Brutally Honest

Bush taped announcement receives more applause than Obama's live appearance...(UPDATED)

This at last night's MLB All-Star game and as reported by Yahoo Sports:

Earlier on Tuesday, the President said that he planned to throw his first Presidential pitch high so it'd get to the plate without bouncing, but his control was lacking. He clearly didn't throw a strike like George W. Bush famously did during the 2001 World Series in New York just weeks after Sept. 11.

The more debatable point from the historic moment was the reception the President was afforded by the self-described "best fans in baseball." Though Obama was roundly cheered by the All-Star fans, his live presence still didn't attract the applause that George W. Bush did during a taped announcement by the four previous Presidents before the game and some boos could even be heard among the cheers.

Not only did the man not throw a strike... I think he threw like a girl... just sayin':

UPDATE: Here's how a real President does it (via Don Surber in e-mail):

"she is just simply not telling the truth"

Verum Serum's Morgen summarizes the Sotomayor hearing to date:

She could have stuck with her initial line of defense based around her 17 year track record as a judge, and simply said that she regretted her choice of words. In doing so she would have put the burden on her Republican questioners to demonstrate somehow that her record as a whole reflects any sort of gender or ethnic bias. (It does not.)

But whether based on pride, or perhaps a sense of empowerment due to her near certain confirmation, she chose to claim that her speech was not a statement of her beliefs regarding the positive impact of race and gender on judicial decisions. And it defies any sort of reasonable explanation – other than that she is just simply not telling the truth.

Morgen also linked to this AP story detailing Pat Leahy's attempt to cover Sotomayor's lies with a lie of his own:

In endorsing Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy did some creative rewriting of history. And he put quote marks around it.
Trying to head off criticism of a controversial comment, Leahy misquoted Sotomayor's own words in kicking off the second day of her confirmation hearings.

Sotomayor's public comments are as much a part of the hearings as her lengthy judicial record. Here's a look at some of the claims made Tuesday about those comments, and the facts.

LEAHY SAID: "You said that, quote, you 'would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would reach wise decisions.'"

THE FACTS: If that's all Sotomayor said, the quote would barely have mattered to opponents of her nomination. The actual quote, delivered in a 2001 speech to law students at the University of California at Berkeley, was: "I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life."

Leahy's revision dropped the controversial part of the phrase, the part that has attracted charges of reverse racism.

A liar will be confirmed as a SCOTUS judge. Put there by liars.

Seems fitting.

Moonwalking to Babylon

Posted by guest blogger, BroKen.

I know that just about everything that could be written about Michael Jackson has already saturated your brain over the last couple of weeks but if you will allow it, I would like to plant just a couple more ideas in the soil of your cerebrum.

I will start with three questions from my thirteen year old daughter as we were watching one of the last interviews with the King of Pop. Her first question was, “Who is that?” I’m still patting myself on the back. Even though I’ve made a lot of mistakes raising her, I’ve done something right in keeping her innocent of this little part of pop culture.

Next she said, “What is wrong with his face?” Most of us cringed as we watched the gradual self-mutilation of this fine looking young man. But even someone unaware of how Michael looked before was still struck by that pathetic, plastic façade.

Finally, after a bit of explanation, she exclaimed, “You mean he was black!?” Yes, my dear, he was.

So, we went on the internet and looked for videos of how he was and the bad example of what he allowed himself to be turned into. We saw little Michael with the Jackson Five, the Moonwalk and a few other hit videos. One song almost flattened me with irony. It wasn’t one of his biggest hits but perhaps you remember The Man in the Mirror.

“I’m looking at the man in the mirror.
    I’m asking him to change his ways
    And no message could have been any clearer.
    If you want to make the world a better place,
    Take a look at yourself and make the change.”

Now, that’ll preach! What a powerful expression of the human need for transformation! Sadly, the message would have been so much clearer had not the messenger looked at himself in the mirror and decided to change… his face and his race. His face and race? Isn’t the song really about changing the twisted human soul? Yet that twisted soul could not be content with the way God had made his body?

Then there is the Moonwalk. I still remember the shock and delight the first time I saw him slide backward across the stage. He had perfected this fascinating visual illusion. He seems to be walking forward. But the reality is; he is walking backward. But hey, don’t confuse me with reality. That dance move is the coolest.

Could our cultural fascination with Michael Jackson be summed up in that optical illusion? We identify with the moonwalker because we want to appear to be moving forward. And to us, like Michael, appearance is what matters. We want to be seen facing Jerusalem even as we continue walking further and further away.

Yeah, I think that’s it. We like what we see in Michael Jackson because that’s what we are doing to ourselves. We keep up appearances while we slip slide away. We are moonwalking to Babylon.

Obama's Russian approval rating is sagging

Posted here and at The Borg Conspiracy by guest blogger Locutisprime

You probably won't see this covered any this week in the MSM now that he is back from his Russian trip of last week. I am surprised that youtube has even left it up at this point. A rather belittling and embarrassing bit of video IMO and it was playing live as the anchor was commentating.

These images and the message they convey are more than clear to me as it concerns his meeting with the Russians last week and what they think of him. Is there any doubt that the man has absolutely no credibility on the world stage? Especially with our enemies and potential adversaries.

This one's made of the right stuff

Meet Army Sgt. Jennifer Watson:

The emergency-room trauma call and the medical staff's immediate action upon his arrival is only a memory to her now; sitting quietly at the bedside of her brother-in-arms, she carefully takes his hand, thanking him for his service and promising she will not leave his side.
He is a critically injured combat casualty, and she is Army Sgt. Jennifer Watson of the Casualty Liaison Team here.

Although a somber scene, it is not an uncommon one for the Peru, Ind., native, who in addition to her primary duties throughout the last 14 months, has taken it upon herself to ensure no U.S. casualty passes away alone. Holding each of their hands, she sits with them until the end, no matter the day or the hour.

"It's unfortunate that their families can't be here," said Watson, who is deployed here from Fort Campbell, Ky. "So I took it upon myself to step up and be that family while they are here. No one asked me to do it; I just did what I felt was right in my heart. I want them to know they are heroes.

