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From Monica Memo...

There has been a lot of talk during this campaign about percentages. In his acceptance speech the other night, Barack Obama got big applause when he said that John McCain had voted with President Bush 90 percent of the time, and that he didn't want to gamble on a 10 percent chance for change.

What Obama didn't tell you is that he has voted 95 percent of the time with the liberal Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid. That would be the same Harry Reid, who along with uberliberal House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, head up a Democratic-led Congress with a sensational 9 percent job approval rating. Obama is part of that liberal Congressional leadership of which 91 percent of the American people disapprove. Obama votes with them 95 percent of the time.

I don't know about you, but I don't want to gamble on just a 5 percent chance on change from that.


I'm all for change. I'm just not buying what BHO's selling. He claims McCain represents the failed policies of the past? Has anyone looked closely at what BHO's selling? ....Six and one-half dozen the other? A corpse by any other name would still smell. The lesser of two evils? Nah, Dems don't really want to go there. Not with the blood of one in four children, since Roe, on their party's hands.


..::Update Below::..


Michael Moore: Hurricane Coming During GOP Convention
'Proof There Is a God in Heaven'

He did back off a bit after saying what he said. But it still goes to the mindset of some folks. Especially this next guy, former DNC National Chairman Don Fowler...


Fowler Fouls: Hurricane is God's Favor to Democrats

...taking delight in the misery and deaths of those killed by Gustav simply because it disrupts the Republican Convention? New lows are reached for this special brand of jackass.


And this! This just takes the cake...

Palin attacks counterproductive as well as moronic
...but it's the Daily Kos. Can't get more jackass than that! But, before anyone wants to attack the morality of Gov. Palin or her family, let's not forget...

wouldn’t it be an interesting contrast to the Democratic candidate, who was willing to abort his hypothetical grandchildren to remove the "burden" of an unplanned pregnancy?"

Betsy Newmark has somewhat to add to this Kossite lunacy jumped semi-mainstream [that's about as much as I'll give Andrew Sullivan].


--------

Gov Palin is certainly not off limits in terms of criticism. Every candidate for so high an office expects attacks, but some press the bounds of decency; neither side of the political fence can claim supreme moral authority in this respect. But if the kook fringe want to press this kind of attack, I say go for it. These are the kind that backfire more often than not.

The worst network out there? MSNBC/NBC They began smearing Palin from the moment she was announced. Read about it here and here. This should end all debate about whether or not the MSM is biased... but it won't.


..::Update::.. September 1

It would seem the young lady the Kossites are tarnishing is five months pregnant. With the baby they claim is hers being 4 months old, it would seem Bristol Palin got pregnant 1 month before "her baby" was born. But before the left tries to tarnish the Palin family moral values, let's contrast the two campaigns once more.

Quoting BHO once more:

Look, I got two daughters — 9 years old and 6 years old... I am going to teach them first about values and morals, but if they make a mistake, I don’t want them punished with a baby."

Michelle Malkin had this to say in summary:

One ticket sees this as a blessing. The other sees it as a curse. Could the core differences between the two be any starker?


Personal Thought:
For the Palin family this is yet another child that will not be passed through the fire to Molech.


Sarah Palin will give birth to the man who will lead humanity’s war against the machines.



LOL! I love it.

Find more 'Little Known Facts' here


..::UPDATED::..

J.C. Watson, our brother in Christ, dying of fourth stage cancer. He is currently in Critical Care. Prognosis is not good. Please pray specifically for healing, but pray also that God's will be done. Ask our Father to ease J.C.'s passing. Ask our Father for comfort for his wife Jackie, and their family. Our little church has not been the same without him.

Please pray also for Pepe. His little back is damaged-- degenerative disk disease, so the vet says. I saw the X-rays and the damage is clear if not truly extensive. He is in extreme pain nonetheless, and I love this dog more than I can possibly express here. Please pray for Pepe.

May God richly bless you all. Thank you.


Update: Friday, 8:00pm

Last night at 1am Pepe began screaming in pain. I called the vet and got their answering service. Another vet was on call and agreed to meet Cristal, Me and Pepe at a clinic across town. The price for her getting out of bed and seeing us was a $149 emergency fee.

Cristal and I were at the clinic by 1:30 and after a shot, and some diazapam for pain, and 3 syringes for home use we were all back at the house by 3:20, and $248 lighter. I called out at my day job, the flower shop, and tried to get some sleep. It's hard sleeping when someone you deeply care about is crying in pain.

Well, Pepe went into the kennel and that's where he's going to stay for the next two weeks. He hates it! He hisses at us. But he doesn't understand that just because he's cruising on pain medication doesn't mean he's healed. He doesn't understand that if he's not kept immobilized he will become paralyzed.

He's done well today, no crying or screaming, just near-constant sullen whining. I hope to get some sleep tonight. Let me tell you, giving this dog a shot is the hardest thing in the world for me. He cries and then looks at you accusingly... I hate doing that to him.

In other news, the Lord has blessed me with good friends online. VERY good friends. I'd elaborate, but for these folk, it's best not to let the left hand know what the right is doing. I appreciate you, and I praise God for you.

Let the record show that John McCain and Barack Obama are polar opposites on partial-birth abortion, parental notification of abortion, marriage protection on the ballot, homosexual indoctrination of schoolchildren, gay adoptions, gun-owner rights, activist judges, and raising taxes. No one should base their vote on personality or mere feelings. Our carefully-researched report card shows you exactly where Obama and McCain stand on issues of importance to voters, their families, and our nation's future."

--Randy Thomasson, president of Campaign for Children and Families.



View the Report Card here



In the previous post I tagged Jude 1 and 25 as "everything you need to know" about the doctrine of 'Once Saved | Always Saved' (OSAS). I thought I'd take a little time to explain myself.

Anyone who reads Jude 1 and Jude 25 should be able to see where I'm coming from, but for clarity's sake I'll elaborate.

Jude 1-- "Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called..."

An interesting aspect of Greek: The language puts it's greatest emphasis on what comes last, i.e., "called". Many modern translations put "called" before the rest, and in this they do the original intent justice. Example of what I'm talking about: From the Literal Translation:

Jude, a slave of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to the ones called in God the Father, having been set apart, and having been kept to Jesus Christ"
So why is being "called" so important? Unless you are called by God you cannot be saved. Jesus said it best...

No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day."
Just prior to this statement in John 6:44 Jesus also says this:

All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day." [John 6:37-39]
Everyone whom the Father calls WILL come. And Jesus will lose none of those who come. But God is not willing that any perish, right? This sounds a lot like Calvinism, don't it? Only some are called to be saved, and the rest are born to eternal punishment in hell?

No. Not quite right. It is true that many who ARE born are destined to eternal punishment. Not because God has decreed it, but because they will not accept the Lord Jesus Christ and be freed from the penalty of their sin. Literally ANYONE can be saved. Anyone.

We have to take into account God's foreknowledge. He knew, before ever he made man, who would and who would not accept His great gift. But Jesus, being fully God Himself, said, "...him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out."

God has called all men to repentance, but not every man will be turned from their wickedness. But God still has to send out the Gospel to those who will hear His call and come to Jesus. When Peter stood up on the day of Pentecost 3,000 souls were added to the Church. Are we to assume that the crowd he preached to numbered ONLY 3,000? Of course not. Many heard and refused the call.

Anyone genuinely seeking God will find Him. When the Ethiopian eunuch [Acts 8] was desiring to understand the scroll he was reading [Isaiah 53], God sent Philip to teach him the meaning of what he read. Anyone genuinely seeking God, God will send that one a preacher, a television broadcast, a radio broadcast, a testimony, and gospel tract... God will put the good news of Christ's sacrifice into the heart and hands of the seeker. The rest is upon them. Will they accept? Will they not?

