New Jersey; It's You People, Stupid. New Jersey is a poster Child for Liberal Failure.

UPDATE APRIL 12, 2016: BAD NEWS CONTINUES American Legislative Exchange Council's 9th Addition of Rich States Poor States shows New Jersey continues to help hold down the bottom of the list this year declining to 48th worst state. A pitiful performance from what once was a great state. Destroyed by decades of leftwing lies and liberal ignorance. LINK - American Legislative Exchange Council's 9th Addition ------ PREVIOUS: This article published first in 2014 but it still applies - New Jersey people, you should be embarrassed. More bad news for New Jersey, again ranked as one of the highest taxed and worst performing economies in the nation according to the Tax Foundation study released last month. Add to that  the mounting evidence outward migration is increasing. Continuing decline is in your tarot cards.

My most recent U-Haul rate study indicates it is 3.86 times more expensive to leave New Jersey for Austin Texas than it is to go to New Jersey from Austin Texas. Nearly 4 time more expensive getting out than getting in. What's that tell you?

That is a 53% increase in the U-Haul costs from this same time last year.

Granted, it is not a scientific study, all the same, people are leaving New Jersey at a staggering rate. I have run this study 2 times a year for the past 4 years. It has never been this bad.  In fact it has been fairly stable at a 2.5 times ratio for the past two years right up through June 2014 when I ran the study last. Since then we see this jump, a spike in getting the hell out.

 The study though not scientific is a fair indication of the effects of supply and demand. It focuses on the U-Haul rates to and from Austin Texas and several key areas, Northern California, Chicago, Illinois and Wayne, New Jersey.  Three areas ranked as having excessive regulatory and anti business climates.

Is it just the high taxes and regulatory climate?  No, I don't think so, New Jersey has lots going against it in addition to high taxes. For one thing there is a crooked croniness in NJ, an embedded corruption that permeates the society. Northern New Jersey where I went to High School has developed a culture of "Me, Me, Me". A selfish, ignorant callousness of much of the population combined with an intellectual laziness. That narcissistic culture is particularly annoying, people just didn't care about anything outside their self-centered personal worlds.

It is ironic that the generation of peace and love that grew out of the 60s and 70s has become the generation of "I don't care...it's all about Me, Me, Me".

It is this self absorption on steroids that undermines the sense of community that is now it is coming home to roust.

Why do I dwell on this issue, New Jersey the poster child of liberal failure?

There is an old adage; you can not fix a problem unless you identify the problem. In decades of civic involvement  in Chambers of Commerce and in other 'quasi' government organizations I've seen and experienced  repeated patterns. The same situation plays out over and over again.   Critical social problems are obfuscated and faux efforts at solutions deployed. It's an organized, intentional form of social insanity.  If you continue to  do the same thing over and over again and expect different results - we all have heard it, that is insanity.  

Back to the old adage, you can not fix a problem unless you identify the problem. The problem is the intentional efforts of the progressive leadership.  The culture that grows from progressive liberalism which I think many of us believe is the center of New Jersey's and much of America's problems. That is why I dwell on it. The problem is the type of people that lead areas like New Jersey and Northern California and Urban Illinois. It's the people, Stupid.

When you create a society that is blinded to itself it is easy to control that society and that is what progressives have done to the people of New Jersey and much of liberal America. Progressives have transferred the responsibility of awareness from the people and replaced it with a sense of entitlement. With the entitlement there is little reason to think beyond ones self interest hence the perspective of "whats in it for me?" Progressive liberals campaign on that premise and the self absorberd buy it. . .

If you want to fix this problem you have to call it out, you have to point the finger of blame, you have to put the cause on notice. It's the people, stupid.

Simple answer: If you don't want their fate, don't do what they do.

That is why I dwell on it. I want the people causing the problem to be spotlighted for what they are.

It's the liberals, Stupid.

Obama’s Assault On The INTERNET Has Begun

Obama’s Assault On The INTERNET Has Begun
A Commentary By J. D. Longstreet

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It is called “Net Neutrality.” On April 6th, 2010, the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that the Federal Communications Commission has no regulating authority over how any Internet provider manages its network -- period!

So what IS Net Neutrality? There is as good an explanaiona as I have found at the Wise Geek’s website. You’ll fine it HERE.

The importance of this issue is the protection of freedom. Will the Internet remain free, or will the government regulate it? That is the question. Obama’s minions are salivating at the opportunity to regulate the hell out of the Internet and shut up commentators such as “yours truly.”

The courts told the FCC this week to “stand back,” and keep their hands off the Internet. But, do not think, for one second, they are about to allow a little thing like the law to get in the way of a take over of the Internet -- not for one second. Already, they are looking at regulating the Internet as a public utility.

Look, we warned and warned and warned that Obama’s Marxist buddies in the FCC and the Congress would come after free speech on the Internet. Well, here they come!

Socialist/Marxist/Progressive Congress persons and Senators are scrambling to get in line to do fulfill Obama’s wish to control the Internet and the free speech on it. They can see the Mid Term Election looming on the distant horizon of November and they know they have limited time to strangle free speech on the Internet with their Marxist chains. Think I’m blowing smoke? Think again. They are vowing to do whatever is necessary to see that the Federal Communications Commission is handed control over providers of Internet services.

“In the long run, we may need a new legal and regulatory framework for broadband,” said Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), chairman of the Commerce Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet. “I know the Congress did not intend for cable and telephone broadband Internet service providers to fall outside the authority of the FCC to protect consumers.”

Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.), a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, later said the court’s decision “must not be the final word.” Markey went on to say that he would: “continue to work with my colleagues in Congress to provide the commission any additional authority it may need to ensure the openness of the Internet for consumers, innovators and investors.”

Obama’s cohorts have run into a wall of resistance, however from the republican side of the aisle. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas said: “I hope the FCC Chairman will now reconsider his decision to pursue expanded commission authority over broadband services in current proceedings before the agency.”

Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee said: “the 1996 Telecommunications Act explicitly directs the government to “preserve the vibrant and competitive free market that exists for the Internet and other interactive computer services, unfettered by federal or state regulation.”

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, appointed by Obama with net neutrality as his top priority, has indicated he will try to reclassify broadband in the communications statute passed by Congress in 1996 to broaden the FCC’s authority over the service.

There is a MUST READ article concerning this topic at “The Hill.” We encouraged you to read it and digest it. You will find it HERE.

The dems will certainly claim this new power grab is to “protect the citizens” from the big corporations. You can see it coming. Don’t fall for it. It is, as we say, a power grab. The new socialist government in America is bound and determined to control the Internet. It scares the hell out of them -- and with good reason.

The government controls the press in America today. The Mainstream Media may have voluntarily given themselves over to control of the government, but -- in the long run -- it makes no difference. Because, for the first time in America, we have a government controlled mainstream media.

On the other hand the citizen journalists on the Internet are disseminating the news, unedited and unfettered, and it has become an effective weapon against the socialists/marxists controlling the American government today.

Obama’s government MUST crush the Internet and they can, and WILL, do it through the FCC unless they are stopped.

J. D. Longstreet

Is the Obama Regime About to Confiscate Your Savings?

Is the Obama Regime About to Confiscate Your Savings?

A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

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There is no question but that The Obama Regime has plans for your savings. Obama’s Treasury Department and even the Labor Department are already investigating "the conversion of 401(k) savings and Individual Retirement Accounts into annuities or other steady payment streams."

Ok, let me see if I can break it down for you. What Obama is planning to do is: Take you savings, the money you have squirreled away for your retirement in 401-K’s and IRA’s, and hand you an IOU with which they will promise to pay you a small annuity each month of your retirement.

Got your attention yet?

I am not making this up! Businessweek magazine is reporting on it.

Don’t think they can do it? Does the government raiding the social security trust fund ring any bells? They took every dime of that money and left an IOU in its place.

Oh, they’re going a take your money. Make no mistake about that -- and they intend to spend it, almost immediately, to try to offset the trillion dollar plus deficits, which will, of course, leave the government coffers empty again. So, then, YOU and I will be broke right along with our pathetic, hapless, government.

Now, they are not going to tell you that. In fact, they will probably tell you they will be investing your money in Treasury bonds, or some such.

There is some thought that the process will begin by the Treasury Department making it optional for you to purchase Treasury bonds with your retirement money. (Aren’t we free to buy Treasury bonds any time we want today?)

As I said above, I am not making this up! The House Education and Labor Committee met last fall and they focused on "redirecting (IRA and 401k) tax breaks to a new system of guaranteed retirement accounts to which all workers would be obliged to contribute."

It surely appears the Obama Regime is going to war against seniors in America. Why do I say THAT? Well, seniors have accumulated the most wealth in America, when you average it out, simply because they have been around the longest. When the left speaks of their attacks on the rich, they really mean attacks on the seniors of America.

What we are seeing, dear reader, is socialism in action. We have been telling you for months now that the current US Government IS a socialist government. Maybe you’ll believe it when your 401k and/or your IRA account is wiped out by the socialist Obama Regime.

Look, the democrat/socialist/Marxist/Progressive government of the US is looking for money anywhere they can find it. They know there are, very likely, multi-billions of dollars in 401k and IRA accounts owned by the citizens of the US. Do not kid yourself for one moment. They are going to seize that money.

"Oh, but they can’t do that," you say. "That’s MY money. It is private property!" Well, normally, you would be right. That is to say, IF we had a government that recognized the US Constitution as anything but an outdated bunch of suggestions, you’d be right. Unfortunately, that is not the reality we live in today in America.

The democrats’ inspiration for this theft (call it anything you like, but it IS THEFT!) comes from the South American nation of Argentina. You see, back in 2008 Argentina nationalized the private retirement funds of their citizens on the grounds that "the private system never achieved what was needed."

Rep. Jim McDermott, a Democrat from Washington and chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee's Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support, is reported to have said the following: " … the savings rate isn't going up for the investment of $80 billion [in 401(k) tax breaks], we have to start to think about whether or not we want to continue to invest that $80 billion for a policy that's not generating what we now say it should."

Again, simply put – the US government is going to take our retirement money and make us a worthless promise to pay us some sort of monthly payment during our retirement years.

"House Democrats recently invited Teresa Ghilarducci, a professor at the New School of Social Research, to testify before a subcommittee on her idea to eliminate the preferential tax treatment of the popular retirement plans. In place of 401(k) plans, she would have workers transfer their dough into government-created "guaranteed retirement accounts" for every worker. The government would deposit $600 (inflation indexed) every year into the GRAs. Each worker would also have to save 5 percent of pay into the accounts, to which the government would pay a measly 3 percent return." You may read the entire article HERE.

