Salt and Light

Hat tip to Jackie for sending Larry Elder’s latest column. It is so hilarious I just had to publish it in full here. Enjoy!

Warming up to Obama’s message of hope and change

For Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, the stars certainly seem aligned.

Seventy percent of Americans consider the economy in a recession. Two-thirds consider the war in Iraq a bad idea. A new Gallup Poll shows Obama leading presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain 46 to 44 percent. And the ratings for “American Idol” fell 10 percent. Given all this, plus a swooning, pro-Obama media, what’s a Republican to do?

Guess it’s time to look on the bright side, and find something positive about the possibility of a President Barack Obama.

I called Margaret, a Republican friend who lives in Chicago. Do me a favor, I asked her, and attend a prayer service at St. Sabina — the church led by Father Michael Pfleger. YouTube star Pfleger, as a guest of Trinity United Church of Christ, called Sen. Hillary Clinton a white supremacist, resentful of the ascension of Barack Obama. Pfleger yelled that Clinton felt entitled because she felt, as he put it, “I’m white!” He also preached that any white person with a “401(k)” or a “trust fund” needs to surrender it — presumably to blacks — or consider themselves part of the problem. Rumor had it, I told Margaret, that Rev. Jeremiah Wright was expected to attend St. Sabina’s upcoming prayer service.

She agreed to go. Take a Bible with you, I suggested, so no one will think you’re a reporter. And should security refuse to let you in, scream, “I’m black!” Now, she’s white, but still …

At St. Sabina a security team did, indeed, stand in front of the church, warily eyeballing newcomers. They stopped Margaret, despite the Bible in hand. She was about to scream as security shooed her away, “I’m black! I’m black!” But, she admitted, she was afraid that they would think she was deranged and call the authorities.

“Mission aborted,” she dejectedly e-mailed me. But she did go back to the church after-hours, and sent an attachment of photos of her dog with the church in the background. Cute dog.

Don’t feel too bad, I told her, because I find myself warming up to Obama’s message of change and hope. To lift her spirits, I offered a few examples.

Obama rejects the Bush my-way-or-the-highway “cowboy” foreign policy. Obama repeatedly said he wishes to meet with enemy/thug leaders without preconditions. But wait!

He now says only if he decides to meet in the first place. And if he decides — to which he may not — he’ll do so without preconditions. And if he decides not to, his decision will have been made without preconditions, unless, of course, he decides to meet after all — but only without preconditions. And if he decides not to meet, he’ll make that decision without any preconditions, just as he would make the decision to meet without the precondition of no preconditions. But if he decides to meet, without preconditions, he’ll do so solely when, where and if he decides to — without preconditions.

That’s change.

Unlike President Bush, who “neglected” the Israeli/Palestinian peace process until the waning days of his administration, Obama intends to immediately get on it. Last week, he told America’s Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) — America’s leading pro-Israel lobby — that he supports a two-state solution, with Jerusalem as the sole, undivided capital of Israel. (The Bush administration, currently in negotiations with the Israelis and Palestinians, hasn’t taken a position on this thorny issue, preferring the parties to negotiate between themselves.) After Obama’s statement, the Palestinians immediately cried, “Foul!” and said there would be no discussions with that stipulation! Hamas, the Palestinian terror group, called him no different from Bush. Thus, with this demand, a President Obama threatens to derail talks from the very beginning. But wait!

The next day, Obama said that, well, “obviously” the issue of Jerusalem should be decided by the Israelis and Palestinians — adopting the same position as “cowboy” Bush.

That’s hope.

On deterring Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, Obama accused the Bush administration of “saber rattling.” Obama’s Web site calls for aggressive diplomacy, but mentions nothing about a military option. But wait!

He told AIPAC, “Let there be no doubt: I will always keep the threat of military action on the table to defend our security and our ally Israel.”

What about Iran’s Revolutionary Guard? When Sen. Clinton voted to declare the Revolutionary Guard a terror organization, Obama criticized her, and deemed the vote irresponsibly militant. But wait!