Jude 1 says all who are saved have been "called." But called to what? To be sanctified by God the Father, and PRESERVED in Jesus Christ.

Go now to Jude 25, the Doxology,

Now unto Him who is able to keep you from falling...."
Who is able to keep you from falling? God.... Jesus.

...and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory..."
You cannot fall because God intends to present you FAULTLESS before the presence of His glory. You are being changed day to day, slowly but surely into the image of Christ. That is the believer's destiny.

...with exceeding joy."


If you have ever been saved by God's grace, you will never see hell no matter how horribly-- in human terms --or how often you stumble. Because God is able to KEEP you from falling. No man, least of all yourself, can pluck you out of the Father's hand.

This security is not a license to sin, however. Chastisement, punishment, even death, will follow the genuine believer who is out of the will of God-- better to bring such a one home, than to allow him to completely destroy his testimony, and besmirch the name of Christ.

You are secure in your salvation if you are genuinely saved. But without that tugging at your heart by the Holy Spirit you cannot be saved.

I imagine that last statement will create some controversy, but there it is. The truth. And the truth is seldom pleasant. Especially this truth:

Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."

Acts 4:10-12


And on the last day when the unrighteous dead are raised to stand before the Great White throne of God, and upon hearing their fate point to someone they remember from their time on earth standing in the congregation of the righteous.... "But Eric did all the things I did, and more! Why is he over there? Why isn't he where I now am!?"

I can hear almost hear that voice from the throne of of God....

Be it known unto you all that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you righteous."



[found at New Wineskins]

...truth eludes us if we do not concentrate with total attention on its pursuit. And even while it eludes us, the illusion still lingers of knowing it and leads to many misunderstandings. Also, truth is seldom pleasant; it is almost invariably bitter.

[...]

Religion is undoubtedly necessary, but it must not be forcibly implanted and even must not be intensively propagandized; it is passed from man to man as an intimate gift...

--Alexander Solzhenitsyn


From the man who survived the Gulag, Exile, Cancer, Communism, but not-- ultimately --Death. True wisdom comes from God, and whether or not what wisdom he possessed came from God I cannot say. But I can say he was a Christian. I can say that Pain, Strife, and the Overcoming of such do produce a kind of wisdom that is not to be discounted. I can say that the above two quotes embodies-- is infused with --the spirit of God.

Solzhenitsyn died August 3, 2008



It is true that Truth is seldom pleasant.

It is unpleasant for the unrepentant to hear that there is no other entry into heaven but through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. For those who refuse to believe that God will not judge them by THAT standard, but rather by the weight of their good deeds, it IS a bitter dreg. Because they cannot explain Him, they cannot accept the veracity... the TRUTH... of His promise of eternal life.

Everything you need to know about the truth of the believer's security in Christ can be found in Jude 1:1 and Jude 1:25-- In fact, this truth can be found everywhere in the New Testament, but I am particularly fond of Jude.





Look what's happened to these Democrats. They show up for their convention.... You talk about juggernauts-- this was supposed to be a well-oiled machine that was going to bump Obama by 15 points coming out of there, but now he's down by two. He didn't get a bump out of Biden, didn't get a bump out of Michelle last night, didn't get a bump out of Teddy last night, so Pelosi has to go reassure Democrats this morning in Denver, "Hey, hey, don't worry about it, he's under-performing in the polls." No, Nancy, if anything his poll representation right now is overstated. Dare I say it, the Wilder Effect? Dare I say it, the Bradley Effect?

Psst-- listen to me. If he's not up ten, 15 points a week before the election, they're toast. If he's down two now, in electoral terms, based on history, he's down ten, at least five. Look what's happened. They have nominated somebody based on identity politics; not on resume, not on experience, not on qualification. They've nominated somebody for two reasons, because they couldn't stand the Clinton's anymore and they thought that this guy could sweep to victory over anybody without even having any competition to speak of.

--Rush,
Tuesday, August 26, 2008


Based on everything I've seen in Convention history the last 28 years I have to concur-- things do not look good for Barack right now. Not good at all.

Betsy Newmark offers some insight into the efficacy of the Convention "Bounce"


Well, one thing's for certain, she's a far better speaker than the man she's now supporting. She says unequivocally that "it's time to unite as a party," and yes, I reckon it is, since last night's Democratic offering was down-right BLAHHH.... No party unity, No party definement, just a complete waste of three hours.

The moment Senator Clinton said this, Biden and Michelle rose to their feet, faces stern, intent; the camera repeatedly focused in on Michelle. She looked nervous, concerned about what would come out of Hill's lips.

And Hillary's jab, "No way, no how, no McCain" was cute, but there'll be copy cats with a more inspired version...

No Way. No How. NObama."

I'd buy that bumper sticker, yes I would.

In all, Hillary said all she had to say, but didn't go beyond that. She said what was expected but never elaborated on what SHE thought made Barack better suited to the presidency that McCain, or herself. No where did she say Barack Obama was ready to lead.

She whipped up the troops but she had nothing of substance to add to Barack's candidacy. They granted her face time and she showed her grudging thanks by the barest of endorsements.


...ranting about 'Petrol Terrorists'? Spouting Democratic propaganda? Okay, okay, it IS the Democratic Convention. What else SHOULD we expect?

A little honesty would be nice.


For all that Fay never reached hurricane status, she managed to knock me off the internet for 36 hours...

Lot's of problems here, not related to Fay:

Firstly, I'm on vacation... not a problem at all except that crap always seems to befall me while on vacation.

Yesterday, my girlfriend's car has a flat two miles northeast of Cottonwood [Translated: the Boonies]

One of the lug nuts must have been welded on, so the tire could not be changed. Had to call help. Help arrived. The stuck nut was so stuck it stripped the tire iron [Note to Self: Buy a new tire iron]. Had to resort to a can of "Fix-a-Flat" and hope for the best. It worked. I'll take my blessing wherever I can find them...

Upon arriving at the house, my girlfriend took off for Jim Whaley [the tire place] and I hopped into Trina [my Corolla] and proceeded to follow her... Or, I should say, I proceeded to TRY to follow her. Trina wouldn't go at first but she eventually started. Half a mile down the road Trina dies and no amount to turning the engine over would wake her up.

Had to push Trina 100 yards to a church parking lot while a whole passel of kids danced, cheered, and generally mocked the white boy pushing his car.

The next wave of heavy rain came through, so I sat in my car and waited thirty minutes for the cab to arrive.

Took cab to Jim Whaley's to pick up Cristal, then back to the house for a grand total of $16 genuine cash.

Convinced the old man across the street to pull Trina to Hardin's Auto, 300 yards north of Jim Whaley. Two police officers tried to interfere but Cristal set them straight about the whole "protect and SERVE" motto on their cars, and they relented.

Back at the house there's nothing to eat [I had planned to go shopping that afternoon]. Cristal and I ended up walking a mile and a half to the Winn Dixie under umbrella's, and soaked and exhausted by the end of it.

Later in the evening Pepe [see pic of Pepe immediately above "Previous Posts"] began to act... uncharacteristically... sad, slow, restless... like he couldn't find a comfortable position in which to lie down. This morning he was yelping and crying. So.

The cab was late in arriving to take Cristal to work, so Mr. Marsh across the street helped us out again with a ride, first to the vet, which was 100 yards from Jim Whaley's, and then to Wal Mart.

