Above my pay grade?

Unbelievable. Un-friggin-believable!! “Friggin” was not what I wanted to use but since becoming a christian 19 years ago I try to not use the “F” word that I really wanted to use.

I have to paraphrase here but when Pastor Rick Warren of the Saddleback Church in California asked Barack Obama when human rights should be bestowed on a fetus (Latin for “little baby”) this candidate for Leader of the Free World says that this question is “above my pay grade”. What? Are you SERIOUS?

John McCain gave a definitive answer. He said “at conception”. Good answer. But, he gave a definitive answer. In a matter of speaking it’s irrelevent what the answer was because he did give a point blank answer to a point blank question. If the American electorate did not know before they do know now where John McCain stands on the abortion issue.

The “Messiah” Obama is afraid to to go on Fox News and he’s afraid to answer a question that matters to millions of Americans. What kind of leadership can this man possibly offer to America?  

I’m not saying that John McCain is the greatest candidate in the history of the Republican Party because that would be me, Mister Levittown, but at least he can answer a very hard question.

A wonderful woman I know, who’s my adopted “Ma”, said that if Obama wins in November the country would survive and if McCain wins the country would survive as well. I have to admit that sometimes I think she’s right about the Obama possibility and other times I think she’s so wrong it’s ridiculous.

I pray to GOD she’s right.

GOD bless these United States.

What the hell was I doing?

What the hell was I doing?

 

It might be 2008 but let’s journey back to the days of the leisure suit and disco shall we? Specifically 1975. A little movie called “Jaws” scared the crap out of people and also scared them away from the beach.

 

Why do I mention this? Well, I was one of those people who saw “Jaws” and stayed away from the ocean. At the time I lived in South Florida. Not more than 10 miles from the beach did I reside. I was a real danger seeker back then!

 

I remember at the time Jacques Cousteau was traveling the world saying that Great White sharks don’t act the way being portrayed in the movie. Hey, Jacques shut your croissant hole and don’t confuse us with the facts. We’re watchin’ a movie here!!

 

Intellectually I knew that the esteemed oceanographer was right but despite that knowledge I just couldn’t go into the water. I just couldn’t. I literally didn’t step a single toe in the Atlantic Ocean for seven years. It wasn’t until 1982 while visiting family in Fort Lauderdale, Florida (I had moved to Pennsylvania three years earlier) that my brothers grabbed me and proceeded to toss me into the water. I had a great time.

 

Say goodbye to seven years of irrational fear.

 

Say hello to 1977 for my next adventure. 1977, the year I graduated High School and wondered what the hell am I going to do with my life and why am I paying for my own graduation dinner? Thanks mom and dad.

 

The summer of 1977 was also the time when  a friend of mine attempted to teach me how to ride his motorcycle. We went to a section of a supermarket parking lot that rarely had any cars go by and he proceeded to teach me the basics about how to ride a motorcycle.

 

After many stall outs (and I mean “many”) and only a few feet of distance traveled I thought that maybe I was making some progress. After all I had actually gone several feet before stalling out the bike.

 

Then came the moment of triumph! I actually got the thing going and I was gaining speed. And I continued to gain speed. This wasn’t turning out to be a good afternoon. All of a sudden a cement parking block got up, ran over to a spot about 20 feet in front of me and sat down.

 

Having inconveniently forgotten how to stop the forward momentum of the motorcycle I proceeded to ram the block of cement. I remembered thinking “this is not good” and “god, this is going to hurt”.

 

It did. I went flying over the handlebars and tumbled about 10-15 feet. Every part of my body hit the pavement except my head. I was lucky because I wasn’t wearing a helmet. I survived that day with a banged up back, a 1 inch square area below my right knee scraped clean of hair and 2 very small cuts in that now hairless area. By the way, the motorcycle landed right next to me with a rather deep dent in one of the tail pipes and some scratches on the gas tank. Thank God it didn’t land on me.

 

I was very fortunate that day.

