God Answers Job Out of A Great Whirlwind

The sophisticated, secular world of man considers God's words here to Job who has lost everything----before He restores Job---as folly, myth and madness. But to ignore these Words---where God clearly asserts His dominion and control over the largest and smallest details of Creation, including hurricanes and elections----according to the Lord of the Old Testament, is the greatest folly of all. Could it be that God is speaking to us---all, regardless of political party or demonination---through the great storm that is barrelling our way? If so, somehow I think the message is deeper and more universal than politics, don't you? Please join me in praying for all the people who are in the path or fleeing the trajectory of Gustav.

Job 38

The LORD Speaks,

1 Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm. He said: 2 "Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge? 3 Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me. 4 "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell me, if you understand. 5 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? 6 On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone- 7 while the morning stars sang together and all the angels [d] shouted for joy? 8 "Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb, 9 when I made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in thick darkness, 10 when I fixed limits for it and set its doors and bars in place, 11 when I said, 'This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt'? 12 "Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place, 13 that it might take the earth by the edges and shake the wicked out of it?

14 The earth takes shape like clay under a seal; its features stand out like those of a garment. 15 The wicked are denied their light, and their upraised arm is broken. 16 "Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep? 17 Have the gates of death been shown to you? Have you seen the gates of the shadow of death [e] ? 18 Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth? Tell me, if you know all this. 19 "What is the way to the abode of light? And where does darkness reside? 20 Can you take them to their places? Do you know the paths to their dwellings? 21 Surely you know, for you were already born! You have lived so many years!

22 "Have you entered the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of the hail, 23 which I reserve for times of trouble, for days of war and battle? 24 What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed, or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth? 25 Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain, and a path for the thunderstorm, 26 to water a land where no man lives, a desert with no one in it, 27 to satisfy a desolate wasteland and make it sprout with grass? 28 Does the rain have a father? Who fathers the drops of dew? 29 From whose womb comes the ice? Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens 30 when the waters become hard as stone, when the surface of the deep is frozen? 31 "Can you bind the beautiful [f] Pleiades? Can you loose the cords of Orion? 32 Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons [g] or lead out the Bear [h] with its cubs?

33 Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you set up God's [i] dominion over the earth? 34 "Can you raise your voice to the clouds and cover yourself with a flood of water? 35 Do you send the lightning bolts on their way? Do they report to you, 'Here we are'? 36 Who endowed the heart [j] with wisdom or gave understanding to the mind [k] ? 37 Who has the wisdom to count the clouds? Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens 38 when the dust becomes hard and the clods of earth stick together? 39 "Do you hunt the prey for the lioness and satisfy the hunger of the lions 40 when they crouch in their dens or lie in wait in a thicket? 41 Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God and wander about for lack of food?

We're currently studying The Book of Job at One Year Bible blog, which I link to on my right sidebar.

Listen: Rescued. From Focus on the Family. Amazing Adventure.

U.S. Hurricane Hunters Fly Over Cuba

Where Gustav is headed.
Pilots monitor mega storm Gustav before returning to Florida.

From the WSJ photo journal this week.

Why Palin Is A Fantastic Choice As Veep

Helen Smith writes at Pajamas giving her run down on why the choice of Sarah Palin, a self-made woman, is not only is good for women, but men and the whole country. A highlight:

"While Democrats want to expand government programs to “help women,” I believe that smaller government and the policies of the libertarian right help women in many ways that are often ignored. Carrie Lukas, in a special report entitled “Dependency Divas” from the Independent Women’s Forum, states that:

'Government efforts to improve on market outcomes often have serious unintended consequences that make women worse off. Workplace regulations make hiring more expensive, thereby decreasing the number of job opportunities available for women. Entitlement programs such as Medicare and Social Security crowd out private enterprise and initiative, and bloat the federal budget. The high taxation necessary to support lavish social spending slows economic growth, reducing the living standards of all Americans. The paternalistic arguments used to justify these government programs also reinforce the harmful notion that women are incapable of surviving or prospering on their own.'"

I agree with Helen and Sarah and Carrie Lukas: Many government programs to help women, really only serve to stifle and foster dependence. The left always wants to get in the way by inserting government in the middle of every human endeavor and process, when often the best and most elegant strategy to help others, including women, is to just get out of the way. And stay out of the way.

