Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Reply to Colonel Hollister

Are these Wing-Wipers all alike?

The other day, the Pueblo Chieftain published a letter to the editor that caught my attention.

I decided that it needed to be addressed.....and fisked.....

The letter is from a retired United States Air Force colonel, who currently resides in Colorado Springs.

The first half of the letter seems to have been a trip down memory lane for the good colonel. He fondly remembers the salad daze of his youth. It’s not important that he visited this, that or the other church. Not as far as I am concerned.

Rather, I am interested in his outlandish support of Senator McCain for the presidency.

“Of all the candidates, Sen. John McCain of Arizona stands out head and shoulders above the competition with the ability to answer this call.”—Colonel Hollister

He certainly does stand above all the other candidate. He’s the only one I know of who willfully broke his oath of office as a commissioned officer in the Armed Forces of the United States.

Let me relate that oath to you.

I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter.  So help me God.

It’s the one I took upon being commissioned as a lieutenant in the United States Army. And, based on what I know, it’s identical to the one that Senator McCain took when he received HIS commission.

And, I suspect its the same one that the good Colonel Hollister took as well.

Do you see that business about defending the Constitution of the United States? Against ALL enemies? Foreign AND domestic? And the additional part about bearing “true faith and allegiance to the same”?

Interesting stuff that. But, what does it mean?

Most reasonable people would get the idea that it would not involve doing things that destroyed the Constitution of the United States. Don’t you think?

However, Senator McCain has done exactly that. He, in his infamous act titled the McCain-Feingold Bill of Election Reform struck a blow at the Bill of Rights of the Constitution of the United States. How so? Well, this legislation bans people like you and me, or anyone else, from criticizing members of Congress in the days prior to an election in which they are running.

Why, on God’s green Earth, would someone who has sworn to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States do something like that?

Was he beaten so severely during his stint in the Hanoi Hilton that he completely forgot his oath as an officer in the United States Armed Forces?

“From his time in a prisoner of war camp in North Vietnam to his willingness to take on the Washington establishment on porkbarrel politics and prosecution of the war in Iraq, John McCain has the experience, intellect, passion and vision to carry on the efforts of great Americans who were taken from us prematurely.”—Colonel Hollister

All that business about taking on “the Washington establishment” and “prosecution of the war in Iraq” is all well and good. But it does not, in my honest and professional opinion, alleviate the gross malfeasance of striking at the Bill of Rights while protecting his incumbent fourth-point-of-contact.

“Sen. McCain is the leader our country needs at this critical juncture in our nation’s history.”—Colonel Hollister

I think that the good Colonel Hollister has suffered from the same loss of memory that Senator McCain suffers. He seems to have forgotten the oath of office he took and the necessity of upholding the Constitution of the United States, against all enemies; foreign and DOMESTIC.

And for the truly obtuse, a reminder....

....the Bill of Rights is part and parcel of that Constitution.

Anyone who would willfully attack our cherished freedom of speech is obviously an enemy of the Constitution of the United States. And, therefore, not the sort of person to make the supreme executive of this nation.

P.S. Maybe it has something to do with that thin, canned air these wing-wipers breath doing multiple machs. Probably affects the little gray cells.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Analyzing the Y Zone Analysis

The poor you will always have with you,--Matthew 26:11.

An editorial in the Pueblo Chieftain on Sunday discusses the so-called “Y Zone” and compares it to the rest of the city. The editorial is written by The Poverty Study Group, and the names of several well-known citizens and officials are given. The PSG is “an informal consortium of community leaders committed to understanding and reversing intergenerational poverty in Pueblo.”

First, let me say the article does present some interesting data, but data are not necessarily the same things as information. The article cites three sources for the data: the 2000 Census, data from the state Department of Public Health and Environment, and a book called “Missing Class” by Katherine S. Newman and Victor Tan Chen. The “progressive” nature of the book is signaled when the PSG says “the “Missing Link” {sic} authors, Newman and Chen, see universal, high-quality, early childhood education as key to improving the situation of the working poor. They also advocate universal health care. Also on their list is maintaining access to higher education, something we work hard at in Pueblo.”

MORE...

Monday, January 28, 2008

The Coming Fury….Second Installment

The [Cultural] Civil War of the 21st Century. Has it already begun?

There was an article in the paper the other day by my neighbor. Based on my reading, it suggested that we, as a people, were on the verge of a war of violence relating to matters of culture. It was, if you’ll pardon the term, liberally laced with innuendo and militaristic metaphor.

These tools of rhetoric were used to describe a militaristic mind-set of a particular group of christians. They implied that this group was getting ready for ‘war’. And even went so far as to convey the impression that they might even be getting ready to do violence.

