Wednesday, August 13, 2014

I, ME, MY


           I,  ME,  MY

Obama Uses First Person Singular 199 TIMES in Speech Vowing Unilateral Action

Posted: July 13, 2014 | Author: Pundit from another Planet

Terence P. Jeffrey reports: Not counting instances when he quoted a letter from a citizen or cited dialogue from a movie, President Barack Obama used the first person singular–including the pronouns “I” and “me” and the adjective “my”–199 times in a speech he delivered Thursday vowing to use unilateral executive action to achieve his policy goals that Congress would not enact through the normal, constitutional legislative process.

The remarks, the White House reports, ran 40 minutes, and the full transcript (including annotations for “laughter” and “applause”) is more than 5,500 words (read more) CNS News

Number of Times Obama Has Accepted Blame or Taken Responsibility: 0   For his entire Presidency.

Monday, August 11, 2014

Envy:


                                                          Envy:

 

Whereas most other sins at least begin by being pleasurable, the feeling of envy is miserable from the outset.  Yet envy, is these democratic days, is particularly prevalent.  How many of those moods which we supposed to be a sense of justice are infected at their very base by envious impulses.

Wilhelm Roscher’s 1895

 

Fore! As Obama Golfs


                  Fore! As Obama Golfs

 

WALTER RUSSELL MEAD: Fore! As Obama Golfs, Tanks Roll in Baghdad and A Country Unravels. “The fact that President Obama thought that the day of an Iraqi coup was a good time to hang on the Vineyard and get on the links is bad news. Either the President blew off warnings from his advisors, or the intel community got blindsided again. Both possibilities reflect badly on the management of the nation’s affairs.”

Also Falling Apart:

ISIS Attack succeeding

Christians being Exterminated

Ukraine Doomed

U.S. Borders a Mess

Economy if Freefall

Obamacare a Disaster

BARACK OBAMA ON PRESIDENTIAL VACATIONS IN 2008: “You have to understand that if you seek that office, then you have to be prepared to give your life to it. Essentially, the bargain that I think every President strikes with the American people is, ‘you give me this office, then in turn my fears, doubts, insecurities, foibles, need for sleep, family life, vacations, leisure, is gone. I am giving myself to you.’”

ROGER KIMBALL: Obama In Oz. “Crippling successors, of course, is precisely what Obama is trying to do. It’s all part of his strategy of fundamentally transforming the Untied States of America.”

Wednesday, August 06, 2014

BONDAGE TO BONDAGE


In 1887 Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh

Tyler went on to suggest that democracies tended to go through the following sequence:

From bondage to spiritual faith;
From spiritual faith to great courage;
From courage to liberty;
From liberty to abundance;
From abundance to complacency;
From complacency to apathy;
From apathy to dependence;
From dependence back into bondage.

FUNNY AND SAD AND ANGERING ALL AT ONCE


FUNNY AND SAD AND ANGERING ALL AT ONCE: Flashback to 2008: Obama The Lightworker.

Star Power


Writing in June 2008, an SF Gate and Huffington Post columnist named Mark Morford explained what is so special about Barack Obama.

Read more: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davidmills/2014/08/obama-the-light-worker-thoughts-from-2008/#ixzz39d8aiSEj

How do you get the attention of your bosses and glide effortlessly through your personal and social life? It helps to have personal presence or a "magical mix of confidence, charm and communication skills that exerts an outsize impact on one's social stature and ability to climb the ranks," a

elusive quality that has become increasingly valuable in the boardroom, at the dinner table and on Twitter. Among the most important skills to have is confidence, the power to stay calm in a stressful situation, being able to show empathy and the ability to express your point of view in an effective way.

Here’s where it gets gooey. Many spiritually advanced people I know (not coweringly religious, mind you, but deeply spiritual) identify Obama as a Lightworker, that rare kind of attuned being who has the ability to lead us not merely to new foreign policies or health care plans or whatnot, but who can actually help usher in a new way of being on the planet, of relating and connecting and engaging with this bizarre earthly experiment. These kinds of people actually help us evolve. They are philosophers and peacemakers of a very high order, and they speak not just to reason or emotion, but to the soul.

