Sharp Knife

Here's hoping that your New Year will be a good one, filled with love, and that it will be a good one for the country we all love and her causes; freedom, victory, peace and prosperity.

As ever, special New Year wishes to those who serve her in all near and far-flung places.

Be careful out there tonight--and if you can't be careful, be lucky!

See you next year!

NO MORE MONICA SMITH

or No More Monica Smiths?

If a street-gang swore to kill your family and drove by your house every week spraying it with bullets, even though no one was harmed, what would the proportional response be?

Would you ask the police to drive by the houses of their families and shoot some bullets harmlesly into their attics? That seems to be the answer proposed by Leftists from the safety of their upholstered sinecures.

Proportionality is not a even swap–otherwise Israel would have to indiscriminately target civilians as the Hamas Nazis do. It has been described by some as using the proper amount of force to get the job done; i.e.; not destroying an entire village to stop one sniper in one building.

We’ve already tried our own version of the Left’s alleged proportionality.

In 1993, the World Trade Center was bombed. Because the bombers were poor engineers–like the Gaza rocketeers–casualties were “light”. Because they were “light”, we chose to prosecute this now-declared war of war crimes as a simple criminal act–almost as a glorified liquor store robbery gone awry. No one was even given the death penalty.

Less than a decade later, our military barracks, our embassies, our air and sea vessels and even our Pentagon had all been attacked–and the World Trade Center was a smoking hole in the ground. Something’s not proportional here.

And neither is the concern for Khaled Sheik Muhammed, who was probably in on both WTC bombings. We used the proper amount of force to get the job done when we rightfully waterboarded his sorry ass–not to punish him, not to make him admit guilt–but to prevent more civilian deaths.

And by “civilian deaths”, I mean, of course, “your death”.

Here’s a special Note to Politicians:

If a Puerto Rican mother in New York were to get up at 2 a.m. to go to her first of three jobs because politicians have driven the economy into the dirt, her last dying words before plunging off an exploding Brooklyn Bridge into the icy East River below are very unlikely to include the phrase “Thank God John McCain and Barack Obama were too pure to waterboard a terrorist and prevent all thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis!”

You see, we already failed Monica Smith–and who is Monica Smith, you ask?

She was a secretary. She was 35. And she was seven months pregnant.

It is often said that the first WTC bombing killed “only” six people, just as it is said that Hamas’ rockets have “only” killed a few people recently. (Also like Hamas, they HOPED to kill thousands–they simply lacked the expertise.)

No, five men were murdered that February day in 1993–five men and one woman, a secretary doing her job though she was seven months pregnant. Therefore, seven people were killed that day.

It’s a sad fact of life how we don’t know her name, but we remember the names of the Nazis who murdered her.

That’s because Ramzi Yousef, the “Blind Sheik” Abdel Rahman and both the Sheik Muhammeds, uncle and nephew, are given lengthy trials with lawyers and discovery–while their victims were tried, convicted and executed in the blink of an eye.

We barely remember Monica Smith’s name. And the name of her child is known only in Heaven.

But it is known there in the proper proportion.

MARGARET THATCHER

in Israel, 1986:

"There is another threat to human rights, against which we have to defend ourselves: the threat from the terrorist. No political cause, no ethnic grievance, nothing, justifies terrorism—nothing. Least of all the state-sponsored terrorism of which both our countries have been victims. To appease terrorists is to concede victory to them and to condemn more people to lose their lives. It must be met instead with steady determination, to isolate those who support the terrorist and will give him sanctuary..."

Q: "Mrs. Thatcher, could you please enlighten us as to the nature of your conversations regarding cooperation in fighting terrorism?"

A: "No. It is by definition something which has to be done rather behind the scenes and is most effective when it is done behind the scenes. You really cannot announce to those who use these terrible methods precisely how you are trying to counter them. To do so, of course, puts very considerable help into their hands and that is no part of my policy."

"...beyond it all is terrorism and we will fight terrorism whenever and wherever it occurs, and the sooner people realise that terrorism does not help them to achieve their aim but is hindering them, the better."

“OH, YEAH? WELL, I’M OFFENDED THAT YOU’RE OFFENDED THAT I’M OFFENDED THAT YOU’RE OFFENDED!”

Barack Obama can defend his racist pastor all day long and Al Sharpton can conduct his own deadly race riots…but we can’t do a song parody? Both these guys said they weren’t offended…but we’re going to tear our own hair out? That’s crazy.

I blame the RNC candidates who are so wrapped up in winning a piffling little election that they’ll gladly Mau-Mau a fellow Republican for a slight advantage. We just nominated a Republican who was famous for back-stabbing other Republicans, and he couldn’t be dragged across the finish line.

I like Paul Shanklin. He’s funny. I’m not reading him out of the Republican Party cos’ some power-grubbing functionaries need an edge. If we do, next will be Limbaugh, who played the record. Then we can excommunicate his tens of millions of listeners, too.

Maybe we can get the party down to David Gergen, John McCain and Barack’s own personal Magic Negro, Colin Powell. Then the three of them can sit around and argue over which Democrat to endorse.

No thanks. I’m a conservative. I have one standard, not two. And not a dozen, depending on pigment. I can give a joke and I can take a joke and I feel a song coming on right now… Here’s my version of “Barack the Magic Negro”:

Barack the Magic Negro
Lives in Rezko’s house
The press knew all about it
but they were quieter than a mouse

Little Pinch’s paper
loved that Obama
And brought Him things like angel’s wings
and questions made of fluff.

Barack the Magic Negro
Lived in Chicago
But He doesn’t sweat
cos’ He’s never met
a Governor Blago

Barack the Magic Negro
investigates Himself
and frolics with the Media
as they slobber on themselves

Together they would travel
Obama and His Press
Sometimes you’d swear
they wouldn’t care
if He showed up in a dress

Noble kings and reporters
Would bow whenever He came,
Even inmates in Guantanamo
have been known to chant His name! Oh!

