Author: kingsjester

64 year old Christian Conservative husband, father, and grandfather who has been writing since April 2010.

Jerry Lewis and the MDA Telethon: A Metaphor for Modern American Society 2015

On By kingsjesterIn Entertainment, PoliticsLeave a comment

jerry-lewisSo, here we are, September 7th, Labor Day, 2015…and there is a huge gap in today’s television programming.

In what has become a metaphor for Modern American Society, a Labor Day Tradition of almost 50 years, has been tossed aside, having been deemed to have “outlived its usefulness”, shortly following the disrespectful and dishonorable discarding of its creator.

For 45 years, American families would, while spending time together, watch the Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Association Telethon. The telethon would begin on Sunday Evening and continue for 21 1/2 hours, ending on Monday evening at 5:00 p.m. Central. Co-hosted in later years by Ed McMahon and Norm Crosby, stars of stage, screen, and television would appear, alongside corporate executives, all there to raise money for “Jerry’s Kids”.

And, when I say “stars”, I mean STARS.

Jerry’s good friend, Sammy Davis, Jr. would come on every year, on Monday afternoon, and do a solid 30 minutes of entertaining., usually badgering Jerry, until he would come out and do a couple of songs with him, usually ending in a tap dance “challenge”.

Mr. Las Vegas himself, Wayne Newton, would come on after that and bring down the house, with several high energy numbers, wearing his huge American Eagle Belt Buckle, and “TCB” Necklace, which Elvis Presley gave him as a sign of friendship and respect.

Speaking of the King, while Elvis did not appear live every year, usually, also sometime Monday Afternoon, Ed McMahon would say,

Jerry, we just received a call from Graceland.

Which meant that Elvis. known throughout my hometown of Memphis for his great generosity, had just phoned in a huge donation.

Perhaps, one of the most poignant moments in the history of the telethon came when  the Chairman of the Board, Francis Albert Sinatra, showed up. Frank told Jerry that he had brought a friend with him and asked him to come out. That friend was Jerry’s ex-partner, Dean Martin. The two had been estranged for years. Jerry became emotional. He hugged Dino, and, when everyone became silent, he asked,

So, you been working?

4 years ago, after 45 years of magnanimous service, raising untold millions for the MDA, the 85 year old Lewis was cruelly and unceremoniously dumped. In fact, the MDA did not even have the guts to tell Jerry Lewis that they dumped him!

In 2013, before the 2012 MDA Program, showbiz411.com posted this report about the results of the 201 trimmed-down “telethon”,

The 2011 telethon, shrunk to six hours from 21, was ghastly. When it was over MDA trumpeted that they’d made $61 million– up 4 percent from the prior year when Lewis was at the helm. MDA boasted it did better without Jerry.

Alas, it wasn’t true. MDA has just posted its 2011 federal tax form 990 on its website and this tells a much different story. MDA was only able to collect $31 million of that much publicized amount. Without Jerry Lewis to cajole or persuade or inveigle, exactly half the amount came in that was promised by the public. Whether people simply reneged, or never actually pledged that amount at all, remains to be seen.

MDA will argue this happens every year: the tote board total is never what actually comes in. But in 2010, MDA crowed about $58 million at the end of the telethon with Jerry; $48 million came in. In 2009, the first telethon after the recession, the shortfall was about $15 million–$60 million announced, $45 million arrived.

For last year, MDA lists gross receipts from the first non Jerry Lewis telethon at $30,683,816. The charitable contribution portion was 18,059,876 . This left a gross income of $12,623,940.

A 50% shortfall is unprecedented. Because of it, the Form 990 shows a running $30 million loss or more in all categories stated on the MDA return from the beginning of 2011 to the end. Net assets and fund balances seem severely depleted.

And public support dropped overall, not just with the Telethon. In 2010, MDA claimed it received over $174 million in gifts and grants (including the telethon). In 2011, there was a big drop: the number was only $157 million.

Even more disturbing: revenue less expenses left MDA in the red for 2011 at $19 million.

MDA’s now deposed CEO, the man who got rid of Lewis, Gerald C. Weinberg, still pulled down his nearly $400K a year salary in 2011, which he’d been making fo years. The top staff at MDA all make decent six figure salaries as well. Weinberg and most of that staff are no longer working at MDA.

To be fair: MDA divides up the millions that do come in to dozens of worthy hospitals, universities, research programs, and facilities. The halved $61 million is still a sizeable chunk for these donation-starved groups. However: without the bad publicity and the controversy around Jerry Lewis, MDA might have been able to collect a higher percentage of pledges which would have benefited these groups even more.

Something happened at MDA in 2011 that’s never quite been explained. They committed a kind of hari-kari, taking an established brand and flushing it down the toilet. On Sunday night, the so-called remnants of the annual telethon are down to three hours. Almost everything is pre-taped except for local cut ins. The acts have no relationship to the history of the MDA.

Because it’s taped, there will be no drama to see if they can top last year. Of course, last year doesn’t really exist since the actually collected $31 million is far below the amounts from preceding years.

In 2012, the MDA Program was renamed the “MDA Show of Strength”. It was scaled down to a 3 hour program, featuring mostly pre-taped segments.

This past May, the Muscular Dystrophy Association sent out the following Press Release:

MDA, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, today announced that the new realities of television viewing and philanthropic giving have made this the right time for the organization to move beyond its historic Labor Day telethon. It will discontinue production of a broadcast telethon effective this year.

Julie Rhoad, mom of two boys with muscular dystrophy, speaks from her heart to the 2008 Telethon audience about the tough challenges faced by MDA families. Host Jerry Lewis offers emotional support.

MDA plans to invest more in digital and mobile channels for consumer engagement and activation. The organization will continue to share the inspirational stories of MDA families on Labor Day and throughout the year via digital channels as part of an emerging year-round plan to revitalize its brand, connect with donors more frequently, strengthen family support, and attract and recognize sponsors in new ways.

“The decision to end our beloved telethon was not made lightly,” said MDA President and CEO Steven M. Derks. “In the last few years, the show was adjusted to reflect changes in viewership and donor patterns, and last summer’s Ice Bucket Challenge once again affirmed for us that today’s families, donors and sponsors are looking to us for new, creative and organic ways to support our mission.”

The first telethon aired in 1956 and has attracted America’s most famous celebrities over the years, none more prominent than the legendary Jerry Lewis, who emceed the event through 2010. For decades, the telethon was instrumental in raising awareness and donations to save and improve the lives of kids and adults fighting muscular dystrophy, ALS and other life-threatening diseases that severely limit muscle strength and mobility.

Frank Sinatra orchestrated one of the most surprising and touching moments in television history when he reunited estranged partners Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis on the 1976 Telethon.

MDA will transition from the television-based telethon, most recently named the “MDA Show of Strength Telethon,” to personal shows of strength, building on its rich tradition around consumer activation and compelling stories that inspire, entertain, and most importantly, incite urgent action.

“We have ambitious plans to leverage our history, the compelling stories of our families and our record of innovation — just like we did decades ago when we introduced the telethon and cause-marketing for nonprofit organizations — as we continue to use creative ways to connect with supporters and deliver more value for our sponsors, never forgetting the families who are at the very heart of our mission,” Derks said.

After MDA gave Lewis the Fickle Finger of Fate, they continued to insist

We honor Jerry Lewis, we admire the work he’s done for us, and we respect his decision to retire.

That particular quote came from Valerie Cwik, the MDA’s interim president, at the time. She replaced Gerald Weinberg, who was reportedly behind Lewis’s ouster and who stepped down as president, after 54 years with the organization.

She made the lame argument that the changes in the telethon were part of a necessary evolution in fundraising strategy, to put less emphasis on the once-a-year event.

