Change! I feel truly blessed to be doing as well as I am at 90 but, even so, change is very challenging to old folks. Everyone seems to agree that providing me with a bathroom on the first floor is a good idea. But we have lived here over 50 years and with 7 kids one bathroom upstairs always seemed to be enough. And I get lots of exercise going up and down stairs. After all, Betty White says her old house with the stairs is what keeps her so spry. True, mine are rather steep stairs and there is a big old metal steam radiator right at the bottom. Falling down them would not be a good idea. (Bumpity bumpity bump CRASH!) The proposed bathroom would be in the little room now used as my computer room and which I made into a kind of walk-in closet years ago with shelves and rods and many, many clothes. Even though I almost never buy clothes they seem to accumulate (because they still fit and people buy them as gifts) and I have lots more than I’ll ever need. Every cranny and nook in this old house (built in 1870) is occupied with STUFF, and I have long felt I needed to get rid of a lot of it but, you know, that requires DECISIONS and parting with things that may SOMEDAY come in handy. So, it is, in a way, good to have the impetus of an upcoming incoming bathroom. Sonny says everything has to come down right to the lathes and there will be plumbers and all that.

On top of which (!) the living room ceiling has to come down. Early this year we had a furnace failure (the automatic water cut-off valve didn’t cut off and every radiator was dripping with water coming through the downstairs ceiling and pouring out in the basement. That same son managed to stem the tide and the living room ceiling which was bad before is really pleading for help. So, ceiling has to come down, walls, too, right down to the lathes, and, of course, everything has to be moved. (Where? Good question!) Just the thought of it is overwhelming! Two rooms to be gutted and re-done. Two rooms of furniture to be moved. To where? The other rooms, of course. Thank God I have five of them!

Now I must give credit where credit is due. Sonny is very good at planning and executing plans. He is quite able to handle such a situation. He does good work and has good taste. He loves his Mommy and I dearly love him. God willing I will survive this upheaval and reap the benefits down the line. I am trying to get a head start and sort and move and plan where everything will go while the work is going on. The trouble is EVERYTHING WILL BE SOMEPLACE ELSE. Not where it has always been. Will I remember where things were put?

I know. I am a blessed woman. Thank you, God. What does it really matter if something of mine gets moved from here to there for a week or a month? The internet is awash with warnings of a third world war, economic collapse, a government coup, of global cooking, of rampant sexual excesses, racial unrest, increasing drug addiction and suicides. For each day of relative peace I should be so grateful. And I am. A blood moon is predicted for April 15, coinciding with Passover—-interesting astronomical occurrence or Biblical sign?

The times they are a-changing.

As Bill O’Reilly would say, I am a simple person.   I have never studied economics.  But I have studied people for a long time and I have studied the teachings of Jesus for a long time.  At the most basic level, we are told we should love our neighbor as ourselves.  This means that if our neighbor is without the basic necessities of food, clothing, and shelter, and we can provide these things, he has a right to them.  We are also told that we, as well as our neighbor, have a right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  These words are not exactly Biblical, but it has been written that we are endowed by our Creator with a right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  (The Rescue Movement. for example, rests on protecting the life of our unborn brother, even in the womb, when we know he is scheduled to be killed.)

Much has been written of late about the redistribution of wealth  not just so all will have the basic necessities but so that it will be “fair.”   Some even think it is the role of government to arrange  this, so the rich will not be so rich and the poor not so poor.  To get back to the teachings of Jesus, he says we are to keep his commandments, and these include the Ten Commandments given by Moses.  First among  these are loving God and neighbor, and honoring our parents.  We are not to lie or steal,  We are not to covet our neighbors goods.  It does, then, seems that we have a basic right to “goods” which are not to be stolen, i.e., a basic right to property.  It seems to me it is not the role of government, especially federal government, to take it upon itself to decide that my property should go to some else.

What is nowadays called “charity” is best done at a local level.  People who live near each other are better acquainted with each other.  Christians from the time of Christ have ministered  to each other one on one.  In small groups they have provided food pantries, clothing, care for the aged, ill, and abandoned.  On a local level towns pooled funds for “safety nets” to provide for various needs, which were distributed by people in touch with the situation.   We know that when caring for others is attempted at the federal level, even at the state level, the large amounts of monies available seem to sometimes  tempt the distributors  who keep too much for  “salaries” and take little care of the “little” person.

On the other hand, the little people learn how to “work the system”  when it is not carefully administered.  And politicians are well aware that they can “buy” votes by spreading money around, not as much  out of love as a from quest for power.

it is well documented that Christians do more charitable giving than the average Joe.  Christian charitable organizations seem to be more trustworthy.   Why then would a federal government that has shown little organizational competence seek to shut down Christian charities, which are more hands-on, and try minister to the little guy at the ground level from its perch on high?  Often they are coming from greed, living lavishly, not coming from love.

Throughout the ages Christians have been known not only for their beautiful churches but for their hospitals, schools, elderly housing, missions to foreign countries,  They really believe that God is love, and Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. Many wealthy peoples regardless of religion, have a heart for the poor and devote millions to their care, willingly, gladly. Let us appeal to their hearts, not take from their pockets.

Who would you rather have care for your mother, the Little Sisters of the Poor, or the federal government?

