Salt and Light

Folks I apologize for not posting in a more timely manner; the week just snuck up on me!

While I was busy preparing to go to youth camp as a counselor with my church next week, a couple of things happened for me this week. Before I get to that I want add that I will also be attending the National Federation of Republican Assemblies (NFRA) Grassroots Presidential Endorsement Convention in St. Louis, MO. If any of you are close to St. Louis, please come by the St. Louis Airport Marriott and be a part of the convention.

I’m going to have an exhibitor’s booth promoting my book, Understanding Evangelicals: A Guide to Jesusland, and I would love to meet those of you I’ve known only through email.

Okay, because I was so busy I failed to post here about my latest article at the New Media Journal titled “What’s the Vitterence?” If you haven’t had a chance to read it yet, please do; it’ll give you something to think about. And if you’ve not already bookmarked Frank Salvato’s excellent E-Zine the New Media Journal, then please do.

Another website you should also bookmark if you haven’t already is Greg Allen’s The Right Balance. Greg had me on the show this past Wednesday and we talked about a number of issues. Greg is the best interviewer in radio today, bar none. Go to his website to see the times he’s on live and when his show is replayed. You can hear my interview (it’s on YouTube in two segments) with Greg at the link below.

I may not post again until after I return from St. Louis on Monday August 6th. Please pray for our youth trip; we are excited about what God is going to do in the lives of not only the teens, but also we counselors. Have a blessed weekend!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Le-94kYw2f8[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqCX90cH90s[/youtube]

“There once was a man named Vitter / Who vowed that he wasn’t a quitter / But with stories of women / And all of his sinnin’ / He knows his career’s in the — oh, nevermind.”
A limmerick delivered by Senator John Kerry at a Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee fundraiser on Nantucket last weekend.

Well it seems as though John Kerry can actually tell a joke, distasteful as it is. This little ditty went over so well it is reported that “the whole room was in stitches.”

Now remember, this comes from a man who “botched up” a joke when he denigrated our troops for being too stupid to get a college education. So I am supposed to believe that although in both arenas where he was using prepared remarks, he was unable to deliver a joke about our troops to students at Pasadena City College but knocked ‘em dead in Nantucket.

Okay, this is twice in three days that I’ve had to write about the junior senator from Massachusetts. I thought I was done with him after the elections and when I wrote about him in the New Media Journal.

“Let me just say to the first part of your question with respect to boat people and killing, everybody predicted a massive bloodbath in Vietnam. There was not a massive bloodbath in Vietnam. There were reeducation camps, and they weren’t pretty and, you know, nobody, you know, likes that kind of outcome. But on the other hand, I’ve met lot of people today who were in those education camps, who are thriving in the Vietnam of today.” Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts speaking on C-SPAN this morning.

And to think this man was nearly President of the United States! Thank you Ohio!!

Excuse me Senator Kerry…how many murders are required to be considered a massive bloodbath? Hundreds? Thousands? Tens of thousands? It is a well-known fact that tens of thousands of South Vietnamese were slaughtered after the fall of Saigon.

As for the “not very pretty” reeducation camps, what actually happened there Senator Kerry? They say a picture is worth a thousand words:
reeducation-camps.pdf

So what was a day like in the life at a Vietnamese Reeducation Camp Senator Kerry, any idea? Well, of course there was political indoctrination along with heavy and dangerous physical labor, and widespread disease because of the lack of food and medicine. This from a “warrior” who received a Purple Heart for an injury treated by the removal of a piece of shrapnel from his arm, application of bacitracin (an antibiotic) and a bandage, and he then returned to service immediately. With that criteria for a Purple Heart, my son Eddie would have about 10 Purple Hearts by now.

How is it that this man is even considered credible anymore? And oh by the way Massachusetts, could you please, please explain to the rest of America why you keep reelecting Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, Edward Markey, and Barney Frank?

In his farewell address to Congress, General Douglas MacArthur quoted a line from an old barracks ballad, stating, “Old soldiers never die, they just fade away.”

Yesterday, another great warrior, one who never received a lot of attention, to his liking I might add, faded away to a well-deserved rest. General Wayne Downing, the Secret Warrior, passed away yesterday from meningitis. I know the term “Great American” has been somewhat cheapened today, but General Downing was truly a Great American.

General Downing’s bio reads like a real-life Jack Bauer. General Downing was clearly against the “Rumsfeld Plan” known as “Desert Storm Lite” and one can only wonder what the outcome in Iraq would have been if his plan had been adopted. Now I don’t mean to be using my 20/20 hindsight with the Bush Administration, but when you hire an expert such as General Downing who abruptly resigns 9 months later, that is usually a clear signal that all is not well inside The Ring. I do advocate applying lessons learned and I’m not sure we’ve been on top of this.

