When Saul of Tarsus set out on his journey to Damascus the whole of the known world lay in bondage. . . . Then, of a sudden, there was a light in the world, and a man from Galilee saying, Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's and unto God the things that are God's.
And the voice from Galilee, which would defy Caesar, offered a new Kingdom in which each man could walk upright and bow to none but his God. Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. And he sent this gospel of the Kingdom of Man into the uttermost ends of the earth.
So the light came into the world and the men who lived in darkness were afraid, and they tried to lower a curtain so that man would still believe salvation lay with the leaders.
But it came to pass for a while in divers places that the truth did set man free, although the men of darkness were offended and they tried to put out the light. The voice said, Haste ye. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness come upon you, for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. . . . Published December 24, 1949, and every year since.
Posted by: Mike ||
12/24/2009 13:04 ||
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#1
Thank you. It's been too long since I read this.
Vermont Royster was an fellow alumnus of my tiny private high school in Tennessee (link) - a fact which was mentioned to us early and often. Otherwise I probably never would have heard of him since I'm not a WSJ reader.
And no snark, please; especially on the need to pray for the president. We should also pray for our other politicians as well.
For all the children who should be loved always, but especially on this wondrous night, with our arms around them and a long good-night kiss on the temple, a kiss more precious than anything wrapped in a box.
For all the parents who linger in the doorways of the bedrooms, watching those sleeping shapes.
For all the babies who aren't loved enough, and may grow up with a hard crust around their hearts because someone neglected to plant those kisses and give those hugs.
For every couple who adopts a child and saves a life. For those who've tried to have children, but can't. For those who've lost their children, and for the children who've lost their moms and dads.
And for the crazy uncles who will drink too much tonight, and tell wacky jokes and put on the red suit and dance outside in the cold, before sneaking in to surprise the laughing kids. For those wise aunts who make sure the coffee is strong, so the crazy uncles can sober up.
For all the men and women and children of all the choirs of the world. They've been practicing for months, gathering on weeknights in empty churches, so that on this night they may carry us with their harmonies.
And for their voices that gently invite us to humble ourselves, so we can ask for help and begin scraping away any bitterness that has taken root.
For the friends, relatives and neighbors who haven't waited for one night to build what is important. All year they've been building it. They show up on a Thursday afternoon in June or some cool morning in November, just to see if you're OK.
So tonight is theirs and tomorrow, too, because they are family, by friendship or by blood, by the acts of family.
For those who are far away and can't make it home this year. And for those who've been distant in so many other ways, worrying they've been gone too long, wondering if it's too late. But because of this night, we're given new hope.
The door is always open.
Just reach for it and see.
For those who keep their sense of humor and count to 10, and for those of us who only make it to 7, and wish we'd kept counting.
For everyone who has made bad choices, but acknowledges what's been broken. Tonight is the night to begin again.
For the old guys at the end of the bar, nursing their drinks, half-watching the TV and grateful there is a warm place to sit and hear laughter.
And for the old women alone in their rooms, awake in bed, remembering these nights past and the laughter of children, nights when it wasn't so still, when there was so much to do and a houseful of hungry guests to feed.
For all the young moms who are stressed and overwhelmed, with the kids and the bills and the shopping. For the dads and moms who've been out of work and need a job.
And for everyone on the night shift tonight, and those who work tomorrow. For the families of our police officers, firefighters and paramedics working tonight, and for the police and firefighters and paramedics themselves, who run into danger to help us.
For everyone in the hospitals praying for dignity and relief without shame or suffering. For the doctors who care for them. For the nurses who enter the room and pull up a chair, listening to quiet confessions.
For the clergy who have struggled with belief, yet find it again, and are renewed.
And for every sailor on every ship tonight, especially those standing watch on the bridge, looking out into cold black water, remembering brightly lit rooms.
For our young president and our leaders. For members of the U.S. armed forces who protect us with their bodies and their lives. For the members of the intelligence services and Foreign Service who put themselves at risk for us. And for their parents and loved ones who wait for them.
For our great nation that faces difficult days ahead.
To those of you whom I've offended with my thoughtless and clumsy words and shrill tone on bad days. I'm sorry.
And to those of you who've given this column a chance for more than 10 years now, visiting with me four mornings a week, and those of you who write or call or send an e-mail. My wife and I can't ever properly express our thanks. But we do thank you, again.
For everyone who has kept hold of what is important about this special night. It is the message brought by that perfect child born in a manger in Bethlehem, who came to light the world.
