Tag: America

Election Day 2014: Preserving Our Children’s Future

On By kingsjesterIn Politics1 Comment

voteYou and I have a rendezvous with destiny. 

We’ll preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we’ll sentence them to take the last step into a thousand years of darkness. – “Ronald Reagan, “A Time For Choosing”, October 27, 1964

Once again, today is “A Time For Choosing”.

Today, Americans all over our great land will exercise their Right to Vote.

This is a right that our fellow countrymen have fought and died for. A Constitutional Right which allows us, as American citizens, to take part in moulding the future of our country.

This Constitutional Right was designed to be an exercise in deliberation and judgment. It is not a right to be taken lightly, as so many Americans seem to do nowadays.

In fact, if you were able take a survey of people around the world, you would find that a great many of them would sacrifice whatever they could, including their lives, in order to be able to cast a vote in a country which was free , and where the right to do so, and to do so anonymously, was protected by law.

There have been a lot of countries and there continues to be a lot of countries, which go through the motions of having a free election. However, in reality, their elections are nothing but a dog and pony show, designed to reinforce a totalitarian regime.

Usually, these regimes are supported by the country’s media, whose job, as the old song goes, is to ” accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative.”

Sound familiar?

During the Presidency of Barack Hussein Obama, the media has acted in such a fashion in this country. They viewed their job, not as objective reporters of the news of the day, but as protectors and defenders of the first black President of the United States, especially since he was of their own political ideology, a Liberal Democrat.

During these last almost seven years, American citizens have had a taste of what citizens living under totalitarian regimes must feel like.

At the beginning of the Obama Presidency, he had a Democratically- led Congress to work with, with Nancy Pelosi as the Speaker of the House and Harry Reid leading the Senate.

In the midterm elections of 2010, average Americans, following the lead of the Conservative Tea Party movement, stood up on our hind legs and voted some of the rascals out, giving the leadership of the House of Representatives to the Republican Party.

Today, four years later, we have an opportunity to continue the process of taking our country back from the “Tyranny of the Minority”.

By going to the polls today, voting Republican, and in the process, giving control of both the House and the Senate to the Republicans, Americans can take away the Political Power Base of President Barack Hussein Obama, turning him into a two-year Lame Duck President.

Polls have shown that the majority of Americans are not satisfied with the direction that this nation is heading under his leadership.

Here are a few reasons why the overwhelming majority of Americans feel that way:

  • The “not-a-war with ISIS” including his unabashed comment that, “We are not at war with Islam.”
  • The economy, featuring the indefensible fact that over 92,600,000 Americans have dropped out of our workforce.
  • The out-of-control Department of Education, featuring Common Core, and plans to teach sex education to pre-schoolers.
  • The VA Hospital Scandal, in which our Brightest and Best were given worse treatment than indigent Americans.
  • Obama’s use of the judiciary to overthrow the States’ anti-Gay Marriage votes.
  • His over-the-top reliance on class warfare and race-baiting divisive rhetoric.
  • His support and subsequent camouflage of the Mexican Munchkin Migration.
  • His promise to sign an Executive Order for Amnesty for illegal immigrants living in our Sovereign Nation.
  • His insistence that Ebola will never reach our shores.
  • And, finally, Obamacare.

Make no mistake, today is our opportunity to show exactly how we feel about the failed Presidency of Barack Hussein Obama.

Today is our chance to send a message.

The message we send must be loud and clear.

That message must reverberate through the Halls of Power in Washington, DC, so that they will know without a shadow of a doubt, that American citizens will not sit idly by and watch this nation, which our Fathers fought and died for, be turned in to something that it was never meant to be.

To quote founding father, Patrick Henry,

Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Our brethren are already in the fields. Why stand we here idle? I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!

Our CHAINS today are the fetters we wear while being taxed by an out-of-control federal government.

The which we are suffering through today, comes as a result of the overbearing burden of taxes and regulations by that selfsame government, which was created by our Founding Fathers to be “of the people, by the people, and for the people”, has instead become “of the special interest groups, by the special interest groups, and for the special interest groups”.

As our Founding Fathers and every generation of Patriots after them has demonstrated, LIBERTY is freedom with responsibility.

Our responsibility on this election day as American Citizens is to continue the process of taking back our country, for the sake of those who will come after us.

Those who have sacrificed their lives for our FREEDOM deserve no less.

Until He Comes,

KJ

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

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

Preparing For a Political Tsunami (A KJ Op Ed)

On By kingsjesterIn PoliticsLeave a comment

AFBrancoObamaISIS922014It must stink on ice right now to be a ardent supporter of President Barack Hussein Obama.

How can you defend the man with a straight face?

His popularity poll numbers are in the tank, and he really does seem to be semi-retired on the job.

For the Liberals, their now-fallen “messiah”, who started out with such great promise, and who was going to radically change this nation from a greedy capitalistic country to a socialist utopia, has proven to be nothing but an miserable failure.

Yes, he made a lot of promises, and he actually did get some of his agenda “accomplished” during these past 7 years, including funding abortions around the world, having Congress fund a stimulus package to all of his Democratic cronies, and, of course, having a democratically – led Congress pass the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare, in the dark of night, against the wishes of the American people .

Unfortunately, domestically, that is not all Obama has “accomplished”.

Obama has succeeded in driving a racial wedge between the people of this country, by using the time – worn tactics of Karl Marx and Saul Alinsky, early on in his presidency he turned up the rhetoric of class warfare and social injustice. Through the slavishness of the sycophantic Main Stream Media, Obama used this divisive rhetoric to increase his street cred among black Americans for his first six and one-half years in office, providing himself with a strong voting base who would stand by his side no matter what.

Obama used the power of the Federal Government and the tax money of average Americans to increase LBJ’s Great Society to epic proportions.