"I feel just because they are passing away does not mean they cannot hear and feel someone around them," she continued. "I talk to them, thanking them for what they have done, telling them they are a hero, they will never be forgotten, and I explain my job to them to help them be at ease knowing the family will be told the truth."

...

Not surprisingly, Watson's dedication to duty and her hard work have not gone unnoticed. She has touched the lives of all those who she has come in contact with, to include the 332nd Expeditionary Medical Group commander, Col. Mark Mavity.

"Sgt. Watson's story is one of the most compelling here in the Med Group," said Mavity. "She is a Soldier's Soldier who combines an unparalleled level of compassion and commitment to our most grievously wounded warriors with amazing professionalism each and every day.

"What is truly incredible is that she is a personnelist by training but with the heart of a medic who has taken it upon herself to hold the hand and keep a bedside vigil with every mortally wounded Soldier who has spent their last hours within the AFTH," continued the colonel. "She will not let her brave brothers or sisters pass alone. This is a heavy burden to bear and at great personal emotional cost to Sgt. Watson, but she is unwavering in her final commitment to these Soldiers. You don't have to look any further than Sgt. Watson to find a true hero."

I suggest you pass this one on to friends, families and anyone else.

That's an order.

With much appreciation to ConfederateYankee.

"the Obama administration is the most fiscally irresponsible in the history of the U.S."

That from Kevin Hassett at Bloomberg:

The federal picture is so bleak because the Obama administration is the most fiscally irresponsible in the history of the U.S. I would imagine that he would be the intergalactic champion as well, if we could gather the data on deficits on other worlds. Obama has taken George W. Bush’s inattention to deficits and elevated it to an art form.

The Obama administration has no shame, and is willing to abandon reason altogether to achieve its short-term political goals. Ronald Reagan ran up big deficits in part because he believed that his tax cuts would produce economic growth, and ultimately pay for themselves. He may well have been excessively optimistic about the merits of tax cuts, but at least he had a story.

Obama has no story. Nobody believes that his unprecedented expansion of the welfare state will lead to enough economic growth. Nobody believes that it will pay for itself. Everyone understands that higher spending today begets higher spending tomorrow. That means that his economic strategy simply doesn’t add up.

Well... perhaps his economic strategy doesn't add up because he's so busy and preoccupied correcting those thousands of Bush mistakes.

Perhaps.

Please God, let this be an omen

Is Jake Tapper bringing us a hopeful harbinger of Obama policies to come? Let it be so:

Midway through his speech on urban and metropolitan policy in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building this afternoon, one of his two small glass prompters came crashing down, hitting the wood floor and crashing in many pieces. It made quite a ruckus.

“Oh, goodness,” a startled President Obama said. “Sorry about that, guys.”

He then proceeded on with his remarks, “To pull our economy back from the brink, including the largest and most sweeping economic recovery plan in our nation's history…”

For the rest of the speech the president relied on the one remaining teleprompter, to his right, and notes on his podium to finish his speech.

Shards of glass remained near the president’s feet for the duration of his speech.

Keeping my toes and fingers crossed... I mean... a broken mirror is supposed to be 7 years of bad luck... what might a broken TOTUS mean?

Horrors... Dick Cheney secretly wanted Al Qaeda operatives dead

The nerve of that guy:

A secret Central Intelligence Agency initiative terminated by Director Leon Panetta was an attempt to carry out a 2001 presidential authorization to capture or kill al Qaeda operatives, according to former intelligence officials familiar with the matter.

The precise nature of the highly classified effort isn't clear, and the CIA won't comment on its substance.

According to current and former government officials, the agency spent money on planning and possibly some training. It was acting on a 2001 presidential legal pronouncement, known as a finding, which authorized the CIA to pursue such efforts. The initiative hadn't become fully operational at the time Mr. Panetta ended it.

In 2001, the CIA also examined the subject of targeted assassinations of al Qaeda leaders, according to three former intelligence officials. It appears that those discussions tapered off within six months. It isn't clear whether they were an early part of the CIA initiative that Mr. Panetta stopped.

The revelations about the CIA and its post-9/11 activities have emerged amid a renewed fight between the agency and congressional Democrats. Last week, seven Democratic lawmakers on the House Intelligence Committee released a letter that talked about the CIA effort, which they said Mr. Panetta acknowledged hadn't been properly vetted with Congress. CIA officials had brought the matter to Mr. Panetta's attention and had recommended he inform Congress.

The reactions from moonbats has been predictable. Oh look, here's one:

It is going to take 20 years to undo the mess the collection of Bush Administration craven incompetents left behind. A pox on their houses. A blight on American history.

Still, it must really suck to be a supporter of these buffoons these days and watch all their hard work go down the drain as Obama corrects their thousands of mistakes, one by one.

Someone should interview this Obama psycophant the next time the jihadists hit us. I pray his lovely wife and his lovely children are not victimized when it happens. And trust me people, with this bunch in office now, it's just a matter of time.

A matter of time.

And by the way Robert... could you list these thousands of mistakes that Obama is correcting? Hell... start with 10 of them and work your way up to the first thousand... cuz we all know in fact that there are lots of policies that Obama has chosen not to... er... correct:

A partial list of Bush policies carried on by Obama.

Despite rhetoric, Obama continues Bush policy on detainees: Indefinite detention, no legal rights
Obama Continues Bush Policy of Deadly Air Strikes in Pakistan
Obama Continues Bush Policy On State Secrets
Obama continues Bush policy of hiding visitors names
Obama Continues Bush Policy on Weapons to Georgia
Obama’s embrace of Bush terrorism policies is celebrated as “Centrism”
Obama continues Bush’s secrecy policy on mysterious IP trade deal
Obama Blames Bush While Adopting his Policies
Obama’s Bank Bailout: Bush’s Plan Resurrected

So Robert... I've listed 9 Bush policies Obama now calls his own... how about you list 9 (on your way to the first thousand) Bush mistakes that he's alleged to have corrected.

