Author: kingsjester

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

The 2014 Midterms: Is There a Political Tsunami Approaching?

On By kingsjesterIn PoliticsLeave a comment

AFBrancoWreckingBall1132014Tomorrow is the most important Midterm Election in our lifetimes.

I’m are not being hyperbolic. I am simply stating a fact.

The New York Times reports that

Republicans entered the final weekend before the midterm elections clearly holding the better hand to control the Senate and poised to add to their House majority. But a decidedly sour electorate and a sizable number of undecided voters added a measure of suspense.

The final drama surrounded the Senate, which has been a Democratic bulwark for President Obama since his party lost its House majority in 2010. Republicans need to gain six seats to seize the Senate, and officials in both parties believe there is a path for them to win at least that many.

Yet the races for a number of seats that will decide the majority remained close, polls showed, prompting Republicans to pour additional money into get-out-the-vote efforts in Alaska, Georgia and Iowa. Democrats were doing the same in Colorado, where they were concerned because groups that tend to favor Republicans voted early in large numbers, and in Iowa.

While an air of mystery hung over no fewer than nine Senate races, the only question surrounding the House was how many seats Republicans would add. If they gain a dozen seats, it will give them an advantage not seen since 1948 and potentially consign the Democrats to minority status until congressional redistricting in the 2020s.

In a sign of a worsening climate, Democratic officials shifted money to incumbents in once-safe districts around Las Vegas and Santa Barbara, Calif. And over the weekend, they put more money toward television ads in districts held by Democrats in Iowa and Minnesota, including that of longtime Representative Collin C. Peterson of Minnesota. Though there are fewer competitive House seats than in past elections because of gerrymandering, party strategists were still airing ads in 40 districts.

“It’s a grim environment,” said Representative Steve Israel of New York, the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Mr. Israel was spending the weekend pleading with his caucus to contribute to imperiled colleagues to minimize losses. Trying to soften the blow, he noted that losses were expected: The party in control of the White House has lost an average of 29 seats in midterm elections in the last century.

Just two years after he won a second term by a commanding margin, Mr. Obama haskept his distance from the most pivotal congressional races. On Saturday, he was to address a heavily African-American crowd in Detroit to bolster Michigan’s Democratic nominee for governor.

Senate Republicans are confident. A senior party official called Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the minority leader, on Saturday at his Louisville home and, after running through voting projections, told Mr. McConnell that he would be the next majority leader. Mr. McConnell’s initial reaction was only a long pause.

According to Nate Silver’s blog, fivethirtyeight.com,

The GOP’s chances of winning the Senate are 68.5 percent, according to the FiveThirtyEight forecast, its highest figure of the year.

Among the 20 new polls released Thursday — it looks like there will be no Great Poll Shortage after all — two were principally responsible for Republican gains. The first was in Kentucky, where a SurveyUSA poll for the Louisville Courier-Journal had Republican incumbent Mitch McConnell ahead 48-43 over Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes. The poll represented a shift from SurveyUSA’s previous two polls, which had a 1 percentage-point lead for McConnell and a 2-point lead for Grimes. With SurveyUSA (a highly rated pollster) now more in line with other polls of the state, we have a clearer story in Kentucky. It’s one that probably ends in a victory for McConnell, whose chances of winning are up to 87 percent.

The other poll was in Arkansas, which hasn’t been surveyed as often as other key Senate races. That poll, from the University of Arkansas, found Republican Tom Cotton up by 13 percentage points over Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor. No other poll of the state has shown Cotton with a double-digit lead, but he hasn’t trailed in a nonpartisan poll since Sept. 22. When the choice is between polls that show a candidate with a small lead and polls that show him with a large lead, he’s usually in good shape just a few days before Election Day.

Speaking of which, it’s not too early to look ahead to election night (along with our partners at ABC News, we’ll be covering everything; we hope you’ll join us). The number you’ll be hearing about all night is six — as in, Republicans need to net six seats from Democrats to win control of the Senate.

As we’ve pointed out before, the “net” part of that phrase is key. Republicans will have to win more than six Democratic-held seats if they lose a couple of their own. Their incumbent in Kansas, Sen. Pat Roberts, is only even-money to win re-election (although there’s a chance independent Greg Orman, even if he wins, could caucus with Republicans). The GOP candidate in Georgia, David Perdue, is ahead by only about 1 percentage point against Democrat Michelle Nunn, and that race could go to a runoff. McConnell is likely, but not certain, to survive.

Can the Republicans win control of the Senate and pick up more seats in the House of Representatives tomorrow?

It all depends on the following factors:

1. How mad are American Voters at President Barack Hussein Obama and his Congressional Enablers in the Democrat Party?

Since Obama assumed the presidency for the second time, he has doubled-down on his mission to “radically change” America into something that it was never meant to be. We all hear our fellow Americans venting their anger to us about the purposeful ineptness of President Pantywaist. But, will this motivate the average American to go to the polls tomorrow and vent their frustration?

2. How big will tomorrow’s turnout be?

Will American Conservatives stay home, as they did when the Republicans ran the severely Moderate Mitt Romney as their Presidential Nominee, or are they sufficiently motivated by Obama’s actions to vote straight Republican…even for snakes like Mississippi’s Thad Cochran, who won his State Party’s Nomination as Senatorial Candidate by enlisting Black Democrats to vote for him in the state’s Republican Primary?

3. Will Voter Fraud be better controlled than it was in the 2012 President Election?

Will Democrats vote early, vote often, and “vote post-mortem”?

If all the stars align and Americans exercise some common sense, tomorrow’s Midterm Elections could turn out to be a Political Tsunami of epic proportions

As you contemplate casting your vote tomorrow, think about this:

Our Founding Fathers designed our government for a very specific purpose: to give Americans a voice in the direction in which direction their country should go.

Tomorrow’s election will be a referendum on the epic failure that is the Presidency of Barack Hussein Obama.

The greatest United States President in my lifetime, Ronald Wilson Reagan, said,

Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.

In order to preserve our nation for future generations, it is time to restore the System of Checks and Balances which our Founders, through deliberation and with foresight, so ingeniously put in place over 200 years ago.

Our freedom requires it.

Until He Comes,

KJ

The War Against Christianity: Liberals Step Up Efforts to Control What is Said From the Pulpit

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics2 Comments

American Christianity 2In the last few years, during the Obama Administration, there has been a concerted effort by American Liberals to enforce the fallacy known as “The Separation of Church and State”.

Those behind this fascist initiative are so adamant about it, that they are trying to limit what American Christian Leaders can say from the pulpit, a clear violation of the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America.

If  the “Smartest People in the Room” thought that Men of God would acquiesce to their edicts, they gravely overestimated their own authority, as The Blaze.com reports…

After a church-state watchdog sent out 84,000 letters urging faith leaders and churches, alike, to be mindful of IRS restrictions that govern political activity, the organization claims it received dozens of fiery responses from religious leaders who were less than content with the group’s warning.

Americans United for Separation of Church and State announced earlier this month that it had recently sent the letter to houses of worship and sectarian leaders across the nation, warning in the text against endorsing candidates from the pulpit.

