Say Anything Blog

I was in an interesting discussion with my sister over Christmas.  It was about some friends of hers.  The argument was in spite of the fact that the people were social deviants; these people were the nicest people she knew; they aren’t at all as you would imagine them.  They are contributing members of society who are just misunderstood, persecuted, and unhappy because of it.  They go to Church, fall in love, pay their taxes, work hard, and celebrate Christmas, the whole catastrophe. What is worse the deviance they exhibit they can’t help, they were born that way. So for that reason, in spite of the fact they are aberrant in society we should accept and even embrace them in all their deviance. That was the core of her argument.

But, lets expand that just a tad.  I like to extend argument to illustrated it’s lack of soundness.

I know of a really nice man who worked in a church who was considered a really decent person.  One little social sin he had, he tortured and murdered people.  You would know him as the BTK killer.

Or that nice man who played a clown in all the children’s homes around Chicago some years ago. Everyone agreed he was a good man, a decent man, a giving man, One little problem, one day they found his house stinking of decaying human flesh and found the bodies of 33 People he had murdered.  You might know him as John Wayne Gacy.

Or how about a great humble Christian who loved every one.  Every day went to Church, was good in every way, looked up to, trusted by all those around him; except he sexually molested little boys.  That person was a composite of several Catholic Priests.

Or that family man the press can’t say enough good about. He loved his kids, he took care of them, they are all set for life and those that knew him said he was a caring and loving man.  It’s just that he murdered a hundred thousand people. Saddam Hussein.

What about one of the most charming and kind man many say they ever met in Florida.  He dated some of the most beautiful women.  Everyone who knew him said he was the most mannerly person you would ever want to meet.  In fact he was real husband material to some Moms. .  Nice enough but before he was executed murdered 25 women. You might remember Ted Bundy

I had an embezzler work for me once.  He was our parts man, Scott.  He was a family man, kept a nice home, mowed his lawn, went to church, invited us over to dinner, it’s just that he had this little problem of stealing $80,000 from the company.

Every person who goes postal is always a surprise to their neighbors.  Some are even eagle scouts.  They are just decent misunderstood people with a problem.  They go nuts.  Out of control.

Even religious people, people of faith fall off the edge of the earth.  Think about the guy who killed those little girls in Lancaster PA in the schoolhouse.  Nice man, went to church, hard worker, quiet, family man. Before he committed suicide called his wife and said goodbye.  No one ever suspected a thing.  It’s just he had a hidden sin he couldn’t deal with.

Or those from my branch in the woods, Ted Haggard, Jimmy Swaggart, men of God, men who preach, men who have everything to offer the world who are good family men who are religious married fathers who have a problem with Whores male and female.

Even Politicians live lives of sin.  Representative Tom Foley comes to mind.  I’ll bet he hated the fact that he was trapped and couldn’t get out.

A guy who worked for me is in prison for killing his wife and girlfriend.  He was a good guy, hard worker; fun, loved his kids, but he had this uncontrolled violent streak.  He just couldn’t leave it all alone.  He was angery and his anger controlled him until it landed him in prison for the rest of his life.  Gary and I knew each other well.  He was a great guy.  Just uncontrollably violent.

Then there was Skip.  A wonderful guy, Christian, when he got out of Jail I invited him to live with me.  But, he just couldn’t stay away from getting involved with the wrong people.  He ended up raping a woman (which is what he was in jail for the time before).  Skip probably won’t be out again soon.  Skip was born with a desire for violent sex.  No self control.

On MSNBC they have this sting program, they go online as a horny teenage girl and men show up to have sex.  They are videotaped and arrested.  These men for the most part are teachers, pastors, bank execs, truck drivers, many married.  They are all humiliated.  But, the alledged little girl wanted sex, these devients were naturally drawn to respond.  What could be more NORMAL than that?  They were out of control.  That’s what.

None of these people listed above were happy in their sin, aberrance, antisocial behavior or deviance.  All wish they didn’t have to live like that.  All felt like they were born this way.  All feel like they can’t help it.  All feel like if someone would only understand.  They all feel like if only they could stop they would be happy.  They feel out of control.

Sin causes us to be unhappy.  Tortured and tempted we foist our behavior on others in society.  OR we excuse ourselves by saying we come from a long line of kleptomaniacs.  So, it’s normal for us.

