I'm Sorry

Two of the most important words in relationships are the simple words, "I'm sorry." The ability of one to be humble and apologize, even if one doesn't think he or she is wrong, has probably saved more marriages and friendships than could ever be counted.

International politics, however, is another story. Apologizing to recalcitrant nations, especially those with islamic foundations who hate you for no other reason than that you're alive, is not a particularly effective strategy. As Captain Nathan Brittles (John Wayne) in She Wore a Yellow Ribbon would say, "Never apologize, Mr. Pennell. It's a sign of weakness."

Still, the "anointed one" in the White House seems to think it's a good policy, and you can't be a "messiah" without being omniscient. The WHO (White House Occupant, like the OWS [Occupy Wall Street] that he supports) told us he would persuade the Iranians to be our friends through diplomacy. His plan of persuasion has been to apologize to the Muslim world for all of America's sins, but since that plan hasn't brought Iran (or anybody else for that matter) to the table yet, I thought I'd help him with a few more American sins that he can apologize for.

I'm sorry ...

That the Pilgrims came to America seeking religious freedom and built a nation out of a wilderness, then opened their arms to allow the rest of the world to come join them.

That the Pilgrims, in the manner of friendly neighbors, invited the Indians to join them for a day of Thanksgiving to Almighty God for His mercy and sustenance.

That when the settlers met the illiterate Indian tribes they created written languages and then taught the Indians how to read and write.

That Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, the greatest political document on freedom that the world has ever seen.

That American Patriots stood up to the British Crown and won independence from tyranny, setting the stage for independence movements to follow throughout the European colonial world.

That the Protestant Christian Founders of our Republic added the First Amendment guarantee of religious freedom which allowed Irish and Eastern European Catholics to immigrate to America in great numbers in the late 19th century, and which allows Muslims and other religions, denominations, and cults to practice freely in America to this day.

That nearly 400,000 Americans gave their lives in a Civil War to preserve a Union and guarantee that the proposition "all men are created equal" included black men, and that as a result a black man is president of the United States today.

That American involvement in the Spanish American War freed the Philippines, Guam, Puerto Rico and Cuba from Spanish tyranny.

That American intervention in the Great War prevented a German dominated Europe and ended the mindless bloodshed on the "Western Front."

That when America was drawn into World War 2 by a devastating surprise attack at Pearl Harbor, America fought back and defeated not only the Japanese Empire that had slaughtered and enslaved half a billion people in the western Pacific, but the Nazis who had overrun Europe and murdered tens of millions more.

That American resolve to stop communist aggression in Korea, Vietnam, Grenada, Panama, Nicaragua and other places brought an end to the Cold War and the collapse of the godless, murderous Soviet Empire and paved the way for Democratic governments to arise all around the world.

That America's need for oil has given oil-rich Middle Eastern Muslim nations wealth they could never have achieved on their own and without the help of American oil companies finding the oil and building the facilities to extract and refine it in the first place.

That a benevolent American government gives billions of dollars in foreign aid every year to 160 nations around the world, including Muslim nations.

That American forces ridded the world of Saddam Hussein who was an enemy to even his own people, not to mention to his Muslim neighbor nations, and after rebuilding the nation with a democratic government brought all our forces home, leaving an independent Iraq.

That American forces drove the Taliban out of Afghanistan and rebuilt the country to include women's rights, and schools which allow girls to learn to read and write for the first time.

That American retaliation for 9/11 has virtually destroyed Al-qaeda and rid the world of Osama bin-Laden, whose terrorist organization has killed tens of thousands more Muslims than it has Americans.

That American inventors have created steel plows, electric light bulbs, telegraphs, telephones, wireless radios, combustible engines, tractors, vehicles, airplanes, rockets, anesthetics, penicillin, polio and small pox vaccinations, refrigerators, washing machines, televisions, computers, the internet, and you name it, all of which have revolutionized the world's ability to produce and distribute product, and make life better, not just for Americans, but for people everywhere.

That American charitable organizations such as the Peace Corps have dug wells and taught millions of people around the world how to farm and survive in harsh environments.

That independent and private American mission groups through the voluntary giving of average Americans have built churches, schools, hospitals, and medical clinics serving millions more.

That American grain feeds most of the world and that it is American organizations leading the effort to fight poverty and starvation world wide.

That an American aircraft carrier was the first on the scene to provide fresh water, food and medicine to the refugees of the Indian Ocean tsunami that killed 230,000 people in 2005, and that in spite of criticisms from the Muslim world that America didn't do enough, the United States gave hundreds of millions of dollars in aid while Muslim Saudi Arabia gave a paltry ten million, and most other Muslim nations gave nothing.

That Americans are so arrogant as to believe that a peaceful, free world is a better place than one scarred by war, terrorism, enslavement and tyranny.

That Americans respect women and give them equal opportunities to achieve and be successful in whatever endeavor they choose rather than treating them like chattel or second class citizens unworthy of education and freedom the way Muslims do.

That the goodness of Christian America is such an offense to selfish, greedy, evil nations who take our foreign aid and hate us at the same time. Oh, I forgot, we're not Christian anymore, and maybe never have been according to the WHO.

