James Madison Said It: February 28, 2009

On March 4, 1809, President Madison explained in his Inaugural Address:

“We have all been encouraged to feel in the guardianship and guidance of that Almighty Being, whose power regulates the destiny of nations.”

And, In 1785:

“It is the duty of every man to render to the Creator such homage…. Before any man can be considered as a member of Civil Society, he must be considered as a subject of the Governor of the Universe.

“Whilst we assert for ourselves a freedom to embrace, to profess, and to observe the Religion which we believe to be of divine origin, we cannot deny an equal freedom to those whose minds have not yet yielded to the evidence which has convinced us. If this freedom be abused, it is an offense against God, not against man: To God, therefore, not to man, must an account of it be rendered.

“Religion, or the duty we owe to our Creator, and manner of discharging it, can be directed only by reason and conviction, not by force or violence; and, therefore, that all men should enjoy the fullest toleration in the exercise of religion according to the dictates of conscience, unpunished and unrestrained by the magistrate, unless under color of religion any man disturb the peace, the happiness, or safety of society, and that it is the mutual duty of all to practice Christian forbearance, love and charity toward each other.”

Madison, who made copious notes in his personal Bible, wrote in Acts Chapter 19:

“Believers who are in a State of Grace, have need of the word of God for their Edification and Building up therefore implies a possibility of falling. v. 32. Grace, it is the free gift of God. Luke. 12. 32-v.32. Giver more blessed than the Receiver. v. 35. To neglect the means for our own preservation is to Tempt God: and to trust to them is to neglect him. v. 3 & Ch. 27. v. 31. Humility, the better any man is, the lower thoughts he has of himself. v. 19. Ministers to take heed to themselves & their flock. v. 28. The apostles did greater Miracles than Christ, in the matter, not manner, of them. v. 11″

On November 9, 1772 to William Bradford:

“A watchful eye must be kept on ourselves lest while we are building ideal monuments of Renown and Bliss here we neglect to have our names enrolled in the Annals of Heaven.”

May God hear the prayers of a sorrowing nation.
Hat Tip to Jeff Head

Some More Questions February 27, 2009

AMERICA HELD HOSTAGE II — DAY 37

1. Whatever happened to “…consent of the goverened?”

2. If, as they claim, Rush Limbaugh and others like him are “no threat,” that the government doesn’t plan to try to shut him up, why do they keep talking about him?

3. If the mainstream media are NOT the propaganda arm of the leftist Democrats, what are they, and why do they keep talking as if they were?

4. Do the leftists think all the rest of us are as stupid as the Ovoters? Do they think we can’t SEE what they are up to?

5. Do they think we are going to stand aside and let them do what they plan?

6. ARE we going to stand aside and let them do what they plan?

7. Just where DID that other $2 trillion go??

Embracing The Pain February 24, 2009

Trying to live a “normal” life while dealing with intractible, chronic pain is a serious challenge. Telling someone you know about it can be a real test of friendship, as you try to describe the sensation of being stabbed in the neck every three minutes with an icepick. But if you have never experienced nerve pain, even that will fail to illustrate the type of stress that it can create.

Having something like glosso-pharyngeal neuralgia is a real test of one’s ability to come up with new and effective, yet non-invasive or addictive remedies. My bathroom counter is a veritable conucopia of ineffective, non-prescription rubs, salves, ointments, creams, etc., while my kitchen counter is stocked with analgesics of many descriptions, all equally ineffective.

The bottom line of the problem is that there is virtually nothing short of surgery or morphine that will stop the pain, which is sudden in onset, excruciating, and extremely inconvenient and troublesome. It’s short periods of total, painfree normalcy interrupted by instantaneous, stabbing episodes of 100% pain. On a 10-level pain scale, it would rate somewhere around a 14.

Now, I’m a stoic. I’ve had several wounds and injuries sewn up without anesthesia, three babies without any pain medication, and various other feats of heroic teeth-gritting, so brief episodes of painful treatment are not unknown to me. The most frustrating aspect of the whole thing is the fact that there is so little that can be done to even alleviate this pain down to a manageable level.

