Wednesday
A MILESTONE IN THE BETRAYAL OF MARRIAGE
THIS WEEK'S LONG BUT IMPORTANT EDITORIAL COMMENT:
There is a frequently used phrase in news commentaries these days: "Thrown
under the bus." It refers to an individual, a principle or even a country being
ignored and/or rejected by others in control. In the midst of the fires of revolt
and rebellion which are engulfing the Middle East, one -- and only one -- nation
stands firm on democratic rule and unswerving loyalty to, and support for, the
United States -- the nation Israel. And yet the Obama administration continues
in its efforts to throw Israel under the bus. Even Mr. Obama's "ambassador"
to the UN has stated our agreement with the claim of other member nations
that Israel's actions within its own boundaries are illegitimate. But beyond the
international diplomatic aspects, Mr. Obama would be wise to consider God's
views of Israel as a people and as a country on this earth, and Jerusalem as His
chosen city. From the word of God: "The Lord said unto Abram, get thee
unto a land that I will show thee, and I will make of thee a great nation
... and I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee."
(Gen. 12:1-3) "The Lord made a covenant with Abram saying: unto thy
seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river,
the river Euphrates." (Gen. 15:18) "And I will give unto thee and thy
seed after thee, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession;
and I will be their God." (Gen. 17:8) "Judah shall dwell forever, and
Jerusalem from generation to generation." (Joel 3:20) "Pray for the
peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee." (Ps. 122:6) This
is God's word, as found in the Christian Bible. God's oath cannot be
altered. It stands forever. If Mr. Obama is really the "devoted Christian"
he claims to be, he should certainly consider these Biblical truths before
he arbitrarily throws Israel under the bus.
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"A MILESTONE IN THE BETRAYAL OF MARRIAGE" IS A
HEADLINE WHICH TAKES PRECEDENCE OVER EVEN
THE CHAOS IN COUNTRIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST
On January 20, 2009, Barack Hussein Obama placed his hand on a Bible,
as other presidents have done before him, and took an oath to "preserve,
protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." (Article II,
Section 1 of the Constitution) Under the Constitution his responsibilities
include this one: "he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed."
(Article II, Section 3) The Constitution makes no exception for laws that the
president doesn't happen to like, or which do not represent his own personal
feelings or beliefs, or which he made campaign promises to repeal if elected.
Sometime ago we spoke of President Obama as facing a "credibility crisis."
Stated simply: people just don't believe him. That "credibility crisis" became
glaringly evident last week when in a major policy shift, Mr. Obama directed
his Justice Department to stop defending the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act
(DOMA). On Wednesday Attorney General Holder sent an official
communication to Congress, informing them that he and the president had
decided that DOMA was unconstitutional, and that the Justice Department
will no longer defend it against any challenges from homosexual supporters.
DOMA passed in Congress by votes of 342 to 67 in the House, and 85 to
14 in the Senate, and was signed into law in 1996 by President Bill Clinton.
President Obama doesn't seem to understand the three branches of our
federal government, that as Chief Executive it is his duty uphold and enforce
the laws of the nation -- all of them -- and not refuse to enforce those laws
he doesn't happen to like. It is not within his authority to institute new laws
or cancel old ones. That is the responsibility of Congress, but Mr. Obama
has taken that authority away from the Congress and has taken it for himself.
DOMA defines marriage as between one man and one woman for purposes
of federal law, and provides that states do not have to recognize marriages
between homosexuals as performed in another state which permits such
unions. In accordance with DOMA, al least thirty (30) states (do the math --
that's more than half of the 50 states -- a majority, right?) have already voted
to define marriage in their state as between one man and one woman. But
this arrogant (what other word better describes it?) decision by Obama and
Holder cannot yet be considered a fait accompli. Reaction across the nation
has been strongly negative; example: the 2.4 million member American Legion
has submitted a letter to the president and leaders of the Congress expressing
their strong disagreement with the Obama administration's arbitrary position.
