Over 2 billion people are celebrating Easter today, April 20, as the calendars of Western and Eastern churches coincide this year, and these billions of faithful people are celebrating HOPE
But not only have the calendars of the Eastern and Western Christian Churches coincided but this week has also been a celebration of hope and freedom, with Passover starting last Monday night and continuing through the weekend until next Tuesday. Which of course also coincides with Holy Week, which culminates this weekend with Easter Sunday. This linkage is entirely appropriate, since Jesus had come to Jerusalem for the Passover ceremonies and the famous Last Supper was a Passover Seder… the ritual meal where Jews all over the world retell the story of the Exodus, celebrate their God-given freedom and eat the unleavened bread, matzoh, to commemorate their ancestor’s journey and deliverance from bondage and slavery.
The story of the Resurrection is a story of freedom too… freedom of the soul and a promise of eternal life to believing Christians who understand what the rolling away of the stones means for them.
Both holidays change their dates on our calendar from year to year, Passover or Pessah in Hebrew, because it is based on the centuries old Hebrew calendar and Easter because the early Church fathers determined that Easter is always celebrated on the Sunday immediately following the Paschal Full Moon date of the year, which always occurs after Passover.
However, it’s rare that the two holidays occur this close together and in this momentous year, when Judeo-Christian values seem to be under siege, I likewise see in that a sign of hope for the future.
I and my friends here at the Daily Thought Pad and on the Watcher’s Council wish you and yours Chag Pessach Sameach and a Blessed Easter.
There is no better time to share family memories and history, remember our history as Americans including the reason for the celebration, remember our troops around the world, as well as give thanks for our blessings! Happy Thanksgiving to All!!
Wishing you all a happy, blessed, joyful and safe Thanksgiving!!
Watcher’s Council: Ah, Thanksgiving… or more accurately this year, an interesting occurrence called Thanksnukkah, as Thanksgiving and Hannukah, the Jewish Festival of Lights and miracles overlap in a rare convergence that won’t happen again for some 70,000 years or so, thanks to the Judaism’s lunar calendar. The culinary possibilities are endless, like latkes with pumpkin fillings…. And for some interesting ideas for your Thanksgiving meal, I’ve provided a little something for you, an automatic Thanksgiving menu generator. Try it, it’s fun, even if someone still has to do the actual cooking, or is cooking over the weekend. I may have gotten some of the exact details just a bit wrong above… but close enough.
Our president was involved in the festivities as well, giving generously to our new Iranian friends and encouraging Americans to promote his failing ObamaCare program at their family dinners. and engaging in the old tradition of giving a presidential pardon to two turkeys. This years’ recipients of the president’s full pardon are named Holder and Sebelius. While pardoning the actual foul, it turned out that one of the lucky birds, Popcorn, had more sense than most Americans; he tried to bite the president ;-). And according to Jay Leno, Popcorn had requested no photographs beforehand. The president also left out God in his annual Thanksgiving message for the 5th year in a row… why change a trend, I guess?
(This is a great recipe to make up for Thanksgiving to feed your canine friends… you can substitute chicken for the turkey and add a few turkey scraps at carving time, or just bake the liver and giblets and add the warm turkey as you carve… just go easy on the skin and watch for bones.)
This dish can actually double up as a treat, or healthy topping to your pet’s usual meal. Turkey giblets (hearts, livers and kidneys) are available from butcher shops and many natural food markets – and also come included with most Thanksgiving turkeys!
This recipe is super-simple and just about all pets love it! Turkey necks should not be used.
Ingredients
Up to 1 lb Turkey scraps, organs/giblets (don’t include bones)
6 tbsp Olive Oil
½ tsp Dried or Fresh Rosemary
1 Clove Garlic, crushed or finely diced (optional)
Preparation
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Arrange the organs on a baking sheet. Slowly pour on the olive and gently shake the pan so that the oil is evenly distributed. Sprinkle on the rosemary and crushed garlic. Place in the oven and cook for about 35 minutes, until golden brown. Cool before serving and refrigerate any leftovers for up to 3 days.
For cats, dice the organs finely with a sharp knife before serving. This technique also works well to create bite-sized training treats that are a little bit different.
A great addition to your Thanksgiving festivities and celebration is adding a grateful bowl. As everyone arrives for Thanksgiving Dinner, have each of them fill out a grateful note, to be deposited in a bowl, basket or container. After dessert has been served, (with the TV temporarily turned off if possible) have everyone gather within earshot and have someone draw out the slips of paper one by one and have a designated person read them aloud.
It will give your Thanksgiving a very different feeling.
Thanksgiving is a time for family, for remembering those who founded this country… long before it was a nation, and to give thanks.
President Obama wants a seat at your table to propagandize during the Holidays… Thanksgiving and Christmas to promote his agenda, especially ObamaCare.
Daily Caller: America’s families will soon get their turkey, potatoes and cranberries at Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners — but some will also get a tableside political pitch for the Obamacare insurance network.
President Barack Obama’s deputies at Organizing for Action are urging supporters to give an Obamacare pitch to their relatives during the most iconic of American family and religious events.
“Take advantage of downtime after meals or between holiday activities to start your talk,” says OFA’s marketing script, titled “Health Care for the Holidays.”
At Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, “people will be under the “misconception that the government-designed health-payment plans are too expensive,” says the presidential pitch, which was emailed out on Nov. 23.
“Tell them: There are a variety of plans available in the new health insurance marketplace, so you can pick one that fits your budget. There’s also financial assistance available based on how much you make,” says OFA’s script.
Obama’s effort to push his political priorities into Americans’ private family and religious events reflects his determination to take over the nation’s health-care sector.
Obama and his progressives allies believe that average Americans need their professional, university-learned and well-paid skills to manage their lives. That’s very different from Americans’ evolved popular culture, which declares that families are best able to help young people develop good character.
The progressives’ determination to gatecrash iconic family events reflects self-confidence in their own expertise, their long-held pity and contempt for ordinary Americans and for the institution of family, plus their ability to attract young people to their cause.
But it also shows how Obama and his deputies are worried that their trouble-plagued Obamacare network is in peril.