“We merely want houses of worship to follow the rules, stay out of partisan politics and keep their tax exemption,” Simon Brown, the assistant director of communications for Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said in a blog post. “And when we explain to clergy what the law requires, we do so in a respectful way.”

But Brown said that some of the recipients didn’t appreciate the reminder, as numerous faith leaders opted to send the letters back along with some fiery messages expressing their dissatisfaction; others called or emailed Americans United with similar sentiment.

A representative for the organization told TheBlaze Thursday that 45 angry responses have already come flooding in and that more are expected in the coming days.

Among the surprising mix of messages came a fiery letter addressed to the Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United, from a man described as a Catholic priest.

It read, in part, “As for your solicitude regarding our legal well-being, I ask that you shove it up your fat white a–.”

Another unnamed religious leader wrote the words “drop dead” on the document before sending it back.

Others wrote messages telling Americans United that they have no plans to comply with the organization’s reminder to follow tax law.

One faith leader took to his red marker to write, “Come and get me; I DARE YOU!”

There was also another faith leader who simply tore the letter up into tiny pieces and sent it back to the organization with no accompanying message.

It’s clear from the responses that some faith leaders clearly oppose the IRS regulations that come along with their tax-exempt status, though contention surrounding these legal parameters is nothing new.

At the center of the debate over church politicking is the Johnson Amendment, a controversial IRS code added in 1954 that precludes nonprofit organizations — churches included — from engaging in campaign activity.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation, an atheist activist group and Americans United, among others, have long clashed with conservative groups over the issue of church politicking, with the right-leaning legal firm Alliance Defending Freedom organizing the annual “Pulpit Freedom Sunday” event.

The initiative, which last unfolded October 5, encourages pastors “to reclaim their right to speak freely from the pulpit by preaching an election-related sermon” — an act that flies in the face of the letter that Americans United sent to preachers.

Have you ever wondered where the expression “separation of church and state” came from?

David Barton, writing at wallbuilders.com, presents the following explanation:

In 1947, in the case Everson v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court declared, “The First Amendment has erected a wall between church and state. That wall must be kept high and impregnable. We could not approve the slightest breach.” The “separation of church and state” phrase which they invoked, and which has today become so familiar, was taken from an exchange of letters between President Thomas Jefferson and the Baptist Association of Danbury, Connecticut, shortly after Jefferson became President.

…Jefferson had committed himself as President to pursuing the purpose of the First Amendment: preventing the “establishment of a particular form of Christianity” by the Episcopalians, Congregationalists, or any other denomination.

Since this was Jefferson’s view concerning religious expression, in his short and polite reply to the Danbury Baptists on January 1, 1802, he assured them that they need not fear; that the free exercise of religion would never be interfered with by the federal government. As he explained:

Gentlemen, – The affectionate sentiments of esteem and approbation which you are so good as to express towards me on behalf of the Danbury Baptist Association give me the highest satisfaction. . . . Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God; that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship; that the legislative powers of government reach actions only and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should “make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,” thus building a wall of separation between Church and State. Adhering to this expression of the supreme will of the nation in behalf of the rights of conscience, I shall see with sincere satisfaction the progress of those sentiments which tend to restore to man all his natural rights, convinced he has no natural right in opposition to his social duties. I reciprocate your kind prayers for the protection and blessing of the common Father and Creator of man, and tender you for yourselves and your religious association assurances of my high respect and esteem.

Jefferson’s reference to “natural rights” invoked an important legal phrase which was part of the rhetoric of that day and which reaffirmed his belief that religious liberties were inalienable rights. While the phrase “natural rights” communicated much to people then, to most citizens today those words mean little.

By definition, “natural rights” included “that which the Books of the Law and the Gospel do contain.” That is, “natural rights” incorporated what God Himself had guaranteed to man in the Scriptures. Thus, when Jefferson assured the Baptists that by following their “natural rights” they would violate no social duty, he was affirming to them that the free exercise of religion was their inalienable God-given right and therefore was protected from federal regulation or interference.

So clearly did Jefferson understand the Source of America’s inalienable rights that he even doubted whether America could survive if we ever lost that knowledge. He queried:

And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure if we have lost the only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath?

Jefferson believed that God, not government, was the Author and Source of our rights and that the government, therefore, was to be prevented from interference with those rights. Very simply, the “fence” of the Webster letter and the “wall” of the Danbury letter were not to limit religious activities in public; rather they were to limit the power of the government to prohibit or interfere with those expressions.

Liberals wish to silence the voices and sublimate the rights of Christian Americans, who actually constitute  76% of America’s population, per Gallup.

And, as the systematic overturning of the will of the American People concerning Homosexual Marriage through government-backed Judicial Activism has shown us, they will eliminate the Christian Viewpoint from America’s Political Arena, by any means necessary.

That is why it is so important for Americans to vote this coming Tuesday.

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. – Edmund Burke

Now, as I sit back and wait for the inevitable wailing and gnashing of teeth, allow me to leave you with this thought:

Our laws and our institutions must necessarily be based upon and embody the teachings of the Redeemer of mankind. It is impossible that it should be otherwise. In this sense and to this extent, our civilizations and our institutions are emphatically Christian.

– Richmond v. Moore, (Illinois Supreme Court, 1883)

Until He Comes,

KJ

 

The Memphis Flash Mob: How to Raise a Generation of Sociopaths

On By kingsjesterIn Politics4 Comments

Memphis KrogerFlashMobOn the evening of Saturday, September 6th, over 100 black “yutes” were involved in a“flash mob”, savagely beating 3 Kroger employees, in the store’s parking lot, located not far from an affluent neighborhood.

Eleven of the “little angels” were caught, including an 18 year-old, who was on “diversion” for smoking blunts and assault and a 15 year-old, who was not even registered with the Shelby County School System.

With individuals of such “sterling character”, one might have thought that these thugs would have been locked up, right?

Wrong.

Earlier this week, it was announced that

Eight of the ten teenagers charged in a mob attack at a Memphis Kroger agreed to a plea deal Tuesday morning.

All were charged with aggravated riot, but others faced additional charges as well.

Four girls and four boys pleaded guilty to aggravated riot. They’ll serve 40 hours of community service, must stay in school, follow curfew restrictions and write a letter of apology to the three people who were beaten.

If they follow those rules, all charges will be dropped from their records.

A ninth defendant, charged with possession of marijuana, a weapon, aggravated riot and three counts of assault, was taken away from his mother and put into DCS custody.

A tenth juvenile opted to have a trial where Judge Dan Michael found him guilty of aggravated assault. An attorney for the teen argued throwing a pumpkin at someone’s head was not aggravated assault. Judge Michael disagreed saying, “You beat him into unconsciousness. He could have easily died.”

Judge Michale ordered the teen be taken from his mother and placed in DCS custody.

Both sides were moved to tears at the end of the trial and said they’re ready to move on.

Awwww.

The Kroger Employees who were beaten within an inch of their lives have a right to cry. They still have to live in the former “City of Good Abode”.

Unless, like the rest of us, they get the heck out of Dodge.

