Living in Bizarro World

Do you remember the Seinfeld episode which focused on Bizarro World, a concept taken from Superman comics? Also incorporating the now famous “man hands” sketch, this episode was hilarious. In Bizarro world, everything is backwards. Good is bad, up is down, left is right, etc. Lately, I feel as if I’ve been dropped into Bizarro world myself. “How so?” you may ask. Because the most recent 2016 presidential election polls show Donald Trump leading the Republican field with nearly 40% of evangelical Christians now supporting him. I am pausing now for emphasis … EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANS!

Have We Abandoned the Rule of Law?

Whatever happened to the teaching of civics?  Does it still occur in American classrooms?  If so, what form does it take?  I just pulled the Kentucky Core Academic Standards (page 540) where I took a look at the section on US government and civics.  All in all, the topic list looks good, although the teaching could take many different forms depending on who is doing the teaching.  When I was in school a few (ahem) years back, our US government system was taught very simply and clearly from the time I was an elementary child.  At home, my father expanded my education in citizenship with messages of the privileges, rights, and responsibilities of being an American in a democratic republic.

Chicken or Egg? Does Wealth Create Family Stability ?

While scanning news sites this morning, I saw a couple of headlines that caught my eye.  An article titled “Children suffer from growing economic inequality among families since recession” by Brigid Schulte was posted in the “Local” section of today’s Washington Post, but the implications of this article are anything but local.  The impetus for Schulte’s article is the report just released by Ohio State University social scientist Zhenchao Qian titled “Divergent Paths of American Families”.  Qian examined census and other data regarding income, poverty, and family status in the United States.  Both Schulte and Qian miss the point.



Ribeye Steak, a Polish Waiter and Being an American

For the first time in a long while, my wife and I have the chance to get away alone for a few days.  We chose to go back to Williamsburg, Virginia.  It’s been great so far.  I love Virginia.  The history here is incredible.  Both sides of my family have roots in Virginia dating back to the 1620’s in Jamestown.  During our tour of the Williamsburg capitol building, it was all I could do to keep from getting the tour guide’s attention and blurting out that my great-great-great-great…grandfather sat right here (well the capitol was actually in Jamestown then, but why quibble over historical details) in the 1623 House of Burgesses.  I was sure he would be automatically impressed and ask me to expound on my great knowledge of what it means to be an American.  Being the humble man that I am, however, I didn’t want to make others feel as if they were lesser Americans, so I held back. 

Boston Bomber Proves that Idle Hands Are the Devil's Workshop

Your grandma told you it was so: "Idle hands are the Devil's workshop."  The story of Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the elder brother of the Boston bombers, lends strong credence to this largely ignored wisdom.  In the article linked below, we see that Tsarnaev was apparently lazy before he was evil.

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/tamerlan-tsarnaev-and-family-received-welfare_719056.html

Can Christianity and Freedom of Conscience Coexist?

I can't count the number of times I've heard what, to me at least, is possibly the most poorly reasoned charge leveled against Christianity.   It usually goes something like this:  "You Christians are so closed-minded and just want to force your beliefs on everyone else.  How arrogant to say you have 'the' Truth.  Why can't you just keep your beliefs to yourself?  Just go away!"  This attitude is getting a lot of play in the public square, with many people thinking they are doing the United States a favor by trying to suppress Christians from even admitting what they believe.  They apparently just want serious Christians to be gone.  Here's a recent example:

http://www.christianpost.com/news/teacher-fired-for-bible-nj-teacher-fired-for-giving-bible-to-inquisitive-student-93848/cpt

A New Era for Christians in America

Like any number of other (maybe "real" would be a better descriptor) culture observers, I came to the realization on November 14, 2012 that we were entering a new era for Christians in America.  After the second election of Barack Obama, there was no denying that "the times, they are a-changing."  The following months have only brought even greater clarity to that assessment.  Christianity is no longer culturally cool - at least not Biblical Christianity.  In fact, it appears the culture is heading toward downright antagonism toward historic Christianity.

Is Rand Paul Channeling Jefferson Smith?

I don't know how many times I had the debate with Republicans in 2010.  "How can you support Rand Paul?" they asked me.  "He's too polarizing!"  "His father's a kook!"  "What we need in Washington is cooperation and compromise."  "He won't work with the established senators."  "He's one of those nutty Tea Partiers!" "He's a loose cannon!"