We'll wait.

Don't judge me bro

One day, we'll learn... and guys like this will be the reason:

Tip of the fedora to Deacon Greg.

Perhaps he's not the John Holdren Obama once knew

Perhaps:

Forced abortions. Mass sterilization. A "Planetary Regime" with the power of life and death over American citizens.

The tyrannical fantasies of a madman? Or merely the opinions of the person now in control of science policy in the United States? Or both?

These ideas (among many other equally horrifying recommendations) were put forth by John Holdren, whom Barack Obama has recently appointed Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, and Co-Chair of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology -- informally known as the United States' Science Czar. In a book Holdren co-authored in 1977, the man now firmly in control of science policy in this country wrote that:

• Women could be forced to abort their pregnancies, whether they wanted to or not;
• The population at large could be sterilized by infertility drugs intentionally put into the nation's drinking water or in food;
• Single mothers and teen mothers should have their babies seized from them against their will and given away to other couples to raise;
• People who "contribute to social deterioration" (i.e. undesirables) "can be required by law to exercise reproductive responsibility" -- in other words, be compelled to have abortions or be sterilized.
• A transnational "Planetary Regime" should assume control of the global economy and also dictate the most intimate details of Americans' lives -- using an armed international police force.

Impossible, you say? That must be an exaggeration or a hoax. No one in their right mind would say such things.

Yet he did... and no one seems to care. Certainly not the MSM.

I did some Googling on Mr. Holdren to see if any of this is in any way referenced. Not here. Nor here. Not over there. Or even there.

Interesting isn't it that a guy can write the things he written and yet somehow none of this shows up on any MSM radars.

Gosh... I wonder why that is?

Imagine if a conservative President had appointed someone who'd written these things and it surfaced some six months or so after that appointment. The charges of racism and fascism would be flying and rightly so. But now... silence...

We live in interesting times people.

Is the Pope Catholic?

According to Kathleen Kennedy Townsend in Newsweek, the answer is not enough... and the reasoning is solidly Obasmic:

Politics requires the ability to listen to different points of view, to step into others' shoes. Obama might call it empathy. While the pope preaches love, listening to the other has been a particular stumbling block for the Catholic hierarchy (as it is for many in power). The hierarchy ignores women's equality and gays' cry for justice because to heed them would require that it admit error and acknowledge that the self-satisfied edifice constructed around sex and gender has been grievously wrong.

...

For Obama, respectful disagreement and a willingness to recognize differences was the animating spirit of the presidential campaign, and it was central to his Notre Dame speech. That is the kind of politics many Catholics practice. They're tired of watching the church grasp frantically for control at the expense of truth and love. In America last November, it showed: 54 percent of Catholics voted for Obama.

Notre Dame awarded the president an honorary degree because it saw the need to highlight the best of Catholic teaching as applied to politics: the ability to open the eyes of those who would prefer to keep them closed, and to open the hearts of those who would prefer not to know the pain that their actions cause. The pope has a lot to learn about Catholic politics in America. Barack Obama can teach him.

There you have it.

Catholicism's problem today is that it does not bend its will enough to the will of The One.

With props for the find to Matteo.

Sermon for July 12th: Mark 6:14-29

Posted by guest blogger Tim Chesterton.

My sermon for July 12th, on Mark 6:14-29, is now posted on our church website. Here's the beginning.

It will be ten years next month since I was interviewed by the search committee for the position of rector of this parish of St. Margaret. It was a memorable interview in many ways, but one thing I especially remember was a question I was asked by Murray Tait, who was the People’s Warden at the time; some of you here will remember Murray and his wife Diane, who were very active members of this congregation and now live in Calgary. As near as I can remember it, Murray’s question went something like this: ‘Do you consider it to be part of your job as a preacher, not just to comfort us, but also to challenge us?’

Preachers - who are, after all, paid by their congregations - often have difficulty with that question! And yet we know that this is indeed an important part of our calling. The message of Jesus will not always come across as good news, especially when it calls us to leave sinful ways behind and put God’s word into practice in our daily lives. How do we react to that challenge? Today’s gospel tells us about two people who were challenged by God’s message, and how they reacted to it.

Read the rest here.

Glad Tidings

Posted by guest blogger Nicks.

I occasionally get the opportunity to fill the pulpit for a local church, and this week was one of those opportunities. Outside my family, it is certainly the thing that gives me the most joy. It is not so certain that it carries the same level of enjoyment for those in the congregation. I must agree with Martin Lloyd-Jones comment, "I can say quite honestly that I would not cross the road to listen to myself preaching".

Fair warning being given, here is a short summary of this morning’s sermon…..

Glad Tidings…

For thus says the LORD,
“Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob,
And shout among the chief of the nations;
Proclaim, give praise and say,
‘O LORD, save Your people,
The remnant of Israel.’
“Behold, I am bringing them from the north country,
And I will gather them from the remote parts of the earth,
Among them the blind and the lame,
The woman with child and she who is in labor with child, together;
A great company, they will return here.
“With weeping they will come,
And by supplication I will lead them;
I will make them walk by streams of waters,
On a straight path in which they will not stumble;
For I am a father to Israel,
And Ephraim is My firstborn.” Jeremiah 31:7-9 (NASB)

In context it speaks to the restoring of the northern ten tribes. A promise of a return of their joy. It is glad tidings. In these three verses we see God’s desire restore them, and to hear His peoples voices in worship, prayer, and repentance.

God uses active verbs in the instructions for worship – Sing, shout, proclaim, praise. To a people born in exile, suffering for the sins of their grandparents, God says He is returning the joy of worship. Even in dire circumstance. Even under gentile domination. Even far from the land of promise.

Right now, right where you are, can you sing aloud with gladness? Can you shout, proclaim, and give praise to God? Are our circumstances so much worse than theirs? Does God love us less? Is He less faithful to us?

