"The Mirage Shall Become A Pool"

           It should in the natural course of things be to the Christian that the older one gets the more enraptured with the person of Christ he or she would become. That's not to say that younger people when they first encounter Jesus Christ are not enraptured....for they are....but that is more the reaction to being picked up out of total despair upon realizing that they were so close to eternal damnation... and then taken up and forgiven....forgiven....by grace alone....through faith alone....in Christ alone....and all this to the glory of God alone!
           The older Christian has lived possibly for decades learning more and more of the preciousness of Jesus Christ. That joy of salvation is still set in stone but the "glory, majesty, dominion, and authority" in the person of Jesus Christ...."before all time and now and forever"....as revealed in the Word of God.....grows with each and every new day. That odd book the Song Of Solomon sits quite naturally almost ignored until we finally see Christ as the 'Beloved.' The slight is even more obvious with the 150 Psalms. The temptation might be to look at them as spiritualized Proverbs whereas in reality the structure of the body of Psalms alone shows that God has more in mind here than proper worship songs.
            I just happened tonight to pick up a tract by Martyn Lloyd-Jones and sent out to me many years ago by the Chapel Library from Pensacola, Florida. The tract was on Isaiah 35:7...."And the mirage shall become a pool" (A literal translation) That wonderful British preacher described this life we are on as a pilgrimage....which it truly is. The world sees one mirage after another....each time disappointed as the water turned out to be only more hot 'glowing' sand. To the Christian it is different. We also get weary at times.....parched....even at times exhausted....over a long life.....but that pool is real....the fountain of Jesus Christ....the source of living water....a pool that never dries up or loses its rejuvenation....or its temporal sustenance. The Psalms are a part of that pool!

Note: You can read that tract by searching....Mirage Shall Become A Pool, The Chapel Library

Trump/Russia

           Trump/Russia, A Definitive History by investigative reporter Seth Hettena....the Washington Post questions how it can be billed as a definitive history when we don't by any stretch know all the answers yet....but it does appear as of now anyway to be a definitive history on Donald Trump's dealings in Russia and with Russians here in America.
           There are no bombshells in this book. It doesn't need any bombshell revelations nor was it written to titillate. It simply documents Donald Trump's many dealings over many years with the Russian government....oligarchs....banks....and various representatives of both the old Soviet Union's and Russia's new money....way too much of which had ties to what is known as the Russian Mafiya.
          There was nothing here new....to me anyway....on the person of Donald Trump. He's been the same since the 70s. He wheels and deals....skirts boundaries of the law....doesn't care who he makes deals with....and drops as many deals as he makes....always in the end proclaiming himself the winner. There's a line at the end of Redford's 1975 Three Days Of The Condor where Redford (Condor) says to CIA agent (Cliff Robertson)...."So not lying means telling the truth?" This was a deep state spy film. Donald Trump's forte is in....not telling the truth....which today apparently doesn't mean lying.
          The extent of his dealings and the people that he either dealt with first hand or through the sale of his many expensive apartments in New York and even elsewhere....the extent of all this may not accurately be classified as a bombshell but it is also much more than an eye opener. I don't blame President Trump one bit for his year long tweet storm in an attempt to stop this investigation. Criminals are everywhere. These are people that a politician would not want any tie to and in Donald Trump's case there has to be a tie rack of regrets.
          What comes out in this book is that our government's intelligence agencies were at work investigating the criminal element of the collapsed Soviet Union and new Russia before Donald Trump threw his hat into the presidential ring. To not continue to be concerned with a president-elect who had so many dealings with many of these actors is what would have been odd. Does Robert Mueller hate Donald Trump? Probably. Did he despise Russia's criminal and espionage element even more? That's most likely the case also.
          The books are out there on Donald Trump that need to be read but I don't think that we are going to read them for we have categorized.....having been manipulated to do so....all of them as fake news.  Stone's Rules: How To Win At Politics, Business, And Style by Donald Trump advocate Roger Stone is one book that can shed light on Donald Trump's methods. The The Gaslighting Of America, Why We Love It When Trump Lies To us by former Ted Cruz and Jim DeMint associate Amanda Carpenter is another. Born Trump by Emily Jane Trump is yet another.....but Seth Hettena's Trump/Russia is a must. And how about this book....The Art Of The Donald, Lessons from America's Philosopher-In-Chief....by Christopher Bedford. Jim DeMint actually offered this book from his organization for a donation. It's supposed to garner support for the President....and I'm sure that it will with many....but I'll take the chance in recommending it. Read it and decide for yourself.
           Donald Trump tried a number of times to build a tower in Russia but they fell through. He then came up with the idea that if he can't go to Russia for business then maybe the Russians can come to New York to do business with him. There was a lot of money that could be stashed away....protected in buying Trump's expensive apartments....and then there was the Miss Universe pageant in Russia. There's always a game....always a show to put on to make some money....but they are proving problematic for one who runs for President of the United States.
            I tend to use a highlighter on my books....and this one looks like a rainbow inside as I ran out of yellow and moved to red and then to orange. Conservative radio talk show hosts....just about all of them....all of the time....focus on the absence of proof of collusion and the timeline for FISA warrants....important stuff! They do a good job here.....but it's no accident that they are also intentionally trying to keep the focus away from a United States president (Donald Trump) who has to deal with a man (Vladimir Putin) who is a very serious and patient adversary.....who has kept tabs on Donald Trump (Soviet style tabs) for decades.

NOTE: Barnes & Noble has a 50% off sticker on these books right now.
   

Report Cards

            My parents.....they were together at the time.....sent me to Our Lady Help Of Christians grade school in Cheektowaga, New York......Buffalo to most people. I have nothing but lasting and wonderful memories of that school....its teachers.....and my friends there. In the second grade I sang on stage for the very first time.....Silent Night......well it was also my last time but still. Occasionally they would take all eight grades into the basement auditorium to watch a movie! I went back to the school two or three years ago but the church had closed it up. I finagled my way in the building just to walk the halls a little bit. I have in my formally callused fingers.....I'm retired now....my very first report card. The subjects graded were....religion....reading.....(oral and silent).... arithmetic.... handwriting.... work habits....health habits....and social habits.
           Our presidents are often graded by various sources. If I were grading on foreign policy I would have given JFK and A- (in spite of the Bay of Pigs)....LBJ a C....Nixon was working on a B before he blew off the final exam leading to the Vietnam exit and the Vietnamese people so he gets an F....Jimmy Carter gets a D-.....Ronald Reagan an A+....George H. W. a B+.....Bill Clinton a C-.....George W. an A- for defending America against all odds from opposition at home.....and Barack Obama an F-.
           I won't grade Donald Trump. Conservatives obviously give him an A but I'm more concerned with the overall report card and reduction in the number of subjects graded.....for the report card we are giving him has only two subjects.....the economy and foreign policy. Barack Obama was given....by us.... an F on truthfulness.....transparency.....ethics.....work habits....and social habits. None of these subjects appear of the report card given to President Trump! What happened to them?
           Well the answer to that question is that he would fail if they were on the report card. He has a 4.0 QPA without them but would probably have a 1.8 with them.....and we can't have him appearing to have failed....for he must pass and go on to the next term....excuse me....grade level....so the subjects mysteriously disappeared. The problem here is that truthfulness and transparency and ethics and work habits and social habits were there for a reason. One can have all the engineering skills necessary.....or in this case deal making skills....but if one has serious truthfulness and ethics issues....which Donald Trump has in abundance....then one will fail.....the bridge will fail due to the poor steel used....or in this case the deal will fall apart due to the lack of transparency....outright deception at times....reliance on mind control techniques.... selective presentation of reports....and cutting of corners in truthfulness.
           

"My Sweet Babboo..."

         I could hardly believe it when Ivanka the Terrible and her consort Jared moved right into the Oval Office....as advisers! We didn't stand up to Donald Trump on this... and that was our first mistake. Then nothing short of a magic act took place.....things would appear and disappear right before out eyes. I'm going to describe it here a little bit differently than I usually do...

A: Paul Ryan Comes up with a supposed Obamacare repeal bill
B: President Trump says that it's a great bill and expects the House to pass it.
C: It takes a day or so but true conservatives and those in the Freedom Caucus read the bill and say wait a minute.....this isn't Obamacare repeal.....it's Obamacare Lite.....it's Obamacare 2.0!
D: President Trump doubles-down for a week or so....making phone calls.....pressuring Freedom Caucus members to pass it.
E: It looks like the bill is not going to get past the Freedom Caucus.
F: President Trump loses his temper....which he always does.....and without thinking.....which he never does.....actually threatens the only good members of Congress that we have if they don't pass the fake Obamacare repeal bill!!!
G: It's over a year later and we are now actually defending Ivanka the Terrible on almost a daily basis! Folks...she's not just...'the President's daughter'....she's a hardened, conniving, experienced, dangerous political and corporate Progressive operative.
H: Because of our lack of vigilance....President Trump today can now do whatever he wants.....say whatever he wants.....anger whoever he wants.....lie in any way and as many times that he wants.....and we only cheer him the more. To this day the Obamacare repeal scam gets blamed on the Republican congress.....and we demand that they finally support President Trump's agenda!

