We have always been a Christian nation

So... you still think that the God of the Christian bible didn't matter to the founding father and our consecutive governments... Read this then debate me.

The following is from WallBuilders


HRES 888 IH
110th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 888
Affirming the rich spiritual and religious history of our Nation's founding and subsequent history and expressing support for designation of the first week in May as `American Religious History Week' for the appreciation of and education on America's history of religious faith.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
December 18, 2007
Mr. FORBES (for himself, Mr. MCINTYRE, Mr. AKIN, Mr. BARRETT of South Carolina, Mr. CULBERSON, Mr. DOOLITTLE, Mr. FEENEY, Mr. GINGREY, Mr. GOHMERT, Mr. HAYES, Mr. HENSARLING, Mr. HERGER, Mr. JONES of North Carolina, Mr. MCHENRY, Mrs. MUSGRAVE, Mr. PEARCE, Mr. PENCE, Mr. PITTS, Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin, Mrs. SCHMIDT, Mr. WALBERG, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. WOLF, and Mr. YOUNG of Florida) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
RESOLUTION
Affirming the rich spiritual and religious history of our Nation's founding and subsequent history and expressing support for designation of the first week in May as `American Religious History Week' for the appreciation of and education on America's history of religious faith.
Whereas religious faith was not only important in official American life during the periods of discovery, exploration, colonization, and growth but has also been acknowledged and incorporated into all 3 branches of American Federal government from their very beginning;
Whereas the Supreme Court of the United States affirmed this self-evident fact in a unanimous ruling declaring `This is a religious people ... From the discovery of this continent to the present hour, there is a single voice making this affirmation';
Whereas political scientists have documented that the most frequently-cited source in the political period known as The Founding Era was the Bible;
Whereas the first act of America's first Congress in 1774 was to ask a minister to open with prayer and to lead Congress in the reading of 4 chapters of the Bible;
Whereas Congress regularly attended church and Divine service together en masse;
Whereas throughout the American Founding, Congress frequently appropriated money for missionaries and for religious instruction, a practice that Congress repeated for decades after the passage of the Constitution and the First Amendment;
Whereas in 1776, Congress approved the Declaration of Independence with its 4 direct religious acknowledgments referring to God as the Creator (`All people are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness'), the Lawgiver (`the laws of nature and nature's God'), the Judge (`appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world'), and the Protector (`with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence');
Whereas upon approving the Declaration of Independence, John Adams declared that the Fourth of July `ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty';
Whereas 4 days after approving the Declaration, the Liberty Bell was rung;
Whereas the Liberty Bell was named for the Biblical inscription from Leviticus 25:10 emblazoned around it: `Proclaim liberty throughout the land, to all the inhabitants thereof';
Whereas in 1777, Congress, facing a National shortage of `Bibles for our schools, and families, and for the public worship of God in our churches,' announced that they `desired to have a Bible printed under their care & by their encouragement' and therefore ordered 20,000 copies of the Bible to be imported `into the different ports of the States of the Union';
Whereas in 1782, Congress pursued a plan to print a Bible that would be `a neat edition of the Holy Scriptures for the use of schools' and therefore approved the production of the first English language Bible printed in America that contained the congressional endorsement that `the United States in Congress assembled ... recommend this edition of the Bible to the inhabitants of the United States';
Whereas in 1782, Congress adopted (and has reaffirmed on numerous subsequent occasions) the National Seal with its Latin motto `Annuit Coeptis,' meaning `God has favored our undertakings,' along with the eye of Providence in a triangle over a pyramid, the eye and the motto `allude to the many signal interpositions of Providence in favor of the American cause';
Whereas the 1783 Treaty of Paris that officially ended the Revolution and established America as an independent begins with the appellation `In the name of the most holy and undivided Trinity';
Whereas in 1787 at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Benjamin Franklin declared, `God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? ... Without His concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel';
Whereas the delegates to the Constitutional Convention concluded their work by in effect placing a religious punctuation mark at the end of the Constitution in the Attestation Clause, noting not only that they had completed the work with `the unanimous consent of the States present' but they had done so `in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty seven';
Whereas James Madison declared that he saw the finished Constitution as a product of `the finger of that Almighty Hand which has been so frequently and signally extended to our relief in the critical stages of the Revolution,' and George Washington viewed it as `little short of a miracle,' and Benjamin Franklin believed that its writing had been `influenced, guided, and governed by that omnipotent, omnipresent, and beneficent Ruler, in Whom all inferior spirits live, and move, and have their being';

Whereas from 1787 to 1788, State conventions to ratify the United States Constitution not only began with prayer but even met in church buildings;
Whereas in 1795 during construction of the Capitol, a practice was instituted whereby `public worship is now regularly administered at the Capitol, every Sunday morning, at 11 o'clock';
Whereas in 1789, the first Federal Congress, the Congress that framed the Bill of Rights, including the First Amendment, appropriated Federal funds to pay chaplains to pray at the opening of all sessions, a practice that has continued to this day, with Congress not only funding its congressional chaplains but also the salaries and operations of more than 4,500 military chaplains;
Whereas in 1789, Congress, in the midst of framing the Bill of Rights and the First Amendment, passed the first Federal law touching education, declaring that `Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged';
Whereas in 1789, on the same day that Congress finished drafting the First Amendment, it requested President Washington to declare a National day of prayer and thanksgiving, resulting in the first Federal official Thanksgiving proclamation that declared `it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor';
Whereas in 1800, Congress enacted naval regulations requiring that Divine service be performed twice every day aboard `all ships and vessels in the navy,' with a sermon preached each Sunday;
Whereas in 1800, Congress approved the use of the just-completed Capitol structure as a church building, with Divine services to be held each Sunday in the Hall of the House, alternately administered by the House and Senate chaplains;
Whereas in 1853 Congress declared that congressional chaplains have a `duty ... to conduct religious services weekly in the Hall of the House of Representatives';
Whereas by 1867, the church at the Capitol was the largest church in Washington, DC, with up to 2,000 people a week attending Sunday service in the Hall of the House;
Whereas by 1815, over 2,000 official governmental calls to prayer had been issued at both the State and the Federal levels, with thousands more issued since 1815;
Whereas in 1853 the United States Senate declared that the Founding Fathers `had no fear or jealousy of religion itself, nor did they wish to see us an irreligious people ... they did not intend to spread over all the public authorities and the whole public action of the nation the dead and revolting spectacle of atheistical apathy';
Whereas in 1854 the United States House of Representatives declared `It [religion] must be considered as the foundation on which the whole structure rests ... Christianity; in its general principles, is the great conservative element on which we must rely for the purity and permanence of free institutions';
Whereas, in 1864, by law Congress added `In God We Trust' to American coinage;