Barack the Magic Negro
Lives in Razko’s house
The press knew all about it
but they were quieter than a mouse

Little Pinch’s paper
loved that Obama
And brought Him things like angel’s wings
and questions made of fluff.

Gummint programs live forever
but not so the New York Times
Cos’ what’s the point
of stinkin’ up the joint
just to read the Party Line?

Then one day it happened
The Times filed for bankruptcy
For Barack the Magic Negro
No more stenography!

Barack the Magic Negro
was sad as He could be
He had lost
His bestest friends
for cheerleading incessantly

Then one day it hit Him
like a ton of Oprah Winfrey
“Pinch must need a bailout–
I’ll call the Treasury!”

Now Barack and His reporters
are happy all the time
and the best part is
when they pull your leg,
they’ll do it on your dime!

NOT "DIVIDE, SUBTRACT AND LEVERAGE"

Mark Steyn Does It For the Children For the Economy(tm):

What does all that mumbo-jumbo about "aggregate demand" mean? Well, that's a fancy term for you – yes, you, Joe Lardbutt, the bloated, disgusting embodiment of American excess, driving around in your Chevy Behemoth, getting two blocks to the gallon as you shear the roof off the drive-thru lane to pick up your $7.93 decaf gingersnap-mocha-pepperoni-zebra mussel frappuccino, which makes for a wonderful thirst-quencher after you've been working up a sweat watching the plasma TV in your rec room with the thermostat set to 87. The message from the European political class couldn't be more straightforward: If you crass, vulgar Americans don't ramp up the demand, we're kaput. Unless you get back to previous levels of planet-devastating consumption, the planet is screwed. ...

To live is messy but liberating: free societies enable the citizenry to fulfill their potential – to innovate, to create, to accumulate – while recognizing that some of their number will fail. But to attempt to insulate free peoples from moral hazard is debilitating and ultimately fatal. To Martin Wolf's list of a Europe "too inert, too complacent, too weak," we might add "too old": Healthy societies recharge their batteries by the aged and wealthy lending their savings to the young and eager. But Germany is a population of prosperous seniors with no grandchildren to lend to. Japan is a society of great invention with insufficient youth to provide a domestic market. That's why if you're Sony or IKEA or any other great global brand, you want access to America for your product. That's why economic recovery will be driven by the U.S., and not by euro-Japanese entities long marinated in Obamanomics.

THE REAL DEAL

"We came here to bring a message of love, respect and gratitude to our Christian brothers and to share happiness with them as we have shared sadness with them during the cruel targeting they came under. We will do our best for equality between people and a good life for all, whatever their religious, sectarian and ethnic background."

--senior Shiite cleric Ammar al-Hakim, attending Mass in Baghdad after Christmas is declared an official holiday.

We've demanded that Iraqis and Muslims do this--and we should offer our encouragement when they get it right. Congratulations...and Merry Christmas!

(Via Ace)

THAT THERE WOULD BE

a Christian, English-speaking American Indian standing there when the Pilgrims got off of the Mayflower?

"...Squanto continued with them (the Pilgrims) and was their interpreter and was a special instrument sent of God for their good beyond their expectation. He directed them how to set their corn, where to take fish, and to procure other commodities, and was also their pilot to bring them to unknown places for their profit, and never left them till he died."--Gov. Wm. Bradford, 'Of Plimoth Plantation'

First up, Tom Friedman continues in his patented idiot savant mode, where he buries one or two pearls of insight in a column full of liberal claptrap.

He begins by lauding Hong Kong's sleek, ultra-modern airport as if it were typical of all China. He then compares it to the decrepitude of US infrastructure at Kennedy Airport, Penn Station and Amtrak. He fails to notice the common denominator; all are run by a federalized, unionized, Democrat political machine.

Here's the pearl:

"[W}e’ve fallen into a trend of diverting and rewarding the best of our collective I.Q. to people doing financial engineering rather than real engineering. These rocket scientists and engineers were designing complex financial instruments to make money out of money — rather than designing cars, phones, computers, teaching tools, Internet programs and medical equipment that could improve the lives and productivity of millions."

So true. That's why I propose shuttering the law schools, turning them into medical schools--an ambulance on every corner, not an ambulance -chaser. He continues;

"For all these reasons, our present crisis is not just a financial meltdown crying out for a cash injection. We are in much deeper trouble. In fact, we as a country have become General Motors — as a result of our national drift. Look in the mirror: G.M. is us."

Umm...maybe. Unfortunately, Friedman continues again:

"That’s why we don’t just need a bailout. We need a reboot. We need a build out. We need a buildup. We need a national makeover. That is why the next few months are among the most important in U.S. history. Because of the financial crisis, Barack Obama has the bipartisan support to spend $1 trillion in stimulus. But we must make certain that every bailout dollar, which we’re borrowing from our kids’ future, is spent wisely."

Dude, you're kidding, right? The same people who ran our physical--and financial--infrastructure into the ground are writing the Stimulus Bill. It's going to be a Carnival of Tax-Eating Carnivores, a Circus of Spending, a Fiscal Freak Show the likes of which this country has never seen. Step Right Up; if ANY of this money is spent wisely, it will be purely accidental.

We borrowed and spent our way into this mess, seeking the Eternally-Elusive Free Lunch...and we're going to get out of it the same way? I don't think so. More likely this is money our grandchildren will have to repay five times over...or watch as their Treasury prints dollar bills into meaninglessness.

Pancho's column closes with another pearl of wisdom, though:

"Maureen Dowd is off today."

True dat.

Next, Mark Steyn reprints a column that looks at the Book of Luke from a demographic point-of-view.

"...if Christianity is merely a "myth", it's a perfectly constructed one, beginning with the decision to establish Christ's divinity in the miracle of His birth. The obligation to have children may be a lot of repressive Catholic mumbo-jumbo, but it's also highly rational. What's irrational is modern EUtopia's indifference to new life.