The following post....'Miranda Rights'.... is from April of 2017:

       Miranda and Cosmo marry in the city's biggest high society event of the year. Miranda had an inheritance while Cosmo had the Hollywood looks. Family members of both took bets on how long the marriage would last because everyone knew who Cosmo was, but there was no dissuading Miranda, for she thought the world of him. 

         Back in their new home, the matrimonial bliss lasted only a few months before the arguments started. "They were right".....thought Miranda...."everyone....in their warnings that Cosmo was a bore, an egotist and not a nice man." Cosmo got what he wanted out of the deal and Miranda was humiliated, but the marriage essentially ended the night that while in the midst of an argument....Cosmo put a finger in Miranda's face and yelled...."I only married you for your money....I never loved you....Go ahead and divorce me....I'll fight you for every penny.' 

         Folks this is a microcosm of what happened in the last election. We had what Donald Trump wanted while he courted us as a king would his future queen to get an heir. The defining moment when the marriage essentially ended between Donald Trump and true conservatives came in his tweet threatening the Freedom Caucus after the Obamacare Establishment scam went down.

         Friends....you could put him back on his pedestal if you want....(and we have....I reference only the latest rally)....but you will someday wind up as a battered spouse.....(and we now are). The only reason that Donald Trump is not this day building another tower somewhere or working on a television show is because of conservatives like those on the Freedom Caucus.....and us....and probably you. This has been a long battle.....and yet newcomer to the family Donald Trump tweeted....during the honeymoon....

"The Freedom Caucus will hurt the entire Republican agenda if they don't get on the team, and fast....We must fight them, & Dems, in 2018!"

         Let me interpret this inane tweet for you...."I only married you for your money....I never loved you....go ahead and divorce me....I'll fight you for every penny."

         Now if conservatives want, they can accept Cosmo's roses and candy and a card with a poem inside that reads.... "My sweet Babboo....we must make up, fast....or Obamacare will stay and tax reform will....will...I can't think of anything that rhymes with fast, but it will be really really bad."

        But the next card you receive will probably read.....

                 "Pursuant to the provisions in the Republican Party platform URSCRWD 2017, you are hereby given an eviction notice to vacate the Oval Office, the NSC, all those congressional chair thingamajigs and the White House Press Briefing Room."

Note on your Miranda Rights: You have the right to remain silent....anything you say can and will be used against you...for these people do not fight fair. You have a right to an attorney....a mediator....you cannot pay him.....unlike Cosmo he will never leave you or forsake you.....His name is Jesus Christ!

        

Donald Trump's New Clothes

              There are a number of Donald Trump biographies that have come out in the past few years....and an equal number of 'how Trump won' books that are largely biographical. Some of these books are mostly salacious.....Fire And Fury would be such a book.....some are very legitimate biography.....Emily Jane Fox's recently released Born Trump would be one such book. And some are just pure pro-Trump which would be the opposite of Michael Wolff's Fire And Fury. I've tried to read only the books that appear to be legitimate biography....with the exception of Wolff's book. I had done the same thing over the years with Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.....and as far back as Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter.....and I may have read more on the Kennedys over the past forty-five years than all the others combined.....and I should add this that my reading of biography over my life on all genres surely is more than all the political books combined.
              Returning to Donald Trump....this is an unlikable man if you understand who he is....a man cloistered over his life in one castle after another....who has princes and princesses running around and who would at times pick a new queen.  He's a man of appearances more than substance who is in love with his own image....and whose religion is positive thinking.
              In Hans Christian Andersen's The Emperor's New Clothes two weavers tell the emperor that they have made clothes so fine that only those who are really competent can see how wonderful the clothes are. In the case of Donald Trump....Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity are the weavers.....the clothes that they have made every day for the past year are supposedly so beautiful that only those who are really smart can see them. Conservatives don't want to appear stupid so they tell each other how beautiful the clothes are....but there are many of us out here who do not just want to be part of the crowd....we didn't oppose both the Marxists and Republican establishment over eight years by being mindless followers and we're not going to start now. We don't see any fine clothes....only Trump brand underwear and sock garters.
             We are not the 'never Trump' movement. We are the never again Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton movement.....the never again Republican establishment movement. Conservative radio talk show hosts are in denial that we exist. They are on a party cruise right now heading right into a tempest....with a captain who thinks that his ship is unsinkable. We had hoped from the beginning to see in a President Trump some evidence of humility that might lead to wisdom. He's going to be tested....and right now we are of no help to him as we only feed his ego and admire the clothes that, in the main, do not exist.

Note: Trump/Russia by Seth Hettena is necessary to read to understand the origin and continuation over the years of Donald Trump's business relations with people in Russia. Barnes & Noble has a 50% off sticker on this book right now.

          

How Can One But Remind Again And Again

           With a beautiful grandson to laugh with and thank God for....they live four hours away....I somehow found time to sneak the warning in on the perilous days in which we live. I always do. I feel that I should remind our son again and again. Not that he doesn't know it but it is of such importance that it's better to be safe than sorry by remaining vigilant.
           They are words that one could easily pass over but they are part of the very Word of God and therefore never to be glossed over. Here they are....2 Peter 1:12, 13...."Therefore, I will always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them, and have been established in the truth being present in you. I consider it right, as long as I am in this earthly dwelling, to stir you up by way of reminder." Peter knew that he was nearing the end of his life.....yet he felt it necessary to remind again and again.....the more important words of truth from God's Word.
            I never tried or even hoped that some readers to these posts would come back day after day as if they were some famous pundit's podcast. I have always been more concerned with how many people hear some of these warnings at least once.....and yes maybe a few more times than that.
             Among those warnings that appear most often are these. In what was nothing short of miraculous, God in 1948 established Israel as a nation unto itself once again. He in effect told us in this that we are not looking at centuries before His return but rather decades at the most. We ourselves began to unravel in November of 1963 but slowly coinciding with the coming decade of violence and rejection of God came the reaffirmation that one had to be....born again....to be a Christian. A flash flood of conversions gave America one last breath of life before the spiral began. I was swept along in that flood. We even had the last president of whom we could at least implicitly trust in Ronald Reagan.....we may never have another one.
             God began a long slow process of warning us that we as a nation......and the world....were going to be judged. We in America underwent judgments one after another in quick succession....assassinations....abortions.....riots.....terrorism.....a communist president....a final blitzkrieg against God's commandment against homosexuality....and now in effect a people that bears little to no resemblance of its former self.....yet these judgments did not even phase us.....in fact we now have a president who boldly proclaimed to the nation that there has...."Never been a better time to start living the American dream."
            Even though God's Word tells us that when they say "peace and security" that "sudden destruction" will come upon them....even though this is very clear.....we are right now celebrating just that....the coming...."peace and security!" We actually think that God gave us Donald Trump to make America great again. We don't care at all what he is like. We have an excuse for everything that he does. All we have to do is compare him to Barack Obama....a former judgment from God. Our economy looks good right now.....and we are totally oblivious that this could turn 180 degrees in one single day!
            I have lived sixty-eight years and some odd months. I was able to partake in the America of our heritage.....before that America succumbed to the same temptations that ancient Israel succumbed to before they were judged by God. I remember that heritage....and weep at what we have replaced it with. I have given nothing to stop the downward spiral....in fact I added to it. I am but one person....one of many....who God for some unknown reason had mercy upon. Even my warnings are tinged with pride and arrogance....but I continue to warn....for if Jesus felt it to our benefit to warn us....and if Peter warned us....and Paul warned us....and John warned us....and Christians ministers such as Billy Graham.....just to name one.....of whom I have no right to even stand beside....if they felt....and feel it necessary to warn those that God gave them to minister to.....then we all have no choice but to at least warn our neighbors and friends....which in reality is all that these posts are....words to neighbors and hopefully friends....wherever they may live!
       

We Have Recused Ourselves From A Balanced Reporting On The President

Update: Today....in Helsinki....President Trump....in appearances anyway....in as much as allied himself with Vladimir Putin against the West. In typical fashion....Trump talk radio....looking more and more like devotees in a cult....didn't miss a beat. As the rest of us pondered what was playing out before us....talk radio knew the answer immediately....Trump staved off a possible world war. While all the never-Trumpers took advantage of this gift. That leaves the rest of us wondering how President Trump can continue to top himself in dillusionary diplomacy each and every day....and get away with it!  There may be a difference in this latest fiasco though....for even conservative talk radio....controlling the narrative with a hot branding iron as they do....may not be able to continue this porous defense in the days ahead.

