Full Circle

Let's look at things this way. We're back where we can make the difference. Now, come November, "We the People" will have the opportunity to decide the final fate of President Obama's healthcare bill.

There's no one left to look to except ourselves, friends. The emperor--oh, excuse me, the president--is completely absorbed with building his realm in the image and likeness of his cherished left-wing ideology. He really doesn't give a fig about the concerns of the little people.

The congressional oligarchy, from the very start of this wildly unpopular legislation, ignored the significant and steady public outcry against "Obamacare." They never gave us a thought when they shoved the bill through. Many are gone, shut out of office by outraged voters in 2010. But the Congress and Senate in place today are focused on preserving their jobs and the accompanying endless perks. Constituents enter their minds only when it's time to ask for donations.

And today, the chief justice of the country sold out over 300 million Americans so that he can look good in the history books. He actually changed the definition of "penalty" to "tax" to allow the law to stand. Talk about judicial activism. But where are the outraged media leftists now? Since their agenda benefited from this national betrayal, MSM is smugly silent on the activism issue.

It's up to us, fellow Americans. We've got to get a new president elected. OMG--Obama Must Go. Even with a new president and a new Congress and Senate, our future is murky. We are living in what Mark Levin calls a "post-constitutional" America.

What would it be like if Barack Obama is elected to a second term, with no fear of facing a re-election campaign? I shiver to think of the further wreckage. The country would be unrecognizable by 2016.

Today was a wake-up call for action, for every U.S. citizen who cares about our country and its future. We must push hard for our own hope and change come November. Americans have been in this spot before, in the 1770s, and we prevailed then. We can do it again. We're still Americans and we're still patriots, even if our so-called leaders are not. "To arms, to arms"--to the ballot box.

Fortnight for Freedom

I heard about the Fortnight for Freedom on the radio yesterday, the day it launched. It will conclude on Independence Day, July 4th.

The Fortnight for Freedom is a nationwide effort of prayer for protection of our God-given, First Amendment right to religious liberty. It's not "freedom of worship," a distinction that has so slyly been slipped into political jargon in recent months. Catholics, and many other Christians, are praying for God's protection of Freedom of religion.

There is a significant difference. Worship is private and personal to the individual. Religion is public and all-encompassing to the entire congregation of faithful. And those in government who want to limit religious liberty know this full well.

Think about it. A president waits until the eleventh hour of the "Fast and Furious" investigation to invoke Executive Privilege. He does it because he thinks he can.

The same president states several times over many years that he does not have the power to usurp the country's laws regarding illegal immigrants, then he reverses that stand and does it. He does it because he thinks he can.

The same president issued the HHS mandate ordering Catholic institutions to provide contraception, abortion and sterilization coverage in violation of the doctrines of the Catholic Church. He does it because he thinks he can. This man answers to no one, not even God. Going forward, little peasants, the free exercise of religion will be at the king's pleasure. Get used to it.

It says somewhere in that good book known as the Bible that pride and arrogance precede a tumble. The Fortnight for Freedom may reach well beyond the Fourth of July. Perhaps even to Election Day.

The Power of Dad

For those of us fortunate enough to have grown up with a good father, Father's Day is always an occasion for fond memories. It's sometimes surprising, the things we remember from childhood, and the startling occasions they pop to mind.

For example, whenever I see Old Spice men's products, I think of Dad. Since my earliest memories, Old Spice was his brand. It makes me happy that my son sometimes uses Old Spice now.

If I'm hurrying through an airport and see a man getting his shoes shined, it reminds of Dad. He was meticulous about shining his shoes before work. He often told me that his mother had trained him and his four brothers, raised on the brink of poverty, to have shined shoes, a haircut, and a clean handkerchief at all times. 

There's a message in that for today's tough financial times. No matter our circumstances, it's within our power to present a dignified front and take pride in our appearance.

Dad grew up before Kleenex was a household word, so I suppose a supply of clean tissues would suffice today. But I still like "hankies." Dad's handkerchiefs were my training ground when mom taught me to iron. "First iron the center, then follow the borders; fold it in half, then iron the crease; fold into a square, press it flat..." On those rare occasions when I see a handkerchief, I think of my father. 

There are so many other reminders...baseball games, beer bottles, bowling balls, bathrobes--and those are just the "B"s.  Even 25 years after his passing, almost every day I'm reminded of my father. It's sufficient proof, to me, that whether he's with us in the here and now or watching from beyond, a good dad stays with us for life.

