They Can Dish it Out, but They Can’t Take It

They Can Dish it Out, but They Can’t Take It
Let’s see, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz was the leader of what one might call a small riot (we’ll just call it a very unruly crowd) in front of the Florida office of United States Congressman Allen West.  The YouTube video shows her screaming at the top of her lungs and shouting lies about the Congressman, but that’s OK because she’s a radical feminist.  No one in the media questioned such outrageous behavior by a member of Congress against another member of Congress.  No one asked why a Congressperson from another district in Florida would be standing outside the office of a fellow member of Congress trying to incite a crowd to rage with venom clearly inspired by hatred.

But the mob scene outside the Florida office of Congressman Allen West was pretty mild stuff for a pit bull like Debbie Wasserman Schultz.  When the story first broke of the awful Tucson shooting of a fellow Congresswoman, Gabrielle Giffords, you can be sure that Congresswoman Schultz was one of the first to falsely blame conservatives and Tea Party members without any evidence whatsoever.  And when the facts came out and the truth was told that the shooting was by a clearly deranged person, you can be confident that she then blamed the climate of hate created by the right.  She, like the President and the lap dog news media, called for civility of speech, but that civility was of course only to muzzle their opponents.

Where was that civility of speech in front of Congressman Allen West’s Florida office?  Where was that civility on the floor of the United States House of Representatives the other day when she accused the Congressman of trying to destroy both Social Security and Medicare?  It was politics as usual, not civility, that Congresswoman Schultz had in mind.  When, in fact, has Debbie Wasserman Schultz ever been known as a person of mild temperament or civil behavior? 

While I might not have used the same words that were used by Congressman Allen West to describe her, she certainly deserved them.  Congressperson Schultz can dish it out, but she can’t take it.  She’s used to slandering others and having them take it without speaking back.  When those slandered, like Congressman West, give it right back to her, she puts on her little girl act and gathers her leftwing girl friends around her to pretend that she really is a lady.  A lady she is not.  Feminists and radicals like Debbie Wasserman Schultz think they have the right to slander and smear with impunity.  Well, Allen West had had enough and he bit back. 

And by the way, who is Allen West?  While Congresswoman Schultz wouldn’t recognize the US Constitution if it hit her in the face, Congressman and Lieutenant Colonel West is committed to it.  He is a man of great personal character and courage.  Here is his story taken directly from his website…

Lieutenant Colonel Allen West (US Army, Retired) was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia and is third of four generations of military servicemen in his family.  His parents instilled in him a very basic principle, love of God and Country.  In 2004, when it was time to retire from more than twenty years of service in the US Army, he brought his wife and two young daughters to Broward County, Florida, where he taught high school for one year.  He then returned to Afghanistan as an advisor to the Afghan army, an assignment he finished in November 2007.

Allen West received his Bachelors degree from University of Tennessee and Masters degree from Kansas State University, both in political science.  He also holds a Master of Military Arts and Sciences from the US Army Command and General Staff Officer College in political theory and military operations.

“Education is the great equalizer,” he says. “With a good education, any child in America can live his dream.”

Allen West knows that for our children to live their dreams, they need to be safe.  He has served in several combat zones: in Operation Desert Storm, in Operation Iraqi Freedom, where he was battalion commander for the Army’s 4th Infantry Division, and in Afghanistan, where he trained Afghan officers to take on the responsibility of securing their own country.

In his Army career, Col. West has been honored many times, including a Bronze Star, three Meritorious Service Medals, three Army Commendation Medals (one with Valor), and a Valorous Unit Award.  He received his valor award as a Captain in Desert Shield/Storm, was the US Army ROTC Instructor of the Year in 1993, and was a Distinguished Honor Graduate III Corps Assault School.  He proudly wears the Army Master Parachutist badge, Air Assault badge, Navy/Marine Corps parachutist insignia, Italian parachutist wings, and German proficiency badge (Bronze award).

Allen is an avid distance runner, a PADI Master certified SCUBA diver, motorcyclist, and attends Community Christian Church in Tamarac, Florida.

Excellence is a West family tradition.  His wife, Angela, holds an MBA and Ph.D. and works as a financial planner.  His oldest daughter, Aubrey, attends Archbishop McCarthy HS and his youngest daughter, Austen, attends Cooper City Christian Academy.

So why does Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and the left in general, have such a hatred for Allen West?  There are two things about Allen West that cause liberals like Schultz to become unhinged.  It’s not just that Allen is a conservative or even a military war hero.  They don’t like that, but they will grudgingly tolerate it.