Yeah, I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry.

Religious Persecution in America

When candidate Obama was asked by Pastor Rick Warren when he thought life began he smugly tried to diffuse the question by saying that the answer was "above his pay grade." He gave no one on the pro-life side any comfort. Instead he showed himself to be mealy-mouthed and unwilling to publicly take a position on one of the primary issues of our day.

Everyone paying attention knew that it was a dodge. His pro-abortion voting record, to include killing babies that survive botched abortions, proved that he had already decided about life regardless of his pay grade. It should have been a wake up call to everyone else.

Obama's promise that his health care plan would not cover abortions was likewise unconvincing. Neither did it help to ease conservative fears when Queen Pelosi rushed the bill through for a vote insisting that it had to be passed before it could be read. Conservative fears were realized, as we all knew they would be. Not only will obamacare cover abortions, we now know it requires health insurance providers, including religious organizations that provide health care to their employees, to include free contraceptives and abortifacients such as the "morning after" pill.

When Catholic church leaders began to object, Queen Pelosi complained that they had too much conscience. When the Catholics said it violated church teaching, Health and Human Services appointed dictator Sibelius gave them one year to get their act together and comply. When the Church said they would refuse, Obama came up with a semantic compromise that compromises nothing in obamacare.

The first objections to obamacare were that the government had no power to mandate compliance to anything. This is a government of the people, not the other way around. But this debate has grown beyond health care. It is now an issue of religious freedom. Dictating to a church what it must do is a violation of the First Amendment. It makes no difference how the left defends it, this is religious persecution.

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

The Founders guaranteed the freedom of religion first because they knew there could be no other rights without it. If you're not free to worship or practice your religion without government interference you're not free to speak, or to assemble, or to redress Congress. The denial of this first and most basic of all our rights is what the left is trying to do, all the while denying that it's what they're up to.

Who do these people think they are that they can overthrow the Constitution to impose their atheist, socialist agenda on the people? Pelosi calls herself a devout Catholic, but criticizes Catholics for having a conscience. Isn't that part of what religion is about? Having a conscience directed by God to tell you what is right and wrong? I'd hate to be standing in her shoes at the judgment trying to explain to the Almighty why she had no conscience.

Sibelius, a failed Kansas governor, is a bureaucrat who believes her appointment gives her the right to impose her anti-Christian personal agenda on the country without regard to the Constitution. Her actions are illegal.

But then, they're only following the lead of their messiah who sits in the White House. Obama is the first anti-American president we've ever had. He is also the worst president we've ever had. Every policy he's rammed through Congress, with the help of mindless Democrat lackeys hoping to feed their greed at the government trough, has been a usurpation of constitutional powers designed to overthrow the country our forefathers built for us.

This is the most dangerous administration America has ever had, and the coming election will be the most critical event in our nation's history. If Obama is re-elected we will cease to be a free people, and the first freedom we will lose will be the one already under attack, the freedom of religion.

Before Baptists and Protestants shy away from this battle, we should consider that this health care mandate is not just a Catholic issue. If Obama can tell the largest denomination in America how they will run their health insurance, it won't be long until he will tell them what they can believe or teach. (He's already restricting what military chaplains can say.) And if he gets away with that, it won't be long until he dictates what every other denomination can believe or teach as well.

This is the destruction from within that Benjamin Franklin so perceptively warned us about. If we the people don't send Obama home we will no longer be a free nation with a government of the people. Instead we will follow the yellow brick road paved with broken promises to third-world socialist poverty and government controlled religion.

MN, MO, CO Vote

I had been thinking about what I wrote yesterday on an American Antichrist all weekend. After the way things went in Florida and Nevada it was looking like Romney was about to run away with the field. My son had a basketball game last night, and I hurried to get the e-mail out before the game. Then when we got home and saw the results of the caucuses coming in I thought I should have waited to send the e-mail.

Last month I wrote the following about Rick Santorum: Rick Santorum probably has the best and most consistent positions on all conservative issues with the exception maybe of the Second Amendment, but he's not been a very good debater overall, and rather than concentrate on the issues, he more than any of the other candidates went out of his way Thursday night to attack Romney and Gingrich, which made him look petty and small, and I don't think helped his chances at all.

Gingrich and Romney got fired up Thursday and spoke with passion. Santorum didn't exude that same level of fire. He looked like he was trying to get fired up but his answers didn't carry the same weight of persuasion or spontaneity that the others' did, and I'm afraid that if he gets the nomination, his debates with Obama would lack the strength or eloquence to compete. Plus, since he lost his last race for the Senate seat in Pennsylvania that would probably be used against him. I don't think he's a winning proposition.

When Gingrich first announced he was running I wasn't that enthused about him. His baggage and all that. But once he started speaking it became very clear that he was saying what we all have wanted to hear someone say since Ronald Reagan. I liked Michelle Bachman and Rick Santorum, but neither of them seemed to have the presence or the fire to make them presidential. Gingrich soared.

