Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Until You Need It Again


Now that Christmas is over, there are a few things that need to be taken care of as you make the burden-some transition back to normal life. 1.) Strip the house and tree of all decorations and ornaments. 2.) Stuff them any old way you can back into their dusty storage boxes and stow them in the garage. 3.) Take the now naked and bewildered looking tree out to the curb so the sanitation crew can properly dispose of it. 4.) Push your “Christmas Spirit” to the very back of your mind where it will be well out of the way until you need it again next season.

Happy New Year!

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Blessed are the Pure in Heart...



Many years ago on a still and starry night, lowly shepherds were tending their flock in a grassy meadow high above a small village. Only the soft rustling of the wind and the occasional bleating of a lamb interrupted the silence and serenity that blanketed the land.

What the shepherds did not know, indeed, no one knew, was that in the village far below, in a dimly lit stable, a miracle of supreme importance had occurred. It was so significant, in fact, that an angel, encompassed with the dazzling radiance of God’s glory, was sent forth from heaven to declare the extraordinary news.

But the angel did not go, as might have been expected, to the high and the mighty or to the rich and the powerful; instead the angel went to the humble shepherds, the herdsmen who were faithfully watching over their flock by night, high above the village.

Not surprisingly, the sudden appearance of an angel greatly frightened the coarsely dressed and timid shepherds. But the angel, seeing their fear, said to them: “Fear not: for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.

“And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”

Some might ask: Why were the shepherds, of all people, visited by the angel and the heavenly multitude? Why were these unrefined sheepherders extended so special an invitation to see the Christ child?

This is only a guess, but perhaps God wanted to recognize them as the very epitome of good shepherds, shepherds who faithfully and valiantly look after their flock, whatever the danger to themselves. But He may have seen within them something more, something that truly is rare and exceptional among men.

He may have peered deep into their hearts and saw that they were pure.

Merry Christmas!

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

So Long As There Are Virginias


We are approach-ing Christ-mas, and in light of some things the federal govern-ment has been doing of late, I thought it might be appropriate to clear up, especially for all you hopeful but wavering Virginias out there, a few growing and insidious misconceptions about this special season.

First, there is indeed a Santa Claus. Make no mistake about that. But the authentic Santa Claus is not the federal government. The real Santa Claus is that rotund, jovial fellow who personifies the true spirit of giving. He is that rosy cheeked old gentleman who lives at the north pole, and who employs a legion of highly skilled elves, each one happily and incessantly engaged in the production of toys. He is that bewhiskered and boisterous character who magically circles the globe every Christmas Eve in a sleigh drawn by eight reindeer. He is one of our most endearing and charming symbols of Christmas. He is jolly old St. Nick, and he has been lighting up the eyes of children for generations.

Second, there is indeed a Savior. Make no mistake about that. But the authentic Savior is not the federal government. The authentic Savior is the Babe born in a stable who was wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger. He is not a symbol of Christmas, He is Christmas. Furthermore, His gift of salvation is available to all, not just to a well connected few in the banking and auto industries. And His is not a fleeting and temporary salvation, it is lasting and eternal. He does not lie; indeed, He is the great bearer of truth. His love for us is not superficial and calculating, it is genuine. He is Christ the Lord, our Redeemer, and He has been lifting the spirits of the downcast and disheartened for 2000 years.

During this holiday season it might be beneficial to remember, Virginia, that there are genuine sources of hope, comfort, joy and contentment. But the federal government is not among those sources. In fact, the things that bring to us the most solace and happiness, at this time of the year or any time of the year, are often the things we can neither see nor touch. They are the treasured images and deeply held convictions we keep safely tucked away in the securest recesses of our hearts and souls.

No Virginia, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi are not Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus. And they most assuredly are not saviors or redeemers of the world, as they often portray themselves to be. They have absolutely nothing in common with Santa Claus and the only characteristic they share with the Almighty is that they too giveth and taketh away. But be of good cheer, Virginia, for Harry and Nancy can give and take only those things that are transient and temporary, not the things that truly matter, not the precious things you keep tightly locked in your heart.

One final thought, Virginia. One that I want you to remember forever. If House Speakers and Senate Majority Leaders were ever permitted to pose as Santa Claus or our beloved Savior, even briefly, the world would very quickly and most certainly deteriorate into a grim and despairing place. Why, such a turn of events might even set off a rapid return to the dark ages! So don’t ever let a politician beguile you into believing, no matter how convincing or kindly he or she may appear to be, that they are now Santa Claus, or that they have displaced and superseded the true Redeemer of the world. For so long as there are bona fide Virginias in the world, people like yourself who genuinely yearn to believe in real generosity, love and compassion, these slippery charlatans can never succeed in carrying out their villainous ambitions.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

The Earth is God's


Whenever we get to thinking the world is unrav-eling fast, it is help-ful to remember that God created the world and that He undoubtedly has a plan for it. After all, it is hard to imagine God going to the trouble of creating something, like a world, for example, that He wasn’t going to keep an eye on and look after. At least until its purpose was accomplished. And He surely must have known that the moment He put people on it, He was imperiling it.

We may fuss about the world and its future, but I suppose things are going to wind up about the way God thought they would. And whatever it was He was hoping to gain from all His trouble, I suppose He will net about what He expected.

But if God’s got this whole planet in the palm of His hand, does that mean we’re just along for the ride? Some say yes and some say no, but if we can learn from our mistakes, hadn’t we ought to at least try to make a difference? Granted, we may not affect the outcome much, but what could it hurt if we came to our senses a little and tried to make the world slightly better?

Sure, the earth is God’s, but He’s letting us live here, so why not try to be more thoughtful tenants?

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Join the Cause!


The America of our ancestors is slipping away; however, we must understand that victory always goes to those who have planned, prepared and followed through.

Ours may be a government of the people, by the people and for the people, but it will remain our government only in so far as we are willing to do whatever is necessary to keep it in our hands. What is most necessary, and always has been, is to be actively and sincerely engaged in all our political duties as citizens, the most fundamental of those duties being the development of a thorough understanding of why our government is vastly superior to all others. If we are incapable of appreciating the true value of something, then we may thoughtlessly bargain it away in exchange for something of lesser value.