“Baracky Claus” increased the number of those Americans who are on food stamps to one sixth of our nation’s population, while simultaneously increasing the number of Americans who have dropped out of our workforce entirely to 92,600,000.

Which,  if you think about it, is exactly what happened in the old Soviet Union.

Instead of everyone having a piece of the pie, as Marx promised, in that Communist country,  the huge central government had all the wealth and power along with their cronies in the Bourgeois,  while the poor working citizens or Proletariat, just became poorer.

Sound familiar?

That is what is happening in the United States right now.

After almost 7 years of the Presidency of Barack Hussein Obama, the American Middle Class is dang near non-existent, while the federal government has grown by leaps and bounds and wealthy Democratic Donors, who are part of the one percent that Obama is always railing against,  are getting richer, while proclaiming to anyone who will listen, their deep concern for the plight of the American working class.

Culturally, Obama has had several accomplishments in this arena as well.

For example, Obama changed his mind about the hot topic of homosexual marriage. He changed from being against it to for it, and then, wholeheartedly supported activist judges on the state level in their overturning the votes of the people in each state who had banned homosexual marriage, publicly comparing it to the Civil Rights struggle of black Americans in the 1960’s .

Have I missed something? Have homosexual Americans been hung from trees, had hoses turned on them, and had dogs let loose on them by police officers and sheriff’s deputies?

President Barack Hussein Obama seems to be for equal rights for everyone… except Christian Americans.

Obama has had some “accomplishments” with his “Smart Power” Foreign Policy, as well.

Just look at the Middle East.

Through skillful negotiation, Obama was actually able to set the entire Middle East on fire, creating the world’s largest bonfire, which became known as Arab Spring.

Through this remarkable strategy, Moderate Muslim Dictators who actually would negotiate with us, were replaced by Radical Muslim Dictators, won’t give us the time of day.

And, our sworn enemies, the Mullahs of Iran, are on the verge of “gifting” the world with their very own nuclear bomb.

We are now reaping the benefits of this wonderful strategy, as his premature evacuation of Iraq has directly led to a radical Muslim terrorist group known as ISIS blazing a path of destruction straight toward Baghdad, dodging Obama’s war by remote control bombing patterns with ease.

Is it any wonder, that the journalists over in Great Britain dubbed Obama “President Pantywaist”, early on in his presidency?

With “accomplishments” like these, is it any wonder that his popularity poll numbers are dropping daily?

However, our ever-ambitious president has new “mountains to climb”.

Even as I write this, Obama and his administration are preparing Executive Orders to commence after the midterm elections are held in the next couple of weeks. Among those orders are rumored to be a blanket amnesty for illegal aliens and new legislation in support of the con game known as “climate control”.

These executive orders will be another fine “accomplishment” for the Obama administration.

Of course, I’m being facetious and sarcastic.

These things which I have dubbed “accomplishments” are not accomplishments at all, but mile markers on the path to America’s destruction, which Obama has let us on in the last 7 years.

The good news is, we have a chance in a couple weeks to throw up a roadblock on that path.

The 2014 Mid-Term Elections will provide Americans the opportunity to at least slow Obama down and to turn him into a two-year lame duck.

I firmly believe that Americans have started waking up, especially after seeing a a formerly-partisan crowd walk out this past weekend on Obama during a political rally speech in Maryland.

It is up to average Americans, like you and me, to say with a loud and clear voice,

No More!

This is our country and Obama and his minions are supposed to be our servants.

It is time to start firing some of them and get their attention.

Until He Comes,

KJ

Shining the Light? Or, Just a Quixotic Folly? Why Do I Keep Blogging? (A KJ Sunday Morning Reflection)

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics3 Comments

American Christianity 2I am an anachronism.

I have been told that,  by “Libertarians”,repeatedly, on Internet Chat Boards, on the World Wide Web.

Dictionary.com defines an anachronism as

something or someone that is not in its correct historical or chronological time, especially a thing or person that belongs to an earlier time.

I suppose that’s me.

I started this Blog as a way to vent my frustrations with the ever-evolving “societal norms” and political mayhem around me. A lot of things just grated on my nerves. They still do.

I was “reared” (as we say in Dixie) by a Mother and Daddy (Southern colloquialism for a Male Parental Unit) who were members of the Greatest Generation. In fact, I was born 3 days before my mother’s 40th brithday. To this day, I believe that they were going to name me “Oops”.

My view of the world around me was shaped and nurtured by my Daddy, a Christian American, and the finest man I’ve ever known, who served with an Army Engineering Unit, as a Master Sergeant, in World War II, and who jumped off of a perfectly good boat into a hail of gunfire to join his American Brothers in the tide-turning American Victory known as “D-Day”.

Between him and my Mother, they taught me what it was to be a hard-working, Middle Class Christian American Conservative….and, to be proud of it.

But now, at 55 years old, trying to survive the presidency of an anti-American, Muslim-sympathizing, political-pandering, class warfare-preaching, card-carrying Communist, who went golfing yesterday, while sending more than 3,000 of our Brightest and Best, to Africa to be exposed to a disease which has now landed on our very shores, threatening our citizenry, I wonder if at times, if my self-assigned duty of writing this blog everyday, is actually worth the effort.  I’m beginning to feel like I’m beating my dadgum head against the wall until it’s bloody, and for no cotton-pickin’ reason at all.

Why am I feelng that way?

Well, there are several reasons.

1. This country re-elected an idiot. Now, I realize that’s been done before. But, they all paled in comparison to this guy. I believe that “Scooter”, my pet name for Barack Hussein Obama (mm mmm mmm), burnt up the vast majority of his gray matter during his “Choom Gang” days in Hawaii, and now, as an old friend, a former Meth-head, who, sadly, later committed suicide this time of year, used to tell me, he has “2 brain cells left and they’re fighting to the death”. I pray we survive the next 4 years.