They would to a person tell you they were born with these tendencies.  I believe them.  I was born with some odd tendencies that if I acted on would land me in jail or get me killed.

So, when I hear the argument that Homosexuals are born that way, that I should understand them, that they should be accepted, that the desires they carry isn’t their fault I wonder how many of those I have listed above would say the same thing?

Believe me, I know several homosexuals.  Some are good friends.  They are unsettled.  They wish they didn’t have to live like this.  They feel trapped by the sin tendencies in their lives.

Here’s the difference.  Homosexuals I know who have learned to control the urges live decent happy lives.  If they give into them uncontrolled they live in total despair.  Multiple partners.  Disease.  Rejection by society and each other.  The lie is that they can find fulfillment in committed relationships.  They never really do.  That’s why I’m against Gay marriage.  It codifies and culturally endorses aberrant behavior.

Like the murderer the pedophile, the embezzler, the torturer, the rapist, the violent, the whoremonger, they were all born with these tendencies, the issue is, can they or do they control them?  We have punishment for people who violate most laws against humanity like above.  Why are we supposed to stuff cultural and even biblical condemnation of homosexual behavior because people are “Born that Way”.  We are all born deviant in one area or another.  We just must learn to control and deal with it.  That’s called being an adult.

So should homosexuals.  Control it or face social consequence.  You should see the Gay Pride Parade held each year in Chicago.  It’s the “look I have my penis out” parade.  It’s so over the top and disgusting I shouldn’t be forced to watch (I don’t) or even have it in my community to deaden our sensitivity to this deviance. I don’t want to be forced to accept them any more than the social deviance I listed at the beginning of this piece.

I suspect some people will throw up the Levitical restrains (Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13) about this and use it as a Bible Bullet against me.  They will say that I base my homophobe beliefs soley on these passages in Leviticus. It’s not true.  If I ONLY used the New Testament I have enough warning against this aberrant behavior to justify my position.  I won’t do a Bible study for you, but if you were interested, I would point you to the Book of Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Hebrews, and Revelation.  You will find enough here to keep you busy for a while.

What’s the solution?  As Archie Bunker said to Edith often, STIFLE!  And as a Christian what’s the solution?  I know people who have overcome this demon of homosex and found happiness.  Jesus is the answer.  I will love them, not accept the sin, Heck I still love the murderer and the rapist I know in prison.  I just don’t want them back out walking the streets unless they get right with God and under control.

So, now that you know the truth, are you still in favor of Gay Marriage?  I know I probably didn’t change any minds.  I just wish they would all keep it in their pants and go back in the closet.  I shouldn’t have to see this mess.  Neither should my Grandkids.  When I was a teenager of perhaps 16 and heard that there was such a thing as homosexuality I was shocked.  I couldn’t imagine one man doing that to another.

Couldn’t we put some shock potential back into our culture?

Come on there - STIFLE!

Doesn’t it seem just a little strange that the Mainstream Liberal Media is all over this Gerald Ford Legacy as if he was the last good Republican?  HMMM?

The headline in the Chicago Tribune the day after he died was,  “Could Ford Be Accepted by Today’s Republican Party?”

Really??

I liked Gerald Ford.  Thought he was a nice guy.  But as Tammy Bruce said today, His main Presidential legacy is that he wasn’t Nixon.  That’s about it.

I suspect this Knighted Sainthood drivel from the media has more to do with Antipathy for Reagan and the Reaganesqe GWB than anything else. IF the MSM can lionize Ford at the expense of the policies of Reagan and GWB they will do so.  They wish the Reagan era had never happened.

They don’t dislike us, they hate us conservatives.  Evil people that Liberal MSM as they are dancing on the grave of a dead man (again).  But then as the funeral of Corretta King showed, they are shameless clods.

Then there’s Bob Woodward’s breathless release of the tapes seconds after Ford died. His corpse wasn’t even cold.  Woodward can’t do enough to discredit Bush.

I sometimes would like to revisit that freedom of the press thing.  That’s probably why I shouldn’t be KING anytime soon.

I didn’t want to be the one posting this, thought I would do it in a comment if such a thread were started, but I’m off to Dakota family and friends for Chistmas.  12 Hour drive from Chicago.  Ellendale and Oakes and Fargo. 

