Obama Holding the Easter Bunny for Ransom? The Devil You Say.

obamaandtheeasterbunnyLast evening, as my bride was figuring out how to cook some chicken kabobs she had picked up at Kroger, I, of course, turned on the computer and headed over to The Drudge Report, where I saw the Headline “No Money for Bunny?”.

Upon reading the article, I learned that the Obama Administration has sent out a memo to those holding tickers to the annual Easter Egg Roll, slated for April 1st. While the memo does not actually say that The Manchurian President is cancelling the annual tradition, it does warn the ticket holders that the event might be cancelled, due to the sequester.

Finally, by using these tickets, guests are acknowledging that this event is subject to cancellation due to funding uncertainty surrounding the Executive Office of the President and other federal agencies. If cancelled, the event will not be re-scheduled. We will notify you if there are any modifications to this event.

Obama and his not-so-lovely missus were already politicizing the traditional event, having invited the family of Hadiya Pendleton, the 15-year-old who was gunned down by Chicago gang bangers, just one week after performing at Obama’s second inauguration.

Using the Easter Egg Roll as a photo op to push his Gun Confiscation Agenda, how…Machiavellian.

In 1878 President Rutherford B. Hayes opened the White House grounds to the displaced youngsters and the tradition of the Easter Egg Roll on the White House Lawn began. It has continued steadily ever since, interrupted only by bad weather and World Wars I and II.

Back in 1941, some 53,000 people attended the egg roll and 73 children ended up being separated from their parents. In modern times, generally under 20,000 attend the festivities.

Of course, if it happens, this would not be the first thing that Obama has petulantly cancelled due to the Sequester. He has already cancelled the White House Tour, needlessly penalizing America’s schoolchildren, and adults, too.

A government official, Charles Brown of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, had asked if he could spread any cuts from the sequester out, as to lessen the impact on his agency.  He received an e-mail in response, telling him

We have gone on record with a notification to Congress and whoever else that ‘APHIS would eliminate assistance to producers in 24 states in managing wildlife damage to the aquaculture industry, unless they provide funding to cover the costs.’ So it is our opinion that however you manage that reduction, you need to make sure you are not contradicting what we said the impact would be.

So, basically, boys and girls, we have a President of the United States, who is trying to make things as painful as possible for us, the very Americans he is supposed to be serving.

Yesterday, Obama mouthpiece Jay”bird” Carney was asked if the President would be forced to cut back his golf games and he and Mooch’s lavish vacations ,due to the Sequester. Carney’s reply forgot to take that left turn at Albuquerque (as Bugs used to say). It was all over the place.

Q All right. I wanted to follow up on this young woman’s question about the high unemployment out in places like Colorado, all around the country, especially in the minority communities — exceptionally high unemployment. And when there is government workers who may be furloughed, millions of Americans unemployed, and family budgets that have been cut, how does the President justify lavish vacations and a golf trip to Florida at taxpayer expense? And does he plan to cut back on his travel?

MR. CARNEY: I can tell you that this President is focused every day on policies that create economic growth and help advance job creation. We have presided over the past three years over an economy that’s produced over 6.3 million private sector jobs, and we have more work to do. And this President’s number-one priority is growth and job creation. When you come to —

In other words, FORE!

Y’know, I have seen snobbish, uncaring, self-serving politicians before. Heck, I’m from Memphis. We’ve had to deal with the Ford Family for years.

However, this fool takes the cake. Maria Antoinette would be jealous of the Obama’s shenanigans. This “man of the people” is  anything but. He and his wife are grifters, in the best tradition of Chicago’s fabled Backroom Politics. Political Dirty Tricks come as easy to them as breathing in and out.

So, today’s latest slight against The Lightbringer has tickled the He@@ out of me, if you will excuse the expression.

On Sunday nights, on The History Channel, a series titled “The Bible” has been running, which , naturally, follows Biblical History, bringing scriptures to life. It has turned out to be very popular. It is produced by Roma Downey, “Monica” of Touched By an Angel fame, and her husband, Mark Burnett.

Sunday night, the character of Satan, the fallen angel formerly known as Lucifer, The Light Bearer, was introduced.

I about had need of a Cardiac Cath, when I realized whom the character looked like.

obamasatan

Evil personified, Satan , the Adversary, looks exactly like President Barack Hussein Obama.

After all the under-handed, slimy, self-serving, political machinations the Manchurian President has pulled during his tenure as President of the United States, for the character of Satan to look exactly like him, leaves me with only one thing to say,

The Lord works in mysterious ways.