The thugs were crying crocodile tears.

Later in the week…

One of the teens involved in the Kroger mob attack may face more trouble.

The District Attorney’s office is investigating a photo circulating on social media of ninth grader Stanley Self. 

The DA’s office said they found out about it yesterday afternoon. 

Self apologized moments after he was sentenced to 40 hours of community service and told by a judge he needed to stay out of trouble. 

Self was part of a group of teens that beat three people, two of them Kroger employees. 

“It’s been a wake up call. I learned today when you are with a group of people fixing to do something bad or fixing to start something or ride or harm some people, I feel like we should go get help,” Self said. 

But a photo posted several days before his sentencing shows him posing with what appears to be a gun on his hip. This is causing many to question whether the punishment was harsh enough.  

“It shows how our criminal justice system doesn’t care it shows how relaxed they are. I think that the criminal justice system put forth more penalties so it would send a message to other kids they shouldn’t do things like that,” concerned Memphian Renee Patterson said. 

Others are wondering if Self is truly sorry for his actions.

But, hey,, don’t worry Memphians, Mayor A.C. Wharton and the rest of your City Leaders have the answer for these sociopaths.

They’re going to give them a “Time Out”.

Yeah, that’s the ticket.

The Commercial Appeal reports that

Memphis mayor A C Wharton is proposing the creation of ‘Juvenile Safety Centers’ as holding centers for minors caught breaking the current curfew.

Currently, curfew violators can be taken into custody by police and taken to their home or the Juvenile Court.

Those 16 and under must be home by 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 11 p.m. Friday through Sunday.

Those between 17 and 18 years old get an extra hour.

Wharton said officers need to have more options and just issuing a summons, “diminishes the seriousness of the event. It also breeds disrespect for the law.” Wharton went on to say, “I am told the current restrictions are severely demoralizing to our law enforcement officers.” Wharton went on to say, “It is my firm belief that removing the handcuffs from our police officers when it comes to making decisions as to transporting juveniles would go a long way.”

Mayor Wharton said he’s worried taking too many minors to Juvenile Court would overwhelm the court system and violate the “States Disproportionate Minority Contact Policy. For those reasons, Wharton wants to designate several community centers where minors could be held for a “reasonable amount of time  while the parent or guardian is contacted.

Mayor Wharton would also like to see the curfew for those 17-18 shortened to 11:30 Sunday nights.

Juvenile Court Judge Dan Michael has reportedly met with Mayor Wharton and is said to be putting together a meeting between, “pertinent policymakers and officials to begin working together to make necessary changes in our present laws to ensure juveniles are kept safe and that we do not do anything to encourage disrespect for the law.”

Here’s an idea, you idiots:

How about raising your children in the way in which they should go?

As a 55 year old product of the Former Memphis City Schools and Memphis State University (now The University of Memphis), I can remember a time when the majority of young Memphians, regardless of their race, were raised to be respectful of their elders, and to recognize the fact that there are absolutes in the concepts of right versus wrong, and that wrong behavior has consequences.

We were also raised knowing the concept of personal responsibility for our actions.

And, if we had a problem understanding those concepts, an adult, whether it be a parent, a friend’s parent, a teacher, a principal, a church leader, as policeman, or a judge, would explain those concepts to us in no uncertain terms.

And, you could bet your last Hot Wheels that, if you got in trouble in school or after school while hanging out in the neighborhood, that we would pay for our transgressions when we got home.

Nowadays, we are experiencing the results of LBJ’s “Great Society”, in which the Almighty Federal Government has eliminated both the concept of moral absolutes and individual responsibility.

These “yutes” who are acting like wild animals have been raised as such. literally abandoned by irresponsible parents to fend for themselves and to make up their own rules as they go along.

What we are witnessing, boys and girls, is a Generation of Sociopaths, with no concept of morality, ethics, or personal responsibility.

They are doing what feels good to them…and what popular culture, which has become both their “god” and their “parental authority figure” has told them is cool.

Until Memphis’ Community and Civic leaders show these young savages that they will face SEVERE consequences for their barbaric behavior, these mob attacks will continue…until one of these young people are shot dea, when they pick a victim with a Concealed Carry Permit.

And, then “the community” will have no one to blame, but themselves.

Until He Comes,

KJ

Anti-Semitism and the American Liberal: Obama Administration Calls Netanyahu a “chicken****”

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics1 Comment

Have you heard about the latest garbage perpetrated by the Obama Administration in their long-lasting animus toward the nation of Israel?

Senator Ted Cruz explains the consequences of the Obama Policy of Animus toward Israel for our nation in an Op Ed for time.com .

This week, the world was treated to yet another embarrassing display of the Obama administration’s incompetent foreign policy.

According to The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg, various anonymous officials referred to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as both “a chicken****” and “a coward.” While these indefensible comments have received the lion’s share of media attention, the substantive remarks about Iran were even more troubling. Goldberg wrote that another senior official claimed that due to their pressure on Netanyahu, it is now “too late” for Israel to stop Iran from amassing an “atomic arsenal.”

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told the White House press corps on Tuesday that the President likely does not know who did this, and there is no effort underway to find out. Other officials have signaled that these persons may be disciplined in ways that are have not been disclosed. But, regardless, they will continue to serve at the pleasure of the President because, as Earnest said, such things happen almost every day in this administration.

In other words, this is no big deal.

With all due respect, this is a very big deal. This is an unprecedented attack on a critical ally of the United States at a moment of international crisis. It is a de facto admission to the mullahs in Tehran that the Obama administration thinks it is too late to prevent them from acquiring nuclear weapons. It is an inexcusable betrayal of the national security of the American people.

Do the Democrats agree with what Obama administration officials are saying about Israel and its leaders? Do they also concede that a nuclear Iran is inevitable? If not, will they call on the President to identify and fire the persons making these assertions? These questions should be asked—and answered—before Americans head to the polls next Tuesday.

It is my hope that Congress can unite to reverse this administration’s approach by defending our allies and standing up to hostile actors in the world. When the White House acts recklessly, Congress should swiftly act to defend our nation. We will not be able to do so if the Senate is led by Harry Reid acting as a rubber stamp for President Obama. Either the Democrats should denounce the Obama Administration’s dangerous policies or the voters should send them home in November.

As disgraceful as these comments were, at least they bring crystal clarity to the choice we face as a nation on November 4th. Choose wisely.

Indeed.

While we are on the subject of Israel…

Why do Liberals hate Israel?  And, why are the majority of American Jews Liberal?

This is a paradox that has perplexed Christian Conservative Americans, such as myself, for a long time.  What is it about the existence of the state of Israel that vexes the minds of Liberals and Progressives so?

David Mamet, a former Liberal turned Conservative author wrote a book titled, The Secret Knowledge: On the Dismantling of American Culture, which studied in depth the themes he announced in his 2008 op-ed for the Village Voice, “Why I Am No Longer a ‘Brain-Dead Liberal.’