There are some among us, even conservatives, who believe that confiscating the retirement money of America’s seniors is beyond the pale -- even for the Obama Regime. I am not among them. I’d have to ask, if they were not considering it -- then why do what they have already done? I refer you to a paragraph above in which we reported the following: "The House Education and Labor Committee met last fall and they focused on "redirecting (IRA and 401k) tax breaks to a new system of guaranteed retirement accounts to which all workers would be obliged to contribute." See what I mean? The Obama Regime is certainly exploring the possibility of doing just what we are warning you about today.

How serious is this possibility. Well, it is serious enough that we are hearing unconfirmed reports that some Americans have already stopped acquiring money in their 401k's and IRA's and are buying, instead, precious metals such as gold and silver. You see, precious metals are tangibles. You can touch them, and see them, and feel them -- and -- better yet, they are untraceable by the Obama Regime.

Kim Priestap writes, at wizbangblog.com, the following: “Ever since Barack Obama was elected, we've seen larger and larger chunks of American life being gobbled up by government. Today's Democrats are nothing more than thug socialists who can't stand that there are still large swaths of the American people still living independently from government largesse and control. Now they are using what remaining power they have in Congress to change that. If the government takes over health care, college student loans, and retirement savings then no one, no matter how wealthy, can escape the thumb of big government.”(You may read the entire article HERE.)

In a little over a year, the Obama Regime has taken America from a glorious constitutional “representative” republic, to a “Banana Republic.” This is socialism, dear reader.

We have warned, until we are blue in the face, socialism rots a nation’s soul. In the past few months, under the Obama Regime, America has become a hollowed-out husk of its former self.

As the Mid Term Election approaches Americans need to “suck it up” and go to the polls determined to save America from the socialist/Marxist/Progressive/democrats now transforming our precious country into a socialist dung heap.

J. D. Longstreet

America’s Tough Times Haven’t Arrived Yet!

America’s Tough Times Haven’t Arrived Yet!
Much worse to come for America
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

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I have the uneasiest feeling that the American citizenry is being led down the “Primrose Path” -- a path, I’m afraid, that leads to destruction. I am beginning to think it may very well be time for all of us to ask ourselves if we are prepared to survive in a post apocalyptic America?

I have mentioned before that I foresee a complete collapse of the American economic system. Something, I feel, that will be much, much, worse than the Dot-Com Crash back in 2000, or even the Sub Prime Credit Crash in 2008. No, what I feel is coming will be worse than both these two former crashes added together. In fact, it has, I believe, already begun.

We Americans, indeed, all the citizens of the world, may well be facing a period of lawlessness the likes of which, the world has never experienced before. We are talking worldwide anarchy.

Look at what is happening in Washington, DC, today. There is a breakdown of our form of democracy – a constitutional republic. Our leaders in Congress have chosen to turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to the constituents they are sworn to represent. Our US government has never in its history been as separated from the people as this congress is. Not only that, but the Congress has become expendable. It is no longer necessary.

Laws are being made and enforced from the Oval Office of the White House completely by-passing Congress. The President’s use of Executive Orders and Czars, answerable only to him, is, effectively, a dictatorship. The US Constitution is viewed by those in power in America today as “an outdated list of suggestions” that needs to be trashed.

That American Dream, we Americans grew up hearing about, is no longer a dream but a nightmare. America’s capitalism is being tossed aside in favor of nation killing socialism. Our children and grandchildren are now carrying a debt load, imposed on them by the government, which they will never be able to pay off. We are headed toward, some say, to a global debt bomb which, when it explodes, will bring worldwide anarchy. Our civilized infrastructure will simply collapse. Here in America the dreaded Great Depression of the last century will be replayed in this century. Some are referring to it as “The Great Depression II.”

Once again, American will be forced to look to themselves for answers on survival. As did our famous Pilgrims and Frontiersmen ancestors we will be called upon to provide for our families as best we can. Preparation is called for. Those preparations should be made NOW!
Each of us should be stockpiling food and necessities for many months of anarchy. If you do not have a firearm, get one, learn how to use it, and be sure to stockpile plenty of ammunition. We are talking self-defense here. If you have food and others do not, you may be called upon to defend your family and your family’s foodstuff.

Hide your guns! The current US Presidential administration has made known its desire to join with the United Nations in an effort to strip you of your constitutional right to own and bear arms. (The 2nd Amendment to the US Constitution.) Remember, we warned that many in our current government view the constitution as outdated suggestions? They WILL come after our guns, so hide them. You may need them later.

When the collapse comes you will be forced to act in your own self-interest and that of your family FIRST – IF you intend to survive.

Americans have been asleep for the past few generations. We have allowed our government to be overtaken by socialist, and Marxists, and Progressives and today we are reaping what we have sown. We find ourselves on the brink of total collapse. And all this while -- we thought it couldn’t happen here. But it can – it has!

Will there be a Second American Revolution as some are predicting? Frankly, I do not know. I sincerely hope it does not come to that. Many American voices are calling out that if we wish to reestablish a new capitalist society after the collapse, we must consider every avenue. One can only prepare for the worst and hope for the best. Rest assured, there will be no renewal as long as our government remains in the hands of the socialists and Marxists. We can begin the process of removing them from office in the Mid Term Election in November of 2010.

As Thomas Paine said in “The American Crisis” these are, indeed, “the times which try men’s souls.” These times will also try our determination to survive and our determination to ensure the survival of our country. But FIRST – WE MUST SURVIVE.