So, All the best to all.

And since I won’t be back before the Nuptials on the 30th, congratulations to the new PORT family

Thanks for a great 2006 all you good people who are part of all this.

Merry Christmas
Gene Redlin

A friend of mine sent a link to one of the most extraordinary set of pictures of last Thursday night’s Northern Lights show.

I have stood in awe of the northern lights in the past, seen them at 3 in the morning in the middle of winter and been moved.

This set of pictures was taken 15 miles north of Bismarck according to the website.

Really worth looking at.  Makes me just a little tiny bit homesick.

So what’s it gonna be liberal media?

In August Mike Wallace sits down with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and pronounces him:

Of Ahmadinejad, Wallace said, “He’s an impressive fellow, this guy. He really is. He’s obviously smart as hell.”

Wallace said he was surprised to find that the Iranian president was still a college professor who taught a graduate-level course.

“You’ll find him an interesting man,” he said. “I expected more of a firebrand. I don’t think he has the slightest doubt about how he feels ... about the American administration and the Zionist state. He comes across as more rational than I had expected.”

Of course now with the “We Wacked Out” Holocost denying conference in Iran the Liberal Press is all over him.

They never met a leftwing despot they didn’t like.
Even as the Castrofication of South American slides societies into oblivion the lefty press applauds.

They hated Pinochet because he offed 3200 people trying to get Chile back to normal after a left wing lurch. His crime?  He was a right winger. Today Chile is the envy of South American.  Some are wishing a Pinochet could emerge in Iraq.

On the other hand, Castro who has killed an estimated 77,000 during his reign is treated like a kindly old man by the liberal goofballs of the press.

This is why I despise the liberal media.  They are such dunces.

No, TOADS.  Warts and all.

I am very pleased that Kofi Annan gave his LAST speech to the world yesterday.  Pleased that is was his LAST!

He has been the most horrid leader of the UN, a disgraced entity, that is possible to imagine.  He represents all that is bad about the UN.  And that is saying a lot.  It would please me if tomorrow the UN just dissolved.  But that’s another Story.

So the king of Corruption and inaction goes to Independance MO to the Truman Library and goes off on the USA, GWB and all things American.  What an idiot.

What makes this so unique, this coming from a man with no discernible gonads.  Whiny and hopeless.  I only hold James Earl Carter ex pres ret in lesser standing.  But that’s another story.

Today’s Chicago Tribune has a brilliant piece in it’s lead editorial.

excerpts:

Annan said when the U.S. “appears to abandon its own ideals and objectives, its friends abroad are naturally troubled and confused.” Translation: Have I told you this week how much I resent the U.S. for enforcing the 17 resolutions against Iraq that my Security Council adopted but then abandoned?

Paul Volcker called Annan’s reign a “culture of inaction”—that aggravated one crisis after another:

- The corruption of Annan’s bureaucracy in the oil-for-food scandal is Exhibit A. While UN swells slept (or shared in the booty), Saddam Hussein funneled fortunes looted from his own people to his influential pals in Russia, France, China and elsewhere.

- Sudanese officials may have slaughtered Muslim villagers “with genocidal intent,” a UN panel reported in 176 pages of blather. But the mass killings in Darfur aren’t “genocide.” How convenient for Annan. A finding of genocide by the UN would have forced the rest of the world to act. Russia, France and China didn’t want embargoes or sanctions to gum up their trade with Sudan—and Annan didn’t apply the muscular diplomacy that might have persuaded those governments to help stop the killing.

- A 2004 internal UN report admits that the body is hamstrung by “an unwillingness to get serious about preventing deadly violence.” Two years later, nothing has changed.

- Iran ignores an Aug. 31 Security Council deadline to halt uranium enrichment. Does Annan demand sanctions? No, he flies to Tehran and, with the naivete of a 3-year-old, announces that Iran’s president “reaffirmed to me Iran’s preparedness and determination to negotiate” a solution to the nuclear confrontation. What? In Mahmoud Ahmadinejad we trust?

- North Korea sets off a nuclear device. Kofi Annan’s UN ... blinks. No pressure, no punishment. How better to teach other rogue governments and their mad-hatter rulers that acquiring nukes is the best way to snub the world?

