I am appalled by the news organizations condemning Israel for its attacks on the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas operating in Gaza. Have these folks been asleep the last few years? Where were they when rockets smuggled into Gaza from Egypt were launched into Israeli neighborhoods?
Have they read the Hamas charter that binds every Muslim to jihad, which is defined as an endless state of war against Israel so long as one Jew remains alive?
Don’t they know that radical militants, who don’t stand a chance against the Israeli military, are simply using them to inflame world opinion against Israel, a nation that wants only to be left alone in the homeland granted to them by the UN in 1948?
Let me add one more ghastly piece of legislation recently enacted by Hamas that has nothing to do with Israel, and everything to do with its own people:
"Hamas members of the Palestinian Legislative Council in Gaza, having decided that stoning young girls to death is not brutal enough, enacted a law recently adding crucifixion to its list of punishments that already include hand amputation and whipping. Public decapitation for gays and rape victims (that’s right – victims) wasn't bad enough. Now they can look forward to being nailed to a cross and left hanging in agony until they suffocate to death." (This description and legislation appeared on the Al Arabiya web site http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2008/12/24/62699.html.)
The legislation goes on to authorize “Koranic punishments, including hand amputation, corporal punishment and (other forms of) execution. Drinking, owning or producing wine is punished by 40 lashes, while drinking in public adds three months imprisonment. Several laws are directed against Hamas' Palestinian rivals, including a law intended to inhibit non-Hamas negotiators, by sentencing to death anyone who is 'appointed to negotiate with a foreign government on a Palestinian issue and negotiated against Palestinian interests.'”
There's a word for Hamas and Hamas-type organizations -- uncivilized. They are living in the 5th century when infidels -- non-Muslims -- and Muslim apostates were routinely killed. Think about this the next time you read the New York Times or any other newspaper or television commentator wailing about Israel defending its homeland.
The media don’t tell you that Israel goes to great lengths to avoid civilian casualties in Gaza. Israel's military could wipe Gaza off the map with little danger to its own soldiers; it chooses to warn Palestinian civilians they are coming after Hamas and that they should leave.
For their part, Hamas militants have hidden in civilian neighborhoods. They shoot rockets from Palestinian schoolyards in an effort to entice Israeli soldiers to respond. Hamas knows that dead or maimed children make excellent footage for TV camera crews looking for a story. Renegade soldiers who crucify girls or chop hands off children could care less about civilian casualties.
I don’t know about you, but I’m weary of the anti-Jewish bias in the American press. I can’t prove it but I think the media know Israel is supported militarily and economically by the United States, and that anything Israel does to advance its own interests advances American interests too
Could it be the media oppose what’s best for this country nationally and throughout the world? Careful readers of the news can form their own opinion. The only conflict is between Israelis and the thoroughly uncivilized and brutal Hamas terrorists.
Truth be known, the media could save thousands of lives by simply reporting news and leaving advocacy to others. But they do not, and that's a shame. It's also why media as we know it today will disappear one newspaper at a time until all that's left is the Internet, and that's a shame too.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Weather, wives and liberal politics
Bloggers sometimes wonder about whether people read their stuff. For me, the question was resolved the other night when a friend I’d not seen in months asked why I’d not written anything since August. While I was honored by his observation, his question reminded me that I should be posting more often.
The first thing I’d like to talk about this morning is my politician wife. It’s 7 a.m. and this lady is on her way out the door to go to work. It’s snowing outside and there will be 19 miles of rural roads to travel before she arrives at her Cripple Creek office. That’s 38 miles a day, five days a week, for the last 18 years, in all kinds of weather. Not bad for someone her age.
Connie promised to do her best when she was elected almost 20 years ago. She ran for the right reason -- she felt taxpayers deserved more from their elected officials; she also thought she could do a better job than her predecessor. She will leave office two years from now secure in the knowledge that she’s served with competency and integrity.
That’s more than can be said about the Rev. Donald Armstrong, rector of Grace Episcopal Church in Colorado Springs, where I worshipped for 15 years before becoming a Roman Catholic. A vestry chaired by a Springs banker hired Armstrong some 22 years ago. Today, personnel resignations, a split in the congregation, and allegations of financial impropriety will tarnish whatever reputation Armstrong had when he arrived here.
Media reports say Armstrong and the vestry voted to join an Anglican diocese based in Nigeria because the American church had become “too liberal and gay-friendly.” The vote came as a surprise to parishioners who knew nothing about the plans. They also didn’t know the diocese was investigating Armstrong for what it called the "misappropriation" of thousands of dollars from dedicated church funds, and that the rector had used parishioner money to support a non-church institute which he headed.
The congregation essentially split down the middle, with half the people, one priest and most of the choir leaving to worship elsewhere. However, this group remained loyal to the Episcopal faith and has filed suit to reclaim the venerable church building they say belongs to the diocese.
Being Catholic and without a vested interest in what happened, I stayed out of the line of fire. Prior to the split, however, and as a long-time member of the church’s Taylor Choir, Armstrong asked me to serve on a search committee to hire a replacement for an organist/choirmaster who resigned suddenly taking his retirement funds with him.
The committee recommended, and Armstrong approved, hiring Gordon Stewart, a concert organist from the UK, to rebuild what Armstrong called the church's "choral magnificence.” It didn’t take Stewart long to discover there was no money for music. He also found out about the diocesan investigation, which, until then, only the vestry and office insiders knew about.