J. D. Longstreet

Conservatives and Progressives. Huge Difference!

Conservatives and Progressives. Huge Difference!
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

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The difference between conservatives and progressives, er liberals, er, socialists… (Whatever!)… is now more obvious than ever before -- especially now that Americans have seen the Progressives in action.

Are you as sick of the Democrats claiming the Republicans are looking out for their rich friends… at the cost of the poor folk in this country? Every time one turns around it is on the TV, in the Newspapers, and on the radio. Of course, the Democrat party controls the mainstream media outlets. (That’s why FOX News Channel is such a threat to them, and, why it is burning the ratings up. People have become sick and tired of hearing the old leftist spin on the news and are rushing to Fox News, in droves, to hear the “real” news and, as they say, get it “fair and balanced.”

Here’s the thing. It really is propaganda… plain and simple. It is political pabulum fed to the media, by the DNC, and the MSM laps it up and regurgitates it onto their respective networks or print media. They have been the willing accomplices of the Democrat Party since, well, since the beginning. Nothing has changed.

One of my own regional newspapers, owned by the New York Times, is no different. Readers get the same old rotgut, left wing, propaganda. However, they have been doing this so long they have begun to believe their own propaganda. They actually believe they are unbiased! Talk about denial! Just a brief scan of their editorial page and a fair-minded person will understand immediately their approach to reporting. It carries over onto the pages of the news. The sources are well known left leaning news associations.

So, with the Democrats controlling the Mainstream Media, why is there a hue and cry when a conservative voice pops up on TV, the radio, or the print media-- because, we conservatives are a very real threat to the left. Our ideas actually work. They are not difficult for folks to understand. We don’t have all the “nuance” intertwined in our remarks. We speak plainly and to the point. Oftimes, we are not politically correct, but then most folks aren’t.

Conservatives are a mixed lot, the same as Liberals/Progressives/Socialists. But for the most part, we are a people who base our political belief in the rock solid fundamentals that built this country. We believe the founders were honorable men. Flawed, but honorable. We believe they meant what they said when they wrote the constitution -- and they said what they meant. We see no reason to change it one-way or the other. Unlike Progressives, conservatives do not believe the Constitution is “a living document” subject to radical interpretation by whim. What you see is what you get.

Most conservatives are morally grounded in the scriptures and we believe that is the root of all things good. But, even more important than all these, we believe there are absolutes, moral and otherwise. There are boundaries. We, for the most part, do not believe in moral relativity. It is either right, or it is wrong.

You can see why we lock horns with the liberals/progressives/socialists, especially the new socialists that now form the bulk of what used to be the Democratic Party. Sadly, that is exactly what has happened to the old Democratic Party. It has become a socialist/secular/humanist (and, we suspect, a sprinkling of communists.) party. The truly sad thing is… they have yet to realize the American people will have none of it. They have isolated themselves from the electorate and they are now, seemingly, bent on self-destruction.

In by-gone days, the Democrat party was a party in which Zell Miller could feel at home. It was a political party the Southern folk could align with, especially since the Lincoln administration was a Republican administration. Things have changed. The pendulum has swung and now the Republican Party is the party the Democrat Party used to be. Thus, the switching of parties by Southerners and the reason the South now leans most favorably toward the Republican.

Presidential elections cannot be won without the South (i.e. the states of the old Confederacy). It will be a cold day, in warmer climes, when the South switches back to the Democrat Party.

Many conservatives don’t feel the Republican Party is conservative enough. They feel the Republican Party has forsaken its conservative agenda and it’s conservative members. I fall in that group. As a result the Tea Party Movement was born. The Tea Party Movement may yet become a full-grown third political party in America, a conservative political party. However, caution must be exercised that Tea Party candidates for office do not harm the campaigns of GOP candidates who have clear shots at removing an incumbent democrat, or a liberal, or RINO Republican from office.

Just some thoughts today on why politics are as they are in the USA. Subject to change, of course!

J. D. Longstreet

US Accepts SOCIALISM and CAPITALISM and Self- Destruction!

US Accepts SOCIALISM and CAPITALISM and Self- Destruction!
A Commentary by: J. D. Longstreet
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I have written thousands of commentaries during my career as a broadcast journalist, reporter, and broadcast commentator. This one, however, was painful to write. It was akin to writing the epitaph for a dearly beloved friend now deceased. Read on and you will understand.

Last April, while addressing a small group, in Paris, France, Howard Dean is reported to have said the contest between Socialism and Capitalism in America is over. He declared that Americans have decided to have BOTH! There is video of his speech in which he made this declaration available for you all over the Internet. In fact, here is a link to one such location: SOURCE.

Dean is reported to have said: " Capitalism is always going to be with us because capitalism represents part of human nature. But the other part of human nature is communitarianism. The debate for the new generation is instead of capitalism or socialism, is we're going to have both and then which proportion of each should we have in order to make this all work."

The problem, Dr. Dean, is... it WON'T WORK!

The democrat/socialists in charge of America these days simply will not accept, or, they already know and will not admit it, or -- they are just too dumb to grasp the intricacies of socialism and therefore they cannot conceive of it's inability to co-exist with capitalism.

