged. As of March 17th, 2009 all charges were dropped against six Marines, one was found not guilty on all counts in courts martial. The prosecution has delayed the court martial of the final defendant indefinitely. The original allegations of a massacre and the statements of Congressman Murtha have been thoroughly discredited. Despite the facts, John Murtha refuses to apologize to those he slandered.

We the undersigned are appalled that the Secretary of the Navy would bestow the Department's highest award for a non-employee to John Murtha after his vile and despicable attacks against U.S. servicemen. This petition is a vehicle to express our bitter disappointment at this betrayal of our combat veterans. Congressman John Murtha should apologize for slandering the Marines of 3/1, and for undermining the efforts of those servicemen and women who fought in Iraq. If he does not, the Secretary of the Navy should rescind this award as a sign of his unwavering support for those who served in combat during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

It is a petition of which I was unaware until after Congressman Murtha's death, but it is one I would have proudly signed had I known of its existence. I pray that Congressman Murtha does in deed rest in peace now but as the sinful man that I am, I do not mourn his passing. He certainly did NOT represent our greatest of all Nations in a manner befitting it and he did not represent the spirit or motto of the Marine Corps, Semper Fidelis... Always Faithful.

Update: Please note that I have since been notified by Senator Sherrod Brown's press secretary that Senator Brown is not the circulator of the previously mentioned petition. I would not attach any correlation between Senator Brown and this petition accordingly. My apologies to Senator Brown for incorrectly misidentifying the senator with regards to the petition.

On a personal note, despite the passing of Congressman Murtha, I am sorry to say that I am mildly disappointed that this petition did not originate with Senator Brown's office.

Harry Knox; Anti-Catholic Bigot

I saw this story reported on the evening news last Friday and thought how very sad that President Obama would choose to have a gentleman that held such bigoted views against Catholicism and the Pope as a key member of his Faith-based Advisory Council.

My understanding is that this council is supposed to be a ecumenical council used to facilitate understanding and cooperation between the various faiths of our nation so that they can better serve the national community at large.

Somehow having Harry Knox in his current position does not strike me as the best way to achieve that goal, as his repeated anti-Catholic comments, including the latest one further described in the story below, would seem to alienate one of the largest Christian segments of the American population.

With that being the case, I agree with Congressman John Boehner that President Obama should call for Mr. Knox to resign. I strongly suspect he won't do that though, unless there develops sufficient uproar from Catholics and other people of faith to make keeping Harry Knox in this position a political liability for Obama. That seems to be one thing that our President does understand.

Boehner Says We Can't Have 'Anti-Catholic Bigot' in White House, Calls for Obama Adviser to Resign

Thursday, February 04, 2010
By Karen Schuberg

(CNSNews.com) - House Minority Leader John Boehner (R.-Ohio) said today that Harry Knox, who serves on President Barack Obama’s faith-based advisory council, appears to be an “anti-Catholic bigot” and should resign as a White House adviser.

Earlier this week, Knox said he stood by a statement he made last year that Pope Benedict XVI is “hurting people in the name of Jesus” because the pope does not support promoting the use of condoms as a means to stem the spread of HIV.

Knox, who is director of the Human Rights Campaign's religion and faith program, has made other controversial comments about the Catholic Church in the past. For example, in 2007 he was quoted in a statement from the Human Rights Campaign saying that the Catholic Church had committed an act that was “immoral and insulting to Jesus” when it denied communion to a lesbian couple in Wyoming who had promoted same-sex marriage. “In this holy Lenten season, it is immoral and insulting to Jesus to use the body and blood of Christ the reconciler as a weapon to silence free speech and demean the love of a committed, legally married couple,” said Knox.

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) describes itself as the nation's "largest national lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization." President Obama was the keynote speaker at the HRC's annual national dinner in October.

St. Michael Society, a Catholic organization, started an online petition calling for Knox to resign from his position on President Obama’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.

CNSNews.com asked Boehner at his press briefing Thursday whether he believed that Knox should resign.

