My Neighbor's Kitchen

Once upon a time, I had  neighbors who were overwhelmed with employment, kids, and the mortgage. They needed a helping hand.  My wife and I helped clean their kitchen for a few days.  The floor was mopped, regrigerator cleaned out, dishes done and stove top messes were scrubbed away.  We even bought a few groceries for them.

On the fourth day, we felt we had done enough to get the family ahead of the curve, at least in their kitchen, so we did not go over to do any work.

Later that evening, a brick came thru the window. Startled, we ran to the door to see what happened.  It was our needy neighbors.  They hollered, "Where were you today??  RELAXING??  Now, what are we supposed to do with our dirty dishes?  You help us for three days then you just leave??  Just like that?!" 

The needy couple was joined by their children, as each was appalled at our lack of sensitivity to their plight.  They continued on in a ferocious tirade.  One of the kids lit a molotov cocktail, the father threw another brick.  They hollered out again, "We can't get along without your help, and demand that you get back over to our kitchen and finish tonight's dishes!"  The mother screamed, "And the stove top is dirty because you forced us to make our OWN dinner tonight, you unscrupulous !#::(%%!."

Great Brittain is seeing the exact same reaction as my neighbor gave me.  A needy, demanding, ungrateful heap of receivers, who have become accustomed to their handouts, now presume that a 'Helping Hand' is a 'Right'. 

It's a 'Gimme Crisis' of global proportions.

Greece is facing the same riots from a million whiners who want someone else to clean their ktichen. Other European nations are seeing this.  California and other 'Give Me More' states, all facing bankruptcy, are about to face the same riotous Gimme Crisis.

Is there no difference between a Right and a Helping Hand?

Don't get me wrong . . . in times of plenty, I am more than willing to help the less fortunate.  We all need helping hands at certain times in life.  I've been blessed by many helping hands, such as tuition grants.

But, I recognized that assistance was a FAVOR, not a RIGHT.

It would never have occurred to me that I should riot in the streets, start fires, attack police, and otherwise express whiney anger because economic conditions forced the withdrawal of some of the favors.

I Am Intolerant

Yesterday, my brother sent an e-mail to a dozen people.  It was a video about muslims.  He received a couple of responses from people who thought the e-mail was intolerant of muslims, and who made the case that muslims are good people from a religion of peace, and that there are only a 'few' muslims giving bad names to a good religion.  They made the case that Americans are over-reacting and being intolerant of these peaceful people. One lady was absent-minded enough to write that if it wasn't for the muslims who murder, beat and behead their wives and children in the name of shariya law, they would be just like any other Americans.

Hmmmm. 

Although I appreciate moderate positions regarding Islam, or any other topic, I have lots of unanswered questions. I've heard for decades about how good the muslim people are.  If it's true that the majority of American muslims do not support terror and hate, why don't we see more muslims standing up for religious freedom and tolerance?  The Imam who is working on getting a mosque on the site of one of the buildings destroyed on 9/11 has REFUSED to denounce terrorist groups.

I have seen numerous videos of muslims, in MY country, burning American flags and denouncing MY country.  We have American muslims being recruited out of the mosques all around the country.  We have muslims on various campuses in our country who riot and protest whenever a guest speaker shows up who is not a supporter of hamas, or who is Jewish, etc.  These are not isolated incidents, they are routine.

There is a zero tolerance policy among muslims toward Christians, Jews, Hindus, etc.  These same zero-tolerance muslims have refused to denounce terrorist groups around the globe.  There are millions of muslims in the United States and only a few have ever stood up to denounce terrorist groups.

If they are a religion of peace, let them assemble in the streets of America and 'March for Peace' or protest terrorist groups.  I have NEVER seen that happen, even in the ten years since 9/11.

Muslims fathers who murder their children, beat their wives, and behead them for religious infractions, are not examples of extremist muslims in the mountains of Afghanistan, they are real examples of  'mainstream' muslims living in the USA.  The Fort Hood army officer who massacred 8 innocent people is one of many examples of 'mainstream' muslim hatred.  I'm sick of being asked to be 'tolerant' of evil.

I would LOVE to have truly peaceful muslims worship peacefully in my country, and would like to know their culture and enjoy their society.  But, let them stand up and denounce all that is violent and ugly, and support MY religious freedom, and support MY country and wave a copy of MY constitution.  I don't see that happening anywhere.  Instead, we have shariya law being touted and supported.

ANYBODY who would have shariya law become the ruling thought anywhere in MY country can get the bloody hell out of MY country.

All this idealistic, overly-academic crap about the 'religion of peace' is wearing me down. 

People often refer to the teachings of the Savior, and that we must love and care for God's children everywhere.  However, tolerance does not mean 'accepting' evil.  The same Jesus who taught us to love and care for one another, chased the money changers out of the temple, turning over their tables, scattering their belongings, surprising the evil-doers, even getting their attention with a whip.

I accept that the truest form of Islam is good, and I believe God loves and blesses people of ALL religions who are trying to become better people.

