Wednesday
WHAT CHANGE HAS BARACK HUSSEIN
OBAMA ACTUALLY ACCOMPLISHED?
Wednesday, February 29, 2012, of our 10th year of publication
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A thought for today, and the years to come, from the far distant past:
"To put the world in order, we must first put the nation in order;
to put the nation in order, we must put the family in order;
to put the family in order, we must cultivate our personal life;
and to cultivate our personal life, we must first set our hearts right."
Confucius, 551-479 BC
Confucius, 551-479 BC
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AFTER MORE THAN THREE YEARS OF HIS PROMISE OF "HOPE
AND CHANGE," AND HIS THREAT TO "FUNDAMENTALLY
TRANSFORM AMERICA," WHAT CHANGE HAS BARACK
HUSSEIN OBAMA ACTUALLY ACCOMPLISHED?
And an old, but much more recent, thought from Ralph Waldo Emerson, in
his essay on "Self Reliance" in 1841: "Nothing can save our nation but
ourselves. Nothing can save our nation but the triumph of principles."
On the subject of "change," there has been much of it under Obama. But
first, there is this brief soliloquy to consider: "What is the best indicator of the
future? The past." Or George Santayana's often quoted: "Those who cannot
remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Or this from Dr. Robert
Owens, in Canada Free Press, "If we aren’t going to allow History to
instruct us, we should at least be wise enough to allow it to warn us."
They are right. There is much to be learned from the past. Think back to the first
Commander in Chief of the American military -- General George Washington,
who, in 1776, after the Declaration of Independence was read to his troops,
ordered chaplains to be included in each regiment, and said, "The General hopes
and trusts, that every officer and man, will endeavor so to live, and act, as
becomes a Christian Soldier, defending the dearest Rights and Liberties of
his country." Further, after the harsh winter at Valley Forge in 1778, he wrote:
"To the distinguished character of Patriot, it should be our highest glory to
add the more distinguished character of Christian."
As recently as in 1983, President Ronald Reagan summarized this traditional
belief of America's leaders, "The American experiment in democracy rests on
this insight. Its discovery was the great triumph of our Founding Fathers,
voiced by William Penn when he said: 'If we will not be governed by God,
we must be governed by tyrants.' Explaining the inalienable rights of men,
Jefferson said, 'The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time.'
And it was George Washington who said that 'of all the dispositions and
habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are
indispensable supports.'”
But Barack Obama brought "change" to the American way of life. And
his threat to fundamentally transform America is being accomplished as much in
the area of religion as in any other aspect of American life. Let's set aside in this
commentary his attempts to change America politically and economically by
making-over our government to become a socialistic welfare state -- never
minding the fact that socialism has been a dismal failure everywhere it has been
tried, and that the European practice of the welfare state has brought that
continent to the brink of economic ruin.
Instead, let's focus on his changes as respecting religion -- most specifically, his
attacks on Christianity. Very soon after becoming president, he made his first
overseas trip to -- naturally -- the Muslim world, where he assured his Islamic
forebears again and again that America was no longer a Christian nation. Such
a claim (or in this case, a boast) had never been made by any U.S. president,
and was made in the face of the fact that some 80% of Americans profess that
they are Christian, with non-believers in any religion, plus Jews, Muslims and
adherents to all other religions together, represent only 20% of our population.
Mr. Obama's agenda is, and has been, anti-Christian. From the beginning of his
term as president he has promised to repeal DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act)
adopted by Congress and signed into law by Bill Clinton. Through Attorney
General Eric Holder he has ordered the Justice Department not to defend in
court that federal law defining marriage as between one man and one woman.
Contrary to General Washington's encouraging every officer and soldier to be
a Christian, recently President Obama repealed the military's "Don't Ask, Don't
Tell" policy, allowing gays to serve openly in the armed forces. On Dec. 7, 2011
the president said to his homosexual supporters, "I've met my commitments to
the LGBT community. I've delivered on what I promised. Now that doesn't
mean our work is done."
It has become evident that his administration is working harder to promote gay
rights than protecting more recognized universal human rights, such as religious
freedom. The serious violation of the right of freedom of religion as guaranteed
by the First Amendment which has occurred through the ObamaCare mandate,
has brought America's Christian majority -- Protestant and Catholic -- into a
unified conflict with the Obama administration's position.
This anti-Christian position is apparent in every department of the Obama
administration. Recently Tony Perkins of Family Research Council was
disinvited from a prayer service at Andrews Air Force Base. Franklin Graham
was similarly disinvited from a National Day of Prayer service at the Pentagon.
