Thousands made their way down the avenue past the First Amendment carved in stone.
Next [click to continue].
Saturday, September 12, 2009
March up Pennsylvania Avenue
...to the West Front of the Capitol
Thousands made their way down the avenue past the First Amendment carved in stone.
Next [click to continue].
Thousands made their way down the avenue past the First Amendment carved in stone.
Next [click to continue].
Capitol Dome
The Symbol of Representative Government
The dome greeted marchers as they made their way up Pennsylvania Avenue.
Next [click to continue].
The dome greeted marchers as they made their way up Pennsylvania Avenue.
Next [click to continue].
Friday, September 11, 2009
Never Forget...
..the Day America Was Attacked.
Never forget. Pray for those who still bear the marks of this terrible day.
Never forget. Pray for those who still bear the marks of this terrible day.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
A Trip Along Skyline Drive
Our Amazing Mountaintop Road
As the 70th anniversary of the Skyline Drive draws near, I've tried to capture the feeling of the original design with a single white line down the center.
Ice on trees near High Top.
The Lawn at Dickey Ridge offers an inviting view of the Shenandoah Valley and an inviting place to relax after the hike as well.
A Trip Along Skyline Drive [click to view].
These photos copyright The Kirchman Studio.
As the 70th anniversary of the Skyline Drive draws near, I've tried to capture the feeling of the original design with a single white line down the center.
Ice on trees near High Top.
The Lawn at Dickey Ridge offers an inviting view of the Shenandoah Valley and an inviting place to relax after the hike as well.
A Trip Along Skyline Drive [click to view].
These photos copyright The Kirchman Studio.
We Will Not Forget...
...We Will Always Remember
Here is a Tribute Everyone Should See [click to view] ht/Lynn
"For a brief period after 9/11 the NY Times suspended wielding its pen as a partisan left-wing dagger and did some excellent reporting and should be applauded for that. The “life sketches” done in the days and months after 9/11 offer a unique and inspiring look into what these towers really were: a great combination of individuals, in liberty, working and struggling and fulfilling their hearts’ desires. The lives of the victims are clearly described and collectively tell the much greater story of America." -- Looking at the Left
We're Coming to Washington!
Details of the March...
There will be speakers at Freedom Plaza prior to marching. The March ends and the Rally will officially begin at 1:00 at the West Lawn of the Capitol. To accommodate as many speaker and musician requests as possible, there will also be speakers on the West Lawn before the official start time at 1:00 but the exact start time of these speakers and entertainers has not been determined. It will be dependent on how quickly the staging and audio equipment will be setup.Here is the latest agenda provided by a reliable source. Note that Richmond's Doc Thompson is scheduled to speak between 2-3:00 pm.
If you need more information about the March, please visit the Freedomworks website:www.912dc.org
Not able to get on a bus? The next fastest way to arrive at the event on time will likely be by Metro. The closest Metro stops are Union Station on the Red Line and Capitol South on the Blue/Orange lines. Volunteers from Freedomworks are said to be posted at Union Station to direct you. Once you exit the front of Union Station, the US Capitol is a three block walk straight down Louisiana Avenue, NW. Limited parking is available at Union Station, at area parking garages and on the street at meters. Because of the unusually high number of public events taking place on the Mall and surrounding areas that day, expect traffic to be extremely congested. But you probably already know that. It's D.C.
The March: People will begin gathering at Freedom Plaza at 8:30 am, where they will then march from Freedom Plaza to the West Lawn of the Capitol. Freedom Plaza is located at 1350 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20004, Metro Center Red, Blue and Orange lines, Federal Triangle (Blue and Orange lines).
There will be speakers at Freedom Plaza prior to marching. The March ends and the Rally will officially begin at 1:00 at the West Lawn of the Capitol. To accommodate as many speaker and musician requests as possible, there will also be speakers on the West Lawn before the official start time at 1:00 but the exact start time of these speakers and entertainers has not been determined. It will be dependent on how quickly the staging and audio equipment will be setup.Here is the latest agenda provided by a reliable source. Note that Richmond's Doc Thompson is scheduled to speak between 2-3:00 pm.