At Asia Times, Spengler has some very interesting columns on the economy, demography and morality:

"[Michael Novak] vastly overestimates the extent to which "the political system helped create this mess" by mandating low-quality loans. Novak simply doesn't know the details of the mortgage market; he repeats, inaccurately, what he has heard from Republican apologists in Washington. He attributes part of the problem to the fact that "some too brilliant Wall Streeters got the clever idea of buying Fannie Mae mortgages and packaging them to sell in large bundles". In fact, this bundling began in the mid-1980s and helped finance the quarter-century economic boom inaugurated by president Ronald Reagan.

The problem, rather, was that the investment banks began packaging low-quality "subprime" mortgages with high credit risk, and the credit rating agencies knowingly represented dicey packages as default-proof triple-A credits. The bankers knew they were cheating, as much as did Madoff, and the ratings agencies knew they were selling their soul for revenues, as an unnamed official stated in an e-mail made public by a US congressional committee. They got away with this because the childless dystopias of Europe and Japan needed investments in places where families still were formed, and were willing to ship their money to the American subprime market without asking too many questions, just like Madoff's investors.

There were underlying causes, but the human factor that should have sent up alarm bells simply was not present - not at the Securities and Exchange Commission in the case of Madoff, nor at the Federal Reserve in the case of the banks. The American public got greedy and lazy, and is getting what it deserved. It is comforting that America's elite also is getting what it deserved, thanks in part to Madoff, who ensured that a representative sampling of the very rich learned that Scott Fitzgerald was wrong. [ i.e. "the very rich are different from you and me".] ...

I argued that the bulge of workers in the US and Europe approaching retirement age is the ultimate cause of the financial crisis. Too much capital chased too few investment opportunities, and the financial industry met the demand by selling sow's ears with the credit rating of silk purses.

Underlying the crisis is the Western world's repudiation of life, through a hedonism that puts consumption or "self-realization" ahead of child-rearing. ... Economics simply never has had to confront a situation in which the next generation simply failed turn up."

John Lott and Bradley Smith examine public disclosure laws, in which donations are used to further an idea, not buy a politician:

"How would you like elections without secret ballots? To most people, this would be absurd. We have secret balloting for obvious reasons. Politics frequently generates hot tempers. People can put up yard signs or wear political buttons if they want. But not everyone feels comfortable making his or her positions public -- many worry that their choice might offend or anger someone else. They fear losing their jobs or facing boycotts of their businesses.

And yet the mandatory public disclosure of financial donations to political campaigns in almost every state and at the federal level renders people's fears and vulnerability all too real.

Proposition 8 -- California's recently passed constitutional amendment to outlaw gay marriage by ensuring that marriage in that state remains between a man and a woman -- is a dramatic case in point. Its passage has generated retaliation against those who supported it, once their financial support was made public and put online.

For example, when it was discovered that Scott Eckern, director of the nonprofit California Musical Theater in Sacramento, had given $1,000 to Yes on 8, the theater was deluged with criticism from prominent artists. Mr. Eckern was forced to resign."

That's pure McCarthyite Blacklisting. Prop. 8 malcontents have decided to attack individual voters rather than battle ideas. This, incidentally, is what union elections will be like if Democrats pass their "Hey, I Know; Let's Coerce Workers into Joining the Union!"-Act.

When California's judges hijacked the Consent of the Governed, they fenced their ill-gotten gains at the Liberal Establishment Pawn Shop. The voters then duly-deputized themselves to recover their stolen property. And now Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown has broken both his word and his oath, and will oppose the citizens and side with the thieves.

The story is not that 30 out of 30 states have passed these amendments. The story is this: It is an ourage that citizens have been forced to protect their right to self-government from the constitutional crime-wave that is sweeping their judiciaries by passing these amendments in the first place.

Here is Matt Labash's gritty, fascinating and frankly disturbing must-read article on Detroit:

Those in Detroit who are neither recipients of sweetheart contracts or Kilpatrick family members on the city payroll at inflated salaries think he got off easy. Because what led to the perjury was concealing an $8.4 million payout from city coffers to settle a whistleblower suit brought by cops who'd been fired for investigating, among other things, the murder of a stripper named Strawberry who, prior to her death, was allegedly beat up by Kilpatrick's wife when she caught her entertaining her husband. [...]

How bad is Detroit? It once gave the keys to the city to Saddam Hussein. Over the last several years, it has ranked as the most murderous city, the poorest city, the most segregated city, as the city with the highest auto-insurance rates, with the bleakest outlook for workers in their 20s and 30s, and as the place with the most heart attacks, slowest income growth, and fewest sunny days. It is a city without a single national grocery store chain. It has been deemed the most stressful metropolitan area in America. Likewise, it has ranked last in numerous studies: in new employment growth, in environmental indicators, in the rate of immunization of 2-year-olds, and, among big cities, in the number of high school or college graduates.

Men's Fitness magazine christened Detroit America's fattest city, while Men's Health called it America's sexual disease capital. Should the editors of these two metrosexual magazines be concerned for their safety after slagging the citizens of a city which has won the "most dangerous" title for five of the last ten years? Probably not: 47 percent of Detroit adults are functionally illiterate.

After that, you'll probably need a laugh, so here's Dave Barry's Year in Review:

Finally, in what some economists see as a troubling sign, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac invest $12.7 billion in Powerball tickets.

Tensions run high in the Pennsylvania Democratic primary, which all the experts agree is extremely crucial. Barack Obama gets into trouble with rural voters for saying that rural Americans are "bitter'' and "cling to guns or religion." Responding to charges that this statement is elitist, Obama responds: "You are getting sleepy. Very sleepy."

The economic news is also gloomy for the U.S. automotive industry, where General Motors, in a legally questionable move aimed at boosting its sagging car sales, comes out with a new model called "The Chevrolet Toyota."

A POST-CHRISTIAN CHRISTMAS?

"Good morning. This week, Americans are gathering with family and friends across the country to celebrate the blessings of Christmas and the holiday season.