*******

Please note: There's so much I want to write about Palin, issues and the race and will in coming days. However, I am again pressed for time with company here from California for the weekend and also with preparing for surgery next Thursday on my right ankle to repair a severely torn ligament which will keep me off my feet for 2-3 weeks. Will not be able to drive a car during that time and will be 'walking' on crutches. For this reason, I'm scurrying around trying to prepare for this ordeal, one I've put off for about 25 years when I tore the ligament in a jogging accident. Surely I'll have plenty of time to blog, write and play catch up during this recovery period. There's no good time to do something like this, but when it's finally time, it's time.

You see, there's a little baby boy now in the cooker and coming into our family, God willing, next winter, and I want to be able to hold him, and sing him lullabies with a strong ankle.

GOP 2.0, McCain and Palin, Way To Go

Fasten seat belts for the next two months. Going to be quite a ride.

Bob Agard of Bob's blog pronounces McCain's choice of Palin as "sheer brillance" and "beyond brillant" and then goes on to elaborate. I agree with everything he says.

Bill Hobbs weighs in on the choice of Palin as "brillant" too.

Memo To McCain: Make It Historic

UPDATE: YES!




UPDATE: FOX News is reporting that a worker at the Hook Field airport in Middletown, OH, is quoted as saying that they saw a woman in her mid 40's and two teenage boys get off the plane, and boarded a white van. Palin has two teenage sons, one 18, another 19.....

John McCain, if you want to win in November, you're going to have to do some things, choose a running mate, who are perceived as being historic. That means shock and awe. I don't see how anything short of a woman, a black or Hispanic, a Jew, a Democrat or Hillary herself can do that for you. Sadly, I don't see how Mitt or Pawlenty can jazz the ticket up enough. I hope I'm wrong.

This is the kind of surprise I'm talking about,

Is Obama Ready?

Another speech, another era. Sounds like a Republican, doesn't it?

UPDATE: Barack Obama's speech tonight is demagoguery at its best. We are no longer electing a president here, but a nanny-in-chief, a senior economic justice engineer and a new age superman of Oprahesque proportions who intends to be all things to all people, except society's most productive (that don't need daddy-knows-best) who will be penalized because Barack Obama says so.

Each and every demagogue like Barack thrives on group hysteria and enchantment. And boy does he have it. A leader that tosses out smooth rhetoric of unlimited, fast track promise to the throbbing, hopeful masses. Masses who feel, emote, believe--in the throes of magical thinking---a politician like Obama can actually effect big change in their lives. (What does taking our country back mean anyway to any of us on a daily basis?) Masses who are ultimately disappointed and disillusioned.

Can Obama deliver more than smooth words to his adoring, hopeful public with his thin record of experience?

One thing that's clear: this emotional, behemoth of a freight train has pulled out of the station and how fast and with what momentum it careens down the tracks, will determine if it is stoppable. There are a mighty lot of people in the world who want the kind of myopic hope Obama is peddling and want to ride and see where it's going.



Via Powerline.

Rumor: Virginia's Rep. Eric Cantor McCain's Running Mate?

UPDATE: Kay H. Bailey is out.

Stephen Green passes on the tip. Rep. Eric Cantor lives in Richmond, Virginia a swing state for this election. A brief vita can be found here.

And here.

My first impression, if it's true, is he's not well known enough----though certainly well qualified----for McCain to pull this off. I'd much rather see Kay Hutchinson Bailey of Texas be his sidekick. Can he stand up to Biden's vociferous demagoguery? Will continue to flesh this out as the day goes on. Cantor is indeed conservative and for sure, there will be method in McCain's madness.



Here Cantor deals brilliantly with an idiotic reporter talking about Israel. Maybe he is cut out for campaigning with McCain. I like him more than Governor Tim Pawlenty.

Joe Biden: Much Too Much More of the Same

Joe, you gave a touching and forceful speech at the DNC when it came to your family and mother. Your son, Beau, did a terrific job and I know you must be proud of him. Having said that, however, as you continued on to the issues department, I came away with the distinct impression that you and I live on different planets. You and the Democrats are once again catastrophizing this country in the worst possible ways to get elected. I disagree on many, many counts. And I can guarantee you the little ditty about McCain being four more years of Bush is utter nonsense.