IMHO, the world needs more Christians!  Love cannot be mandated.  It must come from the heart.

Postscript – a timely email:

THIS IS EYE OPENING…

When the Catholic Church was founded, there were no hospitals. Today, one out of five people in this country receive their medical care at a Catholic hospital.

When the Catholic Church was founded, there were no schools. Today, the Catholic Church teaches 3 million students a day, in its more than 250 Catholic Colleges and Universities, in its more than 1200 Catholic High Schools and its more than 5000 Catholic grade schools.

Every day, the Catholic Church feeds, clothes, shelters and educates more people than any other organization in the world.

The new Obama Health Mandate could end all this and the tax payers would have to make up the loss.

Also, all Catholic adoption services would come to an end; a human disaster.

There are more than 77 million Catholics in this country. It takes an estimated 50 million Catholic votes to elect a president. I am asking all of you to go to the polls in 2014 and be united in replacing all Senators and Reps with someone who will respect the Catholic Church, all Christians, and all Religions.

Matthew 25:31-45:
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers,[a] you did it to me.’

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ 45 Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Conservative sites, blogs, programs, pundits all over the place are voicing wake-up calls lately. They are all worried about what is happening to the United States as we knew it and are fearful for the future. This one rings so loud and so true that I felt I had to repost it. Rabbi Steven Purzansky says WE ARE NOT COMING BACK!

Please take a moment to digest this provocative article by a Jewish Rabbi from Bnai Yeshurun in Teaneck , N.J.

It is far and away the most succinct and thoughtful explanation of how our nation is changing. The article appeared in The Israel National News, and is directed to Jewish readership. 70% of American Jews vote as Democrats. The Rabbi has some interesting comments in that regard.

“The most charitable way of explaining the election results of 2012 is that Americans voted for the status quo – for the incumbent President and for a divided Congress. They must enjoy gridlock, partisanship, incompetence, economic stagnation and avoidance of responsibility. And fewer people voted.

But as we awake from the nightmare, it is important to eschew the facile explanations for the Romney defeat that will prevail among the chattering classes. Romney did not lose because of the effects of Hurricane Sandy that devastated this area, nor did he lose because he ran a poor campaign, nor did he lose because the Republicans could have chosen better candidates, nor did he lose because Obama benefited from a slight uptick in the economy due to the business cycle.

Romney lost because he didn’t get enough votes to win.

That might seem obvious, but not for the obvious reasons. Romney lost because the conservative virtues – the traditional American virtues – of liberty, hard work, free enterprise, private initiative and aspirations to moral greatness – no longer inspire or animate a majority of the electorate.

The simplest reason why Romney lost was because it is impossible to compete against free stuff.

Every businessman knows this; that is why the “loss leader” or the giveaway is such a powerful marketing tool. Obama’s America is one in which free stuff is given away: the adults among the 47,000,000 on food stamps clearly recognized for whom they should vote, and so they did, by the tens of millions; those who – courtesy of Obama – receive two full years of unemployment benefits (which, of course, both disincentivizes looking for work and also motivates people to work off the books while collecting their windfall) surely know for whom to vote. The lure of free stuff is irresistible.

The defining moment of the whole campaign was the revelation of the secretly-recorded video in which Romney acknowledged the difficulty of winning an election in which “47% of the people” start off against him because they pay no taxes and just receive money – “free stuff” – from the government.

Almost half of the population has no skin in the game – they don’t care about high taxes, promoting business, or creating jobs, nor do they care that the money for their free stuff is being borrowed from their children and from the Chinese.

They just want the free stuff that comes their way at someone else’s expense. In the end, that 47% leaves very little margin for error for any Republican, and does not bode well for the future.

It is impossible to imagine a conservative candidate winning against such overwhelming odds. People do vote their pocketbooks. In essence, the people vote for a Congress who will not raise their taxes, and for a President who will give them free stuff, never mind who has to pay for it.

That engenders the second reason why Romney lost: the inescapable conclusion that the electorate is ignorant and uninformed. Indeed, it does not pay to be an informed voter, because most other voters – the clear majority – are unintelligent and easily swayed by emotion and raw populism. That is the indelicate way of saying that too many people vote with their hearts and not their heads. That is why Obama did not have to produce a second term agenda, or even defend his first-term record. He needed only to portray Mitt Romney as a rapacious capitalist who throws elderly women over a cliff, when he is not just snatching away their cancer medication, while starving the poor and cutting taxes for the rich.

During his 1956 presidential campaign, a woman called out to Adlai Stevenson: “Senator, you have the vote of every thinking person!” Stevenson called back: “That’s not enough, madam, we need a majority!”

Truer words were never spoken.

Obama could get away with saying that “Romney wants the rich to play by a different set of rules” – without ever defining what those different rules were; with saying that the “rich should pay their fair share” – without ever defining what a “fair share” is; with saying that Romney wants the poor, elderly and sick to “fend for themselves” – without even acknowledging that all these government programs are going bankrupt, their current insolvency only papered over by deficit spending.

Similarly, Obama (or his surrogates) could hint to blacks that a Romney victory would lead them back into chains and proclaim to women that their abortions and birth control would be taken away. He could appeal to Hispanics that Romney would have them all arrested and shipped to Mexico and unabashedly state that he will not enforce the current immigration laws. He could espouse the furtherance of the incestuous relationship between governments and unions – in which politicians ply the unions with public money, in exchange for which the unions provide the politicians with votes, in exchange for which the politicians provide more money and the unions provide more votes, etc., even though the money is gone.