The online script tries to build up the confidence of young people nervous about making the dinner-table pitch. “If you have family members who are uninsured, you can play a big part in helping them find coverage that works for them. It might not always seem like it, but your family listens to you. So have the talk,” isays the pitch.
The pitch was previewed Nov. 18 by Sara El-Amine, OFA’s national training director at Organizing for Action. “We all have that uncle or that cousin who needs to be convinced or who needs health-insurance… so [OFA volunteers have begun to] practice those sometime-hard conversations,” she said in a phone call to OFA’s volunteers.
“If every person on this call committed to something small, like talking to your uninsured cousin or nephew at the Thanksgiving table, think about the impact we could have,” she said.
“We’re not going to be able to fight this fight without you,” she told the volunteers, who had gathered to hear a statement from their leader, Obama.
The online script glosses over the many problems with the Obamacare website. But it urges supporters to ask relatives to bring personal information, such as Social Security Numbers, to the dinner so they can use the family computer to join Obamacare after dessert.
The OFA script includes a short video, in which two drab parents urge their friendless young son to buy health-insurance, while they eat Obamacare-compliant small portions of drab food.
The script downplays the cost of Obamacare premiums and deductibles, which are especially high for young, healthy people.
The Obamacare system depends on the monthly Obamcare tax payments from young and healthy people, many of whom are already struggling to save money, get married, pay off student loans or even get a full-time job in stalled economy.
Young peoples’ Obamacare taxes are used to offset the huge cost of providing very expensive insurance to Democrat-leaning groups of immigrants, unskilled, unmarried or sick people.
Other regimes have used children to help government penetrate private family and religious events.
One extreme example is provided by the violent rulers of the Soviet Union, who urged the nation’s children to follow the fabricated example of 14 year-old Pavel Morozov. The boy, according to the official Soviet investigation of his death in 1932, was killed by relatives after he called the secret police to arrest his father for illegal activities. The father was shot after a trial, according to the fabricated story.
Four of his Morozov’s relatives were reputedly shot by the Soviet government to help boost the story, which was used to persuade millions of kids to be loyal to government rather than to their families.
Obama’s determination to pitch his Obamacare program is now tinged with desperation, following the public’s recognition that Obama’s university-trained aides spectacularly failed to manage a staged rollout of the Obamacare network, despite three years of planning.
In recent weeks, Obama’s ratings have plunged down to roughly 40 percent, following the public’s recognition that he lied when he said in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2103 that Americans would be able to keep their insurance plans and doctors after the Obamcare networks is established.
Many Americans’ access to their healthcare is being reduced by Obamacare’s crippled malfunctioning website, by large price spikes, by shrinking access to doctors and reduced marketplace choices.
GOP legislators are trying to develop a replacement system, that would provide large tax-breaks to help people to buy health-insurance from any qualified company in the nation. The GOP alternative would provide federal money to help sick people offset the cost of debilitating medical conditions, and allow them to keep their insurance when they lose or change jobs.
This holiday season, getting a lump of coal in your stocking might actually be preferable, considering the alternative gift from the folks at Organizing for Action is Obamacare. Their newest cult campaign is called "Health Care for the Holidays." How festive. "This holiday season, make sure to talk to your loved ones about getting covered," the group's newest ad campaign says. "These conversations don't have to be tough — OFA can help." Because your family holiday gathering should actually be an opportunity for you to register them for Obamacare, or something. OFA even provides you with these handy talking points to sell your loved ones on signing up. Follow these easy steps and you're sure to be the life of any holiday get-together:
Start by asking: "Have you thought about signing up for health insurance on the new marketplace?"
Offer to walk them through it: "Would you like to take some time with me to sign up right now?"
Ask them to make a plan, and commit to it: "When do you plan on signing up?"
Don't forget to follow up: "Have you signed up yet?"
"It might not always seem like it, but your family listens to you," OFA says. "So have the talk."
I come from a family that talks politics at the dinner table and at holiday gatherings. We also talk religion, history and about pretty much everything. But there are people at the table from both parties as well as independents. There are Christians, Jews and Atheists represented. And there are recent immigrants, immigrants from 60+ years ago and Americans who don’t know when their ancestors got here or even where from. There are Veterans from WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Somalia, and Iraq and even some who fought on the German side in WWII and everyone speaks their mind. And there are friends from a large variety of ethnic groups and every race. It gets pretty lively at times! But we don’t do propaganda or promoting agendas for anyone especially for Obama’s failed and power-grabbing policies.
In a country where 85% of the people say they believe in God, regardless of their religious affiliation, President Obama has left God our of his Thanksgiving message the past 4-years; guess we will see about this year. And this Thanksgiving many Americans are finding themselves without medical insurance because it was cancelled due to ObamaCare… some with serious illnesses, and many that used to have healthcare insurance can no longer afford it. And now President Obama wants you to convince your friends and family to step-up and save his flawed policy on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Since when is that a holiday activity or even American?? The President’s request is disgraceful!!
What we do talk about is how grateful we are to live in America and we talk a bit about Thanksgiving and the history that surrounds it. We also talk about trivia surrounding Thanksgiving. We say a prayer, honor the troops and veterans and thank God for all our blessings. We watch football, eat too much and we also have It’s a Wonderful Life playing on (a non-football designated) TV. It seems to capture the feeling of Thanksgiving as well as kick us off into the Christmas Season.
During dessert we have added a grateful bowl tradition to our Thanksgiving Celebration. It is a great addition to your festivities! This year as everyone arrives for Thanksgiving Dinner, have each of them fill out a grateful note, to be deposited in a bowl, basket or container. After dessert has been served, (with the TV temporarily turned off if possible) have everyone gather within earshot and have someone draw out the slips of paper one by one and have a designated person read them aloud. It will give your Thanksgiving a very different feeling.
Evangelist Billy Graham delivered what is being dubbed his final “sermon” to America on Thursday night. Through a special video broadcast called “My Hope America,” Graham warned that the nation is in “great need of a spiritual awakening” and that he has wept over how far the nation has moved away from God.
Evangelist Billy Graham (Credit: AP Photo/Nell Redmond, File)
“I want to tell people about the meaning of the cross … the real cross of Christ,” a passionate Graham proclaimed in the video. ”I know that many will react to this message, but it is the truth and with all my heart, I want to leave you with the truth.”