And as former House Speaker Newt Gingrich warned -- it replaces the rule
of law with the rule of Obama. And David Limbaugh summarized: "We have
an imperial president who is refusing to enforce a law passed by
powerful congressional majorities while persisting in enforcing a law
(Obamacare) that two federal courts have already invalidated. The only
common denominator is that Obama believes he is the law." In short, it
seems to us to be a major step toward abandoning our constitutional
government in favor of an absolute dictatorship.
And another lack of credibility for Mr. Obama has become all too clear:
not only has he violated his oath of office (taken with his hand on a Christian
Bible), but he has even claimed to be a Christian believer, although poll after
poll discloses that the opinions of the American people are still divided on this
subject. Yet two of the key Christian moral issues -- God's commandment
against murder, and His provision that marriage is between one man and one
woman -- have been rejected by Mr. Obama in his support of abortion and
homosexual unions. The question as to whether he is Muslim or Christian,
was commented on by Ann Coulter in September, 2010: "The nonsense
about President Obama being a Muslim has got to stop... I rise to defend
him from this absurd accusation by pointing out that he is obviously an
atheist." And Ms. Coulter added that: "the only evidence for Obama's
Christianity is that he faithfully attended the Rev. Jeremiah Wright's
Trinity United Church of Christ for 20 years."
The announcement of an intriguing new book about Obama. Dinesh
D'Souza, best-selling author and President of New York City's Kings
College, has released his latest volume, The Roots of Obama's Rage. The
announcement of its availability is shocking in its summary. For example:
"The real Obama is a man shaped by experiences far different from
those of most Americans; he is a much stranger, more determined,
and exponentially more dangerous man than you’d ever imagined."
The summary goes on to point out: "What really motivates Barack
Obama is an inherited rage—an often masked, but profound rage
that comes from his African father; an anti-colonialist rage against
Western dominance, and most especially against the wealth and
power of the very nation Barack Obama now leads." Dr. D'Souza
points out that Obama's recent book is really titled Dreams from my
Father; in other words, Obama is not writing about his father's dreams --
he is writing about dreams he got from his father, a "philandering,
inebriated African socialist, who raged against the world for denying
him the realization of his anti-colonial ambitions, is now setting the
nation's agenda through the reincarnation of his dreams in his son."
As always, we do not offer anything for sale; we merely mention an
important new book which has become available.
Meanwhile, Mr. Obama has already augmented his re-election campaign
staff with former high ranking administration leaders, and has begun his
campaign to convince Americans that he should be re-elected in 2012.
The logic of that aspiration is hard to accept, but as Don King (and others)
said: "Only in America."
Last week we quoted Founding Father Thomas Jefferson on the
importance of government leaders telling the truth. Now here is another
quote from him on that subject, written in 1775 -- one that Mr. Obama
could well benefit by heeding: "It behooves you, therefore, to think and
act for yourself and your people. The great principles of right and
wrong are legible to every reader; to pursue them requires not the aid
of many counselors. The whole art of government consists in the art of
being honest. Only aim to do your duty, and mankind will give you
credit where you fail."
In addition to this serious attack on America's Christian heritage,
national and international protests are raging -- with no acceptable ends in
sight. Pollster Scott Rasmussen summarized the rioting in the Middle East
and the protests (or near riots) in American state capitols in these words,
"Wisconsin and Libya. Angry protesters are in the streets. Here at home
they're exercising their democratic rights in a budget battle; over there,
they're being shot down for seeking democratic rights in real battles."
This headline from the Washington Post says it in a few words: "Ohio,
Wisconsin Shine Spotlight on New Union Battle: Government
Workers vs. Taxpayers." What began as an effort by the governors of
some states (45 states are in the red) to reduce operating expenses, has
developed into a Democrat organized protest in support of the unions.
Robert Ringer, best-selling author commented: "With the angry uprising
of pampered teachers in Wisconsin, the long-awaited Marxist revolution
in the U.S. may finally be underway. It's been clear for decades that a
forced ending to America's experiment with soft socialism would almost
certainly trigger such a revolution." Here, as in protests elsewhere in the
world, the end is not yet in sight.