Obama also knows that the electorate has changed – that whites will soon be a minority in America (they’re already a minority in California) and that the new immigrants to the US are primarily from the Third World and do not share the traditional American values that attracted immigrants in the 19th and 20th centuries. It is a different world, and a different America . Obama is part of that different America , knows it, and knows how to tap into it. That is why he won.

Obama also proved again that negative advertising works, invective sells, and harsh personal attacks succeed. That Romney never engaged in such diatribes points to his essential goodness as a person; his “negative ads” were simple facts, never personal abuse – facts about high unemployment, lower take-home pay, a loss of American power and prestige abroad, a lack of leadership, etc. As a politician, though, Romney failed because he did not embrace the devil’s bargain of making unsustainable promises.

It turned out that it was not possible for Romney and Ryan – people of substance, depth and ideas – to compete with the shallow populism and platitudes of their opponents. Obama mastered the politics of envy – of class warfare – never reaching out to Americans as such but to individual groups, and cobbling together a winning majority from these minority groups. If an Obama could not be defeated – with his record and his vision of America , in which free stuff seduces voters – it is hard to envision any change in the future.

The road to Hillary Clinton in 2016 and to a European-socialist economy – those very economies that are collapsing today in Europe – is paved.

For Jews, mostly assimilated anyway and staunch Democrats, the results demonstrate again that liberalism is their Torah. Almost 70% voted for a president widely perceived by Israelis and most committed Jews as hostile to Israel . They voted to secure Obama’s future at America ‘s expense and at Israel ‘s expense – in effect, preferring Obama to Netanyahu by a wide margin.

A dangerous time is ahead. Under present circumstances, it is inconceivable that the US will take any aggressive action against Iran and will more likely thwart any Israeli initiative. The US will preach the importance of negotiations up until the production of the first Iranian nuclear weapon – and then state that the world must learn to live with this new reality.

But this election should be a wake-up call to Jews. There is no permanent empire, nor is there an enduring haven for Jews anywhere in the exile. The American empire began to decline in 2007, and the deterioration has been exacerbated in the last five years. This election only hastens that decline. Society is permeated with sloth, greed, envy and materialistic excess. It has lost its moorings and its moral foundations.. The takers outnumber the givers, and that will only increase in years to come.

The “Occupy” riots across this country in the last two years were mere dress rehearsals for what lies ahead – years of unrest sparked by the increasing discontent of the unsuccessful who want to seize the fruits and the bounty of the successful, and do not appreciate the slow pace of redistribution.

If this election proves one thing, it is that the Old America is gone. And, sad for the world, it is not coming back.”

The problems we face today are there because the people who work for a living are outnumbered by those who vote for a living.

Lloyd Marcus is another black man who refuses to drink the Kool-Aid. Let us pray that others will have ears to hear and eyes to see before it is too late! Please see previous post, IT HAS COME TO THIS.

To My Black Family Regarding Obama

by Lloyd Marcus

Make no mistake about it: Barack Obama is not so much a president seeking the best interests of America as he is the leader of a movement.

Whether you black folks in my family are ready to deal with it or not, the truth is, Obama is always on the opposite side of what I know y’all believe. Though claiming to be a Christian, Obama is always opposing Christianity.

Our family heritage is full of ministers, deeply rooted in Christianity. No one in our family supports homosexual marriage. And yet, y’all support Obama, who not only supports this sin, but is leading a movement hell-bent on forcing us to accept it as “normal.” Obama vowed to be not just a friend to the gay, lesbian, and transgender communities, but an advocate.

Now, someone please explain to me: how does this square up with the Bible you preached to me all of my life? It does not. Obama is black. You have chosen to side with him even over your commitment to Christ.

I realize that my statement may make you angry. The truth has a way of doing that.

Americans abort 4,000 babies a day. A disproportionate high number of those babies are black. ObamaCare forces Christians to fund abortions against their faith. But once again, you guys do not care. Obama is black. So whatever he wants to do is OK with you. You even accuse me of being disloyal to my race, while Obama is the guy supporting the slaughter of black babies.

Since Obama won the White House, you guys refuse to honestly critique any issue. At $1.84 when Obama took office, suddenly you are fine with gas averaging four bucks a gallon. Black unemployment is higher today than it was when Obama took office.

Apparently, that is OK as well.

Despite Obama running the country for four years, y’all say he bears no responsibility for anything, including the horrible economy. Obama is the biggest government spender in world history.

The federal government spends $405 million per hour that we do not have. So can one of my relatives explain to me how this is Bush’s fault?

Y’all say, “If only those evil racist white Republicans would get out of Obama’s way, he could fix everything!” I refuse to believe that folks in my family are that stupid. Thus, I can only conclude that y’all are willfully making excuses for your black idol.

I am elated that a few (two) in our family have seen the light, but the vast majority have not. What I find extremely disappointing is that no amount of facts/truth appears to cause you to at least question your Obama zombie-ism. Your racism is so all-consuming, you’re like the walking brain-dead, with Obama’s black skin trumping everything.