As we celebrate this joyous time of year, our thoughts turn to the brave men and women who serve our country far from home. Their extraordinary and selfless sacrifice is an inspiration to us all, and part of the unbroken line of heroism that has made our freedom and prosperity possible for over two centuries.

Many troops are serving their second, third, or even fourth tour of duty. And we are reminded that they are more than dedicated Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guard – they are devoted fathers and mothers; husbands and wives; sons and daughters; sisters and brothers.

This holiday season, their families celebrate with a joy that is muted knowing that a loved one is absent and sometimes in danger. In towns and cities across America, there is an empty seat at the dinner table; in distant bases and on ships at sea, our servicemen and women can only wonder at the look on their child’s face as they open a gift back home.

Our troops and military families have won the respect and gratitude of their broader American family. Michelle and I have them in our prayers this Christmas, and we must all continue to offer them our full support in the weeks and months to come.

These are also tough times for many Americans struggling in our sluggish economy. As we count the higher blessings of faith and family, we know that millions of Americans don’t have a job. Many more are struggling to pay the bills or stay in their homes. From students to seniors, the future seems uncertain.

That is why this season of giving should also be a time to renew a sense of common purpose and shared citizenship. Now, more than ever, we must rededicate ourselves to the notion that we share a common destiny as Americans – that I am my brother’s keeper; I am my sister’s keeper. Now, we must all do our part to serve one another; to seek new ideas and new innovation; and to start a new chapter for our great country.

That is the spirit that will guide my Administration in the New Year. If the American people come together and put their shoulder to the wheel of history, then I know that we can put our people back to work and point our country in a new direction. That is how we will see ourselves through this time of crisis, and reach the promise of a brighter day.

After all, that’s what Americans have always done.

232 years ago, when America was newly born as a nation, George Washington and his Army faced impossible odds as they struggled to free themselves from the grip of an empire.

It was Christmas Day – December 25th, 1776 – that they fought through ice and cold to make an improbable crossing of the Delaware River. They caught the enemy off guard, won victories in Trenton and Princeton, and gave new momentum to the beleaguered Army and new hope to the cause of Independence.

Many ages have passed since that first American Christmas. We have crossed many rivers as a people. But the lessons that have carried us through are the same lessons that we celebrate every Christmas season – the same lessons that guide us to this very day: that hope endures, and that a new birth of peace is always possible.

Thank you, and have a wonderful New Year.".................

That's Obama's Christmas message. Aside from his failure to congratulate our servicemembers on their Victory in Iraq, do you know what's missing?

Just as his Thanksgiving message failed to thank God, his Christmas message fails to mention Jesus. Jesus can take it...but can America?

It's going to be a long four years at this rate. So here's a Christmas Message to Mr. O:

You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch.
You really are a heel.
You're as cuddly as a cactus,
You're as charming as an eel.
Mr. Grinch.

You're a bad banana
With a greasy black peel.

You're a monster, Mr. Grinch.
Your heart's an empty hole.
Your brain is full of spiders,
You've got garlic in your soul.
Mr. Grinch.

I wouldn't touch you, with a
thirty-nine-and-a-half foot pole.

You're a vile one, Mr. Grinch.
You have termites in your smile.
You have all the tender sweetness
Of a seasick crocodile.
Mr. Grinch.

Given the choice between the two of you
I'd take the seasick crockodile.

You're a foul one, Mr. Grinch.
You're a nasty, wasty skunk.
Your heart is full of unwashed socks
Your soul is full of gunk.
Mr. Grinch.

The three words that best describe you,
are, and I quote: "Stink. Stank. Stunk."

You're a rotter, Mr. Grinch.
You're the king of sinful sots.
Your heart's a dead tomato splot
With moldy purple spots,
Mr. Grinch.

Your soul is an apalling dump heap overflowing
with the most disgraceful assortment of deplorable
rubbish imaginable,
Mangled up in tangled up knots.

You nauseate me, Mr. Grinch.
With a nauseaus super-naus.
You're a crooked jerky jockey
And you drive a crooked horse.
Mr. Grinch.

You're a three decker saurkraut and toadstool
sandwich
With arsenic sauce.

(Copyright © 1957, Dr. Seuss.)

Seriously, Mr. Elect; He shall be called Emmanuel--and I don't mean "Rahm".

Let's tell it on the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Go tell it on the mighty mountains of New York. Go tell it on the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

Go tell it on the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

Go tell it the curvaceous slopes of California!

Go tell it on Stone Mountain of Georgia!

Go tell it Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

Go tell it on every hill and molehill of Mississippi--Jesus Christ is born.

And He lives.

OR LUKEWARM GOATHERD?

The elegant and historically-literate David Pryce-Jones:

The Archbishop lately backed the introduction of sharia law into Britain, thus creating inequality for Muslims in matters that come before sharia courts. This could only have the effect of separating Muslims from the community, and that separation is already bad enough, what with Islamists in our midst threatening jihad and bringing Muslims generally into suspicion, however unfairly. I had decided that if I had the chance I would explain to the Archbishop that I had spent a lifetime travelling in the Middle East, could read Arabic, and had observed the damage done by sharia law to those Muslim countries that had it, and how reformers wanted to scrap it in favour of normal civil law.

Not only is it bad for Muslims, it is bad for Britain. For a millenium, the history of the English people has been the quest to have one equal law for everyone, royal or commoner, black or white, rich or poor. And now all that is being tossed in the rubbish for what? Multicultural rot, equal only in that it is bad for all?

Now it’s Christmas, and personalities of all sorts are customarily invited to select their favourite books of the year. In the Times Literary Supplement, surely as prestigious an outlet as any available, the Archbishop of Canterbury chooses to promote a biography of another Welshman, Raymond Williams (no relation!). He speaks of this other Williams as a “moral touchstone” of the British Left, engaged in “passionate struggles” and concluding “More to come, I hope.”