If you need more information about the March, please visit the Freedomworks website:www.912dc.org
Not able to get on a bus? The next fastest way to arrive at the event on time will likely be by Metro. The closest Metro stops are Union Station on the Red Line and Capitol South on the Blue/Orange lines. Volunteers from Freedomworks are said to be posted at Union Station to direct you. Once you exit the front of Union Station, the US Capitol is a three block walk straight down Louisiana Avenue, NW. Limited parking is available at Union Station, at area parking garages and on the street at meters. Because of the unusually high number of public events taking place on the Mall and surrounding areas that day, expect traffic to be extremely congested. But you probably already know that. It's D.C.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Sarah Palin on Healthcare Reform
Her Thoughts on Real Reform vs 'the Bill'
Sarah Palin in the WSJ [click to read].
"How can we ensure that those who need medical care receive it while also reducing health-care costs? The answers offered by Democrats in Washington all rest on one principle: that increased government involvement can solve the problem. I fundamentally disagree."
ht/SWAC Girl
Sarah Palin in the WSJ [click to read].
"How can we ensure that those who need medical care receive it while also reducing health-care costs? The answers offered by Democrats in Washington all rest on one principle: that increased government involvement can solve the problem. I fundamentally disagree."
ht/SWAC Girl
Paul's Speech to the President
His Dreams for When He Grows Up...
Paul wants to be an architect.
Here is One Young Man's Plea [click to watch] to the President. I hope that DC Opportunity Scholarships will survive the political process. I hope the private sector where Paul will work survives as well. At our Town Hall Meeting Without Senators I remarked that I couldn't afford employees. As the government creates well-meaning mandates on businesses they increase the cost of compliance and that leads to lost opportunities.
In the past I've had young people work in the studio, helping me build architectural models and various other tasks. One former helper just graduated from architecture school last Spring and is still looking for a position. You can't blame it all on the previous administration either. Freddie Mac faltered under the leadership of Franklin Raines, no Bushie by a long shot. If you hate big CEO salaries you should be outraged that this man took his 90 million as the mortgage industry crashed and burned. Well-intended policies initiated in the late seventies led to the meltdown. Any honest analysis of the problem will show you that there is plenty of blame to go around. Perhaps it is of little use to focus on any individual's contribution and it would do us a lot of good to look the solutions square in the eye.
First of all it is a very bad time to make drastic changes to our healthcare system and energy taxation. It does not create a lot of confidence when politicians attempt to pass thousand page bills that contain the framework for government to take over entire portions of our economy but fail to address simple solutions such as tort reform and increased competition that would directly lead to much of the desired reform.
Cap and trade -- the 'Carbon Tax' will only enrich Goldman Sachs. It will further dull the competitive edge of American industry. That means fewer jobs. We need to become more energy independent. We need to let a variety of technologies come to market -- including nuclear power. We need to be creative. Conservation alone will not take us to where we want to be further into the 21st Century. Efficiency will, diverse sources will, wind alone won't.
Three decades into the Nineteenth Century there came a need to tie the young republic together. The rivers were the first network but they did not reach all the desirable places. Roads were limited and the railroad was to become the unifying infrastructure. The first rail cars were pulled by horses! The rails made it easier to move the cars. The Baltimore and Ohio actually tried wind power but that required a light wicker car for passengers and then, as now, wind is not constantly available. Steam was necessary for the railroads to become competitive.
Today we need to allow energy to remain competitive. We need to reward creative methodologies rather than penalize those that have reached an economy of scale. We need to take steps so that we decide our own future and not have it forced upon us by the Middle East and China.
Only then can we offer our children the full scope of opportunity that we need to.
That's why we're coming to Washington Saturday!
Paul wants to be an architect.Here is One Young Man's Plea [click to watch] to the President. I hope that DC Opportunity Scholarships will survive the political process. I hope the private sector where Paul will work survives as well. At our Town Hall Meeting Without Senators I remarked that I couldn't afford employees. As the government creates well-meaning mandates on businesses they increase the cost of compliance and that leads to lost opportunities.
In the past I've had young people work in the studio, helping me build architectural models and various other tasks. One former helper just graduated from architecture school last Spring and is still looking for a position. You can't blame it all on the previous administration either. Freddie Mac faltered under the leadership of Franklin Raines, no Bushie by a long shot. If you hate big CEO salaries you should be outraged that this man took his 90 million as the mortgage industry crashed and burned. Well-intended policies initiated in the late seventies led to the meltdown. Any honest analysis of the problem will show you that there is plenty of blame to go around. Perhaps it is of little use to focus on any individual's contribution and it would do us a lot of good to look the solutions square in the eye.