Ironically, expecting me to join your worship of Obama goes against how I was raised. I was raised to stand up for what is right — always striving to do things God’s way. But when America elected a black president, our family’s morality and objectivity were thrown out the window in matters relating to this bizarre, despicably conniving man. His race and skin color are all that matters. Who Obama is and what he stands for are irrelevant.

While I will always love my family, my respect for who we have presented ourselves to be from as far back as I can remember has been injured.

Despite your little digs inferring that I am the weird guy in the family, I will not join your worship of the false idols/gods of race and skin color. Y’all raised me better!

Twenty-five years ago my friend, Dolores, and I traveled to New York City to take part in our first Operation Rescue experience. We intended to sit down and pray in front of a abortion mill thereby stopping abortions for that day (“rescuing” those babies) and hopefully even leading to the closing of that abortuary permanently. When we looked out our window in the Times-Square Hotel we saw, down on the street, the noisy opposition chanting away. It was our first experience with the liberal left in a sizable group.

What they were saying confused me. They chanted – it stuck with me to this day – they chanted, “Racist, sexist, anti-gay – Born-again bigots, go away.”  I didn’t understand. We were there to protest abortion and they were protesting everything but. I knew I was not racist, sexist, or anti-gay. Born-again, maybe, but surely not a bigot. Don’t we Christians love one another, including the mothers we would like to help and the babies scheduled to die that day? Why didn’t they address the reason we were there?

I was new to the game then. I have since learned that it doesn’t matter what Christians up to or not up to, they are going to be accused of everything under the sun. Names will be hurled – hate-monger, bigot, liar, thief, homophobe, and on and on, with the idea that if you throw enough mud, something will stick. There is very little they can prove but they sure will try.

Remember Sarah Palin? What’s not to like? A good woman, good governor, well-spoken, sincere. Yet when she appeared on the political scene her home town,  Wasilla AK , was besieged with a platoon of dirt-diggers looking for something, anything, that they could pin on her. She was immediately hated by the left. Even after her campaign was over, they still went through 23,000 of her emails looking for something to take her down.

Remember Michele Bachmann? Another good woman. After I read her book I thought I would vote for her whatever she ran for. She still holds her position as a congresswoman, but has to fight for survival. Every strong conservative who looked like he/she has potential has someone dedicated to finding the dirt. Consider Anne Coulter, accused of voter fraud in 2006. She had addresses in two states and voted in the wrong one. Not twice, just once. If that is all the left can accuse her of, she must be a veritable saint. In her new book Coulter asserts that “anti-religious liberalism has actually become, in itself, a religion.” She “explains how “abortion is its sacrament; Roe v. Wade its holy writ; public school teachers its clergy; and Darwinism its liberal creation myth.” (from Media Matters)

Consider the 2013 March for Life in January. A record-breaking half a million good people gathered to protect life in all its stages. Not a word about it in the main-stream media. But if one of those half-million folks did the least thing egregious, it would have been front page news. Consider the bad rap given to the Tea Party by the left. They cause no trouble, leave no mess. Still they are labeled racist and anti-gay. The evidence? None. Andrew Breitbart wrote “I am offering $10,000 of my own money to provide hard evidence that the N- word was hurled at him [Rep. John Lewis] not 15 times, as his colleague reported, but just once.” No takers, but Breitbart met an untimely death.

A quote from Coulter’s recent book, Godless: The Church of Liberalism.

Liberalism is a comprehensive belief system denying the Christian belief in man’s immortal soul. Their religion holds that there is nothing sacred about human consciousness. It’s just an accident no more significant than our possession of opposible thumbs. They deny what we know about ourselves: that we are moral beings in God’s image. Without this fundamental understanding of man’s place in the world, we risk being lured into misguided pursuits, including bestiality, slavery, and PETA membership. Liberals swoon in pagan admiration of Mother Earth, mystified and overawed by her power. They deny the Biblical idea of dominion and progress, the most ringing affirmation of which is the United States of America. Although they are Druids, liberals masquerade as rationalists, adopting a sneering tone of scientific sophistication, which is a little like being condescended to by a tarot card reader.

Liberals hate science and react badly to it. They will literally run from the room, lightheaded and nauseated, when told of data that might suggest that the sexes have different abilities in math and science. They repudiate science when it contradicts their pagan beliefs—that the AIDS virus doesn’t discriminate, that there is no such thing as IQ, that nuclear power is dangerous and scary, or that breast implants cause disease. Liberals use the word science exactly as they use the word constitutional.

It has come to this. Coulter, among many others, sees it clearly. The lines are drawn – between those who have no God and those who do.  That’s why her book is called Godless.  It’s a battle between the people for death and the people for life. The people for abortion, infanticide, mercy killing, and euthaniasia, who seem to love any critter better than the child. Who love the turtle in the egg more than the unborn baby. Who fear there won’t be enough room for all of us in spite of the fact that all THE PEOPLE IN THE WORLD can fit in the State of Texas — and not only have “elbow room” but a real room of their own. Go figure!

In closing, a quote from Blessed Pope John Paul II of happy memory:

We are now facing the final confrontation between the Church and the anti-church, between the Gospel and the anti-gospel, between Christ and the anti-christ. This confrontation lies within the plans of Divine Providence. It is, therefore, in God’s plan and it must be a trial which the Church must take up and face courageously.