It has to change because the American audience has changed. A 21.5-hour show doesn’t fit in a 140-character world.

I swear, “The Smartest People in the Room”. a.k.a., Modern American Liberals, screw up everything.

Okay. I know that Lewis had a reputation as an ego-maniacal pain-in-the-rear to work with, but, these were people’s lives that the MDA was messing with. It could have, and should have, been handled differently.

However, Jerry Lewis also devoted over half his life for “his kids”, visiting them in hospitals around the nation, with no cameras around, and calling and visiting Corporate CEOs and A-List Celebrities, getting them to help him raise money for those kids and adults struck down by these debilitating Muscular Disorders.

It showed no respect whatsoever.

What happened to Jerry Lewis, seems to be happening to American Society in general.

This lack of respect seems to be an epidemic in this country. In the workplace, I have noticed that there sure does seem to be a lot of  “millennials” who have no respect whatsoever for decorum, their co-workers, or authority.

Now, I may just be a 56 year old fuddy-duddy Cracka, but I have no desire to see your brand new shoulder tattoo in the business office, ladies…nor your neck tattoo with Pookie’s name on it, young Skillet.

And, when older folks in your place of business try to tell you how the world works, kiddies, you had better listen to us. We’re trying to help.

This is real life. You’re not playing “World of Warcraft” or “Final Fantasy”. People’s families depend on their paycheck. And, when you do not “pull your weight” at your job, you affect everyone’s incomes.

As the MDA learned the hard way, the “young and culturally hip” are usually not as reliable as the “experienced and professional”.

Of course, as it always has been…some folks have to learn things the hard way.

And, that’s when they find out that they are not as smart as they think they are.

Until He Comes,

KJ

America in Crisis: A Battle of “Princes and Principalities” (A KJ Op Ed)

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics2 Comments

American Christianity 2Last night, my bride and I attended a once-a month get-together with Christian Friends , with whom we used to meet weekly in a church-sponsored small group, in someone’s home on a weeknight.

Being Southern Baptists, rest assured that there was plenty of food and fellowship.

After the meal, we began to talk about what it going on around us, in this nation, once referred to as “The Shining City Upon the Hill”.

The topics of Racial Division and the murders of 9 American Law Enforcement Offices in 9 days, the rapidly deteriorating American Work Force, The potentially-catastrophic Iran Deal, the arrest of American Christian, Kim Davis, while others in power, such as Hillary Clinton and Barack Hussein Obama, laugh in the face of our laws, and the vulgarity, and oblivious self-centered nature of Americans Pop Culture.

The conclusion that that the 11 of us came to, was the fact that America is in the midst of SPIRITUAL WARFARE.

Make no mistake about it, boys and girls, EVIL EXISTS.

Yes, my friends. We are still fighting a war against “princes and principalities”. Evil is still alive and well and flourishing in a world in which relative morality and situational ethics.

We see it everyday around us.

It inundates the cable news channels, 24 hours a day. Heck, you can even see it on Facebook.

Since Cain slew Able with a rock, mankind, because we are all fallen creatures, has had to deal with the presence of evil in our lives.

From the legendary massacres, perpetrated by Vlad the Impaler, to the horrific scenes of Hitler’s Concentration Camps, to the killing fields of Pol Pot, to the massacre of innocent Middle Eastern Christians by Islamic State, to the murders by Chicago Street Gangs every night, the Forces of Evil continue to flourish across the globe.

What we seem to be heading for is not simply an immoral society, but, an amoral one, whose concept of right and wrong is “Whatever Gets You Through the Night (It’s Alright. It’s Alright.)”, and whose ultimate authority is not the God of Abraham, but a Godless Central Government, whose credo is

From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs. (Karl Marx)

Just as Marxism has failed wherever it has been tried before, so will it fail here.

Just as amorality and licentiousness led to the destruction of the Roman Empire, so, if unchecked, will it lead to America’s.

The galling thing is the fact that, even though American Christians remain 76% of the population, we are propagandized and suppressed in both the Old and New Media, to make it seem as if WE are the Minority, when, in fact, WE are the overwhelming Majority.

It is this New Generation of Amoral Socialists, who are in fact, just a tiny, albeit vocal, Minority of America’s population.

So, what can an average Christian American, like you and me, do about this “Tyranny of the Minority”?

As the Apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians, we can STAND.

However, you cannot stand without “the full armor of God”. I have found, as have my family and friends, that the better that you are doing, in terms of your Christian Walk, the harder that you will be attacked.

10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. 11Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.…- Ephesians 6:10-12

Our Christianity as Americans does not and can not end at Noon on Sunday, as we shake the Preacher’s hand and walk out of the sanctuary.

As every Christian knows, the Triune God dwells within each of us, in the form of that “still, small voice”, the Holy Spirit.

Christians have to make a choice in these tough times.

The choice we each have to make is whether to “give to Caesar” that which is not his, our Christian Faith, or to listen to that “still, small voice” and love the homosexual enough to lead them to forgiveness of their sins and salvation through the Grace of Jesus Christ.

This is not a “Political Crisis” which we as Christian Americas are facing right now.

As I wrote earlier, America is in the midst of a battle of “Princes and Principalities”.

By now. you’re probably asking, “So what’s the point of all this, KJ?”

We are given free will by our Creator…will to make choices and decisions on the direction of our lives. Being human, we often don’t make the right decisions and being human, those decisions have the potential to lead us down a dark path.

Whether is in reality or strictly in the close quarters of our own consciousness, the path we choose to follow is up to us. However, our parents, family, and friends can make a difference in our journey and I thank God that through His Grace I was given a Father who made sure that I received loving instruction in The Way in which I should go.

We still live in the greatest country on the face of the earth and we still have a responsibility to one another.

The Light or the Darkness. The choice is up to each and every one of us.

Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 1 John 4:14 (ESV)

And, I stand with the King of Kings.

Y’see, I have read the back of The Book.

The Good Guys win.

So, as you go about your day today, remember, that we have an Advocate, in Jesus Christ the Righteous, and, He is in our corner.

So, take that “little light” of yours, and let it shine.

Until He Comes,

KJ

 

 

The August Jobs Report: More Americans on Unwanted “Fun-cation”

On By kingsjesterIn Politics2 Comments

marie-antoinette-obamaAs August’s Job Report was delivered, yesterday, I was struck by how, under the Presidency of Barack Hussein Obama, our American Capitalist System, which after World War II, produced a health and vibrant Middle Class, has been compromised to the point of now beginning to resemble a faltering economic system, not unlike a European Democratic Socialist country like, say, Greece.

According to cnsnews.com,

A record 94,031,000 Americans were not in the American labor force last month — 261,000 more than July — and the labor force participation rate stayed stuck at 62.6 percent, a 38-year low, for a third straight month in August, the Labor Department reported on Friday, as the nation heads into the Labor Day weekend.

The number of Americans not in the labor force has continued to rise, partly because of retiring baby-boomers and fewer workers entering the workforce.

In August, according to BLS, the nation’s civilian noninstitutional population, consisting of all people 16 or older who were not in the military or an institution, reached 251,096,000. Of those, 157,065,000 participated in the labor force by either holding a job or actively seeking one.

The 157,065,000 who participated in the labor force equaled only 62.6 percent of the 251,096,000 civilian noninstitutional population — the same as it was in July and June. Not since October 1977, when the participation rate dropped to 62.4, has the percentage been this low.Historical perspective

In January 1948 — the first year the data was recorded — 88.7 percent of men, aged 20 and older, were participating in the U.S. labor force. The rate first dipped below 80 percent in November 1975 (79.9%), spiraling steadily downward through August 2015, when 71.5 percent of men 20 and older were participating in the labor force.

