The MSM and the left begin their destruction of the thing they fear most, a 2012 run for the White House by Sarah Palin. As I mentioned yesterday - "it's a shame Sarah Palin is not at the head of the ticket [now]" I'll support her in 2012, unless "the MSM and the federal super majority in DC ... fix it so she can't" run.
Even the foreign press cites "unnamed campaign insiders" and "aides close to both candidates" and "a senior Republican" and "four Republicans close to Ms Palin" and "a Palin associate" and "reports" and "advisers to Senator McCain" and "McCain sources," ... eight common unnamed sources in a single article and not one named source, NOT ONE! These are all journo-speak for "I don't have a source, but I trust my rumor mongers."
UPDATE: The fix is in, and proof of it is here. [26 Oct.'08; 12:57 PM]
Showing posts with label Integrity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Integrity. Show all posts
Sunday, October 26, 2008
PALIN: And so soon it begins ... !
Friday, October 24, 2008
OBAMA: May not be a Muslim but ... !
My Muslim Faith | Snopes
Obama: I have a deep faith | CHICAGO SUN-TIMES | Cathleen Falsani
HT - Obama: Never a Christian | WND
HT - Barack Obama: Never a Christian | BLACK KETTLE
... he is ALSO NOT "a Christian ... in the Christian tradition."
The CRIB is not saying Senator Obama does not have the right to say he is a Christian in the mistaken belief that he is ... as thousands of others do every day ... but that if he does, he should expect those who know differently to call him out on that false claim.
That's where Snopes, Obama, and the MSM apparently fail; they don't adequately understand orthodoxy and so do not discern the difference between those who are saying he is a Muslim and those who are saying he is not a Christian.
The following is the text of my critical email to Snopes' Urban Legends regarding their seemingly deliberate twisting of the context and interpretation of the now infamous Obama misstatement of his faith in an interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos.
A quick reading of the Snopes piece might help: please go there and read it!
The CRIB welcomes critical comments on our analysis but will delete diatribes and DNC talking points or position paper quotes ...Thank you for your excellent Internet site and service; I've found it meaningful and useful in my blogging for a number of years now. Your readership numbers are well deserved.Some of Obama's comments are so unorthodox (e.g., "I don't presume to have knowledge of what happens after I die") that it calls into question the twenty years of teaching and preaching of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
However, your redaction of and spinning of "my Muslim faith" is inconsistent with your usually non-partisan commentary on controversial items.
Also, one can argue about the video and your redaction until hell freezes over and not accomplish anything ... but whether or not Senator Obama is a Christian or not is another question; the question should be left up to those who profess an "orthodox" theology ... as would be true with all faith communities. [NOTE: a fair way to address this would have been to quote from a handful of critics of his theology.]
Certainly the Senator might run down a runway with outstretched arms, making jet noises, but that would not make him a jet airplane.
Here is Obama's Christian testimony as given in a 2004 Chicago Sun-Times interview:
Asked by the reporter what he believes, Obama said: "I am a Christian. I'm rooted in the Christian tradition. I believe that there are many paths to the same place, and that is a belief that there is a higher power, a belief that we are connected as a people. That there are values that transcend race or culture, that move us forward, and there's an obligation for all of us individually as well as collectively to take responsibility to make those values lived."
Herein lies the problem with his claims: all roads, according to "the Christian tradition," DO NOT lead to eternal life!
One must call Jesus a liar in order for this to be true; it's the antithesis of Jesus' own words," [John 14:6 - "Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me."]
The reporter even commented on this deviation from "the Christian tradition": "It's perhaps an unlikely theological position for someone who places his faith squarely at the feet of Jesus to take, saying essentially that all people of faith -- Christians, Jews, Muslims, animists, everyone -- know the same God."
It was clear to Cathleen Falsani, the reporter, what he was saying. Even more condemning is the following:
"'The difficult thing about any religion, including Christianity, is that at some level there is a call to evangelize and proselytize. There's the belief, certainly in some quarters, that if people haven't embraced Jesus Christ as their personal savior, they're going to hell.'
"Obama doesn't believe he, or anyone else, will go to hell.
"But he's not sure if he'll be going to heaven, either.
"'I don't presume to have knowledge of what happens after I die," he says. "When I tuck in my daughters at night, and I feel like I've been a good father to them, and I see in them that I am transferring values that I got from my mother and that they're kind people and that they're honest people, and they're curious people, that's a little piece of heaven.'"
Snopes shouldn't presume to report conclusively concerning this issue.
What is true and not "false" is that he DID slip and DID say what he said. Your spin doesn't assist in the search for truth.
SPECIFIC DISTORTIONS IN YOUR REPORT:
"When the subject of the interview turned to Senator Obama's assertion that Republicans were attempting to scare voters by suggesting he is not Christian" -- you offer no evidence to support his claim, nor did you indicate that those who have questioned his faith were doing so on the basis of strong orthodox tenets AND his own testimony.