And, that’s where prayer comes in.

When we are confronted with great sorrows in our lives, we often turn to God. At first, we obviously pray that the bad will go away. Then, we pray that it won’t hurt so badly. And finally, we pray in the mature fashion; that our pain or sorrow may be a positive event, helping us to understand more fully the Sacrifices made on our behalf.

Yesterday was “Cheesefare Sunday,” the last Sunday before Great Lent in the Eastern Catholic rite. Today is the first day of Lent for us, as Ash Wednesday will begin it for Latin Rite Catholics and other Sacramental churches. I am sure it is coincidental that Great Lent arrives just as I am blindsided by the agonizing pain of the neuralgia, but I hope to use each to sanctify and purify the other. When you are an old lady like me, finding the time and opportunity for “redemptive suffering” is much easier than for those of us who must work and be distracted all the time.

I will be praying for the grace to embrace the pain, to picture in my mind’s eye those bloody Feet nailed to that Cross, and to see myself with my arms around them; to finally and actually understand some little part of that painful Price that was paid for me. It may not make the pain go away, but I know it will make it worth something.

Sticky-Note To The Left February 22, 2009

AMERICA HELD HOSTAGE II — DAY 33

Dear Left:

You won.

So, stop your damned WHINING. What’s the matter? Your change not coming fast enough?

(other side of note) P.S. About that stimulus thingy? I don’t need to have a mortgage fixed, but I would like a pony when you can get around to it…

Interesting… February 22, 2009

AMERICA HELD HOSTAGE II — DAY 32

More details here.

Can’t Win For Losing February 20, 2009

AMERICA HELD HOSTAGE II — DAY 31

Whites in America these days can’t win for losing. No matter what we do, no matter what we say, it can all be considered to be racism by certain sensitive souls.

Conservative pundits (and I) started warning readers clear back during the Primaries that the November election was going to be ALL about race. And now, we see that prophecy coming true.

If you are white, and you mention anything negative about the divine O, you are automatically a racist. Period. If you are white and you mention anything about the black vote, you are racist. If you are white, and you have an income above the poverty level, you are racist. If you are white, and you defend yourself and other whites against attacks from blacks, you are most definitely a racist.

We whites try to avoid dicussions of race around blacks. We try to avoid mentioning anything that might be construed as a comparative between black and white. We avoid defending our stance on many subjects because we are trying to avoid being called racist. So, when Attorney General Eric Holder said we were a nation of cowards when it comes to race, he was partly right.

If I say this election was all about race, that is not a racist sentiment. It is a calling of attention to the blatant racism of others, the ones who did make the election all about race. We fall over backwards to avoid mentioning obvious truths, like the fact that most blacks are still poor, in spite of the election of the divine O. Nobody is interested in the reasons for these discrepancies. All that matters is whether or not we were racist when we made our statements. All the time we whites are falling all over ourselves to avoid saying or doing anything that might be considered racist, prominent blacks are making EVERYTHING about race. No matter what we do, we do it because we are secret racists. No matter what they do, they do it because they have been oppressed for three hundred years.

Time was, of course, before the race hustlers and poverty pimps started spouting their own special brand of racism, when Republicans in congress passed the laws that gave blacks full rights under the law. As soon as that happened, those with interests vested in the division of the races began to shout and harrangue. By dint of their color and rhetoric, the were able to lead people of color back into the isolation and poverty of pre-Civil Rights misery. Whites, unfortunately, were fearful of intervening or interfering, and we allowed the situation to continue until everything that had been accomplished by the passage of the new laws was deliberately undone by the race hustlers. Now, they are virtually the only voices you hear from the “color” side. How often do you hear quotes from or see pictures of the following prominent black Americans: Alan Keyes, Thomas Sowell, Larry Elder, Walter Williams, Armstrong Williams, Bob Parks, Lloyd Marcus, Alonzo Rachel, LaShawn Barber, Star Parker, Ken Blackwell, or Ken Hamblin?

