If Jesus were alive today...

On my way to and from Lexington yesterday, I caught a bit of Jerry Springer on a Cincy radio station. The bump said, as best I can recall, "If Jesus were alive today, he'd be a Liberal, drive a hybrid car, drink Merlot, and listen to Jerry Springer on the radio."

Just a few observations.

1. Jesus is alive, today. Just because He isn't on Earth doesn't mean He isn't alive.
2. He isn't a Liberal. Nor is He a Conservative. He is God. Amazingly, there is a difference.
3. Anyone with a working knowlege of the Bible, particularly the New Testament, understands that Jesus doesn't need a vehicle, not even a hybrid.
4. Jesus drank wine when He was here on Earth. Scripture does not speak to any preference.
5. Jesus does listen to Jerry Springer on the radio (Omniscient, omnipresent, etc.) But that's between Him and Mr. Springer at a future date.

Also caught a few minutes of Al Franken. That was too many.
GBW

Major Civil Rights Victory in Louisiana

Major Victory For Firearms Owners And Freedom In Louisiana
Friday, September 23, 2005

(Fairfax, VA) -- The United States District Court for the Eastern District in Louisiana today sided with the National Rifle Association (NRA) and issued a restraining order to bar further gun confiscations from peaceable and law-abiding victims of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

“This is a significant victory for freedom and for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. The court’s ruling is instant relief for the victims who now have an effective means of defending themselves from the robbers and rapists that seek to further exploit the remnants of their shattered lives,” said NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre.

Joining LaPierre in hailing the U.S. District Court decision was NRA chief lobbyist Chris W. Cox. “This is an important victory. But the battle is not over. The NRA will remedy state emergency statutes in all 50 states, if needed, to ensure that this injustice does not happen again."

The controversy erupted when The New York Times reported, the New Orleans superintendent of police directed that no civilians in New Orleans will be allowed to have guns and that “only law enforcement are allowed to have weapons.” ABC News quoted New Orleans’ deputy police chief, saying, “No one will be able to be armed. We are going to take all the weapons.”

The NRA also pledged that it will continue its work to ensure that every single firearm arbitrarily and unlawfully seized under this directive is returned to the rightful law-abiding owner.

(Yes, this IS a civil rights issue, check your copy of the Constitution. It's called the Bill of Rights. GBW)

Violence in New Orleans

Spent several days in SE KY at my parents, and my grandmother, a wonderful woman in her mid-80s, kept asking, "What's wrong with those people down in New Orleans?"

This essay from Eject! Eject! Eject!, Bill Whittle's blog, pretty much sums it up. I wish I'd written most of it.

Mr. Whittle rates this one "R", so consider yourself warned. Thx to Kim DuToit for the link.
GBW

Equal and opposite reaction?

Well, they say a picture is worth a thousand words, so I'll just let Timothy Kelly's pen tell the tale.
GBW

Give them something to think about.

An AP article tells us of a new law, passed by the North Carolina legislature and currently on the Governor's desk awaiting his signature, which would require courts to give battered spouses information on how to get a concealed carry license.

As I write this, there is an armed standoff in PRP between police and a man alleged to have just killed his estranged wife. We all know protective orders are all but useless, but I wonder, if it were common practice for these poor ladies to be packing heat, would their ex-whatevers be so keen on coming after them?

One of my wife's most told stories involves a nurse who worked for her several years ago. The soon-to-be ex-husband chased the nurse around a community college parking lot with a shotgun. She called some of his family shortly after that and asked them to tell him she had a pistol and had been practicing with it, and guess what? She never heard from nor saw him again.

I hope the Governor of North Carolina signs the law and many battered spouses avail themselves of their 2nd amendment rights. Hmmm. Time to write to some legislators.
GBW

Listen to "the Mrs."

One of the best things about A Nation of Riflemen, Kim Dutoit's blog, is The Mrs., Kim's wife. She has her own blog, though she doesn't post often enough, and her latest post, This is Normal, is right on the money.

Take a moment and read it, won't you?
GBW

Why the Left hates the 2nd Amendment

"Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed; as they are in almost every kingdom of Europe. The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any band of regular troops that can be, on any pretence, raised in the United States. "

Noah Webster, An Examination into the Leading Principles of the Federal Constitution, 178o

But surely nothing like that would ever happen in the United States!
GBW

Haven't abandoned the blog...

Greetings.
I haven't abandoned the blog. I have let work issues distract me from the important things.
Between not really keeping up with the news, and a general disgust for the lack of leadership from the GOP and their unseemly way of taking whatever the Left dishes out by laying down and whimpering has just left me cold.
I'll try to do better, I promise.
GBW

Rule 18

USNews.com: John Leo wonders about news that doesn't make the news, why the media ignore some stories (6/13/05)

John Leo's article has some excellent examples of unreported stories, one of which is "Rule 18" in the Al Qaeda handbook.