Internationally, the troubles began in Tunisia, spread to Egypt, and
now most of the Middle East is engulfed in protests and rioting, with mobs
demanding the overthrow of their government leaders. Libya, Bahrain and
Yemen seem to be today's hot spots . . . Iran, Saudi Arabia, Oman and
Jordan may soon experience the same revolutionary uprisings . . . even Iraq,
where we are supposed to see democracy taking effect, people are being
killed in the streets, and the nation's largest oil production facility has just
been attacked and shut down.
Libya, and its dictator-president for 40 years, Muammar Gadhafi, has been
commanding attention in the media for a couple of weeks, with reports of
Libyans being killed in the streets by Gadhafi's militants, and perhaps as many
as 100,000 people fleeing the country. As the winds of change began to
sweep across the area in recent days, Mr. Obama and his administration has
shown what has been described as "utter ineptitude" in dealing with the
crises that are engulfing Arab country after country. Robert Tracinski, writing
in TIA Daily, offered this assessment: "Flat-footed and disoriented is the
only way to describe the Obama administration's response. They have
no idea what is happening and no sense of urgency that they need to
know and to take action. Their response to Libya has been, if anything,
even worse than Obama's slow and passive response to Egypt."
As John Bolton, our last effective Ambassador to the UN, commented,
"President Obama has no foreign policy." But as of the beginning of this
week, Obama's State Department joined with the UN in establishing
sanctions against Libya -- and we all know how effective sanctions were as
applied against Iran.
As late as last weekend, Gadhafi in an interview with the London-based
al-Hayat newspaper had this to say about President Obama: "Now ruling
America is a black man from our continent, an African from Arab
descent, from Muslim descent, and this is something we never imagined ...
"He is someone I consider a friend."
The word for today -- and everyday -- is "Prayer." Each week we
remind our readers of how many days remain before Election Day, Nov. 6,
2012. As of today, there are 615 days to pray about our vote, when we can
replace Senators, Representatives, and this time, even the president. This will
be our opportunity to put into office candidates who will lead in reclaiming
America to the principles upon which our nation was founded. But there is
today a new and urgent need for prayer -- New Zealand, one of our most
loyal allies, has experienced a devastating earthquake, with deaths in the
hundreds and the city of Christchurch virtually destroyed. Throughout
the country crowds are assembling, including government leaders, not to
protest about wages, but to ask God for help in meeting their nation's needs.
Let us join them in prayer for God's blessing in these tragic days.
To keep facts in focus for you, here is "What Others Are Saying."
Keith Davies (writing in Big Peace): "Our country and way of life is
being destroyed from within; freedom of expression is being stifled as
well as the ability to enact policies that are for the welfare of this nation
and the free world ... Judeo Christian values and our civilization is
under attack; the US needs to lead in the fight for its preservation."
Former President Harry S. Truman: "I had faith in Israel before it was
established, I have faith in it now. I believe it has a glorious future before
it - not just another sovereign nation, but as an embodiment of the great
ideals of our civilization." (1948)
Frank Page (Pres. Exec. Comm. Southern Baptist Conv.): "I believe
that now a unified understanding and a call for an affirmation of an
inerrant, infallible Word of God shall lead us to an even greater
obedience of that Word. I believe that is where we need to be focusing
now. As we affirm its inerrancy and infallibility, let's do so by fleshing
it out and living it in this world."
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: "The world is on the
verge of big developments. Changes will be forthcoming and will engulf
the whole world from Asia to Africa and from Europe to North America
... It’s a wave that’s coming.”
Michelle Malkin (Speaking of "Fleebaggers" -- the Cut-and-Run
Democrats): "First lady Michelle Obama said, 'Let's Move!' Who
knew Democratic politicians in Wisconsin and Indiana would take
her literally? Faced with stifling debt, bloated pensions and
intractable government unions, liberal Midwestern legislators
have fled those states.- paralyzing Republican fiscal reform efforts."
And from another kind of Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles:
"Our institutions reflect the belief of our founders that all men were
endowed by their Creator with inalienable rights...They believed that
human institutions ought primarily to help men develop their God-
given possibilities." (1955)
Increasingly difficult to find, but here are a few "One Liners"
support Obama" -- from the DC Morning
"It's so bad for him, now Democrats want to see his birth certificate."