ISSUE OF RAISING THE MINIMUM WAGE

What you're saying is NOT change, it's more of the same. There's too much here to go through it all tonight. However, for one thing, when you criticize John McCain for voting against raising the minimum wage, you simply are being a windbag. And you have to know much of what you say is simply not true.

John McCain voted against raising the minimum wage for one reason: doing so cuts job creation and the number of jobs here in America. It sounds like a good idea to you Dems who try to put it over on the American people, but forcing employers and businesses to pay higher minimum wages means they are often forced to cut down or completely eliminate the number of entry level jobs, often sending them abroad. McCain voted to keep as many jobs as possible in America. You simply can't get by with demonizing him for that.

The reasons so many jobs have gone abroad is both the higher and higher minimum wage and the increasingly expensive demands of labor unions. The differences in the way you and John McCain view the economy, the war, foreign relations, job creation and wages is profound. As are the differences in Iraq where the surge has worked.

You say the government has done nothing for Americans who are hurting, but our government has become, if nothing else, one of constant bailouts, attempting to take away all personal responsibility and put it in the hands of government bureaucrats. Where will it all end? When the government finally collapses from the weight of its own Nanny State hubris?

It all sounds good, Joe. But what you are saying is not change. It's far more of the same: government will fix everything, can fix everything and we'll live happily ever after.

One more thing, Joe. What about the statement you made earlier this summer saying you'd be happy to run on the ticket with John McCain? You seemed to impugn his judgment, character and maverick nature in your speech tonight.

And what about the fact that you said you didn't think Obama was ready to be president recently?

What a difference a week and new job description makes.

CONSERVATIVE PRINCIPLE TO CONTEMPLATE: The more government regulation and interference, the fewer individual choices.

Messiah Descends On Denver

UPDATE: Obama gets the nomination as Hillary cedes delegates on the floor.
Barack has descended into Denver, just in time for Bill's speech and levitation later tonight. Meanwhile, Neo-neocon has a must read post on the famous American Issues Project (AIP) ad that highlights Obama's long-term relationship with American terrorist, William Ayers who bombed the Capitol 30 years ago and is proud of it. The video is below. Watch and then read her incredibly well-done piece. It's worth the time you'll spend reading the whole thing.


Again, take time to read Neo's piece on Obama's relationship with Ayers and the presidential candidate's efforts to suppress the above ad. First there's Wright and now there's Ayers. Do you really know Barack Obama? Isn't it time you did? Don't you wish everyone did?

Michelle O, Now Proud

We're proud you're proud we're proud you're proud, Michelle. And not a moment too soon.

Michelle-O, A Jackie Kennedy Wannabe?

An Embarrassing Confession

It's embarrassing for me, a conservative blogger, to have a close friend who's at the DNC convention. That's bad enough. But it gets worse.

She's in Denver, at the Obamafest. And she's in enemy territory guest blogging at the Huffington Post.

When I saw her recently, she broke the news of her imminent trip to Denver to me gently:

"I'm going to Denver! I'm going to Denver! I'm blogging for the Huffington Post. Na-Na- NANA-NAAAAA!"

"I don't want to hear this," was my encouraging, supportive response. "Please, I don't want to know about it. Why can't you just stay in New York or Rhinebeck?"

After a few laughs, but only a few, we agreed it would, might, be an adventure. For her. I decided not to look and to forget she's in Denver this week. I would instead concentrate on Spike Lee's sun glasses, Ben Affleck's poker games and Michelle Obama's over-sized pearls.

Until this morning. When the e-mail arrived. With a link to her latest piece. In the HuffPo. I debated. To look or not to look? I really did. I tried not to look. But, well, then, in the final analysis, after all was said and done, okay, yes, and in the final analysis, I finally broke down and, you guessed it, I clicked the link.

There before my very eyes was 2E, my liberal acquaintance from the East coast. We're acquaintances until she actually leaves Denver, as in boards the plane for takeoff. Then we can go back to being friends again.

Meanwhile.