"Mainstream media have been reluctant, in all the coverage of treatment of detainees at Guantanamo, to mention that the al Qaeda training manual specifically instructs all of its agents to make false claims of torture. The New York Times seems to have mentioned the manual's torture reference only once, in a short report from Australia. Several other papers mentioned it as a one-line quote from a military spokesman who pointed it out. But until the Washington Times ran a front-page piece last week, a Nexis search could find no clear and pointed article in the U.S. press like the one by Alasdair Palmer in the London Sunday Telegraph, with the headline "This is al Qaeda Rule 18: 'You must claim you were tortured.' " He wrote that the manual doesn't prove "that the Britons were not tortured in Guantanamo. But it ought to encourage some doubts about uncritically accepting that they were--which seems to be the attitude adopted by most of the media." Amen to both points in that last sentence."

Does it make you wonder, given the general tone of the torture and abuse stories in most of the media, just how much reporting is going on versus hysterical repeating of rumors, innuendo, and lies? And just why are they so eager to believe the worst all the time?
GBW

Not another cent.

I received a pledge form from the RNC today. It reminded me of the promise I'd made to support my Party. I will be sending it back with only a letter asking why I should support my Party when it breaks its promise to me.

We were told the Republican Party would lead. I have to say I'll believe it when I see it. And that's when they'll see another check from me.
GBW

No good will come of it...

Well, the Democrats "caved" in the Senate. Well, not really. They gave up nothing and gained legitimacy for their erroneous position by the collusion of Republican defectors. Yes, that's what they are. The Republicans gained nothing and lost legitimacy for their correct position by the sabotage of Republican defectors. No, the up or down votes agreed on really don't mean anything. There will be a Supreme Court appointment in the near future, and unless it's Hillary Clinton, the Dems will filibuster.

Would have been much better to get it out of the way now.

If I were a Republican in the Senate, I'd be thinking about some new leadership. I'm a Republican in Ky, and I know that's what my next letter to Senator McConnell and Senator Bunning will suggest.

There's an envelope on my counter in the kitchen right now with a pledge form to the Republican National Committee. What to do??? HMMM.

Just one quick question. - who won the election, anyway? Right now, it sure doesn't look like we picked up nearly as many seats as it seemed on Election Day.
GBW

Details on the Rolling Block

From my cousin:

We started with an old military Remington action, and my gunsmith buddy completely reworked it to Sporting Rifle configuration. The barrel is by Green Mountain (highly regarded in our circles), full octagon, 32” long, chambered in .45-70. Stock is Remington Sporting Rifle configuration, English walnut, steel buttplate and forend tip. The action was engraved by Ken Hurst, of NC (used to work in the Colt Custom Shop). The metal finish is a combination of methods, all original to these types of rifles…the buttplate, forend tip, triggerguard, hammer, breechblock, and tang sight base were color-case hardened. The action frame is carbonia blue (think pre-war Colt blue-black), and the barrel is slow rust blued. Montana Vintage Arms tang sight and globe front with spirit level complete the piece.

GBW

New (old) Rifle

The pictures below show the current pride and joy of my cousin, G.P. (After his family, of course)
The engraving was done by Ken Hurst. The stock work was done by my cousin.
I'll have to try really hard not to covet this one. Right.
I've lost the details about the rifle, and G. is at a silhouette match in TN this weekend, so I'll try to post details Monday or Tuesday.
When Master Sgt. G.P. leaves the Army, he'll get to do this kind of thing all the time.
GBW

Beautiful wood.  

Completed rifle, right side of action. Look at that wood. 

The completed rifle, with proud owner 

In the white, right view. 

In the white, left view. 

The Nuclear Option according to Nick Anderson

This is another of the many reasons why I seldom read and never buy The Courier-Journal, the only daily paper here in the Peoples' Republic of Louisville Metro. Nick Anderson, prize-winning cartoonist at the C-J, has this take on some Senate Republican's efforts to get the Senate to do its Constitutionally mandated job and give an up or down vote to the President's nominees. While you're on this page, you can look at more of his work and get really steamed.

Oh, I know it's on the op-ed page, but really, if one of the major voices (picture's worth a thousand works, remember?) of the C-J can't see the difference between elected officials in the United States doing their job, and the Communist dictator of North Korea, why should I spend money on the rag, unless, of course, you are a moonbat. At least Anderson is a better artist than the poor-excuse-for-a cartoonist Joel Pett at the Lexington Herald-Leader.