It has come to this.

After Glenn Beck’s talks on Restoring Honor two years ago and Restoring Courage last year, I was looking forward to the final talk of the trilogy, Restoring Love.  Unfortunately Glenn went off on his own TV channel, The Blaze, and I totally missed the last talk on Restoring Love which should have and could have been the most important of the three.   It actually took place before Obama’s re-election (Glenn thought Romney would win!) but I have finally caught up with it and here, in a quest for completeness, is Restoring Love.   I called his first talk a “watershed event,” the second was almost as good, and the third, not so much.  It took place last July in Dallas TX. I give you Glenn Beck, still a good man!

TubeHome.com Video from everywhere!

The latest from Glenn Beck saying the “America is down on the ground, gurgling.” What are we to do?” “Lady Liberty is in critical condition, but it doesn’t have to end that way.”

Sometimes it seems to me that “back in the day” people were kinder, gentler, more trustworthy, and even funnier. I’ve written at some length in the past about a prophecy concerning Ronald Reagan’s presidency and also about Reagan’s faith. As a president he was unabashedly Christian and also known as a man who enjoyed a good laugh.

In order to flesh out our memories of him and his lovely wife, Nancy (still alive at 92) I am happy to share the following video of the handsome couple in their younger days enjoying some good, clean, actually funny entertainment. I am a little surprised to learn that Nancy is only two years older than me–she’s been looking so OLD lately!

Don’t pass up this video. It’s really a riot!

Michael Davis was a comedian, juggler, musician back in the 1980’s. He appeared on Saturday Night Live, The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, HBO’s Best Young Comedian, Comic Relief, Night of 100 Stars.

He starred in 3 Broadway shows, including “Sugar Babies” along side Mickey Rooney and Ann Miller. Michael Davis has been a special favorite of Presidents, having been invited to the White House several times by Presidents Reagan, President George H.W. Bush, and President Bill Clinton

Just thought you’d like to know. Here is the beginning of the performance above. That’s talent!

Wonder what he’s doing now.

What’s not to hate?

Judge Jeanine Pirro has much to say about the terrorist attack at Benghazi, Libya, on 9/11/l2.

Bristol Palin has a blog which is called, of all things, Bristol’s Blog.

Matthew 5:11 reads: Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.

Bristol Palin first became acquained with the cost of holding Christian values when her mother, Sarah Palin, burst upon the political scene as vice-presidential candidate in the 2008 election. I had it on good report that a group of evangelists who were watching Sarah’s  maiden speech spontaneously stood and gave her a standing ovation in front of the television they were watching. My own response (as a new blogger) was to head for my computer and start expressing my pleasure in all capital letters for the first time ever. Among many viewers there was an immediate recognition of Sarah’s obvious goodness and a welcome to Sarah’s candidacy.

On the other hand, Sarah was immediately and viciously attacked by the left to such an extent that Bill O’Reilly would repeatedly ask, “Why do they hate Sarah?” and I, too,  blogged my wonderment. She was a good woman with impressive record as governor of Alaska,  with a strong family background, “fresh from the boonies,” who could dress a moose and shoot a bear if need be. What was not to like? But she was trashed relentlessly.

So it is not really surprising to Bristol Palin that she is now receiving the same treatment that her mother received, since she seems to publicly  espouse similar views.  For such a youngster (she’s only 22), Bristol has already had more life experience than most young women and seems reasonably reasonable.  She embarrassed her mother by getting pregnant during the campaign, kept her baby, ditched the baby-daddy, reached the finals on Dancing with the Stars, bought a house, and has a boyfriend but has decided not to sleep with him – yet.   She earns money advocating abstinence before marriage and also wrote a book, Not Afraid of Life:  My Journey so Far.

She had to know, when she decided to blog, that the hatred for her mother would follow her — especially since the wanted to share her thinking with the world.  Being Sarah’s daughter was bad enough, being pro-life was  not popular, preaching abstinence to single folks was passé, but then she really touched the third rail when she stated she was in favor of traditional marriage!   These days there is nothing – NOTHING – that will bring a rain of hate mail down on a person faster than standing for old-fashioned marriage.

I know.  I’ve been there.  Letters to the Editor used to be my thing – usually pro-life or contraceptive stuff.   But the real hot button to get radical creeps really crawling out of the woodwork is homosexuality.   Read the responses to a letter I wrote to a small local newspaper on Gay Activism!  Well over 250 people wrote to call me names, consign me to hell, even publish my name and address.  Poor Bristol Palin is quoted on a national scale, on TV and social media.  I can only imagine what it must be like to be a Palin and hated worldwide day in and day out.

Look what happened to Chick-fil-A when the owner professed to stand for marriage between two sexes.  It used to be normal, expected, honored, celebrated.  Our parents did it.  Marriage was a time-honored institution.  Now, all of a sudden, the thought police come after you and forbid your restaurant to open in your city, not because you won’t hire gays, not because you won’t serve gays, but just because of what you think  — that gay marriage is stupid and physically impossible because gays can’t mate — and that’s what marriage is about.

Let’s pray for the Palins, especially Bristol, that they can weather the storm and keep their eyes on the prize.

Check out this article for another view on the subject.