He is the gift.
It is all about love.
And I hope that it comes to you, and comforts you, and remains.
From my wife, Betty, and our boys, from my mother and my brothers and their wives and children, from all of us to all of you and yours.
...Instead of strong American leadership, the White House has all too often offered humiliating apologies for Americas past and embarrassing gaffes.
Here is a list of the ten biggest foreign policy follies of Barack Obamas first year in office.entirety. But here's the list:
1. Surrendering to Russia over missile defence.
2. Appeasing the mullahs of Iran.
3. Ending the war on terror.
4. Announcing a surge while declaring an exit.
5. Apologizing to France for America's "arrogance."
6. Giving DVDs to the British Prime Minister.
7. Siding with Marxists in Honduras.
8. Bowing to emperors and kings.
9. Embracing genocidal killers in Sudan.
10. Throwing Churchill out of the White House.
Posted by: lord garth ||
12/24/2009 00:00 ||
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#6
Someone really ought to be keeping tabs and listing/inviting suggested means to rectify the likely unpleasant outcomes resulting from Obama's woeful lack of judgement.
In response to Blunder #10: Requesting the return of Churchill's bust to the White House. Should be done with some ceremony during the first days of the next president's term.
#7
Have you noticed any leaks or backstabbing from State as we saw during the Bush II era? They seem very content with these 'blunders'. No surprise there. So, it should have been titled Obama and State's Top Ten Foreign Policy Blunders.
#9
Bulldog, I admit that the return of Churchill's bust was a very low point in the special relationship, but look at it from Obama's point of view: Could there have been a more embarrassing comparison?
Posted by: Matt ||
12/24/2009 13:03 Comments ||
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#10
Not difficult to figure actually. It was Winston Churchill's army that arrested Barry's grandfather for spying for the Mau Mau.
Apples, they generally fall pretty close to the tree.
Posted by: ed ||
12/24/2009 15:00 Comments ||
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#12
I don't understand why he didn't move the bust into a different room. Not very political.
Nobody would have loaned Clinton anything expensive ... that they wanted back.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
12/24/2009 15:18 Comments ||
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#13
Here's hoping the next conservative President of the US (yeah, we can hope for one of those) makes time for "stick my thumb in obama's eye" one hour a day during 8 years of cleaning up the beltway cesspool. Could be great fun...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
12/24/2009 17:23 Comments ||
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#14
Wouldn't it be easier to list the Top 100?
No, that would be way more painful. It would be way easier to list the things he has done right. At least it would be a much shorter list.
If a major homegrown terrorist attack happens on U.S. soil in the coming years, 2009 will be looked at as the year when the warning signs were missed. According to the Rand Corporation, the U.S. has experienced 30 homegrown terrorism plots since 9/11. One-third of these occurred in 2009; a frightening spike that warrants more attention than it is currently being given by public officials.
The Obama Administration began its term by refusing to include terms like "radical Islam" as part of its lexicon. The Global War on Terrorism was alternatively called an "overseas contingency operation" or "a campaign against extremists who wish to do us harm."
The Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, described terrorism as a "man-caused disaster. When asked about not even mentioning the word "terrorism" in her first address to Congress, she said, "That is perhaps only a nuance, but it demonstrates that we want to move away from the politics of fear towards a policy of being prepared for all risks that can occur."
The homegrown terrorist activity this year has startled the Obama Administration, which now is forced to privately conclude that the radicalization of American-Muslims is increasing.
In today's 30-second news culture, shocking incidents such as these quickly fade away as the topic of coverage as other news develops. A summary of some of the biggest incidents this year is needed for the American people to understand how much activity took place:
* In May, authorities broke up a plot by four prison converts to bomb two synagogues in the Bronx and fire Stinger missiles at aircraft flying around the Air National Guard base in Newburgh , New York .
* On June 1, a Muslim convert shot up a military recruiting center in Arkansas, killing one soldier and wounding another. The attacker, Abdulhakim Muhammad, was previously jailed in Yemen for traveling on a fraudulent Somali passport. Robert Spencer of JihadWatch.org reported that a "well-placed source" informed him that he had gone to Yemen to try to study under a radical cleric named Yahya Hajoori.
* In July, seven Muslims were arrested in North Carolina for training with high-powered weapons in preparation to join a jihad overseas. The leader of the group, Daniel Patrick Boyd, had previously trained in guerilla camps in Afghanistan during the Soviet invasion and enlisted his two sons in his plans.