 

Because of that incident in 1977 I’ve been on a motorcycle during one day and I do mean only one day since then. Approximately 10 years later I was visiting family in New Mexico (for crying out loud these people are everywhere) and out of necessity one of my younger brothers transported me on his motorcycle.

 

The little bastard did his best to scare the urine out of me every second I was on that thing. I have to give the punk credit because he did a good job of it too. Despite his evil assault on my senses I still love him.

 

What is my point? Where am I going with all this?

 

This past Friday I met up with my friend Al, whom I’ve written about before on this blog, at a liquor store in New Jersey to pick up a variety of good beers for a little gathering at his home.

 

It was a very simple progression: we picked up beer, we went to his house, people came over, we talked and drank. Like I said it was very simple.

 

Unfortunately, I drank to an extreme excess. At least I feel that way. All the beers were very good when it came to flavor and very “big” when it came to alcohol content. Just like many people at the time I didn’t think I had that much.

 

Yeah, right. I had to stay over at my friend’s house to sleep off some of this beer. To put it rather simply: the rest of the weekend was wasted by being in bed in agony with a horrendous hangover. I haven’t been that drunk for more than 20 years. It is now Tuesday and I’m still feeling a trace of the mess that was my life during this past weekend.

 

I’ve talked to Al a couple of times about all this and the point he brings up concerning ageing is valid. I’m almost 49 years old. The body changes. It’s the natural order of things. Like anyone else approaching 50 I hate the changes in my body but like I said it’s the natural order of things. I love beer. It’s one of the great pleasures of life. I’ve angered people, including Al I think, with my insistence that crap on tap people should wake up and grow up to better beer than they’re drinking.

 

This event has had a huge impact on my mind. Many years ago I researched the biblical question of alcohol. My conclusion was even though I could understand the old Jewish prophets of the Old Testament it was a matter of individual choice.

 

My choice, at least for now, is to give up alcohol. I have no idea if this is a short term thing or lifelong I just know it’s the right and proper choice for me. I just don’t want to feel that horrible again. I didn’t mean to make that kind of purchase last Friday but I’ve come to realize that the price paid by my body was way too high.

 

Am I thinking too much about all this? Maybe. Better to think too much than not to think enough.

 

Peace.

Barack Obama - A Clarification

In my last post I said that Barack Obama is and was evil. I also mentioned the idea of his salvation was between him and GOD. Let me get right to the bottom line: I totally disagree with this man concerning abortion. And unless he has a massive change of heart I always will. I think what he did back in Illinois fighting the local version of the Born Alive Infants Protection Act was despicable. I think his actions are sinful in this area.

Having said all that I don’t mean to say that Obama needs the saving work of Jesus more than I do. I’m in need of that saving work just as much as he is. I’m just astounded that any man who says he’s a christian can do and say what he’s said concerning abortion. Let alone what he said about an hypothetical situation concerning his daughter being pregnant outside of marriage being a punishment if she was forced to give birth to the baby.

(I’m sorry about the run-on sentence but please forgive me.)

The Bible itself is pro-life. I would assume that Senator Obama reads his Bible at least occasionally.

Hey, I’m just being a fruit inspector.

The senator from the great state of Illinois may not be evil but ultimately, Barack Obama is exhibiting evil behavior. And this is not what America needs in the early 21st Century.

Barack Obama, an evil man.

“Evil” is a hard word. A very hard word. But, I truly think it applies to this particular man. I chose the word evil because it came out recently from an article in the National Review Online that back in 2002 and 2003 while still in the Illinois legislature this “christian” actively fought against a bill that would offer protection to babies who survived abortions.

This is insanity! It’s bad enough to think that more than 40 million innocent babies have been killed in this country since Roe v. Wade became the law of the land in 1973 but we have a major presidential candidate who spear-headed efforts to ensure that babies die if they happen to survive an abortion?

If this man becomes the democratic presidential candidate and actually wins than I would have to say that our country is doomed as a force for good.

Ultimately, Barack Obama’s salvation is between GOD and him. I would love to know what he would say to the Creator about his abortion stand though.

Salvation is a free gift from GOD and we just can’t earn it. This does not mean we don’t have to be accountable to GOD.