I stayed at the vet with Pepe. An hour and a half, 3 x-rays, and a butt-temperature later Pepe, at seven years old, Pepe has a few disks that are failing. Cortizone shot, prescriptions, and a short kennel stay, I made my way in the rain to the tire place.

Razor blade. Someone doesn't like my girlfriend. 15$ bad check [I have overdraft protection] to Jim Whaley and I go out into the rain to start the car and pick up Pepe.

Car won't start. Go back into Jim Whaley, they push it back into the hangar and another 109$ later, there's a new battery to go with the plugged tire.

Down the street to my day job to pick up my paycheck. 46$ and a belated birthday present later I'm back in the car and now it's to Ed Hardin's place to tell him about Trina. By now it's 10:30 am. I have not eaten since 5pm Sunday, and I'm beginning to feel very drained.

Ed sees me and said he thought that was my car in the lot. I told what happened, and he said he'd look at it.

Next it's off to Wal Mart to give Cristal the bad news. As if we both didn't already know what the morning was going to be about. The new battery did throw me for a loop though.

The vet bill as 191$ Jim Whaley was 123$ combined total. And Ed has only begun to look at Trina.

With Cristal in the car we head to a loan company. We don't have all the info needed for a loan so it's back to the house. Pepe is still in a kennel at the vet.

Back to Loan Co. Won't know anything till later this afternoon. Cristal's car [plugged tire/new battery] begins to emit a steady ominous beeping and the oil light is blinking.

Across the street is Advance Auto Parts. 1 quart of Valvoline and a paper towel later, in genuine cash, it becomes clear that the engine doesn't need a drop of oil... money wasted. Beeping continues. Gas light comes on. Off to a Chevron station near by. Twenty bucks later all the beeping stops. Could that incessant beep have been a built in warning of an imminent empty tank? Who knows!

By this time I am faint and famished, and being diabetic, Cristal is freaking out [She worries about my health more than I do]. Food! NOW!

Three Krystal's with cheese and bottle of water later, I'm a little more alert.

Now it's off to the Health Food store to ask about alternatives to cortizone for Pepe. We find what we're looking for but it cost us another 30$ genuine cash. Two bottles of 100% pure and organic coconut water and I'm back on top.

Now it's back to Ed Hardin. Looks like Trina needs a new distributor cap and a rotor. "We'll pick her up tomorrow," I says. He says "fine."

Now to the vet. Pepe is happy to see us. He seems more energetic so I think the cortizone shot is kicking in. Pepe is to be on bed-rest/kennel rest for the next six weeks. He can't go up or down the steps to the house so we have to carry him. He is not allowed to dance for his treats any more... he basically has a license to be lazy. But I love that dog, and he's going to get whatever he needs. The very same is true of Cristal.

There's roughly 140$ left in genuine cash to get both Cristal and I nine days to next payday, including gas for the cars and pepe's new raw diet: Everything raw... meat, vegetables, what-have-you. He loves Bell Pepper, by the way.

Now. Back at the house. It's time to find out what's up with the internet connection. I am jonesing for some news and opinion. Twenty minutes on hold on my pre-paid cell phone waiting for the next available technician. Cell begins to beep... I'm low on minutes. Hang up. Take up the land line, which means I won't be able to test dial a connection should I actually get a technician on the line. Twenty more minutes on the land line and I get a technician.

Cristal's back at work, Trina's fixed [pick-up tomorrow], still no word on the loan, Pepe's asleep, I'm exhausted, but...

I'm back.

What else could possibly go wrong?


SHHHH!!!! Don't Jinx IT!


Friday, August 22, 2008
--David Alliot

The latest figures from pollster John Zogby show three key states have bolted from Obama, dropping him below the necessary 270 electoral votes.

Florida sent 27 electoral votes to John McCain, and both Colorado (9 votes) and New Hampshire (4 votes) went from Obama to undecided. The final tally has Obama down to 260 electoral votes — 10 shy of the necessary 270 for election.

John McCain has 173 electoral votes. There are 105 votes yet to be decided in 12 states that are too close to call, according to Zogby. Polling was done from Aug. 15-19, 2008.



Side Note: I find it interesting that Obama has chosen, by all current accounts, Joe Biden as his running mate. True, Biden has some foreign policy creds, but Biden has also consistently praised John McCain for his stance and voting on Iraq. I wonder how that will play out in the debates and what remains of this election process.

Biden's a likable enough guy, but he suffers from foot-in-mouth disease, every bit as much as Barack can't talk without a prepared speech in front of him.


ELAshley will officially be 48 years old.

Hurrah for me!



Zogby: McCain Takes 5-point Lead Over Obama

A few Quotes from the article:

McCain now has a 9-point edge, 49 percent to 40 percent, over Obama on the critical question of who would be the best manager of the economy - an issue nearly half of voters said was their top concern in the November 4 presidential election.


The dip in support for Obama, who would be the first black U.S. president, cut across demographic and ideological lines. He slipped among Catholics, born-again Christians, women, independents and younger voters. He retained the support of more than 90 percent of black voters. [Tell me he's not retaining that 90% because he's Black (Emphasis and commentary mine)]

"There were no wild swings, there isn't one group that is radically different than last month or even two months ago. It was just a steady decline for Obama across the board," Zogby said.


It made little difference when independent candidate Ralph Nader and Libertarian Party candidate Bob Barr, who are both trying to add their names to state ballots.

McCain still held a 5-point edge over Obama, 44 percent to 39 percent, when all four names were included. Barr earned 3 percent and Nader 2 percent.


Then again, what a poll says today about how the electorate will vote in November is more guess-work than anything else; but they are good for analyzing trends.

It must really suck to go into your coronation 5 points down with not much time to really "bounce" before all your thunder is stolen by the man who's beating you. I know, I know, we're not supposed to take these polls seriously. But I'd bet my last five bucks that the Obama Camp IS taking this one seriously, as is that murder of gore-crows we call Media.

This new poll by the way has a +/-3% margin of error. And that STILL puts McCain up between 2 and 8 points.



Barack Obama's image suffers amid John McCain attacks, poll finds


The only problem with this poll-- as with most polls performed by the left --is their reliance on and use of "registered voters." Far more reliable polls are conducted with "likely voters"... lots of people register, but how many actually get out and vote? far less than have registered.


Check out Air America star Roseanne Barr's blog. While there [and think real carefully before you click that link] you'll find this gem, and oh so many more. For a woman who thoroughly despises McCain, she's appears equally disdainful of Obama, Pelosi, Reid, Oprah, Jon Voight, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Maureen Dowd.......


Democrats Want to Lose

--Roseanne Barr, Aug 18, 2008

and therefore did not fully vet the candidate they shoved down everyone's throat. I am the first blogger to blog about Obama's abortion vote and how it would become the october surprise...they have michelle obama on tape defending live birth abortion, and raising money for it too...(they called this "the whitey" tape, but its far better than just that kind of a boring thing...she is on tape defending sucking the brains out of babies who live through late term abortions). This is the greatest gift pelosi and dean can give to the republicans they work for. It took alot of doing in order to throw this election to the republicans after iraq, katrina, and the economy, but pelosi and dean found a way!

Oprah Winfrey always gets her republican friends elected!! She and she alone split the woman's vote, thereby destabilizing the entire party and fracturing it forever along racial and gender lines. It is estimated that her endorsement of Obama swung over one million women's votes from Hillary, who remains the only candidate who polls to win against mccain. Oprah can rest well now knowing that her dogs will not have to pay inheritance tax over the next four years if she dies. However, in 2012, when dean pelosi and the rest of the traitors are out of jobs, and Hillary again runs for president, wins, and changes inheritance taxes to cover health care costs, we will have a nice drink to the end of the Oprah Winfrey "pray to angels instead of protest injustice" method of female stinkthink.

