Wednesday
WE'RE NOT DOING WELL!
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Vol. 18, No. 14 April 11, 2012 © 2012
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A thought for this week ... next week ... and the weeks to come:
"Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can,
in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can,
as long as ever you can."
Charles Wesley, 1771
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DESPITE TORNADOS, WE'RE IN SPRING, WITH THE PROMISE
OF SUMMER ... WE'RE LIVING IN THE REMEMBRANCE OF
EASTER ... BUT POLITICALLY, ECONOMICALLY AND
INTERNATIONALLY, WE'RE NOT DOING WELL
And that isn't a viewpoint held by ANC alone. It isn't pleasant to admit such a
situation exists, but there come times when it is necessary to face the facts.
Mat Staver, the highly respected Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel,
who is at the forefront of the legal battles in defense of the Constitution and our
nation's Christian heritage, this past week issued this alarm and call for action
with respect to the domestic front, as he wrote: "President Obama's agenda
to 'fundamentally transform' the United States of America has been fully
exposed as a systematic assault on our Constitution in order to form a
more socialized union...The more the President disrespects the Constitution
and the rule of law, the more outraged Americans are becoming...That's
why we are calling for ALL Americans citizens to rise up and 'Stop the War
on the Constitution.'"
Robert Ringer, whose column, A Voice of Sanity, we often quote, offered this
further expression of concern: "Long time readers will recall that I began
warning about Barack Obama's dictatorial ambitions before he even won
the 2008 presidential election. Now, finally, more people are beginning to
take this possibility as a serious threat. Obama's recent contention that it
would be 'unprecedented' for the Supreme Court to overrule congressional
legislation had dictatorship written all over it. It was, quite obviously, an
ignorant slip on his part. Rather than lashing out with absurd statements like
this, the Marxmeister does much better when he follows the far-left playbook
and innocently feigns indignation over anything that isn't to his liking."
Founding Father, James Madison, often referred to as "Father of the Constitution,"
foresaw such aberrations, and wrote in 1788: "An elective despotism was not
the government we fought for; but one in which the powers of government
should be so divided and balanced among the several bodies of magistracy
as that no one could transcend their legal limits without being effectually
checked and restrained by the others."
And just this brief reference to one of the problems we are forced to face on
the domestic front -- the national economy. These two quotes are brief, but speak
volumes concerning our economic problems. From Barack Obama: "Under my
plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket."
And from Obama's Secretary of Energy, Steven Chu, “Somehow, we have to
figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe.”
We have not discussed the many other problems . . . the unemployment crisis . . .
the threatened tax increases . . . the administration's increasing efforts in favor of
abortion and same-sex marriage . . . and the danger of serious racial unrest given
a boost by the Trayvon Martin case and encouraged by Barack Obama, Jesse
Jackson, Al Sharpton and Obama's long time pastor, Jeremiah Wright, and the
media. But there's always next week . . .
Those examples are domestic in nature. Internationally, we aren't at all better
off. News story headlines like this: "Washington Helpless as Islamists Play
for Keeps in Egypt" are specific to one Middle East nation, Egypt, but are
typical of the failures in Obama's attempts at diplomacy.
Pamela Geller, writing in Atlas Shrugs, reviewed the situation in Egypt: "Obama's
quiet and unyielding support of the Muslim Brotherhood gave rise to their
power and they succeeded in overthrowing Mubarak, once Obama made it
plain he would not stand with our ally... The Muslim Brotherhood promised
as early as May 2011 to implement Shariah and cancel the peace treaty with
Israel. Despite this, in June 2011, Obama was resuming formal contacts with
the Muslim Brotherhood... When Obama's perfidy became unavoidably obvious,
his media handlers suddenly called Obama's Muslim Brotherhood support a
'cosmic wager.'''
In attempting to explain these actions, White House Press Secretary, Jay Carney,
said of the meetings between the Muslim Brotherhood and the National Security
Agency, "The Muslim Brotherhood will be a big player, and we are engaging
because that is the appropriate and right thing to do." As a fall-out from Mr.
Obama's support of the Muslim Brotherhood, the persecution, subjugation and
slaughter of Christians in Egypt increased dramatically, but even so, Obama refused
to meet with Coptic leadership. More recently, rockets have been fired into Israel
from Egypt. Dr. Mike Evans, of the Jerusalem Prayer Team, summarized it briefly
this week: "The future of Israel is on the line right now. Surrounded by enemies
on every side and abandoned by those who once were friends, God’s Chosen
People face the gravest threat in Israel’s modern history."