Adding to the glory of worship He encourages them to pray – “say, ‘O LORD, save Your people, The remnant of Israel.’” Pray for the restoration of relationships, pray for a revival in the hearts and minds and circumstance of His people. No small request. Not your “save my kitten” kind of prayer. This is big stuff. This is history changing and history making. This is eternal in scope and reach.

God says, pray, because I am already at work. Notice the tense in verse 8. “I am bringing” God is already at work. He is already restoring and healing, even though they just cannot yet see it. He is gathering those who are helpless on their own. The lame, the blind, the woman in labor. Those who cannot find their own way and do not have the strength in themselves to make the journey.

That is me. I am lame and blind and weak, unable to restore my own spirit. Unable to find joy in worship in my own strength. Perhaps it is you too. If so, verse 9 gives the key to reclaiming that joy.

“with weeping they will come” – They would return weeping tears of repentance and praying for the Lord's favor. A broken and contrite heart. Recognition of, and repentance for my sin. That is the key. That is the thing that unlocks the straight path near the streams of water.

As the people give themselves to prayer and repentance, the Lord will lead them to the refreshing streams of water. He would lead them back tenderly, as a father deals with his firstborn son, and would make the trip refreshing, pleasant, and safe. What parent does not want the best for their child. What Husband or wife does not want the best for their spouse? God says "I am a father to Israel."

A Father. The term is hardly ever used of God in the OT, yet Jesus encourages us to use it in prayer. To recognize that we are the adopted family of God. We are His children, and as such the recipients of the full measure of His love and caring for us.

Have we understood our circumstances in light of that? Have we looked around and seen the hand of God at work? Have we repented, rejoiced and been refreshed by God’s spirit?

Give It Time

Posted here and at The Borg Conspiracy, by guest blogger Locutisprime.

Obama: Recovery Will Take Years Not Months

Now that it has become apparent that Obama's 787 billion dollar stimulus bill hasn't worked? The president seems to be pleading for patience from the American people. As a rule, the American people are a patient lot. They tend to go along a lot farther with idiocy than they should historically. Especially when it concerns their taxes. (Makes one wonder what ever happened to the true tea party revelers and their progeny that have become weaklings).

But when the best that the president of the United States can muster are the lame excuses that he brought to the table yesterday? I believe the patience of Job won't be long in the offing with the average American. Give it another 90 days and the reality will be sitting squarely on the shoulders of every American. And it won't have been shaken, sifted and measured in accordance with what the bible teaches, but rather what the bible prophesied IMO.

According to the president? The stimulus wasn't designed to rescue the economy, only to "stop the free fall." So let's see, it costs almost a trillion dollars just to (in theory) put the brakes on a faltering economy which is still in motion in the wrong direction by the way. So how much will it cost to get the economy to put it in reverse and slowly back out of the ditch? Another trillion? Two? Three? Is it even recoverable at this point, especially considering an 11 trillion dollar deficit and grwoing by the minute.

The president's highlight reel of yesterday lays claim to having propped up state budgets and extended unemployment and assisted with more affordable health care via his stimulus. But where are the jobs? There in lies the problem and the reality IMO. You don't hear him or his minions at treasury talking about job creation or even job maintaining anymore. And they have just as quickly brushed past their projections of an 8% unemployment rate of last February. Now that we are at 9.5 unemployment rate and climbing, there is no longer any talk of creating 3 million new jobs. There is no more talk of maintaining what we presently have. Only the prediction that "it will get worse before it gets better." Tell me something I didn't know before you were elected Mr. president.

And as laughable as it may seem? Old smoking Joe Biden may be the only one who has even approached speaking truth to reality in Washington of late. When the VP said last week that they may have misjudged the economy? (just a tad) That was surely an understatement, but at least it is the closest we have come yet to the truth since the man of change first took office.

And now the president is sending up trial balloons on a potential second stimulus package. Carefully dodging any direct references to a second stimulus himself, he none the less has allowed those inside his administration to throw the dog on the table to see how the people will react. IMO? The thoughts of another trillion in government waste won't play well with middle America. The first stimulus hasn't played well from middle America to the board rooms to the former fawning billionaires Buffet and Soros. And it is playing worse now that the realities of the failure of 787 billion in wasted stimulus are becoming apparent to the average American. Give it time? Do we have time?

I am one of those who happens to believe that the rudder of the ship of state is hard over to the left and we are heading toward the shoals instead of toward the safety of port. There is nothing in the current stimulus or any future stimulus that will save this country, in the absence of common sense cut backs in wasteful Washington entitlements and pork. We have to cut taxes and cut waste and we have to do it now.

We have to cut these wasteful programs and budgets designed solely for bureaucracies that are nothing less than self propelled life blood draining siphons on our collective future as a nation. There in lies the solution Mr. president. there in lies the road to redemption. But I don't think that you see it. You are too blinded by your partisan desires of lofting the socialist brass rings into the arena and your desire to see this nation made over into something completely alien to all.

Last week the phones and emails of the US senate were set ablaze by citizens complaining and demanding that the senate put an end to your cap and trade (tax) bill. And this week the calls will once again reach a crescendo of appeal and demand.

The tide is turning if ever so slowly and the people will not long suffer under the yoke of the fiscal and financial oppression that this man and his philosophies of Marxist socialism are attempting to foist on us all.

Snakes, Marines, Drums and Flags

Posted by guest blogger NickS

Learning the link between this flag and my Marine Corps has really endeared it to me. Especially in such a time as this.

I wonder if the Obama girls would like a shirt with this symbol on it?

The origins of the Gadsden flag, U.S. Navy, & U.S. Marine Corps
by Chris Whitten

By 1775, the snake symbol wasn't just being printed in newspapers. It was appearing all over the colonies: on uniform buttons, on paper money, and of course, on banners and flags.

The snake symbol morphed quite a bit during its rapid, widespread adoption. It wasn't cut up into pieces anymore. And it was usually shown as an American timber rattlesnake, not a generic serpent.

We don't know for certain where, when, or by whom the familiar coiled rattlesnake was first used with the warning "Don't Tread on Me."