My great hope is that the green party will have overrun the democratic party by that time, and made its entire platform green instead of corporate controlled. I am voting for cynthia mckinney for president.


[Emphasis added]



Roseanne Barr-- The face of Liberal think-speak on the 'continuing to fail at being relevant' Air-America.

Another choice quote/post: And I only post it to illustrate how unhinged and indecently vitriolic the Uppity Up's and their brain-dead sycophants on the Left truly are.


Maureen "C-Word" Dowd
Aug 17, 2008

she giggles to herself as she clutches and strokes her vibrator about how adept she is at slandering and destroying pro-feminist females who's clitorises still work right.


Can anyone convince me that this attitude is not what the norm would soon become if Democrats were allowed to control all three branches of government for very long? It's one thing for Dan and others like him to say, "This does not reflect my values." Okay, fair enough, but Dan and 'other's like him' don't control anything of note. Not the air-waves, the mainstream news cycle, higher office, nothing.

And though I apologize sincerely for including Barr's "Dowd" post, I find that I am nonetheless on the same page with Roseanne Barr in terms of Obama complete insufficiency for the office of President! Someone slap me, please! But wait! I promise I have no intention of voting McKinney! I swear it!

Someone convince me, please. I don't want to believe this is what America has to look forward to should Democrats win and manage to keep power beyond Barack's mythical second term.




Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.

--Jesus






There was a definite cockiness that Democrats felt once they regained control of Congress, and I’ve felt it was a misplaced cockiness."

--John Zogby, pollster


I don’t think you see leads in presidential races over five points in this day and age. [Obama has] averaged leads of three points since spring. The key is that Obama hasn’t closed the sale.

"The question is, Does Obama ever close the sale?"


--Charlie Cook, political analyst


And that's a question likely plaguing many on the Left. Someone said on a previous post that he would happily trade "Obama's supposed lack of experience for the type of experience... McCain has," and were Obama running for dog-robber I might agree, but we're talking about the President of the United States of America... a position that requires some measure of experience, of which Obama has none worth mentioning. This someone would foolishly trade decades of experience and military service for an untried horse. For, aside from writing a few books, Obama has accomplished nothing of note. Nothing.

Although, to be fair, it is at least note-worthy that while a senator of the Illinois senate the Born Alive Infant Protection Act was introduced three times during Obama's tenure and he voted against it every time. That truly says something.

But here we have a man who claims to be a Christian and yet cannot see the value of a child, the victim of an abortion, nonetheless born alive that doctors should be required to do all they can to save the child's life. How heinous and hideous is both the mindset and culture that sees nothing innately wrong in this. But Barack Obama, the object of worship by many on the left, sees nothing innately wrong with it. A Christian who sees nothing wrong, firstly, with abortion, and secondly, with allowing survivors of the procedure to simply die.

If this alone were the only reason to discount both his Christianity and his fitness for command that would be one thing. The truth is, however, that it is not. And because it is not I can't help but wonder at those of his supporters who claim the faith of Christ. What would Jesus do? Would He condone abortion? Would He not demand aid be given to children who survive the hideous practice? Would He accept a man's claim to faith who sat twenty years unmoving under the tutelage of a racist? Would He not call into question the wisdom of such a man who associated with unrepentant terrorists? Would He call faultless a man who himself uses the "race card" to deflect any and all criticism leveled against his candidacy?

In order for Obama to win by a landslide, as some here have crowed, Obama must win by 10 or more points--technically speaking. Yet Obama has averaged no more than 3 since spring. The question has been asked over and over, "why can't Obama close the deal? why isn't he running away with this election?" Perhaps because his candidacy is all Pomp and no Circumstance.

At least none worth mentioning.





From the UK Telegraph: George W Bush condemns Russia's 'bullying' of Georgia [Emphasis mine]

Earlier, a senior Russian general warned that Poland has made itself a nuclear target for Russia's military by hosting elements of a US anti-missile system.

"By hosting these, Poland is making itself a target. This is 100 per cent" certain, Russia's Interfax news agency quoted General Anatoly Nogovitsyn as saying.

"It becomes a target for attack. Such targets are destroyed as a first priority," Gen Nogovitsy was quoted as saying.

He added that Russia's military doctrine sanctions the use of nuclear weapons "against the allies of countries having nuclear weapons if they in some way help them," Interfax said.


Obama's timid denunciation of Russia last week was as pristine a glimpse into his thought process as his later tougher stance was a surer glimpse into his surprising ability to be shamed by candidate John McCain's unequivocal condemnation of Russia's invasion of Georgia. The first statement is always the most telling.

The last thing this nation needs is a president afraid to confront, in the strongest possible language, predatory nations and characters in this ever increasingly dangerous world. As flawed as McCain is, he will make a far superior Commander in Chief than the timorous and metro-effete Obama.

So where is Poland? It's sandwiched between Germany and Belarus and the Ukraine. Why would Russia consider U.S. anti-missile systems placed in Poland a big fat goose egg negative? Perhaps because Russia intends to invade the Ukraine and Belarus as well, and Russia can't have U.S. weapons on its future border. The fact that Russia invaded Georgia at all appears to indicate that Russia fully intends to reabsorb its satellites. Given that the American Left will never agree to defending our allies; Georgia, Ukraine, etc., Russia knows it can act with impunity. Europe won't act because Russia supplies their energy needs. Therefore, as Georgia president Mikheil Saakashvili said just days ago, paraphrasing, "Who in the world can defend against nations like Russia?" America can........ but won't.

When entering the voting booth this fall, with the state of the world in mind and considering what is already going on in the world, it might be best to ask, "What would Barack do?" If you desire a country that will not defend itself or its allies, Barack is your man. But if you want a country that will stand up to the challenges the world must either face or acquiesce to... it's John McCain.

Yes, what would Barack do, and can America survive it?

As if anyone needed to be told, the Democratic Convention is less than two weeks away, and just like Barack's lackluster performance since "supposedly" wrapping up the nomination, it appears his coronation is on track to being equally lackluster.

Obama has failed in the most telling of manners to "run away" with this election which by nearly all estimations is the Democrat's year to blaze across the political heavens. The Berlin bounce [thud, actually] lasted all but 4-5 days, the Obamessiah dissed American troops at Landstuhl, he copped out on a town-hall meeting with military personnel and families, he's shadowed by the ghosts of racism, corruption, and terrorism-- and did I mention his poll numbers are thoroughly lackluster? I can't count the many talking heads who are asking near continuously "why isn't senator Obama running away with this election?"

Why would they ask such a question? Because the MSM has bent over backwards to promote "their" chosen candidate, the Chosen One, Barack Obama; they've pulled out all the stops, and still their horse can't get more than a nose ahead of the old whited-haired wrinkly dude. Before it's all over [the convention that is] we could see more than a little "buyers' remorse" from Obama supporters, and the vote could actually be close, embarrassing the Obama campaign and democrats even further. And here's the dirty little secret that few on the left are even whispering: Barack could still lose the nomination. IF, as Obama desires, the FULL delegations of Florida and Michigan are sat, he doesn't have enough delegates to win nomination.

But no time for idle speculation, the convention is coming up, and this is the Messiah's time to shine! For his star to blaze across the heavens... Or IS it?