"... John McCain had not specifically promulgated the false rumor that he (Obama) was a Muslim." -- once again you fail to differentiate between those making the claim he is a stealth Muslim and those who are making the claim that he cannot be a Christian "in the Christian tradition" based on his own testimony.
"... George Stephanopoulos - apparently not understanding the context of Senator Obama's response" -- mistakenly attempted to correct him ... " -- one presuppositional statement ["apparently not understanding"] cannot be used to authenticate another ["mistakenly"]; the whole paragraph is fallacious because of this ethical error. This is not reporting; it is commentary but without the disclaimer.
"This non sequitur briefly threw Senator Obama off track; he repeated the words 'my Christian faith' and then returned to the point he was trying to make." -- this has the forensic smell of a DNC talking points memo and NOT something normally found at Urban Legends. What astounds me is your "non sequitur" above leading into a defense against another which you cannot prove since it is based on a mindset that only Senator Obama can verify.
This email will appear on my blog this morning, you may, if you wish, respond in the comments.
Scripture is clear: "And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment ... " [Hebrews 9:27; see also Matthew 25:46]
Remember, the issue is not to prove he is a stealth Muslim, but rather show that he is NOT "a Christian ... in the Christian tradition."The Bible tells us [those of us who hold to the orthodox doctrine of the inspiration of the Scriptures] "you will know them by their fruits" and that "out of the mouth come the things of the heart."Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.'Matthew 7:22-23
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
CONSERVATIVES: We're no different than the liberals!
When it comes to lying, liberals seem to this conservative to have a corner on the market. However, items like this remind me "in politics and secular culture" we're as messed up as they are!
For two days I heard Sean Hannity (on both his radio and television programs) and others badmouthing the Obama crowd for Michelle Obama's elitist excesses while staying at the Waldorf-Astoria; her husband was speaking at the Alfred E. Smith Dinner on the evening of October 16. The rough claim was that she ordered up expensive room service ... that was false.
The false report began with an unverified New York Post "Page Six" rumor and spread from there.Michelle Obama couldn't have been ordering room service in New York on that Wednesday afternoon, as she was giving a speech at the Grand Wayne Convention Center in ... Indiana, at the time.The NY Post printed a retraction here. A search of Hannity's web site found no mention of the item.
This kind of stuff doesn't help conservative causes.
Monday, October 20, 2008
ELECTION 2008: Your late great and precious democratic freedoms!
Stealing the Presidency: An Obama/ACORN Primer | American Thinker
HT - Stealing the Presidency: An Obama/ACORN Primer | Black Kettle
If Americans wake up in 2009 to the reality of what is happening to their precious democracy, it will be too late.
A democrat socialist in the Executive Branch, a super-majority in the Legislative Branch, and eventually in the Judicial Branch will prevent any and all challenges to what is happening right in from of their eyes.One thing, I believe, is certain. The minute Barack Obama is sworn in as the Chief law enforcement officer in America, the FBI will no longer be investigating ACORN. Neither will the Justice Department. [AT]In fact, I fully expect this blog to be erased at some point for its politics, let alone its religion.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
DEBATE: Who lost?
Quick Points on the Debate | Jay Nordlinger - The Corner NRO
HT - Thursday links, with contrapposto - Maggie's Farm
Who lost? The American people!For the life of me I can not see the value of debates at the presidential level; it's a media circus and offensive to the intellect ... nothing is accomplished because the collapsed and concentrated format eliminates the ability to thoroughly discuss issues (something the candidates avoid at all costs anyway).
Check out Nordlinger's painful comments through the main link above.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
BAILOUT: My previous fears are becoming my present reality!
As the financial crisis slogs on we're now aware of a nagging subconscious thought: "These guys don't know what they were doing!"
Like Agent Gibbs on NCIS, my gut told me we were being milked! Dumb us! They were right, you know? But at least we're not alone ... or are we?... there’s clear evidence, reported with stunning casualness by CNBC, that Paulson & Co. threatened the big banks in some way to force them to “accept” Uncle Sam’s preferred equity investments: Even if they didn’t want it?Paulson is a democrat but you know who's going to get the blame? You've got it!Watch the video; the answer is “yes” — thereby ensuring that the government has a stake in all the major banks. [...]
So what did Paulson threaten to do if they said “no”? (Yes I know he wasn’t holding real guns. Come on now.) We don’t know, but whatever it is, the opening sections of the pork-loaded “bailout” bill with the made-up $850 billion price tag probably gave him the power to make the threats credible.This “bailout” was originally advertised as being targeted towards troubled loan situations, principally mortgages. Instead, Paulson, Bernanke, and Bush have turned it into a de facto, no good deed goes unpunished (i.e., responsible lending) tool for partial [bank] nationalization.