Louisville and the Commonwealth deserve a top-notch Conservative daily newpaper. Where o' where are you O' Voice of Truth and Reason?!?!?!?!
GBW

Those who can't do...

Nice article by Victor David Hansen in The American Enterprise Online.

I've often wondered at the level of willfull ignorance of the Left in America, but it pales in comparison to that found on the Continent. That and what I have always believed is rank envy.

The next time you think someone across the Pond is making a good point, just remember the surest prediction of the British elections: 40%+ minimum taxes for everyone in formerly Jolly Olde England. And the Continent is worse. Of course, that only applies to the small percentage who actually have jobs.

"It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried."

Winston Churchill

GBW

More on the Hawpe view of Justice Sunday

(See Kadnine's fine post for links and comments.)
Funny, Mr. Hawpe calls it a crusade, but I thought it was called Civil Rights. Let's see.

Freedom of religion? Check
Freedom of assembly? Check
Freedom of speech? Check
Freedom to seek redress of grievances? Check

Hmmm. I wonder what part of that Mr. Hawpe doesn't understand.

Actually, Mr. Hawpe does understand it. It's just that he and his ilk don't like it because they don't like some Christians. Oh, the Marxist "Christians" and their liberation theology are OK. And the social justice "Christians" are fine, too. But those uppity fundamentalists, those right-wingers? Nah, no use for those poor ignorant, unenlightened souls. (And BTW, if this an abuse of politics and religion, where was Mr. Hawpe's indignation when John Kerry was making the rounds of churches on Sunday mornings during the Presidential campaign?)

The Left's problem with Justice Sunday is that some Christians have moved out of the sphere of action the Left's view of Christianity allows. The namby-pamby version of Christianity they allow narrowly focuses on the "love" and "turn the other cheek" teachings of Christ to the exclusion of the teachings about the wrath of a righteous God upon Sin, and is not the Christianity of the Bible, but of liberal deconstructionists who neutered the Gospel to suit a social agenda. Kind of like the Left today.

Well, this is still the United States of America, there's still a Constitution, and the rights enumerated therein still apply to all the citizens, yes, even people of faith, and not just the ones that agree with Left Wing newspaper editors, Senators and seminarians.

If the members of Highview Baptist Church want to host a meeting and broadcast with Dr. Mohler, Dr. Dobson, and Mr. Colson, that's their right. If Senator Frist is invited to participate, that's their right. If the people who participate at the church and around the country via satellite can convice enough people to join their point of view, and they in turn can convince elected representives to listen to them, and changes in governance result from it, well gee whiz, that's just the way a representative democracy works.

So, with respect, my advice to Mr. Hawpe and all the others who are frothing at the mouth over this exercise of democracy is simply this.

Wipe the spittle from your chin. Suck it up. Get over it.
Of course, they won't.
GBW

I hope the Dems don't read this...

Of course, if the Dems did read this piece (Taking Faith Seriously: Contempt for religion cost Democrats more that votes.) by Mike Gecan, not enough would get it to make a difference. Just read the article to see what I mean.

Mr. Gecan's article shows a heart of America the Leftist elitists cannot countenance because of their snearing disdain for people of faith, indeed, for God.
GBW

Human Fallibility

Digital Video Recording, DVR, took all the fun out of the NCAA Tournament for me this year.

Well, I don't know much about basketball, so when I can see a foul, I figure the referees will be all over it. Now I understand that they can't see everything, but come on. Take the game last night. Using DVR, I can do my own slow-motion replays. Over and over, I saw obvious fouls committed where one or more of the referees were at least looking in the same direction. I rolled back the recording and looked at the slo-mo, and sure enough there was an obvious, sometiimes blatant foul.

I'm not talking about the subtle fouls, there isn't much subtle about basketball anymore. I'm talking about hacking, punching, pushing, and tripping. And while I'm on the subject, I was taught basketball was not a contact sport. What has happened to the game? I've seen street brawls where there was less contact.

I don't expect the referees to see everything, but is it too much to ask they control the game to keep it from being so physical? With all the pushing, hand-checking, etc. that goes on, I don't see how the refs can even figure out what to call a foul. They've also apparently forgotten how to count to three and how to call turning the ball over.

No, they can't see everything, but after watching some of the games from this tournament in slo-mo, I expect to see lines of college referees waiting for LASIK procedures. Maybe while they are standing there, they could review the rules of basketball and get the game back to something Naismith would recognize.
GBW

Catching up.