Any free government, including our own, is constantly exposed to various destructive influences. In the maintenance of government, citizens either stay ahead of these damaging forces or their government, by default or neglect, is gradually transformed into something else. Sadly, at the present time it would appear that the forces earnestly engaged in transforming our government into something else are much more dedicated to the task of reconfiguring it than we are to the task of preserving it.

What we lack, and what the forces of destruction have, is an absolute devotion to a cause. They have a goal. They have studied and analyzed ways and means of achieving it. And they never let up. And what’s more, they will succeed if they are not stopped.

But to stop them, we too must become committed to a cause, utterly and unwaveringly committed to it. Our cause must be the noble cause of keeping our government safely in our hands and the hands of our children, where it rightfully belongs and where our Founders intended it to be.

If we wish to succeed, however, we must shape ourselves into a force mightier and more skillful than the one that is marshaled against us. Each of us must gain a full understanding and appreciation of our unique political landscape, and where all the vital points are on that landscape. These crucial points may be discovered in the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the various writings of the Founders as well as the political thinkers they drew upon. These documents and writings lay out the strategic strongholds, the high ground and the bulwarks the enemy will need to take in order to subdue us. They already have seized or neutralized many critical positions, and these actions have given them a distinct and powerful advantage. We must educate ourselves so that we may recognize and understand more fully their ruinous plans, so that we may see and anticipate their upcoming blows and strikes, and like good soldiers be positioned to repel them and stop them.

The time for being disengaged and ill-informed is over. Our fight is not the fight to secure for ourselves the so-called good things of life--spacious homes, luxury automobiles and designer clothing. This is the bigger fight. This is the fight to prevent ruthless tyrants, supported by a virtual army of duped and mindless minions, from making slave of us and our posterity.

Remember, any cause devoid of dedicated supporters is a lost cause. Please support the cause of freedom!

If a nation values anything more than freedom, it will lose that freedom; and the irony of it is that if it is comfort or money that it values more, it will lose that, too.
--Somerset Maugham

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

There Is None Better



Govern-ments can be placed roughly into two broad classes: those that trust their citizens and those that do not. Governments that trust their citizens want to include them fully in the decision-making process. Governments that do not trust their citizens want to exclude them entirely from the decision-making process. This is because the leaders of oppressive regimes are elitist who always believe they know what is best for ordinary people like you and me. And besides, oppression is a highly profitable enterprise for the oppressor and his gang of cronies and henchmen.

It is only natural, however, for human beings to want some level of control over their destiny, so most normal people, if given a choice, will gravitate toward the former class of government.

Of all the democratic governments in the world there is none better than the one we fortunate Americans have inherited. Our government not only provides mechanisms for real citizen involvement but it also offers us a great many personal freedoms. And what’s most remarkable of all is that the privileges and freedoms we enjoy and often take for granted are guaranteed in writing.

But liberty is not sustained merely through the preservation of a few old documents at the nation’s capital. It also requires the people to faithfully preserve the spirit that brought those documents into existence in the first place. That spirit consists of three essential human qualities: a sense of self-worth, self-confidence and self-determination. It is a spirit that boldly proclaims to government: “We made you. You are our creation. You were created to serve us, not the other way around. Stay in your place.”

Make no mistake about it, masters will always rise up, even in a democratic society, if citizens exhibit even the slightest willingness to be controlled and dominated. The weak and timid invite oppressors and oppression. In fact, one might go so far as to say that the weak and timid form the fertile, nurturing soil in which oppressors take root and grow. On the other hand, a nation of assertive, self-reliant citizens make a poor soil for the production of tyrants.

If we wish to remain free, if we wish to preserve the government we inherited and are so fortunate to have, we must rekindle and hold fast to that special spirit that blazed so fiercely in the hearts and souls of our freedom-loving ancestors.

On this Thanksgiving day, let us be truly grateful for the freedoms so liberally provided to us under our unique system of government, and let us offer up a sincere prayer to God to bless our land and all its citizens.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Political Pollution



I am told by Al Gore and others that our planet is warming. This may be so. The planet has a long history of climatic ups and downs. As recently as 13,000 years ago, for example, a massive lake covered a large portion of what is currently northwestern Nevada. It’s gone now, but the area it once occupied is presently populated with thousands of happy, thriving people. And many of them do not know or care that they are living on the bottom of a dried up lake.

I am fully aware that the pollutants we daily spew into the atmosphere are damaging our planet. The stuff that comes out of the tailpipes of cars, after all, is poison. But what is also troubling to me is the noxious stream of virulent sludge that oozes every day from the mouths of unprincipled, power-hungry politicians. That too is poison. That too is deadly. We must understand that misguided, opportunistic politicians are every bit as dangerous to the world as climate change is. And personally, I’d rather take my chances with the unknowns associated with climate change.

Even if I thought politicians had the best of intentions, which I don’t, most of them are clearly a bunch of bumbling idiots, ill-equipped and ill-suited for taking on any serious or important tasks. They have tried for 75 years to manage the nation’s economy. And look where we’re at. Now they want us to turn climate management over to them. What do these pompous fools take us for?

If we are sincerely interested in survival, what we must recognize is that global warming is not our most immediate problem. Our most immediate concern is to understand, appreciate, revive and preserve our great nation’s heart--the Constitution. Nowhere else in the world does such an extraordinary and precious document exist. To preserve it, we will need to participate fully and faithfully in every upcoming election, and methodically cull from high office our most toxic politicians, those who are steadily and maliciously injecting vile, anti-American poisons into our political system. These polluters must be quickly and systematically replaced, replaced with true, freedom-loving Americans, principled men and women who cherish America’s rich and noble heritage. Then, when we have cleaned up the filth that has been defiling and destroying our political environment, we can begin addressing our climate problems, and do it in a manner that preserves our national sovereignty and keeps us from being swallowed up by a rapacious and despotic leviathan.

We simply cannot permit our political leaders to continue violating and ignoring the ingeniously conceived political principles contained in our Constitution. We simply cannot permit our political leaders to continue transforming limited government into unlimited government. We simply cannot permit our political leaders to further contaminate and degrade our beloved and long-held political ideals. If we do, we’re setting ourselves up for a disaster, a disaster that will likely overtake us long before global warming does.