How many Congresspersons, or presidential candidates, thought this was what they were voting for, or that this is what the people wanted? Two weekends ago, I wrote that the whole saga shows that the whole saga proves that Washington doesn’t really care what we think.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
ELECTION 2008: There's just no explaining the mind of half of American voters!
Will we never learn? | THOMSON: Washington Times
HT - Will we never learn? | BLACK KETTLE
Jumping Ship | Hanson: Pajamas Media
HT - Jumping Ship | BLACK KETTLE
I must admit to extreme frustration with my countrymen ... how can 50% of our adult population justify placing an untested, unvetted socialist in the Oval Office? Based almost totally on feelings.What is it about the human condition that we seem never to learn from the past, much less from others? Why do we keep making the same mistakes, over and over again? [...] And yet half of these average American voters appear ready to hand the White House to a totally unproven candidate whose principal claim to fame seems to be his stirring, if largely empty, rhetoric. No matter that he has, since his youth, fraternized with extreme leftist radicals ... [Thompson - WT]It's flat out inexplicable.Can so many average Americans turn a blind eye to Barack Obama's self-proclaimed "spiritual mentor" for 20 years, a man so radical he routinely spews anti-white hate and brazenly implores God to damn America? [Thompson - WT]Are Americans so sick of their political class that they are willing to gamble their country away?A great many moderates and conservatives are worn out and tired of Bush and Bush hatred, the European furor, serial charges of racism and illiberalism, and finally, in their weariness, think that Obama will, in a variety of ways, just make all the ickiness go away–as if he will make all of us be liked abroad and end racial and red/blue fighting at home. [VDH - PJ]McCain is no diamond on black velvet but at least he's been under a lot of pressure for a long time ... yet he might make diamond grade in the next eight years.Obama, as I have said ad nauseam, has brilliantly prepped the battlefield to such a degree that a Farrakhan endorsement or surrogates calling Palin a quasi-Nazi or a bimbo, or smearing McCain as near senile is irrelevant; yet one screamer in a crowd of tens of thousands is proof of McCain’s and Palin’s racism and hatred. [...]All of this is true and so frustrating. Yet the thing that frustrates me even more is the pain I feel in my back from the knife wound inflicted by George W. during his first four years ... signing every spending bill sent to him. A betrayal I'll never forget. Almost as bad as his dad's, "read my lips"!
... for a self-acclaimed conservative to vote Obama would mean that higher taxes, larger government, more entitlements, more of a UN-centered foreign policy, dialogue with an Iran, less coal,oil, and nuclear energy production at home, more “oppression” studies and “reparations”, leftish Supreme Court judges, open borders (I could go on) were the truly conservative positions, or perhaps suddenly truly the ‘right’ positions. [VDH - PJ]
Now I have another pain, watching McCain and Palin playing the chastised and chagrined; the former due on Letterman soon and the latter kissing up to SNL. Someone get me a sea sickness pill.
Saturday, October 04, 2008
PALIN NOW: LA NOW Chapter head endorses Palin!
OH-OH …EXPECT FIREWORKS … BIG TIME!! | GretaWire
HT - Explosive! Head of NOW LA chapter has just endorsed Gov Palin | Ironic Surrealism II
Perhaps John will step aside and let Sarah run?
Greta Van Susteren reports ...Just got this email from FNC embed producer….as soon as it came in and I saw it, my eyes popped out!! I know this woman!! I read it to my husband…and he agrees! This endorsement is going to really going [sic] to cause a storm!! Hang on to your seat! Read!A check of the California NOW site and the LA Chapter site (there is no LA Chapter web site) revealed no online response from NOW; a check on the National web site shows no response either (not that they are obligated to respond).From: Gomez, Serafin
To:
Sent: Sat Oct 04 18:05:43 2008
Subject: Head of NOW. LA chapter Endorses Palin
Carson, CA-
The head of the LA chapter of National Organization for Women has just endorsed Gov Palin @ campaign rally. Not speaking [for] NOW or her chapter she said but as an individual. ” This is what a feminist looks like,” she just before handing it over to SLP.
Serafin Gomez
Producer, FNC Political Unit
Washington Bureau
Friday, September 26, 2008
FINANCIAL CRISIS: Let the evidence speak for itself!
News busted by NewsBusters causes sever headache at the paper of record - The New York Times; Congressional Democrats are having sympathy related stress.Fannie Mae Eases Credit To Aid Mortgage Lending - NYT
HT - '99 NYT Article Reveals True Cause of Current Crises | NewsBusters
Surely they knew it would all come out (after Fox traced the affair for us; includes video)? Maybe that's why the Democrats were in such a rush to go on campaign recess?