Graham then went on to discuss his view on the importance of accepting Jesus Christ and following the Christian savior.
His pre-recorded message was interspersed with fiery selections from the preacher’s past sermons as well as personal testimony from musicians Lacey Sturm and Lecrae Moore.
“People don’t want to hear that they’re sinners. To many people it’s an offense,” Graham proclaimed. “The cross is offensive, because it directly confronts the evils that dominate so much of this world.”
He went on to explain that the Christian message demands that believers embrace a new lifestyle — one that directly confronts mankind’s sinful nature.
“Sin is a disease in the human heart. If affects the mind and the will and the emotions. Every part of our being is affected by this disease,” Graham said.
The evangelist told viewers, though, that God can renew their spirits and that “there is no other way of salvation except through the cross of Christ.”
Graham also warned of a cultural slide in American society — one that he is clearly worried about. He said that the nation is in great need of “a spiritual awakening.”
“There’ve been times I’ve wept as I’ve gone city to city and I’ve seen how far people have wandered from God,” he told viewers.
At the end of the broadcast, Graham invited viewers to become followers of Jesus.
“Today, I’m asking you to put your trust in Christ,” he said, offering a prayer that would invite prospective believers into the faith.
Among the hundreds of guests, approximately 800, were North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, New York real-estate magnate Donald Trump, Founder of The Blaze Glenn Beck and former President Bill Clinton. Singers Ricky Skaggs and Michael W. Smith were set to lead the audience in a refrain of Happy Birthday as 1,000 cupcakes were served.
Glenn Beck tweeted… They only gave me one cupcake… My wife Tania must have phoned ahead.
The Palins Arrive for Billy Graham’s 95th Birthday Event
I posted this video once before, but this week, with the death of Ronald Reagan’s good friend and ally Lady Thatcher, has brought back many memories from that era in history and it seemed only fitting to post it again for those who have not heard it.
Ronald Reagan's church put this together to commemorate the birthday of Ronald Reagan. Unfortunately the war against the evil of liberalism is still alive and well, and we fight it even at Bel Air Presbyterian. The liberal Presbyterians are doing all they can to pervert the church from the inside out. Fortunately the conservative Christians are strong at Bel Air. (Those Presbyterians from Reagan’s era might be very surprised at the direction their church has chosen.) Ronald Reagan loved Bel Air Presbyterian as I do...Enjoy!
Below is a quick transcript of the narration from the video above.
“Someone asked me whether I was aware of all the people out there who were praying for the president and I had to say, “Yes, I am”. I’ve felt it…..I believe inintercessionary prayer, but I couldn’t help but say to that questioner after - that sometimes when he was praying if he got a busy signal – it was just me in there [praying] ahead of him.
I think I understand how Abraham Lincoln felt when he said “I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming convictions I have that have nowhere else to go.”
Now I realize it is fashionable in some circles, to believe that no one in government should encourage others to read the Bible. That we are told that will violate the constitutional separation of church and state, established by the founding fathers in the first amendment. The first amendment was NOT written to protect people and their laws from religious values, it was written to protect those [ religious] values from government tyranny.
I’ve said that we must be cautious in claiming God is on our side. I think the real question we must answer is “Are we are on His side?”
No matter where we live, we have a promise that can make all the difference. A promise from Jesus to soothe our sorrows heal our hearts and drive away our fears.
He promised there will never be a dark night that does not end. Our weeping may endure for a night but joy cometh in the morning
He promised if our hearts are true, His love will be as sure as sunlight.
And by dying for us, Jesus showed how far our love should be ready to go – all the way.
For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
Inaudible [Spanish]
Americans yearn to explore life’s deepest truths. To say their entertainment ….their idea of entertainment - is sex and violence and crime is an insult to their goodness and intelligence.
We are people who believe love can triumph over hate - creativity over destruction and hope over despair.
That’s why so many millions hunger for God’s good News. I have always believed that we were ….each of us put here for a reason we were put here for a reason that there is a plan.
Somehow A divine plan for all of us
I know now that whatever days are left to me - belong to Him.
I also believe this blessed land was set apart in a very special way.
Our forebearers came not for gold, but mainly in search of God and the freedom to worship in their own way. We have been a free people living under the law with faith in our maker and our future. I have said before that the most sublime picture in American history is of George Washington on his knees in the snow at Valley Forge. That image personifies a people who know it is not enough to depend on our own courage and goodness, we must also seek help from God our Father and preserver.
We’ll never find every answer, solve every problem or heal every wound, but we can do a lot if we walk together down that one path that we know provides real hope.
The morality and values such faith implies are deeply embedded in our national character. Our country embraces those principles by design and we abandon them at our peril.
My experience in this office I hold has only deepened the belief I have held for many years.
Within the covers of that single Book are all the answers to all the problems that face us today, if we would only read and believe.
President Ronald Reagan, Blessed (Pope) John Paul II, Prime Minister (Baroness) Margaret Thatcher and Mikhail Gorbachev (the General Secretary Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) ended the Cold War and changed the face of the world. Reagan and Thatcher were political soul mates, making our countries even closer allies than they had been before.
Sadly like relations with our strongest ally in the Middle East, Israel, The Obama Administration was conspicuous by its absence, at the Thatcher funeral. It would have greatly surprised, saddened and disappointed President Reagan. Obama and his administration said it was ‘too busy’ to send anyone just now, and this was before the Boston bombings. There was no official American envoy sent to Thatcher’s funeral. It was a disgrace! America was (unofficially) represented by former Secretaries of State James Baker III, George Schultz and Henry Kissinger, all of whom attended as private persons. And by a small private, mostly Republican delegation from the U.S. House of Representatives, including former Presidential candidate Michele Bachmann, Marsha Blackburn and Tim Holden. Senator John McCain and former V.P Dick Cheney also attended as private citizens because there was no official American envoy sent.
Obama and company, as well as the Clintons and all the Bushes, all stayed home. Shameful.
*First Lady Nancy Reagan and President George H.W. Bush were too ill to travel.