We do know when it first entered the history books.

In the fall of 1775, the British were occupying Boston and the young Continental Army was holed up in Cambridge, woefully short on arms and ammunition. At the Battle of Bunker Hill, Washington's troops had been so low on gunpowder that they were ordered "not to fire until you see the whites of their eyes."

In October, a merchant ship called The Black Prince returned to Philadelphia from a voyage to England. On board were private letters to the Second Continental Congress that informed them that the British government was sending two ships to America loaded with arms and gunpowder for the British troops.

Congress decided that General Washington needed those arms more than the British. A plan was hatched to capture the cargo ships. They authorized the creation of a Continental Navy, starting with four ships. The frigate that carried the information from England, the Black Prince, was one of the four. It was purchased, converted to a man-of-war, and renamed the Alfred.

To accompany the Navy on their first mission, Congress also authorized the mustering of five companies of Marines. The Alfred and its sailors and marines went on to achieve some of the most notable victories of the American Revolution. But that's not the story we're interested in here.

What's particularly interesting for us is that some of the Marines that enlisted that month in Philadelphia were carrying drums painted yellow, emblazoned with a fierce rattlesnake, coiled and ready to strike, with thirteen rattles, and sporting the motto "Don't Tread on Me."

In December 1775, "An American Guesser" anonymously wrote to the Pennsylvania Journal:

"I observed on one of the drums belonging to the marines now raising, there was painted a Rattle-Snake, with this modest motto under it, 'Don't tread on me.' As I know it is the custom to have some device on the arms of every country, I supposed this may have been intended for the arms of America."

This anonymous writer, having "nothing to do with public affairs" and "in order to divert an idle hour," speculated on why a snake might be chosen as a symbol for America.

First, it occurred to him that "the Rattle-Snake is found in no other quarter of the world besides America."

The rattlesnake also has sharp eyes, and "may therefore be esteemed an emblem of vigilance." Furthermore,

"She never begins an attack, nor, when once engaged, ever surrenders: She is therefore an emblem of magnanimity and true courage. ... she never wounds 'till she has generously given notice, even to her enemy, and cautioned him against the danger of treading on her."

Finally,

"I confess I was wholly at a loss what to make of the rattles, 'till I went back and counted them and found them just thirteen, exactly the number of the Colonies united in America; and I recollected too that this was the only part of the Snake which increased in numbers. ...

"'Tis curious and amazing to observe how distinct and independent of each other the rattles of this animal are, and yet how firmly they are united together, so as never to be separated but by breaking them to pieces. One of those rattles singly, is incapable of producing sound, but the ringing of thirteen together, is sufficient to alarm the boldest man living."

Many scholars now agree that this "American Guesser" was Benjamin Franklin.

Read more interesting information about the Christopher Gadsden and the Culpeper Flag here.

Obama's New Girl

Posted here and at The Borg Conspiracy, by guest blogger Locutisprime
Remember the Obama girl from last year's campaign? The one who did all the sexy youtube videos about her love for the yes we can man from Illinois? Well it certainly looked like the president had a new candidate in mind for his next campaign girl while visiting the G8 summit this week.

Beauty Who Turned Obama's Head Is a Brazilian from Rio

Rarely do I blog about the same issue twice in two days, but the president being caught before the world, clearly staring at a teenager's butt has got to be worth more than just some passing commentary and then sinking into the stacks of oblivion. Not even wild Bill Clinton ever got caught actually lusting. But here we have president Obama in a clearly captured moment of compromise? And the media first closes ranks and chuckles, then begins tendering plausible deniability scenarios before moving on to other things as if this straying of the eye was much ado about nothing.
I first saw the photograph of the president's wandering eye yesterday and since then I have seen the video of the G8 group photo where the presidential FUBAR occurred numerous times. I have seen everyone from ABC to FOX News back peddling and offering everything from abject denials to outright apologies of supposed humor for the president's actions at the G8.
ABC went as far as to analyze the footage and assert that "looks can be deceiving".....that the president was only looking down at the step for his footing, or that he was assisting the woman behind him and searching for her hand to assist her. According to ABC? He clearly wasn't looking at the ass of a 16 year old girl. Mean while, they laughingly questioned the actions of French president Sarkozy and seemed to want to transpose all guilt of askance looking onto his shoulders. Yet it is the look on Sarkozy's face that is the major giveaway as to what Obama was really looking at.
The media can parse it until hell freezes over, but Sarkozy and everyone else observing saw and they know what they saw. I know what I see in that photo and I know what I saw when I looked at the still photograph and compared it to the the video. The only difference between Obama and Sarkozy, is that Obama corrects himself quickly while Sarkozy goes on leering at the girl's backside.
And lastly, the media's version of this young Brazilian girl as a beauty? Leaves a lot for open interpretation in my opinion. If her ass qualifies as the sole gradient for beauty, then I suppose she is in the running for Miss Universe. But when she turned around to face the cameras? All I saw was an average looking girl at best.
But then again as the president noted by example, who was looking at the face. The following collage has a better perspective of what was really going on at the G8 group photo IMO. And from the looks of it? It wasn't just the ass of some 16 year old Brazilian girl who was getting all the attention by the male contingent of world leaders.

500 Years Old And Still Relevant

Posted by guest blogger NickS.

July 10th is the 500th birth day of liberty's champion, John Calvin.

Marvin Olasky wrote in World,

"Calvin was a fallen sinner, as all of us are, but was he especially mean-spirited? He taught that God created the world out of love and loved the world so much that Christ came down from the glorious kingdom of heaven and plunged into this world's muck. Calvin saw God as a generous giver and His mercy as an abundant resource. Jehovah's Witnesses would later insist that heaven has room for only 144,000, but Calvin understood that God's grace is infinite."

You may think you know about him, but take a minute and read Olasky's piece, linked above. And while you’re in a reformation mood, check this out...