Look. Socialism is a "bully.” It cannot co-exist with Capitalism because it thirsts for power with an insatiable thirst. It will devour capitalism until capitalism no longer exists, they a nation ends up, not as a socialists nation, as the socialists/democrats would have you believe, but as a communist nation. Socialism is only a stepping-stone, a forerunner, as we have said before, to communism.

As of today, America is a socialist nation well on its way to becoming a godless communist nation. The people who pull the strings from behind the curtain already know this. A few more thoughtful Americans know this. But, ignorance is having a field day in America these days. If you doubt it, I offer as evidence -- the election of Obama.

Ignorance insured the election of Barack Obama to the Presidency of the United States. Smart, intelligent, people, people who saw through Obama's facade, did not vote for him. Unfortunately, with our public education system run by the government, the current electorate in America is, quite likely, the dumbest in the history of this nation.

Look, America was not founded for dumb people. No democracy can long endure when its people are dumb. Why? The answer is simple -- because those dumb people will invariably vote for the candidate offering them "something for nothing." Intelligent people know there is no such thing as "something for nothing." But, when America's public education system is dumbing down the populace it allows one political philosophy to gain power -- and -- it ensures the hold on power by the political party, which adheres to that philosophy. Of course, that means democracy in America is doomed.

What I have just described to you is exactly what has happened in America. And it is going to happen again in 2012 unless the intelligent among us can find a way to prevent the human tidal wave of ignorant voters sure to converge on the ballot boxes in 2012 to "save THEIR President."

In the quote above Dr. Dean says: " But the other part of human nature is communitarianism." Ok. So what is communitarianism? The short answer -- communism. And that is where America is headed -- as straight as a Martin to a gourd.

I honestly don't know what it will take to get Americans to understand: Socialism is only a phase a nation goes through, a necessary phase, on its way into communism. America is in the socialism phase, at this moment, on its inevitable way to communism. The stage is set, all the actors are in place, in fact, the curtain is raised, and the play has already begun.

The problem with socialism is: It kills it's host!. It has failed everywhere on earth it has been tried and it destroyed the nations foolish enough to try it. It WILL destroy America, too.

It is a terrible thing to watch a great nation commit suicide. It is especially awful when the people of that nation have all the knowledge of the ages at their fingertips and all of it warns of the dangers of covetousness, sloth, greed, and ignorance. All four combine to become socialism -- a cancer that will devour the core of any society weak enough, ignorant enough, and greedy enough, to covet that which his neighbor has, so much, that he is willing to destroy his neighbor, and himself, in his quest -- not to raise himself up -- but to bring his neighbor down! THAT is what socialism does. It is a philosophy straight out of hell itself.

If Dr. Dean is correct, then America is well on the way to the dustbin of history. And those who led her into socialism will answer at the final judgment for the murder of a nation.

J. D. Longstreet

Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely.

Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely.
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
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“I cannot accept, your canon that we are to judge pope and king unlike other men, with a favorable presumption that they do no wrong. If there is any presumption, it is the other way against holders of power ... Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”… Lord Acton

What will it take to convince Americans that the people we place in office ought to be of high moral character? I no longer think it is even possible. I no longer think Americans even care… as evidenced by the results of the presidential election, and numerous congressional elections, and even state and local elections around the country just last year.

We have become so accustomed to self serving, double-dealing, dishonest, greedy, callous, crafty, deceitful, duplicitous politicians that we now accept it as “normal”. What that says about Americans, as a people, is absolutely shameful. What it says about the future of America is terrifying!

I dare say ancient Rome was not as corrupt as America is today. We have managed to dumb down our populace, the voter base, the electorate, concerning what is expected of public servants, until we think nothing of electing to public office people of such low morals they ought not be allowed IN public, let alone serve in a public office. Nowadays, the use of the phrase “choosing the lesser of two evils,” when describing our choice of candidates, is in regular use… and we don’t even raise an eyebrow. Why? Because it is true!

James L. Buckley once said: ” What people fail to appreciate is that the currency of corruption in elective office is, not money, but votes.” He was spot on!

I am not surprised at the corruption of our politicians. How could I be? How could YOU be? It is we who elected them. It is we, the people of America, who bear the shame and the guilt for placing these people of low repute in offices that good men fought, bled, and died on foreign and domestic battlefields to secure for us. Do we not understand that we have disgraced our heritage? Do we not understand that we have brought shame upon our ancestors, upon our forefathers, upon The Founders of this nation, and… upon ourselves for not being good citizens and good stewards of this priceless jewel of a country?

Too long have we abrogated our singular duty to study the foundations of this country, the constitution of this country, the legal/judiciary system of this country, and, just as important, the government of this country, and… the way that government was intended to operate. We haven’t done any of this.

Our public education system has failed, utterly, in educating our young about their heritage as Americans. It has failed at instilling pride in our young as Americans. The angry cries of “nationalism” have drowned out “patriotism” until one is frowned upon for any public display of pride in America. There is something intrinsically wrong about that! In modern day America education has been devalued while ignorance is celebrated… even unto the voting booth! It is revolting!

Yes, I am angry. It is an anger born of frustration. I am frustrated with my fellow Americans who absolutely refused to see that substance does trump style every time. The percentage of the electorate who voted to place a man in office, primarily because of the color of his skin and, secondly, his eloquent way with words, have done America a huge disservice. The cost is going to be monumental, biblical, even.