Retired Three Star General William Boykin had to forego speaking at West Point
due to objections raised by atheists and CAIR (Council on American Islamic
Relations).
Tony Perkins summed up the prevailing situation well: “There seems to be
pressure coming from within the administration to sweep Christianity off
the face of military bases.” And all this is from a president who keeps insisting
that he is a devout Christian, who finds in the words of Jesus approval of gay
marriage and increased taxes. He should read Jesus' warning about false
prophets, where He said, "By their fruits ye shall know them" (Matt. 7:20).
And there is this current example of Mr. Obama's anti-Christian views --
the inadvertent burning of some copies of the Quran in Afghanistan brought on
the inadvertent burning of some copies of the Quran in Afghanistan brought on
an apology from the generals in charge, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary
of State and ultimately from President Obama himself. But when Muslims have
been bombing and burning and destroying Christian churches, including Bibles,
he has voiced not one word of objection. And when Muslims in Afghanistan
killed American military because of the Quran incident, he did not seek a word
of apology from Afghan President Karzai. [It seems that Mr. Obama has spent
much of his three years in office apologizing for our nation's greatness. Maybe
it is time for us to tell him: "Stop apologizing for America!]
And when the American National Day of Prayer does not merit any observance
in the White House, but Islam's Ramadan is celebrated by gala banquets, we
can appreciate Franklin Graham's recent observance that he could not say for
certain that President Obama is a Christian. It comes back to those words of
Jesus: "By their fruits ye shall know them."
Yes, there has been change . . . but not for the better.
The position and purpose of American News Commentary: from day-one
ANC has been clearly and unequivocally pro-Christian, pro-American and
pro-Conservative in position and purpose. ANC has not and will not endorse
any candidate for public office; but any candidate who takes a position which is
anti-Christian, anti-American and anti-Conservative, ANC will oppose that
candidate, and this includes the president of the United States. In fact, it may
be said that opposing Barack Obama has become a Christian responsibility.
But this is not solely the view of ANC. Here are summary statements from two
credible observers; first, from The American Dream: "Has the economy
improved since Barack Obama became the president of the United States?
Of course not. Despite what you may be hearing in the mainstream media,
the truth is that when you compare the U.S. economy on the day that
Barack Obama was inaugurated to the U.S. economy today, there is really
no comparison. The unemployment crisis is worse than it was then, home
values have fallen, the cost of health insurance is up, the cost of gas is
way up, the number of Americans living in poverty has soared and the size
of our national debt has absolutely exploded. Anyone that believes that
things are better than they were when Barack Obama was elected is simply
being delusional."
And second, from the Presidential Prayer Team: "America is now in deception
mode. At the Prayer Team, we felt 2012 would be a time of testing, even
trial, for our nation, well before we launched our recent 40-Day Challenge
of prayer. Since then, the political climate and moral compass of this country
has swayed dangerously off course. We need ... Americans, and even believers
in Jesus Christ, to understand again that only the truth of God's Word will
make everything better in this nation... Between now and Election Day and
beyond, your Prayer Team will continue to trumpet this message and call
Americans to unified, humble prayer."
And there is this reminder to ANC readers: in our ongoing count-down of
prayer for the upcoming election, there are, as of today, 251 days until Nov. 6 --
251 days to pray for our nation, for wisdom for our leaders, and for guidance as
we vote to return America to being the nation it was founded to be. And pray
also for fellow Christian believers all over the world, who daily experience
persecution and even death for their faith in Jesus Christ.
It continues to be true that given the Liberal bias of the Main Stream
Media, "What Others Are Saying" becomes extremely important.
Giacomo (in Godfather Politics): "When we turn to the history given us
in the Bible, we see that God raised up a nation who worshipped Him and
whose rulers relied upon Him for wisdom and guidance. Whenever the
rulers and people turned away from God and His teachings, the nation
was brought down and destroyed. We read about this pattern being
repeated over and over again... And people wonder why America is on
the verge of ruin and collapse? If we turn to history, we will readily learn
that the ONLY way to turn America around and save our nation is to turn
to God and His precepts."
David Azerrad (the Heritage Foundation): "George Washington has
David Azerrad (the Heritage Foundation): "George Washington has
much to teach us, in particular when it comes to the presidency, foreign
policy and religious liberty. Although much has changed in the past two
centuries, his sage advice and conduct in office have lost none of their
relevance, anchored as they are in the timeless principles of the Founding
and a sober assessment of human nature."
