Do we remember the Christian martyrs who had their throats slit by the Muslin ISIS? This writer fears that we do not. Shame, Shame on us. This writer has spoken with many Christians who do not care that the Chaldean, Syriac, Syrian, Coptic, and Catholic Christians are being persecuted, tortured and killed by the Muslims of ISIS. People say, oh, well that is their problem! This writer is a ELCA Lutheran, and I read that my Denominational leaders are asking congregations to donate to the humanitarian crisis in the Middle East. I telephoned the leadership and asked; What does that mean? Does it mean my money will be used to house clothe feed Muslims? Yes, was the immediate answer. I asked if the Christians would be given preference. The answer was an accusation… namely, the person asked me if I was a racist? When I asked if Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Morocco, Chad, Somalia were housing Muslin refugees, the answer was an emphatic, "What difference does that make?"
Charity for the world’s needy is universal. The poor and rejected and those driven out of land, business and home are the objects of our generosity. There is no argument there. But why do the Muslim nations, leaders and religious officials get an excuse. Those who excuse the hardness of heart which is Islam, are very quick to condemn Christians for asking for money in order to help Mid East refugees!
Tag: Terrorists
My Ideal Candidate for President
Frankly, it is myself. But that is not reality. So, I decided to think about my ideal candidate. WARNING: My choice for President is Senator Rand Paul. Why? I think of Senator Rand Paul as a principled leader who has a solid principle of government, and will be guided by high morality and the ethical principles of a Judeao/Christian heritage.
But this is about a blending of candidates into the ideal President. For me, it would start with the qualities I admire in Senator Paul. He is a moderate conservative in government philosophy viewing the federal government as too large to be effective and too big to be considerate of the needs of individual citizens. His foreign policy is a philosophy of applying the same freedoms and principles of governance to other nations as we apply to ourselves. Senator Paul, unlike some others, does not consider it a virtue to bomb and drone other nations under the pretext of defending freedom. He understands that bombs kill innocent people and that even targeted drones have been used to kill fifty men, women, and children under the idea that one of them may be a terrorist.
The second candidate whose qualities I admire is Dr. Ben Carson. Like Senator Rand Paul, Dr. Carson lives by the principle ethical imperative of all doctors, namely, do no harm. Dr. Ben Carson is a quintessential American who’s exemplary life highlights him, as it does Dr. Rand Paul, as a person who’s pro life stand is not just anti Planned Parenthood, but forcefully affirmative of all that America and Western civilization has always held dear, namely, the freedom of the individual to chose and the freedom of the person to move forward into the future under the warm light of God’s sun.
Thirdly, I sincerely appreciate the passionate convictions and forthright honesty of Senator Ted. Cruz. He is a pioneer who has been helped by Senator Rand Paul to find his place in the spectrum of political life and who has distinguished himself as a shining beacon of light in a sea of tumult and storm.
Fourthly, I admire the stamina, intellect and language ability of Governor Jeb Bush. He speaks fluent Spanish and I admire his ability at a second language. But Secretary of State Kerry speaks fluent French and I do not admire him. So, I am forced to wonder if a President Jeb Bush will hold his press conferences and deliver his State of the Union addresses in English and in Spanish? The languages spoken in the USA are many and all are good. However, for this citizen, the language of America is English. It is not Arabic. It is not Korean. It is not Hebrew. It is not Spanish. The people who speak two or more languages are to appreciated. But the language of America for Koreans, Jews, Hispanics, Arabs and all others, is English.
Fifthly I admire Governors Walker and Kasich. They are administrators and leaders of sovereign states within our federal union. As governors, they are responsive to the needs of large citizen populations and their elected representative in the state legislatures. This, all by itself, indicates leaders who fully understand and support the principles of freedom for which our founders fought the American Revolution.
Sixth , I have a deep appreciation for Governor Huckabee. He is a gentleman through and through who exemplifies the values, culture and morals of Christian faith and its daily application to life.