First of all it is a very bad time to make drastic changes to our healthcare system and energy taxation. It does not create a lot of confidence when politicians attempt to pass thousand page bills that contain the framework for government to take over entire portions of our economy but fail to address simple solutions such as tort reform and increased competition that would directly lead to much of the desired reform.
Cap and trade -- the 'Carbon Tax' will only enrich Goldman Sachs. It will further dull the competitive edge of American industry. That means fewer jobs. We need to become more energy independent. We need to let a variety of technologies come to market -- including nuclear power. We need to be creative. Conservation alone will not take us to where we want to be further into the 21st Century. Efficiency will, diverse sources will, wind alone won't.
Three decades into the Nineteenth Century there came a need to tie the young republic together. The rivers were the first network but they did not reach all the desirable places. Roads were limited and the railroad was to become the unifying infrastructure. The first rail cars were pulled by horses! The rails made it easier to move the cars. The Baltimore and Ohio actually tried wind power but that required a light wicker car for passengers and then, as now, wind is not constantly available. Steam was necessary for the railroads to become competitive.
Today we need to allow energy to remain competitive. We need to reward creative methodologies rather than penalize those that have reached an economy of scale. We need to take steps so that we decide our own future and not have it forced upon us by the Middle East and China.
Only then can we offer our children the full scope of opportunity that we need to.
That's why we're coming to Washington Saturday!
School Childrens' Speech...
...to the President!
Children Speak to the President [click to watch] about the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program. Each Child Adds His or Her Thoughts [click to watch].
Children Speak to the President [click to watch] about the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program. Each Child Adds His or Her Thoughts [click to watch].
"Mr. President, will you sign up Malie and Sasha for the same program you have prescribed for us?"
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Some thoughts on the President's Remarks
He's Just Greeted the Students...
And now he is telling us a bit about his own childhood:
"When I was young, my family lived in Indonesia for a few years, and my mother didn’t have the money to send me where all the American kids went to school. So she decided to teach me extra lessons herself, Monday through Friday – at 4:30 in the morning.
Now I wasn’t too happy about getting up that early. A lot of times, I’d fall asleep right there at the kitchen table. But whenever I’d complain, my mother would just give me one of those looks and say, "This is no picnic for me either, buster."
Wow, our President seems to have been HOMESCHOOLED!! [1.] Also, wouldn't he have some empathty for DC Opportunity Scholarships, [2.] given his own upbringing?
"Every single one of you has something you’re good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That’s the opportunity an education can provide.
Maybe you could be a good writer – maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper – but you might not know it until you write a paper for your English class. Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor – maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or a new medicine or vaccine – but you might not know it until you do a project for your science class. Maybe you could be a mayor or a Senator or a Supreme Court Justice, but you might not know that until you join student government or the debate team.
And no matter what you want to do with your life – I guarantee that you’ll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You’re going to need a good education for every single one of those careers. You can’t drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You’ve got to work for it and train for it and learn for it."
Maybe you'll bring a great idea to market. Free markets enable free people to partake of the best ideas created by their brightest members. Government can procure creative services but government by its nature does not create of itself.
Markets REWARD the discipline you've shown in preparing yourself.
"You’ll need the creativity and ingenuity you develop in all your classes to build new companies that will create new jobs and boost our economy." -- especially when you consider the added government regulation you will face, energy taxes you will pay and the amount of time you will spend on compliance. Oh, you'll have to compete with the rest of the world.
"The story of America isn’t about people who quit when things got tough. It’s about people who kept going, who tried harder, who loved their country too much to do anything less than their best." -- that's why Mommy and Daddy are going to Washington on Saturday. [3.] They believe in the greatness of America. They're not quitters! They're as wooden-headed as their immigrant forefathers and foremothers. They love their country too much to allow it to be reduced to a Europeanized neutered shadow of what they grew up in.
"I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do. I expect great things from each of you. So don’t let us down – don’t let your family or your country or yourself down. Make us all proud. I know you can do it.
Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America." -- America, bless G-d! We've received many blessings as a people. Let us freely celebrate our heritage of Faith and look to it as we face the challenges of the 21st Century.
All in all, it's a pretty good speech.
Update: More Thoughts:
I would add: "You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is the beginning of the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.”—Adrian Rogers, (1931-2005) ht/Shenandoah Tea Party
Update: Reason for Concern [click to read]. ht/Blue Collar Republican
And now he is telling us a bit about his own childhood:
"When I was young, my family lived in Indonesia for a few years, and my mother didn’t have the money to send me where all the American kids went to school. So she decided to teach me extra lessons herself, Monday through Friday – at 4:30 in the morning.
Now I wasn’t too happy about getting up that early. A lot of times, I’d fall asleep right there at the kitchen table. But whenever I’d complain, my mother would just give me one of those looks and say, "This is no picnic for me either, buster."
Wow, our President seems to have been HOMESCHOOLED!! [1.] Also, wouldn't he have some empathty for DC Opportunity Scholarships, [2.] given his own upbringing?
"Every single one of you has something you’re good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That’s the opportunity an education can provide.
Maybe you could be a good writer – maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper – but you might not know it until you write a paper for your English class. Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor – maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or a new medicine or vaccine – but you might not know it until you do a project for your science class. Maybe you could be a mayor or a Senator or a Supreme Court Justice, but you might not know that until you join student government or the debate team.
And no matter what you want to do with your life – I guarantee that you’ll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You’re going to need a good education for every single one of those careers. You can’t drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You’ve got to work for it and train for it and learn for it."
Maybe you'll bring a great idea to market. Free markets enable free people to partake of the best ideas created by their brightest members. Government can procure creative services but government by its nature does not create of itself.
Markets REWARD the discipline you've shown in preparing yourself.
"You’ll need the creativity and ingenuity you develop in all your classes to build new companies that will create new jobs and boost our economy." -- especially when you consider the added government regulation you will face, energy taxes you will pay and the amount of time you will spend on compliance. Oh, you'll have to compete with the rest of the world.
"The story of America isn’t about people who quit when things got tough. It’s about people who kept going, who tried harder, who loved their country too much to do anything less than their best." -- that's why Mommy and Daddy are going to Washington on Saturday. [3.] They believe in the greatness of America. They're not quitters! They're as wooden-headed as their immigrant forefathers and foremothers. They love their country too much to allow it to be reduced to a Europeanized neutered shadow of what they grew up in.
"I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do. I expect great things from each of you. So don’t let us down – don’t let your family or your country or yourself down. Make us all proud. I know you can do it.
Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America." -- America, bless G-d! We've received many blessings as a people. Let us freely celebrate our heritage of Faith and look to it as we face the challenges of the 21st Century.
All in all, it's a pretty good speech.
Update: More Thoughts:
I would add: "You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is the beginning of the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.”—Adrian Rogers, (1931-2005) ht/Shenandoah Tea Party
Update: Reason for Concern [click to read]. ht/Blue Collar Republican
The Iron Road West...
...a Photographic Journey on the B&O Main Line
The B&O station in Ellicott City from the Oliver Viaduct.
Here is a Great Look [click to read] at the old Baltimore and Ohio Main Line compiled by Steven Okonski. Do great minds think alike? Here's a Taste of Steam [click to read] from SWAC Girl.
The B&O station in Ellicott City from the Oliver Viaduct.
Here is a Great Look [click to read] at the old Baltimore and Ohio Main Line compiled by Steven Okonski. Do great minds think alike? Here's a Taste of Steam [click to read] from SWAC Girl.
Leading the Leftward Drift...
...Today's 'Missing Senators' are a Kennedy Legacy
"As Kennedy tilted left, the Democratic Party generally followed."
Daniel J. Flynn in City Journal [click to read] offers a bit of perspective on how the Democratic Party drifted from a position of representing the people to representing the interests of a coalition of leftist interest groups. One leader of the journey leftward was Senator Kennedy.
"Massachusetts steadily drifted left. Where Massachusetts went, its longest-serving senator followed—and where Ted Kennedy went, the Democratic Party followed. Democrats lined up behind Kennedy because they believed in the Church of Camelot, because Kennedy embraced the FDR–LBJ activist-government model that had served the party well during its heyday, and because they had the tendency to mistake the most liberal voice in the room for the smartest voice in the room. The story of Democratic Party presidential politics between 1968 and 1984 reads something like Waiting for Godot, with the youngest Kennedy brother playing the title character."