2.  Evidently, Americans, at least the majority of the ones that actually got up off the couch (Pookie, included) to vote on November 6th, want the Federal Government to take care of them, cradle to grave. Rush Limbaugh labelled this symptom, “The Baracky Claus Effect”.  I pray, that, just as the Proletariat eventually figured out in the old Soviet Union, Americans are going to wake up one day, to find that mega-dependence on The State to run your life, leads to the loss of personal freedom. And those, who believe that they are “the most enlightened people in the room”, will be the first ones hollering, when they discover that their freedom has been taken away.

3. America seems to be devolving into a collection of Libertines. Notice, I did not say “Libertarians”, although, both descriptive words come from the same root word. A Libertine is, per Merriam-Webster.com,

a person who is unrestrained by convention or morality: one leading a dissolute (lacking moral restraint) life

Being a Libertarian used to mean you wanted less Government in your life and less restrictions on your personal happiness. Notice I said used to mean. Now, Libertine and Libertarian both seem to mean the same thing to the majority of posters self-identifying as members of the latter group on Internet chat boards.

Caligula’s Horse approves.

I suppose I could pontificate on the fallen nature of Man at this point, but, that’s fairly self-evident…and, as the late Freddie Prinze used to say, “Ees not my yob, man.”

4. Finally, I was told the other day, during the before-mentioned “discussion” on that Facebook Page, that my blog was considered a “joke”. I allowed this to hurt me very deeply. You see, since April of 2010, I have devoted a lot of time and effort to putting my ideas, however old-fashioned and cornball they are, down on paper. I truly enjoy doing it. I must. I haven’t made a dadgum dime off of it.

A while back, I was asked to define what it means to be a Christian American Conservative.  After all, that’s how I identify myself and that is what it says on the top of this blog, since I began this exercise in ranting and raving in April of 2010.

Let’s perform a dissection, shall we?

First word:  Christian – A follower of Jesus Christ.

I was raised as a Christian by my parents and accepted Christ as my personal Savior many years ago.

Here are some interesting things about Christianity to consider, written by Dr. Ray Pritchard and posted on christianity.com:

1) The name “Christian” was not invented by early Christians. It was a name given to them by others.
2) Christians called themselves by different names—disciples, believers, brethren, saints, the elect, etc.
3) The term apparently had a negative meaning in the beginning: “those belonging to the Christ party.”
4) It was a term of contempt or derision.
5) We can get a flavor for it if we take the word “Christ” and keep that pronunciation. You “Christ-ians.”
6) It literally means “Christ-followers.”
7) Over time a derogatory term became a positive designation.
8) Occasionally you will hear someone spit the term out in the same way it was used in the beginning. “You Christians think you’re the only ones going to heaven.”
9) There was a sense of suffering and reproach attached to the word in the New Testament.

In working my way toward an answer to “What is a Christian?” I decided to check out the dictionary. I found these two definitions:

1. One who professes belief in Jesus as Christ or follows the religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus. 2. One who lives according to the teachings of Jesus.”

That’s actually quite helpful because it gives some content to the word. To be a Christian means that you . . .

Believe Something
Follow Something
Live Something
A Fully Devoted Follower To borrow a contemporary phrase, we could simply say that a Christian is a “fully devoted follower of Jesus.” As I think about that, two insights come to mind.

1) It doesn’t happen by accident. You are not “born” a Christian nor are you a Christian because of your family heritage. Being a Christian is not like being Irish. You aren’t a Christian simply because you were born into a Christian family.
2) It requires conversion of the heart. By using the term “conversion,” I simply mean what Jesus meant when he said that to be his disciple meant to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow him (Luke 9:23). The heart itself must be changed so that you become a follower of the Lord.

Second word: American – A citizen of the United States of America.

Stephen M. Warchawsky, wrote the following in an article for americanthinker.org:

So what, then, does it mean to be an American? I suspect that most of us believe, like Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart in describing pornography, that we “know it when we see it.” For example, John Wayne, Amelia Earhart, and Bill Cosby definitely are Americans. The day laborers standing on the street corner probably are not. But how do we put this inner understanding into words? It’s not easy. Unlike most other nations on Earth, the American nation is not strictly defined in terms of race or ethnicity or ancestry or religion. George Washington may be the Father of Our Country (in my opinion, the greatest American who ever lived), but there have been in the past, and are today, many millions of patriotic, hardworking, upstanding Americans who are not Caucasian, or Christian, or of Western European ancestry. Yet they are undeniably as American as you or I (by the way, I am Jewish of predominantly Eastern European ancestry). Any definition of “American” that excludes such folks — let alone one that excludes me! — cannot be right.

Consequently, it is just not good enough to say, as some immigration restrictionists do, that this is a “white-majority, Western country.” Yes, it is. But so are, for example, Ireland and Sweden and Portugal. Clearly, this level of abstraction does not take us very far towards understanding what it means to be “an American.” Nor is it all that helpful to say that this is an English-speaking, predominately Christian country. While I think these features get us closer to the answer, there are millions of English-speaking (and non-English-speaking) Christians in the world who are not Americans, and millions of non-Christians who are. Certainly, these fundamental historical characteristics are important elements in determining who we are as a nation. Like other restrictionists, I am opposed to public policies that seek, by design or by default, to significantly alter the nation’s “demographic profile.” Still, it must be recognized that demography alone does not, and cannot, explain what it means to be an American.

So where does that leave us? I think the answer to our question, ultimately, must be found in the realms of ideology and culture. What distinguishes the United States from other nations, and what unites the disparate peoples who make up our country, are our unique political, economic, and social values, beliefs, and institutions. Not race, or religion, or ancestry.