From the eight year-old Business section article ... [CRIB emphasis]In a move that could help increase home ownership rates among minorities and low-income consumers, the Fannie Mae Corporation is easing the credit requirements on loans that it will purchase from banks and other lenders.Then there is this ...The action ... will encourage ... banks to extend home mortgages to individuals whose credit is generally not good enough to qualify for conventional loans.Perhaps that is why they are called conventional loans; perhaps instead of calling them subprime, they should have been called subconventional?Fannie Mae, the nation's biggest underwriter of home mortgages, has been under increasing pressure from the Clinton Administration to expand mortgage loans among low and moderate income people ....That's a good idea looking for a crisis!In addition, banks, thrift institutions and mortgage companies have been pressing Fannie Mae to help them make more loans to so-called subprime borrowers. These borrowers whose incomes, credit ratings and savings are not good enough to qualify for conventional loans ....As a friend said, "Pressure is what pressure is!"''Fannie Mae has expanded home ownership for millions of families in the 1990's by reducing down payment requirements,'' said Franklin D. Raines, Fannie Mae's chairman and chief executive officer. ''Yet there remain too many borrowers whose credit is just a notch below what our underwriting has required who have been relegated to paying significantly higher mortgage rates in the so-called subprime market.''More pressure from the guy who walked away with $90 million!
And the author of the article warned ...In moving, even tentatively, into this new area of lending, Fannie Mae is taking on significantly more risk, which may not pose any difficulties during flush economic times. But the government-subsidized corporation may run into trouble in an economic downturn, prompting a government rescue similar to that of the savings and loan industry in the 1980's.And a expert in the field gave this prophetic and dire warning!''From the perspective of many people, including me, this is another thrift industry growing up around us,'' said Peter Wallison a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. ''If they fail, the government will have to step up and bail them out the way it stepped up and bailed out the thrift industry.''Wow! But you know what? Slick Willie and the Democratic choir will skate on this too! Why? Because, I predict, mainstream media won't go after it!
They would rather see the country fail than see their leftist friends have to admit fault! Which is the greater sin: greed or standing by and watching your neighbor or brother suffer when you have the ability to help him?
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
BAILOUT: Be afraid, be very afraid!
John McCain has been reminding me of why he didn't have my pre-Palin vote; at times, unlike Obama, I can't see whose side he's on.
In Disney's entertaining cartoon movie "Finding Nemo," and when thinking of Washington DC, one can never forget the greedy cry of the seagulls: "Mine, mine, mine, mine, mine, mine, mine ... "!
This plan reminds me of the scene where seagulls perforated a sailboat's canvas in pursuit of a pelican with Nemo in his gullet: the seagulls are our politicians, the sail is this bailout, while you and I are still looking for our national pelican. So far Newt Gingrich and Neil Cavuto are the only two making any sense to this taxpayer.
Like FDR's new deal, recent federal economic actions reek of short-term wisdom and long-term debt, bureaucratic bungling and fiduciary failure, with a healthy portion of capitol capital and dirty dealing on top.
If I were writing a conspiracy novel about a global design to bring down the greatest nation to have ever existed, I couldn't conceive of a more convoluted plot line than the one that has been working its way through the media since our introduction to "the Bush Doctrine" ... the financial bailout of Wall Street portends nothing good for Main Street.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
OBAMA: Logan Act - unindicted co-conspirator!
Negotiating with foreign governments and/or foreign officials on behalf of the United States of America is restricted to a universe of only a few individuals. We have a federal law to spell this out ...OBAMA OBJECTS - NY Post
SEN. BARACK OBAMA WANTS TROOPS OUT OF IRAQ, BUT WANTS A DELAY IN NEGOTIATIONS FOR REMOVAL - NY Post
Palin to Meet With Karzai at U.N. Opening - FOXNews.com
HT - Forked Tongue - Part Two | View from 1776The Logan Act is a United States federal law that forbids unauthorized citizens from negotiating with foreign governments. It was passed in 1799 and last amended in 1994. Violation of the Logan Act is a felony, punishable under federal law with imprisonment of up to three years.On September 16, the New York Post's Amir Taheri charged in an OpEd piece ...
The text of the Act is broad and is addressed at any attempt of a US citizen to conduct foreign relations without authority. However, there is no record of any convictions or even prosecutions under the Logan Act. [Wikipedia; CRIB emphsis]WHILE campaigning in public for a speedy withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, Sen. Barack Obama has tried in private to persuade Iraqi leaders to delay an agreement on a draw-down of the American military presence.If true, a clear violation of the Logan Act.
On September 20, Taheri again addressed the issue, only this time he had an Obama campaign response to his original charge ...The Obama campaign has objected. While its statement says my article was "filled with distortions," the rebuttal actually centers on a technical point: the differences between two Iraqi-US accords under negotiation - the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA, to set rules governing US military personnel in Iraq) and the Strategic Framework Agreement (SFA, to settle the legal basis for the US military presence in Iraq in the months and years ahead).In other words, not only did he violate the Logan Act but he was now attempting to obfuscate on the whole matter by twisting the truth to his satisfaction.
The Obama camp says I confused the two. [...]
