The Conservative Son

Our local newspaper, the DPA, was insane enough to once again publish my most recent letter "To the Editor." While I am glad and gratified that they saw fit to print my ramblings, I must say that they have taken to editing my editorials.

I am no prima donna, but I spend hours picking just the right words to express what it is that I want to say. I wouldn’t mind them messing with my work so much if they would, as my daughter suggests, pay me.
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To the Editor:

“Make us a king!” That’s what the tribes of Israel said to Samuel. He warned them that a king would take the best of everything they had. He warned them that a king would conscript their youth into his service and weigh them all down with heavy taxes and war. Samuel reminded them that the Lord God Jehovah was their King, but they would have none of that. They wanted nothing more than to pass the decisions of their life on to someone who, at least in their own farcical estimation, was more qualified than they were. They simply wanted to be taken care of.

Sadly and predictably, the people would not hearken unto Samuel’s words of warning. When Samuel complained to God, God told him, “They haven’t rejected you; they’ve rejected me.”

Israel rejected their King in Heaven for a king on earth. They rejected the self-government of their tribal-states in their desire to be “like all the nations.” (Incidentally, only in America does “state” not mean “nation.”)

Today, politicians promise us more and more. More and more Americans are happy to take more and more. Many voters simply support whoever promises to increase their wages or guarantee their retirement, education, health care or food stamps. In short, a growing majority ask, “What’s in it for me?” Sadly, too many have cast their ballot, in more than one election, considering only personal gain, never contemplating the costs of such government extravagance. And if someone else is forced to pay for their goodies, well, they’re okay with that.

Our snake-oil salesmen in Washington D.C. argue that the cripple will never walk, the blind will never see, the hungry will go unfed and the old and sick will die if the government doesn’t step in to help. A lot seem to think that some how, some way with enough taxes and regulation, the federal government can solve all of our problems. What’s next? Will they tell us that if we give up enough of our freedom and money they can legislate away death? (That’s about all that’s left for them to promise.)

I’ve heard it said, “Somebody’s got to do something!” Well, they cried those same words in the Depression of nineteen-thirties Germany and, sure enough, someone “did something.” He did something that resulted in the deaths of millions in the most destructive war the world has ever known. He took good care of his people, providing for their every need and they hailed him as their “Fuhrer.” Yes, he kept every promise he made right up to the point when the shooting started.

My ancestors and yours came to this country by hook or by crook, but all by great hardship. Many came seeking freedom of religion; many came seeking a fortune. Some came as slaves or indentured servants. Some came merely seeking adventure. Countless died at sea and at the hands of those defending what was then their own country. Still, they kept coming! They keep coming today. They come on boats and planes and cross deserts, rivers and oceans, but they keep coming!

One thing’s for sure, they didn’t brave the swelling tides of the Pacific and the Atlantic for free health care. They didn’t endure starvation and lost loved ones for Social Security. They didn’t leave the tacit safety of hearth, home and king for food stamps. Neither did they sell all they owned and leave everyone they knew behind, never to be seen or heard from again, for “free” government education that would make them out to be liars when they told their children, “There is a God and it is He who has made us and not we ourselves.” Funny, most of our ancestors came here to escape a tyrant a thousand miles away, yet we today choose a thousand tyrants a mile away.

Recollecting the first time I voted, I was so excited, idealistic and, perhaps, naïve. I voted as if my vote not only counted, but also would be the deciding one. When choosing a candidate, I can honestly say, that I still think only of the good of my beloved country and not my personal gain. Yes, I’ve considered the effects that one candidate or another might have on the economy or the environment, immigration, the debt, national security, etc. Still, I always pick the one I believe loves America and freedom the most. My question is always, “Does he love liberty?” I still take it that seriously. No brag, just fact.

What’s my point? For far too many Americans today, rugged individualism is anachronistic at best and anathema at worst. They say, “Yeah, it’d be nice to live free, but if someone doesn’t provide my health care, I won’t be alive anyway! Isn’t it good that the government takes care of us?” These sad-sacks sound all too much like the slave saying, “If it wasn’t for master, I wouldn’t have a roof over my head.” Well, our “masters” in Washington seem to think they can provide us a roof much better than we can for ourselves. “Give us your money and your freedom and we’ll make you…comfortable.” Sheesh!