Well, Spring has sprung and I am finally getting over my pneumonia. Fits of hacking are confined to a couple of fairly predictable times a day and getting up to walk across the room no longer requires a rest stop. Also found is a clarity of mind that I had forgotten existed. (Or what passes for clarity in my case, reminds the Wonderful Wife.) So here are some observations about recent events.

Terry Schiavo
The most striking fact about this entire ordeal is the lack of generally accepted facts about the health of Ms. Schiavo. Ask five people about her condition and what was being done for her and you'd get seven different answers. The courts' greatest failure was not ordering an independent medical evaluation of Ms. Schiavo's condition before condemning her to death. I expect to see the fallout from this in State legistatures. Oh, and Michael Schiavo is a jerk of the first order.

Living Wills
My wife is an R.N. and has spent many years working in intensive care units. Her observations through the years have stopped me from signing a living will. What I would like done at age 50 may be radically different than what I would prefer at age 80. We tend to think of what we want done in those latter years, but an automobile accident tomorrow may activate conditions in a living will that might prohibit life-saving measures that are quite reasonable under the circumstances. I can't begin to think of all the different things that might happen, so I have chosen a renewable medical power-of-attorney that delineates who makes decisions when I can't. Since it has to be renewed, periodic revisions could reasonably be expected to avoid the estranged spouse issues we saw in Florida.

Red Lake School Shooting
This is an incident which wouldn't have been averted by any gun-control measure that isn't blatantly unconstitutional. The preoccupation so many have blaming guns for every shooting like this obscures the personal tragedies that cause them and the societal issues that contribute to them.

Officer Grignon killed in Louisville
Why was this young man on the street? The person(s) responsible for the officer's death are the ones that allowed the boy that pulled the trigger to remain at large. Breakdowns in the system are inevitable, but why do they happen so often?

Social Security and Taxes
It's broke. Fix it. I like privitization and I like the National Sales Tax, but I'm open to other ideas. Just don't say it doesn't need fixing.

The Pope's death.
I am not Roman Catholic, so I really don't understand it from that viewpoint, but I admire him for his stand against Communism and his role in promoting freedom in the former Soviet satellite states.

Alaska National Wildlife Refuge
Drill.

Oil Prices.
My monthly gasoline bill has gone from about $70 to over $120. So we went to Iraq for the oil? Right. Just keep saying it, Moonbats, as the prices keep rising. So much for traveling this summer.

If I haven't made you made today, I'll try harder next time.
GBW

Among these are Life...

In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson wrote, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

All rights enumerated in the Constitution are predicated by the assumption that those who would enjoy their God-given rights are alive. Dead people don't have rights.

Terry Schiavo's most basic civil right has been violated. Convicted felons sentenced to death receive more consideration in the appeals process than is available to Ms. Schiavo, who has been denied recourse to the Federal courts.

Believe what you want, but beginning with Roe v. Wade in 1973, the Baby Doe incident in the 80's, assisted suicide laws, etc., the U.S.A. has been sliding down the slippery slope of devaluation of human life to the point where you should fear being incapacitated in an accident or medical situation. In Europe, euthanasia is common practice in delivery rooms and, if stories I have heard from some Europeans are true, hospitals and nursing homes.

Terry Schiavo should receive judicial relief on the principles of basic civil rights. To do otherwise is to declare her a de facto non-person as the Florida courts have done. Hmmm. Non-person. Where have we heard that kind of terminology before?

It doesn't matter what her husband or parents think. There is a higher moral issue here that transcends the emotion we see on both sides. Terry Schiavo deserves to live, no matter the quality of that life, because she has a right to live that should not be abrogated, even with the cooperation of the courts. Expediency and emotion have no place in this decision.

Let us hope that those who hold Terry Schiavo's life in their hands will choose life.
GBW

Atlanta and Wisconson Shootings

I wonder how long it will take for someone to start talking about more restrictions on firearms because of the prisoner who took a deputy's gun and shot several people or the man that opened fire during a church service.

If you think more laws restricting firearms would have averted this tragedy, tell me how that would work. Then explain how this infringement on the civil rights of law-abiding citizens would be justifiable if applied to freedom of speech and religion.

Restrictions of the freedoms of all because of the actions of criminals and madmen demonstrates an egregious misunderstanding of freedom and the responsibilities of a law-abiding citizen.
GBW

Relapse

Sorry to be so delinquent, but I didn't have my facts straight before. Instead of getting better, which lasted less than one day, I found out I still had pneumonia. Apparently my bugs didn't pay any attention to the Z-Pack.