It’s the opposite story for women 20 and older: In 1948, a time when one-earner incomes were generally sufficient to support the family, only 31 percent of  women participated in the workforce. In May 1966, the rate climbed above 40 percent for the first time; it broke 50 percent in October 1978; and 60 percent in July 1996.

When Barack Obama took office in January 2009, 60.9 percent of women were particiating in the labor force, but after rising somewhat in that economically turbulent year, the particpation rate for women started heading down. Last month, it stood at 58.2 percent.

Change. Little hope.

Norman Matoon Thomas (1884-1968) was a six-time Presidential Candidate  representing the Socialist Party of America.  In a campaign interview in 1948, he said the following:

The American people will never knowingly adopt Socialism. But under the name of ‘liberalism’ they will adopt every fragment of the Socialist program, until one day America will be a Socialist nation, without knowing how it happened.

Are you catching my drift? Mr. Thomas was right.  I think that he and the president would have been fast friends.

When Barack Hussein Obama first ran for the Presidency of the United States in 2008, he claimed that his economic policies would “foster economic growth from the bottom up and not just from the top down.” Obama promised to put in place “an immediate rescue plan for the middle class” and would end the “tired, worn-out, trickle-down ideologies we’ve been seeing for so many years.”

Obama got everything that he wanted in his first two years in the White House, when Democrats had solid control of Congress — a massive stimulus, auto industry bailouts, temporary middle class tax cuts, vast new regulations on businesses and ObamaCare.

But,  all of his brilliant Socialist Economic Policies  produced the exact opposite of what he’d promised.

So, he pounded his them of “Class Warfare” even harder.

So much so that, during his Re-election Campaign in 2012, President Barack Hussein Obama said,

This country doesn’t just succeed when just a few are doing well at the top. It succeeds when the middle class gets bigger. Our economy doesn’t grow from the top down — it grows from the middle out. We don’t believe that anybody is entitled to success in this country,” said Obama. “But we do believe in opportunity. We believe in a country where hard work pays off and responsibility is rewarded, and everybody is getting a fair shot and everybody is doing their fair share and everybody is playing by the same rules.

On July 24, 2013, Newly-Re-elected President Obama began a series of Stump Speeches titled, “Growing the Economy From the Middle Class Out”.  Here’s an excerpt of the first speech:

…With an endless parade of distractions, political posturing and phony scandals, Washington has taken its eye off the ball. And I am here to say this needs to stop. Short-term thinking and stale debates are not what this moment requires. Our focus must be on the basic economic issues that the matter most to you – the people we represent. And as Washington prepares to enter another budget debate, the stakes for our middle class could not be higher. The countries that are passive in the face of a global economy will lose the competition for good jobs and high living standards. That’s why America has to make the investments necessary to promote long-term growth and shared prosperity. Rebuilding our manufacturing base. Educating our workforce. Upgrading our transportation and information networks. That’s what we need to be talking about. That’s what Washington needs to be focused on.

And that’s why, over the next several weeks, in towns across this country, I will engage the American people in this debate. I will lay out my ideas for how we build on the cornerstones of what it means to be middle class in America, and what it takes to work your way into the middle class in America. Job security, with good wages and durable industries. A good education. A home to call your own. Affordable health care when you get sick. A secure retirement even if you’re not rich. Reducing poverty and inequality. Growing prosperity and opportunity.

So, who is it that is keeping America’s Middle Class from prospering?

I’ll give you a clue: His initials are B.H.O.

The prosperous years during the Reagan Presidency marked a period of economic progress for Middle Class Americans. Middle Class Income increased 11 percent after adjustment for inflation, while nearly 20 million new jobs were created.

Those Liberal critics of the 1980s, who argue that the Middle Class shrank in number during those years, are half -right for the wrong reasons. The proportion of Middle Class Americans did indeed decline, but this reflected an upward movement of households into the high income category. Meanwhile, the proportion of Low Income Households declined, as more became middle class. The income growth during the Reagan Presidency increased the size of the pocketbooks of Americans at all income levels.

During Obama’s time in office, America’s major corporations have been hit with punitive measures, including high corporate tax rates and Obamacare, which has caused them to “down-size” their employee rolls and to relocate their call centers to companies like India, which has effected the rest of our economy.

Trickle-Down Economics was simply common sense. Capitalism is the engine that drives America’s economy.

When those who actually hire Americans are attacked by an Administration, naturally, those consequences are felt by those in lower economic strati (that’s you and me, boys and girls).

Obama’s “Trickle-Up” Economic Policy has been a miserable failure.

Because, as Lady Margaret Thatcher once said,

The problem with Socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money.

Until He Comes,

KJ

Christian American Kim Davis is Jailed. What’s Next? A Date With Lions in the Nearest Coliseum?

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics4 Comments

th1DXO5NI310Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. 11Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.…- Ephesians 6:10-12

Yesterday, something happened that,  at one time,  I never thought I would see in the United States of America.

A Christian was arrested for standing on principle and the Word of God.

The New York Times reported that

ASHLAND, Ky. — A defiant county clerk rejected a proposal that would have allowed her deputies to grant same-sex marriage licenses, hours after she was sent to jail by a federal judge for disobeying a court order.

Through her lawyer, the clerk, Kim Davis of Rowan County, said she would not agree to allow the licenses to be issued under her authority as county clerk. Had she consented, the judge would have considered releasing her from custody.

Five of the six deputies told Judge David L. Bunning of Federal District Court that they would issue the licenses, though some of them said they would do so reluctantly. The lone holdout was Ms. Davis’s son, Nathan.

Ms. Davis had argued that the Supreme Court order that she issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples infringed upon her religious beliefs and liberties. But after a hearing, Judge Bunning said that “her good faith belief is simply not a viable defense,” and ordered Ms. Davis to jail.

Mike Huckabee, currently campaigning for the Republican Party’s Presidential Candidate Nomination, who happens to be an ordained Minister, made a very cogent point on Facebook, yesterday…

I spoke with Kim Davis this morning to offer my prayers and support. I let her know how proud I am of her for not abandoning her religious convictions and standing strong for religious liberty. She is showing more courage and humility than just about any federal office holder in Washington.

Kim is asking the perfect question: “Under what law am I authorized to issue homosexual couples a marriage license?” That simple question is giving many in Congress a civics lesson that they never got in grade school.

The Supreme Court cannot and did not make a law. They only made a ruling on a law. Congress makes the laws. Because Congress has made no law allowing for same sex marriage, Kim does not have the Constitutional authority to issue a marriage license to homosexual couples.

Kim is a person of great conviction. When people of conviction fight for what’s right they often pay a price, but if they don’t and we surrender, we will pay a far greater price for bowing to the false God of judicial supremacy. Government is not God. No man – and certainly no unelected lawyer – has the right to redefine the laws of nature or of nature’s God. Five unelected lawyers have abused their power by ruling in favor of a national right to same-sex marriage with no legal precedent and with nothing in our Constitution to back it up. They have violated American’s most fundamental right guaranteed by our Constitution – religious liberty.

I stand with Kim Davis and every American of faith under attack by Washington elites who have nothing but disdain for us, our faith and the Constitution.

Another Republican running for that party’s Presidential Candidate Nomination, Senator Ted Cruz, put it this way…

Today, judicial lawlessness crossed into judicial tyranny. Today, for the first time ever, the government arrested a Christian woman for living according to her faith. This is wrong. This is not America.

I stand with Kim Davis. Unequivocally. I stand with every American that the Obama Administration is trying to force to choose between honoring his or her faith or complying with a lawless court decision.

In dissent, Chief Justice Roberts rightly observed that the Court’s marriage decision has nothing to do with the Constitution. Justice Scalia observed that the Court’s decision was so contrary to law that state and local officials would choose to defy it.