In simple fact Raymond Williams was a stale old Marxist who never freed his mind. Not even the Nazi-Soviet Pact could shake him. When the Soviet Union attacked Finland in 1940 Raymond Williams collaborated with another veteran Communist, E.J.Hobsbawm, to write a defence of this aggression. Neither of them ever recanted.

If the man supposed to be guarding our faith is actually engaged in apologetics on behalf of Muslims and Communists, how are the rest of us to guard ourselves?

Get a better shepherd?

BUT WHY?

John 10: 7-18:

7 So Jesus said to them again, "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.

8 "All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.

9 "I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.

10 "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

11 "I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.

12 "He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.

13 "He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep.

14 "I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me,

15 even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.

16 "I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd.

17 "For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again.

18 No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father."

Luke 2:11-14:

“Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”

"May Liberty prevail!"

"The wind bit hard at Valley Forge one Christmas.
Soldiers tied rags on their feet.
Red footprints wrote on the snow..."--Carl Sandburg

Christmas at Valley Forge, by Ethelene Dyer Jones:

"There they were, twelve thousand tattered troops with their General, George Washington, encamped at Valley Forge. Despite the bitter cold and the seemingly insurmountable odds of disease, starvation and lack of provisions, from this lowest point of the Revolution, the troops were trained and drilled into fighting form. A miracle was taking place as men shuddered in the fields of Valley Forge.

Dr. Albigence Waldo was one of the doctors ministering to the troops at Valley Forge. His diary gives us insight into both the pathos and glimmers of hope of that Christmas, 1777: "Universal thanksgiving! A roasted pig last night! God be thanked for my health, which I have pretty well recovered. How much better should I feel, were I assured my family were in health. But the same good Being who preserves me is able to preserve them and bring me to the ardently wish'd for enjoyment of them again."

On December 25 Dr. Waldo wrote: "We are still in tents."

Of General Washington, Dr. Waldo stated: "He has always acted wisely…His conduct when closely scrutinized is uncensurable. Were his inferior generals as skillfull as himself—we should have the grandest choir of officers ever God made."

General Washington from his cold tent began a letter to the President of the Continental Congress, tendering his resignation, citing "abandonment to starvation and neglect."

In the midst of his writing, General Washington heard sounds coming from the field. Was it a mutiny, as one of his officers had predicted? He braved the falling snow and bitter wind, going from platoon to platoon where fires glowed, embers sputtering and hissing against the snow. Pots on the fires at each location gave off strange odors of whatever provender the soldiers had found of wild game to flavor their gruel.
At each location he was met with shouts of "Long live the United States! Hail to our Chief! May Liberty prevail!"

At one stop General Washington asked, "Have you not suffered enough?" The lieutenant in charge responded, "Having come this far, we can but go the rest of the distance. With you to lead us, we can't lose!"

Washington and his aide made their way back to the General's tent. When they arrived, they found garlands of holly and cedar twined around the marquee that identified the headquarters tent, and draped above the tent-flap door. General Washington took the letter he had started to Congress. He burned it at the fire his aides had built outside his tent.

"May God relieve your sufferings, if the Congress will not. And a good Christmas to you!""

Luke 2:8-11:

"And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.”

IT'S NOT JUST A NURSERY RHYME ANYMORE

It's the motto of our much-vaunted Investigative Reporters, who have so suddenly and mysteriously gone from "Speaking Truth to Power" to Speaking Truce With Flowers. Obama's no dictator--he's their dictater, and they are now busying themselves taking stenography from the officially official officious "Office of the President-Elect".

That's where asking Obama about E-Bay senate seats is "wasting your question" but asking him about his jump shot is not.

So it's no surprise that our dogged and fearless "What's-Your-Favorite-Flavor-of-Ice-Cream,-sir?"-Press Corps have taken to starting every story like this:

"(Washington, D.C.) While Barack Obama is of course completely innocent and had absolutey no knowledge of anything which might even tend to make him look bad, rumors and indictments continue to swirl around mental case Gov. Rod Blagowhatever, who Barack Obama barely even knew..."

In order to help the Snugglebunny Press help our new Commander-in-Snookums, and in compliance with the Federal Paperwork Explosion Act of 1984, I’m offering this multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank Spoon-Fed Press Release form. It can be used every week for the next four years, each time the president needs to throw yet another associate under the bus–for the Good of Our Nation, naturally:

"I, President Barack...

a.) Hussein
b.) Who's Sayin'?
c.) bin Laden
d. Love Man
e.) "Steve"

"...Obama, do solemnly swear--but not in the legal sense--that while I did indeed know...

a.) Alex Giannoulias
b.) Rahm Emmanuel
c.) Tony Rezko
d.) Rod Blagowhatever
e.) 3 indicted politicians and a Cubs outfielder to be named later

"...I had no knowledge of their alleged activities and their alleged...

a.) work for the Mob
b.) work for the Terrorists
c.) work for Mayor Daley
d.) work for the F.B.I.
e.) work for me

"...My advisors tell me that my involvement with this person was strictly limited to saying an occasional "Good Morning" and that this person is merely

a.) my pastor of twenty years
b.) not the Tony Rezko, Raila Odinga or PLO spokesman I knew
c.) just a guy from the neighborhood who I assumed had been rehabilitated
d.) a distant, distant, fugitive alien absconder aunt who never bought me Christmas presents anyway
e.) my wife

"So let me be absolutely clear; under the Constitution's Patagonian Legal Theorem of Unidicted Torts and Marshmellow Charms ratified by the Order of the Knights Templar in 1848, I am expressly forbidden from discussing these matters any further until I feel like it, except to say that I had absolutely no idea what was going on all around me and I am completely innocent as ever. Now round up the usual suspects!

I will now accept any and all wide-ranging and piercing questions on my jump shot, the White House puppy and my favorite flavor of ice cream--which is evolving! I think you're all going to be pleasantly surprised by my answer!"