When I read Michele Bachmann’s book, Core of Conviction: My Story, I was left with a conviction of my own that whatever political office Michele Bachmann might run for in the future, I’d be happy to vote for her.

When I heard Glenn Beck speak at his Restoring Honor gathering in Washington DC two years ago I called it a watershed event. His Restoring Courage rally in Jerusalem the following year only confirmed my opinion that this is a good and a brave man.

Here is the text of his Restoring Courage talk in Israel.

Last year, hundreds of thousands of Americans gathered at the Lincoln Memorial for an event called Restoring Honor.

Some of you were there. It may have changed you. I know it changed me.

In August, I challenged Americans to live a life of honesty and integrity. This year I have a new challenge.

Today, I ask you turn your eyes to Israel and restore courage.

I have been asked: What can you teach Israel about Courage? My answer is simple. Nothing.

Then they ask: Why are you coming to Israel? Because, I say: In Israel, you see courage.

In Israel, there is more courage in one square mile than in all of Europe. In Israel, there is more courage in one soldier than in the combined and cold hearts of every bureaucrat at the United Nations. In Israel, you can find people who will stand against incredible odds… against the entire tide of global opinion, for what is right and good and true. Israel is not a perfect country. No country is perfect. But it tries… and it is courageous.

Today, the world needs courage more than ever.

We need it because whether you live here in Jerusalem, or in London, or in Athens, or in Washington, D.C., you know – we all know — the world is changing, the world is burning, and whatever we have known… whatever we’ve thought would never change… whatever we’ve grown to think is solid and strong and durable … is under siege.

You don’t have to be a prophet to know that things are not going well in the world. The threats are mounting. Darkness is falling.

Far too many politicians are willing to look away. The shape shifters are at work. They have turned day into night, good into evil. They have changed the very meaning of words.

In New York, the so-called leaders of the world talk about abuses of human rights. But what they will do is abuse the very meaning of the phrase “human rights.”

“Human rights,” they say. But who will they focus on? Libya? Syria? North Korea? No.

They will condemn Israel. Tiny Israel. Democratic Israel. Free Israel. Israel, which values life above all other things.

Israel, as usual, is the exception.

——-

The world is adrift. The world is confused.

In Europe, the great nations of the past – Greece, Italy, Spain, Britain – are falling into chaos and violence.

We have raised up a generation who cannot tell the difference between what they owe society and what society owes them.

They interviewed the rioters in England. Why, they were asked, are you stealing shoes or televisions. “Because,” the rioters said in response, “because we deserve them.”

We may think: Oh, how different are today’s youth! But the young merely imitate their parents. They have seen how the world reacts to evil – with indifference. They watch, they learn, they imitate. What one generation tolerates, the next generation will embrace.

When the Fogel family was killed in their sleep the world barely took note. The grand councils of earth condemn Israel. Across the border, Syria slaughters its own citizens. The grand councils are silent. It’s no wonder children light their streets on fire.

These international councils, these panels of so-called diplomats, condemn Israel not because they believe Israel needs to be corrected. They do so because it is convenient.

Everyone does it. In some countries, it’s a crime not to.

The diplomats are afraid, and so they submit. They surrender to falsehood. The truth matters not. To the keepers of conventional wisdom, a sacrifice of the truth is a small price to pay. What difference does it make if we beat up on little Israel? These are the actions of the fearful and cowards.

But I stand here to tell you this: Fear is the pathway to surrender. And to overcome fear, we must have courage.

This is hard to do. Especially here. Especially now.

The plotters plot. The schemers scheme. And it is easy to tremble with doubt.

Even Israelis – the most courageous people on earth – doubt themselves. “Did we do something to deserve this? Perhaps if we just do something else, it will all go away!”

My Israeli friends, I have a message: You must not lose hope. You must not lose confidence. You must have courage.

And you must draw courage from the knowledge that you were led to this land by God. And in the affairs of mankind, God is not a stranger to the children of Abraham.

He promised that Israel would rise again. For two thousand years the Jewish people held on to this promise. We have seen the promise fulfilled.

Israel, we have witnessed the dawn of your redemption.

We live in an age of manmade, technological miracles. But these are the days of divine miracles.

Not by the hand of any man, whether his name is Balfour or Truman, does Israel exist. Israel is here because the God of Abraham keeps His covenants.

In synagogues just over a week ago, they read the words of the prophet Isaiah:

“Comfort, oh comfort My people,
Says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
And declare to her
Her term of hard service is over . . .”

And look at us! Here we are – in Jerusalem united. Jerusalem rebuilt.

The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is not neutral in the affairs of mankind. God is not indifferent to Israel. He will not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant he made with your forefathers.

—–

In the 40 years of wandering in the desert, the ancient Hebrews were led through the dark of night by a pillar of fire.

Courage is the act of walking into the darkness, and knowing that each step would be guided and protected by the pillar of fire, if we follow it. God is with us.

I will admit, I did not know this, until very recently.

For the first half of my life I did very little. I was the stereotypical American that believed two oceans would forever shelter me.

As a radio and TV commentator, my job was little more than pointing out the problems. And I did. I saw what I thought were obvious things, and I made obvious observations.

I saw the interviews of Osama bin Laden, and so in 1999, I said he will attack New York again. He did.