Stewart resigned and went back to England. His assistant remained and helped choir members move music and new robes (previously bought by a choir member) to a new location. From the musicians' standpoint, an era of musical excellence going back to the 1940s had ended.
But time moves on and so do we. Barack Obama will soon to become the country's Dear Leader. Whatever change he brings had better leave this country as safe as when he found it. The terrorists are still around and he knows it. One 9/11-type attack and BHO will be toast. The media will still fawn over him, but people won’t.
That’s what makes this country great. We grew tired of George Bush, corrupt Republicans and outrageous Congressional spending programs. We figured if Republicans were going to act like Democrats we might as well vote for Democrats. And we did.
But we’ll vote Republican the next time around if Democrats don’t (as Bush might say) do what’s right. Voters instinctively know what’s right already and they’ll hold Obama’s feet to the fire if he goes too far astray. I can promise that if Democrats dink around with free enterprise they’ll be on the outside looking in four years from now.
My bet is Obama’s campaign rhetoric was just that – rhetoric. Now that security professionals are telling him what he needs to know, he’s singing a different tune. He’s backing off on closing Gitmo immediately and also on his pledge to end the Iraq war before the country is ready to be turned over to Iraqis.
But Obama is a liberal and there will be new social programs and higher taxes to support them. The government will print more money to pay for his recovery programs, and that will leave the country deeper in debt than we could have imagined. These chickens will come home to roost in 2010 and 2012 and, depending on how quickly the economy recovers, it might be a good time to be Republican again.
That concludes my catching up for now. I thank my friend James for pointing out how lax I’ve been in posting regularly. I’ll try to do better in the future.
The first thing I’d like to talk about this morning is my politician wife. It’s 7 a.m. and this lady is on her way out the door to go to work. It’s snowing outside and there will be 19 miles of rural roads to travel before she arrives at her Cripple Creek office. That’s 38 miles a day, five days a week, for the last 18 years, in all kinds of weather. Not bad for someone her age.
Connie promised to do her best when she was elected almost 20 years ago. She ran for the right reason -- she felt taxpayers deserved more from their elected officials; she also thought she could do a better job than her predecessor. She will leave office two years from now secure in the knowledge that she’s served with competency and integrity.
That’s more than can be said about the Rev. Donald Armstrong, rector of Grace Episcopal Church in Colorado Springs, where I worshipped for 15 years before becoming a Roman Catholic. A vestry chaired by a Springs banker hired Armstrong some 22 years ago. Today, personnel resignations, a split in the congregation, and allegations of financial impropriety will tarnish whatever reputation Armstrong had when he arrived here.
Media reports say Armstrong and the vestry voted to join an Anglican diocese based in Nigeria because the American church had become “too liberal and gay-friendly.” The vote came as a surprise to parishioners who knew nothing about the plans. They also didn’t know the diocese was investigating Armstrong for what it called the "misappropriation" of thousands of dollars from dedicated church funds, and that the rector had used parishioner money to support a non-church institute which he headed.
The congregation essentially split down the middle, with half the people, one priest and most of the choir leaving to worship elsewhere. However, this group remained loyal to the Episcopal faith and has filed suit to reclaim the venerable church building they say belongs to the diocese.
Being Catholic and without a vested interest in what happened, I stayed out of the line of fire. Prior to the split, however, and as a long-time member of the church’s Taylor Choir, Armstrong asked me to serve on a search committee to hire a replacement for an organist/choirmaster who resigned suddenly taking his retirement funds with him.
The committee recommended, and Armstrong approved, hiring Gordon Stewart, a concert organist from the UK, to rebuild what Armstrong called the church's "choral magnificence.” It didn’t take Stewart long to discover there was no money for music. He also found out about the diocesan investigation, which, until then, only the vestry and office insiders knew about.
Stewart resigned and went back to England. His assistant remained and helped choir members move music and new robes (previously bought by a choir member) to a new location. From the musicians' standpoint, an era of musical excellence going back to the 1940s had ended.
But time moves on and so do we. Barack Obama will soon to become the country's Dear Leader. Whatever change he brings had better leave this country as safe as when he found it. The terrorists are still around and he knows it. One 9/11-type attack and BHO will be toast. The media will still fawn over him, but people won’t.
That’s what makes this country great. We grew tired of George Bush, corrupt Republicans and outrageous Congressional spending programs. We figured if Republicans were going to act like Democrats we might as well vote for Democrats. And we did.
But we’ll vote Republican the next time around if Democrats don’t (as Bush might say) do what’s right. Voters instinctively know what’s right already and they’ll hold Obama’s feet to the fire if he goes too far astray. I can promise that if Democrats dink around with free enterprise they’ll be on the outside looking in four years from now.
My bet is Obama’s campaign rhetoric was just that – rhetoric. Now that security professionals are telling him what he needs to know, he’s singing a different tune. He’s backing off on closing Gitmo immediately and also on his pledge to end the Iraq war before the country is ready to be turned over to Iraqis.
But Obama is a liberal and there will be new social programs and higher taxes to support them. The government will print more money to pay for his recovery programs, and that will leave the country deeper in debt than we could have imagined. These chickens will come home to roost in 2010 and 2012 and, depending on how quickly the economy recovers, it might be a good time to be Republican again.
That concludes my catching up for now. I thank my friend James for pointing out how lax I’ve been in posting regularly. I’ll try to do better in the future.
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