Well, I didn’t mean to go off on a slant there, so please remember the Downing Family in your prayers today. Our country owes much of our freedom to that great warrior.

Well the Democrats are at again with their political posturing with the war. They are planning a “stunt” tonight and intend to use this for their political advantage. Mike Adams has written a very telling piece on Politico.com titled, “A Look Inside The War Rooms On The War.”

I know you good folks are very tired of our great troops being used as political fodder. Please call your Senators and let them know you are watching them and will not tolerate them trying to undermine the Commander-in-Chief and our troops.

I need all of you to make six phone calls today; 2 to your Senators and one to each of the Senate Leaders below:

Senator Harry Reid (202) 224-3542
Senator Dick Durbin (202 224-2152
Senator Mitch McConnell (202) 224-2541
Senator Trent Lott (202) 224-6253

Let’s shut down the Senate switchboard just as we did with the immigration issue!

Hey Folks!

I wrote yesterday about Buzz Patterson’s new book “War Crimes: The Left’s Campaign to Destroy Our Military and Lose the War on Terror.” Well, I just received an email from Buzz announcing an exciting new offer for his book and Buzz “has graciously decided to turn over ALL proceeds directly to Move America Forward to support our pro-troop activities.”

Please check out this great offer. Thanks!

I want to share an email I got last night from a wonderful woman named Carolyn. She has eloquently written and expressed the frustration many of us are feeling right now. She has some articles from the New Media Journal, including some of Eddie’s and one of Buzz Patterson’s articles. Please read this posting very thoroughly and read all the links; they are important. We as Americans are being hoodwinked by the media and the Democratic leadership all for the sake of political power, regardless the cost to our nation. This must not stand!

This is another “slap me upside the head” entry that I don’t know how well it’s going to go over. As I was reading tonight, I came across a story about the war in Iraq, and how, after hearing more and more cut and run talk even from the Republican side, I just had to think of something to pass along. For the past few weeks, I have become a little war weary - listening too much to the mainstream I guess. All I ever hear and see is how many of our soldiers are dying, how many Iraqis are dying, horror upon horror with pictures of doom and gloom. It’s hard not to buy into this, especially since we also have to hear about how badly we are losing this war from our hollowed halls of Washington. It’s not only Reid, Pelosi and Murtha anymore. If I’m tired, I can understand why polls show that more and more Americans want the war to end now.

Well, after reading (and re-reading) more stories that have never appeared in the mainstream media, I have a new second wind…and I do believe, that if some people would just SHUT UP we CAN WIN THIS WAR.

I am absolutely disgusted with the liberal and RINO left who are doing all they can to lose this here at home - just like they did during Vietnam. All those, like blowhard Kennedy, who have constantly compared this war to Vietnam have it right actually - the war will be just like ‘Nam if the same crowd who, from the steps in Washington lost that war; continue to do the same thing now. Do I sound frustrated and angry? Maybe because there are actually soldiers on the ground in Iraq and politicians who actually go to Iraq, and even some reporters who go with the soldiers to tour Iraq who think we are winning with this surge. Maybe I am angry, because for so long (as long as this war has lasted) there are those who have done so much to dishearten our troops, demoralize our troops and embolden and enable the enemy - that now many in America happen to believe it too. From the same old “Bush Lied and People Died” speech, the “Impeach Bush/Cheney” talk, to the “we’re only in it for the oil” crud I keep hearing - it makes me sick because I have read so much from actual testimony, from the lips of certain politicians and talking heads, that yes there were real threats from Saddam, links to Al Qaeda, weapons of mass destruction, but no one believes it anymore.

I’m getting too far off my point though. Listen folks - I have a feeling that many, if not all of my regular readers know that there is a real threat that whether or not we win this war, the enemy will still come, if they aren’t already here and just biding time. I am sure that you all know just how evil this enemy is - but if you think you’ve heard enough, I’d suggest you keep on looking past the mainstream, and do some digging for yourselves. With seemingly endless amount of what has been called “Bush Derangement Syndrome”, we have people political and lobbyists, elitist and journalist, who hate not only Bush, but the whole premise of American values. What used to be held in high regard about this great nation up until about 25 years ago, and even our roles in WWI and WWII - they hate so much, that it seems like they would even be willing to hand over a victory to the enemy rather than to have history show that America won. They can’t tolerate this President being shown as a great war president, up there with the ranks of Lincoln and Roosevelt. Now, I’m not saying that I think they want us to lose - but I darn well don’t think they want us to win either.