Remember the insightful words of Lord Acton: “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Our Founders fully understood this critically important aspect of human nature. You see their understanding of it in nearly every paragraph of the Constitution. We, the current trustees of the United States of America, must never loose sight of what a valuable and irreplaceable national treasure our Constitution is. Our Constitution, carefully designed and crafted by wise men, is what makes our nation unique among all the nations of the world. Our Constitution is the vital barrier that stops oppressive and tyrannical influences from entering our democratic system of government.

If we continue to allow unscrupulous politicians to punch holes in it and break it down, our country will soon be like a world without an ozone layer.

Hey, that gives me an idea. I wonder if we could persuade Al Gore, with all his political might and expertise, to get involved in a “save” the Constitution campaign?

Well, it was just a thought.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Veterans Day


Today is Veterans Day. Our veterans are the courageous men and women who, over the many decades, have been called upon to settle our nation’s most serious disagreements with foreign powers, disagreements that often were the result of a poorly formulated foreign policy and defective diplomacy. When the faulty work of diplomats and politicians breaks down and fails, as it frequently does, the armed forces are called into the breech to lay their precious lives on the line and to put things right again. But the men and women of the armed forces, unlike the politicians, are expected to succeed, for their supreme effort constitutes the final roll of the dice. Upon their skill, courage and determination hangs the nation’s fate.

Consider what took place immediately following the end of World War I, the “war to end all wars.” When that protracted struggle was won at great cost in human lives, a “peace” treaty was drafted by a collection of career politicians and diplomats from the conquering nations, men thought to be the most experienced and capable of the age, yet their treaty contained within it the seeds of the next war. In the ensuing years, further war seeds were heedlessly scattered and sown through a series of naïve disarmament agreements and severe cuts in military spending, cuts that left us wholly unprepared when war finally fell upon us. The war that came as a result of those tragic missteps is now referred to as World War II. World War II completely engulfed the very next generation of young Americans and consumed many of them. Aside from the cosmic cataclysm that gave birth to our planet, there never has been a greater upheaval.

During and following the Second World War, decisions were made by our political leaders that led us into the so-called Cold War, with notable and bloody flair ups in hotspots like Korea and Vietnam. And at this very moment, we are desperately locked in two savage foreign conflicts, one in Iraq, another in Afghanistan.

Today we pause briefly to salute those who have fought, and those who now are fighting, our nation’s wars. They, old soldiers and new soldiers alike, seldom question or debate the faulty diplomacy that placed them on the field of battle. All that matters to them is that their duly elected and appointed leaders called them to serve in a perilous hour, and to their everlasting credit, they valiantly and unhesitatingly answered the call.

Let us all pray that someday, in the not too distant future, our political leaders will develop the same sense of duty, honor and genuine patriotism that has always been so nobly and abundantly displayed in our brave fighting men and women.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Having a Form of Godliness


Those of us born in the 1930s and 40s came along at the tail end of an era, a bright and special era, an era in which children were still taught to love their country, to admire its Founders, and to revere the Constitution. Many of us took those lessons to heart, but now we find ourselves increasingly at odds with an imposing and ever-growing army of powerful and influential people--people in the highest levels of government, people who manage the country’s largest news organizations, people who operate our nation’s most prestigious universities.

It seems as though a vast and increasing number of slick, fashionable and well educated people believe that patriotism is nothing but foolish sentimentality, that the Constitution is a burdensome and inconvenient impediment to progress, and that the 18th Century beliefs of the Founders are now hopelessly outdated.

Yet these same people insist that they are genuinely concerned for us, especially in these difficult times, and want only to make us all secure and happy. Mind you, they want to dismantle all the priceless safeguards to our liberties, but they want us to be secure and happy. In other words, instead of placing our trust in a written contract, the Constitution, they want us to place our trust solely in them and their word.

But to those of us in my generation, this kind of talk sounds dubious, dangerous and frightening. According to what we were taught in those little one- and two-room rural schools, this is just the kind of devious chicanery the Founders were hoping to steer their posterity clear of when they wrote the Constitution and the Bill of Rights in the first place. Of course, when we attended school our dedicated and self-sacrificing teachers didn’t have access to the latest educational theories put out by the federal government, so they admittedly were working under a severe and serious handicap.

Nevertheless, call me backward and old-fashioned if you must, but I’m not buying the clearly self-serving tripe these un-American radicals are dishing out. I don’t believe for one minute that their interest in our welfare is genuine. I believe it’s thoroughly counterfeit and utterly bogus, as well as insulting and disgusting. I believe it is nothing more than a clever and deadly pretense, a ruse, if you will, possessing only the crudest outward appearance of authentic concern and compassion. Their idea of charity is seizing your money through taxation and transferring it to someone else, someone who in their opinion is in greater need of it than you are. Is that compassion? No! Let’s call it what it is, it’s socialism! And socialism isn’t what this country’s about. It’s repugnant and alien to us. Strong, proud, self-reliant men and women don’t need or want socialism. A socialist is not, and can never be, a true American.

I don’t give a hoot what presidential candidates and senate majority leaders say. I couldn’t care less what big city newspaper editors and television commentators think. And I’m certainly not interested in what the distinguished head of the political science department at Harvard University believes. I think we’d be damned foolish to let go of any portion of the Constitution. Those Founders were an extremely wise group of men. Their theories of government are still valid and will continue to hold us in good stead. All we have to do is wholeheartedly return to those beliefs and ideals, and embrace once again that independent and self-sufficient spirit that made Americans and America great.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

We The People



In re-sponse to the recent mortgage and credit crisis, our govern-ment has taken a series of dramatic steps. If one uses the Constitution and the political beliefs of the Founders as a measure of what comprises the legitimate powers of government, these steps are another serious and dangerous departure from time-honored and revered principles.

We all know there is corruption and incompetence in government. We all know there is unrestrained greed and depravity in many areas of business. But we also need to recognize that as citizens we too are failing to measure up to our full responsibilities. We too share much of the blame for what is going on around us.