So, I ask you, Mr. & Ms. Citizen, what will be on your mind when you cast your ballot this November? Will you be thinking about the blood of patriots whose sanguine sacrifice anointed that Holy of Holies we call the voting booth? Will you be thinking of the liberty that your ancestors prayed for as they walked, for the first time, upon this Eden shore? Will you be thinking about your grandchildren and at what point there will be so much central government control that they are no longer free?

Israel sold its sovereignty for servitude. What will you sell yours for? Will you trade the fire of liberty for tepid comfort? Will you exchange autonomy for a gilded cage? Will you sell so cheaply that which was bought for us by others at so great a price?

Labels: America, D.C., freedom, Israel, kings, liberty, presidential campaign, presidents, Samuel, Saul, slavery, voting, Washington

Let me be, perhaps, the first to predict that in a year when President Obama kicks off his reelection campaign, the experience that he said didn't matter two years ago, will be his main argument for reelection. The experience that didn’t matter for John McCain will be the salient reason for reelection of our president.




Funny how a thing like that works. You don’t have to have any experience to set on the president’s cabinet, to be a Supreme Court Justice or even to be President of the most powerful nation on the planet.



You don’t have to have ever had a real job. You don’t have to have ever have hired or fired anyone. You don’t have to have ever had to have met a payroll. You don’t have to have ever have had any accomplishments whatsoever! You don’t have to have ever done anything more than get yourself elected to a couple of political offices. Still, none of that matters if you talk glibly about “hope and change.” Sheesh!



It reminds me of the ‘92 campaign, when military service and/or draft dodging didn’t matter because Bill Clinton was a Democrat. Yet, in 2000, when questions were raised about George Bush’s honorable service, suddenly it did matter since he is a Republican. Well, when the campaign commercials begin next year that talk about the “steady, experienced, proven leadership of Barack Obama,” that explosion you hear is not the balloon going up…it’s my head!

Labels: Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Democrat, George Bush, John McCain, presidential campaign, presidents, Republican, Supreme Court

So, Mancow decided to have himself water boarded. I saw the video on You Tube. He lasted less than five seconds, setting up from the table, coughing and spitting and complaining. He said that it really was torture. Then he rambled on about nearly drowning as a child.

I only know Mancow from Fox News. He's always entertaining and seems to be consistently conservative. Mostly, the guy is manic. Oh, boy, I mean, manic!

So, I see him subject himself to this "enhanced interrogation technique," known as water boarding, only to say, in his analysis, that it is torture. Say it? He couldn't shut up about it! For a man who was just subjected to "torture," he didn't have any problem running his mouth ninety miles an hour just like he always does.

I know John McCain says water boarding is torture, but let's be real about it. What I saw happen to Mancow doesn't even begin to compare to what happened to our servicemen at the hands of the Germans, Japanese, North Koreans or in the Hanoi Hilton.

Come on, people! Let's have a little perspective about things!

If I ever hear a presidential candidate stand up and say, "If we have a terrorist in custody, who our intelligence causes us to believe, beyond a reasonable doubt, has information about an impending plot to kill hundreds or even thousands of Americans, I will personally pull his fingernails out one by one until he tells us where the bomb is hidden." That man will get my vote!

Labels: John McCain, Mancow, presidential campaign, torture, water board

I just started reading Barack Obama's book, "The Audacity of Hope." I figure if he's going to be my president, I want to know what's in his head.

This won't be easy. Pray for me. Sheesh!

Labels: Barack Obama, politics, presidential campaign, presidents

Well, I voted yesterday. Heaven help me!

I don't know if I did the right thing. I suppose God will judge me no matter what my choice.

What I do might have prolonged consequences. What I do might affect the world.

The world is changing and not necessarily for the good. It's the end of the world as I know it.

Will I regret my choice or will I glorify God for helping me chose wisely? Only time will tell.


Proverbs 14:12

There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

Labels: presidential campaign

So, General Powell is endorsing Senator B. Hussein Obama.

I suppose Obama received his support because of his own great military career.

Maybe it was because of his long years of service in the Senate.

Perhaps, it was because of his success in the business world.

Perhaps he was chosen because of his years of proven leadership in the Senate.

You don't suppose that Powell endorsed Obama for some other reason?

Hmmm...I wonder what it could be.

P.S. I suppose General Powell, if nothing else, proved one thing: he's a politician.

Labels: Barak Obama, Colin Powell, presidential campaign

We are all about the "lesser of two evils." We make so many of our decisions thinking, "Well, it could be worse."