Then came Iowa and the Romney attacks. Gingrich weathered the storm and won an astounding victory in South Carolina. He was on message. Then came Florida. He tried to match Romney's political machine blow for blow with the personal insults and negative messages. It didn't work, and he didn't seem to get the message. He continued to battle with Romney in a fight he couldn't win, and which only highlighted the negative aspects of his short tempered personality, playing right into Romney's hands. His South Carolina rise suddenly slid off the cliff.

In the meantime, Rick Santorum has gotten his message on track. His debating skills have improved, and he's spent more time on the issues, and less time comparing himself with Romney and Gingrich. I read that over the weekend Romney had launched a negative campaign attack ad against Santorum in Minnesota. Santorum apparently didn't respond or let it bother him. And looked what happened. A three state sweep yesterday, and by big margins. This will no doubt strengthen his confidence as the campaign continues. I was thinking I may have been writing Santorum off too soon.

I still think Gingrich would be the best debater, but if Santorum continues to surge he would be the better choice overall. His strong family values is something the country needs in a president, and his family would be much preferable to Gingrich's situation. It remains to be seen what's going to happen, and I'm not making any predictions, but either one, Gingrich or Santorum would be better than Romney, and if Santorum continues to improve his debating skills he may be the dark horse candidate that runs away with it.

Could an American President be the Antichrist?

There is a new book out, "Once Upon a Secret: My Affair With President John F. Kennedy and its Aftermath," by Mimi Alford, who claims to have had an affair with JFK in the White House in 1962. Alford was a 19 year old intern who was "overpowered" by the attention of Kennedy. The claim seems to be creditable as she was mentioned years ago in a biography of Kennedy, "An Unfinished Life," and identified by name in the New York Daily News.

It's hardly a new revelation that Kennedy was a womanizer, but after the Clinton presidency many comparisons were made between the two, and as our society becomes more acceptable of adultery as a common practice, Clinton defenders often wonder why such a big deal was made about Monica Lewinski. After all, Kennedy did the same thing.

The difference is that Kennedy, in spite of his dalliances, had a vision for America and led the country during a critical time of the Cold War. Clinton was just a playboy out for a good time. Kennedy was presidential, Clinton was an embarrassment.

The same can be said for comparisons between Kennedy and Barack Obama. Kennedy was unabashedly pro-America, and his challenge to put a man on the moon by the end of the 60's decade energized Americans and turned the tide of the space race. Although he made mistakes, the Bay of Pigs for example, he made Americans feel proud and willing to face challenges. He also cut taxes for the rich! Obama spent most of his first year in office apologizing for America, and has turned us into the laughing stock of the world. And he's raising taxes.

In another vein, it is interesting to note that nearly every president since Kennedy has been suspected by some theologians or religious groups of being the coming Antichrist. Nowadays it is often forgotten that the question about Kennedy when he was elected was his Catholic faith. America until the late 19th century was primarily Protestant and until Kennedy had never had a Catholic president. People worried that the Pope was going to be the power behind the White House. When Kennedy was assassinated many of the same people began to wonder whether he would be the fulfillment of Revelation 13:3 and come back to life after his deadly head wound to become the Antichrist.

Jimmy Carter was accused famously of being the "Second Adam," or Antichrist, by the phony self-proclaimed crusading "witch," John Todd. George H.W. Bush was suspected because he was a "one-worlder," and Bill Clinton because he was so morally wicked. Since Obama was elected people have been asking me if I think he's the Antichrist.

My answer is "No" to them all. Kennedy is not going to rise from the dead. Carter and Bush are too old, and Clinton is not taken seriously as a world leader by anyone but far leftists. Obama doesn't fit the bill because he's much more supportive of Islam than Christianity, and now that's he's taken on the Catholic Church with his health care plan he doesn't have the support of the religious organization that would help put him in place.

The Antichrist is apparently going to rise out of Europe with a world wide false "Christian" church organization to support him and his claim to be the returning Messiah. Based on America's ties with Europe through NATO I suppose it could be possible he could be an American. If that's so, I personally think that if there is any candidate that could fit the bill it would be Mitt Romney. He belongs to the largest "Christian" cult in the world, he's personable and presidential in his demeanor, but he's slick and not above destroying his political enemies. I don't think, however, that he's the Antichrist, and based on 2 Thessalonians 2:7-10, I don't think anybody will know until after the Rapture takes place.

Now it's beginning to look as if Romney could very well be the Republican candidate in November. Newt Gingrich has imploded trying to match attacks ads with Romney and is only hurting himself. He should have left well enough alone and stayed on message. If he'd give the speech he gave after the primary in Florida every where he goes I think he would get the people on his side. As it is he's floundering. There's still a long way to go and it remains to be seen whether or not he can recover, but at the moment he's not looking good, and now that he's sliding, Romney has taken to attacking Santorum. It's a shame because it makes all of them look bad and I'm afraid it's threatening our prospects of throwing out the bum in the White House now.

Having said all that, the most important thing this November is going to be getting rid of Obama. That means everybody needs to vote for whomever the Republican candidate is, regardless of your personal convictions or feelings about him. An Obama second term will be, as Benjamin Franklin warned, the overthrow of our nation from within.