I would wish everyone a happy Chinese New Year, but the prospects for it being a ‘happy’ year are rather bleak. Traditional astronomers warn that this coming year could bring economic upheaval and geopolitical strife. Ya think? In Chinese symbology, snakes are regarded as intelligent, but with a tendency to be somewhat unscrupulous. Sounds a lot like our President, doesn’t it? Although I would like to say this is exclusively about Barack Obama, there are plenty of political snakes to go around. We have a virtual den of snakes currently here in America to choose from and they slither on both sides of the aisle.
Let’s take a look at some of the biggest serpents in the American Garden of Eden:
Barack Obama – Wow… where to start. From tyrannical executive orders to his lavish lifestyle, Barack Obama embodies the very essence of an arrogant dictator. Among his greatest atrocities: Benghazigate, Obamacare, Fort Hood, the wooing of the Muslim Brotherhood, Cloward and Piven spending on a massive scale, attacks on the Second Amendment, illegal immigration, regulation on an epic scale, crony capitalism, executive orders bypassing the Constitution, drone wars, Responsibility to Protect Doctrine, class warfare (racism 2.0), Czars, the call for a second Bill of Rights and the list goes on and on and on. I firmly believe that Obama is a snake, but he is a puppet to the Progressive/Marxist movement. The puppeteers are the Marxists who have money and influence, such as George Soros and his fellow Marxist reptiles.
Karl Rove – Rove is almost as big an enemy to Constitutional Conservatives as Obama and the Progressives. In the last week or two, he has openly declared war on the Tea Party, while attempting to further RINO moderation (especially on illegal immigration) and Progressive principles in the Republican Party. He has been the ‘architect’ of the death of the Republican Party and making sure it goes the way of the Whigs.
Chuck Schumer – By all accounts one the most arrogant of the self-styled nobility in our government. He is anti-Second Amendment and just generally anti-Constitution. Corruption for him is a breakfast food and he sneers at the common man while collecting power and wealth. He is a detestable human being (and I’m not entirely sure he’s human). See anti-gun Senator Chuck Schumer’s face during Congressional hearings
Michael Bloomberg – Another arrogant elitist, Bloomberg is not only fascist, he’s downright batty. From banning salt, to banning large soft drinks to banning styrofoam – he’s the no-go nanny and is delirious with regulation authority. He is also anti-Second Amendment (having blatantly committed anti-2A crimes, e.g. gun stings across state lines) and he is tax happy.
Diane Feinstein – Feinstein is the queen of hypocrisy. She has armed guards and is armed herself, but she is the leader currently against the Second Amendment. If she had her way there would be universal gun registration and confiscation. Another elitist who sees two sets of rules – one for the wealthy Progressive elite and one for the rest of us.
Jesse Jackson – Another leftist, whacko extremist – Jackson hides behind the title of ‘reverend’ while violating every commandment in the Bible. He’s known for his sexual escapades, corruption, lies and racism. Lately, he has jumped on the anti-gun bandwagon like a good little Progressive soldier, spouting fascist proclamations while seeking more bribes and power. He’s the poster boy of the Progressive movement and the tip of the spear for racism 2.0.
John Boehner – Mister ‘cry me a river’ is a RINO Progressive coiled on the right side of the aisle. While forwarding more and more Keynesian spending, he tearfully proclaims that he can’t stop the left. Well, it’s hard to stop the left while enabling them. Boehner covets money and power and has made his bed with the Progressives. If this is what leads the Republicans, they would be better off with an old shoe. At least the old shoe would not betray his party base at every opportunity.
George Soros – Soros is an evil, wretched old spider. He has toppled currencies and countries, been responsible for the deaths of thousands and wields power as if he is king of the world. He is one of the chief power brokers behind the Progressive movement and plays global RISK like no other. He is a very dangerous man with an evil empire at his beck and call. If you want to see a prime example of an election fixer and an enemy to America, he’s your guy.
John Brennan – Don’t let Brennan’s incompetent facade fool you. He is a vile viper who is about to be confirmed as the head of the CIA. An evil, malicious power broker – he hates Israel and America. The latest revelation… Brennan is a convert to Islam – so says a former FBI agent, John Guandolo, who wrote the first Muslim Brotherhood training manual for the FBI. He converted while in Saudi Arabia. In my book, that makes him a national security threat – compounded by his love for the Muslim Brotherhood. His conversion was the fruit of a foreign service agency who recruited him to join Islam.
John Kerry – Swift Boat Kerry is now our Secretary of State. This is a wealthy, one-percent Progressive who hates America and all she stands for. He berated and dragged our military through the mud over Vietnam with many, many falsehoods that were proven lies repeatedly. And yet, here we are with a treasonous asshat as Secretary of State. And he was confirmed by a vast majority on both sides of the aisle.
Hillary Clinton – Speaking of Medusa, the ‘dirty dancing’ former Secretary of State is now prepping herself to run for the presidency in 2016. Some polls says she is the favorite. Either the whole country has lost its mind (which is very possible), or the polls are lying. She is fresh off of Benghazigate where she lied over and over with nary a peep from any opposition. On her worldwide tour, she spent more time drunk than not and was arguably the worst Secretary of State we have ever had. But man, she gets high scores for dancing the nights away with other women while pounding down those drinks. Maybe she should have been Secretary of Corona. But don’t look too hard or too closely at the Gorgon, you might wind up stoned.
Leon Panetta – Panetta is a two-faced political animal who is surpassingly cunning and I believe he is a Communist. Which could probably be said of most of the Progressive movement these days. He screams that sequestration will weaken our military on one hand, while doing all he can to gut our forces on the other. He has been the most expensive Secretary of Defense in US history; taking many, many lavish government paid trips. He denies culpability in Benghazi when it was his job to handle it. His lies on the subject are breathtaking. Between the Responsibility to Protect Doctrine, the attempts to undermine Israel and weakening our military worldwide, Panetta has been a busy little Progressive.
Chuck Hagel – Hagel is a Jew-hater extraordinaire. He has also received funds from Hamas related groups and others he won’t disclose. I would wager they are Communists and Iran related groups. Not only that, but he comes off as an incompetent boob. And yet, I can’t quite believe the headlines that he will withdraw from the nomination of Secretary of Defense. Why should he? Even with someone as evil as Hagel surely is, our esteemed leaders will almost certainly confirm this reprehensible power monger. He’s one of ‘them’ don’t ya know.
