LOTUS

I've added a link in the right column under "Topics" called "LOTUS." Click on it and it will take you directly to Sarah Palin's Notes on her Facebook page.

Rifqa Bary and Sarah Palin

Rifqa Bary, honor killings, and Sarah Palin on the oppression of women around the world.

See Atlas Shrugs.com for more details about Rifqa Bary's situation. This vid is a mix of Pam Gellar's vid on Rifqa and Seth Adam Smith's video of Palin on women in politics.

Long Live the Little Guy

"I suppose when a fellow bucks up against a big organization like that, one man by himself can't get very far."

We little people of the world aren't too comfortable with all this "change" that's going on. We don't know all the details of it, but it just isn't sitting right in the pit of our stomachs. So we go out and protest because we don't like it.

Maybe we're overreacting. Maybe we're wrong. Maybe we just don't understand. Maybe we can't win. Maybe the machine is too powerful. Maybe in the end, it's better to just try and get what you can out of this life and quit fighting off the inevitable.

I'm tired. I'm tired of being angry. I'm tired of being laughed at. I'm tired of being called stupid and an extremist. I'm tired of fighting an enemy that is just too wealthy and just too powerful, not to mention condescending enough to bug the junk out of you. I'm just tired.

Why did William Wallace fight? Would life have been so bad under the rule of his enemies? Was it really all that bad in the colonies? I mean, seriously, it was just a few high taxes. It's not like the British were gunning us down in the streets. Well, there was that one time....but they were just trying to keep order. So why all the fuss from those founding fathers? Why do some in Wales today want England out of their business? Why?

Why do barbarians resist? What is it? I don't know. Instinct, I suppose. I guess it's just our nature.

One of the things that struck me the most this last election was how obvious the elitism of the media and many pundits from both parties were in their treatment of Sarah Palin. I mean, what on earth made a hockey mom from Alaska think she had any right to run for Vice President?

Doesn't she know that white trash like her are supposed to stay in the woods where they belong? Doesn't she know that only enlightened people (conveniently resembling themselves and the politicians they support) are capable of governance?

The gall of that hick woman!

Less government? She doesn't know what she's talking about. She shoots moose, for Pete's sake. Another example of why the little guy really shouldn't be anywhere near the Oval Office. Those little people just don't know what's good for them. Like Bill Maher says, America is a stupid country. If only we were enlightened enough to see how benevolent and wise Obama's policies truly are.

Progressives and liberals go hoarse trumpeting their support for the little people, but the instant one of those little people dares to think they can enter their little club, their true elitist colors show through.

One of the most remarkable episodes came after the campaign at a media event discussing the coverage of the 2008 election. Some guy in the audience got up and said something to the effect of: "Well, yeah, we in the media were for Obama. But I think an important point is that journalists are among the smartest people on earth, so it was merely a bias of smart people recognizing other smart people...." Those weren't his exact words, but that's the gist.

What irony. I thought to myself, "So, you journalists who think you're so much more enlightened than we little people who could never be trusted to make up our own minds based on objective information so we have to be spoon-fed your opinions think that Sarah Palin was stupid? And your justification for this is that you have journalism degrees?"

Wait a second, what did Sarah Palin get a degree in? Oh, yeah....journalism! So, I guess if someone as "stupid" as Sarah Palin can get a journalism degree, than you snobs are not nearly as brilliant as you think you are.

Why do we like Sarah Palin? First of all, her policies make sense, but I think it's mostly because she looks like us. We are the underestimated of the world, and so is she. We're looked down on and told that we just don't know very much or what's best, and so is she. We rabidly defend her when she is attacked, because it feels like they're attacking us. When they take a stab at her, I feel it. It's like they're stabbing me.

Maybe we don't know everything. Maybe we do go more on instinct than on the degrees hanging on our walls (walls that desperately need a new coat of paint that we can't afford). Maybe here and there we get a fact or two wrong. I don't really care. We're the little guy; it's just our nature to resist.

Call us crazy, but we don't like being told what to do. We don't like some punk from Harvard telling us that we're stupid. You better be careful; I wouldn't poke a stick at the mad dog if I were you. Better to just walk away and leave him alone.