Seventh, I like Donald Trump. He is forthright, candid and brutally opinionated. I believe that his brand of angry opinion reflects the frustration, anger and disappointment of Americans who are on the verge of giving up on the American dream and the principles of American freedom. But I do not believe we should select a leader because he reflects our anger. I do not believe we should follow the lead of someone because he represents our frustration. I do not feel comfortable empowering a man who’s demeanor is one that says, “You’re fired”. As ventilating as that demeanor may be, it is not a characteristic under which I want to live four years.
Can we get all of this in one President. I pray that we could. However, short of that, I pray that our next President will call upon the talents, experiences, abilities and insights of all the many candidates, appointing them to positions of power so that America will be served not by one excellent candidate who knows how to win elections but by many candidates who love America and will spend their lives making America better tomorrow than it is today.
Just Stop the Bombs
Recently I saw a photo on the Internet showing ISIS terrorists in a parade of US military vehicles including tanks, armored personnel carriers, trucks, HumVees, and the like. The terrorists were dressed in the green US army camo uniform. Many carried US made Tow missile carriers, and other sophisticated US weapons. With the photos was a video of the parade of the terrorists through the town they had captured from the Syrian government. Please note that we were able to photograph and videotape the parade. It was at least a mile long and was manned by hundreds of terrorist drivers, militants and criminals. If we wanted to do something about ISIS this was our chance but the parade continued on its way with no terrorist ever in danger.
On the same day I saw a photo of a USA bombing raid on Damascus the civilian city and capital of Syria. It was reported that hundreds of civilians in the capital were killed or injured. It looked like the bombing was extensive and brutal. So, we bomb the capital city of the sovereign nation of Syria while we videotape the terrorist ISIS militants. Innocent people in the Capital die from our bombs but the bloody terrorist criminals are celebrating.
I think that B. Assad is a dictator, as was his father. I believe that his government, however, is recognized by 105 nations and had a seat in the United Nations General Assembly. I think an international business that wanted a contract for Syrian oil would get Assad’s signature and the contract would be considered legally binding and could be defended before the world court in Geneva.
So what gives us the right to bomb Assad? It is because the USA says he is a dictator and as our President said, “Must Go.” I guess, therefore, if we were fair, then if Assad said Obama is a terrorist who bombs innocent civilians in Damascus and therefore, “Must Go.” it would be okay for him to bomb Washington so as to get at B. Obama!? I guess there is no crime for either them or us. It’s just the business of Superpowers and nation states.
However, I do not remember reading that Assad or his government declared war on the USA. I do not remember Assad or his government attacking US military personnel at any time. I do not remember Assad arranging for bombs to go off in Washington. He does not bomb the USA embassy in Damascus. I think it would be fair to say that Syria and the Assad regime are not in any way a threat to the USA or USA international interests. So why are we bombing Assad? Why are USA bombs killing innocent Syrian civilians in the capital city?
The USA has not moved to remove the Assad government from the United Nations. It has not moved to have the 105 nations deny diplomatic recognition to the Assad government. The USA has not declared war on Syria. And the last time I looked, I think that the definition of criminal aggression is when one nation (USA) attacks a sovereign nation without provocation. Criminal aggression is a International war crime.
One more thing, there are many in the USA including venerable Charles Krauthamer of Fox News, who promote the idea of sending armaments and sophisticated weapons to the so called “Syrian Free army” in order thereby to topple the Assad government. The so called “Syrian Free Army” has been shown to have morphed from a groups of Syrian rebels with leadership in Paris, France, into a front group for Al Qaeda in Syria. It has also been shown that massive amounts, the guesstimate is 600,000 lbs of arms have been shipped to the “Syrian Free Army” but these were sold or given by them to ISIS. ISIS, in turn, uses these to invade Iraq, capture many Syrian cities, kill Christians and behead people, put people in cages and burn them to death and the like.