One of the great men of the American Revolution, Samuel Adams, said this: “The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil Constitution, are worth defending at all hazards; and it is our duty to defend them against all attacks. We have received them as a fair inheritance from our worthy ancestors: they purchased them for us with toil and danger and expense of treasure and blood, and transmitted them to us with care and diligence. It will bring an everlasting mark of infamy on the present generation, enlightened as it is, if we should suffer them to be wrested from us by violence without a struggle, or to be cheated out of them by the artifices of false and designing men.”

I would draw your attention to the last portion of the last sentence above: “… or to be cheated out of them by the artifices of false and designing men.” THAT is precisely where we find ourselves in America today. And we have no one, no one, to blame… but ourselves.

Are you ready for the years, immediately ahead, with tailgating scandals and stories of corruption and graft and the peccadilloes of powerful men unable to restrain themselves when let lose on an ignorant populace? You’d better be - for I am mighty afraid that is exactly where we are heading. The political shenanigans in Washington, to which we have, unfortunately, become accustomed, are, I’m afraid, only the tip of a vastly underestimated iceberg of such conduct. America’s ship of state is sailing directly into that iceberg.

J. D. Longstreet

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Conservative Liberal+Progressive+Socialist+Obama+Absolute-Power+Corruption

The Road to Islamification is Paved by Religious Pluralism

Key Words: Tolerance, Religious Diversity, Liberal, Progressive Christians, Left, Religious Pluralism

As I wrote earlier in December

One of the first lessons I learned in seminary is that you cannot divorce religion from culture. Every religion carries with it the mark of the culture that gave it birth. Either religions will adapt to cultural change, or the culture will adapt to religious change. Change one and you change the other. It’s as simple and as complex as that. . .

The second lesson I learned in seminary (a liberal mainline Protestant seminary) was that there is a major investment by liberal (mainline) denominations in promoting Religious Pluralism in the name of Social Justice and cultural diversity.

The third lesson I learned in seminary is that any conservative thought openly espoused by either student or professor was tantamount to heresy!!! You cannot progress in a “progressive” institution if you are even the slightest bit conservative. While the liberal seminaries give lip-service to tradition, Christian tradition is merely a tool for deconstructive argumentation.

Before I entered the seminary, I was somewhat politically naive. That changed rapidly as I learned that theology and politics are intimately linked. For years mainline seminaries have functioned as the religious arm of the far left progressives. Admission of any conservative political bent is literally the kiss of death. No doubt there are many closet conservative professors who would not long survive if their personal politics were known. Students hoping for plumb assignments following ordination are well-aware of which sides their daily bread is buttered.

Social Justice (as commonly understood today): Social justice mostly refers to an ideal of society, where "justice" refers to economic status rather than to the administration of laws. It is based on the idea of a society which gives individuals and groups fair treatment and a just share of the benefits of society, although what is "fair treatment" and a "just share" must remain unclear or subject to interpretation. . .

Think: Redistribution of wealth from wealthy (imperialistic) nations of the West to poor 3rd and 4th world nations.

What is Religious Pluralism? In its strongest sense, religious pluralism holds that no single religion can claim absolute authority to teach absolute truth. The word of God is not literal religion. On the contrary, religion attempts to describe God's utterances. Given the finite and fallible nature of human beings, no religious text written by Man can absolutely describe God, God's will, or God's counsel, since it is God apart from Man who reveals the divine thoughts, intentions and volition perfectly. . . Giving one religion or denomination special rights that are denied to others can weaken religious pluralism. . Relativism, the belief that all religions are equal in their value and that none of the religions gives access to absolute truth, is an extreme form of inclusivism. Likewise, syncretism, the attempt to take over creeds of practices from other religions or even to blend practices or creeds from different religions into one new faith is an extreme form of inter-religious dialogue, which just tries to seek common ground between what already exists in the different religions. Syncretism must not be confused with ecumenism, the attempt to bring closer and eventually reunite different denominations of one religion that have a common origin but were separated by a schism.

Here’s an excerpt from a good article by Jim Leffel “Christian Witness in a Pluralistic Age”

. . .I suggest that the primary barrier to getting a hearing for the gospel on the vast majority of campuses today is ideologically driven pluralism. Pluralism takes the fact of the world's rich cultural diversity and makes an "ism" out of it. It doesn't merely extol the virtue of understanding and appreciating cultural differences; virtually everyone is for that. Pluralism holds that distinct cultural beliefs are true for that culture--but not for cultures that operate out of a different "paradigm." Pluralists say that truth is a "social construction." It is created through social consensus and tradition, not discovered in reality that exists independently of our beliefs. Truth is subjective interpretation, not correspondence between our beliefs and reality.
Since pluralists consider truth to be a cultural construct, it is the height of arrogance to try to convert someone from their paradigm (especially if it's non-western) to Christianity. That's what most people mean when they say that Christianity is intolerant. But should we accept the pluralistic definition of "tolerance"? . . .

. . .The notion that truth is a social construct is both unbiblical and dangerous. Truth matters. It's no mere philosophical abstraction. Jesus said, "You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free." Our commission is to spread the good news to all the peoples of the earth. To make effective inroads in today's multi-ethnic, culturally diverse university, we must do the hard work of engaging the thinking behind pluralism and the demands of this new meaning of tolerance.

For a further understanding of how pervasive Religious Pluralism (see Progressive Chrisitanity) has become in the West visit these sites: Oh and be sure to check out their links to the Progressive Christian denominations and organizations.

