Shifting Political Winds

We are in the middle of some turbulent political times.

Everywhere there is anger over the flagrant disregard for the will of the people and an unimaginable lack of common sense which was displayed by the President and the Democrats in congress during the healthcare debacle.

We see reports of escalating death threats against politicians and against the IRS - though there is something disingenuous about these reports.

Amid all this the President is stepping up his rhetoric as if to escalate the anger even more.

It is a troubling time for me.

But I have seen the political landscape shift before: I remember shortly after the end of Gulf War I, George H.W. Bush was enjoying unprecedented popularity - and rightly so, I thought - he seemed a shoe-in for a second term. But the landscape shifted.

When Bill Clinton was confounding conservatives at every turn and liberals were relishing their advantage, the winds shifted again in '94 with Newt Gingrich's "Contract with America". The Republicans swept the House and Senate races that year resulting in what someone coined a peaceful seizing of power.

We saw a shift in the 2008 elections: Republicans shut out their conservative base and it ushered in the historic election of Barack Obama as the first African-American President.

Shifts can bring elation or frustration.

This conversation is significant this week, because it is Holy Week. Christians celebrate this as the week leading up to the Crucifixion and subsequent Resurrection of Jesus, the Christ.

But on the Sunday known as Palm Sunday, Jesus had enjoyed enormous popularity. In fact, His support reached a fevered pitch resulting in a spontaneous public outpouring of affection and adoration. As Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey's colt, throngs laid their coats in His path and waved palm branches and shouted as if to royalty!

Then it all shifted - literally almost overnight. By the end of the week, that crowd cried out for His blood. The Chief Priests and the Pharisees smirked arrogantly, knowing that they had turned the tide against Him.

I'm sure that if I had been among His followers then, my elation would have quickly changed to frustration. But as my Pastor pointed out last Sunday, Jesus faced both the celebration and the rejection with the same level humility.

Jesus knew that when the rapturous exaltation of Palm Sunday was going on - The Pharisees were angry for the wrong reasons and the people were joyous - for the wrong reasons.

The Pharisees saw Him as a threat. The people also saw Him as a threat to the tyranny of Rome and the oppression of the false leadership of the Priests and Pharisees. Neither was correct.

He did come to tear down kingdoms and to liberate souls - but He brings freedom to the heart, soul and spirit. . . . His kingdom is a heavenly one.

Though I cannot say that my emotions always reflect it - I think there is a place of level humility and general peace for us as well, during these days of shifting winds. It comes from knowing that there is a heavenly kingdom. . .

. . . and this ain't it.

Jesus said "the kingdom of heaven is within you"

Poor Little Nazi

I realize the title may be a little shocking, but bear with me - there's a point (I think).

In the old days you could always tell the bad guys in the movies - they usually wore black cowboy hats.
If that didn't work, you could just listen to the melodramatic background music; if it suddenly turned villainous - like to something akin to the Darth Vader music or the theme to "Jaws" - you knew there was a bad guy on the screen.

A couple years ago, I was endeavoring to teach AA how to appreciate cowboy movies. He became fairly astute in his recognition of "bad-guy" music.

These days its harder to figure out who the bad-guys are. Hollywood pretty much forgot how to manufacture any pure good-guys so every one is something of a bad-guy. I have noted that in newer movies, in order to firmly distinguish just who the villain of the picture is, he really has to do something heinous like bump off his own grandmother. . . . Or use plastic shopping bags and refuse to purchase those expensive government-mandated twisty light bulbs: that's almost as bad as bumping off one's grandmother.

In the haze of political correctness that now engulfs our current societal atmosphere, we can't even seem to have definable national enemies. When I was a kid, it was the Communists. Everyone knew Communism was bad. I even remember an unsettling skit being presented by my church youth group about the dangers of Communism; I had trouble sleeping that night.

Now, we can't say that Communists are bad - heck they make most of our kids toys!

All the old bad-guys have now somehow been absolved from all their badness. The only bad-guys now are the people who call others "bad-guys".

However, there is one group that has held to it's Bad-guy status for over half a century now, and that is the Nazi's.

Every other evil regime apparently passed through some sort of redemptive process and they are now acceptable - except for Nazi's. I wonder why? One might almost feel sorry for the poor little Nazis.

Now mind you, I have no compassion for Nazi's. But I don't think the evils of other murderous governments like Stalin, Idi Amin, and Ahmadinejad should be excused either. Why does the eternal albatross of badness always hang solely around the neck of the Nazis?

So it is not surprising these days that when Nancy Pelosi and her ilk want to call a citizen the worst name in the book - they always pull out the "Nazi" label. For liberals there are no other bad-guys.

Honestly, I am not interested in whitewashing Nazism or finding some way to make it socially acceptable. I just tire of all these other vice-ridden bad guys getting a free ride.

What if there suddenly emerged an army of "good-guys" - like the kind that used to wear white cowboy hats. What if suddenly people came to the forefront that observed the "Golden Rule" and told the truth no matter what? Suppose there were people that would suddenly stand up for the rights of little widow ladies and orphan kids; people that could still smile and blush.

I suspect that it would then be easy to tell who were the good guys and who were the bad-guys. We could judge them by their actions. . . .

. . . and we wouldn't even have to listen for the villainous music.