Third word: Conservative -A person who holds to traditional values and attitudes.

J. Matt Barber wrote in the Washington Times that

Ronald Reagan often spoke of a “three-legged stool” that undergirds true conservatism. The legs are represented by a strong defense, strong free-market economic policies and strong social values. For the stool to remain upright, it must be supported by all three legs. If you snap off even one leg, the stool collapses under its own weight.

A Republican, for instance, who is conservative on social and national defense issues but liberal on fiscal issues is not a Reagan conservative. He is a quasi-conservative socialist.

A Republican who is conservative on fiscal and social issues but liberal on national defense issues is not a Reagan conservative. He is a quasi-conservative dove.

By the same token, a Republican who is conservative on fiscal and national defense issues but liberal on social issues – such as abortion, so-called gay rights or the Second Amendment – is not a Reagan conservative. He is a socio-liberal libertarian.

Put another way: A Republican who is one part William F. Buckley Jr., one part Oliver North and one part Rachel Maddow is no true conservative. He is – well, I’m not exactly sure what he is, but it ain’t pretty.

Even the Brits understand what American Conservatism is.

Per blogs.telegraph.co.uk:

Conservatism is thriving in America today because liberty, freedom and individual responsibility are at the heart of its ideology, one that rejects the foolish notion that government knows best. And its strength owes a great debt to the conviction and ideals of Ronald Reagan, who always believed that America’s best days are ahead of her, and for whom the notion of decline was unacceptable. As the Gipper famously put it, in a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference in 1988:

Those who underestimate the conservative movement are the same people who always underestimate the American people.

In conclusion, I, a Christian American Conservative, am a follower of Jesus Christ and a citizen of the United States of America (by the Grace of God), who holds to traditional values and attitudes.

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)

I pray that you, the reader, are able to glean that from my blogs.  Because, as Matthew 6:21 tells us:

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

May God bless you and yours,

KJ

The New Fascism (October 7, 2014 Edition)

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics1 Comment

White House Youth CorpsMy late father was one of thousands of brave young American men, who landed on the beaches of Normandy , France on June 6, 1944, in the military operation which broke the backs of the Nazis, leading to the end of World War II,  now known as D-Day.

World War II was a war against Fascism.

What is Fascism? Per merriam-webster.com, it is a

political philosophy, movement, or regime (as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition.

Ladies and gentlemen, I firmly believe that America is now fighting a new war against fascism.

It’s not a war that is being fought fought with guns and bullets, But instead with state referendums, Congressional votes, Executive Orders, and judicial activism.

And, it’s not our Brightest and Best who are dying on this field of battle, but rather, it is our Constitutional Freedoms which are dying an ignoble death, pierced by the arrows of socialism and political correctness.

By now, there’s some out there in the audience saying, “Oh Lord, the crazy old cracker’s overreacting again.”

No, Skippy, I’m not.

If you try to talk to a liberal about this New Fascism, they will deny that there is any fascism going on at all. In fact, they will tell you that this is “the will of the people” and they will site Democratically-stacked push polls in order to back their opinion up.

Look at the Supreme Court’s Ruling, or rather, lack of one,  on “gay marriage”, yesterday, yesterday.

When you ask Liberals if , for example, “homosexual marriage” is the “will of the people”, why did voters in the overwhelming majority of states, including California, vote against it? And, if there is “no fascism”, what do you call the fact that 2% of the population is having activist judges overturn the actual will of the people in order to get their way, in their attempt to redefine a word that has meant the same thing since time immemorial?

In response, you will usually see their eyes glaze over, like a deer in the headlights, or experience a dramatic pause in posting, if you are on the Internet.

Liberals can not legitimately defend the suppression of the First Amendment Rights of Christian Americans.

Fascism, in any form, remains indefensible, even, when a spineless Supreme Court kicks the can down the road.

The Godfather of Conservative Talk Radio, Rush Limbaugh, once said the following,

You know as well as I do that people are scared to death to tell you what they really think. The left has politicized everything — everything — to the point that people are afraid to go against what they know to be political correctness, which is nothing more than liberal fascism, nothing more than censorship.

When Barack Hussein Obama assumed the position of President of the United States, the Far Left became empowered. Obama’s handlers saw the opportunity to “radically change” America into a Democratic Socialist Republic. You know, the kind of government that is currently failing over in Europe.

Every piece of legislation that Barack Hussein Obama has tried to get passed, has been designed to either overtly or covertly limit our freedom.

From the stimulus bill on through the latest changes to Obamacare by Executive Order, every single piece of legislation has been designed to further the Far Left’s agenda.

Remember when Obama was campaigning so hard to get the Affordable Health Care Act passed?

He always used people as props for his speeches, whether it was just normal people or people dressed in white coats like doctors.

When he was trying to get gun control passed, he used the parents from the Newtown Massacre in Connecticut as human props to try to get his repressive agenda passed.

The use of human props is an old propaganda trick, which was used by Joseph Goebbels to make his boss Adolf Hitler seem like a man of the people who really cared about the German citizenry.

The use of propaganda to further the aims of fascist governments is an old and effective method of camouflaging fascism, which Obama’s handlers realize all too well.

In addition to the use of human props during a speech, another strategy used in a propaganda campaign is to select an enemy and target them with the aid of a sympathetic press behind you.

During Hitler’s rise to power, the German Press demonized European Jews, betraying them as evil and money grubbing…painting them as being different from normal German citizens. It was this classification of the European Jews as the enemy that almost led to the extinction of them in that horrible attempted genocide, known as the Holocaust.