June 11th, 2011, americanthinker.com’s Rick Richman posted an article, reviewing Mamet’s new book. In this article, the author touches upon the subject of Liberal Anti-Semitism:

In a chapter entitled “The Intelligent Person’s Guide to Socialism and Anti-Semitism,” he first argues that “social justice” is a sort of Sunday religion that does not carry over to the pressures of the workweek, and he illustrates his thought as follows:

One may bemoan the plight of the Palestinians, who have elected a government of terrorists and daily bomb their neighbor to the West, but we realize that any support past the sentimental is elective: we do not want to live there, nor to go there, and we blink at the knowledge that monies spent in their support may be diverted to the support of terror, and of organizations pledged not only to kill all the Jews, but to kill Americans and Westerners of all faiths.

Where does sympathy stop, and where may it not become sanctimony and hypocrisy?

And then he answers his own question with a mini-drama:

Our American plane has been forced to land at some foreign airport, by the outbreak of World War III. It will not be allowed to depart. Two planes are leaving the airport; we must choose which we want to board. One plane is flying to Israel and one to Syria, and we must choose.

That’s where the sympathy stops.

No one reading this book would get on the plane to Syria. Why? It is a despotism, opposed to the West, to women, to gays, to Jews, to free speech. … And yet one may gain status or a feeling of solidarity by embracing the “Arab cause.”

Mamet’s mini-drama works even if you believe Israel is not a “laudable precious democracy” but “guilty of all the horrors” alleged against it:

I assert that you would still fight with every force and argument at your command to get on the Israeli plane, you and every hard Leftist and every head-shaking misinformed One Worlder and anti-Semite up to and including Jimmy Carter and Noam Chomsky, would, if the issue were his life, suspend his most cherished convictions of Israeli perfidy, and plead for the protection of that state you would then not only acknowledge but assert to be your ally …

There is nothing any reader of this book would not say or do to get himself and his family on the Israeli plane.

Per the americanthinker.com article, one of Mamet’s own previous books: The Wicked Son: Anti-Semitism, Self-Hatred, and the Jews, which is basically an extended letter to his fellow Jews, has a Foreword to the book which ends with this striking paragraph:

To the Jews who, in the sixties, envied the Black Power Movement; who, in the nineties, envied the Palestinians; who weep at Exodus but jeer at the Israel Defense Forces; who nod when Tevye praises tradition but fidget through the seder; … whose favorite Jew is Anne Frank and whose second-favorite does not exist; who are humble in their desire to learn about Kwanzaa and proud of their ignorance of Tu Bi’Shvat; … who bow the head reverently at a baptism and have never attended a bris – to you, who find your religion and race repulsive, your ignorance of your history a satisfaction, here is a book from your brother.

Also, per the article, in his new book, The Secret Knowledge, Mamet asks the following pertinent and poignant question:

Why would any American Jew wish to become a “citizen of the world”? This fantasy is akin to one who believes in the benevolence of Nature. Anyone ever lost in the wild knows that Nature wants you dead. Enjoy the benefits of liberty and defend them as an American, rather than posing as a “citizen of the world.”

In an earlier article, posted on June 2, 2011, on americanthinker.com, Why Does the Left Hate Israel,  Richard Baehr attempts to answer David Mamet’s question:

…I have been to several of the left wing Israel hate fests. They are scary. There is real passion in the air. There is something about Israel that gets the juices going. Anti—Semitism is a part of it. There are a lot of people who are envious of Jews, on the left as well as the right. Patrick Buchanan thinks Jews have hijacked the conservative movement. But on the left, particularly in the academy, and in journalism, I am certain there is professional envy of the many Jewish faces and what better way to get even, and get back for sometimes losing the competitive battle, than by picking on the Jewish state as a surrogate. Leftist Jews sometimes lead the assault against Israel in these venues, thereby giving the attacks, whatever their reason, greater moral authority. Few Jews will stand up for Israel in these environments, because of the great pressure on the left to conform to the group think in the institutions they control.

…The evidence I believe is clear today that Israel faces far greater threats from the left than the right. The left is reflexively anti—Israel and has established important beachheads in significant American institutions— academia, the media, and the old line Protestant ‘high’ churches, as well as in the very seats of government power in many Western European countries, and their intelligentsia. It is not surprising that Israel seems unable to get a fair shake from college professors, the BBC, Reuters, NPR, or liberal churches. Being anti—Israel has become part of their religion.

As a Christian American, I know whom I support in the Middle East:  God’s Chosen People. 

You see, I’ve read The Book.  I know the ending.  Hallelujah!

In the meantime, pajamasmedia.com’s Andrew Klaven presents the following solution to the problem of Israel, with tongue firmly planted in cheek.

As he himself says:

Now, why didn’t somebody think of this before?

 

 

 

Houston Mayor Withdraws Subpoenas of Pastors’ Sermons

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics1 Comment

American Christianity 2A rebuke of Biblical proportions happened in Houston, Texas, yesterday.

The Christian Post reports that

Houston Mayor Annise Parker has announced that she will withdraw the subpoenas against five pastors who have spoken out against the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance, an LGBT city ordinance that some opponents claim would allow men to use women’s public restrooms.

“After much contemplation and discussion, I am directing the city legal department to withdraw the subpoenas issued to the five Houston pastors who delivered the petitions, the anti-HERO petitions, to the city of Houston and who indicated that they were responsible for the overall petition effort,” Parker said during Wednesday’s press conference.

“It is extremely important to me to protect our equal rights ordinance from repeal, and it is extremely important to me to make sure that every Houstonian knows that their lives are valid and protected and acknowledged,” added Parker, who’s the city’s first openly-gay mayor.

Earlier this month it was revealed that the city of Houston had subpoenaed five pastors regarding a rejected referendum about a recently passed LGBT city ordinance, known by the acronym, HERO.

HERO amended Houston’s Code of Ordinances, prohibiting discrimination in public facilities and private employment on the basis of “protected characteristics.”

This list of protected characteristics included race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, sex, familial and marital status, military status, disability, religion, genetic information, pregnancy, sexual orientation and gender identity.

Opponents of HERO claim it will have several unintended consequences, such as allowing transgender men to use women’s restrooms.

Critics turned in a petition to get the ordinance repealed or put on the ballot, which Houston’s city attorney rejected. In response, conservatives filed suit.

Five Houston pastors whom city officials believed opposed the ordinance were told they had to turn over all sermons they had preached regarding homosexuality, HERO, and about the mayor, who is a practicing lesbian.

The subpoenas garnered nationwide criticism from liberal and conservative organizations alike, with Parker initially narrowing the scope of the subpoenas to include “speeches” rather than “sermons.”

Parker’s decision to drop the subpoenas came days in advance of the “I Stand Sunday,” event in which multiple conservative groups, along with former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, the Benham brothers, and members of the “Duck Dynasty” cast united for a 90-minute simulcast in solidarity with the five pastors.

Hours before the Mayor’s change of heart was announced, Fox News Insider reported that

In a fiery commentary on Mayor Annise Parker’s actions, Mike Huckabee called for American pastors to show their opposition by sending her their sermons and a Bible.