* In September, FBI and local law enforcement raided two apartments owned by Afghans in New York after the occupants were visited by Najibullah Zazi, a suspected terrorist who had traveled to an Al-Qaeda training camp last year. Nine backpacks and cell phones were confiscated, and Zazi was found to have purchased chemicals similar to those used in the 2005 London subway bombings, causing concern that the suspects were planning an attack styled after that operation.
* Also in September, FBI sting operations led to the arrest of two desiring to carry out acts of terror. A Jordanian named Michael Finton, an admirer of the "American Taliban" John Walker Lindh, was arrested for planning to set off car bombs outside of a courthouse in Illinois and a skyscraper in Texas . Hosam Maher Husein Smadi was arrested in Texas after trying to detonate a decoy car bomb underneath an office tower.
* In October, the FBI tried to arrest a radical imam in Detroit connected to a range of criminal activity. When they arrived at a warehouse to get Imam Luqman Ameen Abdullah, he responded with gunfire, killing one of the FBI's dogs before he was shot and killed. Six of his associates were arrested. In the same month, Tarek Mehanna was arrested in Boston for planning to attack a shopping mall and assassinate two public officials.
* The next month, Nidal Malik Hassan carried out the horrific shooting at Fort Hood , killing 13 people. He is now known to have previously expressed his support for suicide bombers and to have communicated with Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical imam in Yemen who has acted as a recruiter for Al-Qaeda and praised Hassan's shooting. To this day, President Obama and senior officials have not publicly described the incident as terrorism.
* Most recently, five Americans were arrested in Pakistan on their way to link up with the Al-Qaeda and Taliban. They were arrested at the home of a member of the Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist group, who is the uncle to one of the suspects.
These are only some of the major incidents related to radical Islamic activity in the U.S. that occurred this year. A total of 14 Somali-Americans from Minnesota have been indicted for helping to recruit fellow members of their community to join the Al-Shabaab terrorist group fighting for control of Somalia . The case of Rifqa Bary received considerable attention, as did the honor killing in Arizona of a daughter by her father for being "too Westernized."
The Christian Action Network, where I serve as a national security researcher, released the "Homegrown Jihad" documentary in February about the isolated communities in the U.S. run by a radical Islamic group used as paramilitary training and recruitment centers. A new tape provided to me as part of CAN's investigation into the group called "Muslims of the Americas " shows female recruits of the organization receiving such training at their headquarters in New York called "Islamberg."
The media is failing to compile all these events and see the frightening increase that the Obama Administration is now admitting exists. When the problem is mentioned, the ideological component is not discussed or is misunderstood. On December 12, Kimberly Dozier reported on the Obama Administration's realization regarding the problem on CBS Evening News, but attributed the rise in homegrown terrorism to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan , saying they were "portrayed by the militants as America 's war on Islam."
Dozier also said that "Muslim community leaders here say young people are also being driven to extremes by post-9/11 anti-Muslim propaganda" and cited the Council on American-Islamic Relations as saying that civil rights complaints by Muslims have increased by ten percent in 2009, attempting to draw a connection between bigotry against Muslims and homegrown terrorism. If Dozier had done her research on her source, she would have found that the view of the War on Terror as a war on Islam that she says is causing the increase in homegrown terrorism is actually promoted by CAIR.
2009 should put to rest the idea that any homegrown terrorist plot is an isolated incident. The participants in these plots might not be operationally connected, but a political-religious ideology binds them together. The fight for the home front continues into 2010.
by Ted Nugent
Of the many self-inflicted problems that face our country, none is as dangerous to the survival of our nation as the curse of political correctness. PC appears to be a seemingly immortal condition of stupidity. But stupidity, in the long run, usually manages to limit its numbers. The danger lies in being in the vicinity when those numbers limit themselves.
Political correctness is a cancer that many Americans, government institutions, businesses and even many individual citizens have willfully embraced and now serve as hosts who intentionally spread this horrible disease. PC pokes its enormous nose into the tent disguised as good manners. Name-calling has come to be adjudged to have no place in civilized society. This is in theory good -- my grandmother was the most lovely of women, with a large and comfortable lap and a pair of arms that was always there for little boys, but she also had a moustache and she barely spoke English. I'd not take kindly to hearing her referred to as a "wop." On the other hand, I seldom heard "wops" referred to as such to their faces, though the hillbilly side of me does hear the word "cracker" a bit more often.
