Monday
The American News Commentary
Pro-Christian, Pro-American, Pro-Conservative
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~ Vol. 19, No. 2 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ August 20, 2012 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ © 2012 ~
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"Many of life's failures are experienced by people who did not realize
how close they were to success when they gave up."
-- Thomas Edison, 1908
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AS WE MORE OR LESS PROMISED IN OUR LAST WEEKLY
ISSUE ON JULY 4 -- ANC WILL OFFER SOME COMMENTS
ON AN "OCCASIONAL" OR "IRREGULAR" SCHEDULE
So here we are, Aug. 20 -- just one week before the start of the Republican
National Convention in Tampa, FL, and just two weeks before the start of the
Democrat National Convention in Charlotte, NC. A lot of the excitement and
anticipation has disappeared -- we already pretty well know who the candidates
in the Nov. 6 election will probably be. We can be quite sure that the Republican
candidates will be Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan. For the Democrat side, the
presidential candidate will obviously be Barack Obama, but there seems to be
a hint of a question as to whether he will again saddle himself with the gaffe prone
Joe Biden. (In just the past few days in campaign speeches in Virginia, the V.P.
made headlines with his accusation against the Romney team: "They're going
to put y'all back in chains," followed by this the next day: "I guarantee you,
flat guarantee you, there will be no changes in Social Security, I flat
guarantee you." Even Obama could see problems in those assertions. However,
to throw Biden "under the bus" seems a bit much, even for a complete egoist.)
But one thing we have already learned -- there is no logical way to figure out
what Mr. Obama is going to do next. From at least the mid-17th century, "x" has
been used algebraically to represent an "unknown quantity," and now in the 21st
century, Barack Obama is certainly an "x" -- politically, socially, culturally, etc.
These conventions are a bit unusual -- as to location. Both conventions
are in Southern states. In the last 150 years, the Democrat convention has been
in a Southern state only 3 times: 1988 in Atlanta, 1972 in Miami, and 1860 in
Charleston, SC. The Republican convention schedule isn't much different --
1998 in New Orleans, 1972 in Miami (same as the Democrats) and 1968,
also in Miami. It's a vivid illustration of the problems both parties are facing in
the November election.
In the next "occasional" issue we can discuss those conventions -- the speeches,
the cascades of balloons, the parties, the signs, and -- oh, yes: the platforms; the
basic principles upon which the campaigns and the election will be based.
And we're already well into what has been described as "the dirtiest campaign
in American history." Jack Marshall, writing in Ethics Alarms, raises this question:
"Does the Obama-promoting media see anything unseemly, alarming or
depressing in the fact that a President whose sole justification for his election
to the highest office in the land—given that he had less leadership,
management or governing experience than Sarah Palin, and any U.S.
President since John Adams—was his promise to bring integrity, honesty,
unity, civility and fairness to the government, now that his lack of governing
skills have been completely exposed, has abandoned all of those high ideals
in order to hold power?" His answer to his own question was: "Apparently not,"
and he added this comment: "It is unethical and contemptible, and any President
who allows himself to be re-elected this way is unworthy of the office."
And as sort of a follow-up, Oban Coca, writing in Patriot Update, offers: "We
need to face the reality that we live in a culture that values the grotesque
and the dirty. Millions of Americans may say they despise the mud-slinging
but these are the same people who tune in to TMZ, or read the National
Enquirer, or surf the many celebrity gossip sites on the web. Negative
advertising is the best way for a candidate to sway voters, whether or not
they like to admit it... If you are waiting for a “clean” political fight then
you better get comfortable; you are going to be waiting a very long time."
When ANC was on a weekly schedule, we maintained a count-down of days
to pray about the election on Nov. 6. As of today there are just 78 days until that
election. Our friend, Michael Youssef, continues in his call for prayer for our
churches and our nation in: godsaveamerica@leadingtheway.org. Prayer is the
major ministry in which all Christians can join. Please be faithful to the words
of Paul in I Timothy 2:1-2 -- "I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications,
prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; for kings,
and all that are in authority."
And as you pray, remember your fellow Americans who are suffering through this
Summer's drought and wildfires, and beyond our shores, our fellow believers in so
many parts of the world who daily face persecution and death from the allegedly
"peace loving" Islamic terrorists . . and the nation Israel, still in the focus of Iran's
threat of destruction, and Assad's continued unchecked slaughter of Syrians.
About this issue of ANC. It was not our choice to discontinue the weekly
schedule after 10 years. Failing finances and failing health left us with no other
option. But we do hope to send an "occasional" issue to a very limited, VIP list.
We are reminded of the words of Edward Kimball to 17 year old D. L. Moody,
"There is no limit to what God can do with a man who is yielded and willing
to do His will." Kimball spoke of "a man" -- not a group or an organization. And
he did not speak of large crowds of followers. Jesus had only a dozen.