And there are soooo many more. We just let these monsters go on and on. We are willingly submitting to their rule over us. We have to get these thugs out of office and fast, 2014 may be our last off ramp… our last chance to get back enough seats in Congress to wrest back control of our government. We need to make these evil asshats shake in their jackboots. If we don’t take massive action, all that will be left to us is revolt and with few exceptions, that always ends badly.
The above list does not even begin to touch the plethora of snaky Progressive organizations funding and supporting these Marxist moves in our government. Take for example, Obama’s newly formed “Organized for Action.” I kid you not, it is a “non-profit, non-partisan” group. If you believe that, I have a bridge for you – a real steal. Involved with this false front for Obama are the likes of George Soros, Lockheed Martin, Citi Group and Duke Energy. You’ll also find Walmart in that mix – Sam Walton must be turning over in his grave. And “Organized for Action” is not the only group providing money and cover for the Progressives. You have “Priorities Action USA” and the “Common Purpose Project.” And if that is not enough to garner attention, well take a gander at “Business Forward.” This is an association of “more than 40 of the world’s largest and most respected companies” that makes “it easier for entrepreneurs, investors, small business owners and senior executives from across America to get involved in the policy-making process.” These movers and shakers get involved in the policy-making process by forking over a membership fee to Business Forward, which then organizes meetings between company officials and White House personnel. To me, this is all very reminiscent of how Hitler worked with companies in Germany before and during WWII.
Yes, it is the Year of the Political Snake. By the way, our political snakes are poisonous and are crushing our freedoms. Whose up for a red snake hunt?
God looked down on Washington D.C. and said “I need someone who will steal morning, noon and night. Who will steal from the rich to give to the poor and steal from the poor to give to the rich and fool them all and keep all the loot.”
So God made a Democrat.
God said, “I need a college man to come to a farm and tell the farmer that he can’t feed his hogs with lettuce from his own farm or use the manure from his pigs to grow his lettuce. I need an inspector who will tell him how much he can sell his milk for and warn him that his son riding on the tractor constitutes child labor. I need someone to pay a farmer not to farm so that poor people can’t afford bread.”
So God made a Democrat.
“I want a union organizer who hires non-union picketers to keep workers from working, a politician who fights for the people by taking money from billionaires and a clergyman who worships whoever runs on the party line. I want a banker who fights for the poor and gives to the party and a party that pays the poor man eight times to vote for the banker’s man.”
So God made a Democrat.
“I need someone to retire at 55 with generous benefits from a government job. I need lawmakers who will pass laws without reading them. I need teachers who refuse to teach kids unless they’re paid twice as much as any worker in their city. I need people to sit on commissions and make rules about lines of work that they’ve never been in.”
So God made a Democrat
“I need a Catholic who’s for abortion. A Jew who’s for Palestine. A Mormon who’s against the Church. A Baptist who’s for evolution. A Methodist who doesn’t believe in god. And a Muslim who believes in destroying America.”
So God made a Democrat.
He said, “I need someone who starts all the wars and protests against all the wars. Who is first in line to sign up to fight against his country but comes out as a pacifist when it’s time to defend it. I want war heroes who throw their medals over fences and then gather them up again when it’s time to run for office. I want men who are for everything before they’re against it”
So God made a Democrat.
“I need a working class man who who has never worked a day in his life, but always talks about caring for those who do. I need a man who talks all the time about helping women, blacks, lesbians, Eskimos and Martians get ahead and then drops them like a dirty rag when he has what he wants. A man who gets up at 11:30 in the afternoon to help the less fortunate by passing laws that will make them even less fortunate. A man who takes nine tenths of what’s meant for the poor and lets them have the leftovers.”
So God made a Democrat.
“I need a man who believes in himself too much to take responsibility for anything he did. I need a man who is tolerantly intolerant, who is outraged all day by everything in the world except his own outrageous behavior. I need a man who is for freedom of speech except when he’s offended, for freedom of religion except when he disagrees with it and for the right to bear arms but only for those weapons that existed in 1791.”
So God made a Democrat.
God said, “I need a party of jackasses that will always break through the fence and spoil everything that the farmer grows. I need bad men to test good men and liars, cheats and thieves with clipboards to teach neighbors to stick together against them. I need a man with no more conscience than a rattlesnake leading a band of fools with less sense than sheep. And I need him to keep the farmers and ranchers, the workers and doers on their toes so they always remember that evil never rests and keeping it down can sometimes be the hardest work of all.”
Pray for us as we embark on this voyage into the snake-infested waters of this next political cycle — for here be dragons and serpents. Progressive hunters will be exposing the pale underbellies of these political ophidians.
The Blaze: Dr. Benjamin Carson speaks during the National Prayer Breakfast at the Washington Hilton February 7, 2013 in Washington, DC. U.S. President Barack Obama reportedly used the occasion to call for unity and common ground Washington politics. Credit: Getty Images
With President Barack Obama sitting just feet away, Dr. Benjamin Carson stood up for conservative principles in his speech at Thursday’s National Prayer Breakfast, discussing the national debt, political correctness and even healthcare. Readers loved his speech so much that TheBlaze’s story on it went viral.
On Friday, Carson appeared on Fox News’ “Hannity” to explain why he felt compelled to speak out against the big government policies endorsed by Obama, in front of Obama.
Carson, a renown neurosurgeon, said the response to his speech has been “overwhelmingly” positive. However, he argued he didn’t make a conservative argument, but rather a “logical” and “common-sense” one.
“I don’t know where we left our brains,” he told host Sean Hannity.
Carson went on to talk about his life story, saying he grew up in a single parent home in a poverty-stricken area. He said his mother “refused to be a victim” and “never felt sorry for herself,” despite only having a third grade education.
Regarding his comments on political correctness, the neurosurgeon emphasized the importance of “freedom of speech and freedom of expression” in the United States.
“And yet, we have imposed upon people restrictions on what they say, on what they can think. The media, I think is the largest proponent of this,” he explained.
He lambasted the media’s outrage at Brent Musburger’s flattering comments about Alabama beauty queen Katherine Webb during the BCS National Championship.
In the second portion of his interview with Hannity, Carson argued he didn’t craft his message based on who was going to be in attendance. In other words, wasn’t trying to stick it to Obama in his speech.