“He should resign. And I have agreed to sign a letter,” said Boehner. “We can’t have in the White House an anti-Catholic bigot, and that’s what this gentleman appears to be.”

Boehner is a Roman Catholic.

At the National Press Club on Tuesday, CNSNews.com had asked Knox: “You put out a statement saying Pope Benedict XVI was—quote—‘hurting people in the name of Jesus’ because he did not support promoting the use of condoms as a means to control the spread of HIV. And I was wondering, do you still believe the pope’s position on condoms is ‘hurting people in the name of Jesus’?”

Knox answered, “I—I do.”

Knox had originally said the Pope was “hurting people in the name of Jesus” in March 2009, shortly before he became a member of President Obama’s advisory council.

On March 17, 2009, Pope Benedict had flown to Africa to visit Cameroon and Angola. During the flight, the Pope answered several questions from reporters, including one concerning AIDS in Africa: Given that the Catholic Church’s position in fighting AIDS “is often considered unrealistic and ineffective,” would the pope “address this theme during the journey?”

The Pope responded by detailing many of the Church’s humanitarian efforts to help people with AIDS in Africa. “I would say that this problem of AIDS cannot be overcome merely with money, necessary though it is,” he said. “If there is no human dimension, if Africans do not help [by responsible behavior], the problem cannot be overcome by the distribution of prophylactics: on the contrary, they increase it.”

On the same day as the pope's remarks, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) issued the statement that quoted Harry Knox as follows: “The Pope’s statement that condoms don't help control the spread of HIV, but rather condoms increase infection rates, is hurting people in the name of Jesus.”

“On a continent where millions of people are infected with HIV, it is morally reprehensible to spread such blatant falsehoods,” said Knox in the statement. “The Pope’s rejection of scientifically proven prevention methods is forcing Catholics in Africa to choose between their faith and the health of their entire community. Jesus was about helping the marginalized and downtrodden, not harming them further.”

Harry Knox spoke with CNSNews.com at a press conference about the “American Prayer Hour,” a new, multi-city event designed to "affirm inclusive values and call on all nations, including Uganda, to decriminalize the lives of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people."

Obama's Repealing of Don't Ask, Don't Tell

This issue has been beaten to death already, so I won't get into it very much. There is an attached link to a pretty good summation of what is at stake here though via Military.com's website. http://www.military.com/news/article/clock-starts-ticking-to-end-gay-ban.html?ESRC=dod.nl

Personally, I think the danged federal government should let the military do what it was designed to do; break things and kill our enemies. The military should NOT be used for congress' or the President's social engineering programs or to try and rectify what they see as politically correct injustices. The military is greatly harmed by the repeal of this policy that President Clinton put in place. Just like everything else though, Obama just can't leave something that is working fine, well enough alone.

Well, why not? He has already made the country less safe with his fighting of the war on terror now being a massive criminal investigation. He also has made our weak intelligence services even weaker by hamstringing them with asinine and dangerous rules. Why not further erode our ability to even defend our country with our military to top it off? So how does everyone else out there like this "change you can believe in"? I never thought I'd say it, but I actually am starting to miss that old school Democrat, George W. Bush.

The Earmark Stimulus Bill and Job Creation

Recent unemployment numbers were out this last week and were reported at 9.7% unemployment, which is down from the 10.1% previously listed. Now before everyone goes and gets all excited and thinks that Lord Obama's porkulous bill is finally working and creating jobs, let me tell you what most economists that are NOT Keynsians and in league with the Obama administration know. It's called the truth.

It isn't that the porkulous bill that was full of earmarks actually created jobs, as was the presumptive intention behind it, but rather for tens of thousands of unemployed their benefits to collect unemployment assistance finally ran out and they are no longer eligible for them.

SO, while these folks are still unemployed, the Department of Labor no longer has to count them as such. Of course, if we continue down this socialist path, the entire nation will be without jobs and with expired unemployment benefits, thereby giving the illusion for the Obama-centric revisionist historians that the anointed one returned everyone to work with 100% full employment.