Let me be clear: political correctness is a form of cowardice that leads to brain damage. It takes us from now calling people bad names to being afraid to refer to spades as spades, or even as shovels.
It concerns itself with feeling good instead of thinking clearly and actually doing good. It masks the truth because the truth is too uncomfortable for the intellectually and spiritually weak in our society. The word "nigger" has mutated into "the n----- word." This is good as an expression of good manners. When we pass that point and refuse to acknowledge the existence of "yo boyz" we achieve the nirvana of stupidity. When we become aware of the existence of "niggahz" but restrain ourselves from using the word we dip our toes in the ocean of the ridiculous.
To others, political correctness serves as a useful smokescreen. Political correctness is ultimately about stepping on the throat of common sense and strangling the life out of it. Logic be damned. It becomes a method of thought control, which is the aim of all dictatorship. Thinking of the dread forbidden words makes us feel shame. Actually speaking them costs us jobs and social position. If we were sufficiently well indoctrinated we wouldn't even be able to utter the words, so we deserve our punishment.
Need some recent examples of politically correct poison? A flood of them lie on the edge of consciousness...
How about the Muslim terrorist -- yes terrorist -- who killed thirteen soldiers and wounded thirty more at Fort Hood? Many politicians, including our president, did their best to mask the discomforting truth about this hate mongering, murdering Muslim terrorist. Instead of calling him what he is, a Muslim terrorist, many in our government and the media did their best to downplay his Muslim religion and his e-mail communication with another radical Muslims, the clear and present enemies of America. The truth is that the murdering punk is a soulless, America hating Muslim terrorist. Islam, hiding its many (and literal) sins, was quick to jump onto the PC bandwagon. We view, every day, the atrocities Muslims visit upon each other in ensuring religious orthodoxy -- and often in arguing over what that orthodoxy might be. We are aware of the fact that exemplars of the religion have declared war on us, want the males among us dead and the females among us as slaves, sexual and otherwise. Yet these observations are denied validity, denied in fact their very existence. Islamic bloodthirst has to be our fault somehow.
Political correctness has enabled various human scum to slaughter innocent people. All recent mass killings including the slaughter at Fort Hood have occurred in the left's dream of gun free zones. Dozens of Americans have died because some political correct moron decided to make a shopping mall, Army fort, school campus, church, restaurant, and many other places gun free zones, the unarmed, helpless playground for murderers. Proceeding from the premise that all humans are law-abiding that idea makes perfect sense. Proceeding from the idea that most are but that the remainder are savages gives us today's reality.
That's right, some feel-good idiot made a conscious decision to create an environment that literally guarantees victims. But the theory sez it should work. What're y'gonna believe: theory or your own lying eyes?
And for what reason did they create this intolerable and inhumane environment: they wanted to "feel" good that they were doing something to reduce violence. The result: they created killing fields in every case. "Violence" is in the world of the politically correct a bad thing -- always and under all circumstances. It is, however, understandable in those who want to slap us around or despoil us or even kill us. Don't ask me how. My mind's not flexible enough to accommodate the concept. A band of fascisti goose stepping down the street and Hitler grüssing and singing the Horst Wessel song is bad. I'm guessing that it's because it's also in the past. A band of student ayatollahs goose stepping and Hitler grüssing down the street is a mere expression of a cultural difference and after all look what we did the the Kickapoos 150 years ago.
The global warming issue is one of the biggest political correct frauds in the history of mankind. If you recall, back in the 1970s the environmental alarmists were telling us we were on the verge of an ice age. I still have the longhandles I laid in for Nuclear Winter...
Now, Al Gore--possibly one of the biggest energy consumers and carbon emitters in the United States--wants us to believe that man is the cause of the earth warming. I confess. It was me. I burned the cardboard out back.
Al Gore is a fraud who has made tens of millions peddling his global warming junk science. He is the Bernie Madoff of the science community. Ted's just jealous because he didn't invent the internet and star in Love Story...
Due to political correctness, schools have expelled Boy Scouts because they had a small pocket knife, banned the games of dodge ball and tag, oftentimes the very concept of winners and losers in our educations system, yet these very same schools pump our kids full of junk food such as soda, candy, pizza and burgers while reducing the amount of physical activity. I'm wondering how that came about. I can remember the meat loaf and macaroni and cheese lunches served up in the cafeteria we had during my school years, and the milk -- occasionally chocolate milk -- we washed it down with. I can't recall ever being served pizza or burgers. I'm wondering how much we paid the genius who came up with the idea to do so. I've got a few ideas that probably aren't any better, but certainly aren't any worse, that I can let go for reasonable prices...