Syria provides another example of the failure of diplomacy in the strife-torn Middle
East. There was hope last week when Syrian President Bashar al-Assad agreed to
a U.N. sponsored plan, which calls for all fighting to have stopped tomorrow. But
United Nations special envoy, Kofi Annan, has informed the General Assembly that
the ceasefire may not occur because Assad says he will not fulfill his part of the plan
if the rebels do not first provide written guarantees to stop fighting. The last minute
demand came as weekend violence claimed over 200 lives, most of them civilians, a
surge in bloodshed that former UN chief Annan described as "unacceptable."
And we have not discussed the increasing unrest in Afghanistan, with more suicide
bombings occurring almost daily . . . or Prime Minister al Maliki moving to seize
dictatorial power in Iraq, with the restraint of the U.S. Military eliminated . . . and
the increasing attacks on Christians in the Muslim dominated nations. . . and North
Korea's defiance of international concern as the rogue nation moves toward tests
of potential intercontinental ballistic missiles. But as was noted above . . . there's
always next week.
What better place than this, for a reminder of our "Prayer Countdown."
As of this date, Apr. 11, there are 209 days until Election Day, Nov. 6, 2012 ...
209 days to pray for our nation, for wisdom to be given to our leaders, and for
guidance as we go to the polls to vote to restore America to the kind of nation it
was intended to be. And we must not fail to pray for our fellow believers in so
many countries who are daily facing persecution and even death from Islamic
activists, and for Israel, our ally in the Middle East, which lives under the threat
of extinction by its Muslim neighbors.
From Vision to America, comes this warning about the theory of "Coexistence"
which so many Liberals, including those from the "religious-left" and even some
mega-church pastors, have embraced as truth: "The world is shifting. It is
dissatisfied, baffled and craving transformation. Religious tolerance is
prized more than truth. From clever slogans to celebrity endorsements, we
are bombarded with seemingly peaceful messages of coexistence. But
beneath the bumper stickers and T-shirts is buried this truth: Coexistence is
a myth. Instead, a war for world domination is raging--between radical Islam,
secularism and Judeo-Christianity."
And there is this word of challenge from Conservative News Alerts: "In
generations past, the Church has always been able to count on the faithful
to stand up and protect her sacred rights and duties...Will you vote the
values that will stand the test of fire? Some things are more important than
high gas prices or a faltering economy. They are life, marriage and freedom."
Just a few examples of "what Others Are Saying" this week, but each is
a bit longer than usual, and each focuses on the basic problem we face
Wes Pruden (writing in Conservative Outpost): "Presidential contempt for
the Supreme Court and inconvenient law is not new. But rarely has a
president sounded so, well, dumb, as when Barack Obama lectured the
justices on what they can and can’t do to his cherished Obamacare...The
president, who frequently describes himself (inaccurately) as a former
professor of constitutional law, sounded willfully ignorant... But Barack
Obama is neither dumb nor ignorant... So why would he say something
so foolish and dumb? ... He’s more than willing to sound dumb and
ignorant in the greater cause of his re-election."
Jonathan Tobin (writing in Commentary: "Passover is the occasion for
Jews to remember their liberation from Egypt and to embrace not only the
gift of freedom but also the ability to worship God and His laws as a people...
It is not the time to be delivering obsequious paeans to American politicians,
no matter which party they belong to... The National Jewish Democratic
Council has published a new version of the 'Four Questions' from the
Haggadah that is a paean, not to the liberation of the Jews from Egypt, but
to the wonders of Barack Obama, to whom the NJDC directs Americans to
express thanks rather than their Creator. One need only read the NJDC’s
questions to understand their desperation to make up for three years of
Israel-bashing by President Obama."
From Expose Obama: "Pushed by Barack Obama’s naked attempts to
destroy our economy, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has made
up his mind: he will look west to China when he is ready to sell his nation’s
crude oil. Barack Obama has won this round to destroy America’s economy,
and we have lost."
Matt Barber (writing in the Daily Caller): "Eric Holder is a busy man.
When President Obama’s chief law enforcement officer isn’t tied up selling
guns to Mexican drug cartels ... he’s busy conspiring with pro-abortion
extremists to bring the full weight of the federal government down upon
innocent pro-life advocates. So much tyranny, so little time. Eric Holder
is much more than just incompetent. He’s an extremist pro-abortion
activist who shares his boss’s goal of 'fundamentally transforming
America' to reflect both men’s secular-socialist self-image."
[With respect to Obama's frequent promises of "change," and his promise to
'fundamentally transform" our nation, we are reminded of the statement of
Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoi, in 1899, "Everyone thinks of changing the world,
but no one thinks of changing himself."]
but no one thinks of changing himself."]