Whereas in 1864, Congress passed an act authorizing each State to display statues of 2 of its heroes in the United States Capitol, resulting in numerous statues of noted Christian clergymen and leaders at the Capitol, including Gospel ministers such as the Revs. James A. Garfield, John Peter Muhlenberg, Jonathan Trumbull, Roger Williams, Jason Lee, Marcus Whitman, and Martin Luther King Jr.; Gospel theologians such as Roger Sherman; Catholic priests such as Father Damien, Jacques Marquette, Eusebio Kino, and Junipero Serra; Catholic nuns such as Mother Joseph; and numerous other religious leaders;
Whereas in 1870, the Federal government made Christmas (a recognition of the birth of Christ, an event described by the U.S. Supreme Court as `acknowledged in the Western World for 20 centuries, and in this country by the people, the Executive Branch, Congress, and the courts for 2 centuries') and Thanksgiving as official holidays;
Whereas beginning in 1904 and continuing for the next half-century, the Federal government printed and distributed The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth for the use of Members of Congress because of the important teachings it contained;
Whereas in 1931, Congress by law adopted the Star-Spangled Banner as the official National Anthem, with its phrases such as `may the Heav'n-rescued land Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation,' and `this be our motto, `In God is our trust!';
Whereas in 1954, Congress by law added the phrase `one nation under God' to the Pledge of Allegiance;
Whereas in 1954 a special Congressional Prayer Room was added to the Capitol with a kneeling bench, an altar, an open Bible, an inspiring stained-glass window with George Washington kneeling in prayer, the declaration of Psalm 16:1: `Preserve me, O God, for in Thee do I put my trust,' and the phrase `This Nation Under God' displayed above the kneeling, prayerful Washington;
Whereas in 1956, Congress by law made `In God We Trust' the National Motto, and added the phrase to American currency;
Whereas the constitutions of each of the 50 states, either in the preamble or body, explicitly recognize or express gratitude to God;
Whereas America's first Presidential Inauguration incorporated 7 specific religious activities, including--
(1) the use of the Bible to administer the oath;
(2) affirming the religious nature of the oath by the adding the prayer `So help me God!' to the oath;
(3) inaugural prayers offered by the President;
(4) religious content in the inaugural address;
(5) civil leaders calling the people to prayer or acknowledgement of God;
(6) inaugural worship services attended en masse by Congress as an official part of congressional activities; and
(7) clergy-led inaugural prayers, activities which have been replicated in whole or part by every subsequent President;
Whereas President George Washington declared `Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports';
Whereas President John Adams, one of only 2 signers of the Bill of Rights and First Amendment, declared `As the safety and prosperity of nations ultimately and essentially depend on the protection and the blessing of Almighty God, and the national acknowledgment of this truth is not only an indispensable duty which the people owe to Him';
Whereas President Jefferson not only attended Divine services at the Capitol throughout his presidency and had the Marine Band play at the services, but during his administration church services were also begun in the War Department and the Treasury Department, thus allowing worshippers on any given Sunday the choice to attend church at either the United States Capitol, the War Department, or the Treasury Department if they so desired;
Whereas Thomas Jefferson urged local governments to make land available specifically for Christian purposes, provided Federal funding for missionary work among Indian tribes, and declared that religious schools would receive `the patronage of the government';
Whereas President Andrew Jackson declared that the Bible `is the rock on which our Republic rests';
Whereas President Abraham Lincoln declared that the Bible `is the best gift God has given to men ... But for it, we could not know right from wrong'
Whereas President William McKinley declared that `Our faith teaches us that there is no safer reliance than upon the God of our fathers, Who has so singularly favored the American people in every national trial and Who will not forsake us so long as we obey His commandments and walk humbly in His footsteps';
Whereas President Teddy Roosevelt declared `The Decalogue and the Golden Rule must stand as the foundation of every successful effort to better either our social or our political life';
Whereas President Woodrow Wilson declared that `America was born to exemplify that devotion to the elements of righteousness which are derived from the revelations of Holy Scripture';
Whereas President Herbert Hoover declared that `American life is builded, and can alone survive, upon ... [the] fundamental philosophy announced by the Savior nineteen centuries ago';
Whereas President Franklin D. Roosevelt not only led the Nation in a 6 minute prayer during D-Day on June 6, 1944, but he also declared that `If we will not prepare to give all that we have and all that we are to preserve Christian civilization in our land, we shall go to destruction';
Whereas President Harry S. Truman declared that `The fundamental basis of this Nation's law was given to Moses on the Mount. The fundamental basis of our Bill of Rights comes from the teachings which we get from Exodus and St. Matthew, from Isaiah and St. Paul';

Whereas President Harry S. Truman told a group touring Washington, DC, that `You will see, as you make your rounds, that this Nation was established by men who believed in God. ... You will see the evidence of this deep religious faith on every hand';
Whereas President Dwight D. Eisenhower declared that `Without God there could be no American form of government, nor an American way of life. Recognition of the Supreme Being is the first, the most basic, expression of Americanism. Thus, the founding fathers of America saw it, and thus with God's help, it will continue to be' in a declaration later repeated with approval by President Gerald Ford;
Whereas President John F. Kennedy declared that `The rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God';
Whereas President Ronald Reagan, after noting `The Congress of the United States, in recognition of the unique contribution of the Bible in shaping the history and character of this Nation and so many of its citizens, has ... requested the President to designate the year 1983 as the `Year of the Bible',' officially declared 1983 as `The Year of the Bible';
Whereas every other President has similarly recognized the role of God and religious faith in the public life of America;
Whereas all sessions of the United States Supreme Court begin with the Court's Marshal announcing, `God save the United States and this honorable court';
Whereas a regular and integral part of official activities in the Federal courts, including the United States Supreme Court, was the inclusion of prayer by a minister of the Gospel;
Whereas the United States Supreme Court has declared throughout the course of our Nation's history that the United States is `a Christian country', `a Christian nation', `a Christian people', `a religious people whose institutions presuppose a Supreme Being', and that `we cannot read into the Bill of Rights a philosophy of hostility to religion';
Whereas Justice John Jay, an author of the Federalist Papers and original Justice of the United States Supreme Court, urged `The most effectual means of securing the continuance of our civil and religious liberties is always to remember with reverence and gratitude the Source from which they flow';
Whereas Justice James Wilson, a signer of the Constitution, declared that `Human law must rest its authority ultimately upon the authority of that law which is Divine ... Far from being rivals or enemies, religion and law are twin sisters, friends, and mutual assistants';
Whereas Justice William Paterson, a signer of the Constitution, declared that `Religion and morality ... [are] necessary to good government, good order, and good laws';
Whereas President George Washington, who passed into law the first legal acts organizing the Federal judiciary, asked, `where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths in the courts of justice?';
Whereas some of the most important monuments, buildings, and landmarks in Washington, DC, include religious words, symbols, and imagery;
Whereas in the United States Capitol the declaration `In God We Trust' is prominently displayed in both the United States House and Senate Chambers;
Whereas around the top of the walls in the House Chamber appear images of 23 great lawgivers from across the centuries, but Moses (the lawgiver, who--according to the Bible--originally received the law from God,) is the only lawgiver honored with a full face view, looking down on the proceedings of the House;
Whereas religious artwork is found throughout the United States Capitol, including in the Rotunda where the prayer service of Christopher Columbus, the Baptism of Pocahontas, and the prayer and Bible study of the Pilgrims are all prominently displayed; in the Cox Corridor of the Capitol where the words `America! God shed His grace on thee' are inscribed; at the east Senate entrance with the words `Annuit Coeptis' which is Latin for `God has favored our undertakings'; and in numerous other locations;
Whereas images of the Ten Commandments are found in many Federal buildings across Washington, DC, including in bronze in the floor of the National Archives; in a bronze statue of Moses in the Main Reading Room of the Library of Congress; in numerous locations at the U.S. Supreme Court, including in the frieze above the Justices, the oak door at the rear of the Chamber, the gable apex, and in dozens of locations on the bronze latticework surrounding the Supreme Court Bar seating;
Whereas in the Washington Monument not only are numerous Bible verses and religious acknowledgements carved on memorial blocks in the walls, including the phrases: `Holiness to the Lord' (Exodus 28:26, 30:30, Isaiah 23:18, Zechariah 14:20), `Search the Scriptures' (John 5:39), `The memory of the just is blessed' (Proverbs 10:7), `May Heaven to this Union continue its beneficence', and `In God We Trust', but the Latin inscription Laus Deo meaning `Praise be to God' is engraved on the monument's capstone;
Whereas of the 5 areas inside the Jefferson Memorial into which Jefferson's words have been carved, 4 are God-centered, including Jefferson's declaration that `God who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that His justice cannot sleep forever';
Whereas the Lincoln Memorial contains numerous acknowledgments of God and citations of Bible verses, including the declarations that `we here highly resolve that ... this nation under God ... shall not perish from the earth'; `The Almighty has His own purposes. `Woe unto the world because of offenses; for it must needs be that offenses come, but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh' (Matthew 18:7); `as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said `the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether' (Psalms 19:9); `one day every valley shall be exalted and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh see it togetherÌ (Dr. Martin Luther KingÌs speech, based on Isaiah 40:4-5);
Whereas in the Library of Congress, The Giant Bible of Mainz, and The Gutenberg Bible are on prominent permanent display and etched on the walls are Bible verses, including: `The light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not' (John 1:5); `Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore, get wisdom and with all thy getting, get understanding' (Proverbs 4:7); `What doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God' (Micah 6:8); and `The heavens declare the Glory of God, and the firmament showeth His handiwork' (Psalm 19:1);
Whereas numerous other of the most important American government leaders, institutions, monuments, buildings, and landmarks both openly acknowledge and incorporate religious words, symbols, and imagery into official venues;
Whereas such acknowledgments are even more frequent at the State and local level than at the Federal level, where thousands of such acknowledgments exist; and
Whereas the first week in May each year would be an appropriate week to designate as `American Religious History Week': Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the United States House of Representatives----
(1) affirms the rich spiritual and diverse religious history of our Nation's founding and subsequent history, including up to the current day;
(2) recognizes that the religious foundations of faith on which America was built are critical underpinnings of our Nation's most valuable institutions and form the inseparable foundation for America's representative processes, legal systems, and societal structures;
(3) rejects, in the strongest possible terms, any effort to remove, obscure, or purposely omit such history from our Nation's public buildings and educational resources; and
(4) expresses support for designation of a `American Religious History Week' every year for the appreciation of and education on America's history of religious faith.