The majority of the jobs that have been created by government spending and the largess of the tax payers' money will dry up as soon as the federal funding of them ends too. THE government typically does NOT create jobs. The best thing the government can do is to get out of the way by removing bureaucratic red tape and lowering corporate taxes in order to foster a climate where companies want to and can afford to invest in growing their companies, especially by adding jobs. It is the PRIVATE SECTOR that is the engine of our economy; NOT the federal government, no matter how many trillions of tax payer dollars the government throws at the problem.

Let me give you a few facts regarding the asinine stimulus bill. These figures are as reported by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. (For fiscal year 4Q09 ending Sept. 30th)

• The total amount of contracts and grants awarded was 56,399.




• The total amount of stimulus money awarded was $157,028,362,536.



• Average dollar amount awarded per GOP district was $232,047,857.



• Average dollar amount awarded per Democrat district was $439,200,100.



• Total number of jobs claimed as "saved or created" is 638,826.54 or $245,807.51 per job.
  


• Unemployment in January 2009 at 7.6 percent.



• Unemployment in December 2009 at 10 percent.

Never mind the fact that Obama pressed for this porkulous spending spree bill immediately so that more people wouldn't suffer, so he claimed. He told us that the bill's passage was paramount if we were to hold unemployment below 8%. Well, buckle up people because the worst is NOT over yet unless we can put Republicans, Independents, and even Democrats into congress that have OUR interest in mind first and decide to stop spending money we do not have. (I refer you to the counter at the top of this blog showing what our current national debt is.)

You and I could not run our household budget like this and survive. We couldn't run a private business like this and survive. The fact is you cannot run anything like this and survive. I don't care if you are the anointed teleprompter demi-god that Obama thinks he is. Sooner or later our creditors WILL come to collect (i.e. China) and then what are we going to do? Give them a really nice speech? Perhaps an iPod with Lord Obama's speeches on it?

The spending MUST stop on everything with an across the board cut for all departments of at least 10%, with the military being the only exception until we are no longer at war. That is something that most every household in the country has not had to do during this recession. Why can't our government do this also?

And for that matter, lets save money by cutting out whole departments that are not necessary or can be better handled at the state level. Cut the Department of Energy, which came into being in the Carter administration in order to make our country energy independent from foreign nations. Since that problem has only gotten worse, I see no need to continue funding this failed department.

Kill the Department of Education and let the states and better yet, the local communities administer the education of their children. And finally, get rid of funding for the ridiculous things that should never have been funded by tax payer dollars to begin with... things like the National Endowment for the Arts.

When We the People hold the politicians' feet to the fire, they will do the right thing, if not for the sake of honor, then for their own preservation of power. Regardless this must be done now before we finally go over that cliff where we are teetering on the edge currently. Finally though, there is some hope as people wake up and see this. True change we can believe in is coming. It starts in November of this year.

Being Worthy of Our Armed Forces

There is this gentleman that hosts a local talk radio show here in upper Utah. He definitely trends to the more conservative side of issues regarding politics and religion. I have listened to him for years on the way into work and have come to think of him as a friend, even though we have never met in person.

With that being said, he also has a background as a newspaper reporter, but that seems like that was back when journalism involved telling the facts of a story rather than the writer's opinion and bias on the subject of which the journalist was reporting supposedly. Anyway, I was struck by this article that my radio friend wrote and thought is was more than worthy of sharing. His name is Bob Lonsberry.


HORNELL, NY – I spent two hours last night in the cold outside Dagon Funeral Home. There were three or four hundred people ahead of me, two retired schoolteachers behind me, and a congressman about a dozen people back.

When I left, in the cold dark, the line still stretched out the front door, left down the sidewalk, around the corner, and back for two blocks.

That’s how it is when a hero dies.

That’s how it is when a small town loses its first such hero. The first since Vietnam.

Lance Corporal Zack Smith was 19.

His high school sweetheart will be a widow on their first anniversary.

And the price of freedom will never be clearer than it was last night in the cold.