The convention is going to be dominated by images of Clinton's... Hillary's name placed in contention for the roll call vote, a big Hillary Clinton video, Chelsea introducing her Mum, Bill addressing the party faithful the following night, and throughout it all the Media will be highlighting Hillary's campaign, the closeness of the race, and the need... the NEED... of Barack Obama to include the Clintons if he's to have any hope of winning in November. Somewhere at the end, Barack will get his say... assuming he wins the vote. And his speech will likely be filled with as many if not more platitudes and say-nothings as his Ich bin ein Beginner speech.

The more this race continues with Barack at the democratic forefront, as PRESUMPTIVE nominee, the more confident I am of a McCain win in November. Quite possibly by a landslide. And his fumbling missteps in the current Georgian crisis, only further highlights his severe lack of experience in ANYTHING meaningful that should make him even a passable president.


--by Rev. Allen M. Baker
August 7,2008


John Winthrop, while standing on the bow of the Arbella in 1630, prior to his departure to the new world, gave the most important sermon in the second millennium, A City on a Hill. In it Winthrop laid out the Puritan vision for the new world which has clearly served as the foundation for so much of what is good in our country, including our Protestant work ethic, the importance of education, and treating all people with honor and respect. The next generation provided us with Cotton Mather of Boston, a great preacher and theologian who was fluent in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew by the time he was ten and who is the youngest to enter Harvard, having done so at the age of eleven. The next generation gave us the greatest philosopher and theologian in our history, Jonathan Edwards, one whose writings are now more popular than ever. But then we began to see a change in the fabric of American Christianity. Charles Finney, a Presbyterian who dismissed the Westminster Confession of Faith, denied the doctrine of total inability, and consequently developed “new measures’ by which to urge conversions to Christ. Asahel Nettleton, also a Presbyterian (both were born in Connecticut), stood against Finney and his new measures but Finney won a more popular following than Nettleton and Finney’s theology has generally held sway over Nettleton’s Old School Presbyterianism ever since. By the middle of the 19th century we have the most famous man of the day, the son of Lyman Beecher, the brother of Harriett Beecher Stowe. I am referring to Henry Ward Beecher, a pastor from Brooklyn who became incredibly rich by pulpit, print, and platform (preaching, publishing novels, sermons, and newspapers, and lecturing all over the country); one who seemed to deny the most basic doctrines of the faith, one who was said to look out any given Sunday on his congregation and find ten of his mistresses sitting there. But we have fallen further in our day with the most popular Christian book being Your Best Life Now. We have fallen from a God-centered, Christ exalting, Spirit anointed, man debasing theology to one which dethrones God and places man at the center of everything. The glory has departed. Only 17 % of Americans (whether they are Roman Catholics, main line Protestants, or Evangelicals) are in church on any given weekend. Only 8 % are evangelical in our nation and only 1 % is evangelical in Connecticut.

What are we to do? We must begin with God. More specifically I have in mind the necessity of beginning with the doctrine of God. He is holy, righteous, just, and will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. We must recapture the biblical doctrine of hell and eternal judgment. Most, even within evangelical churches, get nervous about this doctrine. They fear people will reject Christ if we speak too directly on the doctrine of hell. People have always rejected this doctrine. This is nothing new. God’s judgment on the wicked is unavoidable and intolerable. Jesus spoke of hell as a place where the fire is never quenched and the worm never dies. He spoke of a lake of fire. He spoke of outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. We need to be clear on when this judgment will come. Paul says that due to our stubbornness and unrepentant heart we are storing up for ourselves wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of God who will render to every man according to his deeds, Romans 2:4ff. He told the Jews who were abusing the Thessalonians that they were filling up the measure or container of their sins, that God’s wrath would come upon them to the utmost, I Thessalonians 2:16. God is patient with the impenitent, but there is a limit to it. When the measure of any sinner’s sins reaches the top of the container, then death and judgment are soon to follow. And why does God promise an unavoidable and intolerable judgment? To refuse would be to deny His character. He is holy, just, sovereign, good, wise, and gracious, see Isaiah 6, Psalm 103, Psalm 145. The punishment must fit the crime. A poor woman who steals bread from a rich man to feed her starving children is not as guilty as one who steals from his rich father to feed his drug habit. Both are wrong, though the latter is more wrong. Why? Because the crime of stealing from one’s father to feed a drug habit is far worse than the first scenario. Your sin is against the great, holy, and sovereign God. You have committed high treason against the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. God, therefore, is perfectly just in punishing all unredeemed sinners with eternal hell.

Here’s my question to you- do you really believe all this? Most of you will say you believe it, but do you really? If these things are true, then should we not be all about warning people to flee from the wrath of God to come and to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? Can there be anything more important than to offer people the only means of reconciliation, the only means of escaping a fiery, eternal hell? I trace the problems in our country- whether they are related to race, materialism, family disintegration, or debauchery to the decline of biblical preaching in our churches. This is not a problem which has recently come upon us. It has been with us as early as the 1750’s when preachers began moving away from a God-centered, Christ-exalting, man-debasing theology to one increasingly pregnant with man’s transcendence and self-reliance. Because preachers have gone soft on the doctrine of God’s sovereignty, instead embracing a false gospel of man’s autonomy; because preachers have embraced Arminianism which teaches that man holds the last card, that he decides whether or not he will become a Christian; because preachers have forgotten the basic truth that Christ will build His church and have thus moved toward manipulation and persuasion to draw a crowd, slowly but surely moving away from the S(in) and H(ell) words, the church therefore is weak, tepid, worldly, powerless to stand against the onslaught of post-modernity. We are like a de-fanged lion.

I am deeply grieved over the condition of the church in America . What are we to do? We must pray, asking God the Holy Spirit to come upon preachers, granting them boldness to preach the doctrines of God’s holiness, Christ’s atoning death, and the necessity of the new birth. These same preachers must turn away from sin, all the while abiding in Christ, never forgetting their dependence upon the Spirit for everything. They must be sensitive to the Spirit’s indwelling and leading, keeping short accounts with God, repenting quickly and humbly when their sin is revealed to them. They must remember they will stand before the judgment seat of Christ and be judged according to their deeds. They will give an account of their labors for Christ. And they must daily surrender everything to Jesus, not holding back like Achan did with the spoil. They must be willing to spend and be spent for the sake of the gospel. They must be willing to be fools for Christ’s sake. They must be willing to suffer reproach and false accusations. They must die to self.





Ladies and gentlemen, the future leaders of our country

And they want more money for education?





"If a nation should choose to use a nuke against the US, we could handily respond to any such attack with our conventional military."

Prior to this statement Dan said:

"Iran would not bomb the US even IF they had nukes and even IF we didn't. We still possess enough conventional WMDs and military strength to wipe Iran from the face of the earth and Iran knows that.

It would be suicide for them to take that step, and they know that. Ahmadinejad may be crazy but he's not nuts."

This from the same comment wherein Dan says NewsMax is just a step up from WND.

This is what I find so incredibly naive and optimistic about Dan's assertion that should Iran choose to use nukes against us we could "handily respond... with our conventional military."

Dan has completely disregarded the NewsMax story, that incidentally, was first heard on the CBS Evening News.

1) Iran has successfully test fired scud and shahhab missiles from the deck of an ocean going vessel.

2) They were testing their ability to detonate at apogee said missiles.

3) IF Iran were to detonate a nuke at apogee over the continental United States, launched from the deck of a legitimate cargo vessel entering U.S. waters, this nation would, in short order, be sent back to the late nineteenth century.


Now, Dan says Iran knows that the U.S. possesses "enough conventional WMDs and military strength to wipe [them] from the face of the earth."

Dan believes Iran knows "it would be suicide for them to take that step," that "Ahmadinejad may be crazy but he's not nuts."