If there is any confusion, it's in Obama's position - for the two agreements are interlinked: You can't have any US military presence under one agreement without having settled the other accord.[Taheri's] account of Obama's message to the Iraqis was based on a series of conversations with Iraqi officials, as well as reports and analyses in the Iraqi media (including the official newspaper, Al Sabah) on the senator's trip to Baghdad. It is also confirmed by Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari.Why haven't the Justice Department or the Senate Ethics Committee taken up this issue? Where is the old media on this?
In a long interview with the pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat, Zebari says: "Obama asked me why, in view of the closeness of a change of administration, we were hurrying the signing of this special agreement, and why we did not wait until the coming of the new administation next year and agree on some issues and matters."
Again, note that Zebari mentions a single set of agreements, encompassing both SFA and SOFA.
Zebari continues: "I told Obama that, as an Iraqi, I believe that even if there is a Democratic administration in the White House it had better continue the present policy instead of wasting a lot of time thinking what to do."
In other words, Obama was trying to derail current US policy, while Zebari was urging him not to "waste time."
Now this other matter of Governor Palin meeting ...... next week in New York City with Afghan President Hamid Karzai during the opening of the United Nations General Assembly ... .Let me suggest, if Palin even hints at influencing US foreign policy in Afghanistan, the Democrats, old media, Obama's campaign staff, Bill Maher, and Keith Ubermanheim will all have a symbiotic cow.
Sadly, as Wikipedia indicated and RedState reiterated, there's little chance anything will come of this incident.
However, the bottom-line for me is of trust ... Obama said he will not meet with Iranian President Amadinajab, or Cuba's Castro, or North Korean officials, etc., etc. Can we believe him over against his own political ambitions?
Others commenting:Fried Green Onions
PUMA Pundit
Rabble Rouser Ruminations
Purplechiten's Weblog
Saturday, September 06, 2008
OBAMA: Questions linger!
Duly Noted: Happy to Bomb | Brussels Journal
Are Khalid al Mansour and Obama Friends? | Townhall Blog
HT - Who Is Khalid al-Mansour? | Iconoclast - New English Review
WSJ: Obama Won't Ban Guns, 'I Don't Have the Votes in Congress' | NewsBusters
Talk about vetting problems - some disturbing reports on Barack Obama ... will the real candidate please stand up?
George Handlery in his weekly analysis of global issues raises these concerns ...... It seems that the evidence mounts that Obama tended to find persons of inspiration that are unsavory. The matter began with Rev. Wright. Now it is Ayers and supposedly Dohrn. Even if there is no evidence that Obama supported the unrepentant Ayers’ terrorist methods, the [relationship] raises concerns. The more so if you put it next to Obama’s relationship to Wright.Then Rebecca Bynum, as The Iconoclast in the New English Review blog, links us to another disturbing rumor ...
The two cases indicate an inclination to choose radical bedfellows. Could it be precisely their extremism that made them into objects of attraction? [If so], one is led to ask, what ... will pop up next.
... Obama’s claim of bringing all of us together and [while cultivating relationships] with radicals until the embarrassing relationship becomes public nurtures a suspicion. Could it be that the candidate has two programs? One is the official one. The other might be the below-the-surface one. Every bit of the latter category disqualifies him because of his judgment if not due to his conviction as a Senator or even as dogcatcher.Last week, Richard Fernandez at Pajamas media questioned whether a Townhall blog post by Amanda Carpenter which identified a man said by Percy Sutton to have helped Obama both pay for and get into Harvard as a ranting anti-semite shown on videos she linked. The man is Khalid Abdullah Tariq al-Mansour, earlier known as Don Warden. Fernandez couldn't believe the raving looney in the videos could be a financial advisor to Saudi billionaires.Carpenter's report and query begins with this (videos included) ...
Ken Timmerman has done some digging and the answer is yes. Ms. Carpenter had the right man.Civil rights activist Percy Sutton said he was solicited by a man named Dr. Khalid al Mansour to send a letter of reccomendation on behalf of Barack Obama to help him gain acceptance to Harvard many years ago. (This video and transcript is at the bottom of the post)And al Mansour (aka Don Warden) has views similar to Ayers and Dorhn it seems.
But who is Khalid al Mansour and how did he know Barack Obama? A cursory search on Youtube turns up several controversial clips, in the vein of Obama's longtime friend and former pastor Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
But there's more. Mr. Obama wants your guns ... and it is not to admire them. News Busters passes on a WSJ report via On Tap ..."If you’ve got a gun in your house, I’m not taking it." Obama said. But the Illinois senator could still see skeptics in the crowd, particularly on the faces of several men at the back of the room.He wants them, oh how he wants them ... he just doesn't "have the votes." Perhaps this is the legislation he's been waiting to author? Does he plan to give them to his radical friends?
So he tried again. "Even if I want to take them away, I don’t have the votes in Congress," he said. "This can’t be the reason not to vote for me. Can everyone hear me in the back? I see a couple of sportsmen back there. I’m not going to take away your guns."