So, having had pneumonia for the better part of the last month (or the worst part, depending on how you look at it), I have benignly neglected my blog. I hope to do much better in the coming days as it seems the new antibiotic is doing what it is supposed to.
GBW

Something else to worry about

Imagine the economic devastation if almost all the electronics on which we depend (phones, computers, cell phones, basic electric service, electronic instruments, automobiles, lights, etc.) were all disabled in a few milliseconds. A single medium yield nuclear device airburst about 300 miles over the center of the U.S. (a ship-borne SCUD ballistic missle from North Korea or other rogue state), or several smaller devices detonated at lower altitudes (by terrorists) would shut us down in much less than the proverbial New York minute.

The president of The Claremont Institute was interveiwed by Bill Bennet this morning on Morning in America. He mentioned the danger of electromagnetic pulse (EMP) to national security. Do you know what EMP is? Take a look at this link for an interesting page with basic explanations.

Those of us who live around busy airports commented on the quietness after 9/11. Try to imagine what it would be like if you didn't hear any cars or trucks, any airplanes, any refrigerator motors or furnace fans, no television or radio, no air-conditioner hum, no motorcyles, well, you get the idea. Few electronic devices or devices which depend on electronics would be of much use. .

Try to imagine the loss of life if we had an EMP event in a cold winter. No heat, no transportation, and little, if any, chance of restoring either for a long time. Not to mention that every traffic light would fail, every plane in the air would crash, and every patient whose life depended on electricity would die.

I don't know about you, but I don't have a source of water that isn't dependent on electricy and six months of food. Expect millions to die of thirst, exposure and starvation. In fact, if you aren't in a position to survive with the technology of rural late 19th-early 20th Century America, you'd be in a world of hurt.

Unthinkable you say? Unrealistically alarmist you think? See this link for a Heritage Foundation paper that references testimony to Congress by The Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack. Not a question of if, but when. If someone had told you on 9/10/2001 about the events of the next day, you would have laughed at them. Until the first plane flew into the World Trade Center the next morning.

Just something else to worry about.
GBW

Out of the fog.

I have to admit to having almost no serious thoughts about anything for almost two weeks. A very nasty flu turned into bronchitis turned into pneumonia and the concurrent fevers pretty much shut down the old gray matter. Of course, I'm told by some that a brain scan would be necessary to tell the difference from when I'm well.

Isn't it amazing how small the issues that usually occupy our minds seem when we are ill? Suddenly, budgets, political races, court cases, outrageous comments that would generate immediate praise or condemnation are not even placed on the back burner, but thrown out in the back yard for the duration, if, indeed, we even really hear them. I barely had the gumption (that's a good country word) to check my email every couple of days.

But, like my slowly returning appetite for food, so returns my appetite for news. And with that, a slowly returning desire to say something about whatever piques my interest. I wonder what will be next?
GBW

Pneumonia

Bad to worse. I am ready to be well. My Wonderful Wife, who had pneumonia at Christmas, now has the flu, too.
Well, we have pestilence. Can famine be far behind?
GBW

The Flu, or How to be truly miserable without even trying.

Been down with the Flu.
Will be back when I can hold my head up and type more that two words without being interrupted by coughing spasms.
GBW

Blaster Worm nets inventor 18 months in prison.

And now for a bit of news that's near and dear to me.

The young man responsible for the initial Blaster worm has been sentenced to prison.

The ComputerWorld article says the judge didn't set the maximum sentence of 37 months "partly because of neglectful upbringing and supervision."

Give me a break. He entered a guilty plea. He knew it was wrong. He's going to a country club Federal pen, not out to break big rocks into little rocks.

Oh well. I'm glad she didn't give him a hug and send him home..
GBW

The American Holocaust

Nearly 40,000,000 deaths bloody the hands of abortionists in the United States.

FBI statistics say the violent crime rate is dropping, but I don't understand how that can be when one in ten Americans have been murdered in the last thirty years. Oh, wait. It's legal murder.

Future generations will judge us more guilty than Hitler for the atrocity we have allowed to happen to these unborn children.

Please click on the link below for Dr. Mohler's post, The Cause of Life--Where We Now Stand.
Crosswalk.com - Albert Mohler's Weblog

What have you done today to help stop this madness? Have you prayed? Have you written a letter to a newspaper? Have you made a donation to or volunteered to help at a Pro-Life clinic? Have you participated in a public protest? Do you communicate your concern with your elected officials?

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.
(British Philosopher Edmund Burke)
So, Do Something.

GBW

Mr. Rauch's Miracle Brush - Tars with one hand, whitewashes with the other.

