Wednesday
THAT WAS THE (STRANGE) ELECTION, THAT WAS!
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THIS WEEK'S EDITORIAL COMMENT: This publication is now and
always has been more of a commentary than a news report. That is what
the title is meant to convey: it is a commentary on American news, and
to achieve that, the views expressed are based on Conservative political
and economic principles, and on Evangelical Christian principles. It
happens that today we are experiencing some extremely important news.
To offer any reasonable and meaningful comment on those news events
will require some time in preparation. You can get the actual news
reports from the press and from broadcast media. We will be issuing our
commentary within a few days -- thus essentially providing two issues this
week. But until then, right now we have some interesting and important
thoughts on current events to share with you.
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TO PARAPHRASE AN OLD BRITISH TV PROGRAM TITLE,
"THAT WAS THE WEEK THAT WAS," IT IS FAIR TO SAY:
THAT WAS THE (STRANGE) ELECTION, THAT WAS!
Because of our internet emailing schedule, we have to have each week's
issue ready to release by 6:00 AM Pacific time every Wednesday. In
this week's situation, while we may all know the broad scope of the
election results, we have not had opportunity to study them and assess
the effect of those results on the life of our nation; thus, the need for our
commentary to follow in a few days.
We have often referred to this as being "the age of the polls." For the
past 6 months or so we have been subjected to monthly, weekly and,
in some instances, daily polls offering predictions on the outcome of
yesterday's election. Overall, they were uniformly optimistic as to the
expected Republican victories. Words like typhoon, tidal-wave, Tea
Party tsunami, even Democrat billionare funder George Soros spoke of
not wanting to stand in front of an avalanche. By now we have seen the
figures, and the results are memorable, and to a certain extent, historic.
Review very quickly -- using the numbers available at this hour --the
three national groups which were part of this election: the Senate, the
House of Representatives and the Governors of the various states. Prior
to the election the Senate was made up of 57 Democrats, 41 Republicans
and 2 Independents. As a result of this election, that makeup has changed
to 50 Democrats, 46 Republicans and 2 Independents. Prior to this
election, the House was made up of 257 Democrats and 178 Republicans.
To win control of the House, the Republicans had to pick up 40 seats.
As a result of this election, that makeup has changed to 183 Democrats
and 238 Republicans. And the nation's Governors, prior to the election
included 26 Democrats, 23 Republicans and 1 Independent. As a result
of this election, the state Governors now include 16 Democrats, 29
Republicans and still 1 Independent. (All results are subject to change.)
What do all those changes mean? Our soon-to-follow commentary
will offer a detailed analysis . . . but for now just these few thoughts.
The number of House seats picked up by the Republicans in this mid-
term election is the largest such pickup in at least 60 years. In his
all out electioneering campaign, President Obama made 12 visits to
Ohio . . . Vice President Biden made 8 visits . . . Bill Clinton was
there, all in behalf of Democrat candidates -- yet Republicans won both
the Governorship and the open Senate seat. Similarly, in Pennsylvania,
normally a strong Democrat state, Republicans were elected both as
Governor and Senator. And perhaps the biggest failure for Mr. Obama
was the loss of his old Senate seat in Illinois to a Republican. Then
coupling situations like those with the overall results in the three groups,
and what we have seen is a strong repudiation of the Obama agenda. As
a result, if he does not make an abrupt change of practice and procedure,
the president will be unable to govern effectively.
Remember our "Vote and Pray" countdown before this election?
Our countdown of 300 days began on Jan. 6, and ended yesterday. In
that period there were other prayer emphasis plans . . . 100 days, 40
days, etc. We have decided to start a new countdown period of prayer
today, and are announcing that there are 734 days until the next national
Election Day, Nov. 6, 2012. (If you want to check our math on this,
remember that 2012 is a "leap year," with 29 days in February.) So,
beginning today, we invite -- more than that, we urge -- you to begin
with us a 734 day "Pray for America" schedule, ending with the second
part of our "Pray and Vote" slogan, and vote on Nov. 6, 2012.
Instead of the usual "What Others Are Saying," here is a collection
of "One Liners" from a wide ranging group of observers as they consider
this Election. There should be something of interest for everyone here . . .
From Gary Bauer: "Obama was once defined by soaring rhetoric, lofty
aspirations and sky-high approval numbers. But ... all those have fallen
back to earth with a president who today is more likely to sling the mud
than to enchant the heavens."
From Mark Alexander: "The election of Barack Hussein Obama was
the worst of insults to our nation's heritage of Liberty."
From Cal Thomas: "America used to be a nation that celebrated
inventors and the inventive. Today we penalize the productive and
subsidize the nonproductive."
From Chuck Colson: "Without God's intervention, I see little hope for
this country. The Church must be the Church--salt and light, and the
conscience of society."