         President Trump met one-on-one with Vladimir Putin today. I had been critical of this type of meeting since the two men found themselves one-on-one next to each other at a G-20 dinner....and then again when President Trump met one-on-one with Kim Jong-un at their summit. There should be absolutely nothing said between the two that could not....and should not be observed and witnessed by our other high level representatives in this summit!!! (Note: The private meeting did take place....Donald Trump and Putin had plenty of time.....should they have chosen to do this....to design the direction of the official meetings along with coordinated comments in the presser that would follow. In light of this....that presser is tainted....and all the pious remarks by both President Trump and Putin are to be viewed as mere show with no transparency or genuine diplomacy whatsoever.
         I was in a cabin in a forest over the weekend with no phone or Internet.....just me, my wife, dog and handgun....this was real Jeremiah Johnson.....except for the hot tub....A/C and microwave....and 48 flavors of ice cream a couple miles down the road. There was also cable television. Now you may laugh at that but I don't get cable news in my own home. So I watched some of Fox cable news which I only get to see while on vacation....and once again what I saw is men and women almost smirking their way through critical news stories about President Trump without any serious reflection. Even this morning Breitbart's Alex Marlow described criticism of President Trump's meeting one-on-one with Putin as "rich." This is all a joke to them. Sooner or later these talk show hosts might be forced to acknowledge that it is not just CNN that is critical of President Trump....that there are many of us long time conservatives.....who celebrated in November of 2016....who are not in any way similar to CNN....in fact we are much more critical of CNN than of President Trump....yet who want and demand a balanced reporting of President Trump.
        We are over a year now in an investigation of possible collusion between candidate Trump and Russia. That alone should have held Trump back from a one-on-one.....simply appearances and a little bit of wisdom in this chaotic atmosphere should have eliminated this one-on-one....but Donald Trump has no wisdom whatsoever. He is a comic caricature of a man raised in a bubble of real estate deals....celebrities....and riches....who tries to bring the rest of the world into the only sphere that he is familiar with. Somehow we conservatives have latched on the concept that Donald Trump is not a politician....but we stopped there and refuse to consider that that doesn't mean that he is one of us....for he is not. He's about as one of us as Evita Peron was one of her people.
         The problem with President Trump meeting one-on-one with Putin is that Donald Trump doesn't go by the rules of diplomacy....or any rules....not even rules of common sense. There is a psychological abnormality with Donald Trump in that his delusions of grandeur should be recognized as significant enough to cause great concern.....but we have voluntarily put ourselves in the position where we utterly refuse to hold him to account on anything! He can say the most absurd things.....golf like a maniac.....lie with impunity....and attack anyone and everyone in his tweets who has the audacity of disagreeing with him.....but we have recused ourselves from any critical analysis!
          Wow.....back to Alex Marlow.....an actual good call came in....simple concerns about Donald Trump......Marlow let him go on for a few minutes and then became animated....."Caller....is this what you told the call screener that you were going to talk about?" The two hosts stumbled over their words as they tried damage control. Folks this is us....we have become as the liberals were for decades in that we are not tolerant with our own people who disagree. We don't allow criticism.  We protect our man. In short....we no longer defend the high ground of tolerance, debate and critical analysis that was once our calling card!

Notes: The freedom desiring people of Russia are struggling greatly with the dictatorial powers of Vladimir Putin. Who do you think was strengthened by the Helsinki summit?

If you are an ally of the United States....or if here in the United States you voted for Donald Trump with great hopes for a conservative cause....you have in this past week been served notice....no one or no cause is sacred.

Where is John Bolton....or unfortunately more importantly.....what has happened to John Bolton?

Were are Ivanka and Jared.....or unfortunately more importantly....how do they figure into this fiasco?

The power of Rush Limbaugh....unfortunately today anyway....is so strong that three hours of his indefatigable adoration....adoration of Donald Trump....is enough to keep a once vibrant and rigorous conservative mind from assembling the facts in order to come to a conclusion of their own.

The Logical Fallacy that dominates just about all of conservative talk radio today....out of necessity....or be forced to admit that there are serious problems with Donald Trump....is to avoid issues or facts that are problematic....and focus on peripheral issues that support their original thesis. Just one....just one would be this....there are many of us out here who not only voted for Donald Trump but celebrated in November of 2016....who may be members of Rush's 24/7....or Mark Levin's CRTV....who have labored against the Clintons and Barack Obama and the Republican elites while Donald Trump was in the middle of his reality show.....who now take serious umbrage with who President Trump has shown himself to be....but conservative talk radio points only to never-Trumpers....or to the mainstream media....as if all the criticism is coming from without. We are here Rush.....we're not going away....will will not put on the saffron robes....and you cannot hide us forever by lumping us in with the John Brennans and Jim Acostas of the never-Trumpers.

Enough

The following post is from October of 2017:

         It was simple and almost pure....patriots who gathered together in opposition to an encroaching tyranny.  We had a Marxist president....quite possibly a Communist president,,,,and the most corrupt politician in American history was poised to succeed him.... but the grassroots movement was ready....a vast army fuming as they formed a long line across America.....shifting from one foot to another in anticipation of the campaign ahead. All they needed was for a general to ride out in front of them and give them the order to advance.
        Ted Cruz surveyed the ground in front that would be the battlefield and counted every cannon ball in every caisson. He did everything except get out in front and ignite the fuse.
        Rush Limbaugh, Mark Levin, Stephen K. Bannon and Sean Hannity were captains of horse behind their microphones and were ready to charge if someone out front...anyone out front....would just raise their sabre. Out of nowhere came this plumed hat on a white steed riding up and down the immense line, rallying every soldier. Kepis were raised as shouts drowned out the tempered commands given by the other generals hoping to lead the charge.
        So we had our leader as Donald Trump turned towards the Marxists and the Progressives and the worthless Republican elites, and yelled like furies so loud that it reverberated across the entire battlefield. What followed was a rout. The enemy laughed until their front lines collapsed.
         How would this new Lord Protector rule, as we really knew little about this mysterious champion, and the little that we knew was not good? His ego not only rivaled Barack Obama's but actually dwarfed it. He was definitely the center of his own universe as it seemed that the only thing that mattered in anything was in how it reflected upon him. He was much too vindictive for comfort, and look as we might, aside from his children there didn't seem to be a whole lot of faithfulness if any to be found in his character.
        All of these serious concerns about President Trump were overlooked because there was a genuine hope and even expectation that, weak as his character might be, America could make a 180 degrees turnabout under his leadership. The question that we are attempting to avoid is at what point do we say enough is enough?
        As it turned out President Trump doesn't really give a hoot about repealing Obamacare. It seems that he could care less about the Paris Climate Agreement either. I don't even think that he really has a heart for stopping illegal immigration. He's like the ultimate real estate developer who promised the community everything to get permission to go forward with his project and now has to explain to the commissioners why some of things he promised never materialized.
        Had it not been for the blitzkrieg attempt to impeach him or force him to resign he would have had to answer for his actions by now but this attempted coup has directed all of our attention away from Ivanka, Jared and the globalists. Ironically therefore this Russia probe has kept his supporters  who have been scorned off of his back.
        This of course cannot go on indefinitely. North Korea and possibly the Middle East or both will take us in an entirely new direction, and that if a collapse of the world's financial markets or some other catastrophes do not occur first. In reality no candidate for the Republican nomination could have prevented the tsunami headed towards us but the character issue, as it turns out, is more important than we anticipated. Unless we turn from the mantra of 'make America great again' to prayers for mercies undeserved, we will find ourselves strolling along the beach as the waters recede before that approaching tsunami, far from the higher ground that we long ago descended from, and this without even God's hand steadying us.
  

DISPATCHES.....Purge?...."It Will All Be Great!"

            President Trump today....(Friday, July 27th).....described the GDP figure of 4.1% as being an "economic turnaround of historic proportions." President Obama had four quarters higher than 4.1%.....one at 5.1%. The problem was that those figures were not sustainable. So how was today's growth report of "historic proportions?" If President Trump had just been happy with 4.1% it would have been one thing but these continuous extraordinary exaggerations of his are why many of us have trouble believing anything he says....on anything!         