But to look at brother John's legacy, turning back Soviet ships carrying missles to Cuba, cutting tax rates to spur the economy, one would have to conclude that JFK's legacy is far closer to Reagan's than the policies of Camelot today. Ted started out believing that unborn life was worthy of protection. When he occupied the National stage, however, he became a strong advocate of abortion 'rights.' At a time when many in his church were holding prayer vigils outside abortion clinics, the youngest Kennedy was overwriting the rights of the unborn with 'privacy.' Thus, he ceased to represent a great number of Catholics who hold to the sanctity of unborn life.
Gradually Camelot became less and less representative of the majority of Americans but continued to exist out of the myth that it did.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
What if they Gave a Townhall...
...and the Senators Didn't Show?
Not a problem for David Karaffa. He rented the hall, invited Senators Webb and Warner who both declined, but David set up two empty chairs [with a pitcher of water for good measure] and videoed the good citizens of Augusta County airing their concerns over HR3200 to send to the Senators on DVD! The news media did show up. Some wonderful points were made.
Brilliant solution to the Senators' reluctance to meet with the folks of the Valley!
Not a problem for David Karaffa. He rented the hall, invited Senators Webb and Warner who both declined, but David set up two empty chairs [with a pitcher of water for good measure] and videoed the good citizens of Augusta County airing their concerns over HR3200 to send to the Senators on DVD! The news media did show up. Some wonderful points were made.
Brilliant solution to the Senators' reluctance to meet with the folks of the Valley!
Empty chairs for Webb and Warner.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
'Keep Your Kids at Home Day'
Making September 8th a Teachable Moment
Schools are debating what to do with the President's Address to the Nation's School Children [click to read] as the blogosphere lights up with the idea of simply keeping the kids home. The President addressing school children shouldn't be such an issue but in my childhood you could count on the President affirming the values you grew up with. John Kennedy stood up to the Russians during the Cuban Missle Crisis and it was assumed that the leader of the free world believed in defending it.
Now you have a President who apologizes for things we took for granted in the Kennedy era and seems intent on instituting a European socialist state. He's picked people like Van Jones to write his policies. I think the burden of proof is on President Obama to show that he can affirm the 'other' America that he is President over. The 'red' America that didn't vote for him and is honestly skeptical of his 'overhaul' of U.S. Healthcare and energy policy. So, tell your kids to "work hard, set educational goals and take responsibility for their learning." Then, take them to visit a fire station, police station, or maybe the National Guard armory and let them meet some men and women like the heroes of 9/11.
Update:
Here's the Text of the President's Speech [click to read] from the White House website.
Here's How the MSM and NEA Reacted [click to read] to a 1991 speech George H.W. Bush gave at a school. ht/SWAC Girl
Schools are debating what to do with the President's Address to the Nation's School Children [click to read] as the blogosphere lights up with the idea of simply keeping the kids home. The President addressing school children shouldn't be such an issue but in my childhood you could count on the President affirming the values you grew up with. John Kennedy stood up to the Russians during the Cuban Missle Crisis and it was assumed that the leader of the free world believed in defending it.
Now you have a President who apologizes for things we took for granted in the Kennedy era and seems intent on instituting a European socialist state. He's picked people like Van Jones to write his policies. I think the burden of proof is on President Obama to show that he can affirm the 'other' America that he is President over. The 'red' America that didn't vote for him and is honestly skeptical of his 'overhaul' of U.S. Healthcare and energy policy. So, tell your kids to "work hard, set educational goals and take responsibility for their learning." Then, take them to visit a fire station, police station, or maybe the National Guard armory and let them meet some men and women like the heroes of 9/11.
Update:
Here's the Text of the President's Speech [click to read] from the White House website.
Here's How the MSM and NEA Reacted [click to read] to a 1991 speech George H.W. Bush gave at a school. ht/SWAC Girl
A Journey on the National Road
America's First 'Federal' Highway Project
The National Road passes under the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.
This is our model of mid Nineteenth Century Ellicott's Mills.
Long before Route 66 and the Lincoln Highway, in our country's younger days there was the National Road. Here's a Photographic Journey [click to read] down the National Road by Christopher Busta-Peck.