Joseph Luppino-Esposito (writing in The Foundry): "Obama – who
often is described as a former professor of constitutional law – made
comments that demonstrated little knowledge of the concept of judicial
review...Obama stated that to find his administration-defining health
insurance legislation as unconstitutional would be an ''unprecedented,
extraordinary step' ...On Tuesday, the President attempted to revise
his statement. His comments were actually an entirely new, and equally
inaccurate, critique... this isn’t the first time...Constitutional history is
not Obama’s strong suit, to say the least."
And here are just a few "One Liners" our research found this week
Matt Barber, in The Daily Caller: "History will be no more kind to this
president than he has been to the citizens he was sworn to honorably serve."
N.Y. Times columnist Maureen Dowd is not happy with the Supreme Court's
hostility toward Obama-care: "It is run by hacks dressed up in black robes."
Massoud Jazayeri, a senior commander in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard: "No
place in America will be safe from our attacks.”
Michelle Malkin, in New Media Journal: "Progressives in the media and
White House continue to strike a see-no-election-fraud, hear-no-election-
fraud, speak-no-election-fraud pose."
Thomas Sowell, offering these Random Thoughts: "How long do politicians
have to keep on promising heaven and delivering hell before people catch
on, and stop getting swept away by rhetoric?"
Robert Knight, in One News Now: "Face it, folks. America elected a bully
in 2008 -- and he shows no sign of mellowing."
Here, now, are a few "Afterthoughts" to share with you this week:
Under the "Give credit where credit is due" thesis, you may have missed
this kindly token from President Obama's Secretary of Defense, Leon Panetta --
Mr. Panetta paid about $17,000 to reimburse our Treasury for his frequent visits
to his home in California. Those trips cost us about $860,000. It could have been
much more costly, but he has only been in that office for one year. Over a longer
period of time it could be quite expensive.
If you wondered what to give your Muslim friends, in Canada, Hazrat
Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi's new, so-called "Islamic Marriage Guide" titled
A Gift for the Muslim Couple, sold out when it first went on sale in a Toronto
Islamic book store. The 160 page handbook advises husbands on how to beat
their wives -- instructing them not beat their women too "excessively." But
scolding her, pulling her by the ears, and hitting her "by hand or stick," however,
is good for discipline.
Barack Obama continues to have problems with the Bible. Basically it is
because he isn't as familiar with the Christian Bible as he is with the Islamic
Quran. We remember how he dismissed the Christian teaching on homosexuality
as being based on "an obscure verse in Romans." And how he interpreted the
Sermon on the Mount to express Jesus' approval of same-sex marriage. And his
citing Jesus as advocating higher taxes for the wealthy. His most recent gaffe has
been in citing Genesis 4:9 as the source of the Bible's teaching on being his
"brother's keeper." One would hope that someone among his coterie of sycophants
might explain to him that the only use of that phrase in the Bible is after Cain (who
is history's first murderer) had killed his brother, Abel. When God asked about
Abel, Cain rather disdainfully replied "Am I my brother's keeper?" It isn't
exactly an inspirational quote, and such erroneous use of the Bible in this election
year is not going to win over much of the Christian vote.
But despite Obama's frequent references to the Bible and the Christian faith, a
recent Pew Research Center poll disclosed that the number of Americans who see
his administration as unfriendly toward religion has increased from 17% in 2009
to 23% in 2012. It is encouraging that among Evangelicals, 44% see the Obama
administration as unfriendly toward religion. And there are enough of us to make
a difference in November's election.
Terry Paulson, writing in TownHall.com, expresses well a conviction we have
long held about the men who established this nation: "For many of our founding
fathers, America was part of God's plan--a country based on God-given
rights, founded in liberty, and sustained by a free people using their gifts
and resolve to live out and sustain a dream ... Our founders also knew that
good government requires good, ethical people. 'We the people' were not
just any people; most were people grounded in their Christian faith."
Here are just two from so many quotes from our Founding Fathers . . .
"Whereas true religion and good morals are the only solid foundations of
public liberty and happiness . . . it is hereby earnestly recommended to the
several States to take the most effectual measures for the encouragement
thereof.” -- Ben Franklin, 1778, addressing the Continental Congress
"The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were
the general principles of Christianity. I will avow that I then believed, and
now believe, that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal
and immutable as the existence and attributes of God."
-- John Adams, 1813
As we seem to say every week: "Another week, another issue of ANC"
But we continue to feel very strongly the need for a pro-Christian, pro-American,
pro-Conservative commentary on current events. That has been our purpose and
message for almost 10 years . . . and we will continue to express it as long as it
is possible to do so. This is a reminder that you can click HERE to learn how to
make a contribution by check or credit card toward keeping ANC coming your
way . . . and we thank you in advance for your willingness to help.
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