We Can Fix This Problem

We Can Fix This Problem

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The thought process of Robert Byrd

Senate President Pro Tem Robert Byrd: "Obama for President! (he'll get shot by one of my fellow klansmen, Biden ascends, but he'll get shot because he's an idiot, Nancy Pelosi ascends, She's just plain nuts so I'll beat her to death with the copy of the constitution I have in my pocket and then it'll be PRESIDENT ROBERT BYRD!!!)

The Birth of Freedom

”The Birth of Freedom”

So, Character is now an issue...

Character does count!

Character – noun
- the aggregate of features and traits that form the individual nature of some person or thing. - moral or ethical quality. - qualities of honesty, courage, or the like; integrity. - status or capacity. - Moral or ethical strength.

Origins - c.1315, from Old French caractere, from Latin character, from Greek kharakter "engraved mark," from kharassein "to engrave," from kharax "pointed stake." Meaning extended by metaphor to "a defining quality." - Online Etymology Dictionary

A defining quality… how apropos.

There is another saying that goes with “character” –

“Show me your friends and I’ll show you your future.”

Therefore, character can be affected by associations just as much as life experiences and attitudes.

The character of Barack Obama has been called into question for this very reason.

But before we address Obama’s associations, let’s look at the disastrous scandal involving John McCain which the democrats and liberal press claim addresses the issue of his character.

”The Keating Five”

From 1987 to 1989, McCain underwent a federal investigation as a member of the “Keating Five,” a group of senators who were accused of improperly intervening with federal regulators on behalf of Charles H. Keating Jr., a bank chairman whose Lincoln Savings & Loan Association eventually became one of the biggest failures in the savings and loan disasters of the late 1980s. He was eventually cleared of the charges, although investigators declared that he had exercised “poor judgment” by meeting with the regulators.

Basically, this is an asterisk, as McCain himself calls it.

It all started in March 1987. Charles H Keating Jr., the flamboyant developer and anti-porn crusader, needed help. The government was poised to seize Lincoln Savings and Loan, a freewheeling subsidiary of Keating's American Continental Corp.

As federal auditors examined Lincoln, Keating was not content to wait and hope for the best. He had spread a lot of money around Washington, and it was time to call in his chits.

One of his first stops was Sen. Dennis DeConcini, D-Ariz.

The state's senior senator was one of Keating's most loyal friends in Congress, and for good reason. Keating had given thousands of dollars to DeConcini's campaigns. At one point, DeConcini even pushed Keating for ambassador to the Bahamas, where Keating owned a luxurious vacation home.

Now Keating had a job for DeConcini. He wanted him to organize a meeting with regulators to deliver a message: Get off Lincoln's back. Eventually, DeConcini would set up a meeting with five senators and the regulators. One of them was John McCain.

McCain already knew Keating well. His ties to the home builder dated to 1981, when the two men met at a Navy League dinner where McCain spoke.

After the speech, Keating walked up to McCain and told him that he, too, was a Navy flier and that he greatly respected McCain's war record. He met McCain's wife and family. The two men became friends.

Charlie Keating always took care of his friends, especially those in politics. McCain was no exception. Keep in mind that there was no scandal at this point, nor anything wrong that Keating was doing.

In 1982, during McCain's first run for the House, Keating held a fund-raiser for him, collecting more than $11,000 from 40 employees of American Continental Corp. McCain would spend more than $550,000 to win the primary and the general election.

In 1983, as McCain contemplated his House re-election, Keating hosted a $1,000-a-plate dinner for him, even though McCain had no serious competition. When McCain pushed for the Senate in 1986, Keating was there with more than $50,000.

By 1987, McCain had received about $112,000 in political contributions from Keating and his associates.

McCain also had carried a little water for Keating in Washington. While in the House, McCain, a reluctant participant, along with a majority of representatives, co-sponsored a resolution to delay new regulations designed to curb risky investments by thrifts such as Lincoln.

Despite his history with Keating, McCain was hesitant about intervening. At that point, he had been in the Senate only three months. DeConcini wanted McCain to fly to San Francisco with him and talk to the regulators. McCain refused.

Keating would not be dissuaded. On March 24 at 9:30 a.m., Keating went to DeConcini's office and asked him if the meeting with the regulators was on. DeConcini told Keating that McCain was nervous.

Keating presented McCain with a laundry list of demands for the regulators.

McCain told Keating that he would attend the meeting and find out whether Keating was getting treated fairly but that was all.

The first meeting, on April 2, 1987, in DeConcini's office, included Ed Gray, chairman of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, as well as four senators: DeConcini, McCain, Alan Cranston, D-Calif., and John Glenn, D-Ohio.

(Years later, McCain recalled that DeConcini started the meeting with a reference to "our friend at Lincoln." McCain characterized it as "an unfortunate choice of words, which Gray would remember and repeat publicly many times.")

For Keating, the meeting was a bust. Gray told the senators that as head of the loan board, he worried about the big picture. He didn't have any specific information about Lincoln. Bank regulators in San Francisco would be versed in that, not him. Gray offered to set up a meeting between the senators and the San Francisco regulators.

The second meeting was April 9. The same four senators attended, along with Sen. Don Riegle, D-Mich. Also at the meeting were William Black, then deputy director of the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corp., James Cirona, president of the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco, and Michael Patriarca, director of agency functions at the FSLIC.

In an interview with The Republic, Black said the meeting was a show of force by Keating, who wanted the senators to pressure the regulators into dropping their case against Lincoln. The thrift was in trouble for violating "direct investment" rules, which prohibited S&Ls from taking large ownership positions in various ventures.

"The Senate is a really small club, like the cliche goes," Black said. "And you really did have one-twentieth of the Senate in one room, called by one guy, who was the biggest crook in the S&L debacle."

Black said the senators could have accomplished their goal "if they had simply had us show up and seen this incredible room and said, 'Hi. Charles Keating asked us to meet with you. 'Bye.'"

McCain previously had refused DeConcini's request to meet with the Lincoln auditors themselves. In Worth the Fighting For, McCain wrote that he remained "a little troubled" at the prospect, "but since the chairman of the bank board didn't seem to have a problem with the idea, maybe a discussion with the regulators wouldn't be as problematic as I had earlier thought."

McCain concedes that he failed to sense that Gray and the thrift examiners felt threatened by the senators' meddling.

The five senators, including McCain, seemed like a united front to Black. "They presented themselves as a group," Black said, "and DeConcini is the dad, who's going to take the primary speaking role. Both meetings are in his office, and in both cases it's we want this, with no one going, 'What do you mean we, kemo sabe?'"