Obama and all those who are pro-abortion advocates please consider the ending of the Henry Fonda movie “Fail Safe” where the President of the United States (Fonda) is on the Hotline Phone with the Soviet Premier after two major cities have been destroyed by nuclear weapons. In anguish he asks the Soviet Premier “what do we say to the dead?”

Mr. Obama and all people who are pro-abortion what do you say to the ten’s of millions of innocent dead since 1973. Mr. Obama, what do you say to the innocent babies who have died in Illinois since you fought against the local version of the Born Alive Infants Protection Act?

Let’s face it America, we don’t deserve GOD’S mercy.

But consider:

2 Chronicles 7:14 (King James Version)

14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

It’s not too late. It isn’t. Where there is life there is hope.

 

A great American died this weekend

The following is the content of an email that I sent to many friends this morning. It’s a transcript of a speech that Charlton Heston gave back in 2000. Now, I don’t know if I’m violating any rule of quotation or blogging by including the entire text that I copied off a news website but this speech touched me and I thought I would share it.

Newsmax.com

Heston on Free Thought and Freedom

Sunday, April 6, 2008 3:37 PM 

By: Charlton Heston

The following is a speech NRA President Charlton Heston gave at Brandeis University on March 28, 2000.

“Thank you for the tenacity you’ve shown in having me here. I know the University gave you the financial and logistical burden of my visit here, and I appreciate what you’ve done against those heavy odds. So for me, please give yourselves a big round of applause.

I remember my son, when he was five, explaining to his kindergarten class what his father did for a living. “My Daddy,” he said, “pretends to be people.” Fortunately there’ve been quite a few of them. There were Prophets from the Old and New Testaments, a couple of Christian saints, generals of various nationalities and different centuries, several kings, three American presidents, a French cardinal and a couple of geniuses, including Michelangelo.

It’s been my good fortune to explore several great men who have made a difference… risen above the ordinary to change the course of human events. So as I pondered our visit tonight it struck me: If my Creator gave me the gift to connect you with the hearts and minds of these great men, then I should use that same gift to reconnect you with something even more important: your own sense of individual purpose.

When he dedicated the memorial at Gettysburg, Abraham Lincoln said this about those troubled times: “We are now engaged in a great Civil War, testing whether this nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure.” In many ways, those words ring true again. I believe that today, right here and now, we are again engaged in a great civil war. And this campus is one of many battlegrounds.

The war I’m referring to is cultural rather than military, but there’s something very vital at stake. Today the battle is for your hearts and minds, for the freedom to think the way you choose to think, to follow that moral compass that points to what’s right.

Let me offer an example. A couple of years ago I was swore in as president of the National Rifle Association. I believe strongly in the Bill of Rights, and its Second Amendment provision to keep and bear arms as one of those rights. I felt I could make a difference – that it was the right thing to do. And that’s when the bombshells of the cultural war began to blow up all around me.

To some, I went straight from Moses to the devil. To some, I fell from celluloid saint to cultural sinner, because I felt obligated to defend an individual freedom our Constitution protects.

At first I thought the issue was just about guns. Should law-abiding citizens be able to own them, as the Founding Fathers mandated, or should a Big Brother government be allowed to dismantled the Bill of Rights? Seems simple enough, right?

Well, since then I’ve learned that the gun debate is a lot more complicated.What I confronted when I became president of the NRA was an overwhelming Orwellian tyranny sweeping this country, a fanatic fervor of politically correct thought and language.

Zealotry is not a pretty sight. It’s ugly in the streets of Tel Aviv, where misguided young men strap bombs to their bodies and shatter not only mortar and steel, but also the lives of the innocent.

We used to think we were above all that. Then a federal building in Oklahoma City exploded, and we realized that the very same ugliness can smolder among us.

More and more we are fueled by anger, a fury fed by those who profit from it. Democrats hate Republicans. Gays hate straights.Women hate men. Liberals hate conservatives. Vegetarians hate meat eaters. Gun banners hate gun owners.