           President Trump's threat to revoke security clearances for Obama officials has the word 'purge' written all over it. These posts of mine have been extremely critical going back eight years of every person on the list....particularly John Brennan and Susan Rice....but you do not purge people who disagree with you. One radio talk show host....minutes ago....cited the use of the word 'treason' by the people in question but how many times over the years was that word used in reference to Barack Obama? That same host used the phrase...."does anyone have any doubt"....to justify the charge and conviction that these people were the source of leaks. Is this what we have come to....that 'does anyone have any doubt' is enough to convict and sentence?  Dear conservative friends please consider this....it is automatic....whatever idea that President Trump may tweet....and no matter how outrageous it may be....there will be no genuine reflection whatsoever by conservatives....for they now automatically and immediately defend it....vociferously! This is what we have become. We no longer analyze....we simply follow and cheer.

            President Trump tweet from minutes ago....this should unnerve us.....but it won't......"Tariffs are the greatest! Either a country which has treated the United States unfairly on Trade negotiates a fair deal, or it gets hit with Tariffs. It's as simple as that-and everybody's talking! Remember, we are the "piggy bank" that's being robbed. All will be Great!"

            There is no chapter in the Bible more pertinent to the Second Coming than the 24th chapter of Matthew....retold by Mark in chapter 13 and Luke in chapter 21. Christians should be reading these chapters often each and every year. There is one verse in particular that has generated some meditative and questioning thought and it is at the beginning of the chapter where Jesus said in response to the disciples awe over the temple buildings...."Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here shall be left upon another which will not be torn down." I went to a number of games as a kid to watch the Pittsburgh Pirates at that wonderfully quaint ballpark Forbes Field which was opened in 1909 and finally torn down in 1971 but a portion of the left field wall still stands at its original location which is now on the expanded University of Pittsburgh campus. I met my future wife about a hundred yards from that spot. The vast majority of opinion believes that the prophesy of Jesus was fulfilled when in 70 A.D. the Romans destroyed the temple....but there are some....myself included....who say wait a minute....what about the Western Wall.
             If that Western Wall was technically not part of the temple then the prophesy of Jesus has been totally fulfilled....but if that portion of the temple mount was part of what Jesus referred to then there are hundreds of stones that still would need to be torn down. As I type this the Drudge Report links to a news article with a picture where a portion of a stone had just fallen onto a platform where worshipers congregate. Now this is not the first time that pieces of stone have fallen.....and probably won't be the last....but it tends to raise the eyebrows on those of us who think that every rock in that wall may be violently torn down in the maelstrom prior to the Second Coming.

            The Drudge headline right now is..."Trump Tweet Bomb Threatens Iran Prez 'Consequences Few Have Suffered'." The actual tweet is this...."To Iranian President Rouhani: NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE & WE ARE NO LONGER A COUNTRY THAT WILL STAND FOR YOUR DEMENTED WORDS OF VIOLENCE & DEATH. BE CAUTIOUS!"
            Is there truth in what underlies this message? Yes! Are there problems with how President Trump conducts his statesmanship with sudden and impetuous tweets? Yes....and it's more than problematic....much more....for he is very close to being unhinged. This is essentially what he did with Kim Jong-un yet when a photo op summit presented itself....President Trump jumped on it and now things are even worse.....it's amazing that it was even possible to become worse! Many conservatives will love this morning's tweet bomb....but many continue to be worried at how President Trump is unravellng....particularly over the Mueller investigation....but we don't listen to these folk's opinions do we....for we only listen to our gurus.....but folks that is what religious cults do.....they tell their people not to read any Christian literature that holds their cult up to scrutiny!

We Just Don't Want To Hear About It.....It's As Simple As That

            We don't want to hear about God judging America. We just don't want to hear it. It's as simple as that. We are a people that want to get for ourselves what we want for ourselves....what we feel that we deserve. The old days where Americans actually felt some kind of thankfulness not only for those who worked and sacrificed for centuries to give us the nation that we once had but thankfulness to God for blessing this land with spacious skies and amber waves of grain....that's no longer us. Half of us....or at least close to half of us....can no longer think through existential issues....our progressive educational system having insured that we are to be followers and not leaders....producers and not thinkers.
            We cannot grasp the problem of a now twenty-one trillion dollar deficit. If we ignore it it will go away. Go to usdebtclock.org for an up-to-the second accounting. Give the terrorist what they want and surely they will be happy and let us alone. Communism is just a name from the past....and whatever it was.....it doesn't really exist anymore. In fact if any threat to America does grab our attention for more than a few days we just go full-steam into our entertainments....that's where reality is....cable TV shows and professional sports and celebrities....or on our side we could just go to Donald Trump or Rush Limbaugh....and if we want evidence that we are all right all we have to do is check the Dow Jones Industrial Average....and then go outside for a walk....the birds are still chirping....the squirrels and rabbits still play and chase each other around....and no one seems overly concerned.
          I can see the total lack of vigilance in the long-term decisions that younger people make. There's no room in those plans for emergencies.....or for war....or even for another Great Depression. They don't show the slightest concern that the world governments have emergency plans to change the entire structure of money and the way that we buy and sell....that is if this emerging New World Order even lets us have all of our money. Although I admit that whereas we used to laugh at such suggestions of a New World Order....today many don't laugh....they know that the plans are real....they just relegate the possibility to years down the road.....and they won't take the time to read up on it.
           On our side of this mess we search for churches that exude happiness in a world of turmoil. A giant church with a latte bar and exercise classes does the trick. Don't believe me? Go and read their church websites. There is little to no mention of repentance on them for that would be church growth killer. Their listed 'beliefs' are given about as much weight as directions to the church....and their sermon titles are charmingly unobtrusive. Ask them about the omission of any warnings and they will tell you that you just have to trust God! You mean like trusting Him when He give us warning after warning for decade after decade?
          God sent Jonah to Nineveh with a warning. The Ninevites repented. A century or so passed but God then sent Nahum to the same people. This time there was no offer of forty days or even four years. It was a proclamation of imminent judgment. God sent Jonah after Jonah to America for the past half century....all the warnings were ignored....and the message of Nahum is to us now....read it if you will at your leisure.
         This is a time of preparation.....physically but more importantly spiritually.....but you won't hear that message in too many of our pulpits....why....as I wrote in the first paragraph of this post.....we don't want to hear about God judging America....we just don't want to hear it....it's as simple as that.

Gaslighting

           It appeared to me at the time that Barack Obama was the most narcissistic person one would hope to never have as the President of the United States but President Trump puts Obama's narcissism to shame....and even makes those early years of Cassius Clay/Mohammad Ali look humble. Obama is a communist and the defeat of Hillary was monstrously great but that's not the issue here. There's more.....it also appeared to me at the time that Barack Obama was probably the biggest liar ever to be President.....but Donald Trump took that championship belt away.
           Obama's lies were different in nature and quantity. When he said anything about how he was trying to make America better and stronger it was an obvious out-and-out lie. When he said that he was going to attempt to fundamentally transform the United States of America it was truth. As for Donald Trump....his lies as not so much philosophical as they are continuous and multitudinous. He simply does not know how to tell the difference between the truth and a lie....and we....conservatives....could not care less about it!
           There's a new book that directly tackles the subject.....only the latest of such books. It's written by a CNN commentator. Well....we're certainly not going to read anything by any mainstream media commentator let alone a CNN commentator! Would it help that she was once a senior staffer for both Jim DeMint....probably the single most honest politician in America......and Ted Cruz?  Lyin' Ted as Donald Trump labelled him) No.....emphatically no....we have been programmed to reject anything that comes from the media....the enemy of the people.....before they even opine on anything.
           I don't know how many posts that I've written critical of the media but it's been a lot over almost ten years. The media in our country has proven to be nothing but dupes for Communism's century long strategy to weaken America. Somewhere in the beginning of those posts I pleaded with the media to consider their children and their own families.....as this bias of theirs was destroying their future. I even postulated in the beginning of Obama's first term that maybe they would finally see this Manchurian candidate and begin to investigate who he really was. They never did.
           So now many in the media are finally beginning to recognize lies....but it's way too late....and they still only see lies from the one side anyway....but we make a bad situation worse by no longer even attempting to scrutinize and then possibly consider anything that any of them might say.
           Why does CNN employ Amanda Carpenter? We say that we wanted conservatives in the mainstream media but as it turns out we really don't. Ben Shapiro lends a blurb to the book. Does that help? Probably not. The book....once again just released....is Gaslighting America....Why We Love It When Trump Lies To Us. We don't love it as if saying that he is lying to us and we love it but rather that we are saying.....yeah that may not be the truth....probably isn't the truth....but so what.....he's our champion.
            Carpenter's book is based on Donald Trump's own particular gaslighting method. There are five steps to it.....and they are so obvious that it's not that we needed them to be pointed out.....for if we are not already brainwashed for Donald Trump then we see them.....but we needed them systematized so that we could apply them to anything that Donald Trump might say today or tomorrow.
            In the first step he "floats a wild claim' about anything. In the second step he will "advance and deny" as he begins to back off a little by saying that that's what others are saying. In the third step he "creates suspense" as he tantalizes by saying that more information will be coming out soon. In the fourth step he usually "take (s) to Twitter" to "discredit the opponent" who criticizes him for putting this subject forward.....and in the fifth and final step he simply claims victory in the whole mess......and proves it by pointing to his poll numbers.
            The term 'gaslighting' goes as far back as as the 1944 film starring Charles Boyer and Ingrid Bergman that was nominated for seven Academy Awards including Best Movie, Best Actor, Best Actress.....winning that last one for Bergman. Essentially it is mental manipulation....which is what I've recently written about quite a few times in these posts.
            Will conservatives read this book? Probably not.....we're not into scrutinizing our champion or holding him to account on anything....but then again as President Trump's persona continues to crumble.....which it is doing....this might be the first book that we go to.
           