Now, in the early 21st century, the Far Left, the Democratic Party, and the Obama Administration (but, I repeat myself) are using propaganda to isolate and demonize average Americans, who through hard work, have risen to a high station in life or through their strong Christian faith and love of their country refuse to follow a popular culture- worshiping Administration, when it issues Executive Orders or has its Democratic Congress pass legislation which clearly contradicts the Word of God and the Judeo-Christian Belief System upon which America was built.

If America keeps on the path we seem to be headed on, we will find out why America is not mentioned in the Book of Revelation.

Claiming to be wise, they became fools. – Romans 1 : 22

Until He Comes,

KJ

Record Number of Americans Prepared to Vote “NO” on Obama in Mid-Terms

On By kingsjesterIn PoliticsLeave a comment

ObamaTransparentBranco852014Will your vote for a candidate be made in order to send a message that you SUPPORT [Barack Obama], be made in order to send a message that you OPPOSE [Barack Obama], or will you NOT be sending a message about [Barack Obama] with your vote?

Gallup.com recently asked that question of 1,095 registered voters in 50 states.

Gallup first asked this question in 1998, the year Republicans were moving toward impeaching President Bill Clinton for lying about his affair with a White House intern. That year, when Clinton’s approval rating was 63%, more voters said their choice of candidate in the fall election would be made to show support rather than opposition to Clinton. Democrats had a strong showing in that fall’s elections, gaining seats in the House of Representatives, bucking the historical pattern by which the president’s party loses seats in Congress in midterm elections.

In the next midterm election, voters by an even larger margin said their vote would be made to support rather than oppose President George W. Bush, who had a 66% approval rating at the time of the elections. These attitudes were consistent with the eventual outcome, as Republicans increased their majority in the House and gained majority control of the Senate.

The presidents in the next two midterm elections were not popular, including Bush’s second midterm election in 2006 (38%) when Democrats won control of the House and Senate and Obama’s first midterm in 2010 (44%) when Republicans won back control of the House. Reinforcing that the 2014 midterms look more like 2006 and 2010 than 1998 or 2002, Obama’s approval ratings have been in the low 40% range, including 42% in the most recent Gallup Daily tracking three-day rolling average.

As America’s Mid-Term Elections draw closer, the tone-deaf members of the Democratic Party are poised for the biggest political defeat in our nation’s history. They are saddled with an un-American President who is more intent on accomplishing the tenets of his Far Left, Marxist Ideology, than he is in dealing with the economic crisis and enemies, foreign and domestic, that besiege us. Their members are besotted by greed, power, and an overblown sense of self-entitlement, blindly following the wishes of their president and his Far Left base, instead of following the wishes of the majority of Americans.

However, some of them have begun to distance themselves from their fallen messiah.

The Boston Globe reports that

Alison Lundergan Grimes has campaigned with former president Bill Clinton and Senator Elizabeth Warren by her side. But the Democratic candidate for US Senate has not appeared with the leader of her own party, President Obama.

Instead, it almost seems as if Grimes is running against the president. She has run a recent television ad declaring “I’m not Barack Obama” as she shoots clay pigeons from the sky. Calling him out by name, she tells voters in her conservative state that “I disagree with him on guns, coal, and the EPA.”

Obama, whose celebrity once filled large arenas, has not appeared with a single House or Senate candidate at a campaign rally this year, according to a database maintained by CBS News.

Perhaps nowhere has the Obama-at-a-distance policy been on display as starkly as in Kentucky, where Grimes is trying to unseat the Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell.

On Thursday night, McConnell seemed ebullient as he appeared at a news conference with former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, the failed Republican 2012 candidate who has appeared with GOP candidates across the country, and tried to make the campaign a referendum on Obama.

“This race here in Kentucky and the races across the country are about Barack Obama’s agenda,” McConnell said at a Lexington horse farm.

Behind closed doors, Obama has been a key fund-raiser for his party, holding at least 10 private events for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee this year alone, as well as events for individual candidates and party committees, including a closed Illinois fund-raiser Thursday.

But on the campaign stage, Obama seems persona non grata. It is not unusual for candidates to try to distance themselves from an unpopular president or make him the issue. Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton attended just a handful of public campaign events at this stage in their presidencies, with Bush ramping things up in the final weeks of his sixth year in office.

But the lengths to which Democratic candidates are going this year to avoid association with Obama has become one of the most striking themes of the 2014 elections. Grimes’s ad may be the bluntest presidential rejection, but she is hardly alone.

Democrats in key House races from Texas to Florida, and in close Senate races in Louisiana, Alaska, Arkansas, and West Virginia, have taken aim at the president, his policies, or both in ads.

Representative Pete Gallego, a Texas Democrat, ran an ad criticizing the GOP for the shutdown in which he also bragged that “I told the president ‘no’ to special treatment for Congress when he tried to exempt them from Obamacare.”

Romney narrowly carried Gallego’s district, a large swath of West Texas in which voters have turned out the incumbent three of the past four elections.

“Obama’s very unpopular. I don’t need a poll to tell me that,” Gallego said in an interview, adding that voters are disgusted with leaders of both political parties, and carried similar ill will toward Bush at the end of his tenure.

The most recent national Gallup Poll found only 42 percent of respondents approve of Obama’s performance. But it’s far lower in many of the states where Democrats and Republicans are fighting the hardest for control of the Senate. In Kentucky, just 31 percent of voters approve of Obama’s job performance, according to a September NBC News/Marist poll.

Consider the topics Democrats have to try to defend their president about:

  • The “not-a-war with ISIS” including his unabashed comment that, “We are not at war with Islam.”
  • The economy, featuring the indefensible fact that over 92,600,000 Americans have dropped out of our workforce.
  • The out-of-control Department of Education, featuring Common Core, and plans to teach sex education to pre-schoolers.
  • The VA Hospital Scandal, in which our Brightest and Best were given worse treatment than indigent Americans.
  • Obama’s use of the judiciary to overthrow the States’ anti-Gay Marriage votes.
  • His over-the-top reliance on class warfare and race-baiting divisive rhetoric.
  • His support and subsequent camouflage of the Mexican Munchkin Migration.
  • His promise to sign an Executive Order for Amnesty for illegal immigrants living in our Sovereign Nation.
  • His insistence that Ebola will never reach our shores.
  • And, finally, Obamacare.