Nice piece, 2E. Really. Inspirational and something even a poor wretch like I can take heart from. BTW, my very own late mother, when she was just out of college and before she married my father, interviewed Mrs. Roosevelt for the newspaper she was working for in Georgia at that time. No doubt she too was inspired by the likes of Eleanor Roosevelt. Keep up the good work!

Thanks for sending your link. Really. And while we're at it, let's keep our priorities straight as womenfolk: your hair looks great in your pic! It really does. We can talk more about hair, lip gloss, good posture and cutting down on carbs soon. Remember, all this power stuff at the convention is secondary to a really good hair cut.

Biden, Credit or Debit?

UPDATE: Writing today in Human Events, Peter Huessy chronicles Biden's Unwillingness to Defend America. In my opinion this is a shocking, shocking, expose on the third most liberal member of the U.S. Senate and Obama's choice for Veep, especially during wartime.
Breaking: Is Beden in bed with one of Delaware's biggest industries, credit card companies? How much have credit card companies like MBNA and lobbies contributed to Biden's causes and campaigns? Talk about big oil's obscene profits. They pale in comparison with those of the credit card industry.Senator and VP candidate Joe Biden with wife Jill, left, and daughter Ashley, center, in downtown BBQ joint.

UPDATE: New poll shows McCain leads Obama in Colorado. Could it be a landslide in November for McCain?

Biden enjoying new candidate status while the honeymoon lasts on 16th Street Mall in downtown Denver.

Good Morning, Let the Denver Polympics Begin

Would like to make a few predictions on this week's Democratic Convention in Denver. It's not rocket science, but nevertheless worth mentioning:

1) For all the hype and hysteria leading up to this year's convention, it will be anti-climatic in every way. Even the outrageous messianic staging of the convention floor will be a let down. America has peaked with the empty-suited Obama and there's no amount of special effects and showmanship in the Mile High City that will change that. In other words, there's no going back to the earlier infatuation.

2) There will be far less so-called protesters at Tent State University than predicted. They will be hard pressed to get much media attention at all, except occasionally from bored reporters who want to get outside for breath of fresher air and have nothing better to do than manufacture something that passes for news focusing on the strident few.

3) As the likes of Ward Churchill and Cynthia McKinney resurface and get some attention there this week, the American public will remember the radical liberal fringe Democrats have become associated with.

4) Security is extremely tight and militarized to the hilt in Denver, as it should be, and that reality will put a damper on some of the adolescent shenanigans that CODE PINK and other radical "peace" groups attempt to pull off this week.Below is a lone protester on almost empty Colfax Avenue in downtown Denver.

5) The Democratic mainstays will spend their time trying to present themselves as moderates and out-mainstream Republicans. The fact that the Democratic convention comes first will be a great advantage to the Republican one that follows.

Sunday

"It would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered to us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he can't imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."

----C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory

Lon Solomon tells the amazing story of his conversion to Christ from Judiasm. Lon is senior pastor at McLean Bible Church outside Washington, D.C. This is the church of my own conversion several years ago for which I am eternally grateful.

Biden on Obama

UPDATE: Peggy Noonan writes They're (We're) Paying Attention Now.

Biden is nothing if not direct, giving voice to whatever he thinks in many uncertain terms:

"If I'm the nominee, Republicans will be sorry.... The next Republican that tells me I'm not religious I'm going to shove my rosary beads down their throat.... And we have played into the hands of the Republicans. We've allowed so-called social issues to be so divisive."

--Joe Biden, October 22, 2005

“I mean, you got the first mainstream African American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.”

----Joe Biden, on Obama running for president

And then there's the Biden quote about being from Delaware, a former slave state, and therefore having rapport with all us poor wretched southern former slave state citizens, still trying to live---I'm left to suppose---in the lost glory of pre-Civil War days.........

Hail, Obama

All us envious, greedy proletariat just want you to make everything fair and take away every notion of inequality from society, for all time, Bark. We're waiting for you to totally level the economic, social, cultural and spiritual playing fields so we can all be little one world/one mind citizens forever.