According to nearly verbatim notes taken by Black, McCain started the second meeting with a careful comment. “One of our jobs as elected officials is to help constituents in a proper fashion,” McCain said. “ACC (American Continental Corp.) is a big employer and important to the local economy. I wouldn't want any special favors for them...” “I don't want any part of our conversation to be improper.”

Black said the comment had the opposite effect for the regulators. It made them nervous about what might really be going on. "McCain was the weirdest," Black said. "They were all different in their own way. McCain was always Hamlet . . . wringing his hands about what to do."

Glenn, a former astronaut and the first American to orbit the Earth, was not as tactful. "To be blunt, you should charge them or get off their backs," he told the regulators. "If things are bad there, get to them. Their view is that they took a failing business and put it back on its feet. It's now viable and profitable. They took it off the endangered species list. Why has the exam dragged on and on and on?"

DeConcini added: "What's wrong with this if they're willing to clean up their act?"

Cirona, the banking official, told the senators that it was "very unusual" to hold a meeting to discuss a particular company.

DeConcini shot back: "It's very unusual for us to have a company that could be put out of business by its regulators."

The meeting went on. McCain was quiet. DeConcini carried the ball. The regulators told the senators that Lincoln was in trouble. The thrift, Cirona said, was a "ticking time bomb."

Then Patriarca made a stunning comment, according to transcripts released later. "We're sending a criminal referral to the Department of Justice," he said. "Not maybe, we're sending one. This is an extraordinarily serious matter. It involves a whole range of imprudent actions. I can't tell you strongly enough how serious this is. This is not a profitable institution."

The statement made DeConcini back off a little. "The criminality surprises me," he said. "We're not interested in discussing those issues. Our premise was that we had a viable institution concerned that it was being overregulated."

"What can we say to Lincoln?" Glenn asked.

"Nothing," Black responded, "with regard to the criminal referral. They haven't and won't be told by us that we're making one."

"You haven't told them?" Glenn asked.

"No," said Black. "Justice would skin us alive if we did. Those referrals are very confidential. We can't prosecute anyone ourselves. All we can do is refer it to Justice."

After the meeting, McCain was done with Keating. "Again, I was troubled by the appearance of the meeting," he said later. "I stated I didn't want any special favors from them. I only wanted them (Lincoln Savings) to be fairly treated."

Black doesn't completely buy that argument. If McCain was concerned about Keating asking him to do things that were improper, why go to either meeting at all?

Black said McCain probably went because Keating was close to being the political godfather of Arizona and McCain still had plenty of ambition.

"Keating was incredibly powerful," Black said. "And incredibly useful."

McCain's reservations aside, Keating accomplished his goal. He had bought some time, though the price was very high.

A month later, the San Francisco regulators finished a yearlong audit and recommended that Lincoln be seized. But the report was virtually ignored because of politics on the bank board.

Gray was being replaced as chairman by Danny Wall, who was more sympathetic to Keating.

The audit, which described Lincoln as a thrift reeling out of control, sat on a shelf.

In September 1987, the investigation was taken away from the San Francisco office, away from Black and Patriarca. In May 1988, it was transferred to Washington, where Lincoln would get a new audit.

It was a win for Keating. A battle, not the war. Despite the reprieve, Keating's businesses continued to spiral downward, taking the five senators with him. Together, the five had accepted more than $300,000 in contributions from Keating, and their critics added a new term to the American lexicon: "The Keating Five."

The Keating Five became synonymous for the kind of political influence that money can buy. As the S&L failure deepened, the sheer magnitude of the losses hit the press. Billions of dollars had been squandered. The five senators were linked as the gang who s shilled for an S&L bandit.

As the investigation dragged through 1988, McCain dodged the hardest blows. Most landed on DeConcini, who had arranged the meetings and had other close ties to Keating, including $50 million in loans from Keating to DeConcini's aides.

But McCain made a critical error. He had adopted the blanket defense that Keating was a constituent and that he had every right to ask his senators for help. In attending the meetings, McCain said, he simply wanted to make sure that Keating was treated like any other constituent.

Keating was no ordinary constituent to McCain. On Oct. 8, 1989, The Arizona Republic revealed that McCain's wife and her father had invested $359,100 in a Keating shopping center in April 1986, a year before McCain met with the regulators.

The paper also reported that the McCains, sometimes accompanied by their daughter and baby-sitter, had made at least nine trips at Keating's expense, sometimes aboard the American Continental jet. Three of the trips were made during vacations to Keating's opulent Bahamas retreat at Cat Cay.

McCain also did not pay Keating for some of the trips until years after they were taken, after he learned that Keating was in trouble over Lincoln. Total cost: $13,433.

When the story broke, McCain did nothing to help himself. "You're a liar," McCain said when a Republic reporter asked him about the business relationship between his wife and Keating. "That's the spouse's involvement, you idiot," McCain said later in the same conversation. "You do understand English, don't you?"

He also belittled reporters when they asked about his wife's ties to Keating. "It's up to you to find that out, kids."

The paper ran the story.

In his 2002 book, McCain confesses to "ridiculously immature behavior" during that particular interview and adds that The Republic reporters' "persistence in questioning me about the matter provoked me to rage."

"I don't know how (The Republic journalists) would have reported the story had I been more civil and understanding or just more of a professional during the interview," McCain wrote.

At a news conference after the story ran, McCain was a changed man. He stood calmly for 90 minutes and answered every question.

On the shopping center, his defense was simple. The deal did not involve him. The shares in the shopping center had been bought by a partnership set up between McCain's wife and her father. (The couple also had a prenuptial agreement that separated Cindy McCain's finances and dealings from his.)

But McCain also had to explain his trips with Keating and why he didn't pay Keating back right away. On that score, McCain admitted he had fouled up. He said he should have reimbursed Keating immediately, not waited several years. His staff said it was an oversight, but it looked bad, McCain jetting around with Keating, then going to bat for him with the federal regulators.

"I was in a hell of a mess," McCain later would write.

Meanwhile, Lincoln continued to flounder. In April 1989, two years after the Keating Five meetings, the government seized Lincoln, which declared bankruptcy. In September 1990, Keating was booked into Los Angeles County Jail, charged with 42 counts of fraud. His bond was set at $5 million.

During Keating's trial, the prosecution produced a parade of elderly investors who had lost their life's savings by investing in American Continental junk bonds.

In November 1990, the Senate Ethics Committee convened to decide what punishment, if any, should be doled out to the Keating Five. Robert Bennett, who would later represent President Bill Clinton in the Paula Jones case, was the special counsel for the committee. In his opening remarks, he slammed DeConcini but went lightly on McCain, the lone Republican ensnared with four Democrats.

"In the case of Senator McCain, there is very substantial evidence that he thought he had an understanding with Senator DeConcini's office that certain matters would not be gone into at the meeting with (bank board) Chairman (Ed) Gray," Bennett said.

"Moreover, there is substantial evidence that, as a result of Senator McCain's refusal to do certain things, he had a fallout with Mr. Keating."

Among the Keating Five, McCain took the most direct contributions from Keating. But the investigation found that he was the least culpable, along with Glenn. McCain attended the meetings but did nothing afterward to stop Lincoln's death spiral.

Lincoln was the most expensive failure in the national S&L scandal. Taxpayers lost more than $2 billion on the bailout. McCain also looked good in contrast to DeConcini, who continued to defend Keating until fall 1989, when federal regulators filed a $1.1 billion civil racketeering and fraud suit against Keating, accusing him of siphoning Lincoln's deposits to his family and into political campaigns.

In January 1993, a federal jury convicted him of 73 counts of wire and bankruptcy fraud in the collapse of American Continental and Lincoln. Keating was sentenced to 12 years and seven months in prison but served just 50 months before the conviction was overturned on a technicality. In 1999, at age 75, he pleaded guilty to four counts of fraud. He was sentenced to time served.

In the end, McCain received only a mild rebuke from the Ethics Committee for exercising "poor judgment" for intervening with the federal regulators on behalf of Keating. Still, he felt tarred by the affair.

"The appearance of it was wrong," McCain said. "It's a wrong appearance when a group of senators appear in a meeting with a group of regulators because it conveys the impression of undue and improper influence. And it was the wrong thing to do."