Politicians, the media, even the entertainment industry is keenly aware that heated controversy wins votes, snares ratings and keeps the box office humming.They are experts at dangling the bait, and Americans are eager to rise to it. Our culture has replaced the bloody arena fights of ancient Rome with stage fights on TV with Sally, Ricki, Jerry, Jenny and Rosie. Fear of ideas creates more divisions. As a result, we are becoming increasingly fragmented as a people. Our one nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all now seems more like the fractured streets of Beirut, echoing with anger.

Back in the midst of another troubled era, as a young actor, I did something that was definitely not fashionable in Hollywood. I marched with Dr. Martin Luther King in 1963 long before it became fashionable in that strange city. It could have cost me my career.

That was a time when a black American couldn’t even get a job as a union stage hand.

Those of us in the Civil Rights movement battled the studios over this blatant discrimination, and we won. Now black actors and directors are among the best in our business. I’m proud that some of us helped open those doors. Two years later, as President of the Screen Actors Guild, I walked behind Dr. King, leading the Arts contingent in his March on Washington. That was a proud day.

Now, fast-forward thirty-five years. I recently told an audience that I felt that white pride is just as valid as black pride or red pride or whatever color pride you prefer. For those words, I was called a racist.

I’ve worked with brilliantly talented homosexuals all my life. But when I told another audience that gay rights should be given no greater consideration than your rights or my rights, I was called a homophobe.

I served in World War II, and if you saw “Saving Private Ryan” you have some insight into what a savage conflict that was. But when I told an audience that I thought law-abiding gun owners were being singled out for cultural stereotyping much like Jews were under the Axis powers, I was branded an anti-Semite.

I love this country with all my heart. But when I challenged an audience to resist cultural persecution, I was compared to Timothy McVeigh!

After a couple of years with the culturally correct crosshairs trained on my chest, I must admit it was a whole lot easier being Moses. But I can say this: get involved with a politically unpopular cause and you’ll quickly find out who your friends are. I’ve been blasted from Time Magazine to The Washington Post to the Today Show to the guy down the street. They say “that’s enough, Chuck. It may be your opinion, but it’s not language authorized for public consumption.”

Well, if we’d been enamored with political correctness, we’d still be King George’s boys.

1776 wasn’t all that long ago, and we’ve got plenty of good genes left to fire our passion for freedom.

In his book The End of Sanity, Martin Gross writes that “blatantly irrational behavior is rapidly being established as the norm in almost every area of human endeavor. There seem to be new customs, new rules, new anti-intellectual theories regularly foisted on us from every direction…”

“Underneath, the nation is roiling. Americans know something without a name is undermining the nation, turning the mind mushy when it comes to separating truth from falsehood and right from wrong … and they don’t like it.”

Let’s stroll around your own campus just for a minute, and see if we can find a few examples. One that comes to mind is Freedom Magazine. Last year, I’m told, funding for this conservative campus publication was cut out entirely because members of the student senate didn’t care for its message. “Didn’t care for its message?”

Now I don’t know if the philosophy expressed on those pages was right or wrong. But it deserves to be heard, don’t you think? Isn’t that what college is all about? Examining a diversity of ideas before you draw conclusions?

I’ve also been told that here on campus, there’s a push for more affirmative action in the admissions process.Well, I’m for affirmative action. I believe it starts in grammar school, survives the growing pains of high school, and reaches fruition during college entrance exams.

And I also believe it should be color-blind. I’ve fought against racism all my life. So why would I tolerate racism in reverse? Skin color litmus tests hearken back to carpetbaggers and Reconstruction. I believe in level playing fields, and the equality that comes with accomplishment. One standard for all, no more and no less.

But we have to be careful here, because telling us what to think has evolved into telling us what to say. So telling us what to do can’t be very far away.

I argue passionately for the freedom to keep an open mind, because in audiences like this one I sense and see America’s best and brightest. Brandeis remains a fertile cradle of American academia, and each of you are the best hope we have for a productive, livable, spiritual future.