Whether this is accurate or not, I do not know. As a retired Army officer, I learned the truth of an old staff puke axiom....

“Things are never as bad, nor as good, as first reported.”

I’ll gather more information. But based on what I know and I have gathered already, doing research on the web, I don’t see justification for my neighbor’s ‘concern’ that these christians are preparing to wage a war of violence, instead of rhetoric, against their perceived ‘enemies’.

After 57 years of observation and participation, I see that the culture war is, contrary to the title of my neighbor’s article, not just under the surface. Rather, it is already upon us. Those who think otherwise, have not been paying attention.

Maybe it’s just me. Maybe it has to do with my current delving into Bruce Catton’s accounts of the Civil War of the 1860s. But I see and learn from history. And the history I’ve been learning of late correlates with what I’ve been observing over the last 30 years.

There is a culture war going on. And, at times it has become ugly. And, on a few occasions, even violent. However, the violence has more often been by non-christians against christians, or other believers in the Judeo-Christian God, as described in that Old Book. And that violence has not always been perpetrated by the fanatical followers of bin Laden and his ilk. Statistics will bear this out.

On the less ugly side, we have other evidence that the war is on. Case in point, the sorry state of so-called ‘mainstream’ denominations; Roman Catholicism with it’s issues of pedophiles in it’s priestly ranks, Episcopalians, Methodists and some Lutherans over homosexual ministers. These are just a few examples that spring to mind as I write. I’m certain that I could come up with more after some additional coffee is applied.

Does my neighbor suggest that people who can—and do—read the that Old Book for themselves and comprehend that something is wrong should not speak out about it? Or is he afraid that by speaking out they may prove a certain cherished position he has held could be proven wrong?

Is he concerned that by reading such books as America at the Crossroads by Ewing and Marschall they might gird up their loins and develop the ‘fighting spirit’ to “take up their pens and enter the fray”?

I say “Good for them AND good for my neighbor and myself.” One of my guiding principles has been the idea that a clash of doctrines is not a disaster. Rather, it is an opportunity....to learn. And in learning, gain a better understanding. Besides, I always enjoy a good debate. Maybe that’s why I judge Colorado High School Forensics.

As for the debate turning violent. It, occasionally, has. I’m reminded of one incident where someone in an SUV deliberately drove over several people, in broad daylight; as the police looked on. No charges were filed against the driver.

What do you think of that?

The people who were assaulted with this vehicle, were protesting against abortion.

Did that change your previous opinion?

If so....why?

I suggest that if your opinion DID change, you’re already a combatant in the culture war. And a violently hypocritical one at that.

Think about it.

As I said, I’ve been getting a lot out of Catton’s account of the Civil War. And I see parallels between the lead-up to that violent episode in our history and what is going on today.

We may not have had a John Brown’s Raid. We may not see such an event, but I think we are seeing the period of heated rhetoric that occurred for a number of years before. We could even be in the period resembling the terrible days of ‘Bleeding Kansas’, as people come to churches across the land and start slaughtering the worshippers; anybody remember what happened a few miles up the road from here? Or have we already forgotten?

I submit that those who hate Christ are already performing the acts of violence against His followers that my neighbor proposes these christians are edging towards. However, I doubt these christians are planning to do the same. Some might, but they would be a distinct and condemned minority. Condemned by the REAL christians.

On the other hand, we have incidents like what happened in Kansas where a minister peacefully carrying a sign on the public sidewalk around a park was arrested by the police for peacefully carrying a sign on the public sidewalk around a park.

Other people were carrying signs at the same time. They were not arrested.

Why this dichotomy?

Yes. The war is on. And, occasionally, it is violent, but the violence, by and large, is against christians. Especially the REAL ones.

Will they fight back? Yes. With violence? Some may. But they will be few. Meanwhile, the vast majority will remember what their Master taught; something about “Love thy neighbor as thyself.” Enemy or not....

Friday, January 04, 2008

The Real Hazards of “Made in China”

It’s bad enough that Christmas is made in China.

I have long been unhappy that nearly every Christmas decoration for sale in major stores is made in China, a country that is not friendly to Christian values, let alone Christian institutions and missionaries.

I have not been happy that I am supporting a hostile government every time I buy shoes. (Think I can avoid it? YOU try to find shoes in the children’s department that aren’t made in China!)

Yesterday I went shopping for “foundation garments” and discovered that nearly all of them are now made in China, also. As has been the case with handbags and wallets for some time.

If we ever go to war with China, we’re going to be walking around naked and barefoot with our money, cell phones and car keys dumped in double-layered plastic grocery bags.