I saw the unreal expectations of ordinary Americans in 2006, and so I said – there will be a crash in the housing market. It can’t keep going up. And it crashed.

I saw the global financial markets ready to seize up in 2007… I saw the coming unrest and riots in Europe in 2008.

It didn’t take a prophet to see these things – all you had to do was recognize that evil exists and evil was going unopposed.

And so this year, when I saw Tunisia’s and Egypt’s rulers crack and fall and the world called it the Arab Spring, I said: Where could this be going? And behind these revolutions was a familiar force, a force that will place those nations under a new pharaoh. And that force, I said, would come up to the borders of Israel. And so it has.

We are not at the mercy of these events. We can alter the course of history. We can stand against the dangerous arc of this story.

But we need people who are willing to speak truth. We need inspiration. We need a model to follow.

The last century was a century of genocide. A century where evil rose up again and again… swallowing up the lives of millions.

But evil met its match. Goodness eventually prevailed. People like Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Martin Luther King Jr. and Lech Walesa and Mother Theresa and Henrietta Szold awoke the world.

They gave their lives to the pursuit of human rights. They took the side of justice against injustice, they held aloft the torch of freedom to push out the darkness of hate.

These men and women lived difficult lives. They often lived shortened lives. They were often born to relative privilege, but willing to take on suffering. They did want not to martyr themselves. They would have happily lived to the end of their natural lives in comfort… but to the righteous, there is no comfort when evil has taken root.

But the cause of human rights has been taken over by organizations who share little with the individuals who led the movement. Human rights was once a cry for justice. Now it used as a threat.

These organizations have become bullies and grotesque parodies of the principles they pretend to represent. They criticize free nations and spare the unfree. They denounce nations like Israel and America, who have high standards for freedom, and leave alone nations that have no freedom at all. They are nearly comical in their double-standards. Whatever moral force they once had is spent. Their time is up. And so, we dismiss them.

Today, we take back the phrase “human rights” and place it where it belongs, as the first half of God’s plan for humanity. The second half is responsibility.

If we want to be endowed with rights – real human rights, we have to act with responsibility. We must not be comfortable with rights. We must be comfortable with responsibility. We cannot use our few short years on this planet enjoying our rights… we must do everything we can living by our responsibilities to our fellow man. Rights and responsibilities. The two go hand-in-hand, arm-in-arm, together.

Nowhere in the Torah or the Christian Scriptures do you see the phrase words “human rights.” But there is a lot in there about responsibilities.

Everything we know about human rights and civilization came from this place. Whether you live by 613 commandments or 10 or just one golden rule, they all came from here. This throne of the Lord.

When the world turns its back on Israel and the Jewish people, the world turns its back on the source of all human rights. Without the Jewish people, humanity would not know that every individual life has dignity, that every life is sacred, that God names every star and knows every soul. That was God’s message to Abraham and Moses. It is the message of the Jewish people to the world, and by their very existence they teach it to us.

Today I propose a new path. I propose a path led by you – the individual, linked in arms with other individuals. A path where governments and so-called human rights organizations get out of the way and people come together to solve our problems. As God intended.

Some may ask: Why not leave this work up to others – the well-connected and well-educated and well-heeled, our political leaders or the media?

Well, I ask you: Whom do you trust to do this sacred work?

Who will protect your rights better? A king, president or you?

Who will protect the truth? A reporter, producer or you?

Who will protect and teach your children to seek truth? A textbook committee, an education bureaucrat, or you?

Did a commission of wise men stop the Holocaust? Did a committee of Congress end Jim Crow?

No. In each case, the work was done by individuals who would not abide convenient lies. They saw injustice and they called it out. They saw their nation wage war against a single group and they said “Not in My Name.” They didn’t wait for the conventions of society to catch up to God’s laws. They pushed. They pressed. And they were victorious.

This spirit lives within us. I believe that you will link arms with others and stand with courage, and walk behind the pillar of fire.

—–

You see evil rear its head in our time. You see the signs again. The swastikas are on display in the street marches. This week they’re holding up signs in Cairo that say: We’re building the gas chambers. They dress their children in suicide belts. They are given the choice, and they choose death.

Let us have the courage to choose life. No more incitement. No more threats. No more terror. No more talk of genocide. No more hate. No fear. No more lies.

We can read their signs, listen to their speeches. So we know that they say what they mean and mean what they say.

Well: So do we.

And I know we will be victorious. Because while their conviction is rooted in hate, our conviction is rooted in love. And love always wins.

When Naomi and her daughters in law lost their husbands, Naomi knew that their future would be far brighter if they went back to their families, to start over. But her daughter in law Ruth would have none of it. She said,

“Entreat me not to leave thee,
or to return from following after thee:
for whither thou goest, I will go;
and where thou lodgest, I will lodge:
thy people shall be my people,
and thy God my God:
Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried.”

And so I say that if the world decides it must know who will stand with Israel, who will stand with the Jewish people, so they know exactly who to condemn, who to target, let them know this.

Condemn me. Target me. I will stand with Israel. I will stand with the Jewish people. And if they want to round us up again, I will proudly raise my hand and say “Take me first.”

—–

There is courage in our time. It is here in this space. It is found everywhere God resides in the hearts of man. It is found in Joplin Missouri. Joplin was devastated by a tornado a mile wide. They lost their hospital and their school. Joplin looked more like a moonscape than the pleasant town it was.