The Pluralism Project (Harvard University)
Religious Tolerance
Religious Diversity News (check out their article links on Islamophobia. Talk about naivety!!!)
UCSB Religious Studies Department
Ford Foundation
Center for Religion and Civic Culture at USC
The Religion and Immigration Project (TRIP) at USF
Hispanic Churches in American Public Life Project
Muslims in American Public Square

Religious Pluralism in Southern California (blod highlights added by me)

A brief overview of the Religious Pluralism in Southern California Project

The Religious Pluralism in Southern California project examines the impact that religious pluralism is having on civic life in Southern California. The project is funded by a grant from the Ford Foundation.

Our inherited paradigms about religious pluralism offer two possible scenarios: assimilation to a mainline culture or social and cultural fragmentation-bubble or Babel. Neither seems to capture the dynamics of contemporary pluralism. Rather than assimilating the "American way of life" many new immigrant communities appear to be actively negotiating the terms of social life. This negotiation process takes place in the context of public institutions and in response to public events.

Furthermore,the process takes place in the context of a cultural system that attributes meaning to such constructions as race, gender, class, and religion and urges a normative response to the experience of diversity. Pluralism is more than just diversity, we argue; pluralism is meaningful diversity. . .

It’s important to remember that religious dialogue doesn’t work (nor does Religious Pluralism) when one of the parties is intent on the total destruction of your religion and your culture!!! So as the growing number of cloud-walking Religious Pluralists devise more ways to engage Islam (as if Islam was some kind of monolithic religion), they ignore the very real threats Islamification poses to all religious freedoms. See “Our Vulnerable Religious Freedoms”

To get a good idea of how all mainline Christian denominations (including Roman Catholicism) are rapidly moving toward Religious Pluralism, and as a result, handing radical Islam the rope with which to hang Christianity, please read “Praying to the Buddha”.
[COMMONWEAL Magazine, January 26, 2007 / Volume CXXXIV, Number 2]

This article was written by Peter C. Phan, a Vietnamese American, who holds the Ignacio Ellacuría Chair of Catholic Social Thought at Georgetown University. He has written or edited more than twenty books and three hundred essays. His latest work includes a trilogy: Christianity with an Asian Face, In Our Own Tongues, and Being Religious Interreligiously (Orbis Books). This essay has been funded by a grant from the Henry Luce Foundation.

The article begins with a story about Phan’s Christian mother who prayed to the Buddah. Religious Pluralism makes that all possible! Here’s an excerpt:

. . .How, then, could an old woman like my mother, God-loving and church-fearing, a twice-a-day churchgoer raised to believe that no one except Catholics can be saved, do what she did that day in that pagoda? And what, exactly, happened between the 1960s and 2000 that enabled her to honor the Buddhist nun, pray to the Buddha, and contribute money to the maintenance of the pagoda? The answer lies in the dramatic expansion during our era of interreligious dialogue, particularly as it has been espoused by the church since Vatican II. Being religious interreligiously. . . .

Contemporary religious pluralism, in Asia and increasingly in the United States, requires interreligious dialogue not only at the theological level, but at the personal level too. It challenges one to be religious interreligiously. . . .

. . .as Paul Knitter has helpfully explained in Introducing Theologies of Religions: replacement (there is only one true religion), fulfillment (one true religion fulfills other religions), mutuality (there are many true religions which are called to dialogue), and acceptance (there are many religions which have different ends). More simply, theologies of religions are often categorized in three models: exclusivism, pluralism, and inclusivism. Exclusivism holds that there is only one savior and one true religion or church and that no salvation is possible outside of them. At the other end of the spectrum, pluralism holds that there are many saviors and different paths leading to salvation, none necessarily superior to the others. Inclusivism maintains that although there is only one savior and one true church, salvation remains possible outside them-though it is always ultimately dependent on them. . .

The official teaching of the Catholic Church, at least as articulated in Dominus Iesus, favors inclusivism while warning against the dangers of pluralism. . .

Christ is the sacrament, the definitive symbol of God’s salvation for all humanity. This is what the salvific uniqueness and universality means in the Indian context. That, however, does not mean there cannot be other symbols, valid in their own ways, which the Christian sees as related to the definitive symbol, Jesus Christ. The implication of all this is that for hundreds of millions of our fellow human beings, salvation is seen as being channeled to them not in spite of but through and in their various sociocultural and religious traditions. We cannot, then, deny a priori a salvific role for these non-Christian religions.

Interreligious dialogue can be practiced by people of faith, irrespective of educational level, social standing, and religious status, and is urgently needed in the conflict-ridden political and religious climate of the post-9/11 United States. Such dialogue is not merely a preparatory step toward peacemaking and reconciliation; it constitutes the very process of peacemaking and reconciliation itself, a process that occurs precisely in the acts of living together, working together, and praying together. These dialogues are powerful means to correct biases, erase deep-seated hatreds, and heal ancient wounds. By promoting communication, grassroots activism toward peace and justice, and above all, shared experiences of the Divine or the Absolute in spite of religious differences, such dialogue helps forge a new way of life.

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A Progressive God Responds to the War on Christmas

Yesterday I was forwarded a rather long e-mail letter from God, so I thought you just might be interested. If you are reading this, then you will most likely receive it too. I was really disappointed, however, that I wasn’t on God’s initial list of friends, but I guess I should be thankful that the e-mail finally made it into my inbox.

The letter starts out . . .