Conservative News Alerts: "Iran grows more aggressive by the day. Riots
and upheavals, fueled by the Muslim Brotherhood are taking place in Egypt,
Syria and all over the Middle East. What was proclaimed to be an 'Arab
Spring' is now becoming a winter of discontent. Europe is heading into
bankruptcy and Barack Hussein Obama is almost single-handedly
transforming the United States of America into a socialist country."
Mat Staver (Liberty Counsel): "Our religious liberties are being crushed
by the latest health care 'mandate' from the Obama administration. Will
future generations cite the signing of ObamaCare as that moment in time
when Americans were no longer 'Citizens' and became 'Subjects' once again,
subservient to a tyrannical government?"
Jim Campbell (The Western Center for Journalism): "Let us never forget
Obama's historic Bowing tour in which he blasted America’s exceptionalism
while bowing to virtually everyone available. The President of the United
States traditionally bows to no one; in doing so, he shows the world’s leaders
that he is a paper tiger and is not to be taken seriously. Thus with him still
occupying the Oval Office, the US and the entire world have become much
more unstable."
Human Events: "'Islam means peace.' So we were told by our government
and the mainstream media in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. And so, in
one form or another, have we been told ever since by the Obama
administration. The main problem with that statement is that it isn't true.
Islam actually means "submission" — as in submission to the will of Allah,
and submission to Islamic rule (the justification for violent jihad). And that's
just one of many myths about Islam that have gained currency in the years
since Obama came into power."
This has been one of the better weeks for discovering meaningful "One
Liners" while engaging in our research; here are a few of them:
Ned Ryun in the American Majority: "President Obama is wishing from the
18th green that the economy will magically improve enough to make him
appear competent."
Lawrence Sellin, PhD (Col., U.S. Army, Ret.): "Federal governmental
malfeasance fueled by political corruption is the single, most important
issue of the 2012 election."
Former Attorney General Edwin Meese recently commented that the Obama
administration is “…as close to a monarchy as there’s been since the days
of George III.”
Jack Marshall, in Ethics Alarms: "A world that does not have the United
States as its champion has no champion, and a United States that will
not be the world's champion is no longer the United States.".
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (in 1903): "We contend that for a
nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a
bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle."
And to augment all that has gone before, here are a few "Afterthoughts"
It is, of course, too late for this year's Academy Awards, but President
Obama is reported to have signed Oscar-winning director Davis Guggenheim to
produce a film on the president's first three years in office. Guggenheim may be
remembered for his film, An Inconvenient Truth, which won an Oscar in 2006,
and which featured Al Gore's efforts to get support for his global warming theory.
Public riots seem to be 21st century happenings, including America, but
whereas elsewhere in the world they involve tear-gas, shootings and beatings,
here in America they involve people writing for hours to be first in line to buy
athletic shoes at $220.00 a pair. Is this a great country, or what?
Are you wondering about where gas prices are heading? Remember the
words of President Obama's Secretary of Energy, Steven Chu, when he told the
Wall Street Journal in 2008: "Somehow we have to figure out how to boost
the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe." [FYI: European prices for a US
gallon in US dollars at that time were between $8.06 in Britain to $8.63 in France.]
So there you have the Obama administration's goal, straight from the man in charge.
This issue of ANC began with stressing the importance of learning from
the past. What better source for such learning than our Founding Fathers?
Concerning the national debt:
"No pecuniary consideration is more urgent, than the regular redemption and
discharge of the public debt: on none can delay be more injurious, or an
economy of time more valuable." -- George Washington, 1793
Concerning the federal government attempting to regulate religious worship:
"I consider the government of the United States as interdicted by the
constitution from intermeddling with religious institutions, their doctrines,
discipline, or exercises. This results not only from the provision that no law
shall be made respecting the establishment or free exercise of religion, but
from that also which reserves to the States the powers not delegated to the
United States. Certainly, no power to prescribe any religious exercise or to
assume authority in any religious discipline has been delegated to the
general government. It must then rest with the States."
--Thomas Jefferson, 1808
Concerning the usurpation of power by the judiciary:
"It has long been my opinion, and I have never shrunk from its expression ...
that the germ of dissolution of our federal government is in the constitution
of the federal Judiciary; an irresponsible body, working like gravity by night
and by day, gaining a little today and a little tomorrow, and advancing its
noiseless step like a thief, over the field of jurisdiction, until all shall be
usurped from the States, and the government of all be consolidated into one."
--Thomas Jefferson, 1821
And finally, here is a request we haven't made in a long time: If you like
the pro-Christian, pro-American, pro-Conservative position of ANC with
respect to current events -- why not forward this week's issue to your list of
email friends and urge them to join the list of ANC readers? Thanks for your
help . . .
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