He told AIPAC that Iran’s Revolutionary Guard is, indeed, a terror organization. So why did he vote otherwise, and attack Clinton? Well, said Obama at the time, it was an unnecessarily belligerent move. But apparently, now they are terrorists because, well, it isn’t as belligerent to say so today as it was to say so yesterday.

That’s more hope and more change. So, I told Margaret, here’s hoping you find this hopeful. If not, I’ll change it.

Hey folks - This is a quick post to say howdy and thank Dave for the opportunity to be a contributor to his blog. I will do my level best to be the “lighthouse” he spoke of in an earlier post. Here’s a little bit of info about me so you’ll have an idea about the man behind the keyboard. I’m much younger, handsomer, and almost as intelligent as Dave. Not really. He is probably the best friend I’ve ever had and more like a brother than anything else. I’m sure many of you feel the same way.

I am a born again believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe the Bible is accurate, complete, and trustworthy. I have studied God’s Word for nearly thirty years and have yet to find it wanting in anything. I am a little different than Dave in some respects (apart from the age and good looks). He is much better than I am at discerning the political winds blowing through our country. I am up to date with political happenings but not to the level Dave is. I’m more in touch with religious happenings, trends, and apologetics. That’s one reason I’m so excited to be a part of Salt and Light.

Like Dave, I’m a retired Army guy. I’m intensely patriotic and very grateful for the blessing of living in the land of the free and the home of the brave. Most of my career was spent in aviation operations. I met Dave while we were both instructors at Ft. Rucker. He took me under his wing and has been my friend ever since. I taught a Sunday School class there and Dave started attending. It’s where he met his lovely wife Karen and where they were eventually married.

Oh yeah…I’m the world’s biggest UK Wildcat fan. I’ll leave it at that for now.

So…in the beginning was the blog. And the blog was Dave’s and he did some typing and decided to call it Salt and Light. What a perfect name for a blog that encourages all of us to be the salt and light that is so needed in our world! Like many of you, I sometimes end up being a salty light or just lightly salted. Sometimes something strikes a nerve and I’m a bit more “salty” when trying to shed the “light” on someone who’s just not “getting it”. Sadly, at times I’m only lightly salted and of no real use. Sound familiar?

I think Dave would agree that this should be an encouraging place. We should be encouraged to be involved in what’s going on around us both politically and socially. We should be encouraged to actually BE Salt and BE Light because there’s never been a time when both are needed more. Dave can’t do it, I can’t do it, and you can’t do it either without the Lord’s blessing, guidance, and help. Sometimes that help comes from one another. Dave has a lot of irons in the fire right now. I’m blessed to be able to help by working with this blog. There’ll be times when I need his help and the help of those on this blog. I thank God in advance for the peace that comes from knowing that the help is there from those who read these words. You can count on my being there as well.

My prayer is that, together, we’ll be more than just salty light or lightly salted. Again, I’m grateful and look forward to the journey!

Billy Ray

Hey Everyone!

You may be thinking that I’ve given up on my 5-part series, “Reviving the Republicans,” but I’ve been sitting back to see what House Democrats would do in their “first 100 hours” and how the Senate responds. I’ve also made some observations about the “Mini-Me RINOs” that the Dems have on a leash with a big lollipop in their (RINOs) hands. You getting my drift?

The main reason for this post is that there is an outstanding article on Human Events Online written by Stephanie Dube titled, “The Next MoveOn.org?” It is about my dear friend and founder of TheVanguard.org, Rod Martin. Please take a moment to read it and get to know Rod better; I learned some things about him I did not know. The heartbeat of TheVanguard.org is to be the antidote to MoveOn.org and we at TheVanguard.org are working hard to mobilize an army of conservatives to stand in the gap.

Thanks for your time and be looking here in a couple of days for me to post Part 4 of “Reviving the Republicans.” If you haven’t already done so, please sign up to receive RSS feeds for the entries and comments that are posted on “Salt and Light” and you will automatically receive an email notifying you. God bless!

Dave Jeffers