This writer says stop the bombs. Stop the massive arms shipments to ISIS. Stop the illegal criminal aggression against the Assad regime. Offer help to the hundreds of thousands of Christians displaced, persecuted, tortured and murdered by ISIS.
We toppled Hussein, what happened? ten thousand American dead and wounded and it is now a haven for ISIS. We toppled Mubarak. What happened? Eqypt was handed over to a leader of the Muslim brotherhood, a terrorist group and was becoming a haven for terrorists. But Egypt has a powerful national military and the Muslim brotherhood was toppled by Egyptians and is now ruled democratically by a religiously responsible activist Muslim leader. We toppled Qaddafi. What happened ? Chaos and Benghazi- an American Ambassador murdered as President Obama, and Hilary Clinton watched it on TV in the White House.
Stop the bombs. Stop the millions in funding to the so called Syria Free Army. Stop international military arms shipment to ISIS. Let’s see if these people, left to their own cannot solve their problems without interference from USA.
Are Old Line, Hard Line, Republicans and Their Minions Trying to Trash Rand Paul?
I follow Senator Rand Paul’s run for the nomination of the Republican Party. I find the lack of coverage for Senator Paul to be not merely amazing but alarming. It seems to this writer that the powerful and the entrenched interests of the Republican party are working very hard to trash Senator Paul’s campaign.
Senator Paul is a powerful political figure in his own right. He is the person who is setting the agenda for the campaigns of all candidates. This is because he is the most original, freedom minded, logically consistent candidate among an overcrowded field. His political positions on the issues that most matter, namely: race and prison, drugs and mandatory sentencing, legalized marijuana, ISIS and the Middle East, Planned Parenthood, and refashioning our income tax system …
Well, his proposals are original, and based upon a freedom loving, individual rights, anti politically correct stance which is forcing the other candidates to take positions contra-Rand Paul. The fact that so many hard line, old line, entrenched members of the political class are attacking him indicates the power of his innovative proposals.
Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O Reilly and to a lesser extent, Megan Kelly, have set up a kill zone of ambush and attack against Senator Paul. All of these people are directly responsible as contributors to Barrack Hussein Obama’s victory in 2012. In that election cycle they all set absurd “conservative” standards for Governor Romney which when unmet insured his rejection by the conservatives. Mitt wasn’t conservative enough, so said Hannity. Mitt is not a Limbaugh conservative, so said Rush. O Reilly was a little more fair but constantly intoned that Romney couldn’t win, and well, Megan Kelly wasn’t really influential back then.
So, yes, these so called pundits and commentators allow Senator Paul to be interviewed but each time they try, as Miss Megan did, to undermine his integrity and political acumen. Miss Kelly even had the female Bush press secretary, what’s her name again?, come on and say that Senator Paul didn’t have the courage and fortitude to be President. (Shame, Shame.) As a fact, I remember Miss Megan wagging her finger in scold as she accused Senator Paul of scolding. (She kept the wagging finger below the camera angle but it still could be seen)
Am I angry? Well, I try not to be angry. But I am getting resentful of TV personalities telling me what to think, how to think, or even worse, not to think!
It is as though these good folk, as O’Reilly calls us, well, referring to them, it seems to these good TV folk that us folks at home are uninformed and ignorant. Not so, Bill. We know what we are about, and we are beginning to wonder what you folks are about? Are you censoring Senator Paul because in “you’s all folks opinion” he is not the “man”?
Friends, just for information, as I write this I am listening to, Madonna, Lady Gaga, Led Zepp, the Righteous Brothers, Pink, Nate Ruess, Michael Jackson, Cher, Mahalia Jackson, and the like. Just a hour ago I was listening to Brahms violin concerto and last night I viewed Princess Micheal of Kent on YouTube. She has a very interesting new book. Why do I include this? I just thought to let you know a little about me. It seems that a survey site called You Gov. is always asking me about my preferences in music and movies.
