Reno 94-Gonzalez 8

Just a quick post to help everyone keep score in the whole Alberto Gonzalez/Justice Dept. affair.

I know "they" the MSM (mainstream media) would like to confuse us in making it seem like a major and complicated affair, but just remember 2 numbers. 94 and 8. 94 is the number of U.S. Attorneys that Janet Reno fired upon day one of being appointed Attorney General and 8 is the number that Al Gonzalez and this current Justice Dept. fired after 6 years.

While I was opposed to Alberto Gonzalez getting the job and had hoped and pushed for Larry Thompson to get it, and while I also do not necessarily feel that Mr. Gonzalez is the best at his job, I have to remember that this is not really about Mr. Gonzalez. It never is about what "they" say it is about. This is, again, simply another back door attempt at getting to Karl Rove, and President Bush, nothing more. Just as the Scooter Libby trial was not about Scooter Libby, or even the lying Joe Wilson & his wife. It was the best "they" could do and closest they could get to the President or Vice President. "They" know that the majority of people do not read about or care enough to understand the facts, therefore, "they" go full steam ahead on these witch hunts hoping to stir enough public opinion to eventually get the White House to say OK we give up, you win, we quit.

If I have one main peeve with the White House it is what I perceive to be a core weakness. By that I mean they are weak in responding to any and all attacks. They have been weak in dealing with the enemies without, and weak in dealing with the enemies within. Just plain weak all around. If you ever wondered why the President's numbers are low, I believe it is because he has been weak and the American people did not elect him to be weak.

Bill Clinton via Janet Reno fired 94 people in the same jobs that the media is now giving this administration grief over because of 8 firings. Did we hear one word about that in 1993? Someone please stand up and yell hypocrites at the top of their lungs. Where were "they," where was the outrage then? The Washington Post ran an article today calling the comparison a "Red Herring," and that there is no equivalence between the 2 cases. You know what, they are right. 94 is almost 9 times greater. I know that is not what they mean, but come on.

If the Bush administration did anything wrong it is that they should have cleaned house at Justice, and State as well, on day one. The Clintons know how to take care of business. The GOP needs to learn from them.

Barack "Al Gore/Kerry" Obama

The more Barack Obama gets public exposure and attention, the more he seems to be morphing in to former Democratic presidential candidates, Al Gore Jr. and John Kerry. He seems to have a real penchant for embellishment and a problem with facts and dates. Add to this an ever growing list of ethical questions, and you have the perfect candidate for President of the United States.

At first I thought that many of the negative portrayals of Sen. Obama were the work of the Clinton hit squad, however, recently the Senator from Illinois has been digging his own hole and throwing dirt on himself without any help from others.

Before I go on, I realize that there are those who will defend the senator, simply because he is not a Republican, and others who will defend him simply because he shares our skin color. This post is not for you. It is for those who actually care about character and truth in a Presidential candidate.

But I digress.

While I could do what many others have already done and question Sen. Obama's wife's 160% pay raise 2 months after his election to the senate, or their home & land deal with an indicted campaign fund raiser, or the seeming inconsistency in what the Obama's say, what they do or how they live. Michelle Obama stated last summer that they made just enough to get by and way beneath their friends. It reminds me of an opening scene from the film, Malibu's most wanted, in which the young Malibu rapper shows us a view of his mansion on a Malibu hill and says, "it ain't much but it's home." Or questions of his investments in fund raisers firms, or, why the Senator just this week paid $300 in parking fines in Boston, from his days at Harvard over 17 years ago? I will let others deal with that. I want to focus on the senator's own words. I want to focus on the senator's recent speech commemorating the 1965 Selma March. Here are a few excerpts: (to view video of the speech click on the title above)

"...something happened back here in Selma, Alabama. Something happened in Birmingham that sent out what Bobby Kennedy called, “Ripples of hope all around the world.” Something happened when a bunch of women decided they were going to walk instead of ride the bus after a long day of doing somebody else's laundry, looking after somebody else's children. When men who had PhD’s decided that's enough and we’re going to stand up for our dignity. That sent a shout across oceans so that my grandfather began to imagine something different for his son. His son, who grew up herding goats in a small village in Africa could suddenly set his sights a little higher and believe that maybe a black man in this world had a chance.

What happened in Selma, Alabama and Birmingham also stirred the conscience of the nation. It worried folks in the White House who said, “You know, we're battling Communism. How are we going to win hearts and minds all across the world? If right here in our own country, John, we're not observing the ideals set fort in our Constitution, we might be accused of being hypocrites.” So the Kennedy’s decided we're going to do an air lift. We're going to go to Africa and start bringing young Africans over to this country and give them scholarships to study so they can learn what a wonderful country America is.

This young man named Barack Obama got one of those tickets and came over to this country. He met this woman whose great great-great-great-grandfather had owned slaves; but she had a good idea there was some craziness going on because they looked at each other and they decided that we know that the world as it has been it might not be possible for us to get together and have a child. There was something stirring across the country because of what happened in Selma, Alabama, because some folks are willing to march across a bridge. So they got together and Barack Obama Jr. was born. So don't tell me I don't have a claim on Selma, Alabama. Don't tell me I’m not coming home to Selma, Alabama."

Lynn Sweet Sun times Group blog- March 5, 2007

Please forgive me, but I only received a bachelor's degree in business from Texas Tech University while the senator attended Harvard Law School, so my math and reasoning skills may be inferior to his. I will let you judge.