This is reminiscent of other disparaging comments about guns and gun owners from times past. The two guys in the back were not reassured.
What's going on here? Where are Herr Oldbermein and Saint Matthews and old media?
Friday, September 05, 2008
PALIN: The soon to be infamous Wallisa letter!
In order to be true to my principles I must report on the now infamous Wallisa letter regarding GOP VP nominee Sarah Palin.
The letter can be found here, with context and a qualified authentication. The letter is not complimentary to the new GOP star.My initial reaction was, "Oh, no! Not again?" But then I reminded myself, there truly are two sides to every story. "Wait," I said, "until the McCain-Palin campaign has a chance to respond."
And my greatest mentor, experience, has taught me to be wary of a single reporter out of a known universe of potential reporters.
I can't tell you how many times I have been accused of wrong doing by someone who has convinced a friend, a peer, a neighbor, a fellow believer, a church member, a deacon, a co-worker, a family member, or whatever, that I am as guilty as sin. To this day there are many who continue to believe these tales ... but they were and are false.
In some cases, the accuser really believed what he or she claimed ... however, in virtually every case this could have been changed had they been in possession of one tiny bit of overlooked information, or had they spoken personally with me.
The writer of the letter, Anne Kilkenny, may be sincere in her criticisms and even believe them to be entirely true. But I am now having a real problem with the letter. Something is smelly in Denmark and it ain't pickled herring!
I've always been a good observer of humans, and a fair objective evaluator of their genuineness.
I look at Todd and Trig Palin and see two remarkably familiar personalities; not the kind that would be husband to or son of the woman spoken of in the letter. Now the letter is beginning to take on a sinister and wicked aroma.
I also recall the way the family surrounded Levy and Bristol after their dumb mistake and offered grace and welcome; the woman I saw mothering in this case is not the woman spoken of in the letter.
Then Sarah's mother and father came to mind; these were not the parents of the woman in the letter.
And then images of John and Cindy McCain on stage with the Palins came to my mind; these two powerful but gentle and good shakers and movers would not have selected the woman spoken of in the letter.
And no matter who might have prepared Sarah Palin for her speech the other night, they could not have fooled 34+ million Americans.
No, the letter is real, but the woman in the letter is not!
For whatever the reasons, Anne Kilkenny has spun her yarn and it is out there for people to make up their minds, it won't be used in my life or change my opinion of Sarah Palin.
Keep in mind the teaching of Scripture: it is on the basis of two or more witnesses that a thing is found true to others.Other sources -A Wasillan On Sarah Palin | Andrew Sullivan - The Daily Dish
Who is Anne Kilkenny? | Drudge Retort
Sarah Palin - Note from Anne Kilkenny | Andrys
About Sarah Palin: A Letter From Anne Kilkenny | John McCain
The Word From Wasilla | The Nation
Anne Kilkenny | Zimbio
Anne Kilkenny | Google Web Search
Anne Kilkenny | Google Blog Search
Thursday, September 04, 2008
PALIN: Superlatives unnecessary!
We Are Sarah’s People | Brussels Journal
Matthews, Olbermann, Brokaw Scoff at Palin's Slams on Media | NewsBusters
CNN’s John King Self-Criticizes Media’s ‘Language’ About GOP | NewsBustersThe CRIB realizes it is preaching to the choir when it reacts to last night's Sarah Palin RNC speech, but these thoughts need to be recorded by this observer:
First, Joshua Trevino sums it up for his European audience in The Brussels Journal ...I don’t know how it played on TV. I don’t know what the news media said. I don’t know how the pundits assessed the speech. I don’t know what narratives the blogs are spinning. I only know what I saw. I only know what I felt. I only know what effect Sarah Palin had on the thousands of men, women and children assembled to hear her accept the Republican nomination for Vice President of the United States. I only know what word describes all that best.Second, blindfolds are now standard issue for the American press and they are almost 100% effective. For example ...
The word is electric.CRIS MATTHEWS: Pat I recognize a tactic here. Start a fight with the press. Establish your underdog status. Take them on. Win public approval. Is that what's going on here with the candidacy and nomination of Sarah Palin?That so many, with so much to offer, can offer so little, and be so unaware of it is beyond shameful.
PAT BUCHANAN: No I think it's utterly foolish to say that Sarah Palin has started a fight with the press. The press has been savage on her and feral on her. Ever since she was nominated she's been an obsession of the press. She's been attacked. Her daughter's pregnancy has got two or three stories on the front page of the New York Times. It has been a disgraceful performance by the press. Fred Thompson took it on last night and I certainly hopes she takes it on tonight. Because quite frankly it is a battle that the press started and the conservatives and the Republicans really ought to finish.
MATTHEWS: Well it could be said, Pat, that your part of that strategy right now, because of what you're saying. Savagery is a strong word.