Okay, that's fair by western standards. But Iran detonated a nuke at apogee over the U.S. the EMP blast would destroy America's ability to move ANYTHING let alone troops bearing conventional weapons and armor. A fact that Dan has failed to note.

Iran keeps boasting that America will soon be taken out of the picture. Perhaps what they really means is that America will no longer be able to respond to overseas crises, or help Israel. All Iran needs is to get a few nukes under their belt-- and Israel claims that day is within the next year... to have acquired enough weapons grade material to begin building.

How are these times any different that the pandering and conciliatory days of Neville and Adolf? discounting the fact that nukes are now in the mix? None whatsoever.

And for the record, when I or someone else uses the word "insane" to describe men like Ahmadinejad we don't use it in the clinical sense, and you know it. The man IS insane to spout the nonsense that there was no holocaust against the Jews. The man is insane if he desires to wipe another sovereign nation off the face of the earth-- ostensibly with nukes since Iran is feverishly working to build them. He is insane if he dreams of destroying America... that he has confidence and audacity enough to say it with a straight face-- albeit with a knowing smirk. The man is a lunatic. And you're teetering on that very edge if you think the man is not a bona fide threat to not just Israel, but the United States of America as well.

I'm not advocating nuclear war with Iran. Nor a conventional one. But if we can prevent a modern day "nuclear pearl harbor"? That would save hundreds of thousands of lives.... I'm all about saving lives. But to do that sometimes you have to kill the man with the gun to your head.

And the idea of such a "sunset" gun in the hands of Iran is, to say the very least, frightening.





Impeach Pelosi? Nah, just keep her from winning re-election, or barring that, from gaining the Speakership next January. I think the same thing should happen to Reid.

--Geoffrey Hussein Kruse-Safford, Aug 5, 2008


LOL! Even Liberals are tired or Reid and Pelosi! Conservatives and Liberals agree!





Another August 6, and the horrors of 63 years ago arise undiminished in the minds of our hibakusha, whose average age now exceeds 75. "Water, please!" "Help me!""Mommy!" ― On this day, we, too, etch in our hearts the voices, faces and forms that vanished in the hell no hibakusha can ever forget, renewing our determination that No one else should ever suffer as we did."

Because the effects of that atomic bomb, still eating away at the minds and bodies of the hibakusha, have for decades been so underestimated, a complete picture of the damage has yet to emerge. Most severely neglected have been the emotional injuries. Therefore, the city of Hiroshima is initiating a two-year scientific exploration of the psychological impact of the A-bomb experience.

This study should teach us the grave import of the truth, born of tragedy and suffering, that "the only role for nuclear weapons is to be abolished."

This truth received strong support from a report compiled last November by the city of Hiroshima. Scientists and other nuclear-related experts exploring the damage from a postulated nuclear attack found once again that the only way to protect citizens from such an attack is the total abolition of nuclear weapons. This is precisely why the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the International Court of Justice advisory opinion state clearly that all nations are obligated to engage in good-faith negotiations leading to complete nuclear disarmament. Furthermore, even leaders previously central to creating and implementing US nuclear policy are now repeatedly demanding a world without nuclear weapons.

We who seek the abolition of nuclear weapons are the majority. United Cities and Local Governments, which represents the majority of the Earth''s population, has endorsed the Mayors for Peace campaign. One hundred ninety states have ratified the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. One hundred thirteen countries and regions have signed nuclear-weapon-free zone treaties. Last year, 170 countries voted in favor of Japan's UN resolution calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons. Only three countries, the US among them, opposed this resolution. We can only hope that the president of the United States elected this November will listen conscientiously to the majority, for whom the top priority is human survival.

To achieve the will of the majority by 2020, Mayors for Peace, now with 2,368 city members worldwide, proposed in April of this year a Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol to supplement the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. This Protocol calls for an immediate halt to all efforts, including by nuclear-weapon states, to obtain or deploy nuclear weapons, with a legal ban on all acquisition or use to follow by 2015. Thus, it draws a concrete road map to a nuclear-weapon-free world. Now, with our destination and the map to that destination clear, all we need is the strong will and capacity to act to guard the future for our children.

World citizens and like-minded nations have achieved treaties banning anti-personnel landmines and cluster munitions. Meanwhile, the most effective measures against global warming are coming from cities. Citizens cooperating at the city level can solve the problems of the human family because cities are home to the majority of the world’s population, cities do not have militaries, and cities have built genuine partnerships around the world based on mutual understanding and trust.

The Japanese Constitution is an appropriate point of departure for a "paradigm shift" toward modeling the world on intercity relationships. I hereby call on the Japanese government to fiercely defend our Constitution, press all governments to adopt the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol, and play a leading role in the effort to abolish nuclear weapons. I further request greater generosity in designating A-bomb illnesses and in relief measures appropriate to the current situations of our aging hibakusha, including those exposed in “black rain areas” and those living overseas.

Next month the G8 Speakers' Meeting will, for the first time, take place in Japan. I fervently hope that Hiroshima's hosting of this meeting will help our "hibakusha philosophy" spread throughout the world.

Now, on the occasion of this 63rd anniversary Peace Memorial Ceremony, we offer our heartfelt lamentations for the souls of the atomic bomb victims and, in concert with the city of Nagasaki and with citizens around the world, pledge to do everything in our power to accomplish the total eradication of nuclear weapons.



Tadatoshi Akiba
Mayor
The City of Hiroshima






"Let all the souls here rest in peace as we will never repeat this mistake."



--Apology etched into the granite cenotaph in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park









PERSONAL NOTE: I ask you... What need have the Japanese people to apologize for Hiroshima? Or Nagasaki? Why is it Americans today rarely demonstrate this level of humility?


























This [event] should teach us the grave import of the truth, born of tragedy and suffering, that "the only role for nuclear weapons is to be abolished."


Tadatoshi Akiba, Mayor
The City of Hiroshima
August 6, 2008

"...more than 300 thousand souls of A-bomb victims..."

We still do not have an accurate count of human casualties inflicted by the atomic bomb, but it is estimated that approximately 350,000 soldiers and civilians were in Hiroshima at the time of the bombing. After the bombing, radioactive substances fell to earth and remained on the ground for some time. Thousands of people who came into Hiroshima to help with relief activities or look for family members were exposed to this residual radiation. Like those who were directly exposed, many fell ill and some even died. By the time the acute effects were dying down at the end of December 1945, approximately 140,000 people (±10,000) are estimated to have died as a result of the bombing of Hiroshima.

The phrase "more than 300 thousand souls of A-bomb victims" refers to all survivors of the Hiroshima bombing known to have died thus far. To clarify the human damage done by the A-bombing of Hiroshima, a Survey of the A-Bomb Survivor Movement has been conducted regularly since 1979. In 1998, this survey confirmed that 273,212 had died by that year. A total of 30,017 names were added to the register of A-bomb victims between 1999 and 2004. Thus, the total number of A-bomb victims is now estimated to have exceeded 300,000.



To This Date...

The U.S. has yet to issue an official apology for Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But that doesn't mean the U.S., as a nation, shouldn't issue an apology. While the U.S., seemingly, cannot issue an official apology, there is nothing to keep a sitting U.S. president from offering an unofficial personal apology. There is nothing at all keeping individual Americans from doing the same.

Before anyone decides to accuse me of wanting blood and death on the one hand-- in the here and now --while decrying blood and death on the other, sixty-three years ago, let me point you to the preamble at the beginning of the next post, In Memoriam - Part I

As much as I recognize the necessity of war, I find it nonetheless to be among the worst of human proclivities...