Granted, counting our blessings and looking for that silver lining is admirable. Yet, we, far too many times, sacrifice the best for the good.

Now, I'm not one who can set in judgement over anyone! My life is so full of hypocrisies and contradictions that I often don't know which way is up. There are things that I hardly blink at and there are things that I'll die for. Of course, there are many things in the middle that I react to in a host of almost indeterminable ways.

So, what's my point? I'm getting to that.

I certainly don't mean to be harsh or accuse anyone that I'm fond of and respect as being "evil." Still, in this election, as in so many things in life, I hear the words the "lesser of two evils" over and over again.

I am a traditional conservative, (and I know what that means.) I am pro-life, pro-gun and pro-family. I believe their are right ways and wrong ways to do things. I think, with faith in God, we can do the right thing. I am constantly reminded of what my father said, "If any way will do, then no way will do just as well."

Now, we've got a couple of presidential candidates, one of which, is completely unacceptable if you truly believe in a loving, yet, holy God. The other, while a fine man of singular character and integrity, is a hard pill to swallow for us federalist minded conservatives. Yes, John McCain has many good qualities that I admire and respect, but virtually all the Republicans I talk to refer to him as the "lesser of two evils."

Furthermore, I am very traditional in my views on the role of women in the family, society at large and the military. Yet, I am faced with being cornered into voting for a woman to be a heart-beat away from becoming Commander-in-Chief. Ironically, though, I am more closely aligned with Governor Palin, politically speaking, than I am with Senator McCain.

I strongly believe that women should get equal work for equal pay, (but the work must be equal,) should be able to extend their education as far as they can financially and intellectually do so and should be able to have a fair shot at any job they are qualified for, (as long as they are truly "qualified" for that job.)

Yes, women and men are equal in the eyes of God. Still, having differing roles does not degrade one's value as human beings or importance to our nation, family or church. We all have a role to play. None more important than another and all very necessary.

Now, speaking as the male chauvinist pig that I am, I am faced with a great conundrum. Should a woman, even a brilliant, conservative, Christian woman be a heart beat away from the presidency? Simply because she can get herself elected? Even more, should I vote for her?

Supposing I do vote for her and she is elected, what then? If a woman is "qualified" to be president, she is darn well qualified for any job! If she is president, that makes her commander-in-chief or our armed forces. Can we honestly then tell women, who so desire, that they can't be in, for example, combat vocations in the military? If commander-in-chief, why not platoon leader? How about combat infantry? The SEALs? The Green Berets? Where do we draw the line? Will we be able to draw a line at all?

I obviously don't think McCain or Palin are evil, (though, I'm not to sure about the other team,) but I'm just a little tired of hearing people say, "Think of the alternative." I'm also greatly surprised about the many chauvinists that I've been hanging with so many years who seem so easily swayed to cast their vote for a woman.

I really don't mean to degrade anyone...especially women! My mother was a woman. My wife is a woman. My daughter is a little woman. I love them all dearly. I'm just not completely convinced that this move will take our country in the Godly direction we claim we desire.

Furthermore, the homogenization of the sexes sounds like a good idea on the surface to some. Yet, upon closer examination, it opens a Pandora's Box that I fear won't advance our society in the way that some theorize it will.

Finally, I know for whom I'm going to vote. So, I'm going to just shut up, bite the bullet, hold my nose and do what, I hope, is the right thing.

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I Samuel 16

10 Again, Jesse made seven of his sons to pass before Samuel. And Samuel said unto Jesse, The LORD hath not chosen these.

11And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all thy children? And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him: for we will not sit down till he come hither.

12And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the LORD said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he.

Labels: John McCain, politics, presidential campaign, Sarah Palin

"That's above my pay grade." What!?!

A man who is running for president of this great nation tries to pull the old private's trick? You've got to be kidding me!

He wants to be president of the most powerful nation on earth? He wants to be leader of the free world? Nothing, I repeat, NOTHING is above his pay grade! Sheesh!

If you are such a spineless, indecisive wimp of a politician that you won't even hazard an opinion about when life begins, you can't expect to be taken seriously about anything. How can an intelligent man who claims to be a Christian be so wishy-washy about such an istemibaly important issue?

I suppose, he did ensure that he will get his campaign donation from Planned Parenthood and other anti-life organizations. Still, he came across as the shallow, vapid consumate politician that he truly is.

They say beauty is only skin deep, but I guess ignorance goes clean to the bone.

Labels: abortion, Barak Obama, presidential campaign