Anyway, if you have read this far, I thank you. Your time is precious and I appreciate that you found this interesting enough to wade through it all. You are a friend. I do not intend to insult or disparage others. I only intend to put out my thought into the public square, or as my friend Rev. Father John Neuhaus called it in his book, “the Naked Public Square”. By the way it is a book worthy to be read. (Yes, the title is The Naked Public Square.” )
So friends, peace to you and God bless. Let’s keep up our vigilance and not let others decide who will be in the White House. We have the vote, and although I am beginning to wonder as to the integrity of the vote tally, I still will stand fast for our rights as Americans.
Rand Paul is a Brave Senator who Defends Persecuted Christians
Senator Rand Paul is courageous to stand up and stand out attempting to stop persecution of Christians. Senator Paul is a man of conviction and a man of courage who is bold in his defense of people, like the Christian minories in Moslem countries, who are being murdered, displaced and forced to flee for their lives. -Sadly, the ELCA, the Wisconsin Synod Lutheran Church and the Missouri Synod are silent. Maybe America based Lutherans don’t care about the welfare or fate of other Christians. The silence of the Churches further weakens their moral authority in an age where it is almost non existent anyway. However, Senator Rand Paul, who is only tolerated by Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Marc Levin, is a brave, honest and outstanding political leader who is not beholding to the talk show pundits. Seems, Rush, Sean and Marc prefer Ted Cruz to anyone else. Yet, it has been Rand Paul who had led the fight for fairness in government. Senator Rand Paul should be recognized by the major conservative radio hosts as the best candidate for President there is. Senator Paul however is viewed by them with suspicion because he refuses to mouth the same words they do. I guess, Senator Rand Paul does not EXACTLY fit their definition of Republican or Conservative. And that is to their discredit because they define too narrowly the people with whom they are willing to work.
Killing Gaddafi Produced Terrorism
http://news.yahoo.com/libya-car-bomb-hits-swedish-consulate-benghazi-103128741.html
The murder of Gaddafi, the Libyan President by forces useful to NATO produced terrorism and not the democracy and peace that Obama, Sarkozy, and Cameron promised.
At the time of the illegal criminal aggression by NATO against Libya, the promise made by Obama and the rest of the crew was that they were only providing “cover” for the rebel groups. The British, French and Americans had convinced the Russian and the Chinese that they should not veto the Security Council resolution on Libya because the intentions of the NATO European military alliance were to “level the playing field” and give the French sponsored and British supported rebels a change against the legal central government in Tripoli.
France was once an imperialist colonial empire that fought against Vietnamese independence in the 1950’s. The French had a very bloody war with Algeria in the 1960’s, trying to keep that North African nation occupied as a French colony.
The British colonial empire is well-known. It was subjugated a third of the world, keeping the Indian nation a colony until 1949. During the empire period the British were feared as a brutal colonial empire that used government forces to kill any nationalist’s who opposed British rulership. Remember, America fought two wars against British imperial control in 1775 and again in 1812. Britain also helped the Confederates during our civil war.
Ignoring both the French and British past as dominator of weaker counties, the USA under Barack Obama joined them in an unprovoked attack against the sovereign State of Libya itself a member of the United Nations. At the time the Libyan government of Gaddafi was recognized by 101 countries as the legal government. The attack, marketed as merely giving air cover to rebel groups, was factually illegal criminal aggression by the NATO military alliance. Such aggression had been condemned by the Nuremberg War trials as War Crimes and Crimes against humanity.
So what do we see today. We see Libya no more a democracy than it was under Gaddafi. Rather, the French sponsored and British supported ruling elite is a government not able to control various internal militias, it also cannot control terrorist groups such as the ones attacking the USA and Swedish embassy. We see that the thousands of refugees displaced to southern Europe have remained in those countries. And we see that the economy and standard of living among Libyan citizens has decreased.
All that was accomplished was to replaced a stable and legal government with a European puppet regime on the “dole” to France. We merely made matters in North Africa worse and invited increased turmoil and fostered more terrorism.