Would that be "Chunky Monkey News-Flunky", sir?

Just askin'. Lord knows the Popsicle Press won't.

SMELL A LITTLE FISHY

Chu on This, via Protein Wisdom:

“Somehow we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe.”--Steven Chu, Obama's choice for Energy Secretary.

Ya' know, it's funny, because I was just talkin' to my neighbors just the other day, and they said to me "Noel, we're in a recession, and the one bright spot is low gasoline costs. But it sure would be nice if Washington could figure out a way to triple the price of gas!" And, BINGO!, Obama picks a guy who stays awake at night trying to figure out ways to do just that!

Obama has himself promised to bankrupt the coal industry. Nor will he replace coal plants with nuclear plants until the Sierra Club says it's okay, a.k.a. "never".

In addition, Obama wants to fund a vastly expensive Global Warming Regime which will do absolutely nothing except burn money and empower bureaucracies.

Evidently, we are going to get our energy from unicorn farts, magic fairy dust and good vibes.

You had your vote. Now buy a coat.

C.S. Lewis:

"The Christian story is precisely the story of one grand miracle, the Christian assertion that what is beyond all space and time, what is uncreated, eternal, came into nature, into human nature, descended into His own universe, and rose again, bringing nature up to Him. It is precisely one great miracle. If you take that away there is nothing specifically Christian left."

"Does being meek mean we allow the aggressive to run over us? Does it mean we stand silent, head bowed, while being verbally abused? No. Meekness speaks the truth in love. It stands its ground calmly and resolute. We can stand against injustice with anointed fury and still be meek."--Pastor John Hagee


ps: Do you know when John McCain lost the election? It wasn't when he supported the bailout. It was when he threw Pastor Hagee under the bus for being "anti-semetic"--a man who founded Christians United for Israel and funds Israeli orphanages. God blesses those who bless Israel--and He even blesses those who bless those who bless Israel.

OF, BY, AND FOR CONGRESS

And Other Rat Tales

* Ted Kennedy has promised to fully fund all of New York's legislative requests if they confer a Duchy upon Princess Caroline. Meanwhile, Gov. Blagobama is trying to sell a senate seat. I say, why not put willing seller and willing buyer together? Unca Ted could buy a seat for Caroline from Gov. Obamavitch! Seriously.

After all, both David Gregory and David Axelrod argue that selling senate seats is as wholesome and American as apple pie. However, if Dick Cheney so much as accepts a stick of chewing gum, that's still bribery.

To me, what Teddy is doing is worse than Gov. Husseinovitch. Tedward wants to purchase a seat from the governor of New York using taxpayers' money, not his own. Working serfs shoudn't have to fund a fuedal aristocracy by the sweat of their brows--that's something the Irish used to know instinctively.

* Three Cheers for the shoe-throwing Iraqi journalist! Our journalists have been throwing their shoes at Pres. Bush for eight years and calling it "objective reporting". Finally, an honest reporter!

Q: What do this Husseinite reporter, Saddam Hussein and Barry Hussein all have in common?
A: They all agree--Saddam should still be president of Iraq!

* A Montana judge has just found the right to suicide in the state constitution. Montanans never put it there. The judge simply decided that Montanans were too dumb, too slow and too bovine to enact her favorite policies, so she "discovered" it for them.

It must be nice when every single policy you prefer is already in the state constitution and you--and only you--possess the magic X-Ray Glasses that allow you to see it.

*Four Thousand, Seven Hundred dollars. That's how much more Nambla Pelosi's National Disgrace Congress has decided that it deserves for doing such a wonderful job of driving the economy into the dirt this year. Taxpayers who still have a job now have the privilege of working a little longer to pay for Congress' pay raise.

C'mon, Republicans--stand up to this outrage or get used to being a third-rate party in a two-party system.

COLIN POWELL AND THE LIMITS OF PIGMENT

or "The RINO and I Know"

Gen. Powell on CNN:

"If the party wants to have a future in this country, it has to face some realities. In another 20 years, the majority in this country will be the minority."

Which is exactly why we must return to the Constitution and stop discriminating against people with affirmative action, set-asides and preferences. Otherwise, we could have a new majority that is preferred in law, the same position whites held under Jim Crow laws. The idea was to stop discriminating against anybody, not to take turns.

"I think the party has to stop shouting at the world and at the country..."

*Gov. Palin's church was just burned down in an apparent hate crime--but Republicans are shouting? (Imagine if it had been Obama's church...!)
*Prop. 8 malcontents are invading church services, committing public sex acts, assaulting elderly opponents and sending mobs to extract public recantations from opponents--but Republicans are shouting?
*Al "Bullhorn" Sharpton conducted his own deadly pogroms and Rev. Wright is back in the pulpit screaming--but Republicans are shouting?
*Conservative speakers are regularly shouted down on campuses--but Republicans are shouting?

"Can we continue to listen to Rush Limbaugh?"

Yeah--everyone knows how Rush loves John McCain and wanted him to get the nomination.

We didn't listen to Limbaugh--we listened to you, Gen. Powell, and we nominated the most liberal, "big-tent" Republican since Gerald Ford. And you responded by fleeing the party and urging Republicans to vote for the Democrat because he shares your pigment. That's not leadership--it's tribalism.

And now you say we should

"not just try to influence [minority voters] by… principles and dogma."

Dogmas and catastrophies living together, eh, General? Chesterton on dogma:

"The vice of the modern notion of mental progress is that it is always something concerned with the breaking of bonds, the effacing of boundaries, the casting away of dogmas.

But if there be such a thing as mental growth, it must mean the growth into more and more definite convictions, into more and more dogmas. The human brain is a machine for coming to conclusions; if it cannot come to conclusions it is rusty. When we hear of a man too clever to believe, we are hearing of something having almost the character of a contradiction in terms. It is like hearing of a nail that was too good to hold down a carpet; or a bolt that was too strong to keep a door shut. Man can hardly be defined, after the fashion of Carlyle, as an animal who makes tools; ants and beavers and many other animals make tools, in the sense that they make an apparatus."