"On balance it is probably healthier if religious conservatives are inside the
political system than if they operate as insurgents and provocateurs on the
outside. Better they should write anti-abortion planks into the Republican
platform than bomb abortion clinics. The same is true of the left. The clashes
over civil rights and Vietnam turned into street warfare partly because
activists were locked out of their own party establishments and had to fight,
literally, to be heard. When Michael Moore receives a hero's welcome at the
Democratic National Convention, we moderates grumble; but if the parties engage
fierce activists while marginalizing tame centrists, that is probably better for
the social peace than the other way around." Jonathan Rauch in The Atlantic
Monthly

When you cut to the chase, it seems Mr. Rauch thinks that religious conservatives bomb abortion clinics and Leftist radicals turned to violence in the Sixties and early Seventies because it was the only way they could be heard. Consequently, the only way to keep social peace is to embrace the madness on both sides of the cultural spectrum.

I'd be very interested to know how many religious conservatives Mr. Rauch has in his circle of friends. Few, I would wager, for if religious conservatives are as he states here, I'm sure he runs screaming whenever he thinks he sees one. (Come to think of it, so would I.) I wish I could persuade him to sit in with my Sunday School class for a couple of Sundays, maybe attend one of our class socials. A member for some years, I have yet to hear any instruction on manufacturing explosive devices or the effective placement of the same. There have been no trips to the range to hone sniper skills. Instead, we talk about ourselves, our families, our jobs, our co-workers, and study how the Bible is relevant in our lives every day. We ask each other to pray for those about whom we are concerned. Mr. Rauch might hear about class plans to donate money to purchase gifts for an Indianapolis pastor's family with six children our class has taken under our wing. Perhaps he'd hear about opportunities to sing in the choir, work in childcare, assist in the media ministry, or attend Bible studies. Oh well, maybe my church is a rare exception. No, wait, the last four churches I attended were the same way. Hmmm. Maybe it isnt an exception after all.

Mr. Rauch's comments show either the egregious willful ignorance of religious conservatism usually exhibited by the Left, or a carelessness of expression of which a writer with his credentials should not be guilty. If religious conservatives were prone to bomb abortion clinics because they were marginalized in the political process, the Clinton years would have been a veritable firestorm. Why is Mr. Rauch so wrong? He is wrong simply because he wants to be. Either he has not taken the time to get to know any religious conservatives, and/or he accepts the distorted caricature of conservative persons of faith as truth without corroboration, and/or he has been careless.

Mr. Rauch has also seems to have accepted the Left's justifying interpretation of the "glorious struggle" of the Sixties and early Seventies. Objective observation reveals most radicals of the era were one of two things, communist/socialists masquerading as "progressives", or immature children, regardless of their age, throwing tantrums because they couldn't have their way and have it now, and they wanted to stick it to their parents. It wasn't because they were marginalized. It was because they were impatient.

I bought the relevant issue of the Atlantic Monthly last evening, and in context with the rest of the article. I think Mr. Rauch was careless. I hope we see some sense of accountability from him which has been so lacking in recent instances of media malfeasance.
GBW

UPDATE:
Hugh Hewitt had Mr. Rauch on his show last evening, and guess what? Mr. Rauch was responsive to the point of allowing his entire article to be included on Hugh's blog and penning a response.
Integrity in media. What a concept!!

Kudos to Jonathan Rauch for being a responsible journalist. At least in hindsight.
GBW

The Counter-Counter Inaugural

The Central Kentucky Chapter of Protest Warrior staged a Counter-Counter Inaugural Thursday in response to the Louisville Peace Action Community's Counter-Inaugural (That means "WehateBushwewishhewasdeadhe'snotourPresident.) at the Courthouse in downtown Louisville.
See Paul's post here, Brent's post here, and Dawn's post here and a couple of comments from me here. (Note: There is some strong language in some of these posts.) Paul and Brent serve up some great pictures. I wish there was video of the LPAC'ers that were not all that peaceful.

Most people on the right have no idea how many on the left exhibit what seems to be lunatic behavior and reasoning. These posts will give you a glimpse. I heartily recommend you attend one of their rallies for a real eye opener.

Then join Protest Warrior.
GBW

Idealism untempered with pragmatism

(For some reason, this didn't post up Thursday. So, here it is)
Driving to work this morning, I passed the preparations for Greater Louisville Peace and Justice Communities' "All Day Counter-Inaugural" rally in front of the courthouse in downtown Louisville. I immediately recalled the words of noted British evolutionist, Sir Arthur Keith*, who said, "Evolution is unproved and unprovable; we believe it only because the alternative is the belief in God and creation, and that is unthinkable!"

In case you haven't noticed, we do not live in a perfect world. Though peace is always an admirable goal, all parties involved in a dispute must sign on, or it is not peace, but oppression. Sadly, sometimes force must be met with force. It is at this point we see Sir Arthur's mindset manifest itself in the peace movement. Peace is the only answer for them because their minds are closed to reality and the necessities of it.