Average Americans, living out here in the Heartland have had enough of Obama’s political shenanigans.

We’re ready to deliver some payback.

And, payback is a, well, you know…

Until He Comes,

KJ

Of Politics and “Pharisees” [A KJ Sunday Morning Op Ed]

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, PoliticsLeave a comment

American Christianity 2A wise man’s heart inclines him to the right, but a fool’s heart to the left. – Ecclesiastes 10:2

We have all known for sometime that this is not our fathers’ Democrat Party. Conservatives have been driven out and “Moderates” are an endangered species.

Today’s Democrats embrace a Far Left Poiltical Ideology, in which there is no room for a Supreme Being.

Don’t believe me? Remember what happened at the last Democratic National Convention?

Delegates and members of the Democratic party booed after former Gov. Ted Strickland (D-OH) discussed God and moved to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

Convention chairman Antonio Villaraigosa, mayor of Los Angeles, had to ask for the Yea and Nay vote several times before declaring the motion passed.

C-SPAN cameras captured the dissatisfaction among members after the motion passed.

More information from the Associated Press:
Democrats have changed their convention platform to add a mention of God and declare that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.

The move came after criticism from Republicans.

Many in the audience booed after the convention chairman, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, ruled that the amendments had been approved despite the fact that a large group of delegates objected.

He called for a vote three times before ruling.

The party reinstated language from the 2008 platform that said “we need a government that stands up for the hopes, values and interests of working people and gives everyone willing to work hard the chance to make the most of their God-given potential.”

The platform also now includes what advisers said was Obama’s personal views on Jerusalem.

Now that we’ve established that, there seems to be a misconception among “the Smartest People in the Room”, American Liberals, about Christian American Conservatives.

American Liberals seem to believe that because we are strong in the Faith of Our Fathers, that we are somehow gullible or less intelligent than they are.

And, this hubris reaches all the way up to the White House.

When Obama was campaigning for the presidency, he appeared in April of 2008 at a fundraiser in Pennsylvania, where he talked about and made fun of all of us “ignorant” Conservative American Christians clinging to our Bibles and guns.

You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing’s replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not.

And it’s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.

After Obama took office, he made a point of stating several times that America was not just a Christian nation anymore.

And, while that is true to a certain extent, it is also true that the overwhelming majority, 76% of Americans still proclaim themselves to be followers of Jesus Christ. And even beyond that, 92% of Americans still believe in God.

What is amazing to me, though, is how, during this administration, American Christianity has been attacked on all fronts:  militarily, culturally, and even within organized religion, itself.

From illegal immigration to abortion to homosexual “rights”, Americans who follow the teachings of Jesus Christ on these issues have been under fire by Liberals, who insist that they know more about what is in the Bible and what Christ says, or would say, about these topics, then those of us who actually read God’s Word.

Claiming to be wise, they became fools. – Romans 1:22

When you enter into a facebook “discussion” with these “new Pharisees”, and you counter their arguments on these topics with Scripture, Liberals are initially slow to respond.

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, – 2 Timothy 3:16 ESV 

Most Liberals will start “Googling” these topics, looking for any Scriptures that will substantiate their position.

There’s been many a time they have come back at me with Old Testament Scripture. It is then that I explain to them about the sacrifice that Christ made for us sinners, freeing Christians from Jewish Law and taking the punishment for our sins , creating a New Covenant by covering Christians through the shedding of His blood.

At that point in the “discussion”, there is a long pause, as they are trying to figure out a comeback.

The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.- 1 Corinthians 2:14

This misconception, which I have been trying to explain, involves Liberals’ belief that American Christians will not fight back against them and the things they want to do in our society.

If there’s one thing during the six and a half years of anti Christian bias, which we have experienced during the Obama administration, that the Liberals should have learned, is the fact that Christian American Conservatives will fight back.

It is funny though…that when we begin fighting back, the Liberals have a tendency to label us as uncaring, mean , divisive, and intolerant.

I believe Liberals react that way because internally, they are having a kicking and screaming temper tantrum, because they cannot get their way.

This week, on October 3rd, the movie “Left Behind” starring Nicolas Cage, premieres.

Based on the immensely popular novel series of the same name, the movie tells about the rapture, an event believed by Christians to happen before a horrible period , known as the Tribulation, in which Christians will be tortured and put to death, along with millions of people worldwide, as famine, pestilence, and war spread throughout the world.

Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.- 1 Thessalonians 4:17

This period will end with the glorious reappearance during which Jesus Christ will return to work and defeat the forces of evil.

I believe that this movie will do well at the box office and that Redbox will also profit well from it.

Lately, all Christian movies have done well. Recently, I and my bride rented the movie, “God is Not Dead”. We found it to be both well written and well-acted.

Thinking about America’s reaction to these Christian movies caused me to think about their reaction to Liberal-themed movies during the Bush administration, such as “Redacted”, which was a movie about the Iraq War which disparaged our Brightest and Best.

It bombed terribly because it did not reflect the feelings and values of the American public.

The point which I’ve been trying to make today is that this is still a majority Christian nation.

And, while God indeed, tells us to be meek, He also instructs us to be wise.

Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.- Matthew 10:16

That is the reason why Liberals have failed to convince the majority of Americans to foreswear our traditional American Faith and Values System and our Christianity.

And, it frustrates them when they realize that we continue to hold fast to our Traditional American Faith and Values.