Of course you never hear from them. They are Conservatives. I rest my case.

To Demonstrate February 20, 2009

I find it interesting and extremely heartening that little “brushfires” of resistance appear to be springing up spontaneously all across the country. If the only news you ever get is from the local fishwrap, the network-affiliated local radio and television stations, or the satellite news entities, you probably haven’t heard anything about it.

But little demonstrations are popping up all over. Protestors are roasting pigs to illustrate what they think of “Porkulus.” They are writing witty and thoughtful signs to display. They are gathering without media coverage to express their First Amendment rights to gather with whom they wish, to express their thoughts freely, and to protest the no-longer subtle efforts of the left to undermine those rights and squelch any dissent they find. (An aside: Whatever became of “Dissent is patriotic”?)

Time was when those of us on the right believed so strongly in the right of everyone to have their thoughts and gatherings protected that we simply didn’t interfere when the demonstrations against those very rights grew larger and more raucous. Then the left decided it was time to get all offended whenever they wished to squash a Constitutional right. They called all their like-minded sycophants, who paid ne’er-do-wells to stand around and hold signs and bellyache, and the demonstration was born. Before long, this same bunch (give or take a generation or so) was doing the same thing everywhere. And some politicians, afraid to go against this noise (or paid to pretend to fear it) allowed the clamorers to have their way, and they began passing ordinances and regulations against Constitutional rights on a very local basis.

Now, the shoe is on the other foot. My mother used to say, “The smart ones learn from the dumb ones, but the dumb ones never learn a thing.” The demonstrations are coming from the right this time, because they are the ones who pay the taxes that pay those squeaky wheels on the left. The demonstrators on the right are the smart ones who learned from the dumb ones on the left. As Rahm Emanuel so notably remarked, “Never waste a crisis.” Ok, Rahmster. We won’t. We promise.

Us Little Spenders February 19, 2009

AMERICA HELD HOSTAGE II — DAY 30

They say we can’t spend our way into prosperity. That is true for government, and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see it. But there IS a group who, as a group, could spend America back into prosperity. It’s you and me. Yep. The only people who can spend this nation back to prosperity are the taxpayers. They could, that is, if they weren’t being taxed until their eyeballs bleed to satisfy a selfish, utopianist government of criminally grasping politicians who have absolutely NO idea of how to run a government.

Since anybody with two working brain cells to rub together already KNOWS this as a fact of life, and since that bunch of bat’s turds in Washington should (note I said “should”) be able to see it. We have two ways to think here: 1) They should be able to see it but don’t because we somehow elected total DOPES to go to Washington and nobody there is smart enough to teach them; or 2) They do know this fact, but refuse to do it because they think WE are the dopes for letting them get their hands into our pockets. I’ll let you finish this thought…

I was thinking about this last night, and lo, and behold, Rush is talking about it this morning. This tells me that the germ of the idea is in more minds than anybody could have guessed. And, THAT tells me that we may be down, but we are not beaten yet. People are fighting back.

We “little” spenders are the goose that has held back its golden egg since the election. When 10% of taxpayers pay most of the income tax of this country and the government takes the whip to their backs to produce more tax income for more teat-suckers, something somewhere is going to give. And, I think the “giving” taxpayers have about had a bellyful.

So, why is this administration so dead-set on making sure we don’t have money to spend? There can only be one answer to this question, and it’s the one we all know we know. They are doing it because a PROSPEROUS, industrious USA is the last thing they want. Remember all the “equality” and “fairness” they talked about all the time? This is their idea of “fairness” and “equality” : A sad band of equally poor, equally discouraged, and equally defeated citizens subsiding into a muddled puddle of deprivation and gray misery beholden to a RICH AND ELITIST, CONDESCENDING TOP LAYER OF GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS AND PARTY HACKS.

I think I’d better go pop some popcorn. This looks like it is going to get really good.