My disgust is not directed at a religion, as I fully understand there are evil Jews, Christians, and Mormons.  My disgust and my INTOLERANCE is with a CULTURE that allows the beheading, and beating of women and children due to shariya law, and to those same people who have ZERO RESPECT for me and my country.  The same people who demand that we be tolerant of their barbaric laws are INTOLERANT of my religion and MY culture.  They are the same people who are NOT standing up for peace, and preaching against terrorism.  The same people who remain silent about terrorist groups.  The same muslim people, in MY country, who do nothing about the murderous thugs running amok in their own mosques and families.

These people can live how they want to live in Morocco or Pakistan, etc.  But when they come to MY country, they ought to be respectful and tolerant of MY country because they are GUESTS here.

I'm sick and tired of people preaching tolerance about muslims, when those muslims are giving me and MY country none of the tolerance they demand for themselves.

Saving the Constitution

Here's an eye opener:  a faithful member of my church said he would NOT get involved with a political movement unless the President of our church told him to.  Hmmmmm.  Let's review what the leadership of my church has been saying for more than a century . . .

1.  A statement of Joseph Smith, according to Orson Hyde:  "The time will come when the Constitution and the country would be in danger of an overthrow; and . . . if the Constitution be saved at all, it will be by the Elders of this Church."  Journal of Discourses, Vol. 6, p. 152, January 3, 1858

2.  Prophecy of Joseph Smith (March 10, 1844):  "Even this nation will be on the verge of crumbling to pieces and tumbling to the ground and when the Constitution is on the brink of ruin, this people will be the staff upon which the nation shall lean and they shall bear the Constitution away from the very verge of destruction."  Joseph Smith Papers, LDS Church Historical Archives, Box 1, D. Michael Stewart, Ensign, Vol. 6, No. 6, June 1976, pp. 64-65

3.  The Apostle Erastus Snow:  "We were told by the Prophet Joseph Smith, that the United States Government and people would undermine one principle of the Constitution after another, until its whole fabric would be torn away, and that it would become the duty of the Latter Day Saints and those in sympathy with them to rescue it from destruction, and to maintain and sustain the principles of human freedom for which our fathers fought and bled."  Journal of Discourses, Vol. 26, p. 226, May 31, 1885

4.  The Apostle Boyd K. Packer:  "Will the Constitution be destroyed? No. It will be held inviolate by this people; and as Joseph Smith said 'the time will come when the destiny of this nation will hang upon a single thread, and at thsi critical juncture, this people will step forth and save it from the threatened destruction'."

5.  The Apostle Ezra Taft Benson in General Conference of April 1965:  "The Prophet Joseph Smith declared it will be the Elders of Israel who will step forward to help save the Constitution, NOT THE CHURCH . . . Brethren, if we had done our homework and were faithful, we could step forward at this time and help save the country.  The fact that most of us are unprepared to do it is an indictment we will have to bear.  The longer we wait, the heavier the chains, the deeper the blood, the more the persecution, and the less we can carry out our God-given mandate and world wide mission. The war in heaven is raging on earth today.  Are you being neutralized in the battle?"

6.  The Apostle Harold B. Lee:  "[Latter-day Saints] devoutly believe that if [the constitution] should be in danger of being overthrown, their lives, if need be, are to be offered in defense of its principles."  Harold B. Lee, 'True Patriotism - An Expression of Faith', April 13, 1941

7.  The Prophet David O. McKay:  "Next to being one in worshiping God, there is nothing in this world which this Church should be more united than in upholding and defending the Constitution of the United States.  If members of the Melchizedek Priesthood allow the U.S. Constitution to be destroyed they not only forfeit their rights to the Priesthood, but to a place in this highest degree of glory as well."  David O. McKay, The Instructor, Feb. 1956, p. 34

This is a brief sampling.  Much more could be quoted.  Ezra Taft Benson spoke frequently and forcefully on this subject.  So . . . to my friend and fellow members of the church . . . are you still waiting for church leadership to tell you to step up?

Summer Soldiers and Sunshine Patriots

George Washington's army was starving, freezing and in need of a morale boost. On December 19, 1776 Thomas Paine provided the boost by publishing the pamphlet entitled, Common Sense.  In bygone days, these Thomas Paine words were familier to school children, but are strange words among the new generations of American children:

"These are the times that try men's souls; the summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered"


With that encouragement most of Washington's soldiers stood a little taller and concluded to put their lives on the line for the just cause, despite all the odds against them.

A week later Washington ordered his army forward. They had little food as they faced a snowy, frozen road, and a winter storm. They had to cross the delaware under the most difficult circumstances. Some soldiers had no shoes, some wrapped their feet in burlap sacks, and the army left bloody snow along the road. Raging winds combined with snow, sleet and rain to produce nearly impossible conditions. But they had new flints for their muskets and new courage in their hearts. There were no 'summer soldiers' nor 'sunshine patriots' among them.

It was Christmas Day, 1776, and less than one American in a thousand was willing to march with the army.

After an all night forced march, the Patriots launched a surprise attack on a well-trained Hessian army at Trenton, New Jersey. The battle began with fierce, determined fighting by a frozen, exhausted, starving army of Patriots who defeated the enemy and breathed new life into the Revolution.