Liberals like Schultz feel threatened by Allen West serving in Congress.  While they dislike white conservatives, they froth at the mouth at the thought of a conservative black man or woman serving in Congress.  The election of a thoughtful, intelligent African American conservative like Allen West gives lie to their false narrative that all black Americans think alike and it shatters the myth that all conservatives are racist. 

Liberalism and those on the radical left like Schultz cling by a thread to their political power.  It is based solely on their ability to perpetuate the lie that conservatives are inherently racist and therefore no black person can be a conservative.  Their goal is not just to defeat Allen West, but to besmirch his character and destroy him so that other conservative African Americans are intimidated from seeking public office. 

Power is everything to a liberal Congresswoman like Schultz.  It is the end all and be all.  Everything can be justified in the name of gaining and staying in power.  The end justifies the means.  If a lie helps a Congressman or President to stay in power, then there is nothing wrong with telling lies. 

Liberals don’t see individuals.  They think only in terms of Marxist class warfare.  They intentionally pit rich against poor, unions against employers, young verses old, women against men, black against white, etc.  It’s all designed to gain power.  To liberal politicians, Black Americans are just another group to be used and manipulated in order to perpetuate themselves in power.  And in order to maintain control over the African American community they must perpetuate the lie that the conservative philosophy is at its core, racist.  It matters not a whit to them that this lie helps to perpetuate black poverty and unemployment.  To a liberal politician or a member of the liberal media, the important thing is power.

When a Clarence Thomas or Allen West comes along they lose it.  They write articles hoping that Clarence Thomas will get heart disease and die early.  They vehemently utter smears and slander without regard to accuracy or truth.  They organize mobs to throw Oreo cookies at black conservatives when they run for public office.  They can’t debate on the basis of the merit of new ideas and programs proposed by conservatives because they know their tired old ideas have failed and been found wanting.  For instance, they know that school voucher programs for poor people help African Americans lift themselves up out of poverty, but the threat of losing power with another of their groups—the labor unions—keep them from supporting such efforts.  Besides, if African Americans really do succeed economically and climb the ladder of economic success, it will no longer be possible for the Democrats to count on them in the next election.  And remember, maintaining power is the holy grail of liberalism and their vehicle, the Democratic Party.

Liberal politicians and their allies in the news media and in the academy hate and detest Allen West because he is a threat to their power.  It’s time for all conservatives to rally around Congressman West so that other black conservatives will not be intimidated from running for and getting elected to Congress in the years to come.  Call the office of Allen West today (202-225-3026) and let him know that you stand with him.

A Book You Can’t Put Down

A Book You Can’t Put Down
Most books I have a hard time putting down are thriller novels.  Fantasy can grip your attention much quicker than nonfiction books on topics that generally have more redeeming qualities.  But recently I came across a little book, Heaven is for Real (Thomas Nelson, 2010), written by Todd Burpo, that I just could not put down.  I really didn’t intend to buy it in the first place, but I had listened with one ear to an interview of the author and his son on FOX and Friends some weeks back.  I was mildly interested, but not motivated enough to actually order a copy.  Then as I was purchasing another book from Amazon, a promo popped up suggesting that I might enjoy this book.  I was still not sold, but since the paperback price was under $10, I thought, why not.

Well the book arrived along with some others that I was really interested in purchasing, so it set on my nightstand unopened for more than a month.  Finally, while I was participating in a mostly boring conference call, I paged through it and my interest was piqued.
 
This last weekend I started it in earnest and I literally could not put it down.  Except, at one point, I had to put it aside because I was incredulous in regard to a terrible misdiagnosis that is described in the book.
 
For a first time author, Todd Burpo (from Imperial, Nebraska) does an excellent job of telling an amazing story.  I’m not going to spoil it by trying to give you a synopsis, but I am going to strongly urge you to get a copy of this New York Times best seller.  You’ll understand why it is a best seller after you read a couple of chapters.  It’s only 162 pages long, but I guarantee that you will spend a very enjoyable two hours reading this fine book.  It may make you wince, laugh, and cry (I did), but it’s a great, fun, thoughtful, inspiring read.