Spring Holiday Camp Out 3/25/10 at OneTrueMedia.com

We choose to give Winter and the kid's Spring Break a big send off with a camp out in the woods near our home. The enthusiasm snared my nephew and he joined us as well.

It was cold (as is tradition) but not unbearable (Our faithful dog, Tanner had chattering teeth on Saturday morning).

I actually slept much more than I normally do at these things.

It was big fun and hopefully will build pleasant memories into Ab and AA.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Pride Before the Fall

Here is our President mocking:

"After I signed the bill, I looked around to see if there were any asteroids falling, some cracks opening up in the earth," Obama said, adding it turned out to be a nice day and "birds were chirping, folks were strolling down the mall."

Reuters article by Patricia Zengerle [http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN2522952320100325]

To understand what is being perpetrated on the American people, one needs to look only slightly below the surface. Just apply the minutest amount of logic to the equation.

Then they will realize that just beyond the emotional appeal of every liberal message is the ominous reality that a little more freedom will be snatched away.

And just where is all that power that is being usurped from the common man going?

To the very bodies of government that have shown clearly that they cannot be trusted - that they can be bought and sold with a wink and a promise - our two houses of congress and the executive branch.

Unfortunately, if it is not repealed - the depth of evil embodied by the recently passed health care debacle will not be fully realized until it is too late.

a conversation on Air-Force One

Dennis Kucinich, Democratic Representative from Ohio has flipped his vote from a "no" on the President's Healthcare Reform (?) to a "yes".

It happened after a little ride on Air-Force One with the President. Lot's of speculation has gone on about what was said to Kucinich on this fated trip.

I have a pretty good idea:

I think once the jet reached cruising altitude, the President said two things:

1. I want you to vote for the Healthcare Reform Bill.

2. If you are in agreement with me, just nod your head "yes" and I'll get Rahm to let you back in the plane.

A Common Enemy

I like the old "Tom & Jerry" cartoons - I think they are funnier even than "Bugs Bunny" and the gang at Warner Bros.

I'm throwing one in here for your enjoyment.

I thought I really liked best, the ones in which Tom & Jerry team up and work together, but I'm not so sure. My kids have been bickering more noticeably lately. They take such great pleasure in aggravating and being aggravated by one another. I think the point is actually to aggravate Mom and me.

As is illustrated by the Woman of the House in this short:

The Bully from First Grade, oh my!

My sister emailed the other day to tell me that she had run across an old school mate of mine - from elementary school. He was something of a "bully". Well that narrowed it down to about three and I hearkened back to those youthful days - dealing with bullies was not a happy memory.


AA had to deal with something like that recently.


Our kids played Upward Basketball this year - it is a very effective program that mixes basketball fundamentals with the Gospel. I have been very blessed and impressed with the group of people that have served faithfully in this field at a nearby church.


Upward Basketball is not heavily competitive - in fact parents are encouraged to cheer for both teams. There were only two teams in AA's age range so every Saturday they played the same team (who needs game films).


In this group there is a large variety of shapes, sizes, skill and confidence levels. AA appears to have inherited the natural athletic ability from his Dad (as well as the absence of a killer instinct), so this is a good place for him to start.

The opposing team had one "Hoss" of a kid. This big, bulky kid (probably wore "Husky" jeans) reminded me of at least one of my nemesis in elementary school. He was good and very aggressive. Fortunately, AA's team also had one big guy who was equally skilled and aggressive so the two giants were assigned to cover one another.

However, this is Upward Basketball - and everybody plays. So when some shrimp-like guy was assigned to "kid-Goliath" they would run up the score until our "equalizer was put back in.

Late in the season, the teams went to the bench between periods and as they readied to start back up, they lined up face to face. AA had been assigned to the big guy.

Now AA is fairly tall and he's strong, but focus isn't his strong suit and he doesn't know yet how good he can be. He was smiling - but I could see in his eyes that he was beaten already.

For one period, AA followed that big kid around the court. Not really getting in on the play but trying to make a good showing by staying in the vicinity of the play.

Because my son and I are so much alike, I knew what he was feeling. After the game, we talked and I tried to instill some confidence in him. I wanted to be sure that he understood that I was irritated a little - not because he couldn't, but because he didn't know that he could and he wasn't trying his best.

Throughout the week, I mentioned it a few times and told him to stick on that guy like glue if he got assigned to him again.

Sure enough the next game AA was back on the big guy for a period. But this time, he did it - he stayed right with him. I was proud. The guy was only able to hit two or three shots and those were just because of his height advantage.

At some point AA looked at me and we both smiled. He was surprising himself, and he was pleased.

I don't have a lot of overcoming bully stories to pass on to my son. I didn't deal with bullies as well as I would liked to have.

But I do remember one in the first grade - maybe the one my sister recently met. I was afraid of him. He would sneak up behind me and jump on my back during recess.

One day he and I were somehow doing what we called "playfighting" ... which is how you explain it to the teacher when she says "HEY! are you two boys fighting!?!". . . . Anyway at some point I gained the advantage over the guy and pinned him, while I held him down he sort of got panicky.

From that point on, he didn't bother me much anymore and I wasn't afraid. In my mind, I had beaten him.

There is something about facing our fears that give us the advantage over them - when you get down there into the struggle with that thing you fear, you might just learn that it ain't so scary after all.