Trump/Russia

           Trump/Russia, A Definitive History by investigative reporter Seth Hettena....the Washington Post questions how it can be billed as a definitive history when we don't by any stretch know all the answers yet....but it does appear as of now anyway to be a definitive history on Donald Trump's dealings in Russia and with Russians here in America.
           There are no bombshells in this book. It doesn't need any bombshell revelations nor was it written to titillate. It simply documents Donald Trump's many dealings over many years with the Russian government....oligarchs....banks....and various representatives of both the old Soviet Union's and Russia's new money....way too much of which had ties to what is known as the Russian Mafiya.
          There was nothing here new....to me anyway....on the person of Donald Trump. He's been the same since the 70s. He wheels and deals....skirts boundaries of the law....doesn't care who he makes deals with....and drops as many deals as he makes....always in the end proclaiming himself the winner. There's a line at the end of Redford's 1975 Three Days Of The Condor where Redford (Condor) says to CIA agent (Cliff Robertson)...."So not lying means telling the truth?" This was a deep state spy film. Donald Trump's forte is in....not telling the truth....which today apparently doesn't mean lying.
          The extent of his dealings and the people that he either dealt with first hand or through the sale of his many expensive apartments in New York and even elsewhere....the extent of all this may not accurately be classified as a bombshell but it is also much more than an eye opener. I don't blame President Trump one bit for his year long tweet storm in an attempt to stop this investigation. Criminals are everywhere. These are people that a politician would not want any tie to and in Donald Trump's case there has to be a tie rack of regrets.
          What comes out in this book is that our government's intelligence agencies were at work investigating the criminal element of the collapsed Soviet Union and new Russia before Donald Trump threw his hat into the presidential ring. To not continue to be concerned with a president-elect who had so many dealings with many of these actors is what would have been odd. Does Robert Mueller hate Donald Trump? Probably. Did he despise Russia's criminal and espionage element even more? That's most likely the case also.
          The books are out there on Donald Trump that need to be read but I don't think that we are going to read them for we have categorized.....having been manipulated to do so....all of them as fake news.  Stone's Rules: How To Win At Politics, Business, And Style by Donald Trump advocate Roger Stone is one book that can shed light on Donald Trump's methods. The The Gaslighting Of America, Why We Love It When Trump Lies To us by former Ted Cruz and Jim DeMint associate Amanda Carpenter is another. Born Trump by Emily Jane Trump is yet another.....but Seth Hettena's Trump/Russia is a must. And how about this book....The Art Of The Donald, Lessons from America's Philosopher-In-Chief....by Christopher Bedford. Jim DeMint actually offered this book from his organization for a donation. It's supposed to garner support for the President....and I'm sure that it will with many....but I'll take the chance in recommending it. Read it and decide for yourself.
           Donald Trump tried a number of times to build a tower in Russia but they fell through. He then came up with the idea that if he can't go to Russia for business then maybe the Russians can come to New York to do business with him. There was a lot of money that could be stashed away....protected in buying Trump's expensive apartments....and then there was the Miss Universe pageant in Russia. There's always a game....always a show to put on to make some money....but they are proving problematic for one who runs for President of the United States.
            I tend to use a highlighter on my books....and this one looks like a rainbow inside as I ran out of yellow and moved to red and then to orange. Conservative radio talk show hosts....just about all of them....all of the time....focus on the absence of proof of collusion and the timeline for FISA warrants....important stuff! They do a good job here.....but it's no accident that they are also intentionally trying to keep the focus away from a United States president (Donald Trump) who has to deal with a man (Vladimir Putin) who is a very serious and patient adversary.....who has kept tabs on Donald Trump (Soviet style tabs) for decades.

NOTE: Barnes & Noble has a 50% off sticker on these books right now.
      

No Invitation To Putin.....No More One-On-Ones

Update: I wrote when President Trump met privately with Kim Jong-un that that was inappropriate and should never take place....and again when with Putin.....in fact I commented on it when he met privately with Putin at the G-20. The media is finally picking up on this nonsense. Sarah Sanders announced today that Vladimir Putin will be invited here in the fall.  Count me as one that doesn't want to extend that invitation. Mr. Putin's government seems to be nothing more than the old KGB of which he was a part of....and I am weary of all the dog and pony shows that this president of ours puts on. The only reason for a state visit like this would be to give him a chance to put on a second show....along with the accompanying tweets to keep his supporters from having time to think for themselves....with the hopes of not messing it up this time. John Bolton can represent President Trump's business with the president of Russia.

             President Trump's supporters will not agree with this but that's their problem....our problem is that Donald Trump is a man....and thus susceptible to various degrees of fear of failure as anyone else.  As I watch this continuing fiasco that started up again with the President's comments on NATO I'm more than concerned than ever about his being able to make good decisions in difficult situations....or to even listen to advice....as his ego constantly sets him off when things don't go his way.
             He must know by now....in spite of the nonsense that he tweets....that the North Korean situation has fallen apart while there appears to be absolutely no consistency in what he is doing. He in as much as told NATO nations that he may be there for them and may not. Forget the nonsense about making NATO stronger. NATO's strength was in more than funding....and where that strength came from has been damaged. And now the President strengthens Putin....in Russia....and in Europe...and then attempts to backtrack....but even refuses to admit that it's backtracking..
            The Never-Trumpers are going nuts as they always do but this time a number of sound conservatives who normally support President Trump have been very critical on what happened in Helsinki. All this and Mueller may very well have surprises in store. So I'm more than concerned that our president may overreact or underreact...anything but respond to emergencies with common sense and some wisdom.
             Normally we depend on strong advisers that our presidents should have around them but in President Trump's case that also is problematic. Ivanka (I'll only be a daughter) and Jared are still there. I'm wondering where John Bolton has been since he came on board....and even if the President has a core of good people present there is little evidence that he even listens to them....or accepts any critical advice.
             It's mentioned all the time in Christian circles.....we are to pray for our leaders....but there are different types of prayers. I would think that our prayers concerning Barack Obama were...'Lord protect us from this man.' For the past year and a half our prayers for Donald Trump were probably on the line of...."Lord help this man make America great again'.....and that's a big problem....for that's not what we need.....we need to humble ourselves before our Benefactor whom we all have trampled.....only He cannot be trampled......nor will He be mocked......but we try.
             My prayer is...."Lord humble this man.....show him maybe for the first time in his life that he is just a mere man like the rest of us.....that his ability to amass great sums of money means nothing to his present responsibilities....and that his confidence in himself is grossly misplaced. Replace those spiritual advisers of his with men who will tell him that genuine repentance is required of him every bit as much as with them or me or any other man....all of whom have fallen short.....all of whom have sinned grievously.....all of whom will face judgment on Thy terms....and that each and every one of us in under the admonition "apart from Me you can do nothing."

She Handled The Jokes Gracefully

The following post is from April after the White House Correspondents' Association dinner:

          She handled the jokes gracefully. I'm talking about Carly Fiorina when candidate Trump said...."Look at that face....would anyone vote for that." Sarah Huckabee Sanders also handled the grotesque jokes at the correspondents dinner gracefully....both examples were disgusting.....but we seemed to forget the former.
          Do you remember when candidate Trump posted side-by-side photos of Heidi Cruz and Melania...."the images are worth a thousand words".....or do you remember the video of Donald Trump ridiculing the disabled journalist? Oh, you don't believe that story? Watch the video. How about the embarrassing photos that Ted Cruz tweeted on Melania's modeling days? Oh, he didn't use any of the photos did he?
           "Idiot...dummy....clown....dope"....these were adjectives used all the time by candidate Trump. How about "lying Ted?"  The View panel member Elizabeth Hasselbeck was in a battle with Rosie O'Donnell over the Iraq War....Donald Trump said in an interview that Rosie was right and that Hasselbeck was..."not a very smart person, she's one of the dumber people in television." Megyn Kelly questioned candidate Trump in one of the debates on his descriptive of some women as "dogs....pigs...slobs....disgusting animals" Donald Trump's famous answer was...."Only Rosie O'Donnell.'
            We criticized Barack Obama golfing so much but are silent as to Donald Trump's golfing much more. We demanded Barack Obama's birth certificate but defend Donald Trump hiding his tax returns.....and a hasty Nobel Prize for Barack Obama was absurd but a hasty Nobel Prize for Donald Trump would be great. (They're not talking about that anymore)

             I've posted criticisms of the White House Correspondents Association dinner each year for the last few years but the issue here is how we conservatives can not only conveniently but incredibly forget Donald Trump's history of mean-spirited remarks.....but then again....that's typical in how devotees cannot see the faults in their own gurus.