“Dear Children,

It has come to my attention that many of you are upset that folks are taking My name out of the season. Maybe you've forgotten that I wasn't actually born during this time of the year and that it was some of you're predecessors who decided to celebrate My birthday on what was actually a time of pagan festival. Although Ido appreciate being remembered anytime.

How I personally feel about this celebration can probably be most easily understood by those of you who have been blessed with children of your own. I don't care what you call the day. If you want to celebrate My birth just, GET ALONG AND LOVEONE ANOTHER. . . .”

The letter goes on to suggest that we all stop worrying about the War on Christmas, and start acting like real Christians by performing acts of Christian love and charity etc. Now who can argue with that? And more to the point, who would dare argue with God???

Well, for starters, how can I be sure that God actually wrote this e-mail? I did notice that there were a few grammatical errors, but perhaps God doesn’t really care much about grammar either or perhaps His secretary was off for the day?

The next question I had was that if God really did write this e-mail, which person of the Trinity was actually involved in the writing? The implication is that it must be Jesus because God is talking about “MY birthday.” We Christians all know that God the Father “Is, Was, and Always Will Be.” God the Father never had a birth date. If Jesus is writing about “My name” and “My birthday”, why didn’t He even once mention His name??? He could have at least signed the letter but HE didn’t.

Perhaps God was avoiding any mention of Jesus in order to keep Christians and Non-Christians alike from Christmas-time divisiveness? But that doesn’t ring true. It’s really hard to imagine a God “who sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him” (John 4:19), not even wanting to mention that fact on his only son’s birthday.

But this letter is hard to figure out, kind of like trying to figure out God. So I’m just not sure. Isn’t it funny that God would remind folks to read John 15: 1 – 8 ("I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. . .), tell folks to pray, and to send money to missionaries who would spread his name, but fail to spread His name in this very letter???

And why wouldn’t God want folks to heed Jesus’ own words?

“And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.” (John 14:13)

God made several good suggestions in his e-mail but I was struck by the fact that God had little interest in keeping alive the Christian tradition of Christmas. I would assume from reading this e-mail from God that He’s not at all opposed to secularizing the day.

“Stop worrying about the fact that people are calling the tree a holiday tree, instead of a Christmas tree. It was I who made all trees.”

That got me to thinking about the importance of tradition – to humans at least. Why should protecting our cherished religious traditions be important to all Americans regardless of our differing faith perspectives?

Oddly enough I found the answer from an Australian – Professor Mark Cooray. Dr. Cooray was once a socialist/progressive activist but he turned from socialism because, “I have come to believe that socialism and progressivism are in practice, as far as human development is concerned, retrogressive philosophies.”

Here’s a quote from a very interesting chapter on Tradition from the book, The Australian Achievement: From Bondage To Freedom by Dr. Mark Cooray.

"The Internationale contains a line "No more tradition's chains shall bind us." This is one of the fundamental ideas of socialist/progressivist thinking. Man must be freed from tradition. Reason is to be the guiding light. The devil can cite scripture for his purposes. Reason can often be used to support any position. If men and women are freed from tradition, the experiences of history and the family environment, they can be manipulated and used by ideological and religious leaders, eccentrics and maniacs. If tradition declines, ideologues can mould and influence individuals."
Source: http://ourcivilisation.com/cooray/btof/chap11.htm

Note: The Internationale is the international song of both Marxist and non-Marxist socialist parties. It was written in French by Eugene Pottier, a woodworker from Lille, after the fall of the Paris Commune of 1871, and set to music by P. Degeyter.
Source: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/INTERNAT.html

Now it’s just possible, even plausible, that perhaps God didn’t really write this e-mail letter. And if the devil can cite scripture for his purposes, then who is to say who really wrote the letter? That got me to thinking about “inversion” – the turning of faith or any philosophy inside out.

Now anyone can be susceptible to ideologues who would manipulate faith, and those who are only too willing to overthrow tradition for political correctness are often the most susceptible. The clever part about the inversion of faith is that it is often very subtle. The primary rule of inversion is that the big lie is usually hidden amid much truth. And that big lie is often hidden through the process of expanding definitions and redefining commonly accepted theological truths. We usually call it "revisionism".

I don’t know who wrote the letter and most likely it was written by someone who has the best of Christian humanistic intentions. I do know that the letter was forwarded to me from one of my liberal/ progressive friends who is a member of a very liberal/progressive Christian denomination. I won’t mention the particular denomination’s name but you can usually tell which Christian denominations have a liberal/progressive bias. They are the denominations with well known old names that are rapidly losing membership due in no small part to the fact that they subtly promote moral equivalency with any faith perspective, and they avoid, at all costs, the mention of sin. The easiest way to spot them is that they quote every Biblical verse devoted to Love but recoil from any passage having to do with the cost of sin. And if you read any of their literature you will find that they have quite neutered the language by never referring to God as "He". The most extreme of the progressives refer to God as "He/She".

My friend sent the e-mail on to all of her many church friends and to me because she was afraid that we Americans are “politicizing our God.” But somehow this letter from God feels just like a politicized message especially when God tells us to pray for George.

I do not doubt the sincerity and devout faith of my friend and of most liberal/progressive Christians. But what I do know is that, as Dr. Cooray aptly pointed out concerning the progressives, “they can be manipulated and used by ideological and religious leaders, eccentrics and maniacs.”

If anyone would like me to send them the entire e-mail from “God”, please e-mail me.