- A new UN Human Rights Council replaces a disgraced Human Rights Commission that coddled member nations with dreadful records of oppression. Except Annan’s new panel blames almost every indignity it mulls on Israel. Even Annan fusses briefly. And then does nothing.

It has been said that if the oil-for-food scandal alone had occurred in any legitimate organization on Earth, its CEO long ago would have been ousted in disgrace.

Today Jeff Skilling began a 24 year prison sentence for the Enron situation.  This in itself is a travesty.  But if there was any justice Kofi Annan would be in the cell next to Skilling and I would hope he would find a nice 300 pound “girlfriend” named Bubba.

A few weeks ago I saw a sad video of a little girl from Gaza who was rehearsing for her parents her hatred of Jews and Americans. She rehearsed how they (The Jews) were pigs and apes.

It was horribly sad. I thought, it’s going to take a great deal of reprogramming to get that child to even be partially accepting and adapted into the world at large. Or she will be marginalized and maybe die a homicide bomber.

Then I saw this video. An 8 year old child. Indoctrinated by the hate speech of the left.

I only have one question. True or False. The Taliban is alive and well in America. Destroying young minds with hatred and evil. If you think this is OK for this child to spew this kind of hate the liberal left routinely spews, you are a sick person.

I have come to my senses.  I have been wrong all along.  It’s hard for me to say this but the war in Iraq and my support for Israel has been misguided.

I have seen the light.  A wiser man than I am has shown me the way.

Here are the facts that changed my way of thinking:

The real aggressor toward the Palestinians is Israel.

Israelis are making life more and more difficult for the rightful owners of the land of Palestine. In broad day-light, in front of cameras and before the eyes of the world, they are bombarding innocent defenseless civilians, bulldozing houses, firing machine guns at students in the streets and alleys, and subjecting their families to endless grief.

The war in Iraq is another thing I was wrong on.

Consider these truths:  Since the commencement of the US military presence in Iraq, hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have been killed, maimed or displaced. Terrorism in Iraq has grown exponentially. With the presence of the US military in Iraq, nothing has been done to rebuild the ruins, to restore the infrastructure or to alleviate poverty. The US Government used the pretext of the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, but later it became clear that that was just a lie and a deception.

What it has done to our country:

One hundred and fifty thousand American soldiers, separated from their families and loved ones, are operating under the command of the current US administration. A substantial number of them have been killed or wounded and their presence in Iraq has tarnished the image of the American people and government.

Even a beat of my heart goes out to Cindy Shehan:

Their mothers and relatives have, on numerous occasions, displayed their discontent with the presence of their sons and daughters in a land thousands of miles away from US shores. American soldiers often wonder why they have been sent to Iraq.

And the cost of war:

I no longer consent to the billions of dollars of annual expenditure from the treasury for this military misadventure.

Then there are the atrocities which continue to be uncovered being commited by our troops:

The US administration is kidnapping its presumed opponents from across the globe and arbitrarily holding them without trial or any international supervision in horrendous prisons that it has established in various parts of the world. God knows who these detainees actually are, and what terrible fate awaits them.

The worst are the Guantanamo and Abu-Ghraib prisons. The US administration attempts to justify them through its proclaimed “war on terror.” But every one knows that such behavior, in fact, offends global public opinion, exacerbates resentment and thereby spreads terrorism, and tarnishes the US image and its credibility among nations.

Then there are the losses of civil liberties:

Under the pretext of “the war on terror,” civil liberties in the United States are being increasingly curtailed. Even the privacy of individuals is fast losing its meaning. Judicial due process and fundamental rights are trampled upon. Private phones are tapped, suspects are arbitrarily arrested, sometimes beaten in the streets, or even shot to death.

It would be so much better if we spent the money we spend on the war on things at home:

Now that Iraq has a Constitution and an independent Assembly and Government, would it not be more beneficial to bring the US officers and soldiers home, and to spend the astronomical US military expenditures in Iraq for the welfare and prosperity of the American people? As we know very well, many victims of Katrina continue to suffer, and countless Americans continue to live in poverty and homelessness.

My hope is that the new leadership in congress will get a handle on this:

If the new US Government meets the current domestic and external challenges with an approach based on truth and Justice, it can remedy some of the past afflictions and alleviate some of the global resentment and hatred of America. But if the approach remains the same, it would not be unexpected that the American people would similarly reject the new electoral winners, although the recent elections, rather than reflecting a victory, in reality point to the failure of the current administration’s policies.