“So, I’ve got an idea – if she wants some sermons, here’s my suggestion. I’d like to ask every pastor in America, not just the ones in Houston, send her your sermons. Obviously, she could use a few. So, if you’re a pastor, send them to her. And here’s another thought, everybody watching the show ought to send her a Bible. That’s right, everybody. I hope she gets thousands and thousands of sermons and Bibles,” said the former governor on Oct. 20. 

Well, now the mayor’s office has said that it has gotten between 500-1,000 Bibles and that they will be distributed to churches.

I wonder if this tremendous backlash had anything to do with the Mayor’s stopping the subpoenas.

Could be.

This attempt by the Houston Mayor to control what the pastors in her city said from the pulpit is a direct attack on the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.

Let’s review the First Amendment, shall we?

The First Amendment (1791)

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for redress of grievances.

The following are quotes by famous Americans about this American Right:

If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter. – George Washington

It is by the goodness of God that in our country we have those three unspeakably precious things: freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, and the prudence never to practice either of them. – Mark Twain

I live in America. I have the right to write whatever I want. And it’s equaled by another right just as powerful: the right not to read it. Freedom of speech includes the freedom to offend people. – Brad Thor

I begin to feel like most Americans don’t understand the First Amendment, don’t understand the idea of freedom of speech, and don’t understand that it’s the responsibility of the citizen to speak out. – Roger Ebert

We don’t have an Official Secrets Act in the United States, as other countries do. Under the First Amendment, freedom of the press, freedom of speech, and freedom of association are more important than protecting secrets. – Alan Dershowitz

Freedom of speech is always under attack by Fascist mentality, which exists in all parts of the world, unfortunately. – Lawrence Ferlinghetti

If Her Honor…err…His Honor…err…umm…whatever…thought that Houston’s Men of God were just going to meekly hand over their Sermon Notes, foregoing their Ordination as Preachers of God’s Word and simultaneously giving up their First Amendment Rights, she overestimated her position of authority greatly.

The Houston Pastors answer to Someone with a higher pay grade.

She was outranked all along.

…and, outnumbered.

Until He Comes,

KJ

Obama’s State Department Suggests Importing Ebola Patients to America

On By kingsjesterIn Politics2 Comments

AFBrancoObamaEbola1092014The ever-changing protocol of the Obama Administration in dealing with the Ebola Outbreak has stopped being unstable and has now become schizophrenic.

The Washington Post reports that

President Obama on Tuesday forcefully rejected the idea of a quarantine for medical­ workers returning from Ebola-affected­ countries, arguing that such an approach would undermine the broader effort to eliminate the epidemic .

Politicians in the United States, including the president, have come under increasing pressure to curtail the movements of medical personnel returning from Ebola-affected regions after Craig Spencer — a doctor who had been treating Ebola patients in Guinea — was diagnosed with the virus 10 days after he returned home to New York City.

While the president did not directly criticize New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) and New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo (D) for imposing mandatory quarantines on health workers coming back from West Africa, he made clear that he thought those moves were a bad idea and were not based on the best medical information.

“We don’t just react based on our fears. We react based on facts and judgment and making smart decisions,” Obama said, just after placing a call to members of the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART), which has been in West Africa since the first week of August.

The notably assertive presidential response came as the country enters the final campaign stretch before next week’s midterm elections. While the president has sometimes refrained from taking on his critics, he took the unusual step of addressing the Ebola issue with reporters just before boarding Air Force One to depart for a campaign event in Wisconsin.

No quarantine, huh, Scooter? Nobody told your Secretary of Defense. Per thehill.com,

Defense Secretary Hagel is considering a 21-day “quarantine-like” policy for all troops returning from West Africa, the Pentagon said Tuesday.

The proposal was recommended to Hagel on Tuesday by the Joint Chiefs of Staff — which consists of its chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey and the chiefs of staff of the Army, Navy and Air Force.

 Earlier this week, the Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno ordered all soldiers returning from West Africa to undergo a 21-day isolation and enhanced monitoring period.

Odierno “has done this out of caution to ensure soldiers, family members and their surrounding communities are confident that we are taking all steps necessary to protect their health,” the Army said Monday.

The Pentagon said Hagel supports that “initial decision” but would take his time deciding whether or not to expand that policy department-wide.

Currently, a dozen soldiers from U.S. Army Africa are being isolated and monitored at Vicenza, Italy, including its commander Maj. Gen. Darryl Williams. The Pentagon has said there was no event to trigger the policy.

Pentagon press secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby acknowledged that implementing a department-wide quarantine-like policy goes farther than what President Obama and the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions have recommended, but said Hagel would not stand in the way of the Army’s decision, or any other service if they should implement that policy.On Monday, Air Force officials at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany also implemented stricter measures for airmen coming back from West Africa, including possibly quarantining troops on a case-by-case basis.

There are currently about 880 troops in West Africa, training healthcare workers, building Ebola treatment units and mobile labs, and airlifting medical supplies and providing other logistical help.

Meanwhile, the State Department has decided that America does not have enough Ebola cases in our country already.

According to the Washington Times,

The State Department has quietly made plans to bring Ebola-infected doctors and medical aides to the U.S. for treatment, according to an internal department document that argued the only way to get other countries to send medical teams to West Africa is to promise that the U.S. will be the world’s medical backstop.

Some countries “are implicitly or explicitly waiting for medevac assurances” before they will agree to send their own medical teams to join U.S. and U.N. aid workers on the ground, the State Department argues in the undated four-page memo, which was reviewed by The Washington Times.

“The United States needs to show leadership and act as we are asking others to act by admitting certain non-citizens into the country for medical treatment for Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) during the Ebola crisis,” says the four-page memo, which lists as its author Robert Sorenson, deputy director of the office of international health and biodefense.

More than 10,000 people have become infected with Ebola in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, and the U.S. has taken a lead role in arguing that the outbreak must be stopped in West Africa. President Obama has committed thousands of U.S. troops and has deployed American medical personnel, but other countries have been slow to follow.

In the memo, officials say their preference is for patients go to Europe, but there are some cases in which the U.S. is “the logical treatment destination for non-citizens.”

The document has been shared with Congress, where lawmakers already are nervous about the administration’s handling of the Ebola outbreak. The memo even details the expected price per patient, with transportation costs at $200,000 and treatment at $300,000.

A State Department official signaled Tuesday evening that the discussions had been shelved.

“There is no policy of the U.S. government to allow entry of non-U.S. citizen Ebola-infected to the United States. There is no consideration in the State Department of changing that policy,” the official said.

Another official said the department is considering using American aircraft equipped to handle Ebola cases to transport noncitizens to other countries.

“We have discussed allowing other countries to use our medevac capabilities to evacuate their own citizens to their home countries or third-countries, subject to reimbursement and availability,” the second department official said.

The internal State Department memo is described as “sensitive but unclassified.” A tracking sheet attached to it says it was cleared by offices of the deputy secretary, the deputy secretary for management, the office of Central African affairs and the medical services office.

Confused?

Remember the chase scene at the end of the Benny Hill Shows we used to watch as children? Well, Obama’s Ebola containment policy is like that, except without the accompaniment of Boots Randolph playing “Yakety Sax” in the background.