“It really didn’t matter who I was sitting in front of, because I always pray before I give a speech and I ask God to give me the right things to say. And I think that it’s very rare these days for people to speak the truth,” he said. “Meanwhile, the fabric of our nation is being destroyed.
One of the “real dangers” facing America, according to Carson, is the fact that people don’t know “anything” about things like history or technology. “They don’t think for themselves,” he added.
Seizing upon what many of Carson’s supporters are probably wondering, Hannity asked him if he would ever consider running for president. The doctor did not it rule out, but said God would have to “grab him by the collar and make him do it.”
If nothing else, the look on Obama's face as he SUFFERS through the brilliance of Dr. Ben Carson is priceless! Dr. Carson takes shot after shot at Obama while Obama is forced to sit and listen. Dr. Ben Carson is the REAL deal, he (unlike Obama) was raised by a single mother in the ghetto's of Detroit. Obama, on the other hand, lived a pretty comfortable lifestyle. Dr. Ben Carson doesn't use his color of skin to his advantage (which is not the Obama way) and he doesn't think we should "punish" those who have earned their successes by taking from them and giving to others who have not. After watching this video in it's entirety, I am quite sure President and Mrs. Obama would have preferred to be sitting in a dental chair having a ROOT CANAL!
Rush Limbaugh Show:
BEGIN TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: As for Obama, he went to the National Prayer Breakfast today. I was reading a blog, the White House Dossier, a guy who used to be part of the White House press corps. Keith Koffler is his name. I didn't see Obama at the prayer breakfast today, but he said Obama was barely awake. You know, Obama doesn't show until ten o'clock in the morning. He's a nighthawk. He's a night owl. Obama stays up late and he doesn't get up early. So this guy's describing Obama at the prayer breakfast as having heavy eyelids and chewing Nicorette to deal with his nicotine addiction. He was openly chewing gum and wiping his eyes as though trying to remove the morning crustiness.
You ever have that happen to you, the morning crustiness in your eye and have to wipe that out?
That's what he described Obama as doing. Koffler said Obama's remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast were perfunctory and listless, as though he really didn't want to be there but has to do this kind of thing. So we have some sound bites from this. Let's go to 'em right now. This is Obama in Washington at the National Prayer Breakfast. Now, it didn't start 'til something like ten or 10:30 but apparently he had to get up early. He had to be somewhere at 7:30, I guess, for the actual breakfast itself. In the White House Dossier piece, Keith Koffler makes the point that -- well, I inferred from his piece that -- Obama's not out of bed by then.
So he was not entirely cogent. He just wasn't there. Let's give a listen. We have two sound bites of Obama.
OBAMA: It is always just a wonderful event.
RUSH: (snoring)
OBAMA: But I do worry sometimes that as soon as we leave the prayer breakfast, everything we've been talkin' about --
RUSH: (snoring)
OBAMA: -- the whole time of the prayer breakfast --
RUSH: (snoring)
OBAMA: -- seems to be forgotten on the same day of the prayer breakfast.
AUDIENCE: (smattering of laughter)
OBAMA: I mean --
RUSH: (snoring)
OBAMA: -- you'd like to think that that the shelf life wasn't so short! I go back to the Oval Office (snickers), and I start watching the cable news networks, and it's like we didn't pray.
RUSH: This is unreal.
I love this. So prayer doesn't work, and this proves it.
Obama goes to the prayer breakfast, and everybody else goes to the prayer breakfast. It's a wonderful event. And it's all about him, you see. The National Prayer Breakfast... (interruption) Oh, don't believe that when he says he doesn't watch cable news. He watches it, and he has people assigned to watch it, just like I do. (Obama interpretation) "It's a wonderful event, the National Prayer Breakfast. It's always about me every year, and I enjoy coming for that reason, but I do worry sometimes that as soon as we leave the prayer breakfast, everything we've been talking about the whole prayer breakfast seems to be forgotten, on the same day of the prayer breakfast.
"I mean, you'd like to think that the shelf life of the prayer wasn't short. I go back to the Oval Office, and I start watching cable news, and it's like we didn't pray at all." So God's not listening. (interruption) Well, I think everybody else is praying to Obama, but gods don't pray. They sit there and listen to the prayers. But, anyway, can you imagine any other president ripping prayer, even in a joke way? (Obama impression) "Well, we all come up here and -- and we pray, and (chuckling) it doesn't even work! It doesn't even last the whole day. I go back to White House, turn on TV, and I'm being criticized. The National Prayer Breakfast is all about Obama. Here's the second sound bite...
OBAMA: That's what I thought of as I took the oath of office a few weeks ago and touched those Bibles: The comfort that Scripture gave Lincoln and King. Most of all I thought about their humility. Let us retain that humility not just during this hour, but for every hour, and let me suggest that those of us with the most power and influence need to be the most humble.
RUSH: Right. Like right before you decide to pick somebody off the Kill List and launch the drone. Right! Now, the next speaker is the Johns Hopkins Hospital Pediatric Neurosurgery director, Dr. Benjamin Carson, and this guy rips Obamaism. He ripped into Obamaism at the prayer breakfast with Obama sitting there.
CARSON: Well, some people say, they say, "Well, that's not fair because it doesn't hurt the guy who made $10 billion as much as the guy who made ten." Where does it say you have to hurt the guy? He just put a billion dollars in the pot!
AUDIENCE: (applause)
CARSON: You know, we don't need to hurt him. It's that kind of thinking...
AUDIENCE: (applause)
CARSON: It's that kind of thinking that has resulted in 602 banks in the Cayman Islands. That money needs to be back here, building our infrastructure and creating jobs.
RUSH: Whoa! Right on. Did you hear that? This guy is talking to Obama. Obama's sitting there, and Dr. Carson is saying, "People say... 'Well, that's not fair because it doesn't hurt the guy who made $10 billion as much as the guy who made ten.' Where does it say you have to hurt the guy? He just put a billion dollars in the pot!" So this neurosurgeon is speaking out in favor of the 1%, the 5%, the 10% who are actually paying the freight in this country via income taxes. They're the ones actually paying the freight. What do we gotta hurt 'em for? I mean, they're already putting money in the pot. Why do we gotta hurt 'em?