Atomic weapons. Seriously, what good has come of them? Deterrence? Okay... but don't you think the world is less safe with this genie now irrevocably out of the bottle? What of Iran and her quest for the A-bomb?

The U.S. has the utterly unique and infamous distinction of being the only nation to ever have used atomic weapons on another nation. Japan has been the only nation in history to have ever tasted of the suffering borne upon-- to quote myself --atomic winds. It wasn't enough for the U.S. to drop one bomb. One would undoubtedly have ended the war with Japan... the simple threat of a second would have, IMHO, done the trick. But the U.S. wasn't content with dropping just one. It's as though the powers that be looked at the film footage, and said, "Good God! Would you look at that!!! ...Let's do it again!"

Yes, the war needed to end. Yes, Japan started it all by attacking Pearl Harbor; a day interestingly referred to as 'a date which will live in infamy.' Nevermind the fact that Pearl Harbor suffered 2,300 to 2,900 casualties, depending on which source you use, while the Hiroshima bomb alone, in the initial blast, killed approximately 80,000 men, women, and children.

Every death is regrettable. Every shot fired, a failure for humanity. We cheapen ourselves by the use of weapons against our neighbors, and we are lessened by the loss of each life we take.

No I don't like war at all. But neither do I like the idea of men, burdened by an oppressive and insane ideology, killing 241 marines... and getting away with it. Neither do I like the idea that this same ideology mutilates and murders women for sexual impurity, whether they're guilty or not (guilt being a non-issue as far as I'm concerned...genital mutilation and stoning are barbaric). I hate the idea that these people, warped by evil, find the idea of co-existence with other cultures is anathema to them... that they would rather fly jet liners filled with passengers into skyscrapers filled with workers... not soldiers... and if a certain faction within this country had its way, this murderous ideology would get away with that too.

This war did not end with Afghanistan-- Islam knows no physical border... has no tangible homeland. This war will not end with Iraq. This war, in fact, has only just begun, and few seem to realize it. While we fight like a pack of dogs over a few bones of contention, what's to stop these marauders from sneaking past and hitting us again? We're not paying attention. We haven't learned anything from the past. Not from Chamberlain, not from Hitler, not from Pearl Harbor, not from Hiroshima OR Nagasaki, not from Korea, not Vietnam, not Beirut, not Mogadishu. Israel, it would seem, has learned lessons we have not... Specifically, that War is indeed hell. And that one life lost is one too many.

So... If I choose to stand with Hiroshima and decry the use and proliferation of atomic weapons, it's because I've gotten a big eye-full of what's going on in the world... and I'm surprised as hell that you haven't.


What follows, then, are two of my own tokens of apology....

In Memoriam -- Part I

In Memoriam -- Part II


As much as I recognize the necessity of war, I find it nonetheless to be among the worst of human proclivities. Here then is my apology for dropping not one, but two atomic bombs on Japan in the summer of 1945. Admittedly, I know little of Japanese culture; what is appropriate, what is not, so it's likely I may owe yet another apology....

Please use the 'Here's More' link for the full post.




Deflowering the Chrysanthemum

She was led to a small stage prepared for just that moment; the moment they would demonstrate to the world the limit of their power over a nation, through one woman-- as though the horrors they had already unleashed were not enough. It was not enough to destroy her cities, ruin her people, her friends and family, now they would mock and shame her. Make of her something she would not otherwise have chosen. But this is the way of the victorious; they delight in examples, believing even their own propaganda; that they are righteous, and more deserving of victory... That their actions are somehow necessary.

But she went willingly. Up three steps of aged and polished wood; probably stolen from a decimated temple. And where had they found the shoji screens? --Their paper windows intact and the purest of whites.

They had made her paint herself in the traditional paints of a geisha, but they were ignorant and so made her paint her entire body. She did not argue... They did not understand. Her hair and pubic mound made a stark contrast to the gleaming white of the paints and she thought... How beautiful. They robed her in a kimono, crimson with yellow dragonflies, and briefly she smiled. They laughed and barked like dogs to one another; their tongues shaped about rough words... Their meaning a mystery.
Chosen from among the victorious were three men, stripped to the waist of their pine-hued shirts, and ringed about the spot where she was to kneel before a gathering of strange pale faces and stranger eyes. She looked out and over their heads to the ghost of a city, its once proud buildings, the temples, the gardens, all gone; blown to ash in the blink of an eye, and scattered upon atomic winds.

How many dead? Thousands? She began to cry-- tears drawing lines down the planes of her face --and then steeled herself... The victorious needed this display; garish and brutal as it was. What did it matter if they performed their little Noh play upon the charred bones of an entire city... An entire nation; once proud, now fallen to earth like cherry blossoms in spring...

But this is summer. The end of summer. She looked to her left and saw an ensemble of taiko drums, drummers all but naked. None would look upon her; they understood her shame, and shared it. A Shakuhachi player stood with flute in hand, his head bent and eyes cast down. His breathing was rhythmic, his kimono dirty. But the flute... Ahh, it was magnificent! She turned to her countrymen and bowed slightly, then turned back to her audience.

They were a strange people; prideful, uncouth, and so utterly ignorant. They shaped the world to their purpose rather than shaping their lives to the world about them. Their cities were ugly, and nothing about their culture held any sense of tradition. They were upstarts... Children. But children with powerful toys. And they’re eyes... So foreign.

A man in uniform-- a general perhaps? --rose from his seat up front and turned to face the gathered. He raised his voice and spoke in his rough tongue. He used his hands expressively, but the tone of his voice was dogmatic and said he held her and her nation in contempt.

"We are the defeated," she softly spoke, and one among those that ringed her whispered brokenly in her tongue.

"Forgive us Hiroshima, forgive us Nagasaki."

Another of the three grunted harshly and the first fell silent.

"It is easy to ask forgiveness when there is no consequence to face." She replied softly. "I will forgive you when the dead do." And though she couldn’t see it she felt him bow his head to her.

The general quickly finished and motioned to the drummers. As one they struck their drums, building swiftly a rhythm to which she could sing. Their bodies soon glistened with the sheen of sweat, and the power of their drumming grew, intent on stirring the victorious. The Shakuhachi player raised his flute and began a mournful dirge in counter to the beat of the drummers, yet his own rhythm matched them. Together they played perfectly, beautifully... But the assembled did not appreciate this, it was clear on their faces; it was alien to them.

She knew the words she was to sing. The song had been written for her, by aliens, and memorized in the long hours between dawn and this very moment, but she would not sing it. They knew little of Japanese, and would not know what she sang.

The man directly behind her undid her deep black hair, removing the long bamboo pins that held it, and she felt its weight as it fell long to her waist. She felt the first tug of the shears at the nape of her neck-- My hair! They are cutting my hair! It had taken years to grow... --and she began to cry once more. And through her tears she saw the child in the first row, a very young girl... What kind of people brings its children to such a spectacle? Barbarians!

The little girls eyes were the lightest shade of blue, and her hair-- in contrast to her own --was a lighter shade of yellow than the chrysanthemum in her tiny hand. She wore a dark blue dress, and her shoes shone bright and new. She stood close to her mother who held her hand.

There was a final tug, then release, and she looked about to see her beautiful black hair lying around her. The men to either side of her barber took hold of the crimson kimono’s collar and drew it open, exposing her breasts. Their hands tugged at the sash and they stripped the fabric entirely from her, letting it drop to the platform to cover her hair. She sat kneeling, hands folded in her lap. She shone like polished bone, entirely covered in the white paint.