Allow me to try to explain this.

Obama does not want to quarantine individuals who return after treating Ebola Victims in disease-riddled Africa. However, Secretary of Defense Hagel is considering a 21 day quarantine for American troops returning from “combating” Ebola in Africa. At the same time, the State Department has quietly made prepared a proposal to bring Ebola-infected doctors and medical aides to the U.S. for treatment.

To quote the late Strother Martin in “Cool Hand Luke”, starring Paul Newman,

What we have heah is failure to communicate.

…and, a failure of leadership, to say the least.

Sheesh.

The former Community Organizer turned “Leader of the Free World” has really shown his hindquarters through his mishandling of the Ebola Outbreak.

Not only has his “community organizing” skill not helped him one bit in this situation, but his didactic nature as a former Guest lecturer at the University of Chicago has com out, through his divisive lectures to the governors of American States, who are trying to do their job and keep their citizenry safe, even if Obama refuses to.

On top of that, Obama’s hand-picked pin-headed bureaucrats, academicians, and political hacks in the State Department want to place all of us in greater danger from this fatal disease, by bringing Ebola Patients from Africa to America to treat.

My head hurts.

Perhaps I was wrong to compare this situation to an ending chase scene in an episode of The Benny Hill Show.

Those chase scenes were hilarious.

The out-of-control incompetency of Obama and his Administration is not funny at all.

Until He Comes,

KJ

70% of Americans Are Fed Up with America Heading in the Wrong Direction

On By kingsjesterIn Politics1 Comment

AFBrancoDemocratBusStopCan you feel it? Average Americans, like you and me, have had enough of these Liberal Lemmings leading us over the cliff of destruction.

CNN.com reports that

Nearly 7 in 10 Americans are angry at the direction the country is headed and 53% of Americans disapprove of President Barack Obama’s job performance, two troubling signs for Democrats one week before the midterm elections, a new CNN/ORC International Poll shows.

Democrats are battling to try and save the Senate majority, while hoping to prevent more losses in the House, which the GOP controls by a 234 to 201 margin.

In the Senate, Republicans need a net gain of six seats, and several state polls in the past month of contested races show that Democrats are in danger of losing control of the majority, and thus Congress. Currently, Democrats control the Senate by a 55-45 margin with two of those seats held by independents that align themselves politically with Democrats.

The CNN/ORC poll shows that 30% of Americans are “very angry” and 38% are “somewhat angry” about the way things are going in the country, while 31% expressed “no anger” at all. CNN Polling Director Keating Holland notes the 31% of “very angry” Americans matches the mood of the country in 2010 when Republicans took back control of the House.

In next week’s election, the emotion of anger could be a motivating factor in driving out GOP voters. While 36% of Republican voters said they are “extremely” or “very enthusiastic,” about voting this year, only 26% of Democrats use that language to describe themselves, in the CNN/ORC poll.

Perhaps it has something to do with the imperious manner in which President Barack Hussein Obama has approached his duties as President of the United States of America, basically doing whatever he wants to, paying no attention to to the wishes of the majority of Americans and “solving” issues in a manner which is 180 degrees out of alignment with the overwhelming majority of the American people.

It’s not just the fact that the Far Left Political Ideology, which he wholeheartedly embraces, is so contrary to the viewpoint of the majority of Americans, it’s the fact that his entire presidency has been a mission to change America into something that it was never meant to be.

Our Founding fathers envisioned American as a “Sweet Land of Liberty”, where average Americans would come to Washington to represent the views of their region of the country through their service to our nation by becoming elected representatives. The plan of our Founders was that these citizen politicians would serve for a couple of years and then return to their everyday lives, allowing fresh ideas to keep the Tree of Liberty forever in bloom.

Somewhere along the way, just as with other great “empires”, the United States Government started to grow corrupt from within.

The desire to serve their fellow citizens, was replaced in our elected representatives hearts by a lust for money and power, achieved through following the wishes of special interest groups, controlled by very wealthy donors, such as George Soros, who keep hidden in the shadows, only revealing themselves when it suits their needs.

It was these special interest groups who had a heyday during President Bush’s time in office, by influencing the Democratically-controlled Congress, and the same bunch have now guided the presidency of Barack Hussein Obama.

This poll is an expression of the frustration, bordering on rage, of average Americans, who are sick and tired of this “tyranny of the minority”.

Average Americans, those good-hearted people, living in America’s Heartland, know that something is wrong with our country, the country which the overwhelming majority of us were raised to pledge our allegiance to, and to thank God for the blessing of an American Birth.

During the almost 7 years of the Obama Presidency, those who were raised differently from the rest of us, have been in charged of steering this Ship of State…and, they have us headed straight toward the shoals of destruction.

The overwhelming majority of Americans have been raised by their parents and extended family to know the difference between right and wrong.

The Still Small Voice, which resides in each and every one of us, is positively shouting that our nation is headed in the wrong direction, being led that way by people who do not believe in American Exceptionalism, the unbridled potential of the individual, and individual responsibility.

During this Administration, they have experimented with introducing an amoral, self-indulgent, nanny-state, socialist-syle government, here in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave, a country which was founded on the principles of Liberty, Inalienable Rights, and Individual Accomplishment.

It’s simple.  The happiness of Americans does not come from the Nanny-state, out-of-control Federal Government of President Barack Hussein Obama.  Americans’ happiness originates from the same Creator that endowed each and every one of us with our inalienable rights.  He has given us, as Americans, the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  Americans, through His grace, and the love and support of our families and friends, are working to achieve and enjoy those rights everyday. 

When those in power seek to be the Creator of those inalienable rights, they are doomed to failure.  Please reference the Roman Empire and the U.S.S.R. as examples.

The majority of Americans have a great deal in common, Ties That Bind, if you will.  As our external enemies discovered after their cowardly attack on September 11th, 2001, Americans will come together when our neighbors and families are being harmed and our freedom is at stake.

The tyrannical minority who have been ruling with impunity saw a small sampling of Americans’ independent spirit and resolve to remain free on November 2nd, 2010.  So far, they seem blinded by their ideology and own self-importance.

They underestimate Americans.  The tyrannical always have.

The Mid-Term Election promises to be a Political Tsunami of epic proportions.

Until He Comes,

KJ

Obama Administration Wants New York and New Jersey to Lift Ebola Quarantine

On By kingsjesterIn PoliticsLeave a comment

Ebola Obama LogoThe Obama Administration is upset that two of America’s state governments had the courage and common sense to do something that they refuse to do.

The New York Times reports that

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Sunday night outlined New York State’s mandatory quarantine policy for health care workers returning from West African nations with Ebola outbreaks , bringing the state closer into line with federal protocols and marking a significant break with the way the policy has been carried out in New Jersey.

The announcement comes after the Obama administration pressed New York to revise its order, issued only two days ago in a joint press conference with New Jersey’s governor, Chris Christie. New Jersey officials, who stood by their decision on Sunday, have yet to explain many details of their quarantine policy. The state has come under scathing criticism for the treatment of a nurse returning from Sierra Leone, who was forced into quarantine in a hastily erected tent at a New Jersey hospital even though she had not displayed any signs of illness and tested negative for Ebola.