But I submit that you, and your counterparts in colleges from coast to coast, also appear to be the most socially conformed and politically silenced generation since Concord Bridge. And as long as you shrug your shoulders and abide it, then by the standards of your grandfathers, you are cultural cowards.

If you talk about race, it doesn’t make you a racist. If you see distinctions between the genders, it doesn’t make you a sexist. If you think critically about a given denomination, it doesn’t make you anti-religion. If you accept homosexuality but don’t celebrate it, it doesn’t make you a homophobe.

A free people can use a new revolution every day, and I challenge you to resist the dogma of cultural and social stereotyping. Don’t let America’s universities serve as incubators for a rampant epidemic of this new brand of McCarthyism. Stand up, speak out, follow your heart, even if it goes against the conventional grain.

Take heart in the fact that others have walked that same path. Jesus. Joan of Arc. Gandhi.

Jefferson. Lincoln. Martin Luther King. Susan B. Anthony.

I think the germ of disobedience is in our DNA. Who here doesn’t feel a certain kinship with the rebellious spirit that tossed that tea into Boston Harbor? It’s the same spirit that sent Thoreau to jail, that refused to sit in the back of the bus, that filled our streets with Vietnam War protestors. But let me warn you — it ain’t easy. Dr. King stood on a lot of balconies. The police dogs in Montgomery were vicious. The water cannons in Selma were painful. Modern versions of the same weapons of oppression exist today.

Just a few weeks ago my good friend Wayne LaPierre, head of the National Rifle Association, spoke candidly on national television about the president’s gun policies. In return, he was personally and professionally crucified for daring to speak his mind.

During the past eight years, President Clinton has fought hard for every kind of firearm restriction imaginable. Yet at the same time he has, as a matter of policy, refused to vigorously enforce federal gun laws already on the books.

Wayne said that prosecuting felons with firearms is the only proven policy that has cut gun murders — by half! He watched it work in Richmond, Virginia, under a program called Project Exile. Every felon caught with a firearm there serves a mandatory five years in prison. No plea bargain, no deal. Believe me, not many felons carry firearms in Richmond any more.

The NRA helped fund that project when the Clinton administration wouldn’t. So I think Wayne LaPierre spoke the simple truth when he said the president seemed willing to accept a certain amount of firearm-related violence, because enforcement interfered with his personal anti-gun agenda. The words were no more out of Wayne’s mouth when the media erupted. For two solid weeks he was demonized, scorned, vilified.

But during those same two weeks, the media was far more interested in reporting what Wayne said than investigating what Clinton did, or failed to do. In fact the President has been miserably lax in enforcing federal gun laws. But it was easier to condemn a good man for making a politically incorrect statement than it was to dig out the facts and exonerate a victim of cultural warfare.

To me, political correctness is just tyranny with manners. The spectacle of Wayne LaPierre’s media crucifixion appalled me. Yet at the same time it stiffened my determination to speak out even louder, with all the breath I have, about this cultural cancer that is eating away at our society.

So in closing, let me challenge those good young minds of yours. Dare to consider both sides of any issue. And find the courage to question authority.

Don’t always believe everything you hear from a Bill Clinton, or a Dan Rather, a George W. Bush or an Al Gore. Dig deeper than the headlines or the stump speeches or the television news. Don’t trust any of us – not a Michael Jordan, or a Dennis Miller, not even Charlton Heston. Because we all have our prejudices, and it’s your job to sort through all the rhetoric, weigh and measure each word, and decide on your own.

And then, just as I felt compelled to stand with Dr. King, you’ll find yourself compelled to act, too.

When a fatherless kid in a crackhouse finds a stolen gun and shoots a schoolmate, stand up and say giving drug dealers triggerlocks isn’t a solution.

When a mugger sues his elderly victim for defending herself, jam the switchboard at the district attorney’s office and raise the roof with your outrage.

Or when your university is pressured to lower standards until 80% of the students graduate with honors, choke the halls of the board of regents in a unified show of disgruntled force.

When an 8-year-old boy pecks a girl’s cheek on a playground and gets hauled into court for sexual harassment, descend on that school like avenging angels … until someone in charge exercises common sense.