You know what America was supposed to be? Home of those crazy, unenlightened individuals who will probably mess up a few things in their lives, but who feel that they've got a right to make that decision themselves. It's a little thing called freedom. A little, glorious thing that makes tears well up in your eyes for no apparent reason.

Maybe we could set up a system where redistribution of wealth made everybody's life comfortable. Everybody gets free everything. Why do I get the feeling that I wouldn't be happy? Is it because I'm against what they'd be giving away for free? No. I guess I'm just a stupid barbarian.

I like to feel that I've earned it. I guess I would rather live in a shack and eat carrots for the rest of my life and make my own decisions than live in Washington D.C. with steak for dinner every night and have the government tell me what to do. Maybe we are stupid. Maybe we would mess it up, but that's our right. That is our decision.

The elites will never understand. They'll never understand why it is that we're not happy with their handouts. They think, "We've offered them food, a house, clothes, a college education, healthcare, and all for free....they should be happy. Um, why are they grabbing pitchforks?"

Because we're human beings. We're not your dogs. We can make our own way in this world, thank you very much. We don't want the scraps from your table. We are people, no better and no worse than you. And we will not be treated like your horses.

We want to work. We want to earn our way. We want to make our own decisions, and we want to live in a country that will allow us the freedom to do that. Period. We don't want anything else from our government. All we ask for is protection against those who would intrude upon those freedoms. No more, and no less.

Long live the little guy. May he one day be free forever from the snobs of the world.

Picture of the Day: August 18, 2009

Willow and Trig

Our Lot in Life

The Mayflower

At what point do we give up on Holland and head for the New World?

How far do we have to be pushed into a system of life that we don't want and ultimately can't afford that squashes our freedom and individual ability to make decisions for ourselves before we throw up our hands and say, "Screw this. I'm outta here." ?

Historically speaking, our breed does not pick fights. We simply wish to be left alone. It is only when the powerful and the elite push us to the brink of slavery that we finally begin to fight back. But when we do, we fight for our very lives. We fight with complete disregard for anything other than to rid ourselves of this evil that has decided it has a right to own us.

Why do we do it? Is it just the intrinsic desire of a man to be free? To live his life as he sees fit without someone telling him that he must bow and scrape for the good of "society?" Does he say to himself, "How is anything good for society that is not good for me? Am I not part of society?"

In history, many people have fought for freedom, often to get a small return on their investment of blood. Many nations and many peoples are under some form of tyranny right now. Some are fighting back as I type these words, but for the most part they will not succeed. What is it that caused the American colonists to vow to either be free or just die? To say that life with a boot on your neck is not a life worth living, and we will fight you though you bring the whole world's armies to our doorsteps.

To some this may seem a tad overkill. In the past we heard, "Better Red than dead." Now it seems like that same mentality grips us when it comes to socialism. "Oh, well, at least I've got a little bit of my paycheck left." The machine has been built for so long and is now so powerful that there are honestly times I almost say to myself, "What's the point of fighting it? It will never stop trying to rule over you. Eventually they will succeed, why delay the inevitable?"

Like many barbarians in this world, I love a good scrap. But aside from being a sinner, there is no desire for evil in my heart. So it's hard for me to comprehend that others can be so hateful. I am still shocked at some of the vitriol that comes out against the tea party protesters, regular joes like a certain plumber, and of course, Sarah Palin. Sarah Palin who a year ago was a good governor with a husband and five kids who most people seemed to like even if they disagreed with her politics. Now I look at some of these editorials that continue to come out and even though I should be used to it by now, sometimes I am still bewildered and fall back wondering, "Why do they hate her so much?"

And it's not that they disagree with her policies, they hate her. It is extremely personal. Now, I don't like Obama's policies, but I don't care one way or another about him personally. I'm sure he's a fun guy to be around; I don't really even think about it. I have no desire to destroy him personally. I would like to keep him from destroying the country with stuff like this healthcare bill and other things, but beyond that I'd just as soon leave the guy alone. I don't understand the level of hatred that people on the left and the right have for Sarah Palin. I know they fear her to no end, and I'm sure there are other explanations, but I don't have the heart to go into them right now. I just don't understand these people. Do they have nothing better to do with their day than to criticize and bash relentlessly a good person? I don't get it.