Withering and the Word: John Calvin at 500
By Kevin DeYoung

"Whatever lasting impact John Calvin has had on the church of Jesus Christ, and on the whole world for that matter, is owing to his commitment to understanding and explaining the word of God. From sermons to lectures to letters to tracts to treatises to confessions to catechisms to books, his adult life was consumed with one thing: the word of God–the word as a summons to obedience, the word as a blueprint for reform, the word as the foundation for all truth."

Consumed with and by the eternal Word of God. The real source of real change.

"Calvin’s confidence was in the Word of God, and that’s why his theology and vision of the world continues to capture the minds and hearts of people in the 21st century. That’s why five hundred years later we remember his birth. That’s why Calvin the preacher and expositor has millions more spiritual children than Erasmus the scholar and hermeneutical skeptic. Strive for relevance in your day, and you’ll may make a difference for a few years. Anchor yourself in what is eternal and you may influence the world for another five centuries."

Do yourself a favor and read the whole thing.

..NickS

The High School Valedictorian Presidency

Posted by guest blogger tim the Godless Heathen

T.K. Farrow at Pajamas Media:

Listening to President Obama speak Tuesday at the New Economic School in Moscow, it became completely clear that his intellect is greatly overrated. As Obama proudly proclaimed his commitment to shared international progress and explained his support for ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, it was painfully clear how foolish it is to believe he can be trusted to do the right thing on the international stage. Most Russians already knew that. Only 23 percent have confidence in Obama to do the right thing in international affairs, according to a poll conducted by WorldPublicOpinion.org.

“The pursuit of power is no longer a zero-sum game — progress must be shared,” the president said in one breath. But minutes later, he announced that “the arc of history shows us that governments which serve their own people survive and thrive; governments that serve their own power do not.”

Well, which one is it? Is he confused?

Does the leader of the free world not understand that serving his own people will often be in direct conflict with shared international progress? For instance, if the U.S. accommodates the demands of the United Nations in reducing carbon emissions, the cost of energy (and all products made with and transported by using energy) will rise in the U.S. — that much is agreed upon by even the Congressional Budget Office.

Read the rest, it ends strong.

It's in the bag. The subliminal messages of the Obamas

Posted here and at The Borg Conspiracy, by guest blogger Locutisprime.

As one of millions of interested observers (taxpayers), I have begun to notice what I believe is a bothersome trend being established by the Obama family. Beginning with Michelle and her supposed fashion sense. We first saw a glimpse of that supposed frugality and sense of fashion last April, when the first lady was observed wearing a $540 pair of sneakers to a photo op for a food bank in Washington where she was volunteering.

My first thoughts back then were...."who pays that kind of money for sneakers?" Discounting the fact that there are obviously a great number of the super wealthy in the world, there still remains a certain amount of shock in my mind, when I see or hear of anyone spending that kind of money on something as basic as shoes. And here I am today reading the news and I get treated to the dual reports of both Michelle Obama and one of her daughters sporting questionable clothing and accessories while accompanying the president on his tour of Russia and Italy. (I wonder if they laid back and went shopping again like they did in Paris last month.)

In either event, it seems that while traveling with the president, that they have decided to make their own fashion and political statements, subtle as they are if not palpably less than subliminal. First in the news today, we have reports and photographs of first daughter Malia sporting not one but two different versions of the Peace symbol as her traveling attire while visiting Rome with her mother and sister.

The Brits picked up on that rather quickly.

Then comes news that Michelle was captured sporting a nifty little clutch purse, while playing the roll of the dutiful first lady. She was photographed following along behind Barack and Russian president Dmitry Medvedev as they strolled through the woods in Moscow accompanied by the Russian president's wife. And during that stroll she can clearly be seen sporting a black clutch purse.

Cost of the purse according to the fashion police? Right at $6000. That's right, Michelle Obama is photographed carrying a purse that retails for almost $6000! Of course the first lady's press office immediately denied that the purse she was carrying was the one sold by VBH of Italy or that is cost anything approaching that much. Opting rather to attempt to clarify their report by saying that it was actually another purse made by a different stylist and that in reality, the purse the first lady was carrying only costs $875. Oh....I get it. An $875 purse makes it alright. What a relief. I thought for a minute there? That we had another example of an elitist being caught being an elitist. Mean while, the makers of the $5990 purse first spotted and identified as a VBH original had this to say.

Told that Obama's office denied the bag was the high-end VBH clutch, Kelly Vitko, a rep for the company replied, "It’s definitely ours [manila bag]."

What the heck?
Rick aka Mr. Brutally Honest Plainly Wicked

SCOTUS Justice Ginsburg slips

Attempting to sell a lie as truth can become difficult at times:

Q: Are you talking about the distances women have to travel because in parts of the country, abortion is essentially unavailable, because there are so few doctors and clinics that do the procedure? And also, the lack of Medicaid for abortions for poor women?
JUSTICE GINSBURG: Yes, the ruling about that surprised me. [Harris v. McRae — in 1980 the court upheld the Hyde Amendment, which forbids the use of Medicaid for abortions.] Frankly I had thought that at the time Roe was decided, there was concern about population growth and particularly growth in populations that we don’t want to have too many of. So that Roe was going to be then set up for Medicaid funding for abortion. Which some people felt would risk coercing women into having abortions when they didn’t really want them. But when the court decided McRae, the case came out the other way. And then I realized that my perception of it had been altogether wrong.

So... according to a liberal Supreme Court Justice, the Roe v. Wade decision had nothing to do with a woman's right to choose and everything to do with controlling population growth and particularly growth of that portion of the population that "we don't want to have too many of".

There's your empathy on the court people.

I can't wait to see Obama asked by the press what he thinks about Ginsburg's comments. Just don't hold your breath until it happens though.

H/T The Deacon's Bench.

"Live Young"
Rick aka Mr. Brutally Honest Plainly Awesome

Let's not publicize this

Posted here and at the Borg Conspiracy, by guest blogger Locutisprime.

House Democrat Joins Pelosi in Accusing CIA of Misleading, Lying to Congress

Right.