The pictures inside showed a young man who could be a model of what a young American man should be. Strong, robust, smiling, obviously full of joy. Ready to tackle the world and whatever it had to offer. In a football uniform, on the golf course, in the arms of his family, in the arms of his bride. In the uniform of the United States Marine Corps. You felt a shiver as you saw and thought.

This is the fruit of America, this is the best we produce, this is the salt of the earth and the foundation of the future. This is what was lost in the south of Afghanistan in the fight to keep the war over there and the peace over here.

On January 31 an explosive went off and three Marines were dead. Eight years at war and thousands lost and this is the price you pay.

Only the odds are you don’t pay it. And neither do I. Odds are it is paid by all-American families from every corner of this country, mothers and fathers and sisters and brothers. Hearts broken, dreams shattered, loves lost.

He was a great kid, a good son, an American patriot.

And in the connections of a small town, in that fabric that is the substance of life’s richness, most of the people in line knew one another, or were related to one another, or felt close to one another.

Zack’s wife’s mother was five years behind me in school. His grandfather was best friends with my uncle, and his great-grandfather worked on the railroad with my grandfather. The guy ahead of me in line was school friends with Zack’s dad, and cousins with his wife’s father.

But the brotherhood in the place was of country, not blood. There was love of Zack and his family, but there was also love of America. A palpable patriotism, expressed in stuttering grace at one time or another by almost all the people in line. There were men in Vietnam veterans hats, Marines with combat medals on their chests, a guy with a 1st Cavalry pin on his lapel, another with a service ribbon, countless with American flag pins. The congressman wore a Naval Academy ring and there were four motorcycle guys out front lining the walk with flags.

This was America. The real America.

Where a state trooper and his wife can raise a son noble enough to wear the uniform of the United States.

Where a community and a culture can give a young man a chance to chase his dreams and be who he wants to be. Where two young people can fall in love and pledge their lives to one another.

Even if that’s barely six months.

Even if a warrior’s homecoming passes through Dagon’s and St. Ann’s on the way to St. Mary’s.

This is America. The real America.

And at the head of the line, inside the warmth of the funeral home, stood the family, shaking hands hour after hour, exchanging hugs and smiles, words and tears, memories and promises. A grandmother who was grateful for offers of prayers, a grandfather who paused to stare ahead and above as the emotion overcame him, a proud brother and loving mother, a father with the physique and the haircut of a Marine himself. And a teen-aged widow with her husband’s embroidered name strip around her wrist.

And a casket where Zack lay in the dress blues of the United States Marine Corps.

That’s what war means.

That’s what freedom costs.

That’s what one family paid.

That’s what a small town lost.

That’s what the rest of us must live worthy of, what we must live up to, what we must never forget.

Last night in the cold, hundreds stood in line to bear witness of their love for a family and their commitment to their country. They quietly waited for a moment to whisper what was in their hearts, and what their presence shouted for all to hear. They quietly waited to say “Thank you,” and “We love you,” and “We will always remember you.”

- by Bob Lonsberry © 2010

Mr. Lonsberry is unequivocally correct.

My thanks goes out to everyone serving or that has served in an American armed forces uniform. You all are my heroes and while I often pray for the safety of every last one of you, I also pray that I am worthy of the protection of our God-given freedoms that your service and sacrifices provides. So my humble and heartfelt thanks to my friends still in the service, to soldier mommy, to Free0352, and to everyone that puts himself in harms way for us. God bless you all!

2010 March for Life Special Order Smith 1.wmv

Obstruct Away!

Lately I have noticed a return by the Obama administration to the tired old Democratic tactic of calling those in opposition to his foolish agenda as being "obstructionists". This is something that Obama and his comrade Democrats in congress have been doing all along, of course, but it seems they are now doubling down with this tactic lately, as has been reported ad nauseum by their Democratic allies in the state-controlled main stream media.