For every politician — Democrat and Republican — who is tut-tutting that Davis must resign, they are defending a hypocritical standard. Where is the call for the mayor of San Francisco to resign for creating a sanctuary city — resulting in the murder of American citizens by criminal illegal aliens welcomed by his lawlessness?

Where is the call for President Obama to resign for ignoring and defying our immigration laws, our welfare reform laws, and even his own Obamacare?

When the mayor of San Francisco and President Obama resign, then we can talk about Kim Davis.

Those who are persecuting Kim Davis believe that Christians should not serve in public office. That is the consequence of their position. Or, if Christians do serve in public office, they must disregard their religious faith–or be sent to jail.

Kim Davis should not be in jail. We are a country founded on Judeo-Christian values, founded by those fleeing religious oppression and seeking a land where we could worship God and live according to our faith, without being imprisoned for doing so.

I call upon every Believer, every Constitutionalist, every lover of liberty to stand with Kim Davis. Stop the persecution now.

On the Facebook Political Pages which I frequent, this has been a very hot topic for discussion.

Liberals and Moderates, but I repeat myself, all believe that Mrs. Davis must step down or resign.

My question is, why are her rights less important than the rights of this gay couple who, purposefully, with cameras following them, pressed this issue, knowing full well that Mrs Davis is a Christian Woman?

Are Christian Americans’ rights, as over 70% of the population, now less worthy than homosexual rights, who only comprise 2% of our population?

As Senator Cruz pointed out, aren’t the Liberals calling for her incarceration and resignation, being very selective in the laws which they wish to persecute and prosecute somebody over?

And, why are these gay couples not also challenging American Muslims?

Democratic Presidential Hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton recently stated that religion would have to “change” in order to allow the American Genocide known as Abortion.

Today’s American Liberals, from Barack Hussein Obama on down to the Internet Troll, sitting at his computer in his Mom’s Basement, munching Cheetos, want Christians, like myself, to “change” our view on homosexuality, in order to proclaim Adam and Steve as husband and…err…husband.

What they do not understand, nor wish to, is the fact that man did not label it as deviant behavior and a “sin”.

GOD DID.

His Word, as revealed in the Old and New Testaments, with the Holy Bible, states that fact, over and over again.

Christianity is not something that can be boxed in, from 9 a.m. to 12 Noon on Sundays, as the President and the rest of the Gay Mafia seem to want it to be.

Nor can it be changed and modified to fit a culture which is currently embracing relative morality and situational ethics.

God’s Word, as is its Author, is eternal and unchanging.

And, no Supreme Court full of Activist Judges can do anything about it.

It’s above their pay grade.

Until He Comes,

KJ

Congress to Vote For Disastrous Iran Deal. Chinese Air Force Buzzes Obama in Alaska. This is “Smart Power”?

On By kingsjesterIn Politics3 Comments

Obama-Shrinks-2In the 1980s, the popularity of the President of the United States of America was not just limited to the boundaries of our nation. Ronald Wilson Reagan was admired the world over. The things that he accomplished, along with his friends, Prime Minister of Britain Margaret Thatcher, Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev, and Pope John Paul II, have caused Ronald Reagan’s two terms as President to be recorded as a seminal moment in world history.

I remember watching President Reagan speak at the Berlin Wall. When he said, “Mr Gorbachev tear down this wall!”, I was never prouder to be an American and of an American president, than at that moment.

The Liberal Democrats lost their collective minds.

For you see, Liberal Democrats, just as they do now, hate it when Marxism gives way to Freedom.

Nothing bothers them more than when a strong American President is at the forefront of a conquering moment, when a strong foreign policy, based on the reality that negotiating from a position of strength is always more effective than negotiating from a position of weakness.

Fast forward to the present, where an ineffective President Barack Hussein Obama is looking like a narcissistic fool to a world who used to look to America as a bastion of strength and freedom, not weakness and political expediencies.

President Barack Hussein Obama has placed us in untenable position with his clueless, dangerous, weak, and vacillating Smart Power Foreign Policy.

Foxnews.com reports that

Five Chinese navy ships have been spotted in the Bering Sea, off the Alaska coast, coinciding with President Obama’s visit to the state, a senior defense official confirmed to Fox News.

Navy Commander Bill Urban, a Pentagon spokesman, said Wednesday the sighting marked the first time ships from the People’s Liberation Army Navy were seen in the Bering Sea.

“We respect the freedom of all nations to operate military vessels in international waters in accordance with international law,” Urban said.

There are three surface warfare ships, one amphibious assault ship and one supply vessel. The Wall Street Journal was first to report the sighting.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters on Wednesday that the Defense Department “positively identified a number of Chinese naval vessels in that region, but based on their analysis, they have not detected any sort of threat or threatening activities.”

The U.S. military reportedly has been aware of the ships and tracking their movements for days as they moved through international waters. Earnest said the intent of the ships’ presence “is still unclear” while speaking aboard Air Force One as Obama flew near the Bering Sea.

Obama was in Alaska to speak about climate change.

A massive military parade will begin in Beijing Wednesday night, including some 10,000 soldiers, hundreds of aircraft and weaponry not previously shown in public, according to Chinese state media. The parade is to mark Japan’s surrender in World War II. An estimated 14 million Chinese were killed by the Japanese during the war.  

Among the invited guests are Russian President Vladimir Putin, Sudan President Omar al-Bashir, and Mexican government officials, according to the Associated Press.

The massive parade and show of force comes just weeks before Chinese President Xi Jinping visits Washington.

Samantha Power, U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations, told reporters Tuesday at the State Dept briefing that China’s human rights were “going to be a key, core issue when President Xi visits Washington.”

In a related story, also found on foxnews.com,

The Obama administration now appears to have enough support in Congress to stave off Republican efforts to reject the president’s controversial Iran nuclear deal, after a retiring Maryland Democratic senator came out Wednesday morning in favor of the pact. 

Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., announced her support for the deal as Secretary of State John Kerry delivered a lengthy and detailed address in Philadelphia defending the accord. 

In his speech, Kerry disputed what he called “false information” circulating on the deal. He said, contrary to the views of many critics, that the deal provides “access” to keep Iran in check, preserves “every option” to respond if Iran balks, and has elements that will last “for the lifetime of Iran’s nuclear program.” 

“President Obama and I are convinced beyond any reasonable doubt that the framework that we have put forward will get the job done,” Kerry said. 

But, with Mikulski’s endorsement locked down, the speech served more as a public reminder of the administration’s stance than a last-minute appeal for support. 

Mikulski becomes the 34th senator to support the deal — giving President Obama enough backing to sustain a veto of a Republican bill opposing it, should that bill pass in a vote later this month. Unless an announced supporter flips his or her vote, Obama would appear to have the crucial coalition in place to preserve the agreement on Capitol Hill. 

“No deal is perfect, especially one negotiated with the Iranian regime,” Mikulski said in a statement. “I have concluded that this Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action is the best option available to block Iran from having a nuclear bomb. For these reasons, I will vote in favor of this deal.” 

Her support, though, doesn’t end what has been a raging debate. Opposition to the agreement among Republicans, among ex-military leaders and in Israel remains widespread. 

“Forcing a bad deal, over the objections of the American people and a majority in Congress, is no win for President Obama,” said Cory Fritz, spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner. “The White House may have convinced just enough Democrats to back an agreement that legitimizes Iran’s nuclear program, trusts the regime to self-inspect and offers amnesty to terrorists, but this deal is far from being implemented.” 

The latest report warning of dire consequences from the agreement came Wednesday morning, from the Iran Strategy Council, a group of ex-senior military officials and defense analysts examining the deal for the The Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs. The group is co-chaired by retired Gen. James Conway, who served as Marines commandant in the beginning of the Obama administration, and retired Gen. Charles Wald. 

