Now This Made Me Laugh

How interesting that a Saturday Night Live skit making fun of President Obama has been removed from YouTube. My, what thin skin we have in our executive branch!

Reel Humor

"Say what you like about those Mayan guys, but they only schedule an apocalypse once every 5,126 years. Only Washington would try to pull it off every six weeks."

~ Mark Steyn on sequestration

Whenever I need a columnist to cheer me up about dreary current events, I web-surf over to Mark Steyn's most recent entry. If you need a break from the political hand-wringing--and who doesn't--I highly recommend his latest work of art, "Sequestageddon." It's worth the read, if only for the creative titles in his "government by fake disaster movie" theme and the hilarious plot descriptions.

Zero Debt Thirty, indeed. Mark, I know you're from Canada, but you're a U.S. national treasure.

History for Today

I'm seeing a lot of columns on our U.S. president from the Roaring 20s, Calvin Coolidge recently. Undoubtedly the coverage results from the success of the newly published biography of him by Amity Shales.

I think I'd like to read Shales' best-selling book, Coolidge. He sounds like a man who had practical solutions that would apply well in our own troubled times.

The Obama Code Book

Obama’s favorite phrases:          What he’s really saying:

  

“Work with me"                                   Do what I tell you to do

“Let me be clear”                                I’m lying to you

“We can do this”                                 I’ll get my way

“A balanced approach”                      Higher taxes all around

“The rich”                                             Anyone with a job

"Millionaires and billionaires"            Anyone earning $250,000/yr

“Pay their fair share”                          I don’t have enough of your money yet

“We’ve still got work to do”                 I’m not done shafting you

Striking Questions

What's up with this?

Lightning struck the dome of the St. Peter's just hours after Pope Benedict XVI announced his plan to resign at the end of the month.

Now, I think the poor old guy should be able to step down if he doesn't feel up to the task anymore. I can't imagine working at his age, let alone in a high pressure, 24/7 job.

But then, on the other hand, he's the pope--in the Catholic faith, he's chosen by the power of the Holy Spirit, not by any human being. In that unique situation, does he get to call it quits? Or does that decision belong to a Higher Authority?

When asked why he didn't resign due to his poor health, the long-suffering Pope John Paul II reportedly answered, "Christ did not come down from the cross."

Is Pope Benedict XVI's decision right or wrong? I don't know, and I couldn't begin to speculate. But I do know that I like John Paul II's answer. And there were no reports of a thunderbolt striking the Vatican afterwards.

Quality Flight

I watched the movie Flight this weekend; Denzel Washington stars as the heroic pilot who is also a very flawed alcoholic and substance addict.

In the interest of full disclosure, I should mention that Washington is my favorite modern-day actor. I see all of his movies; it's personal policy. He never films garbage, and no matter what role he's playing, good guy or evil monster, he always nails it. In the character of Whip Whitaker, Denzel does not disappoint.

The title of the film suggests the dramatic early scenes, which depict the horrific crash landing of a commercial jet. But the deeper meaning emerges as Whitaker wrestles and runs from his interior demons. Flight has an intelligent script, revealing as the plot unfolds the personal torment, family damage, and social destruction caused by unchecked addiction. The ending is not your typical Hollywood-happy contrivance, but a realistic and satisfying conclusion to a complicated story.

There is so much fluff, gore, and nonsense in today's movies. When a thoughtful story about true-to-life characters with serious problems is so skillfully portrayed, I like to spread the word--see it.

For California Police Officers

A POLICE OFFICER'S PRAYER

Lord I ask for courage

Courage to face and
Conquer my own fears...

Courage to take me
Where others will not go...

I ask for strength

Strength of body to protect others
And strength of spirit to lead others...

I ask for dedication

Dedication to my job, to do it well
Dedication to my community
To keep it safe...

Give me Lord, concern
For others who trust me
And compassion for those who need me...

And please Lord

Through it all
Be at my side...
--Author Unknown
 

Favorite Super Bowl Commercials

I admit it. I was crying like I was four years old...

OK, this one, too...

...And oh, yes, the game was also pretty good.

The Fault Lies in Ourselves

Q. "Why does anyone need a gun like that?"
A. "Well, why does anyone need a Quentin Tarantino movie?"
~ from "Violence," by Rep. John Campbell (R-CA)

A congressman from California, John Campbell, has written a thoughtful reflection titled "Violence," about the increased gun violence in American society. In reading it, I find he thinks as I do--that guns are not the problem so much as our modern culture. That as William Shakespeare put it, "the fault is not in our stars, but in ourselves."

Campbell notes that although gun control laws were nearly nonexistent sixty years ago, school shootings were unknown. He cites six aspects of our society that have grown harsh and coarse in the last several decades. Among the causes he theorizes are at the root of our nation's current violent tendencies are the decline of the family and religion, Hollywood influences, and the complete lack of personal accountability so prevalent today--especially in our so-called leaders.

Watch today's movies, listen to popular music, read the headlines. There is no denying the soul of America is darker than it once was. We can protest in the streets, pass laws, and try to control circumstances. All these external actions are easy to do, quick fixes that may make us feel better, temporarily.

But laws can't alter a cultural mindset. Positive, enduring change that will enrich and strengthen our society must come from within each individual. That's the hard part. It's nobody's fault but our own that we don't do it.

Lessons from the Saints

"Whatever you would wish at your dying hour to have done in health, that do now while you may."
~ St. Angela Merici (1474-1540)


I looked at the church calendar for today. One of the many saints whose memorial is today, January 27, is Angela Merici. I was surprised to read that she actually died on January 24, which is my birthday. Also, she is one of the "the incorruptibles," the term applied to those saints of the Catholic Church whose physical bodies remain intact after death.

(Aside: I wonder how atheists would explain the incorruptibles?)

Many years ago I read The Incorruptibles, the fascinating book by Joan Carroll Cruz (no relation). As it was a Christmas gift from one of my children, and one I had requested, I still have my copy. So I looked up Angela Merici's story to refresh my memory. There is a photo in the book of her body on display in a beautiful glass case in Casa S. Angela in Brescia, Italy.

St. Angela founded the Ursulines, the first teaching order of nuns in the Church. As usual, saints are busy people. She took her own advice to "do it now." I read somewhere that "saints are just sinners who keep on trying." As usual, again, there's a lesson there.