The National Road passes under the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.This is our model of mid Nineteenth Century Ellicott's Mills.
Long before Route 66 and the Lincoln Highway, in our country's younger days there was the National Road. Here's a Photographic Journey [click to read] down the National Road by Christopher Busta-Peck.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Summer of the Bears
Ursus Americanus in Shenandoah Park
Mother bear crossing the trail.
Baby bear high in a tree.
This Summer I've seen black bears on four different occasions in the wild. I never cease to be put in awe by these magnificent creatures. Returning from work in Charlottesville I stopped to walk a bit on top of the mountain and saw a mother with two cubs. Mother bear "woofed" instructions to the babies and they both climbed trees like acrobats while their mother remained on the ground to protect them from me, the intruder.
Mother bear crossing the trail.
Baby bear high in a tree.
This Summer I've seen black bears on four different occasions in the wild. I never cease to be put in awe by these magnificent creatures. Returning from work in Charlottesville I stopped to walk a bit on top of the mountain and saw a mother with two cubs. Mother bear "woofed" instructions to the babies and they both climbed trees like acrobats while their mother remained on the ground to protect them from me, the intruder.
Crossing the Line
Never Forget the Real 9/11...
The Cross found at Ground Zero. Photo by Samuel Li. CC
Our parents could tell you exactly where they were and what they were doing on that day in December when Japanese planes struck Pearl Habor. I will always remember that beautiful blue skied September day. It was the kind of day private pilots love to be able to get off work and put in some flying time. Then the sky was suddenly devoid of aircraft as Yamisaki's towers collapsed and the Pentagon burned. In Shanksville, Pennsylvania an airliner crashed into the ground.
We were under attack. We prayed. Firefighters and members of NYPD did their jobs... they were heroes! They were our fellow Americans.
I saw This Report from The Heritage Foundation [ckick to read]. It is just wrong! I understand how Mark Warner [click to read] and others truely believe that people who hold to the traditional values of our Nation are "threatening" to what they believe it means to be an American, but the recasting of 9/11 suggested by "Organizing for America's" website should offend Americans of all persuasions.
Dennis Prager [click to read] points out that there are Two Irreconcilable Americas [click to read] and one is busy writing policy while the other is holding Tea Parties!
The Heritage Foundatin says: "Many Americans took off work and sacrificed family time this past August to attend congressional town halls, where they voiced opposition to a government-run overhaul of their personal health care choices. They hand painted signs, grabbed their children and drove to their local church or school gymnasium for valuable lessons in community organizing and democracy. While they lived the Rockwellian version of American discourse, they were called names, labeled as ‘too organized’ or “un-American”, and likened to mobs, Nazis and Fascists. And now President Obama’s team has designated September 11 as the day to liken conservatives to Al Qaeda terrorists.
Today, President Obama’s campaign organization “Organizing for America” sent out a notice to its “grassroots” supporters. It asked them to wage a coordinated phone campaign for health care by calling their U.S. Senators on September 11 – also known as Patriot Day in honor of the thousands of Americans killed by Al Qaeda terrorists eight years ago. It goes on: “All 50 States are coordinating in this – as we fight back against our own Right-Wing Domestic Terrorists who are subverting the American Democratic Process, whipped to a frenzy by their Fox Propaganda Network ceaselessly re-seizing power for their treacherous leaders.” Please read that again."
The "Organizing for America" website features a quote from Barack Obama: "I'm asking you to believe. Not just in my ability to bring about real change in Washington... I am asking you to believe in yours." We do. We'll be in town September 12th!
Update: This Was Added by the Heritage Foundation:
"Several readers have asked us whether this posting on barackobama.com was “user-generated” rather than a staff posting. From what we can tell, this may have been the case. Nevertheless, members of ‘Organizing for America’ in Illinois, North Carolina, Michigan and possibly other states were invited to this event without filter. Anything under the ‘Organizing for America’ banner that is distributed en masse is accountable to those who run the President’s perpetual campaign.
Which is the problem with a perpetual campaign. When you have campaign organizers attempting to assist the White House message, you end up in this situation. If one American received one email that led them to believe that the President shared these views, that is one too many.