“The [nuclear deal] will not prevent a nuclear Iran,” the report said, warning of “potentially grave strategic implications” that threaten national security. “No later than 15 years, the deal’s major nuclear restrictions will lapse, Iran will stand on the brink of nuclear weapons capability, and once again the United States will likely have to devote significant resources and attention to keeping Tehran from attaining nuclear weapons.” 

The group was referring to the sunset of major provisions after 15 years. But Kerry and others in the administration argue that even after that period, Iran will remain subject to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and have to abide by inspection requirements. Kerry also argued Wednesday that Iran’s “covert pathway” to a bomb would be blocked, and that the intelligence community agrees Iran “could never get away” with establishing a “completely secret nuclear supply chain.” He said rejecting a deal would hurt the U.S. and endanger the region. 

Kerry also sent a letter Wednesday to all members of Congress outlining U.S. security commitments to Israel and the Gulf Arab states in light of the nuclear deal. 

Republicans in Congress and running for president unanimously oppose the deal, which aims to curb Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for relief from economic sanctions. 

The Israeli government is vehemently against it, contending that concessions made to Iran could empower that country, which has sworn to destroy Israel. But critics struggled to use Congress’ summer recess to turn the tide against the agreement, despite a multimillion-dollar lobbying campaign funded by the powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC.

It is no wonder that after Obama was first elected, the British tabloids nicknamed him “President Pantywaist”, after watching the wussy way he bowed to world leaders…something American Presidents have never done before.

And, of course, through the Obama Administration’s embrace of this emasculating philosophy, this philosophy has extended into our military, with Obama’s “Military Experts” being more concerned about performing Social Engineering Experiments on our troops, such as ending “Don’t Ask. Don’t Tell”, changing the hats they wear, and relaxing female hairstyles, than they are about protecting our country and defeating our enemies.

Somewhere in the bowels of the Kremlin, Putin is laughing his hindquarters off at us.

During the reign of the Obama Administration, a concentrated and deliberate effort has been made to change America from the land of Sgt. Alvin York to the land of RuPaul.

The reason that presidents like Ronald Reagan were so successful was that they were American men first and United States Presidents second. They were raised with Traditional American Values. They were raised by loving parents who disciplined them when they needed it, along the way, teaching them the difference between right and wrong, the love of God and Country, and the fact that the world did not revolve around them.

We can get back on the right track as a nation, however, it will take a man of Courage, Conviction,  and Traditional Christian American Faith & Values to lead our country back from the abyss we find ourselves in.

I pray that that man steps forward… while we still have a country.

Until He Comes,

KJ

Colbert to Politicize “The Late Show”

On By kingsjesterIn Politics2 Comments

thLVJ0UCMZI can feel the smarmy, “I’m-smarter-than-you-are” hipness already, boys and girls. Can’t you?

According to deadline.com,

Further illustrating how little difference there will be between CBS’ Late Show host Stephen Colbert and Comedy Central late-night host Stephen Colbert, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer will be Colbert’s guest during his second week hosting on the CBS program.

While some are speculating it’s the first time a current Supreme Court justice has been a guest on a network late-night show, it’s not so new for Colbert. In January 2012, former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens was a guest on The Colbert Report, talking about campaign finance.

The Breyer booking also is not such a surprise if you watched CBS’ Sunday Beltway show yesterday, during which you saw about half a dozen ads for the launch of Late Show With Stephen Colbert, suggesting the program is going to have a political bent. And, of course, Colbert in July told reporters attending TCA he plans get into politics on Late Show to a greater degree than have his broadcast competitors because it’s in his DNA. True to his word, he’s not only booked Breyer to guest on Monday, September 14, but will chat with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon three nights later and Dem White House hopeful/Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders that Friday. And, of course, Colbert already had  tweeted that GOP White House hopeful Jeb Bush would be a guest when the host makes his debut taking over for David Letterman on Late Show, on September 8.

At TCA, Colbert complained he was counting the days until he debuted on his CBS show, so anxious is he to take a whack at Donald Trump on the air; Colbert called his web videos about the leading GOP candidate just so much “dry-Trumping.” Turns out, Stephen Colbert’s late-night persona as host of CBS’ Late Show isn’t going to be so different from the character he played on Comedy Central, the improv actor-turned-comic told reporters at the TCA Summer Press Tour.

When asked if viewers would finally get to see the real Colbert when he debuts on September 8, Colbert responded, “I don’t think anybody would have watched that old show if they didn’t know who I was,” he said. “Because that guy was a tool.” Playing his conservative gasbag character on The Colbert Report, “I had the excuse that I didn’t mean it, but I’m here to tell you I meant a lot of it. … I even agreed with my character sometimes. My hope is when people see me on the new show they will say ‘Oh wow, a lot of it was him the whole time!’”

How avant garde. How sophisticated. How…boringly Liberal.

Late Night Talk Shows first appeared on the scene in 1954 with the arrival of The Tonight Show . They really became popular with the debut of a young Midwestern guy by the name of Johnny Carson, when he took over the hosting duties of the Tonight Show, in 1962.

Each host of the Tonight Show, before the current one, brought something unique and entertaining to the table. Steve Allen brought both
comedy and musical ability. Jack Paar brought urbane sophistication. Johnny Carson brought masterful comedic timing and  a Midwestern “Aw, shucks” feel to the show. Jay Leno, was the “Everyman”…the wisecracking guy next door, whom you could find on the weekend with his head stuck under a car hood.  And, Conan O’Brien brought…err…umm…never mind.

Being the “old codger” that I am, I remember Johnny Carson very well.  Johnny had a natural, easy-going Interview Style, which allowed him to talk to anyone on his show, from a 7 year old to Movie Stars.

And, while Carson skewered BOTH political parties in his monologues, he never brought up his political affiliation on the show. He felt that if ehe invited politicians on the show, that would turn off his viewers, as they tuned into his show at the end of a long, hard workday, to be entertained, NOT PROSELYTIZED TO.

That would come later, as the Programming Geniuses at NBC and CBS turned The Tonight Show With Jay Leno and the Late Show With David Letterman into Propaganda Machines for the Democrat Party.

Letterman took his duty as the mouthpiece for the sophisticated, urbane Democrats up in the Northeast Corridor so seriously, he even attacked Former Republican Vice-Presidential Candidates Sarah Palin’s children in a monologue, which he later was forced to reluctantly apologize for, due to the blistering blowback which CBS received from average Americans in the Heartland, burning up the phone lines in protest.

Letterman eventually became a national joke on his own, through his indiscretion involving a female staff member.

This yearning by Colbert and the rest of the Liberals at CBS in New York City to seduce the “Young and Hip” into watching their show, by basically turning a late Night Talk Show into a Political Interview/Satiric Commentary Program, will ultimately be this latest version of the Late Show’s downfall.

If people want to watch someone suck up to the Democratic Party, they can tune in to the Nightly News on the three Broadcast Channels, CNN, or, if they are really desperate, MSNBC.

They are programming for a very select audience.

American Liberals only make up 24% of our population.

Some of them, actually work for a living and have to get up the next morning.

Others are quite content to remain Low Information Voters.

And, the rest…are on Facebook.

Until He Comes,

KJ

 

 

 

My 2,000th Blog: Speak or Go Mad

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics5 Comments

American Christianity 2A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away,…

Well, actually, it just seems that way…

It was April of 2010. I had been writing Guest Commentaries on the blog of an Internet Friend of mine, named Gene Hoyas, otherwise known as Colonel Manly Rash (I’m not kiddin’).