And when someone you’ve elected is seduced by the power of the office and betrays you, muster the collective will to banish them from public life.

Because unless you do these things, freedom as we have known it cannot endure.

So I challenge you to take up the torch that freed exiles, founded religions, defeated tyrants and provoked an armed and roused rabble to break out of bondage and build this country.

There is still some of them in all of us. So don’t give up just yet. We’re not quite finished with their revolution.

Thank you.”

It may sound corny but this speech by Mr. Heston reminds me of an episode of Star Trek. I’m a Trek fan but I can’t tell you in excruciating detail everything there is to know about a particular episode.

There is one episode where a Federation starship makes contact with humanoids that look remarkably like Asians. These “Coms” appear to be civilized. They are fighting savages called “Yangs”. Unfortunately, the captain of this ship and his crew are infected with some sort of disease. Before it’s discovered that immunity comes with time some of the initial landing party go back to the ship and infect the remaining crew. They all die. The sole survivor is the captain because he stayed on the planet long enough for the immunity to develop.

Captain James Kirk and crew in the starship Enterprise arrive to find out what happened to the officers and crew of the first starship.  By the middle of the episode it appears that the captain of the first ship has been helping the “Coms” fight the “Yangs” by supplying advanced weapons.

It turns out that the “Yangs” are actually “Yankees” and the “Coms” were “Communists”. In the end the “Coms” were defeated by the “Yangs”. In victory an ancient flag and parchment were brought out. These artifacts were an American flag and the Constitution of the United States.

Half way across the galaxy there was a parallel earth.

My point: at the very end of the episode Kirk starts reciting the preamble of the Constitution. The Yangs are amazed he would know the “sacred words”. Kirk tells them that the sacred words must apply to all or they apply to none.

Part of me thinks that the “sacred words” of Charlton Heston must apply to all or they apply to none as well.

God Bless You Mr. Heston.

The Spitzer - Saddam Connection

What did Saddam Hussein say when Coalition forces crossed the Iraqi border in 2003? What did Elliot Spitzer say when his predilection for prostitutes came out a week ago?

The same thing: “D’OH!!”

To paraphrase Senator Larry Craig - “Let me be very clear.” I’m not saying that the former governor of New York is any thing like the  monster who ran Iraq and had hundreds of thousands of his enemies killed and invaded two other countries.

What I’m saying is that both of these men couldv’e avoided the fate they received.

If Saddam had totally cooperated with the UN and others after the first Gulf War instead of hiding vast stores of WMD materials and fully cooperating with the weapons inspectors he would be alive today. Probably still in power as well.

But, our boy Saddam decided to let his pride get in the way. Instead of cooperation he had banned materials and equipment moved out the back door of various facilities while inspectors came in the front. And he did this for more than 10 years. Don’t believe me? Go ask David Kay and the International Atomic Energy Agency.

All sorts of WMD were found in Iraq but because these things weren’t encased in warheads atop SCUD missiles no one believes they existed. It’s so bad even the Bush Administration says no WMD were found in Iraq.

Unbelievable.

Saddam evaded his responsibilities and Iraq was invaded in March of 2003. The rest, as they say, is history. So is Saddam. He’s taking a very long dirt nap right about now.

Elliot Spitzer made his name by being a law and order Attorney General in New York. He went after all sorts of criminals. Organized crime, drug trafficking, prostitution.

Oh, oh……. Mission Control, we have a problem. Spitzer was caught with his hypocrisy down. Probably around his ankles. Ouch!

He prosecuted people who ran prostitution rings and he gets caught up in one!! How can this be? More than $80,000 flew out of his pocket to the g-strings of prostitutes. How can this be?

Is it true that power corrupts? He turned into a big time hotshot and thought he could get away with serial whoring? Is that it? Or is it simpler than that?

Maybe despite his career success he ultimately is just another empty man trying to fill an empty heart. The man is to be pitied. Actually, when I think about it maybe Saddam should have been pitied as well.