...
MATTHEWS: It seems like this is old political tactics. Start a fight with the media, the establishment. Portray yourself as the underdog.
EUGENE ROBINSON, WASHINGTON POST: Absolutely, absolutely. Look, who knew that Republicans were so sensitive and finely attuned to any whiff of sexism or ageism or anything like that? I wasn't aware that the Republicans were, were such hothouse flowers about all this stuff.
...
NORAH O'DONNELL: There is one important thing to point out. The media is not attacking Sarah Palin. The media has done investigative pieces, in their job, about the way Sarah Palin was chosen.
And, third, a few partially objective media types other than Buchanan are seeing the same thing ...JOHN KING [in a moment of self-critique]: To say the Right is running the Republican campaign -- if that means these people are the Right, then Carl's exactly right. But we didn't say, during the Democratic convention... all those delegates down on the floor -- you know, many of them were members of the Left.And also this ...ANDERSON COOPER: I will also say I didn't hear people talking about who was the speech writer for any of the Democrats' speeches.Okay, you see it, now what? There in lies the conundrum for the American media ... if history is any indicator - NOTHING!
GLORIA BORGER: Right.
COOPER: It seem we're only highlighting who the speech writer is for her speech.
They will, collectively, go right on abusing members of any class of people who do not agree with them and their worldview.
Monday, September 01, 2008
PALIN: Will the real bigots please stand up?
J. Robert Smith speaks words of truth in his American Thinker piece ...The Coming Trials of Sarah Palin | American Thinker
HT - The Coming Trials of Sarah Palin | Black KettleDemocrats and the left generally can no more accept a Sarah Palin vice presidency than they could Clarence Thomas as a Supreme Court justice. They can no more accept a conservative woman a heartbeat away from the presidency than they can a conservative African-American interpreting the nation's laws. Expect the long knives to be out, and stay out.Since the Clarence Thomas nomination fight in 1991, conservatives and fair-minded Americans have learned a bitter lesson: for liberals, it isn't about promoting the advancement of all African-Americans, but only those in step with their ideology and aims. The same can be said of women. Liberals believe they own the franchise, and it doesn't allow for baby-making, gun-friendly, God-fearing women, who, not incidentally, fight for lower taxes, smaller government and a strong national defense. They certainly can't be Republicans.[...]Expect Democrats, the left and their allies in the establishment media to go well beyond the initial attacks on the Governor's inexperience and whatever they can pick out of her record. In the coming weeks, the left's whole political and media machine will seek not only to trip up the Governor to prove their contentions that she's dangerously inexperienced, but will attack her character. They'll especially go after her motherhood, her womanhood and her honesty.[...]And doesn't an attack on Palin's motherhood conflicting with her work life contradict longstanding feminist claims about women pursuing both? The answer is yes, but what does that matter? You expect logic and fairness? The left plays mercilessly for advantage. Contradictions are nuisances.Go there and read more of Smith's thoughts on feminism and Jolly Joe Biden.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
PROSPERITY GOSPEL: Grassly's IRS inquiry? NIMBY!
Of course, all government inquiries are politically motivated ... internationally and historically!The pastor of one of Minnesota's largest churches said an IRS investigation into his ministry's finances is "politically motivated."Good, that is one thing the courts are supposed to do!
The Rev. Mac Hammond [says his] church declined to comply with an IRS summons, arguing that the law states the request must come from a "high-ranking official" of the IRS. The IRS has filed a petition in U.S. District Court to force the church to answer a demand for detailed financial information.Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, is seeking the financial records of six ministries that follow the same theology to see if they comply with IRS rules on nonprofit spending and compensation.I'm not so sure that is good! This has been around for awhile; it seems to me the only reason it continues is that those who've complied already have revealed some areas of concern.Hammond's church is not one of the six targeted groups.Excuse me? All that then this? Say what? So why the report?
CHARITY: It begins at USA border, not at home!
Let me see if I understand this?
Operation Blessing International wants American Christians and others, who just spent two weeks watching pagan China blow an estimated $40 billion dollars and use upwards of one million volunteers on this world's pagan games (oh, they were wonderful weren't they), to fund relief for Chinese citizens affected by a quake in May?
Is that right?
Sure, why not? We are and always have been the proverbial cookie jar for the world!
Oh, I know; Christians are supposed to do that kind of thing ... besides the poorest American is probably richer than 95% of the world's population. I suppose that's our fault too!
Friday, August 29, 2008
MOVIE REVIEW: August Rush
This is DVD only ... it is a classic love story with a unique fairytale quality. The sound track is exceptional, the music is foundational to the storyline, and the acting of the lead character, Freddie Highmore, is superb.