So which will it be folks? Agree with Congress, who just today passed a resolution to ignore the fact that the surge is working, and pull our troops out, or do we want to let the surge and our troops do their job? Do we want Islam to spread here as fast as it has in Europe and Britain, to where we may have Sharia law, or do we want to win freedom, not only for ourselves, but for Iraqis, and many other countries as well?

What I read today disturbed me, made me cry, because again, our soldiers seem to be targets not only for Al Qaeda but also our own Congress and media - from Abu Ghraib, to Haditha - while things like this go on, and not a peep from anyone. A long time ago, when the Abu Ghraib story broke, and we were seeing those horrible torturous photos of prisoners wearing underwear on their heads, I pointed out the fact that those loud-mouthed talking heads we have for Senators and Congressmen had also recently seen video of Saddam and company torturing innocent Iraqis. Real torture mind you, like cutting off heads, feet and hands, not to mention the beheading and dragging then the burning of our soldiers who were kidnapped and tortured (not with underwear - with machetes). Now picture this - if this enemy - those who claim victory for Allah, are willing to cut off heads and burn our soldiers, if they are willing to burn children alive and serve them to their parents at meal times, if they are willing to cut off heads of young girls who happen to be Christian, if they are willing to use children in car bombings, if they are willing to stone people for what in America these days would pass for a first time date, what do you think they would do if they came here?! Do these antiwar people have any clue?! Do the Pelosi’s and Reid’s have any clue what Islamic Jihadists would happily do to them or their family members?!

Please people, I know I have a limited readership here - and I value each one of you so much - but for the sake of our soldiers and for this country, please, pass this along to as many people as you know. Even those of you in the UK because I know many of you feel the same about your wonderful country and with your new Prime Minister saying that the House is not allowed to use the term Islam or Muslim in the same breath as terrorist, you folks too have a long road ahead if we really want to defeat this enemy.

Please pass this along, read all the links here and call your representatives in both the Senate and House. Tell them they must start supporting our troops’ mission; tell them they must support the surge and see this job through or we just might not have a country left for them to run. The fat lady hasn’t sung yet, but if something’s not done soon, she’ll be walking on stage.

Note - Some of the documents on the links are from the Avalon Project. There are many documents dating from the 90’s and through Sept.11, that show how early (meaning before Bush took office) that show that Clinton and others knew there was a real threat from Saddam and Iraq with WMD. If you dig deep enough, you find lots of stuff.

Carolyn’s Journal Entry - July 12, 2007

Well, the Surrendercrats have done it again. By a vote of 223-201 in favor of the measure, the House of Representatives called for troop withdrawal from Iraq by Spring 2008. If the House gets its way, troops will begin leaving Iraq in 120 days and be completed by April 1, 2008. It seems the House of Representatives knows better than the Commander-in-Chief and General David Petraeus when we should deploy or redeploy the troops.

Americans were absolutely phenomenal on the immigration fight and we need to respond the same way on this troop withdrawal issue. We cannot have politicians dictating how the military conducts war. As President Bush stated, “I don’t think Congress ought to be running the war. I think they ought to be funding the troops.”

Let’s get to work and let Congress know we will not stand for them playing politics with our troops all the while emboldening the enemy.

Please see how your representative voted and either thank or spank him or her depending on his or her vote. If we are truly going to support the troops and “never again” treat our troops the way we did our Vietnam Vets, then we must let them know we will hold them responsible for the back-stabbing of our troops. The vote was pretty much along party lines except for four renegade Republicans, and the new inductees into the Hall of Shame are, drumroll please: John J. Duncan, Jr of Tennessee’s 2nd District; Jo Ann Emerson of Missouri’s 8th District; Wayne Gilchrest of Maryland’s 1st District; and Walter B. Jones of North Carolina’s 3rd District.

If there is any doubt that the Left is trying “to destroy our military and lose the war on terror,” then you need to read Buzz Patterson’s newest book War Crimes: The Left’s Campaign To Destroy Our Military and Lose the War on Terror. Buzz used part of Eddie’s article Hope Rides Alone in his book and he was kind enough to send Eddie and me personalized copies. I’ve read the first 40 pages and I can tell you, the Left ain’t gonna be happy with Buzz!