So with this very limited list we will renew our emphasis on the same basic principles
we have adhered to for years: pro-Christian, pro-American, pro-Conservative. And
if you want to share these comments with others -- feel free to forward them, or to
urge your friends to use the "Subscribe' information at the end of this issue.
We have always felt that it is important to know "What Others Are Saying,"
and we always screen our selection of quotes very carefully.
David L. Goetsch (writing in Patriot Update): "At the moment, President
Obama benefits from being telegenic, having the support of the mainstream
media, and having a firm grip on the loyalty of Americans who subsist by
dipping into the federal treasury. However, Obama is driving America’s train
down a one-way track that will take it over a cliff, and what awaits us at the
bottom of the cliff is disaster."
Joan Swirsky (writing in Renew America): "Bizarre and, yes, repugnant as it
is to our essentially centrist country, America now has a president who has
broken a time-honored tradition. Barack Obama, on the campaign trail and as
the leader of the free world, is the first U.S. president to proclaim to anyone
within earshot that he, like his wife, is not proud of his country, and is all-too-
willing to offer serial apologies — for America! — to Americans and foreigners
alike."
Tim Young (Mng. Editor, Absolute Rights): "The President has really gotten
the ball rolling with his attack...He's resorting to calling Romney rich for no
other reason than the fact that America is listening...We have lost so much
character as a people that calling someone a name can be successful in a
national campaign environment. Isn't that sad? ... We sat idly by and watched
as our country began to fall apart because we didn't use the morals we were
taught, the very morals that America was created upon, to stop it."
David Kupelian, (in Whistleblower magazine): "It's a national embarrassment.
He's the president of the United States, but he lies as easily as breathing. Barack
Obama lies constantly. He lies every time he talks to the American public. He
has lied about his birth, his childhood, his education, his influences and
associations, his religion, his accomplishments, his policies, his true beliefs and
his plans for America's future. His entire presidency has been a seamless fabric
of deception and duplicity."
Lou Pritchett, American corporate executive: (on the ways Barack Obama
terrifies him): "He has done more to damage America's standing in the world,
to lower the standard of living in America, to impoverish future generations,
and to shake our faith in the country's future than any other American
president in history... he has shattered the American dream of job security,
home ownership, and rugged individualism for millions of Americans and has
poisoned and divided our civil society with his politics of envy, class warfare,
race warfare, and religious warfare -- which he is using as fundamental
building blocks for his 'socialist' agenda."
George Neumayer, in American Spectator: "[Obama's]enemy is not Islam
abroad, but Christianity at home. Indeed, if he treated Muslims the way he
treats believing Christians in America, Muslims would call it a holy war."
Judy McLeod, in CanadaFreePress.com: "Barack Hussein Obama was not
born, as he once joked, in a manger. Obama wasn’t as much born as he was
created and perfected on paper by global elitists lusting for guaranteed,
long-time power. When they drew Obama on paper, they never noticed that
their candidate was also lazy, narcissistic and dull as proverbial dish water
when unattached from a Teleprompter."
And, as we used to do, we found a few choice "One Liners" . . . in fact,
more than a few . . but they are enjoyable, and informative.
David Limbaugh, attorney, in Rightly Concerned: "If you like Obama's record,
vote for him, because you're only going to get more of it -- way more if he
wins and thinks he has a mandate."
David Goetsch in Patriot Update: "When using their favorite debating tactic
-- name calling -- liberals like to smear conservatives, Christians, and anyone
else who disagrees with them as 'intolerant bigots.'”
Ann Coulter: "Fast and Furious is not a D.C. law firm."
Les Nixon, founder Outback Patrol, Australia: "When we educate men in
methods, not morals, we inflict a monster on society."
Dennis Miller, on Fox News: "Obama might have organized communities, but
he’s disrupting this nation."
American Family Association: "Being politically correct has replaced being
Biblically correct."
Ed Lasky, News Editor, The American Thinker: "We know that during the
campaign [Obama] warned that criticism of his wife was 'off-limits.' But
criticism of America -- well, that is fine."
Patriot Depot: "Most Americans have forgotten the reason that we've
become so successful as a nation to begin with: our Christian values."
And finally, from Barack Obama, in a campaign speech in Colorado, complaining
that Michelle Obama doesn't get a salary: “I want to make sure that when she’s
working she’s getting paid the same as men... gotta say that First Ladies
right now don’t [get paid], even though that’s a tough job!” [But the perks
are great -- like a luxury vacation in Spain, Christmas holidays in Hawaii, a safari
in Africa, a skiing holiday in Colorado, the Olympics in London ... most real jobs
where women get paid for working don't provide benefits like those.]
And a few appropriate "Afterthoughts" . . .
And a few appropriate "Afterthoughts" . . .
You already knew this about ANC -- ANC has not endorsed any candidate,
and will not endorse any candidate. Our underlying principles are well known:
pro-Christian, pro-American and pro-Conservative. Any person, party or
platform which is "anti" any of those principles, will find ANC strongly "anti"
them also. But always in a thoughtful and logical way.