A Few Of The Questions I’ve Asked Myself Lately February 19, 2009

AMERICA HELD HOSTAGE II — DAY 29

Just what and how many hoops will the states have to jump through to qualify for money from Porkulus, or, the OBAMA DEBT BILL?

Are there actually states with so few patriots that they would comply with anything the Feds told them in order to get the money?

Will there be any left by the time they meet all the restrictions?

Will it be worth the wait?

Who will be the net benefactors of the spending?

Why did we learn patriotism if we were just planning to throw it away by worshipping the next demigod to appear?

I don’t know just WHY, but we have been selected as the generation that must preserve the American dream, or let it perish forever. What will we choose? Anybody know why?

Where did the term “bipartisanship” come from, if not from bullies who use it to push their victims around, and the victims, who use it as a code word for “UNCLE!”? Every time I see it used, it is either a whine from the Republicans or, in the hands of the Democrats, a red herring to slap the Republicans upside the head while distracting the electorate.

(I’m going to come back and answer these some day, if I ever find the answers…)

Watch What They Do February 18, 2009

For the last fifty years, the Marxists in this country (and their financial backers around the world) have been biding their time, waiting for the perfect moment to strike at the beating economic heart of America. Slowly but surely, they have eased one player after another into place, patiently putting up with setbacks and drawing back their hands during the terms of presidents like Ronald Reagan. But they kept their eyes on the prize, and they waited and watched, accumulating money, influence, and confidence as they sat on their webs like the patient, chess-playing spiders I have used to describe them in other posts. Gently but persistently, they moved their players into place, and waited.

Their patience paid off in the 2008 election, and they struck. As soon as the results of the election were in, they began making their moves. Remarks to the press, the appearance of “The Office of the President-Elect,” and other not so subtle hints of what was in store for the country gave those of us who were watching the sinking feeling we feared.

Within days of the inauguration, they left no doubt about their real plans for America, as they darted in like wolves, slashing and hamstringing industry and commerce, the engines that keeps America strong, prosperous, and free. One after another, they toppled the legs of the economy: Banking, manufacturing, enterprise, and personal wealth. Without caring that they were actually killing the very economy that could have paid for all their grandiose plans, they struck, and struck again. For them, the game was just a means to an end. They had their eyes on the prize: An America brought to its knees by the Socialist powers that be.

Without a qualm for any of their illegal activity, they simply did an end-run around the Constitution and did what they had planned to do all along, not caring if laws are broken or ignored. They know that there are two things that stand between them and total victory: The First and Second Amendments. As for the first, they already have the national media in their pockets, eagerly cheerleading and supporting everything the Socialists do to bring the United States to heel. But they don’t have control of voices of patriots like Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Dennis Prager, Mark Levin, and Michael Reagan, and that drives them wild with rage.

That’s where the new, revised “Fairness Doctrine” comes in. Under this plan, the voices on the right must be countered by voices on the left, and paid for by the owners of the radio stations that carry the shows. It won’t be long before the radio stations will be tired of absorbing the costs of allowing the “equal time,” and will simply hand the conservative speakers their walking papers, leaving the information field to the leftists.

The same goes for the Second Amendment, the right of the people to keep and bear arms. This is so crucial that they are going to be very, very subtle about how they go about undermining this one. They would have to be blind not to see that citizens are buying arms and ammunition with every spare dollar they can scrape up. The left has a plan to require firearm registration of all privately-owned weapons built into the so-called “stimulus” package. They’ll need lots of luck with that one.

It’s very hard to write something like this without sounding hysterical. But the facts remain, and the truth is right in front of our noses. We are being brought down from inside. Busy keeping watch on the outside for foreign enemies, we forgot to watch for the “enemies, domestic.” We have a vow to fulfill and a mission to complete.

These are frightening times for Conservatives, who still have a clear knowledge of the Constitution, if not in their minds, at least in the texts themselves. We would all do well to get copies of the founding documents, and to read them thoroughly and commit at least the Bill of Rights to memory. Remember what Rush says:

Don’t listen to what they say, WATCH what they do.