McCain noted that Bennett, the independent counsel, recommended that McCain and Glenn be dropped from the investigation.

"For the first time in history, the Ethics Committee overruled the recommendation of the independent counsel," McCain said. For his part, DeConcini is critical of McCain's role in the affair. The two senators never were particularly cozy, and the stress of the public scrutiny worsened their relations.

McCain owns up to his mistake this way: “I was judged eventually, after three years, of using, quote, poor judgment, and I agree with that assessment."

Basically, John McCain’s sinister involvement in this scandal was to attend meetings regarding someone he considered a constituent, travel on the same person’s dime without immediate reimbursement, and get mad at the press for attacking him.

Once McCain KNEW that he had been partnering with a person of questionable character, he immediately disassociated himself with that person.

Now let’s look at Barack Obama’s associations.

The Reverend Jeremiah Wright was Obama’s pastor for approximately twenty years. He was the man who married the Obamas and who baptized their children. Obama claimed that he could no disassociate with Wright (considered as similar to one of his family) and then he did just that when Wright’s words came back to haunt Obama. He claims that in that twenty years, he NEVER heard any inflammatory statement or sermon. Yes, if this pastor was so close to him, it is very unlikely that Obama NEVER hear a disparaging word that would be considered even slightly controversial.

Another associate, William Ayers is a university professor and a member of Chicago's intellectual establishment. Forty years ago he was a member of the Weather Underground, a radical group that claimed responsibility for a series of bombings, including at the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol.

Mr. Ayers was a fugitive for years with his wife, fellow radical Bernadine Dohrn. But after surrendering in 1980, the charges against Mr. Ayers were dropped because of prosecutorial misconduct. He wasn’t cleared of the charges or found “not guilty.”

Mr. Obama and Mr. Ayers served together on the board of a Chicago charity and were co-panelists on at least two academic panel discussions and an academic testimonial — two of them at the University of Chicago. In the mid-1990s, when Mr. Obama first ran for office, Mr. Ayers hosted a meet-the-candidate session for Mr. Obama at his home.
Ayers wasn’t exactly an unknown figure, especially in Chicago. There is no way Obama could have worked with him that much or started his political moves from the guy’s house without knowing about Ayers’ past.

Rashid Khalidi is a Palestinian scholar and author on Middle Eastern affairs who has called Israel a racist state bent on creating "an apartheid system." He's also a friend of Obama.

They met while both were teaching at the University of Chicago and living in the same neighborhood. Mr. Obama and his wife sometimes had dinner with Mr. Khalidi and his wife, Mona. The Khalidis hosted a political fundraiser for Mr. Obama in 2000, and the Woods Fund charity gave money to the Arab-American Action Network, run by Mrs. Khalidi, while Mr. Obama served on the charity's board.

Mr. Obama has said they hold very different opinions on Israeli issues, though Mr. Khalidi praised Mr. Obama as "the only candidate who has expressed sympathy for the Palestinian cause" and for his willingness to hold talks with Iran, which has called for Israel to be "wiped off the map.”

This appears to be a pretty intimate understanding of each other.

As far as Joe Biden, the character issue goes back to his 1988 bid for the presidency.

In September 1987, the campaign ran into serious trouble when he was accused of plagiarizing a speech by Neil Kinnock, the leader of the British Labour Party at that time. Though Biden had usually credited the original author in all speeches but one, the one where he failed to make mention of the originator was caught on video (I’m still looking for it).

It was also discovered that as a first-year law student at Syracuse Law School, Biden had plagiarized a law review article in a class paper he wrote. Though the dean of the law school in 1988 as well as Biden's former professor played down the incident of plagiarism, they did find that Biden drew "chunks of heavy legal prose directly from" the article in question. Biden said the act was inadvertent due to his not knowing the proper rules of citation, and Biden was permitted to retake the course after receiving a grade of F.

Biden also released at the same time the record of his grades as an undergraduate which were C's and D's with the exception of two A's in physical education, one B in a course on English writers and an F in ROTC during his first three semesters. His grades improved later in his undergraduate career but were unexceptional.

Further, when questioned once about his grades in law school Biden had claimed falsely to have graduated in the "top half" of his class, (when he actually graduated 76th in a class of 85) that he had attended on a full scholarship, and had received three degrees. In fact he had received two majors, History and Political Science, and a single B.A., as well as a half scholarship based on financial need.

Faced with these revelations, Biden withdrew from the nomination race in September of 1987, saying his candidacy had been overrun by "the exaggerated shadow" of his mistakes.

In conclusion, John McCain got involved with a guy and immediately dropped him when that guy turned out to be doing bad things.

Joe Biden is a copy-cat who lied about his past.

Barack Obama was raised and mentored by communists and Marxists, associated with terrorists and race haters, yet claims that he knew nothing of them being terrorists or race haters until he was campaigning for president.

Ask this question: Can Obama be trusted to represent this nation in terms of the Logan Act as someone who probably won’t learn enough or know thorough information about those world leaders he will be interacting with?

That old saying can be revamped as: “Show me Obama’s friends and I’ll show you your nation’s future with him as president!”

How Obama is the Greatest Leader This Nation has Ever Known - OR – “Mongo Only Pawn in Game of Life”

A few years ago, Tom Brokaw has a segment on NBC News called “The Fleecing of America.” Well, now that fleecing starts hard core!

Bloomberg YouTube clip of House Democrats commenting after passing House Rescue Bill

(Sorry, folks, Bloomberg doesn’t allow embedding from YouTube)

Please understand that it is not my intention to force you to sit through this entire thing unless you feel like being a glutton for liberal lies and rear-end raping. However, this was the only clip I could find with what I wanted you all to hear.



One of my state Representatives, Jim Clyburn, D-SC, the House Majority Whip, gave props to several democrats involved. The thing that struck me was someone’s urging him to mention a name of someone who isn’t even in the House of Representatives. And that this person be given leadership credit. So pay attention to the following time indices and Dow numbers:

At the start of the clip the Dow was at +128.68

Clyburn’s comments start at 07:33 into the clip where the Dow was at +73.19

At about 08:40, a female voice urged Clyburn to mention Barack Obama. This was to ensure that his messiahness would be revered as the leading “executive” on this issue. What a shock of crit!!!

Of course Clyburn was going to mention Obama, but obviously the libturd pawns of the Oompelosi didn’t have confidence from her so that his messiahness would get presidential brownie points.

At the end of the clip the Dow was at +44.12.

The Dow dropped 84.56 points during the Democrats announcement.

Now the question I have is: What exactly did Barack Obama do to lead the House in this. I though Nancy Pelosi was their leader there. Can anyone please comment and tell me what Obama did that made such a big difference in the vote.

Barack Obama himself said, in a recent interview, that he wouldn’t have sway with any GOP Congressional members, so how could he have led the House.

Barack is supposed to be the one that unites this country for change. Well, a loss of 84.5 points on the Dow in TEN MINUTES is not the change I want from Congress or its exalted leader, Barack Hussein Obama.

This time Barney Frank didn't get the reach around!

Oh, crap! Does anyone else's butthole hurt?

Mine does...

Senate passes bailout

10.1.2008 = American Energy Freedom Energy Day

From SC Senator Jim DeMint and TX Representative Jeb Hensarling

My Letter to the Gang of Ten

After House Republicans showed the American people that we were being looked out for in Congress this past week, five Republican and five Democrat senators decided to undermine the American people by seeking a compromise on the issues of energy where one was not desired or needed. These ten senators are known as the ”Gang of Ten”
.

You can listen below to a recap of Friday’s (8/8/08) activities from conservative blogger and BlogTalkRadio host, ”Joshua P. Allem”
.

“After an awesome week of Republicans successfully standing up to Democrats, RINOs led by Lindsey Graham came out from under the toilet seat to muck things up. We'll play a few clips from today's noon episode of American Truth Warriors where Congressman Frank Wolf angered us with suggestions of compromise. We'll then play first reactions from Sonlit Knight, Snooper, Media Lizzy, myself and Rush Limbaugh.” – JPA Live show description for August 8, 2008.