Read more: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davidmills/2014/08/obama-the-light-worker-thoughts-from-2008/#ixzz39d8t8Fjs

Tuesday, August 05, 2014

Second Great Awakening put us on the path to great ness?


The secularizing of the Biblical covenant of God with Abraham became one of the sources (perhaps the principal one) for American exceptionalism well into the 19th century.  What do you think - the Second Great Awakening put us on the path to great ness?

 

Monday, August 04, 2014

in 2014 as SWAT teams and enthusiastic police routinely raid homes


            “… A man’s house is his castle… this writ would annihilate the privilege of officers (entering) our houses when they please.  Their menial servants, may enter, may break locks, bars, and everything in their way; and whether they break through malice or revenge, no man, no court, can inquire.”  James Otis Jr. in 1761 pled against the Custom House writ which permitted forced entry.  Does any of this sound familiar in 2014 as SWAT teams and enthusiastic police routinely raid homes and apartments?

            Yes, I know there is supposed paperwork and suspicion of malfeasance.  But… even a libertarian in the White House in 2016 could not let this practice stand.  Or could he /she?  

Friday, August 01, 2014

TAKE AN IRS AGENT TO CHURCH THIS WEEK


TAKE AN IRS AGENT TO CHURCH THIS WEEK


INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY  (July 31, 2014-08-01

IRS Strikes Deal With Atheists To Monitor Sermons And Homilies


First Amendment: Government's assault on religious liberty has hit a new low as the IRS settles with atheists by promising to monitor sermons for mentions of the right to life and traditional marriage.

A lawsuit filed by the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) asserted that the Internal Revenue Service ignored complaints about churches' violating their tax-exempt status by routinely promoting political issues, legislation and candidates from the pulpit.

The FFRF has temporarily withdrawn its suit in return for the IRS's agreement to monitor sermons and homilies for proscribed speech that the foundation believes includes things like condemnation of gay marriage and criticism of ObamaCare for its contraceptive mandate.

The irony of this agreement is that it's being enforced by the same Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division of the IRS that was once headed by Lois "Fifth Amendment" Lerner and that openly targeted Tea Party and other conservative groups.

Among the questions that the IRS asked of those targeted groups was the content of their prayers.

Those who objected to the monitoring of what is said and done in mosques for signs of terrorist activity have no problem with this one, though monitoring what's said in houses of worship is a clear violation of the First Amendment. Can you say "chilling effect"?

Congress can make no laws prohibiting the free exercise of religion. So it's not clear where the IRS gets off doing just that by spying on religious leaders lest they comment on issues and activities by government that are contrary to or impose on their religious consciences. Our country was founded by people fleeing this kind of government-monitored and mandated theology last practiced in the Soviet Union.

The FFRF cites as its authority the 1954 Johnson Amendment, which states that tax-exempt groups cannot endorse candidates. A 2009 court ruling determined that the IRS must staff someone to monitor church politicking.

The FFRF claims that the IRS has not adhered to the ruling and that the settlement amounts to enforcing both the Johnson Amendment and the court ruling.

But is the Catholic Church "politicking" when it proclaims its "Fortnight for Freedom" dedicated to opposing ObamaCare's contraceptive mandate and the government's forcing schools and charities it considers an extension of its faith to include it in insurance coverage or face crippling fines?

Are Protestant and evangelical churches "politicking" when they participate in "Pulpit Freedom Sunday" this year on Oct. 5 to encourage congregations to "vote their faith," which they consider to be an exercise of free speech and freedom of religion?

The FFRF says that such events at "rogue churches" have "become an annual occasion for churches to violate the law with impunity." But doesn't the Constitution say that Congress can make no such laws?

Rather than "rogue churches," it's the rogue IRS that needs to be stopped.