Be sure and get yourself a copy.  (http://heavenisforreal.net/)

For the Glory of God

For the Glory of God

I’m a huge fan of Charles Colson.  I believe he is one of the most articulate and insightful Christian spokesmen of our time.  He has spread the Gospel of Jesus around the globe, in prisons no less, via an organization he founded, Prison Fellowship (www.prisonfellowship.org).  But, in my opinion, even more important than that, he has been the clearest advocate for Christians not only attending church on Sundays, but even more important, living a life in the shadow of Jesus all week long.  He wants believers to see themselves as co-laborers in a common cause.  He advocates a Christian world view through his books and speeches that encourage readers to live their faith.

That’s a long-winded way of explaining how I came to read For the Glory of God by Rodney Stark (Copyright 2003 Princeton University Press).  Colson has written many books worth reading, digesting, and studying and in the course of reading How Then Shall We Live? (Copyright 1999, Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.), Colson’s excellent book on Christian Living, I found For the Glory of God as one of his reference works.

After reading For the Glory of God, I can see why Colson used this as background source.  Rodney Stark is not only a very good writer, he is also a scholar whose presentation captivates the reader.  His subtitle is, “How Monotheism Led to Reformations, Science, Witch-Hunts, and the End of Slavery.” 

For the Glory of God is the second volume of a two volume work on the history and legacy of the Christian church.  The first volume is titled, One True God: Historical Consequences of Monotheism.  It is on my future reading list.

Although I have been a life-long Christian, a sometimes student of the Bible, and an avid reader, I confess that prior to reading this book I was an illiterate when it came to the history of Christianity.  I really didn’t know how the church developed after Biblical times.  A disciplined sociologist, Rodney Stark, presents a great picture of the post apostolic Christian church (post apostolic in terms of there being any Apostles still alive). 

Stark explains from a sociological perspective why polytheism was destined to die out and why Christian monotheism was so attractive to the Romans.  In the introduction he argues that…

“…theological assumptions unique to Christianity explain why science was born only in Christian Europe.  Contrary to the received wisdom, religion and science not only were compatible; they were inseparable.” 

Further along in the introduction, he points out the irony that a number of those who were active in the witch-hunts also…

“…played leading roles in declaring that slavery was an abomination in the eyes of God.  It was that conclusion, and only that conclusion, that enabled the West to abolish slavery.  In fact, slavery was abolished in much of the non-Western world only because of Western pressure and interference—and slavery continues in some non-Christian areas.”

Stark also explains…

“…why Christians reached this profoundly important conclusion and Muslims did not.”

You’ll find out in the book why the terms you learned in Junior High and High School, “Enlightenment” and “Dark Ages,” are no longer found in most modern history text books.  The terms were constructions of individuals who had an agenda to convey in writing history, but are now known to be so utterly false that scholars have removed them from use in current works.

He writes of the battles of the “pious” Catholic Church versus the “power” Church and where they succeeded and where they failed.  He tells the story of the “reformations” that were continually taking place within the Catholic Church and why the more dramatic reformation of Huss, Luther and Calvin actually resulted in a break with the church.

I am actually reading two other books by Mr. Stark right now and I must tell you that he writes so evenly that I could not tell you today if he is a Baptist, a Catholic, or something else.  I can tell you that his books are well-researched, thoroughly documented, and well reasoned. 

I learned much from this book and I intend to explore all the other books he has written in this area.  If you want to know about the history of Christianity after Biblical times and to appreciate the legacy of the Christian faith in terms of culture, science, and even economics, then I heartedly recommend that you get a copy of this book or any other book by Mr. Stark.

An Assault on Hard Working Americans

An Assault on Hard Working Americans

There’s a lot of talk about the high taxes that Americans pay and of course, taxes are high, way too high.  As the late Jack Kemp used to say, if you subsidize something you get more of it; if you tax something you get less of it.  The record shows that the higher the taxes become, the higher unemployment is and the weaker our economy is.  Higher taxes mean less jobs and less freedom.  There’s no mystery here.  The record is clear.
 
But today there is something else that is hurting hard working Americans more than taxes.  By hard working Americans, I’m talking about blue collar and white collar Americans who work hard.  They learned, in spite of liberal denials to the contrary, that the way to get ahead in the United States is to work hard and long hours.  Some even take big risks and start companies of their own, and thanks to their hard work and God’s blessings, some succeed.  And when they do, everyone benefits.