But this is a town not looking to take help but to offer it. They began to gather early this morning. Many are taking the day off from work to show their dedication and love of the Jewish people and the state of Israel.

Our problems demand more than checkbook courage. It’s easy to write a check. But we can’t outsource love and truth and courage. We must do it ourselves. We must roll up our sleeves to make a lasting difference.

We will find hope. We will renew ourselves. We will be the first to regain what many of us have lost … Our faith. Together, we will begin to change the world.

We won’t find the answers in some global body halfway around the world…but in ourselves. We won’t find purpose in the drumbeat of destruction and disobedience we hear in the West, but in a mission of building and honor and courage.

In people like Rami Levi. In people like Tamar Fogel. In the owners, one a Jew the other an Arab, who built and reopened the Maxim restaurant after it was bombed. Each made a decision on their own to build.

The prophets and sages promise us, that by small and simple things do great things come to pass… and small means will confound the wise. Let us confound the world.

This will be a movement of honor…. courage… and responsibility.

God has made man in His image and after His likeness. He has endowed us with great privileges and rights. And He has given us purpose on this earth. His blessings are our rights. His purpose is our responsibility.

Because we have a right to worship freely, let us declare: We have a responsibility to fight for the rights of others to worship freely.

Because we have a right to pursue happiness, we have a responsibility to be thankful for our blessings and to comfort the needy.

Because we have a right to knowledge and truth, we have a responsibility to pursue it, and to fight falsehood.

These declarations of responsibility, and others, are being posted at www.glennbeck.com. In the coming days, I want each of you to print them, read them, carry them, and make them a part of your lives. Share them with your family and friends. Remember all that God has done for you, teach these lessons to your children, and obey God’s word. And join me on a historic march towards human responsibility.

Evil is counting on us to do nothing. Evil is counting on us to be afraid. But evil has misjudged us.

Evil has misjudged us as it has misjudged the Jewish people. The last line of a Jewish prayer is…

Adonai li, v’lo ira
God is with me, I fear not.

Those two lines have been uttered for centuries. Through crusades. Through progroms. Through the gas chambers. At the hands of butchers.

In every generation, they rise up to kill Jews. And in every generation, the answer is the same.

LO IRA. I fear not.

I will wait for someone else to rise no more. This time, we are the ones who say – LO IRA.

—–

Let us begin here: some people call Israel an apartheid state. I reject that. And so immediately following this program I will fly to South Africa, which is where apartheid actually existed. I will broadcast from Cape Town tomorrow morning to remind the world what the evil of apartheid really looked like.

And I will learn from the people who conquered the hatred, ignorance and bigotry and who chartered a peaceful course for a new South Africa.

Then on Friday I will fly to South America to plead the case of human responsibility to a group of nearly 5,000 local leaders from all over the continent and ask them to join me in standing in defense of Israel, the Jewish people and responsibility.

Finally on Sunday, I will speak to 5,000 Americans in Dallas, Texas. I have chosen to end my week in the town where I will headquarter the charitable division of my company, Mercury One. Dedicated to the idea that one man, inspired by one God, makes a difference. This trip will end where a global moment begins.

This won’t be easy for me, and it won’t be easy for you.

Others will say, “come with us, over the horizon.” But that horizon is a cliff. And when you don’t go along, you will stand out. You will be mocked and in some cases your life may be in danger.

So you must remember to say: LO IRA. I fear not.

No one wants to be on the point, the person that sticks out. My first death threat came in 2002 after my first visit to Israel and my declaration of support of the Jewish people and state. My latest death threat was today.

And so I say: LO IRA. I fear not.

Many of us may fall along the way. Some will have their reputation destroyed or business or career ended and others still may pay the ultimate price.

But let us link arms and make the journey together and if one shall fall, let 10 join our ranks.

You were not born so someone else could rule over you. God did not create you, endow you with rights so you could remain silent while injustice and evil grow. You have a purpose and it is rooted in love, compassion and responsibility.

There are many reasons to hear my words, leave here and do nothing. We all have been trained to believe that we are not strong enough, smart enough or powerful enough.

Abraham was old, Moses was slow of speech, Ruth was a widow, David was a little boy, Joseph was in prison, and Lazarus was dead. What is your excuse?

You were born for a time such as this. Begin by declaring that this is why you were placed on this earth. It doesn’t matter how you’ve spent your years on this planet. What matters is what you do now from here.

I cannot promise you safety, prosperity or comfort.

But I can promise you this. One day, your children and grandchildren will ask you: “What did you do when the world was on the edge again? What did you say when the West, Israel and the Jews were blamed again?”

You will look them in the eye and say: I had courage. And on the 24th of Av, I committed to stand with courage… to walk… to march… arm in arm… behind God’s pillar of fire.

Adonai li v’Lo Ira.

God is with me, I fear not.

Beck’s Restoring Love gathering in Dallas TX is scheduled for next week and I look forward to hearing what is bound to be a moving call to loving one another.

When I watched the following video it gave me great pleasure to know that Beck and Bachmann recognize the goodness in each other and have each other’s backs. With good reason, they both recognize and speak to the threat of radical Islam. May God bless them  and help them to live out honor, courage, and love.