He's exactly right. And then he says: You want to know why we got 602 banks in the Caymans with American money? Because they're running away. They don't want to be hurt.
I love this guy. He wasn't finished, either.
CARSON: Here's my solution: When a person is born, give him a birth certificate, an electronic medical record, and a health savings account to which money can be contributed -- pretax -- from the time you're born 'til the time you die. When you die, you can pass it on to your family members, so that when you're 85 years old and you got six diseases, you're not trying to spend up everything. You're happy to pass it on and there's nobody talking about death panels.
AUDIENCE: (laughter and applause)
CARSON: Number one. And also, for the people who were indigent who don't have any money we can make contributions to their HSA each month because we already have this huge pot of money. Instead of sending it to some bureaucracy, let's put it in their HSAs. Now they have some control over their own health care.
RUSH: That is Dr. Benjamin Carson, who is the Johns Hopkins Hospital Pediatric Neurosurgery director, and he has given his recipe there for a health care system the exact opposite of Obamacare. This is at the National Prayer Breakfast today. So you see, these people are out there, and they're willing to speak up. They need to be encouraged.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Okay, my friends, I want to spend some time here, just a few minutes, on Dr. Benjamin Carson. You don't hear people speak this way. The Republicans don't speak this way to Obama. They don't speak this way about Obama's policies. Here you have the guy who's head of neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital at the National Prayer Breakfast. He says, "People say... 'Well, that's not fair because it doesn't hurt the guy who made $10 billion as much as the guy who made ten.' Where does it say you have to hurt the guy? He just put a billion dollars in the pot!" The guy's paying the freight. What's he done?
His solution to health care: "When a person is born, give him a birth certificate, an electronic medical record, and a health savings account to which money can be contributed -- pretax -- from the time you're born 'til the time you die." We're already spending this money and more anyway. He's simply talking about reallocating resources. Put it in the hands of the people who are going to spend it. Put them in charge of their own health care. They build it up while they're young, while they're children. A nest egg gets built in their health savings accounts. It's pretax. It's put in this account from the time you're born 'til the time you die.
It's the equivalent of what would be spent on you in other forms -- and when you die, whatever you haven't used, you can pass on to your family members. Do with it what you want. You can pass it on. You can make it part of your estate. But you are in charge of your health care. You are in charge of how much you spend on it and how much you get and where you go. This reintroduces competition. This reintroduces market forces. This is what brings costs down. So in 43 seconds, the director of neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins gave the answer to Obamacare.
In 43 seconds.
It's not 2700 pages, and it doesn't enlarge the government.
It doesn't hire 16,000 IRS agents, and it covers everybody -- and there would probably be money left over after all of this.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: I'm gonna take advantage of the occasion of these comments by Dr. Benjamin Carson to explain what a health savings account is to people who may not know. Because, you know, we have constant audience expansion and audience growth here. Since the election -- well, even prior to that, but -- there are people listening here for the first time ever or they've been listening for a year or two. So, of course, they haven't heard everything that you have if you've been here for the whole 20, 25 years.
But this is really profound what this man said at the National Prayer Breakfast. Now, let's put Obamacare in Column A and just briefly review. It has 2700 pages. The federal government is empowered to eventually make every health care decision for every American. The older Americans get, the less likely the government will authorize spending money to treat them, particularly if they have terminal diseases.
That's because the government will determine that it's not worth the money. If somebody is near the life expectancy, and they have a debilitating disease, the government will decide it's not worth it. This is in Obamacare. The term "death panel" isn't, but that's how it works out. This is all in Obamacare. It's "as the secretary of Health and Human Services shall determine." There is a board. There is a panel of people.
We don't know who it's gonna be, but there is a panel of people who will make decisions on the allocation of health care money which is all gonna come from government. That's eventually, when this is fully implemented. If your parent or grandparent comes down with a very bad disease late in life, the government may decide it makes no sense to spend the money in treating that disease because the expected number of years left in that person's life is very few.
They might think we can spend that money elsewhere on other people or on young people who might be more productive. Now, in a free society, this shouldn't happen. You need to be in charge, just like when you go rent a hotel room. You buy hotel room where you want, where you can afford, where you want to stay. Same thing with food, same thing with a car, same thing with anything else you buy. You buy it based on what you can afford, based on what you want.
Of course the American dream is that you continue to work hard and try to improve your standard of living so that you can afford better and more things for you and your family as you go on through life. That's what's fundamentally changed, and is in the process of fundamentally changing in our country. Imagine if you had to go to the government for a hotel room. Imagine if you had to go to the government for your food or for your telephone service or anything else, be it a need or a desire.
The fact that governments, state and federal, are involved in so much of the health care system is he reason why the price has skyrocketed. There isn't any competition per se. You're not in charge, and the consumer needs to be in charge of what is spent by that consumer for that consumer. That causes and creates competition for that consumer's dollar, and that's how prices are kept affordable. That doesn't exist in health care today.
So the Obamacare plan is 2700 pages with a panel that will determine who gets treated and who doesn't. There are 16,000 new IRS agents to determine whether or not you're complying with the law by either having an insurance policy or paying a fine or a penalty if you don't. Virtually every aspect of your health care, the portion of your life dealing with health care is going to be administered by and monitored by government, with you having nothing to do with it -- and that just scratches the surface.
Remember the woman who appeared...? Well, you may not remember. ABC, about three years ago, did a primetime special with the president the East Room of the White House where the president sought to explain his health care plan. There were American citizens in the audience. A woman stood up (an American citizen, folks) and actually asked the president of the United States -- not her doctor, not a family member, but the president of the United States (summarized) -- "Sir, what about my 100-year-old mother?
"She has a huge will to live, she's got a great spirit, but she needs a pacemaker. Will you factor things like spirit and the will to live in determining whether people like my mother will get a pacemaker?" Why is a citizen asking the president of the United States if her mother can have a medical procedure? Sometimes I think I'm the only one who thought that obscene. Well, the president stood up and answered it. He put a smile on his face and said, "No, we can't take things into account like will to live and spirit.