Result: our children are the fattest, most unhealthy, blubber-infested kids on the planet, yet not one of them has been attacked by a Boy Scout with a pocket knife. The only zero tolerance public school policy I advocate is banning policies that reward "feel good" idiocy. When I was a child our mothers would send us out to play, where we could burn off thousands of calories in just a few hours. We ran wild, exploring the entire town, visiting back and forth, trading toys and the occasional knuckle sandwich. No child I knew was ever carried off by a pervert... Oh. Wait. Calling them perverts is politically incorrect, isn't it? I don't think I ever heard the word "pedophile" until I was in my 30s. The politically incorrect hillbillies, wops, and dumb Dutchmen I grew up around wouldn't have stood for any of their number "getting after" kids, and while they were perfectly hospitable to strangers they weren't that indulgent of them, if you follow my drift...
Political correctness has even made inroads into the hunting community. We actually have hunters who believe we should cover up the dead deer in the bed of our pickup trucks because they believe we will offend non-hunters if they see an actual dead deer. This, of course, is the exact opposite what hunters should be told and what non-hunters need to see. I tolerate none of this lunacy. I celebrated the last pure, ultimate green environmentalism on earth; hunting, fishing and trapping. They are literally biologically perfect. I'm too stiff and arthritic to hunt anymore, so to be properly PC I guess I should demand that everyone else stop.
Someone told me not long ago that common sense is no longer common. It never has been. Never forget that half of everyone is below average. And 80 percent of everyone is middlin'.
Sadly, the grotesque evidence continues to stack up that buttresses this sad but true statement. The list of political correct, butthead examples goes on and on. The Titanic is sinking and some politically correct jerks are trying to convince the rest of us to get busy and rearrange the deck chairs instead of climbing into the life boats. It's literally that bizzarro and ugly. I think it's actually gone beyond that. They're fighting for control of the wheelhouse for the honor of piloting us all into the depths of the briny deep.
Until America returns to a policy of bold, unabashed truth, logic, honesty and common sense, the rest of our financial and social problems will continue to escalate. It is impossible to truly fix a problem by "feeling good" about fixing it. Only idiots go hunting with a "feel good" arrow in their quiver. I hunt with razor sharp arrows and I actually kill animals and then I eat them. If you have a problem with that you are stoned on weird and hopelessly addicted to denial.
I believe with all my heart that General Patton would tell us that the first thing we need to do to save America is to kill political correctness. A perfect solution to what ails us.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Political Correctness: A doctrine which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a tur* by the clean end.
anon
#2
I AM a "Cracker". I give you permission to call me one. I am a Georgia Cracker. Forsyth County Georgia.
A lot of my kin are Brooks County Crackers (sawgrass, big snakes and Fox Squirrels)and Lumpkin County Crackers ( Hill billys north Georgia mountains). There are more of us scattered through Quitman and Pavo and Camilla( its still 1920 somewhere). My son is married to a Nigger and all my grandchildren are...
And I aint no Liberal and that's about all I have to say about what happens to Yankees who aint from around c'here.
And if you deliberately insult me, I will hurt you. And I can. But I do make good Cornbread and beans and hamhock. ( I hate sweet Cornbread, be warned..I use two eggs and a bit of salt in the dough to make it hard so you can carry some in your pocket for later) Stone Ground meal...the good stuff.
Ever see the Fox in that Disney Movie about B'rer Rabbit? That was my daddy.
I am the bear..but with two Master's Degrees and a pistol in the back of my belt. I own an I-talian Tractor and I have two real mean dogs.
#3
Ironic the previous comment had to be sinktrapped in the PC thread. Nonetheless, there are lines we do not cross, just as we do not refer to Mr. Pruitt's delightful Italian grandmother as a wop. If there is a question in anyone's mind, imagine you are sitting in my living room and I am pouring out tea, while the youngsters sit with a plate of purloined cookies in the corner where they fondly believe I can't see them. (Yes, of course there is something stronger on the sideboard for those who prefer it, do go help yourself).
#8
Gotta love the Nuge. I see Angleton9 hit the Yule Tide Cheer a wee bit early! Good stuff. Oh, BTW, interesting that the comment (even though sinktrapped) shows up when one comments. Lovely!
;-)
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