*******
Michelle Oddis writes today in a Human Events piece:

"NRO reporter David Freddoso told me in an exclusive interview on his New York Times best seller “The Case Against Barak Obama” the most important thing Americans should know about Obama is that he has never been a reformer. “That this image of ‘change and hope’ that he projects is really a great lie. In fact there’s never been a single time in Senator Obama’s political career where he did something that was difficult and would cost him politically for the sake of needed reforms and change,” said Freddoso. Pull the wool from over your eyes America -- like King would Barack Obama face incarceration for his cause? I think not. He might let Tony Rezko do some time, though."

New NATO Forms As Tired, Old NATO Punts

Thursday: Good news for John McCain. Lieberman is making the Dems squirm a bit.

From Wednesday's IBD editorial page entitled NATO Punts:

"The cutting edge of Europe's defense perimeter is no longer Germany, France or Britain; it's Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, the Baltic nations, Ukraine and Georgia.

The U.S. can no longer support a defense treaty whose main goal is merely to let Old Europe enlarge its welfare state at our expense. The U.S. defense tab this year will be close to $670 billion, more than half again what the EU and Britain spend combined.

America has an interest in keeping former captive nations of the USSR free and looking West. Letting Russia get away with the rape of a neighbor is unacceptable. Europe is wrong in this, as it was wrong in its feeble responses to Iraq, Afghanistan and, more recently, Iran.

NATO's capitulation means the U.S. should begin forging new defense ties with the New Europe in a true coalition of the willing. Call it the New NATO. The old one doesn't work anymore."

Sunday and Week of August 17

"The drop in wealth has exposed personal problems....Money---which brought jewelry or extravagant vacations----helped smooth over many of the difficulties," said Kenneth Mueller, a psychotherapist in the East Village who works with many Wall Street bankers and real estate developers. Now, Mueller says, his clients 'catastrophize' smaller bonuses or shriveling stock portfolios. "You have to remind them that there is something that has always been there," he says. "All the money helped mask the anxiety."

----Christine Haughney in the New York Times, It's Not So Easy Being Less Rich, June 1, 2008

Yes. Doesn't all money, drugs, sex and infatuation, alcohol, material stuff mask what was always there? And never goes away until we deal with it, especially by letting God have it?

From today's Redeemer Presbyterian bulletin, New York City.

Will Leave A Light On For You

It will be a little while before I'm back, except perhaps for a Sunday post and some wordless photos. Summer's quickly coming to an end and it already feels like early fall. Much to do over the next few weeks. Meanwhile, happy trails.

Fishing on a Small Trout Stream

There's almost nothing more fun for me than to be with a 10-year-old boy on a small stream and watch him catch one of his first fish on a fly. This is a great moment in his life and two generations of men were there applauding him on. Great fish, C3!

Going down to the fish, rather than dangling it out of the water, is one of the basic forms of etiquette I encourage. Never taking the fish out of the water, no matter what size, is the best for the fish and the valuable resource....except for an occasional photo op, like above.

I'm Dreaming of a....

.
.........PEDICURE. Soon. When I get back to the East.

Visions of kitten heels, silk nightgowns, rose water and lanolin slathered all over my body are dancing in my head. You can't believe how quickly I go back into more feminine mode when I get back.

On The River, Into the Woods

In the old boat shed:

A few pics from my fishing trip today. I did not take my camera on the river to keep from dunking it, so I took these when my fishing partner put our boat back into the Snake River shed at Pacific Creek of GTNP. Was a long and very cool day for this time of year. We used the boat on the Snake, but mostly walked, walked, walked and fished, fished, fished. Very little carbon footprint here. I've never seen such unsummer weather in mid-August. The water is higher than I've ever seen it too for late summer.

I truly believe it's because there has been no sunspot activity since last year and if it continues, we're in for another very cold winter. Check out SpaceWeather on my sidebar for daily sunspot reports.

Sunday, Solzhenitsyn

From The Gulag Archipelago Two, (Harper & Row, 1975), p. 615:

"It was granted me to carry away from my prison years on my bent back, which nearly broke beneath its load, this essential experience: how a human being becomes evil and how good. In the intoxication of youthful successes I had felt myself to be infallible, and I was therefore cruel. In the surfeit of power I was a murderer, and an oppressor. In my most evil moments I was convinced that I was doing good and I was well supplied with systematic arguments. And it was only when I lay there on rotting prison straw that I sensed within myself the first stirrings of good. Gradually it was disclosed to me that the line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either - but right through every human heart - and through all human hearts. This line shifts. Inside us, it oscillates with the years. And even within hearts overwhelmed by evil, one small bridgehead of good is retained. And even in the best of all hearts, there remains . . . an unuprooted small corner of evil."