"We just can't do that. There are just gonna be times," the president said to this woman, "where the best thing we can do is just give your mother a pill and let her try to enjoy her remaining days." The show ended and people discussed it as though nothing offensive had happened. This doesn't it happen in a free country. This doesn't happen in the United States of five years ago! This doesn't happen.
The president of the United States doesn't conduct a health care seminar in the White House with citizens asking if he will permit their family members to live, if he will permit their family members to be treated medically! This was before Obamacare was signed into law. Well, now it's been signed into law and it's in the process of implementing. Now we've been told the IRS that the cheapest -- the cheapest -- mandatory health care plan for a family of four starting in 2016 or 2018, whenever this is fully implemented, will be between $16,000 and $20,000 a year.
The cheapest mandatory plan! If you don't have one, you have to pay a penalty. Whether you have health insurance or not, it's gonna cost you. So that's, briefly, what we have at present. This is what has been passed by Congress and signed into law, and this is what's being implemented. This and many other horror stories. So then we have Dr. Benjamin Carson who, again, spoke today at the National Prayer Breakfast. He is the Johns Hopkins Hospital Pediatric Neurosurgery director. He's got an entirely different idea. Play sound bite nine again. Let's hear it in his words.
This is his alternative to Obamacare.
CARSON: Here's my solution: When a person is born, give him a birth certificate, an electronic medical record, and a health savings account to which money can be contributed -- pretax -- from the time you're born 'til the time you die. When you die, you can pass it on to your family members, so that when you're 85 years old and you got six diseases, you're not trying to spend up everything. You're happy to pass it on and there's nobody talking about death panels.
AUDIENCE: (laughter and applause)
CARSON: Number one. And also, for the people who were indigent who don't have any money, we can make contributions to their HSA each month because we already have this huge pot of money. Instead of sending it to some bureaucracy, let's put it in their HSAs. Now they have some control over their own health care.
RUSH: Now, here's the point. What is a health savings account? Many of you in the audience already know, and I'm gonna ask you to indulge me as I try to explain them to people in the audience who don't know. Pretty much what Dr. Carson said. When you're born, a bank account -- look at it that way. When you're born, a bank account is started in your name. You get a birth certificate, and you get a medical card and a health savings account. Money is contributed pretax, from the time you're born until you die. They say, "Where do we get the money?"
We simply shift from all of the money that's being spent on health care now by governments, and we shift it to the people, to you. We put it in a bank account for you. Everybody gets one. Health care spending is 53% of GDP, or it's heading in that direction. We're spending $3.5 trillion dollars every year in this country, $1.3 trillion of which we don't even have. So we take 40, 50% of that and we allocate it to the people. It's theirs in the first place. They earned it. Your parents earned it if you don't have enough to start the health savings account. You obviously don't when you're an infant. But it grows.
You then need to go to the doctor, you then need medical treatment, you've got a health savings, you have a savings accounts, you've got a bank account with money in it that otherwise would go to insurance companies or go to the government or wherever else. But it's yours. You spend it as you need it, when medical events come up. Now, we're talking in this case, it's about standard, ordinary operating procedure doctor visits.
We're not talking about catastrophic injuries. Those are handled by insurance and would continue to be. But every day commonplace doctor visits, hospital treatments, and so forth, are handled by your health savings accounts. And whatever you don't spend, you get to keep and use however you wish, thereby motivating you to do two things: Not spend it all on medicine, because people are spending a lot more on their health than they actually need to be. And the second thing is you'll help create competition among medical providers, among doctors, among hospitals, among MRI testing centers, to get your business. They'll have to have a price that's attractive to you, just like anybody else trying to sell you anything.
There might even be sales someday on health care, if this system were ever implemented. But the point is you're in charge of it. And until we reach the point where the consumer has a direct relationship with his health care in terms of cost and expense, we're never gonna get costs down. In 43 seconds, Dr. Carson here gave the opposite to Obamacare and a way that would work, by putting every person in charge of his or her health care.
Now, some people might not want that responsibility, and that's what people like Obama and the Democrats bank on. But a health savings account is just money that's already being spent on health care and health insurance being reallocated, transferred, if you will, back to you. It was yours in the first place anyway. You earned it. That's the only way the government ever got it. You or your parents earned it. They don't have a dime without taking it from somebody first or borrowing it or printing it. This plan just, you keep your money. It's in an account where you use it for medical care. What you don't use is yours to do with as you wish, include pass on to your kids when you die.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: We got Jody from Madison, Wisconsin. Jody, great to have you here. Welcome to the EIB Network. Hi.
CALLER: Hi, Rush. Oh, what a pleasure to talk to you. I've been listening to you since the eighties, and I never called you before, but I'm telling you, when you had that sound bite on with Dr. Carson, I almost dropped my jaw. And I did run in and I called Dr. Carson and told him he's my hero. It's amazing. I've been saying the same thing for years, ever since this health care junk coming out and explaining to people how HSAs would have solved all of the problems. Not only that, just think of how wages would increase, and employment, 'cause it's no longer on the backs of the employer. I just can't tell you how astounded I was today to hear some sanity out of a human being.
RUSH: Look, I realize this is extremely encouraging. It's uplifting to know that, A, there's somebody out there who understands and knows this, but even more than that, that's willing to say it --
CALLER: Yes.
RUSH: -- to Obama's face. This man said it while Obama's sitting there. Now, this is easy for me to say, but I'm gonna tell you something. This is the kind of stuff the Republican Party needs to be saying. This is the kind of stuff the Republican Party should have been saying for the past four years. Now, I know they tried various times and places to talk about health savings accounts, but their plan was still the government at the center of everything. That's what I mean by the Democrats create an agenda item, the Republicans say, "Oh, okay, is that what we're talking about today? Okay, national health care? Well, we don't entirely believe in that, so we'll come up with an alternative," but it's still an agenda set by the Democrats.
What's remarkable about Dr. Carson. Here's my solution. A person's born. He gets a health savings account to which money can be contributed pretax. Think of it as a 401(k) for health care. You put as much money in it as you want and, by the way, we'll supplant that because there's money being spent on your behalf, theoretically, in health care by the government, just reallocate it. But in 43 seconds the man had a free market based solution to the problem that was understandable and inspiring. And it does make you say, it does make you ask, "Where's this been for the last four years? Where has been the leadership articulating this kind of thing?"