Today Rep. Silvestre Reyes, basically called out the CIA, stating in a letter to a republican colleague, that he agreed with speaker Nancy Pelosi in that he believes the CIA has lied to congress. Specifically, that he believes that the CIA has lied to him, therefore, he believes speaker Pelosi's allegations against the CIA from earlier this spring must be true.

Then...there are these pearls from his letter that he apparently sent to Republican, Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich, where he was supposedly expressing his concerns on the matter of the CIA's truthfulness to congress to Rep Hoelstra.

"We all know there have been a number of contentious issues that have been much publicized," said Reyes, who indicated he wrote the letter in an attempt to curb GOP efforts to target Pelosi.

So he openly admits that the purpose of the letter is in actuality to attempt to thwart GOP criticism of speaker Pelosi and her allegations against the CIA, if which she is yet to substantiate.

And then there is this....

"Let's leave for the moment the politics out of it," Reyes said. "Our national security is about the most serious thing we deal with here on Capitol Hill. And it shouldn't be politicized."

On that point you are right Rep. Reyes. Our national security is about the most important thing that congress can address and deal with and it shouldn't be politicized. Therefore, for a US congressman who is the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, to call out the CIA on an accusation of lying to congress and then to openly admit that he wrote the letter for the seeming sole purpose of attempting to curb GOP attacks on speaker Pelosi for her accusations?

Well that is unconscionable IMO.

Then to turn right around and attempt to contend that national security isn't something to play around with, much less to use as a politicized ploy? Yet to then admit that the purpose of what you are doing is in fact what you are railing against?

Well I for one am completely amazed. I am completely amazed that a moron like Rep. Reyes could be elected to the US House of Representatives. I am amazed that a partisan hack of such idiocy and contrived partisan thinking, could be given a chairmanship of one of the most important congressional committees in congress. And lastly, I am amazed that an individual such as Rep. Reyes can openly elect to foist such a low brow ruse as this upon the American people and the media? And having done so, no one seems to care or even be able to see the obvious duplicity and partisan sculdugery afoot in this democrat contrived ploy.

Hope and Change

No... really:

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Wednesday shows that 32% of the nation's voters now Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Thirty-seven percent (37%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of –5.

The number who strongly disapprove inched up another point to the highest level measured to date and the overall Approval Index is at the lowest level yet for Obama (see trends).

In the wake of last week’s disappointing report on job loss, consumer confidence has fallen to the lowest level in two months. The Rasmussen Investor Index shows investor confidence falling to the lowest level in three months. The number of investors who say the economy is getting worse jumped from 43% before the jobs report to 51% today.

The Presidential Approval Index is calculated by subtracting the number who Strongly Disapprove from the number who Strongly Approve.

The aroma of leadership stink is stirring the masses.

Finally.

“We don’t really understand why Obama is such a star”

Interesting information coming out of Russia:

Let other capitals go all weak-kneed when President Obama visits. Moscow has greeted Mr. Obama, who on Tuesday night concluded a two-day Russian-American summit meeting, as if he were just another dignitary passing through.

Crowds did not clamor for a glimpse of him. Headlines offered only glancing or flippant notice of his activities. Television programming was uninterrupted; devotees of the Russian Judge Judy had nothing to fear. Even many students and alumni of the Western-oriented business school where Mr. Obama gave the graduation address on Tuesday seemed merely respectful, but hardly enthralled.

“We don’t really understand why Obama is such a star,” said Kirill Zagorodnov, 25, one of the graduates. “It’s a question of trust, how he behaves, how he positions himself, that typical charisma, which in Russia is often parodied. Russians really are not accustomed to it. It is like he is trying to manipulate the public.”

Oh but wouldn't it be sweet for our own 25 year olds to display such wisdom and maturity.

A message for those so impacted by Michael Jackson's death

Via that master wordsmith, Gerard Vanderleun:

It seems to me that the hundreds of millions now addicted to "celebrity" are like those addicted to a heroin of the soul. Like heroin, "celebrity" must be taken in ever increasing doses to fill a hole in the user's soul. And just like heroin, "celebrity" doesn't fill anything but only increases the emptiness. Which, of course, only increases the need and requires an ever larger dose of the illusion; of the shrieking unquiet voices.

That's a pearl right there and of course, I think his entire piece needs to be read if one seeks understanding.

I can remember many years ago being told that we're each born with a Christ-sized hole in our soul that only Christ can fill and that man's problem is that too many times, he attempts to fill that hole with something that can never fully fill it. Methinks Gerard is saying the same thing.

Me also thinks that though Christ fills that hole in our soul, there are times when He seems to 'vacate the premises' so to speak and lo and behold, we set out again to fill the hole with other things.

The people who are so distraught by the death of a celebrity are people who, at this time in their lives, have filled that hole with something much less than truly filling. My inclination, one I succumb to too often, is to make these people the objects of ridicule when in fact, they should become subjects for prayer.

Something I need to remember the next time I find myself succumbing to my inclinations... perhaps an indication that the hole in my own soul needs additional filling... not just with any filler but with The Only Filler.

Thanks Gerard.

VBS: Ya'll Come

Posted by guest blogger, BroKen.

