Category: Politics

What we read, think and do regarding our community and nation

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Memorial Day & Unnoted Bravery

My eyes are drying just now after reading this article.  It was written by a man named Peter Collier in the WSJ in 2007; it is both awesome and timely for today.  Nothing I write can even come close. 

It is true that we have another day for living veterans; this day is meant for those who are gone.  Nevertheless, while Mr. Collier’s moving words reference men who are often dead, and almost all forgotten, I write to the men and women who are alive now.  Some of you have served, some are active, some are wives or teenagers whose husbands/fathers disappear for weeks or months.  All of you experience the same thing:  the stress of potential doom.  You are not dead now, but as military who have sworn to defend, even at life’s expense, you have taken the first step.  For the retired veterans, it is the sometimes horrible memories (PTSD?) and the thought that active sons or buddies you still have out there could die.  For others it is the thought, pushed back in your mind, that the war in some far off place could become your war in just days (or even hours). This haunting, this real darkness on the horizon, takes its own toll.

For all of you, we honor you on this day… and give thanks.  You protect us, you protect our neighbors –all of us undeserving — from that same stress.  We know doom could be out there.  We remember today that you stand ready to face it on our behalf.

We need Memorial Day.

We must never stop remembering.

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Judge Not … ?

We all have faith, don’t we?  That is, we have faith in something.  I might be the  staunchest of atheists, yet faith in the possibility of staying alive, and making some progress in my endeavors, is required even of me as I get out of bed every morning.  Over the years, when sharing my faith with others, I have been told, “… judge not!”  This is meant, I have assumed, to shut the conversation down, or at least make sure my POV has no sharp edges.  It has been spoken as a sort of talisman– once out in the space between us, it is supposed to guarantee that no unacceptable words will come from my side (or at least give cover for ending the conversation with a note of, “… I told you not to go there.”)  While meditating on Christ’s words in Matt. 7:1 (the source of this idea), the realization came that I had significantly misunderstood it.  In reality, the Lord meant to say, “Sentence not…”  Continue reading “Judge Not … ?”

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Thomas Times Newsletter – More from TT

This is the promised addendum to our 2017 news update.  Hope you enjoy it!

As my parents began to forget things and struggle mentally a number of years ago, it became clear that they would need a more intensive “at home” care than we had planned on.  When both were diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, I remembered what Dad had done for his mother-in-law in a similar situation, and then realized Beth and I were going to start a business we weren’t qualified or trained to pull off: a mini-nursing home.  This past year, after Dad died in June and Mom in August, our careers Continue reading “Thomas Times Newsletter – More from TT”

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Sometimes, it’s that simple

It’s very unlikely that any of us will see what Thomas Yoxall saw on Jan. 12th- just 2 weeks ago.  When he saw it, however, here’s what he did.

In many situations, what to do in the split seconds after an attack has begun is not that simple.  This time, it was that simple.  Hope someone like him is around if I or my family ever need this kind of help.

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President Hussein (Ozbama)- “…not who we thought he was.”

UPDATE: Here’s a post I wrote in 2009, and then decided not to publish.  I supposed it was the “Oz” factor – this idea that our current president was larger than life, and that I would be scoffed at because I suspected something funny was going on behind the curtain.  Now that we are less than a month before the potential re-election of our emperor (that’s a future blog post), the WSJ has prompted me to pull this post out.  It seems, according to William McGurn, that the curtain has been pulled back.  In fact, Ozbama the Magnificent is not actually Continue reading “President Hussein (Ozbama)- “…not who we thought he was.””

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Thank you, Nancy Pelosi

Here’s a true statement: 100% of eligible voters in the US breath, eat and eventually get some sleep.  Yet only about 1/2 of them vote.  This includes God’s people, the followers of the Lord of both this world and the next, who are clearly commanded in Romans 12 to obey their leaders (who beg people to vote).  Why don’t they vote? Continue reading “Thank you, Nancy Pelosi”

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Pandora

In the myth of Pandora, all the evils of the world wait in the box, biding their time.  In the reality of WikiLeaks, the whistleblowers of the worldGreek jar showing wedding procession (whose motives are unknown) wait to pour the secrets of governments into the box through a special door, which only opens for them.  In this version, Pandora is an amalgam of a visible founder, unknown volunteers and the government of Iceland, which has particularly aggressive laws for the protection of whistleblowers (and, we must assume, few secrets).  Pandora did slam the lid back on the box immediately after her sin, but Continue reading “Pandora”

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In Mexico We Trust

Andrew McCarthy of NRO points out something very important in this article: the brazen polemical attack on the state of Arizona by the president of Mexico last week represents something more than partisan politics.  Since it was fully supported by Pres. Hussein, and thunderously applauded by the Democrats, it is clear that the very fabric of who we are as a country is under attack.  Should we reward persistent, unrepentant Continue reading “In Mexico We Trust”