All of you need to buy this book immediately, and get a copy for your wishy-washy friends, maybe even the lovable leftie in your family. If you’re feeling real generous, send a copy to your US Representative and/or Senator for him or her to read. If any anti-war, anti-military, and just about every congressional Demo(Surrender)crat can hold their head up high after reading this book, well then, we will know their true colors. This book is a much needed boost in my morale after all the media bashing our troops have taken. It’s a breath of fresh air to finally see someone put the Left on notice.

We cannot allow Congress to play politics with our troops and embolden our enemy. You will never hear about the success of the surge in the mainstream media because they are not about to give President Bush any credit. You will have to go to alternative sources, like, oh let’s say, the military! The dirty little secret is the Surrendercrats are trying to stop the surge immediately because they already know that it is succeeding and they’re watching their hopes of regaining the White House going down the drain. That’s right, they would willingly play politics with our troops and the war on terror all for the sake of power. Now if there was ever a good reason to question Democrats’ patriotism, that is one!

America needs to wake up and understand what is going on in Washington; many of you did with the immigration fight. Please don’t go back to sleep; our troops are counting on you.

“The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more. You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not. I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will tryumph in that Days Transaction, even altho We should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not.” (John Adams in a letter to his wife Abigail)

The origins of the word holiday is from the Old English combination of holy and day. One definition of holiday is “a religious feast day; a holy day.” If we are to follow this definition and the first act of commemoration suggested by John Adams, we as a nation should be honoring God Almighty on this “Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion…” That means before we fire up the barbecue grills, pack the car and head to the beach, and gather tonight to watch the fireworks, we should be on our faces reverently and solemnly thanking God for our freedom. The question is how many of us will?

Come on Dave, we don’t need a sermon on the 4th of July! Well, this blog is titled “Salt and Light” and I am fearful that too many Americans, Evangelical Christians included, do not properly celebrate all the freedoms this great nation provides.

Last night as I was contemplating what I wanted to write on today, I once again, on the advice of my pastor, read the Declaration of Independence. How many of you have actually done that, and I don’t mean just the Preamble, but the whole declaration? Have you read the list of grievances and the signatories? You might be surprised to not find George Washington’s signature. When my pastor first encouraged me to read the declaration (I couldn’t remember the last time I had read it), he told me to pay close attention to the list of grievances. Bro Dennis’ law school trained eye picked up on how magnificiently these charges were listed, so well that he believes this would be a slam dunk case easily won in a court of law today. He is right; it is magnificiently written and as it states in the Declaration because it was fashioned and enacted “with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence.”

There will be many diverse celebrations today, which is what makes our country’s freedoms all the more blessed. One such celebration will be hosted by a member of the Beltway Atheists, who describe themselves as “a community of Atheists, Freethinkers, Humanists, Rationalists, and Secularists deeply concerned with the preservation of our First Amendment protections against religious tyranny.” What country are they living in? If ever religion was under attack, it is today under the close and despotic eye of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Americans United for the Separation of Church and State (AU).

It is the ACLU and AU’s Barry Lynn who tyrannically wield power, oppressing Americans’ right to freely and publicly express their religious convictions, their devotion to God and Jesus Christ. They hide under the guise of “the constitutional separation of church and state,” which any honest person knows is not a constitutional mandate but a judicial ruling. The ACLU is currently suing the city of Slidell, Louisiana for displaying a picture of Jesus Christ in a courthouse lobby, all the while stating they “did not file this lawsuit because the ACLU is anti-religion.” Everyone who believes that the ACLU is not anti-religion please raise your hand. No seriously, please raise your hand. Hmm?…

I could go on forever about how this great nation was founded on Judeo-Christian principles, about how the majority of the Declaration of Independence signers were avowed Christians, but again, an honest broker debating the birth of our great nation already knows this. It is only the American history revisionist, the secularist, the atheist, and the left-wing politically motivated (to name just a few), who deny our Providential beginnings.

We as a nation need to humbly and honestly remember the founding of this great nation. As I wrote in my book, Understanding Evangelicals: A Guide to Jesusland, “As a nation, if we are willing to humble ourselves before God and acknowledge Him as the provider and sustainer of our great land, then God will do what He promised in 2 Chronicles 7:14.” (Quote from Chapter 10, “One Nation Under God”)

I’ll leave you with this quote from The Wall Builder’s David Barton article on the 4th of July:

Preserving American liberty depends first upon our understanding the foundations on which this great country was built and then preserving the principles on which it was founded. Let’s not let the purpose for which we were established be forgotten. The Founding Fathers have passed us a torch; let’s not let it go out.

Have a blessed Independence Day and God bless.