            The bottom line is that conservatives rationalize it by thinking that they are turning a blind eye to the real Donald Trump for the good of America......but that's the same excuse that patriotic liberals gave for not calling out Barack Obama or Bill and Hillary Clinton....'the Democrats just have to stay in power....for the good of America!' We have given up the high ground on the Right. We use the tactics of the swamp dwellers and laugh at how successful those tactics can be. Political assassination worked good for them.....and now it seems to work good for us....just keep the heat off our man.....the people will never know the difference. 
             Now the big push is on to elect Republicans....so another six months of conservative talk radio will be wasted telling us that President Trump needs support for his agenda! We conservatives have abandoned ethics, principle and critical analysis....so I guess President Trump's agenda is indeed our agenda.....it's just not the same agenda upon which he ran for president.
            This republic does not stand on who Donald John Trump is or even who he said that he was....nor has it stood because of our Constitution....as wonderful at that was....or it's military....as courageous and powerful as they were and are! It stands or will fall on whether or not its people humble themselves before the God who birthed it....sustained it....and used His rod and staff to guide it....and gave it that constitution....and its military power....and unless something extreme and radical happens in its pulpits and consequently in the hearts of the people in those churches....it will surely fall.

Oh...What A Time Period It Was

           Tomorrow is another Lord's Day. As I type right now many men are putting the finishing touches on their sermon. They will enter their pulpit or more likely step behind the lectern and give that sermon....and nothing will happen.....because nothing ever happens anymore...but then maybe tomorrow! Maybe God is at this moment preparing 7000 pastors out there? Maybe they are right now sitting under a single light in an otherwise darkened room pleading with God to give them words to wake not only their congregation but this generation up? Maybe tomorrow as the heat wave broils much of America that the Holy Spirit will move across the American church as wind blowing in waves wheat fields.
          A lot has been made of the recent Summit with North Korea....nothing will come of this. The next few weeks will most likely give hopes for a Middle East peace....nothing will come of that either. We simply do not adequately understand the implications of a twenty-one trillion dollar national debt. Right now we are a nation of chaos. All of this does not even mention geological and cosmic possibilities that God only has to will into action. We have one hope and one hope only....the Lord Jesus Christ....and His coming in the clouds with great power and glory.

           There's no specific day that I can remember when I came to faith in Jesus Christ.....but Oh what a time period it was! The gospel was everywhere. I was a coal-fired power plant operator and if I wasn't covered with coal dust then I was ankle deep in lime slurry. New Christians seemed to be everywhere. We had prayer meetings after working a midnight shift! Christian bookstores were everywhere. Billy Graham crusades were on television.....and the books.....the books actually addressed the mind.
            One major weekly magazine named 1976....'The Year of the Evangelical.' Our President said that he was 'born again.' Charles Colson....one of the Watergate conspirators....became born again. The 700 club was a force with which to be reckoned.  R.C. Sproul was introducing the church to the holiness of God which had a transforming effect on Bible study. Sound biblical ministries were everywhere on the radio. An astronaut who walked on the moon could only see God's glory in the heavens....and one of the best and most fanatical basketball players ever to play the game....after coming to Christ....regretted that his life up until then had been more basketball than the Bible. Christians were actually reading and studying John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress....I've read it a dozen or more times and listened to it on cassette an equal number of times....Charles Spurgeon read it 100 times in his day! David Wilkerson preached the glory of Christ like George Whitefield. Christian music was simple yet profound. A wonderful and humble man was our President. Nightline type of television shows would choose Jerry Falwell to interview....and he would keep his head up....smile confidently....look straight into the camera....and proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior!
          I remember that time period.....and I came in late....I remember it as Jews must have remembered their temple......and I often feel like weeping at what has become of America since those wonderful days. No longer are there Christian bookstores in just about every community....no more Billy Graham crusades.....no more R. C. Sproul......Bunyan's book is never read....but we're really not aware of any of this....and when you're not aware of something.....you don't know what you are missing.
          How had all this started? Well I don't know....but I know this....God started it....and if it happens again....then it would be He that starts it again. I know what we need though. We need an unction in our pulpits.....tears if necessary.....we need to dust off our grandparent's books if they are still stored away somewhere. We can still listen to Billy Graham and R. C. Sproul on our computers....but there is one thing that we must understand.....our beloved nation is crumbling fast.....chaos is everywhere....our enemies are taking advantage of it....and politics cannot save us!!! If we could only see the mist from the falls that are just ahead....and hear the roar of the water that will soon crush us....then we might look to what is our only hope....cast off our unbalanced dalliance with politics....and call out to Him whom we have presumed upon....."Have mercy on us Lord.....for thy name alone....and for thy glory alone!"

NOTE: There are two older books....but easy to find....that I would recommend. The first.....The Holiness Of God by R. C. Sproul (1984) was instrumental in the gospel fervor of the 1980s. The second....Ashamed Of The Gospel, When The Church Becomes Like The World (1993) by John MacArthur....focuses on the church in England during the ministry of Charles Haddon Spurgeon. Both books can help us put politics in a more proper perspective.

Conservative Talk Radio

           I retired a month before the general election of 2016. For many years before retirement my XM was tuned into conservative talk radio most of my free time. Immediately after retiring it had been on just about all the time even if only for background while I was engaged in something else. I was usually up a little bit after 6 A.M. to start with Breitbart....and as the day progressed occasionally I'd stream Ingraham from the Internet....then there might be Limbaugh, even Hannity and certainly Levin at 6 P.M.
           Today I still turn on Breitbart in the morning because that's when I sit at this computer. I rarely stream Ingraham....Rush usually lasts five minutes before I have to turn him off....the same with Sean Hannity.....and it depends on what mood Mark Levin is in but tonight was a good show as he gave a pretty hard critique of President Trump's Supreme Court pick.
           Overall.....conservative talk radio has digressed from its mission that once was keeping us informed on Progessivism, the Republican establishment, globalists and other various and sundry issues that we needed to be kept up to date on. For a year now it's been nothing but a defense of President Trump....a necessary defense of the constitution but with no consideration on possible ulterior motives on keeping them occupied....and with little to no critiquing, balanced analysis or criticism. At times....depending on who the host is.....it's downright maudlin....even bordering on some kind of adoration.
           This apparently is what they feel that they need to do to combat the deep state and out-of-control Democrat leadership....but it totally ignores some very serious concerns about Donald Trump himself of which I've written so much about that I won't list any of the problems in this post. So that which was once a source of our information and which strengthened our vigilance is all but gone.
            I don't know what the ratings are for the top hosts. I presume that they are still very high but these ratings do not tell the whole story. Our minds....conservative minds....are atrophying from lack of use. There is no more any debate on these shows. If a caller is critical of something the President did....he or she is usually ushered off the air fast....if not yelled at or ridiculed....letting the host go on for five minutes on how the caller was wrong....thus cleansing the minds of listeners to anything that they might have heard that would cause them to actually think for themselves and question the President....and these calls are getting fewer and fewer.
            Breitbart has a habit of bringing on one administration official after another who are then given free time to tell of the great and wondrous things that the President has accomplished.....and they are never challenged. This is a campaign season so one after another Republican candidates for this or that are paraded out....and this will go on for almost the entire year....each one praising the President so as not to lose any Trumpster votes. During these times I switch to music.
            And there's also this....it has become automatic....whatever issue the President decides to bring to the forefront....whether tariffs or Nato or whatever....the hosts (Mark Levin be an exception more than anyone else) will be 100% in agreement with the President....even if previously that wasn't their position!  If President Trump makes an outrageously absurd or inappropriate statement....which is all the time....they....the hosts....set out immediately to form a defense of it.....as if they are on the payroll with one responsibility....damage control.
            At the core of this problem is condescension. Apparently we are not smart enough to think on our own. We have to be herded....but there is no real wisdom in this planning for eventually we would not be able to go further then regurgitating the sound bites and spin that we have had embedded in our minds. That's what over time happened to the liberal mind!
            I expect that this all may change. I have to believe that even now there are many listeners who are getting a little bit sick of the new conservative talk radio. Right now Donald Trump is directing the narrative of the mainstream media and conservative talk radio!  He's become a Pied Piper to us with his tweets, constant agitation and pep rallies. This has gone on for a couple of years now but it cannot go on forever....for there will come a time when the excitement and adulation starts to wear off.....and reality sets in.
   