And to be certain that these revelations come to you as well, these did not come from John Murtha, the New York Times, or Daily Kos.  I didn’t trust them.  You’ve heard all this from them.  It took a Man of God to show me the error of my ways.  You can read his letter to me that turned it all around.

It’s funny it all sounds so familiar. I can’t remember where I’ve heard all this before.

I grew up in Rural North Dakota. I spent a lot of time on my back with a telescope. John Redlin and I would lay on a blanket in his back yard. I later would often find myself out on a hill near Ranch 2 at midnite looking up. Sometimes it would be clear as a bell in winter. The nearest yard light would be 2 miles away. The stars would be so bright, you could see the color differences between them.

It was more than just pedantic identification. To see the milky way streak across the sky and know that I was seeing billions of suns with planets on them gave me a sense of awe I carry to this day. How could I not believe in God seeing this. Paul the Apostle wrote of this in Romans 1:20 (NKJV) that,

““For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. . .”

There were times when we lived north of Fargo that at 3AM the northern lights would be so bright you could almost see your shadow. It would seem as if you could actually hear them. They would humm. The telephone and power lines seemed to pick up the noise of them and reflect them.

I say this because I just looked at some pictures I want to show you from the Hubble telescope. I think the lack of faith in God exists because other lesser lights have dimmed our capacity to see the majesty that is the heavens. No wonder David wrote of what they saw at night with such eloquence:

““The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands."” (Psalm 19:1)

““O Lord, our Lord, How majestic is Thy name in all the earth, Who hast displayed Thy splendor above the heavens! “

“When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, The moon and the stars, which Thou has ordained;”

“O Lord, our Lord, How majestic is Thy name in all the earth!”

(Psalm 8:1,3,9)

““Thy heavens, the work of the Thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which Thou has ordained”

“Thou dost make him [man] to rule over the works of Thy hands, Thou has put all things under his feet"” (Psalms 8:3,6).

And Moses warns people to understand that God created these things and that we are not to worship them but worship God. The beauty of the stars are a gift, a heritage to us.

““And take heed, lest you lift your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven, you feel driven to worship them and serve them, which the Lord your God has given to all the peoples under the whole heaven as a heritage” (Deuteronomy 4:19).

So, with that understanding, take a look at the pictures. When your breath is taken away and you stand in awe, remember your and their creator are ONE.

And say Thank You.

Charlie Rangle wants congressfolks to vote different because they might hurt their own children by having them subject to the draft.  Ergo, he wants to implement the draft.

That means that der Rangle wants them to vote in their own interest over what is best for the country.  That’s his frame of reference.  Evidently he feels like that would be appropriate and in fact he practices that all the time.

So if that is what he endorses, voting in a selfish interest over the good of your constituency, then I don’t want to hear any carping if congressmen and women vote to:

 

Prop up a business they have ownership in
  Support an industry they are given money from
  Vote to have massive earmarks that only help a     few
  Support an investment program regarding   property they have title to

In other words, screw the voter, vote in your own self-interest.

Wait, that’s exactly what’s happening now.  So, maybe Chuckie has a great idea here.  He’s just tapping into the natural selfish motives of our congress. 

It’s worse now that the Dems are in, they have no shame.  I’m pretty cynical about all this. 

If you want to implement a draft, clean out all the jails of any man under the age of 40, offer them a chance at clearing their record and getting right with society.  They agree to a 5-year stint in the service (after training).  Most likely Middle East combat.  If they complete their service without incident and are honorably discharged after the 5 years, they go a free man.  No pay for these men.  They get training and boot camp more in depth and intense than any marine X 2. 

At the end of the training they are put into groups placed in the most dangerous situations.  Then they fight. 

If they Flunk Out they go back to jail and the failure is part of their record.  In addition if they escape or go awol they are executed upon capture.  They can quit but that does them ill on the parole potential or “good time” they might have gotten. 

In other words, if you sign up for this program you have tremendous incentive to make it work.

And, the governments, national, state and local save a ton of money.  We currently have nearly 1.5 MILLION men (mostly) in prison today.  A high percentage of them are in for drugs.  Let’s put them to work.  Even those with murder on the dock. 