This was not an ill-advised comment on a blog, but rather an organizing activity that used hateful language to describe the opposition. The President and his political advisors should immediately denounce this language and continue to remove it from their website. And they should immediately discontinue the use of the ‘Organizing for America’ website to remove any suspicion that the President shares these views. There is a time for campaigning, and a time for leading. Now is the time for the President to lead.)"
Mr. President, We'll be in town September 12th.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
This is Deeds Country
A Beltway Runs Around it...
The Washington Post Chooses Sides [click to read] -- Exellent post by SWAC Girl.
'Pravda on the Potomac' tries to 'fix' Virginia's Governor's race. I'm sure they are digging into McDonnell's high school records as we speak. My only question is why only 'dangerous' conservatives need to be vetted so thoroughly. Michael Barone says:
"In the 2006 campaign season the Washington Post ran more than a dozen front-page stories on Senator George Allen’s reference, at an August 11 campaign stop almost 400 miles from Washington, to an opposition campaign staffer as “Macaca.” One of these stories, perhaps, had enough news value to be worthy of the front page; the others were placed there with the obvious intent of defeating Allen and electing his Democratic opponent Jim Webb, who did indeed win by a 50%-49% margin.
Now there’s a campaign on for governor of Virginia, and the news editors of the Post seem to be using their front page once again to defeat the Republican candidate, Bob McDonnell, and elect Democrat Creigh Deeds. To provide a fair perspective, we’ll start a Macaca watch, to list stories which make the front page of the Post not on the basis of news value but solely and obviously to defeat the Republican candidate."
I remember the rainy night well. I had to pick up a friend at Dulles so I was listening to returns for the Senate race in the cell phone waiting area parking lot. George Allen was winning most of the Virginia data that was reported early. Northern Virginia was the last area to have final results and it was clear that that is when the tide turned for Webb. After Macaca there would always be hecklers who would show up at Allen's appearances trying to create a scene [talk about 'astroturf' here]. It was a dismal evening as we headed home on 81. I was beginning to feel underrepresented.
The Washington Post has about as much business picking the Governor of Virginia as I do picking the Prime Minister of France!
Let the Macaca Watch Begin! [click to read].
Why I'll Never Be Governor
What DID I Write in Those College Papers?...
No, it's probably not going to be my academics that get me disqualified, and no, I have nothing like Chappaquiddick in my past either, but there was the time the kid down the road and I decided to make our own napalm...
In those pre-internet days it was not that easy to come up with the recipe for lethal substances either but somehow we came up with it. In high school there are few boundaries that can't be overcome and I remember mixing... no, I'm NOT going to give the recipe to any 'dangerous' [1.] homeschoolers so they can soup up their potato bazookas!!! We had our mixture in a peanut butter jar and decided to set it off as we headed off for a weekend camping at the beach. Very early in the morning, before the dawn awakened, we slopped our concoction in the middle of Maryland Route 32 and lit it. Nice show!
Of course our desire to avoid really damaging anything led us to the largest patch of unburnable ground we could find [road surface] and as the fire went out we beat a hasty retreat towards Ocean City and the joys of Summer at the beach campground.
Our group also had a rich heritage. A lot of us were proud of our Civil War ancestors and we even had mock battles on the playground in elementary school. When your Great Grandfather distinguished himself defending Memphis from the Northern armies it is only natural for you to own a Confederate battle flag, right? Well, obviously that disqualifies me from any serious consideration as a candidate! Our playground battles squared off under the flags of the forefathers we had heard stories of.
We grew up. We got older. and hopefully wiser. I hope the statute of limitations has run out on the napalm thing.. the point is, we're flawed. The question is how we grow in light of that reality.
No, it's probably not going to be my academics that get me disqualified, and no, I have nothing like Chappaquiddick in my past either, but there was the time the kid down the road and I decided to make our own napalm...
In those pre-internet days it was not that easy to come up with the recipe for lethal substances either but somehow we came up with it. In high school there are few boundaries that can't be overcome and I remember mixing... no, I'm NOT going to give the recipe to any 'dangerous' [1.] homeschoolers so they can soup up their potato bazookas!!! We had our mixture in a peanut butter jar and decided to set it off as we headed off for a weekend camping at the beach. Very early in the morning, before the dawn awakened, we slopped our concoction in the middle of Maryland Route 32 and lit it. Nice show!