My advice to the Republicans that actually are in opposition to Obama and the congressional communists is for them to say, "Damn right we are obstructing your Marxist agenda!" Unlike the conventional wisdom that I hear so many people say about how they just wish that those in congress could just get along with each other, I definitely do NOT want them to all get along with one another.

The Democrats and Obama's agenda is foolish, dangerous, and often un-Constitutional. I expect my elected representatives in congress to fight, oppose, and if necessary to obstruct this un-American Bolshevikism from being enacted into law. Now, they can be civil and of good humor while they irritate and obstruct the communist side of the aisle in their debates, but I as a voter insist that they don't just give in to that tripe in order to just get along. They all swore an oath to uphold the Constitution. It would be nice if at least one party took that oath seriously.

Please tell me, what part of the Obama agenda should the Republicans NOT try to obstruct or be in opposition towards anyway? Should they support his desire for cap & tax climate change legislation that is based on manipulated and falsified "scientific" data? How about Obama's insistence on mirandizing terrorists and giving them American Constitutional rights to a civil trial? How about the trillions spent for TARP and the stimulus packages? How about Obama's snubbing our allies like Israel? How about his governmental take over of private companies?How about his making us and our allies less safe by scrapping a theater missile defense system that was to be built in Poland and the Czech Republic? How about his protocol-inaccurate and American-demeaning habit of bowing to every head of state he encounters? How about his half-measures in fighting the war on terrorism and turning it into a giant police criminal investigation?

The bottom line is that if it appears that the current Republicans in congress are obstructing everything that Obama and the Democrats are trying to do, then that is a very good thing for a change I truly can believe in. Evidently the Republicans are the only party that is listening to their constituents and the majority of the American people. If they continue on this course, it is likely they will be rewarded with a stronger minority, if not an actual majority in one or possibly even both houses of congress later this year.

Obama insisted he would be a post-partisan president when he was campaigning. He would unite the country again. Frankly, I knew this was a bunch of crap from the very beginning just by looking at his past actions. Never has Obama reached across the aisle and compromised with those of the Republican party. His sole idea of compromise is for the right to move to his side of the argument.

Well, when the Republicans did this, ala George W. Bush and the previous congress led by Dennis Hastert, we the majority of American people got ticked really quickly and tended not to show up on election day to vote for these fools. If the Republicans want to compromise and govern like Democrats, then we might just as well elect the Democrats. Hence the mess we are currently in the midst of in our country. It seems the Republicans have learned this lesson well.

Our very nation was founded in the midst of passionate and often-times heated debate. THAT IS the American way. When the party in the minority is not allowed to have its ideas heard in a debate and the resulting legislation is contrary to everything truly American, then I think it is a party's duty to do whatever they can to obstruct the passage of such bills. Yes, continue to put forth your ideas to the public so that they know what your position is on the issues, but by all means obstruct away if that is the only recourse available to prevent the United States from becoming just another socialist quasi-European nation. In that regard not only is obstructionism a good thing, it is a necessary tactic!

Setting the Record Straight on Governor Palin

I know that from the beginning the left fell in love with the anointed one, Barrack Hussein Obama, and that any criticism of him was reflexively denounced as racism by those knuckleheads, but now that the honeymoon is over and the bloom on the rose is wilting quickly, people are beginning to see that the omnipotent Obama is NOT what he claimed to be during his campaign, and certainly not what this country needs.

Now I instinctively liked a lot of what I saw and heard from Governor Palin when she came on to the national scene. Choosing her as his VP was probably one of the few smart things McCain actually did in his dismal presidential run for the Whitehouse. Without Palin's true conservative principles to energize the GOP base, McCain would likely have lost to Lord Obama by a much larger margin yet.

That being said, I do not know if Palin will run for president in 2012. I do not know if I will vote for her if she does run, but I do know that she is more than qualified, particularly when compared to the inexperienced Marxist man-child currently in office. Further, Palin's conservative instincts and common sense are exactly what is needed should we as Americans care to make an attempt to save what is left of our country before it completely goes under for good.