This was an outstanding show full of interviews and conservative opinion.

I listened to most of terrestrial and BlogTalkRadio about this issue on Friday and my blood pressure had risen so high I had to step away and get myself calm again. Then I began to compose a letter to those five Republicans, including one of my state senators….LINDSEY GRAHAM!

At first I ranted and rambled with vitriol and ire that really wasn’t courteous at all. I then had to start over and present something a little more professional. Below is that letter:

------------------------------------

The Gang of Ten are WRONG

I won’t waste your time with telling you that there are those of us conservatives who are extremely upset at where this congress have gotten us in terms of gas prices and the future of energy in America.

I won’t waste your time by telling you that you and the other four Republican Senators in the so called “gang of ten” have been a huge disappointment to us regarding your “leftist” actions in the Senate.

I won’t waste your time by telling you that the American people, your constituents, WANT an up or down vote on the American Energy Act currently in the House.

I won’t waste your time by telling you that you are playing right into the Democrats’ hands by undermining what the House Republicans have been doing this week.

And finally, I won’t waste your time in telling you that it gives the appearance that you five want some sort of glory and are willing to kowtow to the liberals and their special interest groups to get that glory to promulgate your political legacy.

NOW STOP WASTING OUR TIME!

Senator, you are the reason that Democrats have taken the majority in Congress from the Republicans. You, as well as others, have continually voted WITH liberals on several affective issues that compromise conservative values and beliefs. Stop it.

I have heard from some of the five Republicans and several congressional supporters of your desire to reach across the aisle to expeditiously get something or anything done. Stop it.

You have been listening to several liberal leaning congressmen who have continually, yet ignorantly, stated that they believe the American people want compromise in this. Stop it.

You seem to superfluously feel that you five can simply and compromisingly achieve an end result, no matter what that may be, while sacrificing on what the American people want and need. Stop it.

And you presume that by compromising through concession after concession to the left that you will be re-elected to do it all over again. Stop it!

As a voter and constituent of Senator Lindsey Graham in South Carolina, I am imploring you to stand firm on the values I voted for. Stand by your fellow Republicans in the House on this issue and others. Forget about trying to appease your fellow senators and actually represent what the people of this great nation actually want and need. Forget about trying to build a legacy for your office and yourself. Stop working with the opposition and work to achieve conservative and Republican goals.

If you turn around on this issue and show America what a solid conservative Republican can do to strive for the nations success, I and other conservative bloggers and BlogTalkRadio hosts like me will openly and unswervingly promote you and your associates. However, continue on this path and your actions will draw ire and contempt from your constituents and no matter how hard any of us opine for you, it just won’t matter. If you continue down this slippery slope of liberal voting, the Democratic candidates you face will appear more conservative than you. And the 2006 election has shown that seemingly conservative Democrats won over moderate Republicans again and again.

It’s time for Republicans to stop being buddy-buddy with liberal Democrats on the respective floors of Congress and actually stand up for your constituents and your party.

Although I won’t hold my breath for anything other than a generic response telling me how congress and the real world works, I really would appreciate a response, a conservative Republican response, that I can post to show that you truly care more about your constituents than compromise.

With sincerest regards,

Scott from SC


C.C. Lindsey Graham

John Thune

Saxby Chambliss

Bob Corker

Johnny Isakson


-------------------------------------

If you want to get involved, which you should, please visit the following sites to read, learn and sign any petitions.

Call Back Congress


#Don’t Go Movement


Call Nancy Pelosi at (202) 225-3121 and tell her how you feel about this.

Don’t sit by and let gas prices continue to rise by doing nothing.

Revolution....It's about TIME!!!!!!!!

Revolution 2008
Words by Scott from South Cackalacky
(To the tune of Revolution 1 by the Beatles)


Well now you’ve got a revolution
Well you know
All we want is cheaper gas
By the rules of the Constitution
Time to vote
Up or down, fail or pass
But all you wanted was a vacation
You killed the lights and tried to shut us out
Don't you know we’re gonna finish the fight
Alright, gonna fight, alright

You won’t listen to our solution
Well you know
We’re right, but you just don’t care
Now we’re after retribution
Well you know
So now you better beware
And now you want money for a book that people hate
All we want to do is continue the debate
Don't you know there’s gonna be a fight
Alright, a fight

You’re calling for Bush’s execution
Well you know
You can’t blame him for your mistakes
You belong in an institution
Time to go
You and all the liberal flakes
The winds of change are coming, you will regret
The day you could’ve done something but you just left
So now there’s gonna be a fight
Alright, a fight

It's the Oompa Loompelosi

Come with me – And you’ll be…
In a world of pure imagination!!!!!



Oompa loompa Pelosi doo
I've got another puzzle for you
Oompa loompa Pelosi dee
If you’re a fool you'll listen to me

Why did you stay on the house chamber floor?
I left long ago on my whirlwind book tour.
I don’t care if we need cheaper gas.
The America people can just kiss… my… ass!

I am al-ways better than you!

Oompa loompa Pelosi dare,
If you're not smart then you just will not care.
You will live in ignorance `cause,
The Oompa Loompa Pelosi does!

Dems decide to "kick it" while we still have outrageous gas prices

So, you still think the Democrats are looking out for you? I for one will NEVER be convinced of that now…

After a few weeks of the US House of Representatives discussing and passing bills regarding minutiae releventiae, the Democratic leadership decided to kick it for a few weeks while leaving the current energy act discussion dangling with nowhere near as much importance as those hanging chads of 2000. While apology and reparations for slavery and keeping lead out of toys have made the USHOR “plays of the week” in the main stream media, oil prices are still too high and something has got to be done about them NOW!

In other words, things have been accomplished in the house, but just like the SNL character Velvet Jones romance book title, I feel like I’ve been kicked in the butt by love.

However, just when it seemed that the House would yet again walk out the door with token victories and superfluous accomplishments, the energy debate took the forefront.

At noon, on August, 1 2008, the Democrats turned out the lights, shut down the cameras and headed home for the month. But some fifty Republicans insistent on enacting legislation to address skyrocketing oil prices remained on the House floor for more than five hours, swiping, sniping and griping at the democratic majority and making grand and patriotic speeches which garnered cheers from the gallery.

Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, R-Mich. Said, "This is the people's House, This is not Pelosi's politburo."

Democratic aides were furious at the GOP members' refusal to leave and kicked out reporters from the Speaker's Lobby.

House GOP members are incensed by Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's moves to block voting on a plan to reduce dependence on foreign sources of oil. Republicans claim that there are enough votes that include support from a significant number of Democrats.

The Republicans wrapped up their “chamber tea party” at 5:05 p.m. by singing "God Bless America," and left the chamber with the crowd chanting, "USA! USA!"

Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, and other GOP leaders opposed the motion to adjourn the House, at 11:23 a.m. Because Pelosi refuses to schedule a vote allowing offshore drilling, the American economy will continue to suffer and our national security will continue to be threatened.



At one point, the chamber lights and microphones were turned off, but then returned while Rep. John Shadegg, R-Ariz. was speaking.

C-SPAN, which has no control over House cameras, stopped broadcasting after the official adjournment.

Apparently, Republicans tried to prevent Capitol Police from removing the press from their gallery above the floor. GOP leaders tried to find other Republicans to rotate in for Blunt so reporters would not be forced to leave.

Blunt's office sent out a message saying: "Although, this Democrat Majority just adjourned for the Democrat 5-Week Vacation, House Republicans are continuing to fight on the House Floor. Although the lights, mics and C-SPAN cameras have been turned off, House Republicans are on the Floor speaking to the tax payers in the gallery who, not surprisingly, agree with Republican Energy proposals. All Republicans who are in town are encouraged to come to the House Floor."

Congress is set to adjourn at the end of September and will take most of August off for recess.