Assad Government is the Internationally Recognized Government of Syria
Again we see media bias with all of the photos in this article being of rebel groups. It seem the media insists that regular army navy and air force personel of Syria are not citizens of syria, not legitimate regular armed forces of the legal syrian government and are to be lumped together with the so called dictator. The rebels, under US law would be conisdered terorists and sabatuers worthy of hanging. Under international law they are parisans, irregulars and terorists. During the US civil war both sides had uniforms, insignia, and identifiable flags which were the requirement for the forces of both sides to be considered legitimate and not criminal. It seems that when it suits the usa, we can declare anybody a dictator and criminal. However, the assad government IS the legal government of Syria. It has legal ambassadors in 101 country and is the recognized legal representative of the Syrian people in the UN. Only the Assad government can sign legally binding contracts or threaties for the Syrian nation. The so call rebels have absolutely no legal standing anywhere for anything. Perhaps that is why nobody even thinks of asking the rebels to account for their chemical weapons or their use of chemical weapons because there is no legitimate group to answer.
USA Needs to Stay out of Syria
http://news.yahoo.com/afghan-civilians-killed-nato-airstrike-114608612.html
This article is a prime and potent example of why we should not attack Syria. A missile, bomb or drone does not know the difference between the innocent and the guilty. The bomb does not stop halfway to the target because it senses that there are innocent children there. It just keeps on dropping until it blows up the target including the innocents who happen to be there. The USA cannot lower itself to the level of the terrorists.
Congress must not support the Obama administration and an over zealous navy. Sure, the Navy had a very small role in Afghanistan but they do not need to prove their value by attacking Syria from their ships. Americans value their Navy and no amount of brazen aggression by the USA administration is needed to make us value them more.
To Mc Cain, Linsey Graham, Nancy Pelosi and congressman Ted Cruz: Please stop your inane and insane posturing and calls for the USA military to participate in the wholesale killing , (can we say murder) of Syrians. I heard our congressional representatives saying that they know for sure that the government of Syria used Chemical weapons. Based on what? They based it upon the CIA intel presented to them by the Obama administration. This same administration came out today and said that it is an absolutely logical conclusion to assume that the government of Syria is responsible. So? Are we to bomb and kill Syrians based on assumptions and logical conclusions. Friends, we are talking about killing people!
I am embarrassed to refer my readers to the interview by V. Putin of Russia. He called for conclusive proof that 1. The government of Syria ordered the gas attack. 2. That the regular army of Syria actually released the chemicals. That is to me more democratic and reasonable. Can it be that a former communist and KGB official is more democratic than the President of the USA.
President Obama. Sir: you said “no “to your cabinet officials who counseled immediate and devastating attacks on Syria. You said “no” to those who advised you to go to war without Congressional approval. Now, Sir, please say “no” to the assumption that the government of Syria is responsible and stand down the navy. Withdraw our ships and stop CIA money payments and USA arms shipments to the Islamic rebels. And at the same time, put the full diplomatic weight of the USA behind an effort to convince our friends in Russia and China that we are believable and willing to cooperate and collaborate with them to end the violence in Syria without demanding the ouster of the President of that sovereign nation.
Russia is A Major World Power Equal to USA
http://news.yahoo.com/russia-urges-nato-not-intervene-syria-interfax-094236818.html
The decision of President Obama to dismiss Vladimir Putin as a bored child is wrong. The leader of Russia and the Union of Socialist States is not a neophyte on the world political scene.
Some US citizens would say that Obama had to show Putin that Obama was as tough as Putin. Well, such wrong thinking is for those who think that the game of international relations is a personal contest between the Obama and Putin regarding their “stuff”
A more reasoned approach would be to look at the recently ended cold war. That era cost the USA hundreds of billions of dollars on troops and armaments while accomplishing nothing but the extension of fear and distrust garnered by the Roosevelt, Truman, and Eisenhower administrations. Fortunately, Khrushchev and Nixon started the end of the cold war with détente and the Salt accords. They were followed by Gorbachev and Reagan, and GHW Bush who ended the cold war in 1989 at Malta.