Thanks, Dad. Happy Father's Day.

The Forgotten Holiday

Flag Day ~ June 14, 2012

Long may it wave...

Connecting Across a Century

I visited the Titanic exhibit in San Diego last weekend. Each visitor receives a "boarding pass" with a passenger's name. You carry this card throughout the exhibit, and the last display is the memorial wall. It's at this wall, inscribed with all 2,200 names of those aboard, that you learn whether your person lived or died. 

These photos are of my passenger's card.  Her name was Mrs. Stanton Abbott. A native of England, she was traveling with her two teenaged sons. She had taken her children back to England from Rhode Island when she left her husband, and she was returning to the U.S. because her boys were homesick. The Abbotts were traveling in third class.

At the memorial wall, I saw that Mrs. Abbott had survived, but her sons had not. I was surprised by how much this fact bothered me. In the one hour I had spent exploring the recreated atmosphere of the lost ship, marveling at the artifacts and reading the history, I discovered I had become quite attached to the Abbott family. This warranted further research.

The Titanic actually offers its own online encyclopedia, so there I learned more about the tragic fate of the Abbotts. While reading, I considered the fact that although times may change, people don't. The Titanic sank 100 years ago, but here was a mother from a failed marriage trying to start fresh and make things right for her children. Don't all of us today know someone just like Mrs. Abbott?

History is the connective tissue of the human race. It's all our story, with dates, places, and people changing ceaselessly but human emotions anchored in constancy. Poor Mrs. Abbott. The sinking of the Titanic was only the beginning of her sorrows.

The Hollow Man

"Shape without form, shade without colour
Paralysed force, gesture without motion"
~ T. S. Eliot, The Hollow Men

From the Tuesday Wisconsin recall election to rumbles of national security leaks to his incredible statement in Friday's press conference that "the private sector's doing fine," President Obama has had a rough week. You'd think after 3+ years he would have started to figure out the political landscape, but as Eliot's poem notes, hollow men such as Mr. Obama have a "headpiece filled with straw. Alas!"

Yes, alas for our country. At least until November.

In my opinion, the president's lack of substance is simply catching up with him. In popular jargon, "there is no there there," which is what The Hollow Men states far more eloquently. For an absolutely hilarious description of President Obama's frenetic fundraising efforts, read Mark Steyn's piece on "Our Celebrity President." No matter how dire the circumstances, Steyn has a way of presenting the facts that makes me laugh. No "hollow man" he.

Remembering D-Day

D-Day - June 6, 1944

Beyond Courage - Troops storming the beach at Normandy

"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same." - Ronald Reagan

Internet Obsession

Okay, I've been blogging since 2004. I've been on Twitter since 2009, but I've never done much tweeting. Facebook? Maybe 2010, again not overly active. And now, the latest in the all-web-all-the-time craze has arrived--Pinterest.

Pinterest is visual. It's fast, fun, and growing at an exponential rate. I'm still learning how to drive the blessed thing--there are pins, repins, and boards--but I'm having a good time. I've linked it through my Twitter site, since 1.) I'm rather tired of Facebook, and 2.) I'm loading up on Twitter at the moment, in preparation for a long and lively election season. I've added a few of my favorite conservative media personalities to my Twitter feed, so I can follow the news as it pops.

Oh, I've also added Election Projection to my blog homepage's sidebar links. I can follow the races that interest me as we head into high campaign gear.

But if you have time, check out Pinterest. It's a blast.

Just Wondering...

Hey, didn't we fight the Iraq war to get the oil? At least, that's what I've been told uncounted times by my left-leaning friends.

So where is it, all that Iraqi oil? What's the deal with Iraq's growing oil industry? Hugh Hewitt points out the absurdity of the liberal argument that we fought to get the oil. Yes, of course we did--which is why I'm paying $4.15 per gallon for gas in California.

As the astute and acerbic Mark Steyn once said in an interview, "the United States does not have an imperialistic bone in its body." This fact is so obviously true. What do we immediately hear at the start of any U.S. military action? Always the same question: "What is our exit strategy?" Contrary to popular lore, we are not the Roman Empire, tacking on our conquests as we burn and pillage our way through the world. Our national deeds have confirmed this, from Korea to Vietnam, from Bosnia to Iraq and Afghanistan. But there remain many--especially in the media--who refuse to believe their lying eyes.