Hey boys and girls are you having fun during summer vacation? Are you enjoying staying up late and sleeping in the morning? Well, I want to remind you that since it is summer it is also time for VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL!
Churches all around McLean County have been hosting intensive classes in Biblical values with themes designed for children. Everything creative, from jungle safaris to futuristic space travel, will amaze children in order to make the messages and meanings from the Bible memorable and fun.
But let me tell you about the Marketplace. For a couple of years now, St. Sebastian and St. Charles have joined with the Calhoun and Rumsey Methodist churches to put on a Marketplace Vacation Bible school. We transform the church grounds into a ancient market with vendors selling their wares and teaching children how to make them. For example, there’s a brick maker who lets the children work just like the children of Israel did for Pharaoh. And every year the "tribal mothers" (remember there were 12 tribes in Israel) explain what it was like to live in those days while the children fetch their own water and make their own bread with their tribe.
This year our theme is the Exodus (the children of Israel leave Egypt), the Ten Commandments (handed down from Mount Sinai), and the Tabernacle (designed by hand of God.) The grounds around St. Sebastian has plenty of room for all of the shops, the tribal dwelling places, the well, the games and the storytellers. Also, this year, the good people Calhoun Christian Church are joining with us, bringing their enthusiasm, their expertise and their children.
By transporting the children back into the ancient days when the Bible was written, the stories of deliverance from slavery and death, the personality of God described in the Ten Commandments, and God‘s plan of salvation expressed in the pattern of the Tabernacle, will be planted in their heads and hearts.
It all begins at St. Sebastian next week, Tuesday through Thursday, July 14-16. We‘ll start Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. for registration and go each day until 1:00. Wednesday and Thursday we‘ll start at 9:00 a.m. When the children are picked up on Thursday at 1:00, we’d like the parents to stay and tour the grounds to see what their children have been doing in the Marketplace.
It’s a great deal of fun for the children and the adults who pretend to be skilled ancient artisans sharing their knowledge with the next generation. But, of course, that is what Bible School is about whatever the theme around it may be. Faithful followers of Jesus pass on their faith to the younger followers who then pass it on to the next.
But perhaps the greatest thing the children will learn through this Marketplace Bible school, is not what it WAS like in ancient times, but what it IS like today when churches of Jesus Christ work together. That’s something it wouldn't hurt us all to learn!

Gore goes all Godwin on us

Wikipedia describes Godwin's law thusly:

Godwin's Law is often cited in online discussions as a deterrent against the use of arguments in the widespread reductio ad Hitlerum form. The rule does not make any statement about whether any particular reference or comparison to Adolf Hitler or the Nazis might be appropriate, but only asserts that the likelihood of such a reference or comparison arising increases as the discussion progresses. It is precisely because such a comparison or reference may sometimes be appropriate, Godwin has argued,^[4] that overuse of Nazi and Hitler comparisons should be avoided, because it robs the valid comparisons of their impact.

Let's now go to the latest reductio ad absurdum argument coming out of the mouth of the King of snake oil salesmen, Al Gore:

Al Gore invoked the spirit of Winston Churchill yesterday when he urged political leaders to follow the example of Britain’s wartime leader in the battle against climate change.

The former US Vice-President accused governments around the world of exploiting ignorance about the dangers of global warming to avoid taking difficult decisions.

Speaking in Oxford at the Smith School World Forum on Enterprise and the Environment, sponsored by The Times, Mr Gore said: “Winston Churchill aroused this nation in heroic fashion to save civilisation in World War Two. We have everything we need except political will, but political will is a renewable resource.”

Mr Gore admitted that it was difficult to persuade the public that the threat from climate change was as urgent as that from Hitler.

“The level of awareness and concern among populations has not crossed the threshold where political leaders feel that they must change,” he said. “The only way politicians will act is if awareness raises to a level to make them feel that it’s a necessity.”

Mr Gore, who brought the issues around climate change to a mass audience with the 2006 documentary An Inconvenient Truth, said that the great hope for the future lay in the high level of environmental awareness among young people.

He said sceptics who refused to believe that dramatic cuts in carbon emissions could be delivered should consider the example of the young scientists in the Nasa team who put a man on the Moon on 1969.

“The average age of scientists in the space centre control room was 26, which means they were 18 when they heard President Kennedy say he wanted to put a man on the Moon in ten years. Neil Armstrong did it eight years and two months later.”

He said future generations would put one of two questions to today’s adults. “It will either be ‘What were you thinking, didn’t you see the North Pole melting before your eyes, didn’t you hear what the scientists were saying?’. Or they will ask ‘How is it you were able to find the moral courage to solve the crisis which so many said couldn’t be solved?’”

There you go folks... by not buying into the global warming nonsense, you are in essence lacking moral courage and allowing the equivalent of a holocaust to take place.

Al Gore... minimizing the deaths of millions and ridiculing the threat posed so many years ago by Adolph Hitler.

What a brazen liar.

This represents the America I know

And not the America depicted in the midst of a global apology tour.

Understand people... please understand... that if some had their way, including some in very high places, this guy would've been aborted:

Via one of The Anchoress' readers who gives an appropriately descriptive footnote:

On July 4th the Boston Red Sox had a young man sing the Star Spangled Banner. He was somewhat disabled and there were other youngsters in the same condition with the players around the field as well those as standing near the batter’s box. He only sang a few notes when you realized he was not a renown vocalist. A few bars more and he missed a word or two, there was some laughter and it was laughing with him, he and the lady with him were smiling.

Then…50,000 voices gallantly streamed in…!

As Sarah writes: It is an outstanding display of fortitude on [this young man's] part and of love by those in attendance.

Putin praises Bush; disses Obama

Most interesting find from our good friend XtnYoda:

Putin Praises Bush

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin praised the hospitality and openness of U.S. former President George W. Bush in a telegramme sent hours before meeting his successor Barack Obama.

"During the last years we have been working on strengthening Russia-U.S. cooperation. Although there were differences between our countries, I always valued your openness and sincerity," Putin said, congratulating Bush on his 63rd birthday on July 6.

"With special warmth I recall your hospitality in the Crawford ranch and your family estate in Kennebunkport," Putin wrote, referring to their 2007 meeting at the Bush family vacation home when the two leaders went fishing and ate lobster.

Putin rebukes Obama

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Friday rejected U.S. President Barack Obama's charge that he was mired in Cold War thinking, setting the scene for a stormy first meeting at a Moscow summit next week.

In a pre-trip interview, the U.S. leader told the Associated Press that Putin needed to "understand that the Cold War approach to U.S.-Russian relationship is outdated" and that Putin had "one foot in the old ways of doing business."

Putin -- who once described the collapse of the Soviet Union as "the greatest geo-political catastrophe of the century" -- hit back, saying Russians were standing firmly on both feet.

Pundits will, of course, be dismissive of this... after all, Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and Glen Beck are all pushing Putin's buttons.