What they don’t understand, is that we have read the back of the Book. We know how all this ends.

Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.- Mathew 24:42-44

Until He Comes,

KJ

Leadership Vacuum At The Department of Homeland Security

On By kingsjesterIn PoliticsLeave a comment

HomelandSecurity9212014The Office of Homeland Security was formed in the aftermath of the worst Terrorist Attack ever committed on American Soil, in the days following September 11, 2001.  President George W. Bush picked Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge (1945-) as the first Office of Homeland Security Advisor.

The office became a department on November 25, 2002, as President Bush signed into law the Homeland Security Act, which created the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and mde Ridge a cabinet-level administrator.

The DHS pledged to carry out new initiatives to, the extent possible, protect the nation from further attacks.

In creating Homeland Security, Congress lumped together 22 previously unconnected federal agencies under a new Cabinet secretary. 108 congressional committees and subcommittees oversee the department’s operations.

In an Organization so huge, as you can imagine, some “little things” may “slip through the cracks” from time to time.

Some “BIG THINGS”, too.

Back on September 8th, Reuters.com reported that

The Department of Homeland Security failed to assess the supplies it needed to deal with a potential pandemic and now has expired stockpiles including medications, 200,000 respirators and 4,184 bottles of hand sanitizers, an inspector general report showed.

The department bought 16 million surgical masks and 350,000 white coverall suits without establishing the need for them, according to its inspector general’s report, which included photographs of stacks of unopened boxes piled high in a storeroom.

Eighty-one percent of DHS’ supply of 296,000 doses of antiviral medication, called medical countermeasures, will expire next year, according to the report completed in late August and released on Monday.
 
DHS also did not keep track of its supplies or where they were kept.

“As a result, the department has no assurance it has sufficient personal protective equipment and antiviral medical countermeasures for a pandemic response,” it concluded.

The report comes as the United States prepares to help African countries devastated by the rapid spread of the Ebola virus and work to keep it from spreading to its shores.

The inspector general said DHS spent $47 million Congress appropriated in 2006 for a potential pandemic on the preparedness equipment, medication, research and exercises.

The Transportation Security Administration’s stock of pandemic preparedness equipment includes 200,000 respirators that are past the five-year manufacturer’s guaranteed usability, the report said.

The inspector general said 84 percent of the department’s 4,982 bottles of hand sanitizers were expired, some by up to four years.

The inspector general made 11 recommendations.

“While DHS concurs with the OIG’s recommendations, we had already previously identified many of the issues prior to the review, and have taken comprehensive actions to address them,” including finalizing the recall of the expired medicines, DHS spokesman S.Y. Lee said in a statement.

So, with a virus attacking young asthmatic Americans from coast to coast, and with Obama sending 3,000 of our Brightest and Best into the heart of Africa’s Ebola Outbreak, it has been shown that DHS is not prepared to handle the possibility of a pandemic in our country.

Unfortunately, that “little problem” appears to be just the tip of the iceberg.

According to The Washington Post,

An exodus of top-level officials from the Department of Homeland Security is undercutting the agency’s ability to stay ahead of a range of emerging threats, including potential terrorist strikes and cyberattacks, according to interviews with current and former officials.

Over the past four years, employees have left DHS at a rate nearly twice as fast as in the federal government overall, and the trend is accelerating, according to a review of a federal database.

The departures are a result of what employees widely describe as a dysfunctional work environment, abysmal morale, and the lure of private security companies paying top dollar that have proliferated in Washington since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

The department’s terrorism intelligence arm, for example, has cycled through six directors during the Obama administration, decimating morale and contributing to months-long delays in releasing intelligence reports, according to interviews and government reports.

A parade of high-level departures, on top of other factors, has meanwhile helped slow the rollout of key cybersecurity initiatives, including a program aimed at blocking malicious software before it can infiltrate civilian government computers, former officials say.

With the country facing a crisis of unaccompanied minors crossing the southwest border in recent months, the pair of DHS agencies responsible for tackling this problem have been hindered by turnover of top officials. U.S. Customs and Border Protection, for instance, has had six commissioners under President Obama, four of them in a caretaker role because they were not confirmed by the Senate.

And at the Transportation Security Administration, a DHS agency created after 9/11 to enhance airport security, the hemorrhaging of both senior and junior personnel has “had a tremendous effect,’’ said Kenneth Kasprisin, a former acting TSA head who left the agency in May.

“You cannot sustain a high level of security operations when you have that kind of turnover,’’ he said, attributing the defections to “a toxic culture” and “terrible” morale.

Seriously, would you want to work in the Obama Administration?

As I wrote the other day, their planning for the prosecution of the war-which-is-not-a-war against ISIS/ISIL, alone, is reminiscent of a Benny Hill Show-Ending Chase Scene.

How can there be any sort of consistent leadership in such a huge organization experiencing a “revolving door”, spinning at the speed of the turnstile at Disney World or, Madonna’s Bedroom Door back in the 1980s, take your pick.

Why is this department experiencing all this turnover in personnel?

Well, the fact of the matter is that DHS is mirroring the instability and misplaced priorities of the entire Obama White House.

In order to do a good job at any position, much less a Government Job, you have to be a dedicated employee, or, in the case of DHS, a dedicated public servant.

If those above you, from the President on down, are not dedicated public servants, then why should you be?

Let’s face it:  The President went golfing, immediately after announcing that an American Journalist had been beheaded by the Muslim Barbarians known as ISIS/ISIL.

If the Leader of the Free World doesn’t give a hoot ‘n holler about performing his job duties to the best of his ability, why should his employees at DHS?

And, with jobs available for them in the private sector, it is very easy for them to “Take the Money and Run” (hoo hoo hoo).