I decided, at that time, to go ahead and start my own blog, as a way to vent my frustrations regarding the direction that those who are supposed to be serving US, were taking the Greatest Country on the Face of the Earth. Little did I know, that, under the “leadership” of President Barack Hussein Obama, I ain’t seen nothing, yet.

The Internet is a fascinating, powerful tool.

Through it, one is connected with the world, being able to research any subject which one might call to mind, in the wink of an eye, or the upload of a byte of information.

It can be used to illumine or to obfuscate, to clarify or to confuse, to enlighten or to subjugate, or to build up or to tear down.

It can span the globe, bringing you beautiful images of God’s Creation or images of man’s inhumanity to man.

It connects people to one another, in a way never before seen in the history of mankind.

As demonstrated by the current political scandals, involving the Internet and the use of e-mails, this connectivity can be used for nefarious purposes.

I have never taken the use of this tool lightly.

In posting these 2,000 blogs, I have tried my hardest to stay true to what I believe, and in doing so, to inform and to entertain those of you who take some of your precious time during the day, to read the musings of this old Son of Dixie.

To those who worship at the Altar of Political Correctness:

Yes, I said “DIXIE”.  Get over it.

So, what do I believe?

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth, and in Jesus Christ, His Only Son, Our Lord. (The Apostles Creed)

I believe that America is still the GREATEST COUNTRY ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH…in spite of the efforts of our present Political Leadership to turn us into “just another country”.

I believe that America was founded by Christian men and women, who came here to worship their Creator, as they saw fit, eventually breaking away from an oppressive government, and writing documents to provide guidance for a new government, born out of, and heavily influenced by, their Judeo-Christian Beliefs.

I believe that, to this day, American is still the Land of Opportunity, where, if you are willing to work hard enough, you can succeed…through the Grace of God.

I also believe that this is a country in the midst of a Cultural/Political Crisis, purposefully brought about by those, who like Machiavellian Politicians, in previous generations, wish to divide America’s Citizenry, for the purpose of Political Expediency.

The popularity of non-politicians among the Republican Party Presidential Candidates, is a direct reaction from Americans to the self-serving nature of those whom they sent to Washington, DC, to represent THEIR wishes for the future of America, not the politicians’ own greed and avarice.

I believe in the Silent Majority, average Americans, like myself, living in America’s Heartland, who simply want to be left alone by Government, so that we may raise our children and grandchildren to love God and Country, as we were raised, in accordance with our Constitutional Rights, as detailed through the writings of our Founding Fathers, not as interpreted by a politically-active Judiciary.

I believe that the majority of young white Americans, do not act like Miley Cyrus, and the majority of black Americans, do not act like the human refuse whom we saw burn down Baltimore.

I believe that, while Man is a fallen creature, we are capable of acts of extraordinary kindness and heroism.

I also believe that, the only limits we have as human beings, are those which we place upon ourselves.

God gave us this life. He guides us through it. He presents with opportunities and gives us free will to make choices, right or wrong.

There are so many times I’ve seen Him move in my life … so many times that he has made a way for me… so many times that He has shown His Gracious Love for me.

I know that I’m not the only person that feels this way. If you look back now and you’re around my age, you realize what I am trying to say this morning.

God wants us to be happy. God wants us to live and enjoy the life which is given to us

He wants the best for us. He also wants us to take advantage of the opportunities which He presents to us throughout our life, so that when we stand before Him, we can hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

But what does that mean? Does it mean we have to live a life locked away in a monastery somewhere away from the temptations of the modern culture around us? Of course not.

However, we have to keep the main thing the main thing. We cannot sacrifice our Christianity, as Americans, for the sake of political expediency. Heaven is a far bigger tent than any political party could ever be.

I would rather find favor with God than favor with man.

Am I an extremist? You betcha.

God said it. I believe it. That settles it.

So, where do I go from here? Do I run away, with my tail between my legs, and live out the rest of my days in quiet desperation?

To any of you who repled, “yes”…you don’t know me very well.

Greater is He who is in me, than he who is in the world.

My Creator, while endowing me with certain inalienable rights, also endowed me with an indomitable will. Then, somewhere along my journey, He gave me the gift of being able to express my thoughts and feelings on this computer keyboard.

I will not give up. I will not surrender my Christianity, my love of the greatest nation on God’s green Earth, or my Conservatism, to appease those who wish everybody would just get in line and acquiesce to the prevailing “societal norms”.  I follow another set of guidelines, written a long time ago, but which remain as relevant as the moment in which the Hand of God guided those who wrote them down.

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, – Colossians 3:23 (ESV)

In conclusion, there are people I wish to thank, who have invested a lot of time in me and my blogging.

First, I wish to thank my dear friend, Gene Hoyas, aka Col. Manly Rash/The Bulldog Pundit, who allowed me to be a regular contributor to any Blog in which he was involved, and whose guidance and writing tips were such a help.

I thank my lovely bride (I married up), who, since we got married in July of 2011, has put up with losing me to this endeavor every evening at 9:00 p.m.

I thank the rest of my family, my extended family of friends and faithful readers, and those of you who just drop in from time to time to check out what my latest rant is.

I thank my Earthly Father, who made me all that I am, and led me, in The Way in which I should go.

Finally, but most importantly, I thank my Heavenly Father, from Whom all blessings flow. Without Him, I would be nothing at all.

May God Bless you all.

Until He Comes,

KJ

The Poltical/Cultural War against America’s Law Enforcement Officers Has Claimed Another Victim

On By kingsjesterIn Politics2 Comments

th (25)Another one of America’s Law Enforcement Officers has reached “The End of Watch”, savagely murdered by a coward, who shot him from behind.

USA Today reports that

Harris County authorities in Texas have a man in custody in Friday’s shooting death of a sheriff’s deputy, Sheriff Ron Hickman said at a press conference Saturday. The suspect, Shannon J. Miles, has a previous criminal history including resisting arrest and disorderly conduct with a firearm. He is being charged with capital murder.

Hickman says the shooting was “unprovoked” and the department is still looking for a motive for the “cold-blooded assassination” of the officer at a Houston-area gas station.

Deputy Darren Goforth, 47, was fatally shot in the back late Friday while filling his patrol car in northwest Harris County. Hickman said ballistics tests showed a match between the weapon used to kill Goforth and a weapon in Miles’ possession.

Hickman, in discussing the shooting with reporters at an earlier press conference, condemned the “very dangerous national rhetoric” about police officers that he said was out of control.

Officials said Miles is the individual captured on surveillance video. He was apprehended, Hickman said, by locating the red Ford pick-up scene on the surveillance video, which was parked near where Miles resided.
On the video, the dark-skinned man is shown approaching Goforth from behind and shooting him several times in the back. The shooter continued to fire even after the officer had fallen to the ground. 

Hickman said Goforth was apparently singled out only because he was wearing the uniform of a law enforcement officer. The sheriff made it clear he felt the shooting was tied to a national backlash over several recent killings of unarmed black people by police officers.

“When rhetoric ramps up to the point where cold-blooded assassination has happened, this rhetoric has gotten out of control,” he said. “We heard ‘black lives matter.’ All lives matter. Well, cops’ lives matter too, so why don’t we drop the qualifier and say ‘lives matter’ and take that to the bank.”

Black Lives Matter is a decentralized national movement that gained momentum after recent shootings by police officers.

His remarks echoed comments in the same new conference by Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson, who said the criticism of police had gotten out of hand.

“It is time for the silent majority in this country to support law enforcement,” she told reporters at a news conference. “There are a few bad apples in every profession, that does not mean there should be open warfare on law enforcement.” 
 
Goforth was a 10-year veteran with the sheriff’s office, working the west district patrol division. He leaves behind a wife and two children.

