A big thank you and Ooh-Rah! goes out to Gunz, for this lovely photo of me in my younger years, passing on some advice to John Murtha, who recently received an award for his peace-making skills.

Pardon me while I go take a shower; the fact that I even mentioned that traitorous EX-marine makes me feel rather filthy.

Yes, this is a rare Saturday posting. I volunteered to help TMBWitW move some boxes around in the retention area at work, and I woke up a bit early.

When I saw the picture Gunz sent me, (he snagged it from sues) I about fell out of my chair laughing so hard. A little warning next time, please.

God bless you all! Even Murtha, and Lord, let me find it in my heart to forgive him for what he is doing to the morale of our troops.

I’m going to be wearing my Red Shirt tomorrow – how about you?

God bless you all and have a good weekend!

Mary had this link to an interesting article regarding the de-socialization of the United States.

The author, Vedran Vuk, has some very salient points about the state of the personal union. We, as a people, have come to accept certain government programs, and have even planned our old age around them – Social Security, Medicare, etc. – when it really comes down to taking care of our own.

Back in the day, when the family unit was more often than not located on a family farm or ranch, this made sense. Multiple generations of families living in the same household would work together and help one another – the larger the family, the fewer hired hands needed. My own family grew on the family dairy farm at Black River Falls, Wisconsin, and up until my father’s generation the family was pretty much located in Wisconsin and northern Illinois. Since then, there has been an explosion of migration all over the country – I have cousins from California to Maine, from Washington to Florida.

But have we lost the connectedness that being a close family brings? I believe so – some of you may still have close relationships with all of your siblings – I have spoken only to my older brother lately; with the exception of our cousin in Colorado no one else in my family knows that we are expecting a child in December. My mother doesn’t even know, and she isn’t returning my phone calls again. (that’s another post, and quite the soap opera, if you ask me)

Anyway – I know my family is not unique, but I also know that there are still families out there who are still close.

Back to the point – could some of these programs be dismantled? We hear about the privatization of Social Security – what about the ultimate in privatization, and return all of the money to the wage earners? Then, let them make their decision on what they want to invest in. Yes, there are some people who would have one heck of a blow-out, but then sobriety should bring them back to the sense that they just partied away their retirement fund. Along with the removal of Social Security, perhaps it would be time to look at a national sales tax again – removing the income tax and only taxing what you actually buy, instead of what you earn. This has been called a “Fair Tax” and there are much more informed people out there to discuss it with than me; don’t even get me started.

Vedran Vuk makes another good point – the mindset of those on welfare is such that if you can count on someone else to bail you out all the time, why worry? This is “letting” people shirk their child-rearing duties, especially where that pesky “Personal Responsibility” thing comes in. I cannot fathom the thought process that says you should set your children up for failure. Isn’t that worse than child abuse? My gosh, how can you look at your “adult” children in jail and know that you allowed them to get there, and then blame anyone or anything other than yourself for not giving them the decision making skills and work ethic they needed to lift themselves up?

Tell you what – you all just think about this one for a while. Let’s meet back here later and talk about it.

Well, I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m kind of tired. I’ve cranked out a couple of Bill Whittle-esque entries, and all that venting has wiped my brain. Thus the no-brainer entry yesterday.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s lots of stuff to blog about, especially in such a target-rich environment as the world today – obliviots, morons, meatheads, politicians (oops, repeated myself there) – but I seem to be empty of words right now.

Not to worry – I am sure that something will tweak my senses again in the next day or two, and then I’ll be off and running again.

Me? Not much – I have been working on learning how to play the bass guitar for the church’s praise and worship team. The key there is working – I know where notes are on the piano, I know how to play trumpet (although it’s been a few years since I’ve puckered), but trying to translate that information to the bass guitar is … well, interesting would be one way to put it.

I still sing; in fact, I would be considered a vocalist before any other kind of musician-related “label” but the need is strong for those of us leading p&w to show that we are not limited to singing along with the CD player in front of the congregation.

And, since it’s the middle of July, we need to start working on our Christmas program. What fun!

Well, God bless you all, and go visit some of the people on the blogroll. Tell ’em I said “Hi!”

The tone has changed, the readership has increased (thanks, guys!), and I am looking forward to year two.

My favorite post? I thought you’d never ask…

Originally posted September 16, 2005

The Sheep, the Sheepdogs, and the Wolves

First, a big thank you to this guy for bringing this to my attention.

Second, go read this and then come back here. Warning: raw language ahead – this guy is passionate about this subject.

Finished? Good. We need to discuss something.

I don’t know what your politics are. I really don’t care, because I made a decision a long time ago to judge someone by their actions, not by their words. You get a much better reading of them that way.

I voted the way I did in the national election (it doesn’t matter which one, which year; the candidate I voted for didn’t always win) because the candidate I voted for was a sheepdog. A gray sheepdog. You can pose and posture all you want, but until you actually act on your convictions, you are nothing but a clanging symbol. Or a bleating sheep.