Unfortunately, as I alluded to earlier, without consistent leadership, to keep employees motivated and “on mission”, any organization will begin to swirl down the ol’ porcelain receptacle very quickly, resulting in the “toxic culture” and “terrible morale” mentioned in the article.

Because, just as they say in the Military and the Business World,

**it rolls downhill.

And, any organization is on;y as strong as its leadership.

However, when it is an organization that has the powers and responsibilities of the Department of Homeland Security, this vacuum of leadership becomes a volatile and dangerous situation, which affects the safety of our entire nation.

So, until January of 2017, DHS is screwed.

And, so are we.

Until He Comes,

KJ

The War Against Christianity: Putting On The Full Armor Of God

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics1 Comment

American Christianity 2As I was scrolling through my Facebook Newsfeed yesterday afternoon, thinking about the events of the week, international, national, and personal, I saw several advertisements for the movie, “Left Behind”, starring Nicholas Cage, based on the popular Christian Novel Series, based on The Book of Revelation, which I have read in its entirety (both novels and scripture), and I started thinking about the Plan that the God of Abraham has for all of us, Believers and non-Believers, alike.

Internationally, as I write this, a Marine sits, neglected by our Administration, in a Mexican Jail, guilty of the horrendous crime of committing some sort of traffic violation.

Halfway around the world, in the Radical Muslim Rogue Nation of Iran, an American Pastor, jailed for preaching the Word of God, and refusing to worship a pedophile, sits languishing in horrible conditions, while his wife and children petition our leaders to get up off their duffs and bring him home.

In Iraq, Christians and innocent Muslims are being killed by barbarians, who have sworn to hoist their flag above our White House.

And, finally, this week, Congress voted to hand over to those who have sworn to kill us in the past, the means to do so now, by proclaiming them to be “Moderate” Muslims, sending them military weaponry, and trusting them to fight alongside us against ISIS/ISIL.

Nationally, America’s economy remains in the tank, with more and more Americans choosing to drop out of the work force, in disgust and humiliation. 37.2% of America’s Work Force, to be exact.

A lot of these “drop-outs” are Americans over 50, like myself, who are being intentionally ignored, because of our age, which seems to matter more than our business acumen and wealth of experience.

Meanwhile, the very fabric of our society is being torn asunder, through the dissipation of morality and the glorification of evil.

Satanists, Vampires, and Zombies…oh, my!

And, of course, legalizing marijuana has no consequences. So what if elementary school kids are being caught selling their parents stash? And, DUI accidents are up?

Yep. No consequences at all.

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

The more we stand up for the Triune God, the harder the Enemy attacks…in all areas of our lives…including our political beliefs.

I have been attacked time and again, over the past 4 years, by non-Believers, who replied to my blogs insisting that Crosses and other Christian symbols have no place in the Public Square.

They expect Christian Americans to be “sacrificial lambs”, to meekly allow our Constitutional Rights to be stripped from us, remaining unseen and unheard from, and worshiping in private.

Well,  y’all can wish for a unicorn to magically appear in your backyard…but that ain’t gonna happen, either.

Our Lord and Savior stood up and got angry for Righteousness’ Sake. Do you seriously expect Christian Americans to do no less?

13 It was nearly time for the Jewish Passover celebration, so Jesus went to Jerusalem. 14 In the Temple area he saw merchants selling cattle, sheep, and doves for sacrifices; he also saw dealers at tables exchanging foreign money. 15 Jesus made a whip from some ropes and chased them all out of the Temple. He drove out the sheep and cattle, scattered the money changers’ coins over the floor, and turned over their tables. 16 Then, going over to the people who sold doves, he told them, “Get these things out of here. Stop turning my Father’s house into a marketplace!” – John 2:13-22 (NLT)

As a free nation, all you who are non-believers have every right to exercise your “faith”.

However, as Orthodox Rabbi Daniel Lapin of the Jewish Policy Center clearly explains:

[I] understand that I live . . . in a Christian nation, albeit one where I can follow my faith as long as it doesn’t conflict with the nation’s principles. The same option is open to all Americans and will be available only as long as this nation’s Christian roots are acknowledged and honored.

…Without a vibrant and vital Christianity, America is doomed, and without America, the west is doomed. Which is why I, an Orthodox Jewish rabbi, devoted to Jewish survival, the Torah, and Israel am so terrified of American Christianity caving in. God help Jews if America ever becomes a post-Christian society! Just think of Europe!

Is the Rabbi prophetic? I pray that he isn’t. 

I have, however, noticed in the last six and one-half years, a propensity among those who have not been raised in a Christian home, to be boldly intolerant toward those who have….an intolerance shared by the individual who sits at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC.

Americans’ Christian Faith, has been the Solid Rock upon which our nation was built. To deny that, is to deny reality, to re-write history, and, to, quite frankly,commit “the Shining City on a Hill” to the same fate as every other empire and nation, which the God of abraham removed his Hand of Protection from.

As President Ronald Reagan said, 

If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under. 

So therefore, fellow Believers, it is time to take a stand for Righteousness’ Sake. To put on the “full armor of God” through the reading of His Word, through fellowship with other Believers, and most importantly, through a personal relationship, strengthened through an active prayer life, with the God of Our Fathers.

I leave you with a prayer written by America’s Pastor, the Reverend Billy Graham. May God Bless you all.

Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, ‘Woe to those who call evil good,’ but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare. We have killed our unborn and called it choice. We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable… We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem. We have abused power and called it politics. We have coveted our neighbor’s possessions and called it ambition. We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression. We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment. Search us, Oh God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from sin and Set us free. Amen!’

With the Lord’s help, may this prayer sweep over our nation and wholeheartedly become our desire so that we once again can be called ‘One nation under God!’ AMEN

Until He Comes,

KJ