Barack Obama says that John F. Kennedy was responsible for something that happened in Selma, Alabama. Something that Bobby Kennedy said "sent a shout across oceans." A shout that caused his grandfather to imagine something different for his son and "set his sights a little higher, and believe that maybe a black man in this world had a chance."

He went on to say that Kennedy wanted to do an airlift and start bringing young Africans to America, giving them scholarships.

In his speech Obama evoked the names of everyone whose photo has ever graced a black church hand fan, or the walls of black homes for decades. There is only a big problem with all he said, John F. Kennedy was not elected president until 1960, and Selma not until 1965 when Obama was 4 years old and living in Indonesia, and his father had long since returned to Kenya.

Essentially, everything Obama said was either a blatant lie, or a gross lack of knowledge of history. Furthermore, Obama's parents met and conceived Obama before Kennedy was even elected president, or inaugurated in January of 1961. The immigration and foreign exchange program he attributed to JFK was actually introduced under the Eisenhower (a Republican) administration.

This is reminiscent of Al Gore's inventing the internet, Hillary Clinton being named after the man who climbed Mt. Everest, even though she was born before the event occurred, and John Kerry's imaginary trip to Cambodia and other blatant misstatements.

As I stated earlier, this creates some very serious questions of character, in my mind, or worse. If the Senator did not purposely stretch the truth to gain credibility with an ignorant audience, he has a very poor foundation and understanding of historical fact. If that is the case, I would say that his credibility in understanding serious issues and lessons of history make him a dangerous choice for president of the United States.

We need to ask some very serious questions of the senator from Illinois. It is not enough to be black, it is not enough to be articulate, even eloquent and a media darling. If my suspicions are correct, we will begin seeing a pattern of misstatements and revelations from Senator Obama. The only question then will be how deaf an ear, or how blind an eye will people turn in order to make a frog into a prince.

How Serious Are We About Black History?

If one were to ask the average black American how important the knowledge of black history is to our nation, and especially to our people, the immediate response would be that it is crucial. However, as is so often the case, actions speak louder than words.

Last weekend (Feb. 23rd) saw the release of the film Amazing Grace. Amazing Grace was released last weekend to coincide with black History month, and just ahead of the 200th anniversary of the landmark vote in the British Parliament that abolished the "Trans Atlantic" slave trade on February 27th, 1807. Was this film met with great pomp and celebration in the black media? Were black school children encouraged to miss school on opening day of the film? No! In fact, I would dare say that 99% of Black America did not and does not yet know the film exists.

My wife & I went to see the film last weekend and as we were leaving the theater we ran into a black pastor friend, his wife & another couple in the lobby. They asked what we had seen & I said Amazing Grace. They said, "really? What is that about?" Without expressing how I was feeling inside (saddened), I told them that it was about William Wilberforce and the abolition of the slave trade. They said, "Oh, we may need to see that some time," and ran off to see Tyler Perry's latest offering. Now, please do not get me wrong, I like Tyler Perry and feel he does a great service, however, how often do we see a major motion picture dealing with the subject of slavery, and the role of the church in its eradication? Every black person, and especially every black Christian, should be lined up around the block to see that, if for no other reason that to encourage future films of that type.

But that is just a portion of the story. Why did we not hear any hype for this film? Let me give you my thoughts. A few years ago on my spiritual blog, I posted a 3 part essay on Holy War. In this piece I stated that there is a continuing Holy War going on and has been for some time. This war is a war between Christianity and 3 separate but aligned forces. These three forces are Secular Humanism, Islam, and Syncretism (mixing elements of various faiths into one religious world view while denying the core elements of true faith). You may ask, what in the world does this have to do with Amazing Grace? It has everything to do with it. There has been a concerted effort over the past 100 years or more to discredit the Judeo-Christian contribution to the building of this nation and the good in its core beliefs. Christianity in particular has been demonized to an ever increasing degree as time has passed. The great prevailing lie has been put forth that Christianity is not only not responsible for the abolition of slavery, but was in fact responsible for it. Depictions of bible reading, bible quoting, slave owners and traders are prevalent. "Roots" depicted such a slave trader. While these images are drawn from some truth, what is left out is the greater truth that the majority of "devout," bible practicing, not just professing, Christians sacrificed and fought tirelessly for the eradication of slavery. In fact the main slave trader from whom the negative depiction is taken was John Newton, who is a key figure in the film Amazing Grace. John Newton was confronted by the Holy Spirit with the evil of the practice and his role in it. Newton was haunted by what he called his "1000 ghosts." These were the ghosts of slaves that died on ships he captained in the "Middle Passage." This confrontation led to a true and life changing conversion and Newton's working to the end of his life to see slavery ended. Newton's conviction of this great sin also led to his writing the hymn Amazing Grace to express his understanding of the weight of his sin and the immense, unmerited favor he received. The line "I once was lost, but now am found, was blind but now I see" refers to his blindness to the sin of slavery and his role in it.

The knowledge of these facts poses a great danger to the 3 allies, Secular Humanism, Islam and Syncretism. That danger is that people may see and understand the power of a faith that can soften the hardest of hearts, turn someone from the wrongest of directions, and change the course those lives and entire nations. That truth is dangerous and must be kept hidden. It cannot be kept hidden, however, despite those who will try. I hope you will help get the truth out.