In America the will of the people underlies our political system and its institutions. That is a fortunate thing, but when we neglect to forthrightly express our will, the government goes forward without our guidance. And a misguided government is a dysfunctional government--ponderous, pernicious and dreadful, as we all are now witnessing.

As citizens we are guilty of electing and re-electing, irrespective of party, presidents and members of congress who, in the absence of corrective input from us, have virtually set our political and economic systems ablaze. How much more apparent does it have to become? Is not the current man-made conflagration evidence enough of their malfeasance, negligence and incompetence? Must we experience further horrors at their hands to be convinced?

If our nation is to escape complete destruction, we, average Americans like you and me, must become involved--right now and in a big way! Our house is on fire and the arsonists are pretending to be the fire department. Their method of fighting a fire is to throw more fuel on it. They want to use the same combustibles that ignited it to put it out. What does that reveal, despite what they are telling us, about their true intentions?

Perhaps the supercilious and condescending elitists who rule in Washington believe we are all hopelessly stupid. Perhaps they arrogantly believe they can do much better without our input than with it. But anyone who has eyes can see they are leading us down a slippery and perilous path. Look around you. Who is going to bring this great country back on course if we don’t? We are all that is left. We are all that stands between these bloated putrescent politicians and total destruction.

If there is going to be meaningful change in America, if we as a nation are going to set a true course back to stability and safety, we can’t entrust such a vital job to career politicians. We the people must initiate it and carry through with it. The solution to the grave problems that presently beset us lies in our becoming better educated and informed, and in becoming much more involved in political affairs. If we as citizens and taxpayers don’t know what constitutes sound political and economic principles, how are we going to provide essential and worthwhile guidance to our elected officials? And how will we know if they are devising and implementing programs that truly are in our best interest?

It’s time we understood that not every clown jumping at the chance to serve is fit to serve. We need to do a much better job of monitoring and grading our leaders and screening candidates. We might begin by demanding simple honesty and some commonsense.

We elect these people to be public servants, which implies that they work for and answer to the public. However, a great many of them, once elected, come to see themselves not as humble servants but as superior beings, far wiser and more intelligent than the simple people who put them in office.

The hour has come. Time is short. Beginning today, and without delay, we must begin the crucial process of culling out these pompous jackasses and replacing them with a new generation of patriotic, pro-America leaders, leaders who love their country more than money, power and fame.

“Don’t interfere with anything in the Constitution. That must be maintained, for it is the only safeguard to our liberties.”
--Abraham Lincoln

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

The Arcane and Deadly Workings of Government


Note: Please be aware that certain key elements in the following brief explanation of the recent mortgage catastrophe and its causes may not make sense to you unless you're a seriously impaired career politician like the smiling man on the right.

Now that the fog of con-fusion has dissipated to a degree, we are learning that the origin of the mortgage debacle essentially comes down to one thing. Admittedly, there were other factors, but if you follow the problem upstream, this is what you find.

A number of years ago, in an effort to put lower-income families into homes they couldn’t actually afford, congress enacted a bill entitled the Community Reinvestment Act.

Whatever congress’ intentions may have been at the time, whether well meaning or not, this ill-conceived act induced a lot of banks, with the dubious assistance of co-culprits Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, into making a great many subprime loans. A subprime loan is a loan made to someone who really didn’t qualify. The loans went through anyway, however, because Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, at the behest of the federal government, were essentially guaranteeing them.

Then, as if this curious bill heavily laced with faulty economic theories was not dangerous enough in itself, something else happened that added to the problem and stoked the rising fever. Some of the banks swept up in this developing fiasco began doing innovative things on their own initiative. They began devising creative if not completely ethical ways of packaging and bundling these subprime loans and selling them off as investments to other unsuspecting banks. These shady shenanigans soon became standard operating procedure for several of the more unscrupulous banks and some of their employees began behaving almost as if they were on a mind-altering drug.

Yet surprisingly enough, even as the potential hazards inherent in all this risky wheeling and dealing were becoming more and more evident, congress did nothing, despite repeated and urgent warnings from within and from without.

So why did congress drag its feet? Perhaps members of congress simply decided that with so many of their constituents, from house flippers to bank presidents, believing they were getting rich in this unprecedented and astonishing housing boom, albeit an artificially created one, they ought not dispel the illusion but rather play things out a little longer. After all, when a party’s really rockin,’ why be a wet blanket? Right?

Now that the party’s over, however, and with the horrific results laid bare before us, we can see what congress REALLY did when it passed that poorly thought out and pestilent bill in the first place. In effect, that ill-advised act of congress injected into our nation’s economy what turned out to be a deadly virus, even though one of its intermediate manifestations was a delusional sense of euphoria in some of its eventual victims. Over the course of several years the harmful effects of that virus led to a massive accumulation of what we now are calling “toxic” debt, debt that ultimately proved to be so pernicious it poisoned the very heart of our nation’s economic system, killing some banks and lending institutions outright and leaving many others gravely ill.

And now to top off everything, we are being told that some of the banks that barely survived the ordeal, and were left crippled as a result, will be expertly and lovingly nursed back to health by the very government that poisoned them. And that, they say, will ultimately bring about a happy conclusion to this tragic tale.

I warned you this might not make sense.

Monday, September 22, 2008

A Season Gone But Not Lost


The first frosty breaths of fall are spilling down from the frigid north and filling our high desert valleys with cool sparkling air. And as they do, brightly colored leaves, one by one, or in wind-driven throngs, plaintively release their grip and tumble to the ground. They are yielding to the implacable cycles of nature; they are letting go of summer. And just as the leaves have no choice but to let go, so too are we compelled to do likewise. We must release the past, savoring our warm memories of a golden summer, a once-in-a-lifetime summer that never will return, and enter the future. But before we brace ourselves for the onslaught of winter, let us pause to enjoy the splendors of autumn, for it too holds rich promise. It is a time of crisp, clear days, days made for wearing comfortable old shoes and frayed sweatshirts while out walking with a loved one. It is a time to curl up in a warm blanket on a blustery afternoon for a well-deserved nap. It is a time to lovingly preserve the things harvested from a scrupulously maintained garden. And if we make good use of those precious autumn days, we will leave them behind with tender recollections of a season gone but not lost. And it will be time to begin making the most of what is certain to be a special winter.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Where Does The Buck Stop?