Earlier in the day, Mayor Bill de Blasio said that the treatment of the nurse, Kaci Hickox,had been shameful and vowed that New York City would do all it could to honor the work of the health care workers here and those who go to help fight the epidemic in West Africa.

“The problem here is, this hero, coming back from the front having done the right things, was treated with disrespect,” Mr. de Blasio said.

“We have to think how we treat the people who are doing this noble work,” he said. “We owe her better than that.”

Under the revised guidelines, New York State would allow all returning health care workers who have had contact with Ebola patients but have no symptoms of illness to return to their homes, where they would be confined; their health would be monitored for 21 days.

They would be transported by private vehicle, arranged by the New York State Department of Health or the local health department. While under confinement, there would be at least two unannounced visits by local officials, in coordination with state health officials, each day to check the individual’s condition as well as ensure that the individual is complying with the state order.

The New York State or local health department will, if needed, coordinate care services such as food and medicine.

If a person arrives from one of the affected areas with no symptoms and had no direct contact with anyone infected with the Ebola virus, there will be no home confinement. Health officials will monitor these individuals twice a day for temperature and other symptoms until the 21-day incubation period is over.

Governor Cuomo, who asked for patience from those who will be affected, also said the state would provide financial assistance where needed.

“If their organization does not pay for the three weeks, we will,” he said.

The move comes as President Obama met with his top advisers at the White House to craft a policy that reassures Americans that they are protected from the virus while following the guidance of the government’s scientific advisers. Officials said that policy will be ready in days and that the government would urge all states to follow it.

“Disrespect” or “Appropriate Measures”?

A week ago last Friday, Dr. Charles Krauthammer, noted Conservative Pundit, appeared on Greta Van Susteren’s Fox News Program. Dr. “K” hammered Obama’s response to Ebola’s arrival in America.

Greta Van Susteren: “Charles, slow to respond [on Ebola].”

Charles Krauthammer: “Slow to respond on all ways behind. You hear the administration say, well, a travel ban is not off the table. We’ve been hearing for weeks it’s a terrible idea, it will make it worse. It’s the most logical thing to do. British airways is not flying to these countries and it will be done, it’s only a question of time.”

“On the other hand, where the CDC has been assuring us ‘we know how to handle this, we know how to trace contacts.’ Yes, but they don’t know what to tell and handle the people once they have identified the contacts. You can’t tell people, as we are even now doing, to self-quarantine. Ordinary people have no idea what that means. You have to have the government step in, and I would say, this is not a thing that we like to do, override civil liberties, we’re going to have to quarantine a lot of folks that have come in contact. That’s the way you override an epidemic like this.”

Van Susteren: “You talk about tracing contact…I think it’s lousy that we’re in a position of tracing contacts. WE had notice, at least as early as March. We could have stopped, we could have headed it off before it even got here. And we could have helped a lot of people in a lot of these Western African nations. So it’s not so much how we trace the contacts. Everyone was asleep at the wheel.”

Krauthammer: “I’m not sure we could have stopped the spread in Western Africa.”

Van Susteren: “But we could have stopped it here?”

Krauthammer: “Well if we had a travel ban, if we had real control; for example, this suggestion that we heard from Sen. McCain makes perfect sense. Anybody who wants to come here to the United States, you spend 21 days in quarantine in Liberia. We’ll give you a big space, a flat screen TV, extra American food and lots of entertainment. But you gotta to wait 21 days and then you come here. That’s elementary.”

Dr. K was right. It is elementary. You isolate the patient and then, you treat the illness.

To allow those who have just come from Ebola Hot Spots in Africa, and who actually had contact with those suffering from the deadly disease, to disembark their plane, when it arrives on our shores, and to immediately walk freely among our citizenry, is not only irresponsible, it’s downright stupid.

Obama and his Administration have been playing catch-up to this deadly disease for far too long. Instead of being pro-active, they have been reactive.

By sending our military to Africa to “combat” Ebola, they have put our Brightest and Best in harm’s way, for the sake of political expediency.

It would have been far simpler to send volunteer physicians to Africa and quarantine travel to and from those nations, instead of all the reactive measures which the Administration has taken as a result of being more concerned about the effect of a quarantine on those African countries’ economies that the safety of American citizens.

So, instead of isolating the problem and protecting Americans, Obama and his Administration made poor choices in the name of obfuscating the potential crisis and maintaining  the touchy-feely political correctness and central governmental-control that Obama and his Administration cherish above all else.

And, while they contemplate their next move, the government officials of New Jersey and New York made the decision which Obama and his Administration have been too weak, vacillating and self-involved to make.

And, that’s why they’re “concerned”.

Obama and his Administration’s  “concern” is not for American citizens. It’s for their political careers.

Until He Comes,

KJ

Glen Campbell And The Still Small Voice (A KJ Sunday Morning Reflection)

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity1 Comment

glencampbell1One of my favorite entertainers has always been Glen Campbell. Like many Americans my age, I grew up watching him on television with my parents, as we sat there entertained by his weekly variety show, “The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour”  (1969-1972)

This past week, Glen’s wife, Kim, wrote the following opinion piece for Fox News, in conjunction with the release of his final album  and a documentary, detailing Glen’s journey through the stages of Alzheimer’s Disease.

It touched my heart. I believe it will touch your heart as well.

My husband, Glen Campbell, has stage 6 Alzheimer’s disease. Seven months ago, at the recommendation of his doctors, we placed him in a memory care facility close to our home in Nashville.

It’s a community that’s designed specifically for the needs of those who have Alzheimer’s and dementia. They have all kinds of therapies and activities that stimulate parts of the brain affected by the illness. It’s a safe and secure environment where he receives around-the-clock care.

It’s been good for him. He just seems more at peace there than he was at home, where he became increasingly agitated and frantic.

He lives in a mental fog most of the time. He’s lost most of his language skills and has a hard time communicating. He still has moments of lucidity, though, and those moments let us know he’s still in there and that he’s the Glen we’ve always known. He can make short sentences and say things like “I love you” and “We are so blessed.”

The aides and nurses say he must have been a godly man because they always see him thanking the Lord. I’ve seen him walk over to the window and lift up his hands and say, “Thank you, heavenly Father.” 
The aides and nurses say he must have been a godly man because they always see him thanking the Lord. I’ve seen him walk over to the window and lift up his hands and say, “Thank you, heavenly Father.”

Those moments are so comforting because when you’re facing your mortality, that’s when you want to know God is there. That’s when you really want to draw close to Him.

When I see him do that, I know God is with him, and he’s aware of His presence. He’s relying on the Lord and gets his strength from Him.

People should not give up on others who have dementia. The essence of who they are is still alive and still in there.

He’s still the Glen Campbell he’s always been. He’s always especially loved children and old people. There’s this little lady in a wheelchair in the facility, and she can’t speak at all. He will walk over to her and take her little hand in his and say, “You are so precious.”