Now is the time, folks, to be a part of this process. Remember that it is supposed to be OF the people as well as by the people and for the people. Join us in the blogosphere and contact your representative, no matter what party they represent and give them a reason to stay on the job for you. Let them know that you will not support someone who ignores the needs of the American people. You can reach members of the House and members of the U.S. Senate by calling 202-224-3121. The official House website contains web pages for all members and includes e-mail addresses for most. The official Senate website also contains web pages for all members and includes email address for some.

The following Republican lawmakers participated in the energy marathon as shown on the House Republican Conference website,
:

• Rep. Brian Bilbray, Calif.
• Rep. Gus Bilirakis, Fla.
• Rep. Rob Bishop, Utah
• Rep. Roy Blunt, Mo.
• Rep. John Boehner, Mich.
• Rep. John Boozman, Ariz.
• Rep. Kevin Brady, Texas
• Rep. Paul Broun, Ga.
• Rep. Henry Brown, S.C.
• Rep. Michael Burgess, Texas
• Rep. Tom Cole, Okla.
• Rep. John Campbell, Calif.
• Rep. Eric Cantor, Va.
• Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, W.V.
• Rep. John Carter, Texas.
• Rep. Mike Conaway, Texas
• Rep. John Culberson, Texas
• Rep. Charlie Dent, Penn.
• Rep. Mary Fallin, Okla.
• Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, Neb.
• Rep. Virginia Foxx, N.C.
• Rep. Louie Gohmert, Texas
• Rep. Wally Herger, Calif.
• Rep. Pete Hoekstra, Mich.
• Rep. Duncan Hunter, Calif.
• Rep. Steve King, Iowa
• Rep. Dan Lungren, Calif.
• Rep. Don Manzullo, Ill.
• Rep. Kevin McCarthy, Calif.
• Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, Mich.
• Rep. Devin Nunes, Calif.
• Rep. Mike Pence, Ind.
• Rep. Chip Pickering, Miss.
• Rep. Todd Platts, Penn
• Rep. Ted Poe, Texas
• Rep. Jon Porter, Nev.
• Rep. Tom Price, Ga.
• Rep. Adam Putnam, Fla.
• Rep. Mike Rogers, Mich.
• Rep. Bill Sali, Idaho
• Rep. John Shadegg, Ariz.
• Rep. John Shimkus, Ill.
• Rep. Adrian Smith, Neb.
• Rep. Michael Turner, Ohio
• Rep. Tim Walberg, Mich
• Rep. Greg Walden, Ore.
• Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, Ga.
• Rep. Joe Wilson, S.C.

Several House Republicans gave a press conference on the extraordinary events. You can watch the video and read various quotes from it here.


You can view some of the streaming videos Rep. Culberson referenced here.


I am pleased to congratulate and give kudos to the House GOP members for finally showing some backbone and doing the kind of things we elected them to do. Stay vigilant in this as we need you to represent us, not just show up in D.C. to work at a job.

I hope my rekindled confidence in you will not be shunned by this merely being a token political act. But I do have faith that you will do the right thing and maybe even inspire some of the opposition to see the light.

Obama Fortuna

I am tired of having to COPE and CRINGE every time I hear “HOPE AND CHANGE.”

This has become more than just a campaign slogan from the opposition. It has become a klaxon, a red alert, a call to arms. In fact, every time I hear Barack Hussein Obama speak, I seem to always hear, loud and clear, the O Fortuna movement from Orff’s Carmina Burana.


Its ominously emotional tones seem to perfectly go with the words BHO speaks at his rallies. I really became concerned since the piece was based on 13th century manuscript collection by clergy and students who wrote it to satirize the church. Did I mention that it was composed in 1930s Germany?

Click play to the video below and listen (you’ll recognize it after a few moments):


The following is an English translation of the lyrics of O Fortuna. Click play again and read while you listen:

O Fortune,
like the moon
you are constantly changing,
ever growing
and waning;
hateful life
now oppresses
and then soothes
as fancy takes it;
poverty
and power
it melts them like ice.

Fate - monstrous
and empty,
you whirling wheel,
you are malevolent,
well-being is vain
and always fades to nothing,
shadowed
and veiled
you plague me too;
now through the game
I bring my bare back
to your villainy.

Fate, in health
and virtue,
is against me
driven on
and weighted down,
always enslaved.
So at this hour
without delay
pluck the vibrating strings;
since Fate
strikes down the strong man,
everyone weep with me!

You can very easily hear liberty being smothered in those words. They are a very appropriate homage to what Obama really stands for.

Obama places himself in the light as a deity of destiny. Yet like the goddess of fate, Obama is seen as a symbol of blessing to some and one of capricious demagoguery to others.

The evidence is in how each of us hears the following quote from Obama: "I have become a symbol of the possibility of America returning to our best traditions."


What is it that self-induces a monolithic epidemic of his highness’ perceived worth to the people of this nation? Who else spoke like this in history?

King Saul, Nero, Mehmed II, Ivan, Napoleon… and of course, Adolph Hitler.

And like those incarnates of evil, Barack Hussein Obama will DEMAND your money, your service, and your freedoms while commanding your love, your intellect, and your unswervingly blind devotion.

All you have to do is look at the droves of followers he draws. They remind me of the religious fanatics who refuse to think for themselves in Monty Python’s Life of Brian. They latch on to a person rather than ideal.

And that is the danger.

The issues are again ignored in favor of an idol. It seems that more and more people tend to think that as long as the idol gets the go ahead, the issues will be resolved. The only time that happens is in totalitarian governments. And the result was the lsot of liberty and even life for the citizenry.

Look at the greatness that America is. Has there ever been a time when our nation’s success has been affected by ANYTHING Obama and the current democratic leadership is touting?

This great country has again and again risen to greatness because of how its people deal with the issues of the respective times. From our struggle for independence to the Civil War and into the unknown of manifest destiny, it has been about how individuals mattered to the greater good. Even the semi-socialist, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, knew that it was about the people and the circumstances they faced and not himself. And it was the people of this nation that rose up to agonizingly overcome the great depression or sacrificed in commitment to helping defeat fascism in World War Two. Even though I, along with my fellow conservatives, repeatedly reminisce about how great Ronald Wilson Reagan was, it wasn’t because of whom he was inasmuch as it was about how he motivated (NOT INSPIRED) action among us to take responsibility for what America needed from us. Today’s democrats seem to forget what one of their own promulgated; “As not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country!”

Obama and his liberal contemporaries not only want you to look to the government for all your answers but want to make sure that you will not have any other resource to access….including yourself.

As you can tell, I have not spent this time promoting John McCain. I have been trying to convey to you the utter disaster Obama would be for our nation. I sincerely long for you to hear that klaxon of danger like I do.

Call him what you will – Obamanation, Obamanable, Czarbama, Obamaramalamadingdong – he represents a clear and present danger to the future of this country. He wants each American to cut back on personal luxuries and even needs. We are to turn down our heaters in winter and turn the thermostat up during summer. We are to inflate our tires more to save gas. We are to control our eating habits. These things seem to be common sense to most of us. But we usually do them on our own terms under our own discretion. Once Barry boy gets into the presidential residence (You know he’ll change the name of the building), those will be things that will be mandatory and we will suffer fines and punishment if we don’t. Obama wants a national civilian security force that will be just as strong and powerful as our current armed forces. And you know service in this will be mandatory as well.

The last time stuff like this was done in the world, the language spoken was GERMAN!

Make no mistake. An Obama administration will be the first step to fascism and a nation of obsolete men.

If you can’t vote FOR McCain, please, please vote AGAINST Obama.

White Dwarfs are Just as Important as Normal Stars

Eating Devil’s Food Cake in White Plains Under a Blue Moon is Just a Red Herring for Those Who are Green With Envy or Yellow With Fear.

I realize that not everybody is tone-deaf, color-blind, odor-free or taste-free, but right now I think this nation has become one where people are just dumb-struck with tactile sensitivity.

This PC junk is just plain getting out of hand and I for one am totally sick of it!!!!!!!!!!!!!