Both of these men in one form or another were empty. It’s too late for the executed former dictator of Iraq. It’s not too late for the former governor of New York.  

This is not to say that Spitzer shouldn’t have taken responsibility for his actions. He had to resign. There was and is no alternative for what he did. He had no choice. It was time to go.

When it came to marriage fidelity Spitzer chose poorly. When it came to cooperating with the international community Saddam chose poorly.

I can’t speak to whether or not the victims of Saddam Hussein will ever forgive him. I do know it’s not too late for the family of Elliot Spitzer to forgive him. Will they? Hopefully.

Forgiveness is the key component here. As a christian writing what I have so far tonight in this entry I’m reminded of something that crossed my mind some years ago.

If someone murdered any person I love I would forgive that criminal. It wouldn’t be easy but I have to share the forgiveness given to me by Jesus. If I don’t share what’s been given to me than how can I expect to truly claim the forgiveness of GOD?

The murderer still has to pay a price to society. Prison sentence or death penalty. Responsibility must be accepted. I certainly hope I would have an opportunity to lead this person to Jesus before punishment. For if that would happen we could someday walk the streets of Heaven together.

If I, in a period of rage, killed somebody I have to pay the debt to society as well. I would hope that the loved ones of the victim would forgive me but I would have to pay a price.

After having said all that I’ve said about hypocrisy and morality please don’t think that I think of myself as a morally superior guy.

Hey, I know better. I need the blood of Jesus as much as the next idiot.

How’s this for a connection: Spitzer-Saddam-Me-You?

Coin flip: Values or Political Party?

I, the one and only misterlevittown, am or are a political and social conservative. I am also a christian. I gave my life to Jesus waaay back on June 14th of 1989 in the parking lot of Calvary Chapel Phila…… wait a second. That’s a story for another time.

Despite being a christian who is a social and political conservative I do have friends who are….. dare I say it?… DEMOCRATS!!!!!

Really.

While walking away from my office with one of my dumocrat.. I mean democrat friends I thought I would beat him about the heart and mind. It was fun too.

“Fred, what’s more important voting your values or your political party?” Fred is a christian too. I could feel him emotionally running into a bridge abutment. God, it was great.

I asked him that if Obama or Clinton had political views that could be shown not to line up with christian principles would you still vote for them because they’re democrats? His response was a classic non-answer answer.

“I can’t vote for McCain!” “I did’nt ask you about McCain.”

I posited the scenario to him that let’s say the democratic presidential nominee had positions on the top ten issues that went directly against biblical principles would you vote for that candidate? I hit Fred with this question multiple times.

His evasiveness was telling.

“So Fred, if you vote for a candidate you know goes against your values aren’t you telling God that His values aren’t as important as your political affiliation?”

He never really gave me an answer to that question. 

Let me state some things I think are really basic ideas to all everyday citizen-types and politicians:

1.  We, as believers, need to stand up for righteousness in  politics. By this I mean that more  than  policies should be our focus. How about the idea of taking care of the People’s Business instead of “now that I’m here how do I make sure I stay here?” 
2.  ”Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” should mean something. But, how can those words have meaning when we, as a nation, still kill the unborn innocent? Where is their life? Where is there liberty? What kind of happiness are they achieving after the abortion?
3. When politicians of either major party claim a christian faith shouldn’t that fact carry over to their campaigning? Something is wrong with this picture when candidates start trashing their opponent who just so happens to have a christian faith as well. Don’t these people realize that someday they will be walking the streets of Heaven together?
4. Shouldn’t your faith influence you when it comes to your job? Or should we divorce our faith from our work just like it was portrayed in “The Godfather”. Hey! I’m a good catholic even though I kill people for a non-existent criminal organization.
5. After saying all the above can we all agree that Jesus is so much bigger than political parties. Please.

This is not to say that the one and only misterlevittown is perfect. I ain’t.

A passing thought: why is it alright for democratic presidential candidates to speak at churches but when republicans speak at churc… when was the last time you heard of a republican candidate speaking at a church? Don’t forget the false charge that evangelical republicans want to create a theocracy.