-- Jay Leno
"The phrase 'civil union' is another deceptive phrase in the liberal
lexicon. There is nothing either civil or unifying about homosexuality."
-- David Smith, Illinois Family Institute
"The ugly corpse of 'HillaryCare' haunts Obama." -- The Sunday Times,
London
"Obama’s Economic Advisers: International Socialists, Union Thugs,
NBC Execs, Soros Scholars, Subprime Lenders, Amnesty Shills, and
Campaign Cronies" -- Ben Johnson
And now here are this weeks random "Afterthoughts" . . .
How would you like to be the new White House "spinmeister"? Jay
Carney, the new White House press secretary (following the long anticipated
departure of Robert Gibbs), took over the briefing room podium last week.
is the hired mouthpiece of an administration that has painfully little to say or
that anyone really cares about. The innocuous nature of his responses isn't
the fault of the new spokesman. He has the almost impossible task of
expressing a coherent or reasonable policy in the absence of one. That
problem has been very glaring with respect to the Libyan uprising, for
example -- one which the president has handled with all the detachment of
a disinterested and powerless observer.
It's déjà vu the "newspeak" of George Orwell's 1984 --"'ObamaCare
is meant as a disparaging reference to the President of the United States.
It is clearly in violation of the House rules against that," said Rep. Debbie
Wasserman Schultz (D, FL). It's one of those words the Liberals don't want
us to use. But Larry Elder asks: "When did "ObamaCare" become a slur?
Why isn't President Obama flattered to have his name attached to his
signature achievement and a now-fulfilled campaign promise?" (We all
remember the term "HillaryCare" and more recently "RomneyCare," and
nobody got angry and considered them slurs.) And Mr. Elder concludes: "So,
why do Democrats now find the term "ObamaCare" so toxic? Simple.
The bill remains unpopular -- and under siege."
One more statement Nancy Pelosi probably would like to take back.
During the House Health Care Summit in February, 2010, as Speaker of
the House, she put a new spin on health care reform, saying: "It's about
jobs ... in its life (health care reform) will create 4 million jobs, 400,000
jobs almost immediately." Sort of puts her in a tie with Janet Napolitano in
making the most ridiculous pronouncements of our time. But running close
to those leaders is Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner with his denial of
any concern over soaring oil prices: "The economy is in a much stronger
position to handle such an increase...Central banks have a lot of
experience in managing these things." Those Obamites do have a way
with words!
Who is using "hate speech" now? U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano (D, MA)
told a meeting of union members in Boston last week, referring to the union
riots in Wisconsin: "Every once and awhile you need to get out on the
streets and get a little bloody when necessary." But the Liberal media
will doubtless dismiss it with: "He really didn't mean what he said."
Looking ahead to America becoming the world's No. 3 economy:
William Buiter, chief economist at Citigroup, predicts that the long term
prospects for the world's economy will see leadership shifting from the West
to the East: "China should overtake the US to become the largest
economy in the world by 2020, then be overtaken by India by 2050.”
Nation of Islam leader Minister Louis Farrakhan, colleague of Barack
Obama's long time pastor, Jeremiah Wright, joined Iranian President
Ahmadinejad in predicting last Sunday that America faces imminent uprisings
that mirror those in the Middle East: "What you are looking at in Tunisia,
in Egypt … Libya, in Bahrain … what you see happening there … you’d
better prepare because it will be coming to your door.”
We continue to be impressed by the wisdom of our Founding Fathers,
and how accurately they forecast the future of the United States of today.
Concerning the signing date of the Declaration of Independence in 1776,
John Adams said that it would become "the most memorable epoch in the
history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by
succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be
commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion
to God Almighty. It ought to be celebrated with pomp and parade, with
shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations, from one
end of the continent to the other, from this time forward for evermore."
This Founding Father, some 235 years ago, foresaw with startling accuracy
the future national holiday of the Fourth of July.
And George Washington, in his farewell address warned about involvement
with foreign nations: "Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence,
(I conjure you to believe me fellow citizens) the jealousy of a free people
ought to be constantly awake; since history and experience prove that
foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of Republican
Government." -- George Washington, 1796
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