Playing "Chicken" with the Country

Here comes the next chapter in our 2013 political crisis calendar – sequestration.  We’ll see who blinks first in this coming head-on game of chicken between the big-government do-gooders and the small-government do-it-yourselfers.  In an article titled “Defcon Hill” by Jeremy Herb posted today on The Hill, we learn that if we haven’t resolved the budget crisis by March 1, up to 800,000 civilian military employees will be impacted with furloughs.  These furloughs could be as much as one day per week the rest of the year – effectively a 20% cut in pay.  The Pentagon notes that because the President has the power to protect active military personnel, the civilian workforce is the only place to turn to respond to the forced reductions which will be required by sequestration if we do not come to a budget agreement by then.

Empty Cribs - Forty Years of Abortion Complacency - Part I

I remember the first real conversation I ever had with anyone outside my family on the topic of abortion.  In a high school study-hall discussion, a teacher stated, “I know what I would do if my teenage daughter came home pregnant.  I would not let her ruin her life.”  I respected this teacher, and it really made me think about this topic on a different level.  Was abortion sometimes the best decision?  Even as an impressionable sixteen-year-old, something really nagged at me about that teacher's statement.

Fast forward nine years to 1989.  By then my views were fully formed.  As I was preparing to teach a church group of college students for a “Sanctity of Life Sunday”,  I learned a staggering fact:  twenty million babies had been aborted (at that time) since the decision in Roe V. Wade.  Since 1989, another thirty-five million babies have gone to their deaths through abortion.  Though I have always been straightforward with my views on abortion, it does not feel as if I have done very much these last twenty-four years to change this national tragedy.

I Say "Pedal to the Metal" As We Approach the Fiscal Cliff

In my previous post, I looked at the astronomical debt ($700,000 per taxpaying family) America has accumulated right now, with millions more in entitlement obligations per family coming.  If we are going to survive this fiscal crisis, we have to do three things and do them fast:

1.       Balance the budget TODAY and stop the bleeding.  It is insanity to keep piling on to a problem that is about to get away from us in the form of obligated payments alone.  We have to stop the interest growth, and running budget deficits for one more day is ludicrous.  If you don't hear the word "trillion" in a budget reduction plan, you're not hearing a serious plan!

2.       We have to pay down our $16 trillion national debt.  That means we really aren’t looking for a balanced budget, but rather a budget with a revenue surplus.  We need to do better than balancing the budget!

3.       Get focused again on being an innovative nation that produces things of value which other countries want to buy.

The Tax Man Cometh

I wish I could say I'm surprised that Obama thinks we can tax our way into prosperity without spending cuts.    Either he doesn't understand basic arithmetic, or there something else afoot here.

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/mcconnell-burst-laughter-geithner-outlined-obamas-plan_664210.html

See earlier post for a dose of reality from the numbers.

Deja Vu All Over Again

On August 3, 2011, I sent one of a life-long series of such letters to my US Representatives and Senators which they are duty-bound to accept.  This one was to Senator Mitch McConnell in the wake of the bi-partisan agreement to once again raise the national debt ceiling.  I meant what I said then, and I mean it now.  Republicans were banking on 2012, and it didn't work out well for us.  This letter, along with my previous post, really sets the framework for the next blog posts which will lay out some thoughts on the pending "fiscal cliff".

Senator McConnell, 

I’m extremely frustrated, but not surprised at this debt ceiling compromise.

Economic Thoughts That Still Apply Today

I was cleaning up some files today and found the following copy of a letter I sent to former Secretary of Education, Dr. Bill Bennett, on September 24, 2008.  I've had the opportunity to speak with Dr. Bennett a number of times on his nationally syndicated radio program.  I've sent him a handful of such letters through the years, and he has graciously read some of them on the air.  Following were my thoughts in the midst of the 2008 financial crisis and first Obama election cycle.  I still agree with them by the way (at least as applied in a secular sense without spiritual solutions), and they will help set the stage for some subsequent thoughts in a blog post on the "fiscal cliff":

Bill,
 I have been trying to call, but can’t get through.  All the analysis I hear is hitting on the symptoms of the current financial crisis rather than the root cause.

Stopping the Decline of America - A Radical New Idea to Restore Individual Responsibility

A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largess from the public treasury. From that time on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury, with the results that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world’s great civilizations has been 200 years.

- Attributed to Sir Alex Fraser Tytler

Do you think the patriots who founded this nation would recognize the values of America today?  Can you imagine how those independent minds who risked everything - including their lives -  to be free would assess our current government?  What would they think about our people?  You might ask why we even care what the Founders would think – that was hundreds of years ago.  While they were not perfect people, our Founders held perspectives which are still very relevant for shaping our society today.