It seems to me that it’s a good idea to just let Jesus be the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Works for me.

Factcheck.org - thanks for being around

Several years ago I became aware of factcheck.org and their analysis of political campaigns and the truthfulness that comes from them. Here in the 2008 primary season more often than not whenever I would read a factcheck alert I would be yelling at my monitor. Could these politicians kindly tell the truth about there own record let alone their adversary!!

We’ve all heard of “spin” and the “meisters” thereof. We’ve all told lies. Big, little, white as well any other color lies. We’ve thought’em and we’ve said’em. It just seems that politicians just take lying to another level.

Without getting into specifics about McCain, Obama or Clinton and all the state and local politicians out there but they “all” say the same thing when it comes to their campaign ads: I’m wonderful and my opponent is Satan. Or a variation of that theme.

This is where I get into borderline blasphemy. Danger! Will Robinson. Danger! Danger!

Over the years I’ve told many people when it comes to this kind of thing in politics that “GOD damns this!”.

Why do I say this? Because even in politics we can bring dignity, honor and truth. Twisting the words of your opponent to make he/she to appear to be a total crook is not dignified. It’s not honorable and it’s sure as hell not telling the truth.

Something in the Ten Commandments about  telling fibs or… bearing false witness! Sound familiar people!!

In total frustration last friday I angrily told my friend Al that I was fed up with Republicans who did this sort of thing.

Republicans, tell the truth! Let the Democrats lie and then counter with the truth. The truth. The truth. The truth.

Let that be you clarion call. Your rallying cry. Tell the truth. And at the same time I know that they’re many Democrats that feel and think the way I do. They want their candidates to speak the truth.

Bottom line: Tell the truth and it won’t need to be spun or massaged.

Politics and Morality: who would’ve thunk it?

Halloween and old radio people.

How ridiculous is it to hear every year on a radio station near you at Halloween people who have’nt gone trick or treating in about 50 years ask each other about their costumes?

“Hey, DJ Doofus. What are you going out as this year for Halloween?” “Well, Sidekick Squirrel Nut Zipper Face I really can’t answer that now because we have to go to Captain Bill in the 97.5 Traffic Copter for the lastest traffic report.”

Never mind that many smaller markets can’t afford to pay the electric bill let alone have the finances to fund an helicopter and crew. Don’t forget to insert the helicopter sound effects while the traffic guy is giving his report.

All the while the zany people in the studio are taking pictures of their wacky costumes for the station website. And all these morons are more in need of Viagra than a sugar rush from all the candy they’ll supposedly get while trick or treating.

I had to get that off my chest. I feel so much better. Now where’s that Spider-Man costume?

Signed, Your friendly neighborhood MisterLevittown

Watchers of the weight

Here it is the third day of March and I’m almost at the end of my first day doing the weightwatchers thing. Breakfast and lunch were within limits and took care of my hunger very nicely.

Dinner on the other hand…..

 I had a huge carnivorous craving when I got home. Before I got home I found out that I could not go to physical therapy tonight due to a paperwork problem. Prescriptions that cover my right elbow, back and both legs were not renewed in a timely fashion so I was not allowed to go to physical therapy tonight. Bummer.

So I came home and cooked up probably 8 ounces of hot italian sausage. Hot Italian was all that was available when I went to the store last week. On top of that I wilted a bag of store salad with some Adobo, a mexican spice blend, and munched away.

I was unfulfilled.

I don’t know precisely why either. Meat: good. Salad: good. Adobo: ok. Adobo was only “ok” because I accidently sprinkled too much on the greens.

Maybe because I did’nt finish on a high note when it came to dinner. Cut the meat portion in half and it would have been sufficient. The wilted greens were fine. Proper limits. But……

The psychology of food and it’s place in our lives. A complicated and simple thing this creation called food.

Two thirds discipline on a three thirds kind of day. Give me time and I’ll succeed with this math thing. Someday.

I leave you with two free pieces of wisdom. 1. Wherever you go that’s where you end up after you started the trip and, 2. Never draw to an inside straight.

Peace, misterlevittown