From Victor Davis Hanson: "To talk positively about traditional
marriage and the special historical relationship between a man and a
woman is code for homophobia."
From Suzy Rice: "Our country — any country, all countries —
deserve so much more from people in elected office than this, than
Obama’s abysmal displays from down in the gutter."
From Robert Knight: "In trotting out the 'born gay, always gay'
rhetoric, President Obama essentially declares God a liar. That would
be the God who Mr. Obama professes to worship."
From Larry Elder: "NPR fired him [Juan Williams], reconfirming the
organization as a taxpayer-supported bastion of biased liberalism
masquerading as 'nonpartisan.'"
From William K. Black on Obama's gaffe in saying that Summers "did
a heckuva job" during his appearance last week on the Jon Stewart show:
"No, Mr. President, Larry Summers did not resolve the financial crisis
for a pittance; he just papered over the problem."
From Timothy H. Lee: "2008 - 2010; From 'Yes We Can.' to 'Shove it'
in two short years."
From Dr. Michael Youssef: "When pastors turn their pulpits over to
imams to talk about the wonderful things about Islam, they are opening
the doors for the wolves to come in."
From Skip MacLure: "It's going to be a different America. An America
rededicated to the Constitution of the United States. An America where
our borders are secure and illegal immigration laws are followed."
From Dr. Timothy F. Johnson: "Next is to find the next president of the
United States, and retire President Obama to Chicago, Hawaii or Kenya
in Nov. 2012."
And now a few random "Afterthoughts" . . .
Two more record setting exploits for Obama. (1) His trip to India
next week, including his wife and children for sightseeing opportunities,
is set to be the biggest ever for any U.S. president in terms of logistics
(and cost, of course!). The presidential entourage will have 40 aircraft,
including Air Force One to transport Mr. Obama and his family. There
will be six armoured cars including four Barack Mobiles and a Cadillac.
The trip will include a visit to the Taj Mahal, one of the world's greatest
tourist attractions. (2) Less than halfway through his first term in office
Mr. Obama has already appointed more openly homosexual officials than
any other president in history -- more than 150 appointments so far, from
agency heads and commission members to policy officials and senior
staffers, exceeding the previous high of 140 during two full terms under
Bill Clinton.
"Some things I wish I hadn't said." (1) President Obama, Oct. 25:
"We're gonna punish our enemies and we're gonna reward our friends
who stand with us on issues that are important to us ... We don't mind
the Republicans joining us. They can come for the ride, but they gotta
sit in back." Surely not an attempt to play the "race card." (2) Jimmy
Carter, Oct. 25, in an MSNBC "Hardball" telecast with Chris Matthews,
suggested that nearly the entire Tea Party movement had been "financed
by hard right oligarchs," adding that the Tea Partiers are being
"suborned by those who don't give a darn about low class working
people." Mr. Carter is entitled to his own personal opinion about
working people, but he probably shouldn't make such public statements
even on such a low rated TV show.
It has happened in Great Britain; it could happen here. Last year the
most popular name for newborn boys in Britain became: Mohammed!
In recent year the names Jack and Harry had been most popular, but
Mohammed (spelled in 12 different ways, including Muhammad and
Mohammad) surged ahead from third place in the previous year, with
7,549 boys being given the name of the Islamic founder last year. In
Britain, Muslims now number approximately 4% of the population,
having increased by some 500,000 in the past four years.
The Vatican joins Obama in "throwing Israel under the bus." Last
week an Associated Press story carried the headline, "Vatican Meeting
of Mideast Bishops Demands Israel End Occupation of Palestinian
Lands." The AP story included these statements: "In a final joint
communique, the bishops also told Israel it shouldn't use the Bible to
justify 'injustices' against the Palestinians...The Bishops laid much of
the blame for the conflict squarely on Israel." Overall, the bishops
raised concerns about Iraq and Lebanon, but only in the context of the
Israeli-Palestinian dispute, for which they suggest Israel bears almost
the sole responsibility.
Perhaps now more than ever, we should look to our Founding Fathers;
Ronald R. Cherry, MD, affirms that the strengths of Americanism have
derived entirely from the spiritual and moral outlook of the Founding
Fathers, reminding us that: "The Judeo-Christian values of our Founding
Fathers have resulted in an explosion of Life, Liberty and Creativity for
hundreds of millions of people."
"God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation
be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a
conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are a gift from
God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed, I
tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, and that His
justice cannot sleep forever." -- Thomas Jefferson, 1781
"Let it be impressed on your mind that God commands you to choose for
rulers just men who will rule in the fear of God (Exodus 18:21) ... If the
citizens neglect their duty and place unprincipled men in office, the
government will soon be corrupted ... If our government fails to secure
public prosperity and happiness, it must be because the citizens neglect
the Divine commands, and elect bad men to make and administer the laws."
-- Noah Webster, 1832
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