Some in the crowd turned their heads, embarrassed to look upon her nakedness, others seemed to gloat, but all held an air of ambivalence. None but the child looked saddened. Then she felt the hands on her, wet with water as they began to make a show of washing her clean. There was symbolism in this of course, the drummers could see it, the Shakuhachi player could see it... And she began to sing.

It was a song to stir souls, had the victorious possessed such... It was a beautiful melody. The song trembled deep in her throat and crashed out over the audience. It was clear none understood her, but they understood the melody... Understood its pain and suffering, and understood in its cry a longing for a way of life now gone. Whether they realized it as such or not, they also understood that with two swift, cowardly blows, they had managed to decimate not just two cities and countless lives, but an ancient culture as well. But again, that is what victors do. They tear down the temples and the shrines and the theaters and the houses and reshape the land to their own liking. What changes will these men bring? What new ideas to supplant the old?

Her song rose and fell as hands washed her. She felt them move over her breasts, her stomach, to her thighs and the dark place between. She could feel their fingers move over her skin, but she could not sense a desire in them, they did not grope or fondle, only wash. Her face her neck, her shoulders, her back. They lifted her arms and she held them out like the very image of their crucified god on its hideous totem. They delight in torture; yet revere the god they killed! It’s not unusual to feel great respect for a vanquished foe, but worship? Never!

If she were in the bathhouse she might have felt desire for these men whose hands touched what no other had, but not here. This was her shame... To be stripped of her mystery; a Noh play devoid of tradition, performed for barbarians. The hands cupped and lifted her breasts, moved under her arms, down her back to her buttocks, and lower. The drummers drummed, the Shakuhachi player played, and she sang as the men shamed her.

When at last their hands left her, she finished her song and looked about her. The stage was washed in white, the pretty kimono ruined, and her hair... The men stood and left the stage, leaving her where she sat, their hands and arms now white. The general rose again to speak many words, none of which she understood. The drummers were led away. The Shakuhachi player followed. And when the general finished, the men who had led her to this place, mounted the stage to help her rise, and led her down the same steps of aged and polished wood, leaving white prints upon their dark surfaces like the footprint of ghosts.

Movement dark and swift caught her eye and she looked to see the child running to her. The girl stopped shyly and looking up into her face, smiled and held out the chrysanthemum. She bowed deeply to the child and took the offered gift.

The girl said something in her beautiful voice; her eyes held sympathy and embarrassment, a genuine sorrow for the painted woman.

"Thank you, little one." She said, bowing deeper. 'I will remember your kindness."

A soldier led the girl back to her mother, who fussed over and scolded her, admonishing her for her bravery. Would the child remember? Will she understand what she has done in years to come?

They did not clothe her, but led her naked back to where they had held her, where they had prepared her for this spectacle. Her escort did not touch her, but directed her with their grunting, and pointing, back and forth in their savage tongue. Soldiers gawked at her, countrymen bowed to her, averting their eyes. She would, of course, commit suicide; her shame was too great. No more parties on the palace lawn, no more plays, no more poetry, no more cherry blossoms in spring. The victors had stolen it all. But she would compose a poem for her death-- though none would ever hear it.

They came at last to the tents that were her prison. They would take her inside and allow her to wash and clothe herself before escorting her back to the palace, but she could not go back now. She could not bear the look of shame in her father’s eyes, or bear to hear her mother weeping. She would be a reminder to them, of their own shame... Better to die, with honor. So she would run! She would find a place untouched by their hideous weapon and perhaps find a shard of glass to cut her wrists, and compose her death poem.

And as if thought were motion she leapt away from her captors and ran, ignoring their shouts. She heard them begin to chase and she ran harder. The sound of their boots fell farther and farther behind. Pain shot up from her feet as rocks and glass cut her soles, but she ignored it. There was only running... The pound of blood in her ears, and the beat of her heart. There was only running, breathing... And the sound of thunder crashing through the sky, thunder so powerful it ripped the breath from her, and threw her hard upon the torn earth.

There was little sound now; only a loud hum over the shouting of men, the feel of their boots shaking through the ground as they neared her... Her own breath, heavy and labored... The beat of her heart, and the hot, wet feel of blood draining from the hole in her chest... They had shot her... Not thunder at all...

Lifting her head she looked over the ground to the ruined city, to ghostly survivors picking through the rubble, and there lay the Chrysanthemum. The world about it seemed colorless, but the flower was a bright dusty yellow, the color of pollen. It layed in her dimming sight a stark contrast to the desolation that framed it, and reaching for it, she pulled the flower to her breasts. Her lips moved with her last breath and shaped the words of a poem.

"What was it she said?" Asked one soldier.

The gunman knelt at her side, brushed a spill of hair from her eyes, and recited,


        "...Chrysanthemum pure
        Amid fields of wide ruin
        Its lovely hair shorn."




ELAshley
Written in one sitting
September 1, 2001
10 days before 9/11


I posted this last year [and the year before as well], and the version you've just read is slightly different-- Some additions, some subtractions, and a lot of changes in punctuation. It would seem Stephen King is right: 'Set your work aside for at least 6 weeks... give it a rest... then come back to it with fresh eyes and edit your work.' This version is better. And since I am the author, and this has never seen publication anywhere but here, I guess I'm free to edit as many times as I wish-- though I suspect a time will come when it will need to be left alone, lest it lose whatever charm it had at its birth.



"Forgive us Hiroshima, Forgive us Nagasaki..."

--Deflowering the Chrysanthemum



In Memoriam

What is coming?
I asked of the sky
No thought that blue
Could ever reply
But countless birds
Away did fly
        "Something comes"

What is coming?
I asked again
And felt the brush
Of Insistent wind
Pursuing a path
Only Avians wing
        "Something Comes"

What is coming?
I asked of the sun
The air grown hot
To blister my tongue
Flesh to ash
And in a flash, done
        Something has come

Yet I remain
My ghost, my bone
Remembered this day
In memorial stone
Etched in apology
I've no right to own
        Something has come
                ...and gone

May it not be forgotten



ELAshley
080605.102501.6
Revised:
080606.013316.1

Of course, factually, birds were incinerated in flight, and no wind rushed save those winds atomic, and those that held Enola above the fray.


I go to the Blasphemy Challenge on occasion to see how many fools have joined up. I inadvertently clicked on one of the videos trying to watch it again, but I was sent instead to YouTube-- another kind of hell. Well, low and behold! the very first video I clicked on whilst at YouTube was this little gem...





There're a lot of nasty comments attached to this video, but it's to be expected when you actually stand for something... especially when you stand for God.



"Why I'm Thanking God for Obama"
--August 01, 2008


Several quotes from...


Many of Barack's followers manifest troubling signs of regarding him as at least a demigod. Even while refraining from saying outright that they think he's a god, their belief comes through in the strange messianic iconography of their Obama-glorifying posters, videos and music. Belief in the godlike nature of Barack's powers comes through in their faith in the vast promises he or his surrogates make about the change that's going to come about, not if, but when he becomes president, not just of our Country, but the whole darned world, oceans and all.


Barack Obama is walking, talking, breathing narcissism. The iconography of his campaign is nothing, if not the glorification of Obama, a solitary, quite mortal man. They must glorify Obama's image because, in reality, he has no accomplishments that bear mention.


Beware the man who promises what man simply lacks the power to bestow.

"The urge to save humanity is almost always a false front for the urge to rule it."
-- H. L. Mencken

Time and time and time again, this has proven true. Time and time again, new men arise in varying disguise, making the same promises, urging the same change.


The salvation that Obama offers comes in the form of radically changing America to a utopian state, which he contends will fix our "broken souls." That simply is not within the province of his abilities.



Personal Thoughts: Later