That would be a million man army if most of these men were used.  Nutcases need not apply.
But there are a lot of men who could do us some good if we just put them in the right place.

That’s the draft I would support.  It’s as it used to be.  When I was young, many miscreants were given the chance at joining the army rather than go to jail.  They did, served and became good members of society after a term or two in the service.

Why not do it again?  It worked in the 50’s.

There have been a large number of casualties in Iraq the past few days.  It’s sad.  It’s essential.  If freedom came free no one would value it.  That’s part of the problem in the USA today.  So, as tragic as it is, it will prove to be a deterrent to going back to the bad old days when freedom finally comes to IRAQ.

Orson Scott Card wrote a very long dissertation I have excerpted from in the past.  Here is the 3rd installment.  Elephants are best eaten one bite at a time.

Democracy – the Other Hope

Wherever Islamicism has been tried, the result has been identical to Communism’s miserable track record. The people are oppressed; the worst sort of vigilantes and thugs terrorize the population; the new power elite, regardless of their supposed piety and dedication to a holy cause, is quickly corrupted and comes to love the wealth and privileges of power.

When there is no hope of deliverance, the people have no choice but to bow under the tyrant’s lash, pretending to be true believers while yearning for relief. In Russia it came ... after more than 70 years. China and Cuba are still waiting – but then, they started later.

So it would be in the Muslim world – if Islamicism were ever able to come to seem inevitable and irresistible.

You know: If America withdrew from Iraq and Afghanistan and exposed everyone who had cooperated with us to reprisals.

As happened in South Vietnam. The negotiated peace was more or less holding after American withdrawal. But then a Democratic Congress refused to authorize any further support for the South Vietnamese government. No more armaments. No more budget.

In other words, we forcibly disarmed our allies, while their enemies continued to be supplied by the great Communist powers. The message was clear: Those who rely on America are fools. We didn’t even have the decency to arrange for the evacuation of the people who had trusted us and risked the most in supporting what they thought was our mutual cause.

We did it again, this time in the Muslim world, in 1991, when Bush Senior encouraged a revolt against Saddam. He meant for the senior military officers to get rid of him in a coup; instead, the common people in the Shiite south rose up against Saddam.

Bush Senior did nothing as Saddam moved in and slaughtered them. The tragedy is that all it would have taken is a show of force on our part in support of the rebels, and Saddam’s officers would have toppled him. Only when it became clear that we would do nothing did it become impossible for any high-ranking officials to take action. For the price of the relatively easy military action that would have made Saddam turn his troops around and leave the Shiite south, we could have gotten rid of him then – and had grateful friends, perhaps, in the Shiite south.

That is part of our track record: Two times we persuaded people to commit themselves to action against oppressive enemies, only to abandon them. Do you think that would-be rebels in Iran and Syria and North Korea don’t remember those lessons?

Fortunately, there are other lessons as well: West Germany and Japan, Taiwan and South Korea, where liberated nations were protected. In the first two, we took on the task of nation building and transformed both political cultures into democracies. In the latter two, we tolerated strongman dictatorships for many years, but eventually we made it clear that it was time for democracy, and under our protective umbrella, the governments were transformed and oppression ended.

So ... which America is operating now in the Muslim world?

In Iraq and Afghanistan – but especially Iraq – President Bush is behaving according to America’s best and most honorable tradition. We did not come to destroy, we came to liberate and rescue, he says – by word and deed. We bring freedom and opportunity. Our money will help rebuild your devastated (or never built-up) economies; our expertise will help train your most talented people to be ready for prosperity and self-government; and our military will keep enemies from overwhelming you as you reinvent yourselves.

Instead of leaving an empty house, swept clean but unprotected, waiting for the devils of Islamic puritanism to come take over, President Bush has sworn that America will bring democracy, and that American soldiers will do their best to protect the decent, ordinary people until they are able to protect themselves.

As a marker as to how far we have come or not on this Thanksgiving Day 2006 I am printing below excerpts from FDR that I read this morning in Christian Breaking News.

It occurs to me that if a President Bush or even Clinton said anything like this today the Hue and Cry risen up against them by the ACLU, Liberal Press, and Barry Lind would drown out the appeals to “Pass the Turkey”.  We are in deep doo doo in this country and maybe by looking back 65 years we can get our bearings again.

