One Year On

One year ago today, at the suggestion of a friend, I started American Flyer. I have occasionally written political commentary on e-mail in the past, mostly to blow off steam, but in 2009 there was so much going on politically that I ramped it up and turned out many more articles than normal, so keeping this blog seemed like a good way to catalogue what I was writing. It has done a couple of things for me personally.

For one, I became a little more consistent in composing articles. At first I thought I might write one every week. It didn't quite turn out that way. Sometimes I went two or three weeks without writing, and other times I'd turn out two or three columns a week. Still, by the end of the year I'd submitted 49 articles, so the average is almost one a week, and I have found it to be an invigorating mental exercise.

Secondly, the blog allowed me to add some of my other writings on separate pages so there is some variety on the main page. Having it all there on the screen when I log on gives me a challenge to keep working on other things as well. I haven't done nearly as much as I would like to. Administrating a college and pastoring a church, even though the college is small and the church on the plantation is low maintenance, takes a lot of time, and I could probably think of other excuses too. I usually send a weekly update of our ministry and one person recommended I start another blog to publish my sermons. The problem is my sermons are mostly outlines and not written out. I'm not sure an outline is what you would want to see, but if I ever start writing the messages out, it may be a good idea.

Third, keeping this blog has been a challenge to me to try and stay actively involved in some way in America's political scene. Since my college days when I joined a Young Republicans club, and my campaigning for a conservative candidate for governor of Colorado in 1979, I've always had a desire to somehow be involved in the political process. Military service and being overseas was a hindrance to being very active, but I did get elected by my precinct to be a delegate to our Republican county convention in Texas in 1988. But besides voting absentee most of the time and continually writing to my congressmen and women, this blog gives me the most opportunity to try and stay involved by speaking my mind about what's going on.

The frustrating thing about being in Kenya is that I can't be there to be pro-active in events that are happening. I would dearly love to have a greater part, and as much as I love to write I sometimes wonder if being a political columnist wouldn't be a good career change in the future. Of course, at my age another career change may not be too realistic, but you never know how the Lord will lead.

My audience is still rather small extending just to my mailing list and my Facebook friends list, and a few others that people have forwarded some of my postings too. There have been 102 comments to my articles, a few of those have been me thanking others, or expounding more on my thoughts. I've received probably as many comments by e-mail that are not posted, so there are some who are reading regularly and I thank all of you.

It would be nice if there were more than ten followers, but several people have e-mailed that they've been unable to get on. I don't know what to tell you, but if someone who has joined knows the secret to getting hooked up, please let me know so I can pass it on.

It has been an interesting year and I wish I had commented on more issues, but sometimes there is so much going on day after day that by the time I sit down to write about a thought I had yesterday, the news is already passed. It has also been a critical year and hopefully the elections last November have started to put the brakes on the downward spiral America has been skidding on. But the fight for our country is just beginning, and just now it doesn't appear to be beginning well.

The Republican leadership in the House is already caving to Obama - Reid liberal pressure. The promise of 100 billion in spending cuts to pass a continuing resolution to fund the government wound up being only 61 billion, and in a midnight deal last night the Speaker of the House, John Boehner, agreed to only 38.5 billion in cuts, which allows the funding of Obamacare to continue, and the defunding of Planned Parenthood, which was a major issue, was put off for a later debate.

We can cry all we want about the chicken leadership coming from the White House, but the Republican leader just proved himself to be a gutless, cackling hen. Shutting the government down was a winning hand for Republicans. The majority of the country wants the out of control spending stopped. The majority wants Planned Parenthood defunded. The majority wants Obamacare repealed. Obama's approval rating is 42%, the lowest it's ever been.

Republicans were in a position to force some common sense back into the government, but rather than fight for it, they didn't even come out for the 12th round. They've just given Obama, who has been an abject failure on the economy, jobs creation, the military, immigration, foreign policy and everything else, a major victory. He was on the ropes looking like the dunce that he is. Now he's going to be more smug and arrogant than ever, and the socialist power grab will go on because light-headed, spineless Republicans have once again snatched defeat out of the jaws of victory. They still haven't figured out the mood of the country.

Two years ago I made a short comment about a Harris Poll of the country's top ten favorite movie stars. Harris started this poll in 1994. Since that time only one actor has been in the top ten every year. He was in it again in 2010, moving up from seventh place in 2009 to third. Since 1994 he's never been lower than seventh, was first in 1995, second five other times and now third for the fourth time. His closest competitor, Clint Eastwood, has made the top ten 16 times in 17 years, twice being number one.

Of course you know I'm talking about John Wayne. The question is this: if the movie going public still holds a conservative icon in such regard 32 years after his death, when his movies obviously aren't in theaters anymore, what does it say about the mood of the country? The pendulum of political thought is swinging back to the right. The country is looking for a leader who believes in American exceptionalism; who will declare America's greatness; who will unapologetically stand for the Constitution and the rule of law; who will defend America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; who has the courage to say, "enough is enough, stop spending like a bunch of immature children." Where is the man who will stand up and fill these shoes?

One year on American Flyer intends to continue on. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance. Today, more than ever, if we want to keep our freedoms and see our country restored to its rightful greatness, we must be vigilant.