These bedrock citizens learned early on to play by the rules, keep their nose clean, and work extra hard to get ahead.  When they were in grade school and high school they had fun, but they read the assignment, did their homework, and probably had a job after school.  The belief that they could get ahead and succeed in life was undoubtedly passed along to them by their parents and hopefully reinforced by a teacher or two.  Their parents lived better than their grandparents, and their grandparents better than their great grandparents.  Now they hope to do the same.  But now, they tell us, the American dream must come to an end.

This sad state of affairs is caused by government.  Not only has President Obama (and his henchmen in Congress—Reid and Pelosi) taken the nation to the brink of economic collapse, they have knowingly and intentionally steered the nation down a path that leads to reduced prosperity and affluence for all Americans.  They are embarrassed by the fact that the United States of America is the most prosperous and powerful nation in the world and they are intent on bringing America and Americans down.  They believe America deserves it.  You and I deserve it.  Our children deserve it.  Our grandchildren deserve it.

Although it runs counter to the reality in front of their eyes, they believe that somehow America has achieved prosperity and greatness on the backs of others.  They believe freedom and economics are both a zero sum game.  In other words, if I have more freedom, you must have less.  If I have more money, you must have less.  They have rejected the foundational principle of limited government, they have distaste for the founding fathers, they look upon Christianity as the enemy, and they believe that the United States is a corrupt, bully nation that doesn’t deserve respect, honor, and admiration, as you and I and millions that came before us do.

It’s hard to understand.  As millions of people try to get into the United States and envy the prosperity of our nation—both its breadth and depth—they see the US through bitter and jealous distorted glasses.  Their hard left ideology demands that they ignore reality and push the nation into second class status.  They want to see the US become a second rate power like the failed socialist states of Europe.  And they have found a way besides punishing taxes to do just that.

Today young and middle aged and even older American citizens are being hurt financially more by government regulations than they are by anything else.  The price is enormous.  The United States of America is the most energy rich nation in the world, yet we live like energy paupers. 

Instead of a gasoline price of one dollar per gallon or less at the pump, we pay nearly four dollars per gallon.  And the price of diesel is nearly as bad.  This intentional effort to raise the price of fuel (including heating fuel) is driving up the cost of everything in America and it especially hurts young families who are just getting started in life.

They don’t just pay at the gas pump, they pay sky high prices for heating oil and natural gas.  They pay outrageous prices for cooling their house in the summer.  Their clothes cost more due to transportation costs and the higher cost of petroleum products used in fabrics themselves.  Groceries cost more due to higher shipping costs.  Everything we buy is at an inflated cost because the Obama Administration is blocking the expanded production of oil and natural gas.

It’s no accident that prices have risen.  The President has made it abundantly clear that he would be delighted with European gasoline prices of $10-$15 per gallon.  It is only because he is facing a tough re-election campaign that the President has given lip service to the fracking breakthrough, but it’s just lip service.

This Administration has no intention of allowing the unlimited and unrestricted production of oil that will drive down prices.  An unlimited supply of oil will not meet their objective of forcing you into a little and very unsafe car or out of your home into a small condo.  They want to reduce your standard of living. 

They really don’t want America to prosper.  They don’t want you to live better than your parents, or your children to live better than you do.  What other explanation is there for running up deficits that will be paid for by your children and grandchildren, or instituting Obamacare, or blocking the production of oil and gas?  They only give lip service to the idea of increased prosperity in election years.  They don’t care about the fact that millions of Americans are out of work, except for the fact that it might damage their re-election chances.  We have a generation of leaders who don’t believe in the American dream, don’t see the United States as exceptional, aren’t proud to be Americans, and really just don’t like our nation.

The 2012 election is critically important.  The United States has reached a tipping point.  In 2012 we will either turn back this threat to our freedom and prosperity or our nation will begin an irreversible slide toward totalitarianism.

The founders risked everything to secure freedom for future generations of Americans.  They put their lives and their fortunes on the line and some lost both.  Do we have that depth of commitment to freedom that they had in 1776?  Will God continue to bless America? 

Not since 1776 has our nation faced as great a challenge as this one.  Not even in the depths of World War II was the threat to our freedom and liberty as great as it is today.

Thomas Paine wrote,

            “THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer
            soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink
            from the service of their country; but he that stands by it
            now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.
            Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have
            this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the
            more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap,
            we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives
            every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper
            price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so
            celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly
            rated.”

It’s 1776 all over again.  Will our children live in freedom and prosper, or will they become serfs of the state?  That’s the decision in 2012.  Let’s work as if it all depends on us to turn our nation back to the principles of freedom and justice, because it does.