Man can be defined as an animal that makes dogmas. As he piles doctrine on doctrine and conclusion on conclusion in the formation of some tremendous scheme of philosophy and religion, he is, in the only legitimate sense of which the expression is capable, becoming more and more human.

When he drops one doctrine after another in a refined scepticism, when he declines to tie himself to a system, when he says that he has outgrown definitions, when he says that he disbelieves in finality, when, in his own imagination, he sits as God, holding no form of creed but contemplating all, then he is by that very process sinking slowly backwards into the vagueness of the vagrant animals and the unconsciousness of the grass. Trees have no dogmas. Turnips are singularly broad-minded."

In other words, turnips vote "present".

Powell is 180 degrees wrong about not trying to influence new voters by our "principles". Principle is the only hope we have of attracting these voters.

We cannot outspend Democrats. If we propose a $700 billion bailout, they'll propose an $800 billion bailout, a trillion in new spending, doubling the budgets of all existing programs and paying off all of Ted Kennedy's bar tabs since 1952. With interest.

Nor can we out-pander Democrats on identity politics. If we propose a Cinco de Mayo holiday, they'll propose a Cinco de Mayo holiday, putting Julio Iglesias on Mount Rushmore and giving Bolivia control of our nuclear arsenal. Just kidding--Obama already promised it to Kenya.

No, the only hope we have of attracting new voters is on broad American, Republican and conservative principles. Principles like strengthening families, not goverment. Like Faith. And Tradition. Patriotism. Opportunity. Self-Discipline. Adherence to the Constitution--the Actual Constitution.

Why? Because these principles are right and because they work for all families, regardless of background, and they work every time they are tried.

We don't need two Democrat parties, Gen. Powell. We need a principled conservative party and we need it like we've never needed it before.

If that's shouting, it's worth shouting about.

"THE GEORGE ORWELL 'EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE ACT' OF 1984 AND 2008"

Democrats For Voter Intimidation '08!

Much has been written about the thuggish practice of "card check", a non-secret ballot in which gangs of union goons come over to your house after dark to help you "vote right" while eyeing your children. If management did that, it would be Big Brother Supreme. Yet Democrats think that when unions do it, why, they're just being helpful.

As coercive and un-American as "card check" is, it's not the only bad feature of the Act.

Did you know that your company would not be able to give you a raise for months while an organizing action was taking place, lest it unduly influence your non-secret vote? This law would outlaw your raise. Indeed, unions have been known to cut secret deals with management to slash wages in order to get into a workplace. Do we really need a law to criminalize pay-raises right now?

It would also subject both sides to not just arbitration, but binding arbitration. A completely unaccountable government agent could decide to confiscate money from stockholders even to the point of bankruptcy, or to slash worker pay--and with no recourse to anyone.

In one of his many autobiographies, Barack Hussein wrote how he does the bidding of unions automatically, and how he didn't see that as corrupting in any way.

Of course it's not corrupting. How could unquestioningly following orders from union bosses possibly lead to corruption? Especially in Illinois?

This bill is forced unionism. Unions confiscate dues from their subjects and give the money to Democrats. By supporting this bill, Democrat politicians are voting to confiscate part of a worker's paycheck for themselves.

This bill is sponsored by Rep. George Miller of California, who only a few short years ago wrote in a letter to Mexico:

“We feel that the secret ballot is absolutely necessary to ensure that [Mexican] workers are not intimidated into voting for a union they might not otherwise choose.”

But all that principle is out the window now that he has the power to impose union tyranny on Americans. One day, it was a human rights abuse. But now it's suddenly good labor practice. Someone alert Lord Acton--absolute power is corrupting absolutely.

Rep. Miller's state of California, which should be the richest in the nation, is bankrupt and begging for a bailout. That is because it's government has been taken hostage by unions and run for the benefit of the employees and not the citizens. The same applies to Illinois.

And now Rep. Miller and Obama want to extend that lovely system to all the other states. No thanks, guys. Keep your culture of corruption to yourselves.

And a special note to the NAACP, who really should be ashamed of themselves. If these voter coercion laws were attempted on black voters, they would be screaming bloody murder. But it's okay to intimidate union voters?

Or maybe I just missed the part where Rev. King supported the midnight knock on the door.

G.K. Chesterton:

Step softly, under snow or rain,
To find the place where men can pray;
The way is all so very plain
That we may lose the way.

Oh, we have learnt to peer and pore
On tortured puzzles from our youth,
We know all the labyrinthine lore,
We are the three wise men of yore,
And we know all things but truth.

We have gone round and round the hill
And lost the wood among the trees,
And learnt long names for every ill,
And serve the made gods, naming still
The furies the Eumenides.

The gods of violence took the veil
Of vision and philosophy,
The Serpent that brought all men bale,
He bites his own accursed tail,
And calls himself Eternity.

Go humbly ... it has hailed and snowed...
With voices low and lanterns lit;
So very simple is the road,
That we may stray from it.

The world grows terrible and white,
And blinding white the breaking day;
We walk bewildered in the light,
For something is too large for sight,
And something much too plain to say.

The Child that was ere worlds begun
(... We need but walk a little way,
We need but see a latch undone...)
The Child that played with moon and sun
Is playing with a little hay.

The house from which the heavens are fed,
The old strange house that is our own,
Where trick of words are never said,
And Mercy is as plain as bread,
And Honour is as hard as stone.

Go humbly, humble are the skies,
And low and large and fierce the Star;
So very near the Manger lies
That we may travel far.

Hark! Laughter like a lion wakes
To roar to the resounding plain.
And the whole heaven shouts and shakes,
For God Himself is born again,
And we are little children walking
Through the snow and rain.
.........................................