The end of the cold war was followed by freedom for the satellite states of East Central Europe. GW Bush enhanced our relationship with the former USSR by boldly cultivating a strong cooperative spirit with Putin.
It is very significant to note the political preference of the USA leaders who ended the cold war, gave a chance for freedom in East Central Europe, lowered the change of Nuclear war, opened the door to China and generally ensured world peace they were all Republicans and conservative. However, they were also realists, pragmatists and they pursued the “realpolitik” of our greatest foreign policy genius President Richard Nixon. Namely, they were tough on the principles of freedom and democracy. They fully supported capitalism versus socialism. But they were not rigid ideologues and took every opportunity for the advancement of peace and co-existence.
It is obvious that the Obama administration is following a different path. Our foreign policy has been confrontive. Beginning with President Obama’s speech in the Middle East, which started his administration, the USA has fomented revolution in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and now Syria. These were called revolutions. However, it is our own intelligence agencies and our secret money payments to the Arab brotherhood and affiliates that has enabled them to subvert the dominant governments and to overthrow them by force.
A big part of this subversive campaign is premised upon the idea that these governments are illegal. But they were also our long time allies – Tunisia and Egypt and Syria, (Yes they were considered friends and allies and even used by the USA for the notoriously wrong rendition programs). The result of USA policy under Obama has been to force the downfall of the Tunisian government, the murder of the Libyan President by US backed rebels, the arrest and imprisonment of the Egyptian `Hosni Mubarak and now the prolonged foreign backed insurrection against the Syrian Bashar Assad.
Surprising, It is V. Putin who has and continues to promote peace in the region while Obama promotes war. It is Putin who is using the Veto in the UN to prevent foreign aggression against a UN member State. And it is Putin who recently moved his war ships into the mediterranean in order to remind the USA Obama that attacking is criminal aggression. All the while, it s the nobel peace prize winner, Obama, who is trying to rally the USA and the International community to kill Syrian soldiers, sailors, airmen government officials and politicians in retaliation for a supposed use of Chemical weapons. And it is John Mc Cain, Lindsey Graham, John Boehner and Nancy Pelosi who are supportive of killing innocent Syrians by three days of missile attacks. Please remember that rockets, bombs and missiles kill people, innocent people, because a missile does not know a good guy from a bad one. People will be murdered by USA bombs in the name of Justice. Please shout NO, NO, NO. This is not an option for the USA.
Once again, as we have seen in the past, the use of force and the pursue of war is because we have failed diplomatically. Let’s not be a failure. Let the USA not attack Syria. Let Obama make up with Putin. Let Hollande and Cameron stop their bellicose attitudes and let Mc Cain, Boehner, Pelosi and Graham stop war mongering.
Let’s Honor our murdered dead
Please write your congress person to insist that these great American citizens who were wantonly murdered on their way to deployment should not only get a purple heart, but the increased benefits to their families that is required of our nation. That is, if are willing to be honest and insist that our dead, (they are dead brothers and sisters, and their children are without them!!). These American soldiers volunteered to serve the military mission of our nation. They were American service personnel. They would not have been brutally murdered if they were not on their way to carry out the commands of the American government. Yes, that means the orders of President Obama. (look folks, those are merely the facts and not anti Obama statements.) So let’s not be small-minded and childish in our treatment of these heroes. Yes, they did not die in combat, they were murdered. They were brutally and wantonly murdered by a fellow soldiers who was himself a secret terrorist. So they were killed by terrorists and we must demand that our military do the right thing and the right thing is NOT to allow Attorney General Holder’s insistence that this was “workplace violence”. Shame on us if we do not honor these service members with a purple heart and decent benefits to their spouses and children.
Progressive Politics 