Look Commissioner John Wiley Price, I think you crossed the line on this one. The “black hole” comment might have been something to pursue outside of the meeting it was stated. However, to bring up ethnicity in terms of food and animals is absolutely moronic!

Dude, you have got to get over yourself because I love devil’s food cake, black eyed peas, black beans and rice, blackened chicken, brown gravy, etc. And I am not going to change my opinion of them, nor am I going to call them something different.

As far as devil’s food cake being black, don’t be stupid. Similar to red velvet cake, it’s a chocolate butter cake made with baking soda. When used in cakes, baking soda causes reddening of cocoa powder when baked. And the name actually comes from it being a sinfully delicious indulgence… not its color.

Surely, you have MSN where no one wants to be dumb, or maybe you need to stay at a Holiday Inn Express.

I realize that black has been used negatively to describe Africans and their descendents. But as long as you continue to make a big deal about it, you in essence become a racist yourself.

And what about black power or black pride? Are those supposed to be negative connotations now?

There are people who have lost EVERYTHING they have because of flooding or fires or whatever and you are worried about the name of an astronomical term?

There is a war on terror that we desperately need to win and you are worried about why certain foods are called certain things?

Gas prices are through the roof and you are worried about a recessive genetic trait in sheep?

I wonder if the business that the Dallas taxpayers entrusted you with that day was dealt with or maybe you didn’t have or get what you wanted and decided to play the ace of spades and trump the business of the day with your politically correct agenda. After all, stopping the meeting to complain about words and then demanding and unwarranted apology didn’t do ONE SINGLE THING for the best interest of the people of Dallas.

I truly hope your constituents remove you from office soon!

A rumored veep choice for McCain?

This is current Governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, a Republican. Fortunately, not only is she strikingly beautiful, but her most important attributes are her political positions and strong moral convictions. AND it is rumored that she is one of the potential candidates for Vice President.

By the way, I linked the photo above to the FLICKR site I got it from and send due credit and appreciation for its use.

So, God isn't allowed in government? I beg to differ.

Separation of Church and State – The Constitution

I wrote about the appearance of religious references in our federal and state governments in a previous blog.

In my humble opinion, that showed proof that our states’ leaders knew to give God the honor and glory when recording the laws that governed their respective lands

In today society, there are so many people that want to prove that God had and has no place in our government. They even state that God is nowhere to be found in the United States Constitution. I say there is!

Look at just the preamble to start.

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Let’s look at two key words in the preamble.

Justice – This word has its origins in the Latin word “justitia” which translates to righteousness and equity. The primary source to measure righteousness is the Holy Bible. “And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God, as he hath commanded us." - Deuteronomy 6:25

Blessings or Bless – Bless comes from and Old English word “bletsian” which means to consecrate or make holy. The framers believed that the nation and its governing document needed God’s divine approval

In article five, we see our very first specific wording regarding religion.

Article. VI.
The Senators and Representatives…, and the Members of the… State Legislatures, and… Officers, …of the United States and… the… [respective] States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification…

The framers knew that any religious test given by man would not reveal truth and character. A man’s character is determined by the way he lives and views his life in reverence to God. “…we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.” - Romans 5:3-4

In the closing, the framers SPECIFICALLY mention the Divine Deity from whom they sought guidance and inspiration

Done in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the States present the Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Eighty seven and of the Independence of the United States of America the Twelfth In witness whereof We have hereunto subscribed our Names,

“In the Year of our Lord” or A.D. (for Anno Domini) is not just an after the fact reference. The framer placed It here as a very specific homage to the fact that they were living in a time of Christ. To merely put a date down would cover the requirement for time reference. But the framers knew to give glory to the reign of our Lord and Savior and sovereignty to God Almighty.

Now to the most misunderstood and misused of the amendments…the very first one. I could go on and on about the other points mentioned but my point here is to show the presence of and our desperate need for God in our Government.

Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…

Nowhere in these words does it say anything about church or state. It merely defines what the role of congress is regarding religion. It basically states that congress really can’t do anything. Neither does it put religion in government nor does it prohibit God from government.

The framers essentially stated that they didn’t want government to determine religion. In other words, it is just as dangerous for the government to tell you not to worship God and it is for them to tell you that you are required to.

May God bless our nation and its people
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Charters of Freedom


Online Etymology Dictionary


BibleGateway.com

a wake up call from almost 50 years ago!

In 1961, an episode of Rod Serling's Twilight Zone aired that has such a ring of truth to it that I had to blog it here. Actually, my fascination with it now started yesterday while discussing it on Blog Talk Radio with the Political Postachio himself, Douglas V. Gibbs. It is his revelation and fascination that has sparked mine. We had a remarkable discussion that lasted until about 1:30am for me and they were still going when I signed off. Running the board for Doug was our good buddy, Josh Allem. Wild Phil, Andrea, and Brian were there as well. The most remarkable thing came when we actually started talking about the things of God. This led to some impromptu witnessing in which God was absolutely glorified.

The episode, "The Obsolete Man," is presented here in three parts:Part 1

Read the opening narrative as it is spoken by Serling:You walk into this room at your own risk, because it leads to the future; not a future that will be, but one that might be. This is not a new world: It is simply an extension of what began in the old one. It has patterned itself after every dictator who has ever planted the ripping imprint of a boot on the pages of history since the beginning of time. It has refinements, technological advancements, and a more sophisticated approach to the destruction of human freedom. But like every one of the super states that preceded it, it has one iron rule: Logic is an enemy, and truth is a menace. This is Mr. Romney Wordsworth, in his last forty-eight hours on Earth. He's a citizen of the State, but will soon have to be eliminated, because he's built out of flesh and because he has a mind. Mr. Romney Wordsworth, who will draw his last breaths in the Twilight Zone.

Part 2


Part 3

Read the closing narrative as it is spoken by Serling:The chancellor, the late chancellor, was only partly correct. He was obsolete, but so is the State, the entity he worshipped. Any state, any entity, any ideology that fails to recognize the worth, the dignity, the rights of man, that state is obsolete. A case to be filed under "M" for mankind—in the Twilight Zone.The references to Nazi Germany and the Soviet State are all throughout. The wardrobe reckons back to the SS of the Nazis. In fact, the Chancellor even mentions Hitler and Stalin by name as men of vision who are to be reveered. Serling new how to write and new that words...and names MEAN things. Let's look at the title of "chancellor." We can relate it to the head of state or leader. However, because of the Christian overtones, I believe this is more in reference to the Old English definition which based on a chancellor in Roman times. >cancellarius< - "keeper of the barrier, secretary, usher of a law court," so called because he worked behind a lattice at a basilica or law court. In the Roman Empire this was a sort of court usher. This makes more sense in terms of the character in the show. After all, it wasn't a palace or office room but a court room that is the judgement place in the episode. I believe that Serling intended this to be a reference to the courts of the Pharisees that seem to be the model for the one world government and religion prophesied in the New Tastament. And that goes along with the liberal trends of our society and activist judges.As far as the main character, Serling really put it perfectly in the name. Romney Wordsworth says enough by his name alone. Wordsworth is a perfect name for a librarian and even better for a religious man who finds WORTH in the WORDS of the bible. The first name, Romney is a Welsh name which mean "dwells by the river." This can mean one or both of two things. The river refers to the river Jordan in which Jesus was baptized, or in Revelation 22, it refers to the River of Life.In a nutshell, this episode really cries against fascism, authoritarianism, and the atheist state. Jonah Goldberg, in his book, "Liberal Fascism" lays out the best relation between modern liberalism and the totalitarian government of the episode. Furthermore, Wordsworth was killed for his convictions which he held to the last. This is a solid homage to the Christian martyrs who are tortured and die for their beliefs.Just for the record, the bible verses Wordsworth read are:Psalm 23, Psalm 59, Psalm 14, and Psalm 130 As we approach the upcoming general election, if you favor what was presented in the episode, vote to the left. and keep voting that way.

Thanks to Doug, and the guests of this show. but most of all, praise God for His love for all of us.