The state-controlled main stream media has done a masterful job of denigrating and spreading outright falsehoods about Governor Palin. Their Saul Alinsky tactics of trying to ridicule and make her irrelevant have had an effect with regards to those people that don't take the time to actually look at the facts. Regardless, I don't think Governor Palin is going away from the national scene anytime soon and that is a very good thing for America.

With all of that being said, I found this interesting snippet written by one of Palin's constituents that helps put things in perspective. It won't matter to those that have already made up their minds regarding Governor Palin, but to those with an open mind, the facts definitely support the case that she is exactly the type of executive we need in the Whitehouse.

By Dewey Whetsell, Alaskan fisherman

The last 45 of my 66 years I’ve spent in a commercial fishing town in Alaska. I understand Alaska politics but never understood national politics well until this last year. Here’s the breaking point: Neither side of the Palin controversy gets it…It’s not about persona, style, rhetoric, it’s about doing things. Even Palin supporters never mention the things that I’m about to mention here.

1- Democrats forget when Palin was the Darling of the Democrats, because as soon as Palin took the Governor’s office away from a fellow Republican and tough SOB, Frank Murkowski, she tore into the Republican’s “Corrupt Bastards Club” (CBC) and sent them packing. Many of them are now residing in State housing and wearing orange jump suits. The Democrats reacted by skipping around the yard, throwing confetti and singing “la la la la” (well, you know how they are). Name another governor in this country that has ever done anything similar. But while you’re thinking, I’ll continue.

2- Now with the CBC gone, there were fewer Alaskan politicians to protect the huge, giant oil companies here. So, she constructed and enacted a new system of splitting the oil profits called “ACES”. Exxon (the biggest corporation in the world) protested and Sarah told them “don’t let the door hit you in the stern on your way out.” They stayed, and Alaska residents went from being merely wealthy to being filthy rich. Of course the other huge international oil companies meekly fell in line. Again, give me the name of any other governor in the country that has done anything similar.

3- The other thing she did when she walked into the governor’s office is she got the list of State requests for federal funding for projects, known as “pork”. She went through the list, took 85% of them and placed them in the “when-hell-freezes-over” stack. She let locals know that if we need something built, we’ll pay for it ourselves. Maybe she figured she could use the money she got from selling the previous governor’s jet because it was extravagant. Maybe she could use the money she saved by dismissing the governor’s cook (remarking that she could cook for her own family), giving back the State vehicle issued to her, maintaining that she already had a car, and dismissing her State provided security force (never mentioning—I imagine—that she’s packing heat herself). I’m still waiting to hear the names of those other governors.

4- Now, even with her much-ridiculed “gosh and golly” mannerism, she also managed to put together a totally new approach to getting a natural gas pipeline built which will be the biggest private construction project in the history of North America. No one else could do it although they tried. If that doesn’t impress you, then you’re trying too hard to be unimpressed while watching her do things like this while baking up a batch of brownies with her other hand.

5- For 30 years, Exxon held a lease to do exploratory drilling at a place called Point Thompson. They made excuses the entire time why they couldn’t start drilling. In truth they were holding it like an investment. No governor for 30 years could make them get started. This summer, she told them she was revoking their lease and kicking them out. They protested and threatened court action. She shrugged and reminded them that she knew the way to the court house. Alaska won again.

6- President Obama wants the nation to be on 25% renewable resources for electricity by 2025. Sarah went to the legislature and submitted her plan for Alaska to be at 50% renewables by 2025. We are already at 25%. I can give you more specifics about things done, as opposed to style and persona . Everybody wants to be cool, sound cool, look cool. But that’s just a cover-up. I’m still waiting to hear from liberals the names of other governors who can match what mine has done in two and a half years. I won’t be holding my breath.

By the way, she was content to to return to AK after the national election and go to work, but the haters wouldn’t let her. Now these adolescent screechers are obviously not scuba divers. And no one ever told them what happens when you continually jab and pester a barracuda. Without warning, it will spin around and tear your face off. Shoulda known better.

Mr. Whetsell, I couldn't agree more!

One Up-manship