Their blind devotion to utopianism (or their blind hatred of George W. Bush, you decide) flies in the face of the way things are. Reality. The terrorist insurgents in Iraq are responsible for most of the civilian deaths since the United States liberated Iraq. "Oh, but if the U.S. hadn't invaded Iraq, the insurgents wouldn't be killing civilians." No, but if we hadn't invaded, the former regime would have continued to kill by the tens of thousands and continued to support Islamic terrorists by paying bounties to families of suicide bombers. Palestinian terrorism continues in Israel, even as the Israeli government meets more of the (corrupt) Palestinian Authority's demands. Radical Islamic terrorists continue to strike civilian targets around the world. I don't even know how to begin to describe what is going on in Africa.

Many in the "Peace and Justice" community put the cart before the horse. They insist on peace at any cost, all the time, every time, even when the other side refuses to participate. In a utopia, this is not a problem, but in our world it is appeasement, not peace. The peace movement's idealism untempered with pragmatism is not only foolish, but, in this instance, dangerous.

I wonder if the "peace" demonstrators see the irony of their situation today. Demonstrating in public, covering a public building with their propaganda, publicly dissenting against their country that came into being through war and preserved thru the centuries by war, while Americans serve around the world, striving to allow others to exercise those same God-given rights in their own countries.

The United States is working for peace in Iraq. Working for it, not just hoping.
GBW

p.s.
I thought it interesting that the flag displayed on the LouisvillePeace.org website ("Join or Die") is a battleflag from the American Revolution.

*Sir Arthur Keith wrote the preface to the 100th Anniversary Edition of Darwin's Origen of the Species.

A brief History of the Conservative Movement

I received this brief history lesson in an email from my cousin, a Master Sergeant in the Army. I thank him for his consideration.

A Brief History of the Conservative Movement

Division of the human family into two distinct groups began some 12,000 years ago. Humans existed as members of small bands of nomadic hunter/gatherers. They lived on deer in the mountains in the summer and would go to the beach and live on fish in winter.

The two most important events in all of history were the invention of beer and the invention of the wheel. The wheel was invented by Man to get to the beer. These were the foundation of modern civilization and together were the catalyst for the splitting of humanity into two distinct subgroups: Liberals and Conservatives. Once beer was discovered, it required grain, and that was the beginning of agriculture. Neither the glass bottle nor the aluminum can was invented yet, so while our early human ancestors were sitting around waiting for them to be invented, they just stayed close to the brewery. That's how villages were formed.

Some men spent their days tracking and killing animals to BBQ at night while they were drinking beer. This was the beginning of what became known as the "Conservative Movement".

Other men, who were weaker and less skilled at hunting, learned to live off the conservatives by showing up for the nightly B-B-Q's and doing the sewing, fetching and hair dressing. This was the beginning of the "Liberal Movement". Some of these liberal men eventually evolved into women. The rest became known as "girlie men".

Some noteworthy liberal achievements include the domestication of cats, the trade union, the invention of group therapy, group hugs, and the concept of Democratic voting to decide how to divide up the meat and the beer that the conservatives were providing. Over the years, conservatives came to be symbolized by the largest, most powerful land animal on earth, the elephant. Liberals are symbolized by the jackass.

Modern liberals like imported beer, ( with lime added ), but most prefer white wine or imported bottled water. They eat raw fish, but like their beef well done. Sushi, tofu, and French food are standard liberal fare. Another interesting, revolutionary side note: most of their women have higher testosterone levels than liberal men. Most social workers, personal injury lawyers, journalists, dreamers in Hollywood, and group therapists are liberals. Liberals also invented the Designated Hitter Rule because it wasn't "fair" to make the pitcher also bat.

Conservatives drink domestic beer, and eat red meat and potatoes. Conservatives are big-game hunters, rodeo cowboys, lumberjacks, construction workers, medical doctors, police officers, corporate executives, soldiers, athletes, and generally anyone who works productively outside of government. Conservatives who own companies employ other conservatives who want to work for a living.

Liberals produce little, or nothing. They like to "govern" the producers and decide what to do with the production. Liberals believe Europeans are more enlightened than Americans. That is why most of the liberals remained in Europe when conservatives were coming to America. They crept in after the Wild West was tamed, and created a business of trying to get MORE for nothing.

This ends today's history lesson.

Thanks again, cuz.
GBW

Another Dunce Cap for Brady Campaign

(Source: NRA/ILA, January 15, 2005)

You know the anti-gunners are desperate when they have to resort to nonsense like this. Even though violent crime has declined 12 straight years and is at a 27-year low, the Brady Campaign says that 31 states deserve a "D" or "F" grade for their gun laws. This, according to their eighth annual "report card."