And I'm thankful that I don't. I guess at the end of the day we all choose our side. And for whatever reason Sarah Palin seems to be the line drawn in the sand and people are lining up on either side of her.

So what are we ordinary barbarians to do? We have to keep talking to and supporting each other. I don't know what this is going to turn into, but it's going to get alot worse before it gets better. Take a word from Hebrews:

"Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching." (Hebrews 10:25)

Now, in context this verse is to believers, but it applies quite nicely. Alone we are weak; together we are strong.

What exactly is our lot in life? It seems as though we are to flee until we can flee no more, and then to fight. But never give in. Never surrender. Petition, remonstrate, prostrate ourselves at the feet of the king and beg for our freedom and the rights that God has given us. But if every olive branch is spurned, we simply stand and do not let them take our liberty from us. We won't fight them unless they insist on a fight. But if they insist, we most definitely will not disappoint them.

We were chased from every corner of the earth to this heaven-sent place where we could live in freedom and peace. Now the tyrants have found us. They no longer wave their fingers at us from the other side of the world; they dwell in our own government. And they won't stop until they have made us bow to their will.

We have to decide who we are. Decide what's right and what's wrong. Is it right that I can work my tail off and the government can take a big chunk out of what I've earned and spend it carelessly and I have no say? Or give it to whoever they want when that person didn't sweat to earn it, like I did? Is that right?

No. It is not.

Alexis de Tocqueville saw our end when he saw our beginning. He warned against the government getting to a point where it would kill us softly, not with a sword, but with so many rules and regulations that it would slowly stifle even our desire to resist. It would come to us as a parent, wanting to take care of every need, and in the process it would steal our ability to take care of ourselves, leave us dependent on the state for our existence, and reduce us to nothing more than sheep. A good portion of our population today seems almost eager to become a sheep.

Not me.

So what am I to do? Is there any place else to run to? It seems like the dark shadow of tyranny has nearly overwhelmed the whole world. A bushel basket is being carefully and quietly positioned over our candle just waiting for the right time to cut the rope and snuff out America's light. But everywhere else is the same, if not worse. We're cornered.

Maybe God's waiting for us to have our Psalm 35 moment. I don't believe in theocracy, or some of the more extreme views that some in the Christian community have about bringing about God's kingdom on earth, but it's obvious that God had a hand in the forming and the sustaining of this country.

Before the American Revolution, the First Continental Congress got together and someone made a motion to pray. John Jay objected, saying that all of the men present were from different denominations and could not really fellowship in prayer. Samuel Adams (who organized the very first tea party) got to his feet and declared:

“I am no bigot. I can hear the prayer of any man of piety and virtue who is a friend to his country.”

The motion was carried and that Congress literally hit its knees. Not every man in that room believed the same thing; some probably did not believe at all, but they recognized that the work ahead of them was bigger than what human hands could accomplish. They also read Psalm 35. I suggest we all read it. They emerged from that meeting refreshed and their hearts prepared for the war that was to come. We are in need of that preparation.

We must:

1. Not forsake the assembling of ourselves together.
2. Draw close to our families, friends, and loved ones. Remind ourselves of what really matters.
3. Pray for each other, and for our country. And I suggest memorizing Psalm 35.

Ephesians 6 (a little out of order, but you get the idea):

Put on the whole armour of God....For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God....having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit.

Take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand."

Quote of the Day: August 17, 2009

"A woman uses her intelligence to find reasons to support her intuition."
- G.K. Chesterton

Quotes of the Day: August 16, 2009

Sarah Palin Facts:

1. One time while sparring with a wolverine, Sarah Palin raised her fists and the wolverine proceeded to eat himself, because it would be the less painful way to die.

2. Sarah Palin is the reason why Waldo is still hiding.

3. Sarah Palin is being recognized for saving passengers from a plane crash. She caught it before it touched down and threw it into a soft snowbank.

4. Sarah Palin can slam a revolving door.

5. Sarah Palin’s house is actually a log home that she built herself. Some logs she cut with an axe, the other logs only wished she did.