"Men are still in black for the death of God. When Christianity was heavily bombarded in the last century upon no point was it more persistently and brilliantly attacked than upon that of its alleged enmity to human joy. Shelley and Swinburne and all their armies have passed again and again over the ground, but they have not altered it. They have not set up a single new trophy or ensign for the world’s merriment to rally to. They have not given a name or a new occasion of gaiety. Mr. Swinburne does not hang up his stockings on the eve of the birthday of Victor Hugo. Mr. William Archer does not sing carols descriptive of the infancy of Ibsen outside people’s doors in the snow. In the round of our rational and mournful year one festival remains out of all those ancient gaieties that once covered the whole earth. Christmas remains to remind us of those ages, whether Pagan or Christian, when the many acted poetry instead of the few writing it. In all the winter of our woods there is no tree in glow but the holly."– Heretics (1905)

THAT'S SOME NEIGHBORHOOD

I wasn't surprised.

After all, they warned us.

Our Beloved Media told us during the election of the city's rotten Machine Politics.

They gave us fair warning that despite all the rhetoric of "Hope and Change", the state government was hopelessly corrupt and unchanged. They did their level best to root out any and all stories of official malfeasance. Every single hint of corruption, no matter how far-fetched or ridiculous, was ruthlessly investigated and fully-aired in breathless banner headlines. No slimy politicians could hide under their rocks because our Fearless Press left no stone unturned anywhere in the city or the state.

By "city" and "state", I mean of course, the city of Wasilla and the state of Alaska.

As for Chicago and Illinois however, the Pampered Press acted as human diapers, seeking to contain the raw sewage at all costs until the objective was achieved.

The functioned as human bathroom deodorizers, hiding the Chicago Stench from the rest of us--the Glade Plug-In Press. In the immortal style of Information Ministries everywhere, these few, these brave, these volunteer censors saw their duty as the supression of news, not its dissemination.

*Fixer, covict and slumlord Tony Rezko bought Obama a house? Not interested!

*And the banker who sealed the sweetheart deal (for the second time!) was made state treasurer by Obama despite being twenty-something, never having cast a vote and financing casinos for the Mob? The deuce you say!

*And the only place Obama forcefully stood up against government corruption was in Kenya, while campaigning with his ethnic-cleansing Communist cousin Odinga? What's an "Odinga", anyway?

So, congratulations, One-Party Media! As they say in the criminal Bush-Cheney junta, "Mission Accomplished!" You got your affirmative action president selected.

And now we get a federal government every bit as efficient and ethical as Illinois'.

Great.

GOV. WILLIAM BRADFORD OF PLYMOUTH on "THE FAILURE OF SOCIALISM"

With an Afterword by Gov. Ronald Reagan of California.

To the Officially Officious Office of the Presidentius-Official-Electus, Barack "Lite" Obama

Plymouth Plantation, Nov. 29, 1620

Dear Sir;

So they began to think how they might raise as much corn as they could, and obtain a better crop than they had done, that they might not still thus languish in misery. At length, after much debate of things, the Governor (with the advice of the chiefest amongst them) gave way that they should set corn every man for his own particular, and in that regard trust to themselves; in all other things to go on in the general way as before. And so assigned to every family a parcel of land, according to the proportion of their number, for that end, only for present use (but made no division for inheritance) and ranged all boys and youth under some family.

This had very good success, for it made all hands very industrious, so as much more corn was planted than otherwise would have been by any means the Governor or any other could use, and saved him a great deal of trouble, and gave far better content. The women now went willingly into the field, and took their little ones with them to set corn; which before would allege weakness and inability; whom to have compelled would have been thought great tyranny and oppression.

The experience that was had in this common course and condition, tried sundry years and that amongst godly and sober men, may well evince the vanity of that conceit of Plato's and other ancients applauded by some of later times; that the taking away of property and bringing in community into a commonwealth would make them happy and flourishing; as if they were wiser than God.

For this community (so far as it was) was found to breed much confusion and discontent and retard much employment that would have been to their benefit and comfort. For the young men, that were most able and fit for labour and service, did repine that they should spend their time and strength to work for other men's wives and children without any recompense.

The strong, or man of parts, had no more in division of victuals and clothes than he that was weak and not able to do a quarter the other could; this was thought injustice. The aged and graver men to be ranked and equalized in labours and victuals, clothes, etc., with the meaner and younger sort, thought it some indignity and disrespect unto them. And for men's wives to be commanded to do service for other men, as dressing their meat, washing their clothes, etc., they deemed it a kind of slavery, neither could many husbands well brook it.

Upon the point all being to have alike, and all to do alike, they thought themselves in the like condition, and one as good as another; and so, if it did not cut off those relations that God hath set amongst men, yet it did at least much diminish and take off the mutual respects that should be preserved amongst them.

And now, let me turn it over to my fellow governor and Citizen on the Hill, Ronald Reagan:

Sir,

Do we find the answers to human misery in freedom as it is known, or do we sink into the deadly dullness of the Socialist ant heap?

Those who suggest that the latter is some kind of solution are, I think, open to challenge. Let’s have no more theorizing when actual comparison is possible. There is in the world a great nation [the Soviet Union], larger than ours in territory and populated with 250 million capable people. It is rich in resources and has had more than 50 uninterrupted years to practice socialism without opposition.

We could match them, but it would take a little doing on our part.

We’d have to cut our paychecks back by 75 percent; move 60 million workers back to the farm; abandon two-thirds of our steel-making capacity; destroy 40 million television sets; tear up 14 of every 15 miles of highway; junk 19 of every 20 automobiles; tear up two-thirds of our railroad track; knock down 70 percent of our houses; and rip out nine out of every 10 telephones.

Then, all we have to do is find a capitalist country to sell us wheat on credit to keep us from starving!

Of course, none of this applies to you as you have changed human nature by your very existence. Good day to you, sir.

ps; Could you please stop calling yourself the new Lincoln. I spoke to President Lincoln about it the just the other day and he doesn't like it one little bit. And you can stop calling yourself the new Reagan, too. I'm the new Reagan--you're just new.