Trusting In Our Own Might

            Another police officer was killed....murdered....in the line of duty this morning. These officers are....just about all of them....honorable and brave people who want be a part of keeping order in our society....in protecting not only their own families but everyone's families.  A lady....a witness at the scene....was quoted in...."Everybody says 'it doesn't happen in my neighborhood....it does happen everywhere." We can cry over this today in America but we will forget about it tomorrow. Maybe I shouldn't say 'forget' because it will still be someplace in our memory....along with Columbine and the Las Vegas concert massacre....and hundreds of other horrors....but it might as well be forgotten because we are still firmly entrenched in 'just get another Supreme Court justice and everything will be all right' mode....instead of where we should be....'God is judging us....repenting and seeking mercy' mode. We think it not quite necessary yet to have our pulpits dispatch with decorum....proclaim and even hope for the nearness of Christ's return....and plead for mercies and discernments on what may lie just ahead of us.
            God's judgment has been on America for quite some time now. He saw fit to respond to our forgetting Him by letting that hellish communist ideology succeed as our schools slowly became godless indoctrination centers....and then we were given what we wanted in that preborn children could be slaughtered in the womb....but then in the late 70s the gospel exploded across America....most of those sixtyish conservative Christians of today were born....again....during that period of about ten years....as I was....but it was to be a last hurrah....the dredging of a harbor that would be needed in the storm that lie only a few decades ahead.
           We are now two totally different peoples in this nation of which have two diametrically opposed thinking processes. The one mindset is totally useless in defending America while the other is starting to atrophy as it came to believe that one political election was the answer to our troubles....and that it could then relax and just watch the festivities associated with 'winning.' I heard yet another conservative radio talk show host confidently proclaim...."I think that this coming election is going to be the most important in America's history!" That's a line we've used for the last nine election cycles....and look where we are....putting all our hope in political candidates who have tied their horse to a man who would still be running gambling casinos if they hadn't gone belly up!
           Folks....this is the first phase of judgment. God has warned us. He sent many men just like Billy Graham....over half a century....who laid out in detail what we had become and how God would not put up with it for long....but we found others who told us that things were going to be all right....that we were pretty good compared to those bad people who gave us bad leaders....just give us a couple of solid election cycle wins! What a kick in the butt....we knew what a false prophet was....someone who said that things were going to be good when God Himself said that judgment was coming....but as it turned out we ourselves fell for one....and we haven't as yet figured that out....or we would rein him in....and turn our attention back to He who...."reigns over the nations."
           God had sent Jonah to the Ninevites with a warning....a little over a century later he sent Nahum....with no warning....only a proclamation. We had our warnings....and we ignored them....or more to the point we tried to bypass them. No 'Make America Great Again' agenda can possibly circumvent our predicament....that being a people under judgment....who to one degree or another....and whether they be secular deniers of God.....or God Bless America conservatives....trust ultimately in their own might.....whether they attribute that might to evolution or their Christian heritage.
         

Dispatches

            The radar maps are very clear this morning here in Western Pennsylvania in that a line of serious storms are moving east towards us. It's remarkable what we can do today in forecasting weather. Jesus told the same thing to the Pharisees and Sadducees but then told them that they can't interpret the signs of the times as the Scriptures very clearly pointed to Him as the Messiah. We've had fifty years of signs that the Lord's return is near.....even a century of signs. We can pinpoint the formation of tornadoes and hurricanes but cannot see that the return of Jesus Christ is near.

            President Trump withdrew the nomination of Ryan Bounds to a United States Court of Appeals because of controversy over writings when as an undergraduate at Stanford. Conservative radio talk show hosts lament the fact that the nominee was just a kid when he made the comments.
             John Brennan voted for communist candidate Gus Hall at the age of 21 while in college. I brought this up in these posts years ago when talk show hosts weren't all that interested. Today it's brought up all the time as Brennan....as a former Director of the CIA....is very vocal against President Trump.
            Here's the underlining problem. We conservatives are no longer consistent and we are getting worse all the time. We have become as our longtime opposition has been all along....in that we take the interpretation that benefits us. If it is OK that Ryan Bounds made youthful mistakes then it should be OK that Brennan made youthful mistakes....and if Brennan's mistakes are to be taken into consideration....which I think that they should....then Ryan Bounds writings should be taken into consideration. Brennan has called action by President Trump treasonous....I think that we all used the word treasonous at one time or another with Barack Obama. Either is it acceptable to bring convey such an opinion up....concerning anyone....or it is not. Once again.....we are not consistent.  Obama golfed a lot....we criticized it....Donald Trump tweeted angrily against it.....yet President Trump golfs a whole lot more than did Obama.....and we could not care less!

           This was interesting. The call came in to a conservative radio talk show. The caller sounded almost professional.....very erudite.....talked fast but not too fast......and enunciated perfectly. It was a defense of President Trump about his negative comments on our intelligence community. It was a legitimate argument....and very well done. It was so good that the thought came to my mind of it being an administration troll.
           The next caller was what appeared to be an uneducated caller who used the 'S' word a few times. Her complaint was that she was sick of President Trump doing stupid things....getting in trouble.....and then smart men in his administration would work to get him out of the trouble......the conservative radio talk show host thought that this caller might be a troll   

           The talk radio damage control trend for this week is to attack the whole intelligence community.....particularly in the lead-up to Iraq. By doing this they try to get President Trump off the hook for his disaster in Helsinki. One host said that she did not mean to impugn the efforts of Iraq vets but......then she went on to bring up yellowcake.
            Have we forgotten that day....do I have to mention the date? To a great extent we have indeed forgotten that day. George W. Bush was going to strike back....we were actually one as a nation....for a little while anyway....it wasn't going to be perfect.....but it was going to be a beginning. Iraq and Saddam Hussein was as good a place as any to start. I watched this as we all watched this....and I remember the day the President Bush decided to use WMDs as his excuse for what he was doing.....this an attempt to justify his defense of America to those who were not on board. I remember saying to myself....'no...no....you don't have to do this...you don't need WNDs as an excuse!'
            Donald Trump famously boasts that he was against invading Iraq from the beginning.....but the record does not show that. He was on the fence at the beginning....waiting to see how it would turn out....typical Trump....then jumped on the opposition bandwagon in 2004. President Trump hasn't changed. His life is one big....art of the deal....and yet Christians have chosen him for their champion! Maybe it would be a good idea to go back and watch some video of 9/11....or revisit what happened in Vietnam after we abandoned the Vietnamese people to torture and mass murder?

            In 2016 candidate Trump was asked in an interview if he would defend Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia....and other NATO allies.....if they were attacked by Russia. His answer was in a question....are they up-to-date in their obligations to us....if so....yes! It was an astounding comment that should have shook many of us to the core! At first the campaign said that he was misquoted and then they were shown the transcripts. Mitch McConnell called it a 'rookie mistake.' And all this for a few dollars more! (Last night I took the time to watch the Strzok hearing. Rep. Issa had Strzok read his own outrageous email comments. Strzok then became very animated....one particular comment was made....according to Strzok....in outrage at Donald Trump's threat that as president he might not defend our allies. Strzok was shut down immediately upon this comment and the panel chairman hurriedly moved to another questioner. Here we have a man who by all rights should never have risen to his high position in the FBI.....yet he is outraged by something that apparently didn't bother too many of us!

Note: While away and watching Fox....I saw a video piece where Strzok...with camera angles and lighting....was made to look crazy and evil....whatever this man is.....that hearing showed a perfectly composed Strzok. Yeah I'm proud to be a part of this new conservative movement. They may make an Oliver North out of him before this is all over.

          So both the Angel Merkel and 'God with us' Macron think it would be a good idea to just take a few of those 28 EU nations.....(the Angel Merkel thinks 10 nations would be a good round number).....and form one big European army......kind of like the old Holy Roman Empire.....they're slowly working on this right now. Nine nations have signed on already....sort of....one of those is the UK which may drop out and overturn Prime Minister May's anti-Brexit plans. That would make eight.
 Two would then have to be added to make the Angel Merkel happy. Nigel Farage says that a European army could not exist beside NATO and he's right. I would think that 'no NATO' would guarantee a European army....kind of a New World Order army. Who would blame some European countries for not trusting us anymore

         There is a thin line between 'America first' and 'America only.' The NATO summit was typical Trump. He came in like a storm....publicly humiliating allies....and left as swiftly as he came....claiming victory as the landscape resembled the aftermath of a hurricane.....leaving allies to rummage through the debris looking for valuables as the darkness of his huge shadow moved northward. He took a very legitimate issue and turned it into a billy club to beat down and not strengthen....and then....quite naturally as to his mode of operating....he claimed that NATO was just that....strengthened. Allies to Donald Trump are more liabilities than assets...for we have to....in President Trump's words 'defend them'....as if they are of no real value to us....while all this cuts away at our own profits. Meanwhile back home his supporters continue to marvel at these perceived great wonders.