I served this country, and I took an oath to defend her against all enemies, foreign and domestic. I never broke that oath; I feel I am still under obligation to that oath and this country. Many people I served with are no longer with us because they took that oath to it’s extreme conclusion. When I took the oath, it was explained to us, a roomful of eager young recruits, that “foreign or domestic” meant that we were swearing to fight against even our own mothers if they were a threat to the freedoms of this country. With that in mind, the tearing away of the fabric that makes up this country, it’s history, it’s traditions, it’s very nature, should be seen as an attack by domestic enemies.

I am a Christian. I was converted to the Lord by a young man who went on to give his life in service. I am not for war, but I am not going to stand here and say that war is to be avoided at all costs. There is a reason there are no fully non-aggressive countries on today’s geo-political scene. The nature of man is to defend that which is his. God did not create man to be war-like; man became war-like when two opposing viewpoints were formed (over the nature of an offering to God, by Cain and Able). From that point on, wars were fought throughout history. No, Christianity was not always on the right side. Some wars were fought in the name of Christianity that were actually wars for one person to gain power over others. Those were wrong, and give Christians a history that is difficult, if not impossible, to reconcile. Christians are called to be good stewards of that which is bestowed upon them by God. That includes defending what is theirs, as well as helping others defend their blessings.

This is where the sheepdogs come in. I am a gray sheepdog. I am getting long in the tooth, but I will still stand up to any enemy, foreign or domestic, and say enough is enough. I will stand between the wolves and the sheep, despite how loudly the sheep will bleat that they do not need protection from the misunderstood wolf, and keep the wolf from advancing. If the wolf insists on coming closer, I will help take the fight to the wolf.

What I cannot understand is why the sheep continue to bleat even after the wolf has broken through the ranks of the sheepdogs. Yes, some sheep lost their lives, the sheep will bleat, but we have studied the way of the wolf, and it was the actions of the sheepdogs that brought the attack in the first place. Leave the wolves in peace, the sheep bleat, and they will leave us in peace.

That is not safe thinking. That is not sane thinking. You have studied that which the wolves wanted you to see. They did not allow you to study all facets of them, for that would have revealed the darker side of their existence. They have systematically denied that there was a dark side to them. The few wolves who have ingratiated themselves to the sheep by not attacking them right away, while not condemning the attacks by the rest of the wolves, are merely waiting for the day they themselves can make their attack. Then the sheep will bleat again, oh, you sheepdogs, always trying to foment hate against the wolves. You just don’t understand them.

That’s the problem. We do understand them. As long as the wolves did not attack our herd, we sheepdogs were more than happy to let them exist. They have a reason to be on the earth, just as the rest of us do. When they crossed the line and attacked our herd, bypassing the sheepdogs, then they became the enemy.

Now we have other sheep, who appear to be sheep, but who are really wolves in sheep’s clothing. They do everything in their power to discredit the sheepdogs and the Shepherd of the flock, knowing that even if a sheepdog were to raise the alarm that a wolf had slipped in amongst the sheep, the other sheep would cover the alarm with their bleating, saying that the sheepdogs are trying to discredit one of the most loved and creative sheep to ever film a documentary.

Last time I checked, providing aid to the enemy was a treasonous offense. By claiming that events that happened actually did not happen, or by misrepresenting how events transpired, these wolves in sheep’s clothing are giving more reason to the wolves to attack this herd than ever before. Do they think the wolves will let them co-exist if the wolves were able to successfully attack this herd? Do they think their misunderstood wolf friends would allow them to continue in the freedoms and lives that they enjoy today? Ask any citizen of a country where the Laws of the Wolf have been enacted just how quickly the lives and freedoms they took for granted disappeared. Also ask them how quickly their sheepdogs were rounded up and killed – er, “punished” for crimes against the (new) Shepherd. And, whatever happened to the old Shepherd, anyway?

I am tired of the Newdows and the Moores and the Garafalos of this country trying to make us out to be the enemy. If they believe that this country is doing it wrong, then they need to seek out another country where they will be allowed to do it the way they feel it should be done. Not by force, but by reason. As long as there are humans in control of the countries on this earth, reason will not win out. Reason backed by sufficient force will win. We need those who reason and those who are forceful to work together, as they have since the founding of this country, in order to continue to be a world leader. This two hundred and twenty nine year experiment called a Republic, a Representative Democracy, is the best model for it’s citizens there is. Don’t let the sheep tear it apart with their bleating. Allow the sheepdogs to do their jobs, and stand behind the Shepherd. When a new Shepherd is chosen, stand behind that one. Don’t discredit the leader; this show weakness to the wolves that they will exploit.

Now, are you a sheep? Or a sheepdog? Or are you a wolf? If you are a wolf, I will watch out for you, and you will not be allowed any closer than you are. If you are a sheep, I may not agree with what you are bleating, but I will defend to the death your right to bleat it, as long as you don’t cross the line of treason. If you are a sheepdog, I am honored to stand beside you.