"The Soul and Barbed Wire", Chapter One, "The Ascent."

Thanks b.g. for helping me dig this, my favorite Solzhenitsyn quote, back up.

John Edwards, Breaks It To Us Gently

UPDATE: New York Observer observes the obvious, it's over for Edwards politically.

UPDATE: New York Post, Silky Pony, always a fake.

Rule 1/ Job 1: When admitting guilt, do it in very small steps, in degrees. After all us foolish, stupid public can only stand so much reality at any given time.

It's what's happening with John Edwards' admission of guilt to an affair with Rielle Hunter today. He admits he's had an affair with her, yet denies he's the baby's father. That will only come much later, after his gullible public has digested today's news.

He then makes everything all right saying that he doesn't really love Rielle. Isn't that a bit beside the point, at this point?

What a jerk! His knife is a two edge sword. I can only imagine what Elizabeth is thinking right now. Then again, how complicit has she been in the whole thing?

The Democratic Convention in Denver is shaping up to be a freak show. Surely Al will be on the schedule next selling carbon credits at some booth on the way into Obama's acceptance speech for messiah. Beside Gore will be Edwards selling indulgences for those who are living a lie like he is, and has.

Democratic Endorsements Ad For John McCain

I'm with Roger Simon here: this is a very effective campaign ad for McCain.

Thursday Update: Scammed At the Gas Pump

Been quite a week here in the Buffalo Valley. My internet connection is at best meager and at worst non-existent. I have company and have mostly been in river mode for the past seven days.

On top of that, Tuesday, as I was about to leave with friends for a fishing trip, I received a call on my cell phone from the Fraud Department of my bank back in the South telling me they suspected I was the "victim" of fraudulent charges on my debit card that were racking up for gas purchases in Florida.

"We see you're in Wyoming," they said. "but are you going back and forth to Florida?"

I responded emphatically that I haven't been in Florida since being there four days in March.

The upshot is indeed my debit card was scammed outside Tampa in March and someone made a new card and has been charging my account for gas to the tune of almost $1,000 in July.

Though I have Internet banking and briefly checked my account several times during this busy season, I didn't look carefully enough and certainly didn't catch all the charges at some Sunshine gas place in Florida. I had cavalierly covered a short fall in my balance even though I didn't know why I had run short.

It's one of the only times in the year that I don't pay as much attention as I should. Being too busy to pay attention can be costly.

I'll write more later on this, but suffice it to say, we've stopped the bleeding and cut the criminals off. Meanwhile, I'm am back to watching where every penny goes. The bank assures me when I get back to Nashville and sign the proper affidavits, they will reimburse me the money.

USA Today and many other news outlets are writing about these gas pump scams. If it happened to me, it can happen to you too. Be Aware! It's only just begin. More later.

A Book We Should Read: "The Case Against Barack Obama"

EXCLUSIVE: Interview with David Freddoso, Author of 'The Case Against Barack Obama' for Human Events.
08/04/2008

Michelle Oddis: Dave, you’re a reporter, not a columnist. You’ve worked very hard to dig into the Obama story. You've said that you started reporting on Barack Obama in 2004. After all this research, what do you think is the most important thing people should know about Sen. Obama?

David Freddoso: The main lesson is that Barack Obama’s record, throughout his career, demonstrates conclusively that he has never been a reformer, that this image of “change and hope” that he projects is really a great lie. In fact there’s never been a single time in Senator Obama’s political career where he did something that was difficult and would cost him politically for the sake of needed reforms and change.

You can’t buy into this idea of politicians as heroes. What exactly has Sen. Obama done that would support this argument as an “agent of positive change?”If you actually look at Obama’s record the incongruity is actually more obvious because he doesn’t have a record of being a reformer. Reformers don’t vote for the bridge to nowhere and they don’t vote for ethanol and they don’t vote for the farm bill… they don’t consistently support corrupt systemic arrangements in every public office they’ve ever held.