He’ll kiss her on the forehead, and she’ll just look up at him. She has no idea who he is, but you can tell it comforts her.

Even in his affliction, he’s ministering to people and trying to be a blessing.

In between those moments, he’s lost. He wanders. He can’t communicate. He doesn’t understand what others say to him. It’s very hard to direct him even to sit in a chair in the dining room.

When we did the film, “Glen Campbell… I’ll Be Me,” which documents his last farewell tour, Glen was in stages 2-4. He knew what was happening to him and he wanted to let people know what Alzheimer’s is really like.

He was passionate about making this film because he hoped it would be a catalyst for more funding for research to find a cure. He wanted to encourage other families who are dealing with this disease to keep living their lives, supporting each other and lifting each other up.

When Glen got the diagnosis and decided to go public, it was because he wanted fans to know what was going on in case he exhibited odd behavior on stage, like repeating a song or forgetting what key it was in.

He just wanted them to understand. But after he made the announcement, we all wondered if anyone would want to come see someone with Alzheimer’s perform.

We wondered if his fans would rather remember him the way he was. Maybe it would be depressing. Or maybe no one would be interested either way.

But what we found was the exact opposite. The first show he did after making the announcement sold out. From the time he walked on stage to the time he walked off, it was one standing ovation after another. It was clear fans were there to shower him with love and to root for, support and encourage him. It really blessed Glen and encouraged him to continue on.

Offers began to pour in from around the country for Glen to come to their cities to perform.

What began as a five-week farewell tour turned into 151 dates. His last show was at the Uptown Theater in Napa, Calif., on Nov. 30, 2012.

The first 15-20 minutes were a train wreck. He was having difficulties. His guitar wasn’t loud enough. It didn’t have the quality he wanted. He became very agitated on stage. He kept turning his back to the audience. His band was very uncomfortable. It was a tough show.

But the audience, again, was so supportive. They cheered for him without fail and without question. They loved him unconditionally.

He snapped back and finished the show strong. It was good, but it was clear it was time for us to end the tour and say farewell.

He closed the show with “A Better Place.”  

Daily we pray for grace and mercy as he approaches the final stages of this illness and are so thankful for the moments we see Glen being Glen.

For those cynics out there, yes, Glen went off the rails for a time, during his marriage to Tanya Tucker. After that, though, Glen fell in love with Kim, and she led him back to Jesus Christ.

Recently, I had a Liberal atheist tell me that he believes that he has no soul.

Now, whether he was just trying to get a rise out of me on the Political Facebook Page we were chatting on, or whether he truly believes that, he could not be more wrong.

I worked in a hospital for 7 years, and have had close relationships with those in the medical profession, who have told me, over and over again, that when a man or woman passes away, if they have not made their peace with God, and listened to that Still, Small Voice within them, that the agony of their death remains frozen on their face. If they have made their peace with their Creator, there is a look of bliss and contentment on their face, as it should look, when you go to a better place.

Just as the essence, or soul, of Glen Campbell is shining through the fog of the Alzheimer’s  Disease, which is slowly taking his life, so should we allow the goodness, the Still Small Voice, which Christians know as the Holy Spirit, guide us through our daily lives.

There are moral absolutes and non-negotiable ethics.

God gives us Free Will, in order to make those choices for ourselves.

It is up to all of us to make good choices in our lives.

All we have to do is listen.

Until He Comes,

KJ

Hillary Proclaims That “Businesses Do Not Create Jobs”

On By kingsjesterIn Politics1 Comment

Hillary Ramirez CartoonThe question remains on the lips of the Democratic faithful,

Who are we going to get to run for President in 2016? We have to make Americans forget about the miserable failure of a president we have in there now!

The hopeful eyes of these sniveling snobs have been turned in the direction of Hillary Rodham Clinton, former poster girl for feminism and aggrieved Liberal wives everywhere.

Right now, Bubba’s old lady is out on the campaign trail stumping for Democrats, in the last two weeks before the Political Tsunami that will be the 2014 Mid-Term Elections.

Brietbart.com reports that

Appearing at a Boston rally for Democrat gubernatorial candidate Martha Coakley on Friday, Hillary Clinton told the crowd gathered at the Park Plaza Hotel not to listen to anybody who says that “businesses create jobs.”

“Don’t let anybody tell you it’s corporations and businesses create jobs,” Clinton said.

“You know that old theory, ‘trickle-down economics,’” she continued. “That has been tried, that has failed. It has failed rather spectacularly.”

“You know, one of the things my husband says when people say ‘Well, what did you bring to Washington,’ he said, ‘Well, I brought arithmetic,’” Clinton said, which elicited loud laughs from the crowd.

So, Hillary admits that she, if elected would be another Socialist President, like the current Marxist/Alinsky-ite , living in OUR House  at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC.

It was Barack Hussein Obama who said,

We can’t have special interests sitting shotgun. We gotta have middle class families up in front. We don’t mind the Republicans joining us. They can come for the ride, but they gotta sit in back.- Barack Hussein Obama

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 Washington Times reports that

Under President Obama, the richest 10 percent were the only income group of Americans to see their median incomes rise, according to a survey released this week by the Federal Reserve.

The Fed data covered the years 2010-2013, during which period Mr. Obama constantly campaigned against income inequality and won re-election by painting his Republican rival as a tool of Wall Street plutocrats.

“Data from the 2013 [Survey of Consumer Finances] confirm that the shares of income and wealth held by affluent families are at modern historically high levels,” the report said in noting that the median income fell for every 10-percent grouping except the most affluent 10 percent. 

“The 2013 SCF reveals substantial disparities in the evolution of income and net worth since the previous time the survey was conducted, in 2010,” the report stated. The SCF is conducted by the Federal reserve triennially and compiles information about family incomes, credit use, net worth and finances.

The 2010-2013 SCF found that even though real gross domestic product grew by 2.1 percent and civilian unemployment fell from 9.9 percent to 7.5 percent, only families at “the very top of the income distribution saw widespread income gains,” though mean median income levels still lagged behind 2007 numbers.

The report comes just a week after AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said the union group would not endorse any more Democrats that are following President Obama’s economic policy.

“We will call in and question all of the candidates,” he said. “One of our biggest concerns is who is the candidate’s economic team, because if the present economic team doesn’t change, you are going get the same results.”

The survey also found that family in the middle income bracket (40th to 90th percentiles) saw “very little” change in average real incomes and still have not recovered losses from 2010 and 2007. Families at the bottom of the income distribution continued to see “substantial declines” in average real incomes, a continuing trend from the previous two surveys.

The top percentile of Americans also increased their wealth share since 2010, corresponding to a loss in wealth for the bottom 90 percent of Americans, according to the Fed data.

“The wealth share of the top 3 percent climbed from 44.8 percent in 1989 to 51.8 percent in 2007 and 54.4 percent in 2013. … The share of wealth held by the bottom 90 percent fell from 33.2 percent in 1989 to24.7 percent in 2013,” the report stated.

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.

And, God help us, if the “Queen of Mean” runs for President and gets elected, because it would be more of the same.

(…Of course, government jobs would be available for willing interns, if you know what I mean.)

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