Until He Comes,

KJ

The Origin of Easter Traditions Plus KJ’s Top 10 List

Here we are, the day before Easter Sunday.  Here in America, Christians will go to church in the morning, usually followed by a meal later in the day, and ABC’s annual four and one-half  hour airing that evening of the classic movie “The Ten Commandments”.

Cue Edward G. Robinson as Nathan:

Where’s your Moses, Naaaooow?

So, how did Easter Traditions begin?  And, where did they come from?

The origins of our Easter Traditions are quite fascinating, per infoplease.com:

According to the Venerable Bede, Easter derives its name from Eostre, an Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring. A month corresponding to April had been named “Eostremonat,” or Eostre’s month, leading to “Easter” becoming applied to the Christian holiday that usually took place within it. Prior to that, the holiday had been called Pasch (Passover), which remains its name in most non-English languages.

(Based on the similarity of their names, some connect Eostre with Ishtar, the Babylonian and Assyrian goddess of love and fertility, but there is no solid evidence for this.)

It seems probable that around the second century A.D., Christian missionaries seeking to convert the tribes of northern Europe noticed that the Christian holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus roughly coincided with the Teutonic springtime celebrations, which emphasized the triumph of life over death. Christian Easter gradually absorbed the traditional symbols.

In Medieval Europe, eggs were forbidden during Lent. Eggs laid during that time were often boiled or otherwise preserved. Eggs were thus a mainstay of Easter meals, and a prized Easter gift for children and servants.

In addition, eggs have been viewed as symbols of new life and fertility through the ages. It is believed that for this reason many ancient cultures, including the Ancient Egyptians, Persians, and Romans, used eggs during their spring festivals.

…Orthodox Christians in the Middle East and in Greece painted eggs bright red to symbolize the blood of Christ. Hollow eggs (created by piercing the shell with a needle and blowing out the contents) were decorated with pictures of Christ, the Virgin Mary, and other religious figures in Armenia.

Germans gave green eggs as gifts on Holy Thursday, and hung hollow eggs on trees. Austrians placed tiny plants around the egg and then boiled them. When the plants were removed, white patterns were created.

…Hares and rabbits have long been symbols of fertility. The inclusion of the hare into Easter customs appears to have originated in Germany, where tales were told of an “Easter hare” who laid eggs for children to find. German immigrants to America — particularly Pennsylvania — brought the tradition with them and spread it to a wider public. They also baked cakes for Easter in the shape of hares, and may have pioneered the practice of making chocolate bunnies and eggs.Easter cards arrived in Victorian England, when a stationer added a greeting to a drawing of a rabbit. According to American Greetings, Easter is now the fourth most popular holiday for sending cards, behind Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and Mother’s Day.

After their baptisms, early Christians wore white robes all through Easter week to indicate their new lives. Those had already been baptized wore new clothes instead to symbolize their sharing a new life with Christ.

In Medieval Europe, churchgoers would take a walk after Easter Mass, led by a crucifix or the Easter candle. Today these walks endure as Easter Parades. People show off their spring finery, including lovely bonnets decorated for spring.

In honor of the holiday, I composed the following list:

The Top 10 Reasons I Miss an Old-Fashioned Easter

(Or, the Ruminations of a Cantankerous Old Man) 

Being an **ahem** older American, an empty nester, if you will, I have found my mind wandering back to memories of Easters past. Here is a list of those memories I’d like to share with you…in no particular order. 

  1. I truly miss the smell of boiled eggs and vinegar of Good Friday. 
  1. I miss dyeing eggs. Paas rules! 
  1. Why did my parents always hide my Easter Basket in the top of their closet? 
  1. Why did my Daddy always cut the yard on the Saturday before Easter? 
  1. Somewhere, there is an Easter picture of me wearing a crew cut, a blue and brown plaid sports coat and a blue bow tie. No. That wasn’t last year, I was in First Grade. 
  1. Who grieves for all of the ear-less Chocolate Bunnies? 
  1. Why did we always have deviled eggs with our Easter meal? Wasn’t dyeing the eggs enough? 
  1. The is nothing like the smell of an Easter Ham in the oven.
  1. When you’re a parent/grandparent hiding Easter eggs, you suddenly gain a new found respect for what your parents went through. 
  1. Why didn’t the preacher just go ahead and wish everyone a “Merry Christmas” to cover those he wouldn’t see again until next year? 

Happy Easter, everyone!