         

Filling In The Blanks

             Probably the single biggest issue in Donald Trump's 2016 victory was the Supreme Court. Conservatives had fought tooth and nail for the entire eight years of Barack Obama.....Hillary Clinton quite naturally self-destructed.....and the Republican elites were on the run.....to quote a popular 1959 song....."so fast that the hounds couldn't catch 'em". We were going to get originalists....at the very least.... to fill in any seats that came up on the high court.
            So Gorsuch is already on and we will find out on President Trump's Monday night reality show who will be nominated for the second available seat. When President Trump announced Neil Gorsuch he had also invited the runner-up to the announcement. It made for good show. He may or may not do the same this time. Whatever choice that he makes it will be done primarily to enhance his personal standing. On this he has proven himself time and again. If he thinks a woman will do it....it will be her.... If he thinks it someone else.....it will be them. He is the typical metropolitan real estate developer....as described by one Pulitzer Prize winning architectural critic  back in the 1970s....as someone who builds only for profit....not particularly caring anything about the intrinsic beauty of the skyline. In this case it is for personal achievement.....not particularly caring for any intrinsic truths involved.
            The point I want to emphasize in this post is that conservatives and Tea Party people fought for and won the right to turn the tide on the Progressive assault on our Constitution from the Supreme Court. Donald Trump is merely.....hopefully.....keeping a promise that would be very difficult to go back on. Credit is due him for winning in 2016 when we will never know if Cruz or someone else could have won. We are more than willing to give Donald Trump credit for keeping Hillary Clinton out of the White House....and for keeping those promises that he does keep....but to state or imply that any conservative justices added to the Supreme Court are because of Donald Trump alone....thus evidence that he is the champion that he claims to be....would be more than disingenuous....as it would be blatantly false.
            What separates us is that we did not so easily stop being vigilant with that election night victory. Supreme Court vacancies were a goal....a legitimate goal....but never anything in which we placed our hope! We offered no crown.....we already have a King....we think for ourselves....and we will not fall in line like Lemmings for anyone....not even for conservative radio talk show hosts. Ultimately this Supreme Court issue is most emphatically not a Donald Trump issue.....it's a hard fought for conservative grassroots issue....President Trump is only filling in the blanks....and we will continue to monitor that.

.....WINNING?

            A lot of conservative news sites seem to be using the word fairly often. The word is 'winning'.....only they use it in all caps....WINNING!......with an exclamation point! Breitbart does this all the time....as do conservative radio talk show hosts.  This is a conservative's 'in your face' way of saying to liberals.....'you lose....ha ha ha!' It is also unfortunate in that we are not....winning. We plugged a few holes in the dike but even more have sprung up.  We are in fact still losing....a more appropriate term being.....'judged by God.'
           We have been blinded to reality. Look how easily we got sucked into the North Korea euphoria. Any one of a number of bubbles or outside forces are going to bring reality to the Dow Jones and a lot of other economic reports....is this our idea of winning? Fox News (Internet) has gone tabloid. The company's motto no longer is 'Fair And Balanced.' Have you noticed? That's because it is no longer fair and balanced. The new motto is 'Most Watched, Most Trusted.' Only Drudge and Breitbart among the major news outlets continue to give us what we need to know....and both seem to have an inner conflict on reporting on who Donald Trump really is....and who we desperately want him to be.
           The Bible tells us quite a bit about false prophets.....how they prophesied prosperity and peace and safety when what was in store was God's hand of judgment. They may as well have used the word.....winning.....as they continued to build and worship idols and make a mockery of God's law. They may as well have told the youth in Judah and Israel....in their own way....that it was a great time to be young and Jewish!
            When we shout.....WINNING....as we are doing....we may as well be shouting.....PEACE AND SECURITY....but God has blinded us to what winning and losing really is.....to who Donald Trump really is.....and even to who we ourselves really are.

.....When In Carthage.....

           Hannibal crossing the Alps with elephants....now that was interesting for a kid to hear about in school. The Carthaginian general seemed to be kind of cool.....until it was discovered last century that Carthage sacrificed their infant children to the Canaanite god Baal Hammon. Carthage was a Phoenician colony. The word "Punic" itself....from the Punic Wars....infers Phoenicia. Jezebel was a Phoenician princess. There is some controversy on the reporting that Carthage sacrificed infants. Why? Some just can't believe that they could do such a thing. They simply refuse to except the evidence.
           America in its own way sacrifices its preborn babies.....and many simply refuse to look at the evidence. Jacob clasped the heal of Esau as he followed him out of the womb. David said that God knew him even before he was in his mother's womb. Much of America actually celebrates abortion....and even more of America could not care less....yet President Trump in his concluding remarks at the latest rally described America as...."one glorious nation under God." This glorious nation ....through both acts of omission (Republicans) and commission (Democrats)....actively....purposely....and legislatively....keeps its precious children away from God and His Word.
           We have collapsed every bit as much as Rome had collapsed.....and also the association of Greek city-states. Craziness is everywhere....from the airlines to fast food restaurants to road rage to schools and universities. Surveys show that this newest generation....I prefer the term iGen....have lost interest in life....they're just surviving....staying as close to home as possible.....and as far away from church as possible.
            We have crossed the Rubicon....and may be tested very soon....for just before us is the mother of all perfect storms. There is only one safe harbor.....and we closed it down for lack of diversity. If we were but warned we would at least have a chance to humble ourselves....but our pulpits utterly refuse to warn. Billy Graham is gone....R. C. Sproul is gone.....there are practically no Christian bookstores left. On our last vacation....this past April.....I did what I was tempted to do for quite a while......I sat done and went through every one of the hundred plus television stations...and then I came close to weeping at seeing how strong the forces are that keep us in a stupor.
            Just today.....after church....my wife and I stopped by a local nursing home to visit a friend. The nursing home was right next to an old shopping center where thirty-six years ago I just meandered into a Christian bookstore....not really knowing what they were.....we would own our own Christian bookstore a little more than a decade later. The shopping center is run down with the parking lot bumpy and very unattractive. I pulled up next to the storefront that once was filled with that beautiful Christian bookstore. It is now a coin operated laundromat. I put my flashers on and and looked over at that very same door handle that I would have grasped to pull upon back in 1982....and I thanked God for His mercies upon the least deserving of them.
           The America of the late 1970s and early 1980s is gone.....replaced by something that is frightening....but many of us were shown that safe harbor back then...the directions are in our GPS......and we sail outside of it today....warning others of the approaching maelstrom.....and directing them to that safe harbor of Jesus Christ.....before the storm prevents their entering in.
           

....Yet We Will Not Return....

The following post is from the beginning of November of 2017::
     
       The hatred of God is out in the open....unbridled.....and nearly out of control. There are no principles in sight anywhere. Love has grown cold. Conservative talk radio.....the bulwark of the conservative movement....too much of it anyway....has given up the fight for truth and transparency.....for now. For a new entity has arisen......a ram of sorts that charges east and west. What exactly it is no one really knows.
        Conservatives have had their moorings cut. We now tweet our prayers. We wanted something noble....but will settle for something practical. As the months bleed on.....as the earth groans.....as the cosmos becomes a threat......and as man challenges God more and more.....we look to this new entity. He only has to roar and we cheer. He simply struts by and we applaud. We demand no pedigree. We follow him not knowing where he leads us. He doesn't go to church.....we don't care. He surrounds himself with unfamiliar faces....he must have a reason. He destroyed the wicked witch.....and therefore he is our champion.
        God watches all of this. His angels.....their countenance firm and confident.....wait for His command.......the mountains for when to quake.....the valleys to become mountains.....the four winds to come forth with fury.....the seas to boil and churn......and the stars to fall.
        We will not entice Him to change His decrees.  He will not meet us halfway as we request. He has found us wanting and been patient as we ignore His warnings. He does not take pleasure in our mantra.... 'God Bless America.' He is not impressed by our plans. He will not share His glory.

        He watches our eyes.....for them to turn.....from politics.....from ourselves.....to Him....but we will not turn to Him.  He knows His children.....he hears their cries....."Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord." He will come with His reward.....for He has promised.....and there is nothing as sure.....nothing as trustworthy.....nothing as awe-inspiring.....no hope as great.....no joy as pure.....no love as real.....no discipleship as difficult.....no rewards as great.....and no Helper as strong.