It is a frightening thing to contemplate, but it has become apparent in recent years that neither the Republicans nor the Democrats have the foresight, skill or courage to lead America. For quite sometime members of the two “contending” political parties, once elected, have failed to offer substantially different solutions to the problems facing our great nation. They are, to quote a homely old phrase, peas in a pod. They pretend to be different, but in reality their management styles, strategies, and ultimate goals are strikingly similar. What this leaves us with is essentially a one-party system masquerading as a two-party system. This unfortunate pretense is kept up for only one purpose, so that those running for office will have someone to sling mud at. The political sideshow is faithfully and carefully acted out during election years and the periods between to convince voters that there are still courageous fighters out there willing to wrestle with the forces of evil; namely, the other party. Unfortunately, when our “leaders” want only to while away their time producing and starring in senseless political dramas rather than assuming the role of statesman or stateswoman, bad things happen while they are thus engaged. For example, both Republicans and Democrats in congress sat by and watched as greedy and unscrupulous banks and mortgage companies created the worst economic catastrophe since the Wall Street Crash of 1929, even though both houses of congress have banking and financial services committees to monitor and oversee the activities of such institutions. Furthermore, our Republican President and his economic advisors, along with the Secretary of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve Board did the same thing. No one apparently saw this huge financial tidal wave approaching. No one apparently even had a hunch. Or if they did, no one possessed the economic savvy or political courage to step forward and do something about it before it evolved into a calamity. How could it be that a mounting financial debacle of this magnitude went unnoticed? Not surprisingly, there is not a single person in Washington willing to admit guilt. Rather, everyone there is scrambling around pointing fingers at each other. A tragic and costly economic misfortune has fallen upon the American people while our political “leaders” either slept or were intentionally looking away. And what is their response to all this now that it has happened? Arrogate to themselves vast powers not granted to them by the Constitution, and in the process replace, step by step, limited government with an all-reaching, all-powerful government. Only two conclusions can be drawn from such behavior. Either these people are a bunch of incompetent bunglers who don’t give a damn about principles, or they are a very crafty band of revolutionaries. Whatever the case may be, we can only guess where this latest ill-advised departure from sound political and economic principles will take us? Surely it will set another dangerous precedent, but will it save us? Temporarily, perhaps it will. But in the long run permitting the federal government to become heavily engaged in every aspect of our daily lives will prove unwise, just as our Founders knew and warned. The only real solution, as painful and inconvenient as it may seem, is for the people to wake up and gain control over themselves and their government, for although it apparently is not a widely known fact at this time, it must be remembered that in our unique and wisely formulated political system, the buck stops with us.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Gambling is Serious Business


Contrary to what casino moguls would have you believe, casinos are not built to provide friendly and innocuous amusement to the public; they are designed and built with one goal in mind, to induce the unwary into throwing away precious time and money to enrich those with craftier minds. Be assured that no casino mogul would ever dream of doing with his time and money what he is inviting you to do. He has better things to do. He’s an important man, an executive. In his opinion squandering time and money is only for fools. And that’s where you come in. Casino moguls don’t believe in luck or chance. They're only interested in a sure thing. They have learned that one of the surest ways of becoming rich is not to indulge in hopeless, long-shot gambling themselves but rather to provide that opportunity to someone else. And they also know that while you are mindlessly emptying your pockets, you must be made to believe that you are having the time of your life. That is why their television ads always show young, vibrant, well-dressed couples laughing like kids on a carnival ride. That is also why they have clubs you can join, with members receiving “free” tee shirts bearing the casino’s name, so you will feel like you are part of an elite group, a group that is known, loved and always welcomed by the casino. Of course you’re known, loved and always welcomed by the casino. You’re making its owner/owners wealthy! Of course they’re willing to throw you a few crumbs occasionally. Of course they want you to think you’re someone special. But what they won’t show you are the scores of lonely senior citizens on fixed incomes, oxygen bottles at their sides, disposing of what little cash they have in the vain hope of hitting the big one that will put them on easy street. Or the compulsive gambler who gets his or her adrenaline rush, his or her high, endlessly trying to win that once-in-a-lifetime jackpot that will remove all their money woes, when in fact their money woes are caused by their gambling addiction. No, they won’t show you that seamy, pathetic side of the casino environment. That would be bad for business. And gambling, to a casino executive, is serious business, not mere fun and frivolity, as it is portrayed to you. Make no mistake about it, casino moguls are cold, calculating entrepreneurs who waste neither time nor money in their single-minded pursuit of wealth. So take a lesson from them. Get serious, and don’t waste your time or money either.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

The Right To Bear Arms


The first unalien-able right listed by Thomas Jefferson in the Decla-ration of Indepen-dence is the right to life. It is placed first in the hierarchy of man’s rights because no right is more important to mortal man than that one, for certainly when a man is deprived of life, all the other earthly rights he might have possessed are forever lost to him. But even if the right to life is recognized and acknowledged by a government, as our government has done, of what practical benefit is that recognition if the government nonetheless removes from a man’s grasp the very implements necessary to realistically preserve and defend the life he is said to be entitled to? Some might argue that it is enough that the police possess firearms to defend us. But where does a police officer’s right to employ a firearm in the defense of human life actually come from? Who bestows that special privilege upon him? Though it may be surprising to some, in America that privilege comes to a police officer through none other than the people themselves. Many years ago, during the formation of our governments, federal, state and local, we the people empowered our elected officials and representatives to give to any duly appointed police officer the right to use a gun in our behalf to defend the lives of others. At that time, a time that is now all but forgotten, the people granted to government the power to use lethal force to defend human life. They were able to grant that power to government because they possessed it themselves. It naturally resided within them--and always had and always will--by virtue of their unalienable right to life, their unalienable right to save themselves from death at the hands of a violent person or persons. What a great tragedy it would be, if we as citizens, or our government, ever forgot where our government’s just powers come from, if suddenly the government believed it could deny to its citizens their unalienable rights, rights that are not now, nor ever were, theirs to give or take. Remember, dear citizens, God gave you life; the government did not. It was God, your creator, who placed value upon it. So don’t let the government ever tell you that you do not have the right to defend your life by any means whatsoever, or that you must rely solely upon your local police department or other government agencies for your protection. That just isn’t so. If our government, the one created and handed down to us by our freedom-loving ancestors, the one that worked so well until about 60 years ago, can no longer control crime and the proliferation of guns among criminals; if that government cannot ensure and safeguard our right to life, what business does it have denying those of us who are law-abiding citizens the means of defending ourselves on equal terms against criminals? Is it not reasonable to suppose that whenever any government cannot protect its citizens from criminal elements within society that they may revert back to their unalienable right to life as justification for defending themselves? We don’t need the government’s permission to do that. With or without the government’s blessing we possess that right. As Thomas Jefferson wrote, we are “endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights.” Those rights, granted to us by God Himself, cannot be withheld, rescinded or nullified by mere human governments. All we need to possess those rights is the courage to claim them and the willingness to defend them.