The Great American Broadcaster, the late Paul Harvey, was the son of a policeman who died in the line of duty. He wrote the following tribute for one of his daily updates…

“What is a policeman?

“A policeman is a composite of what all men are, I guess, a mingling of saint and sinner, dust and deity. What that really means is that they are exceptional, they are unusual. They are not commonplace. Buried under the froth is the fact, the fact is that less than one half of one percent of policeman misfit that uniform, and that is a better average than you’d find among clergymen.

“He of all men is at once the most needed, and the most wanted, a strangely nameless creature who is sir to his face and pig or worse behind his back. He must be such a diplomat that he can settle differences between individuals so that each will think he won, but, if a policeman is neat, he’s conceited, if he’s careless he’s a bum, if he’s pleasant, he’s a flirt, if he’s not, he’s a grouch.

“He must make instant decisions that would require months for a lawyer but if he hurries he’s careless, if he’s deliberate, he’s lazy. He must be first to an accident, infallible with diagnoses. He must be able to start breathing, stop bleeding, tie splints and above all, be sure the victim goes home without a limp.

“The police officer must know every gun, draw on the run and hit where it doesn’t hurt.

“He must be able to whip two men twice his size and half his age without damaging his uniform, and without being brutal. If you hit him he’s a coward, if he hits you, he’s a bully. The policeman from a single human hair must be able to describe the crime, the weapon the criminal, and tell you where the criminal is hiding but, if he catches the criminal he’s lucky, if he doesn’t he’s a dunce.

“He runs files and writes reports until his eyes ache to build a case against some felon who will get dealt out by some shameless shamus. The policeman must be a minister, a social worker, a diplomat, a tough guy, and a gentle man. And of course, he’ll have to be a genius, because he’ll have to feed a family on a policeman’s salary.”

So, why do we have so many out there who are calling for “dead cops”, while protesting over the deaths of criminals?

By the time President Johnson came into office, after the assassination of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the majority of Americans totally believed that our government always had our best interest at heart.

President Johnson came into office and immediately started his push for the Great Society. These programs were designed to make Americans even more dependent on the Federal Government for their very survival.

As the Vietnam War grew more and more and unpopular, Americans’ trust in the government became more and more compromised.  Protests against the Federal Government became more and more common and it became cool to be a rebel or “hippie”.

Time passed, and while rebellious Americans calmed down, Americans’ dependence upon government programs became generational, as multiple family members from one generation to the next, relied on Uncle Sugar for their daily existence.

Meanwhile, the rebels of the 1960’s got older and began to work within the system, taking jobs within the private and public sectors.

Eventually, they moved into positions of power, becoming heads of corporations and local and national politicians.

It is not really necessary to tell you what the political ideology of these rebels was, is it?

As the last century ended and the new one began, these hippies and their offspring, solidly in place in the halls of power, began to pass more more legislation designed to keep generations of Americans enslaved to Uncle Sugar.

In this present situation, what we are seeing is the result of anti-establishment rhetoric, spewed forth by those who are now actually “the Establishment”, taking hold, and spreading Class Envy and Racial Animus in such a way as to inspire violent retaliation for perceived “grievances”, by a fictional “White Establishment”, which is actually no longer in power, and the Police, who are seen as the emissaries of “The Man”.

It’s reminiscent of Lenin and the Bolsheviks.

Look it up, y’all.

Until He Comes,

KJ

 

The War Against Christianity: The FFRF Vs. Football Team Prayer

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics5 Comments

highschoolfootball1As I sit here, sniffling and coughing from Sinus Problems, I realize that the weather is changing. It is about to be fall and means one thing: It’s Football Time!!!

I like to watch College Football.

Especially, now that my Alma Mater, the University of Memphis, has a great couch, in Justin Fuente, and a solid team, which won the American Athletic Conference, last year.

But, I digress…

Part of American Football, on all levels, has always been the Team Prayer.

It has never, in American Culture, been though of as offensive, but rather, a sign of character and camaraderie.

However, there is an organization of bitter individuals, who are somehow offended by Football Players praying as a team to The One Who Made Them.

According to the Christian Post,

Earlier in August, the FFRF condemned more than 25 public universities for allowing football colleges to impose personal religion on players.

“Only 54 percent of college-aged Americans are Christian and many of the teams investigated have non-Christian players, but 100 percent of the chaplains investigated are promoting Christianity, usually with an Evangelical bent. These chaplains preach religious doctrine, including apparently Creationism, to the athletes,” FFRF said in its statement.

“Chaplains regularly lead the teams in prayer, conduct chapel services, and more. These religious activities are not voluntary, as the universities claim, because, as the report notes, ‘student athletes are uniquely susceptible to coercion from coaches,'” the atheist group adds, noting that its 25-page report took over a year of investigation to put together.

The FFRF has further accused Christian coaches and chaplains of “converting football fields into mission fields,” and said that public universities must adopt policies that protect athletes from “unlawful religious coercion.”

The ACLJ argued, however, that the “radical atheists” of the FFRF are “anything but freethinkers.”

“They do not support freethinking. Instead, they attack things they don’t like, such as chaplains for football teams where adults voluntarily agree to participate in faith-based events and meetings,” the conservative law group continued.

“What does FFRF’s so-called ‘model policy’ recommend? Hiring a counselor who can provide secular advice and life guidance. Just as they’ve done before, the FFRF attacks traditional faiths and wants to replace them with their radical, leftist, secular orthodoxy,” it added.

The FFRF has been active in sending letters to public educational institutions across the country, urging them to respect the church and state separation.

Earlier this summer, the atheist organization forced two different middle schools, one in Kansas and one in Ohio, to take down a painting of Jesus Christ displayed publicly before students.

Kansas’ Royster Middle School Superintendent Richard Proffitt said that he had no choice but to take down the painting after receiving the FFRF complaint.

“I conferred with legal counsel and both of them told me to be in compliance with state and federal law that we had to have it removed,” Proffitt said.

Who is the Freedom of Religious Foundation (FFRF) and why should they be concerned about Collegiate Football Teams participating in prayer?

According to their website:

The purposes of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, Inc., as stated in its bylaws, are to promote the constitutional principle of separation of state and church, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.

Incorporated in 1978 in Wisconsin, the Foundation is a national membership association of more than 17,000 freethinkers: atheists, agnostics and skeptics of any pedigree. The Foundation is a non-profit, tax-exempt, educational organization under Internal Revenue Code 501(c)(3). All dues and contributions are deductible for income tax purpose.

What Does the Foundation Do?

• Publishes the only freethought newspaper in the United States, Freethought Today

• Sponsors annual high school, college and grad student essay competitions with cash awards

• Conducts lively, annual national conventions, honoring state/church, student, and freethought activism

• Sponsors an online forum for members

• Bestows “The Emperor Has No Clothes” Award to public figures for “plain-speaking on religion”

• Promotes freedom from religion with educational books, literature, music CDs

• Provides speakers for events and debates

• Maintains a Web site at http://www.ffrf.org

• Broadcasts Freethought Radio

• Places freethought billboards and bus signs

…First Amendment violations are accelerating. The religious right is campaigning to raid the public till and advance religion at taxpayer expense, attacking our secular public schools, the rights of nonbelievers, and the Establishment Clause.

The Foundation recognizes that the United States was first among nations to adopt a secular Constitution. The founders who wrote the U.S. Constitution wanted citizens to be free to support the church of their choice, or no religion at all. Our Constitution was very purposefully written as a godless document, whose only references to religion are exclusionary.

It is vital to buttress the Jeffersonian “wall of separation between church and state” which has served our nation so well.

Funny.  Jefferson was a faithful attendant of Sunday Church that was held at the Capitol Building.  He once explained to a friend while they were walking to church together:

No nation has ever existed or been governed without religion. Nor can be. The Christian religion is the best religion that has been given to man and I, as Chief Magistrate of this nation, am bound to give it the sanction of my example.