From Breaking News:

Presidential Thanksgiving Proclamations are fascinating insights into American history. As this Thanksgiving approaches, the sobering words of Franklin D. Roosevelt during Thanksgivings celebrated while fighting WWII, ring familiar to us who pray for our men and women fighting on the frontlines in the War on Terror today. The following are excerpts from some of these humble and inspiring Proclamations:

1942

It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord. Across the uncertain ways of space and time our hearts echo those words, for the days are with us again when, at the gathering of the harvest, we solemnly express our dependence upon Almighty God. The final months of this year, now almost spent, find our Republic and the Nations joined with it waging a battle on many fronts for the preservation of liberty.

In giving thanks for the greatest harvest in the history of our Nation, we who plant and reap can well resolve that in the year to come we will do all in our power to pass that milestone; for by our labors in the fields we can share some part of the sacrifice with our brothers and sons who wear the uniform of the United States.

It is fitting that we recall now the reverent words of George Washington, “Almighty God, we make our earnest prayer that Thou wilt keep the United States in Thy holy Protection,” and that every American in his own way lift his voice to heaven. I recommend that all of us bear in mind this great Psalm: (Quotes the 23rd Psalm).”

1943

God’s help to us has been great in this year of march towards world-wide liberty. In brotherhood with warriors of other United Nations our gallant men have won victories, have freed our homes from fear, have made tyranny tremble, and have laid the foundation for freedom of life in a world which will be free…Our forges and hearths and mills have wrought well; and our weapons have not failed. Our farmers, victory gardeners, and crop volunteers have gathered and stored a heavy harvest in the barns and bins and cellars. Our total food production for the year is the greatest in the annals of our country…

For all these things we are devoutly thankful, knowing also that so great mercies exact from us the greatest measure of sacrifice and service…May we on Thanksgiving Day, and on every day, express our gratitude and zealously devote ourselves to our duties as individuals and as a nation. May each of us dedicate his utmost efforts to speeding the victory which will bring new opportunities for peace and brotherhood among men.

1944

In this year of liberation, which has seen so many millions freed from tyrannical rule, it is fitting that we give thanks with special fervor to our Heavenly Father for the mercies we have received individually and as a nation and for the blessings He has restored, through the victories of our arms and those of our allies, to His children in other lands.

For the preservation of our way of life from the threat of destruction; for the unity of spirit which has kept our Nation strong; for our abiding faith in freedom; and for the promise of an enduring peace, we should lift up our hearts in thanksgiving. For the harvest that has sustained us and, in its fullness, brought succor to other peoples; for the bounty of our soil, which has produced the sinews of war for the protection of our liberties; and for a multitude of private blessings, known only in our hearts, we should give united thanks to God.

To the end that we may bear more earnest witness to our gratitude to Almighty God, I suggest a nationwide reading of the Holy Scriptures during the period from Thanksgiving Day to Christmas. Let every man of every creed go to his own version of the Scriptures for a renewed and strengthening contact with those eternal truths and majestic principles which have inspired such measure of true greatness as this nation has achieved.

Before the election, Orson Scott Card wrote a brilliant LONG piece about “Bush’s War”.  I already exerpted it earlier.  Here is part two.  Sometimes bite sized pieces make it easier to digest.

A common charge against the Bush administration’s conduct of the war is that they are engaged in the hopeless task of “nation building.” And this is true – except for the word “hopeless.”

But what is the alternative? I’ve heard several, each more disastrous and impossible and even shameful than the one before.

In the New Testament, Jesus once used the analogy of a person who was possessed by a devil.

When you cast out the devil, don’t you leave an empty house, swept clean, to which seven devils will now come to live, making things worse than ever?

No matter which miserable dictatorship we moved against after the Taliban – and we had no choice but to keep moving on if we were to eradicate the grave danger we faced (and face) – we would have faced the same problem in Syria or Iraq or Sudan that we had in Afghanistan: We had to establish order in a nation that had never actually become a nation.

The boundaries on the ground in the Middle East were not formed in the traditional way – by compromise or war. Instead, European powers drew lines that pleased their fancy. The lines did not create the hatreds that plague the region, but they guaranteed that traditional enemies would have to face each other within these boundaries.