Sometimes you find answers to difficult questions in strange places. The
question about Mr. Obama's Christian faith continues unanswered. Some have
said he should be taken at his word. But Jesus negated that procedure -- in Matt.
chapter 7, Jesus said, "Not every one that sayeth unto me, Lord, Lord, shall
enter into the kingdom of heaven... And then I will profess unto them, I
never knew you. . ." And He gave us a new standard, rather than accepting
whatever they claim to be, in these words: "By their fruits ye shall know them."
(verses 20-23).
Now in the announcement of Robert Bowie Johnson's new book, Outing the
Moronocracy, the author offers a lengthy presentation that "Obama does not
have a 'Christian walk,' as he has claimed, but rather a heavy-footed
Cainite Marxist one." And Johnson points to the 2012 National Prayer
breakfast when Obama confessed that his faith is "in the idea that I am my
brother's keeper and I am my sister's keeper," and Johnson explains that those
"are words never spoken by a prophet of God or apostle of Christ, words
based only on Cain's duplicitous and sarcastic utterance rolled into a phony
excuse to deflect attention from his lie about the whereabouts of his brother
whom he had just murdered. "
And in case you missed it: yes, again Mr. Obama hosted a gala Itfar (that's the
Muslim term for the affair) celebration dinner in the White House observance of
Islam's holy month of Ramadan on Aug. 10. It was his fourth annual celebration
and was in the White House state dining room. He offered lavish compliments to
the Muslim nations who for the first time ever allowed a woman to participate in
the recent Olympics, saying, "You know that the Koran teaches, 'Be it man or
woman, each of you is equal to the other'" in describing Islam as a female-
friendly religion. For Obama, it is the Bible, not the Koran, that is filled with bigotry
and patriarchy. He has spoken scornfully of the Bible's teaching on homosexuality in
the Old Testament, from an eternal God who changes not, and from Paul's writings
in the New Testament. But he never questions a passage in the Koran, considering
it as a holy and blameless book of teachings.
ANC is not "anti-Obama," per se. But our first basic principle is pro-Christian, and
as we have pointed out previously, we are strongly "anti" any person, party or
platform which is "anti" Christian. The dividing issue finds its sharpest focus in the
question: Can a Christian support the murder of millions of children through abortion
. . . or the destruction of the family through violation of the Defense of Marriage Act
(DOMA), the law of the land . . . the approval and promotion of same-sex marriage
in clear contradiction of the Bible's teaching . . . and the ignoring of our First
Amendment right of Freedom of Religion, one of the Judeo-Christian principles upon
which this nation was founded?
A note concerning the states' reactions to Mr. Obama's new "amnesty" rule:
The historic "states rights" conflicts are often best considered in the light of opinions
from the Founding Fathers who conceived and established this nation. "I consider
the foundation of the Constitution as laid on this ground that 'all powers not
delegated to the United States, by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the
states, are reserved to the states or to the people.'" -- Thomas Jefferson, 1791.
A statistic you might have missed: In the second quarter, America added
$274.3 billion in debt, while adding only $117.6 billion in gross domestic product
(GDP). That means debt was added at two and a-half times the rate of new GDP –
and don't forget that GDP includes government spending, so real domestic
production is even less than the numbers indicate. How much longer can America
survive its leaders? (From ZeroHedge, July 27, 2012)
And there is this one: The U.S. Census Bureau reports that the national poverty
rate is 15.1%, with 46.2 million in poverty -- the largest number in the 52 years
since this data has been tracked. Under Obama, poverty continues to increase in
the black community, currently at 23.3% among ages 18-64
And finally, in case it slipped your mind, today was the scheduled date to begin
the trial for Major Nidal Hasan for his shooting rampage at Fort Hood, TX, where
he killed 13 and wounded 29 others on Nov. 5, 2009. Although he was shouting
"Allahu Akhbar" (Allah is great) as he was shooting, the Obama administration has
not seen any Islamic terrorism in the murders, and the Department of Defense, in a
report in Aug., 2010, characterized the event as "workplace violence." The trial's
date has been postponed indefinitely, due to Hasan's refusal to shave his beard "as
an expression of his Muslim faith." He has twice been fined $1,000 for contempt --
the Army does not allow beards. But shaved or not, don't expect much action here
very soon. Almost 3 years have already passed since those murders.
It seems that we can always learn something from our Founding Fathers.
"We are either a United people, or we are not. If the former, let us, in all
matters of general concern act as a nation, which have national objects to
promote, and a national character to support. If we are not, let us no longer
act a farce by pretending to it." --George Washington, 1785
"Those gentlemen, who will be elected senators, will fix themselves in the
federal town, and become citizens of that town more than of your state."
--George Mason, 1788
"Let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained
without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined
education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid
us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious
principle." -- George Washington, Farewell Address, 1796
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