He also proclaimed

I have always said and always will say that the studious perusal of the Sacred Volume will make us better citizens.

But, I digress…

Back in August of 2011, this same bitter bunch of Atheists sent a letter to the Schools Superintendent of Desoto County, Mississippi, insisting that the pre-game prayer, spoken over the stadiums’ loudspeakers, a tradition held in DeSoto County as long as anyone can remember,  be silenced.

DeSoto County Schools went along with the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s request, despite the disappointment of many students and parents.

And that’s when Americans started organizing.

Y’see, teammates traditionally would take a knee after the game to thank the Lord for a good game and His blessings and to pray for those injured during the game.  And their parents were bound and determined that their young men were not going to have that freedom taken away from them.

So, the next Friday night, instead of the coach telling the team to take a knee, the quarterback did.

Earlier, on Friday morning, students and parents held a prayer walk outside DeSoto County Schools.

As the bright, blessed day gave way to the dark, sacred night in DeSoto County, parents and students began to pray.

According to student Paige Lewis:

If they’re saying that we can’t pray over a loudspeaker, then we’re going to pray alone.

Earlier in the week, The Freedom From Religion Foundation had sent a second letter to School Superintendent Milton Kuykendall.  They not only asked the district to stop praying before school events, but also demanded an apology for the comments the superintendent made in a letter sent out earlier this week.

Cheeky, huh?

These bitter whiners were upset that Kuykendall wrote:

In my opinion, most people do not realize that this organization out of Wisconsin doesn’t really care if we have prayer in our schools. They see an opportunity to try and accuse us of breaking the law and therefore give them a chance to sue our district and win a lawsuit and take millions of our funds. This is money that is needed to pay teachers and educate our students.

In March of 2013, the Governor of Mississippi signed into law, State House Bill 683

What this law does is to allow students to initiate prayers in school and at student activities, to reference their religious beliefs in their schoolwork, both their assignments completed at school and their homework, as well. The bill also allows Mississippi’s students to speak to their classmates about their faith, to “give their witness” as we believers refer to our own personal testimony as to what God has done in our lives.

I make no bones about it. I am a Christian American Conservative. I pray daily. As I write this, I have just returned from a Church-Sponsored “Small Group Meeting” in someone’s home on a Tuesday night.

If it were up to Barack Hussein Obama and the rest of Modern “Liberals”, I would be forced to leave my faith every Sunday morning at the church door. What they don’t understand, is, the Author and Finisher of my faith is not Obama or anyone else up there on Capitol Hill, the Main Stream Media, or any self-proclaimed Liberal Political Pundit and newly-minted “Biblical Expert”.

I answer to Someone waaay about their pay grade.

Liberals, or “Progressives”, do not understand Christians at all. They believe that our faith is something that can be taken off and put back on again, as one would a shirt.

Groups like the FFDF believe that using the Obama Administration’s IRS and friling frivolous lawsuits against Christian Americans is somehow going to impede the sharing of the Gospel of Jesus Christ by American Believers.

They don’t have a clue.

Until He Comes,

KJ

 

O’Malley Hints at Democrat Corruption. “Beware the Ides of September?”

On By kingsjesterIn Politics2 Comments

Bathroon-Server-600-LIAll the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages. – William Shakespeare

The New York Times reports that

Martin O’Malley had one clear chance to make waves within the Democratic National Committee, and he seized it, delivering a fiery speech Friday that condemned his party’s leadership for what he called a process “rigged” to help Hillary Rodham Clinton — namely, curtailing the number of presidential primary debates.Accusing party leaders of trying to keep Democratic ideas hidden as the Republican presidential candidates spew “racist hate” from their debate lecterns, Mr. O’Malley, the former Maryland governor and mayor of Baltimore, questioned the decision to hold “four debates and four debates only” before the first four states finish voting.

“This is totally unprecedented in our party’s history,” Mr. O’Malley said. “This sort of rigged process has never been attempted before. Whose decree is it exactly? Where did it come from? To what end? For what purpose? What national or party interest does this decree serve? How does this help us tell the story of the last eight years of Democratic progress?”

While Mr. O’Malley never named the party’s chairwoman, Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, his remarks about the debates were clearly aimed at her – and she sat looking grim throughout, barely clapping, and appeared angry when she shook his hand once he finished.

He did not name Mrs. Clinton in his speech, either, but Mr. O’Malley was asked afterward if he thought the debate schedule had been arranged for her benefit. “Yes, I think so. Don’t you?” he replied.

While Mr. O’Malley has been deeply critical of the party for weeks over the debate schedule, this was a frontal attack on the party’s leadership from its own stage. Without endorsements or many major donors, Mr. O’Malley has little to lose.

But he was giving voice to a complaint that a growing number of party committee members have been making privately. Those members, mindful that Mrs. Clinton’s standing in some polls has sagged lately, have been concerned about a process that could ultimately do the party a disservice.

But delivering such a raw speech startled Democrats at the party’s summer meeting, although it was met with cheers from the crowd.

Mr. O’Malley, a lifelong Democrat and onetime chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, seemed comfortable playing the insurgent as he took the stage.

He urged Democrats to draw a sharp contrast with the discourse among the Republican presidential candidates. “Silence and complacency in the face of hate is not an honorable option,” he said, alluding to Donald J. Trump’s divisive remarks about immigration and women. “We must stand before the American people and show them we have a better way.”

Mr. O’Malley pointed out that the New Hampshire debate, the only one to be held before that state’s primary, was set for a weekend in December, when many people will be distracted with Christmas shopping and family obligations. (“At home we would call that too cute by half,” he told reporters after his speech.)

First off, does O’Malley stand a snowball’s chance in you-know-where of winning the Democratic Nomination as the Party’s Presidential Candidate?

Of course not.

However, he does bring up some interesting points.

The America Democratic Party, who once and still triumphantly hails themselves as the “Party of Diversity”, have seen their line-up of potential Presidential Candidates reduced to an unknown in O’Malley and two, possibly three candidates, with a lengthy political and personal record of dubious accomplishments and personal peccadillos.

In other words, they’re a bunch of old white folks from the Northeast Corridor.

If you Libs believe that this is “diversity”, then I do not believe that you know what that word means.

O’Malley’s not-so-subtle accusation of Political corruption in the Nomination Process sounds familiar. Wasn’t it just last election that Grass-root Conservative Republicans were losing our minds over the way that a milk-toast Northeastern Moderate named Mitt Romney somehow gained the Republican Nomination as our Presidential Candidate?

Why yes, we were.

Political Corruption harkens back to the days of the Old Testament, when despotic rulers reigned with impunity…until someone even more nefarious than they were, stole their kingdom out from under them.

As regards this political intrigue regarding the Democratic Candidates for their party’s Presidential Candidate Nomination, it is beginning to line up along the lines of a Shakespearean Tragedy, with the presumed nominee, Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, playing the role of Julius Caesar.

At this point in the unfolding of the tragedy,  it appears that the “Roman Senators” are beginning to line up against her.

With O’Malley pointing out the behind-the-scenes machinations and “Crazy Uncle Joe” Biden receiving the blessings of Emperor Barack Hussein Obama to enter the race, if he so wishes, the gravitational pull of all of Hillary’s past transgressions, including her present E-mail Scandal, are beginning to seemingly align the stars against her.

 Has

Has the seemingly-Teflon reputation of the Clintons finally come to an end?

Will this Political Play end with Hillary being symbolically “stabbed” in the back by her former boss, the President of the United States?

…I sure hope so.

Et tu, Barack?

Until He Comes,

KJ