It is in part because of the resulting chaos and oppression that groups like the Taliban and al Qaeda and the Shiite fundamentalists of Iran have been given an opportunity to offer the solution of returning to the core values of Islam – as defined, of course, to their private advantage.

If we topple one government and then walk away, the result in any Middle Eastern nation would be civil war, and the probable winner would be the well-funded international terrorist groups that do not shrink from wholesale murder in pursuing their cause.

Just as Kerensky’s attempt at a liberal government in revolutionary Russia was almost instantly snuffed out by Lenin’s Bolshevik thugs in 1917, so also would any attempt at unified democratic government in Iraq, Iran, Syria or Afghanistan be quickly converted into Islamo-fascism of one stripe or another.

And if that happened, Islamicist puritanism would be seen in every nation as the “wave of the future.” Just as, when Nazi Germany was in the ascendant, the nations of southeastern Europe quickly made their accommodation with Hitler, since the alternative was to be swept away like Poland, France or Yugoslavia, so also would nominally democratic nations adopt the trappings of Islamicism – if they weren’t already toppled by puritan revolutions from within.

I can cure drive by shootings in Chicago in 72 hours.  Give me the resources and the permission and I can do it.

Day 1 – Every Person in the city of Chicago, young and old, black and white will be given a mandatory gun users training course.  How to load and fire a suitable weapon well and safely.

Day 2 – Marksmanship is taught.  You will be able to shoot and kill whatever you aim at.

Day 3 – Every Person in the city of Chicago will be issued a gun of their choice and proficiency.  Big handgun, rifle, it must be centerfire and .223 or larger. 

At the end of the third day, if a car full of drive by shooters should emerge witnesses would find the car crashed into a tree at the end of the block with dead shooters in it, bullets in their heads.  This should permanently discourage further drive by shooters.

Should cut down on the mugging too don’t you think?  And, how bout rapes, and armed robberies.  In fact, if we did that, I think Chicago would be a safer place for all. 

But, first we would have to kill all the lawyers (Shakespeare)

I recently read an opinion piece in which the author ridiculed the very concept of a “war on terror,” saying that it makes as much sense as if, after Pearl Harbor, FDR had declared a “war on aviation.”

Without belaboring the obvious shortcomings of the analogy, I will agree with the central premise. The name “War on Terror” clearly conceals the fact that we are really at war with specific groups and specific nations; we can no more make war on a methodology than we can make war on nitrogen.

However, there are several excellent reasons why “War on Terror” is the only possible name for this war.

1. This is not a war that can be named for any particular nation or region. To call it the “Iraq War” or the “Afghanistan War” would lead to the horrible mistake of thinking that victory would consist of toppling certain governments and then going home.

In fact, it is precisely the name “War in Iraq” that is leading to the deep misconceptions that drive the Democratic position on the war. If this were in fact a war on Iraq, then in one sense we won precisely when President Bush declared victory right after we occupied Baghdad. And in another sense, we might not see victory for another five years, or even a decade – a decade in which Americans will be dying alongside Iraqis. For a “War in Iraq” to linger this way is almost too painful to contemplate.

But we are not waging a “War in Iraq.” We are waging a world war, in which the campaigns to topple the governments of Iraq and Afghanistan were brilliantly successful, and the current “lukewarm” war demands great patience and determination from the American people as we ready ourselves for the next phase.

2. We cannot name this war for our actual enemies, either, because there is no way to name them accurately without including some form of the word “Islam” or “Muslim.”

It is our enemies who want to identify this as a war between Islam and the West. If we allow this to happen, we run the risk of achieving the worst of all possible outcomes: The unification of one or both of the great factions of worldwide Islam under a single banner.

President Bush and his administration have shown their grasp of our present danger by stoutly resisting all attempts to rename this war. We call it a “War on Terror” because that allows us to cast it, not as a war against the Muslim people, with all their frustrations and hopes, but a war in which most Muslims are not our enemies at all.

That can be galling for many Americans. When, after the fall of the towers on 9/11, Palestinians and others poured into the streets, rejoicing, it was tempting to say, A plague on all of them!

But it is precisely those people – the common people of the Muslim world, most of whom hate us (or claim to hate us, when asked by pollsters in police states) – whom we must treat as if they were not our enemies. They are the ones we must win over for us to have any hope of victory without a bloodbath poured out on most of the nations of the world.

Sourced but too important not to post.