If that isn`t silly enough, on the January 12 episode of NRA`s live talk-radio show, NRANEWS.com, Brady spokesman Peter Hamm claimed Brady`s grades are determined by a "secret" formula. There`s no secret, though. Plain and simple, Brady gives the highest grades to the states that have the most "gun control." So, for example, the state of Maryland gets the highest grade (A-), even though it has the nation`s second highest murder rate and highest robbery rate. But low-crime states with fewer restrictions on the rights of lawful gun owners, like Idaho, Maine, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming and Vermont get a "D" or "F."

If anyone deserves a bad grade, the Brady Campaign does for failing "Civics 101." It reduced Ohio`s grade from a "D+" to a "D-" because the state`s Right-to-Carry law "forced police to issue CCW" permits! Well of course they did; that`s called "democracy." Legislatures, representing the people, pass laws. That`s what they do!

The Brady Campaign also gets an "F" for failing math, claiming that "gun control" reduces crime. As noted in numerous studies, including recent ones from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and National Research Council, there is no evidence to support that claim.

Basically, the Brady Campaign`s "report card" is a superficial publicity stunt, perpetrated by an extremist anti-gun organization trying to attract attention to itself because it is fast on its way to becoming irrelevant. Name the issue, and the Brady Campaign is either losing the battle, or has lost the war. To wit: the right to arms is now widely recognized as an individual right. The federal "assault weapons" ban expired. The federal waiting period expired in favor of Instant Check. And NRA-PVF-supported candidates were even more successful than usual in the recent elections, while virtually all Brady-supported candidates for national office were defeated.

While sitting in the corner, the folks at the Brady Campaign would do well to read the writing on the wall.

Cosby addresses universal problem.

Bill Cosby has been excoriated by many for his criticism of certain aspects of African-American culture he believes have been shown to be destructive. He doesn't back off with this op-ed piece he wrote for The Detroit Free Press.

After you've read his piece and my comments, ask yourself a question. Ignoring the Civil Rights angle, aren't Mr. Cosby's questions ones all parents should be asking? My parents certainly did.

My Mom and Dad knew where I was 99% of the time. Not much room for meaness in that 1% left over. And they checked up on me. I wasn't a bad kid, they just took parenting seriously. Most of the time I was at home doing chores. There was very little running around the neighborhood and no ranging further afield.

My parents knew what was going on at school because they took the time to find out. Sometimes they found out things before I got home. They met with or called teachers. They checked my homework. They looked at my report cards and held me accountable for the grades.

Mom and Dad knew my friends and their families. We couldn't afford expensive sneakers, but they wouldn't have bought them if we could. My mom bought all my clothes until I was well into High School. They were never "cool", but they were always decent and tasteful. My folks taught and insisted on manners, respect for morals and property, both ours and others, respect for law-enforcement personnel, teachers, members of the armed forces, veterans, my elders, and much more.

I was always amazed when I saw what many of my friends and acquaintances got away with. Mom and Dad would (and did!) stop "that nonsense" in a New York Minute. We always knew the exact location of the boundaries and exactly what would happen when we crossed them. My grandparents, aunts and uncles were in on it, too.

My Wonderful Wife and I are not blessed with children of our own. We have tried to do our small part to support the parents of our nieces, nephews, younger cousins, and the children we were privileged to teach in a Christian School, Sunday school, and youth group. But we have also had the experience of sitting across the desk from parents saying, "I can't do nothin' with him." Their son was seven years old.

I have seen the same problems Mr. Cosby describes in the small mountain communities of my childhood, but the population most affected there is white. A boom-and-bust economic cycle based on coal mining and generations of handouts from the failed experiments of the War on Poverty and The Great Society have created a culture of dependency and victimism (is that a word?), that is startlingly like that which he decries in the inner cities and Louisville's own West End.

I find I must agree with Mr. Cosby because the things he recommends are how I was reared. I think it worked out well.
GBW

Boycott CBS

Why is no one crying from the roofs, "Boycott CBS News sponsors!!!"

Headlines should be saying, "CBS News Sponsor Boycott Enters Third Month"

If Rather and Heyward are to go, one must get the attention of the important people they answer to, Finance and the stockholders.

I will watch CBS news this evening for the first time in a very, very long time for the sole purpose of getting a list of sponsors. Tomorrow I will be writing letters to those sponsors.

It's amazing how few letters it takes to get under a sponsor's skin and get them to take action.

I wonder what several truckloads a day would do.

Hmmmmmmmm...
GBW