Saturday, August 2, 2008

In God's Natural World


One of the interesting ironies of life is that all too often those who take the “low road” arrive at the top, while those who take the “high road” do not. We see this all around us-- in businesses large and small, in every strata of government, in the entertainment industry, and most certainly in politics. But why is this so? Why is it that cheating and scheming are better strategies for achieving success in the world than are honesty and hard work? Perhaps the answer lies in the fact that we live not in one world but two: the social, financial and political world created by man and the natural world created by God. And it’s quite obvious to most that God’s world, for sheer elegance and consistency, has a decided edge over man’s. Man’s world, after all, is crude and disordered, while God’s is ingeniously structured and harmonious. God’s in anchored in truth; man’s is anchored in error. And because man’s world is anchored in error, we live in a condition of perpetual unsteadiness, where principles move and shift according to the needs and whims of the hour. Which brings to mind a provocative and frightening question, what if man controlled nature and the elements? How would it be, for example, if congress decided how much force gravity would exert? Or what if the freezing point of water was determined from month to month by a committee of scientists appointed by the president? How would we maintain any sense of order or stability in such a world? Let us therefore thank God that there still are some things we can depend on; that there still remain unchanging principles beyond the reach of man. And let us be grateful, too, that in God’s natural world the high road always leads to the top, and favors only those willing to put forth a sincere and honest effort.

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Independence Day


As an exercise in contrasts think for a moment of the political atmosphere that prevailed on and around July 4, 1776. Now compare that image with today’s political atmosphere. Do you see a startling difference? If you don’t, shame on you! You haven’t been paying attention. In 1776 noble and self-sacrificing men and women were struggling desperately to throw off the shackles of tyranny and establish liberty in America. Today a great many of our political leaders, Republicans and Democrats alike, are doing just the reverse. They are taking away those hard-won liberties and replacing them with an ever-growing number of stifling federal bureaucracies and agencies, each one accompanied by a chocking array of incomprehensible regulations and controls. And while they are doing it, they keep insisting that the expensive and bloated new government they are creating for us is our dearest friend, something not to be feared but rather an innocuous power that wants only to do what is best for us. But think about it. Is being innocuous really an inherent and fundamental trait of government? George Washington certainly didn’t think so. “Government,” wrote Washington, “is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master.” That is why our Founding Fathers wisely wrote a constitution setting forth clearly defined limits on the power of government. That is why they created a form of government that distributed and balanced those carefully defined powers among three separate branches. They knew that governments, if not carefully watched and restrained, are likely to become mischievous and dangerous. Especially if all power is permitted to fall into the hands of one person or an elite few. Most surely we believe governments should on occasion provide help for their citizens. But if we the people are to continue being the strong backbone of our republic and remain free, as the Founders envisioned us to be, we must resist every government intrusion into our lives, especially those that come to us disguised as a helping hand. For every time we accept unsolicited and unneeded assistance from the government we are empowering it and weakening ourselves. And if we don’t stop, one day we will find ourselves overwhelmed by it. On this Fourth of July I challenge each of you to make your country stronger and better by becoming a stronger and better citizen, a citizen who can look after him or herself, as well as one who can look after those he or she is responsible for. If you are willing to do that, you will be exhibiting the finest and best qualities of a true patriot. And little by little, if we all work together, we can reestablish those cherished and hard-won liberties the Founders always wanted us to have. Happy Independence Day!

Friday, May 30, 2008

The Good Las Vegan


A certain man went down to Las Vegas from Bakersfield. And while en route he was crowded off I-15 east of Barstow by a wild carload of drug-crazed punks. They stripped him of his jewelry and credit cards, beat him to a bloody pulp, and then drove off in his maroon Chevy Malibu, leaving him half dead in the white '86 Corolla they had stolen only minutes before in Victorville.

By chance there came along a certain ultra-liberal democrat on his way to a Hillary Clinton rally at a posh Las Vegas hotel, and when he saw the battered old Corolla and the bleeding man inside, he slowed down his bright yellow Hummer and said conceitedly to himself: "Look what eight years of George W. Bush has done to this country. It's time we had an administration in Washington that cares about people." And then he passed by on the other side.

And likewise, a social worker from the Bay Area with a masters degree in public administration from Berkeley, when she was at the place, stopped her blazing red Mustang convertible and looked on him. "What a shame," she said sympathetically to herself. "I surely wish I could help this pitiful man but I am not authorized to dispense state or federal welfare funds outside Marin County." And then she passed by on the other side.

But a certain twice-divorced blackjack dealer from Las Vegas, who scarcely had made it through high school and was poorly instructed in the principles of humanism, as he was journeying homeward after a weekend of debauchery with some chicks from Santa Monica, he came to where the wounded man was, and when he saw him, he had compassion on him.

And he went to him, and bound his wounds, pouring into them some SPF 30 sunscreen and a little Jack Daniels, all that was left over from his misspent weekend at the beach, and placed him in his own '93 Grand Cherokee with torn seat covers and brought him to a seedy motel in Barstow, and took care of him.

And on the morrow, when he departed, he took out two Jacksons and a Lincoln, every cent that remained of the rent money he had imprudently taken with him to California, and gave them to the motel clerk, and said unto him: "Take care of him, and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee." And the unshaven and scruffy motel clerk rolled his bloodshot eyes and said blandly: "Yeah, sure. Whatever, dude."

Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was the neighbor unto him who fell among the drug-crazed punks?

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Paths


Each of us commences our earthly existence and journey at a precise time and place. From that time and place we move inexorably onward through a series of ups and downs and twists and turns--some fascinating, some frightful--to our ultimate destiny, an event that also will be marked by a specific time and place. The interval, be it long or short, between beginning and end is called our lifetime. And though our beginning point in time and space is predetermined for us by choices our parents made, there is inevitably a moment when we begin making choices for ourselves, a point where we start selecting our own path in life. And this path, whether carefully or carelessly chosen, will unavoidably carry us across the paths of many others, some good and some not so good, and convey us to our ultimate fate. It has been said that if you could follow a person's path backwards, from the end to the beginning, and look at all the spots where he chose a certain fork over another, you would see that there really was only one place he could have ended up. So please take heed my dear friends, especially my young friends. Be wise and thoughtful in choosing your path, for if you are, the trip through life can be, despite the occasional disappointments and heartaches common to all, surprisingly beautiful and even breathtaking at times. And when you arrive at your final stop, wherever and whenever that might be, it will be the serene and natural conclusion to a worthwhile and lovely journey.

Monday, May 5, 2008

Separation Anxiety


A number of years ago, in a distant time some of you may not remember, a troubled magazine writer suffering from unresolved childhood fears wrote an article in which he described Highway 50 in central Nevada as "the loneliest road in America." When we who live along this delightful and enchanting route first learned of his smug and shallow assessment, we were damned insulted, but now the more enlightened among us are gradually beginning to realize that the poor man was profoundly disturbed and probably just couldn't help himself. Although debate among practicing psychologists persists to this day, and perhaps always will, most of the ones with licenses agree that because he could find no bustling 5th Avenues or glittering Hollywood Boulevards along the way to mollify his deeply rooted and neurotic feelings of isolation he concluded that he was lonely. In his sick and depraved mind he was confusing stark beauty and wide-open spaces with loneliness, which leads us now to believe he possessed a morbidly exaggerated sense of the role crowds and bright lights play in promoting feelings of acceptance and inclusion. Today we understand and sympathize with this anguished man and realize that he should no longer be held accountable for his regrettable remarks. After all, viewed through the lens of his twisted mind, things must have looked a lot different to him than they do to us normal people who live here in Nevada.

Monday, April 28, 2008

Divisive Forces and Elements


Something as massive and strong as a rock can be split by seemingly negligible forces and elements. It takes only one small fissure, one small crack, to provide an opening through which these divisive forces and elements may enter the rock and begin their destructive work. And once inside, if nothing is done to arrest that ruinous process, the rock, mighty as it may be, will ultimately split and break. In some ways a society is like a rock. It may be prodigious, strong and sound. But if one small crack develops within it, and nothing is done to repair the crack, forces and elements that once seemed insignificant and harmless can enter into it, and over time, destroy it. A society, however, differs from a rock in one important respect. A society is made up of living organisms, human beings, and is therefore itself a living organism. And as such, unlike a rock, it is capable of taking corrective action. It can fix itself--if it has a mind to.

Saturday, April 26, 2008

The Science of Letting Things Go


In order to success-fully set a fine and useful structure upon the downhill road to dilapi-dation and ruin, one must possess a plan, a strategy, and a high level of single-mindedness and dedication. One can leave nothing to chance in such a virtuous and gratifying enterprise. He must render himself totally and utterly oblivious to even the most glaring signs of decay and deterioration, and be willing to resist and forsake any natural inclinations to patch or mend. But even so, he must retain a keen appreciation for the smallest details, for ignoring a loose shingle here and a broken hinge there can pay rich dividends over time, as illustrated in this photo. Obviously the man who has so painstakingly neglected this charming old barn and hay derrick knows a few things about the largely misunderstood and often maligned science of letting things go. Our hats go off to him for his farsightedness, adroitness and perserverance. His sterling example of what can be accomplished by setting ambition aside and exercising a little patience is an inspiration to all of us.

Monday, April 21, 2008

Rugged Mountains and Wild Horses


Over the course of a man's life he may pause from time to time to reflect upon what has changed and what has remained the same. In the summer of 1960, on a dusty, dry lake bed east of Dayton, Nevada, a sweaty and uncomfortable Hollywood film crew was filming scenes for a movie to be entitled "The Misfits." The actors involved in those scenes were Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, Montgomery Clift and Eli Wallach. The action in these sequences called for the male stars and their stuntmen counterparts to rope several wild horses from a moving flatbed truck and then wrestle them to the ground and secure their legs. In these scenes, in the immediate background, are bare foothills, and behind these hills are higher, more rugged peaks. Yesterday, out of a serendipitous sense of idle curiosity, I stopped at that dry lake bed to look around. Forty-eight years had come and gone since that notable group of talented actors and their equally famous director John Huston had worked there. Who can say how many whirling dust devils have swept dizzily across that flat and barren desert floor in that almost half a century? Or how many dark and ominous thunderstorms have hammered and pounded unrelentingly upon its bleak and forbidding surface? Yet, in all that long passage of time, little had changed. Everything that was important was still there. Only the flighty and insubstantial aura of Hollywood had fled away, like a tumbleweed driven by the fickle whims of the desert wind. Surprisingly, on the northern edge of the lake bed, in an area of dry grass and scrub brush, were seven wild horses; and they were not phantoms, they were real. And behind them were those majestic hills and peaks, exactly as they appeared in the movie, not looking one day older than they did forty-eight years ago. If they had a little white upon their heads, it was only because the winter's snow had not all melted away. I was but a backward and empty-headed boy, barely on the threshold of adolescence, when that transient film crew passed through our remote part of the world. But I well remember the excitement their brief visit caused and the fanfare that accompanied it. How consoling and comforting it was yesterday though, after all those many years, to pause where Hollywood royalty once had stood, and to reflect upon the fact that there still are some things a man can count on, even if they come down to a few ordinary things like rugged mountains and wild horses.