My family is very picky about movies ... there are the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly ... and then there are the rewatchable:Second Hand Lions, Hook, Dennis the Menace (Walter Matthau), Arsenic & Old Lace, Operation Petticoat, Cape Fear (original), Abbott & Costello, Eight Below, Key Largo, African Queen, Jack, Jungle Book (the movie), Jericho, a half dozen more, and now August Rush.Not everyone will like what we like, but this really impressed us all ... and there's a happy ending too.
You can get it for a $ at RedBox rentals ... so what do you have to lose?
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
OBAMA-AYERS: Free speech and the Marxist connection!
Barack Obama vs. Free Speech | Brain TerminalThe MSM (and many online pundits) is frettin about Americans who believe Obama is a Muslim! Apparently some surveys suggest as many as 12% or more of American adults still think he is a closet Muslim, including most Muslims.
Fighting Back Against Obama’s Thugs | “7.62mm Justice” ™
This doesn't worry me (especially since I don't support him for other reasons); what troubles me deeply is his and his wife's Marxist hearts!
You see if his heart is unclear in his renunciation of his association with unrepentant domestic terrorist Wm. Ayers, then where his heart is re Muhammad versus Christ is a moot question in this life!
At issue today are the implications of the Obama campaign's legal actions to stifle free speech.
Evan Coyne Maloney asks rhetorically, "If Senator Barack Obama becomes president, will he use the power of government to stifle speech he doesn’t like?"
In my mind someone who is willing to wield his power, privilege, and position to use the government to smash an opponent is someone to be concerned with.Sen. Barack Obama has launched an all-out effort to block a Republican billionaire’s efforts to tie him to domestic and foreign terrorists in a wave of negative television ads.According to Politico ...
Obama’s campaign has written the Department of Justice demanding a criminal investigation of the "American Issues Project," the vehicle through which Dallas investor Harold Simmons is financing the advertisements.
The Obama campaign -- and tens of thousands of supporters -- also is pressuring television networks and affiliates to reject the ads. The effort has met with some success: CNN and Fox News are not airing the attacks.The Obama campaign plans to punish the stations that air the ad financially, an Obama aide said, organizing his supporters to target the stations that air it and their advertisers. [...]Michelle Malkin has a video up here. [HT - 762 Justice]
"Obama supporters have now sent more than 93,000 e-mails to the Sinclair stations that have decided to run the ad," said Obama’s spokesman Tommy Vietor. "Other stations that follow Sinclair’s lead should expect a similar response from people who don’t want the political discourse cheapened with these false, negative attacks."It’s interesting that the Obama campaign has not yet contested any of the facts in the ad. If the ad is "an appalling lie, a disgraceful smear of the lowest kind" as the Obama campaign maintains, then demonstrate what statements are false. And then maybe sue for defamation.Maloney nails it with this ...The problem for Obama isn’t that the revolutionary organization run by Ayers and his wife bombed U.S. targets when Obama was a kid, the problem is that even today the only regret Ayers has is that he wasn’t successful in overthrowing the government. [More ... ]Why the MSM is not all over this story is a mystery to most of us.
I am becoming convince that America doesn't want this cool and charismatic man near the White House, any more than I want Rev. Wright near their salvation.
Monday, August 18, 2008
ELECTION 2008: Recalibrating expections!
Disappointment comes from unfulfilled expectations; especially where expectations are unrealistic or imagined!
I am as guilty as many others, who have expected a reconstituted Bob Dole to lose handily to a beaming, resurrected suntanned JFK!
However, in a column published today (8/18/08) American Spectator's Philip Klein writes ...... if this weekend's forum hosted by Pastor Rick Warren at his Saddleback Church [video] is any indication of how the two candidates will perform in the presidential debates, it's time to recalibrate the existing expectations.I'm willing to listen and observe for the time being but I have my reservations about both candidates, especially Obama. Their mediocre images seem to me to reflect what appears to be a decline in stature for the USA.Obama showed humility [...] and invoked Matthew in discussing America's obligation to address poverty, racism, and sexism. This was classic Obama -- trying to frame his liberal views of economic and social justice in religious language.Considering the resurgence of a Soviet threat to the world, I am looking for an international leader, not a nambypamby follower or a capitulating fool ... excuse me I meant tool.
But within a few minutes of McCain taking the stage, it became clear that it was his night. While McCain is typically uncomfortable talking about his faith, he played to his strengths by discussing his powerful life story, showing his stature and experience, and flashing his sense of humor. He connected to the audience emotionally while Obama was academic and -- dare I say it -- boring by comparison.Aside from substance, McCain's style couldn't have been more different. While Obama gave long-winded and meandering answers [...], McCain's were short and to the point -- so much so that he was left with extra time for additional questions.One of my criticisms of John McCain has been his clouded stand of the sanctity of life ...Most importantly, McCain managed to meet the most important challenge of his campaign by coming off as independent and yet conservative -- on taxes, judges, and abortion (where he stated in clear terms that he believed that babies are entitled to human rights at the moment of conception).Klein's comment above certainly goes a long way to aiding me with that expectation.
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