Of course our desire to avoid really damaging anything led us to the largest patch of unburnable ground we could find [road surface] and as the fire went out we beat a hasty retreat towards Ocean City and the joys of Summer at the beach campground.
Our group also had a rich heritage. A lot of us were proud of our Civil War ancestors and we even had mock battles on the playground in elementary school. When your Great Grandfather distinguished himself defending Memphis from the Northern armies it is only natural for you to own a Confederate battle flag, right? Well, obviously that disqualifies me from any serious consideration as a candidate! Our playground battles squared off under the flags of the forefathers we had heard stories of.
We grew up. We got older. and hopefully wiser. I hope the statute of limitations has run out on the napalm thing.. the point is, we're flawed. The question is how we grow in light of that reality.
Summer of Mourning
What a Summer of Eulogizing Flawed
Public Figures Reveals About Society
Wisdom from Michael Smerconish [click to read] in Jewish World Review.
Public Figures Reveals About Society
Wisdom from Michael Smerconish [click to read] in Jewish World Review.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Describing the Indescribable
Thoughts on Psalm 104...
Nasa Image from Hubble.
My son just sent me some pictures from the Hubble Telescope. There are some amazing things to be seen in our universe. They are beyond our ability to describe...
...and yet, we have a language that allows us to give some meaningful definition to the vast cosmos. We don't quibble with the fine points of astronomy when someone says they are watching the sunrise. The description has meaning to us and that is sufficient. I've never heard anyone but my dear Mother [and she only did it to make a point] correct someone to say "the earth is turning into a point where we can see the sun."
Years ago I went to the 1964 World's Fair in New York. IBM had a pavilion housed in a gigantic egg [no, not a real egg, an architectural construction in the shape of an egg], that contained a presentation designed to show the layman how a computer works. The movie followed a woman as she planned a dinner party, inviting guests and organizing elements of the event such as the menu and the seating arrangement. The metaphor was brilliant and contained nothing about punch cards and binary numbers.Those of us who saw it came away with a good sense of what computers could do and how they did it but were given little 'technical'information in the process.
Psalm 104, likewise gives us a glimpse of the 'unseeable' workings of G-d's creative hand. I love the thought: "Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain." Today, tools like the Hubble give us a better picture of the'technical' aspects of our expanding universe, but simply echo the Psalmist's sentiment: "O Lord my G-d, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty."
Each section of the creation story in Genesis begins with G-d speaking. Francis Collins calls the complex code of the genome "the Language of God." The trick is giving adequate description in the language of men.
1Bless the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty.
2Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain:
3Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters: who maketh the clouds his chariot: who walketh upon the wings of the wind:
4Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire:
5Who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed for ever.
6Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a garment: the waters stood above the mountains.
7At thy rebuke they fled; at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away.
8They go up by the mountains; they go down by the valleys unto the place which thou hast founded for them.
9Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over; that they turn not again to cover the earth.
10He sendeth the springs into the valleys, which run among the hills.
11They give drink to every beast of the field: the wild asses quench their thirst.
12By them shall the fowls of the heaven have their habitation, which sing among the branches.
13He watereth the hills from his chambers: the earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy works.
14He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth;
15And wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth man's heart.
16The trees of the LORD are full of sap; the cedars of Lebanon, which he hath planted;
17Where the birds make their nests: as for the stork, the fir trees are her house.
18The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats; and the rocks for the conies.
19He appointed the moon for seasons: the sun knoweth his going down.
20Thou makest darkness, and it is night: wherein all the beasts of the forest do creep forth.
21The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their meat from God.
22The sun ariseth, they gather themselves together, and lay them down in their dens.
23Man goeth forth unto his work and to his labour until the evening.
24O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.
25So is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts.
26There go the ships: there is that leviathan, whom thou hast made to play therein.
27These wait all upon thee; that thou mayest give them their meat in due season.
28That thou givest them they gather: thou openest thine hand, they are filled with good.
29Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust.
30Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth.
31The glory of the LORD shall endure for ever: the LORD shall rejoice in his works.
32He looketh on the earth, and it trembleth: he toucheth the hills, and they smoke.
33I will sing unto the LORD as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.
34My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the LORD.
35Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless thou the LORD, O my soul. Praise ye the LORD.
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