Friday, April 18, 2008

DOOLITTLE'S RAIDERS


Sixty-six years ago today, far off in the lonely reaches of the northwest Pacific, and in a state of war, eighty intrepid airmen in sixteen B-25 bombers were launched from the pitching deck of the aircraft carrier Hornet on an audacious mission. Their task: Strike a vengeful and retaliatory blow deep into the enemy's well guarded heart. Obviously the men chosen to carry out this bold plan were required to be both courageous and competent, for they were being called upon to fly purposefully and deliberately into the ugly face of death and hell. Yet their superiors expected success. When it was over, their brave deed did much more than send a wave of shock throughout Japan and her rapidly expanding empire, it provided the American people, who were still reeling with fear and uncertainty over the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor, with a much needed sense of hope. Today, fewer than a dozen of these dauntless aviators remain. We salute them on this special day for their unparalleled gallantry, and pray that they and their fallen brothers may never be forgotten.

Friday, April 11, 2008

OPTIMISM IN THE FACE OF HARD TIMES


Some are saying we are teetering on the brink of an economic recession. Others claim we are already in one. In any case, it would appear that we may be in for a period of hard times, a challenging period of unknown duration. And what should our attitude be as we enter this potentially difficult cycle? Why, what else? We should be optimistic, of course. Every spring in the deserts of the west and southwest wildflowers face a less than promising future. For them, hard times always loom on the horizon. But do they let these disappointing prospects discourage them? Do they allow them to dampen their indomitable spirits? Oh, hell no! Discouragement is nowhere to be found in their radiant and majestic natures. If God endows within these stunningly beautiful and delicate organisms such a powerful will to survive, such a powerful will to blossom forth in all their glory, even in the face of hard times and overwhelming odds, should not we, as the very children of that same benevolent God, emulate their simple and elegant confidence?

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

THE UNDERSTANDING OF A PIG


When I was a kid, my mother, Mrs. Underwood, would sometimes say of people who exhibited no readily discernible signs of culture or refinement, "He knows about as much as a pig knows about Sunday." Today, in addition to those who know little or nothing about Sunday, and perhaps this is no coincidence, there is an ever-growing and alarming number of people who know little or nothing about the founding principles upon which our nation and government rests. They mistakenly see the government, federal, state and local, as something outside themselves. They feel the government, like a rich benefactor, owes them a magical, fairy tale life in which there is never-ending prosperity and happiness. And when they hit a bump in the road, they squeal to the government for help and make loud accusations about everyone's part in the catastrophe but their own. Our government, in case anyone has forgotten, is a "government of the people, by the people, for the people." It is not the president's government. It is not the congress' government. It is not the U.S. Supreme Court's government. It is our government. And because it belongs to us, we are the ones obligated, above all others, to take care of it. Don't be deceived. No man-made institution remains in a fixed state. Dynamic influences, sinister, benevolent or otherwise, are continually altering it. Be assured that if we continue to take ourselves out of the process of government, we will soon find that we have lost our place in it.


"The only sure bulwark of continuing liberty is a government strong enough to protect the interests of the people, and a people strong enough and well enough informed to maintain its soverign control over its government."

--Franklin Roosevelt


"No government has ever been beneficent when the attitude of government was that it was taking care of the people. The only freedom consists in the people taking care of the government."

--Woodrow Wilson

KNOWING WHEN TO TURN


A fundamental principle of geometry states that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. That is why high-tension powerlines, highways and fences are almost always constructed that way. Putting in the slightest zig or the smallest zag would add an unnecessary expense to the building process. The only time an exception is made to this rule is when it ultimately would cost less to make a turn than it would to continue stubbornly on in a straight line, such as when a formidable obstacle is encountered. And so it is with the way we live our lives. We are granted but a finite amount of time in which to fulfill our dreams and destinies. To zig or zag would add needless delays and costs to the journey. Yet we must always be willing to face the inescapable reality that in order to reach our chosen destination it may become necessary at times to negotiate a prudent turn.

Monday, March 31, 2008

PERSPECTIVE


When we look at something, we see it from our perspective. Our perspective on things depends largely upon where we're at. Centuries ago people believed the earth was flat. Of course, from ancient man's perspective, situationally and intellectually, that's the way it seemed. The apparent flatness of the earth's surface was so overwhelmingly obvious to everyone at that time that no one had ever stopped to give the matter any serious thought. Numberless centuries passed and then somebody, for one reason or another, stopped and gave the subject the degree of consideration it deserved. Perhaps quite a lot. He may even have been criticized for stopping too long and for not being able to keep his mind on more important things. Be that as it may, at some point in this person's purposeful process of pondering and reasoning, be it brief or lengthy, he suddenly saw what no one else had ever seen before. It was like a revelation. In fact, it was a revelation. He hadn't moved physically in any substantial way. He was still crawling around like a bug in the dirt like everyone else. And he certainly hadn't gained the lofty vantage point of an astronaut. What had happend was that within his mind a miraculous shift in perspective had taken place. So next time you have a friend who is questioning something that is obvious, try to be a little patient with him. Granted, quite likely he's nuts, but who knows?

Saturday, March 29, 2008

LIVE FOR YOUR COUNTRY


With good reason we honor those who have fought and died for our country. But most of us will not be required to give that "last full measure of devotion." For the vast majority of us, it is our common lot not to die for our country but to live for it. We live for our country when we faithfully obey both the letter and spirit of the law;we live for our country when we are morally upright and honest in all our dealings with our fellow citizens; we live for our country when we shoulder our own responsibilities rather than shifting them to others. Citizens who possess the simple dignity to do these things are brave, committed and patriotic citizens. They form the sound and solid foundation upon which our society and its institutions rest. Without their sustaining influence, everything we hold dear would collapse. They are a mighty civilian army, valiantly supporting and protecting our nation. If you are not already a part of this national force, please enlist today.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

FAMILY TRAITS

Families, like rocks, have distinctive traits that run through them. These characteristic may be good or bad. But no matter how hard we may work to become individuals, we will always bear some of the peculiarities of the family we came from.

Monday, March 24, 2008

EASTER BUNNY BYPASSES SAND HARBOR


I went to Lake Tahoe on Easter Sunday. I found no colored eggs, but my disappointment was somewhat mitigated when I found this striking panorama instead.