As I was writing this, there were several things I came to know about Sen. Obama that I figured just about everybody else did. One of them was the fact that he first won election to the state in Illinois by getting all of his opponents, including his sitting state senator, thrown off the ballot. And I thought everyone knew this! And as I spoke to more and more very experienced Washington people I discovered practically nobody has heard this even though it’s been in many newspapers."

Another excerpt:

Michelle Oddis: Why do you think the mainstream media hasn’t reported on these stories of Obama’s career in Chicago? Your book references many stories from the Chicago Sun-Times. Why does the national media ignore it?

David Freddoso: Well, unfortunately, I think the national media -- which resides largely in New York and Washington and perhaps out West in Los Angeles -- doesn’t look at or read the Chicago papers nearly as much as they should. Part of the problem is that Chicago’s politics are so dirty that it’s almost hard to believe it’s true. Who would think that a guy who was convicted of stealing $4 million in quarters from Chicago area toll booths would then be given a city job with responsibilities where he could shake down city contractors for hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes and campaign contributions?

Read the entire interview at Human Events, then make time to read this book.

Bio-Solar One, Guess Who Has A Huge New Houseboat?

WEDNESDAY UPDATE: Steve Gill updates us at Pajamas Media. This is all just too much fun.

Okay, I'm not naming any names, but someone has a big new houseboat in Tennessee. It uses tons of fuel, but not to worry, it's tons of bio-diesel fuel. (Where do you suppose it stops for 500 gallons of bio-refueling --@ $4/gal=$2,000-- on the lake?) Oh, and as a backup, it uses solar power. Evidently, there are jet skis included, surely powered with solar panels that make everything okay.

Whew, for a minute, I almost thought it this was a floating energy suck with a huge carbon foot print owned by the world's biggest, most humorless energy conservation hypocrite.

Anyway, know who the new owner is? Yes you do. My lips are sealed, but Steve Gill has more and I'm sure will be following the rest of the story from here. So will I, even from the Rockies.

Sunday

"Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and myself founded empires; but what foundation did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded an empire upon love; and at this hour millions of men would die for Him."

— Napoleon Bonaparte

The Difference One Church Can Make, by Ryan Messmore for the Heritage Foundation.

(Above: Mountain Hollyhock)

Goodnight

from zip code 83013....where the summer days are still long, but the chilly nights are definitely getting longer.

Weekend: Amazing Bach

Vanessa-Mae plays Toccata and Fugue in Berlin. Fasten seat belts!

A Friend E-Mails

OK, I SAID I WAS CUTTING BACK ON BLOGGING, BUT WITH MATERIAL LIKE THIS, HOW CAN I? THANKS, C, FOR THE GOOD LAUGH:

Dear Abby,

I am a crack dealer in Beaumont , Texas , who has recently been diagnosed as a carrier of HIV virus. My parents live in Fort Worth .

One of my sisters lives in Pflugerville and is married to a transvestite. My father and mother have recently been arrested for growing and selling marijuana. They are financially dependent on my other two sisters, who are prostitutes in Dallas .

I have two brothers: one is currently serving a life sentence at Huntsville for the murder of a teenage boy in 1994. My other brother is currently in jail awaiting charges of sexual misconduct with his three children.

I have recently become engaged to marry a former prostitute who lives in Longview . She is a part time 'working girl'...

All things considered, my problem is this. I love my fiancee and look forward to bringing her into the family. I certainly want to be totally open and honest with her. Should I tell her about my cousin who supports Barack Obama for President?

Signed,
Worried About My Reputation

A Month Late To A Great Reenlistment Party

Just now tuning into the landmark reenlistment happening in Iraq with American servicemen this past Fourth of July. Better late than never. From Bob Krumm who was there:

"1,215 Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines raised their right hands and committed to a combined 5,500 years of additional service during the largest reenlistment ceremony in the history of the American military. Beneath a large American flag which dwarfed even the enormous chandelier that Saddam Hussein had built for the Al Faw Palace, members of all services, representing all 50 states took the oath administered by Gen. David Petraeus, Commander of Multi-National Forces Iraq."

Read Bob's full post. It's never too late to give thanks to the brave men and women who serve and defend our country. God bless them all.