What audacity!  What uncommon courage!  What sacrifice!

And all done for the freedom and liberty of 99.9% of the Americans who could not, or would not, march with the army.  All done for the freedom and liberty of generations of people yet unborn.  All done for the freedom and liberty of the Summer Soldier and the Sunshine Patriot.

A river of clouds and splendor of light

Still without a name, it heaves forward

Time yields to nothing, living or dead

Shame considers itself and moves   

But remains nearby to be used again.

  

Goodness considers itself and stands fast

Mankind stumbles but does well as the purpose is fulfilled

A stone sees much and changes little 

Green lives, but dies 

No time to waste

Still no need to lament, still no need to lament

Tears fall and stop the movement

Blocking new adventure, surrendering opportunity

A smile in a storm yields all that is important

More to see, more to know, more to love

Then bursts forth a new life, born through a splendor of light

and a river of clouds

An Under-Appreciated Document

The Constitution of the United States of America. Under-appreciated. Seldom read. Often ignored by the very laws it spawns. Ripped from the classrooms where it was once revered. Shattered by the three branches of government. Indeed, the sacred document is peed upon as if it were an old cedar post along a rusty fence in an ignominius pasture.

Article 1 Section 8: The Congress shall have Power to lay and collect Taxes . . . but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States.

A recent government action ignored that section. A 'special deal' negotiated for a Nebraska Senator's vote, placed the entire burden of healthcare on all other states except Nebraska. Now, that didn't pass, but it was proposed and supported by the highest ranking officials in the Obama administration. More pee on the old cedar post.

Amendment II: The right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

Hmmmm. We have cities all over the country that violate this law by OUTLAWING weapons of any kind, even for home defense. A recent Supreme Court decision BARELY defeated this law, in a Chicago case. A single vote separated the Constitutional Right to keep and bare arms, from a bench-based circumvention of a BASIC right of the PEOPLE.

Article 4 Section 4: The United States shall . . . protect each (state) against Invasion . . . and Domestic violence.

Apparently, that doesn't apply to border states. I blame Republicans and Democrats, equally, for the border fiasco. The Feds oughta be fighting the border war for the states. The Constitution demands it. But, the limp-wristed, weasel bums in office have ignored the threat caused by a porous border.

I don't care if honest, hard working Latino's want to come into the country to work and pay taxes and pay their own way. Let 'em come. But, we don't know who's coming across the border. Bad guys, drug guys, murderous thug guys, even terrorist guys are flooding into our country, deteriorating our security, and the Feds ain't doin' a thing about it.

Arizona tried to do something and now the communist bureaucracy, we call the Feds, is suing them. Again, Arizona is constitutionally guaranteed the protection of the Feds . . . but the Feds are suing Arizona rather than protecting them.

There are a thousand examples just like these.

The People used to be the OWNERS OF ALL RIGHTS KNOWN TO MANKIND, but have been reduced to pissing posts. Not me. I own all my rights and carefully guard them.

I'm sharpening my bayonet.

We're a Military Family

My dad was in the Army . . . Special Forces . . . where he was wounded four times, shot down three times, and awarded the Silver Star.

Like my dear old Dad, I joined the Army as a teenager. My brother joined the Army the same way. Another brother spent four years in the Navy.

Four of my sons were in the military. One was a teenaged combat engineer sent to Iraq in the spring of 2003, just as that war got started. Lots of tears the morning we dropped him off, not knowing if we'd ever see him again. Another son volunteered for the Army and served in an Intelligence Company.

Another son volunteered for the Infantry and spent four years in the famed Stryker Brigade. He was in combat in Iraq, nearly constantly, for a year. He fought in Fallujah, Samarrah, Tal Afar, Mosul and a dozen other places. His wife and children paid the price of families who stay behind and wonder about the safety of their soldier.

Another son was a flight navigator on a spy plane in the Air Force. He spent so much time away from home, flying over Korea and the Middle East, that his poor wife and young son wondered whether the Air Force would really be as 'family friendly' as they thought. He got out of the Air Force as a Captain, after 8 years.

I love and support the men and women who make the effort to join the military.

However, I want to comment about the bureaucracy that places them in harm's way.

Stop sending America's sons and daughters to war unless you really need them there. If you want them to show up in these dangerous zones, don't shackle them with Rules of Engagement that place their lives in a lower priority than the bad guys.

Don't send them at all, unless there's an absolute need to destroy evil. Violence against humanity must be viewed as either 0% necessary, or 100% necessary.

You can't wage war if it's only 95% necessary.

You can't wage war without killing innocent people.

You can't wage war without destroying homes, cities and places of worship.

Stop spilling our American blood, and the blood of others, unless it's 100% necessary.

It's my opinion, that the Americans dying in Iraq and Afghanistan, are dying in vain. Why? Because rather than sending them to DESTROY THE BAD GUYS AT ALL COSTS, and come home, we're sending them to limited engagements, shackled by rules, in a war that could be WON, but is instead allowed to drag on and on.

We could never have defeated the Nazi's or the Japanese Empire by fighting this way.

America's treasure and her blood must be more highly valued than this.

Destroy the bad guys or bring the troops home.